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padding-top: 1px } + + .coverpage, .titlepage, + .contents, .foreword, .preface, .introduction, .dedication, .prologue, + .epilogue, .appendix, .glossary, .bibliography, .index, .colophon, + .footnotes, + .cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 1px } + + .vfill { margin-top: 20% } + h2.title { margin-top: 20% } +} +</style> +<style type="text/css"> +.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; } +.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.toc-pageref { float: right } + + h1.pg { line-height: 1; + text-align: center; + clear: both; + font-size: 190%; } + h4.pg { line-height: 1; + text-align: center; + clear: both; + font-size: 100%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Russian Gentleman, by S. T. (Sergei +Timofeevich) Aksakov, Translated by J. D. Duff</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: A Russian Gentleman</p> +<p>Author: S. T. (Sergei Timofeevich) Aksakov</p> +<p>Release Date: February 6, 2012 [eBook #38781]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A RUSSIAN GENTLEMAN***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4 class="pg">E-text prepared by Hunter Monroe<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org">http://www.archive.org</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/russiangentleman00aksauoft"> + http://www.archive.org/details/russiangentleman00aksauoft</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<div class="document" id="a-russian-gentleman"> +<h1 class="document-title level-1 pfirst title">A RUSSIAN GENTLEMAN</h1> + +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<!-- --> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME</em></div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">1 Vol. Demy 8vo. 7<em class="italics">s.</em> 6<em class="italics">d.</em> net</div> +<div class="line">A RUSSIAN SCHOOLBOY</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">1 Vol. Demy 8vo. 10<em class="italics">s.</em> 6<em class="italics">d.</em> net</div> +<div class="line">YEARS OF CHILDHOOD</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">BY</div> +<div class="line">SERGE AKSAKOFF</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">Translated from the Russian by</div> +<div class="line">J. D. DUFF</div> +<div class="line">FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">LONDON: EDWARD ARNOLD</div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">A</div> +<div class="line">RUSSIAN GENTLEMAN</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">BY</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">SERGE AKSAKOFF</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">BY</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">J. D. DUFF</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">SECOND IMPRESSION</div> +</div> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">LONDON</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">EDWARD ARNOLD</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">1917</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">All rights reserved</em></div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">TO J. F. D.</div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="level-2 section" id="translator-s-preface"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id111">TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Serge Aksakoff,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id2" id="id1"><sup>1</sup></a> the author of this Russian classic, was +born at Ufa, in the district of Orenburg, on September 20, +1791. His father held some office in the law-court of the +town, and his grandfather lived in the country as the +owner of large estates, to which Aksakoff ultimately +succeeded. His grandfather had migrated about 1760 +from Simbirsk to Ufa, where the population consisted +mainly of Tatars and a number of Finnish tribes—Mordvinians, +Choovashes, and others.</p> +<p class="pnext">Aksakoff was educated at Kazan, and entered the Civil +Service in 1808. After serving in many different capacities—he +was censor of the Press at Moscow for some years—he +retired in 1839 and devoted himself exclusively to +literature. He married in 1816; and his two sons, Constantine +and Ivan, both played a conspicuous part in the +public life of Russia. He died at Moscow, after a long and +painful illness, on April 30, 1859.</p> +<p class="pnext">His high and secure place among Russian writers +Aksakoff owes to three works—his <em class="italics">Years of Childhood</em> and +<em class="italics">Recollections</em>, which are autobiography, and his <em class="italics">Family +History</em>, which is here translated under the title of <em class="italics">A +Russian Gentleman</em>. This is his most famous work: his +portrait of his grandfather is his masterpiece, and his +descriptions of his parents' courtship and marriage are +as vivid and minute as his pictures of his own early +childhood.</p> +<p class="pnext">He began to write this book soon after his retirement +from the public service. Portions of it were published in +a Moscow magazine in 1846; and the whole work appeared, +with the addition of a short Epilogue, in 1856. He published +<em class="italics">Recollections</em> in the same volume; and <em class="italics">Years of +Childhood</em>—which should have preceded <em class="italics">Recollections</em>—followed +in 1858, the last year of his life.</p> +<p class="pnext"><em class="italics">A Russian Gentleman</em> seems a suitable title for this +book, because the whole scene, in which a multitude of +characters appear, is entirely dominated and permeated +by the tremendous personality of Aksakoff's grandfather, +Stepan Mihailovitch. Plain and rough in his appearance +and habits, but proud of his long descent; hardly able to +read or write, but full of natural intelligence; capable of +furious anger and extreme violence in his anger, but +equally capable of steadfast and even chivalrous affection; +a born leader of men and the very incarnation of truth, +honour, and honesty—Stepan Mihailovitch is more like a +Homeric hero than a man of modern times.</p> +<p class="pnext">The reader, when he reflects that Aksakoff's present +narrative ends with the day of his own birth, will be +inclined to think that the author must have had a lively +imagination. I therefore translate the sentence with +which Skabichevsky, a critic of reputation, begins his +review of Aksakoff's work:—</p> +<p class="pnext">"Aksakoff's books are remarkable, first of all, on this +ground: you will find in them no trace of creative or +inventive power."</p> +<p class="pnext">I suppose myself that he derived his information chiefly +from his mother; but there are certainly scenes in the +book which he cannot have owed to this source.</p> +<p class="pnext">This translation has been made from the Moscow edition +of 1900. I should say here: (1) that I have abridged +some of the topographical detail at the beginning of the +book; (2) that I have dealt freely with the Notes which +Aksakoff added, sometimes promoting them to the text, +and sometimes omitting them wholly or in part. I know +of two previous translations. A German translation, +<em class="italics">Russische Familienchronik</em>, by Sergius Raczynski, was +published at Leipzig in 1858. This seems to me a good +translation, and I have found it useful in some difficulties. +An English translation "by a Russian Lady" was published +at Calcutta in 1871; and there is a copy in the +British Museum. I have not seen this; but I have heard +that it is inadequate, and the first few sentences, which +were copied out for me, seem to bear this out.</p> +<p class="pnext">I have completed a translation of Aksakoff's remaining +book of Memoirs—his <em class="italics">Recollections</em> of school and college; +and I hope that it may be published after a short interval.</p> +<blockquote><div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">J. D. DUFF.</div> +<div class="line"></div> +<div class="line"><span class="small-caps">Cambridge.</span></div> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">Jan. 11, 1917.</em></div> +</div> +</div></blockquote> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="contents level-3 section" id="id3"> +<h3 class="level-3 pfirst section-title title">CONTENTS</h3> +<ul class="compact simple toc-list"> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#translator-s-preface" id="id111">TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#fragment-i-stepan-mihailovitch-bagroff" id="id116">FRAGMENT I: STEPAN MIHAILOVITCH BAGROFF</a></span><ul class="compact toc-list"> +<li class="level-3 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#the-migration" id="id112">1. <span class="small-caps">The Migration</span></a></span></li> +<li class="level-3 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#the-government-of-orenburg" id="id113">2. <span class="small-caps">The Government of Orenburg</span></a></span></li> +<li class="level-3 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#fresh-scenes" id="id114">3. <span class="small-caps">Fresh Scenes.</span></a></span></li> +<li class="level-3 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#my-grandfather-on-one-of-his-good-days" id="id115">4. <span class="small-caps">My Grandfather, on one of his Good Days</span></a></span></li> +</ul> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#fragment-ii-mihail-maximovitch-kurolyessoff" id="id117">FRAGMENT II: MIHAIL MAXIMOVITCH KUROLYESSOFF</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#fragment-iii-the-marriage-of-the-young-bagroff" id="id118">FRAGMENT III: THE MARRIAGE OF THE YOUNG BAGROFF</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#fragment-iv-the-young-couple-at-bagrovo" id="id119">FRAGMENT IV: THE YOUNG COUPLE AT BAGROVO</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#fragment-v-life-at-ufa" id="id120">FRAGMENT V: LIFE AT UFA</a></span></li> +</ul> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">A RUSSIAN GENTLEMAN</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="fragment-i-stepan-mihailovitch-bagroff"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id116">FRAGMENT I: STEPAN MIHAILOVITCH BAGROFF</a></h2> +<div class="level-3 section" id="the-migration"> +<h3 class="level-3 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id112">1. <span class="small-caps">The Migration</span></a></h3> +<p class="pfirst">When my grandfather lived in the Government of Simbirsk, +on the ancestral estate granted to his forefathers by +the Tsars of Muscovy, he felt cramped and confined. Not +that there was really want of room; for he had arable +land and pasture, timber and other necessaries in abundance; +but the trouble was, that the estate which his +great-grandfather had held in absolute possession, had +ceased to belong to one owner. This happened quite +simply: for three successive generations the family consisted +of one son and several daughters; and, when some +of these daughters were married, their portions took the +shape of a certain number of serfs and a certain amount +of land. Though their shares were not large, yet, as the +land had never been properly surveyed, at this time four +intruders asserted their right to share in the management +of it. To my grandfather, life under these conditions was +intolerable: there was no patience in his passionate temperament; +he loved plain dealing and hated complications +and wrangles with his kith and kin.</p> +<p class="pnext">For some time past, he had heard frequent reports +about the district of Ufa—how there was land there without +limit for the plough and for stock, with an indescribable +abundance of game and fish and all the fruit of the +earth; and how easy it was to acquire whole tracts of land +for a very trifling sum of money. If tales were true, you +had only to invite a dozen of the native Bashkir chiefs in +certain districts to partake of your hospitality; you provided +two or three fat sheep, for them to kill and dress in +their own fashion; you produced a bucket of whisky, +with several buckets of strong fermented Bashkir mead +and a barrel of home-made country beer—which proves, +by the way, that even in old days the Bashkirs were not +strict Mahometans—and the rest was as simple as A B C. +It was said, indeed, that an entertainment of this kind +might last a week or even a fortnight: it was impossible +for Bashkirs to do business in a hurry, and every day it +was necessary to ask the question, "Well, good friend, +is it time now to discuss my business?" The guests had +been eating and drinking, without exaggeration, all day +and all night; but, if they were not completely satisfied +with the entertainment, if they had not had enough of +their monotonous singing and playing on the pipe, and +their singular dances in which they stood up or crouched +down on the same spot of ground, then the greatest of the +chiefs, clicking his tongue and wagging his head, would +answer with much dignity and without looking his questioner +in the face: "The time has not come; bring us +another sheep!" The sheep was forthcoming, as a matter +of course, with fresh supplies of beer and spirits; and the +tipsy Bashkirs began again to sing and dance, dropping +off to sleep wherever they felt inclined. But everything +in the world has an end; and a day came at last when the +chief would look his host straight in the face and say: +"We are obliged to you, <em class="italics">batyushka</em>,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id7" id="id4"><sup>2</sup></a> ever so much obliged! +And now, what is it that you want?" The rest of the +transaction followed a regular fashion. The customer +began with the shrewdness native to your true Russian: +he assured the Bashkir that he did not want anything at +all; but, having heard that the Bashkirs were exceedingly +kind people, he had come to Ufa on purpose to form a +friendship with them, and so on. Then the conversation +would somehow come round to the vast extent of the +Bashkir territory and the unsatisfactory ways of the +present tenants, who might pay their rent for a year or +two and then pay no more and yet continue to live on the +land, as if they were its rightful owners; it was rash to +evict them, and a lawsuit became unavoidable. These +remarks, which were true enough to the facts, were followed +up by an obliging offer to relieve the kind Bashkirs of some +part of the land which was such a burden to them; and in +the end whole districts were bought and sold for a mere +song. The bargain was clinched by a legal document, but +the amount of land was never stated in it, and could not +be, as it had never been surveyed. As a rule, the boundaries +were settled by landmarks of this kind: "from the +mouth of such and such a stream as far as the dead beech-tree +on the wolf-track, and from the dead beech-tree in a +bee-line to the watershed, and from the watershed to +the fox-earths, and from the fox-earths to the hollow tree +at Soltamratka," and so on. So precise and permanent +were the boundaries enclosing ten or twenty or thirty +thousand <em class="italics">dessyatines</em><a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id8" id="id5"><sup>3</sup></a> of land! And the price of all this +might be about one hundred <em class="italics">roubles</em><a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id9" id="id6"><sup>4</sup></a> and presents worth +another hundred, not including the cost of the entertainments.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stories of this kind had a great attraction for my +grandfather. As a man of strict integrity, he disapproved +of the deception practised on the simple Bashkirs; but he +considered that the harm lay, not in the business itself, but +in the method of transacting it, and believed that it was +possible to deal fairly and yet to buy a great stretch of +land at a low price. In that case he could migrate with +his family and transfer half of his serfs to the new estate; +and thus he would secure the main object of this design. +For the fact was, that for some time past he had been so +much worried by unending disputes over the management +of the land—disputes between himself and the relations +who owned a small part of it—that his desire to leave the +place where his ancestors had lived and he himself was +born, had become a fixed idea. There was no other means +of securing a quiet life; and to him, now that his youth was +past, a quiet life seemed more desirable than anything else.</p> +<p class="pnext">So he scraped together several thousand <em class="italics">roubles</em>, and +said good-bye to his wife, whom he called Arisha when he +was in a good humour and Arina when he was not; he +kissed his children and gave them his blessing—his four +young daughters and the infant son who was the single +scion and sole hope of an ancient and noble family. The +daughters he thought of no importance: "What's the +good of them? They look out of the house, not in; if +their name is Bagroff<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id11" id="id10"><sup>5</sup></a> to-day, it may be anything on earth +to-morrow; my hopes rest entirely on my boy, Alexyéi"—such +were my grandfather's parting words, when he +started to cross the Volga on his way to the district of Ufa.</p> +<p class="pnext">But perhaps I had better begin by telling you what +sort of a man my grandfather was.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch Bagroff—this was his name—was +under the middle height; but his prominent chest, uncommonly +broad shoulders, sinewy arms, and wiry muscular +frame, gave proof of his extraordinary strength. When +it happened, in the rough-and-tumble amusements of +young men, that a number of his brother-officers fastened +on him at once, he would hurl them from him, as a sturdy +oak hurls off the rain-drops, when its branches rock in the +breeze after a shower. He had fair hair and regular +features; his eyes were large and dark-blue, quick to light +up with anger but friendly and kind in his hours of composure; +his eyebrows were thick and the lines of his mouth +pleasant to look at. The general expression of his features +was singularly frank and open: no one could help trusting +him; his word or his promise was better than any bond, +and more sacred than any document guaranteed by Church +or State. His natural intelligence was clear and strong. +All landowners of that time were ignorant men, and he +had received no sort of education; indeed he could hardly +read and write his native language. But, while serving in +the Army, and before he was promoted from the ranks, he +had mastered the elementary rules of arithmetic and the +use of the reckoning-board—acquirements of which he +liked to speak even when he was an old man. It is probable +that his period of service was not long; for he was +only quarter-master of the regiment when he retired. +But in those days even nobles served for long in the ranks +or as non-commissioned officers, unless indeed they passed +through this stage in their cradles, first enrolled as sergeants +in the Guards and then making a sudden appearance as +captains in line regiments. Of the career of Stepan Mihailovitch +in the Army I know little; but I have been told +that he was often employed in the capture of the highwaymen +who infested the Volga, and always showed good sense +in the formation of his plans and reckless courage in their +execution; that the outlaws knew him well by sight and +feared him like fire. On retiring from the Army, he lived +for some years on his hereditary estate of Bagrovo<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id13" id="id12"><sup>6</sup></a> and +became very skilful in the management of land. It was +not his way to be present from morning to night where his +labourers were at work, nor did he stand like a sentry over +the grain, when it was coming in and going out; but, when +he was on the spot, he looked to some purpose, and, if he +noticed anything amiss, especially any attempt to deceive +him, he never failed to visit the offender with a summary +form of punishment which may rouse the displeasure of +my readers. But my grandfather, while acting in accordance +with the spirit of his age, reasoned in a fashion of his +own. In his view, to punish a peasant by fines or by +forced labour on the estate made the man less substantial +and therefore less useful to his owner; and to separate +him from his family and banish him to a distant estate +was even worse, for a man deprived of family ties was sure +to go downhill. But to have recourse to the police was +simply out of the question; that would have been considered +the depth of disgrace and shame; every voice in +the village would have been raised to mourn for the offender +as if he were dead, and he would have considered himself +as disgraced and ruined beyond redemption. And it must +be said for my grandfather, that he was never severe +except when his anger was hot; when the fit had passed +away, the offence was forgotten. Advantage was often +taken of this: sometimes the offender had time to hide, +and the storm passed by without hurting any one. Before +long, his people became so satisfactory that none of them +gave him any cause to lose his temper.</p> +<p class="pnext">After getting his estate into good order, my grandfather +married; his bride was Arina Vassilyevna Nyeklyoodoff, +a young lady of little fortune but, like himself, +of ancient descent. This gives me an opportunity to explain +that his pedigree was my grandfather's foible: he +was moderately well-to-do, owning only 180 serfs, but +his descent, which he traced back, by means of Heaven +knows what documents, for six hundred years all the way +to a Varyag<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id15" id="id14"><sup>7</sup></a> prince called Shimon, he valued far more +than any riches or office in the State. At one time he was +much attracted by a rich and beautiful girl, but he would +not marry her, merely because her great-grandfather was +not a noble.</p> +<p class="pnext">After this account of Stepan Mihailovitch, let us go +back to the course of the narrative.</p> +<p class="pnext">My grandfather first crossed the Volga by the ferry +near Simbirsk, and then struck across the steppe on the +further side, and travelled on till he came to Sergievsk, +which stands on a hill at the meeting of two rivers and +gives a name to the sulphur springs twelve <em class="italics">versts</em><a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id18" id="id16"><sup>8</sup></a> from the +town. The deeper he plunged into the district of Ufa, the +more he was impressed by the spaciousness and fertility +of that country. The first place where he found trees +growing was the district of Boogoorooslan; and in the +town of that name, perched on a high hill above the river, +he made a halt, wishing to make inquiries and learn more +particulars of the lands that were for sale. Of land belonging +to the Bashkirs there was little left in this district: +some of the occupiers were tenants of the Crown, whom +the Government had settled on lands confiscated for rebellion, +though later they granted a general pardon and restored +their territory to the Bashkir owners; part of the +land had been let to tenants by the Bashkirs themselves; +and part had been bought up by migrating landowners. +Using Boogoorooslan as a centre, my grandfather made +expeditions to the surrounding districts and spent some +time in the beautiful country watered by the Ik and the +Dyoma.<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id19" id="id17"><sup>9</sup></a> It is an enchanting region; and even in his old +age Stepan Mihailovitch often spoke with enthusiasm of +the first impression produced on him by the astonishing +richness of that soil. But he did not allow himself to +be carried away. Ascertaining on the spot that any +purchaser of Bashkir land was quite sure to be involved in +endless disputes and lawsuits—for it was impossible for +the acquirer to make sure either of his own title or of the +number of the former owners—my grandfather, who +feared and hated like poison the very name of a lawsuit, +resolved to buy no land direct from the Bashkirs or without +formal legal documents to confirm his ownership. Thus +he hoped to exclude the possibility of disputes, and surely +he had reason for such a hope; but things turned out very +differently, and the last claim was only settled by his +youngest grandson when he was forty years old.</p> +<p class="pnext">My grandfather returned reluctantly from the banks +of the Ik and the Dyoma to Boogoorooslan, where he +bought land from a Russian lady near the river of that +name and distant twenty-five <em class="italics">versts</em> from the town. The +river is rapid and deep and never runs dry. For forty +<em class="italics">versts</em>, from the town of Boogoorooslan to the Crown settlement +of Fair Bank, the country on both sides of the river +was uninhabited, so that there was ample room; and the +amenities of the spot were wonderful. The river was so +transparent that, if you threw in a copper coin, you could +see it resting on the bottom even in pools fifteen feet deep. +In some places there was a thick border of trees and bushes—birches, +poplars, service-trees, guelder-roses, and bird-cherries, +where the hop-bines trailed their green festoons +and hung their straw-coloured clusters from tree to tree; +in other places, the grass grew tall and strong, with an +infinite profusion of flowers, including tall Meadow Sweet, +Lords' Pride (the scarlet Lychnis), Kings' Curls (the Martagon +lily), and Cat-grass or Valerian. The river flows along +a valley varying in breadth and bordered on both sides by +sloping hills with a steep cliff here and there; the slopes +were thickly covered with hard-wood trees of all sorts. +As you got out of the valley, the level steppe spread out +before you, a black virgin soil over two feet in depth. +Along the river and in the neighbouring marshes, wild +ducks of all kinds, and geese, woodcocks, and snipe made +their nests and filled the air with their different notes and +calls; while on the table-land above, where the grass grew +thick and strong, the music in the air was as rich and quite +distinct. Every kind of bird that lives in the steppe bred +there in multitudes—bustards, cranes, and hawks; and +on the wooded slopes there were quantities of black-game. +The river swarmed with every variety of fish that could +endure its ice-cold water—pike, perch, chub, dace, and +even salmon. Both steppe and forest were filled beyond +belief with wild creatures. In a word, the place was, and +still is, a paradise for the sportsman.</p> +<p class="pnext">My grandfather bought about 12,000 acres for 2500 +<em class="italics">roubles</em>. That was a large sum in those days, and the price +was much higher than was generally paid. When he had +assured his title by legal documents, he went back with a +light heart to his expectant family in the Government of +Simbirsk. There he set to work with fierce energy and +made all preparations for transferring at once a portion of +his serfs to the new estate. It was an anxious and troublesome +job, because the distance was considerable—about +400 <em class="italics">versts</em>. That same autumn twenty families of serfs +started for the district of Boogoorooslan, taking with them +ploughs and harrows with rye for sowing. They chose +their ground and set to work on the virgin soil. Two +thousand acres were lightly ploughed, then harrowed, and +sown with winter rye; two thousand more were ploughed +in preparation for the spring sowing; and some cottages +were built. When this was done, the men travelled back +to spend the winter at home. When winter was over, +twenty more labourers again went forth; and, as the spring +advanced, they sowed the two thousand acres with spring +wheat, erected fences round the cottages and byres, and +made stoves for the cottages out of clay. The second +party then returned home. These were distinct from the +actual settlers, who remained at home, preparing for their +move and selling off what they did not need—their houses +and kailyards, stock and corn, and all sorts of odds and +ends.</p> +<p class="pnext">The date fixed was the middle of June, that the colonists +might reach their destination before St. Peter's Day,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id21" id="id20"><sup>10</sup></a> +when hay-cutting begins. The carts were packed with the +women and children and old people, and awnings of bast +bent over them to protect them from the sun and rain; +the indispensable pots and pans were piled up inside, the +cocks and hens perched on the top, and the cows tied on +behind; and off they started. The poor settlers shed +bitter tears as they parted for ever with their past life, +with the church in which they had been christened and +married, and with the graves of their fathers and grandfathers. +Nobody likes moving, and a Russian peasant +least of all; but to move in those days to an unknown land +inhabited by unbelievers, where the churches were so distant +that a man might die without confession and infants +remain long unchristened, a land of which rumour reported +evil as well as good—this seemed a terrible ordeal. When +the peasants had gone, my grandfather started after them. +He had taken a vow that, when circumstances allowed, he +would build a church dedicated to the Presentation of Our +Lady—it was actually built by his son—and he named the +new settlement after the festival. But the peasants, whose +example was followed by their neighbours, called it New +Bagrovo, after their master and in memory of Old Bagrovo, +from which they had come; and to this day the formal +name is only used in legal documents. No one knows the +village, with its fine stone church and high manor-house, +by any other name than Bagrovo. With unremitting care +and attention my grandfather watched the labour of the +people on their own land and on his; the hay was mown, +the winter rye and spring corn were cut down and carried, +and the right moment was chosen for each operation. The +yield of the crops was fabulous. The peasants thought +things were not so bad after all. By November, cottages +were built for them all, and the beginning of a house for +the owner was run up. All this was not done without +help from neighbours. In spite of the long distances, they +came willingly to lend a hand to the new landowner, who +proved to be sensible and friendly; they ate and drank +and turned to with a will, and sang as they worked. In +that winter my grandfather went to Simbirsk and brought +back his wife and children with him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next year forty more serfs were transferred and set up +in their new abodes; and this proved an easier job. My +grandfather's first operation in this year was to build a +mill; without it, it had been necessary to drive forty <em class="italics">versts</em> +to get his corn ground. A spot was chosen where the river +was not deep, the bottom sound, and the banks high and +solid. Then a dam of earth and brushwood was started +from each bank, like a pair of hands ready to clasp; next, +the dam was wattled with osiers, to make it more substantial; +and all that remained was to stop the swift +strong current and force it to fill the basin intended for it. +The mill itself, with two pairs of millstones, was built beforehand +on the lower bank. All the machinery was ready and +even greased. It was the business of the river, when +checked in its natural course, to fill the broad dam and +pour through wooden pipes down upon the great wheel. +When all was ready and four long oaken piles had been +firmly driven into the clay bottom of the river, my grandfather +invited his neighbours to lend him their assistance +for two days; and they came, bringing horses and carts, +spades, forks, and axes. On the first day, great piles of +brushwood, straw, manure, and fresh-cut sods were heaped +up on both banks of the Boogoorooslan, while the river +continued to pour down its waters at its own sweet will. +Hardly any one slept that night, and next morning at sunrise +about a hundred men set to work to dam the stream; +they all looked solemn and serious, as if they had important +business before them. They began on both sides at the +same moment. With loud cries they hurled with sturdy +arms faggots of brushwood into the water; part was +carried down by the stream, but part stuck against the +piles and sank across the channel. Next came bundles of +straw weighted with stones, then soil and manure, then +more brushwood, followed by more straw and manure, +and, on the top of all, a thick layer of sods. All this accumulation +was swallowed up till it rose at last above the +surface of the water. At once, a dozen strong and active +men sprang on to the barrier and began to tread it and +stamp it down. The operation was performed with the +utmost speed; and the general excitement was so great +and the noise so vociferous, that a passer-by, if he had not +known the reason of it, might have been frightened. But +there was no one there to be frightened by it: only the +uninhabited steppes and dark forests and all the region +round re-echoed the shouts of the labourers. The voices +of women and children swelled the chorus; for such an +important affair aroused interest in every breast, and the +noise and excitement were universal. The resistance of +the river was not overcome at once. For long it tore away +and carried down brushwood and straw, manure and turf; +but man at last conquered. The baffled water stopped, as +if reflecting; then it turned back, and rose till it poured +over its banks and inundated the fields. By evening the +mill-pond had taken shape; or one might call it a floating +lake, where the banks and all the green grass and bushes +had disappeared; only the tops of submerged trees, +doomed to die, stuck up here and there. Next day the +mill began to work, and goes on working and grinding to +this day.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-3 section" id="the-government-of-orenburg"> +<h3 class="level-3 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id113">2. <span class="small-caps">The Government of Orenburg</span></a></h3> +<p class="pfirst">How wonderful in those days was that region, in its +wild and virginal richness! It is different now; it is not +even what it was when I first knew it, when it was still +fresh and blooming and undeflowered by hordes of settlers +from every quarter. It is changed; but it is still beautiful +and spacious, fertile and infinitely various, the Government +of Orenburg. The name sounds strange, and the +termination "burg" is inappropriate enough. But when +I first knew that earthly paradise, it was still called the +"Province of Ufa."</p> +<p class="pnext">Thirty years ago, one who was born within it<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id23" id="id22"><sup>11</sup></a> expressed +in verse his fears for the future of the land; and these have +been realised in part, and the process still goes on. But +still hast thou power to charm, wondrous land! Bright +and clear, like great deep cups, are thy lakes—Kandry and +Karatabyn. Full of water and full of all manner of fish +are thy rivers, whether they race down the valleys and +rocky gorges of the Ural Mountains, or steal softly, glittering +like a string of jewels, through the prairie-grass of the +steppes. Wondrous are these rivers of the steppe, formed +by the union of countless little streams flowing from deep +water-holes—streams so tiny that you can hardly see the +trickle of water in them. And thy rivers that flow swift +from fountain-heads and run under the shade of trees and +bushes are transparent and cold as ice even in the heat of +summer; and all kinds of trout, good to eat and beautiful +to see, live there; but they soon die out, when man begins +to defile with unclean hands the virgin streams of their +clear cool retreats. Fertile is the black soil of thy corn-land, +and rich thy pastures; and thy fields are covered in +spring with the milk-white blossom of the cherry-tree and +wild peach, while in summer the fragrant strawberries +spread over them like a scarlet cloth, and the small cherries +that turn purple later when they ripen in autumn. Rich +is the harvest that rewards the peasant, however idle and +ignorant, when he scratches with his rude ploughshare the +surface of thy soil. Fresh and green and mighty stand +thy forests of all manner of trees; and buzzing swarms of +wild bees fill their self-chosen nests among the leaves with +the fragrant honey of the lime blossom. The Ufa marten, +with its priceless fur, is still to be found in the wooded +head-waters of the great rivers.</p> +<p class="pnext">The original inhabitants of the land are men of peace, +the wandering tribes of Bashkirs. Their herds of horses +and cattle and flocks of sheep, though far smaller than +they were once, are still numerous. When the fierce +storms of winter are over, the Bashkirs crawl forth, thin +and wasted like flies in winter. With the first warmth +and the first sprouting of the grass they drive out into +the open their half-starved herds and flocks, and drag +themselves after them, with their wives and children. A +few weeks change them beyond recognition, both men and +animals. What were mere skeletons have become spirited +and tireless horses; and the stallion proudly guards his +mares as they graze, and keeps both man and beast at a +distance. The meagre cattle have grown fat, and their +udders swell with milk. But for cow's milk the Bashkir +cares nothing. For the <em class="italics">koumiss</em><a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id25" id="id24"><sup>12</sup></a> is now in season and +already fermenting in the bags of horse-hide; and every +creature that can drink, from the infant in arms to the +tottering old man, swallows the health-giving beverage, a +drink for heroes. And the result is marvellous: all the +traces of winter and starvation soon disappear, and even +the troubles of old age; their faces fill out, and pale sunken +cheeks take on the hue of health. But their deserted +villages are a sad and even alarming sight. A traveller +unfamiliar with the country might well start, appalled by +the emptiness and deadness of the place. There stand the +deserted huts with their white chimneys, and the empty +window-frames look mournfully at him like human faces +with no eyes in the sockets. He may hear the bark of a +half-starved watch-dog, whom his master visits and feeds +at long intervals, or the mewing of a cat that has run wild +and finds food for herself; but that is all: not one human +being remains.</p> +<p class="pnext">How varied and picturesque, each in its own way, are +the different regions of the land—the forests, the steppes, +and, more than all, the hills, where all metals, even gold, +are found along the slopes of the Ural ridge! How vast +the expanse, from the borders of Vyatka and Perm, where +the mercury often freezes in winter, to the little town of +Guryeff on the edge of Astrakhan, where small grapes +ripen in the open air—grapes whose wine the Cossack +trades in and drinks himself for coolness in summer and +warmth in winter. How noble is the fishing in the Urals, +unlike any other both in the fish that are caught and in the +manner of catching them! It only needs a faithful and +lively description to attract general attention.</p> +<p class="pnext">But I must ask pardon. I have gone too far in the +description of the beautiful country where I was born. +Now let us go back and observe the life and unwearied +activity of my grandfather.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-3 section" id="fresh-scenes"> +<h3 class="level-3 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id114">3. <span class="small-caps">Fresh Scenes.</span></a></h3> +<p class="pfirst">Stepan Mihailovitch had peace at last. Many a time +he thanked God from the bottom of his heart, when the +move was completed and he found elbow-room on the +banks of the Boogoorooslan. His spirits rose, and even +his health was better. No petitions, no complaints, no +disputes, no disturbance! No tiresome relations, no +divided ownership! No thieves to fell his trees, no trespassers +to trample down his corn and meadows! He was +undisputed master at last in his own house, and beyond +it: he might feed sheep, or mow grass, or cut firewood +where he pleased without a word from any one.</p> +<p class="pnext">The peasants too soon became accustomed to the +new habitation and soon grew to love it. And that was +but natural. Old Bagrovo had wood, but little water; +meadow-land was so scarce that it was hard for them to +find grazing for one horse and one cow apiece; and, though +the natural soil was good, it had been cropped over and +over from time immemorial till its fertility was exhausted. +The new site gave them wide and fertile fields and meadows, +never touched till now by ploughshare or scythe; it gave +them a rapid river with good fresh water, and springs in +abundance; it gave them a broad pond with fish in it and +the river running through it; and it gave them a mill at +their very doors, whereas before they had to travel +twenty-five <em class="italics">versts</em> to have a load of corn ground, and +perhaps to wait after all a couple of days till their turn came.</p> +<p class="pnext">It surprises you perhaps that I called Old Bagrovo +waterless; and you may blame my ancestors for choosing +such a spot to settle in. But they were not to blame, and +things were different in old days. Once on a time Old +Bagrovo stood on a pretty stream, the Maina, which took +its rise from the Mossy Lakes three <em class="italics">versts</em> distant; and +also along the whole settlement there stretched a lake, not +broad but long and clear, and deep in the middle, with a +bottom of white sand; and another streamlet, called The +White Spring, issued from this lake. So it was in former +times, but it is quite another story now. Tradition tells +that the Mossy Lakes were once deep round pools surrounded +by trees, with ice-cold water and treacherous +banks, and no one ventured near them except in winter, +because the banks were said to give way under foot and +engulf the bold disturber of the water-spirit's solitary +reign. But man is the sworn foe of Nature, and she can +never withstand his treacherous warfare against her beauty. +Ancient tradition, unsupported by modern instances, +ceased to be believed. The people steeped their flax on +the banks and drove their herds there to water; and the +Mossy Lakes were polluted by degrees, and grew shallow +at the edges, and even dried up in places where the wood +all round was cut. Then a thick scurf formed on the top; +moss grew over it, and the vein-like roots of water-plants +bound it together, till it was covered with tussocks and +bushes and even fir-trees of some size. One of the pools +is now entirely covered; of the other are left two deep +water-holes, which even now are formidable for a stranger +to approach, because the soil, with all its covering of plants +and bushes and trees, rises and falls beneath the foot like +a wave at sea. Owing to the dwindling of these lakes, the +Maina now issues from the ground some distance below +the settlement, and its upper waters have dried up. The +lake by the village has become a filthy stinking canal; the +sandy bottom is covered to a depth of over seven feet by +mud and refuse of all kinds from the peasants' houses; of +the White Spring not a trace is left, and the memory of it +will soon be forgotten.</p> +<p class="pnext">When my grandfather had settled down at New +Bagrovo, he set to work, with all his natural activity and +energy, to grow corn and breed stock. The peasants +caught the contagion of his enthusiasm and worked so +hard and steadily that they were soon as well set up and +provided for as if they had been old inhabitants. After a +few years, their stackyards took up thrice as much room +as the village-street; and their drove of stout horses, their +herds and flocks and pigs, would have done honour to a +large and prosperous settlement.</p> +<p class="pnext">After the success of Stepan Mihailovitch, migration to +Ufa or Orenburg became more fashionable every year. +Native tribes came streaming from every quarter—Mordvinians, +Choovashes, Tatars, and Meshchers, and plenty of +Russian settlers too—Crown-tenants from different districts, +and landowners, large and small. My grandfather +began to have neighbours. His brother-in-law, Ivan Nyeklyoodoff, +bought land within twelve <em class="italics">versts</em> of Bagrovo, +transferred his serfs there, built a wooden church, named +his estate Nyeklyoodovo, and came to live there with his +family. This afforded no gratification to my grandfather, +who had a strong dislike to all his wife's relations—all +"Nyeklyoodovdom," as he used to call them. Then a +landowner called Bakmétyeff bought land still closer, about +ten <em class="italics">versts</em> from Bagrovo, on the upper waters of the +Sovrusha, which runs to the south-west like the Boogoorooslan. +On the other side, twelve <em class="italics">versts</em> along the river +Nasyagai, another settlement was planted, Polibino, which +now belongs to the Karamzin family. The Nasyagai is a +larger and finer river than the Boogoorooslan, with more +water and more fish in it, and birds still breed there much +more freely. On the road to Polibino, and eight <em class="italics">versts</em> +from Bagrovo, a number of Mordvinians settled in a large +village called Noikino, and built a mill on the streamlet of +Bokla. Close to the mill, the Bokla runs into the Nasyagai, +which rolls its swift strong current straight to the south-west, +and is reinforced by the Boogoorooslan not far from +the town of that name. Then the Nasyagai unites with +the Great Kinel, and loses thenceforth its sounding and +significant<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id27" id="id26"><sup>13</sup></a> name.</p> +<p class="pnext">The latest arrivals were some Mordvinian colonists, a +detachment from the larger settlement at Mordovsky +Boogoorooslan, nine <em class="italics">versts</em> from Bagrovo. This smaller +settlement, called Kivatsky, was within two <em class="italics">versts</em> of my +grandfather, down the river; and he made a wry face at +first; for it reminded him of old times in Simbirsk. But +the result was quite different. They were good-tempered, +quiet people, who respected my grandfather as much as +the official in charge of them.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before many years had passed, Stepan Mihailovitch +had gained the deep respect and love too of the whole +district. He was a real benefactor to his neighbours, near +or far, old or new, and especially to the latter, owing to +their ignorance of the place and lack of supplies, and the +various difficulties which always befall settlers. Too often +people start off on this difficult job without due preparation, +without even providing themselves with bread and +corn or the means to buy them. My grandfather's full +granaries were always open to such people. "Take what +you want, and pay me back next harvest, if you can; and +if you can't—well, never mind!"—with such words as +these he used to distribute with a generous hand corn seed +and flour. And more than this: he was so sensible, so +considerate towards petitioners, and so inflexibly strict in +the keeping of his word, that he soon became quite an +oracle in that newly settled corner of the spacious district +of Orenburg. Not only did he help his neighbours by his +generosity, but he taught them how to behave. To speak +the truth was the only key to his favour: a man who had +once lied to him and deceived him was ill advised if he +came again to Bagrovo: he would be certain to depart +with empty hands, and might think himself lucky if he +came off with a whole skin. My grandfather settled many +family disputes and smothered many lawsuits at their first +birth. People travelled from every quarter to seek his +advice and hear his decision; and both were punctiliously +followed. I have known grandsons and great-grandsons of +that generation and heard them speak of Stepan Mihailovitch; +and the figure of the strict master but kind benefactor +is still unforgotten. I have often heard striking +facts told about him by simple people, who shed tears and +crossed themselves as they ejaculated a prayer for his soul's +rest. It is not surprising that his peasants loved so excellent +a master; but he was loved also by his personal +servants who had often to endure the terrible storms of +his furious rage. Many of his younger servants spent +their last days under my roof; and in their old age they +liked to talk of their late master—of his strict discipline +and passionate temper, and also of his goodness and +justice; and they never spoke of him with dry eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Yet this kind, helpful, and even considerate man was +subject at times to fearful explosions of anger which utterly +defaced the image of humanity in him and made him +capable, for the time, of repulsive and ferocious actions. +I once saw him in this state when I was a child—it was +many years after the time I am writing about—and the +fear that I felt has left a lively impression on my mind to +this day. I seem to see him before me now. He was +angry with one of his daughters; I believe she had told +him a lie and persisted in it. It was impossible to recognise +his former self. He was trembling all over and supported +on each side by a servant; his face was convulsed, and +a fierce fire shot from his eyes which were clouded and +darkened with fury. "Let me get at her!"—he called +out in a strangled voice. (So far, my recollection is clear; +and the rest I have often heard others tell.) My grandmother +tried to throw herself at his feet, to intercede for +the culprit; but in an instant her kerchief and cap flew to +a distance, and Stepan Mihailovitch was dragging his wife +though she was now old and stout, over the floor by her +hair. Meantime, not only the offender, but all her sisters, +and even their brother with his young wife and little son,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id29" id="id28"><sup>14</sup></a> +had fled out of doors and sought concealment in the wood +that grew round the house. The rest of them spent the +whole night there; but the daughter-in-law, fearing that +her child would catch cold, went back and passed the night +in a servant's cottage. For a long time my grandfather +raged at large through the deserted house. At last, when +he was weary of dragging his wife about by the hair, and +weary of striking his servants, Mazan and Tanaichonok, +he dropped upon his bed utterly exhausted and soon fell +into a deep sleep which lasted till the following morning.</p> +<p class="pnext">At dawn Stepan Mihailovitch woke up. His face was +bright and clear, and his voice cheerful as he hailed his +wife. She hurried in at once from the next room, looking +as if nothing had happened the day before. "I want my +tea! Where are the children, and Alexyéi and his wife? +I want to see Seryozha"—thus spoke the madman on his +waking, and all the family appeared, composed and cheerful, +in his presence. But there was one exception. His +daughter-in-law was a woman of strong character herself, +and no entreaties could induce her to smile so soon upon +the wild beast of the day before; and her little son kept +constantly saying, "I won't go to grandfather! I'm +frightened!" She really did not feel well and excused +herself on that ground; and she kept her child in her room. +The family were horrified and expected a renewal of the +storm. But the wild beast of yesterday had wakened up +as a human being. He talked playfully over his tea and +then went himself to visit the invalid. She was really +unwell and was lying in bed, looking thin and altered. The +old man sat down beside her, kissed her, said kind things +to her, and caressed his grandson; then he left the room, +saying that he would find the day long "without his dear +daughter-in-law." Half an hour later she entered his +room, wearing a pretty dress which he used to say especially +became her, and holding her son by the hand. My +grandfather welcomed her almost in tears: "Just see!" +he said fondly; "though she was not well, she got up and +dressed, regardless of herself, and came to cheer up an old +man." His wife and daughters bit their lips and looked +down; for they all disliked his favourite; but she +answered his affectionate greeting with cheerful respect, +and looked proudly and triumphantly at her ill-wishers.</p> +<p class="pnext">But I will say no more of the dark side of my grandfather's +character. I would rather dwell on his bright +side and describe one of his good days, which I have often +and often heard spoken of.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-3 section" id="my-grandfather-on-one-of-his-good-days"> +<h3 class="level-3 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id115">4. <span class="small-caps">My Grandfather, on one of his Good Days</span></a></h3> +<p class="pfirst">It was the end of June, and the weather was very hot. +After a stifling night, a fresh breeze set in from the East +at dawn, the breeze which always flags when the sun grows +hot. At sunrise my grandfather awoke. It was hot in +his bedroom; for the room was not large, and, though +the window with its narrow old-fashioned sash was raised +as high as it would go, he had curtains of home-made +muslin round his bed. This precaution was indispensable: +without it, the wicked mosquitos would have kept him +awake and devoured him. The winged musicians swarmed +round the bed, drove their long probosces into the fine +fabric which protected him, and kept up their monotonous +serenade all through the night. It sounds absurd, but I +cannot conceal the fact that I like the shrill high note and +even the bite of the mosquito; for it reminds me of sleepless +nights in high summer on the banks of the Boogoorooslan, +where the bushes grew thick and green and all +round the nightingales called; and I remember the beating +heart of youth and that vague feeling, half pleasure and +half pain, for which I would now give up all that remains +of the sinking fire of life.</p> +<p class="pnext">My grandfather woke up, rubbed the sweat off his high +forehead with a hot hand, put his head out between the +curtains, and burst out laughing. His two servants, +Mazan and Tanaichonok, lay stretched on the floor; their +attitudes might have made any one laugh, and they snored +lustily. "Confound the rascals! How they snore!" said +my grandfather, and smiled again. You could never be +sure about Stepan Mihailovitch. It might have been +expected that such forcible language would have been +followed up by a blow in the ribs from the blackthorn staff +which always stood by his bed, or a kick, or even a salutation +in the form of a stool. But no: my grandfather had +laughed on opening his eyes, and he kept up that mood +throughout the day. He rose quickly, crossed himself +once or twice, and thrust his bare feet into a pair of old +rusty leather slippers; then, wearing only his shirt of +coarse home-made linen—my grandmother would not give +him any better—he went out upon the stoop,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id31" id="id30"><sup>15</sup></a> to enjoy +the freshness and moisture of the morning all round him.</p> +<p class="pnext">I said just now that Arina Vassilyevna would not give +her husband finer linen; and the reader will remark with +justice that this is inconsistent with the relations between +the two. I am sorry, but I cannot help it. It is really true +that female persistence triumphed, as it always does, over +male violence. My grandmother got more than one beating +over the coarse linen, but she continued to supply him +with it till at last her husband got used to it. He resorted +once to extreme measures: he took an axe and chopped +up all his objectionable shirts on the threshold of his room, +while my grandmother howled at the sight and implored +him to beat <em class="italics">her</em> rather than spoil his good clothes. But +even this device failed: the coarse shirts appeared once +more, and the victim submitted. I must apologise for +interrupting my narrative, in order to meet an imaginary +objection on the part of the reader.</p> +<p class="pnext">Without troubling any one, he went himself to the store-room, +fetched a woollen mat, and spread it out on the top +step of the stoop; then he sat down upon it, meaning to +follow his regular custom of watching the sun rise. To +see sunrise gives every man a kind of half-conscious +pleasure; and my grandfather felt an added satisfaction +when he looked down over his courtyard, by this time +sufficiently equipped with all the buildings necessary for +his farming operations. The court was not, indeed, +fenced; and the animals, when turned out of the peasants' +yards, used to pay it passing visits, before they were all +gathered together and driven to the common pasture. So +it was on this morning; and the same thing was repeated +every evening. Some pigs, fresh from the mire, rubbed +and scratched themselves against the very stoop on which +my grandfather was sitting, while they feasted with grunts +of satisfaction on crab-shells and other refuse from the +table which that unsophisticated household deposited close +to the steps. Cows and sheep also looked in, and it was +inevitable that these visitors should leave uncleanly tokens +behind them. But to this my grandfather did not object +in the least. On the contrary, he looked with pleasure +at the fine beasts, taking them as a certain indication that +his peasants were doing well. The loud cracking of the +herdsman's long whip soon evicted the trespassers. Now +the servants began to stir. The stout groom, Spiridon—known +even in advanced old age as "little Spirka"—led +out, one after another, three colts, two bays and one brown. +He tied them to a post, rubbed them down, and exercised +them at the end of a long halter, while my grandfather +admired their paces and also admired in fancy the stock +he hoped to raise from them—a dream which he realised +with entire success. Then the old housekeeper came forth +from the cellar in which she slept, and went down to the +river to wash. First she sighed and groaned, according to +her invariable custom; then she turned towards the sunrise +and said a prayer, before she set to work at washing +and scrubbing plates and dishes. Swallows and martins +twittered cheerfully as they cut circles in the air, quails +called loudly in the fields, the song of the larks rained down +from the sky, the hoarse note of the sitting landrails came +from the bushes, and the bleat of the snipe from the neighbouring +marsh, the mocking-birds imitated the nightingales +with all their might; and forth from behind the hill +issued the bright sun! Blue smoke rose in columns from +the peasants' houses and then swayed in the breeze like +the fluttering flags of a line of ships; and soon the labourers +were plodding towards the fields.</p> +<p class="pnext">My grandfather began to feel a desire for cold water to +wash in and then for his tea. He roused his two servants +from their ungainly attitudes; and they jumped up in +a great fright at first, but were soon reassured by his +good-humoured voice: "Mazan, my washing things! Tanaichonok, +wake Aksyutka and your mistress, and then tea!" +There was no need to repeat these orders: clumsy Mazan +was already flying at top speed to the spring for water, +carrying a glittering copper basin, while handy Tanaichonok +woke up Aksyutka, a young but ugly maid; and she, +while she put straight the kerchief on her head, called her +mistress, Arina Vassilyevna, now grown old and stout. +In a few minutes all the household were on their legs, and +all knew by this time that the old master had got out of +bed on the right side! A quarter of an hour later, a table +was standing by the stoop—the white tablecloth was home-made +and adorned with a pattern—a <em class="italics">samovar</em>,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id35" id="id32"><sup>16</sup></a> in the +shape of a large copper teapot, was hissing on the table, +and Aksyutka was busy about the tea. Meanwhile Arina +Vassilyevna was greeting her husband. On some mornings +it was the etiquette to sigh and look sorrowful; but +to-day she asked after his health in a loud cheerful voice: +"How had he slept? What dreams had he had?" Stepan +Mihailovitch greeted his wife affectionately and called +her "Arisha"; he never kissed her hand, but sometimes +gave her his to kiss as a sign of favour. Arina Vassilyevna, +in her pleasure, looked quite young and pretty; one forgot +her stout awkward figure. She brought a stool at once +and sat down on the stoop beside my grandfather, which +she never ventured to do unless he was in a very good +humour. "Come, Arisha, let us have a cup of tea together +before it gets hot," said Stepan Mihailovitch; "it was a +stifling night, but I slept so sound that I have forgotten all +my dreams. How did you sleep?" This question was a +signal mark of favour, and my grandmother replied at +once that, when Stepan Mihailovitch had a good night, she +of course had one too, but that Tanyusha<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id36" id="id33"><sup>17</sup></a> was restless all +night. Tanyusha was the youngest daughter and, as often +happens, her father's favourite. He was vexed to hear +this account of her, and ordered that she was not to be +called but to sleep on till she woke. She had been called +at the same time as her sisters Alexandra and Elizabeth, +and was dressed already; but no one ventured to mention +this fact. She made haste to undress, got back into bed, +and had the shutters drawn. She could not get to sleep, +but she lay in the dark for two hours; and her father was +pleased that Tanyusha had had her sleep out. The only +son,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id37" id="id34"><sup>18</sup></a> who was now nine, was never wakened early. But +the two elder daughters appeared immediately; and Stepan +Mihailovitch gave them his hand to kiss and called them by +their pet names, Lexanya and Lizanka. They were both +clever girls, and Alexandra had also inherited her father's +active mind and violent temper but none of his good +qualities. My grandmother, a very simple woman, was +entirely under the thumb of her daughters; and, whenever +she ventured to play tricks upon Stepan Mihailovitch, it +was because they had put her up to it; but she was so +clumsy that she seldom succeeded, and her husband knew +very well who was at the bottom of it. He knew also that +his daughters were prepared to deceive him whenever they +got the chance—though, for the sake of a quiet life, he let +them suppose that he was blind to their goings-on. But +this only lasted while he was in a good temper: as soon as +he got angry, he stated his view of their conduct in the +most unsparing and uncomplimentary terms, and sometimes +even chastised them. But, like true daughters of +Eve, they were not discouraged. When the fit of anger +passed and the cloud lifted from their father's brow, they +started again upon their underhand schemes, and pretty +often they were successful in carrying them out.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he had drunk his tea and talked about things in +general with his womankind, my grandfather got ready +to drive out. Some time before, he had said to Mazan, +"My horse!"—and an old brown gelding was already +standing by the steps, harnessed to a long car, a very comfortable +conveyance, with an outer frame-work of netting +and a plank, covered with felt, to sit on. Spiridon, the +driver, wore a simple livery: he had bare feet and nothing +on but his shirt, with a red woollen belt, from which hung +a key and a copper comb. On a similar occasion on the +previous day, he had worn no hat; but this had been disapproved +of, and he now wore some head-gear which he had +woven out of broad strips of bast.