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diff --git a/old/9911.txt b/old/9911.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe2cda4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/9911.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10314 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Torrents of Spring, by Ivan Turgenev + +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: The Torrents of Spring + +Author: Ivan Turgenev + +Translator: Constance Garnett + +Posting Date: December 11, 2011 [EBook #9911] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: October 30, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORRENTS OF SPRING *** + + + + +Produced by Keren Vergon, William Flis, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + + + +THE TORRENTS OF SPRING + +BY IVAN TURGENEV + +Translated from the Russian + +BY CONSTANCE GARNETT + +1897 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE TORRENTS OF SPRING + +FIRST LOVE + +MUMU + + + + +THE TORRENTS OF SPRING + + + 'Years of gladness, + Days of joy, + Like the torrents of spring + They hurried away.' + +--_From an Old Ballad_. + + +... At two o'clock in the night he had gone back to his study. He had +dismissed the servant after the candles were lighted, and throwing +himself into a low chair by the hearth, he hid his face in both hands. + +Never had he felt such weariness of body and of spirit. He had passed +the whole evening in the company of charming ladies and cultivated +men; some of the ladies were beautiful, almost all the men were +distinguished by intellect or talent; he himself had talked with great +success, even with brilliance ... and, for all that, never yet had +the _taedium vitae_ of which the Romans talked of old, the 'disgust +for life,' taken hold of him with such irresistible, such suffocating +force. Had he been a little younger, he would have cried with misery, +weariness, and exasperation: a biting, burning bitterness, like +the bitter of wormwood, filled his whole soul. A sort of clinging +repugnance, a weight of loathing closed in upon him on all sides like +a dark night of autumn; and he did not know how to get free from this +darkness, this bitterness. Sleep it was useless to reckon upon; he +knew he should not sleep. + +He fell to thinking ... slowly, listlessly, wrathfully. He thought of +the vanity, the uselessness, the vulgar falsity of all things human. +All the stages of man's life passed in order before his mental gaze +(he had himself lately reached his fifty-second year), and not one +found grace in his eyes. Everywhere the same ever-lasting pouring of +water into a sieve, the ever-lasting beating of the air, everywhere +the same self-deception--half in good faith, half conscious--any toy +to amuse the child, so long as it keeps him from crying. And then, all +of a sudden, old age drops down like snow on the head, and with it the +ever-growing, ever-gnawing, and devouring dread of death ... and the +plunge into the abyss! Lucky indeed if life works out so to the end! +May be, before the end, like rust on iron, sufferings, infirmities +come.... He did not picture life's sea, as the poets depict it, +covered with tempestuous waves; no, he thought of that sea as a +smooth, untroubled surface, stagnant and transparent to its darkest +depths. He himself sits in a little tottering boat, and down below +in those dark oozy depths, like prodigious fishes, he can just make +out the shapes of hideous monsters: all the ills of life, diseases, +sorrows, madness, poverty, blindness.... He gazes, and behold, one +of these monsters separates itself off from the darkness, rises +higher and higher, stands out more and more distinct, more and more +loathsomely distinct.... An instant yet, and the boat that bears him +will be overturned! But behold, it grows dim again, it withdraws, +sinks down to the bottom, and there it lies, faintly stirring in the +slime.... But the fated day will come, and it will overturn the boat. + +He shook his head, jumped up from his low chair, took two turns up and +down the room, sat down to the writing-table, and opening one drawer +after another, began to rummage among his papers, among old letters, +mostly from women. He could not have said why he was doing it; he was +not looking for anything--he simply wanted by some kind of external +occupation to get away from the thoughts oppressing him. Opening +several letters at random (in one of them there was a withered flower +tied with a bit of faded ribbon), he merely shrugged his shoulders, +and glancing at the hearth, he tossed them on one side, probably with +the idea of burning all this useless rubbish. Hurriedly, thrusting his +hands first into one, and then into another drawer, he suddenly opened +his eyes wide, and slowly bringing out a little octagonal box of +old-fashioned make, he slowly raised its lid. In the box, under two +layers of cotton wool, yellow with age, was a little garnet cross. + +For a few instants he looked in perplexity at this cross--suddenly +he gave a faint cry.... Something between regret and delight was +expressed in his features. Such an expression a man's face wears when +he suddenly meets some one whom he has long lost sight of, whom he has +at one time tenderly loved, and who suddenly springs up before his +eyes, still the same, and utterly transformed by the years. + +He got up, and going back to the hearth, he sat down again in the +arm-chair, and again hid his face in his hands.... 'Why to-day? just +to-day?' was his thought, and he remembered many things, long since +past. + +This is what he remembered.... + +But first I must mention his name, his father's name and his surname. +He was called Dimitri Pavlovitch Sanin. + +Here follows what he remembered. + + + + +I + + +It was the summer of 1840. Sanin was in his twenty-second year, and he +was in Frankfort on his way home from Italy to Russia. He was a man of +small property, but independent, almost without family ties. By the +death of a distant relative, he had come into a few thousand roubles, +and he had decided to spend this sum abroad before entering the +service, before finally putting on the government yoke, without which +he could not obtain a secure livelihood. Sanin had carried out this +intention, and had fitted things in to such a nicety that on the day +of his arrival in Frankfort he had only just enough money left to take +him back to Petersburg. In the year 1840 there were few railroads in +existence; tourists travelled by diligence. Sanin had taken a place in +the '_bei-wagon_'; but the diligence did not start till eleven o'clock +in the evening. There was a great deal of time to be got through +before then. Fortunately it was lovely weather, and Sanin after dining +at a hotel, famous in those days, the White Swan, set off to stroll +about the town. He went in to look at Danneker's Ariadne, which he did +not much care for, visited the house of Goethe, of whose works he had, +however, only read _Werter_, and that in the French translation. He +walked along the bank of the Maine, and was bored as a well-conducted +tourist should be; at last at six o'clock in the evening, tired, and +with dusty boots, he found himself in one of the least remarkable +streets in Frankfort. That street he was fated not to forget long, +long after. On one of its few houses he saw a signboard: 'Giovanni +Roselli, Italian confectionery,' was announced upon it. Sanin went +into it to get a glass of lemonade; but in the shop, where, behind +the modest counter, on the shelves of a stained cupboard, recalling +a chemist's shop, stood a few bottles with gold labels, and as many +glass jars of biscuits, chocolate cakes, and sweetmeats--in this room, +there was not a soul; only a grey cat blinked and purred, sharpening +its claws on a tall wicker chair near the window and a bright patch +of colour was made in the evening sunlight, by a big ball of red wool +lying on the floor beside a carved wooden basket turned upside down. A +confused noise was audible in the next room. Sanin stood a moment, and +making the bell on the door ring its loudest, he called, raising his +voice, 'Is there no one here?' At that instant the door from an inner +room was thrown open, and Sanin was struck dumb with amazement. + + + + +II + + +A young girl of nineteen ran impetuously into the shop, her dark curls +hanging in disorder on her bare shoulders, her bare arms stretched out +in front of her. Seeing Sanin, she rushed up to him at once, seized +him by the hand, and pulled him after her, saying in a breathless +voice, 'Quick, quick, here, save him!' Not through disinclination +to obey, but simply from excess of amazement, Sanin did not at once +follow the girl. He stood, as it were, rooted to the spot; he had +never in his life seen such a beautiful creature. She turned towards +him, and with such despair in her voice, in her eyes, in the gesture +of her clenched hand, which was lifted with a spasmodic movement to +her pale cheek, she articulated, 'Come, come!' that he at once darted +after her to the open door. + +In the room, into which he ran behind the girl, on an old-fashioned +horse-hair sofa, lay a boy of fourteen, white all over--white, with +a yellowish tinge like wax or old marble--he was strikingly like the +girl, obviously her brother. His eyes were closed, a patch of shadow +fell from his thick black hair on a forehead like stone, and delicate, +motionless eyebrows; between the blue lips could be seen clenched +teeth. He seemed not to be breathing; one arm hung down to the floor, +the other he had tossed above his head. The boy was dressed, and his +clothes were closely buttoned; a tight cravat was twisted round his +neck. + +The girl rushed up to him with a wail of distress. 'He is dead, he is +dead!' she cried; 'he was sitting here just now, talking to me--and +all of a sudden he fell down and became rigid.... My God! can nothing +be done to help him? And mamma not here! Pantaleone, Pantaleone, the +doctor!' she went on suddenly in Italian. 'Have you been for the +doctor?' + +'Signora, I did not go, I sent Luise,' said a hoarse voice at the +door, and a little bandy-legged old man came hobbling into the room in +a lavender frock coat with black buttons, a high white cravat, short +nankeen trousers, and blue worsted stockings. His diminutive little +face was positively lost in a mass of iron-grey hair. Standing up in +all directions, and falling back in ragged tufts, it gave the old +man's figure a resemblance to a crested hen--a resemblance the more +striking, that under the dark-grey mass nothing could be distinguished +but a beak nose and round yellow eyes. + +'Luise will run fast, and I can't run,' the old man went on in +Italian, dragging his flat gouty feet, shod in high slippers with +knots of ribbon. 'I've brought some water.' + +In his withered, knotted fingers, he clutched a long bottle neck. + +'But meanwhile Emil will die!' cried the girl, and holding out her +hand to Sanin, 'O, sir, O _mein Herr_! can't you do something for +him?' + +'He ought to be bled--it's an apoplectic fit,' observed the old man +addressed as Pantaleone. + +Though Sanin had not the slightest notion of medicine, he knew one +thing for certain, that boys of fourteen do not have apoplectic fits. + +'It's a swoon, not a fit,' he said, turning to Pantaleone. 'Have you +got any brushes?' + +The old man raised his little face. 'Eh?' + +'Brushes, brushes,' repeated Sanin in German and in French. 'Brushes,' +he added, making as though he would brush his clothes. + +The little old man understood him at last. + +'Ah, brushes! _Spazzette_! to be sure we have!' + +'Bring them here; we will take off his coat and try rubbing him.' + +'Good ... _Benone_! And ought we not to sprinkle water on his head?' + +'No ... later on; get the brushes now as quick as you can.' + +Pantaleone put the bottle on the floor, ran out and returned at once +with two brushes, one a hair-brush, and one a clothes-brush. A curly +poodle followed him in, and vigorously wagging its tail, it looked up +inquisitively at the old man, the girl, and even Sanin, as though it +wanted to know what was the meaning of all this fuss. + +Sanin quickly took the boy's coat off, unbuttoned his collar, and +pushed up his shirt-sleeves, and arming himself with a brush, he +began brushing his chest and arms with all his might. Pantaleone as +zealously brushed away with the other--the hair-brush--at his boots +and trousers. The girl flung herself on her knees by the sofa, and, +clutching her head in both hands, fastened her eyes, not an eyelash +quivering, on her brother. + +Sanin rubbed on, and kept stealing glances at her. Mercy! what a +beautiful creature she was! + + + + +III + + +Her nose was rather large, but handsome, aquiline-shaped; her upper +lip was shaded by a light down; but then the colour of her face, +smooth, uniform, like ivory or very pale milky amber, the wavering +shimmer of her hair, like that of the Judith of Allorio in the +Palazzo-Pitti; and above all, her eyes, dark-grey, with a black ring +round the pupils, splendid, triumphant eyes, even now, when terror and +distress dimmed their lustre.... Sanin could not help recalling the +marvellous country he had just come from.... But even in Italy he had +never met anything like her! The girl drew slow, uneven breaths; she +seemed between each breath to be waiting to see whether her brother +would not begin to breathe. + +Sanin went on rubbing him, but he did not only watch the girl. The +original figure of Pantaleone drew his attention too. The old man was +quite exhausted and panting; at every movement of the brush he hopped +up and down and groaned noisily, while his immense tufts of hair, +soaked with perspiration, flapped heavily from side to side, like the +roots of some strong plant, torn up by the water. + +'You'd better, at least, take off his boots,' Sanin was just saying to +him. + +The poodle, probably excited by the unusualness of all the +proceedings, suddenly sank on to its front paws and began barking. + +'_Tartaglia--canaglia_!' the old man hissed at it. But at that instant +the girl's face was transformed. Her eyebrows rose, her eyes grew +wider, and shone with joy. + +Sanin looked round ... A flush had over-spread the lad's face; his +eyelids stirred ... his nostrils twitched. He drew in a breath through +his still clenched teeth, sighed.... + +'Emil!' cried the girl ... 'Emilio mio!' + +Slowly the big black eyes opened. They still had a dazed look, but +already smiled faintly; the same faint smile hovered on his pale lips. +Then he moved the arm that hung down, and laid it on his chest. + +'Emilio!' repeated the girl, and she got up. The expression on her +face was so tense and vivid, that it seemed that in an instant either +she would burst into tears or break into laughter. + +'Emil! what is it? Emil!' was heard outside, and a neatly-dressed lady +with silvery grey hair and a dark face came with rapid steps into the +room. + +A middle-aged man followed her; the head of a maid-servant was visible +over their shoulders. + +The girl ran to meet them. + +'He is saved, mother, he is alive!' she cried, impulsively embracing +the lady who had just entered. + +'But what is it?' she repeated. 'I come back ... and all of a sudden I +meet the doctor and Luise ...' + +The girl proceeded to explain what had happened, while the doctor went +up to the invalid who was coming more and more to himself, and was +still smiling: he seemed to be beginning to feel shy at the commotion +he had caused. + +'You've been using friction with brushes, I see,' said the doctor to +Sanin and Pantaleone, 'and you did very well.... A very good idea ... +and now let us see what further measures ...' + +He felt the youth's pulse. 'H'm! show me your tongue!' + +The lady bent anxiously over him. He smiled still more ingenuously, +raised his eyes to her, and blushed a little. + +It struck Sanin that he was no longer wanted; he went into the shop. +But before he had time to touch the handle of the street-door, the +girl was once more before him; she stopped him. + +'You are going,' she began, looking warmly into his face; 'I will not +keep you, but you must be sure to come to see us this evening: we are +so indebted to you--you, perhaps, saved my brother's life, we want to +thank you--mother wants to. You must tell us who you are, you must +rejoice with us ...' + +'But I am leaving for Berlin to-day,' Sanin faltered out. + +'You will have time though,' the girl rejoined eagerly. 'Come to us +in an hour's time to drink a cup of chocolate with us. You promise? I +must go back to him! You will come?' + +What could Sanin do? + +'I will come,' he replied. + +The beautiful girl pressed his hand, fluttered away, and he found +himself in the street. + + + + +IV + + +When Sanin, an hour and a half later, returned to the Rosellis' shop +he was received there like one of the family. Emilio was sitting on +the same sofa, on which he had been rubbed; the doctor had prescribed +him medicine and recommended 'great discretion in avoiding strong +emotions' as being a subject of nervous temperament with a tendency to +weakness of the heart. He had previously been liable to fainting-fits; +but never had he lost consciousness so completely and for so long. +However, the doctor declared that all danger was over. Emil, as +was only suitable for an invalid, was dressed in a comfortable +dressing-gown; his mother wound a blue woollen wrap round his neck; +but he had a cheerful, almost a festive air; indeed everything had +a festive air. Before the sofa, on a round table, covered with a +clean cloth, towered a huge china coffee-pot, filled with fragrant +chocolate, and encircled by cups, decanters of liqueur, biscuits +and rolls, and even flowers; six slender wax candles were burning +in two old-fashioned silver chandeliers; on one side of the sofa, +a comfortable lounge-chair offered its soft embraces, and in this +chair they made Sanin sit. All the inhabitants of the confectioner's +shop, with whom he had made acquaintance that day, were present, not +excluding the poodle, Tartaglia, and the cat; they all seemed happy +beyond expression; the poodle positively sneezed with delight, only +the cat was coy and blinked sleepily as before. They made Sanin tell +them who he was, where he came from, and what was his name; when +he said he was a Russian, both the ladies were a little surprised, +uttered ejaculations of wonder, and declared with one voice that he +spoke German splendidly; but if he preferred to speak French, he +might make use of that language, as they both understood it and spoke +it well. Sanin at once availed himself of this suggestion. 'Sanin! +Sanin!' The ladies would never have expected that a Russian surname +could be so easy to pronounce. His Christian name--'Dimitri'--they +liked very much too. The elder lady observed that in her youth she had +heard a fine opera--Demetrio e Polibio'--but that 'Dimitri' was much +nicer than 'Demetrio.' In this way Sanin talked for about an hour. The +ladies on their side initiated him into all the details of their own +life. The talking was mostly done by the mother, the lady with grey +hair. Sanin learnt from her that her name was Leonora Roselli; that +she had lost her husband, Giovanni Battista Roselli, who had settled +in Frankfort as a confectioner twenty--five years ago; that Giovanni +Battista had come from Vicenza and had been a most excellent, though +fiery and irascible man, and a republican withal! At those words +Signora Roselli pointed to his portrait, painted in oil-colours, and +hanging over the sofa. It must be presumed that the painter, 'also +a republican!' as Signora Roselli observed with a sigh, had not +fully succeeded in catching a likeness, for in his portrait the late +Giovanni Battista appeared as a morose and gloomy brigand, after the +style of Rinaldo Rinaldini! Signora Roselli herself had come from +'the ancient and splendid city of Parma where there is the wonderful +cupola, painted by the immortal Correggio!' But from her long +residence in Germany she had become almost completely Germanised. +Then she added, mournfully shaking her head, that all she had left +was _this_ daughter and _this_ son (pointing to each in turn with her +finger); that the daughter's name was Gemma, and the son's Emilio; +that they were both very good and obedient children--especially Emilio +... ('Me not obedient!' her daughter put in at that point. 'Oh, +you're a republican, too!' answered her mother). That the business, +of course, was not what it had been in the days of her husband, who +had a great gift for the confectionery line ... ('_Un grand uomo_!' +Pantaleone confirmed with a severe air); but that still, thank God, +they managed to get along! + + + + +V + + +Gemma listened to her mother, and at one minute laughed, then sighed, +then patted her on the shoulder, and shook her finger at her, and then +looked at Sanin; at last, she got up, embraced her mother and kissed +her in the hollow of her neck, which made the latter laugh extremely +and shriek a little. Pantaleone too was presented to Sanin. It +appeared he had once been an opera singer, a baritone, but had long +ago given up the theatre, and occupied in the Roselli family a +position between that of a family friend and a servant. In spite of +his prolonged residence in Germany, he had learnt very little German, +and only knew how to swear in it, mercilessly distorting even the +terms of abuse. '_Ferroflucto spitchebubbio_' was his favourite +epithet for almost every German. He spoke Italian with a perfect +accent--for was he not by birth from Sinigali, where may be heard +'_lingua toscana in bocca romana_'! Emilio, obviously, played the +invalid and indulged himself in the pleasant sensations of one who has +only just escaped a danger or is returning to health after illness; +it was evident, too, that the family spoiled him. He thanked Sanin +bashfully, but devoted himself chiefly to the biscuits and sweetmeats. +Sanin was compelled to drink two large cups of excellent chocolate, +and to eat a considerable number of biscuits; no sooner had he +swallowed one than Gemma offered him another--and to refuse was +impossible! He soon felt at home: the time flew by with incredible +swiftness. He had to tell them a great deal--about Russia in general, +the Russian climate, Russian society, the Russian peasant--and +especially about the Cossacks; about the war of 1812, about Peter the +Great, about the Kremlin, and the Russian songs and bells. Both ladies +had a very faint conception of our vast and remote fatherland; Signora +Roselli, or as she was more often called, Frau Lenore, positively +dumfoundered Sanin with the question, whether there was still existing +at Petersburg the celebrated house of ice, built last century, about +which she had lately read a very curious article in one of her +husband's books, '_Bettezze delle arti_.' And in reply to Sanin's +exclamation, 'Do you really suppose that there is never any summer in +Russia?' Frau Lenore replied that till then she had always pictured +Russia like this--eternal snow, every one going about in furs, and all +military men, but the greatest hospitality, and all the peasants very +submissive! Sanin tried to impart to her and her daughter some more +exact information. When the conversation touched on Russian music, +they begged him at once to sing some Russian air and showed him a +diminutive piano with black keys instead of white and white instead +of black. He obeyed without making much ado and accompanying himself +with two fingers of the right hand and three of the left (the first, +second, and little finger) he sang in a thin nasal tenor, first 'The +Sarafan,' then 'Along a Paved Street.' The ladies praised his voice +and the music, but were more struck with the softness and sonorousness +of the Russian language and asked for a translation of the text. Sanin +complied with their wishes--but as the words of 'The Sarafan,' and +still more of 'Along a Paved Street' (_sur une rue pavee une jeune +fille allait a l'eau_ was how he rendered the sense of the original) +were not calculated to inspire his listeners with an exalted idea +of Russian poetry, he first recited, then translated, and then sang +Pushkin's, 'I remember a marvellous moment,' set to music by Glinka, +whose minor bars he did not render quite faithfully. Then the ladies +went into ecstasies. Frau Lenore positively discovered in Russian +a wonderful likeness to the Italian. Even the names Pushkin (she +pronounced it Pussekin) and Glinka sounded somewhat familiar to her. +Sanin on his side begged the ladies to sing something; they too did +not wait to be pressed. Frau Lenore sat down to the piano and sang +with Gemma some duets and 'stornelle.' The mother had once had a fine +contralto; the daughter's voice was not strong, but was pleasing. + + + + +VI + + +But it was not Gemma's voice--it was herself Sanin was admiring. He +was sitting a little behind and on one side of her, and kept thinking +to himself that no palm-tree, even in the poems of Benediktov--the +poet in fashion in those days--could rival the slender grace of her +figure. When, at the most emotional passages, she raised her eyes +upwards--it seemed to him no heaven could fail to open at such a look! +Even the old man, Pantaleone, who with his shoulder propped against +the doorpost, and his chin and mouth tucked into his capacious cravat, +was listening solemnly with the air of a connoisseur--even he was +admiring the girl's lovely face and marvelling at it, though one would +have thought he must have been used to it! When she had finished the +duet with her daughter, Frau Lenore observed that Emilio had a fine +voice, like a silver bell, but that now he was at the age when the +voice changes--he did, in fact, talk in a sort of bass constantly +falling into falsetto--and that he was therefore forbidden to sing; +but that Pantaleone now really might try his skill of old days in +honour of their guest! Pantaleone promptly put on a displeased air, +frowned, ruffled up his hair, and declared that he had given it all +up long ago, though he could certainly in his youth hold his own, +and indeed had belonged to that great period, when there were real +classical singers, not to be compared to the squeaking performers of +to-day! and a real school of singing; that he, Pantaleone Cippatola of +Varese, had once been brought a laurel wreath from Modena, and that +on that occasion some white doves had positively been let fly in the +theatre; that among others a Russian prince Tarbusky--'_il principe +Tarbusski_'--with whom he had been on the most friendly terms, had +after supper persistently invited him to Russia, promising him +mountains of gold, mountains!... but that he had been unwilling to +leave Italy, the land of Dante--_il paese del Dante!_ Afterward, to +be sure, there came ... unfortunate circumstances, he had himself +been imprudent.... At this point the old man broke off, sighed +deeply twice, looked dejected, and began again talking of the +classical period of singing, of the celebrated tenor Garcia, for +whom he cherished a devout, unbounded veneration. 'He was a man!' +he exclaimed. 'Never had the great Garcia (_il gran Garcia_) +demeaned himself by singing falsetto like the paltry tenors of +to-day--_tenoracci_; always from the chest, from the chest, _voce di +petto, si!_' and the old man aimed a vigorous blow with his little +shrivelled fist at his own shirt-front! 'And what an actor! A volcano, +_signori miei_, a volcano, _un Vesuvio_! I had the honour and the +happiness of singing with him in the _opera dell' illustrissimo +maestro_ Rossini--in Otello! Garcia was Otello,--I was Iago--and +when he rendered the phrase':--here Pantaleone threw himself into an +attitude and began singing in a hoarse and shaky, but still moving +voice: + + "L'i ... ra daver ... so daver ... so il fato + lo piu no ... no ... no ... non temero!" + +The theatre was all a-quiver, _signori miei_! though I too did not +fall short, I too after him. + + "L'i ra daver ... so daver ... so il fato + Temer piu non davro!" + +And all of a sudden, he crashed like lightning, like a tiger: +_Morro!... ma vendicato ..._ Again when he was singing ... when he was +singing that celebrated air from "_Matrimonio segreto_," _Pria che +spunti_ ... then he, _il gran Garcia_, after the words, "_I cavalli +di galoppo_"--at the words, "_Senza posa cacciera_,"--listen, how +stupendous, _come e stupendo_! At that point he made ...' The old man +began a sort of extraordinary flourish, and at the tenth note broke +down, cleared his throat, and with a wave of his arm turned away, +muttering, 'Why do you torment me?' Gemma jumped up at once and +clapping loudly and shouting, bravo!... bravo!... she ran to the poor +old super-annuated Iago and with both hands patted him affectionately +on the shoulders. Only Emil laughed ruthlessly. _Cet age est sans +pitie_--that age knows no mercy--Lafontaine has said already. + +Sanin tried to soothe the aged singer and began talking to him +in Italian--(he had picked up a smattering during his last tour +there)--began talking of '_paese del Dante, dove il si suona_.' This +phrase, together with '_Lasciate ogni speranza_,' made up the whole +stock of poetic Italian of the young tourist; but Pantaleone was +not won over by his blandishments. Tucking his chin deeper than ever +into his cravat and sullenly rolling his eyes, he was once more +like a bird, an angry one too,--a crow or a kite. Then Emil, with a +faint momentary blush, such as one so often sees in spoilt children, +addressing his sister, said if she wanted to entertain their guest, +she could do nothing better than read him one of those little comedies +of Malz, that she read so nicely. Gemma laughed, slapped her brother +on the arm, exclaimed that he 'always had such ideas!' She went +promptly, however, to her room, and returning thence with a small +book in her hand, seated herself at the table before the lamp, looked +round, lifted one finger as much as to say, 'hush!'--a typically +Italian gesture--and began reading. + + + + +VII + + +Malz was a writer flourishing at Frankfort about 1830, whose short +comedies, written in a light vein in the local dialect, hit off local +Frankfort types with bright and amusing, though not deep, humour. +It turned out that Gemma really did read excellently--quite like an +actress in fact. She indicated each personage, and sustained the +character capitally, making full use of the talent of mimicry she had +inherited with her Italian blood; she had no mercy on her soft voice +or her lovely face, and when she had to represent some old crone in +her dotage, or a stupid burgomaster, she made the drollest grimaces, +screwing up her eyes, wrinkling up her nose, lisping, squeaking.... +She did not herself laugh during the reading; but when her audience +(with the exception of Pantaleone: he had walked off in indignation +so soon as the conversation turned _o quel ferroflucto Tedesco_) +interrupted her by an outburst of unanimous laughter, she dropped the +book on her knee, and laughed musically too, her head thrown back, and +her black hair dancing in little ringlets on her neck and her shaking +shoulders. When the laughter ceased, she picked up the book at once, +and again resuming a suitable expression, began the reading seriously. +Sanin could not get over his admiration; he was particularly +astonished at the marvellous way in which a face so ideally beautiful +assumed suddenly a comic, sometimes almost a vulgar expression. Gemma +was less successful in the parts of young girls--of so-called '_jeunes +premieres_'; in the love-scenes in particular she failed; she was +conscious of this herself, and for that reason gave them a faint shade +of irony as though she did not quite believe in all these rapturous +vows and elevated sentiments, of which the author, however, was +himself rather sparing--so far as he could be. + +Sanin did not notice how the evening was flying by, and only +recollected the journey before him when the clock struck ten. He +leaped up from his seat as though he had been stung. + +'What is the matter?' inquired Frau Lenore. + +'Why, I had to start for Berlin to-night, and I have taken a place in +the diligence!' + +'And when does the diligence start?' + +'At half-past ten!' + +'Well, then, you won't catch it now,' observed Gemma; 'you must stay +... and I will go on reading.' + +'Have you paid the whole fare or only given a deposit?' Frau Lenore +queried. + +'The whole fare!' Sanin said dolefully with a gloomy face. + +Gemma looked at him, half closed her eyes, and laughed, while her +mother scolded her: + +'The young gentleman has paid away his money for nothing, and you +laugh!' + +'Never mind,' answered Gemma; 'it won't ruin him, and we will try and +amuse him. Will you have some lemonade?' + +Sanin drank a glass of lemonade, Gemma took up Malz once more; and all +went merrily again. + +The clock struck twelve. Sanin rose to take leave. + +'You must stay some days now in Frankfort,' said Gemma: 'why should +you hurry away? It would be no nicer in any other town.' She paused. +'It wouldn't, really,' she added with a smile. Sanin made no reply, +and reflected that considering the emptiness of his purse, he would +have no choice about remaining in Frankfort till he got an answer from +a friend in Berlin, to whom he proposed writing for money. + +'Yes, do stay,' urged Frau Lenore too. 'We will introduce you to Mr. +Karl Klueber, who is engaged to Gemma. He could not come to-day, as he +was very busy at his shop ... you must have seen the biggest draper's +and silk mercer's shop in the _Zeile_. Well, he is the manager there. +But he will be delighted to call on you himself.' + +Sanin--heaven knows why--was slightly disconcerted by this piece of +information. 'He's a lucky fellow, that fiance!' flashed across his +mind. He looked at Gemma, and fancied he detected an ironical look in +her eyes. He began saying good-bye. + +'Till to-morrow? Till to-morrow, isn't it?' queried Frau Lenore. + +'Till to-morrow!' Gemma declared in a tone not of interrogation, but +of affirmation, as though it could not be otherwise. + +'Till to-morrow!' echoed Sanin. + +Emil, Pantaleone, and the poodle Tartaglia accompanied him to the +corner of the street. Pantaleone could not refrain from expressing his +displeasure at Gemma's reading. + +'She ought to be ashamed! She mouths and whines, _una caricatura_! +She ought to represent Merope or Clytemnaestra--something grand, +tragic--and she apes some wretched German woman! I can do that ... +_merz, kerz, smerz_,' he went on in a hoarse voice poking his face +forward, and brandishing his fingers. Tartaglia began barking at him, +while Emil burst out laughing. The old man turned sharply back. + +Sanin went back to the White Swan (he had left his things there in the +public hall) in a rather confused frame of mind. All the talk he had +had in French, German, and Italian was ringing in his ears. + +'Engaged!' he whispered as he lay in bed, in the modest apartment +assigned to him. 'And what a beauty! But what did I stay for?' + +Next day he sent a letter to his friend in Berlin. + + + + +VIII + + +He had not finished dressing, when a waiter announced the arrival +of two gentlemen. One of them turned out to be Emil; the other, a +good-looking and well-grown young man, with a handsome face, was Herr +Karl Klueber, the betrothed of the lovely Gemma. + +One may safely assume that at that time in all Frankfort, there was +not in a single shop a manager as civil, as decorous, as dignified, +and as affable as Herr Klueber. The irreproachable perfection of his +get-up was on a level with the dignity of his deportment, with the +elegance--a little affected and stiff, it is true, in the English +style (he had spent two years in England)--but still fascinating, +elegance of his manners! It was clear from the first glance that this +handsome, rather severe, excellently brought-up and superbly washed +young man was accustomed to obey his superior and to command his +inferior, and that behind the counter of his shop he must infallibly +inspire respect even in his customers! Of his supernatural honesty +there could never be a particle of doubt: one had but to look at his +stiffly starched collars! And his voice, it appeared, was just what +one would expect; deep, and of a self-confident richness, but not too +loud, with positively a certain caressing note in its timbre. Such a +voice was peculiarly fitted to give orders to assistants under his +control: 'Show the crimson Lyons velvet!' or, 'Hand the lady a chair!' + +Herr Klueber began with introducing himself; as he did so, he bowed +with such loftiness, moved his legs with such an agreeable air, and +drew his heels together with such polished courtesy that no one could +fail to feel, 'that man has both linen and moral principles of the +first quality!' The finish of his bare right hand--(the left, in a +suede glove, held a hat shining like a looking-glass, with the right +glove placed within it)--the finish of the right hand, proffered +modestly but resolutely to Sanin, surpassed all belief; each +finger-nail was a perfection in its own way! Then he proceeded +to explain in the choicest German that he was anxious to express +his respect and his indebtedness to the foreign gentleman who had +performed so signal a service to his future kinsman, the brother of +his betrothed; as he spoke, he waved his left hand with the hat in it +in the direction of Emil, who seemed bashful and turning away to the +window, put his finger in his mouth. Herr Klueber added that he should +esteem himself happy should he be able in return to do anything for +the foreign gentleman. Sanin, with some difficulty, replied, also +in German, that he was delighted ... that the service was not worth +speaking of ... and he begged his guests to sit down. Herr Klueber +thanked him, and lifting his coat-tails, sat down on a chair; but he +perched there so lightly and with such a transitory air that no one +could fail to realise, 'this man is sitting down from politeness, +and will fly up again in an instant.' And he did in fact fly up again +quickly, and advancing with two discreet little dance-steps, he +announced that to his regret he was unable to stay any longer, as he +had to hasten to his shop--business before everything! but as the next +day was Sunday, he had, with the consent of Frau Lenore and Fraeulein +Gemma, arranged a holiday excursion to Soden, to which he had the +honour of inviting the foreign gentleman, and he cherished the hope +that he would not refuse to grace the party with his presence. Sanin +did not refuse so to grace it; and Herr Klueber repeating once more his +complimentary sentiments, took leave, his pea-green trousers making a +spot of cheerful colour, and his brand-new boots squeaking cheerfully +as he moved. + + + + +IX + + +Emil, who had continued to stand with his face to the window, even +after Sanin's invitation to him to sit down, turned round directly his +future kinsman had gone out, and with a childish pout and blush, asked +Sanin if he might remain a little while with him. 'I am much better +to-day,' he added, 'but the doctor has forbidden me to do any work.' + +'Stay by all means! You won't be in the least in my way,' Sanin cried +at once. Like every true Russian he was glad to clutch at any excuse +that saved him from the necessity of doing anything himself. + +Emil thanked him, and in a very short time he was completely at home +with him and with his room; he looked at all his things, asked him +about almost every one of them, where he had bought it, and what was +its value. He helped him to shave, observing that it was a mistake not +to let his moustache grow; and finally told him a number of details +about his mother, his sister, Pantaleone, the poodle Tartaglia, and +all their daily life. Every semblance of timidity vanished in Emil; he +suddenly felt extraordinarily attracted to Sanin--not at all because +he had saved his life the day before, but because he was such a nice +person! He lost no time in confiding all his secrets to Sanin. He +expatiated with special warmth on the fact that his mother was set +on making him a shopkeeper, while he _knew_, knew for certain, that +he was born an artist, a musician, a singer; that Pantaleone even +encouraged him, but that Herr Klueber supported mamma, over whom he had +great influence; that the very idea of his being a shopkeeper really +originated with Herr Klueber, who considered that nothing in the world +could compare with trade! To measure out cloth--and cheat the public, +extorting from it '_Narren--oder Russen Preise_' (fools'--or Russian +prices)--that was his ideal! [Footnote: In former days--and very +likely it is not different now--when, from May onwards, a great number +of Russians visited Frankfort, prices rose in all the shops, and were +called 'Russians',' or, alas! 'fools' prices.'] + +'Come! now you must come and see us!' he cried, directly Sanin had +finished his toilet and written his letter to Berlin. + +'It's early yet,' observed Sanin. + +'That's no matter,' replied Emil caressingly. 'Come along! We'll go to +the post--and from there to our place. Gemma will be so glad to see +you! You must have lunch with us.... You might say a word to mamma +about me, my career....' + +'Very well, let's go,' said Sanin, and they set off. + + + + +X + + +Gemma certainly was delighted to see him, and Frau Lenore gave him a +very friendly welcome; he had obviously made a good impression on both +of them the evening before. Emil ran to see to getting lunch ready, +after a preliminary whisper, 'don't forget!' in Sanin's ear. + +'I won't forget,' responded Sanin. + +Frau Lenore was not quite well; she had a sick headache, and, +half-lying down in an easy chair, she tried to keep perfectly still. +Gemma wore a full yellow blouse, with a black leather belt round the +waist; she too seemed exhausted, and was rather pale; there were dark +rings round her eyes, but their lustre was not the less for it; it +added something of charm and mystery to the classical lines of her +face. Sanin was especially struck that day by the exquisite beauty of +her hands; when she smoothed and put back her dark, glossy tresses he +could not take his eyes off her long supple fingers, held slightly +apart from one another like the hand of Raphael's Fornarina. + +It was very hot out-of-doors; after lunch Sanin was about to take +leave, but they told him that on such a day the best thing was to stay +where one was, and he agreed; he stayed. In the back room where he was +sitting with the ladies of the household, coolness reigned supreme; +the windows looked out upon a little garden overgrown with acacias. +Multitudes of bees, wasps, and humming beetles kept up a steady, +eager buzz in their thick branches, which were studded with golden +blossoms; through the half-drawn curtains and the lowered blinds this +never-ceasing hum made its way into the room, telling of the sultry +heat in the air outside, and making the cool of the closed and snug +abode seem the sweeter. + +Sanin talked a great deal, as on the day before, but not of Russia, +nor of Russian life. Being anxious to please his young friend, who +had been sent off to Herr Klueber's immediately after lunch, to +acquire a knowledge of book-keeping, he turned the conversation on +the comparative advantages and disadvantages of art and commerce. He +was not surprised at Frau Lenore's standing up for commerce--he had +expected that; but Gemma too shared her opinion. + +'If one's an artist, and especially a singer,' she declared with a +vigorous downward sweep of her hand, 'one's got to be first-rate! +Second-rate's worse than nothing; and who can tell if one will +arrive at being first-rate?' Pantaleone, who took part too in the +conversation--(as an old servant and an old man he had the privilege +of sitting down in the presence of the ladies of the house; Italians +are not, as a rule, strict in matters of etiquette)--Pantaleone, as a +matter of course, stood like a rock for art. To tell the truth, his +arguments were somewhat feeble; he kept expatiating for the most part +on the necessity, before all things, of possessing '_un certo estro +d'inspirazione_'--a certain force of inspiration! Frau Lenore remarked +to him that he had, to be sure, possessed such an '_estro_'--and +yet ... 'I had enemies,' Pantaleone observed gloomily. 'And how do +you know that Emil will not have enemies, even if this "_estro_" is +found in him?' 'Very well, make a tradesman of him, then,' retorted +Pantaleone in vexation; 'but Giovan' Battista would never have done +it, though he was a confectioner himself!' 