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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5741.txt b/5741.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..26f85db --- /dev/null +++ b/5741.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3875 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Stories by Foreign Authors: Russian, by Various + +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 www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Stories by Foreign Authors: Russian + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: April 21, 2013 [EBook #5741] +Release Date: May, 2004 +First Posted: August 20, 2002 +Last Updated: June 1, 2005 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES BY FOREIGN AUTHORS: *** + + + + +Produced by Nicole Apostola, Juliet Sutherland, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +STORIES BY FOREIGN AUTHORS + +RUSSIAN + +MUMU.................BY IVAN TURGENEV + +THE SHOT.............BY ALEXANDER POUSHKIN + +ST. JOHN'S EVE.......BY NIKOLAI VASILIEVITCH GOGOL + +AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE..BY LYOF N. TOLSTOI + + +NEW YORK 1898 + + + + CONTENTS + + MUMU...................Ivan Turgenev + THE SHOT...............Alexander Poushkin + ST. JOHN'S EVE.........Nikolai Vasilievitch Gogol + AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE... Lyof N. Tolstoi + + + + +MUMU + +BY + +IVAN TURGENEV + +From "Torrents of Spring." Translated by Constance Garnett. + + +In one of the outlying streets of Moscow, in a gray house with white +columns and a balcony, warped all askew, there was once living a lady, +a widow, surrounded by a numerous household of serfs. Her sons were in +the government service at Petersburg; her daughters were married; she +went out very little, and in solitude lived through the last years of +her miserly and dreary old age. Her day, a joyless and gloomy day, had +long been over; but the evening of her life was blacker than night. + +Of all her servants, the most remarkable personage was the porter, +Gerasim, a man full twelve inches over the normal height, of heroic +build, and deaf and dumb from his birth. The lady, his owner, had +brought him up from the village where he lived alone in a little hut, +apart from his brothers, and was reckoned about the most punctual of +her peasants in the payment of the seignorial dues. Endowed with +extraordinary strength, he did the work of four men; work flew apace +under his hands, and it was a pleasant sight to see him when he was +ploughing, while, with his huge palms pressing hard upon the plough, he +seemed alone, unaided by his poor horse, to cleave the yielding bosom +of the earth, or when, about St. Peter's Day, he plied his scythe with +a furious energy that might have mown a young birch copse up by the +roots, or swiftly and untiringly wielded a flail over two yards long; +while the hard oblong muscles of his shoulders rose and fell like a +lever. His perpetual silence lent a solemn dignity to his unwearying +labor. He was a splendid peasant, and, except for his affliction, any +girl would have been glad to marry him. . . But now they had taken +Gerasim to Moscow, bought him boots, had him made a full-skirted coat +for summer, a sheepskin for winter, put into his hand a broom and a +spade, and appointed him porter. + +At first he intensely disliked his new mode of life. From his +childhood he had been used to field labor, to village life. Shut off +by his affliction from the society of men, he had grown up, dumb and +mighty, as a tree grows on a fruitful soil. When he was transported to +the town, he could not understand what was being done with him; he was +miserable and stupefied, with the stupefaction of some strong young +bull, taken straight from the meadow, where the rich grass stood up to +his belly, taken and put in the truck of a railway train, and there, +while smoke and sparks and gusts of steam puff out upon the sturdy +beast, he is whirled onwards, whirled along with loud roar and whistle, +whither--God knows! What Gerasim had to do in his new duties seemed a +mere trifle to him after his hard toil as a peasant; in half an hour +all his work was done, and he would once more stand stock-still in the +middle of the courtyard, staring open-mouthed at all the passers-by, as +though trying to wrest from them the explanation of his perplexing +position; or he would suddenly go off into some corner, and flinging a +long way off the broom or the spade, throw himself on his face on the +ground, and lie for hours together without stirring, like a caged +beast. But man gets used to anything, and Gerasim got used at last to +living in town. He had little work to do; his whole duty consisted in +keeping the courtyard clean, bringing in a barrel of water twice a day, +splitting and dragging in wood for the kitchen and the house, keeping +out strangers, and watching at night. And it must be said he did his +duty zealously. In his courtyard there was never a shaving lying +about, never a speck of dust; if sometimes, in the muddy season, the +wretched nag, put under his charge for fetching water, got stuck in the +road, he would simply give it a shove with his shoulder, and set not +only the cart but the horse itself moving. If he set to chopping wood, +the axe fairly rang like glass, and chips and chunks flew in all +directions. And as for strangers, after he had one night caught two +thieves and knocked their heads together--knocked them so that there +was not the slightest need to take them to the police-station +afterwards--every one in the neighborhood began to feel a great respect +for him; even those who came in the daytime, by no means robbers, but +simply unknown persons, at the sight of the terrible porter, waved and +shouted to him as though he could hear their shouts. With all the rest +of the servants, Gerasim was on terms hardly friendly--they were afraid +of him--but familiar; he regarded them as his fellows. They explained +themselves to him by signs, and he understood them, and exactly carried +out all orders, but knew his own rights too, and soon no one dared to +take his seat at the table. Gerasim was altogether of a strict and +serious temper, he liked order in everything; even the cocks did not +dare to fight in his presence, or woe betide them! Directly he caught +sight of them, he would seize them by the legs, swing them ten times +round in the air like a wheel, and throw them in different directions. +There were geese, too, kept in the yard; but the goose, as is well +known, is a dignified and reasonable bird: Gerasim felt a respect for +them, looked after them, and fed them; he was himself not unlike a +gander of the steppes. He was assigned a little garret over the +kitchen; he arranged it himself to his own liking, made a bedstead in +it of oak boards on four stumps of wood for legs--a truly Titanic +bedstead; one might have put a ton or two on it--it would not have bent +under the load; under the bed was a solid chest; in a corner stood a +little table of the same strong kind, and near the table a three-legged +stool, so solid and squat that Gerasim himself would sometimes pick it +up and drop it again with a smile of delight. The garret was locked up +by means of a padlock that looked like a kalatch or basket-shaped loaf, +only black; the key of this padlock Gerasim always carried about him in +his girdle. He did not like people to come to his garret. + +So passed a year, at the end of which a little incident befell Gerasim. + +The old lady, in whose service he lived as porter, adhered in +everything to the ancient ways, and kept a large number of servants. +In her house were not only laundresses, sempstresses, carpenters, +tailors and tailoresses, there was even a harness-maker--he was +reckoned as a veterinary surgeon, too,--and a doctor for the servants; +there was a household doctor for the mistress; there was, lastly, a +shoemaker, by name Kapiton Klimov, a sad drunkard. Klimov regarded +himself as an injured creature, whose merits were unappreciated, a +cultivated man from Petersburg, who ought not to be living in Moscow +without occupation--in the wilds, so to speak; and if he drank, as he +himself expressed it emphatically, with a blow on his chest, it was +sorrow drove him to it. So one day his mistress had a conversation +about him with her head steward, Gavrila, a man whom, judging solely +from his little yellow eyes and nose like a duck's beak, fate itself, +it seemed, had marked out as a person in authority. The lady expressed +her regret at the corruption of the morals of Kapiton, who had, only +the evening before, been picked up somewhere in the street. + +"Now, Gavrila," she observed, all of a sudden, "now, if we were to +marry him, what do you think, perhaps he would be steadier?" + +"Why not marry him, indeed, 'm? He could be married, 'm," answered +Gavrila, "and it would be a very good thing, to be sure, 'm." + +"Yes; only who is to marry him?" + +"Ay, 'm. But that's at your pleasure, 'm. He may, any way, so to say, +be wanted for something; he can't be turned adrift altogether." + +"I fancy he likes Tatiana." + +Gavrila was on the point of making some reply, but he shut his lips +tightly. + +"Yes! . . . let him marry Tatiana," the lady decided, taking a pinch of +snuff complacently, "Do you hear?" + +"Yes, 'm," Gavrila articulated, and he withdrew. + +Returning to his own room (it was in a little lodge, and was almost +filled up with metal-bound trunks), Gavrila first sent his wife away, +and then sat down at the window and pondered. His mistress's +unexpected arrangement had clearly put him in a difficulty. At last he +got up and sent to call Kapiton. Kapiton made his appearance. . . But +before reporting their conversation to the reader, we consider it not +out of place to relate in few words who was this Tatiana, whom it was +to be Kapiton's lot to marry, and why the great lady's order had +disturbed the steward. + +Tatiana, one of the laundresses referred to above (as a trained and +skilful laundress she was in charge of the fine linen only), was a +woman of twenty-eight, thin, fair-haired, with moles on her left cheek. +Moles on the left cheek are regarded as of evil omen in Russia--a token +of unhappy life. . . Tatiana could not boast of her good luck. From +her earliest youth she had been badly treated; she had done the work of +two, and had never known affection; she had been poorly clothed and had +received the smallest wages. Relations she had practically none; an +uncle she had once had, a butler, left behind in the country as +useless, and other uncles of hers were peasants--that was all. At one +time she had passed for a beauty, but her good looks were very soon +over. In disposition, she was very meek, or, rather, scared; towards +herself, she felt perfect indifference; of others, she stood in mortal +dread; she thought of nothing but how to get her work done in good +time, never talked to any one, and trembled at the very name of her +mistress, though the latter scarcely knew her by sight. When Gerasim +was brought from the country, she was ready to die with fear on seeing +his huge figure, tried all she could to avoid meeting him, even dropped +her eyelids when sometimes she chanced to run past him, hurrying from +the house to the laundry. Gerasim at first paid no special attention +to her, then he used to smile when she came his way, then he began even +to stare admiringly at her, and at last he never took his eyes off her. +She took his fancy, whether by the mild expression of her face or the +timidity of her movements, who can tell? So one day she was stealing +across the yard, with a starched dressing-jacket of her mistress's +carefully poised on her outspread fingers . . . some one suddenly +grasped her vigorously by the elbow; she turned round and fairly +screamed; behind her stood Gerasim. With a foolish smile, making +inarticulate caressing grunts, he held out to her a gingerbread cock +with gold tinsel on his tail and wings. She was about to refuse it, +but he thrust it forcibly into her hand, shook his head, walked away, +and turning round, once more grunted something very affectionately to +her. + +From that day forward he gave her no peace; wherever she went, he was +on the spot at once, coming to meet her, smiling, grunting, waving his +hands; all at once he would pull a ribbon out of the bosom of his smock +and put it in her hand, or would sweep the dust out of her way. The +poor girl simply did not know how to behave or what to do. Soon the +whole household knew of the dumb porter's wiles; jeers, jokes, sly +hints, were showered upon Tatiana. At Gerasim, however, it was not +every one who would dare to scoff; he did not like jokes; indeed, in +his presence, she, too, was left in peace. Whether she liked it or +not, the girl found herself to be under his protection. Like all +deaf-mutes, he was very suspicious, and very readily perceived when +they were laughing at him or at her. One day, at dinner, the +wardrobe-keeper, Tatiana's superior, fell to nagging, as it is called, +at her, and brought the poor thing to such a state that she did not +know where to look, and was almost crying with vexation. Gerasim got +up all of a sudden, stretched out his gigantic hand, laid it on the +wardrobe-maid's head, and looked into her face with such grim ferocity +that her head positively flopped upon the table. Every one was still. +Gerasim took up his spoon again and went on with his cabbage-soup. +"Look at him, the dumb devil, the wood-demon!" they all muttered in +undertones, while the wardrobe-maid got up and went out into the maid's +room. Another time, noticing that Kapiton--the same Kapiton who was +the subject of the conversation reported above--was gossiping somewhat +too attentively with Tatiana, Gerasim beckoned him to him, led him into +the cartshed, and taking up a shaft that was standing in a corner by +one end, lightly, but most significantly, menaced him with it. Since +then no one addressed a word to Tatiana. And all this cost him +nothing. It is true the wardrobe-maid, as soon as she reached the +maids' room, promptly fell into a fainting fit, and behaved altogether +so skilfully that Gerasim's rough action reached his mistress's +knowledge the same day. But the capricious old lady only laughed, and +several times, to the great offence of the wardrobe-maid, forced her to +repeat "how he bent your head down with his heavy hand," and next day +she sent Gerasim a rouble. She looked on him with favor as a strong +and faithful watchman. Gerasim stood in considerable awe of her, but, +all the same, he had hopes of her favor, and was preparing to go to her +with a petition for leave to marry Tatiana. He was only waiting for a +new coat, promised him by the steward, to present a proper appearance +before his mistress, when this same mistress suddenly took it into her +head to marry Tatiana to Kapiton. + +The reader will now readily understand the perturbation of mind that +overtook the steward Gavrila after his conversation with his mistress. +"My lady," he thought, as he sat at the window, "favors Gerasim, to be +sure"--(Gavrila was well aware of this, and that was why he himself +looked on him with an indulgent eye)--"still he is a speechless +creature. I could not, indeed, put it before the mistress that +Gerasim's courting Tatiana. But, after all, it's true enough; he's a +queer sort of husband. But on the other hand, that devil, God forgive +me, has only got to find out they're marrying Tatiana to Kapiton, he'll +smash up everything in the house, 'pon my soul! There's no reasoning +with him; why, he's such a devil, God forgive my sins, there's no +getting over him nohow . . . 'pon my soul!" + +Kapiton's entrance broke the thread of Gavrila's reflections. The +dissipated shoemaker came in, his hands behind him, and lounging +carelessly against a projecting angle of the wall, near the door, +crossed his right foot in front of his left, and tossed his head, as +much as to say, "What do you want?" + +Gavrila looked at Kapiton, and drummed with his fingers on the +window-frame. Kapiton merely screwed up his leaden eyes a little, but +he did not look down; he even grinned slightly, and passed his hand +over his whitish locks which were sticking up in all directions. +"Well, here I am. What is it?" + +"You're a pretty fellow," said Gavrila, and paused. "A pretty fellow +you are, there's no denying!" + +Kapiton only twitched his little shoulders. "Are you any better, +pray?" he thought to himself. + +"Just look at yourself, now, look at yourself," Gavrila went on +reproachfully; "now, whatever do you look like?" + +Kapiton serenely surveyed his shabby, tattered coat and his patched +trousers, and with special attention stared at his burst boots, +especially the one on the tiptoe of which his right foot so gracefully +poised, and he fixed his eyes again on the steward. + +"Well?" + +"Well?" repeated Gavrila. "Well? And then you say well? You look +like Old Nick himself, God forgive my saying so, that's what you look +like." + +Kapiton blinked rapidly. + +"Go on abusing me, go on, if you like, Gavrila Andreitch," he thought +to himself again. + +"Here you've been drunk again," Gavrila began, "drunk again, haven't +you? Eh? Come, answer me!" + +"Owing to the weakness of my health, I have exposed myself to +spirituous beverages, certainly," replied Kapiton. + +"Owing to the weakness of your health! . . . They let you off too easy, +that's what it is; and you've been apprenticed in Petersburg. . . Much +you learned in your apprenticeship! You simply eat your bread in +idleness." + +"In that matter, Gavrila Andreitch, there is One to judge me, the Lord +God Himself, and no one else. He also knows what manner of man I be in +this world, and whether I eat my bread in idleness. And as concerning +your contention regarding drunkenness, in that matter, too, I am not to +blame, but rather a friend; he led me into temptation, but was +diplomatic and got away, while I . . ." + +"While you were left like a goose, in the street. Ah, you're a +dissolute fellow! But that's not the point," the steward went on, +"I've something to tell you. Our lady . . ." here he paused a minute, +"it's our lady's pleasure that you should be married. Do you hear? +She imagines you may be steadier when you're married. Do you +understand?" + +"To be sure I do." + +"Well, then. For my part I think it would be better to give you a good +hiding. But there--it's her business. Well? are you agreeable?" + +Kapiton grinned. + +"Matrimony is an excellent thing for any one, Gavrila Andreitch; and, +as far as I am concerned, I shall be quite agreeable." + +"Very well, then," replied Gavrila, while he reflected to himself: +"There's no denying the man expresses himself very properly. Only +there's one thing," he pursued aloud: "the wife our lady's picked out +for you is an unlucky choice." + +"Why, who is she, permit me to inquire?" + +"Tatiana." + +"Tatiana?" + +And Kapiton opened his eyes, and moved a little away from the wall. + +"Well, what are you in such a taking for? . . . Isn't she to your +taste, hey?" + +"Not to my taste, do you say, Gavrila Andreitch? She's right enough, a +hard-working steady girl. . . But you know very well yourself, Gavrila +Andreitch, why that fellow, that wild man of the woods, that monster of +the steppes, he's after her, you know. . ." + +"I know, mate, I know all about it," the butler cut him short in a tone +of annoyance: "but there, you see . . ." + +"But upon my soul, Gavrila Andreitch! why, he'll kill me, by God, he +will, he'll crush me like some fly; why, he's got a fist--why, you +kindly look yourself what a fist he's got; why, he's simply got a fist +like Minin Pozharsky's. You see he's deaf, he beats and does not hear +how he's beating! He swings his great fists, as if he's asleep. And +there's no possibility of pacifying him; and for why? Why, because, as +you know yourself, Gavrila Andreitch, he's deaf, and what's more, has +no more wit than the heel of my foot. Why, he's a sort of beast, a +heathen idol, Gavrila Andreitch, and worse . . . a block of wood; what +have I done that I should have to suffer from him now? Sure it is, +it's all over me now; I've knocked about, I've had enough to put up +with, I've been battered like an earthenware pot, but still I'm a man, +after all, and not a worthless pot." + +"I know, I know, don't go talking away. . ." + +"Lord, my God!" the shoemaker continued warmly, "when is the end? when, +O Lord! A poor wretch I am, a poor wretch whose sufferings are +endless! What a life, what a life mine's been come to think of it! In +my young days, I was beaten by a German I was 'prentice to; in the +prime of life beaten by my own countrymen, and last of all, in ripe +years, see what I have been brought to. . ." + +"Ugh, you flabby soul!" said Gavrila Andreitch. "Why do you make so +many words about it?" + +"Why, do you say, Gavrila Andreitch? It's not a beating I'm afraid of, +Gavrila Andreitch. A gentleman may chastise me in private, but give me +a civil word before folks, and I'm a man still; but see now, whom I've +to do with . . ." + +"Come, get along," Gavrila interposed impatiently. Kapiton turned away +and staggered off. + +"But, if it were not for him," the steward shouted after him, "you +would consent for your part?" + +"I signify my acquiescence," retorted Kapiton as he disappeared. + +His fine language did not desert him, even in the most trying positions. + +The steward walked several times up and down the room. + +"Well, call Tatiana now," he said at last. + +A few instants later, Tatiana had come up almost noiselessly, and was +standing in the doorway. + +"What are your orders, Gavrila Andreitch?" she said in a soft voice. + +The steward looked at her intently. + +"Well, Taniusha," he said, "would you like to be married? Our lady has +chosen a husband for you?" + +"Yes, Gavrila Andreitch. And whom has she deigned to name as a husband +for me?" she added falteringly. + +"Kapiton, the shoemaker." + +"Yes, sir." + +"He's a feather-brained fellow, that's certain. But it's just for that +the mistress reckons upon you." + +"Yes, sir." + +"There's one difficulty . . . you know the deaf man, Gerasim, he's +courting you, you see. How did you come to bewitch such a bear? But +you see, he'll kill you, very like, he's such a bear . . ." + +"He'll kill me, Gavrila Andreitch, he'll kill me, and no mistake." + +"Kill you . . . Well we shall see about that. What do you mean by +saying he'll kill you? Has he any right to kill you? tell me yourself." + +"I don't know, Gavrila Andreitch, about his having any right or not." + +"What a woman! why, you've made him no promise, I suppose . . ." + +"What are you pleased to ask of me?" + +The steward was silent for a little, thinking, "You're a meek soul! +Well, that's right," he said aloud; "we'll have another talk with you +later, now you can go, Taniusha; I see you're not unruly, certainly." + +Tatiana turned, steadied herself a little against the doorpost, and +went away. + +"And, perhaps, our lady will forget all about this wedding by +to-morrow," thought the steward; "and here am I worrying myself for +nothing! As for that insolent fellow, we must tie him down if it comes +to that, we must let the police know . . . Ustinya Fyedorovna!" he +shouted in a loud voice to his wife, "heat the samovar, my good soul . +. ." All that day Tatiana hardly went out of the laundry. At first +she had started crying, then she wiped away her tears, and set to work +as before. Kapiton stayed till late at night at the gin-shop with a +friend of his, a man of gloomy appearance, to whom he related in detail +how he used to live in Petersburg with a gentleman, who would have been +all right, except he was a bit too strict, and he had a slight weakness +besides, he was too fond of drink; and, as to the fair sex, he didn't +stick at anything. His gloomy companion merely said yes; but when +Kapiton announced at last that, in a certain event, he would have to +lay hands on himself to-morrow, his gloomy companion remarked that it +was bedtime. And they parted in surly silence. + +Meanwhile, the steward's anticipations were not fulfilled. The old +lady was so much taken up with the idea of Kapiton's wedding, that even +in the night she talked of nothing else to one of her companions, who +was kept in her house solely to entertain her in case of sleeplessness, +and, like a night cabman, slept in the day. When Gavrila came to her +after morning tea with his report, her first question was: "And how +about our wedding--is it getting on all right?" He replied, of course, +that it was getting on first-rate, and that Kapiton would appear before +her to pay his reverence to her that day. The old lady was not quite +well; she did not give much time to business. The steward went back to +his own room, and called a council. The matter certainly called for +serious consideration. Tatiana would make no difficulty, of course; +but Kapiton had declared in the hearing of all that he had but one head +to lose, not two or three. . . Gerasim turned rapid sullen looks on +every one, would not budge from the steps of the maids' quarters, and +seemed to guess that some mischief was being hatched against him. They +met together. Among them was an old sideboard waiter, nicknamed Uncle +Tail, to whom every one looked respectfully for counsel, though all +they got out of him was, "Here's a pretty pass! to be sure, to be sure, +to be sure!" As a preliminary measure of security, to provide against +contingencies, they locked Kapiton up in the lumber-room where the +filter was kept; then considered the question with the gravest +deliberation. It would, to be sure, be easy to have recourse to force. +But Heaven save us! There would be an uproar, the mistress would be +put out--it would be awful! What should they do? They thought and +thought, and at last thought out a solution. It had many a time been +observed that Gerasim could not bear drunkards. . . . As he sat at the +gates, he would always turn away with disgust when some one passed by +intoxicated, with unsteady steps and his cap on one side of his ear. +They resolved that Tatiana should be instructed to pretend to be tipsy, +and should pass by Gerasim staggering and reeling about. The poor girl +refused for a long while to agree to this, but they persuaded her at +last; she saw, too, that it was the only possible way of getting rid of +her adorer. She went out. Kapiton was released from the lumber-room; +for, after all, he had an interest in the affair. Gerasim was sitting +on the curbstone at the gates, scraping the ground with a spade. . . . +From behind every corner, from behind every window-blind, the others +were watching him. . . . The trick succeeded beyond all expectations. +On seeing Tatiana, at first, he nodded as usual, making caressing, +inarticulate sounds; then he looked carefully at her, dropped his +spade, jumped up, went up to her, brought his face close to her face. . +. . In her fright she staggered more than ever, and shut her eyes. . . +. He took her by the arm, whirled her right across the yard, and going +into the room where the council had been sitting, pushed her straight +at Kapiton. Tatiana fairly swooned away. . . . Gerasim stood, looked +at her, waved his hand, laughed, and went off, stepping heavily, to his +garret. . . . For the next twenty-four hours he did not come out of +it. The postilion Antipka said afterwards that he saw Gerasim through +a crack in the wall, sitting on his bedstead, his face in his hand. +From time to time he uttered soft regular sounds; he was wailing a +dirge, that is, swaying backwards and forwards with his eyes shut, and +shaking his head as drivers or bargemen do when they chant their +melancholy songs. Antipka could not bear it, and he came away from the +crack. When Gerasim came out of the garret next day, no particular +change could be observed in him. He only seemed, as it were, more +morose, and took not the slightest notice of Tatiana or Kapiton. The +same evening, they both had to appear before their mistress with geese +under their arms, and in a week's time they were married. Even on the +day of the wedding Gerasim showed no change of any sort in his +behavior. Only, he came back from the river without water, he had +somehow broken the barrel on the road; and at night, in the stable, he +washed and rubbed down his horse so vigorously, it swayed like a blade +of grass in the wind, and staggered from one leg to the other under his +fists of iron. + +All this had taken place in the spring. Another year passed by, during +which Kapiton became a hopeless drunkard, and as being absolutely of no +use for anything, was sent away with the store wagons to a distant +village with his wife. On the day of his departure, he put a very good +face on it at first, and declared that he would always be at home, send +him where they would, even to the other end of the world; but later on +he lost heart, began grumbling that he was being taken to uneducated +people, and collapsed so completely at last that he could not even put +his own hat on. Some charitable soul stuck it on his forehead, set the +peak straight in front, and thrust it on with a slap from above. When +everything was quite ready, and the peasants already held the reins in +their hands, and were only waiting for the words "With God's blessing!" +to start, Gerasim came out of his garret, went up to Tatiana, and gave +her as a parting present a red cotton handkerchief he had bought for +her a year ago. Tatiana, who had up to that instant borne all the +revolting details of her life with great indifference, could not +control herself upon that; she burst into tears, and as she took her +seat in the cart, she kissed Gerasim three times like a good Christian. +He meant to accompany her as far as the town-barrier, and did walk +beside her cart for a while, but he stopped suddenly at the Crimean +ford, waved his hand, and walked away along the riverside. + +It was getting towards evening. He walked slowly, watching the water. +All of a sudden he fancied something was floundering in the mud close +to the bank. He stooped over, and saw a little white-and-black puppy, +who, in spite of all its efforts, could not get out of the water; it +was struggling, slipping back, and trembling all over its thin wet +little body. Gerasim looked at the unlucky little dog, picked it up +with one hand, put it into the bosom of his coat, and hurried with long +steps homewards. He went into his garret, put the rescued puppy on his +bed, covered it with his thick overcoat, ran first to the stable for +straw, and then to the kitchen for a cup of milk. Carefully folding +back the overcoat, and spreading out the straw, he set the milk on the +bedstead. The poor little puppy was not more than three weeks old, its +eyes were just open--one eye still seemed rather larger than the other; +it did not know how to lap out of a cup, and did nothing but shiver and +blink. Gerasim took hold of its head softly with two fingers, and +dipped its little nose into the milk. The pup suddenly began lapping +greedily, sniffing, shaking itself, and choking. Gerasim watched and +watched it, and all at once he laughed outright. . . . All night long +he was waiting on it, keeping it covered, and rubbing it dry. He fell +asleep himself at last, and slept quietly and happily by its side. + +No mother could have looked after her baby as Gerasim looked after his +little nursling. At first she--for the pup turned out to be a +bitch--was very weak, feeble, and ugly, but by degrees she grew +stronger and improved in looks, and, thanks to the unflagging care of +her preserver, in eight months' time she was transformed into a very +pretty dog of the spaniel breed, with long ears, a bushy spiral tail, +and large, expressive eyes. She was devotedly attached to Gerasim, and +was never a yard from his side; she always followed him about wagging +her tail. He had even given her a name--the dumb know that their +inarticulate noises call the attention of others. He called her Mumu. +All the servants in the house liked her, and called her Mumu, too. She +was very intelligent, she was friendly with every one, but was only +fond of Gerasim. Gerasim, on his side, loved her passionately, and he +did not like it when other people stroked her; whether he was afraid +for her, or jealous--God knows! She used to wake him in the morning, +pulling at his coat; she used to take the reins in her mouth, and bring +him up the old horse that carried the water, with whom she was on very +friendly terms. With a face of great importance, she used to go with +him to the river; she used to watch his brooms and spades, and never +allowed any one to go into his garret. He cut a little hole in his +door on purpose for her, and she seemed to feel that only in Gerasim's +garret she was completely mistress and at home; and directly she went +in, she used to jump with a satisfied air upon the bed. At night she +did not sleep at all, but she never barked without sufficient cause, +like some stupid house-dog, who, sitting on its hind-legs, blinking, +with its nose in the air, barks simply from dullness, at the stars, +usually three times in succession. No! Mumu's delicate little voice +was never raised without good reason; either some stranger was passing +close to the fence, or there was some suspicious sound or rustle +somewhere. . . . In fact, she was an excellent watch-dog. It is true +that there was another dog in the yard, a tawny old dog with brown +spots, called Wolf, but he was never, even at night, let off the chain; +and, indeed, he was so decrepit that he did not even wish for freedom. +He used to lie curled up in his kennel, and only rarely uttered a +sleepy, almost noiseless bark, which broke off at once, as though he +were himself aware of its uselessness. Mumu never went into the +mistress's house; and when Gerasim carried wood into the rooms, she +always stayed behind, impatiently waiting for him at the steps, +pricking up her ears and turning her head to right and to left at the +slightest creak of the door . . . + +So passed another year. Gerasim went on performing his duties as +house-porter, and was very well content with his lot, when suddenly an +unexpected incident occurred. . . . One fine summer day the old lady +was walking up and down the drawing-room with her dependants. She was +in high spirits; she laughed and made jokes. Her servile companions +laughed and joked too, but they did not feel particularly mirthful; the +household did not much like it, when their mistress was in a lively +mood, for, to begin with, she expected from every one prompt and +complete participation in her merriment, and was furious if any one +showed a face that did not beam with delight; and secondly, these +outbursts never lasted long with her, and were usually followed by a +sour and gloomy mood. That day she had got up in a lucky hour; at +cards she took the four knaves, which means the fulfilment of one's +wishes (she used to try her fortune on the cards every morning), and +her tea struck her as particularly delicious, for which her maid was +rewarded by words of praise, and by twopence in money. With a sweet +smile on her wrinkled lips, the lady walked about the drawing-room and +went up to the window. A flower-garden had been laid out before the +window, and in the very middle bed, under a rosebush, lay Mumu busily +gnawing a bone. The lady caught sight of her. + +"Mercy on us!" she cried suddenly; "what dog is that?" + +The companion, addressed by the old lady, hesitated, poor thing, in +that wretched state of uneasiness which is common in any person in a +dependent position who doesn't know very well what significance to give +to the exclamation of a superior. + +"I d . . . d . . . don't know," she faltered; "I fancy it's the dumb +man's dog." + +"Mercy!" the lady cut her short; "but it's a charming little dog! order +it to be brought in. Has he had it long? How is it I've never seen it +before? . . . Order it to be brought in." + +The companion flew at once into the hall. + +"Boy, boy!" she shouted; "bring Mumu in at once! She's in the +flower-garden." + +"Her name's Mumu then," observed the lady; "a very nice name." + +"Oh, very, indeed!" chimed in the companion. "Make haste, Stepan!" + +Stepan, a sturdy-built young fellow, whose duties were those of a +footman, rushed headlong into the flower-garden, and tried to capture +Mumu, but she cleverly slipped from his fingers, and with her tail in +the air, fled full speed to Gerasim, who was at that instant in the +kitchen, knocking out and cleaning a barrel, turning it upside down in +his hands like a child's drum. Stepan ran after her, and tried to +catch her just at her master's feet; but the sensible dog would not let +a stranger touch her, and with a bound, she got away. Gerasim looked +on with a smile at all this ado; at last, Stepan got up, much amazed, +and hurriedly explained to him by signs that the mistress wanted the +dog brought in to her. Gerasim was a little astonished; he called +Mumu, however, picked her up, and handed her over to Stepan. Stepan +carried her into the drawing-room, and put her down on the parquette +floor. The old lady began calling the dog to her in a coaxing voice. +Mumu, who had never in her life been in such magnificent apartments, +was very much frightened, and made a rush for the door, but, being +driven back by the obsequious Stepan, she began trembling, and huddled +close up against the wall. + +"Mumu, Mumu, come to me, come to your mistress," said the lady; "come, +silly thing . . . don't be afraid." + +"Come, Mumu, come to the mistress," repeated the companions. "Come +along!" + +But Mumu looked round her uneasily, and did not stir. + +"Bring her something to eat," said the old lady. "How stupid she is! +she won't come to her mistress. What's she afraid of?" + +"She's not used to your honor yet," ventured one of the companions in a +timid and conciliatory voice. + +Stepan brought in a saucer of milk, and set it down before Mumu, but +Mumu would not even sniff at the milk, and still shivered, and looked +round as before. + +"Ah, what a silly you are!" said the lady, and going up to her, she +stooped down, and was about to stroke her, but Mumu turned her head +abruptly, and showed her teeth. The lady hurriedly drew back her hand. +. . . + +A momentary silence followed. Mumu gave a faint whine, as though she +would complain and apologize. . . . The old lady moved back, scowling. +The dog's sudden movement had frightened her. + +"Ah!" shrieked all the companions at once, "she's not bitten you, has +she? Heaven forbid! (Mumu had never bitten any one in her life.) Ah! +ah!" + +"Take her away," said the old lady in a changed voice. "Wretched +little dog! What a spiteful creature!" + +And, turning round deliberately, she went towards her boudoir. Her +companions looked timidly at one another, and were about to follow her, +but she stopped, stared coldly at them, and said, "What's that for, +pray? I've not called you," and went out. + +The companions waved their hands to Stepan in despair. He picked up +Mumu, and flung her promptly outside the door, just at Gerasim's feet, +and half an hour later a profound stillness led in the house, and the +old lady sat on her sofa looking blacker than a thundercloud. + +What trifles, if you think of it, will sometimes disturb any one! + +Till evening the lady was out of humor; she did not talk to any one, +did not play cards, and passed a bad night. She fancied the +eau-de-Cologne they gave her was not the same as she usually had, and +that her pillow smelt of soap, and she made the wardrobe-maid smell all +the bed linen--in fact she was very upset and cross altogether. Next +morning she ordered Gavrila to be summoned an hour earlier than usual. + +"Tell me, please," she began, directly the latter, not without some +inward trepidation, crossed the threshold of her boudoir, "what dog was +that barking all night in our yard? It wouldn't let me sleep!" + +"A dog, 'm . . . what dog, 'm . . . may be, the dumb man's dog, 'm," he +brought out in a rather unsteady voice. + +"I don't know whether it was the dumb man's or whose, but it wouldn't +let me sleep. And I wonder what we have such a lot of dogs for! I +wish to know. We have a yard dog, haven't we?" + +"Oh yes, 'm, we have, 'm. Wolf, 'm." + +"Well, why more? what do we want more dogs for? It's simply +introducing disorder. There's no one in control in the house--that's +what it is. And what does the dumb man want with a dog? Who gave him +leave to keep dogs in my yard? Yesterday I went to the window, and +there it was lying in the flower-garden; it had dragged in nastiness it +was gnawing, and my roses are planted there . . ." + +The lady ceased. + +"Let her be gone from to-day . . . do you hear?" + +"Yes, 'm." + +"To-day. Now go. I will send for you later for the report." + +Gavrila went away. + +As he went through the drawing-room, the steward, by way of maintaining +order, moved a bell from one table to another; he stealthily blew his +duck-like nose in the hall, and went into the outer-hall. In the +outer-hall, on a locker, was Stepan asleep in the attitude of a slain +warrior in a battalion picture, his bare legs thrust out below the coat +which served him for a blanket. The steward gave him a shove, and +whispered some instructions to him, to which Stepan responded with +something between a yawn and a laugh. The steward went away, and +Stepan got up, put on his coat and his boots, went out and stood on the +steps. Five minutes had not passed before Gerasim made his appearance +with a huge bundle of hewn logs on his back, accompanied by the +inseparable Mumu. (The lady had given orders that her bedroom and +boudoir should be heated at times even in the summer.) Gerasim turned +sideways before the door, shoved it open with his shoulder, and +staggered into the house with his load. Mumu, as usual, stayed behind +to wait for him. Then Stepan, seizing his chance, suddenly pounced on +her, like a kite on a chicken, held her down to the ground, gathered +her up in his arms, and without even putting on his cap, ran out of the +yard with her, got into the first fly he met, and galloped off to a +market-place. There he soon found a purchaser, to whom he sold her for +a shilling, on condition that he would keep her for at least a week +tied up; then he returned at once. But before he got home, he got off +the fly, and going right round the yard, jumped over the fence into the +yard from a back street. He was afraid to go in at the gate for fear +of meeting Gerasim. + +His anxiety was unnecessary, however; Gerasim was no longer in the +yard. On coming out of the house he had at once missed Mumu. He never +remembered her failing to wait for his return, and began running up and +down, looking for her, and calling her in his own way. . . . He rushed +up to his garret, up to the hay-loft, ran out into the street, this way +and that. . . . She was lost! He turned to the other serfs, with the +most despairing signs, questioned them about her, pointing to her +height from the ground, describing her with his hands. . . . Some of +them really did not know what had become of Mumu, and merely shook +their heads; others did know, and smiled to him for all response; while +the steward assumed an important air, and began scolding the coachmen. +Then Gerasim ran right away out of the yard. + +It was dark by the time he came back. From his worn-out look, his +unsteady walk, and his dusty clothes, it might be surmised that he had +been running over half Moscow. He stood still opposite the windows of +the mistress's house, took a searching look at the steps where a group +of house-serfs were crowded together, turned away, and uttered once +more his inarticulate "Mumu." Mumu did not answer. He went away. +Every one looked after him, but no one smiled or said a word, and the +inquisitive postilion Antipka reported next morning in the kitchen that +the dumb man had been groaning all night. + +All the next day Gerasim did not show himself, so that they were +obliged to send the coachman Potap for water instead of him, at which +the coachman Potap was anything but pleased. The lady asked Gavrila if +her orders had been carried out. Gavrila replied that they had. The +next morning Gerasim came out of his garret, and went about his work. +He came in to his dinner, ate it, and went out again, without a +greeting to any one. His face, which had always been lifeless, as with +all deaf-mutes, seemed now to be turned to stone. After dinner he went +out of the yard again, but not for long; he came back, and went +straight up to the hay-loft. Night came on, a clear moonlight night. +Gerasim lay breathing heavily, and incessantly turning from side to +side. Suddenly he felt something pull at the skirt of his coat. He +started, but did not raise his head, and even shut his eyes tighter. +But again there was a pull, stronger than before; he jumped up before +him, with an end of string round her neck, was Mumu, twisting and +turning. A prolonged cry of delight broke from his speechless breast; +he caught up Mumu, and hugged her tight in his arms, she licked his +nose and eyes, and beard and moustache, all in one instant. . . . He +stood a little, thought a minute, crept cautiously down from the +hay-loft, looked round, and having satisfied himself that no one could +see him, made his way successfully to his garret. Gerasim had guessed +before that his dog had not got lost by her own doing, that she must +have been taken away by the mistress's orders; the servants had +explained to him by signs that his Mumu had snapped at her, and he +determined to take his own measures. First he fed Mumu with a bit of +bread, fondled her, and put her to bed, then he fell to meditating, and +spent the whole night long in meditating how he could best conceal her. +At last he decided to leave her all day in the garret, and only to come +in now and then to see her, and to take her out at night. The hole in +the door he stopped up effectually with his old overcoat, and almost +before it was light he was already in the yard, as though nothing had +happened, even--innocent guile!