<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id39" id="id38"><sup>19</sup></a> My grandfather made +merry over this "sunbonnet." Then he put on his own +cap and long coat of unbleached home-made cloth, placed +beneath him his heavy cloak in case of rain, and took his +seat on the car. Spiridon also folded his coat and sat upon +it; it was made of unbleached cloth but dyed bright red +with madder. Madder grew freely in the fields round +Bagrovo, and was so much used that the servants about +the house were called by the neighbours "redbreasts"; +I have heard the nickname myself fifteen years after my +grandfather's death.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the fields, Stepan Mihailovitch found everything to +his mind. He examined the rye-crop; it was now past +flowering and stood up like a wall, as high as a man; a +light breeze was blowing, and bluish-purple waves went +over it, now lighter and now darker in the sunlight; and +the sight gladdened his heart. He visited the young oats +and millet and all the spring-sown crops, and then went to +the fallow, where he ordered his car to be driven backwards +and forwards over the field. This was his regular way of +testing the goodness of the work: any spot of ground that +had not been properly ploughed and harrowed gave the +light car a jolt; and, when my grandfather was not in a +good humour, he stuck a twig or a stick in the ground at +the place, sent for the bailiff if he was not present, and +settled accounts with him on the spot. But to-day all +went well: his wheels may have encountered such +obstacles, but he took no notice of them. His next point +was the hay-fields, where he admired the tall thick steppe-grass +which was to fall beneath the scythe before many +days were past. He paid a visit to the peasants' fields +also, to see for himself, who had a good crop and who had +not; and he drove over their fallow to test it. He noticed +everything and forgot nothing. Passing over an untilled +strip, he saw some wild strawberries nearly ripe; he stopped +and, with Mazan's help, picked a large handful of splendid +big berries, which he took home as a present for his "Arisha." +In spite of the great heat, he was out till nearly noon.</p> +<p class="pnext">As soon as my grandfather's car was seen descending +the hill, dinner was set on the table, and all the family +stood on the steps to receive him. "Well, Arisha," he +called out cheerfully, "what splendid crops God is giving +us this year! Great is His goodness! And here are some +strawberries for you; they are nearly ripe; the pickers +must go out to-morrow." This attention was almost too +much for my grandmother. As he spoke, he walked into +the house, and the smell of the hot cabbage-soup came to +meet him from the parlour. "Ah! I see dinner's ready; +good!" said Stepan Mihailovitch more cheerfully than +before, and walked straight into the parlour and sat down +at table, without visiting his own room. I should mention +that my grandfather had a rule: at whatever hour, early +or late, he returned from the fields, dinner must be on the +table, and Heaven help the women, if they did not notice +him coming and failed to serve the meal in time! There +were occasions when such neglect gave rise to sad consequences; +but, on this happy day, everything went without +a hitch. Behind my grandfather's chair stood a stout lad, +holding a birch-bough with the leaves on, to drive away the +flies. The hottest weather will not make a true Russian +refuse cabbage-soup, and my grandfather supped his with +a wooden spoon, because silver would have burnt his lips. +Soup was followed by a fish-salad, made of kippered sturgeon, +as yellow as wax, and shelled crayfish. All the courses +were of this light kind, and were washed down with <em class="italics">kvass</em><a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id41" id="id40"><sup>20</sup></a> +and home-made beer; the drinks were iced and so was the +salad. There were days when dinner was eaten in terrible +stillness and silent dread of an explosion; but this was a +cheerful meal, with much loud talking and laughing. Every +boy and girl about the place had heard that the master was +in a cheerful temper, and they all crowded into the parlour +in hopes of a "piece." He gave them all something good +to eat; for there was five times as much food on the table +as the family could eat.</p> +<p class="pnext">Immediately after dinner he went to lie down. All +flies were expelled from the bed-curtains, and the curtains +drawn round him with the ends tucked under the mattress; +and soon his mighty snoring proclaimed that the master +was asleep. All the rest went to their rooms to lie down. +Mazan and Tanaichonok, when they had had their dinner +and swallowed their share of the remnants from the dining-room +table, also lay down in the passage, close to the door +of my grandfather's bedroom. Though they had slept +before dinner, they went to sleep again at once; but they +were soon wakened by the heat and the burning rays of the +sun coming through the windows. They felt a strong +desire to cool their parched throats with some of their +master's iced beer; and the bold scamps managed to get +it in the following way. My grandfather's dressing-gown +and nightcap were lying on a chair near the half-open door +of his room. Tanaichonok put them on and sat down on +the stoop, while Mazan went off to the cellar with a jug and +wakened the old housekeeper, who like every soul in the +house was fast asleep. He said his master was awake and +wanted an iced tankard at once. She was surprised at his +waking so soon; but Mazan then pointed to the figure in +the dressing-gown and nightcap sitting on the stoop. The +beer was drawn at once and ice added; and Mazan went +quickly back with his prize. The cronies shared the jug +between them and then replaced the garments. An hour +later their master awoke in excellent humour, and his first +words were, "Iced beer!" This frightened the rascals; +and, when Tanaichonok hurried off to the cellar, the housekeeper +guessed at once where the previous jug had gone. +She produced the liquor, but followed the messenger back +herself, and found the real Simon Pure sitting on the stoop +and wearing the dressing-gown. The truth came out at +once; and Mazan and Tanaichonok shaking with fear fell +at their master's feet. And what do you think my grandfather +did? He burst out laughing, sent for his wife and +daughters, and told them the story with loud bursts of +laughter. The culprits breathed again, and one of them +even ventured to grin. But Stepan Mihailovitch noticed +this and very nearly grew angry: he frowned, but the +composing effect of his good day was so strong that his +face cleared up, and he said with a significant look, "Well, +I forgive you this once; but, if it happens again ..."—there +was no need to end the sentence.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is certainly strange that the servants of a man so +passionate and so violent in his moments of passion should +dare to be so impudent. But I have often noticed in the +course of my life that the strictest masters have the most +venturesome and reckless servants. My grandfather had +other experiences of a similar kind. This same servant, +Mazan, was sweeping out his master's room one day and +preparing to make the bed, when he was suddenly tempted +by the soft down of the bedding and pillows. He thought +he would like a little taste of luxury; so down he lay on +his master's bed and fell asleep. My grandfather himself +came upon him sound asleep, and only laughed! He did, +indeed, give the man one good rap with his staff; but that +was nothing—he only did it in order to see how frightened +Mazan would be. Worse tricks than these were played +upon Stepan Mihailovitch in his time. During his absence +from home, his cousin and ward, Praskovya Ivanovna +Bagroff, was given in marriage to a dangerous and disreputable +man whom he detested; the girl, who was only +fourteen and a great heiress, was an inmate of Bagrovo and +very dear to its owner. It is true that the plot was executed +by the girl's relations on her mother's side; but Arina +Vassilyevna gave her consent, and her daughters were +actively engaged in it. But I shall return to my narrative +for the present and leave this incident to be told +later.</p> +<p class="pnext">He woke up at five in the afternoon and drank his iced +beer. Soon afterwards he wanted his tea, in spite of the +sultry heat of the day; for he believed that a very hot +drink makes hot weather more bearable. But first he went +down to bathe in the cool waters of the river, which flowed +under the windows of the house. When he came back, the +whole family were waiting for him at the tea-table—the +same table set in the shade, with the same hissing teapot +and the same Aksyutka. When he had drunk his fill of his +favourite sudorific beverage, with cream so thick that the +curd on it was yellow, my grandfather proposed that the +whole party should make an expedition to the mill. The +plan was received with joy; and Alexandra and Tatyana, +who were fond of angling, took fishing-rods with them. +Two cars were brought round in a minute. Stepan Mihailovitch +and his wife took their seats on one, and placed +between them their one boy,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id43" id="id42"><sup>21</sup></a> the precious scion of their +ancient and noble line; while the other carried the three +daughters, with a boy to dig for worms on the mill-dam and +bait their hooks for the young ladies. When they reached +the mill, a seat was brought out for Arina Vassilyevna, and +she sat down in the shade of the building, not far from the +mill-race where her daughters were fishing. Meanwhile +Elizabeth, the eldest, partly to please her father and partly +from her own interest in such matters, went with Stepan +Mihailovitch to inspect the mill and the pounding-machine. +The little boy either watched his sisters fishing—he was not +allowed to fish himself in deep places—or played beside his +mother, who never took her eyes off him, in her fear that +the child would somehow tumble in.</p> +<p class="pnext">Both sets of millstones were at work, one making +wheat-flour for the master's table, and the other grinding +rye for a neighbour; and there was millet under the +pounding-machine. My grandfather was well acquainted +with all farming operations: he understood a mill +thoroughly and explained all the details to his attentive +and intelligent companion. He saw in a moment any +defect in the machinery or mistake in the position of the +stones. One of them he ordered to be lowered half a notch, +and the rye-meal came out finer, to the great satisfaction +of its owner. At the other stone, his ear detected at once +that one of the cogs on the small wheel was getting worn. +He stopped the current, and Boltunyónok,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id46" id="id44"><sup>22</sup></a> the miller, +jumped down beside the wheel. He looked at it and felt +it and then said, "You are quite right, <em class="italics">batyushka</em> Stepan +Mihailovitch! One of the cogs is a little worn." "A +little you call it!"—said my grandfather, not at all vexed: +"but for my coming, the wheel would have snapped this +very night!" "I am sorry I did not notice it, Stepan +Mihailovitch." "Well, never mind! Bring a new wheel, +and take the worn cog off the other; and mind the new cog +is neither thicker nor thinner than the rest; the whole +secret lies in that." The new wheel, fitted and tested beforehand, +was fixed at once and greased with tar; and the +current was turned on by degrees, also by my grandfather's +instructions; at once the stone began to hum and grind +smoothly and evenly, with no stumbling or knocking. The +visitors went next to the pounding-machine, where my +grandfather took a handful of millet from the mortar. He +blew the chaff away and said to the man who had brought +the grain to the mill, a Mordvinian and an old acquaintance: +"Have a care, friend Vaska! If you look, every grain is +pounded already, and, if you go on, you will have less of it." +Vaska tried it himself and saw that my grandfather was +right. He said, "Thank you," ducked his head by way of +bowing, and ran off to stop the current. Their last visit +was to the poultry-yard, where a large number of ducks and +geese, hens and turkeys, were looked after by an old woman +and her little grand-daughter. Everything here was in +excellent order. As a sign of special favour, my grandfather +gave both of them his hand to kiss, and ordered that +the hen-wife should get an extra allowance of 20 lbs. of +wheat-flour every month to make pies with. Stepan +Mihailovitch rejoined his wife in good spirits. Everything +had gone right: his daughter had shown intelligence, the +mill was working well, and the hen-wife, Tatyana Gorozhana,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id47" id="id45"><sup>23</sup></a> +was attending to her duties.</p> +<p class="pnext">The heat had long been abating; coolness came from +the water and from the approach of evening; a long cloud +of dust drifted along the road and came nearer the village +with the bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle; the sun +was losing light and sinking behind the steep hill. Stepan +Mihailovitch stood on the mill-dam and surveyed the wide +mirror of the pond as it lay motionless in the frame of +its sloping banks. A fish jumped from time to time; but +my grandfather was no fisherman. "Time to go home, +Arisha," he said at last: "I expect the bailiff is waiting for +me." Seeing his good humour, his daughters asked leave +to fish on: they said the fish would take better at sunset, +and they would walk home in half an hour. Leave was +given, and the old couple started for home on one of the +cars, while Elizabeth took her little brother in the other. +As Stepan Mihailovitch had expected, the bailiff was +waiting for him by the stoop, and some peasants and their +wives were there with him; they had got a hint from the +bailiff, who knew already that his master was in the right +mood, and now seized the opportunity to state some +exceptional needs or prefer some exceptional requests. +Not one of them was disappointed. To one my grandfather +gave corn, and forgave an old debt which the +man could have paid; another was allowed to marry +his son before the winter<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id50" id="id48"><sup>24</sup></a> and to a girl of their own +choosing; he gave leave to a soldier's wife,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id51" id="id49"><sup>25</sup></a> who was to be +turned out of the village for misconduct, to go on living +with her father; and so on. Nor was that all: strong +home-made spirits were offered to each of them, in a silver +cup which held more than an ordinary dram. Then my +grandfather gave his orders to the bailiff, shortly and +clearly, and went off to his supper which had been standing +ready some time. The evening meal did not differ much +from the midday dinner; but the cooler air probably gave +a keener edge to appetite. It was a custom with Stepan +Mihailovitch to send his family off to bed and sit up for half +an hour or so on the stoop, with nothing on but his shirt, +for the sake of coolness. This day he stayed there longer +than usual, laughing and jesting with Mazan and Tanaichonok; +he made them wrestle and fight with their fists, +and urged them on till they began to hit out in earnest +and even clutched each other by the hair. He had laughed +his fill; and now a word of command, and the tone it was +spoken in, brought them to their senses and parted them.</p> +<p class="pnext">All the landscape lay before him, still and wonderful, +enfolded by the short summer night. The glow of sunset +had not yet disappeared, and would go on till it gave place +to the glow of dawn. Hour by hour, the depths of the +vault of heaven grew darker; hour by hour, the stars +flashed brighter, and the cries of the night birds grew louder, +as if they were becoming more familiar with man; the clack +of the mill sounded nearer in the misty damp of the night +air. My grandfather rose from his stoop, and crossed himself +once or twice, looking at the starry sky. Then, though the +heat in his bedroom was stifling, he lay down on the hot +feather-bed and ordered his curtains to be drawn round him.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="fragment-ii-mihail-maximovitch-kurolyessoff"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id117">FRAGMENT II: MIHAIL MAXIMOVITCH KUROLYESSOFF</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">I promised to give a separate account of Mihail Maximovitch +Kurolyessoff and his marriage with my grandfather's +cousin, Praskovya Ivanovna Bagroff. This story begins +about 1760, earlier than the time described in the First +Fragment of this history, and ends much later. I shall +now fulfil my promise.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch was the only son of Mihail Bagroff; +Mihail had a brother Peter, whose only daughter was +Praskovya Ivanovna. As she was his only cousin and the +sole female representative of the Bagroff family in that +generation, my grandfather was much attached to her. +While still in the cradle she lost her mother, and her father +died when she was ten. Her mother, one of the Baktéyeff +family, was very rich and left to her daughter 900 serfs, +a quantity of money, and still more in silver and valuables; +and her father's death added 300 serfs to her property. +Praskovya Ivanovna was therefore a rich orphan, and +would bring a great fortune to her future husband. After +her father's death she lived at first with her grandmother, +Mme. Baktéyeff; then she paid a long visit to Bagrovo; +and finally Stepan Mihailovitch took her to his house as a +permanent inmate. He was quite as fond of his orphan +cousin as of his daughters and was very affectionate to her +in his own way. But she was too young, too babyish, one +might say, to appreciate her cousin's love and tenderness, +which never took the form of spoiling, while, under her +grandmother's roof, where she had spent some time, she +had grown accustomed to indulgence. So it is not surprising +that she grew tired of Bagrovo and wished to go +back to old Mme. Baktéyeff. Praskovya Ivanovna, +though she was not beautiful, had regular features and fine +intelligent grey eyes; her dark eyebrows, long and rather +thick, were a sign of her masculine strength of character; +she was tall and well-made, and looked eighteen when +she was only fourteen. But, in spite of her physical +maturity, her mind and feelings were still those of a mere +child: always lively and merry, she capered and frisked, +gambolled and sang, from morning till night. She had a +remarkable voice and was passionately fond of joining with +the maids in their singing or dancing or swinging; or, when +nothing of that kind was to be had, she played with her +dolls all day, invariably accompanying her occupation with +popular songs of all sorts, of which she knew even then an +immense number.</p> +<p class="pnext">A year before Praskovya Ivanovna went to live at +Bagrovo, Mihail Kurolyessoff, an officer in the Army, came +on leave to the Government of Simbirsk. He belonged to +a noble family in the district, and was then twenty-eight +years old. He was a fine-looking fellow, and many people +called him handsome; but some said that, in spite of his +regular features, there was something unpleasing about him; +and I remember to have heard as a child debates on this +point between my grandmother and her daughters. Entering +the Army at fifteen, he had served in a regiment of high +reputation in those days and had risen to the rank of major. +He did not often come home on leave, and he had little +reason to come, because the serfs—about 150 in all—who +formed his property, owned little land and were scattered +about. As a matter of course, he had received no proper +education, but he had a ready tongue and wrote in an easy +correct style. Many of his letters have passed through +my hands; and they prove clearly that he was a man of +sense and tact and also firm of purpose and business-like. +I don't know his exact relationship to our immortal +Suvóroff;<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id53" id="id52"><sup>26</sup></a> but I found in the correspondence some letters +from the great captain, which always begin thus—</p> +<blockquote><div> +<blockquote><div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"Dear Sir and cousin, Mihail Maximovitch,"</div> +<div class="line">and end—</div> +</div> +</div></blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">"With all proper respect for you and my worthy +cousin, Praskovya Ivanovna,</p> +<blockquote><div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"I have the honour to be," etc.</div> +</div> +</div></blockquote> +</div></blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Kurolyessoff was little known in the Government of +Simbirsk. But "rumour runs all over the earth," and +perhaps the young officer on leave permitted himself some +"distractions" as they are called; or perhaps the soldier +servant whom he brought with him, in spite of his master's +severity, let something leak out at odd times. Whatever +the reason, an opinion gradually took shape about him, +which may be summed up in the following statements—"Toe +the line, when you parade before the Major"—"Mind +your P's and Q's, when talking to Kurolyessoff"—"When +one of his men is caught out, he shows no mercy, +though he may try to shield him"—"When he says a +thing, he means it"—"He's the very devil when his +temper's up." People called him "a dark horse" and +"a rum customer"; but every one admitted his ability +as a man of business. There were also rumours, probably +proceeding from the same sources, that the Major had +certain weaknesses, which, however, he gratified with due +regard to time and place. But these failings were excused +by the charitable proverbs—"A young man must sow his +wild oats," and "It's no crime in a man to drink," and +"The man who drinks and keeps his head, Scores two +points, it must be said." So Kurolyessoff had not a +positively bad reputation; on the contrary many people +thought highly of him. Insinuating and courteous in his +address, and respectful to all persons of rank and position, +he was a welcome guest in every house. As he was a near +neighbour of the Baktéyeff family, and indeed a distant +connexion, he soon managed to make his way into their +good graces; they took a great liking to him and sounded +his praises everywhere. At first he had no special object, +but was merely following his invariable rule—to make +himself agreeable to persons of rank and wealth; but later, +when he met in their house Praskovya Ivanovna, lively, +laughing, and rich, and looking quite old enough to be +married, he formed a plan of marrying her himself and +getting her wealth into his hands. With this definite +object in view, he redoubled his attentions to her grandmother +and aunt, till the two ladies quite lost their heads +about him; and at the same time he paid court so cleverly +to the girl herself, that she soon had a liking for him, as +she naturally would for a man who agreed to everything +she said, gave her everything she asked, and spoiled her in +every possible way. Next he showed his hand to her +relations: he professed that he had fallen in love with the +orphan girl, and they believed that he was suffering all a +passionate lover's pangs, mad with longing, and haunted +by his darling's image day and night. They approved of +his plan and took the poor victim of love under their protection. +The favour and connivance of her relations made +it easy for him to proceed along his path: he did everything +he could to entertain and amuse the child—taking her out +for drives behind his spirited horses, pushing her in the +swing and sitting beside her in it himself, singing with her +the popular songs which he sang very well, giving her many +trifling presents, and ordering amusing toys for her from +Moscow.</p> +<p class="pnext">Kurolyessoff knew, however, that the consent of her +cousin and guardian was a necessary preliminary to complete +success, and therefore tried to get into the good graces +of Stepan Mihailovitch. Under various pretexts and +provided with introductory letters from Praskovya Ivanovna's +relations, he paid a visit at Bagrovo; but the visit +proved a failure. At first sight this may seem strange; +for some of the young officer's qualities were likely to +appeal to Stepan Mihailovitch. But my grandfather, as +well as his quick eye and sound sense, had that instinct, +peculiar to men who are perfectly honest and straightforward +themselves, which is instantly conscious of the +hidden guile and crooked ways even of a complete stranger—the +instinct which detects evil under a plausible exterior +and surmises its future development. Kurolyessoff's +respectful manner and polite speeches did not take him in +for a moment: he guessed at once that there was some +knavery underneath. There were other objections. My +grandfather's own life was very strict, and the reports of +the Major's peccadilloes which had casually come to his +ear, though many people treated them lightly enough, +filled his honest breast with disgust; and, though he was +himself capable of furious anger, he hated deliberate +unkindness and cold cruelty. For all these reasons +his reception of his guest was cool and dry, though +Kurolyessoff talked in a sensible practical way on all subjects +and especially the management of land. Praskovya +Ivanovna had now come to live with my grandfather; +and, when the Major began, on the strength of their old +acquaintance, to pay her compliments which she accepted +with pleasure, his host's head bent a little to one side, his +eyebrows met, and he shot a look at his guest which was +hardly hospitable. Arina Vassilyevna, on the contrary, +and her daughters, had been charmed straight off by the +young man's seductions and were quite inclined to say kind +things to him; but the storm-signals on the face of Stepan +Mihailovitch quenched their ardour and made them all +hold their tongues. The guest tried to restore the harmony +of the party and to resume their agreeable conversation. +But it was no use: he received short answers from them +all, and his host was not even quite polite. Though it was +getting late and an invitation to stay the night would +have been the natural thing, there was nothing for it but +to take his leave. "The man is a knave and rotten all +through," said Stepan Mihailovitch to his family; "but +perhaps he won't come here again." No voice was raised +to contradict him; but, behind his back, the women went +on for a long time praising the dashing young officer; and +one who liked to listen to his merits and to tell of them +herself, was the orphan girl with the large fortune.</p> +<p class="pnext">With the taste of this rebuff in his mouth, Kurolyessoff +went back and told Mme. Baktéyeff of his failure. The +people there knew my grandfather well, and at once +abandoned all hope that he would give his consent. Long +consideration brought no solution of the difficulty. The +bold Major suggested that her grandmother should invite +the girl on a visit, and that the marriage should take place +without the consent of Stepan Mihailovitch; but both +Mme. Baktéyeff and her daughter, Mme. Kurmysheff, +were convinced that Stepan Mihailovitch would not let his +cousin go alone, or, if he did, would be slow about it, and +the Major's leave was nearly at an end. Then he proposed +a desperate scheme—to induce Praskovya Ivanovna to +elope with him, and to get married in the nearest church; +but her relations would not hear of such a scandalous +expedient, and Kurolyessoff went back to his regiment. +The ways of Providence are past finding out, and we cannot +judge why it came about that this nefarious scheme was +crowned with success. Six months later, Mme. Baktéyeff +heard one day that Stepan Mihailovitch was called away to +some distance by very important business and would not +return for some time. His destination and errand I do not +know; but it was some distant place, Astrakhan or Moscow, +and the business was certainly legal, because he took with +him his man of business. A letter was sent at once to +Stepan Mihailovitch, begging that the child, during the +absence of her cousin and guardian, might stay with her +grandmother. A curt answer was received—that Parasha +was very well where she was, and, if they wished to see her, +they were welcome to visit Bagrovo and stay as long as +they liked. Stepan Mihailovitch sent this plain answer, +and gave the strictest injunctions to his always submissive +wife, that she was to watch Parasha as the apple of her eye +and never let her out of the house alone; and then he +started on his journey.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mme. Baktéyeff was constantly sending letters and +messages to Praskovya Ivanovna and my grandfather's +womankind; and she sent news of his departure at once +to Kurolyessoff, adding that the absence would be a long +one, and asking whether the Major could not come on +leave, to take a personal share in the promotion of their +scheme. She herself and her daughter went at once to +Bagrovo. She had always been on friendly terms with +Arina Vassilyevna, and now, on discovering that she also +liked Kurolyessoff, revealed the fact that the young officer +was passionately in love with Parasha; she launched out into +praise of the suitor, and said, "There is nothing I wish so +much as to see the poor little orphan comfortably settled in +my lifetime; I am sure she will be happy. I feel that I +have not long to live, and therefore I should like to hurry +on the business." Arina Vassilyevna, on her side, entirely +approved of the plan but expressed doubts whether Stepan +Mihailovitch would consent: "Heaven knows why," she +said, "but he took a strong dislike to that delightful +Kurolyessoff." Arina Vassilyevna's elder daughters were +summoned to a council presided over by Mme. Baktéyeff +and her daughter, a strong partisan of the Major's; and it +was settled that the grandmother, as the girl's nearest +relation, should manage the affair, without involving Arina +Vassilyevna and her daughters; it was to appear that they +knew nothing about it and took no hand in it. I have said +already that Arina Vassilyevna was a kind-hearted and +very simple woman; her daughters sympathised entirely +with Mme. Baktéyeff, and it is not surprising that she was +persuaded by them to promote a scheme which was sure to +provoke the furious rage of Stepan Mihailovitch.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meantime the innocent victim laughed and sang, with +no suspicion that her fate was being decided. They often +spoke of Kurolyessoff in her presence, praised him to the +skies, and assured her that he loved her more than his own +life, was constantly studying how to please her, and would +certainly bring her a number of presents from Moscow on +his next visit. All this she heard with pleasure, and often +said that she loved Kurolyessoff better than any one in the +world. While Mme. Baktéyeff was at Bagrovo, she had +a letter forwarded to her, in which Kurolyessoff assured her +that he would come, as soon as he could get leave. Arina +Vassilyevna promised to say nothing when writing to her +husband, and also to send Parasha to her grandmother's +house, in spite of her husband's strict orders to the contrary, +on the pretext that her nearest relative was dangerously +ill. When the two ladies left Bagrovo and went home, +Praskovya Ivanovna cried and asked to go with them; +the Major was expected soon, and that was an additional +attraction; but permission was refused, out of respect, it +was said, to her guardian's strict orders. Kurolyessoff had +some difficulty in getting leave, and it was two months +before he arrived. Immediately afterwards a special +messenger was despatched to Bagrovo, with a letter from +Mme. Kurmysheff to Arina Vassilyevna; the lady wrote +that her mother was desperately ill and wished to see her +grand-daughter and give her her blessing; she therefore +asked that Parasha might be sent, with an escort. She +also wrote that Stepan Mihailovitch would certainly have +sent the child to see the last of her grandmother, and could +not possibly resent this infraction of his commands. The +letter was clearly intended to be shown by Arina Vassilyevna, +in order to protect herself from her husband's +displeasure. True to her promise and reassured by this +letter, Arina Vassilyevna made her preparations at once +and took Parasha herself to the place where the grandmother +was supposed to be dying; she stayed there a week +and returned home charmed by the politeness of Kurolyessoff +and also by some presents which he had brought +from Moscow for her, and for her daughters as well. Praskovya +Ivanovna was very happy: her grandmother took +a sudden turn for the better; that fairy godmother, the +Major, had brought her a number of presents and toys +from Moscow and stayed in the house continuously. He +flattered her in every possible way, and soon took her +fancy so completely, that, when her grandmother told her +he wished to marry her, she was charmed. She ran up and +down through the house like a perfect child, telling every one +she met that she was going to marry the Major and would +have capital fun—driving all day with him behind his fine +trotters, swinging on a swing of immense height, singing, +or playing with dolls, not little dolls, but big ones that were +able to walk and bow. You can judge by this, how far +the poor little bride realised her position. Fearing that +reports might reach Stepan Mihailovitch, the plotters +went to work quickly: they invited the neighbours to a +formal betrothal, at which the pair exchanged rings and +kisses, sat side by side at table, and had their healths +drunk. At first, the bride got tired of the ceremony where +she had to sit still so long and listen to so many congratulations; +but, when she was allowed to have her new doll +from Moscow beside her, she quite cheered up, introducing +the doll to every one as her daughter, and making it curtsey +when she did, in acknowledgment of their kind wishes. +A week later, the marriage took place with all due +formality; the bride's age was given as seventeen instead +of fifteen, but no one would have guessed the truth, to +look at her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Though Arina Vassilyevna and her daughters knew +what the end must be, yet the news of the marriage, which +came sooner than they expected, filled them with horror. +The scales fell from their eyes, and they now realised what +they had been about, and that neither the grandmother's +sham illness nor her letter would serve to cover them from +the just wrath of Stepan Mihailovitch. Before she heard +of the marriage, Arina Vassilyevna had written to her +husband that she had taken the child to her grandmother: +"It was quite necessary," she wrote, "because the old +lady was in a dying state. I stayed there a whole week, +and mercifully the invalid took a good turn; but they +insisted on keeping Parasha till her grandmother got well. +I was helpless: I could not take her by force, so I agreed +against my will and hurried back to our own children, who +were quite alone at Bagrovo. And now I am afraid that +you will be angry." In answering, he said she had done +a foolish thing and told her to go back and fetch Parasha +home at all costs. Arina Vassilyevna sighed and shed +tears over this letter, and was puzzled how to act. The +young couple soon came to pay her a visit. Parasha +seemed perfectly happy and cheerful, though some of her +childish gaiety had gone. Her husband seemed happy too, +and at the same time so composed and sensible that his +clever arguments had power to lull Arina Vassilyevna's +fears to rest. He proved to her convincingly that her +husband's wrath must all fall upon the grandmother: +"And she," said he, "owing to that dangerous illness—though +now, thank God! she is better—had a perfect right +not to wait for the consent of Stepan Mihailovitch; she +knew that he would be slow in giving it, though of course +he must have given it in time. It was impossible for her +to delay, owing to her critical condition, and it would have +been hard for her to die without seeing her orphan grand-daughter +settled in life; her place could not be filled even +by a brother, far less by a mere cousin." Many soothing +assurances of this kind were forthcoming, backed by some +very handsome presents which were received by the Bagrovo +ladies with great satisfaction and some sinking of heart. +Other presents were left, to be given to Stepan Mihailovitch. +Kurolyessoff advised Arina Vassilyevna not to +write to her husband till he answered the letter of intimation +from the young couple; and he assured her that he and +his wife would write this at once. He did not really dream +of writing: his sole object was to delay the explosion and +get time to take root in his new position. Immediately +after his marriage, he applied for leave to retire from the +Army, and got it very soon. He then began by paying a +round of visits with his bride to all the relations and friends +on both sides. At Simbirsk he began by calling on the +Governor and neglected no one of any importance who +could be useful to him. All were enthusiastic in praise of +the handsome young couple, and they were so popular +everywhere, that the marriage was soon sanctioned by +public opinion. Thus several months passed away.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch had had no news from home for +a long time, and his lawsuit dragged on interminably. He +was suddenly seized by a longing to see his family again, +and returned one fine day to Bagrovo. Arina Vassilyevna +trembled all over when she heard the awful words, +"The master has come!" Hearing that all were alive +and well, he entered his house in high spirits, kissed his +Arisha and daughters and son, and then asked in an easy +tone, "But where on earth is Parasha<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id55" id="id54"><sup>27</sup></a>?" Encouraged +by her husband's kind manner, Arina Vassilyevna answered: +"I don't know for certain where she is; perhaps, with her +grandmother. Of course you heard long ago, <em class="italics">batyushka</em>, +that she was married." I shall not describe my grandfather's +amazement and fury; but his fury became twice +as hot, when he heard the name of the bridegroom. He +was proceeding to settle accounts with his wife on the spot, +when she and all her daughters fell at his feet and showed +him Mme. Baktéyeff's letter; thus she had time to convince +him that she knew nothing about it and had been +deceived herself. The fury of Stepan Mihailovitch was now +diverted to Mme. Baktéyeff; he ordered fresh horses to be +ready, rested two hours, and then galloped straight off to +her house. The battle royal that took place between the +two may be imagined. The old lady stood his first torrent +of unmeasured abuse without flinching; then she drew +herself up, grew hot in her turn, and delivered her own +attack upon my grandfather. "How dare you make this +furious assault on me," she asked, "as if I was your bond-slave? +Do you forget that my birth is quite as good as +yours, and that my late husband held a much higher rank +than you? I am a nearer relation to Parasha, I am her +own grandmother, and her guardian as much as you are. +I arranged for her settlement without waiting for your +consent, because I was dangerously ill and did not wish to +leave her dependent upon you. I knew your infernal +temper; under your roof, the child would have had a taste +of the stick some day. Kurolyessoff is an excellent match +for her, and Parasha fell in love with him of herself. Everybody +likes him and praises him. I know he did not take +your fancy; but just ask your own family, and you will +soon find out that they can't say enough in his praise!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You lie, you old swindler!" roared my grandfather; +"you deceived my wife by pretending that you were dying! +Kurolyessoff has bewitched you and your daughter by the +power of the devil, and you have sold your grand-daughter +into his hands!"</p> +<p class="pnext">This was too much for Mme. Baktéyeff, and she let out +in her rage that Arina Vassilyevna and her daughters were +in league with her and had themselves accepted presents at +different times from Kurolyessoff. This disclosure turned +the whole force of my grandfather's rage back upon his +own family. He threatened that he would dissolve the +marriage on the ground that Parasha was not of age, and +then started home. On the way he turned aside to visit +the priest who had performed the ceremony, and called +him to account. But the priest met his attack very coolly, +and showed him with no hesitation the certificate of affinity, +the signatures of the grandmother, the bride, and the +witnesses, and also the baptismal certificate which alleged +that Praskovya Ivanovna was seventeen. This was a +fresh blow to my grandfather, for it deprived him of all +hope of breaking the hateful marriage; and it increased +enormously his anger against his wife and daughters. I +shall not dwell upon his behaviour when he got home: it +would be too painful and repulsive. Thirty years later, my +aunts could never speak of that day without trembling. I +shall only say, that the culprits made a full confession, that +he sent back all the presents, including those intended for +himself, to Mme. Baktéyeff, to be forwarded to the proper +quarter, that the elder daughters long kept their beds, and +that my grandmother lost all her hair and went about for +a whole year with her head bandaged. He sent a message +to the Kurolyessoffs forbidding them to dare to appear +before him, and ordered that their names should never be +mentioned in his house.</p> +<p class="pnext">Time rolled on, healing wounds whether of mind or +body, and calming passions. Within a year Arina Vassilyevna's +head was healed, and the anger in the heart of +Stepan Mihailovitch had cooled. At first he refused either +to see or hear of the Kurolyessoffs, and would not even +write to Praskovya Ivanovna; but, when a year had passed +and he heard from all quarters good accounts of her way +of life, and was told that she had suddenly become sensible +beyond her years, his heart softened and he became anxious +to see the cousin whom he had loved. He reasoned that +she, as a perfect child, was less to blame than any of the +rest, and gave her leave to come, without her husband, to +Bagrovo; and, as a matter of course, she came at once. +The reports were true: one year of marriage had wrought +such a change in Praskovya Ivanovna, that Stepan Mihailovitch +could hardly believe it. It was puzzling also, that +she now showed towards her cousin a kind of love and +gratitude which she had never felt in her girlhood, and was +still less likely, one would think, to feel after her marriage. +In his eyes, which filled with tears when they met, did she +read how much love was concealed under that harsh +exterior and that arbitrary violence? Had she any dark +foreboding of the future, or did she dimly realise that here +was her one support and stay? Or did she feel unconsciously, +that the rough cousin who had opposed her happiness +and still disliked her husband, loved her better than +all the women who had indulged her by falling in with all +her childish wishes? I cannot answer these questions; but +all were struck by the change. In her careless childhood +she had been indifferent to her cousin, thinking little of +his rights and her duties; and now she had every reason +to resent his treatment of her grandmother; yet she felt +to him now as a devoted daughter feels to a tender father +when both have long known and loved one another. Whatever +the cause of it, this sudden feeling ended only with +her life.</p> +<p class="pnext">But what was the remarkable change that had come over +so young a woman as Praskovya Ivanovna, after one year +of married life? The foolish child had turned into a +sensible but cheerful woman. She frankly confessed that +they had all behaved badly to Stepan Mihailovitch. For +herself only she pleaded youth and ignorance, and, for her +grandmother, her husband, and the rest, their blind devotion +to her. She did not ask him to pardon the chief criminal +at once; but she hoped that in time, when he saw her +happiness and the unwearied care with which her husband +managed her property and looked after her estates, her +cousin would forgive the culprit and admit him at Bagrovo. +My grandfather, though he made no answer at the time, +was completely conquered by this appeal. He did not +keep his "clever cousin"—as he now began to call her—long +at his house; he said that her place was now elsewhere, +and soon sent her back to her husband. At parting, +he said: "If you are as well satisfied with your +husband a year hence, and if he behaves as well to you +as he does now, I shall be reconciled to him." A year +later, as he knew that Kurolyessoff was behaving well and +paying the utmost attention to the management of his +wife's property, and found his cousin, when he saw her, +looking healthy and happy and cheerful, Stepan Mihailovitch +told her to bring her husband with her to Bagrovo. +He received Kurolyessoff cordially, frankly confessed his +former doubts, and ended by promising to treat him as +a kinsman and friend, on condition of continued good +conduct. The guest behaved very cleverly: he was less +furtive and less insinuating than he used to be, but just as +respectful, attentive, and tactful. His bearing was clearly +more confident and self-assured; he was giving the closest +attention to agricultural problems, on which he asked advice +from my grandfather—advice which he took in very quickly +and followed with remarkable skill. He was connected in +some distant way with Stepan Mihailovitch, and addressed +him as "uncle" and treated the rest of the family as +relations. Even before the scene of reconciliation or +forgiveness, he had rendered a service of some kind to +Stepan Mihailovitch; my grandfather was aware of this +and thanked him for it now; he even gave him a similar +commission to execute. In fact, the visit passed off very +well. But, though all the circumstances seemed to speak +in favour of Kurolyessoff, my grandfather still said: +"The lad is all right: he is clever and sensible; but +somehow I don't take to him."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was in the course of the next year that Stepan +Mihailovitch made his move to the district of Ufa. For +three years after his marriage, Kurolyessoff behaved with +discretion and moderation, or at least concealed his conduct +with such care that nothing got round. Besides, he was +constantly moving about and spent little time at home. +There was only one report, which spread everywhere with +exaggeration—that the young landowner was a very strict +master. During the next two years he did wonders in +the way of improving his wife's property, and established +his character for unceasing activity, bold enterprise, and +steadfast perseverance in the execution of his schemes. +The property had been mismanaged previously: the land +had been injured by neglect, and the peasants brought in +very little income, not because there was no market for +their grain, but because they were spoilt and lazy, and had +too little land; and another difficulty was that some of +them belonged to three different owners—Mme. Baktéyeff +and her daughter as well as Praskovya Ivanovna. Kurolyessoff +began by transferring some of the peasants to new +ground, while he sold the old land at a good profit. He +bought about 20,000 acres of steppe in the Government of +Simbirsk (now Samára) and the district of Stavropolsk—excellent +arable land, level and easy to plough, with over +three feet of black soil. The land lay on the river Berlya, +which had some coppices on its banks near the source; +and there was also "Bear Hollow," which was left untouched +for some time and is now the only forest on the +property. He settled 350 serfs here. This estate turned +out highly profitable, because it was only a hundred <em class="italics">versts</em> +from Samára and about fifty from a number of ports on +the Volga. It is well known that the value of an estate +in our country depends entirely upon the market for grain.</p> +<p class="pnext">Next, Kurolyessoff went off to the district of Ufa and +bought from the Bashkirs 60,000 acres. The soil, though +good, was not as productive as that in Simbirsk, but there +was a considerable quantity of wood, not only firewood, +but timber for building. He planted two colonies there, +one of 450 serfs and the other of 50; and he called the +larger "Parashino" and the smaller "Ivanovka." As +the Simbirsk estate was called "Kurolyessovo," each of +the properties bore one of the names of his wife. Such +a romantic fancy has always seemed to me curious, considering +the sort of man that Kurolyessoff turned out to +be; but some will maintain that these inconsistencies are +common enough. He also made a seat for himself and his +wife in the village of Choorassovo, fifty <em class="italics">versts</em> from Simbirsk; +this was a separate property of 350 serfs which his +wife had inherited from her mother. He built there a +splendid mansion, according to the ideas of those days, +with all the usual appurtenances; it was finely decorated +and furnished, and painted with frescoes inside and out; +the chandeliers and bronzes, the silver plate and china, +were a wonder to behold. The house was situated on the +slope of a hill, from which more than twenty excellent +springs came bubbling out. The house and the hill stood +in the centre of an orchard, very large and productive, +stocked with apple-trees and cherry-trees of every possible +sort. The internal arrangements—the service and cooking, +the horses and carriages—were luxurious and substantial. +There was a constant succession of visitors at Choorassovo, +either country neighbours, of whom there were a good +many, or people from Simbirsk; they ate and drank, took +walks and played cards, sang and talked, and were generally +noisy and merry. Kurolyessoff dressed his wife up like +a doll, anticipated all her wishes, and entertained her from +morning till night, that is, when he happened to be at home. +In short, after a few years, he had attained such a position +all round, that good people admired him and bad people +envied him. Nor did he forget the claims of religion: +in place of an old tumbledown wooden erection, he built a +new church of stone and equipped it splendidly; he even +formed an excellent choir out of the household servants. +Praskovya Ivanovna was quite contented and happy. +She gave birth to a daughter in the fourth year of her +marriage, and to a son a year later, but she soon lost them, +the girl in infancy, and the boy when he was three. She +had become so attached to the boy that this loss cost her +dear. For a whole year her eyes were never dry, her +excellent constitution was seriously affected, and she had +no more children. Meanwhile her husband's reputation +and influence grew by leaps and bounds. It is true that +his behaviour to the small landowners was arbitrary and +harsh; yet they, if they did not like him, were exceedingly +afraid of him; and people of importance thought it only +to his credit, that he made his inferiors know their proper +place. His absences from home became more frequent +and longer, from year to year, especially after the sad year +in which Praskovya Ivanovna lost her son and would not +be comforted. It is probable that he grew weary of tears +and sighs and solitude; for she refused to have any visitors +for a whole year. But indeed the most cheerful and noisy +society at Choorassovo was no attraction to Kurolyessoff.</p> +<p class="pnext">Little by little, certain rumours began to spread abroad +and gain strength. According to these reports, the Major +was not merely strict, as was said before, but cruel; in +the privacy of his estates at Ufa he gave himself up to +drink and debauchery; he had gathered round him a +band, with whom he drank and committed excesses of +every kind; and, worse still, several victims had already +been killed by him in the fury of his drunken violence. +The police and magistrates of the district, it was said, +were all his creatures: he had bribed some with money +and others with drink and terrorised them all. The small +landowners and inferior officials went in terror of their +lives: if any dared to act or speak against him, they were +seized in broad daylight and imprisoned in cellars or corn-kilns, +where they were fed on bread and water and suffered +the pangs of cold and hunger; and some were unmercifully +flogged with an instrument called a "cat." Kurolyessoff +had a special fancy for this implement, which was merely +a leather whip with seven tails and knots at the end of +each tail. They remained for some time after Kurolyessoff's +death in a store-room at Parashino, for show, not for use; +and I saw them there myself; they were burnt by my +father when he inherited the property. These reports +were only too well founded: the reality far surpassed the +timid whisper of rumour. Kurolyessoff's thirst for blood, +inflamed to madness by strong drink, grew unchecked to +its full proportions, till it presented one of those horrible +spectacles at which humanity shudders and turns sick. +The instinct of the tiger is terrible indeed, when combined +with the reasoning power of a man.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last the rumours were changed into certain knowledge; +and of all the people with whom Praskovya Ivanovna +lived—relations, neighbours, and servants, every one +knew the real truth about Kurolyessoff. When he returned +to Choorassovo from the scene of his exploits, he +always showed the same respect to rank, the same friendly +attention to his equals, the same anxiety to please his wife. +She had now got over her loss and had recovered health +and spirits; the house was as full of visitors as it used to +be, and something was always going on. At Choorassovo, +Kurolyessoff never struck any of the servants, leaving the +bailiff and the butler in sole possession of this amusement; +but they all knew about him and trembled at a mere look. +Even relations and intimate friends showed some discomfort +and embarrassment in his company. But Praskovya Ivanovna +noticed nothing, or, if she did, ascribed it to a quite +different cause—the involuntary respect which every one +felt for her husband's remarkable success as a landowner, +his splendid establishment, and his general intelligence and +firmness of purpose. Sensible people who loved Praskovya +Ivanovna, when they saw her perfectly composed and happy, +were glad of her ignorance and hoped it might last as long +as possible. There were, no doubt, some women among +her dependants and humble neighbours whose tongues +itched uncommonly, and who felt a strong desire to pay +the Major out for his contemptuous treatment of them, +by disclosing the truth; but, apart from the fear they +could not help feeling, which would probably not have +deterred them, there was another obstacle which prevented +the fulfilment of their kind intentions. It was +simply impossible to bring any tales against her husband +to Praskovya Ivanovna. She was clever, keen-sighted, +and determined; and, as soon as she detected any hidden +innuendo to the detriment of Kurolyessoff, she knitted +her dark eyebrows and said in her downright way that any +offence of the kind would be punished by perpetual exclusion +from her house. As the natural result of such a +significant warning, nobody ventured to interfere in what +was not their business. There were two servants in the +house, a favourite attendant of her late father's and her +own old nurse, whom she specially favoured, though they +were not admitted to such close intimacy as old servants +often were in those days; but they too were powerless. To +them it was a matter of life and death that their mistress +should know the real truth about her husband; for they +had near relations who were personal attendants of Kurolyessoff's +and were suffering beyond endurance from their +master's cruelty. At last they determined to tell the whole +story to their mistress. They chose a time when she was +alone, and went together to her room; but the old nurse +had hardly mentioned Kurolyessoff's name, when Praskovya +Ivanovna flew into a violent passion. She told the +woman that, if she ever again ventured to open her mouth +against her master, she would banish her from her presence +for ever and send her to live at Parashino. Thus all +possible channels were blocked, and all mouths were +stopped, that might have informed against the criminal. +Praskovya Ivanovna loved her husband and trusted him +absolutely. She knew that people like to meddle with +what does not concern them, and like to trouble the water, +that they may catch fish; and she had made up her mind +at once and laid down an absolute rule, to listen to no +tales against her husband. It is an excellent rule, and +indispensable for the preservation of domestic peace. But +there is no rule that does not admit of exceptions; and +perhaps, in the present case, the resolute temper and strong +will of the wife, added to the fact that all the wealth +belonged to her, might have checked the husband at the +outset of his career. As a sensible man, he would not have +cared to deprive himself of all the advantages of a luxurious +life; he would not have gone to such extremes or given +such free play to his monstrous passions. It is more likely +that, like many other men, he would have taken his +pleasures in moderation and with precaution.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus several years went by, during which Kurolyessoff +gave himself up without restraint to his evil tendencies. +His degeneration was rapid, and at last he began to commit +incredible crimes, and always with impunity. I shall not +describe in detail the kind of life he led on his estates, +especially at Parashino, and also in the villages of the +district; the story would be too repulsive. I shall say no +more than is necessary to convey a true conception of +this formidable man. During the early years when his +whole attention was given to organising his wife's estates, +he deserved to be called the most far-seeing, practical, +and watchful of agents. To all the infinitely various and +troublesome business, involved in removing peasants and +settling them down in distant holdings, he gave his personal +and unremitting attention. He kept constantly in view +one object only, the well-being of his dependants. He +could spend money where it was needed; he saw that it +came to hand at the right time and in the right quantity; +he anticipated all the wants and requirements of the +settlers. He accompanied them himself for a great part +of their journey, and met them himself at the end of it, +where they found everything prepared for their reception. +It is true that he was too severe and even cruel in the +punishment of culprits; but he was just, and could keep +his eyes shut at times. From time to time he allowed +himself a little relaxation, when he disappeared for a day +or two to amuse himself; but he could throw off the effects +of his debauchery like water off a duck's back, and come to +work again with fresh vigour.</p> +<p class="pnext">So long as he had the burden of his work upon his +shoulders, it took up all his powers of mind and kept him +from the fatal passion for drink, which robbed him of his +senses and removed the curb from his monstrous inhuman +passions. Work was his salvation; but, when he had got +both the new estates, Kurolyessovo and Parashino, into +order, and built manor-houses at both, with a second +smaller house at Parashino, then came the season of little +work and much leisure. Drunkenness, with its usual +consequences, and violence, gained complete mastery over +him, and developed by degrees into an insatiable thirst for +human blood and human suffering. Encouraged by the +passive fear of all around him, he soon ceased to set any +limit to his arbitrary violence. He chose from among his +dependants a score of ruffians, fit instruments for his +purposes, and formed them into a band of robbers. They +saw that their master bore a charmed life, and believed +in his power; drunken and debauched themselves, they +carried out all his insane orders willingly and boldly. If +any man offended Kurolyessoff by the slightest independence +in word or action—if, for example, he failed to turn +up when invited to one of their drunken revels—the gang +set off at once at a sign from their master, seized the culprit +either secretly or openly wherever they found him, and +brought him back to Parashino, where he was treated with +insult and chained up in a cellar underground or flogged by +their master's orders. Kurolyessoff was a man of taste: +he liked good horses, and he liked good pictures—he +thought them good at least—to adorn his walls. If +anything of the kind took his fancy in a neighbour's house +or in any house where he happened to be, he at once proposed +an exchange; in case of a refusal, he would sometimes, +if he was in a good humour, offer money; but, if this also +was refused, he gave warning that he would take it and +give nothing for it. And he did actually turn up with his +gang a short time after, pack up whatever he wanted, and +carry it off. Complaints were made, and the preliminary +steps for an inquiry were taken. But Kurolyessoff saw this +must be stopped at once. He sent a message to the +district magistrate, that he would flay with the "cat" any +officer of the law who dared to present himself; and he +remained master of the situation. Meantime the man who +had dared to complain was seized and beaten, on his own +estate and in his own house, with his wife and children +kneeling round and imploring mercy. It was Kurolyessoff's +custom to make it up with his victims after a time: sometimes +he offered them pecuniary compensation, but more +often he restored peace by terrorising them; in any case, +the stolen goods remained his lawful property. During +his carouses he liked to boast that he had taken "that +pretty thing in the gilt frame" from so-and-so, and that +inlaid writing-table from some one else; and often these +very people were sitting at the table, pretending to be +deaf or plucking up heart to laugh at their own losses. +There were even worse acts of violence, but these also +went scot free.</p> +<p class="pnext">Kurolyessoff had a very powerful constitution: though +he drank a great deal, it never disabled him but only put +him on the move and roused a horrible activity in his +clouded brain and inflamed body. One of his favourite +amusements was to harness teams of spirited horses to a +miscellaneous assortment of carriages, to pack the carriages +with his ragtag and bobtail of men and women, and then +scour over the fields and through the villages at full gallop, +with the jingling of bells and the singing and shouting of +his drunken rabble. He took a stock of liquor with him +on these occasions and made every one he met, without +regard to calling or sex or age, drink till they were intoxicated; +and any one who dared to refuse was first +flogged, and then tied to a tree or a post, though it might +be raining or freezing at the time. Of more revolting +acts of violence I say nothing. One day he was driving +in this state of mind through a village, and, as he passed +a threshing-floor, noticed a woman of remarkable beauty. +"Stop!" he called out. "Petrushka, what do you think +of that woman?" "She's uncommonly pretty," said +Petrushka. "Would you like to marry her?" "How +can I marry another man's wife?" asked Petrushka with +a grin on his face. "I'll show you how! Seize her, my +lads, and put her in the carriage beside me!" They did +so; the woman was taken straight to the parish church, +and there, though she protested that she had a husband +living and two children, was married to Petrushka; +and no complaints were made either in Kurolyessoff's +lifetime or in that of his widow. When the estate came +into my father's hands, he restored this woman with +her husband and children to her former owner; her first +husband had long been dead. My father also distributed +various articles of property to their former owners when +they asked for them; but many of the things had got worn +out by tossing about in lumber-rooms. It is hard to +believe that such things could happen in Russia, even +eighty years ago; but the truth of the narrative it is +impossible to dispute.