'Giovan' Battista, my +husband, was a reasonable man, and even though he was in his youth led +away ...' But the old man would hear nothing more, and walked away, +repeating reproachfully, 'Ah! Giovan' Battista!...' Gemma exclaimed +that if Emil felt like a patriot, and wanted to devote all his powers +to the liberation of Italy, then, of course, for such a high and holy +cause he might sacrifice the security of the future--but not for the +theatre! Thereupon Frau Lenore became much agitated, and began to +implore her daughter to refrain at least from turning her brother's +head, and to content herself with being such a desperate republican +herself! Frau Lenore groaned as she uttered these words, and began +complaining of her head, which was 'ready to split.' (Frau Lenore, in +deference to their guest, talked to her daughter in French.) + +Gemma began at once to wait upon her; she moistened her forehead with +eau-de-Cologne, gently blew on it, gently kissed her cheek, made her +lay her head on a pillow, forbade her to speak, and kissed her again. +Then, turning to Sanin, she began telling him in a half-joking, +half-tender tone what a splendid mother she had, and what a beauty she +had been. '"Had been," did I say? she is charming now! Look, look, +what eyes!' + +Gemma instantly pulled a white handkerchief out of her pocket, covered +her mother's face with it, and slowly drawing it downwards, gradually +uncovered Frau Lenore's forehead, eyebrows, and eyes; she waited a +moment and asked her to open them. Her mother obeyed; Gemma cried +out in ecstasy (Frau Lenore's eyes really were very beautiful), and +rapidly sliding the handkerchief over the lower, less regular part of +the face, fell to kissing her again. Frau Lenore laughed, and turning +a little away, with a pretence of violence, pushed her daughter away. +She too pretended to struggle with her mother, and lavished caresses +on her--not like a cat, in the French manner, but with that special +Italian grace in which is always felt the presence of power. + +At last Frau Lenore declared she was tired out ... Then Gemma at once +advised her to have a little nap, where she was, in her chair, 'and +I and the Russian gentleman--"_avec le monsieur russe_"--will be as +quiet, as quiet ... as little mice ... "_comme des petites souris_."' +Frau Lenore smiled at her in reply, closed her eyes, and after a few +sighs began to doze. Gemma quickly dropped down on a bench beside her +and did not stir again, only from time to time she put a finger of +one hand to her lips--with the other hand she was holding up a pillow +behind her mother's head--and said softly, 'sh-sh!' with a sidelong +look at Sanin, if he permitted himself the smallest movement. In the +end he too sank into a kind of dream, and sat motionless as though +spell-bound, while all his faculties were absorbed in admiring the +picture presented him by the half-dark room, here and there spotted +with patches of light crimson, where fresh, luxuriant roses stood in +the old-fashioned green glasses, and the sleeping woman with demurely +folded hands and kind, weary face, framed in the snowy whiteness +of the pillow, and the young, keenly-alert and also kind, clever, +pure, and unspeakably beautiful creature with such black, deep, +overshadowed, yet shining eyes.... What was it? A dream? a fairy +tale? And how came _he_ to be in it? + + + + +XI + + +The bell tinkled at the outer door. A young peasant lad in a fur +cap and a red waistcoat came into the shop from the street. Not one +customer had looked into it since early morning ... 'You see how much +business we do!' Frau Lenore observed to Sanin at lunch-time with a +sigh. She was still asleep; Gemma was afraid to take her arm from the +pillow, and whispered to Sanin: 'You go, and mind the shop for me!' +Sanin went on tiptoe into the shop at once. The boy wanted a quarter +of a pound of peppermints. 'How much must I take?' Sanin whispered +from the door to Gemma. 'Six kreutzers!' she answered in the same +whisper. Sanin weighed out a quarter of a pound, found some paper, +twisted it into a cone, tipped the peppermints into it, spilt them, +tipped them in again, spilt them again, at last handed them to the +boy, and took the money.... The boy gazed at him in amazement, +twisting his cap in his hands on his stomach, and in the next room, +Gemma was stifling with suppressed laughter. Before the first customer +had walked out, a second appeared, then a third.... 'I bring luck, +it's clear!' thought Sanin. The second customer wanted a glass of +orangeade, the third, half-a-pound of sweets. Sanin satisfied their +needs, zealously clattering the spoons, changing the saucers, and +eagerly plunging his fingers into drawers and jars. On reckoning up, +it appeared that he had charged too little for the orangeade, and +taken two kreutzers too much for the sweets. Gemma did not cease +laughing softly, and Sanin too was aware of an extraordinary lightness +of heart, a peculiarly happy state of mind. He felt as if he had +for ever been standing behind the counter and dealing in orangeade +and sweetmeats, with that exquisite creature looking at him through +the doorway with affectionately mocking eyes, while the summer sun, +forcing its way through the sturdy leafage of the chestnuts that grew +in front of the windows, filled the whole room with the greenish-gold +of the midday light and shade, and the heart grew soft in the sweet +languor of idleness, carelessness, and youth--first youth! + +A fourth customer asked for a cup of coffee; Pantaleone had to be +appealed to. (Emil had not yet come back from Herr Klueber's shop.) +Sanin went and sat by Gemma again. Frau Lenore still went on sleeping, +to her daughter's great delight. 'Mamma always sleeps off her sick +headaches,' she observed. Sanin began talking--in a whisper, of +course, as before--of his minding the shop; very seriously inquired +the price of various articles of confectionery; Gemma just as +seriously told him these prices, and meanwhile both of them were +inwardly laughing together, as though conscious they were playing +in a very amusing farce. All of a sudden, an organ-grinder in the +street began playing an air from the Freischuetz: '_Durch die Felder, +durch die Auen_ ...' The dance tune fell shrill and quivering on +the motionless air. Gemma started ... 'He will wake mamma!' Sanin +promptly darted out into the street, thrust a few kreutzers into +the organ-grinder's hand, and made him cease playing and move away. +When he came back, Gemma thanked him with a little nod of the head, +and with a pensive smile she began herself just audibly humming +the beautiful melody of Weber's, in which Max expresses all the +perplexities of first love. Then she asked Sanin whether he knew +'Freischuetz,' whether he was fond of Weber, and added that though +she was herself an Italian, she liked _such_ music best of all. From +Weber the conversation glided off on to poetry and romanticism, on to +Hoffmann, whom every one was still reading at that time. + +And Frau Lenore still slept, and even snored just a little, and the +sunbeams, piercing in narrow streaks through the shutters, were +incessantly and imperceptibly shifting and travelling over the floor, +the furniture, Gemma's dress, and the leaves and petals of the +flowers. + + + + +XII + + +It appeared that Gemma was not very fond of Hoffmann, that she even +thought him ... tedious! The fantastic, misty northern element in +his stories was too remote from her clear, southern nature. 'It's +all fairy-tales, all written for children!' she declared with some +contempt. She was vaguely conscious, too, of the lack of poetry in +Hoffmann. But there was one of his stories, the title of which she +had forgotten, which she greatly liked; more precisely speaking, it +was only the beginning of this story that she liked; the end she had +either not read or had forgotten. The story was about a young man who +in some place, a sort of restaurant perhaps, meets a girl of striking +beauty, a Greek; she is accompanied by a mysterious and strange, +wicked old man. The young man falls in love with the girl at first +sight; she looks at him so mournfully, as though beseeching him to +deliver her.... He goes out for an instant, and, coming back into the +restaurant, finds there neither the girl nor the old man; he rushes +off in pursuit of her, continually comes upon fresh traces of her, +follows them up, and can never by any means come upon her anywhere. +The lovely girl has vanished for him for ever and ever, and he is +never able to forget her imploring glance, and is tortured by the +thought that all the happiness of his life, perhaps, has slipped +through his fingers. + +Hoffmann does not end his story quite in that way; but so it had taken +shape, so it had remained, in Gemma's memory. + +'I fancy,' she said, 'such meetings and such partings happen oftener +in the world than we suppose.' + +Sanin was silent ... and soon after he began talking ... of Herr +Klueber. It was the first time he had referred to him; he had not once +remembered him till that instant. + +Gemma was silent in her turn, and sank into thought, biting the nail +of her forefinger and fixing her eyes away. Then she began to speak in +praise of her betrothed, alluded to the excursion he had planned for +the next day, and, glancing swiftly at Sanin, was silent again. + +Sanin did not know on what subject to turn the conversation. + +Emil ran in noisily and waked Frau Lenore ... Sanin was relieved by +his appearance. + +Frau Lenore got up from her low chair. Pantaleone came in and +announced that dinner was ready. The friend of the family, ex-singer, +and servant also performed the duties of cook. + + + + +XIII + + +Sanin stayed on after dinner too. They did not let him go, still on +the same pretext of the terrible heat; and when the heat began to +decrease, they proposed going out into the garden to drink coffee in +the shade of the acacias. Sanin consented. He felt very happy. In the +quietly monotonous, smooth current of life lie hid great delights, +and he gave himself up to these delights with zest, asking nothing +much of the present day, but also thinking nothing of the morrow, nor +recalling the day before. How much the mere society of such a girl as +Gemma meant to him! He would shortly part from her and, most likely, +for ever; but so long as they were borne, as in Uhland's song, in +one skiff over the sea of life, untossed by tempest, well might +the traveller rejoice and be glad. And everything seemed sweet +and delightful to the happy voyager. Frau Lenore offered to play +against him and Pantaleone at 'tresette,' instructed him in this not +complicated Italian game, and won a few kreutzers from him, and he +was well content. Pantaleone, at Emil's request, made the poodle, +Tartaglia, perform all his tricks, and Tartaglia jumped over a stick +'spoke,' that is, barked, sneezed, shut the door with his nose, +fetched his master's trodden-down slippers; and, finally, with an +old cap on his head, he portrayed Marshal Bernadotte, subjected to +the bitterest upbraidings by the Emperor Napoleon on account of his +treachery. Napoleon's part was, of course, performed by Pantaleone, +and very faithfully he performed it: he folded his arms across his +chest, pulled a cocked hat over his eyes, and spoke very gruffly and +sternly, in French--and heavens! what French! Tartaglia sat before his +sovereign, all huddled up, with dejected tail, and eyes blinking and +twitching in confusion, under the peak of his cap which was stuck on +awry; from time to time when Napoleon raised his voice, Bernadotte +rose on his hind paws. '_Fuori, traditore!_' cried Napoleon at last, +forgetting in the excess of his wrath that he had to sustain his role +as a Frenchman to the end; and Bernadotte promptly flew under the +sofa, but quickly darted out again with a joyful bark, as though to +announce that the performance was over. All the spectators laughed, +and Sanin more than all. + +Gemma had a particularly charming, continual, soft laugh, with very +droll little shrieks.... Sanin was fairly enchanted by that laugh--he +could have kissed her for those shrieks! + +Night came on at last. He had in decency to take leave! After saying +good-bye several times over to every one, and repeating several times +to all, 'till to-morrow!'--Emil he went so far as to kiss--Sanin +started home, carrying with him the image of the young girl, at one +time laughing, at another thoughtful, calm, and even indifferent--but +always attractive! Her eyes, at one time wide open, clear and bright +as day, at another time half shrouded by the lashes and deep and dark +as night, seemed to float before his eyes, piercing in a strange sweet +way across all other images and recollections. + +Of Herr Klueber, of the causes impelling him to remain in Frankfort--in +short, of everything that had disturbed his mind the evening +before--he never thought once. + + + + +XIV + + +We must, however, say a few words about Sanin himself. + +In the first place, he was very, very good-looking. A handsome, +graceful figure, agreeable, rather unformed features, kindly bluish +eyes, golden hair, a clear white and red skin, and, above all, that +peculiar, naively-cheerful, confiding, open, at the first glance, +somewhat foolish expression, by which in former days one could +recognise directly the children of steady-going, noble families, +'sons of their fathers,' fine young landowners, born and reared in +our open, half-wild country parts,--a hesitating gait, a voice with a +lisp, a smile like a child's the minute you looked at him ... lastly, +freshness, health, softness, softness, softness,--there you have the +whole of Sanin. And secondly, he was not stupid and had picked up a +fair amount of knowledge. Fresh he had remained, for all his foreign +tour; the disturbing emotions in which the greater part of the young +people of that day were tempest-tossed were very little known to him. + +Of late years, in response to the assiduous search for 'new types,' +young men have begun to appear in our literature, determined at +all hazards to be 'fresh'... as fresh as Flensburg oysters, when +they reach Petersburg.... Sanin was not like them. Since we have +had recourse already to simile, he rather recalled a young, leafy, +freshly-grafted apple-tree in one of our fertile orchards--or +better still, a well-groomed, sleek, sturdy-limbed, tender young +'three-year-old' in some old-fashioned seignorial stud stable, a +young horse that they have hardly begun to break in to the traces.... +Those who came across Sanin in later years, when life had knocked him +about a good deal, and the sleekness and plumpness of youth had long +vanished, saw in him a totally different man. + + * * * * * + +Next day Sanin was still in bed when Emil, in his best clothes, with +a cane in his hand and much pomade on his head, burst into his room, +announcing that Herr Klueber would be here directly with the carriage, +that the weather promised to be exquisite, that they had everything +ready by now, but that mamma was not going, as her head was bad again. +He began to hurry Sanin, telling him that there was not a minute to +lose.... And Herr Klueber did, in fact, find Sanin still at his toilet. +He knocked at the door, came in, bowed with a bend from the waist, +expressed his readiness to wait as long as might be desired, and +sat down, his hat balanced elegantly on his knees. The handsome +shop-manager had got himself up and perfumed himself to excess: his +every action was accompanied by a powerful whiff of the most refined +aroma. He arrived in a comfortable open carriage--one of the kind +called landau--drawn by two tall and powerful but not well-shaped +horses. A quarter of an hour later Sanin, Klueber, and Emil, in this +same carriage, drew up triumphantly at the steps of the confectioner's +shop. Madame Roselli resolutely refused to join the party; Gemma +wanted to stay with her mother; but she simply turned her out. + +'I don't want any one,' she declared; 'I shall go to sleep. I would +send Pantaleone with you too, only there would be no one to mind the +shop.' + +'May we take Tartaglia?' asked Emil. + +'Of course you may.' + +Tartaglia immediately scrambled, with delighted struggles, on to the +box and sat there, licking himself; it was obviously a thing he was +accustomed to. Gemma put on a large straw hat with brown ribbons; the +hat was bent down in front, so as to shade almost the whole of her +face from the sun. The line of shadow stopped just at her lips; they +wore a tender maiden flush, like the petals of a centifoil rose, and +her teeth gleamed stealthily--innocently too, as when children smile. +Gemma sat facing the horses, with Sanin; Klueber and Emil sat opposite. +The pale face of Frau Lenore appeared at the window; Gemma waved her +handkerchief to her, and the horses started. + + + + +XV + + +Soden is a little town half an hour's distance from Frankfort. It lies +in a beautiful country among the spurs of the Taunus Mountains, and +is known among us in Russia for its waters, which are supposed to be +beneficial to people with weak lungs. The Frankforters visit it more +for purposes of recreation, as Soden possesses a fine park and various +'wirthschaften,' where one may drink beer and coffee in the shade +of the tall limes and maples. The road from Frankfort to Soden runs +along the right bank of the Maine, and is planted all along with fruit +trees. While the carriage was rolling slowly along an excellent road, +Sanin stealthily watched how Gemma behaved to her betrothed; it was +the first time he had seen them together. _She_ was quiet and simple +in her manner, but rather more reserved and serious than usual; _he_ +had the air of a condescending schoolmaster, permitting himself and +those under his authority a discreet and decorous pleasure. Sanin saw +no signs in him of any marked attentiveness, of what the French call +'_empressement_,' in his demeanour to Gemma. It was clear that Herr +Klueber considered that it was a matter settled once for all, and +that therefore he saw no reason to trouble or excite himself. But +his condescension never left him for an instant! Even during a long +ramble before dinner about the wooded hills and valleys behind Soden, +even when enjoying the beauties of nature, he treated nature itself +with the same condescension, through which his habitual magisterial +severity peeped out from time to time. So, for example, he observed +in regard to one stream that it ran too straight through the glade, +instead of making a few picturesque curves; he disapproved, too, of +the conduct of a bird--a chaffinch--for singing so monotonously. +Gemma was not bored, and even, apparently, was enjoying herself; but +Sanin did not recognise her as the Gemma of the preceding days; it +was not that she seemed under a cloud--her beauty had never been more +dazzling--but her soul seemed to have withdrawn into herself. With her +parasol open and her gloves still buttoned up, she walked sedately, +deliberately, as well-bred young girls walk, and spoke little. +Emil, too, felt stiff, and Sanin more so than all. He was somewhat +embarrassed too by the fact that the conversation was all the time +in German. Only Tartaglia was in high spirits! He darted, barking +frantically, after blackbirds, leaped over ravines, stumps and roots, +rushed headlong into the water, lapped at it in desperate haste, shook +himself, whining, and was off like an arrow, his red tongue trailing +after him almost to his shoulder. Herr Klueber, for his part, did +everything he supposed conducive to the mirthfulness of the company; +he begged them to sit down in the shade of a spreading oak-tree, and +taking out of a side pocket a small booklet entitled, '_Knallerbsen; +oder du sollst und wirst lachen!_' (Squibs; or you must and shall +laugh!) began reading the funny anecdotes of which the little book was +full. He read them twelve specimens; he aroused very little mirth, +however; only Sanin smiled, from politeness, and he himself, Herr +Klueber, after each anecdote, gave vent to a brief, business-like, but +still condescending laugh. At twelve o'clock the whole party returned +to Soden to the best tavern there. + +They had to make arrangements about dinner. Herr Klueber proposed +that the dinner should be served in a summer-house closed in on all +sides--'_im Gartensalon_'; but at this point Gemma rebelled and +declared that she would have dinner in the open air, in the garden, at +one of the little tables set before the tavern; that she was tired of +being all the while with the same faces, and she wanted to see fresh +ones. At some of the little tables, groups of visitors were already +sitting. + +While Herr Klueber, yielding condescendingly to 'the caprice of his +betrothed,' went off to interview the head waiter, Gemma stood +immovable, biting her lips and looking on the ground; she was +conscious that Sanin was persistently and, as it were, inquiringly +looking at her--it seemed to enrage her. At last Herr Klueber returned, +announced that dinner would be ready in half an hour, and proposed +their employing the interval in a game of skittles, adding that this +was very good for the appetite, he, he, he! Skittles he played in +masterly fashion; as he threw the ball, he put himself into amazingly +heroic postures, with artistic play of the muscles, with artistic +flourish and shake of the leg. In his own way he was an athlete--and +was superbly built! His hands, too, were so white and handsome, and he +wiped them on such a sumptuous, gold-striped, Indian bandana! + +The moment of dinner arrived, and the whole party seated themselves at +the table. + + + + +XVI + + +Who does not know what a German dinner is like? Watery soup with +knobby dumplings and pieces of cinnamon, boiled beef dry as cork, +with white fat attached, slimy potatoes, soft beetroot and mashed +horseradish, a bluish eel with French capers and vinegar, a roast +joint with jam, and the inevitable '_Mehlspeise_,' something of the +nature of a pudding with sourish red sauce; but to make up, the beer +and wine first-rate! With just such a dinner the tavernkeeper at +Soden regaled his customers. The dinner, itself, however, went off +satisfactorily. No special liveliness was perceptible, certainly; +not even when Herr Klueber proposed the toast 'What we like!' (Was +wir lieben!) But at least everything was decorous and seemly. After +dinner, coffee was served, thin, reddish, typically German coffee. +Herr Klueber, with true gallantry, asked Gemma's permission to smoke a +cigar.... But at this point suddenly something occurred, unexpected, +and decidedly unpleasant, and even unseemly! + +At one of the tables near were sitting several officers of the +garrison of the Maine. From their glances and whispering together +it was easy to perceive that they were struck by Gemma's beauty; +one of them, who had probably stayed in Frankfort, stared at her +persistently, as at a figure familiar to him; he obviously knew who +she was. He suddenly got up, and glass in hand--all the officers +had been drinking hard, and the cloth before them was crowded with +bottles--approached the table at which Gemma was sitting. He was +a very young flaxen-haired man, with a rather pleasing and even +attractive face, but his features were distorted with the wine he had +drunk, his cheeks were twitching, his blood-shot eyes wandered, and +wore an insolent expression. His companions at first tried to hold him +back, but afterwards let him go, interested apparently to see what he +would do, and how it would end. Slightly unsteady on his legs, the +officer stopped before Gemma, and in an unnaturally screaming voice, +in which, in spite of himself, an inward struggle could be discerned, +he articulated, 'I drink to the health of the prettiest confectioner +in all Frankfort, in all the world (he emptied his glass), and in +return I take this flower, picked by her divine little fingers!' He +took from the table a rose that lay beside Gemma's plate. At first she +was astonished, alarmed, and turned fearfully white ... then alarm +was replaced by indignation; she suddenly crimsoned all over, to her +very hair--and her eyes, fastened directly on the offender, at the +same time darkened and flamed, they were filled with black gloom, and +burned with the fire of irrepressible fury. The officer must have been +confused by this look; he muttered something unintelligible, bowed, +and walked back to his friends. They greeted him with a laugh, and +faint applause. + +Herr Klueber rose spasmodically from his seat, drew himself up to his +full height, and putting on his hat pronounced with dignity, but not +too loud, 'Unheard of! Unheard of! Unheard of impertinence!' and at +once calling up the waiter, in a severe voice asked for the bill ... +more than that, ordered the carriage to be put to, adding that it was +impossible for respectable people to frequent the establishment if +they were exposed to insult! At those words Gemma, who still sat in +her place without stirring--her bosom was heaving violently--Gemma +raised her eyes to Herr Klueber ... and she gazed as intently, with the +same expression at him as at the officer. Emil was simply shaking with +rage. + +'Get up, _mein Fraeulein_,' Klueber admonished her with the same +severity, 'it is not proper for you to remain here. We will go inside, +in the tavern!' + +Gemma rose in silence; he offered her his arm, she gave him hers, and +he walked into the tavern with a majestic step, which became, with his +whole bearing, more majestic and haughty the farther he got from the +place where they had dined. Poor Emil dragged himself after them. + +But while Herr Klueber was settling up with the waiter, to whom, by way +of punishment, he gave not a single kreutzer for himself, Sanin with +rapid steps approached the table at which the officers were sitting, +and addressing Gemma's assailant, who was at that instant offering her +rose to his companions in turns to smell, he uttered very distinctly +in French, 'What you have just done, sir, is conduct unworthy of an +honest man, unworthy of the uniform you wear, and I have come to tell +you you are an ill-bred cur!' The young man leaped on to his feet, but +another officer, rather older, checked him with a gesture, made him +sit down, and turning to Sanin asked him also in French, 'Was he a +relation, brother, or betrothed of the girl?' + +'I am nothing to her at all,' cried Sanin, 'I am a Russian, but I +cannot look on at such insolence with indifference; but here is my +card and my address; _monsieur l'officier_ can find me.' + +As he uttered these words, Sanin threw his visiting-card on the table, +and at the same moment hastily snatched Gemma's rose, which one of the +officers sitting at the table had dropped into his plate. The young +man was again on the point of jumping up from the table, but his +companion again checked him, saying, 'Doenhof, be quiet! Doenhof, sit +still.' Then he got up himself, and putting his hand to the peak of +his cap, with a certain shade of respectfulness in his voice and +manner, told Sanin that to-morrow morning an officer of the regiment +would have the honour of calling upon him. Sanin replied with a short +bow, and hurriedly returned to his friends. + +Herr Klueber pretended he had not noticed either Sanin's absence +nor his interview with the officers; he was urging on the coachman, +who was putting in the horses, and was furiously angry at his +deliberateness. Gemma too said nothing to Sanin, she did not even +look at him; from her knitted brows, from her pale and compressed +lips, from her very immobility it could be seen that she was suffering +inwardly. Only Emil obviously wanted to speak to Sanin, wanted to +question him; he had seen Sanin go up to the officers, he had seen him +give them something white--a scrap of paper, a note, or a card.... The +poor boy's heart was beating, his cheeks burned, he was ready to throw +himself on Sanin's neck, ready to cry, or to go with him at once to +crush all those accursed officers into dust and ashes! He controlled +himself, however, and did no more than watch intently every movement +of his noble Russian friend. + +The coachman had at last harnessed the horses; the whole party +seated themselves in the carriage. Emil climbed on to the box, after +Tartaglia; he was more comfortable there, and had not Klueber, whom he +could hardly bear the sight of, sitting opposite to him. + + * * * * * + +The whole way home Herr Klueber discoursed ... and he discoursed alone; +no one, absolutely no one, opposed him, nor did any one agree with +him. He especially insisted on the point that they had been wrong +in not following his advice when he suggested dining in a shut-up +summer-house. There no unpleasantness could have occurred! Then +he expressed a few decided and even liberal sentiments on the +unpardonable way in which the government favoured the military, +neglected their discipline, and did not sufficiently consider +the civilian element in society (_das buergerliche Element in der +Societaet_!), and foretold that in time this cause would give rise to +discontent, which might well pass into revolution, of which (here +he dropped a sympathetic though severe sigh) France had given them +a sorrowful example! He added, however, that he personally had the +greatest respect for authority, and never ... no, never!... could be a +revolutionist--but he could not but express his ... disapprobation at +the sight of such licence! Then he made a few general observations on +morality and immorality, good-breeding, and the sense of dignity. + +During all these lucubrations, Gemma, who even while they were walking +before dinner had not seemed quite pleased with Herr Klueber, and had +therefore held rather aloof from Sanin, and had been, as it were, +embarrassed by his presence--Gemma was unmistakably ashamed of her +betrothed! Towards the end of the drive she was positively wretched, +and though, as before, she did not address a word to Sanin, she +suddenly flung an imploring glance at him.... He, for his part, felt +much more sorry for her than indignant with Herr Klueber; he was even +secretly, half-consciously, delighted at what had happened in the +course of that day, even though he had every reason to expect a +challenge next morning. + +This miserable _partie de plaisir_ came to an end at last. As he +helped Gemma out of the carriage at the confectionery shop, Sanin +without a word put into her hand the rose he had recovered. She +flushed crimson, pressed his hand, and instantly hid the rose. He +did not want to go into the house, though the evening was only just +beginning. She did not even invite him. Moreover Pantaleone, who came +out on the steps, announced that Frau Lenore was asleep. Emil took a +shy good-bye of Sanin; he felt as it were in awe of him; he greatly +admired him. Klueber saw Sanin to his lodging, and took leave of him +stiffly. The well-regulated German, for all his self-confidence, felt +awkward. And indeed every one felt awkward. + +But in Sanin this feeling of awkwardness soon passed off. It was +replaced by a vague, but pleasant, even triumphant feeling. He walked +up and down his room, whistling, and not caring to think about +anything, and was very well pleased with himself. + + + + +XVII + + +'I will wait for the officer's visit till ten o'clock,' he reflected +next morning, as he dressed,' and then let him come and look for me!' +But Germans rise early: it had not yet struck nine when the waiter +informed Sanin that the Herr Seconde Lieutenant von Richter wished +to see him. Sanin made haste to put on his coat, and told him to ask +him up. Herr Richter turned out, contrary to Sanin's expectation, to +be a very young man, almost a boy. He tried to give an expression of +dignity to his beardless face, but did not succeed at all: he could +not even conceal his embarrassment, and as he sat down on a chair, he +tripped over his sword, and almost fell. Stammering and hesitating, he +announced to Sanin in bad French that he had come with a message from +his friend, Baron von Doenhof; that this message was to demand from +Herr von Sanin an apology for the insulting expressions used by him +on the previous day; and in case of refusal on the part of Herr von +Sanin, Baron von Doenhof would ask for satisfaction. Sanin replied that +he did not mean to apologise, but was ready to give him satisfaction. +Then Herr von Richter, still with the same hesitation, asked with +whom, at what time and place, should he arrange the necessary +preliminaries. Sanin answered that he might come to him in two hours' +time, and that meanwhile, he, Sanin, would try and find a second. +('Who the devil is there I can have for a second?' he was thinking to +himself meantime.) Herr von Richter got up and began to take leave +... but at the doorway he stopped, as though stung by a prick of +conscience, and turning to Sanin observed that his friend, Baron von +Doenhof, could not but recognise ... that he had been ... to a certain +extent, to blame himself in the incident of the previous day, and +would, therefore, be satisfied with slight apologies ('_des exghizes +lecheres_.') To this Sanin replied that he did not intend to make any +apology whatever, either slight or considerable, since he did not +consider himself to blame. 'In that case,' answered Herr von Richter, +blushing more than ever,' you will have to exchange friendly +shots--_des goups de bisdolet a l'amiaple_!' + +'I don't understand that at all,' observed Sanin; 'are we to fire in +the air or what?' + +'Oh, not exactly that,' stammered the sub-lieutenant, utterly +disconcerted, 'but I supposed since it is an affair between men of +honour ... I will talk to your second,' he broke off, and went away. + +Sanin dropped into a chair directly he had gone, and stared at the +floor. 'What does it all mean? How is it my life has taken such a turn +all of a sudden? All the past, all the future has suddenly vanished, +gone,--and all that's left is that I am going to fight some one about +something in Frankfort.' He recalled a crazy aunt of his who used to +dance and sing: + + 'O my lieutenant! + My little cucumber! + My little love! + Dance with me, my little dove!' + +And he laughed and hummed as she used to: 'O my lieutenant! Dance with +me, little dove!' 'But I must act, though, I mustn't waste time,' he +cried aloud--jumped up and saw Pantaleone facing him with a note in +his hand. + +'I knocked several times, but you did not answer; I thought you +weren't at home,' said the old man, as he gave him the note. 'From +Signorina Gemma.' + +Sanin took the note, mechanically, as they say, tore it open, and +read it. Gemma wrote to him that she was very anxious--about he knew +what--and would be very glad to see him at once. + +'The Signorina is anxious,' began Pantaleone, who obviously knew what +was in the note, 'she told me to see what you are doing and to bring +you to her.' + +Sanin glanced at the old Italian, and pondered. A sudden idea flashed +upon his brain. For the first instant it struck him as too absurd to +be possible. + +'After all ... why not?' he asked himself. + +'M. Pantaleone!' he said aloud. + +The old man started, tucked his chin into his cravat and stared at +Sanin. + +'Do you know,' pursued Sanin,' what happened yesterday?' + +Pantaleone chewed his lips and shook his immense top-knot of hair. +'Yes.' + +(Emil had told him all about it directly he got home.) + +'Oh, you know! Well, an officer has just this minute left me. That +scoundrel challenges me to a duel. I have accepted his challenge. But +I have no second. Will _you_ be my second?' + +Pantaleone started and raised his eyebrows so high that they were lost +under his overhanging hair. + +'You are absolutely obliged to fight?' he said at last in Italian; +till that instant he had made use of French. + +'Absolutely. I can't do otherwise--it would mean disgracing myself for +ever.' + +'H'm. If I don't consent to be your second you will find some one +else.' + +'Yes ... undoubtedly.' + +Pantaleone looked down. 'But allow me to ask you, Signor de Tsanin, +will not your duel throw a slur on the reputation of a certain lady?' + +'I don't suppose so; but in any case, there's no help for it.' + +'H'm!' Pantaleone retired altogether into his cravat. 'Hey, but that +_ferroflucto Klueberio_--what's he about?' he cried all of a sudden, +looking up again. + +'He? Nothing.' + +'_Che_!' Pantaleone shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. 'I have, in +any case, to thank you,' he articulated at last in an unsteady voice +'that even in my present humble condition you recognise that I am a +gentleman--_un galant'uomo_! In that way you have shown yourself to be +a real _galant'uomo_. But I must consider your proposal.' + +'There's no time to lose, dear Signor Ci ... cippa ...' + +'Tola,' the old man chimed in. 'I ask only for one hour for +reflection.... The daughter of my benefactor is involved in this.... +And, therefore, I ought, I am bound, to reflect!... In an hour, in +three-quarters of an hour, you shall know my decision.' + +'Very well; I will wait.' + +'And now ... what answer am I to give to Signorina Gemma?' + +Sanin took a sheet of paper, wrote on it, 'Set your mind at rest, dear +friend; in three hours' time I will come to you, and everything shall +be explained. I thank you from my heart for your sympathy,' and handed +this sheet to Pantaleone. + +He put it carefully into his side-pocket, and once more repeating 'In +an hour!' made towards the door; but turning sharply back, ran up to +Sanin, seized his hand, and pressing it to his shirt-front, cried, +with his eyes to the ceiling: 'Noble youth! Great heart! (_Nobil +giovanotto! Gran cuore!_) permit a weak old man (_a un vecchiotto!_) +to press your valorous right hand (_la vostra valorosa destra!_)' Then +he skipped back a pace or two, threw up both hands, and went away. + +Sanin looked after him ... took up the newspaper and tried to read. +But his eyes wandered in vain over the lines: he understood nothing. + + + + +XVIII + + +An hour later the waiter came in again to Sanin, and handed him +an old, soiled visiting-card, on which were the following words: +'Pantaleone Cippatola of Varese, court singer (_cantante di camera_) +to his Royal Highness the Duke of Modena'; and behind the waiter in +walked Pantaleone himself. He had changed his clothes from top to toe. +He had on a black frock coat, reddish with long wear, and a white +pique waistcoat, upon which a pinch-beck chain meandered playfully; a +heavy cornelian seal hung low down on to his narrow black trousers. In +his right hand he carried a black beaver hat, in his left two stout +chamois gloves; he had tied his cravat in a taller and broader bow +than ever, and had stuck into his starched shirt-front a pin with a +stone, a so-called 'cat's eye.' On his forefinger was displayed a +ring, consisting of two clasped hands with a burning heart between +them. A smell of garments long laid by, a smell of camphor and of musk +hung about the whole person of the old man; the anxious solemnity of +his deportment must have struck the most casual spectator! Sanin rose +to meet him. + +'I am your second,' Pantaleone announced in French, and he bowed +bending his whole body forward, and turning out his toes like a +dancer. 'I have come for instructions. Do you want to fight to the +death?' + +'Why to the death, my dear Signor Cippatola? I will not for any +consideration take back my words--but I am not a bloodthirsty +person!... But come, wait a little, my opponent's second will be here +directly. I will go into the next room, and you can make arrangements +with him. Believe me I shall never forget your kindness, and I thank +you from my heart.' + +'Honour before everything!' answered Pantaleone, and he sank into +an arm-chair, without waiting for Sanin to ask him to sit down. 'If +that _ferroflucto spitchebubbio_,' he said, passing from French into +Italian, 'if that counter-jumper Klueberio could not appreciate his +obvious duty or was afraid, so much the worse for him!... A cheap +soul, and that's all about it!... As for the conditions of the duel, I +am your second, and your interests are sacred to me!... When I lived +in Padua there was a regiment of the white dragoons stationed there, +and I was very intimate with many of the officers!... I was quite +familiar with their whole code. And I used often to converse on these +subjects with your principe Tarbuski too.... Is this second to come +soon?' + +'I am expecting him every minute--and here he comes,' added Sanin, +looking into the street. + +Pantaleone got up, looked at his watch, straightened his topknot of +hair, and hurriedly stuffed into his shoe an end of tape which was +sticking out below his trouser-leg, and the young sub-lieutenant came +in, as red and embarrassed as ever. + +Sanin presented the seconds to each other. 'M. Richter, +sous-lieutenant, M. Cippatola, artiste!' The sub-lieutenant was +slightly disconcerted by the old man's appearance ... Oh, what would +he have said had any one whispered to him at that instant that the +'artist' presented to him was also employed in the culinary art! But +Pantaleone assumed an air as though taking part in the preliminaries +of duels was for him the most everyday affair: probably he was +assisted at this juncture by the recollections of his theatrical +career, and he played the part of second simply as a part. Both he and +the sub-lieutenant were silent for a little. + +'Well? Let us come to business!' Pantaleone spoke first, playing with +his cornelian seal. + +'By all means,' responded the sub-lieutenant, 'but ... the presence of +one of the principals ...' + +'I will leave you at once, gentlemen,' cried Sanin, and with a bow he +went away into the bedroom and closed the door after him. + +He flung himself on the bed and began thinking of Gemma ... but the +conversation of the seconds reached him through the shut door. It was +conducted in the French language; both maltreated it mercilessly, +each after his own fashion. Pantaleone again alluded to the dragoons +in Padua, and Principe Tarbuski; the sub-lieutenant to '_exghizes +lecheres_' and '_goups de bistolet a l'amiaple_.' But the old man +would not even hear of any _exghizes_! To Sanin's horror, he suddenly +proceeded to talk of a certain young lady, an innocent maiden, whose +little finger was worth more than all the officers in the world ... +(_oune zeune damigella innoucenta, qu'a elle sola dans soun peti doa +vale pin que tout le zouffissie del mondo_.'), and repeated several +times with heat: 'It's shameful! it's shameful!' (_E ouna onta, ouna +onta_!) The sub-lieutenant at first made him no reply, but presently +an angry quiver could be heard in the young man's voice, and he +observed that he had not come there to listen to sermonising. + +'At your age it is always a good thing to hear the truth!' cried +Pantaleone. + +The debate between the seconds several times became stormy; it lasted +over an hour, and was concluded at last on the following conditions: +'Baron von Doenhof and M. de Sanin to meet the next day at ten o'clock +in a small wood near Hanau, at the distance of twenty paces; each to +have the right to fire twice at a signal given by the seconds, the +pistols to be single-triggered and not rifle-barrelled.' Herr von +Richter withdrew, and Pantaleone solemnly opened the bedroom door, and +after communicating the result of their deliberations, cried again: +'_Bravo Russo_! _Bravo giovanotto_! You will be victor!' + +A few minutes later they both set off to the Rosellis' shop. Sanin, as +a preliminary measure, had exacted a promise from Pantaleone to keep +the affair of the duel a most profound secret. In reply, the old man +had merely held up his finger, and half closing his eyes, whispered +twice over, _Segredezza_! He was obviously in good spirits, and even +walked with a freer step. All these unusual incidents, unpleasant +though they might be, carried him vividly back to the time when he +himself both received and gave challenges--only, it is true, on the +stage. Baritones, as we all know, have a great deal of strutting and +fuming to do in their parts. + + + + +XIX + + +Emil ran out to meet Sanin--he had been watching for his arrival over +an hour--and hurriedly whispered into his ear that his mother knew +nothing of the disagreeable incident of the day before, that he must +not even hint of it to her, and that he was being sent to Klueber's +shop again!... but that he wouldn't go there, but would hide +somewhere! Communicating all this information in a few seconds, he +suddenly fell on Sanin's shoulder, kissed him impulsively, and rushed +away down the street. Gemma met Sanin in the shop; tried to say +something and could not. Her lips were trembling a little, while her +eyes were half-closed and turned away. He made haste to soothe her by +the assurance that the whole affair had ended ... in utter nonsense. + +'Has no one been to see you to-day?' she asked. + +'A person did come to me and we had an explanation, and we ... we came +to the most satisfactory conclusion.' + +Gemma went back behind the counter. + +'She does not believe me!' he thought ... he went into the next room, +however, and there found Frau Lenore. + +Her sick headache had passed off, but she was in a depressed state of +mind. She gave him a smile of welcome, but warned him at the same time +that he would be dull with her to-day, as she was not in a mood to +entertain him. He sat down beside her, and noticed that her eyelids +were red and swollen. + +'What is wrong, Frau Lenore? You've never been crying, surely?' + +'Oh!' she whispered, nodding her head towards the room where her +daughter was. + +'Don't speak of it ... aloud.' + +'But what have you been crying for?' + +'Ah, M'sieu Sanin, I don't know myself what for!' + +'No one has hurt your feelings?' + +'Oh no!... I felt very low all of a sudden. I thought of Giovanni +Battista ... of my youth ... Then how quickly it had all passed away. +I have grown old, my friend, and I can't reconcile myself to that +anyhow. I feel I'm just the same as I was ... but old age--it's here! +it is here!' Tears came into Frau Lenore's eyes. 