--the same expression of melancholy on +his face. It did not even occur to the poor deaf man that Mumu would +betray herself by her whining; in reality, everyone in the house was +soon aware that the dumb man's dog had come back, and was locked up in +his garret, but from sympathy with him and with her, and partly, +perhaps, from dread of him, they did not let him know that they had +found out his secret. The steward scratched his head, and gave a +despairing wave of his head, as much as to say, "Well, well, God have +mercy on him! If only it doesn't come to the mistress's ears!" + +But the dumb man had never shown such energy as on that day; he cleaned +and scraped the whole courtyard, pulled up every single weed with his +own hand, tugged up every stake in the fence of the flower-garden, to +satisfy himself that they were strong enough, and unaided drove them in +again; in fact, he toiled and labored so that even the old lady noticed +his zeal. Twice in the course of the day Gerasim went stealthily in to +see his prisoner; when night came on, he lay down to sleep with her in +the garret, not in the hay-loft, and only at two o'clock in the night +he went out to take her a turn in the fresh air. + +After walking about the courtyard a good while with her, he was just +turning back, when suddenly a rustle was heard behind the fence on the +side of the back street. Mumu pricked up her ears, growled--went up to +the fence, sniffed, and gave vent to a loud shrill bark. Some drunkard +had thought fit to take refuge under the fence for the night. At that +very time the old lady had just fallen asleep after a prolonged fit of +"nervous agitation"; these fits of agitation always overtook her after +too hearty a supper. The sudden bark waked her up: her heart +palpitated, and she felt faint. "Girls, girls!" she moaned. "Girls!" +The terrified maids ran into her bedroom. "Oh, oh, I am dying!" she +said, flinging her arms about in her agitation. "Again, that dog, +again! . . . Oh, send for the doctor. They mean to be the death of +me. . . . The dog, the dog again! Oh!" And she let her head fall +back, which always signified a swoon. They rushed for the doctor, that +is, for the household physician, Hariton. This doctor, whose whole +qualification consisted in wearing soft-soled boots, knew how to feel +the pulse delicately. He used to sleep fourteen hours out of the +twenty-four, but the rest of the time he was always sighing, and +continually dosing the old lady with cherrybay drops. This doctor ran +up at once, fumigated the room with burnt feathers, and when the old +lady opened her eyes, promptly offered her a wineglass of the hallowed +drops on a silver tray. The old lady took them, but began again at +once in a tearful voice complaining of the dog, of Gavrila, and of her +fate, declaring that she was a poor old woman, and that every one had +forsaken her, no one pitied her, every one wished her dead. Meanwhile +the luckless Mumu had gone on barking, while Gerasim tried in vain to +call her away, from the fence. "There . . . there . . . again," +groaned the old lady, and once more she turned up the whites of her +eyes. The doctor whispered to a maid, she rushed into the outer hall, +and shook Stepan, he ran to wake Gavrila, Gavrila in a fury ordered the +whole household to get up. + +Gerasim turned round, saw lights and shadows moving in the windows, and +with an instinct of coming trouble in his heart, put Mumu under his +arm, ran into his garret, and locked himself in. A few minutes later +five men were banging at his door, but feeling the resistance of the +bolt, they stopped. Gavrila ran up in a fearful state of mind, and +ordered them all to wait there and watch till morning. Then he flew +off himself to the maids' quarter, and through an old companion, Liubov +Liubimovna, with whose assistance he used to steal tea, sugar, and +other groceries and to falsify the accounts, sent word to the mistress +that the dog had unhappily run back from somewhere, but that to-morrow +she should be killed, and would the mistress be so gracious as not to +be angry and to overlook it. The old lady would probably not have been +so soon appeased, but the doctor had in his haste given her fully forty +drops instead of twelve. The strong dose of narcotic acted; in a +quarter of an hour the old lady was in a sound and peaceful sleep; +while Gerasim was lying with a white face on his bed, holding Mumu's +mouth tightly shut. + +Next morning the lady woke up rather late. Gavrila was waiting till +she should be awake, to give the order for a final assault on Gerasim's +stronghold, while he prepared himself to face a fearful storm. But the +storm did not come off. The old lady lay in bed and sent for the +eldest of her dependent companions. + +"Liubov Liubimovna," she began in a subdued weak voice--she was fond of +playing the part of an oppressed and forsaken victim; needless to say, +every one in the house was made extremely uncomfortable at such +times--"Liubov Liubimovna, you see my position; go, my love, to Gavrila +Andreitch, and talk to him a little. Can he really prize some wretched +cur above the repose--the very life--of his mistress? I could not bear +to think so," she added, with an expression of deep feeling. "Go, my +love; be so good as to go to Gavrila Andreitch for me." + +Liubov Liubimovna went to Gavrila's room. What conversation passed +between them is not known, but a short time after, a whole crowd of +people was moving across the yard in the direction of Gerasim's garret. +Gavrila walked in front, holding his cap on with his hand, though there +was no wind. The footmen and cooks were close behind him; Uncle Tail +was looking out of a window, giving instructions, that is to say, +simply waving his hands. At the rear there was a crowd of small boys +skipping and hopping along; half of them were outsiders who had run up. +On the narrow staircase leading to the garret sat one guard; at the +door were standing two more with sticks. They began to mount the +stairs, which they entirely blocked up. Gavrila went up to the door, +knocked with his fist, shouting, "Open the door!" + +A stifled bark was audible, but there was no answer. + +"Open the door, I tell you," he repeated. + +"But, Gavrila Andreitch," Stepan observed from below, "he's deaf, you +know--he doesn't hear." + +They all laughed. + +"What are we to do?" Gavrila rejoined from above. + +"Why, there's a hole there in the door," answered Stepan, "so you shake +the stick in there." + +Gavrila bent down. + +"He's stuffed it up with a coat or something." + +"Well, you just push the coat in." + +At this moment a smothered bark was heard again. + +"See, see--she speaks for herself," was remarked in the crowd, and +again they laughed. + +Gavrila scratched his ear. + +"No, mate," he responded at last, "you can poke the coat in yourself, +if you like." + +"All right, let me." + +And Stepan scrambled up, took the stick, pushed in the coat, and began +waving the stick about in the opening, saying, "Come out, come out!" as +he did so. He was still waving the stick, when suddenly the door of +the garret was flung open; all the crowd flew pell-mell down the stairs +instantly, Gavrila first of all. Uncle Tail locked the window. + +"Come, come, come," shouted Gavrila from the yard, "mind what you're +about." + +Gerasim stood without stirring in his doorway. The crowd gathered at +the foot of the stairs. Gerasim, with his arms akimbo, looked down at +all these poor creatures in German coats; in his red peasant's shirt he +looked like a giant before them. Gavrila took a step forward. + +"Mind, mate," said he, "don't be insolent." + +And he began to explain to him by signs that the mistress insists on +having his dog; that he must hand it over at once, or it would be the +worse for him. + +Gerasim looked at him, pointed to the dog, made a motion with his hand +round his neck, as though he were pulling a noose tight, and glanced +with a face of inquiry at the steward. + +"Yes, yes," the latter assented, nodding; "yes, just so." + +Gerasim dropped his eyes, then all of a sudden roused himself and +pointed to Mumu, who was all the while standing beside him, innocently +wagging her tail and pricking up her ears inquisitively. Then he +repeated the strangling action round his neck and significantly struck +himself on the breast, as though announcing he would take upon himself +the task of killing Mumu. + +"But you'll deceive us," Gavrila waved back in response. + +Gerasim looked at him, smiled scornfully, struck himself again on the +breast, and slammed to the door. + +They all looked at one another in silence. + +"What does that mean?" Gavrila began. "He's locked himself in." + +"Let him be, Gavrila Andreitch," Stepan advised; "he'll do it if he's +promised. He's like that, you know. . . . If he makes a promise, it's +a certain thing. He's not like us others in that. The truth's the +truth with him. Yes, indeed." + +"Yes," they all repeated, nodding their heads, "yes--that's so--yes." + +Uncle Tail opened his window, and he too said, "Yes." + +"Well, may be, we shall see," responded Gavrila; "any way, we won't +take off the guard. Here you, Eroshka!" he added, addressing a poor +fellow in a yellow nankeen coat, who considered himself to be a +gardener, "what have you to do? Take a stick and sit here, and if +anything happens, run to me at once!" + +Eroshka took a stick, and sat down on the bottom stair. The crowd +dispersed, all except a few inquisitive small boys, while Gavrila went +home and sent word through Liubov Liubimovna to the mistress that +everything had been done, while he sent a postilion for a policeman in +case of need. The old lady tied a knot in her handkerchief, sprinkled +some eau-de-Cologne on it, sniffed at it, and rubbed her temples with +it, drank some tea, and, being still under the influence of the +cherrybay drops, fell asleep again. + +An hour after all this hubbub the garret door opened, and Gerasim +showed himself. He had on his best coat; he was leading Mumu by a +string. Eroshka moved aside and let him pass. Gerasim went to the +gates. All the small boys in the yard stared at him in silence. He +did not even turn round; he only put his cap on in the street. Gavrila +sent the same Eroshka to follow him and keep watch on him as a spy. +Eroshka, seeing from a distance that he had gone into a cookshop with +his dog, waited for him to come out again. + +Gerasim was well known at the cookshop, and his signs were understood. +He asked for cabbage soup with meat in it, and sat down with his arms +on the table. Mumu stood beside his chair, looking calmly at him with +her intelligent eyes. Her coat was glossy; one could see she had just +been combed down. They brought Gerasim the soup. He crumbled some +bread into it, cut the meat up small, and put the plate on the ground. +Mumu began eating in her usual refined way, her little muzzle daintily +held so as scarcely to touch her food. Gerasim gazed a long while at +her; two big tears suddenly rolled from his eyes; one fell on the dog's +brow, the other into the soup. He shaded his face with his hand. Mumu +ate up half the plateful, and came away from it, licking her lips. +Gerasim got up, paid for the soup, and went out, followed by the rather +perplexed glances of the waiter. Eroshka, seeing Gerasim, hid round a +corner, and letting him get in front, followed him again. + +Gerasim walked without haste, still holding Mumu by a string. When he +got to the corner of the street, he stood still as though reflecting, +and suddenly set off with rapid steps to the Crimean Ford. On the way +he went into the yard of a house, where a lodge was being built, and +carried away two bricks under his arm. At the Crimean Ford, he turned +along the bank, went to a place where there were two little +rowing-boats fastened to stakes (he had noticed them there before), and +jumped into one of them with Mumu. A lame old man came out of a shed +in the corner of a kitchen-garden and shouted after him; but Gerasim +only nodded, and began rowing so vigorously, though against stream, +that in an instant he had darted two hundred yards way. The old man +stood for a while, scratched his back first with the left and then with +the right hand, and went back hobbling to the shed. + +Gerasim rowed on and on. Moscow was soon left behind. Meadows +stretched each side of the bank, market gardens, fields, and copses; +peasants' huts began to make their appearance. There was the fragrance +of the country. He threw down his oars, bent his head down to Mumu, +who was sitting facing him on a dry cross seat--the bottom of the boat +was full of water--and stayed motionless, his mighty hands clasped upon +her back, while the boat was gradually carried back by the current +towards the town. At last Gerasim drew himself up hurriedly, with a +sort of sick anger in his face, he tied up the bricks he had taken with +string, made a running noose, put it round Mumu's neck, lifted her up +over the river, and for the last time looked at her. . . . She watched +him confidingly and without any fear, faintly wagging her tail. He +turned away, frowned, and wrung his hands. . . . Gerasim heard +nothing, neither the quick shrill whine of Mumu as she fell, nor the +heavy splash of the water; for him the noisiest day was soundless and +silent as even the stillest night is not silent to us. When he opened +his eyes again, little wavelets were hurrying over the river, chasing +one another; as before they broke against the boat's side, and only far +away behind wide circles moved widening to the bank. + +Directly Gerasim had vanished from Eroshka's sight, the latter returned +home and reported what he had seen. + +"Well, then," observed Stepan, "he'll drown her. Now we can feel easy +about it. If he once promises a thing . . ." + +No one saw Gerasim during the day. He did not have dinner at home. +Evening came on; they were all gathered together to supper, except him. + +"What a strange creature that Gerasim is!" piped a fat laundrymaid; +"fancy, upsetting himself like that over a dog. . . . Upon my word!" + +"But Gerasim has been here," Stepan cried all at once, scraping up his +porridge with a spoon. + +"How? when?" + +"Why, a couple of hours ago. Yes, indeed! I ran against him at the +gate; he was going out again from here; he was coming out of the yard. +I tried to ask him about his dog, but he wasn't in the best of humors, +I could see. Well, he gave me a shove; I suppose he only meant to put +me out of his way, as if he'd say, 'Let me go, do!' but he fetched me +such a crack on my neck, so seriously, that--oh! oh!" And Stepan, who +could not help laughing, shrugged up and rubbed the back of his head. +"Yes," he added; "he has got a fist; it's something like a fist, +there's no denying that!" + +They all laughed at Stepan, and after supper they separated to go to +bed. + +Meanwhile, at that very time, a gigantic figure with a bag on his +shoulders and a stick in his hand, was eagerly and persistently +stepping out along the T--- high-road. It was Gerasim. He was +hurrying on without looking round; hurrying homewards, to his own +village, to his own country. After drowning poor Mumu, he had run back +to his garret, hurriedly packed a few things together in an old +horsecloth, tied it up in a bundle, tossed it on his shoulder, and so +was ready. He had noticed the road carefully when he was brought to +Moscow; the village his mistress had taken him from lay only about +twenty miles off the high-road. He walked along it with a sort of +invincible purpose, a desperate and at the same time joyous +determination. He walked, his shoulders thrown back and his chest +expanded; his eyes were fixed greedily straight before him. He +hastened as though his old mother were waiting for him at home, as +though she were calling him to her after long wanderings in strange +parts, among strangers. The summer night, that was just drawing in, +was still and warm; on one side, where the sun had set, the horizon was +still light and faintly flushed with the last glow of the vanished day; +on the other side a blue-gray twilight had already risen up. The night +was coming up from that quarter. Quails were in hundreds around; +corncrakes were calling to one another in the thickets. . . . Gerasim +could not hear them; he could not hear the delicate night-whispering of +the trees, by which his strong legs carried him, but he smelt the +familiar scent of the ripening rye, which was wafted from the dark +fields; he felt the wind, flying to meet him--the wind from home--beat +caressingly upon his face, and play with his hair and his beard. He +saw before him the whitening road homewards, straight as an arrow. He +saw in the sky stars innumerable, lighting up his way, and stepped out, +strong and bold as a lion, so that when the rising sun shed its moist +rosy light upon the still fresh and unwearied traveller, already thirty +miles lay between him and Moscow. + +In a couple of days he was at home, in his little hut, to the great +astonishment of the soldier's wife who had been put in there. After +praying before the holy pictures, he set off at once to the village +elder. The village elder was at first surprised; but the hay-cutting +had just begun; Gerasim was a first-rate mower, and they put a scythe +into his hand on the spot, and he went to mow in his old way, mowing so +that the peasants were fairly astounded as they watched his wide +sweeping strokes and the heaps he raked together. . . . + +In Moscow the day after Gerasim's flight they missed him. They went to +his garret, rummaged about in it, and spoke to Gavrila. He came, +looked, shrugged his shoulders, and decided that the dumb man had +either run away or had drowned himself with his stupid dog. They gave +information to the police, and informed the lady. The old lady was +furious, burst into tears, gave orders that he was to be found whatever +happened, declared she had never ordered the dog to be destroyed, and, +in fact, gave Gavrila such a rating that he could do nothing all day +but shake his head and murmur, "Well!" until Uncle Tail checked him at +last, sympathetically echoing "We-ell!" At last the news came from the +country of Gerasim's being there. The old lady was somewhat pacified; +at first she issued a mandate for him to be brought back without delay +to Moscow; afterwards, however, she declared that such an ungrateful +creature was absolutely of no use to her. Soon after this she died +herself; and her heirs had no thought to spare for Gerasim; they let +their mother's other servants redeem their freedom on payment of an +annual rent. + +And Gerasim is living still, a lonely man in his lonely hut; he is +strong and healthy as before, and does the work of four men as before, +and as before is serious and steady. But his neighbors have observed +that ever since his return from Moscow he has quite given up the +society of women; he will not even look at them, and does not keep even +a single dog. + +"It's his good luck, though," the peasants reason, "that he can get on +without female folk; and as for a dog--what need has he of a dog? you +wouldn't get a thief to go into his yard for any money!" Such is the +fame of the dumb man's Titanic strength. + + + + + + +THE SHOT + +BY + +ALEXANDER POUSHKIN + +From "Poushkin's Prose Tales." Translated by T. Keane. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +We were stationed in the little town of N--. The life of an officer in +the army is well known. In the morning, drill and the riding-school; +dinner with the Colonel or at a Jewish restaurant; in the evening, +punch and cards. In N--- there was not one open house, not a single +marriageable girl. We used to meet in each other's rooms, where, +except our uniforms, we never saw anything. + +One civilian only was admitted into our society. He was about +thirty-five years of age, and therefore we looked upon him as an old +fellow. His experience gave him great advantage over us, and his +habitual taciturnity, stern disposition, and caustic tongue produced a +deep impression upon our young minds. Some mystery surrounded his +existence; he had the appearance of a Russian, although his name was a +foreign one. He had formerly served in the Hussars, and with +distinction. Nobody knew the cause that had induced him to retire from +the service and settle in a wretched little village, where he lived +poorly and, at the same time, extravagantly. He always went on foot, +and constantly wore a shabby black overcoat, but the officers of our +regiment were ever welcome at his table. His dinners, it is true, +never consisted of more than two or three dishes, prepared by a retired +soldier, but the champagne flowed like water. Nobody knew what his +circumstances were, or what his income was, and nobody dared to +question him about them. He had a collection of books, consisting +chiefly of works on military matters and a few novels. He willingly +lent them to us to read, and never asked for them back; on the other +hand, he never returned to the owner the books that were lent to him. +His principal amusement was shooting with a pistol. The walls of his +room were riddled with bullets, and were as full of holes as a +honeycomb. A rich collection of pistols was the only luxury in the +humble cottage where he lived. The skill which he had acquired with +his favorite weapon was simply incredible: and if he had offered to +shoot a pear off somebody's forage-cap, not a man in our regiment would +have hesitated to place the object upon his head. + +Our conversation often turned upon duels. Silvio--so I will call +him--never joined in it. When asked if he had ever fought, he dryly +replied that he had; but he entered into no particulars, and it was +evident that such questions were not to his liking. We came to the +conclusion that he had upon his conscience the memory of some unhappy +victim of his terrible skill. Moreover, it never entered into the head +of any of us to suspect him of anything like cowardice. There are +persons whose mere look is sufficient to repel such a suspicion. But +an unexpected incident occurred which astounded us all. + +One day, about ten of our officers dined with Silvio. They drank as +usual, that is to say, a great deal. After dinner we asked our host to +hold the bank for a game at faro. For a long time he refused, for he +hardly ever played, but at last he ordered cards to be brought, placed +half a hundred ducats upon the table, and sat down to deal. We took +our places round him, and the play began. It was Silvio's custom to +preserve a complete silence when playing. He never disputed, and never +entered into explanations. If the punter made a mistake in +calculating, he immediately paid him the difference or noted down the +surplus. We were acquainted with this habit of his, and we always +allowed him to have his own way; but among us on this occasion was an +officer who had only recently been transferred to our regiment. During +the course of the game, this officer absently scored one point too +many. Silvio took the chalk and noted down the correct account +according to his usual custom. The officer, thinking that he had made a +mistake, began to enter into explanations. Silvio continued dealing in +silence. The officer, losing patience, took the brush and rubbed out +what he considered was wrong. Silvio took the chalk and corrected the +score again. The officer, heated with wine, play, and the laughter of +his comrades, considered himself grossly insulted, and in his rage he +seized a brass candlestick from the table, and hurled it at Silvio, who +barely succeeded in avoiding the missile. We were filled with +consternation. Silvio rose, white with rage, and with gleaming eyes, +said: + +"My dear sir, have the goodness to withdraw, and thank God that this +has happened in my house." + +None of us entertained the slightest doubt as to what the result would +be, and we already looked upon our new comrade as a dead man. The +officer withdrew, saying that he was ready to answer for his offence in +whatever way the banker liked. The play went on for a few minutes +longer, but feeling that our host was no longer interested in the game, +we withdrew one after the other, and repaired to our respective +quarters, after having exchanged a few words upon the probability of +there soon being a vacancy in the regiment. + +The next day, at the riding-school, we were already asking each other +if the poor lieutenant was still alive, when he himself appeared among +us. We put the same question to him, and he replied that he had not yet +heard from Silvio. This astonished us. We went to Silvio's house and +found him in the courtyard shooting bullet after bullet into an ace +pasted upon the gate. He received us as usual, but did not utter a +word about the event of the previous evening. Three days passed, and +the lieutenant was still alive. We asked each other in astonishment: +"Can it be possible that Silvio is not going to fight?" + +Silvio did not fight. He was satisfied with a very lame explanation, +and became reconciled to his assailant. + +This lowered him very much in the opinion of all our young fellows. +Want of courage is the last thing to be pardoned by young men, who +usually look upon bravery as the chief of all human virtues, and the +excuse for every possible fault. But, by degrees, everything became +forgotten, and Silvio regained his former influence. + +I alone could not approach him on the old footing. Being endowed by +nature with a romantic imagination, I had become attached more than all +the others to the man whose life was an enigma, and who seemed to me +the hero of some mysterious drama. He was fond of me; at least, with +me alone did he drop his customary sarcastic tone, and converse on +different subjects in a simple and unusually agreeable manner. But +after this unlucky evening, the thought that his honor had been +tarnished, and that the stain had been allowed to remain upon it in +accordance with his own wish, was ever present in my mind, and +prevented me treating him as before. I was ashamed to look at him. +Silvio was too intelligent and experienced not to observe this and +guess the cause of it. This seemed to vex him; at least I observed +once or twice a desire on his part to enter into an explanation with +me, but I avoided such opportunities, and Silvio gave up the attempt. +From that time forward I saw him only in the presence of my comrades, +and our confidential conversations came to an end. + +The inhabitants of the capital, with minds occupied by so many matters +of business and pleasure, have no idea of the many sensations so +familiar to the inhabitants of villages and small towns, as, for +instance, the awaiting the arrival of the post. On Tuesdays and +Fridays our regimental bureau used to be filled with officers: some +expecting money, some letters, and others newspapers. The packets were +usually opened on the spot, items of news were communicated from one to +another, and the bureau used to present a very animated picture. +Silvio used to have his letters addressed to our regiment, and he was +generally there to receive them. + +One day he received a letter, the seal of which he broke with a look of +great impatience. As he read the contents, his eyes sparkled. The +officers, each occupied with his own letters, did not observe anything. + +"Gentlemen," said Silvio, "circumstances demand my immediate departure; +I leave to-night. I hope that you will not refuse to dine with me for +the last time. I shall expect you, too," he added, turning towards me. +"I shall expect you without fail." + +With these words he hastily departed, and we, after agreeing to meet at +Silvio's, dispersed to our various quarters. + +I arrived at Silvio's house at the appointed time, and found nearly the +whole regiment there. All his things were already packed; nothing +remained but the bare, bullet-riddled walls. We sat down to table. +Our host was in an excellent humor, and his gayety was quickly +communicated to the rest. Corks popped every moment, glasses foamed +incessantly, and, with the utmost warmth, we wished our departing +friend a pleasant journey and every happiness. When we rose from the +table it was already late in the evening. After having wished +everybody good-bye, Silvio took me by the hand and detained me just at +the moment when I was preparing to depart. + +"I want to speak to you," he said in a low voice. + +I stopped behind. + +The guests had departed, and we two were left alone. Sitting down +opposite each other, we silently lit our pipes. Silvio seemed greatly +troubled; not a trace remained of his former convulsive gayety. The +intense pallor of his face, his sparkling eyes, and the thick smoke +issuing from his mouth, gave him a truly diabolical appearance. +Several minutes elapsed, and then Silvio broke the silence. + +"Perhaps we shall never see each other again," said he; "before we +part, I should like to have an explanation with you. You may have +observed that I care very little for the opinion of other people, but I +like you, and I feel that it would be painful to me to leave you with a +wrong impression upon your mind." + +He paused, and began to knock the ashes out of his pipe. I sat gazing +silently at the ground. + +"You thought it strange," he continued, "that I did not demand +satisfaction from that drunken idiot R---. You will admit, however, +that having the choice of weapons, his life was in my hands, while my +own was in no great danger. I could ascribe my forbearance to +generosity alone, but I will not tell a lie. If I could have chastised +R--- without the least risk to my own life, I should never have +pardoned him." + +I looked at Silvio with astonishment. Such a confession completely +astounded me. Silvio continued: + +"Exactly so: I have no right to expose myself to death. Six years ago +I received a slap in the face, and my enemy still lives." + +My curiosity was greatly excited. + +"Did you not fight with him?" I asked. "Circumstances probably +separated you." + +"I did fight with him," replied Silvio; "and here is a souvenir of our +duel." + +Silvio rose and took from a cardboard box a red cap with a gold tassel +and embroidery (what the French call a bonnet de police); he put it +on--a bullet had passed through it about an inch above the forehead. + +"You know," continued Silvio, "that I served in one of the Hussar +regiments. My character is well known to you: I am accustomed to +taking the lead. From my youth this has been my passion. In our time +dissoluteness was the fashion, and I was the most outrageous man in the +army. We used to boast of our drunkenness; I beat in a drinking bout +the famous Bourtsoff [Footnote: A cavalry officer, notorious for his +drunken escapades], of whom Denis Davidoff [Footnote: A military poet +who flourished in the reign of Alexander I] has sung. Duels in our +regiment were constantly taking place, and in all of them I was either +second or principal. My comrades adored me, while the regimental +commanders, who were constantly being changed, looked upon me as a +necessary evil. + +"I was calmly enjoying my reputation, when a young man belonging to a +wealthy and distinguished family--I will not mention his name--joined +our regiment. Never in my life have I met with such a fortunate +fellow! Imagine to yourself youth, wit, beauty, unbounded gayety, the +most reckless bravery, a famous name, untold wealth--imagine all these, +and you can form some idea of the effect that he would be sure to +produce among us. My supremacy was shaken. Dazzled by my reputation, +he began to seek my friendship, but I received him coldly, and without +the least regret he held aloof from me. I took a hatred to him. His +success in the regiment and in the society of ladies brought me to the +verge of despair. I began to seek a quarrel with him; to my epigrams +he replied with epigrams which always seemed to me more spontaneous and +more cutting than mine, and which were decidedly more amusing, for he +joked while I fumed. At last, at a ball given by a Polish landed +proprietor, seeing him the object of the attention of all the ladies, +and especially of the mistress of the house, with whom I was upon very +good terms, I whispered some grossly insulting remark in his ear. He +flamed up and gave me a slap in the face. We grasped our swords; the +ladies fainted; we were separated; and that same night we set out to +fight. + +"The dawn was just breaking. I was standing at the appointed place +with my three seconds. With inexplicable impatience I awaited my +opponent. The spring sun rose, and it was already growing hot. I saw +him coming in the distance. He was walking on foot, accompanied by one +second. We advanced to meet him. He approached, holding his cap +filled with black cherries. The seconds measured twelve paces for us. +I had to fire first, but my agitation was so great, that I could not +depend upon the steadiness of my hand; and in order to give myself time +to become calm, I ceded to him the first shot. My adversary would not +agree to this. It was decided that we should cast lots. The first +number fell to him, the constant favorite of fortune. He took aim, and +his bullet went through my cap. It was now my turn. His life at last +was in my hands; I looked at him eagerly, endeavoring to detect if only +the faintest shadow of uneasiness. But he stood in front of my pistol, +picking out the ripest cherries from his cap and spitting out the +stones, which flew almost as far as my feet. His indifference annoyed +me beyond measure. 'What is the use,' thought I, 'of depriving him of +life, when he attaches no value whatever to it?' A malicious thought +flashed through my mind. I lowered my pistol. + +"'You don't seem to be ready for death just at present,' I said to him: +'you wish to have your breakfast; I do not wish to hinder you.' + +"'You are not hindering me in the least,' replied he. 'Have the +goodness to fire, or just as you please--the shot remains yours; I +shall always be ready at your service.' + +"I turned to the seconds, informing them that I had no intention of +firing that day, and with that the duel came to an end. + +"I resigned my commission and retired to this little place. Since then +not a day has passed that I have not thought of revenge. And now my +hour has arrived." + +Silvio took from his pocket the letter that he had received that +morning, and gave it to me to read. Some one (it seemed to be his +business agent) wrote to him from Moscow, that a CERTAIN PERSON was +going to be married to a young and beautiful girl. + +"You can guess," said Silvio, "who the certain person is. I am going +to Moscow. We shall see if he will look death in the face with as much +indifference now, when he is on the eve of being married, as he did +once with his cherries!" + +With these words, Silvio rose, threw his cap upon the floor, and began +pacing up and down the room like a tiger in his cage. I had listened +to him in silence; strange conflicting feelings agitated me. + +The servant entered and announced that the horses were ready. Silvio +grasped my hand tightly, and we embraced each other. He seated himself +in his telega, in which lay two trunks, one containing his pistols, the +other his effects. We said good-bye once more, and the horses galloped +off. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Several years passed, and family circumstances compelled me to settle +in the poor little village of M---. Occupied with agricultural +pursuits, I ceased not to sigh in secret for my former noisy and +careless life. The most difficult thing of all was having to accustom +myself to passing the spring and winter evenings in perfect solitude. +Until the hour for dinner I managed to pass away the time somehow or +other, talking with the bailiff, riding about to inspect the work, or +going round to look at the new buildings; but as soon as it began to +get dark, I positively did not know what to do with myself. The few +books that I had found in the cupboards and storerooms I already knew +by heart. All the stories that my housekeeper Kirilovna could remember +I had heard over and over again. The songs of the peasant women made me +feel depressed. I tried drinking spirits, but it made my head ache; +and moreover, I confess I was afraid of becoming a drunkard from mere +chagrin, that is to say, the saddest kind of drunkard, of which I had +seen many examples in our district. + +I had no near neighbors, except two or three topers, whose conversation +consisted for the most part of hiccups and sighs. Solitude was +preferable to their society. At last I decided to go to bed as early +as possible, and to dine as late as possible; in this way I shortened +the evening and lengthened out the day, and I found that the plan +answered very well. + +Four versts from my house was a rich estate belonging to the Countess +B---; but nobody lived there except the steward. The Countess had only +visited her estate once, in the first year of her married life, and +then she had remained there no longer than a month. But in the second +spring of my hermitical life a report was circulated that the Countess, +with her husband, was coming to spend the summer on her estate. The +report turned out to be true, for they arrived at the beginning of June. + +The arrival of a rich neighbor is an important event in the lives of +country people. The landed proprietors and the people of their +households talk about it for two months beforehand and for three years +afterwards. As for me, I must confess that the news of the arrival of +a young and beautiful neighbor affected me strongly. I burned with +impatience to see her, and the first Sunday after her arrival I set out +after dinner for the village of A---, to pay my respects to the +Countess and her husband, as their nearest neighbor and most humble +servant. A lackey conducted me into the Count's study, and then went +to announce me. The spacious apartment was furnished with every +possible luxury. Around the walls were cases filled with books and +surmounted by bronze busts; over the marble mantelpiece was a large +mirror; on the floor was a green cloth covered with carpets. +Unaccustomed to luxury in my own poor corner, and not having seen the +wealth of other people for a long time, I awaited the appearance of the +Count with some little trepidation, as a suppliant from the provinces +awaits the arrival of the minister. The door opened, and a +handsome-looking man, of about thirty-two years of age, entered the +room. The Count approached me with a frank and friendly air; I +endeavored to be self-possessed and began to introduce myself, but he +anticipated me. We sat down. His conversation, which was easy and +agreeable, soon dissipated my awkward bashfulness; and I was already +beginning to recover my usual composure, when the Countess suddenly +entered, and I became more confused than ever. She was indeed +beautiful. The Count presented me. I wished to appear at ease, but +the more I tried to assume an air of unconstraint, the more awkward I +felt. They, in order to give me time to recover myself and to become +accustomed to my new acquaintances, began to talk to each other, +treating me as a good neighbor, and without ceremony. Meanwhile, I +walked about the room, examining the books and pictures. I am no judge +of pictures, but one of them attracted my attention. It represented +some view in Switzerland, but it was not the painting that struck me, +but the circumstance that the canvas was shot through by two bullets, +one planted just above the other. + +"A good shot that!" said I, turning to the Count. + +"Yes," replied he, "a very remarkable shot. . . . Do you shoot well?" +he continued. + +"Tolerably," replied I, rejoicing that the conversation had turned at +last upon a subject that was familiar to me. "At thirty paces I can +manage to hit a card without fail,--I mean, of course, with a pistol +that I am used to." + +"Really?" said the Countess, with a look of the greatest interest. +"And you, my dear, could you hit a card at thirty paces?" + +"Some day," replied the Count, "we will try. In my time I did not +shoot badly, but it is now four years since I touched a pistol." + +"Oh!" I observed, "in that case, I don't mind laying a wager that Your +Excellency will not hit the card at twenty paces; the pistol demands +practice every day. I know that from experience. In our regiment I +was reckoned one of the best shots. It once happened that I did not +touch a pistol for a whole month, as I had sent mine to be mended; and +would you believe it, Your Excellency, the first time I began to shoot +again, I missed a bottle four times in succession at twenty paces. Our +captain, a witty and amusing fellow, happened to be standing by, and he +said to me: 'It is evident, my friend, that your hand will not lift +itself against the bottle.' No, Your Excellency, you must not neglect +to practise, or your hand will soon lose its cunning. The best shot +that I ever met used to shoot at least three times every day before +dinner. It was as much his custom to do this as it was to drink his +daily glass of brandy." + +The Count and Countess seemed pleased that I had begun to talk. + +"And what sort of a shot was he?" asked the Count. + +"Well, it was this way with him, Your Excellency: if he saw a fly +settle on the wall--you smile, Countess, but, before Heaven, it is the +truth--if he saw a fly, he would call out: 'Kouzka, my pistol!' Kouzka +would bring him a loaded pistol--bang! and the fly would be crushed +against the wall." + +"Wonderful!" said the Count. "And what was his name?" + +"Silvio, Your Excellency." + +"Silvio!" exclaimed the Count, starting up. "Did you know Silvio?" + +"How could I help knowing him, Your Excellency: we were intimate +friends; he was received in our regiment like a brother officer, but it +is now five years since I had any tidings of him. Then Your Excellency +also knew him?" + +"Oh, yes, I knew him very well. Did he ever tell you of one very +strange incident in his life?" + +"Does Your Excellency refer to the slap in the face that he received +from some blackguard at a ball?" + +"Did he tell you the name of this blackguard?" + +"No, Your Excellency, he never mentioned his name, . . . Ah! Your +Excellency!" I continued, guessing the truth: "pardon me . . . I did +not know . . . could it really have been you?" + +"Yes, I myself," replied the Count, with a look of extraordinary +agitation; "and that bullet-pierced picture is a memento of our last +meeting." + +"Ah, my dear," said the Countess, "for Heaven's sake, do not speak +about that; it would be too terrible for me to listen to." + +"No," replied the Count: "I will relate everything. He knows how I +insulted his friend, and it is only right that he should know how +Silvio revenged himself." + +The Count pushed a chair towards me, and with the liveliest interest I +listened to the following story: + +"Five years ago I got married. The first month--the honeymoon--I spent +here, in this village. To this house I am indebted for the happiest +moments of my life, as well as for one of its most painful +recollections. + +"One evening we went out together for a ride on horseback. My wife's +horse became restive; she grew frightened, gave the reins to me, and +returned home on foot. I rode on before. In the courtyard I saw a +travelling carriage, and I was told that in my study sat waiting for me +a man, who would not give his name, but who merely said that he had +business with me. I entered the room and saw in the darkness a man, +covered with dust and wearing a beard of several days' growth. He was +standing there, near the fireplace. I approached him, trying to +remember his features. + +"'You do not recognize me, Count?' said he, in a quivering voice. + +"'Silvio!' I cried, and I confess that I felt as if my hair had +suddenly stood on end. + +"'Exactly,' continued he. 'There is a shot due to me, and I have come +to discharge my pistol. Are you ready?' + +"His pistol protruded from a side pocket. I measured twelve paces and +took my stand there in that corner, begging him to fire quickly, before +my wife arrived. He hesitated, and asked for a light. Candles were +brought in. I closed the doors, gave orders that nobody was to enter, +and again begged him to fire. He drew out his pistol and took aim. . . +. I counted the seconds. . . . I thought of her. . . . A terrible +minute passed! Silvio lowered his hand. + +"'I regret,' said he, 'that the pistol is not loaded with cherry-stones +. . . the bullet is heavy. It seems to me that this is not a duel, but +a murder. I am not accustomed to taking aim at unarmed men. Let us +begin all over again; we will cast lots as to who shall fire first.' + +"My head went round. . . . I think I raised some objection. . . . At +last we loaded another pistol, and rolled up two pieces of paper. He +placed these latter in his cap--the same through which I had once sent +a bullet--and again I drew the first number. + +"'You are devilish lucky, Count,' said he, with a smile that I shall +never forget. + +"I don't know what was the matter with me, or how it was that he +managed to make me do it . . . but I fired and hit that picture." + +The Count pointed with his finger to the perforated picture; his face +glowed like fire; the Countess was whiter than her own handkerchief; +and I could not restrain an exclamation. + +"I fired," continued the Count, "and, thank Heaven, missed my aim. +Then Silvio . . . at that moment he was really terrible . . . Silvio +raised his hand to take aim at me. Suddenly the door opens, Masha +rushes into the room, and with a loud shriek throws herself upon my +neck. Her presence restored to me all my courage. + +"'My dear,' said I to her, 'don't you see that we are joking? How +frightened you are! Go and drink a glass of water and then come back +to us; I will introduce you to an old friend and comrade.' + +"Masha still doubted. + +"'Tell me, is my husband speaking the truth?' said she, turning to the +terrible Silvio: 'is it true that you are only joking?' + +"'He is always joking, Countess,' replied Silvio: 'once he gave me a +slap in the face in a joke; on another occasion he sent a bullet +through my cap in a joke; and just now, when he fired at me and missed +me, it was all in a joke. And now I feel inclined for a joke.' + +"With these words he raised his pistol to take aim at me--right before +her! Masha threw herself at his feet. + +"'Rise, Masha; are you not ashamed!' I cried in a rage: 'and you, sir, +will you cease to make fun of a poor woman? Will you fire or not?' + +"'I will not,' replied Silvio: 'I am satisfied. I have seen your +confusion, your alarm. I forced you to fire at me. That is +sufficient. You will remember me. I leave you to your conscience.' + +"Then he turned to go, but pausing in the doorway, and looking at the +picture that my shot had passed through, he fired at it almost without +taking aim, and disappeared. My wife had fainted away; the servants +did not venture to stop him, the mere look of him filled them with +terror. He went out upon the steps, called his coachman, and drove off +before I could recover myself." + +The Count was silent. In this way I learned the end of the story, +whose beginning had once made such a deep impression upon me. The hero +of it I never saw again. It is said that Silvio commanded a detachment +of Hetairists during the revolt under Alexander Ipsilanti, and that he +was killed in the battle of Skoulana. + + + + + + +ST. JOHN'S EVE + +BY + +NIKOLAI VASILIEVITCH GOGOL + + +From "St. John's Eve." Translated by Isabel F. Hapgood. + +1886 + +[Footnote: This is one of the stories from the celebrated volume +entitled "Tales at a Farmhouse near Dikanka."] + + +(RELATED BY THE SACRISTAN OF THE DIKANKA CHURCH) + + + + +Thoma Grigorovitch had a very strange sort of eccentricity: to the day +of his death he never liked to tell the same thing twice. There were +times when, if you asked him to relate a thing afresh, behold, he would +interpolate new matter, or alter it so that it was impossible to +recognize it. Once on a time, one of those gentlemen (it is hard for +us simple people to put a name to them, to say whether they are +scribblers or not scribblers: but it is just the same thing as the +usurers at our yearly fairs; they clutch and beg and steal every sort +of frippery, and issue mean little volumes, no thicker than an ABC +book, every month, or even every week),--one of these gentlemen wormed +this same story out of Thoma Grigorovitch, and he completely forgot +about it. But that same young gentleman in the pea-green caftan, whom +I have mentioned, and one of whose Tales you have already read, I +think, came from Poltava, bringing with him a little book, and, opening +it in the middle, shows it to us. Thoma Grigorovitch was on the point +of setting his spectacles astride of his nose, but recollected that he +had forgotten to wind thread about them, and stick them together with +wax, so he passed it over to me. As I understand something about +reading and writing, and do not wear spectacles, I undertook to read +it. I had not turned two leaves, when all at once he caught me by the +hand, and stopped me. + +"Stop! tell me first what you are reading." + +I confess that I was a trifle stunned by such a question. + +"What! what am I reading, Thoma Grigorovitch? These were your very +words." + +"Who told you that they were my words?" + +"Why, what more would you have? Here it is printed: RELATED BY SUCH +AND SUCH A SACRISTAN." + +"Spit on the head of the man who printed that! he lies, the dog of a +Moscow pedler! Did I say that? 