</p> +<p class="pnext">This life of drunken and criminal violence, horrible and +disgusting enough in itself, led on to worse, till the man's +natural cruelty became a ferocious thirst for blood. To +inflict torture became with him a necessity as well as a +pleasure. On the days when he could not gratify this +passion, he was depressed and listless, uneasy and even ill; +and this was why his visits to Choorassovo grew steadily +rarer and his stay there shorter. But, on his return to the +solitude of Parashino, he made haste to reward himself for +his abstinence. He had only to watch the labourers at +their work, to secure a sufficient number of victims; no +excuses were accepted, and it is always possible to find +trifling cases of neglect on the land if you are determined +to hunt for them. Yet it was the personal servants and +people about the house who suffered most from his ferocity. +He seldom flogged a peasant, unless the man had committed +a serious offence or was personally known to him; +but his bailiffs and clerks suffered as much at his hands as +the household servants. He spared no one: every one +of his favourites had, some time or other, been flogged +within an inch of his life, and some of them many times. +It is remarkable that, when Kurolyessoff got violently +angry, which seldom happened, he did not use violence; +but, when he had got hold of a man and intended to torture +him for his own amusement, he would say in a quiet and +even affectionate tone: "Well, my good friend Grigóri +Kuzmitch,"—Grishka<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id58" id="id56"><sup>28</sup></a> being his usual name—"it can't +be helped; come, and I will settle accounts with you." +Thus he would speak to his head-groom, who for some +unknown reason was put to the torture more often than +others. "Scratch him up a bit with the cat," said the +master with a smile, and then the torture went on for hours, +while the master drank tea with brandy in it, smoked his +pipe, and from time to time passed jests on his victim till +unconsciousness supervened. Trustworthy witnesses have +assured me that only one expedient proved successful in +saving life after such an ordeal: the lacerated body of +the victim was wrapped up in sheepskins taken warm from +the animals' backs as soon as they were slaughtered. +Kurolyessoff would carefully examine his victim; then, +if content, he would say, "Well, that's enough; take him +away"—and then he became cheerful, jocular, and amiable +for the whole day and sometimes for several days. In order +to complete the portrait of this monster, I shall quote his +own words which he repeated more than once among his +boon-companions: "Don't talk to me of the knout or the +stick! They kill a man before you mean it. The 'cat' +is the thing for me: it gives pain without taking life!" +I have told here only a tithe of what I know, but perhaps +I have said enough. It is remarkable, as an instance of the +inexplicable inconsistencies of corrupt human nature, that +Kurolyessoff, at a time when he had reached the extreme +limit of debauchery and cruelty, was zealously engaged in +building a stone church at Parashino. At the time I am +about to describe, the outside of the church was finished, +and workmen had been hired for the internal decoration: +carpenters, carvers, gilders, and <em class="italics">ikon</em><a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id59" id="id57"><sup>29</sup></a>-painters had been at +work for some months and were occupying all the smaller +manor-house of Parashino.</p> +<p class="pnext">Praskovya Ivanovna had now been married fourteen +years. She noticed something strange about her husband, +whom for two years she had only seen at long intervals +for a few days at a time, but she did not even suspect anything +like the truth. She went on with her easy cheerful +way of life: in summer she gave great attention to her +orchard and the water-springs which she left in their +natural state and liked to clean out with her own hands; +at other seasons she spent her time with her visitors and +became a great lover of cards. Suddenly she received, by +post or special messenger, a letter from an old lady for +whom she had great respect, a distant relation of her +husband's. This letter gave a full description of Kurolyessoff's +life, and ended in this way, that it would be +sinful not to open the eyes of the mistress of a thousand +serfs, when they were suffering such monstrous cruelty and +she could protect them by cancelling the legal authority +she had given her husband to manage her estates. "Their +blood cries to heaven," she wrote, "and at this moment +a servant known to you, Ivan Onufrieff, is dying in consequence +of cruel maltreatment. You have nothing to +fear yourself from Kurolyessoff: he will not venture to +show his face at Choorassovo, and your good neighbours +and the Governor himself will protect you."</p> +<p class="pnext">This letter fell like a thunderbolt on Praskovya +Ivanovna. I have heard her say myself that she was quite +stunned for some minutes; but she was supported by her +firm faith in God and the uncommon strength of her will, +and soon determined on a step from which most brave men +would have shrunk. She ordered horses to be harnessed, +saying that she was going to Simbirsk, and then, with one +maid and a man and the coachman, drove straight to +Parashino. It was a long journey of 400 <em class="italics">versts</em>, and she had +plenty of leisure to think over what she was doing. She +used to say herself that she had formed no plan of action +whatever; she merely wished to see with her own eyes +and find out for certain what her husband was doing and +how he lived. She did not entirely trust the letter from +his kinswoman, who lived at a distance and might have +been deceived by false reports; and she did not choose to +question her old nurse at Choorassovo. The thought of +danger never entered her head: her husband had always +been so gentle and respectful with her, that it seemed to +her quite natural and quite possible to induce him to return +in her carriage to Choorassovo. She timed herself to arrive +at Parashino in the evening, left her carriage outside the +village, and walked unrecognised—few of the people there +knew her—accompanied by her maid and man, to the court +of the mansion-house. She passed through the back +entrance, made her way to a wing from which loud sounds +of singing and laughter were issuing, and opened the door +with a steady hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fortune, as if on purpose, had brought together everything +that could reveal at one flash the kind of life her +husband was leading. More intoxicated than usual, he was +carousing with his boon-companions. Dressed in a shirt +of red silk, he held a glass of punch in one hand<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id62" id="id60"><sup>30</sup></a> +while a tipsy herd of servants, retainers, and country +women danced and sang before him. Praskovya Ivanovna +nearly fainted at the sight. She understood all now. +Unnoticed, because the room was crowded with people, +she shut the door and left the house. On the steps she +came face to face with one of Kurolyessoff's servants, not +a young man, and, fortunately, sober. He recognised his +mistress and was just calling out, "<em class="italics">Matushka</em><a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id63" id="id61"><sup>31</sup></a> Praskovya +Ivanovna, is it you?"—when she put her hand over his +mouth and led him to the centre of the courtyard. She said +in an ominous voice, "Is this the way you go on behind +my back? The days of your feasting and dancing are +done." The man fell at her feet weeping and said: "<em class="italics">Matushka</em>, +do you suppose that <em class="italics">we</em> find pleasure in his goings-on, +that <em class="italics">we</em> are responsible? God himself has brought you +here." She told him to be silent and take her to see Ivan +Onufrieff; she had heard that he was still living. She +found him in a dying state, lying in a cow-byre in the backyard. +He was too weak to tell her anything; but his +brother, Alexyéi, a mere lad, who had been flogged only the +day before, crawled somehow from his pallet, fell on his +knees, and told her what had befallen his brother and +himself and others as well. Praskovya Ivanovna's heart +swelled with pity and horror. She felt that she also was to +blame, and she formed a firm resolve to put an end to the +crimes and atrocities of Kurolyessoff. She thought there +would be no difficulty. She gave strict orders that her +presence should be kept secret. Then, as she heard that +the smaller house, which had been built some years before, +but, from some caprice of her husband's, never furnished, +contained one habitable room unoccupied by the workmen, +she went off, intending to pass the remainder of the night +there and to speak next morning to her husband when he +was sober. But the secret of her arrival was not strictly +kept. The report reached the ear of one of the most +desperate of Kurolyessoff's gang, and he, moved by devotion +or by fear, whispered it to his master. Kurolyessoff was +dumbfounded by the news; it sobered him in a moment; +he felt uneasy and scented danger ahead. His wife's firm +and masculine temper had found few opportunities to +display itself hitherto, but he guessed that it was there. +Dismissing his band of revellers, he had two buckets of +cold water poured over his head; and then, braced up +and invigorated by this expedient, he changed into ordinary +clothing and went to see if his wife was asleep. He had +had time to reflect and fix on a line of action. He guessed +the truth, that Praskovya Ivanovna had received from +some quarter information as to his way of life, but that she +was incredulous and had come to Parashino to ascertain +the truth herself. He knew that her eye had rested for a +moment on his revels, but he did not know that she had +seen Onufrieff and that Alexyéi had told her the whole +story. He intended to play the repentant sinner, to excuse +himself as best he could for his riotous debauch, to pour +oil on the troubled waters by his delicate attentions, and +to take his wife away as soon as possible from Parashino.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was morning by now, and the sun had actually risen. +Kurolyessoff stole on tiptoe to the room occupied by Praskovya +Ivanovna and softly opened the door. A bed had +been made for her on the top of a chest, but the sheets were +still smooth and no one had lain down on them. He looked +all round the room and saw Praskovya Ivanovna. She +was kneeling in prayer; there was no <em class="italics">ikon</em> in the room, +and her eyes, full of tears, were fixed upon the Cross on the +church, which was just opposite the window and glittered +in the rays of the rising sun. He remained standing a +few moments, and then said in a playful voice: "You +have prayed long enough, my dear! I am delighted to +see you. What made you think of coming?" Praskovya +Ivanovna rose from her knees with no sign of confusion; +she refused her husband's embrace; then, concealing the +flame of her just anger under a cold determined manner, +she told him that she knew all and had seen Ivan Onufrieff. +She expressed in plain terms her aversion to the monster +whom she could no longer regard as her husband, and she +passed sentence upon him: he was to return the document +which gave him authority over her estates, to leave Parashino +at once, never to appear before her again, and never +to set foot on any of her lands; if he refused, she would +petition the Governor of the province, and reveal all his +crimes; and his fate would be Siberia and penal servitude. +Kurolyessoff was taken by surprise; he foamed at the +mouth with rage and anger. "So that is the way you +talk to me, my beauty! Then I shall change my tune +too!" roared the infuriated ruffian. "You shall not +leave Parashino till you sign a document transferring all +your estates to me; if you refuse, I shall shut you up in a +cellar and starve you to death." Then he caught up a +stick from a corner of the room, felled his wife to the floor +with his first blows, and went on beating her till she lost +her senses. Next he ordered some of his trusted servants +to carry their mistress to a stone cellar, which he locked with +a huge padlock and put the key in his pocket. He was a +formidable figure when he appeared before the assembled +household; he had summoned them all, in order to discover +the culprit who had led his mistress to the cow-byre; +but the man had already sought safety in flight, +accompanied by the coachman and manservant who had +come from Choorassovo. The fugitives were pursued at +once. Kurolyessoff did no injury to the maid, who had +refused to desert her mistress: he gave her directions for +exhorting the prisoner to submission, and then locked her +up with his own hands in the same cellar. What did +Kurolyessoff do next? He began to drink and riot more +furiously than before. But alas! in vain did he swallow +brandy like water, in vain did his revel rout dance and sing +before him—he had turned gloomy and sullen. Yet this +did not prevent him from working indefatigably for the +attainment of his purpose. He procured from the local +town a legal document by which Praskovya Ivanovna +professed to sell Parashino and Kurolyessovo to one of his +disreputable friends—Choorassovo he was kind enough to +leave to her—and twice a day he went down to the cellar +and pressed his wife to sign the paper; he begged pardon +for his violence in the heat of the moment, promised that +if she consented she should never see him again, and took +an oath that he would restore all her property to her by +his will. But Praskovya Ivanovna, though bruised and +half-starved and suffering from fever, refused even to +listen to any compromise whatever. So things went on +for five days, and God only knows how it would all have +ended.</p> +<p class="pnext">All this time my grandfather Stepan Mihailovitch was +living and prospering on his estate of New Bagrovo, +which was 120 <em class="italics">versts</em> distant from Parashino. As I have +mentioned already, he had frankly made it up with Kurolyessoff +and was satisfied with him in general, though he +felt no fancy for him. Kurolyessoff, on his side, showed +great deference to Stepan Mihailovitch and all his family, +and was ready to perform any services for them. When he +had planted his colony at Parashino and was engaged in +organising it, he came every year to Bagrovo and made +himself very agreeable. He appealed to Stepan Mihailovitch, +as a man of practical experience in colonising, for +his advice; he received it gratefully, wrote it all down +word for word, and really followed it. He even invited +Stepan Mihailovitch twice to Parashino, to judge of his +pupil's proficiency; and each time my grandfather +approved entirely of what he saw; and on his last visit, +when he had inspected the arable land and all the farming +arrangements, he said to Kurolyessoff, "You are young, +friend, but you've got on fast; I can teach you nothing." +And, as a matter of fact, everything at Parashino was in +excellent order. Of course the host received the old man +as if he had been his own father, with all possible deference +and attention. As years went on, ugly rumours about +Kurolyessoff found their way to Bagrovo. As my grandfather +disliked gossip, nothing was said to him at first; +but the rumours grew steadily. The womankind at +Bagrovo knew of them; and Arina Vassilyevna ventured +at last to tell her husband that Kurolyessoff was leading +a terribly wicked life. He would not believe it. He +said: "Once you believe what people say, you will soon +accuse your neighbour of robbing a church! I know what +the Baktéyeff servants were like—thieves and shirkers, +to a man! And my cousin's serfs too got spoilt, with no +master to look after them. It's not surprising if they're +terrified of honest work and decent order. Friend Mihail +may have gone to work too fast: what of that? they'll +learn to bear it. As to his drinking—if he takes a glass +after his work, a man's none the worse for that, provided +he doesn't neglect his business. There <em class="italics">are</em> beastly things +a man shouldn't do; but there, I fancy, they're lying. +You women are too fond of listening to gossip." For +a long time after this, Stepan Mihailovitch heard nothing +more of the rumours. At last, some Bagroff serfs, who had +been transferred from the Government of Simbirsk to +Parashino together with the serfs of the Baktéyeff family, +came to visit their relations at New Bagrovo and told terrible +stories of their master. Arina Vassilyevna again appealed +to her husband, and begged that he would himself question +one of these men who was now at Bagrovo; he was an old +man with an established character for speaking the truth; +and Stepan Mihailovitch had known him all his life. My +grandfather consented. He sent for the man and questioned +him, and heard a story which made his hair stand on end. +He could not think what to do, or how to mend matters. +Praskovya Ivanovna's occasional letters showed that she +was quite happy and undisturbed; and he concluded that +she knew nothing of her husband's conduct. In the old +days he had warned her himself never to listen to tales +against her husband; and he felt sure that she was following +his advice only too well. He reflected, that, if she +learnt the truth, it was doubtful if she could do anything; +she would distress herself terribly, all to no purpose. It +was therefore desirable that her eyes should never be +opened. He could not now interfere; and he thought +interference useless in the case of such a man. "I hope +he will break his neck or be tried for a murder; he deserves +it. No hand but God's can mend a man like that. He +is not so hard upon his peasants and labourers, and the +house-servants are a pack of scoundrels; let them suffer +for their sins! I have no mind to soil my fingers with this +dirty business." Thus Stepan Mihailovitch reasoned in his +own way. He broke off all relations with Kurolyessoff, +however, and ceased to answer his letters. This hint was +understood, and the correspondence came to an end. But +to Praskovya Ivanovna, Stepan Mihailovitch began to write +oftener and more intimately than before.</p> +<p class="pnext">So matters remained till the morning, when the three +fugitives from Parashino made their appearance before my +grandfather as he sat on his stoop. They had spent the +first day concealed in an inaccessible swamp which joined +on to the stackyards of Parashino; in the evening they +learnt from some one in the village exactly what had +happened, and made their way straight to Bagrovo, considering +Stepan Mihailovitch as the only possible protector +and champion of Praskovya Ivanovna. His feelings may +be imagined when he heard what had happened at Parashino. +He loved his one cousin not less, perhaps more, +than his own daughters. The image of Parasha half-killed +by her ruffian of a husband, of Parasha confined in a cellar +for three days and perhaps dead already, presented itself +so vividly to his lively imagination that he sprang up like +one demented, and rushed down the courtyard and through +the village, summoning his retainers and labourers in +accents of frenzy. Those who were not in the cottages +came running from the fields. When all were assembled, +they were full of sympathy for their master's passionate +despair, and cried with one voice that they would go on +foot, if need be, to the rescue of Praskovya Ivanovna. In +a short time three cars, drawn by teams of spirited horses +from the stables of Bagrovo, and carrying a dozen men +chosen for strength and courage, were galloping along the +road to Parashino. The party included the fugitives from +Parashino, and were armed with guns and swords, pikes +and pitchforks. Later in the day two more cars followed +to reinforce Stepan Mihailovitch; the men were armed in +the same way; the horses were the best the peasants could +produce. By the evening of the second day, the vanguard +was within seven <em class="italics">versts</em> of Parashino. They fed the jaded +horses, and in the first light of the summer dawn dashed +into the wide courtyard and drove straight up to the cellar. +It was close to the rooms occupied by Kurolyessoff. Stepan +Mihailovitch jumped out and began to beat his fist against +the wooden door of the cellar. A voice faintly asked, +"Who is there?" My grandfather recognised his cousin's +voice; dropping a tear of joy that he had found her alive, +and crossing himself, he called out in a loud voice, "Thank +God! It is your cousin, Stepan Mihailovitch; you are +safe now!" He sent off the servants from Choorassovo +to get ready Praskovya Ivanovna's carriage, and posted +six armed men to defend the gate, while he himself and the +rest of his men applied axes and crowbars to the cellar-door. +It gave way in a moment; and Stepan Mihailovitch +himself carried out Praskovya Ivanovna, placed her +on a car between himself and her faithful maid, and drove +unmolested out of the courtyard with all his retainers. +The sun was rising as they drove past the church, and his +first beams lit up the Cross on the roof. It was just six +days since Praskovya Ivanovna had prayed with her eyes +fixed on that Cross; and now she prayed again and thanked +God for her deliverance. The carriage caught them up, +when they were five <em class="italics">versts</em> from Parashino; and Stepan +Mihailovitch moved his cousin into the carriage and drove +with her back to Bagrovo.</p> +<p class="pnext">But I shall be asked, "How did all this happen? did +no one see it? what had become of Kurolyessoff and his +trusty retainers? is it possible that he was unaware of +it or absent at the time?" No: the liberation of Praskovya +Ivanovna took place before many witnesses; and +Kurolyessoff was at home and knew what was going on, +but did not venture to show his face.</p> +<p class="pnext">The explanation is quite simple. His men had spent +the whole evening carousing with their master, and some +of them were so drunk that they could not be roused. +There was one sober man, a complete abstainer and a +favourite. He wakened his master with some difficulty, +and, trembling with fear, told him of the raid of Stepan +Mihailovitch and the guns pointing straight at the windows. +"But where are all our fellows?" asked Kurolyessoff. +"Some are asleep, and others are hiding," said the man; +but this was not true; for the drunken rabble was mustering +near the outside steps. Kurolyessoff thought a moment; +then with a gesture of despair he said, "Let her go, and +the devil go with her! Lock the door, go to the window, +and watch what happens." In a few minutes, the man +cried out, "They are carrying away the mistress!—They're +off!"—"Go to your bed," said his master; then he rolled +himself up in his blankets and either fell asleep or made a +pretence of it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Yes, right has a moral strength before which wrong +must bend, for all its boldness. Kurolyessoff knew the +stout heart and fearless courage of Stepan Mihailovitch, +and he knew that he himself was in the wrong; and +therefore, in spite of his furious temper and unscrupulous +impudence, he let his victim go without a struggle.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tenderly and carefully Stepan Mihailovitch conveyed +the sufferer, whom he had always loved and who now roused +in him deep sympathy and a still greater affection. No +question passed his lips on the journey; and, when he +brought her in safety to Bagrovo, he forbade his womankind +to trouble her with inquiries. But in a fortnight +Praskovya Ivanovna was herself again, thanks to her strong +constitution and high spirit; and then Stepan Mihailovitch +determined to cross-examine her. In order to act, he +must know the real truth, and he never trusted secondhand +information. She told him the whole truth with +perfect frankness, but begged that he would keep it from +his family and that she should be asked no questions by +any one else. She put herself altogether in his hands; +but she feared his hot temper and implored him not to +take vengeance on Kurolyessoff. She said positively that, +on reflection, she had decided not to bring shame on her +husband, or to stain the name which she must continue to +bear throughout her life. She added that she now repented +of the words which had burst from her lips at her first +interview with Kurolyessoff at Parashino, and that nothing +would induce her to make a complaint to the Governor +against him. Yet she considered it her duty to rescue her +serfs from his cruelty, and therefore intended to cancel the +document which gave him authority over her estates. She +asked Stepan Mihailovitch to take over the management +himself, and also to write to Kurolyessoff demanding the +document and stating that, if he refused to give it up, she +would take legal steps to cancel it. She asked Stepan +Mihailovitch to express this in plain terms but without any +abusive epithets; and she offered to sign the letter herself, +to make it more convincing. I should mention that she +could hardly read and write her native language. Stepan +Mihailovitch loved his cousin so well that he bridled his +rage and assented to her wishes. But he would not hear +of taking over the management. "No, my dear," he said; +"I don't care to meddle in other people's affairs, and I +don't want your relations to be saying that I feather my +own nest while looking after your multitude of serfs. The +land will be badly managed in your hands, I don't doubt; +but you are rich and will have enough. I don't mind +saying in the letter that I am to take over the management; +that will give your sweet pet a turn! All the rest you ask +shall be done."</p> +<p class="pnext">Strict orders were accordingly issued to the womankind +to ask no questions of the lady. My grandfather +wrote the letter to Kurolyessoff with his own hand, +Praskovya Ivanovna added her signature, and a special +messenger was despatched with it to Parashino. But, +while they were considering and wondering and writing +at Bagrovo, all was already over at Parashino. The messenger +returned on the fourth day and reported that, by +God's will, Kurolyessoff had died suddenly and was +already buried.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch heard the news first. Involuntarily +he crossed himself and said, "Thank God!" And so said +all his family: in spite of their former weakness for Kurolyessoff, +they had long looked on him with horror as a +criminal and a ruffian. With Praskovya Ivanovna it was +different. Judging by their own feelings, they all supposed +she would welcome the news, and told her at once. But, +to the surprise of every one, she was utterly prostrated by +it and became ill again; and, when her strength got the +better of the illness, her depression and wretchedness were +extreme: for some weeks she wept from morning till night, +and she grew so thin that Stepan Mihailovitch was alarmed. +No one could understand the cause of such intense sorrow +for a husband whom she could not love and who had treated +her so brutally—"a disgrace to human nature," as they +called him. But there was an explanation, and this is it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Many years later, my mother, who was a great favourite +with Praskovya Ivanovna, was talking with her of past +days—a thing which Praskovya Ivanovna generally avoided—and +in the openhearted frankness of their conversation +she asked: "Please tell me, aunt, why you took on so +after your husband's death. In your place, I should have +said a prayer for his soul, and felt quite cheerful." "You +are a little fool, my dear," answered Praskovya Ivanovna: +"I had loved him for fourteen years and could not unlearn +my feeling in one month, even though I had found out what +he was; and, above all, I grieved for his soul: he had no +time to repent before he died."</p> +<p class="pnext">After six weeks, Praskovya Ivanovna's good sense +mastered her grief to some extent; and she consented, or, +I should rather say, did not refuse, to travel with all the +Bagroff family to Parashino, in order to attend a memorial +service at Kurolyessoff's grave. To the general surprise, +she dropped no tear at Parashino or during the sad +ceremony; but one may imagine how much this effort cost +her, in her condition of sorrow and bodily weakness. By +her wish, only a few hours were spent at Parashino, and +she did not enter that part of the house where her husband +had lived and died.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is not difficult to guess the cause of Kurolyessoff's +sudden death. When Stepan Mihailovitch had rescued his +cousin from the cellar, the people at Parashino all plucked +up heart, believing that the end of Kurolyessoff's rule had +come. They all supposed that the owner of Bagrovo, who +was in the position of a father to their mistress, would turn +her husband neck and crop out of a place that did not belong +to him. No one dreamed that their young mistress, +insulted and beaten and half-starved in an underground +cellar in her own house, would fail to appeal to the law for +redress. Every day they expected an irruption from +Stepan Mihailovitch with the sheriff at his back; but +week followed week, and no one came. Kurolyessoff was +as drunken and violent as ever: every one of his retainers +he flogged till they were half-dead, for having betrayed him, +not sparing even the sober man who had wakened him on the +night of the rescue; and he boasted that Praskovya Ivanovna +had given up to him the title-deeds of her estates. +It was past the power of human endurance; and the future +seemed hopeless.<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id65" id="id64"><sup>32</sup></a> Two of the scoundrels, who had been +favourites, and, strangely enough, two who had suffered +less than the rest from his cruelty, ventured upon a horrible +crime. They poisoned him with arsenic, putting it into +a decanter of <em class="italics">kvass</em>, which Kurolyessoff generally emptied +during the night; and they put in so much, that he was +dead in two hours. As they had taken no one into their +confidence, the catastrophe startled and terrified the whole +household. The servants suspected one another, but the +real criminals remained unknown for some time. Six +months later one of them became desperately ill and +confessed his crime before he died; and his accomplice, +though the dying man had not betrayed him, made off and +was never seen again.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sudden death of Kurolyessoff would certainly have +been followed by an inquest, but for the presence at Parashino +of a young clerk called Mihaila Maximitch, who had +only lately come to the place. By cleverness and good +management, he contrived to get the affair hushed up. He +became later Praskovya Ivanovna's man of business and +the chief agent on all her estates, and enjoyed her full +confidence. Under the name of "Mihailushka" he was +known to all and sundry in the Governments of Simbirsk +and Orenburg. He was a man of remarkable ability; +though he made a large fortune, he lived discreetly and +modestly for many years; but, when he received his +freedom on the death of his mistress and lost his wife to +whom he was much attached, he took to drinking and died +in poverty. One of his sons, if I remember rightly, entered +the official class and was eventually ennobled.</p> +<p class="pnext">I should not conceal the fact, that forty years later, +when I became the owner of Parashino, I found the recollection +of Kurolyessoff's management still fresh among the +peasants, and they spoke of him with gratitude, because +they felt every day the advantage of many of his arrangements. +His cruelty they had forgotten, and they had felt +it less than his personal attendants; but they remembered +his power of distinguishing guilt and innocence, the honest +workman and the shirker; they remembered his perfect +knowledge of their needs and his constant readiness to +give them help. The old men smiled as they told me that +Kurolyessoff used often to say: "Steal and rob as you +please, if you keep it dark; but, if I catch you, then +look out!"</p> +<p class="pnext">When she went back to Bagrovo, Praskovya Ivanovna, +soothed by the sincere and tender love of her cousin and +by the assiduous attentions of his womankind (whom she +did not much like but who expected great favours and +benefits from her) gradually got over the terrible blow she +had suffered. Her good health came back, and her peace +of mind; and at the end of a year she resolved to go back +to Choorassovo. It was painful to Stepan Mihailovitch to +part with his favourite: her whole nature appealed to him, +and he had become thoroughly accustomed to her society. +Not once in his whole life was he in a rage with Praskovya +Ivanovna. But he did not try to keep her: on the +contrary, he pressed her to go as soon as possible. "It's +no sort of life for you here, my dear," he used to say; "it's +a dull place, though we have got accustomed to it. You +are young still"—she was thirty—"and rich and used to +something different. You should go back to Choorassovo, +and enjoy your fine house and splendid garden and the +springs. You have plenty of kind neighbours there, rich +people who live a gay life. It is possible that God will +send you better fortune in a second venture; you won't +want for offers." Praskovya Ivanovna put off her departure +from day to day—so hard did she find it to part +from the cousin who had saved her life and been her benefactor +from her childhood. At last the day was fixed. +Early on the previous morning, she came out to join +Stepan Mihailovitch, who was sitting on his stoop and +thinking sad thoughts. She kissed and embraced him; +the tears came to her eyes as she said: "I feel all your love +for me, and I love and respect you like a daughter. God +sees my gratitude; but I wish that men should see it too. +Will you let me bequeath to your family all my mother's +property? What I have from my father will come to your +son in any case. My relations on my mother's side are +rich, and you know that they have given me no reason to +reward them with my wealth. I shall never marry. I +wish the Bagroff family to be rich. Say yes, my dear +cousin, and you will comfort me and set my mind at rest." +She threw herself at his feet and covered with kisses the +hands with which he was trying to raise her up. "Listen, +my dear," said Stepan Mihailovitch in a rather stern voice: +"You don't know me aright. That I should covet what +does not belong to me, and cut out the rightful heirs to your +estates—no! that shall never be, and never shall any one +be able to say that of Stepan Bagroff! Mind you don't +ever mention it again. If you do, we shall quarrel; and +it will be the first time in our lives."</p> +<p class="pnext">Next day Praskovya Ivanovna left Bagrovo and began +her own independent life at Choorassovo.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="fragment-iii-the-marriage-of-the-young-bagroff"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id118">FRAGMENT III: THE MARRIAGE OF THE YOUNG BAGROFF</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Many years passed by and much happened during that +time—famine and plague, and the rebellion of Pugatchoff.<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id69" id="id66"><sup>33</sup></a> +The landowners of the Orenburg district scattered before +the bands of the usurper, and Stepan Mihailovitch also +made off with his family, first to Samára, and then down the +Volga to Saratoff and as far off as Astrakhan. But by +degrees all disturbances passed over and calmed down and +were forgotten. Children became boys, boys became men, +and men came to grey hairs; and among these last was +Stepan Mihailovitch. He saw this himself, but he hardly +believed it. He would sometimes allude to the ravages of +time, but he did so without uneasiness, as if there were no +personal reference to himself. Yet my grandfather had +ceased to be his old self: his herculean strength and tireless +activity had gone for ever. This sometimes surprised him; +but he went on living precisely in the old way—eating and +drinking to his heart's content, and dressing with no regard +to the weather, though he sometimes suffered for this +neglect. Little by little, his keen clear eye became clouded +and his great voice lost its power; his fits of anger were +rarer, but so were his bright and happy moods. His elder +daughters had all married, and the oldest had been dead +some time, leaving a daughter of three years old. Aksinya,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id70" id="id67"><sup>34</sup></a> +the second, had lost one husband and married again; +Elizabeth, a clever but arrogant woman, had somehow +married a General Yerlykin, who was old and poor and given +to drinking; and Alexandra had found herself a husband +in Ivan Karatayeff, well-born, young, and rich, but a +passionate lover of the Bashkirs and their wandering life—a +true Bashkir himself in mind and body. The youngest +daughter, Tanyusha, had not married. The only son<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id71" id="id68"><sup>35</sup></a> was +now twenty-six, a handsome youth with a complexion of +lilies and roses: his own father used to say of him, "Put +a petticoat on him, and he'd be a prettier girl than any of +his sisters!" Though his wife, Arina Vassilyevna, shed +bitter tears and would not be comforted, Stepan Mihailovitch +sent his son into the Army as soon as he was sixteen. +He served for three years, and, owing to the influence of +Mihail Kurolyessoff, acted as aide-de-camp for part of the +time to Suvóroff. But Suvóroff left the district of Orenburg +and was succeeded by a German general (I think his name +was Treubluth); and he sentenced the young man to a +severe flogging, from which his entire innocence, if not his +noble birth, should have protected him. His mother +nearly died of grief, when she heard it; and even my +grandfather thought this was going too far. He withdrew +his son from the Army and got him a place in the law court +at Ufa, where he earned promotion by long and zealous +service.</p> +<p class="pnext">I cannot pass over in silence a strange fact that I have +noticed: most of the Germans and foreigners in general +who held posts in the Russian service in those days were +notorious for their cruelty and love of inflicting corporal +punishment. The German who punished young Bagroff +so cruelly was a Lutheran himself, but at the same time a +great stickler for all the rites and ceremonies of the Russian +Church. This historic incident in the annals of the Bagroff +family happened in the following way. The general +ordered a service to be performed in the regimental chapel +on the eve of some unimportant saint's-day; he was always +present himself on these occasions, and all officers were +expected to attend. It was summer, and the chapel +windows were open. Suddenly, a voice in the street outside +struck up a popular song. The general rushed to the +window: three subalterns were walking along the street, +and one of them was singing. He ordered them under +arrest and sentenced each of them to 300 lashes. My +unfortunate father, who was not singing but merely walking +with his friends, pleaded his noble birth; but the general +said with a sneer, "A noble is bound to show special respect +to divine service"; and then the brute himself looked +on till the last stripe was inflicted on the innocent youth. +This took place in a room next the chapel, where the solemn +singing of the choir could be distinctly heard; and the +tyrant forbade his victim to cry out, "for fear of disturbing +divine worship." After his punishment, he was carried off +unconscious to hospital, where it was found necessary to +cut off his uniform, owing to the swelling of his tender young +body. It was two months before his back and shoulders +healed up. What must it have cost his mother to hear +such news of her only son whom she simply worshipped! +My grandfather lodged a complaint in some quarter; and +his son, who had sent in his papers at once, got his discharge +from the Army before he left the hospital, and entered the +Civil Service as an official of the fourteenth or lowest class. +Eight years had now gone by, and the incident was by this +time forgotten.</p> +<p class="pnext">Alexyéi Stepanitch was now living peacefully at Ufa +and performing his duties there. Twice a year he paid +a visit to his parents at Bagrovo, 240 <em class="italics">versts</em> away. His +life was quite uneventful. Quiet, bashful, and unassuming, +this young heir to a landed estate lived on good terms with +all the world, till suddenly the modest course of his existence +became disturbed.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a permanent military administration in the +town of Ufa, and next in authority the Lieutenant-Governor +was Nikolai Zubin, who resided regularly in the +town. M. Zubin was an honest and able man, but his +character was weak. His wife had died, leaving three +children—Sonitchka,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id73" id="id72"><sup>36</sup></a> a girl of twelve, and two younger +boys. He was devoted to his daughter; and it was no +wonder he should love a child so beautiful and so clever, +who, in spite of her tender years, soon became her father's +companion and assisted him in the management of the +household. Eighteen months after the death of his first +wife, whom he had loved and sincerely mourned, M. Zubin +found consolation by falling in love with the daughter of +M. Rychkoff, a landowner in Orenburg, well-known for +his descriptions of that country. The marriage soon took +place; and the young wife, Alexandra, by her intelligence +and beauty, soon gained entire control over her submissive +husband. But she was hard and unfeeling, and conceived +a hatred for her stepdaughter, her father's darling, who +bade fair to grow up into a beautiful woman. The thing +is common enough. The name of stepmother has long +been proverbial for cruelty, and it fitted Mme. Zubin precisely. +But it was by no means easy to tear Sonitchka +from her place in her father's heart: she was not a girl +who could be put down easily, and the contest which followed +inflamed the stepmother's anger to an extraordinary +pitch. She swore that this hussy of thirteen, who was the +idol of her father and all the town, should some day live in +the maids' room, wear the coarsest clothes, and carry the +slops out of the children's nursery. She kept her oath to +the letter: after two or three years, Sonitchka was living +with the servants and clothed like a scullion, and she +scrubbed and cleaned the nursery which was now inhabited +by two half-sisters. But what was the father doing? He +had once loved her dearly; but now for whole months he +never saw her; and when he did meet her going about in +rags, he turned away with a sigh, wiped away a furtive +tear, and made off as soon as possible. It is the way of +many elderly men who have married again and are dominated +by young wives. As I do not know exactly the ways +and methods by which Mme. Zubin attained her object, I +shall not speak of them; nor shall I dwell upon the cruelties +and sufferings inflicted upon the bereaved girl, with her +sensitive temper and strong will; nothing was spared her, +not even the most humiliating punishments and beatings +for imaginary offences. I shall only say, that the stepdaughter +was not far from suicide, and was only saved +from it by a miracle. It happened thus. When she had +decided to put an end to an intolerable existence, the poor +child wished to say her last prayer before an image of Our +Lady of Smolensk, the image with which her mother on +her deathbed had blessed her. She fell on her knees in her +garret before the <em class="italics">ikon</em>, and, with floods of bitter tears, +pressed her face on the dirt-stained floor. Suffering +deprived her of consciousness for some minutes; when she +recovered and got up, she saw the candle, which she had +put out the night before, still burning before the image. At +first she cried out with surprise and involuntary fear; but +soon she recognised that she had seen a miracle wrought +by Divine Power. She took courage; she was conscious +of a strength and composure she had never felt before; +and she firmly resolved to suffer and endure and live. +From that day the helpless child wore armour of proof +against the increasing exasperation of her stepmother: +whatever she was told to do, she did; whatever was +inflicted upon her, she bore. Degrading punishment no +longer forced the tears from her eyes, no longer made her +turn sick and faint, as it used to do. "Mean slut" had +long been her title, and "desperate wretch" was now +added to it. But the measure of God's patience now +brimmed over, and His thunder pealed: Mme. Zubin, in +the prime of life and in the pride of her health and beauty, +died ten days after giving birth to a son. Twenty-four +hours before the end, knowing that she must die, she was +eager to take the load off her conscience. Sonitchka was +suddenly wakened in the night and summoned to her stepmother's +bedside. The dying woman confessed in the +presence of witnesses her guilty conduct towards her stepdaughter, +begged her forgiveness, and conjured her in the +name of God to be good to the children. The girl forgave +her and promised to care for the orphans; and she kept +that promise. Mme. Zubin confessed also to her husband +that the accusations which had been brought against his +daughter were all calumnies and falsehoods.</p> +<p class="pnext">Her death caused a complete reversal of affairs. M. +Zubin also had a paralytic stroke, and, though he survived +for some years, never left his bed again. The oppressed +and ragged Cinderella, whom the servants—and especially +those belonging to Mme. Zubin—had been mean enough +to humiliate and insult to their heart's content, suddenly +became the absolute mistress of the household, her sick +father having put everything under her control. The +reconciliation between the guilty father and the injured +daughter was touching and even distressing to the daughter +and all who saw it. For long, M. Zubin was wrung by +remorse: his tears flowed day and night, and he repeated +the same words over and over, "No, Sonitchka, it is impossible +you should forgive me!" To each one of his acquaintance +in the town he formally confessed his misconduct +towards his daughter; and "Sofya Nikolayevna," as she +was now called, became the object of general respect and +admiration. Made wise by years of suffering, this girl of +seventeen developed into a grown woman, a mother to the +children, and the manager of the household. She even +discharged public duties; for, owing to her father's illness, +she received all heads of departments, officials, and private +citizens; she discussed matters with them, wrote letters +and official documents, and at last became the real manager +of the business in her father's office. Sofya Nikolayevna +nursed her father with anxious care and tenderness; she +looked after her three brothers and two sisters, and even +took trouble about the education of the elder children. +Her own brothers, Serghéi and Alexander, were now boys +of twelve and ten; and she contrived to find teachers for +them—a kind old Frenchman called Villemer, whom fortune +had somehow stranded at Ufa, and a half-educated Little +Russian who had been exiled to the town for an attempted +fraud. She availed herself of the opportunity to study +with her brothers, and worked so hard that she could soon +understand a French book or conversation and even talk +French a little herself. Eighteen months later she sent +her brothers to Moscow for their education. Through a +certain M. Anitchkoff who lived at Ufa, she had become +acquainted with his cousin who lived at Moscow, and they +often corresponded. The well-known writer, Novikoff, +shared a house at Moscow with this M. Anitchkoff; and +both friends were so struck by the letters from this young +lady on the banks of the river Byélaya, that they sent her +regularly all new and important books in the way of +Russian literature; and this did much for her mental +development. This M. Anitchkoff had a special respect +for her, and considered it an honour to carry out her +request. He undertook to receive both her brothers and +place them at a boarding-school connected with Moscow +University, and performed his undertaking punctiliously. +The boys got on well at school, but their studies were +broken off when the summons came for them to enter the +Guards, in which they had been enrolled while still in the +cradle.</p> +<p class="pnext">All clever and educated people who came to Ufa +hastened to make the acquaintance of Sofya Nikolayevna, +were attracted by her, and never forgot her. Many of +these acquaintances became in course of time the intimate +friends of her children, and the relation was severed only +by death. I shall name only those of them whom I knew +myself—V. Romanovsky, A. Avenarius, Peter Chichagoff, +Dmitri Myortvavo, and V. Itchansky. Scholars also and +travellers, attracted by the novelty and beauty of the +district, invariably made the young lady's acquaintance +and left written testimony of their admiration for her +beauty and wit. It is true that her position in society and +her home helped her, and served, one might say, as a +pedestal for the statue; but the statue itself was a noble +figure. I remember especially the verses of Count Manteuffel, +a traveller; he sent them to Sofya Nikolayevna +with a most respectful letter in French; and he also sent +a copy of an immense work in five quarto volumes, by a +Dr. Buchan,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id75" id="id74"><sup>37</sup></a> which had just been translated from English +into Russian and made a great sensation in the medical +world of that day. Buchan's <em class="italics">Domestic Medicine</em> was a +real treasure to Sofya Nikolayevna: she was able to make +use of its directions to make up medicines for her father's +benefit. In his verses Count Manteuffel compared the fair +lady of Ufa to both Venus and Minerva.</p> +<p class="pnext">In spite of his enfeebled state, M. Zubin did not resign +his office for several years. Twice a year he gave a ball; +he did not appear himself, in order to welcome the ladies, +but the men went to see him where he lay in his study; +and the young hostess had to receive the whole town. +Several times a year, her father insisted on her going out to +balls in the houses of the leading people, and she yielded +to his earnest entreaties and put in a short appearance at +the ball. She wore fine dresses and was an excellent +dancer in the fashion of the time. When she had gone +through a Polish minuet and a single country-dance or +schottische, she went away at once, after flashing through +the room like a meteor. All who had the right to be so, +were in love with Sofya Nikolayevna, but they sighed at +a respectful distance; for this young lady gave none of +them any encouragement whatever.</p> +<p class="pnext">And with this peerless creature the son of Stepan +Mihailovitch fell in love! He could not understand and +appreciate her fully, but her appearance alone and her +lively cheerful temper were enough to bewitch a man; +and bewitched he accordingly was. He saw her first in +church, and the first sight was enough for his susceptible +heart. Alexyéi Stepanitch—henceforth we shall give him +both his names—soon discovered that the fair lady received +all officials who visited at her father's house; and, being +himself an official in the law-court, he began to appear +regularly in her drawing-room, to pay his respects on high +days and holidays. He saw her every time, and his +passion grew steadily. His calls were so regular and so +prolonged—though he hardly opened his mouth—that they +soon attracted general notice; and it is probable that the +first person to notice them was the young hostess herself. +Rapturous looks, flaming cheeks, helpless confusion—these +are the symbols by which love has always spoken. A +frank passion has been an object of ridicule from time +immemorial, and all Ufa laughed at Alexyéi Stepanitch. +He was humble and shy and as bashful as a country girl; +and his only reply to all jests and allusions to the subject +was to blush the colour of a peony. But Sofya Nikolayevna, +so cold and even snubbing in her manner to her +fashionable admirers, was surprisingly indulgent to this +speechless worshipper. Perhaps she was sorry for this +young man who had no armour against all the ridicule he +suffered on her behalf; perhaps she understood that his +was no idle or passing fancy and that his whole life was at +stake; anyhow, the severe young beauty not only bowed +graciously and looked kindly at him, but tried also to +start conversation; and his timid, incoherent replies and +agitated voice did not seem to her ridiculous or repulsive. +I should say, however, that Sofya Nikolayevna, though +she stood on her dignity with self-assertive people, was +always kind and condescending to humility and modesty.</p> +<p class="pnext">Things went on thus for some time. Suddenly, a bold +thought flashed on the brain of Alexyéi Stepanitch—the +thought of getting Sofya Nikolayevna for his wife. At +first he was frightened by his own ambition, so bold and so +unlikely to be realised. How could he raise his eyes to +Sofya Nikolayevna, the chief personage in Ufa, and, in his +opinion, the cleverest and most beautiful woman in the +world? He abandoned his intention entirely for a time. +But by degrees the lady's constant goodwill and attention, +her friendly glances which seemed to him to hold out some +encouragement, and, above all, the passion which mastered +his whole being, recalled the abandoned ideal; and it soon +grew familiar and became part of his life. There was an +old lady called Mme. Alakayeff, then living at Ufa to look +after a lawsuit, who used to visit at the Zubins' house; +she was distantly related to Alexyéi Stepanitch and had +always taken a great interest in him. He now began to +visit her oftener, and did his best to please her; and at +last he confessed his love for a certain person, and his +intention to seek her hand. His love was the talk of the +town and therefore no news to Mme. Alakayeff; but his +intention of marrying her was a surprise. "She won't +have you," said the old lady, shaking her head; "she's +too clever, too proud, too highly educated. Plenty of +people have been in love with her, but not one has ever +dared to ask the question. You're a handsome lad, +certainly, well-born and fairly well-off, and you will be +rich in course of time—everybody knows that; but then +you're a plain country fellow, no scholar or man of the +world, and you're terribly bashful in society." Alexyéi +Stepanitch was aware of all this himself; but love had +entirely confused his brain, and a voice whispered in his +ear day and night that Sofya Nikolayevna would accept +him. Though the young man's hopes seemed to her +unfounded, Mme. Alakayeff consented to go to Sofya +Nikolayevna's house, where, without making any allusion +to his wishes, she would turn the conversation on to him +and take note of all that was said. She started at once, +and Alexyéi Stepanitch remained in the house till she +should come back. She was absent for some time, and the +lover became so distressed and despondent that he began +to cry and then fell asleep, tired out, with his head leaning +against the window. When the old lady came back, she +wakened him and said with a cheerful air: "Well, Alexyéi +Stepanitch, there is really something in it! When I began +to speak about you, and was rather hard upon you, Sofya +Nikolayevna took up the cudgels in earnest on your behalf, +and ended by saying that she was sure you were very kind +and modest and gentle, and respectful to your parents; +and she said that God sent his blessing on such people, and +they were much better than your pert and forward talkers." +Alexyéi Stepanitch was so enraptured by this report that +he hardly knew where he was. Mme. Alakayeff gave him +time to recover, and then said with decision: "If your +mind is quite made up about this, I will tell you what you +had better do. Go home at once, tell the whole story to +your parents, and ask for their consent and blessing, before +kind people put their oar in. If they give you one and the +other, I don't refuse to work in your cause. Only don't +be in a hurry: begin by getting on the soft side of your +sisters; your mother won't go against your wishes. Of +course, your father's consent matters most of all. I know +him: he is masterful to a degree, but he has good sense; +have a talk to him when he is in a good humour." Alexyéi +Stepanitch did not see the need of all this caution and +manœuvring: he said that his parents would be delighted, +and asked what possible flaw could be found in Sofya +Nikolayevna. "Two terrible flaws," said the shrewd old +lady: "she has only twopence to her fortune, and her +grandfather was a simple sergeant in a Cossack regiment." +The significance of her words was entirely lost upon Alexyéi +Stepanitch, but the old lady was not wrong in her presentiment, +and her warning came too late.</p> +<p class="pnext">Within a week Alexyéi Stepanitch got leave of absence. +He called on Sofya Nikolayevna to say "good-bye," and +she treated him kindly, wishing him a pleasant journey, and +hoping he might find his parents in good health and happy +to see him. Her kind words encouraged him to hope, and +off he went home. The old people were glad to see him, +but they were puzzled by the time of his visit and looked +at him inquiringly. His sisters—who lived near Bagrovo +and came there in hot haste on a summons from their +mother—kissed their brother and made much of him, but +kept on smiling for some reason. The youngest sister, +Tatyana, was his favourite, and he revealed his passion to +her ears first. Being a rather romantic girl and fonder of +her brother than the older sisters were, she listened to him +with sympathy, and at last went so far as to confide to him +a great secret: the family knew already of his love-affair +and were opposed to it. It had happened in this way.</p> +<p class="pnext">Two months before, Ivan Karatayeff had travelled to +Ufa on business and brought back this piece of news to his +wife. Alexandra Karatayeff—I have spoken already of her +character—boiled over with rage and indignation. She +took the lead in the family, and could twist them all, +except, of course, her father, round her little finger. She +set one of her brother's servants to spy on his master, and +made him report to her every detail concerning his love-affair +and his life at Ufa; and she found a female friend in +the town, who first rummaged and ferreted about, and then, +with the help of a discarded attorney's clerk, sent her a long +letter composed of town talk and servants' gossip. As her +chief authorities were the servants of the late Mme. Zubin, +it is easy to guess the kind of portrait which these enemies +drew of Sofya Nikolayevna.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is a well-known fact that in the good old days of the +Empress Catherine—perhaps it is the case still—there was +little love lost between a man's wife and his sisters; and +the case was worse when the sisters had only one brother, +because his wife must become the sole and undisputed +mistress of the household. A great deal of selfishness +underlies human nature; it often works without our +knowledge, and no one is exempt from it; honourable and +kind people, not recognising selfish motives in themselves, +quite honestly attribute their actions to other and more +presentable causes; but they deceive themselves and +others unintentionally. Where there is no kindness of +heart or refinement of manners, selfishness shows itself +without any concealment or apology; and so it was with +the womankind of Stepan Mihailovitch. It was inevitable +that they should all resent their brother's marriage, irrespective +of his choice. "Alosha will change towards us +and love us less than before; his bride will be a cuckoo in +the nest and push out the birds born there"—such would +certainly have been the language of the sisters, even if +Alexyéi Stepanitch had chosen a bird of their own feather; +but Sofya Nikolayevna was worse than anything they +could imagine. Alexandra summoned her sister Elizabeth +and hurried to Bagrovo, to communicate to her mother +and sisters—of course, with suitable embellishments—all +the information she had received of her brother's goings +on. They believed every word she said, and their opinion +of Sofya Nikolayevna was to the following effect. In the +first place, the Zubin girl—this was her regular name in +the secret meetings of the family council—was of mean +birth: her grandfather had been a Ural Cossack, and her +mother, Vyera Ivanovna Kandalintsoff, had belonged to +the merchant class; the alliance was therefore a degradation +to an ancient and noble family. In the second place, +the Zubin girl was a mere pauper: if her father died or was +dismissed from his post, she would depend on charity for +her bread, and all her brothers and sisters would be a stone +round her husband's neck. Thirdly, the Zubin girl was +proud and fashionable, a crafty adventuress who was accustomed +to lord it over the town of Ufa; and she would turn +up her nose with no ceremony at plain people living in +the country, however long their pedigree. Fourthly and +lastly, the Zubin girl was a witch who used magic herbs to +keep all the men running after her with their tongues +hanging out; and their poor brother was one of her +victims; she had scented out his future wealth and his +easy temper, and had determined to marry into a noble +family by hook or by crook. Alexandra managed the +whole affair; her glib and wicked tongue frightened them +all and soon proved to them, beyond all possibility of doubt, +that such a marriage was a terrible misfortune for them. +"Likely enough, she will get round Stepan Mihailovitch +himself, and then we're all done for; we must leave no +stone unturned to prevent the marriage." It was clearly +of the first importance to impress upon Stepan Mihailovitch +the worst possible opinion of Sofya Nikolayevna; +but who was to bell the cat? Their conscience was not +clear, and they dared not go to work openly. If their +father suspected that they had any concealed purpose, he +would not believe even the truth in that case; once before, +when there had been some talk of choosing a daughter-in-law, +he had seen through their repugnance to the scheme +and had told them so plainly.