'You look at me, I +see, and wonder.... But you will get old too, my friend, and will find +out how bitter it is!' + +Sanin tried to comfort her, spoke of her children, in whom her own +youth lived again, even attempted to scoff at her a little, declaring +that she was fishing for compliments ... but she quite seriously +begged him to leave off, and for the first time he realised that for +such a sorrow, the despondency of old age, there is no comfort or +cure; one has to wait till it passes off of itself. He proposed a game +of tresette, and he could have thought of nothing better. She agreed +at once and seemed to get more cheerful. + +Sanin played with her until dinner-time and after dinner Pantaleone +too took a hand in the game. Never had his topknot hung so low over +his forehead, never had his chin retreated so far into his cravat! +Every movement was accompanied by such intense solemnity that as one +looked at him the thought involuntarily arose, 'What secret is that +man guarding with such determination?' But _segredezza_! _segredezza_! + +During the whole of that day he tried in every possible way to show +the profoundest respect for Sanin; at table, passing by the ladies, he +solemnly and sedately handed the dishes first to him; when they were +at cards he intentionally gave him the game; he announced, apropos of +nothing at all, that the Russians were the most great-hearted, brave, +and resolute people in the world! + +'Ah, you old flatterer!' Sanin thought to himself. + +And he was not so much surprised at Signora Roselli's unexpected state +of mind, as at the way her daughter behaved to him. It was not that +she avoided him ... on the contrary she sat continually a little +distance from him, listened to what he said, and looked at him; +but she absolutely declined to get into conversation with him, and +directly he began talking to her, she softly rose from her place, and +went out for some instants. Then she came in again, and again seated +herself in some corner, and sat without stirring, seeming meditative +and perplexed ... perplexed above all. Frau Lenore herself noticed +at last, that she was not as usual, and asked her twice what was the +matter. + +'Nothing,' answered Gemma; 'you know I am sometimes like this.' + +'That is true,' her mother assented. + +So passed all that long day, neither gaily nor drearily--neither +cheerfully nor sadly. Had Gemma been different--Sanin ... who +knows?... might not perhaps have been able to resist the temptation +for a little display--or he might simply have succumbed to melancholy +at the possibility of a separation for ever.... But as he did not +once succeed in getting a word with Gemma, he was obliged to confine +himself to striking minor chords on the piano for a quarter of an hour +before evening coffee. + +Emil came home late, and to avoid questions about Herr Klueber, beat a +hasty retreat. The time came for Sanin too to retire. + +He began saying good-bye to Gemma. He recollected for some reason +Lensky's parting from Olga in _Oniegin_. He pressed her hand warmly, +and tried to get a look at her face, but she turned a little away and +released her fingers. + + + + +XX + + +It was bright starlight when he came out on the steps. What +multitudes of stars, big and little, yellow, red, blue and white were +scattered over the sky! They seemed all flashing, swarming, twinkling +unceasingly. There was no moon in the sky, but without it every object +could be clearly discerned in the half-clear, shadowless twilight. +Sanin walked down the street to the end ... He did not want to go home +at once; he felt a desire to wander about a little in the fresh air. +He turned back and had hardly got on a level with the house, where was +the Rosellis' shop, when one of the windows looking out on the street, +suddenly creaked and opened; in its square of blackness--there was +no light in the room--appeared a woman's figure, and he heard his +name--'Monsieur Dimitri!' + +He rushed at once up to the window ... Gemma! She was leaning with her +elbows on the window-sill, bending forward. + +'Monsieur Dimitri,' she began in a cautious voice, 'I have been +wanting all day long to give you something ... but I could not make +up my mind to; and just now, seeing you, quite unexpectedly again, I +thought that it seems it is fated' ... + +Gemma was forced to stop at this word. She could not go on; something +extraordinary happened at that instant. + +All of a sudden, in the midst of the profound stillness, over the +perfectly unclouded sky, there blew such a violent blast of wind, that +the very earth seemed shaking underfoot, the delicate starlight seemed +quivering and trembling, the air went round in a whirlwind. The wind, +not cold, but hot, almost sultry, smote against the trees, the roof +of the house, its walls, and the street; it instantaneously snatched +off Sanin's hat, crumpled up and tangled Gemma's curls. Sanin's head +was on a level with the window-sill; he could not help clinging close +to it, and Gemma clutched hold of his shoulders with both hands, and +pressed her bosom against his head. The roar, the din, and the rattle +lasted about a minute.... Like a flock of huge birds the revelling +whirlwind darted revelling away. A profound stillness reigned once +more. + +Sanin raised his head and saw above him such an exquisite, scared, +excited face, such immense, large, magnificent eyes--it was such a +beautiful creature he saw, that his heart stood still within him, he +pressed his lips to the delicate tress of hair, that had fallen on his +bosom, and could only murmur, 'O Gemma!' + +'What was that? Lightning?' she asked, her eyes wandering afar, while +she did not take her bare arms from his shoulder. + +'Gemma!' repeated Sanin. + +She sighed, looked around behind her into the room, and with a rapid +movement pulling the now faded rose out of her bodice, she threw it to +Sanin. + +'I wanted to give you this flower.' + +He recognised the rose, which he had won back the day before.... + +But already the window had slammed-to, and through the dark pane +nothing could be seen, no trace of white. + +Sanin went home without his hat.... He did not even notice that he had +lost it. + + + + +XXI + + +It was quite morning when he fell asleep. And no wonder! In the +blast of that instantaneous summer hurricane, he had almost as +instantaneously felt, not that Gemma was lovely, not that he liked +her--that he had known before ... but that he almost ... loved her! +As suddenly as that blast of wind, had love pounced down upon him. +And then this senseless duel! He began to be tormented by mournful +forebodings. And even suppose they didn't kill him.... What could come +of his love for this girl, another man's betrothed? Even supposing +this 'other man' was no danger, that Gemma herself would care for him, +or even cared for him already ... What would come of it? How ask what! +Such a lovely creature!... + +He walked about the room, sat down to the table, took a sheet of +paper, traced a few lines on it, and at once blotted them out.... +He recalled Gemma's wonderful figure in the dark window, in the +starlight, set all a-fluttering by the warm hurricane; he remembered +her marble arms, like the arms of the Olympian goddesses, felt their +living weight on his shoulders.... Then he took the rose she had +thrown him, and it seemed to him that its half-withered petals exhaled +a fragrance of her, more delicate than the ordinary scent of the rose. + +'And would they kill him straight away or maim him?' + +He did not go to bed, and fell asleep in his clothes on the sofa. + +Some one slapped him on the shoulder.... He opened his eyes, and saw +Pantaleone. + +'He sleeps like Alexander of Macedon on the eve of the battle of +Babylon!' cried the old man. + +'What o'clock is it?' inquired Sanin. + +'A quarter to seven; it's a two hours' drive to Hanau, and we must +be the first on the field. Russians are always beforehand with their +enemies! I have engaged the best carriage in Frankfort!' + +Sanin began washing. 'And where are the pistols?' + +'That _ferroflucto Tedesco_ will bring the pistols. He'll bring a +doctor too.' + +Pantaleone was obviously putting a good face on it as he had done the +day before; but when he was seated in the carriage with Sanin, when +the coachman had cracked his whip and the horses had started off at a +gallop, a sudden change came over the old singer and friend of Paduan +dragoons. He began to be confused and positively faint-hearted. +Something seemed to have given way in him, like a badly built wall. + +'What are we doing, my God, _Santissima Madonna!_' he cried in an +unexpectedly high pipe, and he clutched at his head. 'What am I about, +old fool, madman, _frenetico_?' + +Sanin wondered and laughed, and putting his arm lightly round +Pantaleone's waist, he reminded him of the French proverb: '_Le vin +est tire--il faut le boire_.' + +'Yes, yes,' answered the old man, 'we will drain the cup together to +the dregs--but still I'm a madman! I'm a madman! All was going on so +quietly, so well ... and all of a sudden: ta-ta-ta, tra-ta-ta!' + +'Like the _tutti_ in the orchestra,' observed Sanin with a forced +smile. 'But it's not your fault.' + +'I know it's not. I should think not indeed! And yet ... such insolent +conduct! _Diavolo, diavolo_!' repeated Pantaleone, sighing and shaking +his topknot. + +The carriage still rolled on and on. + +It was an exquisite morning. The streets of Frankfort, which were just +beginning to show signs of life, looked so clean and snug; the windows +of the houses glittered in flashes like tinfoil; and as soon as the +carriage had driven beyond the city walls, from overhead, from a blue +but not yet glaring sky, the larks' loud trills showered down in +floods. Suddenly at a turn in the road, a familiar figure came from +behind a tall poplar, took a few steps forward and stood still. Sanin +looked more closely.... Heavens! it was Emil! + +'But does he know anything about it?' he demanded of Pantaleone. + +'I tell you I'm a madman,' the poor Italian wailed despairingly, +almost in a shriek. 'The wretched boy gave me no peace all night, and +this morning at last I revealed all to him!' + +'So much for your _segredezza_!' thought Sanin. The carriage had got +up to Emil. Sanin told the coachman to stop the horses, and called the +'wretched boy' up to him. Emil approached with hesitating steps, pale +as he had been on the day he fainted. He could scarcely stand. + +'What are you doing here?' Sanin asked him sternly. 'Why aren't you at +home?' + +'Let ... let me come with you,' faltered Emil in a trembling voice, +and he clasped his hands. His teeth were chattering as in a fever. 'I +won't get in your way--only take me.' + +'If you feel the very slightest affection or respect for me,' said +Sanin, 'you will go at once home or to Herr Klueber's shop, and you +won't say one word to any one, and will wait for my return!' + +'Your return,' moaned Emil--and his voice quivered and broke, 'but if +you're--' + +'Emil!' Sanin interrupted--and he pointed to the coachman, 'do control +yourself! Emil, please, go home! Listen to me, my dear! You say you +love me. Well, I beg you!' He held out his hand to him. Emil bent +forward, sobbed, pressed it to his lips, and darting away from the +road, ran back towards Frankfort across country. + +'A noble heart too,' muttered Pantaleone; but Sanin glanced severely +at him.... The old man shrank into the corner of the carriage. He was +conscious of his fault; and moreover, he felt more and more bewildered +every instant; could it really be he who was acting as second, who had +got horses, and had made all arrangements, and had left his peaceful +abode at six o'clock? Besides, his legs were stiff and aching. + +Sanin thought it as well to cheer him up, and he chanced on the very +thing, he hit on the right word. + +'Where is your old spirit, Signor Cippatola? Where is _il antico +valor_?' + +Signor Cippatola drew himself up and scowled '_Il antico valor_?' he +boomed in a bass voice. '_Non e ancora spento_ (it's not all lost +yet), _il antico valor!_' + +He put himself in a dignified attitude, began talking of his career, +of the opera, of the great tenor Garcia--and arrived at Hanau a hero. + +After all, if you think of it, nothing is stronger in the world ... +and weaker--than a word! + + + +XXII + +The copse in which the duel was to take place was a quarter of a mile +from Hanau. Sanin and Pantaleone arrived there first, as the latter +had predicted; they gave orders for the carriage to remain outside +the wood, and they plunged into the shade of the rather thick and +close-growing trees. They had to wait about an hour. + +The time of waiting did not seem particularly disagreeable to Sanin; +he walked up and down the path, listened to the birds singing, watched +the dragonflies in their flight, and like the majority of Russians in +similar circumstances, tried not to think. He only once dropped into +reflection; he came across a young lime-tree, broken down, in all +probability by the squall of the previous night. It was unmistakably +dying ... all the leaves on it were dead. 'What is it? an omen?' +was the thought that flashed across his mind; but he promptly began +whistling, leaped over the very tree, and paced up and down the path. +As for Pantaleone, he was grumbling, abusing the Germans, sighing +and moaning, rubbing first his back and then his knees. He even +yawned from agitation, which gave a very comic expression to his tiny +shrivelled-up face. Sanin could scarcely help laughing when he looked +at him. + +They heard, at last, the rolling of wheels along the soft road. 'It's +they!' said Pantaleone, and he was on the alert and drew himself up, +not without a momentary nervous shiver, which he made haste, however, +to cover with the ejaculation 'B-r-r!' and the remark that the morning +was rather fresh. A heavy dew drenched the grass and leaves, but the +sultry heat penetrated even into the wood. + +Both the officers quickly made their appearance under its arched +avenues; they were accompanied by a little thick-set man, with a +phlegmatic, almost sleepy, expression of face--the army doctor. He +carried in one hand an earthenware pitcher of water--to be ready for +any emergency; a satchel with surgical instruments and bandages hung +on his left shoulder. It was obvious that he was thoroughly used to +such excursions; they constituted one of the sources of his income; +each duel yielded him eight gold crowns--four from each of the +combatants. Herr von Richter carried a case of pistols, Herr von +Doenhof--probably considering it the thing--was swinging in his hand a +little cane. + +'Pantaleone!' Sanin whispered to the old man; 'if ... if I'm +killed--anything may happen--take out of my side pocket a +paper--there's a flower wrapped up in it--and give the paper to +Signorina Gemma. Do you hear? You promise?' + +The old man looked dejectedly at him, and nodded his head +affirmatively.... But God knows whether he understood what Sanin was +asking him to do. + +The combatants and the seconds exchanged the customary bows; the +doctor alone did not move as much as an eyelash; he sat down yawning +on the grass, as much as to say, 'I'm not here for expressions of +chivalrous courtesy.' Herr von Richter proposed to Herr 'Tshibadola' +that he should select the place; Herr 'Tshibadola' responded, moving +his tongue with difficulty--'the wall' within him had completely given +way again. 'You act, my dear sir; I will watch....' + +And Herr von Richter proceeded to act. He picked out in the wood close +by a very pretty clearing all studded with flowers; he measured out +the steps, and marked the two extreme points with sticks, which he cut +and pointed. He took the pistols out of the case, and squatting on his +heels, he rammed in the bullets; in short, he fussed about and exerted +himself to the utmost, continually mopping his perspiring brow with a +white handkerchief. Pantaleone, who accompanied him, was more like a +man frozen. During all these preparations, the two principals stood at +a little distance, looking like two schoolboys who have been punished, +and are sulky with their tutors. + +The decisive moment arrived.... 'Each took his pistol....' + +But at this point Herr von Richter observed to Pantaleone that it was +his duty, as the senior second, according to the rules of the duel, +to address a final word of advice and exhortation to be reconciled +to the combatants, before uttering the fatal 'one! two! three!'; that +although this exhortation had no effect of any sort and was, as a +rule, nothing but an empty formality, still, by the performance of +this formality, Herr Cippatola would be rid of a certain share of +responsibility; that, properly speaking, such an admonition formed the +direct duty of the so-called 'impartial witness' (_unpartheiischer +Zeuge_) but since they had no such person present, he, Herr von +Richter, would readily yield this privilege to his honoured colleague. +Pantaleone, who had already succeeded in obliterating himself behind +a bush, so as not to see the offending officer at all, at first made +out nothing at all of Herr von Richter's speech, especially, as it +had been delivered through the nose, but all of a sudden he started, +stepped hurriedly forward, and convulsively thumping at his chest, in +a hoarse voice wailed out in his mixed jargon: '_A la la la ... Che +bestialita! Deux zeun ommes comme ca que si battono--perche? Che +diavolo? An data a casa!_' + +'I will not consent to a reconciliation,' Sanin intervened hurriedly. + +'And I too will not,' his opponent repeated after him. + +'Well, then shout one, two, three!' von Richter said, addressing the +distracted Pantaleone. The latter promptly ducked behind the bush +again, and from there, all huddled together, his eyes screwed up, and +his head turned away, he shouted at the top of his voice: '_Una ... +due ... tre!_' + +The first shot was Sanin's, and he missed. His bullet went +ping against a tree. Baron von Doenhof shot directly after +him--intentionally, to one side, into the air. + +A constrained silence followed.... No one moved. Pantaleone uttered a +faint moan. + +'Is it your wish to go on?' said Doenhof. + +'Why did you shoot in the air?' inquired Sanin. + +'That's nothing to do with you.' + +'Will you shoot in the air the second time?' Sanin asked again. + +'Possibly: I don't know.' + +'Excuse me, excuse me, gentlemen ...' began von Richter; 'duellists +have not the right to talk together. That's out of order.' + +'I decline my shot,' said Sanin, and he threw his pistol on the +ground. + +'And I too do not intend to go on with the duel,' cried Doenhof, and he +too threw his pistol on the ground. 'And more than that, I am prepared +to own that I was in the wrong--the day before yesterday.' + +He moved uneasily, and hesitatingly held out his hand. Sanin went +rapidly up to him and shook it. Both the young men looked at each +other with a smile, and both their faces flushed crimson. + +'_Bravi! bravi!_' Pantaleone roared suddenly as if he had gone mad, +and clapping his hands, he rushed like a whirlwind from behind the +bush; while the doctor, who had been sitting on one side on a felled +tree, promptly rose, poured the water out of the jug and walked off +with a lazy, rolling step out of the wood. + +'Honour is satisfied, and the duel is over!' von Richter announced. + +'_Fuori!_' Pantaleone boomed once more, through old associations. + + * * * * * + +When he had exchanged bows with the officers, and taken his seat in +the carriage, Sanin certainly felt all over him, if not a sense of +pleasure, at least a certain lightness of heart, as after an operation +is over; but there was another feeling astir within him too, a feeling +akin to shame.... The duel, in which he had just played his part, +struck him as something false, a got-up formality, a common officers' +and students' farce. He recalled the phlegmatic doctor, he recalled +how he had grinned, that is, wrinkled up his nose when he saw him +coming out of the wood almost arm-in-arm with Baron Doenhof. And +afterwards when Pantaleone had paid him the four crowns due to him ... +Ah! there was something nasty about it! + +Yes, Sanin was a little conscience-smitten and ashamed ... though, on +the other hand, what was there for him to have done? Could he have +left the young officer's insolence unrebuked? could he have behaved +like Herr Klueber? He had stood up for Gemma, he had championed her ... +that was so; and yet, there was an uneasy pang in his heart, and he +was conscience--smitten, and even ashamed. + +Not so Pantaleone--he was simply in his glory! He was suddenly +possessed by a feeling of pride. A victorious general, returning from +the field of battle he has won, could not have looked about him with +greater self-satisfaction. Sanin's demeanour during the duel filled +him with enthusiasm. He called him a hero, and would not listen to his +exhortations and even his entreaties. He compared him to a monument +of marble or of bronze, with the statue of the commander in Don Juan! +For himself he admitted he had been conscious of some perturbation +of mind, 'but, of course, I am an artist,' he observed; 'I have a +highly-strung nature, while you are the son of the snows and the +granite rocks.' + +Sanin was positively at a loss how to quiet the jubilant artist. + + * * * * * + +Almost at the same place in the road where two hours before they had +come upon Emil, he again jumped out from behind a tree, and, with a +cry of joy upon his lips, waving his cap and leaping into the air, +he rushed straight at the carriage, almost fell under the wheel, +and, without waiting for the horses to stop, clambered up over the +carriage-door and fairly clung to Sanin. + +'You are alive, you are not wounded!' he kept repeating. 'Forgive me, +I did not obey you, I did not go back to Frankfort ... I could not! I +waited for you here ... Tell me how was it? You ... killed him?' + +Sanin with some difficulty pacified Emil and made him sit down. + +With great verbosity, with evident pleasure, Pantaleone communicated +to him all the details of the duel, and, of course, did not omit to +refer again to the monument of bronze and the statue of the commander. +He even rose from his seat and, standing with his feet wide apart to +preserve his equilibrium, folding his arm on his chest and looking +contemptuously over his shoulder, gave an ocular representation of the +commander--Sanin! Emil listened with awe, occasionally interrupting +the narrative with an exclamation, or swiftly getting up and as +swiftly kissing his heroic friend. + +The carriage wheels rumbled over the paved roads of Frankfort, and +stopped at last before the hotel where Sanin was living. + +Escorted by his two companions, he went up the stairs, when suddenly a +woman came with hurried steps out of the dark corridor; her face was +hidden by a veil, she stood still, facing Sanin, wavered a little, +gave a trembling sigh, at once ran down into the street and vanished, +to the great astonishment of the waiter, who explained that 'that +lady had been for over an hour waiting for the return of the foreign +gentleman.' Momentary as was the apparition, Sanin recognised Gemma. +He recognised her eyes under the thick silk of her brown veil. + +'Did Fraeulein Gemma know, then?'... he said slowly in a displeased +voice in German, addressing Emil and Pantaleone, who were following +close on his heels. + +Emil blushed and was confused. + +'I was obliged to tell her all,' he faltered; 'she guessed, and I +could not help it.... But now that's of no consequence,' he hurried to +add eagerly, 'everything has ended so splendidly, and she has seen you +well and uninjured!' + +Sanin turned away. + +'What a couple of chatterboxes you are!' he observed in a tone of +annoyance, as he went into his room and sat down on a chair. + +'Don't be angry, please,' Emil implored. + +'Very well, I won't be angry'--(Sanin was not, in fact, angry--and, +after all, he could hardly have desired that Gemma should know nothing +about it). 'Very well ... that's enough embracing. You get along now. +I want to be alone. I'm going to sleep. I'm tired.' + +'An excellent idea!' cried Pantaleone. 'You need repose! You have +fully earned it, noble signor! Come along, Emilio! On tip-toe! On +tip-toe! Sh--sh--sh!' + +When he said he wanted to go to sleep, Sanin had simply wished to get +rid of his companions; but when he was left alone, he was really aware +of considerable weariness in all his limbs; he had hardly closed his +eyes all the preceding night, and throwing himself on his bed he fell +immediately into a sound sleep. + + + + +XXIII + + +He slept for some hours without waking. Then he began to dream that +he was once more fighting a duel, that the antagonist standing facing +him was Herr Klueber, and on a fir-tree was sitting a parrot, and this +parrot was Pantaleone, and he kept tapping with his beak: one, one, +one! + +'One ... one ... one!' he heard the tapping too distinctly; he opened +his eyes, raised his head ... some one was knocking at his door. + +'Come in!' called Sanin. + +The waiter came in and answered that a lady very particularly wished +to see him. + +'Gemma!' flashed into his head ... but the lady turned out to be her +mother, Frau Lenore. + +Directly she came in, she dropped at once into a chair and began to +cry. + +'What is the matter, my dear, good Madame Roselli?' began Sanin, +sitting beside her and softly touching her hand. 'What has happened? +calm yourself, I entreat you.' + +'Ah, Herr Dimitri, I am very ... very miserable!' + +'You are miserable?' + +'Ah, very! Could I have foreseen such a thing? All of a sudden, like +thunder from a clear sky ...' + +She caught her breath. + +'But what is it? Explain! Would you like a glass of water?' + +'No, thank you.' Frau Lenore wiped her eyes with her handkerchief and +began to cry with renewed energy. 'I know all, you see! All!' + +'All? that is to say?' + +'Everything that took place to-day! And the cause ... I know that too! +You acted like an honourable man; but what an unfortunate combination +of circumstances! I was quite right in not liking that excursion to +Soden ... quite right!' (Frau Lenore had said nothing of the sort +on the day of the excursion, but she was convinced now that she had +foreseen 'all' even then.) 'I have come to you as to an honourable +man, as to a friend, though I only saw you for the first time five +days ago.... But you know I am a widow, a lonely woman.... My +daughter ...' + +Tears choked Frau Lenore's voice. Sanin did not know what to think. +'Your daughter?' he repeated. + +'My daughter, Gemma,' broke almost with a groan from Frau Lenore, +behind the tear-soaked handkerchief, 'informed me to-day that she +would not marry Herr Klueber, and that I must refuse him!' + +Sanin positively started back a little; he had not expected that. + +'I won't say anything now,' Frau Lenore went on, 'of the disgrace +of it, of its being something unheard of in the world for a girl to +jilt her betrothed; but you see it's ruin for us, Herr Dimitri!' Frau +Lenore slowly and carefully twisted up her handkerchief in a tiny, +tiny little ball, as though she would enclose all her grief within it. +'We can't go on living on the takings of our shop, Herr Dimitri! and +Herr Klueber is very rich, and will be richer still. And what is he to +be refused for? Because he did not defend his betrothed? Allowing that +was not very handsome on his part, still, he's a civilian, has not had +a university education, and as a solid business man, it was for him +to look with contempt on the frivolous prank of some unknown little +officer. And what sort of insult was it, after all, Herr Dimitri?' + +'Excuse me, Frau Lenore, you seem to be blaming me.' + +'I am not blaming you in the least, not in the least! You're quite +another matter; you are, like all Russians, a military man ...' + +'Excuse me, I'm not at all ...' + +'You're a foreigner, a visitor, and I'm grateful to you,' Frau Lenore +went on, not heeding Sanin. She sighed, waved her hands, unwound her +handkerchief again, and blew her nose. Simply from the way in which +her distress expressed itself, it could be seen that she had not been +born under a northern sky. + +'And how is Herr Klueber to look after his shop, if he is to fight +with his customers? It's utterly inconsistent! And now I am to send +him away! But what are we going to live on? At one time we were the +only people that made angel cakes, and nougat of pistachio nuts, and +we had plenty of customers; but now all the shops make angel cakes! +Only consider; even without this, they'll talk in the town about your +duel ... it's impossible to keep it secret. And all of a sudden, the +marriage broken off! It will be a scandal, a scandal! Gemma is a +splendid girl, she loves me; but she's an obstinate republican, she +doesn't care for the opinion of others. You're the only person that +can persuade her!' + +Sanin was more amazed than ever. 'I, Frau Lenore?' + +'Yes, you alone ... you alone. That's why I have come to you; I could +not think of anything else to do! You are so clever, so good! You +have fought in her defence. She will trust you! She is bound to trust +you--why, you have risked your life on her account! You will make her +understand, for I can do nothing more; you make her understand that +she will bring ruin on herself and all of us. You saved my son--save +my daughter too! God Himself sent you here ... I am ready on my knees +to beseech you....' And Frau Lenore half rose from her seat as though +about to fall at Sanin's feet.... He restrained her. + +'Frau Lenore! For mercy's sake! What are you doing?' + +She clutched his hand impulsively. 'You promise ...' + +'Frau Lenore, think a moment; what right have I ...' + +'You promise? You don't want me to die here at once before your eyes?' + +Sanin was utterly nonplussed. It was the first time in his life he had +had to deal with any one of ardent Italian blood. + +'I will do whatever you like,' he cried. 'I will talk to Fraeulein +Gemma....' + +Frau Lenore uttered a cry of delight. + +'Only I really can't say what result will come of it ...' + +'Ah, don't go back, don't go back from your words!' cried Frau Lenore +in an imploring voice; 'you have already consented! The result is +certain to be excellent. Any way, _I_ can do nothing more! She won't +listen to _me_!' + +'Has she so positively stated her disinclination to marry Herr +Klueber?' Sanin inquired after a short silence. + +'As if she'd cut the knot with a knife! She's her father all over, +Giovanni Battista! Wilful girl!' + +'Wilful? Is she!' ... Sanin said slowly. 'Yes ... yes ... but she's +an angel too. She will mind you. Are you coming soon? Oh, my dear +Russian friend!' Frau Lenore rose impulsively from her chair, and as +impulsively clasped the head of Sanin, who was sitting opposite her. +'Accept a mother's blessing--and give me some water!' + +Sanin brought Signora Roselli a glass of water, gave her his word of +honour that he would come directly, escorted her down the stairs to +the street, and when he was back in his own room, positively threw up +his arms and opened his eyes wide in his amazement. + +'Well,' he thought, 'well, _now_ life is going round in a whirl! And +it's whirling so that I'm giddy.' He did not attempt to look within, +to realise what was going on in himself: it was all uproar and +confusion, and that was all he knew! What a day it had been! His lips +murmured unconsciously: 'Wilful ... her mother says ... and I have got +to advise her ... her! And advise her what?' + +Sanin, really, was giddy, and above all this whirl of shifting +sensations and impressions and unfinished thoughts, there floated +continually the image of Gemma, the image so ineffaceably impressed on +his memory on that hot night, quivering with electricity, in that dark +window, in the light of the swarming stars! + + + + +XXIV + + +With hesitating footsteps Sanin approached the house of Signora +Roselli. His heart was beating violently; he distinctly felt, and even +heard it thumping at his side. What should he say to Gemma, how should +he begin? He went into the house, not through the shop, but by the +back entrance. In the little outer room he met Frau Lenore. She was +both relieved and scared at the sight of him. + +'I have been expecting you,' she said in a whisper, squeezing his hand +with each of hers in turn. 'Go into the garden; she is there. Mind, I +rely on you!' + +Sanin went into the garden. + +Gemma was sitting on a garden-seat near the path, she was sorting a +big basket full of cherries, picking out the ripest, and putting them +on a dish. The sun was low--it was seven o'clock in the evening--and +there was more purple than gold in the full slanting light with which +it flooded the whole of Signora Roselli's little garden. From time +to time, faintly audibly, and as it were deliberately, the leaves +rustled, and belated bees buzzed abruptly as they flew from one +flower to the next, and somewhere a dove was cooing a never-changing, +unceasing note. Gemma had on the same round hat in which she had +driven to Soden. She peeped at Sanin from under its turned-down brim, +and again bent over the basket. + +Sanin went up to Gemma, unconsciously making each step shorter, and +... and ... and nothing better could he find to say to her than to ask +why was she sorting the cherries. + +Gemma was in no haste to reply. + +'These are riper,' she observed at last, 'they will go into jam, and +those are for tarts. You know the round sweet tarts we sell?' + +As she said those words, Gemma bent her head still lower, and her +right hand with two cherries in her fingers was suspended in the air +between the basket and the dish. + +'May I sit by you?' asked Sanin. + +'Yes.' Gemma moved a little along on the seat. Sanin placed himself +beside her. 'How am I to begin?' was his thought. But Gemma got him +out of his difficulty. + +'You have fought a duel to-day,' she began eagerly, and she turned +all her lovely, bashfully flushing face to him--and what depths of +gratitude were shining in those eyes! 'And you are so calm! I suppose +for you danger does not exist?' + +'Oh, come! I have not been exposed to any danger. Everything went off +very satisfactorily and inoffensively.' + +Gemma passed her finger to right and to left before her eyes ... Also +an Italian gesture. 'No! no! don't say that! You won't deceive me! +Pantaleone has told me everything!' + +'He's a trustworthy witness! Did he compare me to the statue of the +commander?' + +'His expressions may be ridiculous, but his feeling is not ridiculous, +nor is what you have done to-day. And all that on my account ... for +me ... I shall never forget it.' + +'I assure you, Fraeulein Gemma ...' + +'I shall never forget it,' she said deliberately; once more she looked +intently at him, and turned away. + +He could now see her delicate pure profile, and it seemed to him that +he had never seen anything like it, and had never known anything like +what he was feeling at that instant. His soul was on fire. + +'And my promise!' flashed in among his thoughts. + +'Fraeulein Gemma ...' he began after a momentary hesitation. + +'What?' + +She did not turn to him, she went on sorting the cherries, carefully +taking them by their stalks with her finger-tips, assiduously picking +out the leaves.... But what a confiding caress could be heard in that +one word, + +'What?' + +'Has your mother said nothing to you ... about ...' + +'About?' + +'About me?' + +Gemma suddenly flung back into the basket the cherries she had taken. + +'Has she been talking to you?' she asked in her turn. + +'Yes.' + +'What has she been saying to you?' + +'She told me that you ... that you have suddenly decided to change +... your former intention.' Gemma's head was bent again. She vanished +altogether under her hat; nothing could be seen but her neck, supple +and tender as the stalk of a big flower. + +'What intentions?' + +'Your intentions ... relative to ... the future arrangement of your +life.' + +'That is ... you are speaking ... of Herr Klueber?' + +'Yes.' + +'Mamma told you I don't want to be Herr Klueber's wife?' + +'Yes.' + +Gemma moved forward on the seat. The basket tottered, fell ... a few +cherries rolled on to the path. A minute passed by ... another. + +'Why did she tell you so?' he heard her voice saying. Sanin as before +could only see Gemma's neck. Her bosom rose and fell more rapidly than +before. + +'Why? Your mother thought that as you and I, in a short time, have +become, so to say, friends, and you have some confidence in me, I am +in a position to give you good advice--and you would mind what I say.' + +Gemma's hands slowly slid on to her knees. She began plucking at the +folds of her dress. + +'What advice will you give me, Monsieur Dimitri?' she asked, after a +short pause. + +Sanin saw that Gemma's fingers were trembling on her knees.... She was +only plucking at the folds of her dress to hide their trembling. He +softly laid his hand on those pale, shaking fingers. + +'Gemma,' he said, 'why don't you look at me?' She instantly tossed her +hat back on to her shoulder, and bent her eyes upon him, confiding and +grateful as before. She waited for him to speak.... But the sight of +her face had bewildered, and, as it were, dazed him. The warm glow of +the evening sun lighted up her youthful head, and the expression of +that head was brighter, more radiant than its glow. + +'I will mind what you say, Monsieur Dimitri,' she said, faintly +smiling, and faintly arching her brows; 'but what advice do you give +me?' + +'What advice?' repeated Sanin. 'Well, you see, your mother considers +that to dismiss Herr Klueber simply because he did not show any special +courage the day before yesterday ...' + +'Simply because?' said Gemma. She bent down, picked up the basket, and +set it beside her on the garden seat. + +'That ... altogether ... to dismiss him, would be, on your part +... unreasonable; that it is a step, all the consequences of which +ought to be thoroughly weighed; that in fact the very position of +your affairs imposes certain obligations on every member of your +family ...' + +'All that is mamma's opinion,' Gemma interposed; 'those are her words; +but what is your opinion?' + +'Mine?' Sanin was silent for a while. He felt a lump rising in his +throat and catching at his breath. 'I too consider,' he began with an +effort ... + +Gemma drew herself up. 'Too? You too?' + +'Yes ... that is ...' Sanin was unable, positively unable to add a +single word more. + +'Very well,' said Gemma. 'If you, as a friend, advise me to change my +decision--that is, not to change my former decision--I will think it +over.' Not knowing what she was doing, she began to tip the cherries +back from the plate into the basket.... 'Mamma hopes that I will mind +what you say. Well ... perhaps I really will mind what you say.' + +'But excuse me, Fraeulein Gemma, I should like first to know what +reason impelled you ...' + +'I will mind what you say,' Gemma repeated, her face right up to her +brows was working, her cheeks were white, she was biting her lower +lip. 'You have done so much for me, that I am bound to do as you wish; +bound to carry out your wishes. I will tell mamma ... I will think +again. Here she is, by the way, coming here.' + +Frau Lenore did in fact appear in the doorway leading from the house +to the garden. She was in an agony of impatience; she could not +keep still. According to her calculations, Sanin must long ago have +finished all he had to say to Gemma, though his conversation with her +had not lasted a quarter of an hour. + +'No, no, no, for God's sake, don't tell her anything yet,' Sanin +articulated hurriedly, almost in alarm. 'Wait a little ... I will tell +you, I will write to you ... and till then don't decide on anything +... wait!' + +He pressed Gemma's hand, jumped up from the seat, and to Frau Lenore's +great amazement, rushed past her, and raising his hat, muttered +something unintelligible--and vanished. + +She went up to her daughter. + +'Tell me, please, Gemma...' + +The latter suddenly got up and hugged her. 'Dear mamma, can you wait a +little, a tiny bit ... till to-morrow? Can you? And till to-morrow not +a word?... Ah!...' + +She burst into sudden happy tears, incomprehensible to herself. This +surprised Frau Lenore, the more as the expression of Gemma's face was +far from sorrowful,--rather joyful in fact. + +'What is it?' she asked. 'You never cry and here, all at once ...' + +'Nothing, mamma, never mind! you only wait. We must both wait a +little. Don't ask me anything till to-morrow--and let us sort the +cherries before the sun has set.' + +'But you will be reasonable?' + +'Oh, I'm very reasonable!' Gemma shook her head significantly. She +began to make up little bunches of cherries, holding them high above +her flushed face. She did not wipe away her tears; they had dried of +themselves. + + + + +XXV + + +Almost running, Sanin returned to his hotel room. He felt, he knew +that only there, only by himself, would it be clear to him at last +what was the matter, what was happening to him. And so it was; +directly he had got inside his room, directly he had sat down to the +writing-table, with both elbows on the table and both hands pressed to +his face, he cried in a sad and choked voice, 'I love her, love her +madly!' and he was all aglow within, like a fire when a thick layer +of dead ash has been suddenly blown off. An instant more ... and he +was utterly unable to understand how he could have sat beside her +... her!--and talked to her and not have felt that he worshipped the +very hem of her garment, that he was ready as young people express +it 'to die at her feet.' The last interview in the garden had decided +everything. Now when he thought of her, she did not appear to him with +blazing curls in the shining starlight; he saw her sitting on the +garden-seat, saw her all at once tossing back her hat, and gazing at +him so confidingly ... and the tremor and hunger of love ran through +all his veins. He remembered the rose which he had been carrying about +in his pocket for three days: he snatched it out, and pressed it with +such feverish violence to his lips, that he could not help frowning +with the pain. Now he considered nothing, reflected on nothing, did +not deliberate, and did not look forward; he had done with all his +past, he leaped forward into the future; from the dreary bank of his +lonely bachelor life he plunged headlong into that glad, seething, +mighty torrent--and little he cared, little he wished to know, where +it would carry him, or whether it would dash him against a rock! No +more the soft-flowing currents of the Uhland song, which had lulled +him not long ago ... These were mighty, irresistible torrents! They +rush flying onwards and he flies with them.... + +He took a sheet of paper, and without blotting out a word, almost with +one sweep of the pen, wrote as follows:-- + +'DEAR GEMMA,--You know what advice I undertook to give you, what your +mother desired, and what she asked of me; but what you don't know and +what I must tell you now is, that I love you, love you with all the +ardour of a heart that loves for the first time! This passion has +flamed up in me suddenly, but with such force that I can find no words +for it! When your mother came to me and asked me, it was still only +smouldering in me, or else I should certainly, as an honest man, have +refused to carry out her request.... The confession I make you now is +the confession of an honest man. You ought to know whom you have to do +with--between us there should exist no misunderstandings. You see that +I cannot give you any advice.... I love you, love you, love you--and I +have nothing else--either in my head or in my heart!! + +'DM. SANIN.' + +When he had folded and sealed this note, Sanin was on the point of +ringing for the waiter and sending it by him.... 'No!' he thought, 'it +would be awkward.... By Emil? But to go to the shop, and seek him out +there among the other employes, would be awkward too. Besides, it's +dark by now, and he has probably left the shop.' Reflecting after this +fashion, Sanin put on his hat, however, and went into the street; he +turned a corner, another, and to his unspeakable delight, saw Emil +before him. With a satchel under his arm, and a roll of papers in his +hand, the young enthusiast was hurrying home. + +'They may well say every lover has a lucky star,' thought Sanin, and +he called to Emil. + +The latter turned and at once rushed to him. + +Sanin cut short his transports, handed him the note, and explained to +whom and how he was to deliver it.... Emil listened attentively. + +'So that no one sees?' he inquired, assuming an important and +mysterious air, that said, 'We understand the inner meaning of it +all!' + +'Yes, my friend,' said Sanin and he was a little disconcerted; +however, he patted Emil on the cheek.... 'And if there should be an +answer.... You will bring me the answer, won't you? I will stay at +home.' + +'Don't worry yourself about that!' Emil whispered gaily; he ran off, +and as he ran nodded once more to him. + +Sanin went back home, and without lighting a candle, flung himself +on the sofa, put his hands behind his head, and abandoned himself to +those sensations of newly conscious love, which it is no good even to +describe. One who has felt them knows their languor and sweetness; to +one who has felt them not, one could never make them known. + +The door opened--Emil's head appeared. + +'I have brought it,' he said in a whisper: 'here it is--the answer!' + +He showed and waved above his head a folded sheet of paper. + +Sanin leaped up from the sofa and snatched it out of Emil's hand. +Passion was working too powerfully within him: he had no thought of +reserve now, nor of the observance of a suitable demeanour--even +before this boy, her brother. He would have been scrupulous, he would +have controlled himself--if he could! + +He went to the window, and by the light of a street lamp which stood +just opposite the house, he read the following lines:-- + +I beg you, I beseech you--_don't come to see us, don't show yourself +all day to-morrow_. It's necessary, absolutely necessary for me, +and then everything shall be settled. I know you will not say no, +because ... + +'GEMMA.' + +Sanin read this note twice through. Oh, how touchingly sweet and +beautiful her handwriting seemed to him! He thought a little, and +turning to Emil, who, wishing to give him to understand what a +discreet young person he was, was standing with his face to the wall, +and scratching on it with his finger-nails, he called him aloud by +name. + +Emil ran at once to Sanin. 'What do you want me to do?' + +'Listen, my young friend...' + +'Monsieur Dimitri,' Emil interrupted in a plaintive voice, 'why do you +address me so formally?' + +Sanin laughed. 'Oh, very well. Listen, my dearest boy--(Emil gave a +little skip of delight)--listen; _there_ you understand, there, you +will say, that everything shall be done exactly as is wished--(Emil +compressed his lips and nodded solemnly)--and as for me ... what are +you doing to-morrow, my dear boy?' + +'I? what am I doing? What would you like me to do?' + +'If you can, come to me early in the morning--and we will walk about +the country round Frankfort till evening.... Would you like to?' + +Emil gave another little skip. 