'TWAS JUST THE SAME AS THOUGH ONE +HADN'T HIS WITS ABOUT HIM. Listen. I'll tell it to you on the spot." + +We moved up to the table, and he began. + + * * * * + +My grandfather (the kingdom of heaven be his! may he eat only wheaten +rolls and makovniki [FOOTNOTE: Poppy-seeds cooked in honey, and dried +in square cakes.] with honey in the other world!) could tell a story +wonderfully well. When he used to begin on a tale, you wouldn't stir +from the spot all day, but keep on listening. He was no match for the +story-teller of the present day, when he begins to lie, with a tongue +as though he had had nothing to eat for three days, so that you snatch +your cap and flee from the house. As I now recall it,--my old mother +was alive then,--in the long winter evenings when the frost was +crackling out of doors, and had so sealed up hermetically the narrow +panes of our cottage, she used to sit before the hackling-comb, drawing +out a long thread in her hand, rocking the cradle with her foot, and +humming a song, which I seem to hear even now. + +The fat-lamp, quivering and flaring up as though in fear of something, +lighted us within our cottage; the spindle hummed; and all of us +children, collected in a cluster, listened to grandfather, who had not +crawled off the oven for more than five years, owing to his great age. +But the wondrous tales of the incursions of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, +the Poles, the bold deeds of Podkova, of Poltor-Kozhukh, and +Sagaidatchnii, did not interest us so much as the stories about some +deed of old which always sent a shiver through our frames, and made our +hair rise upright on our heads. Sometimes such terror took possession +of us in consequence of them, that, from that evening on, Heaven knows +what a marvel everything seemed to us. If you chance to go out of the +cottage after nightfall for anything, you imagine that a visitor from +the other world has lain down to sleep in your bed; and I should not be +able to tell this a second time were it not that I had often taken my +own smock, at a distance, as it lay at the head of the bed, for the +Evil One rolled up in a ball! But the chief thing about grandfather's +stories was, that he never had lied in all his life; and whatever he +said was so, was so. + +I will now relate to you one of his marvellous tales. I know that +there are a great many wise people who copy in the courts, and can even +read civil documents, who, if you were to put into their hand a simple +prayer-book, could not make out the first letter in it, and would show +all their teeth in derision--which is wisdom. These people laugh at +everything you tell them. Such incredulity has spread abroad in the +world! What then? (Why, may God and the Holy Virgin cease to love me +if it is not possible that even you will not believe me!) Once he said +something about witches; . . . What then? Along comes one of these +head-breakers,--and doesn't believe in witches! Yes, glory to God that +I have lived so long in the world! I have seen heretics, to whom it +would be easier to lie in confession than it would to our brothers and +equals to take snuff, and those people would deny the existence of +witches! But let them just dream about something, and they won't even +tell what it was! There's no use in talking about them! + + * * * * + +ST. JOHN'S EVE. + +No one could have recognized this village of ours a little over a +hundred years ago: a hamlet it was, the poorest kind of a hamlet. Half +a score of miserable izbas, unplastered, badly thatched, were scattered +here and there about the fields. There was not an inclosure or decent +shed to shelter animals or wagons. That was the way the wealthy lived; +and if you had looked for our brothers, the poor,--why, a hole in the +ground,--that was a cabin for you! Only by the smoke could you tell +that a God-created man lived there. You ask why they lived so? It was +not entirely through poverty: almost every one led a wandering, Cossack +life, and gathered not a little plunder in foreign lands; it was rather +because there was no reason for setting up a well-ordered khata (wooden +house). How many people were wandering all over the +country,--Crimeans, Poles, Lithuanians! It was quite possible that +their own countrymen might make a descent, and plunder everything. +Anything was possible. + +In this hamlet a man, or rather a devil in human form, often made his +appearance. Why he came, and whence, no one knew. He prowled about, +got drunk, and suddenly disappeared as if into the air, and there was +not a hint of his existence. Then, again, behold, he seemed to have +dropped from the sky, and went flying about the streets of the village, +of which no trace now remains, and which was not more than a hundred +paces from Dikanka. He would collect together all the Cossacks he met; +then there were songs, laughter, money in abundance, and vodka flowed +like water. . . . He would address the pretty girls, and give them +ribbons, earrings, strings of beads,--more than they knew what to do +with. It is true that the pretty girls rather hesitated about +accepting his presents: God knows, perhaps they had passed through +unclean hands. My grandfather's aunt, who kept a tavern at that time, +in which Basavriuk (as they called that devil-man) often had his +carouses, said that no consideration on the face of the earth would +have induced her to accept a gift from him. And then, again, how avoid +accepting? Fear seized on every one when he knit his bristly brows, +and gave a sidelong glance which might send your feet, God knows +whither; but if you accept, then the next night some fiend from the +swamp, with horns on his head, comes to call, and begins to squeeze +your neck, when there is a string of beads upon it; or bite your +finger, if there is a ring upon it; or drag you by the hair, if ribbons +are braided in it. God have mercy, then, on those who owned such +gifts! But here was the difficulty: it was impossible to get rid of +them; if you threw them into the water, the diabolical ring or necklace +would skim along the surface, and into your hand. + +There was a church in the village,--St. Pantelei, if I remember +rightly. There lived there a priest, Father Athanasii of blessed +memory. Observing that Basavriuk did not come to church, even on +Easter, he determined to reprove him, and impose penance upon him. +Well, he hardly escaped with his life. "Hark ye, pannotche!" +[Footnote: Sir] he thundered in reply, "learn to mind your own business +instead of meddling in other people's, if you don't want that goat's +throat of yours stuck together with boiling kutya." [Footnote: A dish +of rice or wheat flour, with honey and raisins, which is brought to the +church on the celebration of memorial masses] What was to be done with +this unrepentant man? Father Athanasii contented himself with +announcing that any one who should make the acquaintance of Basavriuk +would be counted a Catholic, an enemy of Christ's church, not a member +of the human race. + +In this village there was a Cossack named Korzh, who had a laborer whom +people called Peter the Orphan--perhaps because no one remembered +either his father or mother. The church starost, it is true, said that +they had died of the pest in his second year; but my grandfather's aunt +would not hear to that, and tried with all her might to furnish him +with parents, although poor Peter needed them about as much as we need +last year's snow. She said that his father had been in Zaporozhe, +taken prisoner by the Turks, underwent God only knows what tortures, +and having, by some miracle, disguised himself as a eunuch, had made +his escape. Little cared the black-browed youths and maidens about his +parents. They merely remarked, that if he only had a new coat, a red +sash, a black lambskin cap, with dandified blue crown, on his head, a +Turkish sabre hanging by his side, a whip in one hand and a pipe with +handsome mountings in the other, he would surpass all the young men. +But the pity was, that the only thing poor Peter had was a gray svitka +with more holes in it than there are gold-pieces in a Jew's pocket. +And that was not the worst of it, but this: that Korzh had a daughter, +such a beauty as I think you can hardly have chanced to see. My +deceased grandfather's aunt used to say--and you know that it is easier +for a woman to kiss the Evil One than to call anybody a beauty, without +malice be it said--that this Cossack maiden's cheeks were as plump and +fresh as the pinkest poppy when just bathed in God's dew, and, glowing, +it unfolds its petals, and coquets with the rising sun; that her brows +were like black cords, such as our maidens buy nowadays, for their +crosses and ducats, of the Moscow pedlers who visit the villages with +their baskets, and evenly arched as though peeping into her clear eyes; +that her little mouth, at sight of which the youths smacked their lips, +seemed made to emit the songs of nightingales; that her hair, black as +the raven's wing, and soft as young flax (our maidens did not then +plait their hair in clubs interwoven with pretty, bright-hued ribbons) +fell in curls over her kuntush. [Footnote: Upper garment in Little +Russia.] Eh! may I never intone another alleluia in the choir, if I +would not have kissed her, in spite of the gray which is making its way +all through the old wool which covers my pate, and my old woman beside +me, like a thorn in my side! Well, you know what happens when young men +and maids live side by side. In the twilight the heels of red boots +were always visible in the place where Pidorka chatted with her Petrus. +But Korzh would never have suspected anything out of the way, only one +day--it is evident that none but the Evil One could have inspired +him--Petrus took it into his head to kiss the Cossack maiden's rosy +lips with all his heart in the passage, without first looking well +about him; and that same Evil One--may the son of a dog dream of the +holy cross!--caused the old graybeard, like a fool, to open the +cottage-door at that same moment. Korzh was petrified, dropped his +jaw, and clutched at the door for support. Those unlucky kisses had +completely stunned him. It surprised him more than the blow of a +pestle on the wall, with which, in our days, the muzhik generally +drives out his intoxication for lack of fuses and powder. + +Recovering himself, he took his grandfather's hunting-whip from the +wall, and was about to belabor Peter's back with it, when Pidorka's +little six-year-old brother Ivas rushed up from somewhere or other, +and, grasping his father's legs with his little hands, screamed out, +"Daddy, daddy! don't beat Petrus!" What was to be done? A father's +heart is not made of stone. Hanging the whip again upon the wall, he +led him quietly from the house. "If you ever show yourself in my +cottage again, or even under the windows, look out, Petro! by Heaven, +your black moustache will disappear; and your black locks, though wound +twice about your ears, will take leave of your pate, or my name is not +Terentiy Korzh." So saying, he gave him a little taste of his fist in +the nape of his neck, so that all grew dark before Petrus, and he flew +headlong. So there was an end of their kissing. Sorrow seized upon +our doves; and a rumor was rife in the village, that a certain Pole, +all embroidered with gold, with moustaches, sabres, spurs, and pockets +jingling like the bells of the bag with which our sacristan Taras goes +through the church every day, had begun to frequent Korzh's house. +Now, it is well known why the father is visited when there is a +black-browed daughter about. So, one day, Pidorka burst into tears, +and clutched the hand of her Ivas. "Ivas, my dear! Ivas, my love! fly +to Petrus, my child of gold, like an arrow from a bow. Tell him all: I +would have loved his brown eyes, I would have kissed his white face, +but my fate decrees not so. More than one towel have I wet with +burning tears. I am sad, I am heavy at heart. And my own father is my +enemy. I will not marry that Pole, whom I do not love. Tell him they +are preparing a wedding, but there will be no music at our wedding: +ecclesiastics will sing instead of pipes and kobzas. [Footnote: +Eight-stringed musical instrument.] I shall not dance with my +bridegroom: they will carry me out. Dark, dark will be my +dwelling,--of maple wood; and, instead of chimneys, a cross will stand +upon the roof." + +Petro stood petrified, without moving from the spot, when the innocent +child lisped out Pidorka's words to him. "And I, unhappy man, thought +to go to the Crimea and Turkey, win gold and return to thee, my beauty! +But it may not be. The evil eye has seen us. I will have a wedding, +too, dear little fish, I too; but no ecclesiastics will be at that +wedding. The black crow will caw, instead of the pope, over me; the +smooth field will be my dwelling; the dark blue clouds my roof-tree. +The eagle will claw out my brown eyes: the rain will wash the Cossack's +bones, and the whirlwinds will dry them. But what am I? Of whom, to +whom, am I complaining? 'T is plain, God willed it so. If I am to be +lost, then so be it!" and he went straight to the tavern. + +My late grandfather's aunt was somewhat surprised on seeing Petrus in +the tavern, and at an hour when good men go to morning mass; and she +stared at him as though in a dream, when he demanded a jug of brandy, +about half a pailful. But the poor fellow tried in vain to drown his +woe. The vodka stung his tongue like nettles, and tasted more bitter +than wormwood. He flung the jug from him upon the ground. "You have +sorrowed enough, Cossack," growled a bass voice behind him. He looked +round--Basavriuk! Ugh, what a face! His hair was like a brush, his +eyes like those of a bull. "I know what you lack: here it is." Then +he jingled a leather purse which hung from his girdle, and smiled +diabolically. Petro shuddered. "He, he, he! yes, how it shines!" he +roared, shaking out ducats into his hand: "he, he, he! and how it +jingles! And I only ask one thing for a whole pile of such +shiners."--"It is the Evil One!" exclaimed Petro: "Give them here! I'm +ready for anything!" They struck hands upon it. "See here, Petro, you +are ripe just in time: to-morrow is St. John the Baptist's day. Only +on this one night in the year does the fern blossom. Delay not. I +will await thee at midnight in the Bear's ravine." + +I do not believe that chickens await the hour when the woman brings +their corn with as much anxiety as Petrus awaited the evening. And, in +fact, he looked to see whether the shadows of the trees were not +lengthening, if the sun were not turning red towards setting; and the +longer he watched, the more impatient he grew. How long it was! +Evidently, God's day had lost its end somewhere. And now the sun is +gone. The sky is red only on one side, and it is already growing dark. +It grows colder in the fields. It gets dusky and more dusky, and at +last quite dark. At last! With heart almost bursting from his bosom, +he set out on his way, and cautiously descended through the dense woods +into the deep hollow called the Bear's ravine. Basavriuk was already +waiting there. It was so dark, that you could not see a yard before +you. Hand in hand they penetrated the thin marsh, clinging to the +luxuriant thorn bushes, and stumbling at almost every step. At last +they reached an open spot. Petro looked about him: he had never +chanced to come there before. Here Basavriuk halted. + +"Do you see, before you stand three hillocks? There are a great many +sorts of flowers upon them. But may some power keep you from plucking +even one of them. But as soon as the fern blossoms, seize it, and look +not round, no matter what may seem to be going on behind thee." + +Petro wanted to ask--and behold he was no longer there. He approached +the three hillocks--where were the flowers? He saw nothing. The wild +steppe-grass darkled around, and stifled everything in its luxuriance. +But the lightning flashed; and before him stood a whole bed of flowers, +all wonderful, all strange: and there were also the simple fronds of +fern. Petro doubted his senses, and stood thoughtfully before them, +with both hands upon his sides. + +"What prodigy is this? one can see these weeds ten times in a day: what +marvel is there about them? was not devil's-face laughing at me?" + +Behold! the tiny flower-bud crimsons, and moves as though alive. It is +a marvel, in truth. It moves, and grows larger and larger, and flushes +like a burning coal. The tiny star flashes up, something bursts +softly, and the flower opens before his eyes like a flame, lighting the +others about it. "Now is the time," thought Petro, and extended his +hand. He sees hundreds of shaggy hands reach from behind him, also for +the flower; and there is a running about from place to place, in the +rear. He half shut his eyes, plucked sharply at the stalk, and the +flower remained in his hand. All became still. Upon a stump sat +Basavriuk, all blue like a corpse. He moved not so much as a finger. +His eyes were immovably fixed on something visible to him alone: his +mouth was half open and speechless. All about, nothing stirred. Ugh! +it was horrible!--But then a whistle was heard, which made Petro's +heart grow cold within him; and it seemed to him that the grass +whispered, and the flowers began to talk among themselves in delicate +voices, like little silver bells; the trees rustled in waving +contention;--Basavriuk's face suddenly became full of life, and his +eyes sparkled. "The witch has just returned," he muttered between his +teeth. "See here, Petro: a beauty will stand before you in a moment; +do whatever she commands; if not--you are lost for ever." Then he +parted the thorn-bush with a knotty stick, and before him stood a tiny +izba, on chicken's legs, as they say. Basavriuk smote it with his fist, +and the wall trembled. A large black dog ran out to meet them, and +with a whine, transforming itself into a cat, flew straight at his +eyes. "Don't be angry, don't be angry, you old Satan!" said Basavriuk, +employing such words as would have made a good man stop his ears. +Behold, instead of a cat, an old woman with a face wrinkled like a +baked apple, and all bent into a bow: her nose and chin were like a +pair of nut-crackers. "A stunning beauty!" thought Petro; and cold +chills ran down his back. The witch tore the flower from his hand, +bent over, and muttered over it for a long time, sprinkling it with +some kind of water. Sparks flew from her mouth, froth appeared on her +lips. + +"Throw it away," she said, giving it back to Petro. + +Petro threw it, and what wonder was this? the flower did not fall +straight to the earth, but for a long while twinkled like a fiery ball +through the darkness, and swam through the air like a boat: at last it +began to sink lower and lower, and fell so far away, that the little +star, hardly larger than a poppy-seed, was barely visible. "Here!" +croaked the old woman, in a dull voice: and Basavriuk, giving him a +spade, said: "Dig here, Petro: here you will see more gold than you or +Korzh ever dreamed of." + +Petro spat on his hands, seized the spade, applied his foot, and turned +up the earth, a second, a third, a fourth time. . . . There was +something hard: the spade clinked, and would go no farther. Then his +eyes began to distinguish a small, iron-bound coffer. He tried to +seize it; but the chest began to sink into the earth, deeper, farther, +and deeper still: and behind him he heard a laugh, more like a +serpent's hiss. "No, you shall not see the gold until you procure +human blood," said the witch, and led up to him a child of six, covered +with a white sheet, indicating by a sign that he was to cut off his +head. Petro was stunned. A trifle, indeed, to cut off a man's, or +even an innocent child's, head for no reason whatever! In wrath he +tore off the sheet enveloping his head, and behold! before him stood +Ivas. And the poor child crossed his little hands, and hung his head. +. . . Petro flew upon the witch with the knife like a madman, and was +on the point of laying hands on her. . . . + +"What did you promise for the girl?" . . . thundered Basavriuk; and +like a shot he was on his back. The witch stamped her foot: a blue +flame flashed from the earth; it illumined it all inside, and it was as +if moulded of crystal; and all that was within the earth became +visible, as if in the palm of the hand. Ducats, precious stones in +chests and kettles, were piled in heaps beneath the very spot they +stood on. His eyes burned, . . . his mind grew troubled. . . . He +grasped the knife like a madman, and the innocent blood spurted into +his eyes. Diabolical laughter resounded on all sides. Misshaped +monsters flew past him in herds. The witch, fastening her hands in the +headless trunk, like a wolf drank its blood. . . . All went round in +his head. Collecting all his strength, he set out to run. Everything +turned red before him. The trees seemed steeped in blood, and burned +and groaned. The sky glowed and glowered. . . . Burning points, like +lightning, flickered before his eyes. Utterly exhausted, he rushed into +his miserable hovel, and fell to the ground like a log. A death-like +sleep overpowered him. + +Two days and two nights did Petro sleep, without once awakening. When +he came to himself, on the third day, he looked long at all the corners +of his hut; but in vain did he endeavor to recollect; his memory was +like a miser's pocket, from which you cannot entice a quarter of a +kopek. Stretching himself, he heard something clash at his feet. He +looked, . . . two bags of gold. Then only, as if in a dream, he +recollected that he had been seeking some treasure, that something had +frightened him in the woods. . . . But at what price he had obtained +it, and how, he could by no means understand. + +Korzh saw the sacks,--and was mollified. "Such a Petrus, quite unheard +of! yes, and did I not love him? Was he not to me as my own son?" And +the old fellow carried on his fiction until it reduced him to tears. +Pidorka began to tell him how some passing gypsies had stolen Ivas; but +Petro could not even recall him--to such a degree had the Devil's +influence darkened his mind! There was no reason for delay. The Pole +was dismissed, and the wedding-feast prepared; rolls were baked, towels +and handkerchiefs embroidered; the young people were seated at table; +the wedding-loaf was cut; banduras, cymbals, pipes, kobzi, sounded, and +pleasure was rife . . . + +A wedding in the olden times was not like one of the present day. My +grandfather's aunt used to tell--what doings!--how the maidens--in +festive head-dresses of yellow, blue, and pink ribbons, above which +they bound gold braid; in thin chemisettes embroidered on all the seams +with red silk, and strewn with tiny silver flowers; in morocco shoes, +with high iron heels--danced the gorlitza as swimmingly as peacocks, +and as wildly as the whirlwind; how the youths--with their ship-shaped +caps upon their heads, the crowns of gold brocade, with a little slit +at the nape where the hair-net peeped through, and two horns +projecting, one in front and another behind, of the very finest black +lambskin; in kuntushas of the finest blue silk with red +borders--stepped forward one by one, their arms akimbo in stately form, +and executed the gopak; how the lads--in tall Cossack caps, and light +cloth svitkas, girt with silver embroidered belts, their short pipes in +their teeth--skipped before them, and talked nonsense. Even Korzh +could not contain himself, as he gazed at the young people, from +getting gay in his old age. Bandura in hand, alternately puffing at his +pipe and singing, a brandy-glass upon his head, the gray-beard began +the national dance amid loud shouts from the merry-makers. What will +not people devise in merry mood! They even began to disguise their +faces. They did not look like human beings. They are not to be +compared with the disguises which we have at our weddings nowadays. +What do they do now? Why, imitate gypsies and Moscow pedlers. No! +then one used to dress himself as a Jew, another as the Devil: they +would begin by kissing each other, and ended by seizing each other by +the hair. . . . God be with them! you laughed till you held your +sides. They dressed themselves in Turkish and Tartar garments. All +upon them glowed like a conflagration, . . . and then they began to +joke and play pranks. . . . Well, then away with the saints! An +amusing thing happened to my grandfather's aunt, who was at this +wedding. She was dressed in a voluminous Tartar robe, and, wine-glass +in hand, was entertaining the company. The Evil One instigated one man +to pour vodka over her from behind. Another, at the same moment, +evidently not by accident, struck a light, and touched it to her; . . . +the flame flashed up; poor aunt, in terror, flung her robe from her, +before them all. . . . Screams, laughter, jest, arose, as if at a fair. +In a word, the old folks could not recall so merry a wedding. + +Pidorka and Petrus began to live like a gentleman and lady. There was +plenty of everything, and everything was handsome. . . . But honest +people shook their heads when they looked at their way of living. +"From the Devil no good can come," they unanimously agreed. "Whence, +except from the tempter of orthodox people, came this wealth? Where +else could he get such a lot of gold? Why, on the very day that he got +rich, did Basavriuk vanish as if into thin air?" Say, if you can, that +people imagine things! In fact, a month had not passed, and no one +would have recognized Petrus. Why, what had happened to him? God +knows. He sits in one spot, and says no word to any one: he thinks +continually, and seems to be trying to recall something. When Pidorka +succeeds in getting him to speak, he seems to forget himself, carries +on a conversation, and even grows cheerful; but if he inadvertently +glances at the sacks, "Stop, stop! I have forgotten," he cries, and +again plunges into reverie, and again strives to recall something. +Sometimes when he has sat long in a place, it seems to him as though it +were coming, just coming back to mind, . . . and again all fades away. +It seems as if he is sitting in the tavern: they bring him vodka; vodka +stings him; vodka is repulsive to him. Some one comes along, and +strikes him on the shoulder; . . . but beyond that everything is veiled +in darkness before him. The perspiration streams down his face, and he +sits exhausted in the same place. + +What did not Pidorka do? She consulted the sorceress; and they poured +out fear, and brewed stomach ache,[Footnote: "To pour out fear," is +done with us in case of fear; when it is desired to know what caused +it, melted lead or wax is poured into water, and the object whose form +it assumes is the one which frightened the sick person; after this, the +fear departs. Sonyashnitza is brewed for giddiness, and pain in the +bowels. To this end, a bit of stump is burned, thrown into a jug, and +turned upside down into a bowl filled with water, which is placed on +the patient's stomach: after an incantation, he is given a spoonful of +this water to drink.]--but all to no avail. And so the summer passed. +Many a Cossack had mowed and reaped: many a Cossack, more enterprising +than the rest, had set off upon an expedition. Flocks of ducks were +already crowding our marshes, but there was not even a hint of +improvement. + +It was red upon the steppes. Ricks of grain, like Cossacks' caps, +dotted the fields here and there. On the highway were to be +encountered wagons loaded with brushwood and logs. The ground had +become more solid, and in places was touched with frost. Already had +the snow begun to besprinkle the sky, and the branches of the trees +were covered with rime like rabbit-skin. Already on frosty days the +red-breasted finch hopped about on the snow-heaps like a foppish Polish +nobleman, and picked out grains of corn; and children, with huge +sticks, chased wooden tops upon the ice; while their fathers lay +quietly on the stove, issuing forth at intervals with lighted pipes in +their lips, to growl, in regular fashion, at the orthodox frost, or to +take the air, and thresh the grain spread out in the barn. At last the +snow began to melt, and the ice rind slipped away: but Petro remained +the same; and, the longer it went on, the more morose he grew. He sat +in the middle of the cottage as though nailed to the spot, with the +sacks of gold at his feet. He grew shy, his hair grew long, he became +terrible; and still he thought of but one thing, still he tried to +recall something, and got angry and ill-tempered because he could not +recall it. Often, rising wildly from his seat, he gesticulates +violently, fixes his eyes on something as though desirous of catching +it: his lips move as though desirous of uttering some long-forgotten +word--and remain speechless. Fury takes possession of him: he gnaws +and bites his hands like a man half crazy, and in his vexation tears +out his hair by the handful, until, calming down, he falls into +forgetfulness, as it were, and again begins to recall, and is again +seized with fury and fresh tortures. . . . What visitation of God is +this? + +Pidorka was neither dead nor alive. At first it was horrible to her to +remain alone in the cottage; but, in course of time, the poor woman +grew accustomed to her sorrow. But it was impossible to recognize the +Pidorka of former days. No blush, no smile: she was thin and worn with +grief, and had wept her bright eyes away. Once, some one who evidently +took pity on her advised her to go to the witch who dwelt in the Bear's +ravine, and enjoyed the reputation of being able to cure every disease +in the world. She determined to try this last remedy: word by word she +persuaded the old woman to come to her. This was St. John's Eve, as it +chanced. Petro lay insensible on the bench, and did not observe the +new-comer. Little by little he rose, and looked about him. Suddenly +he trembled in every limb, as though he were on the scaffold: his hair +rose upon his head, . . . and he laughed such a laugh as pierced +Pidorka's heart with fear. "I have remembered, remembered!" he cried +in terrible joy; and, swinging a hatchet round his head, he flung it at +the old woman with all his might. The hatchet penetrated the oaken +door two vershok (three inches and a half). The old woman disappeared; +and a child of seven in a white blouse, with covered head, stood in the +middle of the cottage. . . . The sheet flew off. "Ivas!" cried +Pidorka, and ran to him; but the apparition became covered from head to +foot with blood, and illumined the whole room with red light. . . . +She ran into the passage in her terror, but, on recovering herself a +little, wished to help him; in vain! the door had slammed to behind her +so securely that she could not open it. People ran up, and began to +knock: they broke in the door, as though there was but one mind among +them. The whole cottage was full of smoke; and just in the middle, +where Petrus had stood, was a heap of ashes, from which smoke was still +rising. They flung themselves upon the sacks: only broken potsherds +lay there instead of ducats. The Cossacks stood with staring eyes and +open mouths, not daring to move a hair, as if rooted to the earth, such +terror did this wonder inspire in them. + +I do not remember what happened next. Pidorka took a vow to go upon a +pilgrimage, collected the property left her by her father, and in a few +days it was as if she had never been in the village. Whither she had +gone, no one could tell. Officious old women would have despatched her +to the same place whither Petro had gone; but a Cossack from Kief +reported that he had seen in a cloister, a nun withered to a mere +skeleton, who prayed unceasingly; and her fellow villagers recognized +her as Pidorka, by all the signs,--that no one had ever heard her utter +a word; that she had come on foot, and had brought a frame for the ikon +of God's mother, set with such brilliant stones that all were dazzled +at the sight. + +But this was not the end, if you please. On the same day that the Evil +One made way with Petrus, Basavriuk appeared again; but all fled from +him. They knew what sort of a bird he was,--none else than Satan, who +had assumed human form in order to unearth treasures; and, since +treasures do not yield to unclean hands, he seduced the young. That +same year, all deserted their earth huts, and collected in a village; +but, even there, there was no peace, on account of that accursed +Basavriuk. My late grandfather's aunt said that he was particularly +angry with her, because she had abandoned her former tavern, and tried +with all his might to revenge himself upon her. Once the village +elders were assembled in the tavern, and, as the saying goes, were +arranging the precedence at the table, in the middle of which was +placed a small roasted lamb, shame to say. They chattered about this, +that, and the other,--among the rest about various marvels and strange +things. Well, they saw something; it would have been nothing if only +one had seen it, but all saw it; and it was this: the sheep raised his +head; his goggling eyes became alive and sparkled; and the black, +bristling moustache, which appeared for one instant, made a significant +gesture at those present. All, at once, recognized Basavriuk's +countenance in the sheep's head: my grandfather's aunt thought it was +on the point of asking for vodka. . . . The worthy elders seized their +hats, and hastened home. + +Another time, the church starost [Footnote: Elder] himself, who was +fond of an occasional private interview with my grandfather's +brandy-glass, had not succeeded in getting to the bottom twice, when he +beheld the glass bowing very low to him. "Satan take you, let us make +the sign of the cross over you!" . . . And the same marvel happened to +his better-half. She had just begun to mix the dough in a huge +kneading-trough, when suddenly the trough sprang up. "Stop, stop! +where are you going?" Putting its arms akimbo, with dignity, it went +skipping all about the cottage. . . . You may laugh, but it was no +laughing-matter to our grandfathers. And in vain did Father Athanasii +go through all the village with holy water, and chase the Devil through +all the streets with his brush; and my late grandfather's aunt long +complained that, as soon as it was dark, some one came knocking at her +door, and scratching at the wall. + +Well! All appears to be quiet now, in the place where our village +stands; but it was not so very long ago--my father was still +alive--that I remember how a good man could not pass the ruined tavern, +which a dishonest race had long managed for their own interest. From +the smoke-blackened chimneys, smoke poured out in a pillar, and rising +high in the air, as if to take an observation, rolled off like a cap, +scattering burning coals over the steppe; and Satan (the son of a dog +should not be mentioned) sobbed so pitifully in his lair, that the +startled ravens rose in flocks from the neighboring oak-wood, and flew +through the air with wild cries. + + + + + + +AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE + +BY + +COUNT LYOF N. TOLSTOI + +From "The Invaders." Translated by N. H. Dole. + +1887 + +(Prince Nekhiludof Relates how, during an Expedition in the Caucasus, +he met an Acquaintance from Moscow) + + + + +Our division had been out in the field. The work in hand was +accomplished: we had cut a way through the forest, and each day we were +expecting from headquarters orders for our return to the fort. Our +division of fieldpieces was stationed at the top of a steep +mountain-crest which was terminated by the swift mountain-river Mechik, +and had to command the plain that stretched before us. Here and there +on this picturesque plain, out of the reach of gunshot, now and then, +especially at evening, groups of mounted mountaineers showed +themselves, attracted by curiosity to ride up and view the Russian camp. + +The evening was clear, mild, and fresh, as it is apt to be in December +in the Caucasus; the sun was setting behind the steep chain of the +mountains at the left, and threw rosy rays upon the tents scattered +over the slope, upon the soldiers moving about, and upon our two guns, +which seemed to crane their necks as they rested motionless on the +earthwork two paces from us. The infantry picket, stationed on the +knoll at the left, stood in perfect silhouette against the light of the +sunset; no less distinct were the stacks of muskets, the form of the +sentry, the groups of soldiers, and the smoke of the smouldering +camp-fire. + +At the right and left of the slope, on the black, sodden earth, the +tents gleamed white; and behind the tents, black, stood the bare trunks +of the platane forest, which rang with the incessant sound of axes, the +crackling of the bonfires, and the crashing of the trees as they fell +under the axes. The bluish smoke arose from tobacco-pipes on all +sides, and vanished in the transparent blue of the frosty sky. By the +tents and on the lower ground around the arms rushed the Cossacks, +dragoons, and artillerists, with great galloping and snorting of horses +as they returned from getting water. It began to freeze; all sounds +were heard with extraordinary distinctness, and one could see an +immense distance across the plain through the clear, rare atmosphere. +The groups of the enemy, their curiosity at seeing the soldiers +satisfied, quietly galloped off across the fields, still yellow with +the golden corn-stubble, toward their auls, or villages, which were +visible beyond the forest, with the tall posts of the cemeteries and +the smoke rising in the air. + +Our tent was pitched not far from the guns on a place high and dry, +from which we had a remarkably extended view. Near the tent, on a +cleared space, around the battery itself, we had our games of skittles, +or chushki. The obliging soldiers had made for us rustic benches and +tables. On account of all these amusements, the artillery officers, +our comrades, and a few infantry men liked to gather of an evening +around our battery, and the place came to be called the club. + +As the evening was fine, the best players had come, and we were amusing +ourselves with skittles [Footnote: Gorodki]. Ensign D., Lieutenant O., +and myself had played two games in succession; and to the common +satisfaction and amusement of all the spectators, officers, soldiers, +and servants [Footnote: Denshchiki ] who were watching us from their +tents, we had twice carried the winning party on our backs from one end +of the ground to the other. Especially droll was the situation of the +huge fat Captain S., who, puffing and smiling good-naturedly, with legs +dragging on the ground, rode pickaback on the feeble little Lieutenant +O. + +When it grew somewhat later, the servants brought three glasses of tea +for the six men of us, and not a spoon; and we who had finished our +game came to the plaited settees. + +There was standing near them a small bow-legged man, a stranger to us, +in a sheepskin jacket, and a papakha, or Circassian cap, with a long +overhanging white crown. As soon as we came near where he stood, he +took a few irresolute steps, and put on his cap; and several times he +seemed to make up his mind to come to meet us, and then stopped again. +But after deciding, probably, that it was impossible to remain +irresolute, the stranger took off his cap, and, going in a circuit +around us, approached Captain S. + +"Ah, Guskantinli, how is it, old man?" [Footnote: Nu chto, batenka,] +said S., still smiling good-naturedly, under the influence of his ride. + +Guskantni, as S. called him, instantly replaced his cap, and made a +motion as though to thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket; +[Footnote: Polushubok, little half shuba, or fur cloak.] but on the +side toward me there was no pocket in the jacket, and his small red +hand fell into an awkward position. I felt a strong desire to make out +who this man was (was he a yunker, or a degraded officer?), and, not +realizing that my gaze (that is, the gaze of a strange officer) +disconcerted him, I continued to stare at his dress and appearance. + +I judged that he was about thirty. His small, round, gray eyes had a +sleepy expression, and at the same time gazed calmly out from under the +dirty white lambskin of his cap, which hung down over his face. His +thick, irregular nose, standing out between his sunken cheeks, gave +evidence of emaciation that was the result of illness, and not natural. +His restless lips, barely covered by a sparse, soft, whitish moustache, +were constantly changing their shape as though they were trying to +assume now one expression, now another. But all these expressions +seemed to be endless, and his face retained one predominating +expression of timidity and fright. Around his thin neck, where the +veins stood out, was tied a green woollen scarf tucked into his jacket, +his fur jacket, or polushubok, was worn bare, short, and had dog-fur +sewed on the collar and on the false pockets. The trousers were +checkered, of ash-gray color, and his sapogi had short, unblacked +military bootlegs. + +"I beg of you, do not disturb yourself," said I when he for the second +time, timidly glancing at me, had taken off his cap. + +He bowed to me with an expression of gratitude, replaced his hat, and, +drawing from his pocket a dirty chintz tobacco-pouch with lacings, +began to roll a cigarette. + +I myself had not been long a yunker, an elderly yunker; and as I was +incapable, as yet, of being good-naturedly serviceable to my younger +comrades, and without means, I well knew all the moral difficulties of +this situation for a proud man no longer young, and I sympathized with +all men who found themselves in such a situation, and I endeavored to +make clear to myself their character and rank, and the tendencies of +their intellectual peculiarities, in order to judge of the degree of +their moral sufferings. This yunker or degraded officer, judging by +his restless eyes and that intentionally constant variation of +expression which I noticed in him, was a man very far from stupid, and +extremely egotistical, and therefore much to be pitied. + +Captain S. invited us to play another game of skittles, with the stakes +to consist, not only of the usual pickaback ride of the winning party, +but also of a few bottles of red wine, rum, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves +for the mulled wine which that winter, on account of the cold, was +greatly popular in our division. + +Guskantini, as S. again called him, was also invited to take part; but +before the game began, the man, struggling between gratification +because he had been invited and a certain timidity, drew Captain S. +aside, and began to say something in a whisper. The good-natured +captain punched him in the ribs with his big, fat hand, and replied, +loud enough to be heard: + +"Not at all, old fellow [Footnote: Batenka, Malo-Russian diminutive, +little father], I assure you." + +When the game was over, and that side in which the stranger whose rank +was so low had taken part, had come out winners, and it fell to his lot +to ride on one of our officers, Ensign D., the ensign grew red in the +face: he went to the little divan and offered the stranger a cigarette +by way of a compromise. + +While they were ordering the mulled wine, and in the steward's tent +were heard assiduous preparations on the part of Nikita, who had sent +an orderly for cinnamon and cloves, and the shadow of his back was +alternately lengthening and shortening on the dingy sides of the tent, +we men, seven in all, sat around on the benches; and while we took +turns in drinking tea from the three glasses, and gazed out over the +plain, which was now beginning to glow in the twilight, we talked and +laughed over the various incidents of the game. + +The stranger in the fur jacket took no share in the conversation, +obstinately refused to drink the tea which I several times offered him, +and as he sat there on the ground in Tartar fashion, occupied himself +in making cigarettes of fine-cut tobacco, and smoking them one after +another, evidently not so much for his own satisfaction as to give +himself the appearance of a man with something to do. When it was +remarked that the summons to return was expected on the morrow, and +that there might be an engagement, he lifted himself on his knees, and, +addressing Captain B. only, said that he had been at the adjutant's, +and had himself written the order for the return on the next day. We +all said nothing while he was speaking; and notwithstanding the fact +that he was so bashful, we begged him to repeat this most interesting +piece of news. He repeated what he had said, adding only that he had +been staying at the adjutant's (since he made it his home there) when +the order came. + +"Look here, old fellow, if you are not telling us false, I shall have +to go to my company and give some orders for to-morrow," said Captain S. + +"No . . . why . . . it may be, I am sure," . . . stammered the +stranger, but suddenly stopped, and, apparently feeling himself +affronted, contracted his brows, and, muttering something between his +teeth, again began to roll a cigarette. But the fine-cut tobacco in +his chintz pouch began to show signs of giving out, and he asked S. to +lend him a little cigarette. [Footnote: PAPIROSTCHKA, diminished +diminutive of PAPIROSKA, from PAPIROS.] + +We kept on for a considerable time with that monotonous military +chatter which every one who has ever been on an expedition will +appreciate; all of us, with one and the same expression, complaining of +the dullness and length of the expedition, in one and the same fashion +sitting in judgment on our superiors, and all of us likewise, as we had +done many times before, praising one comrade, pitying another, +wondering how much this one had gained, how much that one had lost, and +so on, and so on. + +"Here, fellows, this adjutant of ours is completely broken up," said +Captain S. "At headquarters he was everlastingly on the winning side; +no matter whom he sat down with, he'd rake in everything: but now for +two months past he has been losing all the time. The present +expedition hasn't been lucky for him. I think he has got away with two +thousand silver rubles and five hundred rubles' worth of articles,--the +carpet that he won at Mukhin's, Nikitin's pistols, Sada's gold watch +which Vorontsof gave him. He has lost it all." + +"The truth of the matter in his case," said Lieutenant O., "was that he +used to cheat everybody; it was impossible to play with him." + +"He cheated every one, but now it's all gone up in his pipe;" and here +Captain S. laughed good-naturedly. "Our friend Guskof here lives with +him. He hasn't quite lost HIM yet: that's so, isn't it, old fellow?" +[Footnote: Batenka] he asked, addressing Guskof. + +Guskof tried to laugh. It was a melancholy, sickly laugh, which +completely changed the expression of his countenance. Till this moment +it had seemed to me that I had seen and known this man before; and, +besides the name Guskof, by which Captain S. called him, was familiar +to me; but how and when I had seen and known him, I actually could not +remember. + +"Yes," said Guskof, incessantly putting his hand to his moustaches, but +instantly dropping it again without touching them. "Pavel +Dmitrievitch's luck has been against him in this expedition, such a +veine de malheur" he added in a careful but pure French pronunciation, +again giving me to think that I had seen him, and seen him often, +somewhere. "I know Pavel Dmitrievitch very well. He has great +confidence in me," he proceeded to say; "he and I are old friends; that +is, he is fond of me," he explained, evidently fearing that it might be +taken as presumption for him to claim old friendship with the adjutant. +"Pavel Dmitrievitch plays admirably; but now, strange as it may seem, +it's all up with him, he is just about perfectly ruined; la chance a +tourne," he added, addressing himself particularly to me. + +At first we had listened to Guskof with condescending attention; but as +soon as he made use of that second French phrase, we all involuntarily +turned from him. + +"I have played with him a thousand times, and we agreed then that it +was strange," said Lieutenant O., with peculiar emphasis on the word +STRANGE [Footnote: Stranno]. "I never once won a ruble from him. Why +was it, when I used to win of others?" + +"Pavel Dmitrievitch plays admirably: I have known him for a long time," +said I. In fact, I had known the adjutant for several years; more than +once I had seen him in the full swing of a game, surrounded by +officers, and I had remarked his handsome, rather gloomy and always +passionless calm face, his deliberate Malo-Russian pronunciation, his +handsome belongings and horses, his bold, manly figure, and above all +his skill and self-restraint in carrying on the game accurately and +agreeably. More than once, I am sorry to say, as I looked at his plump +white hands with a diamond ring on the index-finger, passing out one +card after another, I grew angry with that ring, with his white hands, +with the whole of the adjutant's person, and evil thoughts on his +account arose in my mind. But as I afterwards reconsidered the matter +coolly, I persuaded myself that he played more skilfully than all with +whom he happened to play: the more so, because as I heard his general +observations concerning the game,--how one ought not to back out when +one had laid the smallest stake, how one ought not to leave off in +certain cases as the first rule for honest men, and so forth, and so +forth,--it was evident that he was always on the winning side merely +from the fact that he played more sagaciously and coolly than the rest +of us. And now it seemed that this self-reliant, careful player had +been stripped not only of his money but of his effects, which marks the +lowest depths of loss for an officer. + +"He always had devilish good luck with me," said Lieutenant O. "I made +a vow never to play with him again." + +"What a marvel you are, old fellow!" said S., nodding at me, and +addressing O. "You lost three hundred silver rubles, that's what you +lost to him." + +"More than that," said the lieutenant savagely. + +"And now you have come to your senses; it is rather late in the day, +old man, for the rest of us have known for a long time that he was the +cheat of the regiment," said S., with difficulty restraining his +laughter, and feeling very well satisfied with his fabrication. "Here +is Guskof right here,--he FIXES his cards for him. That's the reason +of the friendship between them, old man" [Footnote: BATENKA MOI] . . . +and Captain S., shaking all over, burst out into such a hearty "ha, ha, +ha!" that he spilt the glass of mulled wine which he was holding in his +hand. On Guskof's pale emaciated face there showed something like a +color; he opened his mouth several times, raised his hands to his +moustaches, and once more dropped them to his side where the pockets +should have been, stood up, and then sat down again, and finally in an +unnatural voice said to S.: + +"It's no joke, Nikolai Ivanovitch, for you to say such things before +people who don't know me and who see me in this unlined jacket . . . +because--" His voice failed him, and again his small red hands with +their dirty nails went from his jacket to his face, touching his +moustache, his hair, his nose, rubbing his eyes, or needlessly +scratching his cheek. + +"As to saying that, everybody knows it, old fellow," continued S., +thoroughly satisfied with his jest, and not heeding Guskof's complaint. +Guskof was still trying to say something; and placing the palm of his +right hand on his left knee in a most unnatural position, and gazing at +S., he had an appearance of smiling contemptuously. + +"No," said I to myself, as I noticed that smile of his, "I have not +only seen him, but have spoken with him somewhere." + +"You and I have met somewhere," said I to him when, under the influence +of the common silence, S.'s laughter began to calm down. Guskof's +mobile face suddenly lighted up, and his eyes, for the first time with +a truly joyous expression, rested upon me. + +"Why, I recognized you immediately," he replied in French. "In '48 I +had the pleasure of meeting you quite frequently in Moscow at my +sister's." + +I had to apologize for not recognizing him at first in that costume and +in that new garb. He arose, came to me, and with his moist hand +irresolutely and weakly seized my hand, and sat down by me. Instead of +looking at me, though he apparently seemed so glad to see me, he gazed +with an expression of unfriendly bravado at the officers. + +Either because I recognized in him a man whom I had met a few years +before in a dresscoat in a parlor, or because he was suddenly raised in +his own opinion by the fact of being recognized,--at all events it +seemed to me that his face and even his motions completely changed: +they now expressed lively intelligence, a childish self-satisfaction in +the consciousness of such intelligence, and a certain contemptuous +indifference; so that I confess, notwithstanding the pitiable position +in which he found himself, my old acquaintance did not so much excite +sympathy in me as it did a sort of unfavorable sentiment. + +I now vividly remembered our first meeting. In 1848, while I was +staying at Moscow, I frequently went to the house of Ivashin, who from +childhood had been an old friend of mine. His wife was an agreeable +hostess, a charming woman, as everybody said; but she never pleased me. +. . . The winter that I knew her, she often spoke with hardly +concealed pride of her brother, who had shortly before completed his +course, and promised to be one of the most fashionable and popular +young men in the best society of Petersburg. As I knew by reputation +the father of the Guskofs, who was very rich and had a distinguished +position, and as I knew also the sister's ways, I felt some prejudice +against meeting the young man. One evening when I was at Ivashin's, I +saw a short, thoroughly pleasant-looking young man, in a black coat, +white vest and necktie. My host hastened to make me acquainted with +him. The young man, evidently dressed for a ball, with his cap in his +hand, was standing before Ivashin, and was eagerly but politely arguing +with him about a common friend of ours, who had distinguished himself +at the time of the Hungarian campaign. He said that this acquaintance +was not at all a hero or a man born for war, as was said of him, but +was simply a clever and cultivated man. I recollect, I took part in +the argument against Guskof, and went to the extreme of declaring also +that intellect and cultivation always bore an inverse relation to +bravery; and I recollect how Guskof pleasantly and cleverly pointed out +to me that bravery was necessarily the result of intellect and a +decided degree of development,--a statement which I, who considered +myself an intellectual and cultivated man, could not in my heart of +hearts agree with. + +I recollect that towards the close of our conversation Madame Ivashina +introduced me to her brother; and he, with a condescending smile, +offered me his little hand on which he had not yet had time to draw his +kid gloves, and weakly and irresolutely pressed my hand as he did now. +Though I had been prejudiced against Guskof, I could not help granting +that he was in the right, and agreeing with his sister that he was +really a clever and agreeable young man, who ought to have great +success in society. He was extraordinarily neat, beautifully dressed, +and fresh, and had affectedly modest manners, and a thoroughly +youthful, almost childish appearance, on account of which you could not +help excusing his expression of self-sufficiency, though it modified +the impression of his high-mightiness caused by his intellectual face +and especially his smile. It is said that he had great success that +winter with the high-born ladies of Moscow. As I saw him at his +sister's I could only infer how far this was true by the feeling of +pleasure and contentment constantly excited in me by his youthful +appearance and by his sometimes indiscreet anecdotes. He and I met +half a dozen times, and talked a good deal; or, rather, he talked a +good deal, and I listened. He spoke for the most part in French, +always with a good accent, very fluently and ornately; and he had the +skill of drawing others gently and politely into the conversation. As +a general thing, he behaved toward all, and toward me, in a somewhat +supercilious manner, and I felt that he was perfectly right in this way +of treating people. I always feel that way in regard to men who are +firmly convinced that they ought to treat me superciliously, and who +are comparative strangers to me. + +Now, as he sat with me, and gave me his hand, I keenly recalled in him +that same old haughtiness of expression; and it seemed to me that he +did not properly appreciate his position of official inferiority, as, +in the presence of the officers, he asked me what I had been doing in +all that time, and how I happened to be there. In spite of the fact +that I invariably made my replies in Russian, he kept putting his +questions in French, expressing himself as before in remarkably correct +language. About himself he said fluently that after his unhappy, +wretched story (what the story was, I did not know, and he had not yet +told me), he had been three months under arrest, and then had been sent +to the Caucasus to the N. regiment, and now had been serving three +years as a soldier in that regiment. + +"You would not believe," said he to me in French, "how much I have to +suffer in these regiments from the society of the officers. Still it +is a pleasure to me, that I used to know the adjutant of whom we were +just speaking: he is a good man--it's a fact," he remarked +condescendingly. "I live with him, and that's something of a relief for +me. Yes, my dear, the days fly by, but they aren't all alike," +[Footnote: OUI, MON CHER, LES JOURS SE SUIVENT, MAIS NE SE RESSEMBLENT +PAS: in French in the original.] he added; and suddenly hesitated, +reddened, and stood up, as he caught sight of the adjutant himself +coming toward us. + +"It is such a pleasure to meet such a man as you," said Guskof to me in +a whisper as he turned from me. "I should like very, very much, to +have a long talk with you." + +I said that I should be very happy to talk with him, but in reality I +confess that Guskof excited in me a sort of dull pity that was not akin +to sympathy. + +I had a presentiment that I should feel a constraint in a private +conversation with him; but still I was anxious to learn from him +several things, and, above all, why it was, when his father had been so +rich, that he was in poverty, as was evident by his dress and +appearance. + +The adjutant greeted us all, including Guskof, and sat down by me in +the seat which the cashiered officer had just vacated. Pavel +Dmitrievitch, who had always been calm and leisurely, a genuine +gambler, and a man of means, was now very different from what he had +been in the flowery days of his success; he seemed to be in haste to go +somewhere, kept constantly glancing at everybody, and it was not five +minutes before he proposed to Lieutenant O., who had sworn off from +playing, to set up a small faro-bank. Lieutenant O. refused, under the +pretext of having to attend to his duties, but in reality because, as +he knew that the adjutant had few possessions and little money left, he +did not feel himself justified in risking his three hundred rubles +against a hundred or even less which the adjutant might stake. + +"Well, Pavel Dmitrievitch," said the lieutenant, anxious to avoid a +repetition of the invitation, "is it true, what they tell us, that we +return to-morrow?" + +"I don't know," replied the adjutant. "Orders came to be in readiness; +but if it's true, then you'd better play a game. I would wager my +Kabarda cloak." + +"No, to-day already" . . . + +"It's a gray one, never been worn; but if you prefer, play for money. +How is that?" + +"Yes, but . . . I should be willing--pray don't think that" . . . said +Lieutenant O., answering the implied suspicion; "but as there may be a +raid or some movement, I must go to bed early." + +The adjutant stood up, and, thrusting his hands into his pockets, +started to go across the grounds. His face assumed its ordinary +expression of coldness and pride, which I admired in him. + +"Won't you have a glass of mulled wine?" I asked him. + +"That might be acceptable," and he came back to me; but Guskof politely +took the glass from me, and handed it to the adjutant, striving at the +same time not to look at him. But as he did not notice the tent-rope, +he stumbled over it, and fell on his hand, dropping the glass. + +"What a bungler!" exclaimed the adjutant, still holding out his hand +for the glass. Everybody burst out laughing, not excepting Guskof, who +was rubbing his hand on his sore knee, which he had somehow struck as +he fell. "That's the way the bear waited on the hermit," continued the +adjutant. "It's the way he waits on me every day. He has pulled up +all the tent-pins; he's always tripping up." + +Guskof, not hearing him, apologized to us, and glanced toward me with a +smile of almost noticeable melancholy, as though saying that I alone +could understand him. He was pitiable to see; but the adjutant, his +protector, seemed, on that very account, to be severe on his messmate, +and did not try to put him at his ease. + +"Well, you're a graceful lad! Where did you think you were going?" + +"Well, who can help tripping over these pins, Pavel Dmitrievitch?" said +Guskof. "You tripped over them yourself the other day." + +"I, old man, [Footnote: batiushka]--I am not of the rank and file, and +such gracefulness is not expected of me." + +"He can be lazy," said Captain S., keeping the ball rolling, "but +low-rank men have to make their legs fly." + +"Ill-timed jest," said Guskof, almost in a whisper, and casting down +his eyes. The adjutant was evidently vexed with his messmate; he +listened with inquisitive attention to every word that he said. + +"He'll have to be sent out into ambuscade again," said he, addressing +S., and pointing to the cashiered officer. + +"Well, there'll be some more tears," said S., laughing. Guskof no +longer looked at me, but acted as though he were going to take some +tobacco from his pouch, though there had been none there for some time. + +"Get ready for the ambuscade, old man," said S., addressing him with +shouts of laughter. "To-day the scouts have brought the news, there'll +be an attack on the camp to-night, so it's necessary to designate the +trusty lads." Guskof's face showed a fleeting smile as though he were +preparing to make some reply, but several times he cast a supplicating +look at S. + +"Well, you know I have been, and I'm ready to go again if I am sent," +he said hastily. + +"Then you'll be sent." + +"Well, I'll go. Isn't that all right?" + +"Yes, as at Arguna, you deserted the ambuscade and threw away your +gun," said the adjutant; and turning from him he began to tell us the +orders for the next day. + +As a matter of fact, we expected from the enemy a cannonade of the camp +that night, and the next day some sort of diversion. While we were +still chatting about various subjects of general interest, the +adjutant, as though from a sudden and unexpected impulse, proposed to +Lieutenant O. to have a little game. The lieutenant most unexpectedly +consented; and, together with S. and the ensign, they went off to the +adjutant's tent, where there was a folding green table with cards on +it. The captain, the commander of our division, went to our tent to +sleep; the other gentlemen also separated, and Guskof and I were left +alone. I was not mistaken, it was really very uncomfortable for me to +have a tete-a-tete with him; I arose involuntarily, and began to +promenade up and down on the battery. Guskof walked in silence by my +side, hastily and awkwardly wheeling around so as not to delay or +incommode me. + +"I do not annoy you?" he asked in a soft, mournful voice. So far as I +could see his face in the dim light, it seemed to me deeply thoughtful +and melancholy. + +"Not at all," I replied; but as he did not immediately begin to speak, +and as I did not know what to say to him, we walked in silence a +considerably long time. + +The twilight had now absolutely changed into dark night; over the black +profile of the mountains gleamed the bright evening heat-lightning; +over our heads in the light-blue frosty sky twinkled the little stars; +on all sides gleamed the ruddy flames of the smoking watch-fires; near +us, the white tents stood out in contrast to the frowning blackness of +our earth-works. The light from the nearest watch-fire, around which +our servants, engaged in quiet conversation, were warming themselves, +occasionally flashed on the brass of our heavy guns, and fell on the +form of the sentry, who, wrapped in his cloak, paced with measured +tread along the battery. + +"You cannot imagine what a delight it is for me to talk with such a man +as you are," said Guskof, although as yet he had not spoken a word to +me. "Only one who had been in my position could appreciate it." + +I did not know how to reply to him, and we again relapsed into silence, +although it was evident that he was anxious to talk and have me listen +to him. + +"Why were you . . . why did you suffer this?" I inquired at last, not +being able to invent any better way of breaking the ice. + +"Why, didn't you hear about this wretched business from Metenin?" + +"Yes, a duel, I believe; I did not hear much about it," I replied. +"You see, I have been for some time in the Caucasus." + +"No, it wasn't a duel, but it was a stupid and horrid story. I will +tell you all about it, if you don't know. It happened that the same +year that I met you at my sister's I was living at Petersburg. I must +tell you I had then what they call une position dans le monde,--a +position good enough if it was not brilliant. Mon pere me donnait ten +thousand par an. In '49 I was promised a place in the embassy at Turin; +my uncle on my mother's side had influence, and was always ready to do +a great deal for me. That sort of thing is all past now. J'etais recu +dans la meilleure societe de Petersburg; I might have aspired to any +girl in the city. I was well educated, as we all are who come from the +school, but was not especially cultivated; to be sure, I read a good +deal afterwards, mais j'avais surtout, you know, ce jargon du monde, +and, however it came about, I was looked upon as a leading light among +the young men of Petersburg. What raised me more than all in common +estimation, c'est cette liaison avec Madame D., about which a great +deal was said in Petersburg; but I was frightfully young at that time, +and did not prize these advantages very highly. I was simply young and +stupid. What more did I need? Just then that Metenin had some +notoriety--" + +And Guskof went on in the same fashion to relate to me the history of +his misfortunes, which I will omit, as it would not be at all +interesting. + +"Two months I remained under arrest," he continued, "absolutely alone; +and what thoughts did I not have during that time? But, you know, when +it was all over, as though every tie had been broken with the past, +then it became easier for me. Mon pere,--you have heard tell of him, +of course, a man of iron will and strong convictions,--il m'a +desherite, and broken off all intercourse with me. According to his +convictions he had to do as he did, and I don't blame him at all. He +was consistent. Consequently, I have not taken a step to induce him to +change his mind. My sister was abroad. Madame D. is the only one who +wrote to me when I was released, and she sent me assistance; but you +understand that I could not accept it, so that I had none of those +little things which make one's position a little easier, you +know,--books, linen, food, nothing at all. At this time I thought +things over and over, and began to look at life with different eyes. +For instance, this noise, this society gossip about me in Petersburg, +did not interest me, did not flatter me; it all seemed to me +ridiculous. I felt that I myself had been to blame; I was young and +indiscreet; I had spoiled my career, and I only thought how I might get +into the right track again. And I felt that I had strength and energy +enough for it. After my arrest, as I told you, I was sent here to the +Caucasus to the N. regiment. + +"I thought," he went on to say, all the time becoming more and more +animated,--"I thought that here in the Caucasus, la vie de camp, the +simple, honest men with whom I should associate, and war and danger, +would all admirably agree with my mental state, so that I might begin a +new life. They will see me under fire. [Footnote: On me verra au +feu.] I shall make myself liked; I shall be respected for my real +self,--the cross--non-commissioned officer; they will relieve me of my +fine; and I shall get up again, et vous savez avec ce prestige du +malheur! But, quel desenchantement! You can't imagine how I have been +deceived! You know what sort of men the officers of our regiment are." + +He did not speak for some little time, waiting, as it appeared, for me +to tell him that I knew the society of our officers here was bad; but I +made him no reply. It went against my grain that he should expect me, +because I knew French, forsooth, to be obliged to take issue with the +society of the officers, which, during my long residence in the +Caucasus, I had had time enough to appreciate fully, and for which I +had far higher respect than for the society from which Mr. Guskof had +sprung. I wanted to tell him so, but his position constrained me. + +"In the N. regiment the society of the officers is a thousand times +worse than it is here," he continued. "I hope that it is saying a good +deal; J'ESPERE QUE C'EST BEAUCOUP DIRE; that is, you cannot imagine +what it is. I am not speaking of the yunkers and the soldiers. That +is horrible, it is so bad. At first they received me very kindly, that +is absolutely the truth; but when they saw that I could not help +despising them, you know, in these inconceivably small circumstances, +they saw that I was a man absolutely different, standing far above +them, they got angry with me, and began to put various little +humiliations on me. You haven't an idea what I had to suffer. +[Footnote: CE QUE J'AI EUA SOUFFRIR VOUS NE FAITES PAS UNE IDEE.] Then +this forced relationship with the yunkers, and especially with the +small means that I had--I lacked everything; [Footnote: AVEC LES PETITS +MOYENS QUE J'AVAIS, JE MANQUAIS DE TOUT] I had only what my sister used +to send me. And here's a proof for you! As much as it made me suffer, +I with my character, AVEC MA FIERTE J'AI ECRIS A MON PERE, begged him +to send me something. I understand how living four years of such a +life may make a man like our cashiered Dromof who drinks with soldiers, +and writes notes to all the officers asking them to loan him three +rubles, and signing it, TOUT A VOUS, DROMOF. One must have such a +character as I have, not to be mired in the least by such a horrible +position." + +For some time he walked in silence by my side. + +"Have you a cigarette?" [Footnote: "Avez-vous un papiros?"] he asked me. + +"And so I stayed right where I was? Yes. I could not endure it +physically, because, though we were wretched, cold, and ill-fed, I +lived like a common soldier, but still the officers had some sort of +consideration for me. I had still some prestige that they regarded. I +wasn't sent out on guard nor for drill. I could not have stood that. +But morally my sufferings were frightful; and especially because I +didn't see any escape from my position. I wrote my uncle, begged him +to get me transferred to my present regiment, which, at least, sees +some service; and I thought that here Pavel Dmitrievitch, qui est le +fils de l'intendant de mon pere, might be of some use to me. My uncle +did this for me; I was transferred. After that regiment this one +seemed to me a collection of chamberlains. Then Pavel Dmitrievitch was +here; he knew who I was, and I was splendidly received. At my uncle's +request--a Guskof, vous savez; but I forgot that with these men without +cultivation and undeveloped,--they can't appreciate a man, and show him +marks of esteem, unless he has that aureole of wealth, of friends; and +I noticed how, little by little, when they saw that I was poor, their +behavior to me showed more and more indifference until they have come +almost to despise me. It is horrible, but it is absolutely the truth. + +"Here I have been in action, I have fought, they have seen me under +fire," [Footnote: On m'a vu au feu.] he continued; "but when will it +all end? I think, never. And my strength and energy have already +begun to flag. Then I had imagined la guerre, la vie de camp; but it +isn't at all what I see, in a sheepskin jacket, dirty linen, soldier's +boots, and you go out in ambuscade, and the whole night long lie in the +ditch with some Antonof reduced to the ranks for drunkenness, and any +minute from behind the bush may come a rifle-shot and hit you or +Antonof,--it's all the same which. That is not bravery; it's horrible, +c'est affreux, it's killing!" [Footnote: Ca tue] + +"Well, you can be promoted a non-commissioned officer for this +campaign, and next year an ensign," said I. + +"Yes, it may be: they promised me that in two years, and it's not up +yet. What would those two years amount to, if I knew any one! You can +imagine this life with Pavel Dmitrievitch; cards, low jokes, drinking +all the time; if you wish to tell anything that is weighing on your +mind, you would not be understood, or you would be laughed at: they +talk with you, not for the sake of sharing a thought, but to get +something funny out of you. Yes, and so it has gone--in a brutal, +beastly way, and you are always conscious that you belong to the rank +and file; they always make you feel that. Hence you can't realize what +an enjoyment it is to talk a coeur ouvert to such a man as you are." + +I had never imagined what kind of a man I was, and consequently I did +not know what answer to make him. + +"Will you have your lunch now?" asked Nikita at this juncture, +approaching me unseen in the darkness, and, as I could perceive, vexed +at the presence of a guest. "Nothing but curd dumplings, there's none +of the roast beef left." + +"Has the captain had his lunch yet?" + +"He went to bed long ago," replied Nikita, gruffly, "According to my +directions, I was to bring you lunch here and your brandy." He +muttered something else discontentedly, and sauntered off to his tent. +After loitering a while longer, he brought us, nevertheless, a +lunch-case; he placed a candle on the lunch-case, and shielded it from +the wind with a sheet of paper. He brought a saucepan, some mustard in +a jar, a tin dipper with a handle, and a bottle of absinthe. After +arranging these things, Nikita lingered around us for some moments, and +looked on as Guskof and I were drinking the liquor, and it was +evidently very distasteful to him. By the feeble light shed by the +candle through the paper, amid the encircling darkness, could be seen +the seal-skin cover of the lunch-case, the supper arranged upon it, +Guskof's sheepskin jacket, his face, and his small red hands which he +used in lifting the patties from the pan. Everything around us was +black; and only by straining the sight could be seen the dark battery, +the dark form of the sentry moving along the breastwork, on all sides +the watch-fires, and on high the ruddy stars. + +Guskof wore a melancholy, almost guilty smile as though it were awkward +for him to look into my face after his confession. He drank still +another glass of liquor, and ate ravenously, emptying the saucepan. + +"Yes; for you it must be a relief all the same," said I, for the sake +of saying something,--"your acquaintance with the adjutant. He is a +very good man, I have heard." + +"Yes," replied the cashiered officer, "he is a kind man; but he can't +help being what he is, with his education, and it is useless to expect +it." + +A flush seemed suddenly to cross his face. "You remarked his coarse +jest this evening about the ambuscade;" and Guskof, though I tried +several times to interrupt him, began to justify himself before me, and +to show that he had not run away from the ambuscade, and that he was +not a coward as the adjutant and Capt. S. tried to make him out. + +"As I was telling you," he went on to say, wiping his hands on his +jacket, "such people can't show any delicacy toward a man, a common +soldier, who hasn't much money either. That's beyond their strength. +And here recently, while I haven't received anything at all from my +sister, I have been conscious that they have changed toward me. This +sheepskin jacket, which I bought of a soldier, and which hasn't any +warmth in it, because it's all worn off" (and here he showed me where +the wool was gone from the inside), "it doesn't arouse in him any +sympathy or consideration for my unhappiness, but scorn, which he does +not take pains to hide. Whatever my necessities may be, as now when I +have nothing to eat except soldiers' gruel, and nothing to wear," he +continued, casting down his eyes, and pouring out for himself still +another glass of liquor, "he does not even offer to lend me some money, +though he knows perfectly well that I would give it back to him; but he +waits till I am obliged to ask him for it. But you appreciate how it +is for me to go to him. In your case I should say, square and fair, +vous etes audessus de cela, mon cher, je n'ai pas le sou. And you +know," said he, looking straight into my eyes with an expression of +desperation, "I am going to tell you, square and fair, I am in a +terrible situation: pouvez-vous me preter dix rubles argent? My sister +ought to send me some by the mail, et mon pere--" + +"Why, most willingly," said I, although, on the contrary, it was trying +and unpleasant, especially because the evening before, having lost at +cards, I had left only about five rubles in Nikita's care. "In a +moment," said I, arising, "I will go and get it at the tent." + +"No, by and by: ne vous derangez pas." + +Nevertheless, not heeding him, I hastened to the closed tent, where +stood my bed, and where the captain was sleeping. + +"Aleksei Ivanuitch, let me have ten rubles, please, for rations," said +I to the captain, shaking him. + +"What! have you been losing again? But this very evening, you were not +going to play any more," murmured the captain, still half asleep. + +"No, I have not been playing; but I want the money; let me have it, +please." + +"Makatiuk!" shouted the captain to his servant, [Footnote: Denshchik.] +"hand me my bag with the money." + +"Hush, hush!" said I, hearing Guskof's measured steps near the tent. + +"What? Why hush?" + +"Because that cashiered fellow has asked to borrow it of me. He's +right there." + +"Well, if you knew him, you wouldn't let him have it," remarked the +captain. "I have heard about him. He's a dirty, low-lived fellow." + +Nevertheless, the captain gave me the money, ordered his man to put +away the bag, pulled the flap of the tent neatly to, and, again saying, +"If you only knew him, you wouldn't let him have it," drew his head +down under the coverlet. "Now you owe me thirty-two, remember," he +shouted after me. + +When I came out of the tent, Guskof was walking near the settees; and +his slight figure, with his crooked legs, his shapeless cap, his long +white hair, kept appearing and disappearing in the darkness, as he +passed in and out of the light of the candles. He made believe not to +see me. + +I handed him the money. He said "Merci," and, crumpling the bank-bill, +thrust it into his trousers pocket. + +"Now I suppose the game is in full swing at the adjutant's," he began +immediately after this. + +"Yes, I suppose so." + +"He's a wonderful player, always bold, and never backs out. When he's +in luck, it's fine; but when it does not go well with him, he can lose +frightfully. He has given proof of that. During this expedition, if +you reckon his valuables, he has lost more than fifteen hundred rubles. +But, as he played discreetly before, that officer of yours seemed to +have some doubts about his honor." + +"Well, that's because he . . . Nikita, haven't we any of that red +Kavkas wine [Footnote: Chikir] left?" I asked, very much enlivened by +Guskof's conversational talent. Nikita still kept muttering; but he +brought us the red wine, and again looked on angrily as Guskof drained +his glass. In Guskof's behavior was noticeable his old freedom from +constraint. I wished that he would go as soon as possible; it seemed +as if his only reason for not going was because he did not wish to go +immediately after receiving the money. I said nothing. + +"How could you, who have means, and were under no necessity, simply de +gaiete de coeur, make up your mind to come and serve in the Caucasus? +That's what I don't understand," said he to me. + +I endeavored to explain this act of renunciation, which seemed so +strange to him. + +"I can imagine how disagreeable the society of those officers--men +without any comprehension of culture--must be for you. You could not +understand each other. You see, you might live ten years, and not see +anything, and not hear about anything, except cards, wine, and gossip +about rewards and campaigns." + +It was unpleasant for me, that he wished me to put myself on a par with +him in his position; and, with absolute honesty, I assured him that I +was very fond of cards and wine, and gossip about campaigns, and that I +did not care to have any better comrades than those with whom I was +associated. But he would not believe me. + +"Well, you may say so," he continued; "but the lack of women's +society,--I mean, of course, FEMMES COMME IL FAUT,--is that not a +terrible deprivation? I don't know what I would give now to go into a +parlor, if only for a moment, and to have a look at a pretty woman, +even though it were through a crack." + +He said nothing for a little, and drank still another glass of the red +wine. + +"Oh, my God, my God! [Footnote: AKH, BOZHE MOI, BOZHE MOI.] If it only +might be our fate to meet again, somewhere in Petersburg, to live and +move among men, among ladies!" + +He drank up the dregs of the wine still left in the bottle, and when he +had finished it he said: "AKH! PARDON, maybe you wanted some more. It +was horribly careless of me. However, I suppose I must have taken too +much, and my head isn't very strong. [Footnote: ET JE N'AI PAS LA TETE +FORTE.] There was a time when I lived on Morskaia Street, AU +REZ-DE-CHAUSSEE, and had marvellous apartments, furniture, you know, +and I was able to arrange it all beautifully, not so very expensively +though; my father, to be sure, gave me porcelains, flowers, and +silver--a wonderful lot. Le matin je sortais, visits, 5 heures +regulierement. I used to go and dine with her; often she was alone. +Il faut avouer que c'etait une femme ravissante! You didn't know her +at all, did you?" + +"No." + +"You see, there was such high degree of womanliness in her, and such +tenderness, and what love! Lord! I did not know how to appreciate my +happiness then. We would return after the theatre, and have a little +supper together. It was never dull where she was, toujours gaie, +toujours aimante. Yes, and I had never imagined what rare happiness it +was. Et j'ai beaucoup a me reprocher in regard to her. Je l'ai fait +souffrir et souvent. I was outrageous. AKH! What a marvellous time +that was! Do I bore you?" + +"No, not at all." + +"Then I will tell you about our evenings. I used to go--that stairway, +every flower-pot I knew,--the door-handle, all was so lovely, so +familiar; then the vestibule, her room. . . . No, it will never, never +come back to me again! Even now she writes to me: if you will let me, +I will show you her letters. But I am not what I was; I am ruined; I +am no longer worthy of her. . . . Yes, I am ruined for ever. Je suis +casse. There's no energy in me, no pride, nothing--nor even any rank. . +. . [Footnote: Blagorodstva, noble birth, nobility.] Yes, I am ruined; +and no one will ever appreciate my sufferings. Every one is +indifferent. I am a lost man. Never any chance for me to rise, because +I have fallen morally . . . into the mire--I have fallen. . . ." + +At this moment there was evident in his words a genuine, deep despair: +he did not look at me, but sat motionless. + +"Why are you in such despair?" I asked. + +"Because I am abominable. This life has degraded me, all that was in +me, all is crushed out. It is not by pride that I hold out, but by +abjectness: there's no dignite dans le malheur. I am humiliated every +moment; I endure it all; I got myself into this abasement. This mire +has soiled me. I myself have become coarse; I have forgotten what I +used to know; I can't speak French any more; I am conscious that I am +base and low. I cannot tear myself away from these surroundings, +indeed I cannot. I might have been a hero: give me a regiment, gold +epaulets, a trumpeter, but to march in the ranks with some wild Anton +Bondarenko or the like, and feel that between me and him there was no +difference at all--that he might be killed or I might be killed--all +the same, that thought is maddening. You understand how horrible it is +to think that some ragamuffin may kill me, a man who has thoughts and +feelings, and that it would make no difference if alongside of me some +Antonof were killed,--a being not different from an animal--and that it +might easily happen that I and not this Antonof were killed, which is +always UNE FATALITE for every lofty and good man. I know that they +call me a coward: grant that I am a coward, I certainly am a coward, +and can't be anything else. Not only am I a coward, but I am in my way +a low and despicable man. Here I have just been borrowing money of +you, and you have the right to despise me. No, take back your money." +And he held out to me the crumpled bank-bill. "I want you to have a +good opinion of me." He covered his face with his hands, and burst into +tears. I really did not know what to say or do. + +"Calm yourself," I said to him. "You are too sensitive; don't take +everything so to heart; don't indulge in self-analysis, look at things +more simply. You yourself say that you have character. Keep up good +heart, you won't have long to wait," I said to him, but not very +consistently, because I was much stirred both by a feeling of sympathy +and a feeling of repentance, because I had allowed myself mentally to +sin in my judgment of a man truly and deeply unhappy. + +"Yes," he began, "if I had heard even once, at the time when I was in +that hell, one single word of sympathy, of advice, of friendship--one +humane word such as you have just spoken, perhaps I might have calmly +endured all; perhaps I might have struggled, and been a soldier. But +now this is horrible. . . . When I think soberly, I long for death. +Why should I love my despicable life and my own self, now that I am +ruined for all that is worth while in the world? And at the least +danger, I suddenly, in spite of myself, begin to pray for my miserable +life, and to watch over it as though it were precious, and I cannot, je +ne puis pas, control myself. That is, I could," he continued again +after a minute's silence, "but this is too hard work for me, a +monstrous work, when I am alone. With others, under special +circumstances, when you are going into action, I am brave, j'ai fait +mes epreuves, because I am vain and proud: that is my failing, and in +presence of others. . . . Do you know, let me spend the night with +you: with us, they will play all night long; it makes no difference, +anywhere, on the ground." + +While Nikita was making the bed, we got up, and once more began to walk +up and down in the darkness on the battery. Certainly Guskof's head +must have been very weak, because two glasses of liquor and two of wine +made him dizzy. As we got up and moved away from the candles, I +noticed that he again thrust the ten-ruble bill into his pocket, trying +to do so without my seeing it. During all the foregoing conversation, +he had held it in his hand. He continued to reiterate how he felt that +he might regain his old station if he had a man such as I were to take +some interest in him. + +We were just going into the tent to go to bed when suddenly a +cannon-ball whistled over us, and buried itself in the ground not far +from us. So strange it was,--that peacefully sleeping camp, our +conversation, and suddenly the hostile cannon-ball which flew from God +knows where, the midst of our tents,--so strange that it was some time +before I could realize what it was. Our sentinel, Andreief, walking up +and down on the battery, moved toward me. + +"Ha! he's crept up to us. It was the fire here that he aimed at," said +he. + +"We must rouse the captain," said I, and gazed at Guskof. + +He stood cowering close to the ground, and stammered, trying to say, +"Th-that's th-the ene-my's . . . f-f-fire--th-that's--hidi--." Further +he could not say a word, and I did not see how and where he disappeared +so instantaneously. + +In the captain's tent a candle gleamed; his cough, which always +troubled him when he was awake, was heard; and he himself soon +appeared, asking for a linstock to light his little pipe. + +"What does this mean, old man?" [Footnote: Batiushka] he asked with a +smile. "Aren't they willing to give me a little sleep to-night? First +it's you with your cashiered friend, and then it's Shamyl. What shall +we do, answer him or not? There was nothing about this in the +instructions, was there?" + +"Nothing at all. There he goes again," said I. "Two of them!" + +Indeed, in the darkness, directly in front of us, flashed two fires, +like two eyes; and quickly over our heads flew one cannon-ball and one +heavy shell. It must have been meant for us, coming with a loud and +penetrating hum. From the neighboring tents the soldiers hastened. +You could hear them hawking and talking and stretching themselves. + +"Hist! the fuse sings like a nightingale," was the remark of the +artillerist. + +"Send for Nikita," said the captain with his perpetually benevolent +smile. "Nikita, don't hide yourself, but listen to the mountain +nightingales." + +"Well, your honor," [Footnote: VASHE VUISOKOBLAGORODIE. German, +HOCHWOHLGEBORENER, high, well-born; regulation title of officers from +major to general] said Nikita, who was standing near the captain, "I +have seen them--these nightingales. I am not afraid of 'em; but here +was that stranger who was here, he was drinking up your red wine. When +he heard how that shot dashed by our tents, and the shell rolled by, he +cowered down like some wild beast." + +"However, we must send to the commander of the artillery," said the +captain to me, in a serious tone of authority, "and ask whether we +shall reply to the fire or not. It will probably be nothing at all, +but still it may. Have the goodness to go and ask him. Have a horse +saddled. Do it as quickly as possible, even if you take my Polkan." + +In five minutes they brought me a horse, and I galloped off to the +commander of the artillery. "Look you, return on foot," whispered the +punctilious captain, "else they won't let you through the lines." + +It was half a verst to the artillery commander's, the whole road ran +between the tents. As soon as I rode away from our fire, it became so +black that I could not see even the horse's ears, but only the +watch-fires, now seeming very near, now very far off, as they gleamed +into my eyes. After I had ridden some distance, trusting to the +intelligence of the horse whom I allowed free rein, I began to +distinguish the white four-cornered tents and then the black tracks of +the road. After a half-hour, having asked my way three times, and +twice stumbled over the tent-stakes, causing each time a volley of +curses from the tents, and twice been detained by the sentinels, I +reached the artillery commander's. While I was on the way, I heard two +more cannon shot in the direction of our camp; but the projectiles did +not reach to the place where the headquarters were. The artillery +commander ordered not to reply to the firing, the more as the enemy did +not remain in the same place; and I went back, leading the horse by the +bridle, making my way on foot between the infantry tents. More than +once I delayed my steps, as I went by some soldier's tent where a light +was shining, and some merry-andrew was telling a story; or I listened +to some educated soldier reading from some book while the whole +division overflowed the tent, or hung around it, sometimes interrupting +the reading with various remarks; or I simply listened to the talk +about the expedition, about the fatherland, or about their chiefs. + +As I came around one of the tents of the third battalion, I heard +Guskof's rough voice: he was speaking hilariously and rapidly. Young +voices replied to him, not those of soldiers, but of gay gentlemen. It +was evidently the tent of some yunker or sergeant-major. I stopped +short. + +"I've known him a long time," Guskof was saying. "When I lived in +Petersburg, he used to come to my house often; and I went to his. He +moved in the best society." + +"Whom are you talking about?" asked the drunken voice. + +"About the prince," said Guskof. "We were relatives, you see, but, +more than all, we were old friends. It's a mighty good thing, you +know, gentlemen, to have such an acquaintance. You see he's fearfully +rich. To him a hundred silver rubles is a mere bagatelle. Here, I +just got a little money out of him, enough to last me till my sister +sends." + +"Let's have some." + +"Right away.--Savelitch, my dear," said Guskof, coming to the door of +the tent, "here's ten rubles for you: go to the sutler, get two bottles +of Kakhetinski. Anything else, gentlemen? What do you say?" and +Guskof, with unsteady gait, with dishevelled hair, without his hat, +came out of the tent. Throwing open his jacket, and thrusting his +hands into the pockets of his trousers, he stood at the door of the +tent. Though he was in the light, and I in darkness; I trembled with +fear lest he should see me, and I went on, trying to make no noise. + +"Who goes there?" shouted Guskof after me in a thoroughly drunken +voice. Apparently, the cold took hold of him. "Who the devil is going +off with that horse?" + +I made no answer, and silently went on my way. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Stories by Foreign Authors: Russian, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES BY FOREIGN AUTHORS: *** + +***** This file should be named 5741.txt or 5741.