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had recourse therefore to the following stratagem. +Arina Vassilyevna had a married niece living near; her +name was Flona Lupenevsky; she was short and stout, a +notorious fool and gossip, and not averse to strong liquors. +She was instructed to come to Bagrovo as if on an ordinary +visit, and to bring in, among other topics, the love-affairs +of Alexyéi Stepanitch; she was, of course, to represent +Sofya Nikolayevna in the most unfavourable light. Alexandra +spent a long time coaching this lady in what she was +to say and how she was to say it. When she had learnt +it as well as she could, Mme. Lupenevsky turned up at +Bagrovo and had dinner there; after dinner, hosts and +guests slept for three hours and then assembled for tea. +The master of the house was in good humour and himself +gave his guest an opening to begin her performance. +"Come now, Flona," he said, "tell us the news you got +from the travellers to Ufa"—her sister, Mme. Kalpinsky, +had just been there with her husband—"I warrant they +brought home a good budget, and you will add as much +more out of your own head."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You will always have your joke, dear uncle," said +the lady; "but they brought plenty of news, and I have +no need to invent." Then off she started on a string of +silly gossip, true and untrue, which I shall spare my +readers. My grandfather pretended to disbelieve her +throughout, even when she was telling the truth; he +made fun of her stories, threw her out on purpose, and +teased her till all the hearers laughed heartily. The stupid +woman, who had taken a stiff glass on waking to give her +courage, got vexed at last and said with some heat: "Uncle, +why do you keep on laughing and believe nothing I say? +Wait a moment; I have kept one special bit of news for +the end, and that won't make you laugh, though you can't +help believing it." The family exchanged glances, and +my grandfather laughed. "Come, out with it!" he said +coolly; "I shan't believe it; and, if I don't laugh at it, +it's because I'm bored by your stories." "O uncle, uncle," +she began, "you're quite in the dark about my dear cousin, +Alexyéi Stepanitch. He's a perfect wreck: the witch of +Ufa, the daughter of a great man there, Governor or Commander-in-Chief, +I don't know which, has used devilish +arts to fascinate him. She's a perfect beauty, they say, +and has captivated all the men, young and old; she has +bewitched them with magic herbs, and they all run after +her. And my poor cousin, Alexyéi Stepanitch, is so bad +that he can neither eat nor drink nor sleep. He's constantly +sitting beside her, he can't take his eyes off her, he +just looks and sighs; and at night he's always walking +past her house, carrying a gun and a sword and keeping +guard over her. They say that the Zubin girl is very +sweet upon him; of course he's handsome and well-born; +she knows what she's about and means to marry him. +It's natural enough: she has no money, and her father is +a Cossack's son who rose from the ranks; though he has +worked his way up and held great posts, he has put nothing +by; he has spent every penny on dinners and fine parties +and dresses for his daughter. The old man is at death's +door, and there is a swarm of children—half a dozen of +them by his two wives. They will all settle on your +shoulders, uncle, if my cousin marries her; she has no +portion but the clothes she wears; they have silk to their +backs but nothing to put in their bellies. And Alexyéi +Stepanitch, they say, is changed out of all knowledge: he +looks terrible; the very servants weep to see him and dare +not inform you. Believe me, uncle, every single word is +gospel truth. Question his servants, and they won't deny it."</p> +<p class="pnext">At this, Arina Vassilyevna began to cry and her +daughters to rub their eyes. My grandfather was rather +taken aback, but soon recovered himself. Then he smiled +and said coolly: "Plenty of lies there, and perhaps a grain +of truth. I have heard myself that the young lady is +pretty and clever; and that's all the magic there is about +it.<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id77" id="id76"><sup>38</sup></a> It's little wonder if Alexyéi's eyes were dazzled. All +the rest is rubbish. Mlle. Zubin has no idea of marrying +Alexyéi; he is no match for her; she will find a better +man and a more pushing man to marry her. And now, +that's enough: not a word more on the subject! Let us +go and drink tea out of doors." As a matter of course, +neither Mme. Lupenevsky nor any one else dared to refer +again to the news from Ufa. The visitor departed in the +evening. After supper, when Arina Vassilyevna and her +daughters were about to take a silent farewell of Stepan +Mihailovitch, he stopped them and said: "Well, Arisha, +what do you think about it? Though that stupid Flona +added plenty of lies, yet it seems to me there is truth in +the story too. The boy's letters have been quite different +of late. The thing needs some looking into. The best +plan would be to summon Alosha here; we shall learn all +the truth from him." At this point Alexandra offered to +send a special messenger to Ufa to find out the truth +through a relation of her husband's: "She is a very honest +woman," she said, "and nothing would make her tell a +lie." Her father agreed not to send for his son till the +fresh report arrived. Alexandra started at once for her +own house, which was not more than 30 <em class="italics">versts</em> from +Bagrovo, and returned in a week, bringing with her the +letter I have mentioned already, which she had received +long before from her gossiping female friend at Ufa. This +letter was shown and read aloud to Stepan Mihailovitch; +and, though he put little faith in the women as detectives +and informers, some statements in the letter seemed to +him probable, and he was displeased. He said positively, +that, if Mlle. Zubin did wish to marry Alosha, he would +forbid it, on the ground of her birth. "Write by the next +post to Alosha," he said, "and tell him to come home." +A few days passed, and were used by the women to prejudice +Stepan Mihailovitch as strongly as possible against +the marriage; and then, as we know already, the young +man turned up at Bagrovo without having received the +letter.</p> +<p class="pnext">Alexyéi Stepanitch heard the whole of this story from +Tatyana, and it made him very serious and uneasy. He +was not by nature strong-willed, and had been brought up +in blind obedience to his family and his father. In his +alarm, he did not know what to do. At last he decided to +speak to his mother. Arina Vassilyevna was devoted to +her only son; but, as she was accustomed to look on him +as still a child and convinced that this child had taken a +fancy to a dangerous toy, she met his avowal of strong +feeling with the words one would use to a child who begged +to hold the hot poker; and, when this treatment brought +the tears to his eyes, she tried to comfort him in the way +that a child is comforted for the loss of a favourite toy. +He might say what he pleased, he might try as he pleased +to refute the slander brought against Sofya Nikolayevna—his +mother either did not listen at all or listened without +attending. Two more days passed by; the young man's +heart was breaking; though his love and longing for Sofya +Nikolayevna increased every hour, it is probable that he +would not easily have plucked up courage to broach the +subject to his father; but Stepan Mihailovitch took the +first step. Early one fine morning, he was sitting as usual +on his stoop, when Alexyéi Stepanitch, looking rather pale +and worn after an almost sleepless night, came out to join +his father. The old man was in a cheerful mood; he +greeted his son affectionately, and then, looking attentively +at his face, he read what was going on within. He gave +him his hand to kiss, and then said, not in anger but with +energy: "Listen to me, Alexyéi! I know the burden on +your mind, and I see that this fancy has taken a strong +hold of you. Just tell me the story now, the whole truth +and nothing but the truth." Alexyéi Stepanitch felt more +fear than love for his father, and was not in the way of +speaking to him frankly; but his love for Sofya Nikolayevna +lent him courage. He threw himself at his father's +feet and repeated the whole story, omitting no details and +keeping nothing back. Stepan Mihailovitch listened with +patience and attention. When one of the family appeared +in the distance and evidently meant to come and say "good +morning," he waved his blackthorn staff with a significant +gesture, and then nobody, not even Aksyutka with the tea, +dared approach before he summoned them. Though his +son's story was ill-arranged, confused, long, and unconvincing, +yet Stepan Mihailovitch with his clear head made +out the gist of the matter. But unfortunately he did not +and could not approve of it. Of the romantic side of love +he had small appreciation, and his masculine pride was +offended by his son's susceptibility, which seemed to him +degrading weakness in a man and a sign of worthlessness; +and yet at the same time he saw that Sofya Nikolayevna +was not in the least to blame, and that all the evil he had +heard about her was merely malicious falsehood, due to +the ill will of his own womankind. After a little reflection, +he said, with no sign of anger, even affectionately, but +firmly: "Listen to me, Alexyéi! You are just at the +time of life when a pretty girl may easily take a man's +fancy. In that there is no harm whatever; but I see that +you have gone too far, and that does not do. I don't +blame Sofya Nikolayevna in the least; she seems to me a +very worthy girl; but she's not a good match for you, +and she won't suit us. In the first place, her nobility dates +from yesterday, while you are the descendant of an ancient +and noble line. Then she is accustomed to town life, +highly educated, and independent; since her stepmother +died she has ruled a household; and, though poor herself, +she is used to luxury; but we are plain country people, and +you know yourself how we live. And you ought to know +your own character; you're too compliant. But her +cleverness is the chief objection to her; to marry a wife +cleverer than one's self is a mistake; she is sure to rule +her husband; and you are so much in love that you are +certain to spoil her at first. Well, as your father, I now +bid you clear your head of this notion. I confess I don't +believe myself that Sofya Nikolayevna would accept you. +Choose your shoe of the right size, and it won't pinch your +foot. We will find out a wife for you here—some gentle, +quiet girl, well-born and with some money. Then you can +give up your office and live here in comfort. You know, +my boy, we're not rolling in wealth. We get enough to +eat, but very little money comes in. As to the Kurolyessoff +legacy, about which people made such a noise, I +never give it a thought; we can't count on it: Praskovya +Ivanovna is young enough to marry and have children of +her own. Now, mind what I say, Alosha: throw all this +off like water off a duck's back, and don't let me hear again +of Sofya Nikolayevna." Then Stepan Mihailovitch gave +his hand graciously to his son, who kissed it as respectfully +as usual. The old man ordered tea to be served and the +family to be summoned; he was more than usually cheerful +and friendly to them all, but Alexyéi Stepanitch was +terribly depressed. No anger on his father's part would +have produced such an effect; that was soon over and +was always followed by indulgence and kindness, but the +old man's quiet determination deprived him of all hope. +There was a change in his expression, so sudden and complete, +that his mother was frightened to see it and plied +him with questions—"Was he unwell? What had +happened to him?" His sisters noticed the change also, +but they were more cunning and held their tongues. None +of this was lost on Stepan Mihailovitch. He looked +askance at Arina Vassilyevna and muttered through his +teeth, "Don't worry the boy!" So they took no more +notice of him but left him in peace, and the day went on +with its usual routine.</p> +<p class="pnext">The conversation with his father made a deep impression +on Alexyéi Stepanitch; one may say that it crushed +him. His appetite and sleep failed, he lost interest in +everything, even his bodily strength was affected. His +mother shed tears, and even his sisters were uneasy. Next +day his mother found it difficult to get from him any +account of the interview with his father. To all inquiries +he returned the same answer: "My father won't hear of +it; I am a lost man, and life will soon be over for me." +And within a week he did really take to his bed; he was +very weak and often half-conscious; and, though his skin +was not hot, he was constantly delirious. No one could +understand what was the matter with him; but it was +simply a nervous fever. The family were terribly alarmed. +As there were no doctors in the neighbourhood, they treated +him with domestic remedies; but he grew steadily worse +till he was so weak that his death was expected hourly. +His mother and sisters screamed and tore their hair. +Stepan Mihailovitch, though he shed no tears and was not +always sitting by the bedside, probably suffered more than +any one; he understood perfectly what had caused this +illness. But youth at last asserted itself, and the turn +came after exactly six weeks. Alexyéi Stepanitch woke +up to life an absolute child, and life was slow in resuming +its normal course with him; his convalescence lasted two +months, and all the past seemed to have been blotted out +from his memory. Everything that he saw, both indoors +and out, pleased him as much as if it were new and strange. +At last he got perfectly well; his face filled out and got +back the healthy colour which it had lost for more than a +year; he went out fishing and shooting quails, ate and +drank heartily, and was in good spirits. His parents felt +more joy than they could express, and were convinced that +the illness had expelled all former thoughts and feelings +from his head and heart. And perhaps this would really +have been the case if they had taken him away from Ufa, +kept him a whole year at home, and found a pretty girl for +him to marry. But their fears were lulled to rest by his +present condition, and they sent him back to the same +place and the same duties after six months. This settled +his fate once for all. The old passion revived and blazed +up with far greater power. I do not know whether love +came back to his heart all at once or by degrees; I only +know that he went seldom at first to the Zubins' house, +and then oftener, and at last as often as he could. I know +also that his old friend, Mme. Alakayeff, continued her +visits to Sofya Nikolayevna, sounding her cautiously as +to her sentiments and bringing back favourable reports, +which confirmed her own hope that the proud beauty was +not indifferent to her humble worshipper. A few months +after Alexyéi Stepanitch had returned to Ufa, a letter from +him suddenly arrived at Bagrovo, in which he declared to +his parents, with his usual affection and respect, but also +with a firmness not characteristic of him, that he loved +Sofya Nikolayevna more than his own life and could not +live without her; he had hopes of her accepting him, and +asked his parents to give him their blessing and their consent +to the match. This letter was a great surprise and +shock to the old people. Stepan Mihailovitch knitted his +brows but did not express his feelings by a single word. +The family all sat round in perfect silence till he dismissed +them by a gesture. When he was alone, my grandfather +sat there a long time, tracing patterns on the floor of his +room with his blackthorn staff. He soon realised that it +was a bad business, that they had been mistaken, and that +no fever would cure the lad of his passion. His impulsive +and kindly nature shook his resolve and made him inclined +to give his consent, as may be inferred from what he said +to his wife. When they were alone together next morning, +he said: "Well, Arisha, what do you think of it? If we +refuse, we shall see no more of Alosha than of our own ears. +He will die of grief, or go off to the wars, or become a monk—and +that's the end of the Bagroff family!" But Arina +Vassilyevna had been primed already by her daughters, +and she answered, as if her son ran no risk: "As you +please, Stepan Mihailovitch; your will is mine too. But +how can you hope they will respect you in future, if they +resist your positive commands now?" This mean and +cunning trick was successful: the old man's pride was +touched, and he resolved to stand firm. He dictated a +letter, in which he expressed surprise that his son should +begin the old business over again, and repeated what he +had already said by word of mouth. In short, the letter +contained a positive refusal.</p> +<p class="pnext">Two or three weeks passed, and brought no reply from +Alexyéi Stepanitch. Then there came one stormy autumn +morning, when my grandfather was sitting across his bed +in his own room; he was wearing his favourite dressing-gown +of fine camel's hair over a shirt buttoning up at the +side, and had slippers on his bare feet. Arina Vassilyevna +was sitting near him with her spinning-wheel, spinning +goat's down and carefully drawing out the fine long threads +with which she intended to make cloth—cloth to provide +her son with light, warm, comfortable garments. Tanyusha +was sitting by the window, reading a book. Elizabeth, +who was on a visit to Bagrovo, was sitting on the bed +near her father, telling him of her troubles—her husband's +poor prospects, and the shifts they had to practise at home +to make ends meet. The old man listened sadly, with his +hands on his knees, and his head, now turning white, bent +down over his breast. Suddenly the door opened; and +Ivan, a tall, handsome lad, wearing a travelling jacket, +entered the room with a quick step and delivered a letter +which he had brought from the post-town 25 <em class="italics">versts</em> away. +The stir among the party showed that the letter was eagerly +expected. "From Alosha?" asked the old man quickly +and uneasily. "From my brother," answered Tanyusha, +who had gone to meet Ivan, taken the letter quickly from +him, and looked at the address. "You have lost no time, +and I thank you. A dram for Ivan! Then go and have +your dinner and rest." The spirit-case was opened at +once; Tanyusha took out a long, cut-glass decanter, filled +a silver cup with brandy, and handed it to Ivan. Ivan +crossed himself and drank it, then coughed, bowed, and +left the room. "Read it aloud, Tanyusha," said her +father; she did his reading and writing for him. She +placed herself by the window; her father left his bed and +her mother her spinning-wheel, and all crowded round the +reader, who had unsealed the letter by this time but dared +not take a preliminary peep. After a moment's silence, +the letter was read slowly and audibly. It began with the +form of address usual in those days—"Dear and honoured +Father, and dear and honoured Mother," and then went +on in this fashion—</p> +<p class="pnext">"In answer to my last letter, I had the misfortune to +receive a refusal of my request, my dearest parents. I +cannot go against your will; I submit to it, but I cannot +long drag the burden of my life without my adored Sofya +Nikolayevna; and therefore a fatal bullet shall ere long +pierce the head of your unhappy son."<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id79" id="id78"><sup>39</sup></a></p> +<p class="pnext">The letter produced a powerful effect. My aunts began +to whimper; my grandmother, who was taken utterly by +surprise, turned pale, threw out her hands, and flopped +down on the ground like a corn-sheaf. Even in those +days fainting-fits were not unknown. Stepan Mihailovitch +never stirred; but his head bent a little to one side, as it +used to do when a fit of anger was coming on, and began +to tremble slightly; and that tremulous motion went on +from that hour till his death. The daughters rushed to +their mother's aid and soon brought her back to her senses. +At once, Arina Vassilyevna threw herself at her husband's +feet, raising the cry of mourning for the dead; and her +daughters followed her example. Taking no notice of the +storm-signals on his brow, and quite forgetting that she +herself had egged him on to disappoint his son, she cried +at the top of her voice: "<em class="italics">Batyushka</em> Stepan Mihailovitch! +have pity and do not be the death of your own child, +our only son! Give Alosha leave to marry! If anything +happens to him, I will not live one hour longer!" The old +man never stirred. At last he said in an unsteady voice: +"Enough of that howling! Alosha deserves a good whipping. +But we'll leave it till to-morrow; morning brings good +counsel. Now go and order dinner to be served." Dinner +my grandfather regarded as a sedative at every domestic +crisis. Arina Vassilyevna tried to begin again—"Mercy! +Mercy!"—but Stepan Mihailovitch called out loudly, +"Leave the room, all of you!"—and in his voice was audible +the roar that goes before a storm. The room was cleared instantly, +and no one ventured near him before the dinner-hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is hard to imagine the thoughts that passed through +his mind in the interval, the struggle that took place in that +iron heart between love and prudence, and the final defeat +of the stubborn spirit; but, when Mazan's voice was heard +outside the door, announcing dinner, my grandfather came +out of his room quite composed. His face was rather pale, +but his wife and daughters, who were standing, each by her +own chair, till he appeared, could not see the faintest sign +of anger; on the contrary, he was quieter and more cheerful +than he had been in the morning, and made a hearty +meal. Arina Vassilyevna had to harden her heart and suit +her conversation to his mood; she dared not even sigh, +far less ask questions; in vain she tried to guess what was +passing through her husband's mind; the little chestnut-brown +eyes in her fat face might ask what questions they +pleased, but the dark-blue eyes of Stepan Mihailovitch, for +all their frank good-humoured expression, gave no answer. +After dinner he lay down as usual, and woke in a still more +cheerful mood, but not a syllable did he utter about his +son or the letter. Yet it was clear that no wrath was brooding +in the old man's heart. When he said "good night"; +to his wife after supper, she ventured to say, "Please say +something about Alosha." He smiled and answered: +"Did I not say that morning thoughts are best? Go to +sleep, and God bless you!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Morning did indeed bring good counsel and kindly +action. My grandfather got up at four o'clock when Mazan +was kindling his fire, and his first words were: "Tanaichonok, +you are to take a letter at once to Ufa for Alexyéi +Stepanitch. Get ready immediately, and no one is to +know your errand or where you are going. Put the young +brown horse in the shafts, and the roarer abreast of him. +Take six bushels of oats with you and a loaf of bread. Ask +the housekeeper for two <em class="italics">roubles</em> in copper for your expenses. +See that all is ready when my letter is written, and don't +lose a moment!" When my grandfather demanded haste, +he always got it. Then he opened the oak desk which +served him as a writing-table, got writing materials, and +with some effort—for ten years past he had written +nothing but his signature—he wrote as follows in a stiff, +old-fashioned hand:—</p> +<blockquote><div> +<p class="pfirst">"<span class="small-caps">Dear Son Alexyéi</span>,</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your mother, Arina Vassilyevna, and I, give +you our permission to marry Sofya Nikolayevna Zubin, if +that be God's will, and we send you our blessing.</p> +<blockquote><div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"Your father,</div> +<div class="line"></div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">"<span class="small-caps">Stepan Bagroff</span>."</div> +</div> +</div> +</div></blockquote> +</div></blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Half an hour later, long before it was light, Tanaichonok +had reached the top of the long hill and passed the +stackyard, and was trotting briskly along the road to Ufa. +At six o'clock Stepan Mihailovitch ordered Aksyutka to +bring the <em class="italics">samovar</em> but to wake no one in the house. In +spite of this, the mistress was called and told in confidence +that Tanaichonok had started very early with a pair of +horses from the stable; he was carrying a letter from the +master, but his destination was unknown. She did not +venture to join her husband at once: she waited an hour +or so, and appeared when he had finished his tea and was +chatting with Aksyutka, the maid, who had been plain as +a child and was now still plainer in middle life. "Well, +what did they wake you for?" said Stepan Mihailovitch, +holding out his hand to his wife. "I dare say you had a +bad night." Arina Vassilyevna kissed his hand respectfully: +"No," she said, "no one called me, I woke of +myself; and I had a good night, for I hoped you would be +kind to our poor boy." He looked attentively at her; but +her face was accustomed to wear a mask, and he could not +read her thoughts. "In that case," he said, "I have +good news for you. I have sent a special messenger to +Ufa and written to Alexyéi that he has permission from +us both to marry Sofya Nikolayevna."</p> +<p class="pnext">Arina Vassilyevna had been horrified by her son's +tragic intentions, and had sincerely begged and prayed +her stern husband to consent to the marriage. Yet, when +she heard how Stepan Mihailovitch had decided, she felt +more fear than joy; or rather, she did not dare to feel +joy, because she feared her daughters. She knew already +what Elizabeth thought of the letter, and guessed what +Alexandra would say. For these reasons she received the +decision, which her husband hoped would delight her, +rather coldly and strangely; and this did not escape him. +Elizabeth expressed no satisfaction whatever, but merely +respectful submission to her father's will; but Tanyusha, +who took her brother's letter quite seriously, rejoiced with +all her heart. Elizabeth was not alarmed even at first by +her brother's threat; she shed tears and interceded for +him, merely because it would not look well to act differently +from her mother and youngest sister. She wrote at +once to Alexandra, who was furious when she heard of the +decision and came with all speed to Bagrovo. She too +treated her brother's letter as an empty threat, a trick +suggested by Sofya Nikolayevna; and the two together +soon converted their mother and even Tanyusha to this +belief. But the matter was settled, and open rebellion +was now out of the question. Stepan Mihailovitch had +thought that Sofya Nikolayevna would refuse his son; +but no one else at Bagrovo believed this. But it is time +now to leave Bagrovo and see what was going on at Ufa.</p> +<p class="pnext">I will not take upon myself to decide positively whether +Alexyéi Stepanitch really intended to shoot himself, if his +parents were obdurate, or took a hint from some incident +in a novel and tried to excite their fears by suggesting the +awful result of their refusal. Judging by the later development +of his character—and I knew it well—I cannot think +him capable of either course of action. Therefore, as I +suppose, the young man was not playing a trick in order +to frighten his parents; on the contrary, he sincerely +intended to blow out his brains, if he was forbidden to +marry Sofya Nikolayevna. But at the same time I do not +think he could ever have brought himself to carry out his +fatal purpose, although your mild quiet people, who are +often called faint-hearted, are sometimes more capable of +desperate actions than men of bold and energetic temperament. +The idea of suicide was certainly borrowed from +some novel: it was quite out of keeping with the character +of Alexyéi Stepanitch, his view of life, and the circle of +ideas in which he had been born and brought up. However +that may be, when he had launched the fatal letter, +he became greatly agitated and was soon laid up with +fever. His friend and confidante, Mme. Alakayeff, knew +nothing of the letter; she came to see him daily and soon +perceived that his illness and his love-affair were not enough +to account for his excessive agitation. She was sitting +beside him one day, knitting a stocking and talking about +trifles, in order to amuse the invalid and distract his mind +from his hopeless passion; he was lying on the sofa, with +his hands behind his head, looking out of the window. +Suddenly he turned as white as a sheet. A cart with a +pair of horses had turned off the street into the courtyard, +and he recognised the horses and Tanaichonok. He +sprang to his feet, cried out, "A message from my father, +from Bagrovo!" and made for the door. Mme. Alakayeff +seized his arm, and, with the help of a servant, prevented +him from hurrying to the steps; it was wet and +cold autumn weather. Meanwhile Tanaichonok came +quickly into the room and delivered the letter. Alexyéi +Stepanitch broke the seal with trembling fingers, read the +few lines, burst into tears, and fell on his knees before the +<em class="italics">ikon</em>. Mme. Alakayeff was puzzled until he handed her +the letter; but, when she had read it, she too shed tears +of joy. The young man was beside himself with happiness. +He now confessed the nature of the letter he had +written to his parents, and she shook her head when she +heard it. Tanaichonok was called in and closely questioned; +when he told how he had been sent off, they +saw that Stepan Mihailovitch had settled the matter by +himself, without the knowledge of his womankind and +probably against their wishes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mme. Alakayeff was entirely taken by surprise: even +when she had read the letter over again she could not +believe her own eyes, because she knew Stepan Mihailovitch +of old and quite realised the opposition of the +family. But, when the first excitement of surprise and joy +was over, the two began to discuss how they should set to +work. So long as opposition from their own side made +the marriage seem remote and impossible, they had been +sanguine as to the feelings of the lady; but now a doubt +seized on Mme. Alakayeff. When she recalled and examined +all the favourable signs, she felt that perhaps she +had attached more importance to them than they deserved; +and, like a sensible woman, she made haste to moderate +the young man's confident hopes, prudently calculating +that, if he were seduced by them, he would find it harder +to bear the sudden collapse of those radiant dreams. A +refusal now seemed to her quite possible, and her fears had +effect upon her companion. Still, she did not back out +of her promise to help him: on the contrary, she went +next day and laid his proposal before Sofya Nikolayevna.</p> +<p class="pnext">Simply, clearly, and with no exaggeration, she described +the constant and ardent attachment of Alexyéi +Stepanitch—all the town had long known it, and certainly +Sofya Nikolayevna did; she spoke warmly of the fine +character of her young relative, his kind heart, his rare +modesty; she gave true and exact details of his financial +position and prospects; she told the facts about his family, +not forgetting to state that he had received by letter +yesterday his parents' blessing and their full consent to +seek the hand of a lady so worthy and highly respected as +Sofya Nikolayevna; she added, that the young man had +caught a fever in the excitement of waiting for his parents' +reply, but found it impossible to postpone the decision of +his fate, and therefore had asked her, as his kinswoman +and a friend of Sofya Nikolayevna's, to find out whether +a formal proposal for her hand, laid before her father, +would be distasteful to her or not.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna had long been accustomed to act +for herself: without confusion and without any of the +affectation and prudery expected of women in those days, +she replied as follows:—</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thank Alexyéi Stepanitch for the honour he has +done me, and you, dear lady, for your interest in the matter. +I say frankly that I noticed long ago his partiality for me +and have long expected that he would make me a proposal; +but I have never decided whether I would accept or reject +it. His last visit to his parents, the suddenness—you told +me this yourself—of his long and dangerous illness at +home, and the change in him when he came back to Ufa—these +were signs that his parents disapproved of me as a +daughter-in-law. This, I confess, I did not expect; it +seemed more natural to fear opposition on the part of my +father. Later I saw that Alexyéi Stepanitch had revived +his former feeling for me; and now I suppose that he has +been able to induce his father and mother to consent. But +you must admit yourself, my dear lady, that the matter +now assumes quite a new aspect. To enter a family where +one is not welcome, is too great a risk. Certainly, my +father would not oppose my choice; but can I venture to +conceal the truth from him? If he were to learn that an +obscure country squire thought twice before admitting me +to the honour of alliance with his family, he would consider +it a degradation, and nothing would induce him to +consent. I am not in love with Alexyéi Stepanitch: I +only respect his good qualities and his constant affection, +and I believe he might make the woman he loved happy. +Allow me, therefore, to think it over; and also, before I +speak of this to my father and trouble him in his feeble +state with such news, I wish to speak myself to Alexyéi +Stepanitch. Let him come and see us, when he is well +enough."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mme. Alakayeff reported this answer exactly to the +young man. He did not think it promising, but she disagreed +with him and tried to sooth his anxiety.</p> +<p class="pnext">After parting on very friendly terms with her visitor, +Sofya Nikolayevna sat for a long time alone in her drawing-room, +and thought hard. Her bright lively eyes were +clouded; sombre thoughts raced through her brain and +were reflected on the mirror of her beautiful face. All +that she had said to Mme. Alakayeff was perfectly true: +the question, whether she should marry Alexyéi Stepanitch +or not, was really not settled. But the proposal had now +been made, and it was necessary to make the great decision, +so critical in every woman's life. Sofya Nikolayevna had +an unusually clear head; in later years, the trials of life +and her own passionate temperament may have warped +her judgment, but she was able then to see everything +exactly in its true light. Her prospects were not bright. +Her father was a hopeless invalid, and Zanden, their best +doctor, declared he could not live more than a year. His +property consisted of two villages near Ufa, Zubkova and +Kasimofka—forty serfs in all and a small amount of land; +he had also scraped together a sum of 10,000 <em class="italics">roubles</em> which +he intended as a portion for his daughter. To see her +married was his constant and eager desire; but strange +things do happen, and Sofya Nikolayevna had never before +received a formal offer. He would leave behind him six +orphans, the children of his two marriages, and separate +guardians would have to be appointed. The three youngest +would go to their grandmother, Mme. Rychkoff; their +mother's fortune consisted of a small estate of fifty serfs. +Sofya Nikolayevna's own brothers were at a boarding-school +in Moscow; she would be left absolutely alone, +without even distant relations to take her under their roof. +In short, she had no where to lay her head. To face +poverty and want, to live on the charity of strangers and +in complete dependence upon strangers—such a fate might +distress any one; but to a girl who had lived in comfort +and held a high position in society, a girl proud by nature +and flattered by general attention and popularity, a girl +who had experienced all the burden of dependence and +then all the charm of authority—such a change might well +seem intolerable. And here was a young man, good-looking, +honest, modest, the heir of an ancient line and an only +son, whose father possessed 180 serfs and who was himself +to inherit wealth from an aunt; and this young man +worshipped her and offered her his hand and heart. At +first sight, hesitation seemed out of the question. But, +on the other hand, they were ill-matched in mind and +temperament. No one in the town could believe that +Sofya Nikolayevna would accept Alexyéi Stepanitch, and +she realised the justice of public opinion and could not but +attach importance to it. She was considered a marvel of +beauty and intelligence: her suitor was certainly pretty in +a boyish way—which was no recommendation to Sofya +Nikolayevna—but rather simple and stupid, and passed +with every one for a plain country lad. She was quick and +enterprising: he was timid and slow. She was educated +and might almost be called learned, had read much, and +had a wide range of intellectual interests: he was quite +ignorant, had read nothing but a few silly novels and a +song-book, and cared for little beyond snaring quails and +flying his hawks. She was witty and tactful and shone in +society: he could not string three words together; clumsy, +shy, abject, and ridiculous, he could only blush and bow +and squeeze into a corner or against a door, to escape from +the talkative and sociable young men whom he positively +feared, though he was in truth far cleverer than many of +them. She had a firm, positive, unbending temper: he +was humble and wanting in energy, easily silenced and +easily discomfited. Was he the man to support and defend +his wife in society and in domestic life?</p> +<p class="pnext">Such were the contradictory thoughts and ideas and +fancies which swarmed in the young girl's mind, mingling +and jostling one another. Long after darkness had come +down, she was still sitting there alone. At last a feeling +of extreme misery, a terrible certainty that her reason was +utterly baffled and growing less and less able to solve her +problem, turned her thoughts to prayer. She hurried to +her room to beg for the light of reason from on high, and +fell on her knees before the image of Our Lady of Smolensk, +who had once before by a miracle lightened her darkness +and pointed out to her the path of life. For a long +time she prayed, and her hot tears fell. But by degrees +she felt a kind of relief, a measure of strength, a power of +resolve, though she did not know yet what her resolve +would be; and even this feeling helped her. She went +downstairs to look at her father in his sleep; then she +came back to her own room, lay down, and went peacefully +to sleep. When she woke next morning, she was +perfectly composed; she reflected for a few minutes, gave +a thought to her hesitation and perplexity of the night +before, and then kept quietly to her purpose, which was, +first to have a conversation with her suitor, and then to +settle the matter definitely, in accordance with the impression +left on her mind by their interview.</p> +<p class="pnext">Alexyéi Stepanitch, wishing to know his fate as soon +as possible, sent for the doctor and begged to be put on +his legs without delay. The doctor promised to let him +out soon and kept his promise for once. Within a week +Alexyéi Stepanitch, though still pale, thin, and feeble, was +sitting in Sofya Nikolayevna's drawing-room. Touched +by the loss of colour and change in his young face, she was +not quite as outspoken and rigorous as she meant to be. +In substance she repeated to him what she had said to +Mme. Alakayeff, but she added two points—that she would +not part from her father while he lived, and that she would +not live in the country. She wished to live in a town, in +Ufa, for choice, where she was acquainted with many +worthy and cultivated people, and hoped to enjoy their +society after her marriage. She ended by saying that she +would like to see her husband in the public service and +holding a position in the town, which, if not brilliant, +should at least secure deference and respect. To all these +conditions and anticipations of a wife's rights, Alexyéi +Stepanitch replied, with abject humility, that her will was +law to him, and that his happiness would consist in the +fulfilment of all her wishes. Such an answer no man +should have given: it proved that his love was not to be +depended on, and that he could not assure a woman's +happiness; yet it pleased Sofya Nikolayevna, clever as +she was. Reluctantly I must confess that love of power +was one of her ruling passions; and the germs of this +passion, now that she had been released from the cruel +oppression of her stepmother, were sprouting actively at +this time. Love of power did really, though she herself +did not know it, help her to her decision.</p> +<p class="pnext">She expressed a wish to see the letter of consent which +he had received from his parents; and he produced it from +his pocket. She read it and was convinced that she was +right in guessing that his wishes had at first been opposed. +The young man was incapable of dissimulation, and also +so much in love that he could not resist a kind look or word +from his idol. So, when Sofya Nikolayevna demanded +perfect frankness, he made a clean breast of everything; +and I believe that this frankness finally settled the question +in his favour. Sofya Nikolayevna was clever, but +still she was a woman; and she was filled with the idea of +reshaping and remoulding in her own way this good-tempered +young man, so modest and sincere and uncorrupted +by society. How delightful to think of the gradual +awakening and enlightenment of this Orson! Orson had +no lack of sense; and feeling, though wrapt in unbroken +slumber, was there too. Orson would love her still better, +if that were possible, in gratitude for his transformation. +This vision took hold of her eager imagination; and she +parted very graciously from her adorer, promising to talk +the matter over with her father and communicate the +result through Mme. Alakayeff. Alexyéi Stepanitch was +"swimming in bliss"—to use an expression of that day. +That evening Sofya Nikolayevna again had recourse to +prayer, and prayed for a long time with great mental strain +and fervour. She was exhausted when she went to sleep; +and she had a dream which she interpreted, as people +often do, as a confirmation of her purpose. Men are +clever enough to interpret anything according to their +desires. This dream I forget; but I remember that it +was capable, with much more probability and much less +forcing, of the opposite interpretation. Next morning +Sofya Nikolayevna lost no time in telling her father, who +was now in a very feeble state, of the proposal she had +received. M. Zubin did not know Alexyéi Stepanitch, but +had somehow come to think of him as a person of no +importance; and he was not pleased, in spite of his eager +desire to see his daughter settled before he died. But she +proved to him, with her usual eagerness and convincing +eloquence, that it was unwise to show the door to such a +suitor. She urged all the advantages of the match which +we know already, and, above all, that, far from parting +with him, she would continue to live in the same house. +She painted her helpless condition when it should please +God to remove her father, till the sick man shed a tear and +said: "Do as you please, my dear clever child. I consent +to everything. Bring your future husband to see me soon: +I wish to become better acquainted with him. And I +insist on receiving a proposal in writing from his parents."</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna then sent a note to Mme. Alakayeff, +asking Alexyéi Stepanitch to call on her father at a fixed +hour. He was still "swimming in bliss," which he shared +only with his old friend and supporter; but he was much +disconcerted by this invitation which he had never expected +from such a confirmed invalid. M. Zubin, in the absence +of the Lieutenant-Governor the most important and +powerful personage in the whole district of Ufa! M. +Zubin, whom he had always approached with reverence +and awe! His name seemed now more formidable than +ever. What if he frowned on this proposal for his +daughter's hand from one of the humblest of his subordinates? +Might he not treat it as insolence, and thunder +out: "How dared you think of my daughter? Are you +a fit match for her? Off with him to prison and to judgment!" +However wild these notions may appear, they +did really pass through the young man's head; and he +often told the story afterwards himself. Plucking up his +spirits and encouraged by Mme. Alakayeff, he put on his +uniform which hung loosely on his limbs from loss of flesh, +and set off to wait on the great man. With his three-cornered +hat under his arm, and clutching his troublesome +sword in a trembling hand, he entered M. Zubin's study, +so nervous that he could hardly breathe. M. Zubin, who +had once been clever, lively, and energetic, now lay on his +couch hardly able to move and shrunk to a mere skeleton. +The visitor bowed low and remained standing by the door. +This in itself was enough to annoy the invalid. "Step +this way, M. Bagroff, and take a chair near my bed; I am +too weak to talk loud." Alexyéi Stepanitch, with a profusion +of bows, sat down on the edge of a chair close to the +bed. "I understand that you seek my daughter's hand," +the old man went on. The suitor jumped up, bowed, and +said that he did in fact venture to seek this happiness.</p> +<p class="pnext">I could report the whole of this interview in detail, as +I have often heard it fully described by Alexyéi Stepanitch +himself; but part of it would be a repetition of what we +know already, and I am afraid of wearying my readers. +The important points are these. M. Zubin questioned the +young man about his family, his means, and his intentions +with regard to his profession and place of residence; he +said that Sofya Nikolayevna would have nothing but her +portion of 10,000 <em class="italics">roubles</em>, two families of serfs as servants, +and 3000 <em class="italics">roubles</em> in cash for initial expenses; and he +added: "Though I am quite sure that you, as a dutiful +son, would not have made such a proposal without the consent +of your parents, yet they may change their minds; +and social usage requires that they should write to me +personally on the subject; and I cannot give you a positive +answer till I receive a letter to that effect." Alexyéi +Stepanitch got up repeatedly, bowed, and sat down again. +He agreed to everything and promised to write that very +day to his parents. In half an hour the invalid said that +he was tired—which was perfectly true—and dismissed +the young man rather drily. The moment he left, Sofya +Nikolayevna entered her father's study; he was lying +with closed eyes, and his face expressed weariness and also +anxiety. Hearing his daughter's approach, he threw an +imploring glance at her, pressed his hands to his breast, +and ejaculated: "Is it possible, Sonitchka, that you +intend to marry him!" But Sofya Nikolayevna had +anticipated the result of the interview and was prepared +for an even worse impression. "I warned you, father," +she said in a gentle but firm voice, "that Alexyéi Stepanitch, +owing to utter ignorance of society, awkwardness, +and timidity, was bound to appear to you at first somewhat +of a simpleton; but I, who have seen him often and +had long conversations with him, will vouch for it that he +is no fool and has more sense than most people. I beg you +to have two more interviews with him; and I am sure you +will agree with me." M. Zubin looked long at his daughter +with a keen and penetrating gaze, as if he wished to read +some secret hidden in her heart; then he sighed heavily +and consented to do what she asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">By the next post Alexyéi Stepanitch sent a very affectionate +and respectful letter to his parents. He thanked +them for having given him life a second time, and humbly +begged them to write at once to M. Zubin and request the +hand of his daughter for their son; he added that this was +the regular custom, and without such a letter the father +would not give a positive answer. The fulfilment of this +simple request gave some trouble to the old people at +Bagrovo. They were no hands at composition, and, for +want of previous experience, had no idea how to set about +it, while they were exceedingly loath to commit themselves +before the Governor's Deputy and their future relation, +who was sure to be a skilful man of business and a practised +writer. It took them a whole week to compose their +letter; at last it got written somehow and was dispatched +to Alexyéi Stepanitch. It was not a skilful production, +having none of those polite phrases and expressions of +affection which are indispensable in such cases.</p> +<p class="pnext">While waiting for the answer from home, Alexyéi +Stepanitch received two more invitations from M. Zubin. +The second visit did not remove the unfavourable impression +produced by the first. On the next occasion, however, +Sofya Nikolayevna was present. Returning from a +call earlier than usual, she walked into her father's room, +as if she did not know that her suitor was sitting there. +Her presence made all the difference. She could make +him talk and knew what he could talk about, so as to display +to advantage his natural good sense, high principle, +and goodness of heart. M. Zubin was obviously pleased: +he spoke kindly to the young man and invited him to come +to the house as often as he could. When they were alone, +the old man embraced his daughter with tears, called her +by many fond names, and said she was a witch whose +spells could draw out a man's good qualities, even when +they were so deeply hidden that no one suspected their +existence. She too was much pleased; for she had not +dared to hope that Alexyéi Stepanitch would do so much +to support her favourable opinion and justify the character +she had given him.</p> +<p class="pnext">The letter containing the formal proposal arrived at +last, and Alexyéi Stepanitch delivered it in person to M. +Zubin. Alas! without the magic presence and aid of +Sofya Nikolayevna the suitor failed again to please his +future father-in-law, who was also far from satisfied with +the letter. Next day he had a long conversation with his +daughter, in which he set before her all the disadvantages +of marrying a man inferior to herself in intelligence, +education, and force of character; he said that the Bagroff +family would not take her to their hearts—they would be +much more likely to hate her, because coarse and cruel +ignorance always hates refinement; he warned her not to +rely on the promises of a lover; for these as a rule are not +kept after marriage, and Alexyéi Stepanitch, even if he +wished, would not have the power to keep them. To all +this sage advice, drawn directly from the experience of life, +she had an answer of surprising adroitness; and at the +same time she depicted in such lively colours the advantages +of marrying a man who, if he lacked energy and +refinement, was at least kind-hearted, honourable, loving, +and no fool, that her father was carried away by her confidence +and gave his full consent. She clasped her father +in her arms and kissed his wasted hands; then she gave +him the <em class="italics">ikon</em> and received his blessing,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id81" id="id80"><sup>40</sup></a> kneeling by his +bed and weeping. "Father," she cried in her excitement, +"with God's help, I hope that in a year's time Alexyéi +Stepanitch will be a different creature: the reading of +good books, the society of clever people, and constant +conversation with his wife—these will make up for defects +of education; his bashfulness will pass away, and the +power to take a place in society will come of itself." "May +it be so!" he answered. "Now send for the priest. I +wish that we should pray together for your happiness."</p> +<p class="pnext">That same evening Alexyéi Stepanitch was invited to +the house, with Mme. Alakayeff and some old friends of +the Zubins'—M. Anitchkoff and the Misailoffs; and the +favourable answer was given. The young man's bliss no +words can describe: Sofya Nikolayevna, even in extreme +old age, used to speak of his joy at that moment. He +threw himself at M. Zubin's feet and kissed his hands, +cried and sobbed like a child, and nearly fainted from the +effect of this immense good-fortune which down to the last +moment had seemed beyond his reach. She too was +deeply moved by such a frank expression of ardent and +entire devotion.</p> +<p class="pnext">The official betrothal came two days later, and all the +town was invited to the ceremony. There was general +surprise, because many had disbelieved the reports of the +engagement. But all sceptics were convinced at last, and +came to express their congratulations and good wishes. +Alexyéi Stepanitch was radiant with happiness; he was +quite unaware of any hidden meaning in congratulations, +of any mockery in looks and smiles. But Sofya Nikolayevna +let nothing pass unnoticed: she saw everything +and heard everything, though, in speaking to her, every one +was cautious and polite. Though she knew beforehand +the view society would take of her action, she could not +help being vexed by this expression of their opinion. But +no one detected her vexation; for she was cheerful and +affectionate with every one and especially with her suitor, +and seemed perfectly happy and content with her choice. +The pair were soon summoned into M. Zubin's study, and +the betrothal took place there before a few witnesses. +While the priest read the prayers, the old man shed tears; +when the rite was over, he told the bridegroom to kiss the +bride and embraced them both himself with a great effort; +then he gazed earnestly at Alexyéi Stepanitch and said, +"Love her always as you do now; God is giving you such +a treasure ..." and then he broke down. The engaged +couple and the witnesses returned to the drawing-room, +where all the men embraced the bridegroom and kissed +the bride's hand, while all the ladies embraced the bride +and had their hands kissed by the bridegroom. When this +fuss was over, the pair were made to sit on a sofa side by +side, and exchange kisses again; and then the company, +holding glasses in their hands, repeated their congratulations +and good wishes. Anitchkoff acted as host, and +Mme. Alakayeff as hostess. Alexyéi Stepanitch, who had +never in his life drunk anything but water, was forced to +take a glass of wine, and the unfamiliar stimulant had a +strong effect upon him, weakened as he was by recent +illness and constant agitation. He became uncommonly +lively, laughed and cried, and talked a great deal, to the +amusement of the company and the mortification of the +bride. The guests soon grew merry: glass followed glass, +and a fine supper was served. All ate and drank heartily, +and at last the party broke up amid noise and merriment. +The bridegroom's head was beginning to ache; and Mme. +Alakayeff took him home in her carriage.</p> +<p class="pnext">M. Zubin felt that he was in great danger and therefore +wished to have the wedding as soon as possible; but, as +he also wished his daughter's outfit to be rich and splendid, +it was necessary to postpone the ceremony for some months. +Her mother's diamonds and emeralds had to be sent to +Moscow, to be reset and restrung in the newest fashion; +silver had to be ordered from Moscow, and some dresses +and presents; the other dresses, curtains for the state bed, +and a sumptuous black-brown fur cloak which cost 500 +<em class="italics">roubles</em> then and could not be bought now for 5000—all +these were made in Kazan; a quantity of table-linen and +Holland sheets were also provided. Ten thousand roubles, +the amount fixed for the dowry, was a great sum in those +days; and, as many valuable things were provided as well, +the inventory of the bride's outfit assumed such splendid +proportions, that when I read it now I can hardly believe +in the simple life of our ancestors at the end of last +century.</p> +<p class="pnext">The first business after the formal betrothal was to send +complimentary letters to all relations on both sides. One +of Sofya Nikolayevna's gifts was her remarkable skill in +letter-writing; and her letter to her future husband's +parents was such that Stepan Mihailovitch, though no +letter-writer himself, set a high value on it. First he +listened to it with great attention; then he took it out of +Tanyusha's hand, praised the distinct handwriting, and +read it through twice himself. "Well, she's a clever +girl," he said, "and I make sure she has a warm heart." +This enraged the family, but they had the sense to keep +silent. Alexandra alone could not restrain herself: her +gooseberry eyes flashed with rage as she said: "She can +write a fine letter, father, I admit; but all is not gold +that glitters." The old man scowled at her and said in his +dangerous voice: "How do you know? You're snarling +at her already, and you've never even seen her! Take +care! Keep your tongue from wagging, and don't stir up +the rest!" All sat as silent as mice, and, of course, hated +Sofya Nikolayevna worse than ever. Meanwhile Stepan +Mihailovitch, under the influence of that warm and affectionate +letter, took the pen himself and wrote as follows, +in defiance of all established etiquette:—</p> +<blockquote><div> +<blockquote><div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"<span class="small-caps">My dear, precious, sensible Daughter-in-Law to be</span>,</div> +</div> +</div></blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">"If you, without seeing us, have learnt to love +and respect us old people, we feel the same for you. And +when, by God's blessing, we meet, we shall love you still +better; and you will be to us as our own daughter, and +we shall rejoice in the happiness of our son Alexyéi."</p> +</div></blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">On her side, Sofya Nikolayevna valued the old man's +simple words as they deserved; from what she had heard, +she had already taken a fancy to him. As she had no +relations living, the bridegroom had no letters to write; +but she asked Alexyéi Stepanitch to write a letter of intimation +to M. Anitchkoff, the friend at Moscow whom she had +never seen and who had taken her brothers under his care. +The bridegroom of course gladly consented. Not having +much confidence in his power to express himself on paper, +she asked to see the letter before it was sent. When she +read it, she was horrified! Alexyéi Stepanitch, who had +heard a great deal of M. Anitchkoff as a wit, took it into +his head to adopt an elaborate style. Therefore he had +recourse to some novel of the day, and filled two sides with +phrases which, under other circumstances, would have +made Sofya Nikolayevna laugh outright; as it was, the +blood rushed to her face, and then the tears poured from +her eyes. When she grew calmer, she wondered how she +was to get out of such an awkward situation. She did +not wonder long, however. She wrote a rough draft of a +letter herself, and then said to her betrothed, that, not +being in the habit of writing to strangers, he had written +in a way that might not please Anitchkoff; and therefore +she had written a rough draft, which she asked him to copy +out and send off. She felt shame and pain, and was hurt +on his account; her voice shook, and she nearly broke +down. But he welcomed her suggestion with enthusiasm; +when she read him the letter, he was charmed with it, +praised her wonderful skill, and covered her hands with +kisses. This was the first step in disrespect for her future +husband, the first step towards realising her dream of +complete domination over him; and she did not find it +easy to take.</p> +<p class="pnext">Knowing that his parents had little money and were +forced to be chary in spending any, Alexyéi Stepanitch +wrote to ask for a very moderate sum; and, to strengthen +his request, he asked Mme. Alakayeff to write to his +father, to assure him that the request was reasonable and +that some expense was inevitable in view of the marriage. +He asked only 800 <em class="italics">roubles</em>, but Mme. Alakayeff stated the +necessary sum at 1500. The old people replied that they +had not got such a sum; they sent him all they had—300 +<em class="italics">roubles</em>, and suggested that, if the other 500 were +necessary, he should borrow them; but they promised to +send him a team of four horses with a coachman and +postilion, and provisions of all kinds. They did not even +answer Mme. Alakayeff: so indignant were they with her +for demanding such a huge sum. It could not be helped: +Alexyéi Stepanitch thanked them for their kindness and +borrowed 500 <em class="italics">roubles</em>; when even this proved insufficient, +Mme. Alakayeff gave him 500 more, without the knowledge +of his parents.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meantime, as the engaged couple met more often and +were together longer, they became more intimate. Sofya +Nikolayevna for the first time saw her husband as he +really was, and realised for the first time what a heavy +task lay before her! She had made no mistake in thinking +that he possessed natural intelligence, a very kind +heart, strict principles of honour, and perfect integrity in +official life; but otherwise she found such a limitation of +ideas, such a pettiness of interests, such an absence of self-esteem +and independence, that her courage and firmness +in the execution of her purpose were more than once +severely shaken. More than once, in despair, she took the +engagement-ring off her finger, laid it before the image of +Our Lady of Smolensk, and prayed with tears that her +feeble intelligence might be enlightened by divine wisdom. +As we know already, she was accustomed to act thus at +each crisis in her life. When she had prayed, she felt +braver and calmer. Interpreting this feeling as heavenly +guidance, she would put her ring on again and go back, +composed and cheerful, to join her lover in the drawing-room. +Her father felt that he was losing strength daily; +and she was able to assure him that she was constantly +discovering fresh merits in her lover, that she was quite +content and looked forward to happiness in her marriage. +By this time disease had dulled M. Zubin's perspicacity: +he not only believed that she was sincere, but was convinced +himself that his daughter would be happy. "Thank +God!" he used to say; "now I can die happy."</p> +<p class="pnext">And now the wedding-day drew near. The bride's +outfit was all ready. The bridegroom too made his preparations, +being guided by the advice of Mme. Alakayeff, +who assumed the entire management of him. The old +lady, in spite of her shrewdness, was surprised by his profound +ignorance of the customs of polite society. But for +her, he would have been guilty of many blunders which +would have made his bride blush for shame. Thus he +intended to give her as a birthday-present a kind of cloth +for a dress which would only have been suitable as a +present to her maid; and he thought of driving to the +church in an old shandrydan without springs, which would +have made all the town laugh; and so on. The things +were not of importance in themselves; but it would have +tried Sofya Nikolayevna too hard to see her bridegroom +the laughing-stock of Ufa society. All such things were +put right by Mme. Alakayeff, or rather by the bride herself, +for the two women discussed every point together. Sofya +Nikolayevna told her lover in time, that he must not think +of giving her a present for her birthday, because she loathed +birthday-presents in general. For the wedding, she made +him buy a new English carriage which had lately been +ordered from Petersburg by a local landowner; his name +was Murzahanoff,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id83" id="id82"><sup>41</sup></a> and he had managed to run through +his fortune in a few months. The price paid for the carriage +was 350 <em class="italics">roubles</em>; Sofya Nikolayevna bought it herself as +a present from her father to the bridegroom, and begged +him not to trouble the dying man by thanking him. And +the other difficulties were got over in the same fashion.