'I say, what in the world could be +jollier? Go a walk with you--why, it's simply glorious! I'll be sure +to come!' + +'And if they won't let you?' + +'They will let me!' + +'Listen ... Don't say _there_ that I asked you to come for the whole +day.' + +'Why should I? But I'll get away all the same! What does it matter?' + +Emil warmly kissed Sanin, and ran away. + +Sanin walked up and down the room a long while, and went late to bed. +He gave himself up to the same delicate and sweet sensations, the same +joyous thrill at facing a new life. Sanin was very glad that the idea +had occurred to him to invite Emil to spend the next day with him; he +was like his sister. 'He will recall her,' was his thought. + +But most of all, he marvelled how he could have been yesterday other +than he was to-day. It seemed to him that he had loved Gemma for all +time; and that he had loved her just as he loved her to-day. + + + + +XXVI + + +At eight o'clock next morning, Emil arrived at Sanin's hotel leading +Tartaglia by a string. Had he sprung of German parentage, he could +not have shown greater practicality. He had told a lie at home; he +had said he was going for a walk with Sanin till lunch-time, and then +going to the shop. While Sanin was dressing, Emil began to talk to +him, rather hesitatingly, it is true, about Gemma, about her rupture +with Herr Klueber; but Sanin preserved an austere silence in reply, and +Emil, looking as though he understood why so serious a matter should +not be touched on lightly, did not return to the subject, and only +assumed from time to time an intense and even severe expression. + +After drinking coffee, the two friends set off together--on foot, +of course--to Hausen, a little village lying a short distance from +Frankfort, and surrounded by woods. The whole chain of the Taunus +mountains could be seen clearly from there. The weather was lovely; +the sunshine was bright and warm, but not blazing hot; a fresh wind +rustled briskly among the green leaves; the shadows of high, round +clouds glided swiftly and smoothly in small patches over the earth. +The two young people soon got out of the town, and stepped out boldly +and gaily along the well-kept road. They reached the woods, and +wandered about there a long time; then they lunched very heartily at +a country inn; then climbed on to the mountains, admired the views, +rolled stones down and clapped their hands, watching the queer droll +way in which the stones hopped along like rabbits, till a man passing +below, unseen by them, began abusing them in a loud ringing voice. +Then they lay full length on the short dry moss of yellowish-violet +colour; then they drank beer at another inn; ran races, and tried for +a wager which could jump farthest. They discovered an echo, and began +to call to it; sang songs, hallooed, wrestled, broke up dry twigs, +decked their hats with fern, and even danced. Tartaglia, as far as he +could, shared in all these pastimes; he did not throw stones, it is +true, but he rolled head over heels after them; he howled when they +were singing, and even drank beer, though with evident aversion; +he had been trained in this art by a student to whom he had once +belonged. But he was not prompt in obeying Emil--not as he was with +his master Pantaleone--and when Emil ordered him to 'speak,' or to +'sneeze,' he only wagged his tail and thrust out his tongue like a +pipe. + +The young people talked, too. At the beginning of the walk, Sanin, as +the elder, and so more reflective, turned the conversation on fate and +predestination, and the nature and meaning of man's destiny; but the +conversation quickly took a less serious turn. Emil began to question +his friend and patron about Russia, how duels were fought there, and +whether the women there were beautiful, and whether one could learn +Russian quickly, and what he had felt when the officer took aim +at him. Sanin, on his side, questioned Emil about his father, his +mother, and in general about their family affairs, trying every time +not to mention Gemma's name--and thinking only of her. To speak more +precisely, it was not of her he was thinking, but of the morrow, the +mysterious morrow which was to bring him new, unknown happiness! It +was as though a veil, a delicate, bright veil, hung faintly fluttering +before his mental vision; and behind this veil he felt ... felt the +presence of a youthful, motionless, divine image, with a tender smile +on its lips, and eyelids severely--with affected seventy--downcast. +And this image was not the face of Gemma, it was the face of happiness +itself! For, behold, at last _his_ hour had come, the veil had +vanished, the lips were parting, the eyelashes are raised--his +divinity has looked upon him--and at once light as from the sun, +and joy and bliss unending! He dreamed of this morrow--and his soul +thrilled with joy again in the melting torture of ever-growing +expectation! + +And this expectation, this torture, hindered nothing. It accompanied +every action, and did not prevent anything. It did not prevent him +from dining capitally at a third inn with Emil; and only occasionally, +like a brief flash of lightning, the thought shot across him, What +if any one in the world knew? This suspense did not prevent him from +playing leap-frog with Emil after dinner. The game took place on an +open green lawn. And the confusion, the stupefaction of Sanin may be +imagined! At the very moment when, accompanied by a sharp bark from +Tartaglia, he was flying like a bird, with his legs outspread over +Emil, who was bent double, he suddenly saw on the farthest border of +the lawn two officers, in whom he recognised at once his adversary and +his second, Herr von Doenhof and Herr von Richter! Each of them had +stuck an eyeglass in his eye, and was staring at him, chuckling!... +Sanin got on his feet, turned away hurriedly, put on the coat he had +flung down, jerked out a word to Emil; the latter, too, put on his +jacket, and they both immediately made off. + +It was late when they got back to Frankfort. 'They'll scold me,' Emil +said to Sanin as he said good-bye to him. 'Well, what does it matter? +I've had such a splendid, splendid day!' + +When he got home to his hotel, Sanin found a note there from Gemma. +She fixed a meeting with him for next day, at seven o'clock in the +morning, in one of the public gardens which surround Frankfort on all +sides. + +How his heart throbbed! How glad he was that he had obeyed her so +unconditionally! And, my God, what was promised ... what was not +promised, by that unknown, unique, impossible, and undubitably certain +morrow! + +He feasted his eyes on Gemma's note. The long, elegant tail of the +letter G, the first letter of her name, which stood at the bottom of +the sheet, reminded him of her lovely fingers, her hand.... He thought +that he had not once touched that hand with his lips.... 'Italian +women,' he mused, 'in spite of what's said of them, are modest and +severe.... And Gemma above all! Queen ... goddess ... pure, virginal +marble....' + +'But the time will come; and it is not far off....' There was that +night in Frankfort one happy man.... He slept; but he might have said +of himself in the words of the poet: + + 'I sleep ... but my watchful heart sleeps not.' + +And it fluttered as lightly as a butterfly flutters his wings, as he +stoops over the flowers in the summer sunshine. + + + + +XXVII + + +At five o'clock Sanin woke up, at six he was dressed, at half-past +six he was walking up and down the public garden within sight of the +little arbour which Gemma had mentioned in her note. It was a still, +warm, grey morning. It sometimes seemed as though it were beginning +to rain; but the outstretched hand felt nothing, and only looking at +one's coat-sleeve, one could see traces of tiny drops like diminutive +beads, but even these were soon gone. It seemed there had never been +a breath of wind in the world. Every sound moved not, but was shed +around in the stillness. In the distance was a faint thickening of +whitish mist; in the air there was a scent of mignonette and white +acacia flowers. + +In the streets the shops were not open yet, but there were already +some people walking about; occasionally a solitary carriage rumbled +along ... there was no one walking in the garden. A gardener was in a +leisurely way scraping the path with a spade, and a decrepit old woman +in a black woollen cloak was hobbling across the garden walk. Sanin +could not for one instant mistake this poor old creature for Gemma; +and yet his heart leaped, and he watched attentively the retreating +patch of black. + +Seven! chimed the clock on the tower. Sanin stood still. Was it +possible she would not come? A shiver of cold suddenly ran through +his limbs. The same shiver came again an instant later, but from a +different cause. Sanin heard behind him light footsteps, the light +rustle of a woman's dress.... He turned round: she! + +Gemma was coming up behind him along the path. She was wearing a grey +cape and a small dark hat. She glanced at Sanin, turned her head away, +and catching him up, passed rapidly by him. + +'Gemma,' he articulated, hardly audibly. + +She gave him a little nod, and continued to walk on in front. He +followed her. + +He breathed in broken gasps. His legs shook under him. + +Gemma passed by the arbour, turned to the right, passed by a small +flat fountain, in which the sparrows were splashing busily, and, going +behind a clump of high lilacs, sank down on a bench. The place was +snug and hidden. Sanin sat down beside her. + +A minute passed, and neither he nor she uttered a word. She did not +even look at him; and he gazed not at her face, but at her clasped +hands, in which she held a small parasol. What was there to tell, what +was there to say, which could compare, in importance, with the simple +fact of their presence there, together, alone, so early, so close to +each other. + +'You ... are not angry with me?' Sanin articulated at last. + +It would have been difficult for Sanin to have said anything more +foolish than these words ... he was conscious of it himself.... But, +at any rate, the silence was broken. + +'Angry?' she answered. 'What for? No.' + +'And you believe me?' he went on. + +'In what you wrote?' + +'Yes.' + +Gemma's head sank, and she said nothing. The parasol slipped out of +her hands. She hastily caught it before it dropped on the path. + +'Ah, believe me! believe what I wrote to you!' cried Sanin; all his +timidity suddenly vanished, he spoke with heat; 'if there is truth +on earth--sacred, absolute truth--it's that I love, love you +passionately, Gemma.' + +She flung him a sideway, momentary glance, and again almost dropped +the parasol. + +'Believe me! believe me!' he repeated. He besought her, held out his +hands to her, and did not dare to touch her. 'What do you want me to +do ... to convince you?' + +She glanced at him again. + +'Tell me, Monsieur Dimitri,' she began; 'the day before yesterday, +when you came to talk to me, you did not, I imagine, know then ... did +not feel ...' + +'I felt it,' Sanin broke in; 'but I did not know it. I have loved you +from the very instant I saw you; but I did not realise at once what +you had become to me! And besides, I heard that you were solemnly +betrothed.... As far as your mother's request is concerned--in the +first place, how could I refuse?--and secondly, I think I carried out +her request in such a way that you could guess....' + +They heard a heavy tread, and a rather stout gentleman with a knapsack +over his shoulder, apparently a foreigner, emerged from behind the +clump, and staring, with the unceremoniousness of a tourist, at the +couple sitting on the garden-seat, gave a loud cough and went on. + +'Your mother,' Sanin began, as soon as the sound of the heavy +footsteps had ceased, 'told me your breaking off your engagement would +cause a scandal'--Gemma frowned a little--that I was myself in part +responsible for unpleasant gossip, and that ... consequently ... I +was, to some extent, under an obligation to advise you not to break +with your betrothed, Herr Klueber....' + +'Monsieur Dimitri,' said Gemma, and she passed her hand over her hair +on the side turned towards Sanin, 'don't, please, call Herr Klueber my +betrothed. I shall never be his wife. I have broken with him.' + +'You have broken with him? when?' + +'Yesterday.' + +'You saw him?' + +'Yes. At our house. He came to see us.' + +'Gemma? Then you love me?' + +She turned to him. + +'Should ... I have come here, if not?' she whispered, and both her +hands fell on the seat. + +Sanin snatched those powerless, upturned palms, and pressed them to +his eyes, to his lips.... Now the veil was lifted of which he had +dreamed the night before! Here was happiness, here was its radiant +form! + +He raised his head, and looked at Gemma, boldly and directly. She, +too, looked at him, a little downwards. Her half-shut eyes faintly +glistened, dim with light, blissful tears. Her face was not smiling +... no! it laughed, with a blissful, noiseless laugh. + +He tried to draw her to him, but she drew back, and never ceasing to +laugh the same noiseless laugh, shook her head. 'Wait a little,' her +happy eyes seemed to say. + +'O Gemma!' cried Sanin: 'I never dreamed that you would love me!' + +'I did not expect this myself,' Gemma said softly. + +'How could I ever have dreamed,' Sanin went on, 'when I came to +Frankfort, where I only expected to remain a few hours, that I should +find here the happiness of all my life!' + +'All your life? Really?' queried Gemma. + +'All my life, for ever and ever!' cried Sanin with fresh ardour. + +The gardener's spade suddenly scraped two paces from where they were +sitting. + +'Let's go home,' whispered Gemma: 'we'll go together--will you?' + +If she had said to him at that instant 'Throw yourself in the sea, +will you?' he would have been flying headlong into the ocean before +she had uttered the last word. + +They went together out of the garden and turned homewards, not by the +streets of the town, but through the outskirts. + + + + +XXVIII + + +Sanin walked along, at one time by Gemma's side, at another time a +little behind her. He never took his eyes off her and never ceased +smiling. She seemed to hasten ... seemed to linger. As a matter of +fact, they both--he all pale, and she all flushed with emotion--were +moving along as in a dream. What they had done together a few instants +before--that surrender of each soul to another soul--was so intense, +so new, and so moving; so suddenly everything in their lives had been +changed and displaced that they could not recover themselves, and were +only aware of a whirlwind carrying them along, like the whirlwind +on that night, which had almost flung them into each other's arms. +Sanin walked along, and felt that he even looked at Gemma with other +eyes; he instantly noted some peculiarities in her walk, in her +movements,--and heavens! how infinitely sweet and precious they were +to him! And she felt that that was how he was looking at her. + +Sanin and she were in love for the first time; all the miracles of +first love were working in them. First love is like a revolution; the +uniformly regular routine of ordered life is broken down and shattered +in one instant; youth mounts the barricade, waves high its bright +flag, and whatever awaits it in the future--death or a new life--all +alike it goes to meet with ecstatic welcome. + +'What's this? Isn't that our old friend?' said Sanin, pointing to a +muffled-up figure, which hurriedly slipped a little aside as though +trying to remain unobserved. In the midst of his abundant happiness he +felt a need to talk to Gemma, not of love--that was a settled thing +and holy--but of something else. + +'Yes, it's Pantaleone,' Gemma answered gaily and happily. 'Most likely +he has been following me ever since I left home; all day yesterday he +kept watching every movement I made ... He guesses!' + +'He guesses!' Sanin repeated in ecstasy. What could Gemma have said at +which he would not have been in ecstasy? + +Then he asked her to tell him in detail all that had passed the day +before. + +And she began at once telling him, with haste, and confusion, and +smiles, and brief sighs, and brief bright looks exchanged with Sanin. +She said that after their conversation the day before yesterday, +mamma had kept trying to get out of her something positive; but that +she had put off Frau Lenore with a promise to tell her her decision +within twenty-four hours; how she had demanded this limit of time +for herself, and how difficult it had been to get it; how utterly +unexpectedly Herr Klueber had made his appearance more starched and +affected than ever; how he had given vent to his indignation at the +childish, unpardonable action of the Russian stranger--'he meant +your duel, Dimitri,'--which he described as deeply insulting to him, +Klueber, and how he had demanded that 'you should be at once refused +admittance to the house, Dimitri.' 'For,' he had added--and here +Gemma slightly mimicked his voice and manner--'"it casts a slur on +my honour; as though I were not able to defend my betrothed, had +I thought it necessary or advisable! All Frankfort will know by +to-morrow that an outsider has fought a duel with an officer on +account of my betrothed--did any one ever hear of such a thing! It +tarnishes my honour!" Mamma agreed with him--fancy!--but then I +suddenly told him that he was troubling himself unnecessarily about +his honour and his character, and was unnecessarily annoyed at the +gossip about his betrothed, for I was no longer betrothed to him and +would never be his wife! I must own, I had meant to talk to you first +... before breaking with him finally; but he came ... and I could not +restrain myself. Mamma positively screamed with horror, but I went +into the next room and got his ring--you didn't notice, I took it off +two days ago--and gave it to him. He was fearfully offended, but as he +is fearfully self-conscious and conceited, he did not say much, and +went away. Of course I had to go through a great deal with mamma, and +it made me very wretched to see how distressed she was, and I thought +I had been a little hasty; but you see I had your note, and even apart +from it I knew ...' + +'That I love you,' put in Sanin. + +'Yes ... that you were in love with me.' + +So Gemma talked, hesitating and smiling and dropping her voice or +stopping altogether every time any one met them or passed by. And +Sanin listened ecstatically, enjoying the very sound of her voice, as +the day before he had gloated over her handwriting. + +'Mamma is very much distressed,' Gemma began again, and her words +flew very rapidly one after another; 'she refuses to take into +consideration that I dislike Herr Klueber, that I never was betrothed +to him from love, but only because of her urgent entreaties.... +She suspects--you, Dimitri; that's to say, to speak plainly, she's +convinced I'm in love with you, and she is more unhappy about it +because only the day before yesterday nothing of the sort had occurred +to her, and she even begged you to advise me.... It was a strange +request, wasn't it? Now she calls you ... Dimitri, a hypocrite and +a cunning fellow, says that you have betrayed her confidence, and +predicts that you will deceive me....' + +'But, Gemma,' cried Sanin, 'do you mean to say you didn't tell +her?...' + +'I told her nothing! What right had I without consulting you?' + +Sanin threw up his arms. 'Gemma, I hope that now, at least, you will +tell all to her and take me to her.... I want to convince your mother +that I am not a base deceiver!' + +Sanin's bosom fairly heaved with the flood of generous and ardent +emotions. + +Gemma looked him full in the face. 'You really want to go with me +now to mamma? to mamma, who maintains that ... all this between us +is impossible--and can never come to pass?' There was one word Gemma +could not bring herself to utter.... It burnt her lips; but all the +more eagerly Sanin pronounced it. + +'Marry you, Gemma, be your husband--I can imagine no bliss greater!' + +To his love, his magnanimity, his determination--he was aware of no +limits now. + +When she heard those words, Gemma, who had stopped still for an +instant, went on faster than ever.... She seemed trying to run away +from this too great and unexpected happiness! But suddenly her +steps faltered. Round the corner of a turning, a few paces from +her, in a new hat and coat, straight as an arrow and curled like a +poodle--emerged Herr Klueber. He caught sight of Gemma, caught sight +of Sanin, and with a sort of inward snort and a backward bend of his +supple figure, he advanced with a dashing swing to meet them. Sanin +felt a pang; but glancing at Klueber's face, to which its owner +endeavoured, as far as in him lay, to give an expression of scornful +amazement, and even commiseration, glancing at that red-cheeked, +vulgar face, he felt a sudden rush of anger, and took a step forward. + +Gemma seized his arm, and with quiet decision, giving him hers, she +looked her former betrothed full in the face.... The latter screwed up +his face, shrugged his shoulders, shuffled to one side, and muttering +between his teeth, 'The usual end to the song!' (Das alte Ende vom +Liede!)--walked away with the same dashing, slightly skipping gait. + +'What did he say, the wretched creature?' asked Sanin, and would have +rushed after Klueber; but Gemma held him back and walked on with him, +not taking away the arm she had slipped into his. + +The Rosellis' shop came into sight. Gemma stopped once more. + +'Dimitri, Monsieur Dimitri,' she said, 'we are not there yet, we have +not seen mamma yet.... If you would rather think a little, if ... you +are still free, Dimitri!' + +In reply Sanin pressed her hand tightly to his bosom, and drew her on. + +'Mamma,' said Gemma, going with Sanin to the room where Frau Lenore +was sitting, 'I have brought the real one!' + + + + +XXIX + + +If Gemma had announced that she had brought with her cholera or death +itself, one can hardly imagine that Frau Lenore could have received +the news with greater despair. She immediately sat down in a corner, +with her face to the wall, and burst into floods of tears, positively +wailed, for all the world like a Russian peasant woman on the grave of +her husband or her son. For the first minute Gemma was so taken aback +that she did not even go up to her mother, but stood still like a +statue in the middle of the room; while Sanin was utterly stupefied, +to the point of almost bursting into tears himself! For a whole hour +that inconsolable wail went on--a whole hour! Pantaleone thought it +better to shut the outer door of the shop, so that no stranger should +come; luckily, it was still early. The old man himself did not know +what to think, and in any case, did not approve of the haste with +which Gemma and Sanin had acted; he could not bring himself to blame +them, and was prepared to give them his support in case of need: +he greatly disliked Klueber! Emil regarded himself as the medium of +communication between his friend and his sister, and almost prided +himself on its all having turned out so splendidly! He was positively +unable to conceive why Frau Lenore was so upset, and in his heart he +decided on the spot that women, even the best of them, suffer from a +lack of reasoning power! Sanin fared worst of all. Frau Lenore rose to +a howl and waved him off with her hands, directly he approached her; +and it was in vain that he attempted once or twice to shout aloud, +standing at a distance, 'I ask you for your daughter's hand!' Frau +Lenore was particularly angry with herself. 'How could she have been +so blind--have seen nothing? Had my Giovann' Battista been alive,' +she persisted through her tears, 'nothing of this sort would have +happened!' 'Heavens, what's it all about?' thought Sanin; 'why, it's +positively senseless!' He did not dare to look at Gemma, nor could she +pluck up courage to lift her eyes to him. She restricted herself to +waiting patiently on her mother, who at first repelled even her.... + +At last, by degrees, the storm abated. Frau Lenore gave over weeping, +permitted Gemma to bring her out of the corner, where she sat huddled +up, to put her into an arm-chair near the window, and to give her some +orange-flower water to drink. She permitted Sanin--not to approach +... oh, no!--but, at any rate, to remain in the room--she had kept +clamouring for him to go away--and did not interrupt him when he +spoke. Sanin immediately availed himself of the calm as it set in, and +displayed an astounding eloquence. He could hardly have explained his +intentions and emotions with more fire and persuasive force even to +Gemma herself. Those emotions were of the sincerest, those intentions +were of the purest, like Almaviva's in the _Barber of Seville_. He +did not conceal from Frau Lenore nor from himself the disadvantageous +side of those intentions; but the disadvantages were only apparent! +It is true he was a foreigner; they had not known him long, they knew +nothing positive about himself or his means; but he was prepared to +bring forward all the necessary evidence that he was a respectable +person and not poor; he would refer them to the most unimpeachable +testimony of his fellow-countrymen! He hoped Gemma would be happy with +him, and that he would be able to make up to her for the separation +from her own people!... The allusion to 'separation'--the mere word +'separation'--almost spoiled the whole business.... Frau Lenore began +to tremble all over and move about uneasily.... Sanin hastened to +observe that the separation would only be temporary, and that, in +fact, possibly it would not take place at all! + +Sanin's eloquence was not thrown away. Frau Lenore began to glance at +him, though still with bitterness and reproach, no longer with the +same aversion and fury; then she suffered him to come near her, and +even to sit down beside her (Gemma was sitting on the other side); +then she fell to reproaching him,--not in looks only, but in words, +which already indicated a certain softening of heart; she fell to +complaining, and her complaints became quieter and gentler; they were +interspersed with questions addressed at one time to her daughter, and +at another to Sanin; then she suffered him to take her hand and did +not at once pull it away ... then she wept again, but her tears were +now quite of another kind.... Then she smiled mournfully, and lamented +the absence of Giovanni Battista, but quite on different grounds from +before.... An instant more and the two criminals, Sanin and Gemma, +were on their knees at her feet, and she was laying her hands on their +heads in turn; another instant and they were embracing and kissing +her, and Emil, his face beaming rapturously, ran into the room and +added himself to the group so warmly united. + +Pantaleone peeped into the room, smiled and frowned at the same time, +and going into the shop, opened the front door. + + + + +XXX + + +The transition from despair to sadness, and from that to 'gentle +resignation,' was accomplished fairly quickly in Frau Lenore; but +that gentle resignation, too, was not slow in changing into a +secret satisfaction, which was, however, concealed in every way and +suppressed for the sake of appearances. Sanin had won Frau Lenore's +heart from the first day of their acquaintance; as she got used to +the idea of his being her son-in-law, she found nothing particularly +distasteful in it, though she thought it her duty to preserve +a somewhat hurt, or rather careworn, expression on her face. +Besides, everything that had happened the last few days had been so +extraordinary.... One thing upon the top of another. As a practical +woman and a mother, Frau Lenore considered it her duty also to put +Sanin through various questions; and Sanin, who, on setting out that +morning to meet Gemma, had not a notion that he should marry her--it +is true he did not think of anything at all at that time, but simply +gave himself up to the current of his passion--Sanin entered, with +perfect readiness, one might even say with zeal, into his part--the +part of the betrothed lover, and answered all her inquiries +circumstantially, exactly, with alacrity. When she had satisfied +herself that he was a real nobleman by birth, and had even expressed +some surprise that he was not a prince, Frau Lenore assumed a serious +air and 'warned him betimes' that she should be quite unceremoniously +frank with him, as she was forced to be so by her sacred duty as a +mother! To which Sanin replied that he expected nothing else from her, +and that he earnestly begged her not to spare him! + +Then Frau Lenore observed that Herr Klueber--as she uttered the name, +she sighed faintly, tightened her lips, and hesitated--Herr Klueber, +Gemma's former betrothed, already possessed an income of eight +thousand guldens, and that with every year this sum would rapidly be +increased; and what was his, Herr Sanin's income? 'Eight thousand +guldens,' Sanin repeated deliberately.... 'That's in our money ... +about fifteen thousand roubles.... My income is much smaller. I have +a small estate in the province of Tula.... With good management, it +might yield--and, in fact, it could not fail to yield--five or six +thousand ... and if I go into the government service, I can easily get +a salary of two thousand a year.' + +'Into the service in Russia?' cried Frau Lenore, 'Then I must part +with Gemma!' + +'One might be able to enter in the diplomatic service,' Sanin put +in; 'I have some connections.... There one's duties lie abroad. Or +else, this is what one might do, and that's much the best of all: +sell my estate and employ the sum received for it in some profitable +undertaking; for instance, the improvement of your shop.' Sanin was +aware that he was saying something absurd, but he was possessed by an +incomprehensible recklessness! He looked at Gemma, who, ever since +the 'practical' conversation began, kept getting up, walking about +the room, and sitting down again--he looked at her--and no obstacle +existed for him, and he was ready to arrange everything at once in the +best way, if only she were not troubled! + +'Herr Klueber, too, had intended to give me a small sum for the +improvement of the shop,' Lenore observed after a slight hesitation. + +'Mother! for mercy's sake, mother!' cried Gemma in Italian. + +'These things must be discussed in good time, my daughter,' Frau +Lenore replied in the same language. She addressed herself again to +Sanin, and began questioning him as to the laws existing in Russia +as to marriage, and whether there were no obstacles to contracting +marriages with Catholics as in Prussia. (At that time, in 1840, +all Germany still remembered the controversy between the Prussian +Government and the Archbishop of Cologne upon mixed marriages.) +When Frau Lenore heard that by marrying a Russian nobleman, her +daughter would herself become of noble rank, she evinced a certain +satisfaction. 'But, of course, you will first have to go to Russia?' + +'Why?' + +'Why? Why, to obtain the permission of your Tsar.' + +Sanin explained to her that that was not at all necessary ... but that +he might certainly have to go to Russia for a very short time before +his marriage--(he said these words, and his heart ached painfully, +Gemma watching him, knew it was aching, and blushed and grew +dreamy)--and that he would try to take advantage of being in his own +country to sell his estate ... in any case he would bring back the +money needed. + +'I would ask you to bring me back some good Astrakhan lambskin for +a cape,' said Frau Lenore. 'They're wonderfully good, I hear, and +wonderfully cheap!' + +'Certainly, with the greatest pleasure, I will bring some for you and +for Gemma!' cried Sanin. + +'And for me a morocco cap worked in silver,' Emil interposed, putting +his head in from the next room. + +'Very well, I will bring it you ... and some slippers for Pantaleone.' + +'Come, that's nonsense, nonsense,' observed Frau Lenore. 'We are +talking now of serious matters. But there's another point,' added the +practical lady. 'You talk of selling your estate. But how will you do +that? Will you sell your peasants then, too?' + +Sanin felt something like a stab at his heart. He remembered that in +a conversation with Signora Roselli and her daughter about serfdom, +which, in his own words, aroused his deepest indignation, he had +repeatedly assured them that never on any account would he sell his +peasants, as he regarded such a sale as an immoral act. + +'I will try and sell my estate to some man I know something of,' +he articulated, not without faltering, 'or perhaps the peasants +themselves will want to buy their freedom.' + +'That would be best of all,' Frau Lenore agreed. 'Though indeed +selling live people ...' + +'_Barbari_!' grumbled Pantaleone, who showed himself behind Emil in +the doorway, shook his topknot, and vanished. + +'It's a bad business!' Sanin thought to himself, and stole a look +at Gemma. She seemed not to have heard his last words. 'Well, never +mind!' he thought again. In this way the practical talk continued +almost uninterruptedly till dinner-time. Frau Lenore was completely +softened at last, and already called Sanin 'Dimitri,' shook her finger +affectionately at him, and promised she would punish him for his +treachery. She asked many and minute questions about his relations, +because 'that too is very important'; asked him to describe the +ceremony of marriage as performed by the ritual of the Russian Church, +and was in raptures already at Gemma in a white dress, with a gold +crown on her head. + +'She's as lovely as a queen,' she murmured with motherly pride,' +indeed there's no queen like her in the world!' + +'There is no one like Gemma in the world!' Sanin chimed in. + +'Yes; that's why she is Gemma!' (Gemma, as every one knows, means in +Italian a precious stone.) + +Gemma flew to kiss her mother.... It seemed as if only then she +breathed freely again, and the load that had been oppressing her +dropped from off her soul. + +Sanin felt all at once so happy, his heart was filled with such +childish gaiety at the thought, that here, after all, the dreams had +come true to which he had abandoned himself not long ago in these very +rooms, his whole being was in such a turmoil that he went quickly +out into the shop. He felt a great desire, come what might, to sell +something in the shop, as he had done a few days before.... 'I have a +full right to do so now!' he felt. 'Why, I am one of the family now!' +And he actually stood behind the counter, and actually kept shop, that +is, sold two little girls, who came in, a pound of sweets, giving them +fully two pounds, and only taking half the price from them. + +At dinner he received an official position, as betrothed, beside +Gemma. Frau Lenore pursued her practical investigations. Emil kept +laughing and urging Sanin to take him with him to Russia. It was +decided that Sanin should set off in a fortnight. Only Pantaleone +showed a somewhat sullen face, so much so that Frau Lenore reproached +him. 'And he was his second!' Pantaleone gave her a glance from under +his brows. + +Gemma was silent almost all the time, but her face had never been +lovelier or brighter. After dinner she called Sanin out a minute into +the garden, and stopping beside the very garden-seat where she had +been sorting the cherries two days before, she said to him. 'Dimitri, +don't be angry with me; but I must remind you once more that you are +not to consider yourself bound ...' + +He did not let her go on.... + +Gemma turned away her face. 'And as for what mamma spoke of, do you +remember, the difference of our religion--see here!...' + +She snatched the garnet cross that hung round her neck on a thin cord, +gave it a violent tug, snapped the cord, and handed him the cross. + +'If I am yours, your faith is my faith!' Sanin's eyes were still wet +when he went back with Gemma into the house. + +By the evening everything went on in its accustomed way. They even +played a game of _tresette_. + + + + +XXXI + + +Sanin woke up very early. He found himself at the highest pinnacle of +human happiness; but it was not that prevented him from sleeping; the +question, the vital, fateful question--how he could dispose of his +estate as quickly and as advantageously as possible--disturbed his +rest. The most diverse plans were mixed up in his head, but nothing +had as yet come out clearly. He went out of the house to get air and +freshen himself. He wanted to present himself to Gemma with a project +ready prepared and not without. + +What was the figure, somewhat ponderous and thick in the legs, but +well-dressed, walking in front of him, with a slight roll and waddle +in his gait? Where had he seen that head, covered with tufts of flaxen +hair, and as it were set right into the shoulders, that soft cushiony +back, those plump arms hanging straight down at his sides? Could it be +Polozov, his old schoolfellow, whom he had lost sight of for the last +five years? Sanin overtook the figure walking in front of him, turned +round.... A broad, yellowish face, little pig's eyes, with white +lashes and eyebrows, a short flat nose, thick lips that looked glued +together, a round smooth chin, and that expression, sour, sluggish, +and mistrustful--yes; it was he, it was Ippolit Polozov! + +'Isn't my lucky star working for me again?' flashed through Sanin's +mind. + +'Polozov! Ippolit Sidorovitch! Is it you?' + +The figure stopped, raised his diminutive eyes, waited a little, and +ungluing his lips at last, brought out in a rather hoarse falsetto, +'Dimitri Sanin?' + +'That's me!' cried Sanin, and he shook one of Polozov's hands; arrayed +in tight kid-gloves of an ashen-grey colour, they hung as lifeless as +before beside his barrel-shaped legs. 'Have you been here long? Where +have you come from? Where are you stopping?' + +'I came yesterday from Wiesbaden,' Polozov replied in deliberate +tones, 'to do some shopping for my wife, and I'm going back to +Wiesbaden to-day.' + +'Oh, yes! You're married, to be sure, and they say, to such a beauty!' + +Polozov turned his eyes away. 'Yes, they say so.' + +Sanin laughed. 'I see you're just the same ... as phlegmatic as you +were at school.' + +'Why should I be different?' + +'And they do say,' Sanin added with special emphasis on the word 'do,' +'that your wife is very rich.' + +'They say that too.' + +'Do you mean to say, Ippolit Sidorovitch, you are not certain on that +point?' + +'I don't meddle, my dear Dimitri ... Pavlovitch? Yes, Pavlovitch!--in +my wife's affairs.' + +'You don't meddle? Not in any of her affairs?' + +Polozov again shifted his eyes. 'Not in any, my boy. She does as she +likes, and so do I.' + +'Where are you going now?' Sanin inquired. + +'I'm not going anywhere just now; I'm standing in the street and +talking to you; but when we've finished talking, I'm going back to my +hotel, and am going to have lunch.' + +'Would you care for my company?' + +'You mean at lunch?' + +'Yes.' + +'Delighted, it's much pleasanter to eat in company. You're not a great +talker, are you?' + +'I think not.' + +'So much the better.' + +Polozov went on. Sanin walked beside him. And Sanin +speculated--Polozov's lips were glued together, again he snorted +heavily, and waddled along in silence--Sanin speculated in what way +had this booby succeeded in catching a rich and beautiful wife. He +was not rich himself, nor distinguished, nor clever; at school he had +passed for a dull, slow-witted boy, sleepy, and greedy, and had borne +the nickname 'driveller.' It was marvellous! + +'But if his wife is very rich, they say she's the daughter of some +sort of a contractor, won't she buy my estate? Though he does say he +doesn't interfere in any of his wife's affairs, that passes belief, +really! Besides, I will name a moderate, reasonable price! Why not +try? Perhaps, it's all my lucky star.... Resolved! I'll have a try!' + +Polozov led Sanin to one of the best hotels in Frankfort, in which +he was, of course, occupying the best apartments. On the tables and +chairs lay piles of packages, cardboard boxes, and parcels. 'All +purchases, my boy, for Maria Nikolaevna!' (that was the name of the +wife of Ippolit Sidorovitch). Polozov dropped into an arm-chair, +groaned, 'Oh, the heat!' and loosened his cravat. Then he rang up the +head-waiter, and ordered with intense care a very lavish luncheon. +'And at one, the carriage is to be ready! Do you hear, at one o'clock +sharp!' + +The head-waiter obsequiously bowed, and cringingly withdrew. + +Polozov unbuttoned his waistcoat. From the very way in which he raised +his eyebrows, gasped, and wrinkled up his nose, one could see that +talking would be a great labour to him, and that he was waiting in +some trepidation to see whether Sanin was going to oblige him to +use his tongue, or whether he would take the task of keeping up the +conversation on himself. + +Sanin understood his companion's disposition of mind, and so he did +not burden him with questions; he restricted himself to the most +essential. He learnt that he had been for two years in the service (in +the Uhlans! how nice he must have looked in the short uniform jacket!) +that he had married three years before, and had now been for two years +abroad with his wife, 'who is now undergoing some sort of cure at +Wiesbaden,' and was then going to Paris. On his side too, Sanin did +not enlarge much on his past life and his plans; he went straight to +the principal point--that is, he began talking of his intention of +selling his estate. + +Polozov listened to him in silence, his eyes straying from time to +time to the door, by which the luncheon was to appear. The luncheon +did appear at last. The head-waiter, accompanied by two other +attendants, brought in several dishes under silver covers. + +'Is the property in the Tula province?' said Polozov, seating himself +at the table, and tucking a napkin into his shirt collar. + +'Yes.' + +'In the Efremovsky district ... I know it.' + +'Do you know my place, Aleksyevka?' Sanin asked, sitting down too at +the table. + +'Yes, I know it.' Polozov thrust in his mouth a piece of omelette +with truffles. 'Maria Nikolaevna, my wife, has an estate in that +neighbourhood.... Uncork that bottle, waiter! You've a good piece of +land, only your peasants have cut down the timber. Why are you selling +it?' + +'I want the money, my friend. I would sell it cheap. Come, you might +as well buy it ... by the way.' + +Polozov gulped down a glass of wine, wiped his lips with the napkin, +and again set to work chewing slowly and noisily. + +'Oh,' he enunciated at last.... 'I don't go in for buying estates; +I've no capital. Pass the butter. Perhaps my wife now would buy it. +You talk to her about it. If you don't ask too much, she's not above +thinking of that.... What asses these Germans are, really! They can't +cook fish. What could be simpler, one wonders? And yet they go on +about "uniting the Fatherland." Waiter, take away that beastly stuff!' + +'Does your wife really manage ... business matters herself?' Sanin +inquired. + +'Yes. Try the cutlets--they're good. I can recommend them. I've told +you already, Dimitri Pavlovitch, I don't interfere in any of my wife's +concerns, and I tell you so again.' + +Polozov went on munching. + +'H'm.... But how can I have a talk with her, Ippolit Sidorovitch?' + +'It's very simple, Dimitri Pavlovitch. Go to Wiesbaden. It's not far +from here. Waiter, haven't you any English mustard? No? Brutes! Only +don't lose any time. We're starting the day after to-morrow. Let me +pour you out a glass of wine; it's wine with a bouquet--no vinegary +stuff.' + +Polozov's face was flushed and animated; it was never animated but +when he was eating--or drinking. + +'Really, I don't know, how that could be managed,' Sanin muttered. + +'But what makes you in such a hurry about it all of a sudden?' + +'There is a reason for being in a hurry, brother.' + +'And do you need a lot of money?' + +'Yes, a lot. I ... how can I tell you? I propose ... getting married.' + +Polozov set the glass he had been lifting to his lips on the table. + +'Getting married!' he articulated in a voice thick with astonishment, +and he folded his podgy hands on his stomach. 'So suddenly?' + +'Yes ... soon.' + +'Your intended is in Russia, of course?' + +'No, not in Russia.' + +'Where then?' + +'Here in Frankfort.' + +'And who is she?' + +'A German; that is, no--an Italian. A resident here.' + +'With a fortune?' + +'No, without a fortune.' + +'Then I suppose your love is very ardent?' + +'How absurd you are! Yes, very ardent.' + +'And it's for that you must have money?' + +'Well, yes ... yes, yes.' + +Polozov gulped down his wine, rinsed his mouth, and washed his hands, +carefully wiped them on the napkin, took out and lighted a cigar. +Sanin watched him in silence. + +'There's one means,' Polozov grunted at last, throwing his head back, +and blowing out the smoke in a thin ring. 'Go to my wife. If she +likes, she can take all the bother off your hands.' + +'But how can I see your wife? You say you are starting the day after +to-morrow?' + +Polozov closed his eyes. + +'I'll tell you what,' he said at last, rolling the cigar in his lips, +and sighing. 