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/7/4/5741/ + +Produced by Nicole Apostola, Juliet Sutherland, Charles +Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +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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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Stories by Foreign Authors: Russian + +Author: Various + +Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5741] +[This file was first posted on August 20, 2002] +[Date last updated: June 1, 2005] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUSSIAN STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Nicole Apostola, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +STORIES BY FOREIGN AUTHORS + +RUSSIAN + +MUMU.................BY IVAN TURGENEV + +THE SHOT.............BY ALEXANDER POUSHKIN + +ST. JOHN'S EVE.......BY NIKOLAI VASILIEVITCH GOGOL + +AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE..BY LYOF N. TOLSTOI + + +NEW YORK +1898 + + + +CONTENTS + +MUMU...................Ivan Turgenev +THE SHOT...............Alexander Poushkin +ST. JOHN'S EVE.........Nikolai Vasilievitch Gogol +AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE... Lyof N. Tolstoi + + + + +MUMU + +BY + +IVAN TURGENEV + +From "Torrents of Spring." Translated by Constance Garnett. + + +In one of the outlying streets of Moscow, in a gray house with white +columns and a balcony, warped all askew, there was once living a lady, a +widow, surrounded by a numerous household of serfs. Her sons were in the +government service at Petersburg; her daughters were married; she went +out very little, and in solitude lived through the last years of her +miserly and dreary old age. Her day, a joyless and gloomy day, had long +been over; but the evening of her life was blacker than night. + +Of all her servants, the most remarkable personage was the porter, +Gerasim, a man full twelve inches over the normal height, of heroic +build, and deaf and dumb from his birth. The lady, his owner, had +brought him up from the village where he lived alone in a little hut, +apart from his brothers, and was reckoned about the most punctual of her +peasants in the payment of the seignorial dues. Endowed with +extraordinary strength, he did the work of four men; work flew apace +under his hands, and it was a pleasant sight to see him when he was +ploughing, while, with his huge palms pressing hard upon the plough, he +seemed alone, unaided by his poor horse, to cleave the yielding bosom of +the earth, or when, about St. Peter's Day, he plied his scythe with a +furious energy that might have mown a young birch copse up by the roots, +or swiftly and untiringly wielded a flail over two yards long; while the +hard oblong muscles of his shoulders rose and fell like a lever. His +perpetual silence lent a solemn dignity to his unwearying labor. He was +a splendid peasant, and, except for his affliction, any girl would have +been glad to marry him. . . But now they had taken Gerasim to Moscow, +bought him boots, had him made a full-skirted coat for summer, a +sheepskin for winter, put into his hand a broom and a spade, and +appointed him porter. + +At first he intensely disliked his new mode of life. From his childhood +he had been used to field labor, to village life. Shut off by his +affliction from the society of men, he had grown up, dumb and mighty, as +a tree grows on a fruitful soil. When he was transported to the town, he +could not understand what was being done with him; he was miserable and +stupefied, with the stupefaction of some strong young bull, taken +straight from the meadow, where the rich grass stood up to his belly, +taken and put in the truck of a railway train, and there, while smoke +and sparks and gusts of steam puff out upon the sturdy beast, he is +whirled onwards, whirled along with loud roar and whistle, whither--God +knows! What Gerasim had to do in his new duties seemed a mere trifle to +him after his hard toil as a peasant; in half an hour all his work was +done, and he would once more stand stock-still in the middle of the +courtyard, staring open-mouthed at all the passers-by, as though trying +to wrest from them the explanation of his perplexing position; or he +would suddenly go off into some corner, and flinging a long way off the +broom or the spade, throw himself on his face on the ground, and lie for +hours together without stirring, like a caged beast. But man gets used +to anything, and Gerasim got used at last to living in town. He had +little work to do; his whole duty consisted in keeping the courtyard +clean, bringing in a barrel of water twice a day, splitting and dragging +in wood for the kitchen and the house, keeping out strangers, and +watching at night. And it must be said he did his duty zealously. In his +courtyard there was never a shaving lying about, never a speck of dust; +if sometimes, in the muddy season, the wretched nag, put under his +charge for fetching water, got stuck in the road, he would simply give +it a shove with his shoulder, and set not only the cart but the horse +itself moving. If he set to chopping wood, the axe fairly rang like +glass, and chips and chunks flew in all directions. And as for +strangers, after he had one night caught two thieves and knocked their +heads together--knocked them so that there was not the slightest need to +take them to the police-station afterwards--every one in the +neighborhood began to feel a great respect for him; even those who came +in the daytime, by no means robbers, but simply unknown persons, at the +sight of the terrible porter, waved and shouted to him as though he +could hear their shouts. With all the rest of the servants, Gerasim was +on terms hardly friendly--they were afraid of him--but familiar; he +regarded them as his fellows. They explained themselves to him by signs, +and he understood them, and exactly carried out all orders, but knew his +own rights too, and soon no one dared to take his seat at the table. +Gerasim was altogether of a strict and serious temper, he liked order in +everything; even the cocks did not dare to fight in his presence, or woe +betide them! Directly he caught sight of them, he would seize them by +the legs, swing them ten times round in the air like a wheel, and throw +them in different directions. There were geese, too, kept in the yard; +but the goose, as is well known, is a dignified and reasonable bird: +Gerasim felt a respect for them, looked after them, and fed them; he was +himself not unlike a gander of the steppes. He was assigned a little +garret over the kitchen; he arranged it himself to his own liking, made +a bedstead in it of oak boards on four stumps of wood for legs--a truly +Titanic bedstead; one might have put a ton or two on it--it would not +have bent under the load; under the bed was a solid chest; in a corner +stood a little table of the same strong kind, and near the table a +three-legged stool, so solid and squat that Gerasim himself would +sometimes pick it up and drop it again with a smile of delight. The +garret was locked up by means of a padlock that looked like a kalatch or +basket-shaped loaf, only black; the key of this padlock Gerasim always +carried about him in his girdle. He did not like people to come to his +garret. + +So passed a year, at the end of which a little incident befell Gerasim. + +The old lady, in whose service he lived as porter, adhered in everything +to the ancient ways, and kept a large number of servants. In her house +were not only laundresses, sempstresses, carpenters, tailors and +tailoresses, there was even a harness-maker--he was reckoned as a +veterinary surgeon, too,--and a doctor for the servants; there was a +household doctor for the mistress; there was, lastly, a shoemaker, by +name Kapiton Klimov, a sad drunkard. Klimov regarded himself as an +injured creature, whose merits were unappreciated, a cultivated man from +Petersburg, who ought not to be living in Moscow without occupation--in +the wilds, so to speak; and if he drank, as he himself expressed it +emphatically, with a blow on his chest, it was sorrow drove him to it. +So one day his mistress had a conversation about him with her head +steward, Gavrila, a man whom, judging solely from his little yellow eyes +and nose like a duck's beak, fate itself, it seemed, had marked out as a +person in authority. The lady expressed her regret at the corruption of +the morals of Kapiton, who had, only the evening before, been picked up +somewhere in the street. + +"Now, Gavrila," she observed, all of a sudden, "now, if we were to marry +him, what do you think, perhaps he would be steadier?" + +"Why not marry him, indeed, 'm? He could be married, 'm," answered +Gavrila, "and it would be a very good thing, to be sure, 'm." + +"Yes; only who is to marry him?" + +"Ay, 'm. But that's at your pleasure, 'm. He may, any way, so to say, be +wanted for something; he can't be turned adrift altogether." + +"I fancy he likes Tatiana." + +Gavrila was on the point of making some reply, but he shut his lips +tightly. + +"Yes! . . . let him marry Tatiana," the lady decided, taking a pinch of +snuff complacently, "Do you hear?" + +"Yes, 'm," Gavrila articulated, and he withdrew. + +Returning to his own room (it was in a little lodge, and was almost +filled up with metal-bound trunks), Gavrila first sent his wife away, +and then sat down at the window and pondered. His mistress's unexpected +arrangement had clearly put him in a difficulty. At last he got up and +sent to call Kapiton. Kapiton made his appearance. . . But before +reporting their conversation to the reader, we consider it not out of +place to relate in few words who was this Tatiana, whom it was to be +Kapiton's lot to marry, and why the great lady's order had disturbed the +steward. + +Tatiana, one of the laundresses referred to above (as a trained and +skilful laundress she was in charge of the fine linen only), was a woman +of twenty-eight, thin, fair-haired, with moles on her left cheek. Moles +on the left cheek are regarded as of evil omen in Russia--a token of +unhappy life. . . Tatiana could not boast of her good luck. From her +earliest youth she had been badly treated; she had done the work of two, +and had never known affection; she had been poorly clothed and had +received the smallest wages. Relations she had practically none; an +uncle she had once had, a butler, left behind in the country as useless, +and other uncles of hers were peasants--that was all. At one time she +had passed for a beauty, but her good looks were very soon over. In +disposition, she was very meek, or, rather, scared; towards herself, she +felt perfect indifference; of others, she stood in mortal dread; she +thought of nothing but how to get her work done in good time, never +talked to any one, and trembled at the very name of her mistress, though +the latter scarcely knew her by sight. When Gerasim was brought from the +country, she was ready to die with fear on seeing his huge figure, tried +all she could to avoid meeting him, even dropped her eyelids when +sometimes she chanced to run past him, hurrying from the house to the +laundry. Gerasim at first paid no special attention to her, then he used +to smile when she came his way, then he began even to stare admiringly +at her, and at last he never took his eyes off her. She took his fancy, +whether by the mild expression of her face or the timidity of her +movements, who can tell? So one day she was stealing across the yard, +with a starched dressing-jacket of her mistress's carefully poised on her +outspread fingers . . . some one suddenly grasped her vigorously by the +elbow; she turned round and fairly screamed; behind her stood Gerasim. +With a foolish smile, making inarticulate caressing grunts, he held out +to her a gingerbread cock with gold tinsel on his tail and wings. She +was about to refuse it, but he thrust it forcibly into her hand, shook +his head, walked away, and turning round, once more grunted something +very affectionately to her. + +From that day forward he gave her no peace; wherever she went, he was on +the spot at once, coming to meet her, smiling, grunting, waving his +hands; all at once he would pull a ribbon out of the bosom of his smock +and put it in her hand, or would sweep the dust out of her way. The poor +girl simply did not know how to behave or what to do. Soon the whole +household knew of the dumb porter's wiles; jeers, jokes, sly hints, were +showered upon Tatiana. At Gerasim, however, it was not every one who +would dare to scoff; he did not like jokes; indeed, in his presence, +she, too, was left in peace. Whether she liked it or not, the girl found +herself to be under his protection. Like all deaf-mutes, he was very +suspicious, and very readily perceived when they were laughing at him or +at her. One day, at dinner, the wardrobe-keeper, Tatiana's superior, +fell to nagging, as it is called, at her, and brought the poor thing to +such a state that she did not know where to look, and was almost crying +with vexation. Gerasim got up all of a sudden, stretched out his +gigantic hand, laid it on the wardrobe-maid's head, and looked into her +face with such grim ferocity that her head positively flopped upon the +table. Every one was still. Gerasim took up his spoon again and went on +with his cabbage-soup. "Look at him, the dumb devil, the wood-demon!" +they all muttered in undertones, while the wardrobe-maid got up and went +out into the maid's room. Another time, noticing that Kapiton--the same +Kapiton who was the subject of the conversation reported above--was +gossiping somewhat too attentively with Tatiana, Gerasim beckoned him to +him, led him into the cartshed, and taking up a shaft that was standing +in a corner by one end, lightly, but most significantly, menaced him +with it. Since then no one addressed a word to Tatiana. And all this +cost him nothing. It is true the wardrobe-maid, as soon as she reached +the maids' room, promptly fell into a fainting fit, and behaved +altogether so skilfully that Gerasim's rough action reached his +mistress's knowledge the same day. But the capricious old lady only +laughed, and several times, to the great offence of the wardrobe-maid, +forced her to repeat "how he bent your head down with his heavy hand," +and next day she sent Gerasim a rouble. She looked on him with favor as +a strong and faithful watchman. Gerasim stood in considerable awe of +her, but, all the same, he had hopes of her favor, and was preparing to +go to her with a petition for leave to marry Tatiana. He was only +waiting for a new coat, promised him by the steward, to present a proper +appearance before his mistress, when this same mistress suddenly took it +into her head to marry Tatiana to Kapiton. + +The reader will now readily understand the perturbation of mind that +overtook the steward Gavrila after his conversation with his mistress. +"My lady," he thought, as he sat at the window, "favors Gerasim, to be +sure"--(Gavrila was well aware of this, and that was why he himself +looked on him with an indulgent eye)--"still he is a speechless +creature. I could not, indeed, put it before the mistress that Gerasim's +courting Tatiana. But, after all, it's true enough; he's a queer sort of +husband. But on the other hand, that devil, God forgive me, has only got +to find out they're marrying Tatiana to Kapiton, he'll smash up +everything in the house, 'pon my soul! There's no reasoning with him; +why, he's such a devil, God forgive my sins, there's no getting over him +nohow . . . 'pon my soul!" + +Kapiton's entrance broke the thread of Gavrila's reflections. The +dissipated shoemaker came in, his hands behind him, and lounging +carelessly against a projecting angle of the wall, near the door, +crossed his right foot in front of his left, and tossed his head, as +much as to say, "What do you want?" + +Gavrila looked at Kapiton, and drummed with his fingers on the window- +frame. Kapiton merely screwed up his leaden eyes a little, but he did +not look down; he even grinned slightly, and passed his hand over his +whitish locks which were sticking up in all directions. "Well, here I +am. What is it?" + +"You're a pretty fellow," said Gavrila, and paused. "A pretty fellow you +are, there's no denying!" + +Kapiton only twitched his little shoulders. "Are you any better, pray?" +he thought to himself. + +"Just look at yourself, now, look at yourself," Gavrila went on +reproachfully; "now, whatever do you look like?" + +Kapiton serenely surveyed his shabby, tattered coat and his patched +trousers, and with special attention stared at his burst boots, +especially the one on the tiptoe of which his right foot so gracefully +poised, and he fixed his eyes again on the steward. + +"Well?" + +"Well?" repeated Gavrila. "Well? And then you say well? You look like +Old Nick himself, God forgive my saying so, that's what you look like." + +Kapiton blinked rapidly. + +"Go on abusing me, go on, if you like, Gavrila Andreitch," he thought to +himself again. + +"Here you've been drunk again," Gavrila began, "drunk again, haven't +you? Eh? Come, answer me!" + +"Owing to the weakness of my health, I have exposed myself to spirituous +beverages, certainly," replied Kapiton. + +"Owing to the weakness of your health! . . . They let you off too easy, +that's what it is; and you've been apprenticed in Petersburg. . . Much you +learned in your apprenticeship! You simply eat your bread in idleness." + +"In that matter, Gavrila Andreitch, there is One to judge me, the Lord +God Himself, and no one else. He also knows what manner of man I be in +this world, and whether I eat my bread in idleness. And as concerning +your contention regarding drunkenness, in that matter, too, I am not to +blame, but rather a friend; he led me into temptation, but was +diplomatic and got away, while I . . ." + +"While you were left like a goose, in the street. Ah, you're a dissolute +fellow! But that's not the point," the steward went on, "I've something +to tell you. Our lady . . ." here he paused a minute, "it's our lady's +pleasure that you should be married. Do you hear? She imagines you may +be steadier when you're married. Do you understand?" + +"To be sure I do." + +"Well, then. For my part I think it would be better to give you a good +hiding. But there--it's her business. Well? are you agreeable?" + +Kapiton grinned. + +"Matrimony is an excellent thing for any one, Gavrila Andreitch; and, as +far as I am concerned, I shall be quite agreeable." + +"Very well, then," replied Gavrila, while he reflected to himself: +"There's no denying the man expresses himself very properly. Only +there's one thing," he pursued aloud: "the wife our lady's picked out +for you is an unlucky choice." + +"Why, who is she, permit me to inquire?" + +"Tatiana." + +"Tatiana?" + +And Kapiton opened his eyes, and moved a little away from the wall. + +"Well, what are you in such a taking for? . . . Isn't she to your taste, +hey?" + +"Not to my taste, do you say, Gavrila Andreitch? She's right enough, a +hard-working steady girl. . . But you know very well yourself, Gavrila +Andreitch, why that fellow, that wild man of the woods, that monster of +the steppes, he's after her, you know. . ." + +"I know, mate, I know all about it," the butler cut him short in a tone +of annoyance: "but there, you see . . ." + +"But upon my soul, Gavrila Andreitch! why, he'll kill me, by God, he +will, he'll crush me like some fly; why, he's got a fist--why, you +kindly look yourself what a fist he's got; why, he's simply got a fist +like Minin Pozharsky's. You see he's deaf, he beats and does not hear +how he's beating! He swings his great fists, as if he's asleep. And +there's no possibility of pacifying him; and for why? Why, because, as +you know yourself, Gavrila Andreitch, he's deaf, and what's more, has no +more wit than the heel of my foot. Why, he's a sort of beast, a heathen +idol, Gavrila Andreitch, and worse . . . a block of wood; what have I done +that I should have to suffer from him now? Sure it is, it's all over me +now; I've knocked about, I've had enough to put up with, I've been +battered like an earthenware pot, but still I'm a man, after all, and +not a worthless pot." + +"I know, I know, don't go talking away. . ." + +"Lord, my God!" the shoemaker continued warmly, "when is the end? when, +O Lord! A poor wretch I am, a poor wretch whose sufferings are endless! +What a life, what a life mine's been come to think of it! In my young +days, I was beaten by a German I was 'prentice to; in the prime of life +beaten by my own countrymen, and last of all, in ripe years, see what I +have been brought to. . ." + +"Ugh, you flabby soul!" said Gavrila Andreitch. "Why do you make so many +words about it?" + +"Why, do you say, Gavrila Andreitch? It's not a beating I'm afraid of, +Gavrila Andreitch. A gentleman may chastise me in private, but give me a +civil word before folks, and I'm a man still; but see now, whom I've to +do with . . ." + +"Come, get along," Gavrila interposed impatiently. Kapiton turned away +and staggered off. + +"But, if it were not for him," the steward shouted after him, "you would +consent for your part?" + +"I signify my acquiescence," retorted Kapiton as he disappeared. + +His fine language did not desert him, even in the most trying positions. + +The steward walked several times up and down the room. + +"Well, call Tatiana now," he said at last. + +A few instants later, Tatiana had come up almost noiselessly, and was +standing in the doorway. + +"What are your orders, Gavrila Andreitch?" she said in a soft voice. + +The steward looked at her intently. + +"Well, Taniusha," he said, "would you like to be married? Our lady has +chosen a husband for you?" + +"Yes, Gavrila Andreitch. And whom has she deigned to name as a husband +for me?" she added falteringly. + +"Kapiton, the shoemaker." + +"Yes, sir." + +"He's a feather-brained fellow, that's certain. But it's just for that +the mistress reckons upon you." + +"Yes, sir." + +"There's one difficulty . . . you know the deaf man, Gerasim, he's courting +you, you see. How did you come to bewitch such a bear? But you see, +he'll kill you, very like, he's such a bear . . ." + +"He'll kill me, Gavrila Andreitch, he'll kill me, and no mistake." + +"Kill you . . . Well we shall see about that. What do you mean by saying +he'll kill you? Has he any right to kill you? tell me yourself." + +"I don't know, Gavrila Andreitch, about his having any right or not." + +"What a woman! why, you've made him no promise, I suppose . . ." + +"What are you pleased to ask of me?" + +The steward was silent for a little, thinking, "You're a meek soul! +Well, that's right," he said aloud; "we'll have another talk with you +later, now you can go, Taniusha; I see you're not unruly, certainly." + +Tatiana turned, steadied herself a little against the doorpost, and went +away. + +"And, perhaps, our lady will forget all about this wedding by to- +morrow," thought the steward; "and here am I worrying myself for +nothing! As for that insolent fellow, we must tie him down if it comes +to that, we must let the police know . . . Ustinya Fyedorovna!" he shouted +in a loud voice to his wife, "heat the samovar, my good soul . . ." All +that day Tatiana hardly went out of the laundry. At first she had +started crying, then she wiped away her tears, and set to work as +before. Kapiton stayed till late at night at the gin-shop with a friend +of his, a man of gloomy appearance, to whom he related in detail how he +used to live in Petersburg with a gentleman, who would have been all +right, except he was a bit too strict, and he had a slight weakness +besides, he was too fond of drink; and, as to the fair sex, he didn't +stick at anything. His gloomy companion merely said yes; but when +Kapiton announced at last that, in a certain event, he would have to lay +hands on himself to-morrow, his gloomy companion remarked that it was +bedtime. And they parted in surly silence. + +Meanwhile, the steward's anticipations were not fulfilled. The old lady +was so much taken up with the idea of Kapiton's wedding, that even in +the night she talked of nothing else to one of her companions, who was +kept in her house solely to entertain her in case of sleeplessness, and, +like a night cabman, slept in the day. When Gavrila came to her after +morning tea with his report, her first question was: "And how about our +wedding--is it getting on all right?" He replied, of course, that it was +getting on first-rate, and that Kapiton would appear before her to pay +his reverence to her that day. The old lady was not quite well; she did +not give much time to business. The steward went back to his own room, +and called a council. The matter certainly called for serious +consideration. Tatiana would make no difficulty, of course; but Kapiton +had declared in the hearing of all that he had but one head to lose, not +two or three. . . Gerasim turned rapid sullen looks on every one, would +not budge from the steps of the maids' quarters, and seemed to guess +that some mischief was being hatched against him. They met together. +Among them was an old sideboard waiter, nicknamed Uncle Tail, to whom +every one looked respectfully for counsel, though all they got out of +him was, "Here's a pretty pass! to be sure, to be sure, to be sure!" As +a preliminary measure of security, to provide against contingencies, +they locked Kapiton up in the lumber-room where the filter was kept; +then considered the question with the gravest deliberation. It would, to +be sure, be easy to have recourse to force. But Heaven save us! There +would be an uproar, the mistress would be put out--it would be awful! +What should they do? They thought and thought, and at last thought out a +solution. It had many a time been observed that Gerasim could not bear +drunkards. . . . As he sat at the gates, he would always turn away with +disgust when some one passed by intoxicated, with unsteady steps and his +cap on one side of his ear. They resolved that Tatiana should be +instructed to pretend to be tipsy, and should pass by Gerasim staggering +and reeling about. The poor girl refused for a long while to agree to +this, but they persuaded her at last; she saw, too, that it was the only +possible way of getting rid of her adorer. She went out. Kapiton was +released from the lumber-room; for, after all, he had an interest in the +affair. Gerasim was sitting on the curbstone at the gates, scraping the +ground with a spade. . . . From behind every corner, from behind every +window-blind, the others were watching him. . . . The trick succeeded +beyond all expectations. On seeing Tatiana, at first, he nodded as usual, +making caressing, inarticulate sounds; then he looked carefully at her, +dropped his spade, jumped up, went up to her, brought his face close to +her face. . . . In her fright she staggered more than ever, and shut her +eyes. . . . He took her by the arm, whirled her right across the yard, and +going into the room where the council had been sitting, pushed her +straight at Kapiton. Tatiana fairly swooned away. . . . Gerasim stood, +looked at her, waved his hand, laughed, and went off, stepping heavily, +to his garret. . . . For the next twenty-four hours he did not come out of +it. The postilion Antipka said afterwards that he saw Gerasim through a +crack in the wall, sitting on his bedstead, his face in his hand. From +time to time he uttered soft regular sounds; he was wailing a dirge, +that is, swaying backwards and forwards with his eyes shut, and shaking +his head as drivers or bargemen do when they chant their melancholy +songs. Antipka could not bear it, and he came away from the crack. When +Gerasim came out of the garret next day, no particular change could be +observed in him. He only seemed, as it were, more morose, and took not +the slightest notice of Tatiana or Kapiton. The same evening, they both +had to appear before their mistress with geese under their arms, and in +a week's time they were married. Even on the day of the wedding Gerasim +showed no change of any sort in his behavior. Only, he came back from +the river without water, he had somehow broken the barrel on the road; +and at night, in the stable, he washed and rubbed down his horse so +vigorously, it swayed like a blade of grass in the wind, and staggered +from one leg to the other under his fists of iron. + +All this had taken place in the spring. Another year passed by, during +which Kapiton became a hopeless drunkard, and as being absolutely of no +use for anything, was sent away with the store wagons to a distant +village with his wife. On the day of his departure, he put a very good +face on it at first, and declared that he would always be at home, send +him where they would, even to the other end of the world; but later on +he lost heart, began grumbling that he was being taken to uneducated +people, and collapsed so completely at last that he could not even put +his own hat on. Some charitable soul stuck it on his forehead, set the +peak straight in front, and thrust it on with a slap from above. When +everything was quite ready, and the peasants already held the reins in +their hands, and were only waiting for the words "With God's blessing!" +to start, Gerasim came out of his garret, went up to Tatiana, and gave +her as a parting present a red cotton handkerchief he had bought for her +a year ago. Tatiana, who had up to that instant borne all the revolting +details of her life with great indifference, could not control herself +upon that; she burst into tears, and as she took her seat in the cart, +she kissed Gerasim three times like a good Christian. He meant to +accompany her as far as the town-barrier, and did walk beside her cart +for a while, but he stopped suddenly at the Crimean ford, waved his +hand, and walked away along the riverside. + +It was getting towards evening. He walked slowly, watching the water. +All of a sudden he fancied something was floundering in the mud close to +the bank. He stooped over, and saw a little white-and-black puppy, who, +in spite of all its efforts, could not get out of the water; it was +struggling, slipping back, and trembling all over its thin wet little +body. Gerasim looked at the unlucky little dog, picked it up with one +hand, put it into the bosom of his coat, and hurried with long steps +homewards. He went into his garret, put the rescued puppy on his bed, +covered it with his thick overcoat, ran first to the stable for straw, +and then to the kitchen for a cup of milk. Carefully folding back the +overcoat, and spreading out the straw, he set the milk on the bedstead. +The poor little puppy was not more than three weeks old, its eyes were +just open--one eye still seemed rather larger than the other; it did not +know how to lap out of a cup, and did nothing but shiver and blink. +Gerasim took hold of its head softly with two fingers, and dipped its +little nose into the milk. The pup suddenly began lapping greedily, +sniffing, shaking itself, and choking. Gerasim watched and watched it, +and all at once he laughed outright. . . . All night long he was waiting +on it, keeping it covered, and rubbing it dry. He fell asleep himself at +last, and slept quietly and happily by its side. + +No mother could have looked after her baby as Gerasim looked after his +little nursling. At first she--for the pup turned out to be a bitch--was +very weak, feeble, and ugly, but by degrees she grew stronger and +improved in looks, and, thanks to the unflagging care of her preserver, +in eight months' time she was transformed into a very pretty dog of the +spaniel breed, with long ears, a bushy spiral tail, and large, +expressive eyes. She was devotedly attached to Gerasim, and was never a +yard from his side; she always followed him about wagging her tail. He +had even given her a name--the dumb know that their inarticulate noises +call the attention of others. He called her Mumu. All the servants in +the house liked her, and called her Mumu, too. She was very intelligent, +she was friendly with every one, but was only fond of Gerasim. Gerasim, +on his side, loved her passionately, and he did not like it when other +people stroked her; whether he was afraid for her, or jealous--God +knows! She used to wake him in the morning, pulling at his coat; she +used to take the reins in her mouth, and bring him up the old horse that +carried the water, with whom she was on very friendly terms. With a face +of great importance, she used to go with him to the river; she used to +watch his brooms and spades, and never allowed any one to go into his +garret. He cut a little hole in his door on purpose for her, and she +seemed to feel that only in Gerasim's garret she was completely mistress +and at home; and directly she went in, she used to jump with a satisfied +air upon the bed. At night she did not sleep at all, but she never +barked without sufficient cause, like some stupid house-dog, who, +sitting on its hind-legs, blinking, with its nose in the air, barks +simply from dullness, at the stars, usually three times in succession. +No! Mumu's delicate little voice was never raised without good reason; +either some stranger was passing close to the fence, or there was some +suspicious sound or rustle somewhere. . . . In fact, she was an excellent +watch-dog. It is true that there was another dog in the yard, a tawny +old dog with brown spots, called Wolf, but he was never, even at night, +let off the chain; and, indeed, he was so decrepit that he did not even +wish for freedom. He used to lie curled up in his kennel, and only +rarely uttered a sleepy, almost noiseless bark, which broke off at once, +as though he were himself aware of its uselessness. Mumu never went into +the mistress's house; and when Gerasim carried wood into the rooms, she +always stayed behind, impatiently waiting for him at the steps, pricking +up her ears and turning her head to right and to left at the slightest +creak of the door . . . + +So passed another year. Gerasim went on performing his duties as house- +porter, and was very well content with his lot, when suddenly an +unexpected incident occurred. . . . One fine summer day the old lady was +walking up and down the drawing-room with her dependants. She was in +high spirits; she laughed and made jokes. Her servile companions laughed +and joked too, but they did not feel particularly mirthful; the +household did not much like it, when their mistress was in a lively +mood, for, to begin with, she expected from every one prompt and +complete participation in her merriment, and was furious if any one +showed a face that did not beam with delight; and secondly, these +outbursts never lasted long with her, and were usually followed by a +sour and gloomy mood. That day she had got up in a lucky hour; at cards +she took the four knaves, which means the fulfilment of one's wishes +(she used to try her fortune on the cards every morning), and her tea +struck her as particularly delicious, for which her maid was rewarded by +words of praise, and by twopence in money. With a sweet smile on her +wrinkled lips, the lady walked about the drawing-room and went up to the +window. A flower-garden had been laid out before the window, and in the +very middle bed, under a rosebush, lay Mumu busily gnawing a bone. The +lady caught sight of her. + +"Mercy on us!" she cried suddenly; "what dog is that?" + +The companion, addressed by the old lady, hesitated, poor thing, in that +wretched state of uneasiness which is common in any person in a +dependent position who doesn't know very well what significance to give +to the exclamation of a superior. + +"I d . . . d . . . don't know," she faltered; "I fancy it's the dumb man's +dog." + +"Mercy!" the lady cut her short; "but it's a charming little dog! order +it to be brought in. Has he had it long? How is it I've never seen it +before? . . . Order it to be brought in." + +The companion flew at once into the hall. + +"Boy, boy!" she shouted; "bring Mumu in at once! She's in the flower- +garden." + +"Her name's Mumu then," observed the lady; "a very nice name." + +"Oh, very, indeed!" chimed in the companion. "Make haste, Stepan!" + +Stepan, a sturdy-built young fellow, whose duties were those of a +footman, rushed headlong into the flower-garden, and tried to capture +Mumu, but she cleverly slipped from his fingers, and with her tail in +the air, fled full speed to Gerasim, who was at that instant in the +kitchen, knocking out and cleaning a barrel, turning it upside down in +his hands like a child's drum. Stepan ran after her, and tried to catch +her just at her master's feet; but the sensible dog would not let a +stranger touch her, and with a bound, she got away. Gerasim looked on +with a smile at all this ado; at last, Stepan got up, much amazed, and +hurriedly explained to him by signs that the mistress wanted the dog +brought in to her. Gerasim was a little astonished; he called Mumu, +however, picked her up, and handed her over to Stepan. Stepan carried +her into the drawing-room, and put her down on the parquette floor. The +old lady began calling the dog to her in a coaxing voice. Mumu, who had +never in her life been in such magnificent apartments, was very much +frightened, and made a rush for the door, but, being driven back by the +obsequious Stepan, she began trembling, and huddled close up against the +wall. + +"Mumu, Mumu, come to me, come to your mistress," said the lady; "come, +silly thing . . . don't be afraid." + +"Come, Mumu, come to the mistress," repeated the companions. "Come +along!" + +But Mumu looked round her uneasily, and did not stir. + +"Bring her something to eat," said the old lady. "How stupid she is! she +won't come to her mistress. What's she afraid of?" + +"She's not used to your honor yet," ventured one of the companions in a +timid and conciliatory voice. + +Stepan brought in a saucer of milk, and set it down before Mumu, but +Mumu would not even sniff at the milk, and still shivered, and looked +round as before. + +"Ah, what a silly you are!" said the lady, and going up to her, she +stooped down, and was about to stroke her, but Mumu turned her head +abruptly, and showed her teeth. The lady hurriedly drew back her +hand. . . . + +A momentary silence followed. Mumu gave a faint whine, as though she +would complain and apologize. . . . The old lady moved back, scowling. +The dog's sudden movement had frightened her. + +"Ah!" shrieked all the companions at once, "she's not bitten you, has +she? Heaven forbid! (Mumu had never bitten any one in her life.) Ah! +ah!" + +"Take her away," said the old lady in a changed voice. "Wretched little +dog! What a spiteful creature!" + +And, turning round deliberately, she went towards her boudoir. Her +companions looked timidly at one another, and were about to follow her, +but she stopped, stared coldly at them, and said, "What's that for, +pray? I've not called you," and went out. + +The companions waved their hands to Stepan in despair. He picked up +Mumu, and flung her promptly outside the door, just at Gerasim's feet, +and half an hour later a profound stillness led in the house, and the +old lady sat on her sofa looking blacker than a thundercloud. + +What trifles, if you think of it, will sometimes disturb any one! + +Till evening the lady was out of humor; she did not talk to any one, did +not play cards, and passed a bad night. She fancied the eau-de-Cologne +they gave her was not the same as she usually had, and that her pillow +smelt of soap, and she made the wardrobe-maid smell all the bed linen-- +in fact she was very upset and cross altogether. Next morning she +ordered Gavrila to be summoned an hour earlier than usual. + +"Tell me, please," she began, directly the latter, not without some +inward trepidation, crossed the threshold of her boudoir, "what dog was +that barking all night in our yard? It wouldn't let me sleep!" + +"A dog, 'm . . . what dog, 'm . . . may be, the dumb man's dog, 'm," he +brought out in a rather unsteady voice. + +"I don't know whether it was the dumb man's or whose, but it wouldn't +let me sleep. And I wonder what we have such a lot of dogs for! I wish +to know. We have a yard dog, haven't we?" + +"Oh yes, 'm, we have, 'm. Wolf, 'm." + +"Well, why more? what do we want more dogs for? It's simply introducing +disorder. There's no one in control in the house--that's what it is. And +what does the dumb man want with a dog? Who gave him leave to keep dogs +in my yard? Yesterday I went to the window, and there it was lying in +the flower-garden; it had dragged in nastiness it was gnawing, and my +roses are planted there . . ." + +The lady ceased. + +"Let her be gone from to-day . . . do you hear?" + +"Yes, 'm." + +"To-day. Now go. I will send for you later for the report." + +Gavrila went away. + +As he went through the drawing-room, the steward, by way of maintaining +order, moved a bell from one table to another; he stealthily blew his +duck-like nose in the hall, and went into the outer-hall. In the outer- +hall, on a locker, was Stepan asleep in the attitude of a slain warrior +in a battalion picture, his bare legs thrust out below the coat which +served him for a blanket. The steward gave him a shove, and whispered +some instructions to him, to which Stepan responded with something +between a yawn and a laugh. The steward went away, and Stepan got up, +put on his coat and his boots, went out and stood on the steps. Five +minutes had not passed before Gerasim made his appearance with a huge +bundle of hewn logs on his back, accompanied by the inseparable Mumu. +(The lady had given orders that her bedroom and boudoir should be heated +at times even in the summer.) Gerasim turned sideways before the door, +shoved it open with his shoulder, and staggered into the house with his +load. Mumu, as usual, stayed behind to wait for him. Then Stepan, +seizing his chance, suddenly pounced on her, like a kite on a chicken, +held her down to the ground, gathered her up in his arms, and without +even putting on his cap, ran out of the yard with her, got into the +first fly he met, and galloped off to a market-place. There he soon +found a purchaser, to whom he sold her for a shilling, on condition that +he would keep her for at least a week tied up; then he returned at once. +But before he got home, he got off the fly, and going right round the +yard, jumped over the fence into the yard from a back street. He was +afraid to go in at the gate for fear of meeting Gerasim. + +His anxiety was unnecessary, however; Gerasim was no longer in the yard. +On coming out of the house he had at once missed Mumu. He never +remembered her failing to wait for his return, and began running up and +down, looking for her, and calling her in his own way. . . . He rushed up +to his garret, up to the hay-loft, ran out into the street, this way and +that. . . . She was lost! He turned to the other serfs, with the most +despairing signs, questioned them about her, pointing to her height from +the ground, describing her with his hands. . . . Some of them really did +not know what had become of Mumu, and merely shook their heads; others did +know, and smiled to him for all response; while the steward assumed an +important air, and began scolding the coachmen. Then Gerasim ran right +away out of the yard. + +It was dark by the time he came back. From his worn-out look, his +unsteady walk, and his dusty clothes, it might be surmised that he had +been running over half Moscow. He stood still opposite the windows of +the mistress's house, took a searching look at the steps where a group +of house-serfs were crowded together, turned away, and uttered once more +his inarticulate "Mumu." Mumu did not answer. He went away. Every one +looked after him, but no one smiled or said a word, and the inquisitive +postilion Antipka reported next morning in the kitchen that the dumb man +had been groaning all night. + +All the next day Gerasim did not show himself, so that they were obliged +to send the coachman Potap for water instead of him, at which the +coachman Potap was anything but pleased. The lady asked Gavrila if her +orders had been carried out. Gavrila replied that they had. The next +morning Gerasim came out of his garret, and went about his work. He came +in to his dinner, ate it, and went out again, without a greeting to any +one. His face, which had always been lifeless, as with all deaf-mutes, +seemed now to be turned to stone. After dinner he went out of the yard +again, but not for long; he came back, and went straight up to the hay- +loft. Night came on, a clear moonlight night. Gerasim lay breathing +heavily, and incessantly turning from side to side. Suddenly he felt +something pull at the skirt of his coat. He started, but did not raise +his head, and even shut his eyes tighter. But again there was a pull, +stronger than before; he jumped up before him, with an end of string +round her neck, was Mumu, twisting and turning. A prolonged cry of +delight broke from his speechless breast; he caught up Mumu, and hugged +her tight in his arms, she licked his nose and eyes, and beard and +moustache, all in one instant. . . . He stood a little, thought a minute, +crept cautiously down from the hay-loft, looked round, and having +satisfied himself that no one could see him, made his way successfully +to his garret. Gerasim had guessed before that his dog had not got lost +by her own doing, that she must have been taken away by the mistress's +orders; the servants had explained to him by signs that his Mumu had +snapped at her, and he determined to take his own measures. First he fed +Mumu with a bit of bread, fondled her, and put her to bed, then he fell +to meditating, and spent the whole night long in meditating how he could +best conceal her. At last he decided to leave her all day in the garret, +and only to come in now and then to see her, and to take her out at +night. The hole in the door he stopped up effectually with his old +overcoat, and almost before it was light he was already in the yard, as +though nothing had happened, even--innocent guile!