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then the bride and bridegroom wrote, for themselves +and M. Zubin, to Stepan Mihailovitch and Arina Vassilyevna, +pressing them to honour the wedding by their +presence; but the old people, as a matter of course, +declined the invitation. They had lived so long in their +country solitude that town and town society seemed to +them something strange and formidable. None of the +daughters wished to go either; but Stepan Mihailovitch +thought this awkward, and desired Elizabeth and Alexandra +to attend the wedding. The latter was accompanied +by her husband, Karatayeff; but Yerlykin was +detained by his duties at Orenburg.</p> +<p class="pnext">The presence of these uninvited and unexpected guests +was the cause of much annoyance to Sofya Nikolayevna. +Her future sisters-in-law were clever and cunning women; +they were determined to dislike her, and their behaviour +to her was cold, unfriendly, and even rude. Though Sofya +Nikolayevna knew very well the sort of attitude they were +likely to adopt, yet she thought it her duty to be friendly +and even cordial to them at first; but when she saw that +all her efforts were vain, and that the better she treated +them the worse they treated her, she retired behind a wall +of cold civility. But this did not protect her from those +mean hints and innuendoes which it is impossible not to +understand and not to resent, though it is awkward to do +either, because you lay yourself open to the retort—"If +the cap fits, wear it!" This odious form of attack, now +banished to the servants' hall by the advance of refinement, +was formidable in those days, and much used in the houses +of rural landowners, many of whom differed little from +their own servants in their manners and customs. But is +it true that it has really been banished? Does it not still +live on among us, concealed under more decent and artistic +forms?</p> +<p class="pnext">The good people of Ufa made fun, as might be expected, +of the country clothes and manners of the two ladies. As +to Karatayeff, who had now adopted all the Bashkir habits +and began drinking Bashkir decoctions at eight in the +morning, when he was first introduced to Sofya Nikolayevna, +he kissed her hand with a sounding smack three +times over, and cried out with real Bashkir enthusiasm, +"My word! what a dazzler brother Alexyéi has hooked!" +The coarse jests and compliments of the man were as distressing +as the malicious sallies of the women; and both +forced Sofya Nikolayevna to swallow many tears. But +worse than all was the blindness of Alexyéi Stepanitch: +he seemed perfectly satisfied with the relations between +his sisters and his bride, and this was not only a mortification +for the present but also a peril for the future. These +venomous creatures, who were staying with their brother, +began at once to drop their poison into his simple soul, and +did it so artfully that he did not suspect their manœuvres. +Allusions to the young lady's pride, to the poverty which +she hid under jewels and fine clothes, to her caprices and +his meek submission to them, were dinned into his ears all +day long. Much passed unnoticed, but much also went +straight to the mark and made him thoughtful and vaguely +uneasy. All their attacks, whether secret or open, were +accompanied by a pretence of sympathy and sisterly affection. +"What makes you look so worn, my dear boy?" +Elizabeth would ask; "Sofya Nikolayevna wears you out +with all her commissions. You've just got back from the +other end of the town, tired and hungry, and off you run +again, without eating a morsel, to dance attendance on her. +As your sisters, we can't help being sorry for you"; and +then sham tears, or at least some play with the pocket-handkerchief, +completed the crafty sentence. Then Alexandra +would make a furious entry into the conversation. +"No, my dear, I really cannot stand it! I know you will +be angry, and perhaps you will cease to love us; but I +can't help it, I must tell you the truth. You are quite +changed: you're ashamed of us and have forgotten us +altogether; your one wish is to mumble that girl's hand; +your one fear, to get into her black books. You have +become her lackey, her slave! Then it cuts us to the +heart to see that old witch, Mme. Alakayeff, ordering you +about like a servant and making you fetch and carry for +her; and she's not content with that, but finds fault with +you and urges you to greater activity." Alexyéi Stepanitch +could think of no answer to all this, except that he +loved his sisters and would continue to do so, and—it was +time to go and see Sofya Nikolayevna; whereupon he took +his hat and hurried off. "Oh, go by all means!" Alexandra +called after him, "and go quick; or else she will be +angry and perhaps withhold her hand from your lips!" +Scenes like this took place again and again and undoubtedly +left their impression.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna could not help noticing that his +sisters' visit had brought about a certain change in her +lover. He seemed depressed, was less exact in keeping +his engagements, and spent less time with her. The +reason for this she herself understood very well; and Mme. +Alakayeff, who had become a very intimate friend and also +knew all that went on in the Bagroffs' lodgings, did not +fail to provide her with detailed information. Her impulsive +nature made her unwilling to let things drag on. She +reasoned justly, that she ought not to give time for the +sisters' influence to take root at leisure, that she must open +her lover's eyes and put the strength of his character and +affection to a decisive test. If they proved too weak, it +was better to part before marriage than to unite her fate +to such a feeble creature, who was, to use her own expression, +"neither a shield from the sun nor a cloak to keep +out the rain." She summoned him early one morning +and ordered that no visitors should be admitted to the +drawing-room where they were sitting. Then she turned +to Alexyéi Stepanitch, who was looking pale and frightened, +and addressed him as follows:—</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish to have a frank explanation with you and to +make a clean breast of what I am feeling; and I ask you +to do the same. Your sisters detest me and did their best +to rouse your parents against me. That I know from +yourself. But your love overcame all obstacles: your +parents gave you their approval, and I resolved to accept +you and brave the hatred of all your family. I hoped to +find protection in your love for me and in my endeavour to +prove to your parents that I don't deserve their displeasure. +But now I see that I was mistaken. You saw yourself +how I received your sisters, how friendly I was and how +hard I tried to please them; and, though their rudeness +made me draw back, yet I never once failed in politeness to +them. And what has been the result? It is only a week +since they came, and you treat me differently already: +you make me promises and then forget to keep them; you +spend less time with me; you are depressed and anxious, +and even less affectionate to me than you used to be. +Don't defend yourself, or deny it; that would not be +honourable on your part. I know that you love me still, +but you are afraid to show it; you fear your sisters, and +that is why you are depressed and even avoid opportunities +of being alone with me. You know yourself that all this +is quite true. Well, then, tell me, how can I hope that your +love will stand firm? It is a strange kind of love that +turns coward and hides, because your sisters disapprove of +your bride, as you knew they did long ago. Suppose your +parents disapprove of me and turn up their noses at me? +What then? Then you will really cease to love me. No, +Alexyéi Stepanitch, honourable men do not behave so to +the woman they love. The knowledge that your sisters +disliked me should have made you twice as attentive and +twice as devoted in their presence; and then they would +not have dared to utter a syllable; but you have suffered +them to use insulting language in your presence. I know +just how they speak to you. From all this I conclude +that your love is not love at all, but love-making, that I +cannot rely on you, and that we had better part now than +be unhappy for life. Consider carefully what I have said; +I shall give you two days to think it over. Come to the +house as usual, but I shall not see you alone and shall not +refer to this interview. After two days, I shall ask for an +honest answer to these questions: 'Have you sufficient +firmness to be my defender against your relations and any +one else who chooses to insult me? Can you shut your +sisters' mouths and prevent them from uttering in your +presence a single insulting word or allusion against me?' +To break her engagement a week before her marriage is a +great misfortune for any girl; but it is better to bear it +once for all than to suffer all one's life. You know that I +am not in love with you, but I was beginning to love you; +and I believe my love would have been stronger and more +constant than yours. Now, good-bye! For to-day and +to-morrow we are strangers."</p> +<p class="pnext">Long before she ended, Alexyéi Stepanitch had been in +tears, and he tried several times to interrupt; but, before +he could open his mouth, she had left the room and shut +the door behind her. It was some time before he recovered +from this tremendous blow. But at last the terrible +thought of losing his adored mistress presented itself to +him with appalling reality, and summoned up that energy +and vigour of which the mildest and gentlest of men are +capable, though they cannot keep it up for long. He +hurried home; and, when his sisters, with no pity for his +evident disturbance and distress, greeted him with the +usual malicious jests, he flew into such a rage and attacked +them with such fury that they were frightened. The +wrath of a gentle patient man is a formidable thing. Among +other things he told his sisters that, if they ventured to +say another insulting word about his bride or about himself, +he would instantly move to other lodgings, from which, as +well as from M. Zubin's house, they would be excluded; +and he would write to his father and tell him the whole +story. That was enough. Alexandra had a clear recollection +of her father's warning-"Keep your tongue quiet, +and don't stir up the rest of the family!" She knew very +well what a thunder-cloud her brother's complaint would +call up, and what alarming consequences she might expect. +Both the sisters fell on their brother's neck and begged forgiveness +with tears; they solemnly declared that it should +never happen again; they were really very fond of Sofya +Nikolayevna, and it was only out of pity for his health and +fear that he was doing too much that they had ventured +on these foolish jests. They called on Sofya Nikolayevna +that same day and paid court to her with the utmost +servility. The meaning of all this was not lost upon her, +and she felt she had prevailed.</p> +<p class="pnext">The position of her lover really deserved pity. His +feelings, which had been calmed and composed to some +extent by frequent interviews with Sofya Nikolayevna, +her simple friendly behaviour to him, and the near prospect +of the marriage, had then been rather alarmed and abashed +by the sneers of his sisters; and now they flamed up so +fiercely, that at the present moment he was capable of any +self-sacrifice, of any desperate action, a true knight-errant! +His state of mind was clearly reflected on his handsome +young face during those two endless days. The lovers met +several times, and Sofya Nikolayevna could not look at his +face without pain; but she had the firmness to support +the test she had imposed. The agitation and pity which +she felt were a surprise to herself. She felt that she did +really love this simple, modest young man, who was absolutely +devoted to her and would not have hesitated to put +an end to his existence if she made up her mind to refuse +him. At last the two long days were over. Early on the +third day Alexyéi Stepanitch sat in the drawing-room, +waiting for his mistress to appear. The door opened softly, +and in she came, more beautiful, more charming than ever. +She was smiling, and her eyes expressed such tenderness +that, when he looked at her and saw her kind hand +stretched out towards him, the excess of his emotion +deprived him for an instant of the power of speech. He +soon recovered, and then, instead of taking her hand, fell +at her feet and poured forth a torrent of burning heartfelt +eloquence. She interrupted him and raised him to his +feet. Then she said: "I see and feel your love, and I +share it; I believe all your promises; I put my fate in +your hands without fear." She had never been so affectionate +to him before, and she used words of tenderness +which he had never before heard from her lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">Only five days remained before the marriage. All +their preparations were complete, and the lovers were free +to spend most of their time together. For five whole +months Sofya Nikolayevna had been true to her intention +of educating her future husband over again. She never +lost a suitable moment, but did her best to impart those +ideals which he did not possess, to clear up and develop +feelings of which he was dimly conscious, and to root out +the notions which he had derived from his early surroundings. +She even made him read, and discussed with him +the books he had read, explaining what puzzled him, filling +up gaps in his memory, and illustrating fiction from real +life. But it is probable that she got on faster with her task +during these five days than in the course of five long +months; for the recent incident which I have described +had raised her lover's mind to a higher level of refinement, +and he was in an unusually receptive and impressionable +mood. How far the teacher succeeded on the whole in +impressing her ideas upon the pupil, I cannot venture to +decide. It is hard to know how much weight to attach to +the opinions of the two persons concerned; but it is +certain that in later years they both maintained—and they +appealed to the evidence of disinterested persons in confirmation +of the statement—that a great change took place +in Alexyéi Stepanitch, and even a complete transformation. +I am very willing to believe it; but I have a proof +that his proficiency in social etiquette left something to be +desired. I know that he made his bride very angry the +day before the marriage, and that her vehemence left a +strong and painful impression on his mind. It happened +in the following way. Two ladies were calling on Sofya +Nikolayevna when a servant brought in a paper parcel +and handed it to his mistress, with the explanation that +Alexyéi Stepanitch had sent it by his coachman and wished +her at once to make a cap for his sister Alexandra. Her +lover had left her half an hour before without saying one +word about this commission, and Sofya Nikolayevna was +exceedingly annoyed. The ladies, who were of some +importance, had supposed at first that the parcel contained +a present from the bridegroom; and now they did +not try to conceal their amusement. Sofya Nikolayevna +lost patience: she ordered the parcel to be returned, with +a message that Alexyéi Stepanitch had better apply to a +milliner; it was no doubt a mistake to have brought the +thing to her. The explanation was quite simple. On +going home, he had found his sister in a great difficulty, +because the milliner, who had engaged to make her a cap +for the wedding, had fallen ill and returned the materials. +As he had seen with his own eyes the skill with which Sofya +Nikolayevna could trim hats and caps, he offered to help +his sister out of her trouble, and told his servant to carry +the parcel to his bride, with a humble request that she +would trim a cap for Alexandra. But the servant was +busy, and, instead of going himself, sent the coachman; +and the humble request became, in the coachman's mouth, +an imperious demand. Alexyéi Stepanitch hastened back +to explain matters, and carried with him the same unlucky +parcel. Sofya Nikolayevna had not yet cooled down, +when she saw him coming into the room with the odious +parcel under his arm; and she flared up worse than ever, +and said many violent and unkind things which she had +better have left unspoken. The culprit, utterly dumbfounded, +tried to defend himself, but did it very badly; +he was seriously hurt by this onslaught. She sent the +materials for the cap to some milliner she knew of; and +then, repenting of her violence, she tried to put matters +right. But, to her surprise, Alexyéi Stepanitch could not +get over it: he felt that he had been unjustly treated, and +she had frightened him. He became very depressed, and +her efforts to calm and cheer him were unsuccessful.</p> +<p class="pnext">The wedding-day, the 10th of May, 1788, arrived, and +the bridegroom paid an early visit to his bride. After her +excitement of the previous day, she was distressed to see +that Alexyéi Stepanitch still wore the same pained expression. +She felt hurt; for she had always supposed that he +would be in an ecstasy of joy on the day when he led her +to the altar; and here he was, looking demure and even +depressed! She expressed her feelings, and that made +matters worse. Of course, he assured her that he considered +himself the happiest man in the world, and so on; +but the pompous and trivial phrases, which he had repeated +many a time before and she had heard with satisfaction, +were now distasteful to her ear, because they +lacked the fire of inward conviction. They soon parted, +to meet next in church, where the bridegroom was to be +in waiting for her at six in the evening.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna was assailed by a terrible misgiving—would +she be happy in her marriage? A host of +dark forebodings passed before her heated imagination. +She blamed herself for her hot temper and violent language; +she recognised that the offence was trifling, and that she +must expect many slips of the kind on her lover's part, +and must take them calmly. They had happened often +enough before; but, on this occasion, the unlucky combination +of circumstances and the presence of the two +unfriendly visitors had pricked her vanity and irritated +her natural impetuosity. Conscious that she had frightened +her lover, she repented of her fault; but at the same time +she was aware in the depth of her heart that she was quite +capable of committing the same fault again. And now she +realised afresh all the difficulty of the tremendous task she +had undertaken—the reformation and regeneration of a +man of twenty-seven. Her whole life—and it might be +long—must be spent with a husband whom she loved +indeed but could not entirely respect; there would be constant +collision between utterly different ideas and opposite +qualities, and they would often misunderstand one another. +Doubts of success, doubts of her own strength, doubts of +her power to command the qualities of firmness and calmness +so foreign to her nature—these rose before her for the +first time in their appalling truth, and she shrank back in +terror. But what could she do? If she broke off the +marriage at the eleventh hour, what would be the consequences? +It would be a terrible blow to her dying +father, who took comfort in the conviction that his daughter +would be happy in the care of a kind husband; her rivals +in society and enemies would mock at her; she would be +the talk of the town and the laughing-stock of the district, +perhaps even a mark for calumny; and, above all, she +would kill, literally kill, her devoted lover. And all for +what? Merely because she was afraid she might lack +firmness to carry out a purpose which she had deliberately +formed and which was beginning to take shape with +triumphant success. "No! that shall never be! God +will help me; Our Lady of Smolensk will be my intercessor +and will give me strength to conquer my impetuous +nature." Thus Sofya Nikolayevna thought, and thus she +decided. She wept and prayed and regained her stability.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Church of the Assumption was quite close to the +Zubins' house, and there was then an empty space round +it. Long before six o'clock, it was surrounded by a crowd +of curious spectators. The high steps projecting from the +house into the street were blocked by the carriages of the +privileged persons who had been invited to escort the bride. +The bride was dressed, and her little brother, Nikolinka, +whose birth had cost his mother her life three years before, +put on the stockings and shoes, according to established +custom, though of course the maids lent their assistance. +By six the bride was ready; she received her father's +blessing and came into the drawing-room. The rich +bridal-dress lent an added lustre to her beauty. The +bridegroom, on his way to church, had to pass right under +the drawing-room windows, and Sofya Nikolayevna saw +him drive past in the English carriage drawn by the four +fine horses bred at Bagrovo; he had his head out and was +looking up at the open windows; she smiled and nodded. +Next came the bridegroom's sisters with Mme. Alakayeff, +and all the men who were escorting him to church. She +did not wish to keep him waiting, and insisted, in spite of +various hindrances, that they should start at once. Sofya +Nikolayevna was calm and composed when she entered the +church; she gave her arm cheerfully and smilingly to the +bridegroom; but she was vexed to see that his face still +wore the same sad expression; and it was generally +remarked that they both looked depressed during the +ceremony. The church was brilliantly lighted and full of +people; the cathedral choir did not spare their voices. +Altogether, it was a dignified and splendid ceremony. +When the rite was over, the young couple were escorted to +the Zubins' house by the bridegroom's sisters, the whole +train of friends and relations on both sides, and all the +important people of Ufa. Dancing began at once and +went on till an early but sumptuous supper was served. +Privileged guests paid a visit to M. Zubin in his study +and congratulated him on his daughter's marriage. +The usual festivities took place on the next and following +days—balls, dinners, and calls, in fact, the regular routine +which we see nowadays even in Moscow and Petersburg.</p> +<p class="pnext">The shade of sadness soon vanished from the faces of +the young couple. They were perfectly happy. Kind +people could not look at them without pleasure; and +every one said, "What a handsome couple!" A week +later, they prepared for a visit to Bagrovo; the bridegroom's +sisters had gone back there three days after the +wedding, and Sofya Nikolayevna had sent by them an +affectionate letter to the old people.</p> +<p class="pnext">Startled by their brother's explosion, Elizabeth and +Alexandra had been cautious of late. They refrained from +all hints and sneers and grimaces in his presence, and were +even polite to Sofya Nikolayevna. She, of course, was not +taken in by this; but their brother entirely believed in the +sincerity of their devotion to his bride. At the wedding +and the festivities which followed, they were, naturally, +somewhat out of place, and therefore hastened their departure. +On arriving at Bagrovo, they determined to do +nothing rash and to hide their hostility towards Sofya +Nikolayevna from their father; but to their mother and +two sisters they described the marriage and events at Ufa +in such a way as to fill their minds with a strong prejudice +against the bride; and they did not forget to mention their +brother's threats and his fury excited by their attacks upon +Sofya Nikolayevna. It was agreed to treat her kindly in +the presence of Stepan Mihailovitch, and to say nothing +bad about her to him directly; at the same time they were +to use every opportunity to excite by indirect means his +displeasure against their enemy. It was a highly delicate +operation; and Elizabeth and Alexandra could not trust +it to any hands but their own.</p> +<p class="pnext">My grandfather questioned them minutely about the +wedding, the people they had seen there, the health of +M. Zubin, and so on. They praised everything, but the +poison under their praises could be smelt and tasted, and +they failed to deceive their father. By way of a joke, and +perhaps also for the sake of comparison, he turned to +Karatayeff and said: "Well, now, friend Ivan, what say +you of the daughter-in-law? As a man, you are a better +judge of the point than the women are." Karatayeff, +disregarding a signal from his wife, burst out with enthusiasm: +"I do assure you, <em class="italics">batyushka</em>, that such another +dazzler"—he always used this phrase of a beautiful +woman—"as brother Alexyéi has bagged is not to be +found in the whole world. A look from her is as good as +a shilling. And her cleverness! it's past all telling. +But there's one thing, <em class="italics">batyushka</em>: she's proud; she +can't stand a joke. When you try to have a little fun +with her, she gives you a look that makes you bite off the +end of your tongue." "I see, my friend, that she made +short work with your nonsense," said the old man with an +amused look; then he laughed and added, "Not much +amiss there, so far." In fact, Stepan Mihailovitch, from +what he had heard and the bride's letters and Karatayeff's +description, had formed in his own mind a highly favourable +opinion of Sofya Nikolayevna.</p> +<p class="pnext">The expected visit of the young couple produced bustle +and confusion in the quiet or, one might say, stagnant +waters of life at Bagrovo. They had to bestir themselves, +to clean things up, and bring out their best clothes. The +bride was a fine town lady, poor, perhaps, but accustomed +to live in luxury; she would be critical and contemptuous—so +they all thought, and so they all said, except the +master of the house. As there were no separate rooms in +the house unoccupied, Tanyusha had to turn out of her +bedroom, one corner of which overlooked the garden and +the clear waters of the Boogoorooslan with its green bushes +and loud nightingales. Tanyusha was very unwilling to +move to the bath-house, but there was no other place: all +her sisters were put up in the house, and Karatayeff and +Yerlykin slept in the hayloft. The day before the visitors' +arrival brought their state-bed and bed-hangings and +curtains for the windows, and with them a man who knew +how to put everything up properly. Tanyusha's room was +completely furnished in a few hours. Stepan Mihailovitch +came to see it and expressed his admiration, but the women +bit their lips with envy. At last a messenger galloped up +and announced that the couple had stopped at the village +of Noikino, eight <em class="italics">versts</em> from Bagrovo; they were to change +their dress there and would arrive in two hours. This +caused a general stir. The priest had been summoned +hours before; but, as he had not yet arrived, Stepan +Mihailovitch sent a mounted messenger to hasten his steps.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meantime the following scene was taking place in the +Mordvinian village of Noikino. The travellers were making +their way along side roads and had always to send a man +ahead to arrange about fresh horses. The people of +Noikino had all known Alexyéi Stepanitch from childhood, +and had a great regard and respect for his father. Every +one of the six hundred inhabitants of the village, men and +women, old and young, gathered before the cottage where +the young people were to make their halt. Sofya Nikolayevna +had probably never seen people of this tribe close at hand; +and therefore the dress of the women and the uncommonly +tall stout girls—their white shifts embroidered with red +wool, their black woollen girdles, and the silver coins and +little bells which hung from their heads over their breasts +and backs—was very interesting to her. But, when she +heard them all break out into joyful greetings and compliments +and good wishes, childish enough and expressed in +bad Russian, but coming from the heart, then she both +laughed and cried. "What a fine wife God has given you, +Alosha! How glad our father Stepan Mihailovitch will +be! Good luck! Good luck!" But, when the bride, +arrayed in her fine city clothes, came out to take her seat +in the carriage, there was such a roar of enthusiastic +applause that the horses actually shied. The travellers +made a present of ten <em class="italics">roubles</em>, to be spent on whisky, to +the whole village, and went on their way.</p> +<p class="pnext">The stackyard at Bagrovo was at the top of a hill, and +now the high carriage was seen emerging from behind it. +The cry, "They're coming! they're coming!" flew from +room to room, and house-servants and labourers soon +gathered in the large courtyard, while the young people +and children ran to meet the carriage. The master and +mistress, attended by all their family, came out upon the +steps. Arina Vassilyevna wore a silk jacket and skirt and +a silk handkerchief adorned with gold sprigs upon her head; +Stepan Mihailovitch was clean-shaved and wore an old-fashioned +frock-coat and a stock round his neck. Husband +and wife stood on the top step; and he held in his hands an +ikon representing the Presentation of the Virgin, while she +carried a loaf of bread and a silver salt-cellar. Their +daughters and two sons-in-law were grouped round them. +The carriage drove up to the steps. The young couple got +out, knelt down before the old people, and received their +blessing; then they exchanged embraces with each member +of the family. Hardly had the bride completed this +ceremony and turned again towards her father-in-law, when +he caught her by the hand and looked keenly at her eyes +from which the tears were falling. His own eyes grew wet; +he clasped her in a tight embrace, kissed her, and said, "I +thank God. Let us go and thank Him together!" He took +her by the hand and led her through the crowd of people +into the parlour. There he made her sit near him; and +the priest, who was waiting for them with his robes on, +pronounced the solemn words—</p> +<p class="pnext">"We praise thee, O God: we acknowledge thee to be +the Lord."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="fragment-iv-the-young-couple-at-bagrovo"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id119">FRAGMENT IV: THE YOUNG COUPLE AT BAGROVO</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Stepan Mihailovitch joined fervently in the prayers, and +so did his daughter-in-law. When the service was over, +all kissed the Cross, and the priest sprinkled the young +pair and the rest of the company with holy water. Then +the kissing and embracing began over again, with the +phrases customary on such occasions—"We beg that you +will regard us as relations and love us," and so on—said +of course by those to whom the bride was still a stranger. +Stepan Mihailovitch said nothing: he only looked affectionately +at the tearful eyes and flaming cheeks of Sofya +Nikolayevna, listened attentively to every word she spoke, +and noted her every movement. Then he took her by the +hand and led her to the drawing-room, where he sat down +on the sofa and made the pair sit near him. Arina +Vassilyevna seated herself next to her son at the other end of +the sofa, while her daughters with their husbands sat +round the central group. It should be said that Stepan +Mihailovitch never sat in the drawing-room: he entered +it very seldom and never stayed long. There were only +two parts of the house which he used—his own room, and +the outside stoop, a very simple contrivance of beams and +boards; there he was thoroughly at home, but in the +drawing-room he was never quite at his ease. For once he +put constraint upon himself and carried on a friendly +conversation with his daughter-in-law. He began by +asking about her father's health, and expressed sincere +regret on hearing that he grew weaker daily: "In that +case, my dear," he said, "I must not keep you too long at +Bagrovo." It need not be said that the bride was at no +loss for words: she was not merely polite, but cordial and +eager to make a good impression. Arina Vassilyevna, +naturally a very simple woman, took her tone from her +husband, as far as her intelligence and her dread of disobeying +her daughters would let her. She was friendly to +her son's wife and had taken a real liking to her at first +sight; but the others were silent, and it was not hard to +guess their feelings from their faces. After half an hour +the bride whispered to her husband, who rose at once and +went to the bedroom which had been specially prepared +for them, near the drawing-room. Stepan Mihailovitch +looked on with surprise; but the bride's lively talk engaged +his attention, and he was so much interested by it that he +was startled when presently the folding doors of the bedroom +opened and his son came in, holding a large silver +salver so loaded with presents for the family that it actually +bent under their weight. Sofya Nikolayevna sprang to her +feet; she took from the salver and presented to her father-in-law +a piece of fine English broadcloth, and a waistcoat +of watered silk, richly laced with gold thread and embroidered +all over with spangles; and she told him quite +truly that she had worked it all with her own hands. Stepan +Mihailovitch looked uneasily at his son standing with the +salver in his arms, but he accepted the presents graciously +and kissed his daughter-in-law. Next, Arina Vassilyevna +was presented with a silk handkerchief covered with gold +embroidery, to wear over her head, and a complete length +of excellent China silk, which even then was considered a +rarity; each sister-in-law received a piece of costly silk, +and each of their husbands a piece of English broadcloth; +but these presents were naturally rather less valuable. +All got up, kissed the hands of the donor, and bowed their +thanks. Meanwhile the door leading to the parlour was +cracking with the pressure of curious spectators of both +sexes, and the well-oiled heads of the maids kept peeping +timidly out of the bedroom door, which they had to themselves, +because none of the outdoor servants dared to enter +the elegant apartment of the young couple. In the parlour +there was a great noise; for the menservants were prevented +by the intruders from laying the table, and were unable +to turn them out. Stepan Mihailovitch guessed what was +going on; he got up and glanced through the door; one +look and one quiet word was enough: "Off," he said, and +the parlour was empty in a moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">The dinner passed off in the usual fashion. The young +pair sat side by side between the old couple; there were a +great many courses, one richer and more indigestible than +another; the cook Stepan had been lavish with his spice, +cloves, and pepper, and especially with his butter. The +bride ate the dainties pressed upon her by Stepan +Mihailovitch, and prayed that she might not die in the +night. There was little talking, partly because every +mouth was otherwise occupied, and also because the party +were not good at conversation. Indeed they were all +uncomfortable in their own ways. Yerlykin in his sober +intervals drank nothing but water, and hardly spoke at all +at such times, which gained him a reputation for exceptional +intelligence; and Karatayeff dared not open his +mouth in the presence of Stepan Mihailovitch except to +answer a question, and went no further than repeating the +last words of other people's remarks. If they said: "The +hay crop will be good, if we get no rain," or "The rye made +a good start till that sudden frost came"—Karatayeff +came in like an echo, "if we get no rain," "till the frost +came"; and his repetitions were sometimes ill-timed. +As the hosts had not thought of procuring sparkling wine +from Ufa, the health of the bride and bridegroom was drunk +in strawberry wine, three years old and as thick as oil, which +diffused about the room the delicious perfume of the wild +strawberry. Mazan, with long boots smelling of tar on his +feet, and wearing a long coat which made him look like a +bear dressed up in sacking, handed round the loving-cup; +it was ornamented with a white pattern and had a dark-blue +spiral inside its glass stalk. When the young pair had +to return thanks, Sofya Nikolayevna was not much pleased +to drink from the cup which had just left Karatayeff's +greasy lips; but she made no wry faces. Indeed she was +intending to drain the cup, when her father-in-law stopped +her: "Don't drink it all, my dear," he said; "the liquor +is good and sweet but strong; you are not accustomed to +it, and your little head would ache." She declared that +such a noble drink could not hurt her, and begged to be +allowed a little more, till Stepan Mihailovitch allowed her +one sip from the cup which he held in his hands.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was clear to all the family that the old man was +pleased with his daughter-in-law and liked all that she said. +And she could see this herself, though she had been surprised +twice over by a shadow of displeasure passing over his face. +But more than once during the meal she had encountered +his expressive look, as his eyes rested with satisfaction on +her. At last the long and solemn dinner came to an end. +Sofya Nikolayevna, unlike the rest, had found this rustic +feast very wearisome, but she had done her best to enliven +it by cheerful conversation. When they rose from table, +his son and daughters kissed their father's hand, and Sofya +Nikolayevna tried to do so too, but the old man embraced +and kissed her instead. It was the second time this had +happened, and Sofya Nikolayevna, with her natural impulsiveness, +asked him in a lively affectionate tone: "Why +do you not give me your hand, <em class="italics">batyushka</em>? I am your +daughter too, and I wish to kiss your hand out of love and +respect, like the rest." The old man looked at her keenly +and attentively; then he said in a kind voice: "I love +you, my dear, but I am not a priest,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id85" id="id84"><sup>42</sup></a> and no one kisses my +hand except my own children."</p> +<p class="pnext">The party went back to the drawing-room and sat down +where they were before. The maid Aksyutka brought in +coffee, which was only served on very solemn occasions; +the old man did not drink it, but all his family were very +fond of it; they always called it "coff," never "coffee." +When it was swallowed, Stepan Mihailovitch rose and said: +"Now it is time to have a good sleep, and the young people +too would be none the worse of a rest after their journey"; +then he went off to his own room, escorted by his son and +daughter-in-law. "This is my den, my dear," said the old +man cheerfully; "sit down and be my guest. As your +husband knows, it was an exception for me to sit in the +drawing-room with you all, with this bearing-rein on, as +well," and he pointed to his stock: "and in future, if +any one wants my society, I shall welcome them here." +Then he kissed her, gave his hand to his son to kiss, and let +them go. When alone, he undressed and lay down, to +rest from the unusual bodily exertions and mental excitement +of the day. He was soon sound asleep; and his +powerful snoring echoed through the house and swayed to +and fro the curtains which Mazan had drawn round his +old master.</p> +<p class="pnext">His example was followed by the rest. Yerlykin and +Karatayeff went off to the stable to lie down on the haymow; +both their faces showed that they had done well at +dinner, and Karatayeff had also drunk too much. The +daughters assembled in their mother's room which was +separate from their father's; and now began such a debate +and discussion, carried on in whispers, that not one of the +party even lay down to sleep that afternoon. Poor Sofya +Nikolayevna was their theme, and her sisters-in-law simply +tore her to pieces; they were enraged beyond all bounds +by their father's evident partiality for her. But there was +one kind heart there—Aksinya, the eldest sister, who was +now a widow for the second time; she stood up for Sofya +Nikolayevna and brought down their wrath on her own +head: they turned her out of the room and banished her +for the future from their family councils; and to her old +nickname of "Miss Simplicity," they now added another +offensive title which she still bore in advanced old age. +Yet, for all the persecution of her sisters, her kind heart +never swerved from its devotion to her sister-in-law.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile the young pair went off to their own fine +bedroom. With the help of her own maid Parasha, a brisk, +black-eyed girl, Sofya Nikolayevna unpacked the large +number of boxes and trunks which the English coach had +brought from Ufa. Parasha was able already to run +through a list of outdoor servants and old people among the +peasants who deserved special notice; and her mistress, +who had brought with her a goodly store of trifles, fixed the +present to be given to each, taking account of their age and +services, and the respect which their owners had for them. +The husband and wife were not tired and did not think it +necessary to rest. Sofya Nikolayevna changed into a +simpler dress, and left Parasha to finish the unpacking and +arrangement of the bedroom, while she went out with her +young husband, who was very anxious, in spite of the heat, +to show her all his favourite haunts—the beech-wood, the +island with its lime-trees just coming into leaf, and the +transparent waters of the river where it made a bend round +the island. And how delightful it was there at that season, +when the freshness of spring combines with the warmth of +summer! Alexyéi Stepanitch was passionately in love +with his adored wife, and time had not yet blunted the edge +of his happiness; but he was disconcerted to find that she +was not charmed either by wood or island, and indeed took +little notice of either. She sat down in the shade on the +bank of the rapid river, and began at once to speak to her +husband of his relations. She discussed their reception. +"I like your father so much," she went on, "and I could +see at the first glance that he liked me; perhaps your +mother liked me, but she seemed afraid to show it. Aksinya +seems the kindest of them, but she is afraid of something +too. Oh, I understand it all perfectly; I know in what +quarter the damp wood is smouldering. I did not miss a +single word or a single glance; I know what I am bound +to expect. God will judge your sisters, Elizabeth and +Alexandra!" But Alexyéi Stepanitch was hardly listening +to her words. The fresh shade, the green of the boughs +bending over the stream, the low ripple of the running water, +the fish jumping, his adored wife sitting beside him with +one arm round his waist—in such surroundings how was +it possible to find fault or make objections or express +discontent? How was it possible even to take in what was +said? And in fact Alexyéi Stepanitch did not take in what +his young wife was saying to him: he was so happy that +nothing but silence and oblivion of the world around him +could serve as a full expression of his intoxicating bliss. +But Sofya Nikolayevna went on: she said a great deal, +with warmth and feeling; and then she noticed that her +husband was not listening and was nearly asleep. She +sprang up at once, and then followed a scene of conflict +and mutual misunderstanding, more pronounced than any +they had ever had before, though there had been premonitory +symptoms once or twice already. Sofya Nikolayevna +kept nothing back this time: the tears rushed from her +eyes as she poured forth a torrent of reproaches for his indifference +and inattention. Alexyéi Stepanitch was puzzled +and distressed: he felt as if he had fallen from the skies or +awakened from a delightful dream. Thinking to calm his +wife, he assured her with perfect sincerity, that there was +nothing wrong at all, that it was all her imagination, and +that all the family loved her; how could any one help +loving her, he asked. That he was honestly convinced of +this was clear as day; and his eyes and face and voice +all expressed his devoted love to his wife; yet Sofya +Nikolayevna, for all her cleverness and lively sensibility, +did not understand her husband, and found in his words only +a fresh proof of the same indifference and inattention. +Statements and explanations went on with increasing heat, +and I do not know how far they would have gone; but +suddenly Alexyéi Stepanitch caught sight of his sister +Tatyana's maid crossing the high gangway and hastening +towards them. He guessed that they were being searched +for because his father had got up, and told his wife at once +what he feared. She regained her self-control in a moment, +caught his arm, and hastened home with him; but he was +not in good spirits as he walked behind her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Preparations had been made beforehand at Bagrovo +to celebrate the day of the young people's arrival by an +entertainment given to the outdoor servants and all the +serfs on the estate; and, if serfs from neighbouring estates +chose to come on foot or on wheels, they were welcome +too. A quantity of beer had been brewed, and some +twenty buckets of strong home-made spirits distilled; +and drinking vessels of all kinds were ready. Before he +lay down after dinner, Stepan Mihailovitch had asked +whether many had come from the neighbouring villages. +When he was told that the whole population, from the old +men and women to the babies, had assembled, he smiled +and said, "Well, we shall not stint them; tell the housekeeper +and steward to have everything ready." He did +not sleep long, but he woke in even better spirits than +when he lay down. "Is all ready?" he asked at once, +and was told that all was ready long ago. The old man +dressed quickly; instead of his ceremonial frock-coat, he +put on his familiar dressing-gown of fine camel's hair, and +went out to the stoop to superintend the entertainment +in person. On the broad lawn which was not fenced off +from the road, tables had been put up on trestles, and the +tables were laden with barrels of beer, casks of whisky, and +piles of buns to eat with the liquor; these buns, made of +wheat-flour, were cut in halves. The outdoor servants +stood in a group apart near the house; a great crowd of +serfs and their wives stood further off, and beyond them a +still greater crowd of Mordvinians of both sexes. Stepan +Mihailovitch threw a hasty glance over the scene, saw that +all was in order, and went back to his stoop. The family +had collected round him, and he was just going to ask +where the young couple were, when they appeared together. +He greeted his daughter-in-law even more affectionately +than before, and treated her with no more formality than +if she had been his own daughter. "Now then, Alosha," +he said, "take your wife's arm and lead her round to greet +the people; they are all anxious to see her and kiss the +hand of their young mistress. Let us start!" He went +in front himself; then came Alexyéi Stepanitch, leading +his wife, and last, at a little distance, Arina Vassilyevna +with her daughters and their husbands. The sisters-in-law, +except Aksinya, found it hard to restrain their wrath. +The signs of growing affection on their father's part, his +mention of Sofya Nikolayevna as "the young mistress," +the triumph of this hated intruder, her beauty and pretty +clothes, her ready easy tongue, her charming respect and +affection for her father-in-law—all these things rankled +in their jealous bosoms. They felt at once that they had +sunk in importance. "It matters less to us," whispered +Alexandra; "we are severed branches; but I can't look +at Tanyusha without crying. She is nothing now in the +household but Sofya Nikolayevna's maid. And you, +mother—no one will respect you any more: the servants +will all look to her for orders." Her voice shook, and the +tears gathered in her round rolling eyes. Meanwhile +Stepan Mihailovitch had got to the outdoor servants and +was calling the peasants to come nearer: "Why don't you +all stand together? You all belong to the same family. +Well," he went on, "here you see your young mistress; +the young master you know already. When the time +comes, serve them as faithfully and zealously as you have +served me and Arina Vassilyevna, and you will earn their +love and favour." All the people bowed to the ground. +The bride, unaccustomed to such demonstrations, felt disconcerted, +not knowing where to go or what to do. Noticing +this, her father-in-law said: "Don't be frightened! Their +heads may bend, but they won't come off. Well, my +friends, first kiss your young mistress's hand, and then +drink to her health." The people all got up and came +near Sofya Nikolayevna. She looked round and signed to +her man Theodore and handy Parasha, who were standing +at one side, holding the presents. In a moment they +handed her a large parcel and a well-filled box. It felt +strange to her to stretch out her hand to be kissed while +standing motionless as a statue; and she began to kiss +them all herself. This ceremony was repeated, as each +received a gift from her hands. But Stepan Mihailovitch +interfered at this point: he saw that at that rate he would +not get his tea till supper-time. "My dear," he said, +"you can't possibly kiss them all once, let alone twice! +There are too many. The old people are a different +matter; but it will be enough if they kiss your hand." +This simplified and shortened the rather tiresome ceremony, +but even so it lasted a long time. Stepan Mihailovitch +sometimes spun it out himself, because he could not +refrain from naming some of the people and praising them +to her. Many of the old people spoke some simple words +of love and devotion, some shed tears, and all looked at +the bride with pleasure and cordiality. Sofya Nikolayevna +was much moved. "These good people are ready +to love me, and some love me already," she thought; +"how have I deserved it?" At last, when young and old +had kissed her hand and she had kissed some of them, and +when all had received handsome presents, Stepan Mihailovitch +took her hand and led her to the crowd of Mordvinians. +"I am glad to see you, neighbours," he cried in a +hearty cheerful voice; "and thank you for coming. I ask +your goodwill for this young lady who is coming to live near +you. You are welcome to eat and drink what God has +given us." The Mordvinians showed their pleasure by +shouting, "Many thanks, Stepan Mihailovitch! Thank +God, for giving such a wife to your son! You deserve +such luck for your goodness, Stepan Mihailovitch."</p> +<p class="pnext">When the drinking began, Stepan Mihailovitch surrounded +by his family hastened back to his beloved stoop. +He was conscious that his tea-time was long past: it was +now past seven, and tea was invariably served at six. The +long shadow of the house was sloping towards the south, +and its edges touched the storehouse and stable; the +<em class="italics">samovar</em> had long been hissing on a large table close to the +stoop, and Aksyutka was in attendance. While the rest +sat down round the table, Stepan Mihailovitch stuck to +his favourite place: he first spread out his invariable +woollen mat to sit on, and then sat down on the stoop. +Tatyana, assisted by Aksyutka, poured out tea. Then +Sofya Nikolayevna asked leave of her father-in-law to sit +beside him, and he consented with obvious satisfaction. +She sprang up from the table, carried her half-finished cup +of tea to the stoop, and sat down beside the old man. He +caressed her and ordered a mat to be put down for her, +that she might not spoil her dress. Then they began a +lively, cheerful talk; but at the tea-table angry looks and +even whispers were exchanged, in spite of the presence of +the young husband. He could not help noticing this, and +his spirits, which had not been high before, fell yet lower. +Suddenly the old man's loud voice rang out: "Come and +join us, Alosha; it's livelier over here." Alosha started; +but the change of place seemed to improve his spirits. +When tea was over, they remained where they were and +went on talking till supper, which was served at nine—an +hour later than usual. All the time the loud singing and +hearty laughter of the revellers rang out far and wide as +the darkness slowly gathered round; but they all departed +to their own homes as soon as the family had finished +supper. On saying "good night" Sofya Nikolayevna +asked her father-in-law to give her his blessing, and the +old man at once signed her with the Cross and kissed her +with a father's tenderness.</p> +<p class="pnext">The young couple were escorted to their room by the +lady of the house and her eldest daughter, who sat there a +few minutes; and then it was the turn of Alexyéi Stepanitch +to escort his mother and sister to rest. Sofya Nikolayevna +hastily dismissed her maid and sat down by one of +the open windows fronting the river, which was fringed at +that point by a thick border of osier and alder. It was a +lovely night: the freshness from the river and the scent +of the young leaves came through the open windows, +together with the trills and calls of the nightingales. But +Sofya Nikolayevna had something else to think of. As a +clever woman who knew in advance what awaited her in +her husband's family, she had naturally formed a plan of +action beforehand. She had always lived in a town and +had no conception of the sort of life led by landowners of +moderate means on their scattered estates in that vast +country. She had not expected much, but the reality was +far worse than she had imagined. Nothing was to her taste, +neither house, nor garden, nor wood, nor island. In the +neighbourhood of Ufa she had been accustomed to admire +noble views from the mountainous bank of the river Byélaya; +and this little village in a hollow, the time-stained +and weather-beaten wooden house, the pond surrounded +by swamps, and the unending clack of the mill—all this +seemed to her actually repulsive. And the people were no +better: from her husband's family to the peasants' children, +she could love none of them. But there was one exception, +and that was Stepan Mihailovitch. But for him, she +would have been in despair. She had formed a favourable +opinion of him from the beginning; then, when she first +saw him, she was frightened by his rough exterior; but +she soon read in his intelligent eyes and kindly smile, and +heard in his voice, that this old man had a tender heart +which beat kindly to her, that he was ready to love her +and would love her. Knowing from the first that all her +hopes depended upon him, she had firmly resolved to gain +his love by all means; but now she had learnt to love him +herself, and her deliberate plan coincided with the impulse +of her heart. In this respect Sofya Nikolayevna was +satisfied with herself: she saw that she had reached her +goal at once. But she was distressed by the thought that +by her impetuosity she had hurt her kind husband. She +waited impatiently for him, but, as if to spite her, he did +not return. Had she known where he was, she would have +hurried off in search of him long ago. She longed to throw +herself into his arms and beg his forgiveness with tears, +and to remove the last trace of dissatisfaction from his +mind by a torrent of loving words and caresses. But +Alexyéi Stepanitch still did not return; and the happy +moment, when she was penitent and loving and filled with +a passionate desire to atone for her fault, went by to no +purpose. An impulse soon passes, and Sofya Nikolayevna +first grew alarmed and then angry at her husband's long +absence. When he came in at last, looking rather upset +and distressed, instead of rushing into his arms and begging +to be forgiven, his wife called out to him in an excited +and somewhat irritated voice, as soon as he crossed the +threshold: "Where on earth have you been? Why did +you leave me alone? I am quite worn out with waiting +for you two whole hours!" "I sat a quarter of an hour +or so with my mother and sisters," he answered. "And +that was time enough for them to complain of me and +invent calumnies against me, and you believed them! +Why are you so depressed and sad?" Sofya Nikolayevna's +face expressed strong emotion, and her beautiful +eyes filled with tears. The young husband was startled +and even alarmed; he was beginning to dread her tears. +"Sonitchka," he said, "calm yourself; no one complained +of you; why should they, when you have injured +no one?" This was not quite a true statement. If +nobody had complained openly or attacked her in plain +terms, they had implied by hints and allusions that his +wife was singling out her father-in-law to pay court to, +with the object of trampling on the rest of the family; but +they saw through her tricks, and so would her husband +some day when he found himself under her feet! Alexyéi +Stepanitch did not believe these innuendoes; but the feeling +of sadness, which had never left him since the scene on the +island, became heavier and lay like lead on his kind heart. +He only said, "It is no use talking like that," and left the +room. But, instead of returning at once to his bedroom, +he spent some time in walking alone up and down the parlour +which was now dark and empty. Through the seven +open windows he looked at the Jackdaw Wood sleeping in +darkness, and at the dark line of trees by the river, the +scene of his childhood's amusements and occupations; +and he listened to the sound of the mill, the whistles of the +nightingales, and the screeching of the owls. Feeling +somewhat relieved, he went off to the bedroom, entirely +unconscious of the reception he was to meet there.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Sofya Nikolayevna soon grew calmer: the voice +of penitence began to speak again in her heart, though not +with the same force as before; she changed her tone and +turned to her husband with a genuine feeling of love and +pity; she caressed him and begged his forgiveness. She +spoke with unfeigned warmth of her happiness in finding +that she loved his father, and begged him to be perfectly +frank with her: frankness, she said, was essential between +them. Her husband was soothed and comforted; and in +the fullness of his heart he told her all he had determined +to keep secret at all costs, lest he should make a quarrel +between his wife and his sisters. He lay down and went +to sleep at once, but Sofya Nikolayevna lay awake for +long, and her brain worked busily. At last she remembered +that she had to get up early, because she intended +to join her father-in-law on the stoop at sunrise, long +before the family assembled; she wished to cheer the old +man by her presence and to speak her mind to him at +leisure. At last, with a strong effort, she fell asleep.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna woke with the first rays of the sun. +Though she had not slept long, she rose fresh and vigorous. +She dressed quickly, kissed her husband and told him she +was going to his father and he might sleep on another hour +or so, and then hurried off. Stepan Mihailovitch, after +sleeping longer than usual, had just washed himself and +gone out to the stoop. It was a lovely May morning, with +all the charm of late spring, fresh and yet deliciously +warm; all living things sang together for joy, and the long +morning shadows still hid the coolness and moisture from +the conquering rays of the sun. The feeling of the morning +took hold of Sofya Nikolayevna and breathed life into +her, though she was not accustomed to be moved by +natural beauty or the charms of the country. Her father-in-law +was surprised and pleased to see her. Her fresh +face and shining eyes, her neat hair and pretty dress, made +it impossible to guess that she had sprung out of bed after +little sleep and had spent but little time over her toilet +before she hurried out. Stepan Mihailovitch liked people +to be lively and quick and clever; and all these requirements +he was pleased to find in Sofya Nikolayevna. He +kissed her and said good-humouredly: "What made you +get up so early? You can't have had your sleep out. +I'm sure you're not accustomed to rise so early; you will +have a headache." "No, <em class="italics">batyushka</em>," she replied, embracing +the old man with genuine tenderness; "I am +used to early rising. From childhood I have had much +to do and many cares, with a sick father and a whole +family to look after. Of late I have been spoilt and have +lain in bed longer. But I woke early this morning, and +Alexyéi told me"—here the old man frowned—"that you +were up already; so I came out here, hoping that you +would not drive me away but allow me to give you your +tea." The words were ordinary enough, but they came +from the heart and were spoken so earnestly that the old +man was touched. He kissed her forehead and said: +"Well, in that case, thank you, my dear child. You +shall give me my tea, and we shall have a leisurely talk +together." Aksyutka had already set the <em class="italics">samovar</em> on the +table. Stepan Mihailovitch gave orders that no one else +should be called, and Sofya Nikolayevna began to arrange +about the tea. All her actions were as quick and neat as +if she had done nothing else all her life. The old man was +pleased, as he watched that young and pretty figure so +unlike what he was accustomed to, and those busy active +fingers. The tea was made strong, and served exactly as +he liked it: that is, the teapot, covered with a napkin, was +placed on the top of the <em class="italics">samovar</em>; his cup was filled close +up to the brim; Sofya Nikolayevna handed it without +spilling a single drop in the saucer; and the fragrant +beverage was so hot that it burnt his lips. The old man +took his cup and tasted the tea. With surprise and +pleasure he said: "I declare you are a witch: you know +all my tastes and fancies. Well, if you make yourself as +pleasant to your husband, he will be a happy man." He +generally drank his tea alone, and the family did not begin +theirs till he had finished; but this morning, when he +had got his second cup, he told his daughter-in-law to pour +one out for herself and drink it sitting beside him. "I +never drink more than two, but I will take a third cup +to-day; the tea tastes better somehow," he said in the +kindest of tones. And indeed, the pleasure which Sofya +Nikolayevna felt in her occupation was so visible on her +expressive face that it could not but communicate itself +to the susceptible nature of Stepan Mihailovitch; and his +spirits rose unusually high. He made her take a second +cup and eat a scone, of the kind for which the ovens at +Bagrovo were long famous. The tea was cleared away, +and a conversation began, most lively and animated, most +frank and affectionate. Sofya Nikolayevna gave free +course to her eager feelings; she talked easily and charmingly; +her conquest of the old man was complete. In the +middle of their talk he suddenly asked, "What of your +husband? Is he asleep?" "Alexyéi was waking when +I left him," she said quickly; "but I told him to sleep +on." The old man frowned severely and was silent. +After a moment's reflexion, he spoke, not angrily but +seriously. "Listen to me, my dear little daughter-in-law; +you are so clever that I can tell you the truth without +beating about the bush. I don't like to keep a thing on +my mind. If you take my advice—well and good; if you +don't—well, you are not my daughter and can please +yourself. I don't like your calling your husband 'Alexyéi,' +as his parents might; he has got another name;<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id87" id="id86"><sup>43</sup></a> 'Alexyéi' +is a name you might address to a servant. A wife +must treat her husband with respect if she wishes other +people to respect him. There was another thing yesterday +I did not like: you sent him to fetch the presents, and he +stood there holding the tray like a footman. Then again +just now, you said you had 'told' him to go to sleep. A +wife ought not to give orders to her husband; if she does, +mischief comes of it. That may be the fashion with you +in the town, but, according to our old-fashioned country +notions, all that is a great mistake." Sofya Nikolayevna +listened respectfully, and then she spoke, so frankly and +feelingly, that every word made its way to the old man's +heart: "I thank you, <em class="italics">batyushka</em>, for not keeping back +from me what displeased you. I shall gladly do what you +wish, and I begin to see myself that I was wrong. I am +still young, <em class="italics">batyushka</em>, and I have had no one to guide me: +my own father has not left his bed for six years. I caught +up that way of addressing my husband from others; but +it shall never happen again, either in your presence or +behind your back. <em class="italics">Batyushka</em>," she went on, and the +large tears welled from her eyes, "I have come to love you +like a father; treat me always as a daughter: stop me, +scold me, whenever I do wrong, but forgive me and do not +keep displeasure in your heart against me. I am young +and hasty, and I may go wrong at every step. Remember +that I am a stranger in this house, where nobody knows +me and I know nobody. Do not you fail me." Then she +fell on his neck and embraced him like a daughter, kissing +his breast and even his hands; and the old man's own +eyes filled with tears. He let her keep hold of his hands +and said, "Well, that is all right." As we know already, +Stepan Mihailovitch had a natural sagacity which divined +the presence of evil and was attracted by goodness; and +he never made a mistake in either case. He had taken a +fancy to his daughter-in-law at first sight; and now that +he understood her and appreciated her, he loved her for +better and for worse. That love was exposed to many +trials in later years, and any other man might have +wavered, but he never wavered in his love for her to his +last breath.