'Go home, get ready as quick as you can, and come here. +At one o'clock I am going, there's plenty of room in my carriage. I'll +take you with me. That's the best plan. And now I'm going to have a +nap. I must always have a nap, brother, after a meal. Nature demands +it, and I won't go against it And don't you disturb me.' + +Sanin thought and thought, and suddenly raised his head; he had made +up his mind. + +'Very well, agreed, and thank you. At half-past twelve I'll be +here, and we'll go together to Wiesbaden. I hope your wife won't be +angry....' + +But Polozov was already snoring. He muttered, 'Don't disturb me!' gave +a kick, and fell asleep, like a baby. + +Sanin once more scanned his clumsy figure, his head, his neck, his +upturned chin, round as an apple, and going out of the hotel, set off +with rapid strides to the Rosellis' shop. He had to let Gemma know. + + + + +XXXII + + +He found her in the shop with her mother. Frau Lenore was stooping +down, measuring with a big folding foot-rule the space between the +windows. On seeing Sanin, she stood up, and greeted him cheerfully, +though with a shade of embarrassment. + +'What you said yesterday,' she began, 'has set my head in a whirl with +ideas as to how we could improve our shop. Here, I fancy we might put +a couple of cupboards with shelves of looking-glass. You know, that's +the fashion nowadays. And then ...' + +'Excellent, excellent,' Sanin broke in, 'we must think it all over.... +But come here, I want to tell you something.' He took Frau Lenpre and +Gemma by the arm, and led them into the next room. Frau Lenore was +alarmed, and the foot-rule slipped out of her hands. Gemma too was +almost frightened, but she took an intent look at Sanin, and was +reassured. His face, though preoccupied, expressed at the same time +keen self-confidence and determination. He asked both the women to sit +down, while he remained standing before them, and gesticulating with +his hands and ruffling up his hair, he told them all his story; his +meeting with Polozov, his proposed expedition to Wiesbaden, the chance +of selling the estate. 'Imagine my happiness,' he cried in conclusion: +'things have taken such a turn that I may even, perhaps, not have +to go to Russia! And we can have our wedding much sooner than I had +anticipated!' + +'When must you go?' asked Gemma. + +'To-day, in an hour's time; my friend has ordered a carriage--he will +take me.' + +'You will write to us?' + +'At once! directly I have had a talk with this lady, I will write.' + +'This lady, you say, is very rich?' queried the practical Frau Lenore. + +'Exceedingly rich! her father was a millionaire, and he left +everything to her.' + +'Everything--to her alone? Well, that's so much the better for you. +Only mind, don't let your property go too cheap! Be sensible and +firm. Don't let yourself be carried away! I understand your wishing +to be Gemma's husband as soon as possible ... but prudence before +everything! Don't forget: the better price you get for your estate, +the more there will be for you two, and for your children.' + +Gemma turned away, and Sanin gave another wave of his hand. 'You can +rely on my prudence, Frau Lenore! Indeed, I shan't do any bargaining +with her. I shall tell her the fair price; if she'll give it--good; if +not, let her go.' + +'Do you know her--this lady?' asked Gemma. + +'I have never seen her.' + +'And when will you come back?' + +'If our negotiations come to nothing--the day after to-morrow; if they +turn out favourably, perhaps I may have to stay a day or two longer. +In any case I shall not linger a minute beyond what's necessary. I am +leaving my heart here, you know! But I have said what I had to say to +you, and I must run home before setting off too.... Give me your hand +for luck, Frau Lenore--that's what we always do in Russia.' + +'The right or the left?' + +'The left, it's nearer the heart. I shall reappear the day after +to-morrow with my shield or on it! Something tells me I shall come +back in triumph! Good-bye, my good dear ones....' + +He embraced and kissed Frau Lenore, but he asked Gemma to follow him +into her room--for just a minute--as he must tell her something of +great importance. He simply wanted to say good-bye to her alone. Frau +Lenore saw that, and felt no curiosity as to the matter of such great +importance. + +Sanin had never been in Gemma's room before. All the magic of love, +all its fire and rapture and sweet terror, seemed to flame up and +burst into his soul, directly he crossed its sacred threshold.... He +cast a look of tenderness about him, fell at the sweet girl's feet and +pressed his face against her waist.... + +'You are mine,' she whispered: 'you will be back soon?' + +'I am yours. I will come back,' he declared, catching his breath. + +'I shall be longing for you back, my dear one!' + +A few instants later Sanin was running along the street to his +lodging. He did not even notice that Pantaleone, all dishevelled, had +darted out of the shop-door after him, and was shouting something to +him and was shaking, as though in menace, his lifted hand. + + * * * * * + +Exactly at a quarter to one Sanin presented himself before Polozov. +The carriage with four horses was already standing at the hotel gates. +On seeing Sanin, Polozov merely commented, 'Oh! you've made up your +mind?' and putting on his hat, cloak, and over-shoes, and stuffing +cotton-wool into his ears, though it was summer-time, went out on to +the steps. The waiters, by his directions, disposed all his numerous +purchases in the inside of the carriage, lined the place where he +was to sit with silk cushions, bags, and bundles, put a hamper of +provisions for his feet to rest on, and tied a trunk on to the box. +Polozov paid with a liberal hand, and supported by the deferential +door-keeper, whose face was still respectful, though he was unseen +behind him, he climbed gasping into the carriage, sat down, +disarranged everything about him thoroughly, took out and lighted a +cigar, and only then extended a finger to Sanin, as though to say, +'Get in, you too!' Sanin placed himself beside him. Polozov sent +orders by the door-keeper to the postillion to drive carefully--if he +wanted drinks; the carriage steps grated, the doors slammed, and the +carriage rolled off. + + + + +XXXIII + + +It takes less than an hour in these days by rail from Frankfort to +Wiesbaden; at that time the extra post did it in three hours. They +changed horses five times. Part of the time Polozov dozed and part of +the time he simply shook from side to side, holding a cigar in his +teeth; he talked very little; he did not once look out of the window; +picturesque views did not interest them; he even announced that +'nature was the death of him!' Sanin did not speak either, nor did he +admire the scenery; he had no thought for it. He was all absorbed in +reflections and memories. At the stations Polozov paid with exactness, +took the time by his watch, and tipped the postillions--more or +less--according to their zeal. When they had gone half way, he took +two oranges out of the hamper of edibles, and choosing out the better, +offered the other to Sanin. Sanin looked steadily at his companion, +and suddenly burst out laughing. + +'What are you laughing at?' the latter inquired, very carefully +peeling his orange with his short white nails. + +'What at?' repeated Sanin. 'Why, at our journey together.' + +'What about it?' Polozov inquired again, dropping into his mouth one +of the longitudinal sections into which an orange parts. + +'It's so very strange. Yesterday I must confess I thought no more of +you than of the Emperor of China, and to-day I'm driving with you to +sell my estate to your wife, of whom, too, I have not the slightest +idea.' + +'Anything may happen,' responded Polozov. 'When you've lived a bit +longer, you won't be surprised at anything. For instance, can you +fancy me riding as an orderly officer? But I did, and the Grand Duke +Mihail Pavlovitch gave the order, 'Trot! let him trot, that fat +cornet! Trot now! Look sharp!' + +Sanin scratched behind his ear. + +'Tell me, please, Ippolit Sidorovitch, what is your wife like? What is +her character? It's very necessary for me to know that, you see.' + +'It was very well for him to shout, "Trot!"' Polozov went on with +sudden vehemence, 'But me! how about me? I thought to myself, "You +can take your honours and epaulettes--and leave me in peace!" But ... +you asked about my wife? What my wife is? A person like any one else. +Don't wear your heart upon your sleeve with her--she doesn't like +that. The great thing is to talk a lot to her ... something for her to +laugh at. Tell her about your love, or something ... but make it more +amusing, you know.' + +'How more amusing?' + +'Oh, you told me, you know, that you were in love, wanting to get +married. Well, then, describe that.' + +Sanin was offended. 'What do you find laughable in that?' + +Polozov only rolled his eyes. The juice from the orange was trickling +down his chin. + +'Was it your wife sent you to Frankfort to shop for her?' asked Sanin +after a short time. + +'Yes, it was she.' + +'What are the purchases?' + +'Toys, of course.' + +'Toys? have you any children?' + +Polozov positively moved away from Sanin. + +'That's likely! What do I want with children? Feminine fallals ... +finery. For the toilet.' + +'Do you mean to say you understand such things?' + +'To be sure I do.' + +'But didn't you tell me you didn't interfere in any of your wife's +affairs?' + +'I don't in any other. But this ... is no consequence. To pass the +time--one may do it. And my wife has confidence in my taste. And I'm a +first-rate hand at bargaining.' + +Polozov began to speak by jerks; he was exhausted already. 'And is +your wife very rich?' + +'Rich; yes, rather! Only she keeps the most of it for herself.' + +'But I expect you can't complain either?' + +'Well, I'm her husband. I'm hardly likely not to get some benefit from +it! And I'm of use to her. With me she can do just as she likes! I'm +easy-going!' + +Polozov wiped his face with a silk handkerchief and puffed painfully, +as though to say, 'Have mercy on me; don't force me to utter another +word. You see how hard it is for me.' + +Sanin left him in peace, and again sank into meditation. + + * * * * * + +The hotel in Wiesbaden, before which the carriage stopped, was exactly +like a palace. Bells were promptly set ringing in its inmost recesses; +a fuss and bustle arose; men of good appearance in black frock-coats +skipped out at the principal entrance; a door-keeper who was a blaze +of gold opened the carriage doors with a flourish. + +Like some triumphant general Polozov alighted and began to ascend a +staircase strewn with rugs and smelling of agreeable perfumes. To +him flew up another man, also very well dressed but with a Russian +face--his valet. Polozov observed to him that for the future he +should always take him everywhere with him, for the night before at +Frankfort, he, Polozov, had been left for the night without hot water! +The valet portrayed his horror on his face, and bending down quickly, +took off his master's goloshes. + +'Is Maria Nikolaevna at home?' inquired Polozov. + +'Yes, sir. Madam is pleased to be dressing. Madam is pleased to be +dining to-night at the Countess Lasunsky's.' + +'Ah! there?... Stay! There are things there in the carriage; get them +all yourself and bring them up. And you, Dmitri Pavlovitch,' added +Polozov, 'take a room for yourself and come in in three-quarters of an +hour. We will dine together.' + +Polozov waddled off, while Sanin asked for an inexpensive room for +himself; and after setting his attire to rights, and resting a +little, he repaired to the immense apartment occupied by his Serenity +(Durchlaucht) Prince von Polozov. + +He found this 'prince' enthroned in a luxurious velvet arm-chair in +the middle of a most magnificent drawing-room. Sanin's phlegmatic +friend had already had time to have a bath and to array himself in a +most sumptuous satin dressing-gown; he had put a crimson fez on his +head. Sanin approached him and scrutinised him for some time. Polozov +was sitting rigid as an idol; he did not even turn his face in his +direction, did not even move an eyebrow, did not utter a sound. It was +truly a sublime spectacle! After having admired him for a couple of +minutes, Sanin was on the point of speaking, of breaking this hallowed +silence, when suddenly the door from the next room was thrown open, +and in the doorway appeared a young and beautiful lady in a white +silk dress trimmed with black lace, and with diamonds on her arms and +neck--Maria Nikolaevna Polozov. Her thick fair hair fell on both sides +of her head, braided, but not fastened up into a knot. + + + + +XXXIV + + +'Ah, I beg your pardon!' she said with a smile half-embarrassed, +half-ironical, instantly taking hold of one end of a plait of her hair +and fastening on Sanin her large, grey, clear eyes. + +'I did not think you had come yet.' + +'Sanin, Dmitri Pavlovitch--known him from a boy,' observed Polozov, as +before not turning towards him and not getting up, but pointing at him +with one finger. + +'Yes.... I know.... You told me before. Very glad to make your +acquaintance. But I wanted to ask you, Ippolit Sidorovitch.... My maid +seems to have lost her senses to-day ...' + +'To do your hair up?' + +'Yes, yes, please. I beg your pardon,' Maria Nikolaevna repeated with +the same smile. She nodded to Sanin, and turning swiftly, vanished +through the doorway, leaving behind her a fleeting but graceful +impression of a charming neck, exquisite shoulders, an exquisite +figure. + +Polozov got up, and rolling ponderously, went out by the same door. + +Sanin did not doubt for a single second that his presence in 'Prince +Polozov's' drawing-room was a fact perfectly well known to its +mistress; the whole point of her entry had been the display of her +hair, which was certainly beautiful. Sanin was inwardly delighted +indeed at this freak on the part of Madame Polozov; if, he thought, +she is anxious to impress me, to dazzle me, perhaps, who knows, she +will be accommodating about the price of the estate. His heart was so +full of Gemma that all other women had absolutely no significance for +him; he hardly noticed them; and this time he went no further than +thinking, 'Yes, it was the truth they told me; that lady's really +magnificent to look at!' + +But had he not been in such an exceptional state of mind he would most +likely have expressed himself differently; Maria Nikolaevna Polozov, +by birth Kolishkin, was a very striking personality. And not that she +was of a beauty to which no exception could be taken; traces of her +plebeian origin were rather clearly apparent in her. Her forehead was +low, her nose rather fleshy and turned up; she could boast neither +of the delicacy of her skin nor of the elegance of her hands and +feet--but what did all that matter? Any one meeting her would not, +to use Pushkin's words, have stood still before 'the holy shrine of +beauty,' but before the sorcery of a half-Russian, half-Gipsy woman's +body in its full flower and full power ... and he would have been +nothing loath to stand still! + +But Gemma's image preserved Sanin like the three-fold armour of which +the poets sing. + +Ten minutes later Maria Nikolaevna appeared again, escorted by her +husband. She went up to Sanin ... and her walk was such that some +eccentrics of that--alas!--already, distant day, were simply crazy +over her walk alone. 'That woman, when she comes towards one, seems as +though she is bringing all the happiness of one's life to meet one,' +one of them used to say. She went up to Sanin, and holding out her +hand to him, said in her caressing and, as it were, subdued voice in +Russian, 'You will wait for me, won't you? I'll be back soon.' + +Sanin bowed respectfully, while Maria Nikolaevna vanished behind the +curtain over the outside door; and as she vanished turned her head +back over her shoulder, and smiled again, and again left behind her +the same impression of grace. + +When she smiled, not one and not two, but three dimples came out on +each cheek, and her eyes smiled more than her lips--long, crimson, +juicy lips with two tiny moles on the left side of them. + +Polozov waddled into the room and again established himself in the +arm-chair. He was speechless as before; but from time to time a queer +smile puffed out his colourless and already wrinkled cheeks. He looked +like an old man, though he was only three years older than Sanin. + +The dinner with which he regaled his guest would of course have +satisfied the most exacting gourmand, but to Sanin it seemed endless, +insupportable! Polozov ate slowly, 'with feeling, with judgment, +with deliberation,' bending attentively over his plate, and sniffing +at almost every morsel. First he rinsed his mouth with wine, then +swallowed it and smacked his lips.... Over the roast meat he suddenly +began to talk--but of what? Of merino sheep, of which he was intending +to order a whole flock, and in such detail, with such tenderness, +using all the while endearing pet names for them. After drinking a cup +of coffee, hot to boiling point (he had several times in a voice of +tearful irritation mentioned to the waiter that he had been served the +evening before with coffee, cold--cold as ice!) and bitten off the end +of a Havannah cigar with his crooked yellow teeth, he dropped off, as +his habit was, into a nap, to the intense delight of Sanin, who began +walking up and down with noiseless steps on the soft carpet, and +dreaming of his life with Gemma and of what news he would bring back +to her. Polozov, however, awoke, as he remarked himself, earlier than +usual--he had slept only an hour and a half--and after drinking a +glass of iced seltzer water, and swallowing eight spoonfuls of jam, +Russian jam, which his valet brought him in a dark-green genuine +'Kiev' jar, and without which, in his own words, he could not live, +he stared with his swollen eyes at Sanin and asked him wouldn't he +like to play a game of 'fools' with him. Sanin agreed readily; he +was afraid that Polozov would begin talking again about lambs and +ewes and fat tails. The host and the visitor both adjourned to the +drawing-room, the waiter brought in the cards, and the game began, +not,--of course, for money. + +At this innocent diversion Maria Nikolaevna found them on her return +from the Countess Lasunsky's. She laughed aloud directly she came into +the room and saw the cards and the open card-table. Sanin jumped up, +but she cried, 'Sit still; go on with the game. I'll change my dress +directly and come back to you,' and vanished again with a swish of her +dress, pulling off her gloves as she went. + +She did in fact return very soon. Her evening dress she had exchanged +for a full lilac silk tea-gown, with open hanging sleeves; a thick +twisted cord was fastened round her waist. She sat down by her +husband, and, waiting till he was left 'fool,' said to him, 'Come, +dumpling, that's enough!' (At the word 'dumpling' Sanin glanced at her +in surprise, and she smiled gaily, answering his look with a look, +and displaying all the dimples on her cheeks.) 'I see you are sleepy; +kiss my hand and get along; and Monsieur Sanin and I will have a chat +together alone.' + +'I'm not sleepy,' observed Polozov, getting up ponderously from his +easy-chair; 'but as for getting along, I'm ready to get along and to +kiss your hand.' She gave him the palm of her hand, still smiling and +looking at Sanin. + +Polozov, too, looked at him, and went away without taking leave of +him. + +'Well, tell me, tell me,' said Maria Nikolaevna eagerly, setting both +her bare elbows on the table and impatiently tapping the nails of one +hand against the nails of the other, 'Is it true, they say, you are +going to be married?' + +As she said these words, Maria Nikolaevna positively bent her head a +little on one side so as to look more intently and piercingly into +Sanin's eyes. + + + + +XXXV + + +The free and easy deportment of Madame Polozov would probably for the +first moment have disconcerted Sanin--though he was not quite a novice +and had knocked about the world a little--if he had not again seen in +this very freedom and familiarity a good omen for his undertaking. +'We must humour this rich lady's caprices,' he decided inwardly; and +as unconstrainedly as she had questioned him he answered, 'Yes; I am +going to be married.' + +'To whom? To a foreigner?' + +'Yes.' + +'Did you get acquainted with her lately? In Frankfort?' + +'Yes.' + +'And what is she? May I know?' + +'Certainly. She is a confectioner's daughter.' + +Maria Nikolaevna opened her eyes wide and lifted her eyebrows. + +'Why, this is delightful,' she commented in a drawling voice; 'this is +exquisite! I imagined that young men like you were not to be met with +anywhere in these days. A confectioner's daughter!' + +'I see that surprises you,' observed Sanin with some dignity; 'but in +the first place, I have none of these prejudices ...' + +'In the first place, it doesn't surprise me in the least,' Maria +Nikolaevna interrupted; 'I have no prejudices either. I'm the daughter +of a peasant myself. There! what can you say to that? What does +surprise and delight me is to have come across a man who's not afraid +to love. You do love her, I suppose?' + +'Yes.' + +'Is she very pretty?' + +Sanin was slightly stung by this last question.... However, there was +no drawing back. + +'You know, Maria Nikolaevna,' he began, 'every man thinks the face +of his beloved better than all others; but my betrothed is really +beautiful.' + +'Really? In what style? Italian? antique?' + +'Yes; she has very regular features.' + +'You have not got her portrait with you?' + +'No.' (At that time photography was not yet talked off. Daguerrotypes +had hardly begun to be common.) + +'What's her name?' + +'Her name is Gemma.' + +'And yours?' + +'Dimitri.' + +'And your father's?' + +'Pavlovitch.' + +'Do you know,' Maria Nikolaevna said, still in the same drawling +voice, 'I like you very much, Dimitri Pavlovitch. You must be an +excellent fellow. Give me your hand. Let us be friends.' + +She pressed his hand tightly in her beautiful, white, strong fingers. +Her hand was a little smaller than his hand, but much warmer and +smoother and whiter and more full of life. + +'Only, do you know what strikes me?' + +'What?' + +'You won't be angry? No? You say she is betrothed to you. But was that +... was that quite necessary?' + +Sanin frowned. 'I don't understand you, Maria Nikolaevna.' + +Maria Nikolaevna gave a soft low laugh, and shaking her head tossed +back the hair that was falling on her cheeks. 'Decidedly--he's +delightful,' she commented half pensively, half carelessly. 'A perfect +knight! After that, there's no believing in the people who maintain +that the race of idealists is extinct!' + +Maria Nikolaevna talked Russian all the time, an astonishingly pure +true Moscow Russian, such as the people, not the nobles speak. + +'You've been brought up at home, I expect, in a God-fearing, old +orthodox family?' she queried. 'You're from what province?' + +'Tula.' + +'Oh! so we're from the same part. My father ... I daresay you know who +my father was?' + +'Yes, I know.' + +'He was born in Tula.... He was a Tula man. Well ... well. Come, let +us get to business now.' + +'That is ... how come to business? What do you mean to say by that?' + +Maria Nikolaevna half-closed her eyes. 'Why, what did you come here +for?' (when she screwed up her eyes, their expression became very +kindly and a little bantering, when she opened them wide, into their +clear, almost cold brilliancy, there came something-ill-natured +... something menacing. Her eyes gained a peculiar beauty from her +eyebrows, which were thick, and met in the centre, and had the +smoothness of sable fur). 'Don't you want me to buy your estate? You +want money for your nuptials? Don't you?' + +'Yes.' + +'And do you want much?' + +'I should be satisfied with a few thousand francs at first. Your +husband knows my estate. You can consult him--I would take a very +moderate price.' + +Maria Nikolaevna tossed her head from left to right. '_In the first +place_,' she began in deliberate tones, drumming with the tips of +her fingers on the cuff of Sanin's coat, 'I am not in the habit of +consulting my husband, except about matters of dress--he's my right +hand in that; _and in the second place_, why do you say that you will +fix a low price? I don't want to take advantage of your being very +much in love at the moment, and ready to make any sacrifices.... +I won't accept sacrifices of any kind from you. What? Instead of +encouraging you ... come, how is one to express it properly?--in your +noble sentiments, eh? am I to fleece you? that's not my way. I can be +hard on people, on occasion--only not in that way.' + +Sanin was utterly unable to make out whether she was laughing at him +or speaking seriously, and only said to himself: 'Oh, I can see one +has to mind what one's about with you!' + +A man-servant came in with a Russian samovar, tea-things, cream, +biscuits, etc., on a big tray; he set all these good things on the +table between Sanin and Madame Polozov, and retired. + +She poured him out a cup of tea. 'You don't object?' she queried, as +she put sugar in his cup with her fingers ... though sugar-tongs were +lying close by. + +'Oh, please!... From such a lovely hand ...' + +He did not finish his phrase, and almost choked over a sip of tea, +while she watched him attentively and brightly. + +'I spoke of a moderate price for my land,' he went on, 'because as you +are abroad just now, I can hardly suppose you have a great deal of +cash available, and in fact, I feel myself that the sale ... the +purchase of my land, under such conditions is something exceptional, +and I ought to take that into consideration.' + +Sanin got confused, and lost the thread of what he was saying, while +Maria Nikolaevna softly leaned back in her easy-chair, folded her +arms, and watched him with the same attentive bright look. He was +silent at last. + +'Never mind, go on, go on,' she said, as it were coming to his aid; +'I'm listening to you. I like to hear you; go on talking.' + +Sanin fell to describing his estate, how many acres it contained, and +where it was situated, and what were its agricultural advantages, +and what profit could be made from it ... he even referred to the +picturesque situation of the house; while Maria Nikolaevna still +watched him, and watched more and more intently and radiantly, and her +lips faintly stirred, without smiling: she bit them. He felt awkward +at last; he was silent a second time. + +'Dimitri Pavlovitch' began Maria Nikolaevna, and sank into thought +again.... 'Dimitri Pavlovitch,' she repeated.... 'Do you know what: +I am sure the purchase of your estate will be a very profitable +transaction for me, and that we shall come to terms; but you must give +me two days.... Yes, two days' grace. You are able to endure two days' +separation from your betrothed, aren't you? Longer I won't keep you +against your will--I give you my word of honour. But if you want five +or six thousand francs at once, I am ready with great pleasure to let +you have it as a loan, and then we'll settle later.' + +Sanin got up. 'I must thank you, Maria Nikolaevna, for your +kindhearted and friendly readiness to do a service to a man almost +unknown to you. But if that is your decided wish, then I prefer to +await your decision about my estate--I will stay here two days.' + +'Yes; that is my wish, Dimitri Pavlovitch. And will it be very hard +for you? Very? Tell me.' + +'I love my betrothed, Maria Nikolaevna, and to be separated from her +is hard for me.' + +'Ah! you're a heart of gold!' Maria Nikolaevna commented with a sigh. +'I promise not to torment you too much. Are you going?' + +'It is late,' observed Sanin. + +'And you want to rest after your journey, and your game of "fools" +with my husband. Tell me, were you a great friend of Ippolit +Sidorovitch, my husband?' + +'We were educated at the same school.' + +'And was he the same then?' + +'The same as what?' inquired Sanin. Maria Nikolaevna burst out +laughing, and laughed till she was red in the face; she put her +handkerchief to her lips, rose from her chair, and swaying as though +she were tired, went up to Sanin, and held out her hand to him. + +He bowed over it, and went towards the door. + +'Come early to-morrow--do you hear?' she called after him. He looked +back as he went out of the room, and saw that she had again dropped +into an easy-chair, and flung both arms behind her head. The loose +sleeves of her tea-gown fell open almost to her shoulders, and it was +impossible not to admit that the pose of the arms, that the whole +figure, was enchantingly beautiful. + + + + +XXXVI + + +Long after midnight the lamp was burning in Sanin's room. He sat down +to the table and wrote to 'his Gemma.' He told her everything; he +described the Polozovs--husband and wife--but, more than all, enlarged +on his own feelings, and ended by appointing a meeting with her in +three days!!! (with three marks of exclamation). Early in the morning +he took this letter to the post, and went for a walk in the garden +of the Kurhaus, where music was already being played. There were few +people in it as yet; he stood before the arbour in which the orchestra +was placed, listened to an adaptation of airs from 'Robert le Diable,' +and after drinking some coffee, turned into a solitary side walk, sat +down on a bench, and fell into a reverie. The handle of a parasol +gave him a rapid, and rather vigorous, thump on the shoulder. He +started.... Before him in a light, grey-green barege dress, in a white +tulle hat, and _suede_ gloves, stood Maria Nikolaevna, fresh and rosy +as a summer morning, though the languor of sound unbroken sleep had +not yet quite vanished from her movements and her eyes. + +'Good-morning,' she said. 'I sent after you to-day, but you'd already +gone out. I've only just drunk my second glass--they're making me +drink the water here, you know--whatever for, there's no telling ... +am I not healthy enough? And now I have to walk for a whole hour. Will +you be my companion? And then we'll have some coffee.' + +'I've had some already,' Sanin observed, getting up; 'but I shall be +very glad to have a walk with you.' + +'Very well, give me your arm then; don't be afraid: your betrothed is +not here--she won't see you.' + +Sanin gave a constrained smile. He experienced a disagreeable +sensation every time Maria Nikolaevna referred to Gemma. However, he +made haste to bend towards her obediently.... Maria Nikolaevna's arm +slipped slowly and softly into his arm, and glided over it, and seemed +to cling tight to it. + +'Come--this way,' she said to him, putting up her open parasol over +her shoulder. 'I'm quite at home in this park; I will take you to the +best places. And do you know what? (she very often made use of this +expression), we won't talk just now about that sale, we'll have a +thorough discussion of that after lunch; but you must tell me now +about yourself ... so that I may know whom I have to do with. And +afterwards, if you like, I will tell you about myself. Do you agree?' + +'But, Maria Nikolaevna, what interest can there be for you ...' + +'Stop, stop. You don't understand me. I don't want to flirt with you.' +Maria Nikolaevna shrugged her shoulders. 'He's got a betrothed like an +antique statue, is it likely I am going to flirt with him? But you've +something to sell, and I'm the purchaser. I want to know what your +goods are like. Well, of course, you must show what they are like. +I don't only want to know what I'm buying, but whom I'm buying +from. That was my father's rule. Come, begin ... come, if not from +childhood--come now, have you been long abroad? And where have you +been up till now? Only don't walk so fast, we're in no hurry.' + +'I came here from Italy, where I spent several months.' + +'Ah, you feel, it seems, a special attraction towards everything +Italian. It's strange you didn't find your lady-love there. Are you +fond of art? of pictures? or more of music?' + +'I am fond of art.... I like everything beautiful.' + +'And music?' + +'I like music too.' + +'Well, I don't at all. I don't care for anything but Russian +songs--and that in the country and in the spring--with dancing, you +know ... red shirts, wreaths of beads, the young grass in the meadows, +the smell of smoke ... delicious! But we weren't talking of me. Go on, +tell me.' + +Maria Nikolaevna walked on, and kept looking at Sanin. She was +tall--her face was almost on a level with his face. + +He began to talk--at first reluctantly, unskilfully--but afterwards +he talked more freely, chattered away in fact. Maria Nikolaevna was +a very good listener; and moreover she seemed herself so frank, that +she led others unconsciously on to frankness. She possessed that +great gift of 'intimateness'--_le terrible don de la familiarite_--to +which Cardinal Retz refers. Sanin talked of his travels, of his life +in Petersburg, of his youth.... Had Maria Nikolaevna been a lady +of fashion, with refined manners, he would never have opened out +so; but she herself spoke of herself as a 'good fellow,' who had +no patience with ceremony of any sort; it was in those words that +she characterised herself to Sanin. And at the same time this 'good +fellow' walked by his side with feline grace, slightly bending towards +him, and peeping into his face; and this 'good fellow' walked in the +form of a young feminine creature, full of the tormenting, fiery, soft +and seductive charm, of which--for the undoing of us poor weak sinful +men--only Slav natures are possessed, and but few of them, and those +never of pure Slav blood, with no foreign alloy. Sanin's walk with +Maria Nikolaevna, Sanin's talk with Maria Nikolaevna lasted over an +hour. And they did not stop once; they kept walking about the endless +avenues of the park, now mounting a hill and admiring the view as +they went, and now going down into the valley, and getting hidden in +the thick shadows,--and all the while arm-in-arm. At times Sanin felt +positively irritated; he had never walked so long with Gemma, his +darling Gemma ... but this lady had simply taken possession of him, +and there was no escape! 'Aren't you tired?' he said to her more +than once. 'I never get tired,' she answered. Now and then they met +other people walking in the park; almost all of them bowed--some +respectfully, others even cringingly. To one of them, a very handsome, +fashionably dressed dark man, she called from a distance with the best +Parisian accent, '_Comte, vous savez, il ne faut pas venir me voir--ni +aujourd'hui ni demain_.' The man took off his hat, without speaking, +and dropped a low bow. + +'Who's that?' asked Sanin with the bad habit of asking questions +characteristic of all Russians. + +'Oh, a Frenchman, there are lots of them here ... He's dancing +attendance on me too. It's time for our coffee, though. Let's go home; +you must be hungry by this time, I should say. My better half must +have got his eye-peeps open by now.' + +'Better half! Eye-peeps!' Sanin repeated to himself ... 'And speaks +French so well ... what a strange creature!' + + * * * * * + +Maria Nikolaevna was not mistaken. When she went back into the hotel +with Sanin, her 'better half or 'dumpling' was already seated, the +invariable fez on his head, before a table laid for breakfast. + +'I've been waiting for you!' he cried, making a sour face. 'I was on +the point of having coffee without you.' + +'Never mind, never mind,' Maria Nikolaevna responded cheerfully. 'Are +you angry? That's good for you; without that you'd turn into a mummy +altogether. Here I've brought a visitor. Make haste and ring! Let us +have coffee--the best coffee--in Saxony cups on a snow-white cloth!' + +She threw off her hat and gloves, and clapped her hands. + +Polozov looked at her from under his brows. + +'What makes you so skittish to-day, Maria Nikolaevna?' he said in an +undertone. + +'That's no business of yours, Ippolit Sidoritch! Ring! Dimitri +Pavlovitch, sit down and have some coffee for the second time. Ah, how +nice it is to give orders! There's no pleasure on earth like it!' + +'When you're obeyed,' grumbled her husband again. + +'Just so, when one's obeyed! That's why I'm so happy! Especially with +you. Isn't it so, dumpling? Ah, here's the coffee.' + +On the immense tray, which the waiter brought in, there lay also a +playbill. Maria Nikolaevna snatched it up at once. + +'A drama!' she pronounced with indignation, 'a German drama. +No matter; it's better than a German comedy. Order a box for +me--_baignoire_--or no ... better the _Fremden-Loge_,' she turned to +the waiter. 'Do you hear: the _Fremden-Loge_ it must be!' + +'But if the _Fremden-Loge_ has been already taken by his excellency, +the director of the town (_seine Excellenz der Herr Stadt-Director_),' +the waiter ventured to demur. + +'Give his excellency ten _thalers_, and let the box be mine! Do you +hear!' + +The waiter bent his head humbly and mournfully. + +'Dimitri Pavlovitch, you will go with me to the theatre? the German +actors are awful, but you will go ... Yes? Yes? How obliging you are! +Dumpling, are you not coming? + +'You settle it,' Polozov observed into the cup he had lifted to his +lips. + +'Do you know what, you stay at home. You always go to sleep at the +theatre, and you don't understand much German. I'll tell you what +you'd better do, write an answer to the overseer--you remember, about +our mill ... about the peasants' grinding. Tell him that I won't have +it, and I won't and that's all about it! There's occupation for you +for the whole evening.' + +'All right,' answered Polozov. + +'Well then, that's first-rate. You're a darling. And now, gentlemen, +as we have just been speaking of my overseer, let's talk about our +great business. Come, directly the waiter has cleared the table, +you shall tell me all, Dimitri Pavlovitch, about your estate, what +price you will sell it for, how much you want paid down in advance, +everything, in fact! (At last, thought Sanin, thank God!) You have +told me something about it already, you remember, you described your +garden delightfully, but dumpling wasn't here.... Let him hear, he +may pick a hole somewhere! I'm delighted to think that I can help you +to get married, besides, I promised you that I would go into your +business after lunch, and I always keep my promises, isn't that the +truth, Ippolit Sidoritch?' + +Polozov rubbed his face with his open hand. 'The truth's the truth. +You don't deceive any one.' + +'Never! and I never will deceive any one. Well, Dimitri Pavlovitch, +expound the case as we express it in the senate.' + + + + +XXXVII + + +Sanin proceeded to expound his case, that is to say, again, a second +time, to describe his property, not touching this time on the beauties +of nature, and now and then appealing to Polozov for confirmation of +his 'facts and figures.' But Polozov simply gasped and shook his head, +whether in approval or disapproval, it would have puzzled the devil, +one might fancy, to decide. However, Maria Nikolaevna stood in no need +of his aid. She exhibited commercial and administrative abilities that +were really astonishing! She was familiar with all the ins-and-outs of +farming; she asked questions about everything with great exactitude, +went into every point; every word of hers went straight to the root +of the matter, and hit the nail on the head. Sanin had not expected +such a close inquiry, he had not prepared himself for it. And this +inquiry lasted for fully an hour and a half. Sanin experienced all +the sensations of the criminal on his trial, sitting on a narrow +bench confronted by a stern and penetrating judge. 'Why, it's +a cross-examination!' he murmured to himself dejectedly. Maria +Nikolaevna kept laughing all the while, as though it were a joke; but +Sanin felt none the more at ease for that; and when in the course of +the 'cross-examination' it turned out that he had not clearly realised +the exact meaning of the words 'repartition' and 'tilth,' he was in a +cold perspiration all over. + +'Well, that's all right!' Maria Nikolaevna decided at last. 'I know +your estate now ... as well as you do. What price do you suggest per +soul?' (At that time, as every one knows, the prices of estates were +reckoned by the souls living as serfs on them.) + +'Well ... I imagine ... I could not take less than five hundred +roubles for each,' Sanin articulated with difficulty. O Pantaleone, +Pantaleone, where were you! This was when you ought to have cried +again, 'Barbari!' + +Maria Nikolaevna turned her eyes upwards as though she were +calculating. + +'Well?' she said at last. 'I think there's no harm in that price. +But I reserved for myself two days' grace, and you must wait till +to-morrow. I imagine we shall come to an arrangement, and then you +will tell me how much you want paid down. And now, _basta cosi_!' +she cried, noticing Sanin was about to make some reply. 'We've spent +enough time over filthy lucre ... _a demain les affaires_. Do you +know what, I'll let you go now ... (she glanced at a little enamelled +watch, stuck in her belt) ... till three o'clock ... I must let you +rest. Go and play roulette.' + +'I never play games of chance,' observed Sanin. + +'Really? Why, you're a paragon. Though I don't either. It's stupid +throwing away one's money when one's no chance. But go into the +gambling saloon, and look at the faces. Very comic ones there are +there. There's one old woman with a rustic headband and a moustache, +simply delicious! Our prince there's another, a good one too. A +majestic figure with a nose like an eagle's, and when he puts down a +_thaler_, he crosses himself under his waistcoat. Read the papers, +go a walk, do what you like, in fact. But at three o'clock I expect +you ... _de pied ferme_. We shall have to dine a little earlier. The +theatre among these absurd Germans begins at half-past six. She held +out her hand. '_Sans rancune, n'est-ce pas?_' + +'Really, Maria Nikolaevna, what reason have I to be annoyed?' + +'Why, because I've been tormenting you. Wait a little, you'll see. +There's worse to come,' she added, fluttering her eyelids, and all her +dimples suddenly came out on her flushing cheeks. 'Till we meet!' + +Sanin bowed and went out. A merry laugh rang out after him, and in +the looking-glass which he was passing at that instant, the following +scene was reflected: Maria Nikolaevna had pulled her husband's fez +over his eyes, and he was helplessly struggling with both hands. + + + + +XXXVIII + + +Oh, what a deep sigh of delight Sanin heaved, when he found himself +in his room! Indeed, Maria Nikolaevna had spoken the truth, he +needed rest, rest from all these new acquaintances, collisions, +conversations, from this suffocating atmosphere which was affecting +his head and his heart, from this enigmatical, uninvited intimacy with +a woman, so alien to him! And when was all this taking place? Almost +the day after he had learnt that Gemma loved him, after he had become +betrothed to her. Why, it was sacrilege! A thousand times he mentally +asked forgiveness of his pure chaste dove, though he could not really +blame himself for anything; a thousand times over he kissed the cross +she had given him. Had he not the hope of bringing the business, for +which he had come to Wiesbaden, to a speedy and successful conclusion, +he would have rushed off headlong, back again, to sweet Frankfort, to +that dear house, now his own home, to her, to throw himself at her +loved feet.... But there was no help for it! The cup must be drunk +to the dregs, he must dress, go to dinner, and from there to the +theatre.... If only she would let him go to-morrow! + +One other thing confounded him, angered him; with love, with +tenderness, with grateful transport he dreamed of Gemma, of their life +together, of the happiness awaiting him in the future, and yet this +strange woman, this Madame Polozov persistently floated--no! not +floated, poked herself, so Sanin with special vindictiveness expressed +it--_poked herself_ in and faced his eyes, and he could not rid +himself of her image, could not help hearing her voice, recalling her +words, could not help being aware even of the special scent, delicate, +fresh and penetrating, like the scent of yellow lilies, that was +wafted from her garments. This lady was obviously fooling him, and +trying in every way to get over him ... what for? what did she want? +Could it be merely the caprice of a spoiled, rich, and most likely +unprincipled woman? And that husband! What a creature he was! What +were his relations with her? And why would these questions keep coming +into his head, when he, Sanin, had really no interest whatever in +either Polozov or his wife? Why could he not drive away that intrusive +image, even when he turned with his whole soul to another image, +clear and bright as God's sunshine? How, through those almost divine +features, dare _those others_ force themselves upon him? And not only +that; those other features smiled insolently at him. Those grey, +rapacious eyes, those dimples, those snake-like tresses, how was it +all that seemed to cleave to him, and to shake it all off, and fling +it away, he was unable, had not the power? + +Nonsense! nonsense! to-morrow it would all vanish and leave no +trace.... But would she let him go to-morrow? + +Yes.... All these question he put to himself, but the time was moving +on to three o'clock, and he put on a black frockcoat and after a turn +in the park, went in to the Polozovs! + + * * * * * + +He found in their drawing-room a secretary of the legation, a very +tall light-haired German, with the profile of a horse, and his hair +parted down the back of his head (at that time a new fashion), and ... +oh, wonder! whom besides? Von Doenhof, the very officer with whom he +had fought a few days before! He had not the slightest expectation of +meeting him there and could not help being taken aback. He greeted +him, however. + +'Are you acquainted?' asked Maria Nikolaevna who had not failed to +notice Sanin's embarrassment. + +'Yes ... I have already had the honour,' said Doenhof, and bending a +little aside, in an undertone he added to Maria Nikolaevna, with a +smile, 'The very man ... your compatriot ... the Russian ...' + +'Impossible!' she exclaimed also in an undertone; she shook her finger +at him, and at once began to bid good-bye both to him and the long +secretary, who was, to judge by every symptom, head over ears in love +with her; he positively gaped every time he looked at her. Doenhof +promptly took leave with amiable docility, like a friend of the family +who understands at half a word what is expected of him; the secretary +showed signs of restiveness, but Maria Nikolaevna turned him out +without any kind of ceremony. + +'Get along to your sovereign mistress,' she said to him (there was +at that time in Wiesbaden a certain princess di Monaco, who looked +surprisingly like a _cocotte_ of the poorer sort); 'what do you want +to stay with a plebeian like me for?' + +'Really, dear madam,' protested the luckless secretary,' all the +princesses in the world....' + +But Maria Nikolaevna was remorseless, and the secretary went away, +parting and all. + +Maria Nikolaevna was dressed that day very much 'to her advantage,' +as our grandmothers used to say. She wore a pink glace silk dress, +with sleeves _a la Fontange_, and a big diamond in each ear. Her eyes +sparkled as much as her diamonds; she seemed in a good humour and in +high spirits. + +She made Sanin sit beside her, and began talking to him about Paris, +where she was intending to go in a few days, of how sick she was of +Germans, how stupid they were when they tried to be clever, and how +inappropriately clever sometimes when they were stupid; and suddenly, +point-blank, as they say--_a brule pourpoint_--asked him, was it true +that he had fought a duel with the very officer who had been there +just now, only a few days ago, on account of a lady? + +'How did you know that?' muttered Sanin, dumfoundered. + +'The earth is full of rumours, Dimitri Pavlovitch; but anyway, I know +you were quite right, perfectly right, and behaved like a knight. Tell +me, was that lady your betrothed?' + +Sanin slightly frowned ... + +'There, I won't, I won't,' Maria Nikolaevna hastened to say. 