--the same expression +of melancholy on his face. It did not even occur to the poor deaf man +that Mumu would betray herself by her whining; in reality, everyone in +the house was soon aware that the dumb man's dog had come back, and was +locked up in his garret, but from sympathy with him and with her, and +partly, perhaps, from dread of him, they did not let him know that they +had found out his secret. The steward scratched his head, and gave a +despairing wave of his head, as much as to say, "Well, well, God have +mercy on him! If only it doesn't come to the mistress's ears!" + +But the dumb man had never shown such energy as on that day; he cleaned +and scraped the whole courtyard, pulled up every single weed with his +own hand, tugged up every stake in the fence of the flower-garden, to +satisfy himself that they were strong enough, and unaided drove them in +again; in fact, he toiled and labored so that even the old lady noticed +his zeal. Twice in the course of the day Gerasim went stealthily in to +see his prisoner; when night came on, he lay down to sleep with her in +the garret, not in the hay-loft, and only at two o'clock in the night he +went out to take her a turn in the fresh air. + +After walking about the courtyard a good while with her, he was just +turning back, when suddenly a rustle was heard behind the fence on the +side of the back street. Mumu pricked up her ears, growled--went up to +the fence, sniffed, and gave vent to a loud shrill bark. Some drunkard +had thought fit to take refuge under the fence for the night. At that +very time the old lady had just fallen asleep after a prolonged fit of +"nervous agitation"; these fits of agitation always overtook her after +too hearty a supper. The sudden bark waked her up: her heart palpitated, +and she felt faint. "Girls, girls!" she moaned. "Girls!" The terrified +maids ran into her bedroom. "Oh, oh, I am dying!" she said, flinging her +arms about in her agitation. "Again, that dog, again! . . . Oh, send for +the doctor. They mean to be the death of me. . . . The dog, the dog +again! Oh!" And she let her head fall back, which always signified a +swoon. They rushed for the doctor, that is, for the household physician, +Hariton. This doctor, whose whole qualification consisted in wearing +soft-soled boots, knew how to feel the pulse delicately. He used to +sleep fourteen hours out of the twenty-four, but the rest of the time he +was always sighing, and continually dosing the old lady with cherrybay +drops. This doctor ran up at once, fumigated the room with burnt +feathers, and when the old lady opened her eyes, promptly offered her a +wineglass of the hallowed drops on a silver tray. The old lady took +them, but began again at once in a tearful voice complaining of the dog, +of Gavrila, and of her fate, declaring that she was a poor old woman, +and that every one had forsaken her, no one pitied her, every one wished +her dead. Meanwhile the luckless Mumu had gone on barking, while Gerasim +tried in vain to call her away, from the fence. "There . . . there . . . +again," groaned the old lady, and once more she turned up the whites of +her eyes. The doctor whispered to a maid, she rushed into the outer +hall, and shook Stepan, he ran to wake Gavrila, Gavrila in a fury +ordered the whole household to get up. + +Gerasim turned round, saw lights and shadows moving in the windows, and +with an instinct of coming trouble in his heart, put Mumu under his arm, +ran into his garret, and locked himself in. A few minutes later five men +were banging at his door, but feeling the resistance of the bolt, they +stopped. Gavrila ran up in a fearful state of mind, and ordered them all +to wait there and watch till morning. Then he flew off himself to the +maids' quarter, and through an old companion, Liubov Liubimovna, with +whose assistance he used to steal tea, sugar, and other groceries and to +falsify the accounts, sent word to the mistress that the dog had +unhappily run back from somewhere, but that to-morrow she should be +killed, and would the mistress be so gracious as not to be angry and to +overlook it. The old lady would probably not have been so soon appeased, +but the doctor had in his haste given her fully forty drops instead of +twelve. The strong dose of narcotic acted; in a quarter of an hour the +old lady was in a sound and peaceful sleep; while Gerasim was lying with +a white face on his bed, holding Mumu's mouth tightly shut. + +Next morning the lady woke up rather late. Gavrila was waiting till she +should be awake, to give the order for a final assault on Gerasim's +stronghold, while he prepared himself to face a fearful storm. But the +storm did not come off. The old lady lay in bed and sent for the eldest +of her dependent companions. + +"Liubov Liubimovna," she began in a subdued weak voice--she was fond of +playing the part of an oppressed and forsaken victim; needless to say, +every one in the house was made extremely uncomfortable at such times-- +"Liubov Liubimovna, you see my position; go, my love, to Gavrila +Andreitch, and talk to him a little. Can he really prize some wretched +cur above the repose--the very life--of his mistress? I could not bear +to think so," she added, with an expression of deep feeling. "Go, my +love; be so good as to go to Gavrila Andreitch for me." + +Liubov Liubimovna went to Gavrila's room. What conversation passed +between them is not known, but a short time after, a whole crowd of +people was moving across the yard in the direction of Gerasim's garret. +Gavrila walked in front, holding his cap on with his hand, though there +was no wind. The footmen and cooks were close behind him; Uncle Tail was +looking out of a window, giving instructions, that is to say, simply +waving his hands. At the rear there was a crowd of small boys skipping +and hopping along; half of them were outsiders who had run up. On the +narrow staircase leading to the garret sat one guard; at the door were +standing two more with sticks. They began to mount the stairs, which +they entirely blocked up. Gavrila went up to the door, knocked with his +fist, shouting, "Open the door!" + +A stifled bark was audible, but there was no answer. + +"Open the door, I tell you," he repeated. + +"But, Gavrila Andreitch," Stepan observed from below, "he's deaf, you +know--he doesn't hear." + +They all laughed. + +"What are we to do?" Gavrila rejoined from above. + +"Why, there's a hole there in the door," answered Stepan, "so you shake +the stick in there." + +Gavrila bent down. + +"He's stuffed it up with a coat or something." + +"Well, you just push the coat in." + +At this moment a smothered bark was heard again. + +"See, see--she speaks for herself," was remarked in the crowd, and again +they laughed. + +Gavrila scratched his ear. + +"No, mate," he responded at last, "you can poke the coat in yourself, if +you like." + +"All right, let me." + +And Stepan scrambled up, took the stick, pushed in the coat, and began +waving the stick about in the opening, saying, "Come out, come out!" as +he did so. He was still waving the stick, when suddenly the door of the +garret was flung open; all the crowd flew pell-mell down the stairs +instantly, Gavrila first of all. Uncle Tail locked the window. + +"Come, come, come," shouted Gavrila from the yard, "mind what you're +about." + +Gerasim stood without stirring in his doorway. The crowd gathered at the +foot of the stairs. Gerasim, with his arms akimbo, looked down at all +these poor creatures in German coats; in his red peasant's shirt he +looked like a giant before them. Gavrila took a step forward. + +"Mind, mate," said he, "don't be insolent." + +And he began to explain to him by signs that the mistress insists on +having his dog; that he must hand it over at once, or it would be the +worse for him. + +Gerasim looked at him, pointed to the dog, made a motion with his hand +round his neck, as though he were pulling a noose tight, and glanced +with a face of inquiry at the steward. + +"Yes, yes," the latter assented, nodding; "yes, just so." + +Gerasim dropped his eyes, then all of a sudden roused himself and +pointed to Mumu, who was all the while standing beside him, innocently +wagging her tail and pricking up her ears inquisitively. Then he +repeated the strangling action round his neck and significantly struck +himself on the breast, as though announcing he would take upon himself +the task of killing Mumu. + +"But you'll deceive us," Gavrila waved back in response. + +Gerasim looked at him, smiled scornfully, struck himself again on the +breast, and slammed to the door. + +They all looked at one another in silence. + +"What does that mean?" Gavrila began. "He's locked himself in." + +"Let him be, Gavrila Andreitch," Stepan advised; "he'll do it if he's +promised. He's like that, you know. . . . If he makes a promise, it's a +certain thing. He's not like us others in that. The truth's the truth +with him. Yes, indeed." + +"Yes," they all repeated, nodding their heads, "yes--that's so--yes." + +Uncle Tail opened his window, and he too said, "Yes." + +"Well, may be, we shall see," responded Gavrila; "any way, we won't take +off the guard. Here you, Eroshka!" he added, addressing a poor fellow in +a yellow nankeen coat, who considered himself to be a gardener, "what +have you to do? Take a stick and sit here, and if anything happens, run +to me at once!" + +Eroshka took a stick, and sat down on the bottom stair. The crowd +dispersed, all except a few inquisitive small boys, while Gavrila went +home and sent word through Liubov Liubimovna to the mistress that +everything had been done, while he sent a postilion for a policeman in +case of need. The old lady tied a knot in her handkerchief, sprinkled +some eau-de-Cologne on it, sniffed at it, and rubbed her temples with +it, drank some tea, and, being still under the influence of the +cherrybay drops, fell asleep again. + +An hour after all this hubbub the garret door opened, and Gerasim showed +himself. He had on his best coat; he was leading Mumu by a string. +Eroshka moved aside and let him pass. Gerasim went to the gates. All the +small boys in the yard stared at him in silence. He did not even turn +round; he only put his cap on in the street. Gavrila sent the same +Eroshka to follow him and keep watch on him as a spy. Eroshka, seeing +from a distance that he had gone into a cookshop with his dog, waited +for him to come out again. + +Gerasim was well known at the cookshop, and his signs were understood. +He asked for cabbage soup with meat in it, and sat down with his arms on +the table. Mumu stood beside his chair, looking calmly at him with her +intelligent eyes. Her coat was glossy; one could see she had just been +combed down. They brought Gerasim the soup. He crumbled some bread into +it, cut the meat up small, and put the plate on the ground. Mumu began +eating in her usual refined way, her little muzzle daintily held so as +scarcely to touch her food. Gerasim gazed a long while at her; two big +tears suddenly rolled from his eyes; one fell on the dog's brow, the +other into the soup. He shaded his face with his hand. Mumu ate up half +the plateful, and came away from it, licking her lips. Gerasim got up, +paid for the soup, and went out, followed by the rather perplexed +glances of the waiter. Eroshka, seeing Gerasim, hid round a corner, and +letting him get in front, followed him again. + +Gerasim walked without haste, still holding Mumu by a string. When he +got to the corner of the street, he stood still as though reflecting, +and suddenly set off with rapid steps to the Crimean Ford. On the way he +went into the yard of a house, where a lodge was being built, and +carried away two bricks under his arm. At the Crimean Ford, he turned +along the bank, went to a place where there were two little rowing-boats +fastened to stakes (he had noticed them there before), and jumped into +one of them with Mumu. A lame old man came out of a shed in the corner +of a kitchen-garden and shouted after him; but Gerasim only nodded, and +began rowing so vigorously, though against stream, that in an instant he +had darted two hundred yards way. The old man stood for a while, +scratched his back first with the left and then with the right hand, and +went back hobbling to the shed. + +Gerasim rowed on and on. Moscow was soon left behind. Meadows stretched +each side of the bank, market gardens, fields, and copses; peasants' +huts began to make their appearance. There was the fragrance of the +country. He threw down his oars, bent his head down to Mumu, who was +sitting facing him on a dry cross seat--the bottom of the boat was full +of water--and stayed motionless, his mighty hands clasped upon her back, +while the boat was gradually carried back by the current towards the +town. At last Gerasim drew himself up hurriedly, with a sort of sick +anger in his face, he tied up the bricks he had taken with string, made +a running noose, put it round Mumu's neck, lifted her up over the river, +and for the last time looked at her. . . . She watched him confidingly and +without any fear, faintly wagging her tail. He turned away, frowned, and +wrung his hands. . . . Gerasim heard nothing, neither the quick shrill +whine of Mumu as she fell, nor the heavy splash of the water; for him +the noisiest day was soundless and silent as even the stillest night is +not silent to us. When he opened his eyes again, little wavelets were +hurrying over the river, chasing one another; as before they broke +against the boat's side, and only far away behind wide circles moved +widening to the bank. + +Directly Gerasim had vanished from Eroshka's sight, the latter returned +home and reported what he had seen. + +"Well, then," observed Stepan, "he'll drown her. Now we can feel easy +about it. If he once promises a thing . . ." + +No one saw Gerasim during the day. He did not have dinner at home. +Evening came on; they were all gathered together to supper, except him. + +"What a strange creature that Gerasim is!" piped a fat laundrymaid; +"fancy, upsetting himself like that over a dog. . . . Upon my word!" + +"But Gerasim has been here," Stepan cried all at once, scraping up his +porridge with a spoon. + +"How? when?" + +"Why, a couple of hours ago. Yes, indeed! I ran against him at the gate; +he was going out again from here; he was coming out of the yard. I tried +to ask him about his dog, but he wasn't in the best of humors, I could +see. Well, he gave me a shove; I suppose he only meant to put me out of +his way, as if he'd say, 'Let me go, do!' but he fetched me such a crack +on my neck, so seriously, that--oh! oh!" And Stepan, who could not help +laughing, shrugged up and rubbed the back of his head. "Yes," he added; +"he has got a fist; it's something like a fist, there's no denying +that!" + +They all laughed at Stepan, and after supper they separated to go to +bed. + +Meanwhile, at that very time, a gigantic figure with a bag on his +shoulders and a stick in his hand, was eagerly and persistently stepping +out along the T--- high-road. It was Gerasim. He was hurrying on without +looking round; hurrying homewards, to his own village, to his own country. +After drowning poor Mumu, he had run back to his garret, hurriedly packed +a few things together in an old horsecloth, tied it up in a bundle, +tossed it on his shoulder, and so was ready. He had noticed the road +carefully when he was brought to Moscow; the village his mistress had +taken him from lay only about twenty miles off the high-road. He walked +along it with a sort of invincible purpose, a desperate and at the same +time joyous determination. He walked, his shoulders thrown back and his +chest expanded; his eyes were fixed greedily straight before him. He +hastened as though his old mother were waiting for him at home, as though +she were calling him to her after long wanderings in strange parts, +among strangers. The summer night, that was just drawing in, was still +and warm; on one side, where the sun had set, the horizon was still light +and faintly flushed with the last glow of the vanished day; on the other +side a blue-gray twilight had already risen up. The night was coming up +from that quarter. Quails were in hundreds around; corncrakes were +calling to one another in the thickets. . . . Gerasim could not hear them; +he could not hear the delicate night-whispering of the trees, by which his +strong legs carried him, but he smelt the familiar scent of the ripening +rye, which was wafted from the dark fields; he felt the wind, flying to +meet him--the wind from home--beat caressingly upon his face, and play +with his hair and his beard. He saw before him the whitening road +homewards, straight as an arrow. He saw in the sky stars innumerable, +lighting up his way, and stepped out, strong and bold as a lion, so that +when the rising sun shed its moist rosy light upon the still fresh and +unwearied traveller, already thirty miles lay between him and Moscow. + +In a couple of days he was at home, in his little hut, to the great +astonishment of the soldier's wife who had been put in there. After +praying before the holy pictures, he set off at once to the village +elder. The village elder was at first surprised; but the hay-cutting had +just begun; Gerasim was a first-rate mower, and they put a scythe into +his hand on the spot, and he went to mow in his old way, mowing so that +the peasants were fairly astounded as they watched his wide sweeping +strokes and the heaps he raked together. . . . + +In Moscow the day after Gerasim's flight they missed him. They went to +his garret, rummaged about in it, and spoke to Gavrila. He came, looked, +shrugged his shoulders, and decided that the dumb man had either run +away or had drowned himself with his stupid dog. They gave information +to the police, and informed the lady. The old lady was furious, burst +into tears, gave orders that he was to be found whatever happened, +declared she had never ordered the dog to be destroyed, and, in fact, +gave Gavrila such a rating that he could do nothing all day but shake +his head and murmur, "Well!" until Uncle Tail checked him at last, +sympathetically echoing "We-ell!" At last the news came from the country +of Gerasim's being there. The old lady was somewhat pacified; at first +she issued a mandate for him to be brought back without delay to Moscow; +afterwards, however, she declared that such an ungrateful creature was +absolutely of no use to her. Soon after this she died herself; and her +heirs had no thought to spare for Gerasim; they let their mother's other +servants redeem their freedom on payment of an annual rent. + +And Gerasim is living still, a lonely man in his lonely hut; he is +strong and healthy as before, and does the work of four men as before, +and as before is serious and steady. But his neighbors have observed +that ever since his return from Moscow he has quite given up the society +of women; he will not even look at them, and does not keep even a single +dog. + +"It's his good luck, though," the peasants reason, "that he can get on +without female folk; and as for a dog--what need has he of a dog? you +wouldn't get a thief to go into his yard for any money!" Such is the +fame of the dumb man's Titanic strength. + + + + + + +THE SHOT + +BY + +ALEXANDER POUSHKIN + +From "Poushkin's Prose Tales." Translated by T. Keane. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +We were stationed in the little town of N--. The life of an officer in +the army is well known. In the morning, drill and the riding-school; +dinner with the Colonel or at a Jewish restaurant; in the evening, punch +and cards. In N--- there was not one open house, not a single +marriageable girl. We used to meet in each other's rooms, where, except +our uniforms, we never saw anything. + +One civilian only was admitted into our society. He was about thirty- +five years of age, and therefore we looked upon him as an old fellow. +His experience gave him great advantage over us, and his habitual +taciturnity, stern disposition, and caustic tongue produced a deep +impression upon our young minds. Some mystery surrounded his existence; +he had the appearance of a Russian, although his name was a foreign one. +He had formerly served in the Hussars, and with distinction. Nobody knew +the cause that had induced him to retire from the service and settle in +a wretched little village, where he lived poorly and, at the same time, +extravagantly. He always went on foot, and constantly wore a shabby +black overcoat, but the officers of our regiment were ever welcome at +his table. His dinners, it is true, never consisted of more than two or +three dishes, prepared by a retired soldier, but the champagne flowed +like water. Nobody knew what his circumstances were, or what his income +was, and nobody dared to question him about them. He had a collection of +books, consisting chiefly of works on military matters and a few novels. +He willingly lent them to us to read, and never asked for them back; on +the other hand, he never returned to the owner the books that were lent +to him. His principal amusement was shooting with a pistol. The walls of +his room were riddled with bullets, and were as full of holes as a +honeycomb. A rich collection of pistols was the only luxury in the +humble cottage where he lived. The skill which he had acquired with his +favorite weapon was simply incredible: and if he had offered to shoot a +pear off somebody's forage-cap, not a man in our regiment would have +hesitated to place the object upon his head. + +Our conversation often turned upon duels. Silvio--so I will call him-- +never joined in it. When asked if he had ever fought, he dryly replied +that he had; but he entered into no particulars, and it was evident that +such questions were not to his liking. We came to the conclusion that he +had upon his conscience the memory of some unhappy victim of his +terrible skill. Moreover, it never entered into the head of any of us to +suspect him of anything like cowardice. There are persons whose mere +look is sufficient to repel such a suspicion. But an unexpected incident +occurred which astounded us all. + +One day, about ten of our officers dined with Silvio. They drank as +usual, that is to say, a great deal. After dinner we asked our host to +hold the bank for a game at faro. For a long time he refused, for he +hardly ever played, but at last he ordered cards to be brought, placed +half a hundred ducats upon the table, and sat down to deal. We took our +places round him, and the play began. It was Silvio's custom to preserve +a complete silence when playing. He never disputed, and never entered +into explanations. If the punter made a mistake in calculating, he +immediately paid him the difference or noted down the surplus. We were +acquainted with this habit of his, and we always allowed him to have his +own way; but among us on this occasion was an officer who had only +recently been transferred to our regiment. During the course of the +game, this officer absently scored one point too many. Silvio took the +chalk and noted down the correct account according to his usual custom. +The officer, thinking that he had made a mistake, began to enter into +explanations. Silvio continued dealing in silence. The officer, losing +patience, took the brush and rubbed out what he considered was wrong. +Silvio took the chalk and corrected the score again. The officer, heated +with wine, play, and the laughter of his comrades, considered himself +grossly insulted, and in his rage he seized a brass candlestick from the +table, and hurled it at Silvio, who barely succeeded in avoiding the +missile. We were filled with consternation. Silvio rose, white with +rage, and with gleaming eyes, said: + +"My dear sir, have the goodness to withdraw, and thank God that this has +happened in my house." + +None of us entertained the slightest doubt as to what the result would +be, and we already looked upon our new comrade as a dead man. The +officer withdrew, saying that he was ready to answer for his offence in +whatever way the banker liked. The play went on for a few minutes +longer, but feeling that our host was no longer interested in the game, +we withdrew one after the other, and repaired to our respective +quarters, after having exchanged a few words upon the probability of +there soon being a vacancy in the regiment. + +The next day, at the riding-school, we were already asking each other if +the poor lieutenant was still alive, when he himself appeared among us. +We put the same question to him, and he replied that he had not yet +heard from Silvio. This astonished us. We went to Silvio's house and +found him in the courtyard shooting bullet after bullet into an ace +pasted upon the gate. He received us as usual, but did not utter a word +about the event of the previous evening. Three days passed, and the +lieutenant was still alive. We asked each other in astonishment: "Can it +be possible that Silvio is not going to fight?" + +Silvio did not fight. He was satisfied with a very lame explanation, and +became reconciled to his assailant. + +This lowered him very much in the opinion of all our young fellows. Want +of courage is the last thing to be pardoned by young men, who usually +look upon bravery as the chief of all human virtues, and the excuse for +every possible fault. But, by degrees, everything became forgotten, and +Silvio regained his former influence. + +I alone could not approach him on the old footing. Being endowed by +nature with a romantic imagination, I had become attached more than all +the others to the man whose life was an enigma, and who seemed to me the +hero of some mysterious drama. He was fond of me; at least, with me +alone did he drop his customary sarcastic tone, and converse on +different subjects in a simple and unusually agreeable manner. But after +this unlucky evening, the thought that his honor had been tarnished, and +that the stain had been allowed to remain upon it in accordance with his +own wish, was ever present in my mind, and prevented me treating him as +before. I was ashamed to look at him. Silvio was too intelligent and +experienced not to observe this and guess the cause of it. This seemed +to vex him; at least I observed once or twice a desire on his part to +enter into an explanation with me, but I avoided such opportunities, and +Silvio gave up the attempt. From that time forward I saw him only in the +presence of my comrades, and our confidential conversations came to an +end. + +The inhabitants of the capital, with minds occupied by so many matters +of business and pleasure, have no idea of the many sensations so +familiar to the inhabitants of villages and small towns, as, for +instance, the awaiting the arrival of the post. On Tuesdays and Fridays +our regimental bureau used to be filled with officers: some expecting +money, some letters, and others newspapers. The packets were usually +opened on the spot, items of news were communicated from one to another, +and the bureau used to present a very animated picture. Silvio used to +have his letters addressed to our regiment, and he was generally there +to receive them. + +One day he received a letter, the seal of which he broke with a look of +great impatience. As he read the contents, his eyes sparkled. The +officers, each occupied with his own letters, did not observe anything. + +"Gentlemen," said Silvio, "circumstances demand my immediate departure; +I leave to-night. I hope that you will not refuse to dine with me for +the last time. I shall expect you, too," he added, turning towards me. +"I shall expect you without fail." + +With these words he hastily departed, and we, after agreeing to meet at +Silvio's, dispersed to our various quarters. + +I arrived at Silvio's house at the appointed time, and found nearly the +whole regiment there. All his things were already packed; nothing +remained but the bare, bullet-riddled walls. We sat down to table. Our +host was in an excellent humor, and his gayety was quickly communicated +to the rest. Corks popped every moment, glasses foamed incessantly, and, +with the utmost warmth, we wished our departing friend a pleasant +journey and every happiness. When we rose from the table it was already +late in the evening. After having wished everybody good-bye, Silvio took +me by the hand and detained me just at the moment when I was preparing +to depart. + +"I want to speak to you," he said in a low voice. + +I stopped behind. + +The guests had departed, and we two were left alone. Sitting down +opposite each other, we silently lit our pipes. Silvio seemed greatly +troubled; not a trace remained of his former convulsive gayety. The +intense pallor of his face, his sparkling eyes, and the thick smoke +issuing from his mouth, gave him a truly diabolical appearance. Several +minutes elapsed, and then Silvio broke the silence. + +"Perhaps we shall never see each other again," said he; "before we part, +I should like to have an explanation with you. You may have observed +that I care very little for the opinion of other people, but I like you, +and I feel that it would be painful to me to leave you with a wrong +impression upon your mind." + +He paused, and began to knock the ashes out of his pipe. I sat gazing +silently at the ground. + +"You thought it strange," he continued, "that I did not demand +satisfaction from that drunken idiot R---. You will admit, however, that +having the choice of weapons, his life was in my hands, while my own was +in no great danger. I could ascribe my forbearance to generosity alone, +but I will not tell a lie. If I could have chastised R--- without the +least risk to my own life, I should never have pardoned him." + +I looked at Silvio with astonishment. Such a confession completely +astounded me. Silvio continued: + +"Exactly so: I have no right to expose myself to death. Six years ago I +received a slap in the face, and my enemy still lives." + +My curiosity was greatly excited. + +"Did you not fight with him?" I asked. "Circumstances probably separated +you." + +"I did fight with him," replied Silvio; "and here is a souvenir of our +duel." + +Silvio rose and took from a cardboard box a red cap with a gold tassel +and embroidery (what the French call a bonnet de police); he put it on-- +a bullet had passed through it about an inch above the forehead. + +"You know," continued Silvio, "that I served in one of the Hussar +regiments. My character is well known to you: I am accustomed to taking +the lead. From my youth this has been my passion. In our time +dissoluteness was the fashion, and I was the most outrageous man in the +army. We used to boast of our drunkenness; I beat in a drinking bout the +famous Bourtsoff [Footnote: A cavalry officer, notorious for his drunken +escapades], of whom Denis Davidoff [Footnote: A military poet who +flourished in the reign of Alexander I] has sung. Duels in our regiment +were constantly taking place, and in all of them I was either second or +principal. My comrades adored me, while the regimental commanders, who +were constantly being changed, looked upon me as a necessary evil. + +"I was calmly enjoying my reputation, when a young man belonging to a +wealthy and distinguished family--I will not mention his name--joined +our regiment. Never in my life have I met with such a fortunate fellow! +Imagine to yourself youth, wit, beauty, unbounded gayety, the most +reckless bravery, a famous name, untold wealth--imagine all these, and +you can form some idea of the effect that he would be sure to produce +among us. My supremacy was shaken. Dazzled by my reputation, he began to +seek my friendship, but I received him coldly, and without the least +regret he held aloof from me. I took a hatred to him. His success in the +regiment and in the society of ladies brought me to the verge of +despair. I began to seek a quarrel with him; to my epigrams he replied +with epigrams which always seemed to me more spontaneous and more +cutting than mine, and which were decidedly more amusing, for he joked +while I fumed. At last, at a ball given by a Polish landed proprietor, +seeing him the object of the attention of all the ladies, and especially +of the mistress of the house, with whom I was upon very good terms, I +whispered some grossly insulting remark in his ear. He flamed up and +gave me a slap in the face. We grasped our swords; the ladies fainted; +we were separated; and that same night we set out to fight. + +"The dawn was just breaking. I was standing at the appointed place with +my three seconds. With inexplicable impatience I awaited my opponent. +The spring sun rose, and it was already growing hot. I saw him coming in +the distance. He was walking on foot, accompanied by one second. We +advanced to meet him. He approached, holding his cap filled with black +cherries. The seconds measured twelve paces for us. I had to fire first, +but my agitation was so great, that I could not depend upon the +steadiness of my hand; and in order to give myself time to become calm, +I ceded to him the first shot. My adversary would not agree to this. It +was decided that we should cast lots. The first number fell to him, the +constant favorite of fortune. He took aim, and his bullet went through +my cap. It was now my turn. His life at last was in my hands; I looked +at him eagerly, endeavoring to detect if only the faintest shadow of +uneasiness. But he stood in front of my pistol, picking out the ripest +cherries from his cap and spitting out the stones, which flew almost as +far as my feet. His indifference annoyed me beyond measure. 'What is the +use,' thought I, 'of depriving him of life, when he attaches no value +whatever to it?' A malicious thought flashed through my mind. I lowered +my pistol. + +"'You don't seem to be ready for death just at present,' I said to him: +'you wish to have your breakfast; I do not wish to hinder you.' + +"'You are not hindering me in the least,' replied he. 'Have the goodness +to fire, or just as you please--the shot remains yours; I shall always +be ready at your service.' + +"I turned to the seconds, informing them that I had no intention of +firing that day, and with that the duel came to an end. + +"I resigned my commission and retired to this little place. Since then +not a day has passed that I have not thought of revenge. And now my hour +has arrived." + +Silvio took from his pocket the letter that he had received that +morning, and gave it to me to read. Some one (it seemed to be his +business agent) wrote to him from Moscow, that a CERTAIN PERSON was +going to be married to a young and beautiful girl. + +"You can guess," said Silvio, "who the certain person is. I am going to +Moscow. We shall see if he will look death in the face with as much +indifference now, when he is on the eve of being married, as he did once +with his cherries!" + +With these words, Silvio rose, threw his cap upon the floor, and began +pacing up and down the room like a tiger in his cage. I had listened to +him in silence; strange conflicting feelings agitated me. + +The servant entered and announced that the horses were ready. Silvio +grasped my hand tightly, and we embraced each other. He seated himself +in his telega, in which lay two trunks, one containing his pistols, the +other his effects. We said good-bye once more, and the horses galloped +off. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Several years passed, and family circumstances compelled me to settle in +the poor little village of M---. Occupied with agricultural pursuits, I +ceased not to sigh in secret for my former noisy and careless life. The +most difficult thing of all was having to accustom myself to passing the +spring and winter evenings in perfect solitude. Until the hour for +dinner I managed to pass away the time somehow or other, talking with +the bailiff, riding about to inspect the work, or going round to look at +the new buildings; but as soon as it began to get dark, I positively did +not know what to do with myself. The few books that I had found in the +cupboards and storerooms I already knew by heart. All the stories that +my housekeeper Kirilovna could remember I had heard over and over again. +The songs of the peasant women made me feel depressed. I tried drinking +spirits, but it made my head ache; and moreover, I confess I was afraid +of becoming a drunkard from mere chagrin, that is to say, the saddest +kind of drunkard, of which I had seen many examples in our district. + +I had no near neighbors, except two or three topers, whose conversation +consisted for the most part of hiccups and sighs. Solitude was +preferable to their society. At last I decided to go to bed as early as +possible, and to dine as late as possible; in this way I shortened the +evening and lengthened out the day, and I found that the plan answered +very well. + +Four versts from my house was a rich estate belonging to the Countess +B---; but nobody lived there except the steward. The Countess had only +visited her estate once, in the first year of her married life, and then +she had remained there no longer than a month. But in the second spring +of my hermitical life a report was circulated that the Countess, with +her husband, was coming to spend the summer on her estate. The report +turned out to be true, for they arrived at the beginning of June. + +The arrival of a rich neighbor is an important event in the lives of +country people. The landed proprietors and the people of their +households talk about it for two months beforehand and for three years +afterwards. As for me, I must confess that the news of the arrival of a +young and beautiful neighbor affected me strongly. I burned with +impatience to see her, and the first Sunday after her arrival I set out +after dinner for the village of A---, to pay my respects to the Countess +and her husband, as their nearest neighbor and most humble servant. A +lackey conducted me into the Count's study, and then went to announce +me. The spacious apartment was furnished with every possible luxury. +Around the walls were cases filled with books and surmounted by bronze +busts; over the marble mantelpiece was a large mirror; on the floor was +a green cloth covered with carpets. Unaccustomed to luxury in my own +poor corner, and not having seen the wealth of other people for a long +time, I awaited the appearance of the Count with some little +trepidation, as a suppliant from the provinces awaits the arrival of the +minister. The door opened, and a handsome-looking man, of about thirty- +two years of age, entered the room. The Count approached me with a frank +and friendly air; I endeavored to be self-possessed and began to +introduce myself, but he anticipated me. We sat down. His conversation, +which was easy and agreeable, soon dissipated my awkward bashfulness; +and I was already beginning to recover my usual composure, when the +Countess suddenly entered, and I became more confused than ever. She was +indeed beautiful. The Count presented me. I wished to appear at ease, +but the more I tried to assume an air of unconstraint, the more awkward +I felt. They, in order to give me time to recover myself and to become +accustomed to my new acquaintances, began to talk to each other, +treating me as a good neighbor, and without ceremony. Meanwhile, I +walked about the room, examining the books and pictures. I am no judge +of pictures, but one of them attracted my attention. It represented some +view in Switzerland, but it was not the painting that struck me, but the +circumstance that the canvas was shot through by two bullets, one +planted just above the other. + +"A good shot that!" said I, turning to the Count. + +"Yes," replied he, "a very remarkable shot. . . . Do you shoot well?" he +continued. + +"Tolerably," replied I, rejoicing that the conversation had turned at +last upon a subject that was familiar to me. "At thirty paces I can +manage to hit a card without fail,--I mean, of course, with a pistol +that I am used to." + +"Really?" said the Countess, with a look of the greatest interest. "And +you, my dear, could you hit a card at thirty paces?" + +"Some day," replied the Count, "we will try. In my time I did not shoot +badly, but it is now four years since I touched a pistol." + +"Oh!" I observed, "in that case, I don't mind laying a wager that Your +Excellency will not hit the card at twenty paces; the pistol demands +practice every day. I know that from experience. In our regiment I was +reckoned one of the best shots. It once happened that I did not touch a +pistol for a whole month, as I had sent mine to be mended; and would you +believe it, Your Excellency, the first time I began to shoot again, I +missed a bottle four times in succession at twenty paces. Our captain, a +witty and amusing fellow, happened to be standing by, and he said to me: +'It is evident, my friend, that your hand will not lift itself against +the bottle.' No, Your Excellency, you must not neglect to practise, or +your hand will soon lose its cunning. The best shot that I ever met used +to shoot at least three times every day before dinner. It was as much +his custom to do this as it was to drink his daily glass of brandy." + +The Count and Countess seemed pleased that I had begun to talk. + +"And what sort of a shot was he?" asked the Count. + +"Well, it was this way with him, Your Excellency: if he saw a fly settle +on the wall--you smile, Countess, but, before Heaven, it is the truth-- +if he saw a fly, he would call out: 'Kouzka, my pistol!' Kouzka would +bring him a loaded pistol--bang! and the fly would be crushed against +the wall." + +"Wonderful!" said the Count. "And what was his name?" + +"Silvio, Your Excellency." + +"Silvio!" exclaimed the Count, starting up. "Did you know Silvio?" + +"How could I help knowing him, Your Excellency: we were intimate +friends; he was received in our regiment like a brother officer, but it +is now five years since I had any tidings of him. Then Your Excellency +also knew him?" + +"Oh, yes, I knew him very well. Did he ever tell you of one very strange +incident in his life?" + +"Does Your Excellency refer to the slap in the face that he received +from some blackguard at a ball?" + +"Did he tell you the name of this blackguard?" + +"No, Your Excellency, he never mentioned his name, . . . Ah! Your +Excellency!" I continued, guessing the truth: "pardon me . . . I did not +know . . . could it really have been you?" + +"Yes, I myself," replied the Count, with a look of extraordinary +agitation; "and that bullet-pierced picture is a memento of our last +meeting." + +"Ah, my dear," said the Countess, "for Heaven's sake, do not speak about +that; it would be too terrible for me to listen to." + +"No," replied the Count: "I will relate everything. He knows how I +insulted his friend, and it is only right that he should know how Silvio +revenged himself." + +The Count pushed a chair towards me, and with the liveliest interest I +listened to the following story: + +"Five years ago I got married. The first month--the honeymoon--I spent +here, in this village. To this house I am indebted for the happiest +moments of my life, as well as for one of its most painful recollections. + +"One evening we went out together for a ride on horseback. My wife's +horse became restive; she grew frightened, gave the reins to me, and +returned home on foot. I rode on before. In the courtyard I saw a +travelling carriage, and I was told that in my study sat waiting for me +a man, who would not give his name, but who merely said that he had +business with me. I entered the room and saw in the darkness a man, +covered with dust and wearing a beard of several days' growth. He was +standing there, near the fireplace. I approached him, trying to remember +his features. + +"'You do not recognize me, Count?' said he, in a quivering voice. + +"'Silvio!' I cried, and I confess that I felt as if my hair had suddenly +stood on end. + +"'Exactly,' continued he. 'There is a shot due to me, and I have come to +discharge my pistol. Are you ready?' + +"His pistol protruded from a side pocket. I measured twelve paces and +took my stand there in that corner, begging him to fire quickly, before +my wife arrived. He hesitated, and asked for a light. Candles were +brought in. I closed the doors, gave orders that nobody was to enter, +and again begged him to fire. He drew out his pistol and took aim. . . . +I counted the seconds. . . . I thought of her. . . . A terrible minute +passed! Silvio lowered his hand. + +"'I regret,' said he, 'that the pistol is not loaded with cherry- +stones . . . the bullet is heavy. It seems to me that this is not a duel, +but a murder. I am not accustomed to taking aim at unarmed men. Let us +begin all over again; we will cast lots as to who shall fire first.' + +"My head went round. . . . I think I raised some objection. . . . At last +we loaded another pistol, and rolled up two pieces of paper. He placed +these latter in his cap--the same through which I had once sent a +bullet--and again I drew the first number. + +"'You are devilish lucky, Count,' said he, with a smile that I shall +never forget. + +"I don't know what was the matter with me, or how it was that he managed +to make me do it . . . but I fired and hit that picture." + +The Count pointed with his finger to the perforated picture; his face +glowed like fire; the Countess was whiter than her own handkerchief; and +I could not restrain an exclamation. + +"I fired," continued the Count, "and, thank Heaven, missed my aim. Then +Silvio . . . at that moment he was really terrible . . . Silvio raised his +hand to take aim at me. Suddenly the door opens, Masha rushes into the +room, and with a loud shriek throws herself upon my neck. Her presence +restored to me all my courage. + +"'My dear,' said I to her, 'don't you see that we are joking? How +frightened you are! Go and drink a glass of water and then come back to +us; I will introduce you to an old friend and comrade.' + +"Masha still doubted. + +"'Tell me, is my husband speaking the truth?' said she, turning to the +terrible Silvio: 'is it true that you are only joking?' + +"'He is always joking, Countess,' replied Silvio: 'once he gave me a +slap in the face in a joke; on another occasion he sent a bullet through +my cap in a joke; and just now, when he fired at me and missed me, it +was all in a joke. And now I feel inclined for a joke.' + +"With these words he raised his pistol to take aim at me--right before +her! Masha threw herself at his feet. + +"'Rise, Masha; are you not ashamed!' I cried in a rage: 'and you, sir, +will you cease to make fun of a poor woman? Will you fire or not?' + +"'I will not,' replied Silvio: 'I am satisfied. I have seen your +confusion, your alarm. I forced you to fire at me. That is sufficient. +You will remember me. I leave you to your conscience.' + +"Then he turned to go, but pausing in the doorway, and looking at the +picture that my shot had passed through, he fired at it almost without +taking aim, and disappeared. My wife had fainted away; the servants did +not venture to stop him, the mere look of him filled them with terror. +He went out upon the steps, called his coachman, and drove off before I +could recover myself." + +The Count was silent. In this way I learned the end of the story, whose +beginning had once made such a deep impression upon me. The hero of it I +never saw again. It is said that Silvio commanded a detachment of +Hetairists during the revolt under Alexander Ipsilanti, and that he was +killed in the battle of Skoulana. + + + + + + +ST. JOHN'S EVE + +BY + +NIKOLAI VASILIEVITCH GOGOL + + +From "St. John's Eve." Translated by Isabel F. Hapgood. + +1886 + +[Footnote: This is one of the stories from the celebrated volume +entitled "Tales at a Farmhouse near Dikanka."] + + +(RELATED BY THE SACRISTAN OF THE DIKANKA CHURCH) + + + + +Thoma Grigorovitch had a very strange sort of eccentricity: to the day +of his death he never liked to tell the same thing twice. There were +times when, if you asked him to relate a thing afresh, behold, he would +interpolate new matter, or alter it so that it was impossible to +recognize it. Once on a time, one of those gentlemen (it is hard for us +simple people to put a name to them, to say whether they are scribblers +or not scribblers: but it is just the same thing as the usurers at our +yearly fairs; they clutch and beg and steal every sort of frippery, and +issue mean little volumes, no thicker than an ABC book, every month, or +even every week),--one of these gentlemen wormed this same story out of +Thoma Grigorovitch, and he completely forgot about it. But that same +young gentleman in the pea-green caftan, whom I have mentioned, and one +of whose Tales you have already read, I think, came from Poltava, +bringing with him a little book, and, opening it in the middle, shows it +to us. Thoma Grigorovitch was on the point of setting his spectacles +astride of his nose, but recollected that he had forgotten to wind +thread about them, and stick them together with wax, so he passed it +over to me. As I understand something about reading and writing, and do +not wear spectacles, I undertook to read it. I had not turned two +leaves, when all at once he caught me by the hand, and stopped me. + +"Stop! tell me first what you are reading." + +I confess that I was a trifle stunned by such a question. + +"What! what am I reading, Thoma Grigorovitch? These were your very +words." + +"Who told you that they were my words?" + +"Why, what more would you have? Here it is printed: RELATED BY SUCH AND +SUCH A SACRISTAN." + +"Spit on the head of the man who printed that! he lies, the dog of a +Moscow pedler! Did I say that? 