</p> +<p class="pnext">Alexyéi Stepanitch soon appeared, and was followed +by all the family. Her daughters had urged Arina Vassilyevna +to go out long before, but she did not dare to appear, +because, when Stepan Mihailovitch gave orders "that no +one should be called," it was taken to mean that he did not +wish to see any one. She only came out now because her +husband had told Mazan to summon all the family. There +was no trace of tears on Sofya Nikolayevna's face; and +she greeted the newcomers with more than usual cordiality. +Nor could one tell from Stepan Mihailovitch that +anything unusual had happened; but the bride could +not conceal her high spirits, and the two sisters-in-law +noticed this at once and guessed the alarming truth pretty +accurately.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch had settled that the young couple +were to visit their relations in order of seniority; and it +was therefore arranged that they should go to Aksinya's +house next day. Aksinya herself went home that afternoon, +accompanied by her sister Elizabeth, who was to +help her in entertaining the guests. The distance was +only 50 <em class="italics">versts</em>, and the strong Bagrovo horses could go all +the way without baiting. The start was fixed for six +o'clock next morning.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch did not in the least conceal his +feelings towards his daughter-in-law. He kept her beside +him and talked with her repeatedly, asking questions about +her family affairs, or making her speak of her life at Ufa; +and he listened to her with attentive interest, now and +then giving his opinion in some pithy phrase. She eagerly +caught up his pertinent remarks; but it was clear that she +was moved, not by obsequious concurrence with the old +man's ways of thinking, but by a full comprehension of his +words and a conviction of their truth. Then in his turn +he initiated her into the past and present history of her +new relations; and his whole description was so simple +and true, so frank and lifelike, that she realised it as few +could have done, and was charmed by it. Never in her +life had she met his equal. Her own father was intelligent +and kind, emotional and unselfish; but at the same time +he was weak, falling in with the prevailing tone of his +surroundings, and bearing the stamp of the evasive time-serving +official who had worked his way up from a clerk's +stool to the position of Governor's Deputy. Here she saw +before her an old man of little education and uncouth +exterior, and report said of him that he was ruthless when +angry; and yet he was sensible, kind, and honest, and +inflexible in his clear judgment of right and wrong—a man +who was upright in all his actions and truthful in every +word he spoke. Her quick intellect conceived a noble +type of manly worth, which set aside her old ideas and +opened up new possibilities. And what happiness that +this man was her husband's father! On him depended +her peace of mind in her husband's family, and perhaps +even the happiness of her marriage!</p> +<p class="pnext">Dinner was a much more lively and cheerful affair +than on the previous day. The bride sat as before +between her husband and her father-in-law; but Arina +Vassilyevna now took her usual place opposite Stepan +Mihailovitch. Immediately after dinner, Aksinya left, +accompanied by her sister Elizabeth. As the old man was +lying down to rest as usual, he said, "Well, Arisha, I think +God has given us a splendid daughter-in-law; it would +be a sin not to take her to our hearts." "True indeed, +Stepan Mihailovitch," she answered; "if you approve of +Sofya Nikolayevna, of course I do." The old man made +a wry face but said nothing; and she hurried away, fearing +to make a slip of the tongue, and anxious to report to +her daughters the remarkable words of Stepan Mihailovitch, +which must be accepted as law and obeyed, in +appearance at least, to the letter.</p> +<p class="pnext">Though she had slept little at night, Sofya Nikolayevna +could not sleep after dinner. She went out with her +husband, and they walked, by his wish, to the old beech-wood, +where the jackdaws built, and down the course of the +river. There was no repetition of the old disagreements. +She had been charmed and captivated by her father-in-law, +and she now tried to convey to her husband the feelings +of her own eager impressionable mind. As all people +of her temperament are apt to do, she transferred to her +handsome young husband some part of the merits she had +found in his father, and loved him more than ever. He +listened with surprise and pleasure to the enthusiasm of +his beautiful wife, and said to himself, "Thank God that +my father and she have become such friends! There will be +no further trouble." He kissed her hands, and said that +he was the happiest man on all the earth, and she a peerless +goddess before whom all should bow down. He did not +quite understand his wife nor appreciate her estimate of +his father, so acute and profound; he only felt, as he had +always felt, perfectly convinced that Stepan Mihailovitch +was the kind of man whom all must respect and even fear. +This time Sofya Nikolayevna found no faults: his feelings +were her feelings and his language hers: she praised the +deep river and the beech-wood with all its uneven stumps; +even of her sisters-in-law she spoke kindly.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he woke up in the afternoon, Stepan Mihailovitch +at once summoned all the family. It was a long +time since he had been seen in such a bright and gentle +mood: whether it was due to a good sleep or to happy +feelings, it was clear to every one that the old master was +satisfied and cheerful beyond his wont. After their +father's pronouncement, Alexandra and Elizabeth were on +their guard, while Tanyusha (as she was always called) and +her mother were very willing to be more friendly and +conversational. At a sign from his wife Karatayeff began +with more boldness to echo what was said, even when he +was not addressed; but his brother-in-law, the General, +persisted in his gloomy silence and frowned significantly. +The conversation became unusually brisk and animated. +The old man expressed a wish to have his tea early, in the +shade near the stoop, of course; and the privilege of pouring +it out was conferred on Sofya Nikolayevna exclusively. +Tanyusha was quite willing to hand over the office. After +tea Stepan Mihailovitch ordered two cars to be brought +round, took his daughter-in-law in one, and drove off with +all his family to the mill. It should be said that a mill +was a special hobby of my grandfather's, and that he +understood the working of it thoroughly. The mill itself +was not much to look at, and the weed grew round it in an +untidy way; but the stones did their work thoroughly +well. He liked to show off his mill, and now displayed it +in detail to his daughter-in-law, taking pleasure in her +utter ignorance and astonishment, which sometimes turned +to fear, when he suddenly turned on a strong current of +water upon all the four wheels, till the machinery began +to move and swing and rattle, the stones to whirl round, +creaking and whizzing, and the building, filled with flour-dust, +to quiver and shake under foot. All this was an entire +novelty to Sofya Nikolayevna, and she did not like it at +all, though out of politeness she asked many questions and +expressed surprise and admiration at everything. He was +much pleased, and kept her there a long time. When the +pair went out upon the dam, where Alexyéi Stepanitch +and his sisters were fishing, they were hailed with laughter +by the anglers: they were both covered with flour. Stepan +Mihailovitch was accustomed to this; besides he had given +a shake and a brush to his clothes on leaving the mill; but +Sofya Nikolayevna had no suspicion that she was so completely +and artistically powdered. When he looked at +her, her father-in-law himself laughed heartily; and she +laughed more than any one, and was very merry, regretting +only that she had no looking-glass to consult, to find out if +her ball-dress became her. Seeing the anglers intent upon +their sport, Stepan Mihailovitch next drove his companion +round the pond and over the bridge; and, after visiting +the stream higher up, he came back along the dam to the +place where the anglers were engaged, while Arina Vassilyevna, +who was very stout, sat on the ground and watched +them. The whole course of their drive was over bog and +swamp; it was hardly safe to cross the crazy little bridge, +and difficult to make way over the dam which was made +of manure and sank under the wheels. Though Sofya +Nikolayevna found all this distasteful, it was impossible +for Stepan Mihailovitch to detect her. He saw neither +mire nor swamp, and he was impervious to the unpleasant +smell from the stagnant water and the material of the dam. +He had planned and constructed it all himself, and he +enjoyed it all. It grew damp at sunset, and all set off for +home in good spirits. The anglers carried their spoil with +them, perch and other kinds. The bailiff was waiting for +his master by the stoop; and orders were given about +work on the land, while the bride put her dress in order. +Meanwhile the fish was boiled or fried in sour cream, while +the largest perch were baked in their skins and scales; and +all these were pronounced very good at supper.</p> +<p class="pnext">So the second day passed, and the party broke up +early, because the young couple had to make an early start +next morning for their visit. When alone with her mother +and youngest sister, Alexandra threw off the mask with +relief and gave full play to her infernal temper and cruel +tongue. She saw perfectly that all was lost and all her +forebodings realised: that her father was taken in the +toils and infatuated with the adventuress, and there was +nothing to be done now except to dismiss the pair to Ufa +as soon as possible and devise some scheme in their absence. +She abused her mother and sister for being too affectionate: +"But for me," she said, "you would have been taken in +too by that dressed-up doll, that pauper with a Cossack +for her grandfather."</p> +<p class="pnext">At six exactly next morning the young couple started +in their English coach drawn by six of the fine horses bred +at Bagrovo. Sofya Nikolayevna was up in time to give +his tea to her father-in-law; and he embraced her at +starting, and even signed her with the Cross, because she +was to be absent for the night. They drove down the +river and across it, and then uphill to the little town of +Boogoorooslan. Without a halt our travellers crossed the +river Great Kinel, and the horses trotted at the rate of +ten <em class="italics">versts</em> an hour along the rutty road on the flat side of +the river, where the grass grew tall and thick and there was +no sign of habitation. It was long since Alexyéi Stepanitch +had been across the Kinel; and he was delighted by the +greenness and fragrance of the steppe. Bustards constantly +rose off the road, and solitary snipe kept up with +the carriage, wheeling over it and flying on ahead, or perching +on the guide-posts and filling the air with their notes. +Alexyéi Stepanitch was very sorry that he had not taken +his gun. In those days the steppe was alive with birds of +every kind, and the sound of their myriad voices was so +attractive to him, and indeed absorbed his attention so +completely, that his ears were generally deaf to the lively +and clever conversation of his wife. She soon noticed this +and became thoughtful; her high spirits gave place to +displeasure, and she began to talk to her maid, Parasha, +who was with them in the coach. After crossing a district +of high level land, they arrived at their destination exactly +at noon. The little wooden house, an even greater contrast +than Bagrovo to the houses of Ufa, stood on the flat +bank of the Little Kinel, divided from it only by a kitchen-garden +containing a few sunflowers and young vegetables +and rows of peeled pea-stakes. I still recall with pleasure +this unpretending spot, which I first saw ten years after +this time; and I understand why my father liked it and +my mother was bound to dislike it. It was a bare empty +spot, quite flat and fully exposed to the sun, without a bush +or a tree; the level steppe with its marmot-burrows lay +all round; and the quiet river flowed by, deep in places +and overgrown with reeds. It had nothing striking or +picturesque to attract any one; yet Alexyéi Stepanitch +preferred it even to Bagrovo. I don't agree with him, but +I had a strong liking for that quiet little house on the river-bank, +the clear stream, the weed swaying in the current, +the wide stretch of grassy steppe, and the ferry which +started from close to the door and took you across to a yet +wilder steppe, where the prairie-grass stretched straight +southwards to what seemed an illimitable distance.</p> +<p class="pnext">The hostess, with her two little boys and a daughter +of two years old, met her guests at the door; her sister +Elizabeth and her husband were there also. In spite of +the unpromising aspect of the simple rooms, everything +was very clean and nice, much more so indeed than at +Bagrovo. Though "Miss Simplicity," as her sisters called +her, was a widow with small children, there was a neatness +and order in the place which showed that it was managed +entirely by a female hand. I have said already that +Aksinya was a kind woman and had taken a fancy to her +sister-in-law; it was therefore very natural that she did +honour to her guests and received them with cordiality in +her own house. This had been foreseen at Bagrovo, and +Elizabeth had been sent on purpose to restrain the excessive +friendliness of her sister by means of her superior intelligence +and higher position in society, due to her husband's +rank. But that simple soul held out against her clever, +cunning sister: to all her urgent admonitions her answer +was short and plain: "Do as you please at Bagrovo; you +may hate and abuse Sofya Nikolayevna, but I like her; +she has always been polite and kind to me, and therefore I +intend to make her and my brother happy in my house." +And she carried out her purpose with sincere affection and +satisfaction, showing every attention to her sister-in-law +and pressing her good things on both guests. But the +proud Elizabeth and even her husband—though he drank +so much towards evening that he had to be shut up in an +empty bath-house—were much colder and more distant in +their behaviour than at Bagrovo. Sofya Nikolayevna took +no notice of them, and was charming to her hostess and the +children. After dinner the party rested for a little and +then went out for a walk by the river; they crossed by a +ferry to the far bank and drank tea there. Sofya Nikolayevna +was asked to fish, but she declined, saying that she +hated fishing and was quite happy sitting with her sisters-in-law. +But Alexyéi Stepanitch, much pleased to see how +well his wife got on with his eldest sister, eagerly accepted +the proposal and sat till supper-time on the bank, hidden +in the thick reeds; he landed several of the large bream +which abounded in the quiet waters of the Kinel. The +servants used constantly to fish for their own amusement +and for that of their young masters. The guests determined +to start next morning at six, and were half inclined +to depart even earlier, so as not to keep Stepan Mihailovitch +waiting for his dinner. Their hostess and her sister +were to wait till the evening, spending a night at Boogoorooslan +to rest the horses, and reaching Bagrovo the +following day.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna was still a little vexed with her +husband. For all her intelligence she could not understand +how a man who loved her dearly could also love his +damp Bagrovo, with its stump-strewn woods, unsavoury +dam, and stagnant pools; how he could gaze with delight +at the tiresome steppe with its stupid snipe; and, above +all, how he could desert his wife for hours for the sake of +a fishing-rod and those bream which smelt so damp and +disgusting! So she felt almost offended when Alexyéi +Stepanitch tried to communicate to her his delight in +nature and in sport. She was wise enough, however, not +to start upon explanations or reproofs this time; the +scene on the island was still fresh in her memory.</p> +<p class="pnext">The young couple passed a peaceful night in Aksinya's +own bedroom which she had given up to them; and she +had done it up for them to the best of her ability, undeterred +by the caustic remarks of her sister. They left the +house half an hour earlier than the time originally fixed; +and nothing particular happened on their way back, except +that Alexyéi Stepanitch was not quite so much absorbed +by the steppe and the snipe, and did not call out quite so +loud when bustards rose off the road, so that he could +listen with more attention to his wife and look at her more +tenderly. They reached Bagrovo before they were expected. +But preparations were making for dinner, and +Alexandra had had time to say: "Poor papa will have to +wait for dinner to-day; but how can you expect town-people +to get up so early several days running?" The +old man saw through this perfectly. He astonished them +all by saying very good-humouredly, "Well, never mind; +we can wait for our guests." This caused a sensation, +because Stepan Mihailovitch had never in his life sat down +to dinner later than twelve o'clock, though sometimes, +when he felt hungry, he had it earlier, and the slightest +delay or unpunctuality made him exceedingly angry. +"You see what Sofya Nikolayevna can do," whispered +Alexandra to her mother and youngest sister; "if <em class="italics">she</em> +keeps him waiting, there is no complaint; but if you had +come back from Nyeklyoodovo late for dinner, you would +never have heard the end of it, nor should we." The +malicious whisper was hardly ended when the carriage +dashed up to the steps; while the tired horses snorted, the +old man kissed his daughter-in-law and praised her for +being in time; then his voice rang through the house, +"Mazan, Tanaichonok, dinner at once!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The day passed off as before. After tea Stepan Mihailovitch, +whose affection for his daughter-in-law seemed to +grow with every hour, ordered the drove of horses to be +driven in from the steppe. He wished to show it to Sofya +Nikolayevna, who happened to say that she had never seen +such a thing and would like to see it. When the animals +were driven into the yard, the old man took his daughter-in-law +round himself, pointing out the best brood-mares, +the yearlings and two-year-olds and young geldings, all +fat and healthy from the steppe where they grazed together +all summer. He gave her two fine mares with foals at foot, +and hoped she would have good fortune with their stock. +Sofya Nikolayevna was much pleased by the foals, and +liked to watch them as they started and bounded and then +nuzzled against their mothers; and she expressed much +gratitude for the gift. Then Stepan Mihailovitch gave +strict orders to his head groom, Spirka: "See," he said, +"that special care is taken of Sofya Nikolayevna's mares; +and we shall put a special mark on the foals by splitting one +ear rather lower; and later we must make a brand with +the young mistress's name on it." Then he turned to her: +"I wish you were a lover of horses, my dear," he went on; +"Alexyéi does not care for them in the least." The old +man was very fond of them himself, and, though he was +not rich, by endless trouble he had got together a large +stud and owned a breed which was the admiration of +fanciers and good judges. He was pleased by her interest +in his stud; though her only motive was to please him, +he believed that she meant what she said, and carried her +off to see how the carriage-horses, his own and those of +his guests, were fed; of the latter there were often a large +number in the stables at Bagrovo.</p> +<p class="pnext">I am afraid of wearying the reader by such a minute +description of the young couple's visit, and shall only say +that the next day, which was the fifth, was spent just like +the preceding day. According to the order of seniority +the next formal visit should have been to the Yerlykins; +but, as their estate was 170 <em class="italics">versts</em> from Bagrovo and much +nearer Ufa, it was settled to take them on the return +journey to the town. There was this other reason, that +General Yerlykin, Elizabeth's silent, gloomy husband, +having broken out at Aksinya's house, had started on one +of his regular drinking bouts which generally lasted at +least a week, so that his wife had been forced to leave him +with some friends at Boogoorooslan, and give out that he +was ill. So Alexandra was to receive the next visit, and +started off home with her husband on the previous day; +with her father's consent, she invited the oldest and +youngest of the sisters for the occasion, while Elizabeth +remained behind, ostensibly to be near her sick husband, +though her real object was to bring her influence to bear +on her parents. The Karatayeffs lived about 50 <em class="italics">versts</em> from +Bagrovo; the distance was the same as to Aksinya's house, +but the road ran in the opposite direction, due north, and +passed through woods and hills in the second half of the +journey. The visitors started after an early lunch. As +the road was little used and heavy for the horses, they +halted half-way for two hours in the open field, and reached +Karatayevka about tea-time. The house was infinitely +worse than Aksinya's: the small dark windows caught +the eye at once; the floors were uneven, riddled with rat-holes, +and so dirty as to defy soap and water. Sofya +Nikolayevna felt fear and disgust as she entered this +inhospitable and repulsive dwelling. Alexandra was +haughty in her reception of them; she was profuse in +sarcastic apologies of this kind: "We are glad to see our +guests and bid them welcome; my brother, I know, will +not be critical, but I doubt if Sofya Nikolayevna will deign +to enter our poor house after her father's grand mansion +at Ufa. Of course we are poor people, with no official rank; +living on our own property, <em class="italics">we</em> have no lucrative salaries +to maintain us." But Sofya Nikolayevna gave as good as +she got: she replied that the way people lived depended +as much on their tastes as on their money, and that it was +all one to her where her husband's relations lived and how +they lived. When supper was over, the young couple were +shown to their bedroom, which was the so-called drawing-room. +As soon as the candle was out, a great disturbance +began in the room; the pattering and noise increased, and +swarms of rats soon assailed them with such boldness that +the poor bride lay awake all night, shaking with fear and +disgust. Alexyéi Stepanitch was forced to light a candle +and arm himself with a window-prop for the defence of +the bed, on which the rats kept jumping up as long as it +was dark. He felt neither fear nor disgust; it was no +novelty to him; at first he was rather amused by the +ceaseless activity and bold springs of the repulsive creatures, +and then he fell asleep, lying across the bed and still +holding the window-prop. But his wife woke him again +and again and only fell asleep herself at sunrise, when the +enemy sought the concealment of his trenches. She got +up with a headache, but her hostess only laughed at the +fright the rats had given her, and added that they only +attacked strangers, and the people of the house were used +to them. Tanyusha was afraid of rats herself; and she +and Aksinya could not look unmoved at the signs of suffering +on their sister-in-law's face. They expressed sympathy +with her, and Aksinya even scolded Alexandra for not +taking the ordinary precautions by placing the bed in the +centre of the room, attaching curtains to it, and tucking +the ends under the mattress; but the hostess said with +an angry laugh, "It is a pity they did not bite off her +nose." "You had better look out!" said her sister; +"if this gets to our father's ears, you will catch it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Karatayevka was situated on the slope of a hill, above +a little spring-fed stream which was dammed up at the end +of the village and turned a small mill. The position was +not bad, but the owners and all their ways were so objectionable +that the place had no attraction for any one. M. +Karatayeff, who was afraid of Stepan Mihailovitch at +Bagrovo and of his wife at home, would have liked to pay +some attentions to Sofya Nikolayevna when his wife was +out of the room; but he only found courage to ask leave +from time to time to kiss her hand, and generally added +that she was the most beautiful creature in the world. +When he repeated his request, it was refused. His was a +strange existence. Most of his summer was spent in +visiting wandering Bashkir tribes, and drinking <em class="italics">koumiss</em> +every day till he was intoxicated; he spoke the Bashkir +language like a native; he rode on horseback whole days +without dismounting, and had become as bow-legged as a +Bashkir; he had their skill with the bow and could smash +an egg at long range with the best of them. All the rest +of the year he spent in a kind of lumber-room warmed by +a stove, near the house-door; he wore a skin coat, and kept +the little window always open even in the hardest frosts; +and there he remained all day with his head stuck out of +the window, humming Bashkir songs and taking a sip now +and then of Bashkir mead or some decoction of herbs. +Why Karatayeff looked out of his window over the empty +yard with a rough path running across it, what he saw and +noted there, what thoughts passed through the brain at +the top of that big body—these are problems which no +ingenuity can solve. Sometimes, it is true, his philosophic +meditations were disturbed: when some plump woman or +girl appeared from the servants' quarters and walked +mincingly along the path towards the cattle-shed, then a +pantomime of nods and signals took place between the +window and the yard; but soon the fair vision turned out +of sight and vanished like a ghost, and Karatayeff was left +staring into empty void.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna was eager to escape from this +horrible place: after an early dinner, during which the +horses were already standing at the door, they said "good-bye" +at once and started. The hostess kissed her sister-in-law +on both cheeks and on the shoulders, and thanked +her significantly for her kind visit; and Sofya Nikolayevna, +just as significantly, thanked the lady for her kind +hospitality.</p> +<p class="pnext">When alone with her husband in the carriage, Sofya +Nikolayevna gave vent to her anger. Aksinya in her +simplicity had let out accidentally that the hostess had +purposely taken no precautions against the rats; and the +bride, though she had refrained from an outburst in her +enemy's house, was unable any longer to control her +excitable nature. Forgetting that Alexandra was her +husband's sister, and that Parasha was in the carriage +with them, she was lavish in her terms of abuse. Alexyéi +Stepanitch, a straightforward and kindly man himself, +could not believe that there was any intention on the part +of his sister: attributing what had happened to mere +carelessness, he was hurt by his wife's violent language +which was really inexcusable under any provocation. The +young husband was angry for the first time with his young +wife: saying that she should be ashamed to speak so, he +turned from her and was silent. Such was their state of +mind when they arrived at Mertovshchina, where Mme. +Myortvavo, a remarkably intelligent old lady, was then +living with her daughter Katherine who had lately been +married to Peter Chichagoff. Sofya Nikolayevna was +warmly attached to both the Chichagoffs. She did not in +the least expect to find them there, and soon forgot all her +displeasure in this agreeable surprise; she became very +lively and cheerful, but no one could fail to notice that +Alexyéi Stepanitch remained silent and sad.</p> +<p class="pnext">Chichagoff's history, and especially his second marriage, +is quite a romance; and I shall tell it as briefly as I can, +because we shall often come across this family in future, +and especially because the life of the young Bagroffs was a +good deal influenced by this pair. Peter Chichagoff was a +man of exceptional ability or, I should rather say, exceptional +acuteness, and had received what was for those days +an advanced education in many subjects: he knew several +languages, could draw and understood architecture, and +wrote both in prose and verse. In his hot youth he fell +in love at Moscow with a young lady of the Rimsko-Korsakoff +family, and went so far as to misrepresent his position, +in order to win her hand. This was discovered after the +marriage, and he was banished to Ufa. His wife soon +died. Within a year he consoled himself and fell in love +with Katherine Myortvavo, who was attracted by his gay +and amiable temper, his intelligence and acquirements; +his face was so very plain that it could exercise no attraction. +She was no longer a girl and had too strong a +character to be controlled by her mother and brothers: +they let her marry Chichagoff, and he was pardoned soon +afterwards but not allowed to leave the Government of Ufa. +Sofya Nikolayevna liked him for two reasons: because he +was the husband of her dearest friend, and perhaps still +more for his own cleverness and wide information. Mme. +Myortvavo had just settled to leave Ufa and live in the +country, and the Chichagoffs had come on purpose to help +her in building a house and a church. After a week's +experience of her husband's relations, this meeting was a +spring in the desert to Sofya Nikolayevna; it was like a +breath of fresh air in which her heart and quick intelligence +expanded; she talked on with her friends till near +midnight. But Alexyéi Stepanitch would have sat there +in silence and solitude, had not the old lady grasped the +situation and entertained him by her pleasant talk. After +supper, however, he said "good-night," and went off to +the bedroom allotted to the visitors; when Sofya Nikolayevna +came she found him fast asleep. They started for +Bagrovo early next day without disturbing their hosts.</p> +<p class="pnext">During their drive Alexyéi Stepanitch was still sullen +and silent. In reply to direct questions from his wife, his +answers were so cold and short that she gave up speaking +to him. Her lively and impatient temper resented this +treatment, but she did not care to clear up matters in +Parasha's presence, preferring to wait till the after-dinner +rest when she would be alone with her husband. For the +present she started a conversation with her maid about +their life at Ufa, while Alexyéi Stepanitch squeezed into a +corner of the carriage and either fell asleep or pretended +to. They reached Bagrovo two hours before dinner. +Stepan Mihailovitch was obviously pleased to see his +daughter-in-law again, and even said that he had missed +her. "My dear," he added; "you really must not stay +here too long, or I shan't be able to let you go; as it is, I +shall miss you, likely enough." He made her give him a +minute account of their expedition. He praised Mme. +Myortvavo whom he knew well, and said that he would +send her an invitation next day to come with her daughter +and son-in-law and dine at Bagrovo; he fixed on the +following Sunday, which was four days ahead, for the +entertainment. "You must visit the Kalpinskys and +Lupenevskys the day after to-morrow," he said; "and +then you can invite them too for Sunday; and then, three +days later, you had better be off home to Ufa. Your +father has never been parted from you before, and must +miss you terribly; and I am sure, my dear, that you are +even more anxious to see him, poor suffering old man!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch was not long in finding out that +something disagreeable had happened on this expedition. +In the course of conversation, he said, "Well, were the +Karatayeffs glad to see you?" The answer was of course +in the affirmative; but Sofya Nikolayevna happened to +mention that she had been kept awake all night by rats. +This surprised the old man: he had only been there once, +long ago, and had heard nothing of the kind. But here +Arina Vassilyevna unsuspiciously joined in, in spite of the +warning signs of her daughter Elizabeth; she suffered for +it afterwards, poor lady, at the hands of her daughters. +"O yes, yes, <em class="italics">batyushka</em> Stepan Mihailovitch!" she cried; +"the rats there are perfectly awful! Without bed-curtains, +it's impossible to get a wink of sleep." "Had +you no curtains to your bed, then?" asked the old man, +and there was an ominous change in his voice as he +spoke. "No," was the only possible answer. "An +excellent hostess!" he said, and looked at his wife and +daughter in such a way that a cold shiver ran down their +backs.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Karatayeff party had not yet returned, but were +expected by tea-time. Dinner was not a cheerful meal: +all were out of spirits, and each had his or her own reasons. +Arina Vassilyevna and Elizabeth were conscious of the +approaching storm, and feared that the thunderbolt might +smite them also. It was long since Stepan Mihailovitch +had been in a rage, and the prospect was more alarming to +them because they had become unused to such outbreaks. +Sofya Nikolayevna noted the frown on her father-in-law's +face; she did not object to his giving a good fright to his +daughter, whom she detested as her avowed enemy; but +she feared she might somehow get involved herself. She +had no unkind intention in speaking about the rats: she +never supposed that her father-in-law would take any +special notice of this circumstance or attach serious importance +to it. Nevertheless, a stone lay on her heart also: +she could not determine how to act towards her husband. +He had been angry with her for the first time, when she +used insulting language about his sister: was it best to +wait till he appealed to her voluntarily, or to put an end to +the uncomfortable situation by begging him to forgive her? +Her love and her tender caresses might then cause him to +forget her regrettable impulsiveness. And she certainly +would have chosen this course; for she was passionately in +love with her kind young husband. She blamed herself +severely: she ought to have foreseen everything and been +prepared for everything. She knew that Alexyéi Stepanitch +would not hesitate to die for her, but she knew also +that she ought not to demand of him what he could not +give—a tender and constant observation, and a full comprehension +of all the trifling occurrences that might give +her pain. And this was hard for her, with her hot blood +and sensitive nerves, her eager, excitable brain and impressionable +nature. Such were the poor woman's thoughts +and feelings as she walked up and down her room waiting +for her husband; his mother had stopped him on his way +there after dinner and asked him to come to her bedroom. +The minutes seemed to her like hours. The thought that +he was loitering on purpose, fearing a scene and unwilling +to be alone with her; the thought, that without relieving +her heart of its many troubles and without a reconciliation +with her husband, she would see him again in the presence +of her enemies and must play a part the whole evening—this +thought oppressed her heart and threw her into a +fever. Suddenly the door opened, and Alexyéi Stepanitch +walked in. There was no hesitation in his movements; +he was no longer timid and sad, but fearless and even displeased. +He began at once to reproach her for complaining +to his father and getting Alexandra into trouble. "They +are all trembling and crying now, and God only knows +what will come of it," he said, primed with all that his +mother and sister had been impressing upon him. "It is +wrong and a sin on your part to cause trouble and quarrels +in your husband's family. I told you what my father is +like when he is angry; and you, knowing this and seeing +his love for you, took advantage of it!" Sofya Nikolayevna's +patience snapped instantly, and she fired up at +once; love was silent, and of pity and contrition not a +trace was left; and her poor husband discovered that +Stepan Mihailovitch was not the only person who could +fly into a passion. An irresistible flood of complaints, +accusations, and reproaches poured down upon him. He +was utterly crushed and confounded; he could make no +defence, and was all but a monster in his own eyes. Soon +he was kneeling at her feet and begging forgiveness with +tears. It was not surprising that Alexyéi Stepanitch was +powerless before that volcanic eruption of feeling and +intelligence, that heartfelt conviction and wonderful power +of eloquence. A man entirely in the right, a man much +more resolute than Alexyéi Stepanitch, would have pleaded +guilty before the youth and beauty of a woman whom he +loved. And Alexyéi Stepanitch was certainly not in the +right.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the storm had calmed down in the bedroom of +the young couple, it was still brewing at the other end of +the house, in the smallish room which belonged to Stepan +Mihailovitch. Sleep had not brought peace to him or +smoothed the frown from his high forehead. He sat for +some time across his bed in gloomy silence, and then called +out, "Mazan!" Mazan had long been lying outside the +door, breathing heavily according to his wont, and looking +in through a chink; he had been placed there as a sentry, +while the family were sitting in the parlour, full of gloomy +apprehensions. He called out at the top of his voice, +"What is your pleasure, sir?"—and hurried into the room. +"Has my daughter Alexandra arrived? Yes? Then +bring her here." Alexandra entered on his heels, for on +such occasions delay was more dangerous than anything. +"How dared you, Madam," began the old man in the voice +she knew and dreaded—"how dared you set rats on your +brother and his wife?" "I am sorry, father," humbly +answered Alexandra, while her knees trembled beneath +her, and fear kept down her own infernal temper. "I +put my guests on purpose in the drawing-room, and I +never thought of putting curtains to their bed. I was so +busy and so glad to see them that it slipped my memory." +"You were so glad to see them! Do you expect me to +believe <em class="italics">that</em>? How did you dare to act so to your brother +and to me? How did you dare to bring shame on your +father in his old age?" The affair would perhaps have +gone no further than angry words and loud threats and +possibly a rap from his fist; but Alexandra, stung by the +thought that she was suffering on account of Sofya Nikolayevna, +and hoping that the storm would still blow over, +forgot that any sort of answer was a new offence. She +could not resist saying, "I am punished for nothing on her +account." A fresh and terrible fit of rage seized Stepan +Mihailovitch, that rage which invariably ended in painful +and shocking violence. Words of fury were on the point +of rushing from his lips, when Arina Vassilyevna, with her +daughters Aksinya and Tanyusha, ran into the room and +fell at the old man's feet, with tears and cries; they had +been standing outside the door and had seen what was +coming. Karatayeff had been standing there with them; +but he ran out of the house and into the wood, where he +slashed furiously at the innocent birch-branches with his +stick, punishing them for the wrong done to his wife. Elizabeth +did not venture to enter the room, knowing that her +own conscience was not clear, and that her father was +quite aware of the part she had played. "<em class="italics">Batyushka</em> +Stepan Mihailovitch!" cried Arina Vassilyevna, "your +will is law, you are our master, do what pleases you! Only +do not shame us and disgrace your family in the sight of +your daughter-in-law! You will frighten her out of her +life; all this is new to her." The words seemed to have +some effect on the old man. He was silent for a moment; +then he pushed Alexandra from him with his foot, crying, +"Begone, and don't venture to show yourself till I send +for you!" No one waited for any further orders: in a +moment the room was cleared, and all was silence round +Stepan Mihailovitch; but his blue eyes long remained +dark and clouded, and his chest rose and fell with his heavy +breathing, as he restrained his passionate anger which had +been aroused and not satisfied.</p> +<p class="pnext">The <em class="italics">samovar</em> had long been hissing on the drawing-room +table, not in the shade of the stoop, because heavy +rain had just ceased falling and it was damp out of doors. +Nature seemed to sympathise with what was passing in +the house of Bagrovo. Soon after dinner two clouds of +intense blackness had met in the zenith and long remained +there motionless, emitting from time to time flashes of +lightning and shaking the air with peals of thunder. At +last the rain came down in torrents, the clouds shifted to +the east, and the setting sun shone out. Fields and woods +smelt sweeter, refreshed by the rain, and the birds began to +sing louder; but alas! the storms of human passion are +not followed by such a calm.</p> +<p class="pnext">Alexandra pretended illness, but the other daughters +came with their mother to the drawing-room; Karatayeff +also was there, but Yerlykin was still absent from the +house, on the pretext of ill-health. Stepan Mihailovitch +had tea in his room and gave orders that he was not to be +disturbed. The door of the young couple's room was +locked; after a short delay, tapping was tried and brought +them out at once. Sofya Nikolayevna looked cheerful, +and her husband really was more cheerful than before; +but it was easy to guess from their faces that something +unusual had been happening in their room. Of what had +passed in the bedroom of Stepan Mihailovitch, they knew +nothing. As for Arina Vassilyevna and her daughters, +they looked like people who had just been pulled out of the +water or snatched from the fire. It is a pity that there +was no one to observe the scene; for it is certain that the +different expressions on the faces of the company would +have afforded an entertaining spectacle. All attempts to +keep up a conversation were unsuccessful. The absence +of the father and of one daughter puzzled Sofya Nikolayevna +beyond endurance: she invented some pretext for +going to her own room, where she summoned Parasha and +got to the bottom of the mystery. They knew all about +it in the maids' room: not only had Mazan and Tanaichonok +been listening all the time, but the old lady and +her daughter were in the habit of keeping nothing back +from their waiting-women. Thus Parasha was able to +give her mistress an exact and detailed report. Sofya +Nikolayevna was much disturbed. She had never expected +such alarming consequences; she heartily regretted +having told her father-in-law about the wretched rats; +and she was sincerely sorry for Alexandra. She went back +to the drawing-room and asked leave to visit the invalid, +but was told she was asleep. During her absence, Alexyéi +Stepanitch had heard the whole story. After a hasty +supper they separated to their rooms at ten o'clock. When +alone with her husband, Sofya Nikolayevna, with much +agitation and many tears, fell on his neck, and again asked +his forgiveness with heartfelt penitence, blaming herself +much more than she really deserved. But he did not +understand the delicacy of feeling which prompted her +genuine grief and drew from her tears. He was only sorry +to see her distress herself about trifles; and he tried to +console her by saying that all was well that ends well, that +the family were accustomed to such scenes, that his father +would wake in a good temper to-morrow and forgive +Alexandra, and all would go on as well as at first. Only +he begged her not to have any explanations with any of +the family, and not to beg pardon, as she wished to do, for +her unintentional slip; and he advised her not to visit his +father in the morning but to wait till he sent for her. +Sofya Nikolayevna understood her husband's character +better than she had ever done before; and the knowledge +hurt her deeply. While he slept peacefully all night, she +never closed an eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch was the worse for his fit of anger +and also disliked the thought that his daughter-in-law +might have heard of it. His honest nature resented every +underhand action and deliberate unkindness; and also he +saw, in what his daughter had done, disregard to his own +authority and position. He was on the brink of an illness; +he ate no supper, stayed indoors instead of going to sit on +the stoop, and, when he should have seen his bailiff, sent +his orders by a servant. But the benign darkness of night +which gives light to the eye of our mind, the stillness, and +then sleep, which calms the passions of men and rains +down blessings upon them—all these did their kindly office. +Early next day he summoned Arina Vassilyevna and gave +her his instructions to convey to his daughters—they were +intended mainly for Alexandra, but in part also for Elizabeth—that +Sofya Nikolayevna was not to know of any +unpleasantness, and they were to behave accordingly. In +a short time the <em class="italics">samovar</em> was placed on the table, and all +the family summoned. Arina Vassilyevna fortunately +had time to send a message by her son to Sofya Nikolayevna, +begging her to do her best to cheer up the master +of the house: "He is not quite well," she said, "and in +low spirits for some reason." In spite of her sleepless +night and the aching of her own heart, Sofya Nikolayevna +carried out this request to admiration; all the party, and +she herself more than any, were anxious that it should be +done.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna was an astonishing woman! Lively, +impressionable, and excitable, she could be carried away +in a moment by impulses of the head or heart, and was +capable of very sudden and complete transformations of +behaviour. In later years stupid people accused her of +insincerity on this ground, but no one else did. It was +really a kind of artistic power, which enabled her to adapt +herself instantly to a new atmosphere and a new position, +and to act absolutely in accordance with her immediate +purpose; and this purpose, being entirely sincere, acted +like a spell on others. In this case, she laid herself out to +calm the agitation of her father-in-law, for whom she had +conceived a warm affection, and who had championed her +cause at the cost of his peace of mind and at the risk of his +health; and she wished to relieve her husband and his +family, who had been terrified and assailed owing to her +slip of the tongue. Her imagination and feelings were so +completely mastered by this purpose that she exercised a +kind of magical power over the party and soon subdued +them all by the irresistible spell of her personality. She +poured out tea herself and handed the cups herself, first to +her father-in-law and then to the rest; she talked to every +one so easily and pleasantly and brightly that the old man, +quite convinced that she had caught no glimpse of the +skeleton in the cupboard, soon relaxed his features. Of +him also it was true that his cheerfulness was infectious; +and, before an hour had passed, all traces of the storm of +yesterday had disappeared.</p> +<p class="pnext">Immediately after dinner the young couple started off +to pay two ceremonial visits—to Ilarion Kalpinsky and +his wife Catherine at Nyeklyoodovo, and to our old +acquaintance Mme. Lupenevsky, who lived within two +<em class="italics">versts</em> of the Kalpinskys. Kalpinsky was in his own way a +remarkable man: though he had received no regular +education, he was very intelligent and well-read; his +origin was obscure—it was said that he was of Mordvinian +descent—but he had risen to a considerable rank in the +public service, and had made a marriage of interest with +the daughter of a country gentleman of good family. +His present pursuit was farming, and his object to save +money. He set up for a freethinker; and his few neighbours +who had heard of Voltaire called him a Voltairian. +He lived at home without taking any part in the life of +the family, and reserved to himself complete freedom in +the gratification of his somewhat Epicurean tastes and +habits. Though she had heard of him, Sofya Nikolayevna +had never seen him, because he had only recently +removed to Orenburg from his public office at Petersburg. +She was surprised to find in him a man possessed of intelligence +and culture according to the standards of the time, +and dressed like a gentleman living in the capital. She +was pleased with him at first; but he soon began to show +off before such an attractive visitor, and then his profanity +and the shameless immorality of his family life made her +feel a disgust for him which she never afterwards got over. +His wife was far more intelligent than her sister, Mme. +Lupenevsky, but not her superior in any other respect. +The visit lasted for an hour, and was followed by a visit +to Mme. Lupenevsky. In both houses tea was given to +the guests and home-made jam, and the meal was seasoned +with a kind of conversation which horrified Sofya Nikolayevna. +Both families were invited to dine at Bagrovo on +the following Sunday. By one of those striking inconsistencies +in human nature which it is impossible to explain, +Mme. Lupenevsky fell in love at first sight with +Sofya Nikolayevna, and used such language to her at +parting that her guest must needs either blush or laugh +aloud; nevertheless her words were the expression of +sincere and even enthusiastic attachment.</p> +<p class="pnext">The pair reached home an hour before supper-time, and +were welcomed with unusual cordiality and pleasure by +Stepan Mihailovitch, whom they found sitting on the +familiar stoop. He was much amused when he was told +that Mme. Lupenevsky had conceived such a passion for +his daughter-in-law, kissing her repeatedly, claiming that +they were kindred spirits, and lavishing terms of affection +upon her. Contrary to custom, the whole family went +out again to the stoop after supper, and spent a long time +there in cheerful conversation with the master of the +household, in the cool of the night and under the starry +sky. Stepan Mihailovitch, though he could not have +explained why, was fond of the faint colourless light that +follows the glow of sunset.</p> +<p class="pnext">The solemn feast on the Sunday was to be something +beyond what had ever been seen at Bagrovo, but nothing +special happened on either of the intervening days. Yerlykin +came back from Boogoorooslan looking yellow and ill, +as he always did after a drinking-bout. Stepan Mihailovitch +knew of his son-in-law's unfortunate weakness or +disease, and tried to cure him by dosing him with unpalatable +drinks, but without success. When sober, Yerlykin +had a loathing for alcohol and could not raise a glass of +wine to his lips without a shudder; but he was seized four +times a year with a sudden and irresistible craving for +spirits. If the attempt was made to keep drink from him, +he became a most pitiable and wretched object, talking +constantly and weeping, and begging abjectly for the +poison; and if it was still refused, he became frantic and +even capable of attempts at suicide. Sofya Nikolayevna, +who had heard the whole story, was exceedingly sorry for +him. She spoke kindly to him and tried to make him +talk to her. But it was no good: the General persisted +in his sullen silence and gloomy pride. Instead of being +grateful to her sister-in-law, Elizabeth resented these +advances to her husband, and expressed her resentment in +bitter terms. But Stepan Mihailovitch noticed this and +addressed a stern reproof to his clever daughter, who did +not love her sister-in-law any the better in consequence.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch twice took his daughter-in-law +out to see his crops of rye and spring-sown wheat, and +drove with her to all his favourite water-springs in the +hills, and the "Sacred Wood" where the trees had been +protected from the axe by a religious service. The old +man believed that all these sights were interesting and +agreeable to her; but in fact she positively disliked them +all. Her sole support was in the thought that she would +soon leave Bagrovo and would do her best never to set +eyes on it again. If any one had told her that she would +spend most of her life there, grow old there, and even die +there, she would not have believed it: she would have +said that death was preferable, and would have meant +what she said. But whatever God decrees, to that man +can become accustomed, and that he can endure.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sunday came and the guests began to assemble. Mme. +Myortvavo came, and the Kalpinskys and Lupenevskys, +and two old bachelors, the judge and the mayor of Boogoorooslan. +Another guest was Afrosinya Andréyevna +(her surname, which was never used, I forget), a spare little +old lady and a great talker; she had a small estate near +Bagrovo. She was famous for her powers of invention, +and Stepan Mihailovitch liked at times to listen to her, as +a grown man sometimes listens with pleasure to a fairy +tale intended for children.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Afrosinya Andréyevna deserves that the reader +should have at least a bowing acquaintance with her. At +one time in her life she had spent ten years in Petersburg +to watch a lawsuit; when she won it, she came back to +her little estate in the country. She brought back with +her from Petersburg a store of anecdotes whose extravagance +made Stepan Mihailovitch laugh till he cried. For +instance, she used to represent herself as a bosom friend +of the Empress Catherine, adding by way of explanation +that two people could not live ten years in the same town +without being thrown together. "I was in church one +day"—she talked this way when she was in the vein—"the +people were going out, and the Empress walked past +me, and I made a low curtsey and ventured to congratulate +her on the festival; and then Her Majesty was so +very kind and condescending as to say: 'How are you, +Afrosinya Andréyevna? How is your suit going? Why +don't you come to see me of an evening and bring your +knitting with you? We could chat together and pass +the time pleasantly.' Of course I never missed an evening +after that. I got to know the people about the court, +and every one in the palace without a single exception +knew me and liked me. Suppose a royal footman was +sent anywhere, to buy something it might be, he never +failed to look in at my house and tell me all about it. As +a matter of course, I always offered him a glass of something +good; I kept a bottle of whisky in the cupboard +on purpose. I was sitting by my window one evening +when I saw a royal footman in red uniform, with the coat +of arms on it, ride past at a gallop; he was soon followed +by a second and a third. That was too much for me: I +threw up the window and called out, 'Philip Petrovitch! +Philip Petrovitch! what are you all galloping for, and +why don't you pay me a visit?' 'No time! Afrosinya +Andréyevna!' was his answer; 'a terrible thing has +happened: candles will soon be wanted at the palace, and +we've run out of them!' 'Stop!' I cried out; 'I have +5 lbs. of candles laid in; you can come in and take them.' +Philip Petrovitch was delighted; I carried out the candles +with my own hands and relieved the people from their +difficulty. So you see, <em class="italics">batyushka</em> Stepan Mihailovitch, +they simply couldn't help being fond of me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch had many traits of character +peculiar to himself; and this was one—though he was a +sworn foe to deliberate lying of every kind, and detested +the most trifling deception and even the kind of evasion +which is sometimes quite excusable, yet he liked listening +to the harmless fabrications and fictions of simple people, +who were innocently carried away by the vividness of +their imagination till they actually came to believe in their +own incredible romancing. He liked talking to Afrosinya +Andréyevna, not only at a merry party, but also when +they were alone together, if he was in the right mood +for it; and she spent whole hours in pouring out for his +benefit the story of her life in Petersburg, which consisted +entirely of such incidents as that which I have already +quoted.</p> +<p class="pnext">But it is time to go back to the guests arriving at Bagrovo. +The mayor's <em class="italics">kaftan</em><a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id89" id="id88"><sup>44</sup></a> and the judge's uniform were equally +remarkable; but the best sight of all was Kalpinsky: on +each side of him stood a female scarecrow in the person +of his wife and of her sister, while he himself wore an +embroidered coat of French cut, a pair of watch-chains, a +number of rings, silk stockings and shoes with gold buckles. +All the family wore their best bib and tucker, and even +Stepan Mihailovitch was forced to smarten himself up. +M. Chichagoff, who had a critical, satirical turn of mind, +made fun with much effect of the motley assembly and +especially of his friend Kalpinsky; he was talking all the +time to his wife and to her inseparable companion, Sofya +Nikolayevna, who sat together and apart from the rest. +Sofya Nikolayevna had hard work to keep from laughing: +she tried not to listen, and begged Chichagoff either to hold +his tongue or to start a conversation with Stepan Mihailovitch, +whom he would find worthy of respect. He did so, +and soon took a great fancy to the old man; and his feeling +was reciprocated. But Stepan Mihailovitch disliked +Kalpinsky, both as an upstart and also as an unbeliever +and loose-liver.</p> +<p class="pnext">The splendour of the banquet may be imagined. Stepan +Mihailovitch for once resigned all his favourite dishes—haggis, +roast ribs of pork, and porridge made of green rye. +A <em class="italics">chef</em> had been procured, of special skill in the culinary +art. Materials of all sorts were provided in abundance—a +six-weeks-old calf, a pig fed to monstrous proportions, fat +sheep, and poultry of all kinds. It was the custom then +to place all the courses at once on the cloth; and the table +at Bagrovo could hardly hold them all or support their +weight. Cold dishes came first—smoked hams seasoned +with garlic; next came green cabbage soup and crayfish +soup, with forcemeat balls and rolls of different kinds; +then fish-salad on ice, sturgeon kippered and sturgeon +dried, and a dish heaped mountain-high with crayfish +tails. Of entrées there were only two: salted quails <em class="italics">aux +choux</em>, and stuffed ducks with a red sauce containing +raisins, plums, peaches, and apricots. These entrées were +a concession to modern fashion; Stepan Mihailovitch did +not like them and called them "kickshaws." They were +followed by a turkey of enormous size and fatness, and a +hindquarter of veal; the accessories were preserved melons +and gourds, apple chips, and pickled mushrooms. The +dinner ended up with round jam-tarts and raised apple +pies served with thick cream. All this was washed down +with home-made liquors, home-brewed March beer, iced +<em class="italics">kvass</em>, and foaming mead.</p> +<p class="pnext">Such were the meals which our heroic grandfathers +and grandmothers consumed without leaving out a single +course, and even managed to digest satisfactorily! But +they took their time over it, and the meal went on for +hours. The dishes were solid, substantial affairs, as we +have seen, and there were plenty of them; and the +servants also, both those of the house and those whom the +guests brought with them, had no idea of waiting: they +bustled about and collided with one another and seemed +likely at every moment to spill the sauce or the gravy over +some lady's dress.</p> +<p class="pnext">The dinner was a cheerful meal. The master of the +house had Mme. Myortvavo on his right, and on his left +Chichagoff, who steadily rose in his host's good graces and +was quite capable, unaided, of enlivening the dullest of +parties. The young couple were near the head of the table, +with Mme. Chichagoff and Kalpinsky; the latter, while +paying constant attentions to the two young women and +exchanging an occasional jest with Alexyéi Stepanitch, ate +for two all the time, to make up for the voluntary abstinence +which he practised at home, in his eagerness to save +money. Yerlykin sat next to Chichagoff; unlike the rest +of the party, he ate little and drank nothing but cold +water; he never spoke, but looked gloomy and profound. +The lady of the house had her daughters and nieces with +other guests near her at table. The party next adjourned +to the drawing-room, where there were two tables set out +with sweetmeats. On one stood a round cabinet of +Chinese porcelain resting on a round metal stand which +was gilt and painted in bright colours. The cabinet contained +a number of closely-fitting trays, each of which +held a different sort of preserved fruit—raspberries, strawberries, +cherries, gooseberries, and blackberries; and there +were crystallised rose-petals in a small round receptacle +at the top. This cabinet, which would be considered very +rare and precious nowadays, was a present sent by the +bride's father to Stepan Mihailovitch. Small plates were +set out on the other table, filled with black and white +currants, apricots, peaches, dates, raisins, nuts of many +kinds, and almonds in the shell.