'You +don't like it, forgive me, I won't do it, don't be angry!' Polozov +came in from the next room with a newspaper in his hand. 'What do you +want? Or is dinner ready?' + +'Dinner'll be ready directly, but just see what I've read in the +_Northern Bee_ ... Prince Gromoboy is dead.' + +Maria Nikolaevna raised her head. + +'Ah! I wish him the joys of Paradise! He used,' she turned to Sanin, +'to fill all my rooms with camellias every February on my birthday, +But it wasn't worth spending the winter in Petersburg for that. He +must have been over seventy, I should say?' she said to her husband. + +'Yes, he was. They describe his funeral in the paper. All the court +were present. And here's a poem too, of Prince Kovrizhkin's on the +occasion.' + +'That's nice!' + +'Shall I read them? The prince calls him the good man of wise +counsel.' + +'No, don't. The good man of wise counsel? He was simply the goodman +of Tatiana Yurevna. Come to dinner. Life is for the living. Dimitri +Pavlovitch, your arm.' + + * * * * * + +The dinner was, as on the day before, superb, and the meal was a very +lively one. Maria Nikolaevna knew how to tell a story ... a rare gift +in a woman, and especially in a Russian one! She did not restrict +herself in her expressions; her countrywomen received particularly +severe treatment at her hands. Sanin was more than once set laughing +by some bold and well-directed word. Above all, Maria Nikolaevna +had no patience with hypocrisy, cant, and humbug. She discovered it +almost everywhere. She, as it were, plumed herself on and boasted of +the humble surroundings in which she had begun life. She told rather +queer anecdotes of her relations in the days of her childhood, spoke +of herself as quite as much of a clodhopper as Natalya Kirilovna +Narishkin. It became apparent to Sanin that she had been through a +great deal more in her time than the majority of women of her age. + +Polozov ate meditatively, drank attentively, and only occasionally +cast first on his wife, then on Sanin, his lightish, dim-looking, but, +in reality, very keen eyes. + +'What a clever darling you are!' cried Maria Nikolaevna, turning to +him; 'how well you carried out all my commissions in Frankfort! I +could give you a kiss on your forehead for it, but you're not very +keen after kisses.' + +'I'm not,' responded Polozov, and he cut a pine-apple with a silver +knife. + +Maria Nikolaevna looked at him and drummed with her fingers on the +table. 'So our bet's on, isn't it?' she said significantly. 'Yes, it's +on.' + +'All right. You'll lose it.' + +Polozov stuck out his chin. 'Well, this time you mustn't be too +sanguine, Maria Nikolaevna, maybe you will lose.' + +'What is the bet? May I know?' asked Sanin. + +'No ... not now,' answered Maria Nikolaevna, and she laughed. + +It struck seven. The waiter announced that the carriage was ready. +Polozov saw his wife out, and at once waddled back to his easy-chair. + +'Mind now! Don't forget the letter to the overseer,' Maria Nikolaevna +shouted to him from the hall. + +'I'll write, don't worry yourself. I'm a business-like person.' + + + + +XXXIX + + +In the year 1840, the theatre at Wiesbaden was a poor affair even +externally, and its company, for affected and pitiful mediocrity, for +studious and vulgar commonplaceness, not one hair's-breadth above the +level, which might be regarded up to now as the normal one in all +German theatres, and which has been displayed in perfection lately by +the company in Carlsruhe, under the 'illustrious' direction of Herr +Devrient. At the back of the box taken for her 'Serenity Madame von +Polozov' (how the waiter devised the means of getting it, God knows, +he can hardly have really bribed the stadt-director!) was a little +room, with sofas all round it; before she went into the box, Maria +Nikolaevna asked Sanin to draw up the screen that shut the box off +from the theatre. + +'I don't want to be seen,' she said, 'or else they'll be swarming +round directly, you know.' She made him sit down beside her with his +back to the house so that the box seemed to be empty. The orchestra +played the overture from the _Marriage of Figaro_. The curtain rose, +the play began. + +It was one of those numerous home-raised products in which well-read +but talentless authors, in choice, but dead language, studiously and +cautiously enunciated some 'profound' or 'vital and palpitating' +idea, portrayed a so-called tragic conflict, and produced dulness ... +an Asiatic dulness, like Asiatic cholera. Maria Nikolaevna listened +patiently to half an act, but when the first lover, discovering the +treachery of his mistress (he was dressed in a cinnamon-coloured +coat with 'puffs' and a plush collar, a striped waistcoat with +mother-of-pearl buttons, green trousers with straps of varnished +leather, and white chamois leather gloves), when this lover pressed +both fists to his bosom, and poking his two elbows out at an acute +angle, howled like a dog, Maria Nikolaevna could not stand it. + +'The humblest French actor in the humblest little provincial town acts +better and more naturally than the highest German celebrity,' she +cried in indignation; and she moved away and sat down in the little +room at the back. 'Come here,' she said to Sanin, patting the sofa +beside her. 'Let's talk.' + +Sanin obeyed. + +Maria Nikolaevna glanced at him. 'Ah, I see you're as soft as silk! +Your wife will have an easy time of it with you. That buffoon,' she +went on, pointing with her fan towards the howling actor (he was +acting the part of a tutor), 'reminded me of my young days; I, too, +was in love with a teacher. It was my first ... no, my second passion. +The first time I fell in love with a young monk of the Don monastery. +I was twelve years old. I only saw him on Sundays. He used to wear +a short velvet cassock, smelt of lavender water, and as he made his +way through the crowd with the censer, used to say to the ladies in +French, "_Pardon, excusez_" but never lifted his eyes, and he had +eyelashes like that!' Maria Nikolaevna marked off with the nail of her +middle finger quite half the length of the little finger and showed +Sanin. 'My tutor was called--Monsieur Gaston! I must tell you he was +an awfully learned and very severe person, a Swiss,--and with such an +energetic face! Whiskers black as pitch, a Greek profile, and lips +that looked like cast iron! I was afraid of him! He was the only man I +have ever been afraid of in my life. He was tutor to my brother, who +died ... was drowned. A gipsy woman has foretold a violent death for +me too, but that's all moonshine. I don't believe in it. Only fancy +Ippolit Sidoritch with a dagger!' + +'One may die from something else than a dagger,' observed Sanin. + +'All that's moonshine! Are you superstitious? I'm not a bit. What is +to be, will be. Monsieur Gaston used to live in our house, in the room +over my head. Sometimes I'd wake up at night and hear his footstep--he +used to go to bed very late--and my heart would stand still with +veneration, or some other feeling. My father could hardly read and +write himself, but he gave us an excellent education. Do you know, I +learnt Latin!' + +'You? learnt Latin?' + +'Yes; I did. Monsieur Gaston taught me. I read the _AEneid_ with him. +It's a dull thing, but there are fine passages. Do you remember when +Dido and AEneas are in the forest?...' + +'Yes, yes, I remember,' Sanin answered hurriedly. He had long ago +forgotten all his Latin, and had only very faint notions about the +_AEneid_. + +Maria Nikolaevna glanced at him, as her way was, a little from one +side and looking upwards. 'Don't imagine, though, that I am very +learned. Mercy on us! no; I'm not learned, and I've no talents of any +sort. I scarcely know how to write ... really; I can't read aloud; nor +play the piano, nor draw, nor sew--nothing! That's what I am--there +you have me!' + +She threw out her hands. 'I tell you all this,' she said, 'first, +so as not to hear those fools (she pointed to the stage where at +that instant the actor's place was being filled by an actress, also +howling, and also with her elbows projecting before her) and secondly, +because I'm in your debt; you told me all about yourself yesterday.' + +'It was your pleasure to question me,' observed Sanin. + +Maria Nikolaevna suddenly turned to him. 'And it's not your pleasure +to know just what sort of woman I am? I can't wonder at it, though,' +she went on, leaning back again on the sofa cushions. 'A man just +going to be married, and for love, and after a duel.... What thoughts +could he have for anything else?' + +Maria Nikolaevna relapsed into dreamy silence, and began biting the +handle of her fan with her big, but even, milkwhite teeth. + +And Sanin felt mounting to his head again that intoxication which he +had not been able to get rid of for the last two days. + +The conversation between him and Maria Nikolaevna was carried on in an +undertone, almost in a whisper, and this irritated and disturbed him +the more.... + +When would it all end? + +Weak people never put an end to things themselves--they always wait +for the end. + +Some one sneezed on the stage; this sneeze had been put into the play +by the author as the 'comic relief' or 'element'; there was certainly +no other comic element in it; and the audience made the most of it; +they laughed. + +This laugh, too, jarred upon Sanin. + +There were moments when he actually did not know whether he was +furious or delighted, bored or amused. Oh, if Gemma could have seen +him! + +'It's really curious,' Maria Nikolaevna began all at once. 'A man +informs one and in such a calm voice, "I am going to get married"; but +no one calmly says to one, "I'm going to throw myself in the water." +And yet what difference is there? It's curious, really.' + +Annoyance got the upper hand of Sanin. 'There's a great difference, +Maria Nikolaevna! It's not dreadful at all to throw oneself in the +water if one can swim; and besides ... as to the strangeness of +marriages, if you come to that ...' + +He stopped short abruptly and bit his tongue. + +Maria Nikolaevna slapped her open hand with her fan. + +'Go on, Dimitri Pavlovitch, go on--I know what you were going to say. +"If it comes to that, my dear madam, Maria Nikolaevna Polozov," you +were going to say, "anything more curious than _your_ marriage it +would be impossible to conceive.... I know your husband well, from a +child!" That's what you were going to say, you who can swim!' + +'Excuse me,' Sanin was beginning.... + +'Isn't it the truth? Isn't it the truth?' Maria Nikolaevna pronounced +insistently. + +'Come, look me in the face and tell me I was wrong!' + +Sanin did not know what to do with his eyes. 'Well, if you like; it's +the truth, if you absolutely insist upon it,' he said at last. + +Maria Nikolaevna shook her head. 'Quite so, quite so. Well, and did +you ask yourself, you who can swim, what could be the reason of such +a strange ... step on the part of a woman, not poor ... and not a +fool ... and not ugly? All that does not interest you, perhaps, but +no matter. I'll tell you the reason not this minute, but directly the +_entr'acte_ is over. I am in continual uneasiness for fear some one +should come in....' + +Maria Nikolaevna had hardly uttered this last word when the outer door +actually was half opened, and into the box was thrust a head--red, +oily, perspiring, still young, but toothless; with sleek long hair, +a pendent nose, huge ears like a bat's, with gold spectacles on +inquisitive dull eyes, and a _pince-nez_ over the spectacles. The head +looked round, saw Maria Nikolaevna, gave a nasty grin, nodded.... A +scraggy neck craned in after it.... + +Maria Nikolaevna shook her handkerchief at it. 'I'm not at home! _Ich +bin nicht zu Hause, Herr P....! Ich bin nicht zu Hause.... Ksh-sk! +ksh-sh-sh!_' + +The head was disconcerted, gave a forced laugh, said with a sort of +sob, in imitation of Liszt, at whose feet he had once reverently +grovelled, '_Sehr gut, sehr gut!_' and vanished. + +'What is that object?' inquired Sanin. + +'Oh, a Wiesbaden critic. A literary man or a flunkey, as you like. He +is in the pay of a local speculator here, and so is bound to praise +everything and be ecstatic over every one, though for his part he is +soaked through and through with the nastiest venom, to which he does +not dare to give vent. I am afraid he's an awful scandalmonger; he'll +run at once to tell every one I'm in the theatre. Well, what does it +matter?' + +The orchestra played through a waltz, the curtain floated up again.... +The grimacing and whimpering began again on the stage. + +'Well,' began Maria Nikolaevna, sinking again on to the sofa. 'Since +you are here and obliged to sit with me, instead of enjoying the +society of your betrothed--don't turn away your eyes and get cross--I +understand you, and have promised already to let you go to the other +end of the earth--but now hear my confession. Do you care to know what +I like more than anything?' + +'Freedom,' hazarded Sanin. + +Maria Nikolaevna laid her hand on his hand. + +'Yes, Dimitri Pavlovitch,' she said, and in her voice there was a note +of something special, a sort of unmistakable sincerity and gravity, +'freedom, more than all and before all. And don't imagine I am +boasting of this--there is nothing praiseworthy in it; only it's _so_ +and always will be _so_ with me to the day of my death. I suppose it +must have been that I saw a great deal of slavery in my childhood and +suffered enough from it. Yes, and Monsieur Gaston, my tutor, opened +my eyes too. Now you can, perhaps, understand why I married Ippolit +Sidoritch: with him I'm free, perfectly free as air, as the wind.... +And I knew that before marriage; I knew that with him I should be a +free Cossack!' + +Maria Nikolaevna paused and flung her fan aside. + +'I will tell you one thing more; I have no distaste for reflection ... +it's amusing, and indeed our brains are given us for that; but on the +consequences of what I do I never reflect, and if I suffer I don't +pity myself--not a little bit; it's not worth it. I have a favourite +saying: _Cela ne tire pas a consequence_,--I don't know how to say +that in Russian. And after all, what does _tire a consequence_? I +shan't be asked to give an account of myself here, you see--in this +world; and up there (she pointed upwards with her finger), well, up +there--let them manage as best they can. When they come to judge me +up there, _I_ shall not be _I_! Are you listening to me? Aren't you +bored?' + +Sanin was sitting bent up. He raised his head. 'I'm not at all bored, +Maria Nikolaevna, and I am listening to you with curiosity. Only I ... +confess ... I wonder why you say all this to me?' + +Maria Nikolaevna edged a little away on the sofa. + +'You wonder?... Are you slow to guess? Or so modest?' + +Sanin lifted his head higher than before. + +'I tell you all this,' Maria Nikolaevna continued in an unmoved tone, +which did not, however, at all correspond with the expression of her +face, 'because I like you very much; yes, don't be surprised, I'm not +joking; because since I have met you, it would be painful to me that +you had a disagreeable recollection of me ... not disagreeable even, +that I shouldn't mind, but untrue. That's why I have made you come +here, and am staying alone with you and talking to you so openly.... +Yes, yes, openly. I'm not telling a lie. And observe, Dimitri +Pavlovitch, I know you're in love with another woman, that you're +going to be married to her.... Do justice to my disinterestedness! +Though indeed it's a good opportunity for you to say in your turn: +_Cela ne tire pas a consequence_!' + +She laughed, but her laugh suddenly broke off, and she stayed +motionless, as though her own words had suddenly struck her, and in +her eyes, usually so gay and bold, there was a gleam of something like +timidity, even like sadness. + +'Snake! ah, she's a snake!' Sanin was thinking meanwhile; 'but what a +lovely snake!' + +'Give me my opera-glass,' Maria Nikolaevna said suddenly. 'I want to +see whether this _jeune premiere_ really is so ugly. Upon my word, one +might fancy the government appointed her in the interests of morality, +so that the young men might not lose their heads over her.' + +Sanin handed her the opera-glass, and as she took it from him, +swiftly, but hardly audibly, she snatched his hand in both of hers. + +'Please don't be serious,' she whispered with a smile. 'Do you know +what, no one can put fetters on me, but then you see I put no fetters +on others. I love freedom, and I don't acknowledge duties--not only +for myself. Now move to one side a little, and let us listen to the +play.' + +Maria Nikolaevna turned her opera-glass upon the stage, and Sanin +proceeded to look in the same direction, sitting beside her in the +half dark of the box, and involuntarily drinking in the warmth and +fragrance of her luxurious body, and as involuntarily turning over +and over in his head all she had said during the evening--especially +during the last minutes. + + + + +XL + + +The play lasted over an hour longer, but Maria Nikolaevna and Sanin +soon gave up looking at the stage. A conversation sprang up between +them again, and went on the same lines as before; only this time Sanin +was less silent. Inwardly he was angry with himself and with Maria +Nikolaevna; he tried to prove to her all the inconsistency of her +'theory,' as though she cared for theories! He began arguing with her, +at which she was secretly rejoiced; if a man argues, it means that he +is giving in or will give in. He had taken the bait, was giving way, +had left off keeping shyly aloof! She retorted, laughed, agreed, mused +dreamily, attacked him ... and meanwhile his face and her face were +close together, his eyes no longer avoided her eyes.... Those eyes +of hers seemed to ramble, seemed to hover over his features, and he +smiled in response to them--a smile of civility, but still a smile. +It was so much gained for her that he had gone off into abstractions, +that he was discoursing upon truth in personal relations, upon +duty, the sacredness of love and marriage.... It is well known that +these abstract propositions serve admirably as a beginning ... as a +starting-point.... + +People who knew Maria Nikolaevna well used to maintain that when her +strong and vigorous personality showed signs of something soft and +modest, something almost of maidenly shamefacedness, though one +wondered where she could have got it from ... then ... then, things +were taking a dangerous turn. + +Things had apparently taken such a turn for Sanin.... He would have +felt contempt for himself, if he could have succeeded in concentrating +his attention for one instant; but he had not time to concentrate his +mind nor to despise himself. + +She wasted no time. And it all came from his being so very +good-looking! One can but exclaim, No man knows what may be his making +or his undoing! + +The play was over. Maria Nikolaevna asked Sanin to put on her shawl +and did not stir, while he wrapped the soft fabric round her really +queenly shoulders. Then she took his arm, went out into the corridor, +and almost cried out aloud. At the very door of the box Doenhof sprang +up like some apparition; while behind his back she got a glimpse of +the figure of the Wiesbaden critic. The 'literary man's' oily face was +positively radiant with malignancy. + +'Is it your wish, madam, that I find you your carriage?' said +the young officer addressing Maria Nikolaevna with a quiver of +ill-disguised fury in his voice. + +'No, thank you,' she answered ... 'my man will find it. Stop!' she +added in an imperious whisper, and rapidly withdrew drawing Sanin +along with her. + +'Go to the devil! Why are you staring at me?' Doenhof roared suddenly +at the literary man. He had to vent his feelings upon some one! + +'_Sehr gut! sehr gut!_' muttered the literary man, and shuffled off. + +Maria Nikolaevna's footman, waiting for her in the entrance, found her +carriage in no time. She quickly took her seat in it; Sanin leapt in +after her. The doors were slammed to, and Maria Nikolaevna exploded in +a burst of laughter. + +'What are you laughing at?' Sanin inquired. + +'Oh, excuse me, please ... but it struck me: what if Doenhof were to +have another duel with you ... on my account.... wouldn't that be +wonderful?' + +'Are you very great friends with him?' Sanin asked. + +'With him? that boy? He's one of my followers. You needn't trouble +yourself about him!' + +'Oh, I'm not troubling myself at all.' + +Maria Nikolaevna sighed. 'Ah, I know you're not. But listen, do you +know what, you're such a darling, you mustn't refuse me one last +request. Remember in three days' time I am going to Paris, and you are +returning to Frankfort.... Shall we ever meet again?' + +'What is this request?' + +'You can ride, of course?' + +'Yes.' + +'Well, then, to-morrow morning I'll take you with me, and we'll go a +ride together out of the town. We'll have splendid horses. Then we'll +come home, wind up our business, and amen! Don't be surprised, don't +tell me it's a caprice, and I'm a madcap--all that's very likely--but +simply say, I consent.' + +Maria Nikolaevna turned her face towards him. It was dark in the +carriage, but her eyes glittered even in the darkness. + +'Very well, I consent,' said Sanin with a sigh. + +'Ah! You sighed!' Maria Nikolaevna mimicked him. 'That means to say, +as you've begun, you must go on to the bitter end. But no, no.... +You're charming, you're good, and I'll keep my promise. Here's my +hand, without a glove on it, the right one, for business. Take it, and +have faith in its pressure. What sort of a woman I am, I don't know; +but I'm an honest fellow, and one can do business with me.' + +Sanin, without knowing very well what he was doing, lifted the hand to +his lips. Maria Nikolaevna softly took it, and was suddenly still, and +did not speak again till the carriage stopped. + +She began getting out.... What was it? Sanin's fancy? or did he really +feel on his cheek a swift burning kiss? + +'Till to-morrow!' whispered Maria Nikolaevna on the steps, in the +light of the four tapers of a candelabrum, held up on her appearance +by the gold-laced door-keeper. She kept her eyes cast down. 'Till +to-morrow!' + +When he got back to his room, Sanin found on the table a letter from +Gemma. He felt a momentary dismay, and at once made haste to rejoice +over it to disguise his dismay from himself. It consisted of a few +lines. She was delighted at the 'successful opening of negotiations,' +advised him to be patient, and added that all at home were well, and +were already rejoicing at the prospect of seeing him back again. Sanin +felt the letter rather stiff, he took pen and paper, however ... and +threw it all aside again. 'Why write? I shall be back myself to-morrow +... it's high time!' + +He went to bed immediately, and tried to get to sleep as quickly as +possible. If he had stayed up and remained on his legs, he would +certainly have begun thinking about Gemma, and he was for some reason +... ashamed to think of her. His conscience was stirring within him. +But he consoled himself with the reflection that to-morrow it would +all be over for ever, and he would take leave for good of this +feather-brained lady, and would forget all this rotten idiocy!... + +Weak people in their mental colloquies, eagerly make use of strong +expressions. + +_Et puis ... cela ne tire pas a consequence!_ + + + + +XLI + + +Such were Sanin's thoughts, as he went to bed; but what he thought +next morning when Maria Nikolaevna knocked impatiently at his door +with the coral handle of her riding-whip, when he saw her in the +doorway, with the train of a dark-blue riding habit over her arm, with +a man's small hat on her thickly coiled curls, with a veil thrown +back over her shoulder, with a smile of invitation on her lips, in +her eyes, over all her face--what he thought then--history does not +record. + +'Well? are you ready?' rang out a joyous voice. + +Sanin buttoned his coat, and took his hat in silence. Maria Nikolaevna +flung him a bright look, nodded to him, and ran swiftly down the +staircase. And he ran after her. + +The horses were already waiting in the street at the steps. There +were three of them, a golden chestnut thorough-bred mare, with a +thin-lipped mouth, that showed the teeth, with black prominent eyes, +and legs like a stag's, rather thin but beautifully shaped, and full +of fire and spirit, for Maria Nikolaevna; a big, powerful, rather +thick-set horse, raven black all over, for Sanin; the third horse was +destined for the groom. Maria Nikolaevna leaped adroitly on to her +mare, who stamped and wheeled round, lifting her tail, and sinking +on to her haunches. But Maria Nikolaevna, who was a first-rate +horse-woman, reined her in; they had to take leave of Polozov, who in +his inevitable fez and in an open dressing-gown, came out on to the +balcony, and from there waved a _batiste_ handkerchief, without the +faintest smile, rather a frown, in fact, on his face. Sanin too +mounted his horse; Maria Nikolaevna saluted Polozov with her whip, +then gave her mare a lash with it on her arched and flat neck. The +mare reared on her hind legs, made a dash forward, moving with a smart +and shortened step, quivering in every sinew, biting the air and +snorting abruptly. Sanin rode behind, and looked at Maria Nikolaevna; +her slender supple figure, moulded by close-fitting but easy stays, +swayed to and fro with self-confident grace and skill. She turned her +head and beckoned him with her eyes alone. He came alongside of her. + +'See now, how delightful it is,' she said. 'I tell you at the last, +before parting, you are charming, and you shan't regret it.' + +As she uttered those last words, she nodded her head several times as +if to confirm them and make him feel their full weight. + +She seemed so happy that Sanin was simply astonished; her face even +wore at times that sedate expression which children sometimes have +when they are very ... very much pleased. + +They rode at a walking pace for the short distance to the city walls, +but then started off at a vigorous gallop along the high road. It was +magnificent, real summer weather; the wind blew in their faces, and +sang and whistled sweetly in their ears. They felt very happy; the +sense of youth, health and life, of free eager onward motion, gained +possession of both; it grew stronger every instant. + +Maria Nikolaevna reined in her mare, and again went at a walking pace; +Sanin followed her example. + +'This,' she began with a deep blissful sigh, 'this now is the only +thing worth living for. When you succeed in doing what you want to, +what seemed impossible--come, enjoy it, heart and soul, to the last +drop!' She passed her hand across her throat. 'And how good and kind +one feels oneself then! I now, at this moment ... how good I feel! +I feel as if I could embrace the whole world! No, not the whole +world.... That man now I couldn't.' She pointed with her whip at a +poorly dressed old man who was stealing along on one side. 'But I +am ready to make him happy. Here, take this,' she shouted loudly in +German, and she flung a net purse at his feet. The heavy little bag +(leather purses were not thought of at that time) fell with a ring +on to the road. The old man was astounded, stood still, while Maria +Nikolaevna chuckled, and put her mare into a gallop. + +'Do you enjoy riding so much?' Sanin asked, as he overtook her. + +Maria Nikolaevna reined her mare in once more: only in this way could +she bring her to a stop. + +'I only wanted to get away from thanks. If any one thanks me, he +spoils my pleasure. You see I didn't do that for his sake, but for my +own. How dare he thank me? I didn't hear what you asked me.' + +'I asked ... I wanted to know what makes you so happy to-day.' + +'Do you know what,' said Maria Nikolaevna; either she had again not +heard Sanin's question, or she did not consider it necessary to answer +it. 'I'm awfully sick of that groom, who sticks up there behind us, +and most likely does nothing but wonder when we gentlefolks are going +home again. How shall we get rid of him?' She hastily pulled a little +pocket-book out of her pocket. 'Send him back to the town with a note? +No ... that won't do. Ah! I have it! What's that in front of us? Isn't +it an inn?' + +Sanin looked in the direction she pointed. 'Yes, I believe it is an +inn.' + +'Well, that's first-rate. I'll tell him to stop at that inn and drink +beer till we come back.' + +'But what will he think?' + +'What does it matter to us? Besides, he won't think at all; he'll +drink beer--that's all. Come, Sanin (it was the first time she had +used his surname alone), on, gallop!' + +When they reached the inn, Maria Nikolaevna called the groom up +and told him what she wished of him. The groom, a man of English +extraction and English temperament, raised his hand to the beak of his +cap without a word, jumped off his horse, and took him by the bridle. + +'Well, now we are free as the birds of the air!' cried Maria +Nikolaevna. 'Where shall we go. North, south, east, or west? Look--I'm +like the Hungarian king at his coronation (she pointed her whip in +each direction in turn). All is ours! No, do you know what: see, those +glorious mountains--and that forest! Let's go there, to the mountains, +to the mountains!' + +'_In die Berge wo die Freiheit thront!_' + +She turned off the high-road and galloped along a narrow untrodden +track, which certainly seemed to lead straight to the hills. Sanin +galloped after her. + + + + +XLII + + +This track soon changed into a tiny footpath, and at last disappeared +altogether, and was crossed by a stream. Sanin counselled turning +back, but Maria Nikolaevna said, 'No! I want to get to the mountains! +Let's go straight, as the birds fly,' and she made her mare leap the +stream. Sanin leaped it too. Beyond the stream began a wide meadow, +at first dry, then wet, and at last quite boggy; the water oozed up +everywhere, and stood in pools in some places. Maria Nikolaevna rode +her mare straight through these pools on purpose, laughed, and said, +'Let's be naughty children.' + +'Do you know,' she asked Sanin, 'what is meant by pool-hunting?' + +'Yes,' answered Sanin. + +'I had an uncle a huntsman,' she went on. + +'I used to go out hunting with him--in the spring. It was delicious! +Here we are now, on the pools with you. Only, I see, you're a Russian, +and yet mean to marry an Italian. Well, that's your sorrow. What's +that? A stream again! Gee up!' + +The horse took the leap, but Maria Nikolaevna's hat fell off her head, +and her curls tumbled loose over her shoulders. Sanin was just going +to get off his horse to pick up the hat, but she shouted to him, +'Don't touch it, I'll get it myself,' bent low down from the saddle, +hooked the handle of her whip into the veil, and actually did get the +hat. She put it on her head, but did not fasten up her hair, and again +darted off, positively holloaing. Sanin dashed along beside her, by +her side leaped trenches, fences, brooks, fell in and scrambled out, +flew down hill, flew up hill, and kept watching her face. What a face +it was! It was all, as it were, wide open: wide-open eyes, eager, +bright, and wild; lips, nostrils, open too, and breathing eagerly; she +looked straight before her, and it seemed as though that soul longed +to master everything it saw, the earth, the sky, the sun, the air +itself; and would complain of one thing only--that dangers were so +few, and all she could overcome. 'Sanin!' she cried, 'why, this is +like Buerger's Lenore! Only you're not dead--eh? Not dead ... I am +alive!' She let her force and daring have full fling. It seemed not an +Amazon on a galloping horse, but a young female centaur at full speed, +half-beast and half-god, and the sober, well-bred country seemed +astounded, as it was trampled underfoot in her wild riot! + +Maria Nikolaevna at last drew up her foaming and bespattered mare; she +was staggering under her, and Sanin's powerful but heavy horse was +gasping for breath. + +'Well, do you like it?' Maria Nikolaevna asked in a sort of exquisite +whisper. + +'I like it!' Sanin echoed back ecstatically. And his blood was on +fire. + +'This isn't all, wait a bit.' She held out her hand. Her glove was +torn across. + +'I told you I would lead you to the forest, to the mountains.... Here +they are, the mountains!' The mountains, covered with tall forest, +rose about two hundred feet from the place they had reached in their +wild ride. 'Look, here is the road; let us turn into it--and forwards. +Only at a walk. We must let our horses get their breath.' + +They rode on. With one vigorous sweep of her arm Maria Nikolaevna +flung back her hair. Then she looked at her gloves and took them off. +'My hands will smell of leather,' she said, 'you won't mind that, eh?' +... Maria Nikolaevna smiled, and Sanin smiled too. Their mad gallop +together seemed to have finally brought them together and made them +friends. + +'How old are you?' she asked suddenly. + +'Twenty-two.' + +'Really? I'm twenty-two too. A nice age. Add both together and you're +still far off old age. It's hot, though. Am I very red, eh?' + +'Like a poppy!' + +Maria Nikolaevna rubbed her face with her handkerchief. 'We've only +to get to the forest and there it will be cool. Such an old forest is +like an old friend. Have you any friends?' + +Sanin thought a little. 'Yes ... only few. No real ones.' + +'I have; real ones--but not old ones. This is a friend too--a horse. +How carefully it carries one! Ah, but it's splendid here! Is it +possible I am going to Paris the day after to-morrow?' + +'Yes ... is it possible?' Sanin chimed in. + +'And you to Frankfort?' + +'I am certainly going to Frankfort.' + +'Well, what of it? Good luck go with you! Anyway, to-day's ours ... +ours ... ours!' + + * * * * * + +The horses reached the forest's edge and pushed on into the forest. +The broad soft shade of the forest wrapt them round on all sides. + +'Oh, but this is paradise!' cried Maria Nikolaevna. 'Further, deeper +into the shade, Sanin!' + +The horses moved slowly on, 'deeper into the shade,' slightly swaying +and snorting. The path, by which they had come in, suddenly turned +off and plunged into a rather narrow gorge. The smell of heather and +bracken, of the resin of the pines, and the decaying leaves of last +year, seemed to hang, close and drowsy, about it. Through the clefts +of the big brown rocks came strong currents of fresh air. On both +sides of the path rose round hillocks covered with green moss. + +'Stop!' cried Maria Nikolaevna, 'I want to sit down and rest on this +velvet. Help me to get off.' + +Sanin leaped off his horse and ran up to her. She leaned on both his +shoulders, sprang instantly to the ground, and seated herself on one +of the mossy mounds. He stood before her, holding both the horses' +bridles in his hand. + +She lifted her eyes to him.... 'Sanin, are you able to forget?' + +Sanin recollected what had happened yesterday ... in the carriage. +'What is that--a question ... or a reproach?' + +'I have never in my life reproached any one for anything. Do you +believe in magic?' + +'What?' + +'In magic?--you know what is sung of in our ballads--our Russian +peasant ballads?' + +'Ah! That's what you're speaking of,' Sanin said slowly. + +'Yes, that's it. I believe in it ... and you will believe in it.' + +'Magic is sorcery ...' Sanin repeated, 'Anything in the world is +possible. I used not to believe in it--but I do now. I don't know +myself.' + +Maria Nikolaevna thought a moment and looked about her. 'I fancy this +place seems familiar to me. Look, Sanin, behind that bushy oak--is +there a red wooden cross, or not?' + +Sanin moved a few steps to one side. 'Yes, there is.' Maria Nikolaevna +smiled. 'Ah, that's good! I know where we are. We haven't got lost as +yet. What's that tapping? A wood-cutter?' + +Sanin looked into the thicket. 'Yes ... there's a man there chopping +up dry branches.' + +'I must put my hair to rights,' said Maria Nikolaevna. 'Else he'll see +me and be shocked.' She took off her hat and began plaiting up her +long hair, silently and seriously. Sanin stood facing her ... All the +lines of her graceful limbs could be clearly seen through the dark +folds of her habit, dotted here and there with tufts of moss. + +One of the horses suddenly shook itself behind Sanin's back; he +himself started and trembled from head to foot. Everything was in +confusion within him, his nerves were strung up like harpstrings. He +might well say he did not know himself.... He really was bewitched. +His whole being was filled full of one thing ... one idea, one desire. +Maria Nikolaevna turned a keen look upon him. + +'Come, now everything's as it should be,' she observed, putting on her +hat. 'Won't you sit down? Here! No, wait a minute ... don't sit down! +What's that?' + +Over the tree-tops, over the air of the forest, rolled a dull +rumbling. + +'Can it be thunder?' + +'I think it really is thunder,' answered Sanin. + +'Oh, this is a treat, a real treat! That was the only thing wanting!' +The dull rumble was heard a second time, rose, and fell in a crash. +'Bravo! Bis! Do you remember I spoke of the _AEneid_ yesterday? They +too were overtaken by a storm in the forest, you know. We must be off, +though.' She rose swiftly to her feet. 'Bring me my horse.... Give me +your hand. There, so. I'm not heavy.' + +She hopped like a bird into the saddle. Sanin too mounted his horse. + +'Are you going home?' he asked in an unsteady voice. + +'Home indeed!' she answered deliberately and picked up the reins. +'Follow me,' she commanded almost roughly. She came out on to the road +and passing the red cross, rode down into a hollow, clambered up again +to a cross road, turned to the right and again up the mountainside.... +She obviously knew where the path led, and the path led farther and +farther into the heart of the forest. She said nothing and did not +look round; she moved imperiously in front and humbly and submissively +he followed without a spark of will in his sinking heart. Rain began +to fall in spots. She quickened her horse's pace, and he did not +linger behind her. At last through the dark green of the young firs +under an overhanging grey rock, a tumbledown little hut peeped out at +him, with a low door in its wattle wall.... Maria Nikolaevna made +her mare push through the fir bushes, leaped off her, and appearing +suddenly at the entrance to the hut, turned to Sanin, and whispered +'AEneas.' + + * * * * * + +Four hours later, Maria Nikolaevna and Sanin, accompanied by the +groom, who was nodding in the saddle, returned to Wiesbaden, to the +hotel. Polozov met his wife with the letter to the overseer in his +hand. After staring rather intently at her, he showed signs of some +displeasure on his face, and even muttered, 'You don't mean to say +you've won your bet?' + +Maria Nikolaevna simply shrugged her shoulders. + + * * * * * + +The same day, two hours later, Sanin was standing in his own room +before her, like one distraught, ruined.... + +'Where are you going, dear?' she asked him. 'To Paris, or to +Frankfort?' + +'I am going where you will be, and will be with you till you drive me +away,' he answered with despair and pressed close to him the hands +of his sovereign. She freed her hands, laid them on his head, and +clutched at his hair with her fingers. She slowly turned over and +twisted the unresisting hair, drew herself up, her lips curled with +triumph, while her eyes, wide and clear, almost white, expressed +nothing but the ruthlessness and glutted joy of conquest. The hawk, as +it clutches a captured bird, has eyes like that. + + + + +XLIII + + +This was what Dimitri Sanin remembered when in the stillness of his +room turning over his old papers he found among them a garnet cross. +The events we have described rose clearly and consecutively before his +mental vision.... But when he reached the moment when he addressed +that humiliating prayer to Madame Polozov, when he grovelled at her +feet, when his slavery began, he averted his gaze from the images he +had evoked, he tried to recall no more. And not that his memory failed +him, oh no! he knew only too well what followed upon that moment, but +he was stifled by shame, even now, so many years after; he dreaded +that feeling of self-contempt, which he knew for certain would +overwhelm him, and like a torrent, flood all other feelings if he did +not bid his memory be still. But try as he would to turn away from +these memories, he could not stifle them entirely. He remembered the +scoundrelly, tearful, lying, pitiful letter he had sent to Gemma, that +never received an answer.... See her again, go back to her, after such +falsehood, such treachery, no! no! he could not, so much conscience +and honesty was left in him. Moreover, he had lost every trace of +confidence in himself, every atom of self-respect; he dared not rely +on himself for anything. Sanin recollected too how he had later +on--oh, ignominy!--sent the Polozovs' footman to Frankfort for his +things, what cowardly terror he had felt, how he had had one thought +only, to get away as soon as might be to Paris--to Paris; how in +obedience to Maria Nikolaevna, he had humoured and tried to please +Ippolit Sidoritch and been amiable to Doenhof, on whose finger he +noticed just such an iron ring as Maria Nikolaevna had given him!!! +Then followed memories still worse, more ignominious ... the waiter +hands him a visiting card, and on it is the name, 'Pantaleone +Cippatola, court singer to His Highness the Duke of Modena!' He hides +from the old man, but cannot escape meeting him in the corridor, and +a face of exasperation rises before him under an upstanding topknot +of grey hair; the old eyes blaze like red-hot coals, and he hears +menacing cries and curses: '_Maledizione!_' hears even the terrible +words: '_Codardo! Infame traditore!