'TWAS JUST THE SAME AS THOUGH ONE HADN'T +HIS WITS ABOUT HIM. Listen. I'll tell it to you on the spot." + +We moved up to the table, and he began. + + * * * * + +My grandfather (the kingdom of heaven be his! may he eat only wheaten +rolls and makovniki [FOOTNOTE: Poppy-seeds cooked in honey, and dried in +square cakes.] with honey in the other world!) could tell a story +wonderfully well. When he used to begin on a tale, you wouldn't stir +from the spot all day, but keep on listening. He was no match for the +story-teller of the present day, when he begins to lie, with a tongue as +though he had had nothing to eat for three days, so that you snatch your +cap and flee from the house. As I now recall it,--my old mother was +alive then,--in the long winter evenings when the frost was crackling +out of doors, and had so sealed up hermetically the narrow panes of our +cottage, she used to sit before the hackling-comb, drawing out a long +thread in her hand, rocking the cradle with her foot, and humming a +song, which I seem to hear even now. + +The fat-lamp, quivering and flaring up as though in fear of something, +lighted us within our cottage; the spindle hummed; and all of us +children, collected in a cluster, listened to grandfather, who had not +crawled off the oven for more than five years, owing to his great age. +But the wondrous tales of the incursions of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, +the Poles, the bold deeds of Podkova, of Poltor-Kozhukh, and +Sagaidatchnii, did not interest us so much as the stories about some +deed of old which always sent a shiver through our frames, and made our +hair rise upright on our heads. Sometimes such terror took possession of +us in consequence of them, that, from that evening on, Heaven knows what +a marvel everything seemed to us. If you chance to go out of the cottage +after nightfall for anything, you imagine that a visitor from the other +world has lain down to sleep in your bed; and I should not be able to +tell this a second time were it not that I had often taken my own smock, +at a distance, as it lay at the head of the bed, for the Evil One rolled +up in a ball! But the chief thing about grandfather's stories was, that +he never had lied in all his life; and whatever he said was so, was so. + +I will now relate to you one of his marvellous tales. I know that there +are a great many wise people who copy in the courts, and can even read +civil documents, who, if you were to put into their hand a simple +prayer-book, could not make out the first letter in it, and would show +all their teeth in derision--which is wisdom. These people laugh at +everything you tell them. Such incredulity has spread abroad in the +world! What then? (Why, may God and the Holy Virgin cease to love me if +it is not possible that even you will not believe me!) Once he said +something about witches; . . . What then? Along comes one of these head- +breakers,--and doesn't believe in witches! Yes, glory to God that I have +lived so long in the world! I have seen heretics, to whom it would be +easier to lie in confession than it would to our brothers and equals to +take snuff, and those people would deny the existence of witches! But +let them just dream about something, and they won't even tell what it +was! There's no use in talking about them! + + * * * * + +ST. JOHN'S EVE. + +No one could have recognized this village of ours a little over a +hundred years ago: a hamlet it was, the poorest kind of a hamlet. Half a +score of miserable izbas, unplastered, badly thatched, were scattered +here and there about the fields. There was not an inclosure or decent +shed to shelter animals or wagons. That was the way the wealthy lived; +and if you had looked for our brothers, the poor,--why, a hole in the +ground,--that was a cabin for you! Only by the smoke could you tell that +a God-created man lived there. You ask why they lived so? It was not +entirely through poverty: almost every one led a wandering, Cossack +life, and gathered not a little plunder in foreign lands; it was rather +because there was no reason for setting up a well-ordered khata (wooden +house). How many people were wandering all over the country,--Crimeans, +Poles, Lithuanians! It was quite possible that their own countrymen +might make a descent, and plunder everything. Anything was possible. + +In this hamlet a man, or rather a devil in human form, often made his +appearance. Why he came, and whence, no one knew. He prowled about, got +drunk, and suddenly disappeared as if into the air, and there was not a +hint of his existence. Then, again, behold, he seemed to have dropped +from the sky, and went flying about the streets of the village, of which +no trace now remains, and which was not more than a hundred paces from +Dikanka. He would collect together all the Cossacks he met; then there +were songs, laughter, money in abundance, and vodka flowed like +water. . . . He would address the pretty girls, and give them ribbons, +earrings, strings of beads,--more than they knew what to do with. It is +true that the pretty girls rather hesitated about accepting his +presents: God knows, perhaps they had passed through unclean hands. My +grandfather's aunt, who kept a tavern at that time, in which Basavriuk +(as they called that devil-man) often had his carouses, said that no +consideration on the face of the earth would have induced her to accept +a gift from him. And then, again, how avoid accepting? Fear seized on +every one when he knit his bristly brows, and gave a sidelong glance +which might send your feet, God knows whither; but if you accept, then +the next night some fiend from the swamp, with horns on his head, comes +to call, and begins to squeeze your neck, when there is a string of +beads upon it; or bite your finger, if there is a ring upon it; or drag +you by the hair, if ribbons are braided in it. God have mercy, then, on +those who owned such gifts! But here was the difficulty: it was +impossible to get rid of them; if you threw them into the water, the +diabolical ring or necklace would skim along the surface, and into your +hand. + +There was a church in the village,--St. Pantelei, if I remember rightly. +There lived there a priest, Father Athanasii of blessed memory. +Observing that Basavriuk did not come to church, even on Easter, he +determined to reprove him, and impose penance upon him. Well, he hardly +escaped with his life. "Hark ye, pannotche!" [Footnote: Sir] he +thundered in reply, "learn to mind your own business instead of meddling +in other people's, if you don't want that goat's throat of yours stuck +together with boiling kutya." [Footnote: A dish of rice or wheat flour, +with honey and raisins, which is brought to the church on the +celebration of memorial masses] What was to be done with this +unrepentant man? Father Athanasii contented himself with announcing that +any one who should make the acquaintance of Basavriuk would be counted a +Catholic, an enemy of Christ's church, not a member of the human race. + +In this village there was a Cossack named Korzh, who had a laborer whom +people called Peter the Orphan--perhaps because no one remembered either +his father or mother. The church starost, it is true, said that they had +died of the pest in his second year; but my grandfather's aunt would not +hear to that, and tried with all her might to furnish him with parents, +although poor Peter needed them about as much as we need last year's +snow. She said that his father had been in Zaporozhe, taken prisoner by +the Turks, underwent God only knows what tortures, and having, by some +miracle, disguised himself as a eunuch, had made his escape. Little +cared the black-browed youths and maidens about his parents. They merely +remarked, that if he only had a new coat, a red sash, a black lambskin +cap, with dandified blue crown, on his head, a Turkish sabre hanging by +his side, a whip in one hand and a pipe with handsome mountings in the +other, he would surpass all the young men. But the pity was, that the +only thing poor Peter had was a gray svitka with more holes in it than +there are gold-pieces in a Jew's pocket. And that was not the worst of +it, but this: that Korzh had a daughter, such a beauty as I think you +can hardly have chanced to see. My deceased grandfather's aunt used to +say--and you know that it is easier for a woman to kiss the Evil One +than to call anybody a beauty, without malice be it said--that this +Cossack maiden's cheeks were as plump and fresh as the pinkest poppy +when just bathed in God's dew, and, glowing, it unfolds its petals, and +coquets with the rising sun; that her brows were like black cords, such +as our maidens buy nowadays, for their crosses and ducats, of the Moscow +pedlers who visit the villages with their baskets, and evenly arched as +though peeping into her clear eyes; that her little mouth, at sight of +which the youths smacked their lips, seemed made to emit the songs of +nightingales; that her hair, black as the raven's wing, and soft as +young flax (our maidens did not then plait their hair in clubs +interwoven with pretty, bright-hued ribbons) fell in curls over her +kuntush. [Footnote: Upper garment in Little Russia.] Eh! may I never +intone another alleluia in the choir, if I would not have kissed her, in +spite of the gray which is making its way all through the old wool which +covers my pate, and my old woman beside me, like a thorn in my side! +Well, you know what happens when young men and maids live side by side. +In the twilight the heels of red boots were always visible in the place +where Pidorka chatted with her Petrus. But Korzh would never have +suspected anything out of the way, only one day--it is evident that none +but the Evil One could have inspired him--Petrus took it into his head +to kiss the Cossack maiden's rosy lips with all his heart in the +passage, without first looking well about him; and that same Evil One-- +may the son of a dog dream of the holy cross!--caused the old graybeard, +like a fool, to open the cottage-door at that same moment. Korzh was +petrified, dropped his jaw, and clutched at the door for support. Those +unlucky kisses had completely stunned him. It surprised him more than +the blow of a pestle on the wall, with which, in our days, the muzhik +generally drives out his intoxication for lack of fuses and powder. + +Recovering himself, he took his grandfather's hunting-whip from the +wall, and was about to belabor Peter's back with it, when Pidorka's +little six-year-old brother Ivas rushed up from somewhere or other, and, +grasping his father's legs with his little hands, screamed out, "Daddy, +daddy! don't beat Petrus!" What was to be done? A father's heart is not +made of stone. Hanging the whip again upon the wall, he led him quietly +from the house. "If you ever show yourself in my cottage again, or even +under the windows, look out, Petro! by Heaven, your black moustache will +disappear; and your black locks, though wound twice about your ears, +will take leave of your pate, or my name is not Terentiy Korzh." So +saying, he gave him a little taste of his fist in the nape of his neck, +so that all grew dark before Petrus, and he flew headlong. So there was +an end of their kissing. Sorrow seized upon our doves; and a rumor was +rife in the village, that a certain Pole, all embroidered with gold, +with moustaches, sabres, spurs, and pockets jingling like the bells of +the bag with which our sacristan Taras goes through the church every +day, had begun to frequent Korzh's house. Now, it is well known why the +father is visited when there is a black-browed daughter about. So, one +day, Pidorka burst into tears, and clutched the hand of her Ivas. "Ivas, +my dear! Ivas, my love! fly to Petrus, my child of gold, like an arrow +from a bow. Tell him all: I would have loved his brown eyes, I would +have kissed his white face, but my fate decrees not so. More than one +towel have I wet with burning tears. I am sad, I am heavy at heart. And +my own father is my enemy. I will not marry that Pole, whom I do not +love. Tell him they are preparing a wedding, but there will be no music +at our wedding: ecclesiastics will sing instead of pipes and kobzas. +[Footnote: Eight-stringed musical instrument.] I shall not dance with my +bridegroom: they will carry me out. Dark, dark will be my dwelling,--of +maple wood; and, instead of chimneys, a cross will stand upon the roof." + +Petro stood petrified, without moving from the spot, when the innocent +child lisped out Pidorka's words to him. "And I, unhappy man, thought to +go to the Crimea and Turkey, win gold and return to thee, my beauty! But +it may not be. The evil eye has seen us. I will have a wedding, too, +dear little fish, I too; but no ecclesiastics will be at that wedding. +The black crow will caw, instead of the pope, over me; the smooth field +will be my dwelling; the dark blue clouds my roof-tree. The eagle will +claw out my brown eyes: the rain will wash the Cossack's bones, and the +whirlwinds will dry them. But what am I? Of whom, to whom, am I +complaining? 'T is plain, God willed it so. If I am to be lost, then so +be it!" and he went straight to the tavern. + +My late grandfather's aunt was somewhat surprised on seeing Petrus in +the tavern, and at an hour when good men go to morning mass; and she +stared at him as though in a dream, when he demanded a jug of brandy, +about half a pailful. But the poor fellow tried in vain to drown his +woe. The vodka stung his tongue like nettles, and tasted more bitter +than wormwood. He flung the jug from him upon the ground. "You have +sorrowed enough, Cossack," growled a bass voice behind him. He looked +round--Basavriuk! Ugh, what a face! His hair was like a brush, his eyes +like those of a bull. "I know what you lack: here it is." Then he +jingled a leather purse which hung from his girdle, and smiled +diabolically. Petro shuddered. "He, he, he! yes, how it shines!" he +roared, shaking out ducats into his hand: "he, he, he! and how it +jingles! And I only ask one thing for a whole pile of such shiners."-- +"It is the Evil One!" exclaimed Petro: "Give them here! I'm ready for +anything!" They struck hands upon it. "See here, Petro, you are ripe +just in time: to-morrow is St. John the Baptist's day. Only on this one +night in the year does the fern blossom. Delay not. I will await thee at +midnight in the Bear's ravine." + +I do not believe that chickens await the hour when the woman brings +their corn with as much anxiety as Petrus awaited the evening. And, in +fact, he looked to see whether the shadows of the trees were not +lengthening, if the sun were not turning red towards setting; and the +longer he watched, the more impatient he grew. How long it was! +Evidently, God's day had lost its end somewhere. And now the sun is +gone. The sky is red only on one side, and it is already growing dark. +It grows colder in the fields. It gets dusky and more dusky, and at last +quite dark. At last! With heart almost bursting from his bosom, he set +out on his way, and cautiously descended through the dense woods into +the deep hollow called the Bear's ravine. Basavriuk was already waiting +there. It was so dark, that you could not see a yard before you. Hand in +hand they penetrated the thin marsh, clinging to the luxuriant thorn +bushes, and stumbling at almost every step. At last they reached an open +spot. Petro looked about him: he had never chanced to come there before. +Here Basavriuk halted. + +"Do you see, before you stand three hillocks? There are a great many +sorts of flowers upon them. But may some power keep you from plucking +even one of them. But as soon as the fern blossoms, seize it, and look +not round, no matter what may seem to be going on behind thee." + +Petro wanted to ask--and behold he was no longer there. He approached +the three hillocks--where were the flowers? He saw nothing. The wild +steppe-grass darkled around, and stifled everything in its luxuriance. +But the lightning flashed; and before him stood a whole bed of flowers, +all wonderful, all strange: and there were also the simple fronds of +fern. Petro doubted his senses, and stood thoughtfully before them, with +both hands upon his sides. + +"What prodigy is this? one can see these weeds ten times in a day: what +marvel is there about them? was not devil's-face laughing at me?" + +Behold! the tiny flower-bud crimsons, and moves as though alive. It is a +marvel, in truth. It moves, and grows larger and larger, and flushes +like a burning coal. The tiny star flashes up, something bursts softly, +and the flower opens before his eyes like a flame, lighting the others +about it. "Now is the time," thought Petro, and extended his hand. He +sees hundreds of shaggy hands reach from behind him, also for the +flower; and there is a running about from place to place, in the rear. +He half shut his eyes, plucked sharply at the stalk, and the flower +remained in his hand. All became still. Upon a stump sat Basavriuk, all +blue like a corpse. He moved not so much as a finger. His eyes were +immovably fixed on something visible to him alone: his mouth was half +open and speechless. All about, nothing stirred. Ugh! it was horrible!-- +But then a whistle was heard, which made Petro's heart grow cold within +him; and it seemed to him that the grass whispered, and the flowers +began to talk among themselves in delicate voices, like little silver +bells; the trees rustled in waving contention;--Basavriuk's face +suddenly became full of life, and his eyes sparkled. "The witch has just +returned," he muttered between his teeth. "See here, Petro: a beauty +will stand before you in a moment; do whatever she commands; if not--you +are lost for ever." Then he parted the thorn-bush with a knotty stick, +and before him stood a tiny izba, on chicken's legs, as they say. +Basavriuk smote it with his fist, and the wall trembled. A large black +dog ran out to meet them, and with a whine, transforming itself into a +cat, flew straight at his eyes. "Don't be angry, don't be angry, you old +Satan!" said Basavriuk, employing such words as would have made a good +man stop his ears. Behold, instead of a cat, an old woman with a face +wrinkled like a baked apple, and all bent into a bow: her nose and chin +were like a pair of nut-crackers. "A stunning beauty!" thought Petro; +and cold chills ran down his back. The witch tore the flower from his +hand, bent over, and muttered over it for a long time, sprinkling it +with some kind of water. Sparks flew from her mouth, froth appeared on +her lips. + +"Throw it away," she said, giving it back to Petro. + +Petro threw it, and what wonder was this? the flower did not fall +straight to the earth, but for a long while twinkled like a fiery ball +through the darkness, and swam through the air like a boat: at last it +began to sink lower and lower, and fell so far away, that the little +star, hardly larger than a poppy-seed, was barely visible. "Here!" +croaked the old woman, in a dull voice: and Basavriuk, giving him a +spade, said: "Dig here, Petro: here you will see more gold than you or +Korzh ever dreamed of." + +Petro spat on his hands, seized the spade, applied his foot, and turned +up the earth, a second, a third, a fourth time. . . . There was something +hard: the spade clinked, and would go no farther. Then his eyes began to +distinguish a small, iron-bound coffer. He tried to seize it; but the +chest began to sink into the earth, deeper, farther, and deeper still: +and behind him he heard a laugh, more like a serpent's hiss. "No, you +shall not see the gold until you procure human blood," said the witch, +and led up to him a child of six, covered with a white sheet, indicating +by a sign that he was to cut off his head. Petro was stunned. A trifle, +indeed, to cut off a man's, or even an innocent child's, head for no +reason whatever! In wrath he tore off the sheet enveloping his head, and +behold! before him stood Ivas. And the poor child crossed his little +hands, and hung his head. . . . Petro flew upon the witch with the knife +like a madman, and was on the point of laying hands on her. . . . + +"What did you promise for the girl?" . . . thundered Basavriuk; and like a +shot he was on his back. The witch stamped her foot: a blue flame +flashed from the earth; it illumined it all inside, and it was as if +moulded of crystal; and all that was within the earth became visible, as +if in the palm of the hand. Ducats, precious stones in chests and +kettles, were piled in heaps beneath the very spot they stood on. His +eyes burned, . . . his mind grew troubled. . . . He grasped the knife like +a madman, and the innocent blood spurted into his eyes. Diabolical +laughter resounded on all sides. Misshaped monsters flew past him in +herds. The witch, fastening her hands in the headless trunk, like a wolf +drank its blood. . . . All went round in his head. Collecting all his +strength, he set out to run. Everything turned red before him. The trees +seemed steeped in blood, and burned and groaned. The sky glowed and +glowered. . . . Burning points, like lightning, flickered before his eyes. +Utterly exhausted, he rushed into his miserable hovel, and fell to the +ground like a log. A death-like sleep overpowered him. + +Two days and two nights did Petro sleep, without once awakening. When he +came to himself, on the third day, he looked long at all the corners of +his hut; but in vain did he endeavor to recollect; his memory was like a +miser's pocket, from which you cannot entice a quarter of a kopek. +Stretching himself, he heard something clash at his feet. He looked, . . . +two bags of gold. Then only, as if in a dream, he recollected that he +had been seeking some treasure, that something had frightened him in the +woods. . . . But at what price he had obtained it, and how, he could by no +means understand. + +Korzh saw the sacks,--and was mollified. "Such a Petrus, quite unheard +of! yes, and did I not love him? Was he not to me as my own son?" And +the old fellow carried on his fiction until it reduced him to tears. +Pidorka began to tell him how some passing gypsies had stolen Ivas; but +Petro could not even recall him--to such a degree had the Devil's +influence darkened his mind! There was no reason for delay. The Pole was +dismissed, and the wedding-feast prepared; rolls were baked, towels and +handkerchiefs embroidered; the young people were seated at table; the +wedding-loaf was cut; banduras, cymbals, pipes, kobzi, sounded, and +pleasure was rife . . . + +A wedding in the olden times was not like one of the present day. My +grandfather's aunt used to tell--what doings!--how the maidens--in +festive head-dresses of yellow, blue, and pink ribbons, above which they +bound gold braid; in thin chemisettes embroidered on all the seams with +red silk, and strewn with tiny silver flowers; in morocco shoes, with +high iron heels--danced the gorlitza as swimmingly as peacocks, and as +wildly as the whirlwind; how the youths--with their ship-shaped caps +upon their heads, the crowns of gold brocade, with a little slit at the +nape where the hair-net peeped through, and two horns projecting, one in +front and another behind, of the very finest black lambskin; in +kuntushas of the finest blue silk with red borders--stepped forward one +by one, their arms akimbo in stately form, and executed the gopak; how +the lads--in tall Cossack caps, and light cloth svitkas, girt with +silver embroidered belts, their short pipes in their teeth--skipped +before them, and talked nonsense. Even Korzh could not contain himself, +as he gazed at the young people, from getting gay in his old age. +Bandura in hand, alternately puffing at his pipe and singing, a brandy- +glass upon his head, the gray-beard began the national dance amid loud +shouts from the merry-makers. What will not people devise in merry mood! +They even began to disguise their faces. They did not look like human +beings. They are not to be compared with the disguises which we have at +our weddings nowadays. What do they do now? Why, imitate gypsies and +Moscow pedlers. No! then one used to dress himself as a Jew, another as +the Devil: they would begin by kissing each other, and ended by seizing +each other by the hair. . . . God be with them! you laughed till you held +your sides. They dressed themselves in Turkish and Tartar garments. All +upon them glowed like a conflagration, . . . and then they began to joke +and play pranks. . . . Well, then away with the saints! An amusing thing +happened to my grandfather's aunt, who was at this wedding. She was +dressed in a voluminous Tartar robe, and, wine-glass in hand, was +entertaining the company. The Evil One instigated one man to pour vodka +over her from behind. Another, at the same moment, evidently not by +accident, struck a light, and touched it to her; . . . the flame flashed +up; poor aunt, in terror, flung her robe from her, before them all. . . . +Screams, laughter, jest, arose, as if at a fair. In a word, the old +folks could not recall so merry a wedding. + +Pidorka and Petrus began to live like a gentleman and lady. There was +plenty of everything, and everything was handsome. . . . But honest people +shook their heads when they looked at their way of living. "From the +Devil no good can come," they unanimously agreed. "Whence, except from +the tempter of orthodox people, came this wealth? Where else could he +get such a lot of gold? Why, on the very day that he got rich, did +Basavriuk vanish as if into thin air?" Say, if you can, that people +imagine things! In fact, a month had not passed, and no one would have +recognized Petrus. Why, what had happened to him? God knows. He sits in +one spot, and says no word to any one: he thinks continually, and seems +to be trying to recall something. When Pidorka succeeds in getting him to +speak, he seems to forget himself, carries on a conversation, and even +grows cheerful; but if he inadvertently glances at the sacks, "Stop, +stop! I have forgotten," he cries, and again plunges into reverie, and +again strives to recall something. Sometimes when he has sat long in a +place, it seems to him as though it were coming, just coming back to +mind, . . . and again all fades away. It seems as if he is sitting in the +tavern: they bring him vodka; vodka stings him; vodka is repulsive to +him. Some one comes along, and strikes him on the shoulder; . . . but +beyond that everything is veiled in darkness before him. The +perspiration streams down his face, and he sits exhausted in the same +place. + +What did not Pidorka do? She consulted the sorceress; and they poured +out fear, and brewed stomach ache,[Footnote: "To pour out fear," is done +with us in case of fear; when it is desired to know what caused it, +melted lead or wax is poured into water, and the object whose form it +assumes is the one which frightened the sick person; after this, the +fear departs. Sonyashnitza is brewed for giddiness, and pain in the +bowels. To this end, a bit of stump is burned, thrown into a jug, and +turned upside down into a bowl filled with water, which is placed on the +patient's stomach: after an incantation, he is given a spoonful of this +water to drink.]--but all to no avail. And so the summer passed. Many a +Cossack had mowed and reaped: many a Cossack, more enterprising than the +rest, had set off upon an expedition. Flocks of ducks were already +crowding our marshes, but there was not even a hint of improvement. + +It was red upon the steppes. Ricks of grain, like Cossacks' caps, dotted +the fields here and there. On the highway were to be encountered wagons +loaded with brushwood and logs. The ground had become more solid, and in +places was touched with frost. Already had the snow begun to besprinkle +the sky, and the branches of the trees were covered with rime like +rabbit-skin. Already on frosty days the red-breasted finch hopped about +on the snow-heaps like a foppish Polish nobleman, and picked out grains +of corn; and children, with huge sticks, chased wooden tops upon the +ice; while their fathers lay quietly on the stove, issuing forth at +intervals with lighted pipes in their lips, to growl, in regular +fashion, at the orthodox frost, or to take the air, and thresh the grain +spread out in the barn. At last the snow began to melt, and the ice rind +slipped away: but Petro remained the same; and, the longer it went on, +the more morose he grew. He sat in the middle of the cottage as though +nailed to the spot, with the sacks of gold at his feet. He grew shy, his +hair grew long, he became terrible; and still he thought of but one +thing, still he tried to recall something, and got angry and ill- +tempered because he could not recall it. Often, rising wildly from his +seat, he gesticulates violently, fixes his eyes on something as though +desirous of catching it: his lips move as though desirous of uttering +some long-forgotten word--and remain speechless. Fury takes possession +of him: he gnaws and bites his hands like a man half crazy, and in his +vexation tears out his hair by the handful, until, calming down, he +falls into forgetfulness, as it were, and again begins to recall, and is +again seized with fury and fresh tortures. . . . What visitation of God is +this? + +Pidorka was neither dead nor alive. At first it was horrible to her to +remain alone in the cottage; but, in course of time, the poor woman grew +accustomed to her sorrow. But it was impossible to recognize the Pidorka +of former days. No blush, no smile: she was thin and worn with grief, +and had wept her bright eyes away. Once, some one who evidently took +pity on her advised her to go to the witch who dwelt in the Bear's +ravine, and enjoyed the reputation of being able to cure every disease +in the world. She determined to try this last remedy: word by word she +persuaded the old woman to come to her. This was St. John's Eve, as it +chanced. Petro lay insensible on the bench, and did not observe the new- +comer. Little by little he rose, and looked about him. Suddenly he +trembled in every limb, as though he were on the scaffold: his hair rose +upon his head, . . . and he laughed such a laugh as pierced Pidorka's heart +with fear. "I have remembered, remembered!" he cried in terrible joy; +and, swinging a hatchet round his head, he flung it at the old woman +with all his might. The hatchet penetrated the oaken door two vershok +(three inches and a half). The old woman disappeared; and a child of +seven in a white blouse, with covered head, stood in the middle of the +cottage. . . . The sheet flew off. "Ivas!" cried Pidorka, and ran to him; +but the apparition became covered from head to foot with blood, and +illumined the whole room with red light. . . . She ran into the passage in +her terror, but, on recovering herself a little, wished to help him; in +vain! the door had slammed to behind her so securely that she could not +open it. People ran up, and began to knock: they broke in the door, as +though there was but one mind among them. The whole cottage was full of +smoke; and just in the middle, where Petrus had stood, was a heap of +ashes, from which smoke was still rising. They flung themselves upon the +sacks: only broken potsherds lay there instead of ducats. The Cossacks +stood with staring eyes and open mouths, not daring to move a hair, as +if rooted to the earth, such terror did this wonder inspire in them. + +I do not remember what happened next. Pidorka took a vow to go upon a +pilgrimage, collected the property left her by her father, and in a few +days it was as if she had never been in the village. Whither she had +gone, no one could tell. Officious old women would have despatched her +to the same place whither Petro had gone; but a Cossack from Kief +reported that he had seen in a cloister, a nun withered to a mere +skeleton, who prayed unceasingly; and her fellow villagers recognized +her as Pidorka, by all the signs,--that no one had ever heard her utter +a word; that she had come on foot, and had brought a frame for the ikon +of God's mother, set with such brilliant stones that all were dazzled at +the sight. + +But this was not the end, if you please. On the same day that the Evil +One made way with Petrus, Basavriuk appeared again; but all fled from +him. They knew what sort of a bird he was,--none else than Satan, who +had assumed human form in order to unearth treasures; and, since +treasures do not yield to unclean hands, he seduced the young. That same +year, all deserted their earth huts, and collected in a village; but, +even there, there was no peace, on account of that accursed Basavriuk. +My late grandfather's aunt said that he was particularly angry with her, +because she had abandoned her former tavern, and tried with all his +might to revenge himself upon her. Once the village elders were +assembled in the tavern, and, as the saying goes, were arranging the +precedence at the table, in the middle of which was placed a small +roasted lamb, shame to say. They chattered about this, that, and the +other,--among the rest about various marvels and strange things. Well, +they saw something; it would have been nothing if only one had seen it, +but all saw it; and it was this: the sheep raised his head; his goggling +eyes became alive and sparkled; and the black, bristling moustache, +which appeared for one instant, made a significant gesture at those +present. All, at once, recognized Basavriuk's countenance in the sheep's +head: my grandfather's aunt thought it was on the point of asking for +vodka. . . . The worthy elders seized their hats, and hastened home. + +Another time, the church starost [Footnote: Elder] himself, who was +fond of an occasional private interview with my grandfather's brandy- +glass, had not succeeded in getting to the bottom twice, when he beheld +the glass bowing very low to him. "Satan take you, let us make the sign +of the cross over you!" . . . And the same marvel happened to his better- +half. She had just begun to mix the dough in a huge kneading-trough, +when suddenly the trough sprang up. "Stop, stop! where are you going?" +Putting its arms akimbo, with dignity, it went skipping all about the +cottage. . . . You may laugh, but it was no laughing-matter to our +grandfathers. And in vain did Father Athanasii go through all the +village with holy water, and chase the Devil through all the streets +with his brush; and my late grandfather's aunt long complained that, as +soon as it was dark, some one came knocking at her door, and scratching +at the wall. + +Well! All appears to be quiet now, in the place where our village +stands; but it was not so very long ago--my father was still alive--that +I remember how a good man could not pass the ruined tavern, which a +dishonest race had long managed for their own interest. From the smoke- +blackened chimneys, smoke poured out in a pillar, and rising high in the +air, as if to take an observation, rolled off like a cap, scattering +burning coals over the steppe; and Satan (the son of a dog should not be +mentioned) sobbed so pitifully in his lair, that the startled ravens +rose in flocks from the neighboring oak-wood, and flew through the air +with wild cries. + + + + + + +AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE + +BY + +COUNT LYOF N. TOLSTOI + +From "The Invaders." Translated by N. H. Dole. + +1887 + +(Prince Nekhiludof Relates how, during an Expedition in the Caucasus, +he met an Acquaintance from Moscow) + + + + +Our division had been out in the field. The work in hand was +accomplished: we had cut a way through the forest, and each day we were +expecting from headquarters orders for our return to the fort. Our +division of fieldpieces was stationed at the top of a steep mountain- +crest which was terminated by the swift mountain-river Mechik, and had +to command the plain that stretched before us. Here and there on this +picturesque plain, out of the reach of gunshot, now and then, especially +at evening, groups of mounted mountaineers showed themselves, attracted +by curiosity to ride up and view the Russian camp. + +The evening was clear, mild, and fresh, as it is apt to be in December +in the Caucasus; the sun was setting behind the steep chain of the +mountains at the left, and threw rosy rays upon the tents scattered over +the slope, upon the soldiers moving about, and upon our two guns, which +seemed to crane their necks as they rested motionless on the earthwork +two paces from us. The infantry picket, stationed on the knoll at the +left, stood in perfect silhouette against the light of the sunset; no +less distinct were the stacks of muskets, the form of the sentry, the +groups of soldiers, and the smoke of the smouldering camp-fire. + +At the right and left of the slope, on the black, sodden earth, the +tents gleamed white; and behind the tents, black, stood the bare trunks +of the platane forest, which rang with the incessant sound of axes, the +crackling of the bonfires, and the crashing of the trees as they fell +under the axes. The bluish smoke arose from tobacco-pipes on all sides, +and vanished in the transparent blue of the frosty sky. By the tents and +on the lower ground around the arms rushed the Cossacks, dragoons, and +artillerists, with great galloping and snorting of horses as they +returned from getting water. It began to freeze; all sounds were heard +with extraordinary distinctness, and one could see an immense distance +across the plain through the clear, rare atmosphere. The groups of the +enemy, their curiosity at seeing the soldiers satisfied, quietly +galloped off across the fields, still yellow with the golden corn- +stubble, toward their auls, or villages, which were visible beyond the +forest, with the tall posts of the cemeteries and the smoke rising in +the air. + +Our tent was pitched not far from the guns on a place high and dry, from +which we had a remarkably extended view. Near the tent, on a cleared +space, around the battery itself, we had our games of skittles, or +chushki. The obliging soldiers had made for us rustic benches and +tables. On account of all these amusements, the artillery officers, our +comrades, and a few infantry men liked to gather of an evening around +our battery, and the place came to be called the club. + +As the evening was fine, the best players had come, and we were amusing +ourselves with skittles [Footnote: Gorodki]. Ensign D., Lieutenant O., +and myself had played two games in succession; and to the common +satisfaction and amusement of all the spectators, officers, soldiers, +and servants [Footnote: Denshchiki ] who were watching us from their +tents, we had twice carried the winning party on our backs from one end +of the ground to the other. Especially droll was the situation of the +huge fat Captain S., who, puffing and smiling good-naturedly, with legs +dragging on the ground, rode pickaback on the feeble little Lieutenant +O. + +When it grew somewhat later, the servants brought three glasses of tea +for the six men of us, and not a spoon; and we who had finished our game +came to the plaited settees. + +There was standing near them a small bow-legged man, a stranger to us, +in a sheepskin jacket, and a papakha, or Circassian cap, with a long +overhanging white crown. As soon as we came near where he stood, he took +a few irresolute steps, and put on his cap; and several times he seemed +to make up his mind to come to meet us, and then stopped again. But +after deciding, probably, that it was impossible to remain irresolute, +the stranger took off his cap, and, going in a circuit around us, +approached Captain S. + +"Ah, Guskantinli, how is it, old man?" [Footnote: Nu chto, batenka,] +said S., still smiling good-naturedly, under the influence of his ride. + +Guskantni, as S. called him, instantly replaced his cap, and made a +motion as though to thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket; +[Footnote: Polushubok, little half shuba, or fur cloak.] but on the side +toward me there was no pocket in the jacket, and his small red hand fell +into an awkward position. I felt a strong desire to make out who this +man was (was he a yunker, or a degraded officer?), and, not realizing +that my gaze (that is, the gaze of a strange officer) disconcerted him, +I continued to stare at his dress and appearance. + +I judged that he was about thirty. His small, round, gray eyes had a +sleepy expression, and at the same time gazed calmly out from under the +dirty white lambskin of his cap, which hung down over his face. His +thick, irregular nose, standing out between his sunken cheeks, gave +evidence of emaciation that was the result of illness, and not natural. +His restless lips, barely covered by a sparse, soft, whitish moustache, +were constantly changing their shape as though they were trying to +assume now one expression, now another. But all these expressions seemed +to be endless, and his face retained one predominating expression of +timidity and fright. Around his thin neck, where the veins stood out, +was tied a green woollen scarf tucked into his jacket, his fur jacket, +or polushubok, was worn bare, short, and had dog-fur sewed on the collar +and on the false pockets. The trousers were checkered, of ash-gray +color, and his sapogi had short, unblacked military bootlegs. + +"I beg of you, do not disturb yourself," said I when he for the second +time, timidly glancing at me, had taken off his cap. + +He bowed to me with an expression of gratitude, replaced his hat, and, +drawing from his pocket a dirty chintz tobacco-pouch with lacings, began +to roll a cigarette. + +I myself had not been long a yunker, an elderly yunker; and as I was +incapable, as yet, of being good-naturedly serviceable to my younger +comrades, and without means, I well knew all the moral difficulties of +this situation for a proud man no longer young, and I sympathized with +all men who found themselves in such a situation, and I endeavored to +make clear to myself their character and rank, and the tendencies of +their intellectual peculiarities, in order to judge of the degree of +their moral sufferings. This yunker or degraded officer, judging by his +restless eyes and that intentionally constant variation of expression +which I noticed in him, was a man very far from stupid, and extremely +egotistical, and therefore much to be pitied. + +Captain S. invited us to play another game of skittles, with the stakes +to consist, not only of the usual pickaback ride of the winning party, +but also of a few bottles of red wine, rum, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves +for the mulled wine which that winter, on account of the cold, was +greatly popular in our division. + +Guskantini, as S. again called him, was also invited to take part; but +before the game began, the man, struggling between gratification because +he had been invited and a certain timidity, drew Captain S. aside, and +began to say something in a whisper. The good-natured captain punched +him in the ribs with his big, fat hand, and replied, loud enough to be +heard: + +"Not at all, old fellow [Footnote: Batenka, Malo-Russian diminutive, +little father], I assure you." + +When the game was over, and that side in which the stranger whose rank +was so low had taken part, had come out winners, and it fell to his lot +to ride on one of our officers, Ensign D., the ensign grew red in the +face: he went to the little divan and offered the stranger a cigarette +by way of a compromise. + +While they were ordering the mulled wine, and in the steward's tent were +heard assiduous preparations on the part of Nikita, who had sent an +orderly for cinnamon and cloves, and the shadow of his back was +alternately lengthening and shortening on the dingy sides of the tent, +we men, seven in all, sat around on the benches; and while we took turns +in drinking tea from the three glasses, and gazed out over the plain, +which was now beginning to glow in the twilight, we talked and laughed +over the various incidents of the game. + +The stranger in the fur jacket took no share in the conversation, +obstinately refused to drink the tea which I several times offered him, +and as he sat there on the ground in Tartar fashion, occupied himself in +making cigarettes of fine-cut tobacco, and smoking them one after +another, evidently not so much for his own satisfaction as to give +himself the appearance of a man with something to do. When it was +remarked that the summons to return was expected on the morrow, and that +there might be an engagement, he lifted himself on his knees, and, +addressing Captain B. only, said that he had been at the adjutant's, and +had himself written the order for the return on the next day. We all +said nothing while he was speaking; and notwithstanding the fact that he +was so bashful, we begged him to repeat this most interesting piece of +news. He repeated what he had said, adding only that he had been +staying at the adjutant's (since he made it his home there) when the +order came. + +"Look here, old fellow, if you are not telling us false, I shall have to +go to my company and give some orders for to-morrow," said Captain S. + +"No . . . why . . . it may be, I am sure," . . . stammered the stranger, +but suddenly stopped, and, apparently feeling himself affronted, contracted +his brows, and, muttering something between his teeth, again began to +roll a cigarette. But the fine-cut tobacco in his chintz pouch began to +show signs of giving out, and he asked S. to lend him a little +cigarette. [Footnote: PAPIROSTCHKA, diminished diminutive of PAPIROSKA, +from PAPIROS.] + +We kept on for a considerable time with that monotonous military chatter +which every one who has ever been on an expedition will appreciate; all +of us, with one and the same expression, complaining of the dullness and +length of the expedition, in one and the same fashion sitting in +judgment on our superiors, and all of us likewise, as we had done many +times before, praising one comrade, pitying another, wondering how much +this one had gained, how much that one had lost, and so on, and so on. + +"Here, fellows, this adjutant of ours is completely broken up," said +Captain S. "At headquarters he was everlastingly on the winning side; no +matter whom he sat down with, he'd rake in everything: but now for two +months past he has been losing all the time. The present expedition +hasn't been lucky for him. I think he has got away with two thousand +silver rubles and five hundred rubles' worth of articles,--the carpet +that he won at Mukhin's, Nikitin's pistols, Sada's gold watch which +Vorontsof gave him. He has lost it all." + +"The truth of the matter in his case," said Lieutenant O., "was that he +used to cheat everybody; it was impossible to play with him." + +"He cheated every one, but now it's all gone up in his pipe;" and here +Captain S. laughed good-naturedly. "Our friend Guskof here lives with +him. He hasn't quite lost HIM yet: that's so, isn't it, old fellow?" +[Footnote: Batenka] he asked, addressing Guskof. + +Guskof tried to laugh. It was a melancholy, sickly laugh, which +completely changed the expression of his countenance. Till this moment +it had seemed to me that I had seen and known this man before; and, +besides the name Guskof, by which Captain S. called him, was familiar to +me; but how and when I had seen and known him, I actually could not +remember. + +"Yes," said Guskof, incessantly putting his hand to his moustaches, but +instantly dropping it again without touching them. "Pavel Dmitrievitch's +luck has been against him in this expedition, such a veine