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch rose from table in such good spirits +that he did not even wish to lie down and rest. All could +see—and indeed he wished it to be seen—his pride in his +daughter-in-law and his affection for her; and her love +and respect for him were as plain to see. During dinner +he often turned towards her and asked her to do him some +trifling service—to hand something, or pour out something. +"Please help me yourself," he would say, "for +you and I agree in our tastes"—or, "Just remind me of +what I said to you the other day"—or, "Do repeat what +you told me yesterday; I seem to have forgotten it." +After dinner it was the same: he often asked her to give +some order, or to hand him something, and so on. The +form of his address was always plain and unpretentious, +sometimes even unceremonious; but the tone of affection +in which these appeals were expressed left no doubt in the +mind of any spectator that he was entirely captivated by +his daughter-in-law. And she, I need hardly say, replied +with love and gratitude to every token of the stern old +man's love for her—tokens often so slight that many +would have missed them. Stepan Mihailovitch, who was +thoroughly enjoying himself, tried to make Mme. Lupenevsky +talk: pretending ignorance, he asked in a loud voice, +"Well, Flona, what say you of my daughter-in-law?" +The lady's enthusiasm had been raised to a higher pitch +by the ale and strong waters she had been drinking. She +declared most positively and solemnly that she had fallen +in love at first sight with Sofya Nikolayevna, and rather +preferred her to her own daughter, Lizanka; and that +Alexyéi Stepanitch was the most fortunate of men. "It +used to be quite another story," said the old man significantly; +"don't change back again, my dear!" But +now Sofya Nikolayevna, perhaps from a dislike for this +topic, strongly urged her father-in-law to go and lie down, +if only for a short time. He consented, and she went with +him and drew his curtains with her own hand; he asked +her to see to the entertainment of the party, and she +hurried back, pleased and flattered by this commission. +While some lay down to rest, the others crossed to the +island and sat on the river-bank in the shade of the trees. +Sofya Nikolayevna was reminded of the scene that had +taken place there so recently—her unreasonable excitement +and the unjust reproaches which had rankled in the +mind of her husband. Her heart was full; and, though +she saw him now, in perfect content and happiness, laughing +loudly at a story which Kalpinsky was telling, she +drew him aside, threw her arms round him, and said with +tears in her eyes, "Forgive me, my dear, and bury in +oblivion all that happened here on the day we came!" +Alexyéi Stepanitch had a strong objection to tears; but +he kissed both her hands and said good-humouredly, +"How can you recall such a trifle, my darling? You are +quite wrong to trouble yourself." Then he hurried back +to hear the end of the story, which was very amusing +as Kalpinsky told it. Though there was really no cause +for distress, Sofya Nikolayevna felt a momentary heartache.</p> +<p class="pnext">The master of the house soon woke and summoned all +the party to join him by the stoop. Tables and chairs +were placed in the broad thick shadow cast by the house; +and the <em class="italics">samovar</em> was soon hissing. Tea was poured out +by Sofya Nikolayevna; there were rolls and scones and +cream so thick that it had a golden tinge on it; and for +all this some at least of the guests still found room. The +Kalpinskys and Mme. Lupenevsky went off after tea: +there was positively no room for them to sleep at Bagrovo, +and they had not far to go, only fifteen <em class="italics">versts</em>. The guests +from Boogoorooslan also took their leave.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mme. Myortvavo and her party left early next morning, +and the Yerlykins after dinner, to prepare for a visit from +the young couple on their way back to Ufa. The same +evening Stepan Mihailovitch announced quite frankly that +the time had come for the rest of the party to disperse: +he wished to spend the last days alone with his son and +daughter-in-law, and to enjoy their society without interruption. +As a matter of course, his wishes were carried +out. Alexandra said "good-bye" to her sister-in-law as +graciously as she could, and the sister-in-law said "good-bye" +to her with unfeigned satisfaction. Her secret wish +to spend some days without the hateful presence of +Elizabeth and Alexandra had been divined by Stepan +Mihailovitch; and she blessed him in her thoughts for his +power of intuition. Aksinya was quite different; and Sofya +Nikolayevna parted from her with feelings of gratitude +and real affection. None of this escaped the old man's +keen eyes. Tanyusha and her mother caused no constraint, +partly because they were more good-tempered and +friendly to their guest, and also because they often withdrew +and left the others to their own devices.</p> +<p class="pnext">The three remaining days were spent at Bagrovo in +perfect peace of mind, untroubled by malevolent observation +or pretences of affection or venomous innuendoes. +The strain on Sofya Nikolayevna's nerves was relaxed, +and she was able to take her bearings with less prejudice +and study the peculiarities of the little world in which she +found herself. In spite of their complete unlikeness to +herself, she could now understand her mother-in-law and +Tanyusha better, and make allowances for them; she +could form a cooler judgment of Stepan Mihailovitch, and +could understand how her husband came to be what he +was. To some extent she realised that Alexyéi could not +be entirely changed, and that the time was distant—perhaps +it would never come—when misunderstandings +between them would cease. But this last thought passed +too lightly through her mind; and the old dream, that she +could educate her husband over again and make a new +man of him, took fresh hold of her eager imagination. +What happens to most young wives in the course of life +was happening now to Sofya Nikolayevna: she found in +her husband a certain inferiority, certain limitations of +feeling and perception; and though her love for him was +none the less passionate on that account, she was beginning +to feel vaguely dissatisfied with his love for her, because he +found room in his heart for other things—the pond and the +island, the steppe and its population of snipe, the river +and those horrid fish! A feeling of jealousy, though +directed to no definite object as yet, was lurking at her +heart; and she felt a dim presentiment of coming disaster.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch also had been somewhat taken up +hitherto by constant observation of the feelings and +actions of his daughters; but now he was more at leisure +to attend to his daughter-in-law and his son also. For +all his want of education and rough-and-ready way of +expressing himself, his natural sagacity and power of +intuition revealed to him the whole difference of character +between the two; and he found here matter for serious +reflexion. Their present love for one another was a +pleasant sight to him, and he felt happy when he saw Sofya +Nikolayevna's eyes constantly fixed on her husband and +her eager desire to please him; but his happiness had a +shade of fear and of disbelief in the solidity and permanence +of a state of things in itself so charming. He would +have liked to speak his mind on the subject, to give them +some hints or some useful advice; but, whenever he began, +he could not find the right words for thoughts and feelings +which he could not make clear even to himself; and he +went no further than those trivial commonplaces which, +for all their triviality, have been bequeathed to us by the +practical wisdom of past generations and are verified by +our own experience. His failure troubled him, and he +said so frankly to his daughter-in-law. She was a clever +woman, yet she failed to understand the thoughts which +the old man was turning over in his brain, and the feeling +hidden in his heart. To his son he said: "Your wife is +very clever and very excitable. Her tongue will probably +run away with her at times; if so, don't be weak with her: +stop her at once, and make her see her mistake. Scold her, +but forgive her at once; if she displeases you, don't be +sullen or keep up resentment; have it all out with her at +once. But trust her absolutely; she is as true as steel." +Again, when he was alone with Sofya Nikolayevna, he said +to her: "My dear daughter-in-law, God has given you +many good gifts. I have only one thing to say to you: +don't give the reins to your impetuous temper. Your +husband is honest and kind; his temper is mild, and he +will never willingly hurt your feelings; don't you hurt +his. Honour him and treat him with respect. If you +cease to respect your husband, things will go wrong. +Suppose he says or does something you don't like, then +say nothing; don't be too exacting, and don't expect +perfection. I can see you through and through, and +I love you dearly. For God's sake, don't fill the cup till +it runs over: anything can be overdone, even a wife's +devotion to her husband."</p> +<p class="pnext">The advice was received as always by his son with +profound respect, and by Sofya Nikolayevna with the +ardent gratitude of a daughter. There was much talk on +other subjects—their future life at Ufa, the husband's +prospects in his profession, and the means of defraying +their expenditure. Definite arrangements were made on +all points, and all parties were satisfied.</p> +<p class="pnext">And now the day came for their departure. The silk +curtains in the bedroom were taken down; the muslin +and satin pillow-cases with broad lace edging were taken +off the pillows; and all this finery was packed up and +dispatched to Ufa. Pies of different kinds were baked +for the travellers. Father Vassili was summoned once +more, and the prayers for those "travelling by land or by +water" were said. Fresh horses were to be in readiness +at Korovino, forty <em class="italics">versts</em> away; to that point they were to +be taken by the Bagrovo horses, the same fine team of six +which had conveyed the pair on their ceremonial visits. +They dined together for the last time; and for the last +time Stepan Mihailovitch pressed his favourite dishes on +his daughter-in-law. The carriage was already standing +at the steps. When the party rose from table, they went +to the drawing-room and sat there in silence for some +minutes. Then Stepan Mihailovitch crossed himself and +rose to his feet; the rest followed his example, said a +prayer,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id91" id="id90"><sup>45</sup></a> and began their good-byes. All shed tears except +Stepan Mihailovitch, and even he had hard work to refrain. +He embraced his daughter-in-law and gave her his blessing; +then he whispered in her ear, "Mind, I look forward to a +little grandson." She blushed up to the ears and kissed +his hands without speaking; and now he did not resist +her doing so. All the outdoor servants and most of the +peasants were standing by the steps. Some of them had +half a mind to come forward and say farewell to their +young master and mistress; but Stepan Mihailovitch, who +hated good-byes and parting scenes, called out, "What +are you up to there? Make your bow, and that will be +enough!" Sofya Nikolayevna had only time to exchange +greetings with one or two of the people. They took their +seats quickly, and the strong horses started off with the +carriage as if it had been a mere feather. Stepan Mihailovitch +shaded his eyes from the sun with his hand; for +some minutes he tried to make out the moving carriage in +the cloud of dust which followed it; and, when it had +reached the stackyard at the top of the hill, he went back to +his own room and lay down to sleep.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="fragment-v-life-at-ufa"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id120">FRAGMENT V: LIFE AT UFA</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">During the first few minutes Sofya Nikolayevna felt sorry +for her father-in-law and sad to part with him. The image +of the old man who had learnt to love her and was suffering +now from the separation, came vividly before her. But +before long the easy motion of the carriage, with the fleeting +glimpses of fields and coppices and the outline of the +hills along which they were driving, had a soothing effect +upon her mind; and she began to feel heartily glad that +she had left Bagrovo. Her joy was too great to be concealed, +though she realised that her husband would not +like it. He, she thought, was sadder than he had any +business to be. Some explanations might possibly have +followed, but were fortunately prevented by the presence +of Parasha. The carriage rolled quickly through the +village of Noikino, where it was saluted by hearty shouts +from the Mordvinians, and then crossed the river Nasyagai +by a crazy bridge. They crossed the same river again +and passed through the village of Polibino, and came at +last to Korovino, where a fresh team was waiting for their +arrival; their own horses were to rest there for some hours +and return to Bagrovo in the evening.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna had provided herself with writing +materials, and now she wrote a warm letter of thanks to +her husband's parents. It was intended especially for +Stepan Mihailovitch; and he understood this perfectly +and hid the letter in the secret drawer of the modest +writing-desk which satisfied his needs; and there Sofya +Nikolayevna came upon her own letter unexpectedly +eight years afterwards, when the old man was in his grave. +The horses were put to, good-byes were said to the coachman +and postilion—long-legged Tanaichonok was acting +as postilion on this occasion—and the pair resumed their +journey. Fortune was kind at this point to Sofya Nikolayevna: +it proved impossible to get to the Yerlykins' +house, and thus she was saved from a most tiresome and +oppressive visit. A deep river on the way had to be +crossed, and the bridge had rotted and collapsed. As it +would take a long time to mend it, the young couple could +keep straight on towards Ufa. As they got near the town, +Sofya Nikolayevna could think of nothing but her sick +father, who had not seen her for more than a fortnight; +he had been left in the care of servants and must be feeling +lonely and eager for his daughter's return. The travellers +took a full hour to cross the river Byélaya in a crazy +ferry-boat; and the ascent of the steep hill on the other +side took time. Before it was over, Sofya Nikolayevna was +very impatient and in great agitation. At last she got to +the house. In a fever of excitement she hurried to her +father's room and softly opened the door. He was lying +in his usual position; and near him, on the very armchair +which was usually occupied by Sofya Nikolayevna herself, +his servant Nikolai was sitting.</p> +<p class="pnext">This man was a Kalmuck, and I must tell something +of his history. In those distant times it was a common +practice in the district of Ufa to buy native boys and girls, +either Kalmucks or Kirghizes, from their parents or relations, +and to make use of them later as serfs. Forty years +before the date of my story, M. Zubin had bought two +Kalmuck boys. He had them baptized, became fond of +them, and made pets of them. He had them taught to +read and write; and, when they grew up, they became +his personal servants. Both of them were intelligent and +neat-handed and appeared to be very devoted; but, when +Pugatchoff<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id93" id="id92"><sup>46</sup></a> raised the standard of revolt, they both ran +off and joined the rebels. One of them soon lost his life; +but the other, who had been his master's favourite and +was called Nikolai, now became the favourite of one Chika, +who was prominent among the rebels and stood high in +the favour of Pugatchoff himself. It is well known that +one band of the revolters was encamped for a long time +near Ufa, on the opposite bank of the river Byélaya. +Nikolai was in this camp and had by this time been promoted +to a position of some authority. It was said that +he was fiercer than any of them and breathed fire and +slaughter against no one so much as his old master who +had brought him up. Tradition tells that, whenever the +rebels were preparing to cross the river and fall upon the +defenceless town, they saw a great army march out to +defend the heights on the opposite bank, and an ancient +warrior at their head, riding on a snow-white horse, and +holding a spear in one hand and a Cross in the other. The +cowardly band of outlaws were terrified by this vision and +desisted from all their attempts; and they had done +nothing when the news came that Pugatchoff was defeated. +Of course they scattered at once. The revolt came to an +end, and the scattered rabble were seized and brought to +trial. Nikolai, who was one of these, was condemned to +the gallows. I cannot vouch for the truth of this; but I +have been assured that, after his trial at Ufa, the noose +was actually round his neck, when M. Zubin claimed the +privilege which he possessed as a landholder, pardoned his +old favourite, and took him home, undertaking to be +responsible himself for the criminal's behaviour. Nikolai +seemed penitent and tried by zeal and devotion to atone +for his crime. By degrees he contrived to get back into +his master's confidence; and, when Sofya Nikolayevna, +after her stepmother's death, took over the management +of the household, she found Nikolai established as butler; +he had been a favourite with her stepmother, and this now +became a passport to her father's goodwill. Nikolai had +been guilty of much insolence to his young mistress during +her time of humiliation; but he was a very cunning fellow +and quite realised his present position. He played the part +of the repentant sinner, throwing all the guilt on the stepmother, +and blaming himself for the slavish spirit in which +he had carried out her orders. It would have been quite +easy for Sofya Nikolayevna to get rid of him for good and +all; but her youth and generous nature made her believe +that his repentance was genuine. She pardoned him, and +actually begged her father to leave him in his old position. +As time went on, she was sometimes vexed by the way in +which he settled things without consulting her, and she +felt doubts about his honesty. She noticed also that his +intimacy with her father, though concealed from her, was +closer than she liked. But he was very zealous in his +attendance upon his sick master, sleeping always in the +same room, and also found time to do his work as butler +exceedingly well. She was therefore content with mild +reproofs, and the man was left free to take root at leisure +in his double office. When she became engaged, she had +to see herself to the buying of her wedding-clothes and to +spend much time with her future husband; and so she was +less with her father and gave less attention to household +affairs. Nikolai took full advantage of this opportunity, +and his power over the old invalid increased daily. Hoping +soon to get rid of his mistress and to become master of the +house himself, he grew more insolent and less careful to +conceal his power. Sofya Nikolayevna sometimes snubbed +him sharply; she was grieved to see her father's increasing +dependence on this man and abdication of his own +authority.</p> +<p class="pnext">Nikolai had made full use of the few days that preceded +and followed the marriage, and of her absence for a +fortnight at Bagrovo: his master, now at death's door, +was completely under his control. Sofya Nikolayevna +guessed the true state of affairs as soon as she saw the man +lying asleep in the armchair; never before had he ventured +on such a liberty. She gave him a look which sent him in +some haste and confusion out of the room. Her father +was by no means as pleased to see her as she expected; he +made haste to tell her that Nikolai was not to blame: "It +is at my urgent wish," he said, "that he sometimes takes +a seat at my bedside." "It is a pity you do that, father," +she said; "you will spoil him altogether and be forced to +turn him off; I know him better than you do." Then, +without entering upon further explanations, she expressed +her joy at having found him no worse. Alexyéi Stepanitch +soon came in, and then the old man, touched by his +daughter's unfeigned tenderness, his son-in-law's attentive +behaviour, and the love between husband and wife, +listened with pleasure to their narrative and thanked +God with tears for their happiness.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna began at once the business of +instalment. She chose three rooms, quite separate from +the rest, for their own occupation; and in a few days her +arrangements were so complete that she could receive her +own guests without any disturbance to her father. It was +her intention to arrange as before about the management +of the house and the attendance on her father, and to +assign to Nikolai the subordinate part of carrying out her +instructions; but the man had always hated her, and now +felt himself strong enough to declare open war against his +young mistress. While attending to the father more +zealously than ever, he contrived with extraordinary +cunning to insult the daughter at every turn; and to +Alexyéi Stepanitch he was so insolent that the young man +lost patience, in spite of his easy and unexacting temper, +and told his wife that he could not possibly put up with +the position. For some time Sofya Nikolayevna did not +trouble her father, hoping by her own influence to keep +Nikolai within the bounds of reasonable politeness; she +relied upon his intelligence, and also believed that he knew +her determined character and would not venture to drive +her to extremities. But the malicious Asiatic—this was +the servants' name for him—was convinced beforehand +that he would conquer, and tried to provoke Sofya Nikolayevna +into some passionate outburst. Long ago he had +been able to instill into his master the belief that the young +lady could not endure her father's faithful servant and +would certainly try to turn him out of the house. The +invalid was horrified by this prospect, and solemnly declared +that he would prefer death to such a deprivation. +Sofya Nikolayevna tried to hint to her father in very gentle +and affectionate terms that Nikolai forgot himself in his +behaviour to her husband and neglected to carry out her +orders; it seemed to be his intention to provoke her to +anger. But her father became agitated and refused to +listen: he said that he was perfectly satisfied with Nikolai, +and begged her not to trouble the butler but to give her +orders to some other servant. Young and impulsive, and +accustomed to undisputed authority in her father's house, +Sofya Nikolayevna found it hard to endure the insulting +behaviour of an unworthy menial; yet her love for her +father, and her desire to nurse and comfort him and alleviate +his sufferings as far as possible, kept her for long from the +idea of leaving him in that dying state to depend entirely +upon such a wretch as Nikolai and other servants. She +controlled her impulsiveness and injured pride; she gave +her household orders through one of the other servants, +knowing all the time that all her instructions were altered +by her enemy at his will and pleasure. She induced her +father to order that Nikolai should not enter the sick-room +while she was sitting there. But this arrangement soon +broke down: under various pretexts, the man constantly +came into the room; and indeed the invalid himself constantly +asked for him. This painful situation continued +for several months.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna arranged her engagements in the +town in accordance with her own wishes. The people +whom she liked she often met, either in their houses or +her own; the rest she seldom saw, and was content to +exchange formal calls with them. Her husband was +acquainted already with everybody in the town; but his +wife's intimate friends now became intimate with him. +He became popular with them and got on very well in his +new position—I mean, in the select society that gathered +round his wife.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile, soon after her return to Ufa, Sofya Nikolayevna +began to feel unpleasant symptoms of a peculiar +kind, which gave great satisfaction to Stepan Mihailovitch +when he heard of them. The continuation of his ancient +line, the descendants of the great Shimon, was a constant +theme of the old man's thoughts and wishes; it troubled +his peace of mind and stuck in his head like a nail. On +receiving the good news from his son, Stepan Mihailovitch +was full of happy hopes and convinced that the child +would infallibly be a boy. His family always said that his +spirits were unusually high at this time. He had prayers +said in church for his daughter-in-law's health, forgave +certain sums owed him by neighbours or dependants, +asked every one to congratulate him, and made them +drink till they were dizzy.</p> +<p class="pnext">In his excitement and joy, it occurred to him suddenly +to bestow a mark of his favour upon Aksyutka, the maid +who poured out tea and coffee, to whom he always showed +an unaccountable partiality. Aksyutka was a peasant's +daughter who had lost both parents and was brought to +the house at Bagrovo when she was seven years old, merely +to save her from starvation. She was exceedingly ugly—red-haired +and freckled, with eyes of no colour in particular; +she was also bad-tempered and a horrible sloven. +This does not sound attractive; but Stepan Mihailovitch +took a great fancy to her, and never did dinner pass without +his giving or sending to the child something taken from the +dishes at table. When she grew up, he made her pour out +his tea in the morning and talked to her for hours at a time. +She was now a good deal over thirty. One morning, soon +after the good news came from Ufa, Stepan Mihailovitch +said to her: "What makes you go about looking like a +scarecrow? Be off, you stupid creature, and put on your +best clothes that you wear on holidays. I mean to find +you a husband." Aksyutka grinned: she thought her +master was not serious, and answered: "Why, who would +marry an orphan like me, except perhaps Kirsanka, the +shepherd?" (Kirsanka, as every one knew, was deformed +and idiotic.) Stepan Mihailovitch seemed vexed; he went +on, "If I arrange the marriage, you can have your pick of +the young men. Go and dress yourself, and come back at +once." Aksyutka went out surprised and delighted; and +Stepan Mihailovitch summoned Little Ivan to his presence. +We have heard something of this man already; he was +now twenty-four years old, with a complexion of lilies and +roses, a very fine young fellow, both tall and stout. At +the time of Pugatchoff's revolt, when the master himself +took refuge with his family at Astrakhan, Ivan's father +had been left in charge of the serfs at Bagrovo; and it +was generally supposed that his death was due to overwork +and anxiety at that time. He left two sons, both +called Ivan, and this one was known as Little Ivan, to +distinguish him from his elder brother, who inherited his +father's nickname of Weasel. Little Ivan appeared before +his master, "like a leaf before the grass."<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id95" id="id94"><sup>47</sup></a> Stepan +Mihailovitch looked at him with admiration, and then +said in a voice so kind that the lad's heart leaped for +joy, "Ivan, I mean to give you a wife." "Your will is +law, <em class="italics">batyushka</em> Stepan Mihailovitch," answered the man, +devoted body and soul to his master. "Well, go and +dress yourself in your best, and come back to me in less +than no time." Ivan flew off to do his master's bidding. +Aksyutka was the first to reappear; she had smoothed her +red hair and greased it with oil, and put on her smartest +jacket and skirt, and her bare feet were hidden in shoes; +but alas! she was no more beautiful than before. She +was much excited, and her mouth was constantly expanding +into a broad grin, which she tried to hide with her +hand, because she felt ashamed of it. Stepan Mihailovitch +laughed: "Oh, she's willing enough to take a husband," +he said. Back flew Ivan; but the sight of Aksyutka's +ugly face and fine dress sent a cold shiver down his +back. "There is your bride," said Stepan Mihailovitch; +"she is a good servant to me as your father was once. +You may both count on my protection." His wife +now came in, and he turned to her and said: "Arisha, +the bride's clothes are all to be made out of our stuff; I +shall give her a cow and provide everything to eat and +drink at the wedding." No one raised any objections, +and the marriage took place. Aksyutka was charmed +with her handsome husband, but he detested his repulsive +wife, who was ten years older than him to boot. She was +jealous of him all day long, and not without reason; and +he beat her all day long, with some excuse on his side also; +for nothing but the stick—and not even that for long—could +shut her mouth and keep her wicked tongue from +wagging. It was a pity, a great pity: Stepan Mihailovitch +did a wrong thing when he made others sad because +he was happy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of his happiness I judge partly by tradition but more +from a letter which he wrote to Sofya Nikolayevna and +which I have seen myself. We have seen that he was +capable of strong and deep affection; yet it is hard to +believe that a man with so little refinement of manner +could give verbal expression to such tender and delicate +solicitude as breathed through the whole of this letter. +He begged her and commanded her to be careful of her +health, and sent her much advice on the subject. Unfortunately, +I can only remember a few words of it: "If you +were living in my house"—this was one thing the old man +said—"I would not suffer the wind to blow on you or a +grain of dust to settle on your skin."</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna was able to appreciate this affection, +though she understood that half of it was intended +for the expected heir; and she promised to carry out +scrupulously his wishes and instructions. But it was hard +for her to keep this promise. She was one of those women +who pay for the joy of motherhood by a constant discomfort +which is more painful and distressing than any real +illness; and she suffered in mind also, because her relations +with her father became daily more humiliating and the +insolence of Nikolai more unbearable. Alexyéi Stepanitch, +who saw no danger in his wife's constant sufferings, and +was told that the symptoms were quite natural and would +soon pass away, though he was sorry for his wife, was not +excessively put out; and this was another cause of distress +to Sofya Nikolayevna. He worked hard at his duties +in the law-court, hoping soon to be promoted. He had +become accustomed to living with his father-in-law; he +avoided for the present all contact with Nikolai, and looked +forward without impatience to a change in their position. +His wife did not like this either. Things dragged on like +this, as I have said already, for several months, and it was +not a happy time for any of them.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Nikolai was not satisfied with this state of things: +he desired a final solution. Seeing that Sofya Nikolayevna +was controlling her quick temper and righteous +indignation, he determined to force her hand. It was +necessary for his purpose that she should lose patience and +complain to her father; and he warned the invalid more +than once that he was constantly expecting Sofya Nikolayevna +to complain of him and demand his instant dismissal. +He did not wait for any pretext or opportunity. +One day, in the presence of other servants, when his young +mistress was standing close to him at the open door of the +next room, he began, speaking loud and looking straight +at her, to use such offensive language of herself and her +husband that Sofya Nikolayevna was struck dumb for a +moment by his insolence. But she recovered immediately, +and without a word to him rushed to her father's +room, where, choking with wrath and excitement, she +repeated the insulting words which had been said almost +to her face by his favourite. Nikolai came in at her heels +and would not let her finish her story. Feigning tears and +crossing himself, he solemnly swore, that it was mere +slander, that he had never said anything of the sort, and +that it was wicked of Sofya Nikolayevna to ruin an innocent +man! "You hear what he says, Sonitchka," said the +invalid in a peevish voice. This was too much for Sofya +Nikolayevna: stung to the quick, she forgot her magnanimous +self-restraint and forgot also that she might kill her +father with fright. She raised her voice with such effect +that the favourite was forced to leave the room. Then +she said to her father: "After this insult I cannot live +under the same roof with Nikolai: you must choose which +of us is to go, he or I!"—and then she rushed wildly +from the room. The old man had a seizure, and Nikolai +hastened to his aid. The usual remedies were applied +with success, and then master and man had a long conversation, +after which Sofya Nikolayevna was summoned to +the room. "Sonitchka," he said, with all the firmness +and calmness he could muster, "my weak and suffering +state makes it impossible for me to part with Nikolai; +my life depends on him. You must buy another house; +here is money for the purpose." Sofya Nikolayevna fell +fainting to the ground and was carried back to her own +room.</p> +<p class="pnext">To this had come the tender tie of affection between +parent and child, a tie which should surely have been +made doubly strong by the temporary coolness due to the +stepmother, and then by the father's penitence and the +daughter's devotion and forgetfulness of all her wrongs. +And then, when she married, she had chosen her husband +with this in view, and had stipulated that she should not +be parted from her father! And now they were to part at +a time when the doctors declared he would not live another +month! But in this forecast the doctors were mistaken, +just as they often are nowadays: he lived on for more +than a year.</p> +<p class="pnext">When Sofya Nikolayevna recovered from her swoon +and her eyes fell on the pale anxious face of Alexyéi Stepanitch, +she realised that there was one creature on earth +who loved her: she threw her arms round her husband, +and floods of tears gave relief to her heart. She told him +all that had passed between her and her father. The +narrative revived the smart of her wounded feelings, and +brought out more clearly the difficulty of her position; +and she would have despaired, but for the support of her +kind husband. Though weaker in character and less +far-sighted than she was, he never ran into extremes and +never lost presence of mind and power of judgment in the +trying hours of life. It may seem strange that Alexyéi +Stepanitch could give moral support to Sofya Nikolayevna; +but, for all her exceptional intelligence and apparent +strength of will, the effect of a sudden shock to her feelings +was to make her lose courage and become utterly bewildered. +As an honest chronicler of oral tradition, I am +bound to add that she was too sensitive to the opinion of +society and paid it too much deference, in spite of her own +superiority to the people among whom she lived. What +would be said by people at Ufa, and especially by the +ladies who took the lead in society there? What would +be thought by her husband's family? What, above all, +would be said by Stepan Mihailovitch when he heard that +she had left her father? As she asked herself these questions, +the injury to her pride gave her as much pain as the +wound to her feelings as a daughter. To her it seemed +equally terrible that her father should be blamed for +ingratitude to his daughter, or that she should be blamed +for failing in affection to a dying father. One or other +alternative was bound to be chosen; and either he or she +was bound to be condemned.</p> +<p class="pnext">Alexyéi Stepanitch felt deep pity for her as he watched +these sufferings, and he felt puzzled also. It was no easy +task to administer consolation to Sofya Nikolayevna: her +eager fancy painted appalling pictures of disaster, and her +ready tongue gave them lively expression. She was prepared +to brush aside every attempt to find an issue from +the situation, and to trample on every suggestion of a +settlement. But Alexyéi Stepanitch had love to teach +him, and also that sanity and simplicity of mind which +was wanting in his wife. He waited till the first irrepressible +outburst was over, the first outcry of the wounded +heart; and then he began to speak. The words were +very ordinary, but they came from a kind, simple heart; +and if they did not calm Sofya Nikolayevna, they did at +least by degrees make it possible for her to understand +what was said. He told her that she had always done +her duty as a loving daughter, and that she must continue +to do it by falling in with her father's wishes. It was +probably no sudden decision: her father might have +wished for a long time that they should live apart. For a +sick and dying man it was difficult or even impossible to +part from the regular attendant who nursed him so faithfully. +Stepan Mihailovitch must be told the whole truth; +but to acquaintances it would be enough to say that her +father had always intended to set up the young couple in +a house of their own during his lifetime. She would be +able to visit her father twice a day and attend to him almost +as much as before. Of course people in the town would +find out in time the real reason of the separation—they +had probably some idea already of the facts—but they +would only pity her and abuse Nikolai. "Besides," he +added, "though your father talked like that, when it +comes to acting, he may shrink from the separation. Talk +it over with him, and lay all your case before him." Sofya +Nikolayevna made no reply: during a long silence her eyes +rested with a curious, puzzled gaze on her husband. The +truth of his simple words and his plain way of looking at +things—these breathed peace and comfort into her heart. +His plan seemed to her new and ingenious, and she wondered +she had never thought of it herself. With a heart full of +love and gratitude she embraced her husband.</p> +<p class="pnext">So it was settled that Sofya Nikolayevna should appeal +to her father to alter his decision and let them stay on in the +house, at all events until she had entirely recovered from +her confinement; their household arrangements would be +quite separate, and all collisions with Nikolai would be +avoided. In favour of this suggestion, there was one very +pressing argument—that, while it was bad for Sofya +Nikolayevna in her present condition to be jolted over +the ill-paved streets of the town, no risk to herself would +prevent her from paying a daily visit to her father. But +the explanation with her father was unsuccessful. The +old man told her calmly but firmly that his decision had +been carefully considered and was no impulse of the +moment. "My dear Sonitchka," he said, "I knew +beforehand that after your marriage you could not live +under the same roof as Nikolai. You are not able to +judge him coolly, and I don't blame you for it: he sinned +deeply against you in old days, and, though you forgave +him, you were unable to forget his conduct. I know that +he does not behave properly to you even now; but you +take an exaggerated view of it all." At this point Sofya +Nikolayevna tried to break in, but he stopped her and said: +"Wait and hear to the end what I have to say. Let us +suppose that he is as guilty as you take him to be: that +makes it all the more impossible for you to live in the +same house with him; but I cannot face parting from +him. Have pity on my helpless and suffering condition. +I am no longer a man, but a lifeless corpse; you know that +Nikolai has to move me in bed ten times a day; no one +can take his place. All I ask is peace of mind. Death +is hovering over me, and every moment I must prepare +for the change to eternity. I was constantly made +wretched by the thought that Nikolai was giving offence +to you. Our parting is inevitable; go, my dear, and live +in a house of your own. When you come to visit me you +shall not see the object of your dislike: he will be only too +glad to keep out of the way. He has gained his object +and got you out of the house, and now he will be able to +rob me at his leisure. I know and see it all, but I forgive +him everything for his unwearied nursing of me day and +night. What he undergoes in his attendance on me is +beyond the power of human endurance. Do not distress +me, but take the money and buy a house for yourselves."</p> +<p class="pnext">I shall not describe all the phases through which Sofya +Nikolayevna passed—her doubts and hesitations, her +mental conflicts, her tears and sufferings, her ups and downs +of feeling from day to day. It is enough to say that the +money was accepted and the house bought, and husband +and wife were settled there before a fortnight had passed. +The little house was new and clean, and had never been +occupied before. Sofya Nikolayevna began with her +usual ardour to put her house in order and to settle the +course of their daily life; but her health, much affected +by her condition, and still more by all the agitation she had +gone through, soon broke down altogether. She was confined +to bed for a fortnight, and did not see her father for +a whole month. Their first interview was a touching and +pitiful sight. He had grown much weaker; missing his +daughter and blaming himself for her illness, he had suffered +much by her absence. Their meeting gave happiness to +both, but it cost them tears. He was especially grieved +to see her so terribly thin and so altered in looks; but this +was due, not so much to grief and illness as to her condition. +The features of some women look different and +even ugly during pregnancy; and Sofya Nikolayevna was +a case in point. In course of time things settled down +and her relations with her father became easy; Nikolai +never ventured to appear when she was present. There +was just one person who could not reconcile himself to the +thought that she had left a dying father to settle in a +house of her own; and that was Stepan Mihailovitch. +She quite anticipated this, and wrote him a very frank +letter just before she was taken ill, in which she tried to +explain her father's action and defend it as far as possible. +She might have saved herself the trouble, for Stepan +Mihailovitch blamed her and not her father, and said that +it was her duty to bear without a sign of displeasure all the +misconduct of "that scoundrel" Nikolai. He wrote to +his son to reprove him for allowing his wife to abandon +her father to the hands of servants. But Stepan Mihailovitch +did not realise, either that the separation was necessary +to preserve the peace of a dying man, or that a wife +could act without the permission of her husband. In the +present case, however, husband and wife were entirely of +one mind.</p> +<p class="pnext">To put the finishing touches to the new house and +modest household arrangements, Sofya Nikolayevna called +in the assistance of a widow whom she knew, who lived +in a humble position at Ufa. This was Mme. Cheprunoff, +a very simple and kind-hearted creature. She owned a +little house in the suburbs, and a small but productive +garden, which brought her in a trifle. She had other +means of maintaining herself and her adored only child, +a little one-eyed boy called Andrusha: she hawked about +small wares of different kinds, and even sold cakes in the +market. But her chief source of income was the sale of +Bokhara muslin, which she went to Orenburg every year +to buy. Sofya Nikolayevna was related through her +mother to this woman; but she had the weakness to conceal +the relationship, though every one in the town knew +it. Mme. Cheprunoff was devoted to her brilliant and +distinguished kinswoman. She used to pay secret visits +to Sofya Nikolayevna during the time when she was persecuted +and humiliated by her stepmother; and Sofya +Nikolayevna, when her time of triumph and influence +came, became the avowed benefactress of Mme. Cheprunoff. +When they were alone together, Sofya Nikolayevna +lavished caresses upon her unselfish and devoted kinswoman; +but, when other people were present, the one was +the great lady and the other the poor <em class="italics">protégée</em> who sold +cakes in the streets. This treatment did not offend Mme. +Cheprunoff: on the contrary, she insisted on it. She +loved and admired her beautiful cousin with all her heart, +and looked on her as a superior being, and would never +have forgiven herself if she had thrown a shadow on the +brilliant position of Sofya Nikolayevna. The secret was +revealed, as it had to be, to Alexyéi Stepanitch; and he, in +spite of the ancient lineage which his sisters were always +dinning into his ears, received this humble friend as his +wife's worthy kinswoman, and treated her with affection +and respect all his life; he even tried to kiss the work-worn +hand of the cake-seller, but she would never allow it. +He was only prevented by his wife's earnest entreaties +from speaking of this relationship in his own family and +in the circle of their acquaintance. This conduct earned +him the love of the simple-minded woman; and whenever +there were differences in the household in later years, +she was his ardent champion and defender. She knew all +the shops and was a great hand at a bargain; and so, with +her help, Sofya Nikolayevna did her furnishing quickly +and well.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the young Bagroffs bought a house and started +housekeeping by themselves, there was much talk and +gossip in the town; and at first many exaggerations and +inventions were current. But Alexyéi Stepanitch had +spoken the truth: the real reason came out before long. +This was due chiefly to Nikolai, who boasted among his +friends that he had ousted the pettish young lady, and +took the opportunity to give a lively description of her +character. So the talk and gossip soon quieted down.</p> +<p class="pnext">Husband and wife had at last a house entirely to themselves. +In the morning, Alexyéi Stepanitch drove down +to his work at the law-courts, dropping his wife at her +father's house; and on his return he spent some time every +day with his father-in-law, before taking his wife home. +A modest dinner awaited them there. To sit alone +together, at a meal of their own ordering, in their own +house, was a charming sensation for a time; but nothing is +a novelty for long, and this charm could not last for ever. +In spite of her bad health and small means, Sofya Nikolayevna's +clever hands made her little house as dainty as a +toy. Taste and care are a substitute for money; and +many of their visitors thought the furnishing splendid. +The hardest problem was to arrange about their servants. +Sofya Nikolayevna had brought two servants as part of +her portion—a man named Theodore and a black-eyed +maid called Parasha; these two were now married to one +another; and at the same time Annushka, a young +laundress belonging to Sofya Nikolayevna, was married to +Yephrem Yevséitch, a young servant who had been brought +from Bagrovo. This man was honest and good-natured +and much attached to his young mistress, which cannot +be said of the other servants. She returned his affection, +and he well deserved it: he was one in a thousand, and his +devotion to her was proved by his whole life.</p> +<p class="pnext">Yevséitch (as he was always called in the family) +became later the attendant of her eldest son,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id97" id="id96"><sup>48</sup></a> and watched +over him like a father. I knew this worthy man well. +Fifteen years ago I saw him for the last time; he was then +blind and spending his last days in the Government of +Penza on an estate belonging to one of the grandsons of +Stepan Mihailovitch. I spent a whole month there in the +summer; and every morning I went to fish in a pool where +the stream of Kakarma falls into the river Niza. The +cottage where Yevséitch was living stood right on the +bank of this pool; and every day as I came up I saw him +leaning against the angle of the cottage and facing the +rising sun. He was bent and decrepit, and his hair had +turned perfectly white; pressing a long staff to his breast, +he leaned upon it with the knotted fingers of both hands, +and turned his sightless eyes towards the sun's rays. +Though he could not see the light, he could feel its warmth, +so pleasant in the fresh morning air, and his face expressed +both pleasure and sadness. His ear was so quick that he +heard my step at some distance, and he always hailed me +as an old fisherman might hail a schoolboy, though I was +then myself over fifty years old. "Ah, it's you, my little +falcon!"—he used to call me this when I was a child—"you're +late this morning! God send you a full basket!" +He died two years later in the arms of his son and daughter +and his wife, who survived him several years.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meantime life at Ufa took a very regular and unvarying +course. Owing to her state of health and spirits, Sofya +Nikolayevna paid few visits and only to intimate friends, +whose small number was made smaller by the absence of +the Chichagoffs. Autumn was nearly over before those +dearest of friends returned from the country with Mme. +Myortvavo. The disordered nerves and consequent low +spirits of his wife were at first a source of great uneasiness +to Alexyéi Stepanitch. He was completely puzzled: he +had never in his life met people who were ill without anything +definite the matter, or sad with no cause for sadness; +he could make nothing of illness due to some inexplicable +grief, or grief due to some imaginary or imperceptible +illness. But he saw that there was no serious danger, and +his anxiety calmed down by degrees. He was convinced +that it was all the effect of imagination, which had always +been his way of accounting for his wife's moods of excitement +and distress, whenever he found it impossible to +arrive at any reason within his comprehension. If he +ceased to be uneasy, he began to be rather bored at times; +and this was very natural, in spite of his love for his wife +and pity for her constant suffering. To listen for whole +hours every day to constant complaints about her condition, +which was not after all so very exceptional; to hear +gloomy presentiments, or even prophecies, of the fatal +results which were sure to follow (and Sofya Nikolayevna, +thanks to her reading of medical works, was extraordinarily +ingenious in discovering ominous symptoms); to endure +her reproaches and constant demands for those trifling +services which a man can seldom render—all this was +wearisome enough. Sofya Nikolayevna saw what he felt, +and was deeply hurt. If she had found him in general +incapable of deep feeling and strong passion, she would +have reconciled herself sooner to her situation. She used +often to say herself, "A man cannot give you what he has +not got"; and she would have recognised the truth of the +saying and submitted to her fate. But the misfortune +was that she remembered the depth and ardour of her +husband's passion in the days of his courtship, and believed +that he might have continued to love her in the same +fashion, had not something occurred to cool his feelings. +This unlucky notion by degrees took hold of her imagination, +and her ingenuity soon discovered many reasons to +account for this coolness and much evidence of its truth. +As to reasons—there was the hostile influence of his family, +her own ill-health, and, worst of all, her loss of beauty; +for her looking-glass forced upon her the sad change in her +appearance. Her proofs were these—that her husband +was not disquieted by her danger, took insufficient notice +of her condition, did not try to cheer and interest her, and, +above all, found more pleasure in talking to other women. +And then a passion, which hitherto had lurked unrecognised, +the torturing passion of jealousy, as keen-sighted as +it is blind, flashed up like gunpowder in her heart. Every +day there were scenes—tears and reproaches, quarrels and +reconciliations. And all the time Alexyéi Stepanitch was +entirely innocent. To the insinuations of his sisters he +paid no attention at all; to his father's opinion he attached +great importance, and that was so favourable to Sofya +Nikolayevna that she had even risen in her husband's eyes +in consequence. He was sincerely, if not deeply, distressed +about her sufferings; and her loss of beauty he +regarded as temporary, and looked forward with pleasure +to the time when his young wife would get back her good +looks. Though the sight of her suffering distressed him, +he could not sympathise with all her presentiments and +prognostications which he believed to be quite imaginary. +He was incapable, as most men would be, of paying her +the sort of attention she expected. It was really a ticklish +business to administer consolation to Sofya Nikolayevna +in her present condition: you were quite likely to put +your foot in it and make matters worse; it required much +tact and dexterity, and these were qualities which her +husband did not possess. If he found more pleasure in +talking to other women, it was probably because he was +not afraid that some casual remark might cause annoyance +and irritation.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Sofya Nikolayevna could not look at the matter +in this light. Her view of it was dictated by her nature, +whose fine qualities were apt to run to extremes. But +what was to be done, if the nerves of one were tough and +strong and those of the other sensitive and morbid, if hers +were jarred by what had no effect upon his? The Chichagoffs +alone understood the causes of this uncomfortable +situation; and, though they received no confidences from +either husband or wife, they took a warm interest in both +and did much to calm Sofya Nikolayevna's excitement by +their friendship, their frequent visits, and their rational +and sensible conversation. Both husband and wife owed +much to them at this period.</p> +<p class="pnext">So things went on till the time that Sofya Nikolayevna +became a mother. Though she was often troubled in +mind, her health improved during the last two months, and +she was safely delivered of a daughter. She herself, and +her husband still more, would have preferred a son; but, +when the mother pressed the child to her heart, she thought +no more of any distinction between boy and girl. A +passion of maternal love filled her heart and mind and +whole being. Alexyéi Stepanitch thanked God for his +wife's safety, rejoiced at her relief, and soon reconciled +himself to the fact that his child was a girl.</p> +<p class="pnext">But at Bagrovo it was quite another story! Stepan +Mihailovitch was so confident that he was to have a grandson +to carry on the line of the Bagroffs, that he would not +believe at first in the birth of a grand-daughter. When at +last he read through his son's letter with his own eyes and +was convinced that there was no doubt about it, he was +seriously annoyed. He put off the entertainment planned +for his labourers, and refused to write himself to the +parents; he would only send a message of congratulation +to the young mother, with instructions that the infant +was to be christened Praskovya, in compliment to his +cousin and favourite, Praskovya Ivanovna Kurolyessova. +His vexation over this disappointment was a touching and +amusing sight. Even his womankind derived a little secret +amusement from it. His good sense told him that he had +no business to be angry with any one, but for a few days he +could not control his feelings—so hard was it for him to +give up the hope, or rather the certainty, that a grandson +would be born, to continue the famous line of Shimon. In the +expectation of the happy news, he had kept his family tree +on his bed, ready any day to enter his grandson's name; +but now he ordered this document to be hidden out of +sight. He would not allow his daughter Aksinya to travel +to Ufa in order to stand godmother to the babe; he said +impatiently, "Take that journey for a girl's christening? +Nonsense! If she brings a girl every year, you would have +travelling enough!" Time did its work, however, and +the frown, never a formidable frown this time, vanished +from the brow of Stepan Mihailovitch, as he consoled +himself with the thought that he might have a grandson +before a year was out. Then he wrote a kind and playful +letter to his daughter-in-law, pretending to scold her for +her mistake and bidding her present him with a grandson +within a twelvemonth.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna was so entirely absorbed by the +revelation of maternity and by devotion to her child, that +she did not even notice the signs of the old man's displeasure, +and was quite unaffected by Aksinya's absence +from the christening. It proved difficult to keep her in +bed for nine days after her confinement. She felt so well +and strong that she could have danced on the fourth day. +But she had no wish to dance; she wanted to be on her +feet day and night, attending to her little Parasha. The +infant was feeble and sickly; the mother's constant distress +of body and mind had probably affected the child. +The doctor would not allow her to nurse the child herself. +Andréi Avenarius was the name of this doctor; he was +a very clever, cultivated, and amiable man, an intimate +friend of the young people and a daily visitor at their +house. As soon as possible Sofya Nikolayevna took her +baby to her father's house, hoping that it would please +the invalid to see this mite, and that he would find in it +a resemblance to his first wife. This resemblance was +probably imaginary; for, in my opinion, it is impossible +for an infant to be like a grown-up person; but Sofya +Nikolayevna never failed to assert that her first child was +the very image of its grandmother. Old M. Zubin was +approaching the end of his earthly career; both body and +mind were breaking fast. He looked at the baby with +little interest, and had hardly strength to sign it with the +Cross. All he said was, "I congratulate you, Sonitchka." +Sofya Nikolayevna was distressed by her father's critical +condition—it was more than a month since she had seen +him—and also by his indifference to her little angel, Parasha.</p> +<p class="pnext">But soon the young mother forgot all the world around +her, as she hung over her daughter's cradle. All other +interests and attachments grew pale in comparison, and +she surrendered herself with a kind of frenzy to this new +sensation. No hands but hers might touch the child. +She handed it herself to the foster-mother and held it at +the breast, and it was pain to her to watch it drawing life, +not from its mother, but from a stranger. It is hard to +believe, but it is true, and Sofya Nikolayevna admitted it +herself later, that, if the child sucked too long, she used to +take it away before it was satisfied, and rock it herself in +her arms or in the cradle, and sing it to sleep. She saw +nothing of her friends, not even of her dear Mme. Chichagoff. +Naturally they all thought her eccentric or absurd +and her chief intimates were vexed by her conduct. She +paid a hasty visit every day to her father, and returned +every day with fear in her heart that she would find the +child ill. She left her husband perfectly free to spend +his time as he liked. For some days he stopped at home; +but his wife never stirred from the cradle and took no +notice of him, except to turn him out of the little nursery, +because she feared that twice-breathed air might hurt the +baby. After this, he began to go out alone, till at last he +went to some party every day; and he began to play +cards to relieve his boredom. The Ufa ladies were amused +at the sight of the deserted husband, and some of them +flirted with him, saying that it was a charity to console +the widower, and that Sofya Nikolayevna would thank +them for it when she recovered from her maternal passion +and reappeared in society. Sofya Nikolayevna did not +hear of these good Samaritans till later; when she did, +she was vexed. Mme. Cheprunoff, who came often to the +house, watched Sofya Nikolayevna with astonishment, +pity, and displeasure. She was a tender mother herself to +her little boy with the one eye, but this devotion to one +object and disregard of everything else seemed to her to +border on insanity. With groans and sighs she struck her +fists against her own body—this was a regular trick of hers—and +said that such love was a mortal sin which God +would punish. Sofya Nikolayevna resented this so much +that she kept Mme. Cheprunoff out of the nursery in +future. No one but Dr. Avenarius was admitted there, +and he came pretty often. The mother was constantly +discovering symptoms of different diseases in the child; +for these she began by consulting Buchan's <em class="italics">Domestic +Medicine</em>, and then, when that did not answer, she called +in Avenarius. He found it impossible to argue her out of +her beliefs: all he could do was to prescribe harmless +medicines. Yet the child was really feeble, and at times +he was obliged to prescribe for it in real earnest.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is difficult to say what would have been the upshot +of all this; but, by the inscrutable designs of Providence, +a thunderbolt burst over the head of Sofya Nikolayevna: +her adored child died suddenly. The cause of death was +uncertain: it may have been too much care, or too much +medicine, or too feeble a constitution; at any rate, the +child succumbed, when four months old, to a very slight +attack of a common childish ailment. Sofya Nikolayevna +was sitting by the cradle when she saw the infant start and +a spasm pass over the little face; she caught it up and +found that it was dead.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna must have had a marvellous constitution +to support this blow. For some days she knew +no one and the doctors feared for her reason; there were +three of them, Avenarius, Zanden, and Klauss; all three +were much attached to their patient, and one of them was +always with her. But, by God's blessing and thanks to +her youth and strength, that terrible time passed by. The +unhappy mother recovered her senses, and her love for +her husband, whose own distress was great, asserted itself +for the time and saved her. On the fourth day she became +conscious of her surroundings; she recognised Alexyéi +Stepanitch, so changed by grief that he was hard to recognise, +and her bosom friend, Mme. Chichagoff; a terrible +cry burst from her lips and a healing flood of tears gushed +from the eyes which had been dry till then. She silently +embraced her husband and sobbed for long on his breast, +while he sobbed himself like a child. The danger of +insanity was past, but the exhaustion of her bodily strength +was still alarming. For four days and nights she had +neither eaten nor drunk, and now she could swallow no +food nor medicine nor even water. Her condition was so +critical that the doctors did not oppose her wish to make +her confession and receive the sacraments. The performance +of this Christian duty was beneficial to the patient: +she slept for the first time, and, when she woke after two +hours looking bright and happy, she told her husband +that she had seen in her sleep a vision of Our Lady of +Iberia, exactly as she was represented on the <em class="italics">ikon</em> of their +parish church; and she believed that, if she could put her +lips to this <em class="italics">ikon</em>, the Mother of God would surely have +mercy on her. The image was brought from the church, +and the priest read the service for the Visitation of the Sick. +When the choir sang, "O mighty Mother of God, look +down in mercy on my sore bodily suffering!"