_' Sanin closes his eyes, shakes +his head, turns away again and again, but still he sees himself +sitting in a travelling carriage on the narrow front seat ... In the +comfortable places facing the horses sit Maria Nikolaevna and Ippolit +Sidoritch, the four horses trotting all together fly along the paved +roads of Wiesbaden to Paris! to Paris! Ippolit Sidoritch is eating a +pear which Sanin has peeled for him, while Maria Nikolaevna watches +him and smiles at him, her bondslave, that smile he knows already, the +smile of the proprietor, the slave-owner.... But, good God, out there +at the corner of the street not far from the city walls, wasn't it +Pantaleone again, and who with him? Can it be Emilio? Yes, it was +he, the enthusiastic devoted boy! Not long since his young face had +been full of reverence before his hero, his ideal, but now his pale +handsome face, so handsome that Maria Nikolaevna noticed him and poked +her head out of the carriage window, that noble face is glowing with +anger and contempt; his eyes, so like _her_ eyes! are fastened upon +Sanin, and the tightly compressed lips part to revile him.... + +And Pantaleone stretches out his hand and points Sanin out to +Tartaglia standing near, and Tartaglia barks at Sanin, and the very +bark of the faithful dog sounds like an unbearable reproach.... +Hideous! + +And then, the life in Paris, and all the humiliations, all the +loathsome tortures of the slave, who dare not be jealous or complain, +and who is cast aside at last, like a worn-out garment.... + +Then the going home to his own country, the poisoned, the devastated +life, the petty interests and petty cares, bitter and fruitless +regret, and as bitter and fruitless apathy, a punishment not apparent, +but of every minute, continuous, like some trivial but incurable +disease, the payment farthing by farthing of the debt, which can never +be settled.... + +The cup was full enough. + + * * * * * + +How had the garnet cross given Sanin by Gemma existed till now, why +had he not sent it back, how had it happened that he had never come +across it till that day? A long, long while he sat deep in thought, +and taught as he was by the experience of so many years, he still +could not comprehend how he could have deserted Gemma, so tenderly and +passionately loved, for a woman he did not love at all.... Next day he +surprised all his friends and acquaintances by announcing that he was +going abroad. + +The surprise was general in society. Sanin was leaving Petersburg, in +the middle of the winter, after having only just taken and furnished a +capital flat, and having even secured seats for all the performances +of the Italian Opera, in which Madame Patti ... Patti, herself, +herself, was to take part! His friends and acquaintances wondered; +but it is not human nature as a rule to be interested long in other +people's affairs, and when Sanin set off for abroad, none came to the +railway station to see him off but a French tailor, and he only in +the hope of securing an unpaid account '_pour un saute-en-barque en +velours noir tout a fait chic_.' + + + + +XLIV + + +Sanin told his friends he was going abroad, but he did not say where +exactly: the reader will readily conjecture that he made straight for +Frankfort. Thanks to the general extension of railways, on the fourth +day after leaving Petersburg he was there. He had not visited the +place since 1840. The hotel, the White Swan, was standing in its old +place and still flourishing, though no longer regarded as first class. +The _Zeile_, the principal street of Frankfort was little changed, +but there was not only no trace of Signora Roselli's house, the very +street in which it stood had disappeared. Sanin wandered like a man in +a dream about the places once so familiar, and recognised nothing; the +old buildings had vanished; they were replaced by new streets of huge +continuous houses and fine villas; even the public garden, where that +last interview with Gemma had taken place, had so grown up and altered +that Sanin wondered if it really were the same garden. What was he to +do? How and where could he get information? Thirty years, no little +thing! had passed since those days. No one to whom he applied had +even heard of the name Roselli; the hotel-keeper advised him to have +recourse to the public library, there, he told him, he would find +all the old newspapers, but what good he would get from that, the +hotel-keeper owned he didn't see. Sanin in despair made inquiries +about Herr Klueber. That name the hotel-keeper knew well, but there too +no success awaited him. The elegant shop-manager, after making much +noise in the world and rising to the position of a capitalist, had +speculated, was made bankrupt, and died in prison.... This piece of +news did not, however, occasion Sanin the slightest regret. He was +beginning to feel that his journey had been rather precipitate.... +But, behold, one day, as he was turning over a Frankfort directory, +he came on the name: Von Doenhof, retired major. He promptly took a +carriage and drove to the address, though why was this Von Doenhof +certain to be that Doenhof, and why even was the right Doenhof likely +to be able to tell him any news of the Roselli family? No matter, a +drowning man catches at straws. + +Sanin found the retired major von Doenhof at home, and in the +grey-haired gentleman who received him he recognised at once his +adversary of bygone days. Doenhof knew him too, and was positively +delighted to see him; he recalled to him his young days, the escapades +of his youth. Sanin heard from him that the Roselli family had long, +long ago emigrated to America, to New York; that Gemma had married a +merchant; that he, Doenhof, had an acquaintance also a merchant, who +would probably know her husband's address, as he did a great deal of +business with America. Sanin begged Doenhof to consult this friend, +and, to his delight, Doenhof brought him the address of Gemma's +husband, Mr. Jeremy Slocum, New York, Broadway, No. 501. Only this +address dated from the year 1863. + +'Let us hope,' cried Doenhof, 'that our Frankfort belle is still alive +and has not left New York! By the way,' he added, dropping his voice, +'what about that Russian lady, who was staying, do you remember, about +that time at Wiesbaden--Madame von Bo ... von Bolozov, is she still +living?' + +'No,' answered Sanin, 'she died long ago.' Doenhof looked up, but +observing that Sanin had turned away and was frowning, he did not say +another word, but took his leave. + + * * * * * + +That same day Sanin sent a letter to Madame Gemma Slocum, at New York. +In the letter he told her he was writing to her from Frankfort, where +he had come solely with the object of finding traces of her, that +he was very well aware that he was absolutely without a right to +expect that she would answer his appeal; that he had not deserved her +forgiveness, and could only hope that among happy surroundings she had +long ago forgotten his existence. He added that he had made up his +mind to recall himself to her memory in consequence of a chance +circumstance which had too vividly brought back to him the images +of the past; he described his life, solitary, childless, joyless; +he implored her to understand the grounds that had induced him to +address her, not to let him carry to the grave the bitter sense of his +own wrongdoing, expiated long since by suffering, but never forgiven, +and to make him happy with even the briefest news of her life in the +new world to which she had gone away. 'In writing one word to me,' +so Sanin ended his letter, 'you will be doing a good action worthy +of your noble soul, and I shall thank you to my last breath. I am +stopping here at the _White Swan_ (he underlined those words) and +shall wait, wait till spring, for your answer.' + +He despatched this letter, and proceeded to wait. For six whole weeks +he lived in the hotel, scarcely leaving his room, and resolutely +seeing no one. No one could write to him from Russia nor from +anywhere; and that just suited his mood; if a letter came addressed to +him he would know at once that it was the one he was waiting for. +He read from morning till evening, and not journals, but serious +books--historical works. These prolonged studies, this stillness, this +hidden life, like a snail in its shell, suited his spiritual condition +to perfection; and for this, if nothing more, thanks to Gemma! But was +she alive? Would she answer? + +At last a letter came, with an American postmark, from New York, +addressed to him. The handwriting of the address on the envelope was +English.... He did not recognise it, and there was a pang at his +heart. He could not at once bring himself to break open the envelope. +He glanced at the signature--Gemma! The tears positively gushed from +his eyes: the mere fact that she signed her name, without a surname, +was a pledge to him of reconciliation, of forgiveness! He unfolded the +thin sheet of blue notepaper: a photograph slipped out. He made haste +to pick it up--and was struck dumb with amazement: Gemma, Gemma +living, young as he had known her thirty years ago! The same eyes, +the same lips, the same form of the whole face! On the back of the +photograph was written, 'My daughter Mariana.' The whole letter was +very kind and simple. Gemma thanked Sanin for not having hesitated to +write to her, for having confidence in her; she did not conceal from +him that she had passed some painful moments after his disappearance, +but she added at once that for all that she considered--and had always +considered--her meeting him as a happy thing, seeing that it was that +meeting which had prevented her from becoming the wife of Mr. Klueber, +and in that way, though indirectly, had led to her marriage with her +husband, with whom she had now lived twenty-eight years, in perfect +happiness, comfort, and prosperity; their house was known to every +one in New York. Gemma informed Sanin that she was the mother of five +children, four sons and one daughter, a girl of eighteen, engaged +to be married, and her photograph she enclosed as she was generally +considered very like her mother. The sorrowful news Gemma kept for the +end of the letter. Frau Lenore had died in New York, where she had +followed her daughter and son-in-law, but she had lived long enough to +rejoice in her children's happiness and to nurse her grandchildren. +Pantaleone, too, had meant to come out to America, but he had died on +the very eve of leaving Frankfort. 'Emilio, our beloved, incomparable +Emilio, died a glorious death for the freedom of his country in +Sicily, where he was one of the "Thousand" under the leadership of the +great Garibaldi; we all bitterly lamented the loss of our priceless +brother, but, even in the midst of our tears, we were proud of +him--and shall always be proud of him--and hold his memory sacred! +His lofty, disinterested soul was worthy of a martyr's crown!' Then +Gemma expressed her regret that Sanin's life had apparently been +so unsuccessful, wished him before everything peace and a tranquil +spirit, and said that she would be very glad to see him again, though +she realised how unlikely such a meeting was.... + +We will not attempt to describe the feelings Sanin experienced as +he read this letter. For such feelings there is no satisfactory +expression; they are too deep and too strong and too vague for any +word. Only music could reproduce them. + +Sanin answered at once; and as a wedding gift to the young girl, sent +to 'Mariana Slocum, from an unknown friend,' a garnet cross, set in a +magnificent pearl necklace. This present, costly as it was, did not +ruin him; during the thirty years that had elapsed since his first +visit to Frankfort, he had succeeded in accumulating a considerable +fortune. Early in May he went back to Petersburg, but hardly for long. +It is rumoured that he is selling all his lands and preparing to go to +America. + + + + +FIRST LOVE + + +The party had long ago broken up. The clock struck half-past twelve. +There was left in the room only the master of the house and Sergei +Nikolaevitch and Vladimir Petrovitch. + +The master of the house rang and ordered the remains of the supper +to be cleared away. 'And so it's settled,' he observed, sitting back +farther in his easy-chair and lighting a cigar; 'each of us is to tell +the story of his first love. It's your turn, Sergei Nikolaevitch.' + +Sergei Nikolaevitch, a round little man with a plump, +light-complexioned face, gazed first at the master of the house, then +raised his eyes to the ceiling. 'I had no first love,' he said at +last; 'I began with the second.' + +'How was that?' + +'It's very simple. I was eighteen when I had my first flirtation +with a charming young lady, but I courted her just as though it +were nothing new to me; just as I courted others later on. To speak +accurately, the first and last time I was in love was with my nurse +when I was six years old; but that's in the remote past. The details +of our relations have slipped out of my memory, and even if I +remembered them, whom could they interest?' + +'Then how's it to be?' began the master of the house. 'There was +nothing much of interest about my first love either; I never fell +in love with any one till I met Anna Nikolaevna, now my wife,--and +everything went as smoothly as possible with us; our parents arranged +the match, we were very soon in love with each other, and got married +without loss of time. My story can be told in a couple of words. I +must confess, gentlemen, in bringing up the subject of first love, I +reckoned upon you, I won't say old, but no longer young, bachelors. +Can't you enliven us with something, Vladimir Petrovitch?' + +'My first love, certainly, was not quite an ordinary one,' responded, +with some reluctance, Vladimir Petrovitch, a man of forty, with black +hair turning grey. + +'Ah!' said the master of the house and Sergei Nikolaevitch with one +voice: 'So much the better.... Tell us about it.' + +'If you wish it ... or no; I won't tell the story; I'm no hand at +telling a story; I make it dry and brief, or spun out and affected. If +you'll allow me, I'll write out all I remember and read it you.' + +His friends at first would not agree, but Vladimir Petrovitch insisted +on his own way. A fortnight later they were together again, and +Vladimir Petrovitch kept his word. + +His manuscript contained the following story:-- + + + + +I + + +I was sixteen then. It happened in the summer of 1833. + +I lived in Moscow with my parents. They had taken a country house for +the summer near the Kalouga gate, facing the Neskutchny gardens. I +was preparing for the university, but did not work much and was in no +hurry. + +No one interfered with my freedom. I did what I liked, especially +after parting with my last tutor, a Frenchman who had never been able +to get used to the idea that he had fallen 'like a bomb' (_comme +une bombe_) into Russia, and would lie sluggishly in bed with an +expression of exasperation on his face for days together. My father +treated me with careless kindness; my mother scarcely noticed me, +though she had no children except me; other cares completely absorbed +her. My father, a man still young and very handsome, had married her +from mercenary considerations; she was ten years older than he. My +mother led a melancholy life; she was for ever agitated, jealous and +angry, but not in my father's presence; she was very much afraid of +him, and he was severe, cold, and distant in his behaviour.... I +have never seen a man more elaborately serene, self-confident, and +commanding. + +I shall never forget the first weeks I spent at the country house. +The weather was magnificent; we left town on the 9th of May, on St. +Nicholas's day. I used to walk about in our garden, in the Neskutchny +gardens, and beyond the town gates; I would take some book with +me--Keidanov's Course, for instance--but I rarely looked into it, and +more often than anything declaimed verses aloud; I knew a great deal +of poetry by heart; my blood was in a ferment and my heart ached--so +sweetly and absurdly; I was all hope and anticipation, was a little +frightened of something, and full of wonder at everything, and was +on the tiptoe of expectation; my imagination played continually, +fluttering rapidly about the same fancies, like martins about a +bell-tower at dawn; I dreamed, was sad, even wept; but through the +tears and through the sadness, inspired by a musical verse, or the +beauty of evening, shot up like grass in spring the delicious sense of +youth and effervescent life. + +I had a horse to ride; I used to saddle it myself and set off alone +for long rides, break into a rapid gallop and fancy myself a knight at +a tournament. How gaily the wind whistled in my ears! or turning my +face towards the sky, I would absorb its shining radiance and blue +into my soul, that opened wide to welcome it. + +I remember that at that time the image of woman, the vision of love, +scarcely ever arose in definite shape in my brain; but in all I +thought, in all I felt, lay hidden a half-conscious, shamefaced +presentiment of something new, unutterably sweet, feminine.... + +This presentiment, this expectation, permeated my whole being; I +breathed in it, it coursed through my veins with every drop of blood +... it was destined to be soon fulfilled. + +The place, where we settled for the summer, consisted of a wooden +manor-house with columns and two small lodges; in the lodge on +the left there was a tiny factory for the manufacture of cheap +wall-papers.... I had more than once strolled that way to look at +about a dozen thin and dishevelled boys with greasy smocks and worn +faces, who were perpetually jumping on to wooden levers, that pressed +down the square blocks of the press, and so by the weight of their +feeble bodies struck off the variegated patterns of the wall-papers. +The lodge on the right stood empty, and was to let. One day--three +weeks after the 9th of May--the blinds in the windows of this lodge +were drawn up, women's faces appeared at them--some family had +installed themselves in it. I remember the same day at dinner, my +mother inquired of the butler who were our new neighbours, and hearing +the name of the Princess Zasyekin, first observed with some respect, +'Ah! a princess!' ... and then added, 'A poor one, I suppose?' + +'They arrived in three hired flies,' the butler remarked +deferentially, as he handed a dish: 'they don't keep their own +carriage, and the furniture's of the poorest.' + +'Ah,' replied my mother, 'so much the better.' + +My father gave her a chilly glance; she was silent. + +Certainly the Princess Zasyekin could not be a rich woman; the lodge +she had taken was so dilapidated and small and low-pitched that +people, even moderately well-off in the world, would hardly have +consented to occupy it. At the time, however, all this went in at one +ear and out at the other. The princely title had very little effect on +me; I had just been reading Schiller's _Robbers_. + + + + +II + + +I was in the habit of wandering about our garden every evening on the +look-out for rooks. I had long cherished a hatred for those wary, sly, +and rapacious birds. On the day of which I have been speaking, I went +as usual into the garden, and after patrolling all the walks without +success (the rooks knew me, and merely cawed spasmodically at a +distance), I chanced to go close to the low fence which separated our +domain from the narrow strip of garden stretching beyond the lodge to +the right, and belonging to it. I was walking along, my eyes on the +ground. Suddenly I heard a voice; I looked across the fence, and was +thunder-struck.... I was confronted with a curious spectacle. + +A few paces from me on the grass between the green raspberry bushes +stood a tall slender girl in a striped pink dress, with a white +kerchief on her head; four young men were close round her, and she +was slapping them by turns on the forehead with those small grey +flowers, the name of which I don't know, though they are well known to +children; the flowers form little bags, and burst open with a pop when +you strike them against anything hard. The young men presented their +foreheads so eagerly, and in the gestures of the girl (I saw her in +profile), there was something so fascinating, imperious, caressing, +mocking, and charming, that I almost cried out with admiration and +delight, and would, I thought, have given everything in the world on +the spot only to have had those exquisite fingers strike me on the +forehead. My gun slipped on to the grass, I forgot everything, I +devoured with my eyes the graceful shape and neck and lovely arms and +the slightly disordered fair hair under the white kerchief, and the +half-closed clever eye, and the eyelashes and the soft cheek beneath +them.... + +'Young man, hey, young man,' said a voice suddenly near me: 'is it +quite permissible to stare so at unknown young ladies?' + +I started, I was struck dumb.... Near me, the other side of the fence, +stood a man with close-cropped black hair, looking ironically at me. +At the same instant the girl too turned towards me.... I caught sight +of big grey eyes in a bright mobile face, and the whole face suddenly +quivered and laughed, there was a flash of white teeth, a droll +lifting of the eyebrows.... I crimsoned, picked up my gun from the +ground, and pursued by a musical but not ill-natured laugh, fled to +my own room, flung myself on the bed, and hid my face in my hands. My +heart was fairly leaping; I was greatly ashamed and overjoyed; I felt +an excitement I had never known before. + +After a rest, I brushed my hair, washed, and went downstairs to tea. +The image of the young girl floated before me, my heart was no longer +leaping, but was full of a sort of sweet oppression. + +'What's the matter?' my father asked me all at once: 'have you killed +a rook?' + +I was on the point of telling him all about it, but I checked myself, +and merely smiled to myself. As I was going to bed, I rotated--I don't +know why--three times on one leg, pomaded my hair, got into bed, and +slept like a top all night. Before morning I woke up for an instant, +raised my head, looked round me in ecstasy, and fell asleep again. + + + + +III + + +'How can I make their acquaintance?' was my first thought when I waked +in the morning. I went out in the garden before morning tea, but I +did not go too near the fence, and saw no one. After drinking tea, +I walked several times up and down the street before the house, and +looked into the windows from a distance.... I fancied her face at a +curtain, and I hurried away in alarm. + +'I must make her acquaintance, though,' I thought, pacing distractedly +about the sandy plain that stretches before Neskutchny park ... 'but +how, that is the question.' I recalled the minutest details of our +meeting yesterday; I had for some reason or other a particularly vivid +recollection of how she had laughed at me.... But while I racked my +brains, and made various plans, fate had already provided for me. + +In my absence my mother had received from her new neighbour a letter +on grey paper, sealed with brown wax, such as is only used in notices +from the post-office or on the corks of bottles of cheap wine. In this +letter, which was written in illiterate language and in a slovenly +hand, the princess begged my mother to use her powerful influence +in her behalf; my mother, in the words of the princess, was very +intimate with persons of high position, upon whom her fortunes and her +children's fortunes depended, as she had some very important business +in hand. 'I address myself to you,' she wrote, 'as one gentlewoman to +another gentlewoman, and for that reason am glad to avail myself of +the opportunity.' Concluding, she begged my mother's permission to +call upon her. I found my mother in an unpleasant state of indecision; +my father was not at home, and she had no one of whom to ask advice. +Not to answer a gentlewoman, and a princess into the bargain, was +impossible. But my mother was in a difficulty as to how to answer +her. To write a note in French struck her as unsuitable, and Russian +spelling was not a strong point with my mother herself, and she was +aware of it, and did not care to expose herself. She was overjoyed +when I made my appearance, and at once told me to go round to the +princess's, and to explain to her by word of mouth that my mother +would always be glad to do her excellency any service within her +powers, and begged her to come to see her at one o'clock. This +unexpectedly rapid fulfilment of my secret desires both delighted and +appalled me. I made no sign, however, of the perturbation which came +over me, and as a preliminary step went to my own room to put on a new +necktie and tail coat; at home I still wore short jackets and lay-down +collars, much as I abominated them. + + + + +IV + + +In the narrow and untidy passage of the lodge, which I entered with an +involuntary tremor in all my limbs, I was met by an old grey-headed +servant with a dark copper-coloured face, surly little pig's eyes, and +such deep furrows on his forehead and temples as I had never beheld +in my life. He was carrying a plate containing the spine of a herring +that had been gnawed at; and shutting the door that led into the room +with his foot, he jerked out, 'What do you want?' + +'Is the Princess Zasyekin at home?' I inquired. + +'Vonifaty!' a jarring female voice screamed from within. + +The man without a word turned his back on me, exhibiting as he did +so the extremely threadbare hindpart of his livery with a solitary +reddish heraldic button on it; he put the plate down on the floor, and +went away. + +'Did you go to the police station?' the same female voice called +again. The man muttered something in reply. 'Eh.... Has some one +come?' I heard again.... 'The young gentleman from next door. Ask him +in, then.' + +'Will you step into the drawing-room?' said the servant, making his +appearance once more, and picking up the plate from the floor. I +mastered my emotions, and went into the drawing-room. + +I found myself in a small and not over clean apartment, containing +some poor furniture that looked as if it had been hurriedly set down +where it stood. At the window in an easy-chair with a broken arm was +sitting a woman of fifty, bareheaded and ugly, in an old green dress, +and a striped worsted wrap about her neck. Her small black eyes fixed +me like pins. + +I went up to her and bowed. + +'I have the honour of addressing the Princess Zasyekin?' + +'I am the Princess Zasyekin; and you are the son of Mr. V.?' + +'Yes. I have come to you with a message from my mother.' + +'Sit down, please. Vonifaty, where are my keys, have you seen them?' + +I communicated to Madame Zasyekin my mother's reply to her note. She +heard me out, drumming with her fat red fingers on the window-pane, +and when I had finished, she stared at me once more. + +'Very good; I'll be sure to come,' she observed at last. 'But how +young you are! How old are you, may I ask?' + +'Sixteen,' I replied, with an involuntary stammer. + +The princess drew out of her pocket some greasy papers covered with +writing, raised them right up to her nose, and began looking through +them. + +'A good age,' she ejaculated suddenly, turning round restlessly on +her chair. 'And do you, pray, make yourself at home. I don't stand on +ceremony.' + +'No, indeed,' I thought, scanning her unprepossessing person with a +disgust I could not restrain. + +At that instant another door flew open quickly, and in the doorway +stood the girl I had seen the previous evening in the garden. She +lifted her hand, and a mocking smile gleamed in her face. + +'Here is my daughter,' observed the princess, indicating her with her +elbow. 'Zinotchka, the son of our neighbour, Mr. V. What is your name, +allow me to ask?' + +'Vladimir,' I answered, getting up, and stuttering in my excitement. + +'And your father's name?' + +'Petrovitch.' + +'Ah! I used to know a commissioner of police whose name was Vladimir +Petrovitch too. Vonifaty! don't look for my keys; the keys are in my +pocket.' + +The young girl was still looking at me with the same smile, faintly +fluttering her eyelids, and putting her head a little on one side. + +'I have seen Monsieur Voldemar before,' she began. (The silvery note +of her voice ran through me with a sort of sweet shiver.) 'You will +let me call you so?' + +'Oh, please,' I faltered. + +'Where was that?' asked the princess. + +The young princess did not answer her mother. + +'Have you anything to do just now?' she said, not taking her eyes off +me. + +'Oh, no.' + +'Would you like to help me wind some wool? Come in here, to me.' + +She nodded to me and went out of the drawing-room. I followed her. + +In the room we went into, the furniture was a little better, and +was arranged with more taste. Though, indeed, at the moment, I was +scarcely capable of noticing anything; I moved as in a dream and felt +all through my being a sort of intense blissfulness that verged on +imbecility. + +The young princess sat down, took out a skein of red wool and, +motioning me to a seat opposite her, carefully untied the skein and +laid it across my hands. All this she did in silence with a sort of +droll deliberation and with the same bright sly smile on her slightly +parted lips. She began to wind the wool on a bent card, and all at +once she dazzled me with a glance so brilliant and rapid, that I +could not help dropping my eyes. When her eyes, which were generally +half closed, opened to their full extent, her face was completely +transfigured; it was as though it were flooded with light. + +'What did you think of me yesterday, M'sieu Voldemar?' she asked after +a brief pause. 'You thought ill of me, I expect?' + +'I ... princess ... I thought nothing ... how can I?...' I answered in +confusion. + +'Listen,' she rejoined. 'You don't know me yet. I'm a very strange +person; I like always to be told the truth. You, I have just heard, +are sixteen, and I am twenty-one: you see I'm a great deal older than +you, and so you ought always to tell me the truth ... and to do what I +tell you,' she added. 'Look at me: why don't you look at me?' + +I was still more abashed; however, I raised my eyes to her. She +smiled, not her former smile, but a smile of approbation. 'Look at +me,' she said, dropping her voice caressingly: 'I don't dislike that +... I like your face; I have a presentiment we shall be friends. But +do you like me?' she added slyly. + +'Princess ...' I was beginning. + +'In the first place, you must call me Zinaida Alexandrovna, and in the +second place it's a bad habit for children'--(she corrected herself) +'for young people--not to say straight out what they feel. That's all +very well for grown-up people. You like me, don't you?' + +Though I was greatly delighted that she talked so freely to me, still +I was a little hurt. I wanted to show her that she had not a mere boy +to deal with, and assuming as easy and serious an air as I could, I +observed, 'Certainly. I like you very much, Zinaida Alexandrovna; I +have no wish to conceal it.' + +She shook her head very deliberately. 'Have you a tutor?' she asked +suddenly. + +'No; I've not had a tutor for a long, long while.' + +I told a lie; it was not a month since I had parted with my Frenchman. + +'Oh! I see then--you are quite grown-up.' + +She tapped me lightly on the fingers. 'Hold your hands straight!' And +she applied herself busily to winding the ball. + +I seized the opportunity when she was looking down and fell to +watching her, at first stealthily, then more and more boldly. Her +face struck me as even more charming than on the previous evening; +everything in it was so delicate, clever, and sweet. She was sitting +with her back to a window covered with a white blind, the sunshine, +streaming in through the blind, shed a soft light over her fluffy +golden curls, her innocent neck, her sloping shoulders, and tender +untroubled bosom. I gazed at her, and how dear and near she was +already to me! It seemed to me I had known her a long while and had +never known anything nor lived at all till I met her.... She was +wearing a dark and rather shabby dress and an apron; I would gladly, I +felt, have kissed every fold of that dress and apron. The tips of her +little shoes peeped out from under her skirt; I could have bowed down +in adoration to those shoes.... 'And here I am sitting before her,' +I thought; 'I have made acquaintance with her ... what happiness, my +God!' I could hardly keep from jumping up from my chair in ecstasy, +but I only swung my legs a little, like a small child who has been +given sweetmeats. + +I was as happy as a fish in water, and I could have stayed in that +room for ever, have never left that place. + +Her eyelids were slowly lifted, and once more her clear eyes shone +kindly upon me, and again she smiled. + +'How you look at me!' she said slowly, and she held up a threatening +finger. + +I blushed ... 'She understands it all, she sees all,' flashed through +my mind. 'And how could she fail to understand and see it all?' + +All at once there was a sound in the next room--the clink of a sabre. + +'Zina!' screamed the princess in the drawing-room, 'Byelovzorov has +brought you a kitten.' + +'A kitten!' cried Zinaida, and getting up from her chair impetuously, +she flung the ball of worsted on my knees and ran away. + +I too got up and, laying the skein and the ball of wool on the +window-sill, I went into the drawing-room and stood still, hesitating. +In the middle of the room, a tabby kitten was lying with outstretched +paws; Zinaida was on her knees before it, cautiously lifting up its +little face. Near the old princess, and filling up almost the whole +space between the two windows, was a flaxen curly-headed young man, a +hussar, with a rosy face and prominent eyes. + +'What a funny little thing!' Zinaida was saying; 'and its eyes are not +grey, but green, and what long ears! Thank you, Viktor Yegoritch! you +are very kind.' + +The hussar, in whom I recognised one of the young men I had seen the +evening before, smiled and bowed with a clink of his spurs and a +jingle of the chain of his sabre. + +'You were pleased to say yesterday that you wished to possess a tabby +kitten with long ears ... so I obtained it. Your word is law.' And he +bowed again. + +The kitten gave a feeble mew and began sniffing the ground. + +'It's hungry!' cried Zinaida. 'Vonifaty, Sonia! bring some milk.' + +A maid, in an old yellow gown with a faded kerchief at her neck, came +in with a saucer of milk and set it before the kitten. The kitten +started, blinked, and began lapping. + +'What a pink little tongue it has!' remarked Zinaida, putting her head +almost on the ground and peeping at it sideways under its very nose. + +The kitten having had enough began to purr and move its paws +affectedly. Zinaida got up, and turning to the maid said carelessly, +'Take it away.' + +'For the kitten--your little hand,' said the hussar, with a simper and +a shrug of his strongly-built frame, which was tightly buttoned up in +a new uniform. + +'Both,' replied Zinaida, and she held out her hands to him. While he +was kissing them, she looked at me over his shoulder. + +I stood stockstill in the same place and did not know whether to +laugh, to say something, or to be silent. Suddenly through the open +door into the passage I caught sight of our footman, Fyodor. He was +making signs to me. Mechanically I went out to him. + +'What do you want?' I asked. + +'Your mamma has sent for you,' he said in a whisper. 'She is angry +that you have not come back with the answer.' + +'Why, have I been here long?' + +'Over an hour.' + +'Over an hour!' I repeated unconsciously, and going back to the +drawing-room I began to make bows and scrape with my heels. + +'Where are you off to?' the young princess asked, glancing at me from +behind the hussar. + +'I must go home. So I am to say,' I added, addressing the old lady, +'that you will come to us about two.' + +'Do you say so, my good sir.' + +The princess hurriedly pulled out her snuff-box and took snuff so +loudly that I positively jumped. 'Do you say so,' she repeated, +blinking tearfully and sneezing. + +I bowed once more, turned, and went out of the room with that +sensation of awkwardness in my spine which a very young man feels when +he knows he is being looked at from behind. + +'Mind you come and see us again, M'sieu Voldemar,' Zinaida called, and +she laughed again. + +'Why is it she's always laughing?' I thought, as I went back home +escorted by Fyodor, who said nothing to me, but walked behind me with +an air of disapprobation. My mother scolded me and wondered what ever +I could have been doing so long at the princess's. I made her no reply +and went off to my own room. I felt suddenly very sad.... I tried hard +not to cry.... I was jealous of the hussar. + + + + +V + + +The princess called on my mother as she had promised and made a +disagreeable impression on her. I was not present at their interview, +but at table my mother told my father that this Prince Zasyekin struck +her as a _femme tres vulgaire_, that she had quite worn her out +begging her to interest Prince Sergei in their behalf, that she seemed +to have no end of lawsuits and affairs on hand--_de vilaines affaires +d'argent_--and must be a very troublesome and litigious person. My +mother added, however, that she had asked her and her daughter to +dinner the next day (hearing the word 'daughter' I buried my nose in +my plate), for after all she was a neighbour and a person of title. +Upon this my father informed my mother that he remembered now who this +lady was; that he had in his youth known the deceased Prince Zasyekin, +a very well-bred, but frivolous and absurd person; that he had been +nicknamed in society '_le Parisien_,' from having lived a long while +in Paris; that he had been very rich, but had gambled away all his +property; and for some unknown reason, probably for money, though +indeed he might have chosen better, if so, my father added with a cold +smile, he had married the daughter of an agent, and after his marriage +had entered upon speculations and ruined himself utterly. + +'If only she doesn't try to borrow money,' observed my mother. + +'That's exceedingly possible,' my father responded tranquilly. 'Does +she speak French?' + +'Very badly.' + +'H'm. It's of no consequence anyway. I think you said you had asked +the daughter too; some one was telling me she was a very charming and +cultivated girl.' + +'Ah! Then she can't take after her mother.' + +'Nor her father either,' rejoined my father. 'He was cultivated +indeed, but a fool.' + +My mother sighed and sank into thought. My father said no more. I felt +very uncomfortable during this conversation. + +After dinner I went into the garden, but without my gun. I swore +to myself that I would not go near the Zasyekins' garden, but an +irresistible force drew me thither, and not in vain. I had hardly +reached the fence when I caught sight of Zinaida. This time she was +alone. She held a book in her hands, and was coming slowly along the +path. She did not notice me. + +I almost let her pass by; but all at once I changed my mind and +coughed. + +She turned round, but did not stop, pushed back with one hand the +broad blue ribbon of her round straw hat, looked at me, smiled slowly, +and again bent her eyes on the book. + +I took off my cap, and after hesitating a moment, walked away with a +heavy heart. '_Que suis-je pour elle?_' I thought (God knows why) in +French. + +Familiar footsteps sounded behind me; I looked round, my father came +up to me with his light, rapid walk. + +'Is that the young princess?' he asked me. + +'Yes.' + +'Why, do you know her?' + +'I saw her this morning at the princess's.' + +My father stopped, and, turning sharply on his heel, went back. When +he was on a level with Zinaida, he made her a courteous bow. She, +too, bowed to him, with some astonishment on her face, and dropped +her book. I saw how she looked after him. My father was always +irreproachably dressed, simple and in a style of his own; but his +figure had never struck me as more graceful, never had his grey hat +sat more becomingly on his curls, which were scarcely perceptibly +thinner than they had once been. + +I bent my steps toward Zinaida, but she did not even glance at me; she +picked up her book again and went away. + + + + +VI + + +The whole evening and the following day I spent in a sort of dejected +apathy. I remember I tried to work and took up Keidanov, but the +boldly printed lines and pages of the famous text-book passed before +my eyes in vain. I read ten times over the words: 'Julius Caesar was +distinguished by warlike courage.' I did not understand anything and +threw the book aside. Before dinner-time I pomaded myself once more, +and once more put on my tail-coat and necktie. + +'What's that for?' my mother demanded. 'You're not a student yet, and +God knows whether you'll get through the examination. And you've not +long had a new jacket! You can't throw it away!' + +'There will be visitors,' I murmured almost in despair. + +'What nonsense! fine visitors indeed!' + +I had to submit. I changed my tail-coat for my jacket, but I did +not take off the necktie. The princess and her daughter made their +appearance half an hour before dinner-time; the old lady had put on, +in addition to the green dress with which I was already acquainted, +a yellow shawl, and an old-fashioned cap adorned with flame-coloured +ribbons. She began talking at once about her money difficulties, +sighing, complaining of her poverty, and imploring assistance, but +she made herself at home; she took snuff as noisily, and fidgeted and +lolled about in her chair as freely as ever. It never seemed to have +struck her that she was a princess. Zinaida on the other hand was +rigid, almost haughty in her demeanour, every inch a princess. There +was a cold immobility and dignity in her face. I should not have +recognised it; I should not have known her smiles, her glances, though +I thought her exquisite in this new aspect too. She wore a light +barege dress with pale blue flowers on it; her hair fell in long curls +down her cheek in the English fashion; this style went well with the +cold expression of her face. My father sat beside her during dinner, +and entertained his neighbour with the finished and serene courtesy +peculiar to him. He glanced at her from time to time, and she glanced +at him, but so strangely, almost with hostility. Their conversation +was carried on in French; I was surprised, I remember, at the purity +of Zinaida's accent. The princess, while we were at table, as before +made no ceremony; she ate a great deal, and praised the dishes. My +mother was obviously bored by her, and answered her with a sort of +weary indifference; my father faintly frowned now and then. My mother +did not like Zinaida either. 'A conceited minx,' she said next day. +'And fancy, what she has to be conceited about, _avec sa mine de +grisette_!' + +'It's clear you have never seen any grisettes,' my father observed to +her. + +'Thank God, I haven't!' + +'Thank God, to be sure ... only how can you form an opinion of them, +then?' + +To me Zinaida had paid no attention whatever. Soon after dinner the +princess got up to go. + +'I shall rely on your kind offices, Maria Nikolaevna and Piotr +Vassilitch,' she said in a doleful sing-song to my mother and father. +'I've no help for it! There were days, but they are over. Here I am, +an excellency, and a poor honour it is with nothing to eat!' + +My father made her a respectful bow and escorted her to the door of +the hall. I was standing there in my short jacket, staring at the +floor, like a man under sentence of death. Zinaida's treatment of me +had crushed me utterly. What was my astonishment, when, as she passed +me, she whispered quickly with her former kind expression in her eyes: +'Come to see us at eight, do you hear, be sure....' I simply threw up +my hands, but already she was gone, flinging a white scarf over her +head. + + + + +VII + + +At eight o'clock precisely, in my tail-coat and with my hair brushed +up into a tuft on my head, I entered the passage of the lodge, where +the princess lived. The old servant looked crossly at me and got up +unwillingly from his bench. There was a sound of merry voices in +the drawing-room. I opened the door and fell back in amazement. In +the middle of the room was the young princess, standing on a chair, +holding a man's hat in front of her; round the chair crowded some half +a dozen men. They were trying to put their hands into the hat, while +she held it above their heads, shaking it violently. On seeing me, +she cried, 'Stay, stay, another guest, he must have a ticket too,' +and leaping lightly down from the chair she took me by the cuff of my +coat 'Come along,' she said, 'why are you standing still? _Messieurs_, +let me make you acquainted: this is M'sieu Voldemar, the son of our +neighbour. And this,' she went on, addressing me, and indicating her +guests in turn, 'Count Malevsky, Doctor Lushin, Meidanov the poet, the +retired captain Nirmatsky, and Byelovzorov the hussar, whom you've +seen already. I hope you will be good friends.' I was so confused that +I did not even bow to any one; in Doctor Lushin I recognised the dark +man who had so mercilessly put me to shame in the garden; the others +were unknown to me. + +'Count!' continued Zinaida, 'write M'sieu Voldemar a ticket.' + +'That's not fair,' was objected in a slight Polish accent by the +count, a very handsome and fashionably dressed brunette, with +expressive brown eyes, a thin little white nose, and delicate little +moustaches over a tiny mouth. 'This gentleman has not been playing +forfeits with us.' + +'It's unfair,' repeated in chorus Byelovzorov and the gentleman +described as a retired captain, a man of forty, pock-marked to +a hideous degree, curly-headed as a negro, round-shouldered, +bandy-legged, and dressed in a military coat without epaulets, worn +unbuttoned. + +'Write him a ticket, I tell you,' repeated the young princess. 'What's +this mutiny? M'sieu Voldemar is with us for the first time, and there +are no rules for him yet. It's no use grumbling--write it, I wish it.' + +The count shrugged his shoulders but bowed submissively, took the pen +in his white, ring-bedecked fingers, tore off a scrap of paper and +wrote on it. + +'At least let us explain to Mr. Voldemar what we are about,' Lushin +began in a sarcastic voice, 'or else he will be quite lost. Do you +see, young man, we are playing forfeits? the princess has to pay a +forfeit, and the one who draws the lucky lot is to have the privilege +of kissing her hand. Do you understand what I've told you?' + +I simply stared at him, and continued to stand still in bewilderment, +while the young princess jumped up on the chair again, and again began +waving the hat. They all stretched up to her, and I went after the +rest. + +'Meidanov,' said the princess to a tall young man with a thin face, +little dim-sighted eyes, and exceedingly long black hair, 'you as +a poet ought to be magnanimous, and give up your number to M'sieu +Voldemar so that he may have two chances instead of one.' + +But Meidanov shook his head in refusal, and tossed his hair. After +all the others I put my hand into the hat, and unfolded my lot.... +Heavens! what was my condition when I saw on it the word, Kiss! + +'Kiss!' I could not help crying aloud. + +'Bravo! he has won it,' the princess said quickly. 'How glad I am!' +She came down from the chair and gave me such a bright sweet look, +that my heart bounded. 'Are you glad?' she asked me. + +'Me?' ... I faltered. + +'Sell me your lot,' Byelovzorov growled suddenly just in my ear. 