de malheur" +he added in a careful but pure French pronunciation, again giving me to +think that I had seen him, and seen him often, somewhere. "I know Pavel +Dmitrievitch very well. He has great confidence in me," he proceeded to +say; "he and I are old friends; that is, he is fond of me," he +explained, evidently fearing that it might be taken as presumption for +him to claim old friendship with the adjutant. "Pavel Dmitrievitch plays +admirably; but now, strange as it may seem, it's all up with him, he is +just about perfectly ruined; la chance a tourne," he added, addressing +himself particularly to me. + +At first we had listened to Guskof with condescending attention; but as +soon as he made use of that second French phrase, we all involuntarily +turned from him. + +"I have played with him a thousand times, and we agreed then that it was +strange," said Lieutenant O., with peculiar emphasis on the word STRANGE +[Footnote: Stranno]. "I never once won a ruble from him. Why was it, +when I used to win of others?" + +"Pavel Dmitrievitch plays admirably: I have known him for a long time," +said I. In fact, I had known the adjutant for several years; more than +once I had seen him in the full swing of a game, surrounded by officers, +and I had remarked his handsome, rather gloomy and always passionless +calm face, his deliberate Malo-Russian pronunciation, his handsome +belongings and horses, his bold, manly figure, and above all his skill +and self-restraint in carrying on the game accurately and agreeably. +More than once, I am sorry to say, as I looked at his plump white hands +with a diamond ring on the index-finger, passing out one card after +another, I grew angry with that ring, with his white hands, with the +whole of the adjutant's person, and evil thoughts on his account arose +in my mind. But as I afterwards reconsidered the matter coolly, I +persuaded myself that he played more skilfully than all with whom he +happened to play: the more so, because as I heard his general +observations concerning the game,--how one ought not to back out when +one had laid the smallest stake, how one ought not to leave off in +certain cases as the first rule for honest men, and so forth, and so +forth,--it was evident that he was always on the winning side merely +from the fact that he played more sagaciously and coolly than the rest +of us. And now it seemed that this self-reliant, careful player had been +stripped not only of his money but of his effects, which marks the +lowest depths of loss for an officer. + +"He always had devilish good luck with me," said Lieutenant O. "I made a +vow never to play with him again." + +"What a marvel you are, old fellow!" said S., nodding at me, and +addressing O. "You lost three hundred silver rubles, that's what you +lost to him." + +"More than that," said the lieutenant savagely. + +"And now you have come to your senses; it is rather late in the day, old +man, for the rest of us have known for a long time that he was the cheat +of the regiment," said S., with difficulty restraining his laughter, and +feeling very well satisfied with his fabrication. "Here is Guskof right +here,--he FIXES his cards for him. That's the reason of the friendship +between them, old man" [Footnote: BATENKA MOI] . . . and Captain S., +shaking all over, burst out into such a hearty "ha, ha, ha!" that he +spilt the glass of mulled wine which he was holding in his hand. On +Guskof's pale emaciated face there showed something like a color; he +opened his mouth several times, raised his hands to his moustaches, and +once more dropped them to his side where the pockets should have been, +stood up, and then sat down again, and finally in an unnatural voice +said to S.: + +"It's no joke, Nikolai Ivanovitch, for you to say such things before +people who don't know me and who see me in this unlined jacket . . . +because--" His voice failed him, and again his small red hands with +their dirty nails went from his jacket to his face, touching his +moustache, his hair, his nose, rubbing his eyes, or needlessly +scratching his cheek. + +"As to saying that, everybody knows it, old fellow," continued S., +thoroughly satisfied with his jest, and not heeding Guskof's complaint. +Guskof was still trying to say something; and placing the palm of his +right hand on his left knee in a most unnatural position, and gazing at +S., he had an appearance of smiling contemptuously. + +"No," said I to myself, as I noticed that smile of his, "I have not only +seen him, but have spoken with him somewhere." + +"You and I have met somewhere," said I to him when, under the influence +of the common silence, S.'s laughter began to calm down. Guskof's mobile +face suddenly lighted up, and his eyes, for the first time with a truly +joyous expression, rested upon me. + +"Why, I recognized you immediately," he replied in French. "In '48 I had +the pleasure of meeting you quite frequently in Moscow at my sister's." + +I had to apologize for not recognizing him at first in that costume and +in that new garb. He arose, came to me, and with his moist hand +irresolutely and weakly seized my hand, and sat down by me. Instead of +looking at me, though he apparently seemed so glad to see me, he gazed +with an expression of unfriendly bravado at the officers. + +Either because I recognized in him a man whom I had met a few years +before in a dresscoat in a parlor, or because he was suddenly raised in +his own opinion by the fact of being recognized,--at all events it +seemed to me that his face and even his motions completely changed: they +now expressed lively intelligence, a childish self-satisfaction in the +consciousness of such intelligence, and a certain contemptuous +indifference; so that I confess, notwithstanding the pitiable position +in which he found himself, my old acquaintance did not so much excite +sympathy in me as it did a sort of unfavorable sentiment. + +I now vividly remembered our first meeting. In 1848, while I was staying +at Moscow, I frequently went to the house of Ivashin, who from childhood +had been an old friend of mine. His wife was an agreeable hostess, a +charming woman, as everybody said; but she never pleased me. . . . The +winter that I knew her, she often spoke with hardly concealed pride of +her brother, who had shortly before completed his course, and promised +to be one of the most fashionable and popular young men in the best +society of Petersburg. As I knew by reputation the father of the +Guskofs, who was very rich and had a distinguished position, and as I +knew also the sister's ways, I felt some prejudice against meeting the +young man. One evening when I was at Ivashin's, I saw a short, +thoroughly pleasant-looking young man, in a black coat, white vest and +necktie. My host hastened to make me acquainted with him. The young man, +evidently dressed for a ball, with his cap in his hand, was standing +before Ivashin, and was eagerly but politely arguing with him about a +common friend of ours, who had distinguished himself at the time of the +Hungarian campaign. He said that this acquaintance was not at all a hero +or a man born for war, as was said of him, but was simply a clever and +cultivated man. I recollect, I took part in the argument against Guskof, +and went to the extreme of declaring also that intellect and cultivation +always bore an inverse relation to bravery; and I recollect how Guskof +pleasantly and cleverly pointed out to me that bravery was necessarily +the result of intellect and a decided degree of development,--a +statement which I, who considered myself an intellectual and cultivated +man, could not in my heart of hearts agree with. + +I recollect that towards the close of our conversation Madame Ivashina +introduced me to her brother; and he, with a condescending smile, +offered me his little hand on which he had not yet had time to draw his +kid gloves, and weakly and irresolutely pressed my hand as he did now. +Though I had been prejudiced against Guskof, I could not help granting +that he was in the right, and agreeing with his sister that he was +really a clever and agreeable young man, who ought to have great success +in society. He was extraordinarily neat, beautifully dressed, and fresh, +and had affectedly modest manners, and a thoroughly youthful, almost +childish appearance, on account of which you could not help excusing his +expression of self-sufficiency, though it modified the impression of his +high-mightiness caused by his intellectual face and especially his +smile. It is said that he had great success that winter with the high- +born ladies of Moscow. As I saw him at his sister's I could only infer +how far this was true by the feeling of pleasure and contentment +constantly excited in me by his youthful appearance and by his sometimes +indiscreet anecdotes. He and I met half a dozen times, and talked a good +deal; or, rather, he talked a good deal, and I listened. He spoke for +the most part in French, always with a good accent, very fluently and +ornately; and he had the skill of drawing others gently and politely +into the conversation. As a general thing, he behaved toward all, and +toward me, in a somewhat supercilious manner, and I felt that he was +perfectly right in this way of treating people. I always feel that way +in regard to men who are firmly convinced that they ought to treat me +superciliously, and who are comparative strangers to me. + +Now, as he sat with me, and gave me his hand, I keenly recalled in him +that same old haughtiness of expression; and it seemed to me that he did +not properly appreciate his position of official inferiority, as, in the +presence of the officers, he asked me what I had been doing in all that +time, and how I happened to be there. In spite of the fact that I +invariably made my replies in Russian, he kept putting his questions in +French, expressing himself as before in remarkably correct language. +About himself he said fluently that after his unhappy, wretched story +(what the story was, I did not know, and he had not yet told me), he had +been three months under arrest, and then had been sent to the Caucasus +to the N. regiment, and now had been serving three years as a soldier in +that regiment. + +"You would not believe," said he to me in French, "how much I have to +suffer in these regiments from the society of the officers. Still it is +a pleasure to me, that I used to know the adjutant of whom we were just +speaking: he is a good man--it's a fact," he remarked condescendingly. +"I live with him, and that's something of a relief for me. Yes, my dear, +the days fly by, but they aren't all alike," [Footnote: OUI, MON CHER, +LES JOURS SE SUIVENT, MAIS NE SE RESSEMBLENT PAS: in French in the +original.] he added; and suddenly hesitated, reddened, and stood up, as +he caught sight of the adjutant himself coming toward us. + +"It is such a pleasure to meet such a man as you," said Guskof to me in +a whisper as he turned from me. "I should like very, very much, to have +a long talk with you." + +I said that I should be very happy to talk with him, but in reality I +confess that Guskof excited in me a sort of dull pity that was not akin +to sympathy. + +I had a presentiment that I should feel a constraint in a private +conversation with him; but still I was anxious to learn from him several +things, and, above all, why it was, when his father had been so rich, +that he was in poverty, as was evident by his dress and appearance. + +The adjutant greeted us all, including Guskof, and sat down by me in the +seat which the cashiered officer had just vacated. Pavel Dmitrievitch, +who had always been calm and leisurely, a genuine gambler, and a man of +means, was now very different from what he had been in the flowery days +of his success; he seemed to be in haste to go somewhere, kept +constantly glancing at everybody, and it was not five minutes before he +proposed to Lieutenant O., who had sworn off from playing, to set up a +small faro-bank. Lieutenant O. refused, under the pretext of having to +attend to his duties, but in reality because, as he knew that the +adjutant had few possessions and little money left, he did not feel +himself justified in risking his three hundred rubles against a hundred +or even less which the adjutant might stake. + +"Well, Pavel Dmitrievitch," said the lieutenant, anxious to avoid a +repetition of the invitation, "is it true, what they tell us, that we +return to-morrow?" + +"I don't know," replied the adjutant. "Orders came to be in readiness; +but if it's true, then you'd better play a game. I would wager my +Kabarda cloak." + +"No, to-day already" . . . + +"It's a gray one, never been worn; but if you prefer, play for money. +How is that?" + +"Yes, but . . . I should be willing--pray don't think that" . . . said +Lieutenant O., answering the implied suspicion; "but as there may be a +raid or some movement, I must go to bed early." + +The adjutant stood up, and, thrusting his hands into his pockets, +started to go across the grounds. His face assumed its ordinary +expression of coldness and pride, which I admired in him. + +"Won't you have a glass of mulled wine?" I asked him. + +"That might be acceptable," and he came back to me; but Guskof politely +took the glass from me, and handed it to the adjutant, striving at the +same time not to look at him. But as he did not notice the tent-rope, he +stumbled over it, and fell on his hand, dropping the glass. + +"What a bungler!" exclaimed the adjutant, still holding out his hand for +the glass. Everybody burst out laughing, not excepting Guskof, who was +rubbing his hand on his sore knee, which he had somehow struck as he +fell. "That's the way the bear waited on the hermit," continued the +adjutant. "It's the way he waits on me every day. He has pulled up all +the tent-pins; he's always tripping up." + +Guskof, not hearing him, apologized to us, and glanced toward me with a +smile of almost noticeable melancholy, as though saying that I alone +could understand him. He was pitiable to see; but the adjutant, his +protector, seemed, on that very account, to be severe on his messmate, +and did not try to put him at his ease. + +"Well, you're a graceful lad! Where did you think you were going?" + +"Well, who can help tripping over these pins, Pavel Dmitrievitch?" said +Guskof. "You tripped over them yourself the other day." + +"I, old man, [Footnote: batiushka]--I am not of the rank and file, and +such gracefulness is not expected of me." + +"He can be lazy," said Captain S., keeping the ball rolling, "but low- +rank men have to make their legs fly." + +"Ill-timed jest," said Guskof, almost in a whisper, and casting down his +eyes. The adjutant was evidently vexed with his messmate; he listened +with inquisitive attention to every word that he said. + +"He'll have to be sent out into ambuscade again," said he, addressing +S., and pointing to the cashiered officer. + +"Well, there'll be some more tears," said S., laughing. Guskof no longer +looked at me, but acted as though he were going to take some tobacco +from his pouch, though there had been none there for some time. + +"Get ready for the ambuscade, old man," said S., addressing him with +shouts of laughter. "To-day the scouts have brought the news, there'll +be an attack on the camp to-night, so it's necessary to designate the +trusty lads." Guskof's face showed a fleeting smile as though he were +preparing to make some reply, but several times he cast a supplicating +look at S. + +"Well, you know I have been, and I'm ready to go again if I am sent," he +said hastily. + +"Then you'll be sent." + +"Well, I'll go. Isn't that all right?" + +"Yes, as at Arguna, you deserted the ambuscade and threw away your gun," +said the adjutant; and turning from him he began to tell us the orders +for the next day. + +As a matter of fact, we expected from the enemy a cannonade of the camp +that night, and the next day some sort of diversion. While we were still +chatting about various subjects of general interest, the adjutant, as +though from a sudden and unexpected impulse, proposed to Lieutenant O. +to have a little game. The lieutenant most unexpectedly consented; and, +together with S. and the ensign, they went off to the adjutant's tent, +where there was a folding green table with cards on it. The captain, the +commander of our division, went to our tent to sleep; the other +gentlemen also separated, and Guskof and I were left alone. I was not +mistaken, it was really very uncomfortable for me to have a tete-a-tete +with him; I arose involuntarily, and began to promenade up and down on +the battery. Guskof walked in silence by my side, hastily and awkwardly +wheeling around so as not to delay or incommode me. + +"I do not annoy you?" he asked in a soft, mournful voice. So far as I +could see his face in the dim light, it seemed to me deeply thoughtful +and melancholy. + +"Not at all," I replied; but as he did not immediately begin to speak, +and as I did not know what to say to him, we walked in silence a +considerably long time. + +The twilight had now absolutely changed into dark night; over the black +profile of the mountains gleamed the bright evening heat-lightning; over +our heads in the light-blue frosty sky twinkled the little stars; on all +sides gleamed the ruddy flames of the smoking watch-fires; near us, the +white tents stood out in contrast to the frowning blackness of our +earth-works. The light from the nearest watch-fire, around which our +servants, engaged in quiet conversation, were warming themselves, +occasionally flashed on the brass of our heavy guns, and fell on the +form of the sentry, who, wrapped in his cloak, paced with measured tread +along the battery. + +"You cannot imagine what a delight it is for me to talk with such a man +as you are," said Guskof, although as yet he had not spoken a word to +me. "Only one who had been in my position could appreciate it." + +I did not know how to reply to him, and we again relapsed into silence, +although it was evident that he was anxious to talk and have me listen +to him. + +"Why were you . . . why did you suffer this?" I inquired at last, not being +able to invent any better way of breaking the ice. + +"Why, didn't you hear about this wretched business from Metenin?" + +"Yes, a duel, I believe; I did not hear much about it," I replied. "You +see, I have been for some time in the Caucasus." + +"No, it wasn't a duel, but it was a stupid and horrid story. I will tell +you all about it, if you don't know. It happened that the same year that +I met you at my sister's I was living at Petersburg. I must tell you I +had then what they call une position dans le monde,--a position good +enough if it was not brilliant. Mon pere me donnait ten thousand par an. +In '49 I was promised a place in the embassy at Turin; my uncle on my +mother's side had influence, and was always ready to do a great deal for +me. That sort of thing is all past now. J'etais recu dans la meilleure +societe de Petersburg; I might have aspired to any girl in the city. I +was well educated, as we all are who come from the school, but was not +especially cultivated; to be sure, I read a good deal afterwards, mais +j'avais surtout, you know, ce jargon du monde, and, however it came +about, I was looked upon as a leading light among the young men of +Petersburg. What raised me more than all in common estimation, c'est +cette liaison avec Madame D., about which a great deal was said in +Petersburg; but I was frightfully young at that time, and did not prize +these advantages very highly. I was simply young and stupid. What more +did I need? Just then that Metenin had some notoriety--" + +And Guskof went on in the same fashion to relate to me the history of +his misfortunes, which I will omit, as it would not be at all +interesting. + +"Two months I remained under arrest," he continued, "absolutely alone; +and what thoughts did I not have during that time? But, you know, when +it was all over, as though every tie had been broken with the past, then +it became easier for me. Mon pere,--you have heard tell of him, of +course, a man of iron will and strong convictions,--il m'a desherite, +and broken off all intercourse with me. According to his convictions he +had to do as he did, and I don't blame him at all. He was consistent. +Consequently, I have not taken a step to induce him to change his mind. +My sister was abroad. Madame D. is the only one who wrote to me when I +was released, and she sent me assistance; but you understand that I +could not accept it, so that I had none of those little things which +make one's position a little easier, you know,--books, linen, food, +nothing at all. At this time I thought things over and over, and began +to look at life with different eyes. For instance, this noise, this +society gossip about me in Petersburg, did not interest me, did not +flatter me; it all seemed to me ridiculous. I felt that I myself had +been to blame; I was young and indiscreet; I had spoiled my career, and +I only thought how I might get into the right track again. And I felt +that I had strength and energy enough for it. After my arrest, as I told +you, I was sent here to the Caucasus to the N. regiment. + +"I thought," he went on to say, all the time becoming more and more +animated,--"I thought that here in the Caucasus, la vie de camp, the +simple, honest men with whom I should associate, and war and danger, +would all admirably agree with my mental state, so that I might begin a +new life. They will see me under fire. [Footnote: On me verra au feu.] I +shall make myself liked; I shall be respected for my real self,--the +cross--non-commissioned officer; they will relieve me of my fine; and I +shall get up again, et vous savez avec ce prestige du malheur! But, quel +desenchantement! You can't imagine how I have been deceived! You know +what sort of men the officers of our regiment are." + +He did not speak for some little time, waiting, as it appeared, for me +to tell him that I knew the society of our officers here was bad; but I +made him no reply. It went against my grain that he should expect me, +because I knew French, forsooth, to be obliged to take issue with the +society of the officers, which, during my long residence in the +Caucasus, I had had time enough to appreciate fully, and for which I had +far higher respect than for the society from which Mr. Guskof had +sprung. I wanted to tell him so, but his position constrained me. + +"In the N. regiment the society of the officers is a thousand times +worse than it is here," he continued. "I hope that it is saying a good +deal; J'ESPERE QUE C'EST BEAUCOUP DIRE; that is, you cannot imagine what +it is. I am not speaking of the yunkers and the soldiers. That is +horrible, it is so bad. At first they received me very kindly, that is +absolutely the truth; but when they saw that I could not help despising +them, you know, in these inconceivably small circumstances, they saw +that I was a man absolutely different, standing far above them, they got +angry with me, and began to put various little humiliations on me. You +haven't an idea what I had to suffer. [Footnote: CE QUE J'AI EUA +SOUFFRIR VOUS NE FAITES PAS UNE IDEE.] Then this forced relationship +with the yunkers, and especially with the small means that I had--I +lacked everything; [Footnote: AVEC LES PETITS MOYENS QUE J'AVAIS, JE +MANQUAIS DE TOUT] I had only what my sister used to send me. And here's +a proof for you! As much as it made me suffer, I with my character, AVEC +MA FIERTE J'AI ECRIS A MON PERE, begged him to send me something. I +understand how living four years of such a life may make a man like our +cashiered Dromof who drinks with soldiers, and writes notes to all the +officers asking them to loan him three rubles, and signing it, TOUT A +VOUS, DROMOF. One must have such a character as I have, not to be mired +in the least by such a horrible position." + +For some time he walked in silence by my side. + +"Have you a cigarette?" [Footnote: "Avez-vous un papiros?"] he asked me. + +"And so I stayed right where I was? Yes. I could not endure it +physically, because, though we were wretched, cold, and ill-fed, I lived +like a common soldier, but still the officers had some sort of +consideration for me. I had still some prestige that they regarded. I +wasn't sent out on guard nor for drill. I could not have stood that. But +morally my sufferings were frightful; and especially because I didn't +see any escape from my position. I wrote my uncle, begged him to get me +transferred to my present regiment, which, at least, sees some service; +and I thought that here Pavel Dmitrievitch, qui est le fils de +l'intendant de mon pere, might be of some use to me. My uncle did this +for me; I was transferred. After that regiment this one seemed to me a +collection of chamberlains. Then Pavel Dmitrievitch was here; he knew +who I was, and I was splendidly received. At my uncle's request--a +Guskof, vous savez; but I forgot that with these men without cultivation +and undeveloped,--they can't appreciate a man, and show him marks of +esteem, unless he has that aureole of wealth, of friends; and I noticed +how, little by little, when they saw that I was poor, their behavior to +me showed more and more indifference until they have come almost to +despise me. It is horrible, but it is absolutely the truth. + +"Here I have been in action, I have fought, they have seen me under +fire," [Footnote: On m'a vu au feu.] he continued; "but when will it all +end? I think, never. And my strength and energy have already begun to +flag. Then I had imagined la guerre, la vie de camp; but it isn't at all +what I see, in a sheepskin jacket, dirty linen, soldier's boots, and you +go out in ambuscade, and the whole night long lie in the ditch with some +Antonof reduced to the ranks for drunkenness, and any minute from behind +the bush may come a rifle-shot and hit you or Antonof,--it's all the +same which. That is not bravery; it's horrible, c'est affreux, it's +killing!" [Footnote: Ca tue] + +"Well, you can be promoted a non-commissioned officer for this campaign, +and next year an ensign," said I. + +"Yes, it may be: they promised me that in two years, and it's not up +yet. What would those two years amount to, if I knew any one! You can +imagine this life with Pavel Dmitrievitch; cards, low jokes, drinking +all the time; if you wish to tell anything that is weighing on your +mind, you would not be understood, or you would be laughed at: they talk +with you, not for the sake of sharing a thought, but to get something +funny out of you. Yes, and so it has gone--in a brutal, beastly way, and +you are always conscious that you belong to the rank and file; they +always make you feel that. Hence you can't realize what an enjoyment it +is to talk a coeur ouvert to such a man as you are." + +I had never imagined what kind of a man I was, and consequently I did +not know what answer to make him. + +"Will you have your lunch now?" asked Nikita at this juncture, +approaching me unseen in the darkness, and, as I could perceive, vexed +at the presence of a guest. "Nothing but curd dumplings, there's none of +the roast beef left." + +"Has the captain had his lunch yet?" + +"He went to bed long ago," replied Nikita, gruffly, "According to my +directions, I was to bring you lunch here and your brandy." He muttered +something else discontentedly, and sauntered off to his tent. After +loitering a while longer, he brought us, nevertheless, a lunch-case; he +placed a candle on the lunch-case, and shielded it from the wind with a +sheet of paper. He brought a saucepan, some mustard in a jar, a tin +dipper with a handle, and a bottle of absinthe. After arranging these +things, Nikita lingered around us for some moments, and looked on as +Guskof and I were drinking the liquor, and it was evidently very +distasteful to him. By the feeble light shed by the candle through the +paper, amid the encircling darkness, could be seen the seal-skin cover +of the lunch-case, the supper arranged upon it, Guskof's sheepskin +jacket, his face, and his small red hands which he used in lifting the +patties from the pan. Everything around us was black; and only by +straining the sight could be seen the dark battery, the dark form of the +sentry moving along the breastwork, on all sides the watch-fires, and on +high the ruddy stars. + +Guskof wore a melancholy, almost guilty smile as though it were awkward +for him to look into my face after his confession. He drank still +another glass of liquor, and ate ravenously, emptying the saucepan. + +"Yes; for you it must be a relief all the same," said I, for the sake of +saying something,--"your acquaintance with the adjutant. He is a very +good man, I have heard." + +"Yes," replied the cashiered officer, "he is a kind man; but he can't +help being what he is, with his education, and it is useless to expect +it." + +A flush seemed suddenly to cross his face. "You remarked his coarse jest +this evening about the ambuscade;" and Guskof, though I tried several +times to interrupt him, began to justify himself before me, and to show +that he had not run away from the ambuscade, and that he was not a +coward as the adjutant and Capt. S. tried to make him out. + +"As I was telling you," he went on to say, wiping his hands on his +jacket, "such people can't show any delicacy toward a man, a common +soldier, who hasn't much money either. That's beyond their strength. And +here recently, while I haven't received anything at all from my sister, +I have been conscious that they have changed toward me. This sheepskin +jacket, which I bought of a soldier, and which hasn't any warmth in it, +because it's all worn off" (and here he showed me where the wool was +gone from the inside), "it doesn't arouse in him any sympathy or +consideration for my unhappiness, but scorn, which he does not take +pains to hide. Whatever my necessities may be, as now when I have +nothing to eat except soldiers' gruel, and nothing to wear," he +continued, casting down his eyes, and pouring out for himself still +another glass of liquor, "he does not even offer to lend me some money, +though he knows perfectly well that I would give it back to him; but he +waits till I am obliged to ask him for it. But you appreciate how it is +for me to go to him. In your case I should say, square and fair, vous +etes audessus de cela, mon cher, je n'ai pas le sou. And you know," said +he, looking straight into my eyes with an expression of desperation, "I +am going to tell you, square and fair, I am in a terrible situation: +pouvez-vous me preter dix rubles argent? My sister ought to send me some +by the mail, et mon pere--" + +"Why, most willingly," said I, although, on the contrary, it was trying +and unpleasant, especially because the evening before, having lost at +cards, I had left only about five rubles in Nikita's care. "In a +moment," said I, arising, "I will go and get it at the tent." + +"No, by and by: ne vous derangez pas." + +Nevertheless, not heeding him, I hastened to the closed tent, where +stood my bed, and where the captain was sleeping. + +"Aleksei Ivanuitch, let me have ten rubles, please, for rations," said I +to the captain, shaking him. + +"What! have you been losing again? But this very evening, you were not +going to play any more," murmured the captain, still half asleep. + +"No, I have not been playing; but I want the money; let me have it, +please." + +"Makatiuk!" shouted the captain to his servant, [Footnote: Denshchik.] +"hand me my bag with the money." + +"Hush, hush!" said I, hearing Guskof's measured steps near the tent. + +"What? Why hush?" + +"Because that cashiered fellow has asked to borrow it of me. He's right +there." + +"Well, if you knew him, you wouldn't let him have it," remarked the +captain. "I have heard about him. He's a dirty, low-lived fellow." + +Nevertheless, the captain gave me the money, ordered his man to put away +the bag, pulled the flap of the tent neatly to, and, again saying, "If +you only knew him, you wouldn't let him have it," drew his head down +under the coverlet. "Now you owe me thirty-two, remember," he shouted +after me. + +When I came out of the tent, Guskof was walking near the settees; and +his slight figure, with his crooked legs, his shapeless cap, his long +white hair, kept appearing and disappearing in the darkness, as he +passed in and out of the light of the candles. He made believe not to +see me. + +I handed him the money. He said "Merci," and, crumpling the bank-bill, +thrust it into his trousers pocket. + +"Now I suppose the game is in full swing at the adjutant's," he began +immediately after this. + +"Yes, I suppose so." + +"He's a wonderful player, always bold, and never backs out. When he's in +luck, it's fine; but when it does not go well with him, he can lose +frightfully. He has given proof of that. During this expedition, if you +reckon his valuables, he has lost more than fifteen hundred rubles. But, +as he played discreetly before, that officer of yours seemed to have +some doubts about his honor." + +"Well, that's because he . . . Nikita, haven't we any of that red Kavkas +wine [Footnote: Chikir] left?" I asked, very much enlivened by Guskof's +conversational talent. Nikita still kept muttering; but he brought us +the red wine, and again looked on angrily as Guskof drained his glass. +In Guskof's behavior was noticeable his old freedom from constraint. I +wished that he would go as soon as possible; it seemed as if his only +reason for not going was because he did not wish to go immediately after +receiving the money. I said nothing. + +"How could you, who have means, and were under no necessity, simply de +gaiete de coeur, make up your mind to come and serve in the Caucasus? +That's what I don't understand," said he to me. + +I endeavored to explain this act of renunciation, which seemed so +strange to him. + +"I can imagine how disagreeable the society of those officers--men +without any comprehension of culture--must be for you. You could not +understand each other. You see, you might live ten years, and not see +anything, and not hear about anything, except cards, wine, and gossip +about rewards and campaigns." + +It was unpleasant for me, that he wished me to put myself on a par with +him in his position; and, with absolute honesty, I assured him that I +was very fond of cards and wine, and gossip about campaigns, and that I +did not care to have any better comrades than those with whom I was +associated. But he would not believe me. + +"Well, you may say so," he continued; "but the lack of women's society,-- +I mean, of course, FEMMES COMME IL FAUT,--is that not a terrible +deprivation? I don't know what I would give now to go into a parlor, if +only for a moment, and to have a look at a pretty woman, even though it +were through a crack." + +He said nothing for a little, and drank still another glass of the red +wine. + +"Oh, my God, my God! [Footnote: AKH, BOZHE MOI, BOZHE MOI.] If it only +might be our fate to meet again, somewhere in Petersburg, to live and +move among men, among ladies!" + +He drank up the dregs of the wine still left in the bottle, and when he +had finished it he said: "AKH! PARDON, maybe you wanted some more. It +was horribly careless of me. However, I suppose I must have taken too +much, and my head isn't very strong. [Footnote: ET JE N'AI PAS LA TETE +FORTE.] There was a time when I lived on Morskaia Street, AU REZ-DE- +CHAUSSEE, and had marvellous apartments, furniture, you know, and I was +able to arrange it all beautifully, not so very expensively though; my +father, to be sure, gave me porcelains, flowers, and silver--a wonderful +lot. Le matin je sortais, visits, 5 heures regulierement. I used to go +and dine with her; often she was alone. Il faut avouer que c'etait une +femme ravissante! You didn't know her at all, did you?" + +"No." + +"You see, there was such high degree of womanliness in her, and such +tenderness, and what love! Lord! I did not know how to appreciate my +happiness then. We would return after the theatre, and have a little +supper together. It was never dull where she was, toujours gaie, +toujours aimante. Yes, and I had never imagined what rare happiness it +was. Et j'ai beaucoup a me reprocher in regard to her. Je l'ai fait +souffrir et souvent. I was outrageous. AKH! What a marvellous time that +was! Do I bore you?" + +"No, not at all." + +"Then I will tell you about our evenings. I used to go--that stairway, +every flower-pot I knew,--the door-handle, all was so lovely, so familiar; +then the vestibule, her room. . . . No, it will never, never come +back to me again! Even now she writes to me: if you will let me, I will +show you her letters. But I am not what I was; I am ruined; I am no +longer worthy of her. . . . Yes, I am ruined for ever. Je suis casse. +There's no energy in me, no pride, nothing--nor even any rank. . . . +[Footnote: Blagorodstva, noble birth, nobility.] Yes, I am ruined; +and no one will ever appreciate my sufferings. Every one is indifferent. +I am a lost man. Never any chance for me to rise, because I have fallen +morally . . . into the mire--I have fallen. . . ." + +At this moment there was evident in his words a genuine, deep despair: +he did not look at me, but sat motionless. + +"Why are you in such despair?" I asked. + +"Because I am abominable. This life has degraded me, all that was in me, +all is crushed out. It is not by pride that I hold out, but by +abjectness: there's no dignite dans le malheur. I am humiliated every +moment; I endure it all; I got myself into this abasement. This mire has +soiled me. I myself have become coarse; I have forgotten what I used to +know; I can't speak French any more; I am conscious that I am base and +low. I cannot tear myself away from these surroundings, indeed I cannot. +I might have been a hero: give me a regiment, gold epaulets, a +trumpeter, but to march in the ranks with some wild Anton Bondarenko or +the like, and feel that between me and him there was no difference at +all--that he might be killed or I might be killed--all the same, that +thought is maddening. You understand how horrible it is to think that +some ragamuffin may kill me, a man who has thoughts and feelings, and +that it would make no difference if alongside of me some Antonof were +killed,--a being not different from an animal--and that it might easily +happen that I and not this Antonof were killed, which is always UNE +FATALITE for every lofty and good man. I know that they call me a +coward: grant that I am a coward, I certainly am a coward, and can't be +anything else. Not only am I a coward, but I am in my way a low and +despicable man. Here I have just been borrowing money of you, and you +have the right to despise me. No, take back your money." And he held out +to me the crumpled bank-bill. "I want you to have a good opinion of me." +He covered his face with his hands, and burst into tears. I really did +not know what to say or do. + +"Calm yourself," I said to him. "You are too sensitive; don't take +everything so to heart; don't indulge in self-analysis, look at things +more simply. You yourself say that you have character. Keep up good +heart, you won't have long to wait," I said to him, but not very +consistently, because I was much stirred both by a feeling of sympathy +and a feeling of repentance, because I had allowed myself mentally to +sin in my judgment of a man truly and deeply unhappy. + +"Yes," he began, "if I had heard even once, at the time when I was in +that hell, one single word of sympathy, of advice, of friendship--one +humane word such as you have just spoken, perhaps I might have calmly +endured all; perhaps I might have struggled, and been a soldier. But now +this is horrible. . . . When I think soberly, I long for death. Why +should I love my despicable life and my own self, now that I am ruined for +all that is worth while in the world? And at the least danger, I suddenly, +in spite of myself, begin to pray for my miserable life, and to watch +over it as though it were precious, and I cannot, je ne puis pas, +control myself. That is, I could," he continued again after a minute's +silence, "but this is too hard work for me, a monstrous work, when I am +alone. With others, under special circumstances, when you are going into +action, I am brave, j'ai fait mes epreuves, because I am vain and proud: +that is my failing, and in presence of others. . . . Do you know, let me +spend the night with you: with us, they will play all night long; it +makes no difference, anywhere, on the ground." + +While Nikita was making the bed, we got up, and once more began to walk +up and down in the darkness on the battery. Certainly Guskof's head must +have been very weak, because two glasses of liquor and two of wine made +him dizzy. As we got up and moved away from the candles, I noticed that +he again thrust the ten-ruble bill into his pocket, trying to do so +without my seeing it. During all the foregoing conversation, he had held +it in his hand. He continued to reiterate how he felt that he might +regain his old station if he had a man such as I were to take some +interest in him. + +We were just going into the tent to go to bed when suddenly a cannon- +ball whistled over us, and buried itself in the ground not far from us. +So strange it was,--that peacefully sleeping camp, our conversation, and +suddenly the hostile cannon-ball which flew from God knows where, the +midst of our tents,--so strange that it was some time before I could +realize what it was. Our sentinel, Andreief, walking up and down on the +battery, moved toward me. + +"Ha! he's crept up to us. It was the fire here that he aimed at," said +he. + +"We must rouse the captain," said I, and gazed at Guskof. + +He stood cowering close to the ground, and stammered, trying to say, +"Th-that's th-the ene-my's . . . f-f-fire--th-that's--hidi--." Further he +could not say a word, and I did not see how and where he disappeared so +instantaneously. + +In the captain's tent a candle gleamed; his cough, which always troubled +him when he was awake, was heard; and he himself soon appeared, asking +for a linstock to light his little pipe. + +"What does this mean, old man?" [Footnote: Batiushka] he asked with a +smile. "Aren't they willing to give me a little sleep to-night? First +it's you with your cashiered friend, and then it's Shamyl. What shall we +do, answer him or not? There was nothing about this in the instructions, +was there?" + +"Nothing at all. There he goes again," said I. "Two of them!" + +Indeed, in the darkness, directly in front of us, flashed two fires, +like two eyes; and quickly over our heads flew one cannon-ball and one +heavy shell. It must have been meant for us, coming with a loud and +penetrating hum. From the neighboring tents the soldiers hastened. You +could hear them hawking and talking and stretching themselves. + +"Hist! the fuse sings like a nightingale," was the remark of the +artillerist. + +"Send for Nikita," said the captain with his perpetually benevolent +smile. "Nikita, don't hide yourself, but listen to the mountain +nightingales." + +"Well, your honor," [Footnote: VASHE VUISOKOBLAGORODIE. German, +HOCHWOHLGEBORENER, high, well-born; regulation title of officers from +major to general] said Nikita, who was standing near the captain, "I +have seen them--these nightingales. I am not afraid of 'em; but here was +that stranger who was here, he was drinking up your red wine. When he +heard how that shot dashed by our tents, and the shell rolled by, he +cowered down like some wild beast." + +"However, we must send to the commander of the artillery," said the +captain to me, in a serious tone of authority, "and ask whether we shall +reply to the fire or not. It will probably be nothing at all, but still +it may. Have the goodness to go and ask him. Have a horse saddled. Do it +as quickly as possible, even if you take my Polkan." + +In five minutes they brought me a horse, and I galloped off to the +commander of the artillery. "Look you, return on foot," whispered the +punctilious captain, "else they won't let you through the lines." + +It was half a verst to the artillery commander's, the whole road ran +between the tents. As soon as I rode away from our fire, it became so +black that I could not see even the horse's ears, but only the watch- +fires, now seeming very near, now very far off, as they gleamed into my +eyes. After I had ridden some distance, trusting to the intelligence of +the horse whom I allowed free rein, I began to distinguish the white +four-cornered tents and then the black tracks of the road. After a half- +hour, having asked my way three times, and twice stumbled over the tent- +stakes, causing each time a volley of curses from the tents, and twice +been detained by the sentinels, I reached the artillery commander's. +While I was on the way, I heard two more cannon shot in the direction of +our camp; but the projectiles did not reach to the place where the +headquarters were. The artillery commander ordered not to reply to the +firing, the more as the enemy did not remain in the same place; and I +went back, leading the horse by the bridle, making my way on foot +between the infantry tents. More than once I delayed my steps, as I went +by some soldier's tent where a light was shining, and some merry-andrew +was telling a story; or I listened to some educated soldier reading from +some book while the whole division overflowed the tent, or hung around +it, sometimes interrupting the reading with various remarks; or I simply +listened to the talk about the expedition, about the fatherland, or +about their chiefs. + +As I came around one of the tents of the third battalion, I heard +Guskof's rough voice: he was speaking hilariously and rapidly. Young +voices replied to him, not those of soldiers, but of gay gentlemen. It +was evidently the tent of some yunker or sergeant-major. I stopped +short. + +"I've known him a long time," Guskof was saying. "When I lived in +Petersburg, he used to come to my house often; and I went to his. He +moved in the best society." + +"Whom are you talking about?" asked the drunken voice. + +"About the prince," said Guskof. "We were relatives, you see, but, more +than all, we were old friends. It's a mighty good thing, you know, +gentlemen, to have such an acquaintance. You see he's fearfully rich. To +him a hundred silver rubles is a mere bagatelle. Here, I just got a +little money out of him, enough to last me till my sister sends." + +"Let's have some." + +"Right away.--Savelitch, my dear," said Guskof, coming to the door of +the tent, "here's ten rubles for you: go to the sutler, get two bottles +of Kakhetinski. Anything else, gentlemen? What do you say?" and Guskof, +with unsteady gait, with dishevelled hair, without his hat, came out of +the tent. Throwing open his jacket, and thrusting his hands into the +pockets of his trousers, he stood at the door of the tent. Though he was +in the light, and I in darkness; I trembled with fear lest he should see +me, and I went on, trying to make no noise. + +"Who goes there?" shouted Guskof after me in a thoroughly drunken voice. +Apparently, the cold took hold of him. "Who the devil is going off with +that horse?" + +I made no answer, and silently went on my way. + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Stories by Foreign Authors: Russian, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUSSIAN STORIES *** + +This file should be named s4fru10.txt or s4fru10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, s4fru11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, s4fru10a.txt + +Produced by Nicole Apostola, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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