—all present +fell on their knees and repeated the words of the prayer. +Alexyéi Stepanitch sobbed aloud; and the sufferer too +shed tears throughout the service and pressed her lips to +the image. When it was over, she felt so much relief that +she was able to drink some water; and from that time she +began to take food and medicine. Her two dear friends, +Mme. Chichagoff and Mme. Cheprunoff, were with her +constantly; she was soon pronounced out of danger, and +her husband's troubled heart had rest. The doctors set +to work with fresh zeal to restore her strength, and their +great anxiety was in a way dangerous to their patient; +for one of them found traces of consumption, another of +<em class="italics">marasmus</em>, and the third was apprehensive of an aneurysm. +But fortunately they were unanimous on one point: the +patient should go at once to the country, to enjoy pure air +and, preferably, forest air, and take a course of <em class="italics">koumiss</em>. +At the beginning of June it was not too late to drink mare's +milk, as the grass on the steppes was still fresh and in full +growth.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stepan Mihailovitch took the news of his grand-daughter's +death very coolly: he even said, "No reason to +tear one's hair over <em class="italics">that</em>! There will be plenty more girls." +But when he heard later of the dangerous illness of Sofya +Nikolayevna, the old man was much disturbed. When a +third message came, that she was out of immediate danger +but very ill, and that the doctors were baffled and prescribed +a course of <em class="italics">koumiss</em>, he was exceedingly angry with +the doctors: "Those bunglers murder our bodies," he +said, "and defile our souls by making us swallow the drink +of heathens. If a Russian is forbidden by his Church to +eat horseflesh, then he has no business to drink the milk +of the unclean animal." Then he added with a heavy sigh +and a gesture of disgust: "I don't like it at all: her life +may perhaps be saved, but she will never be right again, +and there will be no children." Stepan Mihailovitch was +deeply grieved and remained for a long time in a state of +depression.</p> +<p class="pnext">Twenty-nine <em class="italics">versts</em> to the south-west of Ufa, on the +road to Kazan, where the Uza falls into that noble river, +the Dyoma, there lay in a rich valley a little Tatar village +called by the Russians Alkino, surrounded by forests. +The houses nestled in picturesque disorder at the foot of a +hill called Bairam-Tau<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id100" id="id98"><sup>49</sup></a> which gave them shelter from the +north; and another hill, Zein-Tau,<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id101" id="id99"><sup>50</sup></a> rose on the west. +The Uza, fringed with bushes, flowed to the south-west; +the forest-glades were fragrant with grasses and flowers; +and, all round, oaks and limes and maples cleft the air and +imparted to it an invigorating virtue. To this charming +spot Alexyéi Stepanitch brought his wife, weak and pale +and thin, a mere shadow of her old self; Avenarius, their +friend and doctor, came with them, and they had some +difficulty in getting the patient to the end of the journey. +The owner of the village received them with cordial hospitality; +he had a comfortable house, but Sofya Nikolayevna +was unwilling to install herself there, and one of the +outbuildings was cleared out for her occupation. The +family were only too kind in their attentions to her, so that +the doctor was obliged to forbid their visits for a time. +They spoke Russian fairly well, though they professed the +Mohammedan creed; and, though their dress and habits +were then partly Russian and partly Tatar, <em class="italics">koumiss</em> was +their invariable drink from morning till night. For Sofya +Nikolayevna, the health-giving beverage was prepared +in a cleanly, civilised manner: the mare's milk was fermented +in a clean, new wooden bucket and not in the usual +bag of raw horse-hide. The natives declared that <em class="italics">koumiss</em> +made in their fashion tasted better, and was more effective; +but Sofya Nikolayevna felt an unconquerable aversion +to the horse-hide bag. When the doctor had laid +down rules for the cure, he went back to Ufa, leaving +Alexyéi Stepanitch, with Parasha and Annushka, in charge +of the invalid. The air and the <em class="italics">koumiss</em>, of which small +doses were taken at first; the daily drives with Alexyéi +Stepanitch through the forest which surrounded the village—Yevséitch, +who was now a favourite with Sofya Nikolayevna, +acted as coachman; the woods, where the patient +lay for whole hours in the cool shade on a leather mattress +with pillows, breathing the fragrant air into her lungs, +listening sometimes to an entertaining book, and often +sinking into refreshing sleep—the whole life was so beneficial +to Sofya Nikolayevna that in a fortnight she was +able to get up and could walk about. When Avenarius +came again he was delighted by the effect of the <em class="italics">koumiss</em>, +and increased the doses; but, as the patient could not +endure it in large quantities, he thought it necessary to +prescribe vigorous exercise in the form of riding on horseback. +For a Russian lady to ride was in those days a +startling novelty: Alexyéi Stepanitch did not like it, and +Sofya Nikolayevna herself was shocked by the notion. +Their host's daughters presented an instructive example, +for they constantly rode far and wide over the country on +their Bashkir ponies; but Sofya Nikolayevna turned a +deaf ear for long to all persuasions, and even to the entreaties +of her husband, whom the doctor had speedily and +completely convinced of the necessity of the exercise. At +last the Chichagoffs came on a visit to Alkino, and Sofya +Nikolayevna's resistance was overcome by a joint effort. +What appealed to her most strongly was the example of +Mme. Chichagoff, who, in the spirit of true friendship, +sacrificed her own prejudices and began to ride, at first +alone, and then with the patient. This hard exercise +required a change of diet; and fat mutton, which Sofya +Nikolayevna did not like either, was prescribed. Avenarius +probably took a hint from the habits of the Bashkirs +and Tatars, who, while moving from place to place +throughout the summer, drink <em class="italics">koumiss</em> and eat hardly +anything but fat mutton, not even bread; and they ride +all day long over the broad steppes, until the prairie grass +turns from green to grey and veils itself with a soft, silvery +down. The treatment answered admirably. They sometimes +rode out in a large party with the sons and daughters +of their host. There was a potash factory which they +sometimes visited, about two <em class="italics">versts</em> from Alkino, situated +in the depth of the forest and on the bank of a stream; +and Sofya Nikolayevna looked with interest at the iron +cauldrons full of burning wood-ash, the wooden troughs in +which the dross was deposited, and the furnaces in which +the product was refined and converted into porous white +lumps of the vegetable salt called "potash." She admired +the rapidity with which the work was carried on, and the +activity of the Tatars, whose skull-caps were a novelty +to her, and also the long shirts which came down to their +feet and yet left them free command of their limbs. In +general her hosts were very kind, and tried to amuse their +guest by making the natives sing and dance before her, or +wrestle, or run races on horseback.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first Alexyéi Stepanitch was always present at these +expeditions and entertainments; but, when he ceased to +feel anxious about his wife's health, and saw her surrounded +by troops of attentive friends, he began by degrees to find +some time on his hands. Country life and country air, with +the beauty of that landscape, roused in him a desire for his +old amusements. He made fishing-lines and began to +angle for the wily trout in the clear mountain streams round +Alkino; and he went out sometimes to catch quails with +a net. Theodore, Parasha's young husband, was a capital +hand at this sport and could make pipes to decoy the birds. +With sportsmen in general, netting for quails does not rank +high; but really I do not know why they despise it. To +lie on the fragrant meadow grass with your net hanging in +front of you on the tall stalks; to hear the quails calling +beside you and at a distance; to imitate their low, sweet +note on the pipe; to hear the excited birds reply and +watch them run, or even fly, from all sides towards you; +to watch their curious antics, and to get excited yourself +over the success or failure of your strategy—all this gave +me much pleasure at one time, and even now I cannot +recall it with indifference. But it was impossible to make +this pleasure intelligible to Sofya Nikolayevna.</p> +<p class="pnext">In two months she was well on the way to recovery: +her face filled out, and a bright colour began to play again +upon her cheeks. When Avenarius paid a third visit, he +was entirely satisfied; and he had a perfect right to +triumph; for he was the first to prescribe <em class="italics">koumiss</em> and +directed the treatment himself. He had always been +attached to his patient; and now that he had succeeded +in saving her life, he loved her like a daughter.</p> +<p class="pnext">Alexyéi Stepanitch sent a weekly bulletin to his father +at Bagrovo. Stepan Mihailovitch was glad to hear that +his daughter-in-law was getting better; but of course he +disbelieved in the healing power of the <em class="italics">koumiss</em>, and was +very angry about the riding, which they were rash enough +to mention in writing to him. His wife and daughters +made use of this opportunity, and the sneering remarks, +which they let fall on purpose in the course of conversation, +worked him up to such a pitch that he wrote his son +a rather offensive letter which gave pain to Sofya Nikolayevna. +But, when he was convinced that his daughter-in-law +had quite recovered and had even grown stout, +pleasing hopes began to stir again in his breast, and he +grew reconciled in some degree to the <em class="italics">koumiss</em> and the +riding.</p> +<p class="pnext">The young Bagroffs returned to Ufa at the beginning +of autumn. Old M. Zubin was very far gone by that time, +and his daughter's wonderful recovery produced no sort +of impression on him. All his earthly business was done, +and all ties broken; every thread that held him to life +was severed, and the soul could hardly find shelter in the +disruption of the body.</p> +<p class="pnext">The normal course of relations between the young +couple had been, so to speak, arrested in its development +by a number of events: first, by the birth of the child and +the mother's extravagant devotion to it; then, by the +child's death which nearly deprived the mother of her +reason and her life; and, finally, by the long course of +treatment and residence in the Tatar village. In the +stormy season of her distress and sickness, Sofya Nikolayevna +had ever before her eyes the genuine love and self-sacrifice +of her husband. At that time there were none of +those collisions, which constantly occur at ordinary times +between ill-matched characters; and, even if there were +occasions for such misunderstandings, they passed unnoticed. +When gold is in circulation, small change is of +little importance. In exceptional circumstances and +critical moments, nothing but gold passes; but the daily +expenditure of uneventful life is mainly carried on with +small change. Now Alexyéi Stepanitch, though he was +not poor in gold, was often hard up for small change. +When a man, if he sees distress and danger threatening +the health and life of one whom he loves, himself suffers in +every fibre of his being; when he forgets sleep and food +and himself altogether; when the nerves are strung up +and the moral nature uplifted—at such times there is no +room for small exactions, no room for small services and +attentions. But when the time of tragic events has gone +by, everything quiets down again; the nerves are relaxed +and the spirit contracts; the material life of flesh and +blood asserts itself, in all its triviality; habits resume +their lost power; and then comes the turn of those exactions +and demands we spoke of, the turn of small services +and polite attentions and all the other trifles which make +up the web of actual ordinary life. Time will again apply +the test and bring back the necessity of self-sacrifice; but +meanwhile life runs on without a stop in the ordinary +groove, and its peace and adornment and pleasure—what +we call happiness, in fact—is made up entirely of trivial +things, of small change.</p> +<p class="pnext">For these reasons, when Sofya Nikolayevna began to +recover and Alexyéi Stepanitch ceased to fear for her life +and health, there began by degrees to reappear, on one +side, the old exacting temper, and, on the other side, the +old incapacity to satisfy its demands. Gentle reproaches +and expostulations had become tiresome to the husband, +and fierce explosions frightened him. Fear at once +banished perfect frankness, and loss of frankness between +husband and wife, especially in the less assertive and +independent of the two, leads straight to the destruction +of domestic happiness. After the return to Ufa, this evil +would probably have grown worse in the trivial, idle +atmosphere of town life; but Sofya Nikolayevna's father +was now actually dying, and his sad, suffering condition +banished all other anxieties and monopolised his daughter's; +thoughts and feelings. Obedient to the law of her moral +nature, she gave herself up without reserves to her duty +as a daughter. Thus the process which was unveiling +every corner of their domestic life, was again brought to a +standstill. Sofya Nikolayevna spent her days and nights +with her father. Nikolai, as before, waited on his sick +master, nursing him with wonderful devotion and indefatigable +care; and, as before, he kept out of sight of Sofya; +Nikolayevna, though he had now the right and the power +to appear before her with impunity. Touched by his +behaviour, she had sent for him; a reconciliation took +place, and she gave him leave to be present with her in +the sick-room. The dying man, in spite of his apparent +insensibility to all around him, noticed this change: he +pressed his daughter's hand in his feeble grasp, and said +in a hardly audible whisper, "I thank you." Sofya +Nikolayevna never left her father after this time.</p> +<p class="pnext">I said that when Stepan Mihailovitch received the good +news of his daughter-in-law's recovery, fond hopes awoke +once more in his breast. They were not disappointed: +before long Sofya Nikolayevna wrote to him herself, that +she hoped, if God was good to her, to give birth to a son, +to be the comfort of his old age. At the instant Stepan +Mihailovitch was overjoyed, but he soon controlled his +feelings and hid his happiness from his womankind. Perhaps +it occurred to him that this second child might be a +daughter, that Sofya Nikolayevna and the doctors between +them might kill it too with too much love and too much +medicine, and that the mother might lose her health over +again; or perhaps Stepan Mihailovitch was like many other +people, who deliberately prophesy calamities with a secret +hope that fortune will reverse their prognostications. He +pretended that he was not in the least glad, and said +coolly: "No, no! I'm too old a bird to look at <em class="italics">that</em> +chaff. When the thing happens, it will be time enough to +believe it and rejoice over it." His family were surprised +to hear him speak so, and said nothing in reply. But, as +a matter of fact, the old man for some unknown reason +became convinced once more in his heart that he would +have a grandson: he gave instructions again to Father +Vassili to repeat in church the prayer for "women labouring +of child"; and he fished out once more the family +tree from its hiding-place, and kept it always beside him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile M. Zubin's last hour on earth came quietly +on. He had suffered much for many years; it seemed +hardly natural that life should linger on in a body which +had lost all force and motion; and the ending of such a +bare and pitiful existence could distress no one. Even +Sofya Nikolayevna had only one prayer—that her father's +soul might depart in peace. And there <em class="italics">was</em> peace, and even +happiness, at the moment of death. The face of the dying +man lit up suddenly, and this expression remained long +upon the features, though the eyes were shut and the body +had grown cold. The funeral was a solemn and splendid +ceremony. M. Zubin had once been very popular; but +he had become forgotten by degrees, and sympathy for +his suffering had become gradually weaker. But now, +when the news of his death flew round the town, old +memories revived and evoked a fresh feeling of love and +pity for him. On the day of his funeral every house was +empty, and all the population of Ufa lined the streets +between the Church of the Assumption and the cemetery. +May he rest in peace! If he had the weakness of human +nature, he had also its goodness.</p> +<p class="pnext">After M. Zubin's death, guardians were appointed for +the children of his two marriages; and Alexyéi Stepanitch +became guardian of his wife's two brothers, who, before +finishing their education at the Moscow boarding-school, +were summoned to Petersburg to enter the Guards. I +forgot to mention that M. Zubin, shortly before his death, +was successful in obtaining for Alexyéi Stepanitch his +promotion to a higher office at the law-courts.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna wept and prayed for a long time, +and Alexyéi Stepanitch wept and prayed at her side; but +those tears and prayers were not painful or violent and had +no ill effect on the recently restored health of Sofya Nikolayevna. +Her husband's entreaties and the advice of her +friends and doctors prevailed with her, and she began to +take care of herself and to pay due attention to her condition. +They convinced her that the health and even the +life of the unborn child depended on the state of her own +health and spirits. Their arguments were confirmed by +bitter experience, and she resolutely submitted to all that +was required of her. When her father-in-law wrote to +her and expressed in simple words his sympathy with her +loss and his fear that she might again injure her own health +by excess of grief, she sent a very reassuring letter in +reply; and she did in fact attend carefully to her bodily +health and composure of mind. A regular but not monotonous +plan of life was laid down. The two doctors, +Klauss—who was becoming very intimate with the Bagroffs—and +Avenarius, made her go out every day before dinner, +and sometimes on foot; and each evening they had an +unceremonious party of pleasant people at home, or went +out themselves, generally to the Chichagoffs' house. Mme. +Chichagoff's brothers became great friends of the Bagroffs, +especially the younger, Dmitri, who asked that, when +the time came, he might stand godfather. Both brothers +were well-bred men and well-educated, according to the +standards of the time; and they came often to the house +and passed the time there with pleasure. In the Bagroffs' +house, reading aloud was a favourite occupation. But, as +no one can read or listen to reading without intervals, +Sofya Nikolayevna was taught to play cards. Klauss +took the chief part in initiating her into this science; and, +whenever the Bagroffs were alone of an evening, he never +failed to make up their table. Avenarius could not take +part in this pastime, because he never in his life knew the +difference between the five and the ace.</p> +<p class="pnext">Spring set in early that year, but in all its beauty. The +ice on the Byélaya broke up, and the blocks were carried +down by the stream; the river broke its banks and spread +till it was six <em class="italics">versts</em> across. The whole of this expanse +could be clearly seen from the windows of the Bagroffs' +little house; their orchard burst into leaf and flower, and +the fragrance of bird-cherries and apple-blossom filled the +air. They used this orchard as a drawing-room, and the +warm weather did good to Sofya Nikolayevna and made +her stronger.</p> +<p class="pnext">At this time an event happened at Ufa which caused a +great sensation there and was especially interesting to the +young Bagroffs, because the hero of the story was an +intimate friend of theirs, and, if I am not mistaken, distantly +related to Alexyéi Stepanitch. Sofya Nikolayevna, +as one would expect from her character, took a lively +interest in such a romantic affair. A young man, named +Timásheff, one of the most prominent and richest nobles +of the district, fell in love with a Tatar girl, the daughter +of a rich Tatar landowner. Her family, just like the +Alkins, had altered their way of living to a certain extent +in conformity with European customs, and they spoke +Russian well; but they strictly observed the Moslem faith +in all its purity. The beautiful Salmé returned the love +of the handsome Russian officer, who was a captain in the +regiment stationed near Ufa. As she could not be married +to a Russian without changing her religion, it was perfectly +certain that her parents and grown-up brothers would +never give their consent to such a union. Salmé struggled +long against her love, and love burns more fiercely in the +hearts of women of Asia. At last, as is the rule in such +cases, Mahomet was defeated, and Salmé made up her mind +to elope with her lover, meaning to be baptised first and +then married. The commander of Timásheff's regiment +was General Mansúroff, a universal favourite and the +kindest of men, who gained distinction afterwards when +he crossed "The Devil's Bridge" in the Alps with Suvóroff. +He had lately married for love himself, and he knew and +sympathised with Timásheff's enterprise, and promised to +take the lovers under his protection. One dark, rainy +night Salmé sallied forth from her father's house, and +found Timásheff waiting for her in a wood close by with a +pair of saddle-horses; they had to gallop about 100 <em class="italics">versts</em> +to reach Ufa. Salmé was a skilful rider; every ten or +fifteen <em class="italics">versts</em> they found fresh horses, guarded by soldiers +of Timásheff's regiment; he was very popular with his +men. Thus the fugitives flew along "on the wings of +love," as a poet of that day would infallibly have said. +Meanwhile Salmé's absence was quickly noticed: her +passion for Timásheff had long been suspected, and a strict +watch was kept over her movements. A band of armed +Tatars assembled instantly, and followed the enraged +father<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id103" id="id102"><sup>51</sup></a> and brothers in furious pursuit of the lovers, +uttering fierce shouts and threats of vengeance. They +took the right track and would probably have captured the +fugitives—at any rate blood would have been spilt, because +a number of soldiers, eagerly interested in the affair, were +posted at different points along the road—had not the +pursuit been delayed by a stratagem. The bridge over a +deep and dangerous river was broken down behind the +lovers; and the Tatars were forced to swim across, and thus +lost some two hours. Even so, the boat which carried +Timásheff and Salmé across the Byélaya under the walls +of Ufa, had hardly reached mid-stream, when the old +Tatar galloped up to the bank, attended by his sons and +half of his faithful company; the other half had stopped +when their horses fell dead under them. A whole regiment +of Russian soldiers were in possession of all the punts and +ferry-boats, on the pretence of crossing to the town. The +unhappy father gnashed his teeth in fury, cursed his +daughter, and rode off home. Half dead with weariness +and fear, Salmé was placed in a carriage and taken to the +house of Timásheff's mother. The affair now assumed a +legal and official character: here was a Mahometan woman +asking of her own free will to be received into the Christian +Church, and the authorities of the town took her under +their protection, informed the <em class="italics">mufti</em>, who lived at Ufa and +was always called "the Tatar bishop," of all that had +passed, and called upon him to stop the injured family or +any other Mahometans from all attempts to recover by +violence a person who had deliberately preferred the +Christian faith. In a few days the clergy prepared the +convert to receive the sacraments of baptism and unction. +The rite was celebrated with great pomp in the Cathedral: +Salmé was christened Seraphima, and immediately afterwards, +without leaving the church, the young lovers were +married. All Ufa was interested in the affair. The young +people and all the men naturally stood up for the beautiful +Salmé; but the women, some of whom, perhaps, had +personal reasons for disappointment, judged her conduct +severely. Very few stretched out the hand of sincere +friendship to the convert, whom her husband's station +admitted to the inner circle of Ufa society. The young +couple had no warmer sympathisers than Sofya Nikolayevna +and Alexyéi Stepanitch; and they were actively +assisted by the wife of General Mansúroff, an amiable +young woman whose maiden name was Bulgákoff. Before +long the Timásheffs had a firm footing in their new sphere. +The bride's education was taken in hand; she had much +natural ability, and soon became a success in society, +where she aroused both sympathy and envy, due in some +degree to her beauty and the peculiarity of her position. +Sofya Nikolayevna kept up a steady friendship with +Seraphima Timásheff till death divided them. To the +general regret, Mme. Timásheff died of consumption three +years after her marriage. She left two sons; her husband +nearly went out of his mind with grief; he left the Army, +gave up his life to the care of his children, and never +married again. It was currently reported, though I +cannot vouch for the truth of the reports, that her illness +and death were due to secret pining after the kinsfolk she +had abandoned and remorse for her change of religion.</p> +<p class="pnext">These events did nothing to arrest the quick flight of +time. The day came when Sofya Nikolayevna was +forbidden to go out to parties, or even to take drives in +the country. In fine weather she walked up and down the +garden for half an hour twice a day; if it was wet, she +opened all the doors in the house and followed the same +routine under cover. It is probable that all this seclusion +and strict regimen did more harm than good; yet my +opinion is contradicted by the facts, for Sofya Nikolayevna +was in perfect health. Alexyéi Stepanitch found it necessary +to let the doctors have their way; for he was constantly +receiving instructions from his father to watch over +his wife like the apple of his eye. Her friends also, and +especially the doctors who felt a strong personal attachment +for her, kept such a close watch on Sofya Nikolayevna +that she could neither take a step nor swallow a +morsel or drink a drop without their permission. As +Avenarius had to leave the town on some official business, +it fell on Klauss, who was the other leading lady's doctor +at Ufa, to undertake the personal supervision of her health. +Klauss was a German, a very kind man, clever and well-educated, +but singularly grotesque in his appearance. +Though he was still of middle age, he wore a bright yellow +wig; and people asked where he could have got human +hair of a colour never beheld on any human head; his +eyebrows also were yellowish, and so were the whites of +his small brown eyes; but his face, which was round and +rather small, was as red as burning coal. His habits in +society were very odd: though he liked kissing the hands +of ladies, he would never allow himself to be kissed on the +cheek, maintaining that it was a gross breach of manners +on the part of a man to permit such a greeting. He had a +great fondness for small children which he showed in this +way: he took the child on his knees, placed its hand on the +palm of his own left hand and stroked it for hours at a time +with his right hand. His special favourites he constantly +addressed as "Monster!" or "Turk!"—and Sofya +Nikolayevna naturally came in for her share of these +endearments.<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id105" id="id104"><sup>52</sup></a></p> +<p class="pnext">Owing to his intimacy with the young Bagroffs, Klauss +knew all about Stepan Mihailovitch—his eager desire for +a grandson, and the impatience with which he was awaiting +the event. As Klauss wrote Russian well, he wrote +out a forecast, for whose accuracy he vouched, in a distinct +handwriting for the old man's benefit: he foretold +that Sofya Nikolayevna would give birth to a son between +the 15th and 22nd of September. When the forecast was +sent to Stepan Mihailovitch, "German liar!" was his only +comment; but in his heart he believed it; for his excitement +and joy could be seen in his face and heard in every +word he spoke. About this time, our old acquaintance, +Afrosinya Andréyevna, paid him a visit at Bagrovo. He +let her see more than others of his main anxiety, that he +might have another grand-daughter; and she told him +that, when passing through Moscow, she had gone to +Trinity Church there, to say her prayers to St. Sergius; +and there she heard that some well-known lady, the mother +of several daughters, had taken a vow that if her next child +was a boy, it should be christened Serghéi; and she did +give birth to a son before the year was out. Stepan Mihailovitch +said nothing at the time; but he wrote a letter +himself to his son and daughter-in-law by the next post, +expressing his desire that they should say prayers in church +to St. Sergius the Wonder-worker, and take a vow to call +their child Serghéi if it were a boy. In explanation of his +wish he added: "There has never yet been a Serghéi in the +Bagroff family." These instructions were carried out to +the letter. Sofya Nikolayevna spared no pains to provide +everything that a careful mother could think of for her +expected child; above all, an admirable foster-mother was +found at Kasimofka, one of the villages that had belonged +to her father. Márya Vassilyevna, a peasant woman, had +every qualification for her office that one could wish for; +and she was perfectly willing to undertake the duty, and +moved to Ufa in good time, bringing her own infant +with her.</p> +<p class="pnext">The crisis was now approaching. By this time Sofya +Nikolayevna was forbidden to walk. Catherine Chichagoff +was kept to her own house by ill-health, and no other +visitors were admitted. But Mme. Cheprunoff was constantly +with her cousin, never leaving her except to see her +own beloved little boy, Andrusha. Klauss came to breakfast +every morning, and again for tea, which he drank with +rum in it, in the evening; then he played cards with +husband and wife; and, as the stakes were too small to +buy cards with, the prudent German procured some used +packs which he brought with him. Reading sometimes +took the place of cards, and Klauss was present on these +occasions. Alexyéi Stepanitch, who had gained some +experience and skill in the art, was the regular reader; +and sometimes Klauss brought a German book and translated +it aloud, which gave pleasure to his hearers, especially +to Sofya Nikolayevna, who wished to get some knowledge, +if only a smattering, of German literature.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sofya Nikolayevna had experienced already the absorbing +and unlimited power of maternal affection, the strongest +of all our feelings, and she was filled with awe by her +present condition. She accepted it as a sacred duty to +maintain mental composure, and so to preserve the health +of her unborn infant and secure its existence, on which +depended all her hopes, all her future, and all her life. We +know Sofya Nikolayevna pretty well already; we know +how apt she was to be carried away; and therefore we shall +not be surprised to hear that she gave herself up wholly to +her feeling for the child she bore. Every hour of the day +and night was devoted to the task of taking care of herself +in all possible ways. Her mind and her thoughts were so +entirely concentrated upon this one object that she noticed +nothing else and was, apparently, quite satisfied with her +husband, though it is probable that things happened which +might have made her dissatisfied. The more Alexyéi +Stepanitch got to know his wife, the more she surprised +him. He was a man singularly unable to appreciate excessive +display of feeling, or to sympathise with it, from +whatever object it arose. Thus his wife's power of passionate +devotion frightened him; he dreaded it, just as he used to +dread his father's furious fits of anger. Excessive feeling +always produces an unpleasant impression upon quiet +unemotional people; they cannot recognise such a state +of mind to be natural, and regard it as a kind of morbid +condition which some persons are liable to at times. They +disbelieve in the permanence of a mental composure which +may break down at any moment; and they are afraid of +people with such a temperament. And fear is fatal to +love, even to a child's love for his parents. In general +I must say that, in point of mutual understanding and +sympathy, the relations between Alexyéi Stepanitch and +his wife, instead of becoming closer, as might have been +expected, grew less intimate. This may seem strange, +but it often happens thus in life.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just at this time Klauss was transferred to an official +post at Moscow. He had already taken leave of his colleagues +and all his acquaintance; and he waited on solely +with a view to Sofya Nikolayevna's confinement, hoping to +be of service to her in case of necessity. He calculated +that he might be able to get away on the 17th or 18th of +September, and hired horses for that date. Hiring was +necessary, because he intended to break his journey to +visit a German friend, who lived at some distance from +the post-road, so that the coach would not serve his purpose. +The 15th of September passed, but the expected +event did not take place. Sofya Nikolayevna felt better +and more enterprising than usual; and it was only the +pedantry of the doctor, she said, that kept her to the sofa. +When the 16th, 17th, and 18th had all gone by, the German, +in spite of his love for Sofya Nikolayevna, got very angry, +because he had to pay a <em class="italics">rouble</em> a day to the driver he had +hired—a terribly high price, according to the ideas of those +days; and the Bagroffs bantered him about this in a +friendly way. The reading and card-playing went on +every evening; and if the doctor won 60 <em class="italics">kopecks</em><a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id107" id="id106"><sup>53</sup></a> from +his hosts, he was much pleased, and said that his driver +would not cost him much <em class="italics">that</em> day. The 19th passed off +with no change. On the 20th, when Klauss came in the +morning, Sofya Nikolayevna stood at her bedroom door +and greeted him with a curtsey. He got very angry: +"Monster!" he said, "you are treating me abominably"; +but he kissed as usual the hand she held out to him. "It +is too bad, Alexyéi Stepanitch," he went on; "your wife +is ruining me. Her baby ought to have been born on the +15th, and here she is, dropping curtseys on the 20th!" +"Never mind, my dear fellow," said Alexyéi Stepanitch, +patting him on the shoulder; "you must rob us at cards +to-night. But the packs are nearly worn out." Klauss +promised to bring a new pack; he lunched there, and, +after sitting on till two o'clock, took his leave. He called +again at six in the evening, punctual to the minute. Finding +no one in the hall, or parlour, or drawing-room, he +tried to get into the bedroom, but the door was locked; +he knocked, and it was opened by Mme. Cheprunoff. The +doctor went in and stood dumb with astonishment. The +floor of the room was covered with rugs; green silk curtains +hung by the windows, and a fine silk canopy over the +double bed; a candle, shaded by a book, was burning in +a corner; and in the bed, resting on embroidered pillows +and wearing a dainty, easy morning wrapper, lay Sofya +Nikolayevna. Her face looked fresh, and her eyes were +radiant with happiness. "Congratulate me, my dear +friend!" she said in a strong, audible voice; "I am the +happy mother of a son!" The doctor, when he looked +at her face and heard her voice, took the whole thing to be +a mystification and a hoax. "Monster! don't try to play +tricks on so old a bird as I am!" he said. "Better get +up; I have brought a new pack of cards. It will be a +present for the baby," he added, coming up to the bed and +shoving the cards under a pillow. "My dear friend," +said Sofya Nikolayevna, "I swear to you I have got a son! +Look at him; there he is!" And there, resting on a large +down-pillow trimmed with lace, and wrapped in a pink +velvet coverlet, he really saw a newborn infant, a strong +boy; and Alyona Maksimovna, the midwife, was standing +near the bed.</p> +<p class="pnext">The doctor flew into a furious rage. He sprang back +from the bed as if he had burnt himself, and roared out, +"What! in my absence! after my staying on here for a +week and losing money every day, you did not send for +me!" His face turned from red to purple, his wig came +half off, and his whole stumpy figure looked so ridiculous +that the lady in the bed burst out laughing. Then the +midwife tried to soothe him: "<em class="italics">Batyushka</em>," she said, "we +had no time to think of anything at the moment; then, +when we had got things straight, we meant to send for +your Honour, but Sofya Nikolayevna said you would be +here at once." The worthy man soon recovered from his +vexation; tears of joy started to his eyes; he caught hold +of the infant in his practised hands and began to examine +it by the candle-light, turning it round and feeling it till +it squalled loudly. Then he thrust a finger into its mouth, +and, when the infant began to suck lustily, the doctor was +pleased and called out, "How fine and healthy he is, the +little Turk!" Sofya Nikolayevna was frightened when +she saw her priceless treasure so freely handed; and the +midwife tried to take it from him, fearing it would be +"overlooked." But Klauss was inexorable: he ran about +the room, holding the child, and called for a tub of warm +water with a sponge and some soap, and a binder. Then +he turned back his sleeves, tied on an apron, threw down +his wig, and began to wash the babe, talking to it like this: +"Ah, my little Turk, that stops your crying; you like the +feel of the warm water!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Alexyéi Stepanitch hurried into the room, almost +beside himself with joy. He had been dispatching a +special messenger to carry the good news to Stepan +Mihailovitch, and writing letters to his parents; and there +was a separate letter for his sister Aksinya, begging her to +come as soon as possible and stand godmother to his son. +Before the doctor had time to dry himself, the happy +father embraced him till he nearly choked him; he had +already exchanged greetings with every one in the house, +and many tears of joy had been shed. And Sofya Nikolayevna—but, +what <em class="italics">she</em> felt, I dare not try to express in +words: her bliss was such as few on earth ever feel and no +one can feel for long.</p> +<p class="pnext">The event produced extraordinary rejoicing within the +house, and even the neighbours shared in it. The intoxication +of joy was prolonged by liquor; and soon all the +servants were singing and dancing in the court. Some +who never drank at other times now took a drop too much; +and one of these was Yevséitch. They found it impossible +to control him: he was always begging to go to his mistress's +bedroom to see the little son. At last his wife, with +Parasha's help, tied him tightly to a heavy bench; and +even then he went on kicking out his legs, cracking his +fingers, and attempting to articulate the chorus of a song.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tired out by his exertions and by joyful excitement, +Klauss at last sat down in an armchair and much enjoyed +a cup of tea. He was somewhat too liberal with the rum +that evening, and felt a buzzing in his head after the third +cup. So he gave instructions that the baby was to have +no milk but only syrup of rhubarb till the morning, and +took leave of his happy host and hostess. He kissed the +baby's hand, promised to call early the next morning, and +went off to spend the night at his own house. As he +passed through the court, he saw the dancing, and the +sound of singing came from every window of the kitchen +and servants' quarter. He stood still; and, though he +was sorry to interfere with the good people's merriment, +yet he advised them to stop their singing and dancing, +because their mistress needed rest. To his surprise, they +all took his hint and lay down at once, intending to sleep. +As he passed out of the gate he muttered to himself: +"Well, he's a lucky child! How glad they all are to +have him!"</p> +<p class="pnext">And it is really true that this child was born under a +happy star. His mother, who had suffered constantly +before her former confinement, had perfect health before +his birth; his parents lived in peace together during those +halcyon days; a foster-mother was found for him who +proved to be more devoted than most real mothers; he +was the answer to prayers and the object of fond desires, +and the joy over his coming into the world spread far +beyond his parents. The very day of his birth, though +the season was autumn, was warm as summer.</p> +<p class="pnext">But what happened at Bagrovo, when the good news +came that God had given a son and heir to Alexyéi Stepanitch? +This is what happened at Bagrovo. From the +15th of September, Stepan Mihailovitch counted the days +and hours, and waited for the special messenger from Ufa. +The man had been told to gallop day and night with relays +of horses. This method of travelling was new, and Stepan +Mihailovitch disapproved of it as a foolish waste of money +and an unnecessary tax on the country people. He preferred +to use his own horses; but the importance and +solemnity of this occasion made him depart from his +regular practice. Fortune did not keep him in suspense +too long: on the 22nd of September, when he was sleeping +after dinner, the messenger arrived, bearing letters and +the good news. The old man woke from a sound sleep, +and had hardly had time to stretch himself and clear his +throat when Mazan rushed into the room and, stammering +with joyful excitement, got out the words, "A grandson, +<em class="italics">batyushka</em> Stepan Mihailovitch! Hearty congratulations!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The first movement of Stepan Mihailovitch was to +cross himself. Then he sprang out of bed, went barefoot +to his desk, snatched from it the family tree, took the pen +from the ink-bottle, drew a line from the circle containing +the name Alexyéi, traced a fresh circle at the end of the +line, and wrote in the centre of the circle, "<span class="small-caps">Serghéi</span>."</p> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<p class="pfirst">Farewell! my figures, bright or dark, my people, good +or bad—I should rather say, figures that have their bright +and dark sides, and people who have both virtues and +vices. You are not great heroes, not imposing personalities; +you trod your path on earth in silence and obscurity, +and it is long, very long, since you left it. But you were +men and women, and your inward and outward life was +not mere dull prose, but as interesting and instructive to +us as we and our life in turn will be interesting and instructive +to our descendants. You were actors in that mighty +drama which mankind has played on this earth since time +immemorial; you played your parts as conscientiously as +others, and you deserve as well to be remembered. By +the mighty power of the pen and of print, your descendants +have now been made acquainted with you.<a class="footnote-reference pginternal" href="#id109" id="id108"><sup>54</sup></a> They have +greeted you with sympathy and recognised you as brothers, +whenever and however you lived, and whatever clothes you +wore. May no harsh judgment and no flippant tongue +ever wrong your memory!</p> +<p class="center pnext">THE END.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 5em"> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">PRINTED BY</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">LONDON AND BECCLES</div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="footnotes left level-4 section smaller" id="id110"> +<h4 class="level-4 pfirst section-title title">Footnotes</h4> +<table class="docutils footnote-group" frame="void" rules="none" summary="fn"> +<colgroup><col class="label"/><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr class="footnote" id="id2"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id1">[1]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The name is pronounced Aksākoff, not Aksăkoff, and his birthplace +is called by Russians <em class="italics">Oo-fá</em>, not <em class="italics">Yéw-fa</em>.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id7"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id4">[2]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">"Father," a title of respect or affection.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id8"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id5">[3]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">100 <em class="italics">dessyatines</em> = 270 acres.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id9"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id6">[4]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A <em class="italics">rouble</em> is worth about 2<em class="italics">s.</em></p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id11"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id10">[5]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Bagroff is a pseudonym for Aksakoff.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id13"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id12">[6]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Bagrovo is a pseudonym for Aksakovo.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id15"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id14">[7]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The earliest Russian chronicles report that the Russian empire was +founded in the 8th century by certain foreign princes called <em class="italics">Varyags</em>. The +nationality of these princes has been a subject of endless controversy, some +historians maintaining that they were Norsemen, others denying it.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id18"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id16">[8]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A <em class="italics">verst</em> is two-thirds of a mile.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id19"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id17">[9]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Pronounce Dyáw-ma.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id21"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id20">[10]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">June 29.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id23"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id22">[11]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Aksakoff himself.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id25"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id24">[12]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Mare's milk, fermented.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id27"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id26">[13]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Na-sya-gai = "Pursuer."</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id29"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id28">[14]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics">I.e.</em> the author, who in childhood was called Seryozha (short for +Serghéi).</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id31"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id30">[15]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">This word from S. Africa seems best for an unroofed veranda, such +as this was.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id35"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id32">[16]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">An urn, with a central receptacle for hot charcoal. In this case, the +receptacle is inserted where the teapot lid should be.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id36"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id33">[17]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A diminutive form of Tatyana.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id37"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id34">[18]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The author's father, called throughout Alexyéi; his real name was +Timoféi (Timothy). So his mother, whose name was Márya (Mary) is +called Sofya (Sophia).</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id39"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id38">[19]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The inner bark of the lime-tree, used for many purposes in Russia.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id41"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id40">[20]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A drink made of malt and rye.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id43"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id42">[21]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The author's father.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id46"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id44">[22]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A nickname: "Little Chatterer," a diminutive of <em class="italics">boltún</em>.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id47"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id45">[23]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">She had got this nickname ("the town-woman") because she had +spent part of her youth in some town.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id50"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id48">[24]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">After harvest is the normal time for peasants' marriages.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id51"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id49">[25]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A <em class="italics">soldatka</em> is a woman whose husband is away serving in the Army.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id53"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id52">[26]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A famous general in the reign of Catherine II. and a great popular +hero.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id55"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id54">[27]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A short form of Praskovya, which itself represents the Greek name +Paraskeva.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id58"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id56">[28]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A diminutive form of Grigóri (Gregory).</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id59"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id57">[29]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">An <em class="italics">ikon</em> is a sacred image, kept in a church or hung on the wall of a +room.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id62"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id60">[30]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The asterisks apparently imply that the author is unwilling to report +some details of this orgy.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id63"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id61">[31]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics">I.e</em>. mother, a term of affection and respect.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id65"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id64">[32]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">From here to the end of the paragraph was removed by the censor +from the early editions of the work.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id69"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id66">[33]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Pugatchoff was a Cossack, who raised a formidable rebellion in East +Russia; taken prisoner by Suvóroff, he was executed at Moscow in 1775.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id70"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id67">[34]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The popular form of Xenia; the diminutive is Aksyutka.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id71"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id68">[35]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The author's father.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id73"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id72">[36]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">A pet name for Sofya (Sophia). This is the author's mother, whose +real name was Márya.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id75"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id74">[37]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Buchan's <em class="italics">Domestic Medicine</em> was published in 1769; the author died +in 1805.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id77"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id76">[38]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">In general, my grandfather had little belief in witchcraft. A wizard +once told him that a gun was charmed and would not go off. He took out +the shot secretly and fired at the wizard, who got a great fright. But he +recovered and said that my grandfather himself was "a man of power"; +and this was generally believed, except by Stepan Mihailovitch. (<em class="italics">Author's +note.</em>)</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id79"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id78">[39]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">I know the letter nearly by heart. It probably still exists among +the old papers of one of my brothers. Some expressions in it are clearly +borrowed from the novels which Alexyéi Stepanitch was fond of reading. +(<em class="italics">Author's note.</em>)</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id81"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id80">[40]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The sacred image is often held by the person giving the blessing.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id83"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id82">[41]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The Russianised form of an oriental name, Mirza Khan.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id85"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id84">[42]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Devout Russians kiss a priest's hand.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id87"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id86">[43]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics">I.e.</em> Stepanitch, son of Stephen, which should be used in public by +the wife.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id89"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id88">[44]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">The kaftan is a long cloth coat belted in at the waist.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id91"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id90">[45]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">In prayers of this kind, nothing is said aloud: the worshipper turns +towards the <em class="italics">ikons</em> on the wall and crosses himself.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id93"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id92">[46]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">See note to p. 67 (Transcriber: note 33).</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id95"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id94">[47]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics">I.e.</em> "instantly," though why the phrase means this I cannot discover. +In Russian fairy-tales, a witch regularly summons any one she +wants with the words, "Stand thou before me, like a leaf before the +grass!"</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id97"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id96">[48]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics">I.e.</em> the Author.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id100"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id98">[49]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Hill of Feasting.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id101"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id99">[50]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Hill of Meeting.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id103"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id102">[51]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Another version of the story tells that the mother led the pursuit. +(<em class="italics">Author's note</em>.)</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id105"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id104">[52]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">Klauss became lecturer on midwifery in the Foundling Hospital at +Moscow in 1791, and died in 1821 after the conscientious discharge of his +duties for thirty years. He never left off the yellow wig. He was an +enthusiastic and well-known numismatist. (<em class="italics">Author's note.</em>)</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id107"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id106">[53]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">1 <em class="italics">rouble</em> = 100 <em class="italics">kopecks</em>.</p> +</td></tr> +<tr class="footnote" id="id109"> +<td class="label"><a class="fn-backref pginternal" href="#id108">[54]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst">This work first appeared in parts in a Moscow magazine. When they +were collected in a book, this epilogue was added.</p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">By SERGE AKSAKOFF</em>.</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">YEARS OF CHILDHOOD</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">By SERGE AKSAKOFF.</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">Translated, for the first time, from the Russian by J. D. DUFF,</div> +<div class="line">Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d. net.</em></div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<p class="left pfirst">"We are grateful to Mr. Duff for translating for the first time into English +this remarkable book. 'Years of Childhood' becomes the more fascinating the +more one reads and thinks about it. Aksakoff read a new and ecstatic meaning +into things which are banal and tame to most men and women, and the eager eye +of his mind scanned deep into the lives and loves of the people round about +him."—<em class="italics">Morning Post.</em></p> +<p class="left pnext">"Serge Aksakoff holds a distinct and, one might say, delightful position in +Russian literature. He placed himself, almost without an effort, in the ranks of +the great masters of his nation by instinctively obeying the precept that men of +letters should look in their own hearts and write. One can hardly thank the +translator sufficiently for this first rendering of the book in any other language +than Russian."—<em class="italics">The Times.</em></p> +<p class="left pnext">"English readers may well be grateful to Mr. J. D. Duff for his translation of +a very unusual book. He promises us a translation of 'A Family History,' which +carries on the narrative of Aksakoff's life and gives some account of his family. +In the original the two make one book, and all who read this first instalment will +welcome the completion of it."—<em class="italics">Spectator.</em></p> +<p class="left pnext">"A book of rare charm."—<em class="italics">Observer.</em></p> +<p class="left pnext">"Mr. Duff, with this admirable rendering, has unearthed a treasure for the +English reader. Let us hope that the other portion of these memoirs will appear +without delay. For this is Russia herself—convincingly real and intimate." +—<em class="italics">English Review.</em></p> +<p class="left pnext">"Apart from its great artistic value, Aksakoff's work has the attractiveness +that belongs to all origins. What Mr. Maurice Baring once said, that the story +of Aksakoff's memoirs is as vivid and interesting as any novel, is quite true. +And it is not only true but remarkable; for reminiscences, especially of childhood, +do not usually have the sort of interest that a novel has, however vivid they may +be.... The fact is, Aksakoff succeeded in solving perhaps the hardest problem +in literature,—the problem of working a child's consciousness as a medium for all +it is worth. The book has, for us, this advantage over the other major works of +Russian literature, that it has found in Mr. Duff a translator who is not only a +scholar, but an artist skilful enough never to force the note for a moment." +—<em class="italics">New Statesman.</em></p> +<p class="left pnext">"A charming Russian book. At this time when so many translations from +the Russian are appearing, well advised and ill advised, it is good to be able to +put the hand on one superlatively good book. Here is a refreshment for tired +eyes and tired souls. It is put into beautiful English, and the book can be read +aloud with much profit and pleasure."—<em class="italics">Country Life.</em></p> +<p class="left pnext">"Of an extraordinary richness and novelty."—<em class="italics">Westminster Gazette.</em></p> +<p class="center medium pnext">LONDON: EDWARD ARNOLD</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A RUSSIAN GENTLEMAN***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 38781-h.txt or 38781-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/7/8/38781">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/7/8/38781</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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