'I'll +give you a hundred roubles.' + +I answered the hussar with such an indignant look, that Zinaida +clapped her hands, while Lushin cried, 'He's a fine fellow!' + +'But, as master of the ceremonies,' he went on, 'it's my duty to see +that all the rules are kept. M'sieu Voldemar, go down on one knee. +That is our regulation.' + +Zinaida stood in front of me, her head a little on one side as though +to get a better look at me; she held out her hand to me with dignity. +A mist passed before my eyes; I meant to drop on one knee, sank on +both, and pressed my lips to Zinaida's fingers so awkwardly that I +scratched myself a little with the tip of her nail. + +'Well done!' cried Lushin, and helped me to get up. + +The game of forfeits went on. Zinaida sat me down beside her. She +invented all sorts of extraordinary forfeits! She had among other +things to represent a 'statue,' and she chose as a pedestal the +hideous Nirmatsky, told him to bow down in an arch, and bend his +head down on his breast. The laughter never paused for an instant. +For me, a boy constantly brought up in the seclusion of a dignified +manor-house, all this noise and uproar, this unceremonious, almost +riotous gaiety, these relations with unknown persons, were simply +intoxicating. My head went round, as though from wine. I began +laughing and talking louder than the others, so much so that the old +princess, who was sitting in the next room with some sort of clerk +from the Tversky gate, invited by her for consultation on business, +positively came in to look at me. But I felt so happy that I did not +mind anything, I didn't care a straw for any one's jeers, or dubious +looks. Zinaida continued to show me a preference, and kept me at her +side. In one forfeit, I had to sit by her, both hidden under one silk +handkerchief: I was to tell her _my secret_. I remember our two heads +being all at once in a warm, half-transparent, fragrant darkness, the +soft, close brightness of her eyes in the dark, and the burning breath +from her parted lips, and the gleam of her teeth and the ends of her +hair tickling me and setting me on fire. I was silent. She smiled +slyly and mysteriously, and at last whispered to me, 'Well, what +is it?' but I merely blushed and laughed, and turned away, catching +my breath. We got tired of forfeits--we began to play a game with +a string. My God! what were my transports when, for not paying +attention, I got a sharp and vigorous slap on my fingers from her, +and how I tried afterwards to pretend that I was absent-minded, and +she teased me, and would not touch the hands I held out to her! What +didn't we do that evening! We played the piano, and sang and danced +and acted a gypsy encampment. Nirmatsky was dressed up as a bear, +and made to drink salt water. Count Malevsky showed us several sorts +of card tricks, and finished, after shuffling the cards, by dealing +himself all the trumps at whist, on which Lushin 'had the honour of +congratulating him.' Meidanov recited portions from his poem 'The +Manslayer' (romanticism was at its height at this period), which he +intended to bring out in a black cover with the title in blood-red +letters; they stole the clerk's cap off his knee, and made him dance a +Cossack dance by way of ransom for it; they dressed up old Vonifaty in +a woman's cap, and the young princess put on a man's hat.... I could +not enumerate all we did. Only Byelovzorov kept more and more in +the background, scowling and angry.... Sometimes his eyes looked +bloodshot, he flushed all over, and it seemed every minute as though +he would rush out upon us all and scatter us like shavings in all +directions; but the young princess would glance at him, and shake her +finger at him, and he would retire into his corner again. + +We were quite worn out at last. Even the old princess, though she was +ready for anything, as she expressed it, and no noise wearied her, +felt tired at last, and longed for peace and quiet. At twelve o'clock +at night, supper was served, consisting of a piece of stale dry +cheese, and some cold turnovers of minced ham, which seemed to me more +delicious than any pastry I had ever tasted; there was only one bottle +of wine, and that was a strange one; a dark-coloured bottle with a +wide neck, and the wine in it was of a pink hue; no one drank it, +however. Tired out and faint with happiness, I left the lodge; at +parting Zinaida pressed my hand warmly, and again smiled mysteriously. + +The night air was heavy and damp in my heated face; a storm seemed to +be gathering; black stormclouds grew and crept across the sky, their +smoky outlines visibly changing. A gust of wind shivered restlessly +in the dark trees, and somewhere, far away on the horizon, muffled +thunder angrily muttered as it were to itself. + +I made my way up to my room by the back stairs. My old man-nurse was +asleep on the floor, and I had to step over him; he waked up, saw me, +and told me that my mother had again been very angry with me, and had +wished to send after me again, but that my father had prevented her. +(I had never gone to bed without saying good-night to my mother, and +asking her blessing. There was no help for it now!) + +I told my man that I would undress and go to bed by myself, and I put +out the candle. But I did not undress, and did not go to bed. + +I sat down on a chair, and sat a long while, as though spell-bound. +What I was feeling was so new and so sweet.... I sat still, hardly +looking round and not moving, drew slow breaths, and only from time to +time laughed silently at some recollection, or turned cold within at +the thought that I was in love, that this was she, that this was love. +Zinaida's face floated slowly before me in the darkness--floated, and +did not float away; her lips still wore the same enigmatic smile, her +eyes watched me, a little from one side, with a questioning, dreamy, +tender look ... as at the instant of parting from her. At last I got +up, walked on tiptoe to my bed, and without undressing, laid my head +carefully on the pillow, as though I were afraid by an abrupt movement +to disturb what filled my soul.... I lay down, but did not even close +my eyes. Soon I noticed that faint glimmers of light of some sort +were thrown continually into the room.... I sat up and looked at the +window. The window-frame could be clearly distinguished from the +mysteriously and dimly-lighted panes. It is a storm, I thought; and +a storm it really was, but it was raging so very far away that the +thunder could not be heard; only blurred, long, as it were branching, +gleams of lightning flashed continually over the sky; it was not +flashing, though, so much as quivering and twitching like the wing +of a dying bird. I got up, went to the window, and stood there till +morning.... The lightning never ceased for an instant; it was what is +called among the peasants a _sparrow night_. I gazed at the dumb sandy +plain, at the dark mass of the Neskutchny gardens, at the yellowish +facades of the distant buildings, which seemed to quiver too at +each faint flash.... I gazed, and could not turn away; these silent +lightning flashes, these gleams seemed in response to the secret +silent fires which were aglow within me. Morning began to dawn; the +sky was flushed in patches of crimson. As the sun came nearer, the +lightning grew gradually paler, and ceased; the quivering gleams +were fewer and fewer, and vanished at last, drowned in the sobering +positive light of the coming day.... + +And my lightning flashes vanished too. I felt great weariness and +peace ... but Zinaida's image still floated triumphant over my soul. +But it too, this image, seemed more tranquil: like a swan rising out +of the reeds of a bog, it stood out from the other unbeautiful figures +surrounding it, and as I fell asleep, I flung myself before it in +farewell, trusting adoration.... + +Oh, sweet emotions, gentle harmony, goodness and peace of the softened +heart, melting bliss of the first raptures of love, where are they, +where are they? + + + + +VIII + + +The next morning, when I came down to tea, my mother scolded me--less +severely, however, than I had expected--and made me tell her how I had +spent the previous evening. I answered her in few words, omitting many +details, and trying to give the most innocent air to everything. + +'Anyway, they're people who're not _comme il faut_,' my mother +commented, 'and you've no business to be hanging about there, instead +of preparing yourself for the examination, and doing your work.' + +As I was well aware that my mother's anxiety about my studies was +confined to these few words, I did not feel it necessary to make any +rejoinder; but after morning tea was over, my father took me by the +arm, and turning into the garden with me, forced me to tell him all I +had seen at the Zasyekins'. + +A curious influence my father had over me, and curious were the +relations existing between us. He took hardly any interest in my +education, but he never hurt my feelings; he respected my freedom, he +treated me--if I may so express it--with courtesy,... only he never +let me be really close to him. I loved him, I admired him, he was my +ideal of a man--and Heavens! how passionately devoted I should have +been to him, if I had not been continually conscious of his holding me +off! But when he liked, he could almost instantaneously, by a single +word, a single gesture, call forth an unbounded confidence in him. My +soul expanded, I chattered away to him, as to a wise friend, a kindly +teacher ... then he as suddenly got rid of me, and again he was +keeping me off, gently and affectionately, but still he kept me off. + +Sometimes he was in high spirits, and then he was ready to romp and +frolic with me, like a boy (he was fond of vigorous physical exercise +of every sort); once--it never happened a second time!--he caressed +me with such tenderness that I almost shed tears.... But high spirits +and tenderness alike vanished completely, and what had passed between +us, gave me nothing to build on for the future--it was as though I +had dreamed it all. Sometimes I would scrutinise his clever handsome +bright face ... my heart would throb, and my whole being yearn to +him ... he would seem to feel what was going on within me, would give +me a passing pat on the cheek, and go away, or take up some work, +or suddenly freeze all over as only he knew how to freeze, and I +shrank into myself at once, and turned cold too. His rare fits +of friendliness to me were never called forth by my silent, but +intelligible entreaties: they always occurred unexpectedly. Thinking +over my father's character later, I have come to the conclusion that +he had no thoughts to spare for me and for family life; his heart was +in other things, and found complete satisfaction elsewhere. 'Take for +yourself what you can, and don't be ruled by others; to belong to +oneself--the whole savour of life lies in that,' he said to me one +day. Another time, I, as a young democrat, fell to airing my views on +liberty (he was 'kind,' as I used to call it, that day; and at such +times I could talk to him as I liked). 'Liberty,' he repeated; 'and do +you know what can give a man liberty?' + +'What?' + +'Will, his own will, and it gives power, which is better than liberty. +Know how to will, and you will be free, and will lead.' + +'My father, before all, and above all, desired to live, and lived.... +Perhaps he had a presentiment that he would not have long to enjoy the +'savour' of life: he died at forty-two. + +I described my evening at the Zasyekins' minutely to my father. Half +attentively, half carelessly, he listened to me, sitting on a garden +seat, drawing in the sand with his cane. Now and then he laughed, shot +bright, droll glances at me, and spurred me on with short questions +and assents. At first I could not bring myself even to utter the name +of Zinaida, but I could not restrain myself long, and began singing +her praises. My father still laughed; then he grew thoughtful, +stretched, and got up. I remembered that as he came out of the house +he had ordered his horse to be saddled. He was a splendid horseman, +and, long before Rarey, had the secret of breaking in the most vicious +horses. + +'Shall I come with you, father?' I asked. + +'No,' he answered, and his face resumed its ordinary expression of +friendly indifference. 'Go alone, if you like; and tell the coachman +I'm not going.' + +He turned his back on me and walked rapidly away. I looked after him; +he disappeared through the gates. I saw his hat moving along beside +the fence; he went into the Zasyekins'. + +He stayed there not more than an hour, but then departed at once for +the town, and did not return home till evening. + +After dinner I went myself to the Zasyekins'. In the drawing-room I +found only the old princess. On seeing me she scratched her head under +her cap with a knitting-needle, and suddenly asked me, could I copy a +petition for her. + +'With pleasure,' I replied, sitting down on the edge of a chair. + +'Only mind and make the letters bigger,' observed the princess, +handing me a dirty sheet of paper; 'and couldn't you do it to-day, my +good sir?' + +'Certainly, I will copy it to-day.' + +The door of the next room was just opened, and in the crack I saw the +face of Zinaida, pale and pensive, her hair flung carelessly back; she +stared at me with big chilly eyes, and softly closed the door. + +'Zina, Zina!' called the old lady. Zinaida made no response. I took +home the old lady's petition and spent the whole evening over it. + + + + +IX + + +My 'passion' dated from that day. I felt at that time, I recollect, +something like what a man must feel on entering the service: I had +ceased now to be simply a young boy; I was in love. I have said that +my passion dated from that day; I might have added that my sufferings +too dated from the same day. Away from Zinaida I pined; nothing +was to my mind; everything went wrong with me; I spent whole days +thinking intensely about her ... I pined when away,... but in her +presence I was no better off. I was jealous; I was conscious of my +insignificance; I was stupidly sulky or stupidly abject, and, all +the same, an invincible force drew me to her, and I could not help +a shudder of delight whenever I stepped through the doorway of her +room. Zinaida guessed at once that I was in love with her, and indeed +I never even thought of concealing it. She amused herself with my +passion, made a fool of me, petted and tormented me. There is a +sweetness in being the sole source, the autocratic and irresponsible +cause of the greatest joy and profoundest pain to another, and I was +like wax in Zinaida's hands; though, indeed, I was not the only one in +love with her. All the men who visited the house were crazy over her, +and she kept them all in leading-strings at her feet. It amused her to +arouse their hopes and then their fears, to turn them round her finger +(she used to call it knocking their heads together), while they never +dreamed of offering resistance and eagerly submitted to her. About +her whole being, so full of life and beauty, there was a peculiarly +bewitching mixture of slyness and carelessness, of artificiality and +simplicity, of composure and frolicsomeness; about everything she did +or said, about every action of hers, there clung a delicate, fine +charm, in which an individual power was manifest at work. And her +face was ever changing, working too; it expressed, almost at the same +time, irony, dreaminess, and passion. Various emotions, delicate and +quick-changing as the shadows of clouds on a sunny day of wind, chased +one another continually over her lips and eyes. + +Each of her adorers was necessary to her. Byelovzorov, whom she +sometimes called 'my wild beast,' and sometimes simply 'mine,' would +gladly have flung himself into the fire for her sake. With little +confidence in his intellectual abilities and other qualities, he was +for ever offering her marriage, hinting that the others were merely +hanging about with no serious intention. Meidanov responded to the +poetic fibres of her nature; a man of rather cold temperament, like +almost all writers, he forced himself to convince her, and perhaps +himself, that he adored her, sang her praises in endless verses, and +read them to her with a peculiar enthusiasm, at once affected and +sincere. She sympathised with him, and at the same time jeered at him +a little; she had no great faith in him, and after listening to his +outpourings, she would make him read Pushkin, as she said, to clear +the air. Lushin, the ironical doctor, so cynical in words, knew her +better than any of them, and loved her more than all, though he abused +her to her face and behind her back. She could not help respecting +him, but made him smart for it, and at times, with a peculiar, +malignant pleasure, made him feel that he too was at her mercy. 'I'm a +flirt, I'm heartless, I'm an actress in my instincts,' she said to him +one day in my presence; 'well and good! Give me your hand then; I'll +stick this pin in it, you'll be ashamed of this young man's seeing it, +it will hurt you, but you'll laugh for all that, you truthful person.' +Lushin crimsoned, turned away, bit his lips, but ended by submitting +his hand. She pricked it, and he did in fact begin to laugh,... and +she laughed, thrusting the pin in pretty deeply, and peeping into his +eyes, which he vainly strove to keep in other directions.... + +I understood least of all the relations existing between Zinaida and +Count Malevsky. He was handsome, clever, and adroit, but something +equivocal, something false in him was apparent even to me, a boy of +sixteen, and I marvelled that Zinaida did not notice it. But possibly +she did notice this element of falsity really and was not repelled by +it. Her irregular education, strange acquaintances and habits, the +constant presence of her mother, the poverty and disorder in their +house, everything, from the very liberty the young girl enjoyed, with +the consciousness of her superiority to the people around her, had +developed in her a sort of half-contemptuous carelessness and lack +of fastidiousness. At any time anything might happen; Vonifaty might +announce that there was no sugar, or some revolting scandal would +come to her ears, or her guests would fall to quarrelling among +themselves--she would only shake her curls, and say, 'What does it +matter?' and care little enough about it. + +But my blood, anyway, was sometimes on fire with indignation when +Malevsky approached her, with a sly, fox-like action, leaned +gracefully on the back of her chair, and began whispering in her ear +with a self-satisfied and ingratiating little smile, while she folded +her arms across her bosom, looked intently at him and smiled too, and +shook her head. + +'What induces you to receive Count Malevsky?' I asked her one day. + +'He has such pretty moustaches,' she answered. 'But that's rather +beyond you.' + +'You needn't think I care for him,' she said to me another time. 'No; +I can't care for people I have to look down upon. I must have some one +who can master me.... But, merciful heavens, I hope I may never come +across any one like that! I don't want to be caught in any one's +claws, not for anything.' + +'You'll never be in love, then?' + +'And you? Don't I love you?' she said, and she flicked me on the nose +with the tip of her glove. + +Yes, Zinaida amused herself hugely at my expense. For three weeks I +saw her every day, and what didn't she do with me! She rarely came to +see us, and I was not sorry for it; in our house she was transformed +into a young lady, a young princess, and I was a little overawed by +her. I was afraid of betraying myself before my mother; she had taken +a great dislike to Zinaida, and kept a hostile eye upon us. My father +I was not so much afraid of; he seemed not to notice me. He talked +little to her, but always with special cleverness and significance. +I gave up working and reading; I even gave up walking about the +neighbourhood and riding my horse. Like a beetle tied by the leg, I +moved continually round and round my beloved little lodge. I would +gladly have stopped there altogether, it seemed ... but that was +impossible. My mother scolded me, and sometimes Zinaida herself drove +me away. Then I used to shut myself up in my room, or go down to the +very end of the garden, and climbing into what was left of a tall +stone greenhouse, now in ruins, sit for hours with my legs hanging +over the wall that looked on to the road, gazing and gazing and seeing +nothing. White butterflies flitted lazily by me, over the dusty +nettles; a saucy sparrow settled not far off on the half crumbling red +brickwork and twittered irritably, incessantly twisting and turning +and preening his tail-feathers; the still mistrustful rooks cawed now +and then, sitting high, high up on the bare top of a birch-tree; the +sun and wind played softly on its pliant branches; the tinkle of the +bells of the Don monastery floated across to me from time to time, +peaceful and dreary; while I sat, gazed, listened, and was filled full +of a nameless sensation in which all was contained: sadness and joy +and the foretaste of the future, and the desire and dread of life. But +at that time I understood nothing of it, and could have given a name +to nothing of all that was passing at random within me, or should have +called it all by one name--the name of Zinaida. + +Zinaida continued to play cat and mouse with me. She flirted with me, +and I was all agitation and rapture; then she would suddenly thrust me +away, and I dared not go near her--dared not look at her. + +I remember she was very cold to me for several days together; I was +completely crushed, and creeping timidly to their lodge, tried to keep +close to the old princess, regardless of the circumstance that she was +particularly scolding and grumbling just at that time; her +financial affairs had been going badly, and she had already had two +'explanations' with the police officials. + +One day I was walking in the garden beside the familiar fence, and I +caught sight of Zinaida; leaning on both arms, she was sitting on the +grass, not stirring a muscle. I was about to make off cautiously, but +she suddenly raised her head and beckoned me imperiously. My heart +failed me; I did not understand her at first. She repeated her signal. +I promptly jumped over the fence and ran joyfully up to her, but she +brought me to a halt with a look, and motioned me to the path two +paces from her. In confusion, not knowing what to do, I fell on my +knees at the edge of the path. She was so pale, such bitter suffering, +such intense weariness, was expressed in every feature of her face, +that it sent a pang to my heart, and I muttered unconsciously, 'What +is the matter?' + +Zinaida stretched out her head, picked a blade of grass, bit it and +flung it away from her. + +'You love me very much?' she asked at last. 'Yes.' + +I made no answer--indeed, what need was there to answer? + +'Yes,' she repeated, looking at me as before. 'That's so. The same +eyes,'--she went on; sank into thought, and hid her face in her hands. +'Everything's grown so loathsome to me,' she whispered, 'I would have +gone to the other end of the world first--I can't bear it, I can't get +over it.... And what is there before me!... Ah, I am wretched.... My +God, how wretched I am!' + +'What for?' I asked timidly. + +Zinaida made no answer, she simply shrugged her shoulders. I remained +kneeling, gazing at her with intense sadness. Every word she had +uttered simply cut me to the heart. At that instant I felt I would +gladly have given my life, if only she should not grieve. I gazed at +her--and though I could not understand why she was wretched, I vividly +pictured to myself, how in a fit of insupportable anguish, she had +suddenly come out into the garden, and sunk to the earth, as though +mown down by a scythe. It was all bright and green about her; the wind +was whispering in the leaves of the trees, and swinging now and then +a long branch of a raspberry bush over Zinaida's head. There was a +sound of the cooing of doves, and the bees hummed, flying low over +the scanty grass, Overhead the sun was radiantly blue--while I was so +sorrowful.... + +'Read me some poetry,' said Zinaida in an undertone, and she propped +herself on her elbow; 'I like your reading poetry. You read it in +sing-song, but that's no matter, that comes of being young. Read me +"On the Hills of Georgia." Only sit down first.' + +I sat down and read 'On the Hills of Georgia.' + +'"That the heart cannot choose but love,"' repeated Zinaida. 'That's +where poetry's so fine; it tells us what is not, and what's not only +better than what is, but much more like the truth, "cannot choose +but love,"--it might want not to, but it can't help it.' She was +silent again, then all at once she started and got up. 'Come along. +Meidanov's indoors with mamma, he brought me his poem, but I deserted +him. His feelings are hurt too now ... I can't help it! you'll +understand it all some day ... only don't be angry with me!' + +Zinaida hurriedly pressed my hand and ran on ahead. We went back into +the lodge. Meidanov set to reading us his 'Manslayer,' which had just +appeared in print, but I did not hear him. He screamed and drawled his +four-foot iambic lines, the alternating rhythms jingled like little +bells, noisy and meaningless, while I still watched Zinaida and tried +to take in the import of her last words. + + 'Perchance some unknown rival + Has surprised and mastered thee?' + +Meidanov bawled suddenly through his nose--and my eyes and Zinaida's +met. She looked down and faintly blushed. I saw her blush, and grew +cold with terror. I had been jealous before, but only at that instant +the idea of her being in love flashed upon my mind. 'Good God! she is +in love!' + + + + +X + + +My real torments began from that instant. I racked my brains, changed +my mind, and changed it back again, and kept an unremitting, though, +as far as possible, secret watch on Zinaida. A change had come over +her, that was obvious. She began going walks alone--and long walks. +Sometimes she would not see visitors; she would sit for hours together +in her room. This had never been a habit of hers till now. I suddenly +became--or fancied I had become--extraordinarily penetrating. + +'Isn't it he? or isn't it he?' I asked myself, passing in inward +agitation from one of her admirers to another. Count Malevsky secretly +struck me as more to be feared than the others, though, for Zinaida's +sake, I was ashamed to confess it to myself. + +My watchfulness did not see beyond the end of my nose, and its secrecy +probably deceived no one; any way, Doctor Lushin soon saw through me. +But he, too, had changed of late; he had grown thin, he laughed as +often, but his laugh seemed more hollow, more spiteful, shorter, an +involuntary nervous irritability took the place of his former light +irony and assumed cynicism. + +'Why are you incessantly hanging about here, young man?' he said +to me one day, when we were left alone together in the Zasyekins' +drawing-room. (The young princess had not come home from a walk, and +the shrill voice of the old princess could be heard within; she was +scolding the maid.) 'You ought to be studying, working--while you're +young--and what are you doing?' + +'You can't tell whether I work at home,' I retorted with some +haughtiness, but also with some hesitation. + +'A great deal of work you do! that's not what you're thinking about! +Well, I won't find fault with that ... at your age that's in the +natural order of things. But you've been awfully unlucky in your +choice. Don't you see what this house is?' + +'I don't understand you,' I observed. + +'You don't understand? so much the worse for you. I regard it as a +duty to warn you. Old bachelors, like me, can come here, what harm can +it do us! we're tough, nothing can hurt us, what harm can it do us; +but your skin's tender yet--this air is bad for you--believe me, you +may get harm from it.' + +'How so?' + +'Why, are you well now? Are you in a normal condition? Is what you're +feeling--beneficial to you--good for you?' + +'Why, what am I feeling?' I said, while in my heart I knew the doctor +was right. + +'Ah, young man, young man,' the doctor went on with an intonation that +suggested that something highly insulting to me was contained in these +two words, 'what's the use of your prevaricating, when, thank God, +what's in your heart is in your face, so far? But there, what's the +use of talking? I shouldn't come here myself, if ... (the doctor +compressed his lips) ... if I weren't such a queer fellow. Only this +is what surprises me; how it is, you, with your intelligence, don't +see what is going on around you?' + +'And what is going on?' I put in, all on the alert. + +The doctor looked at me with a sort of ironical compassion. + +'Nice of me!' he said as though to himself, 'as if he need know +anything of it. In fact, I tell you again,' he added, raising his +voice, 'the atmosphere here is not fit for you. You like being here, +but what of that! it's nice and sweet-smelling in a greenhouse--but +there's no living in it. Yes! do as I tell you, and go back to your +Keidanov.' + +The old princess came in, and began complaining to the doctor of her +toothache. Then Zinaida appeared. + +'Come,' said the old princess, 'you must scold her, doctor. She's +drinking iced water all day long; is that good for her, pray, with her +delicate chest?' + +'Why do you do that?' asked Lushin. + +'Why, what effect could it have?' + +'What effect? You might get a chill and die.' + +'Truly? Do you mean it? Very well--so much the better.' + +'A fine idea!' muttered the doctor. The old princess had gone out. + +'Yes, a fine idea,' repeated Zinaida. 'Is life such a festive affair? +Just look about you.... Is it nice, eh? Or do you imagine I don't +understand it, and don't feel it? It gives me pleasure--drinking iced +water; and can you seriously assure me that such a life is worth too +much to be risked for an instant's pleasure--happiness I won't even +talk about.' + +'Oh, very well,' remarked Lushin, 'caprice and irresponsibility.... +Those two words sum you up; your whole nature's contained in those two +words.' + +Zinaida laughed nervously. + +'You're late for the post, my dear doctor. You don't keep a good +look-out; you're behind the times. Put on your spectacles. I'm in no +capricious humour now. To make fools of you, to make a fool of myself +... much fun there is in that!--and as for irresponsibility ... M'sieu +Voldemar,' Zinaida added suddenly, stamping, 'don't make such a +melancholy face. I can't endure people to pity me.' She went quickly +out of the room. + +'It's bad for you, very bad for you, this atmosphere, young man,' +Lushin said to me once more. + + + + +XI + + +On the evening of the same day the usual guests were assembled at the +Zasyekins'. I was among them. + +The conversation turned on Meidanov's poem. Zinaida expressed genuine +admiration of it. 'But do you know what?' she said to him. 'If I were +a poet, I would choose quite different subjects. Perhaps it's all +nonsense, but strange ideas sometimes come into my head, especially +when I'm not asleep in the early morning, when the sky begins to turn +rosy and grey both at once. I would, for instance ... You won't laugh +at me?' + +'No, no!' we all cried, with one voice. + +'I would describe,' she went on, folding her arms across her bosom +and looking away, 'a whole company of young girls at night in a great +boat, on a silent river. The moon is shining, and they are all in +white, and wearing garlands of white flowers, and singing, you know, +something in the nature of a hymn.' + +'I see--I see; go on,' Meidanov commented with dreamy significance. + +'All of a sudden, loud clamour, laughter, torches, tambourines on the +bank.... It's a troop of Bacchantes dancing with songs and cries. It's +your business to make a picture of it, Mr. Poet;... only I should like +the torches to be red and to smoke a great deal, and the Bacchantes' +eyes to gleam under their wreaths, and the wreaths to be dusky. Don't +forget the tiger-skins, too, and goblets and gold--lots of gold....' + +'Where ought the gold to be?' asked Meidanov, tossing back his sleek +hair and distending his nostrils. + +'Where? on their shoulders and arms and legs--everywhere. They say in +ancient times women wore gold rings on their ankles. The Bacchantes +call the girls in the boat to them. The girls have ceased singing +their hymn--they cannot go on with it, but they do not stir, the river +carries them to the bank. And suddenly one of them slowly rises.... +This you must describe nicely: how she slowly gets up in the +moonlight, and how her companions are afraid.... She steps over the +edge of the boat, the Bacchantes surround her, whirl her away into +night and darkness.... Here put in smoke in clouds and everything in +confusion. There is nothing but the sound of their shrill cry, and her +wreath left lying on the bank.' + +Zinaida ceased. ('Oh! she is in love!' I thought again.) + +'And is that all?' asked Meidanov. + +'That's all.' + +'That can't be the subject of a whole poem,' he observed pompously, +'but I will make use of your idea for a lyrical fragment.' + +'In the romantic style?' queried Malevsky. + +'Of course, in the romantic style--Byronic.' + +'Well, to my mind, Hugo beats Byron,' the young count observed +negligently; 'he's more interesting.' + +'Hugo is a writer of the first class,' replied Meidanov; 'and my +friend, Tonkosheev, in his Spanish romance, _El Trovador_ ...' + +'Ah! is that the book with the question-marks turned upside down?' +Zinaida interrupted. + +'Yes. That's the custom with the Spanish. I was about to observe that +Tonkosheev ...' + +'Come! you're going to argue about classicism and romanticism again,' +Zinaida interrupted him a second time.' We'd much better play ... + +'Forfeits?' put in Lushin. + +'No, forfeits are a bore; at comparisons.' (This game Zinaida had +invented herself. Some object was mentioned, every one tried to +compare it with something, and the one who chose the best comparison +got a prize.) + +She went up to the window. The sun was just setting; high up in the +sky were large red clouds. + +'What are those clouds like?' questioned Zinaida; and without waiting +for our answer, she said, 'I think they are like the purple sails on +the golden ship of Cleopatra, when she sailed to meet Antony. Do you +remember, Meidanov, you were telling me about it not long ago?' + +All of us, like Polonius in _Hamlet_, opined that the clouds recalled +nothing so much as those sails, and that not one of us could discover +a better comparison. + +'And how old was Antony then?' inquired Zinaida. + +'A young man, no doubt,' observed Malevsky. + +'Yes, a young man,' Meidanov chimed in in confirmation. + +'Excuse me,' cried Lushin, 'he was over forty.' + +'Over forty,' repeated Zinaida, giving him a rapid glance.... + +I soon went home. 'She is in love,' my lips unconsciously repeated.... +'But with whom?' + + + + +XII + + +The days passed by. Zinaida became stranger and stranger, and more and +more incomprehensible. One day I went over to her, and saw her sitting +in a basket-chair, her head pressed to the sharp edge of the table. +She drew herself up ... her whole face was wet with tears. + +'Ah, you!' she said with a cruel smile. 'Come here.' + +I went up to her. She put her hand on my head, and suddenly catching +hold of my hair, began pulling it. + +'It hurts me,' I said at last. + +'Ah! does it? And do you suppose nothing hurts me?' she replied. + +'Ai!' she cried suddenly, seeing she had pulled a little tuft of hair +out. 'What have I done? Poor M'sieu Voldemar!' + +She carefully smoothed the hair she had torn out, stroked it round her +finger, and twisted it into a ring. + +'I shall put your hair in a locket and wear it round my neck,' she +said, while the tears still glittered in her eyes. 'That will be some +small consolation to you, perhaps ... and now good-bye.' + +I went home, and found an unpleasant state of things there. My mother +was having a scene with my father; she was reproaching him with +something, while he, as his habit was, maintained a polite and chilly +silence, and soon left her. I could not hear what my mother was +talking of, and indeed I had no thought to spare for the subject; I +only remember that when the interview was over, she sent for me to her +room, and referred with great displeasure to the frequent visits I +paid the princess, who was, in her words, _une femme capable de tout_. +I kissed her hand (this was what I always did when I wanted to cut +short a conversation) and went off to my room. Zinaida's tears had +completely overwhelmed me; I positively did not know what to think, +and was ready to cry myself; I was a child after all, in spite of my +sixteen years. I had now given up thinking about Malevsky, though +Byelovzorov looked more and more threatening every day, and glared at +the wily count like a wolf at a sheep; but I thought of nothing and +of no one. I was lost in imaginings, and was always seeking seclusion +and solitude. I was particularly fond of the ruined greenhouse. I +would climb up on the high wall, and perch myself, and sit there, +such an unhappy, lonely, and melancholy youth, that I felt sorry for +myself--and how consolatory where those mournful sensations, how I +revelled in them!... + +One day I was sitting on the wall looking into the distance and +listening to the ringing of the bells.... Suddenly something floated +up to me--not a breath of wind and not a shiver, but as it were a +whiff of fragrance--as it were, a sense of some one's being near.... I +looked down. Below, on the path, in a light greyish gown, with a pink +parasol on her shoulder, was Zinaida, hurrying along. She caught sight +of me, stopped, and pushing back the brim of her straw hat, she raised +her velvety eyes to me. + +'What are you doing up there at such a height?' she asked me with a +rather queer smile. 'Come,' she went on, 'you always declare you love +me; jump down into the road to me if you really do love me.' + +Zinaida had hardly uttered those words when I flew down, just as +though some one had given me a violent push from behind. The wall was +about fourteen feet high. I reached the ground on my feet, but the +shock was so great that I could not keep my footing; I fell down, and +for an instant fainted away. When I came to myself again, without +opening my eyes, I felt Zinaida beside me. 'My dear boy,' she was +saying, bending over me, and there was a note of alarmed tenderness in +her voice, 'how could you do it, dear; how could you obey?... You know +I love you.... Get up.' + +Her bosom was heaving close to me, her hands were caressing my head, +and suddenly--what were my emotions at that moment--her soft, fresh +lips began covering my face with kisses ... they touched my lips.... +But then Zinaida probably guessed by the expression of my face that I +had regained consciousness, though I still kept my eyes closed, and +rising rapidly to her feet, she said: 'Come, get up, naughty boy, +silly, why are you lying in the dust?' I got up. 'Give me my parasol,' +said Zinaida, 'I threw it down somewhere, and don't stare at me like +that ... what ridiculous nonsense! you're not hurt, are you? stung +by the nettles, I daresay? Don't stare at me, I tell you.... But +he doesn't understand, he doesn't answer,' she added, as though to +herself.... 'Go home, M'sieu' Voldemar, brush yourself, and don't dare +to follow me, or I shall be angry, and never again ...' + +She did not finish her sentence, but walked rapidly away, while I sat +down by the side of the road ... my legs would not support me. The +nettles had stung my hands, my back ached, and my head was giddy; but +the feeling of rapture I experienced then has never come a second +time in my life. It turned to a sweet ache in all my limbs and found +expression at last in joyful hops and skips and shouts. Yes, I was +still a child. + + + + +XIII + + +I was so proud and light-hearted all that day, I so vividly retained +on my face the feeling of Zinaida's kisses, with such a shudder +of delight I recalled every word she had uttered, I so hugged my +unexpected happiness that I felt positively afraid, positively +unwilling to see her, who had given rise to these new sensations. It +seemed to me that now I could ask nothing more of fate, that now I +ought to 'go, and draw a deep last sigh and die.' But, next day, when +I went into the lodge, I felt great embarrassment, which I tried to +conceal under a show of modest confidence, befitting a man who wishes +to make it apparent that he knows how to keep a secret. Zinaida +received me very simply, without any emotion, she simply shook her +finger at me and asked me, whether I wasn't black and blue? All my +modest confidence and air of mystery vanished instantaneously and +with them my embarrassment. Of course, I had not expected anything +particular, but Zinaida's composure was like a bucket of cold water +thrown over me. I realised that in her eyes I was a child, and was +extremely miserable! Zinaida walked up and down the room, giving me +a quick smile, whenever she caught my eye, but her thoughts were +far away, I saw that clearly.... 'Shall I begin about what happened +yesterday myself,' I pondered; 'ask her, where she was hurrying off +so fast, so as to find out once for all' ... but with a gesture of +despair, I merely went and sat down in a corner. + +Byelovzorov came in; I felt relieved to see him. + +'I've not been able to find you a quiet horse,' he said in a sulky +voice; 'Freitag warrants one, but I don't feel any confidence in it, I +am afraid.' + +'What are you afraid of?' said Zinaida; 'allow me to inquire?' + +'What am I afraid of? Why, you don't know how to ride. Lord save +us, what might happen! What whim is this has come over you all of a +sudden?' + +'Come, that's my business, Sir Wild Beast. In that case I will ask +Piotr Vassilievitch.' ... (My father's name was Piotr Vassilievitch. +I was surprised at her mentioning his name so lightly and freely, as +though she were confident of his readiness to do her a service.) + +'Oh, indeed,' retorted Byelovzorov, 'you mean to go out riding with +him then?' + +'With him or with some one else is nothing to do with you. Only not +with you, anyway.' + +'Not with me,' repeated Byelovzorov. 'As you wish. Well, I shall find +you a horse.' + +'Yes, only mind now, don't send some old cow. I warn you I want to +gallop.' + +'Gallop away by all means ... with whom is it, with Malevsky, you are +going to ride?' + +'And why not with him, Mr. Pugnacity? Come, be quiet,' she added, +'and don't glare. I'll take you too. You know that to my mind now +Malevsky's--ugh!' She shook her head. + +'You say that to console me,' growled Byelovzorov. + +Zinaida half closed her eyes. 'Does that console you? O ... O ... O +... Mr. Pugnacity!' she said at last, as though she could find no +other word. 'And you, M'sieu' Voldemar, would you come with us?' + +'I don't care to ... in a large party,' I muttered, not raising my +eyes. + +'You prefer a _tete-a-tete_?... Well, freedom to the free, and heaven +to the saints,' she commented with a sigh. 'Go along, Byelovzorov, and +bestir yourself. I must have a horse for to-morrow.' + +'Oh, and where's the money to come from?' put in the old princess. + +Zinaida scowled. + +'I won't ask you for it; Byelovzorov will trust me.' + +'He'll trust you, will he?' ... grumbled the old princess, and all of +a sudden she screeched at the top of her voice, 'Duniashka!' + +'Maman, I have given you a bell to ring,' observed Zinaida. + +'Duniashka!' repeated the old lady. + +Byelovzorov took leave; I went away with him. Zinaida did not try to +detain me. + + + + +XIV + + +The next day I got up early, cut myself a stick, and set off beyond +the town-gates. I thought I would walk off my sorrow. It was a lovely +day, bright and not too hot, a fresh sportive breeze roved over the +earth with temperate rustle and frolic, setting all things a-flutter +and harassing nothing. I wandered a long while over hills and through +woods; I had not felt happy, I had left home with the intention of +giving myself up to melancholy, but youth, the exquisite weather, the +fresh air, the pleasure of rapid motion, the sweetness of repose, +lying on the thick grass in a solitary nook, gained the upper hand; +the memory of those never-to-be-forgotten words, those kisses, forced +itself once more upon my soul. It was sweet to me to think that +Zinaida could not, anyway, fail to do justice to my courage, my +heroism....' Others may seem better to her than I,' I mused, 'let +them! But others only say what they would do, while I have done it. +And what more would I not do for her?' My fancy set to work. I began +picturing to myself how I would save her from the hands of enemies; +how, covered with blood I would tear her by force from prison, +and expire at her feet. I remembered a picture hanging in our +drawing-room--Malek-Adel bearing away Matilda--but at that point my +attention was absorbed by the appearance of a speckled woodpecker who +climbed busily up the slender stem of a birch-tree and peeped out +uneasily from behind it, first to the right, then to the left, like a +musician behind the bass-viol. + +Then I sang 'Not the white snows,' and passed from that to a song well +known at that period: 'I await thee, when the wanton zephyr,' then +I began reading aloud Yermak's address to the stars from Homyakov's +tragedy. I made an attempt to compose something myself in a +sentimental vein, and invented the line which was to conclude each +verse: 'O Zinaida, Zinaida!' but could get no further with it. +Meanwhile it was getting on towards dinner-time. I went down into the +valley; a narrow sandy path winding through it led to the town. I +walked along this path.... The dull thud of horses' hoofs resounded +behind me. I looked round instinctively, stood still and took off my +cap. I saw my father and Zinaida. They were riding side by side. My +father was saying something to her, bending right over to her, his +hand propped on the horses' neck, he was smiling. Zinaida listened +to him in silence, her eyes severely cast down, and her lips tightly +pressed together. At first I saw them only; but a few instants later, +Byelovzorov came into sight round a bend in the glade, he was wearing +a hussar's uniform with a pelisse, and riding a foaming black horse. +The gallant horse tossed its head, snorted and pranced from side +to side, his rider was at once holding him in and spurring him on. +I stood aside. My father gathered up the reins, moved away from +Zinaida, she slowly raised her eyes to him, and both galloped off ... +Byelovzorov flew after them, his sabre clattering behind him. 'He's +as red as a crab,' I reflected, 'while she ... why's she so pale? out +riding the whole morning, and pale?' + +I redoubled my pace, and got home just at dinner-time. My father was +already sitting by my mother's chair, dressed for dinner, washed and +fresh; he was reading an article from the _Journal des Debats_ in his +smooth musical voice; but my mother heard him without attention, and +when she saw me, asked where I had been to all day long, and added +that she didn't like this gadding about God knows where, and God knows +in what company. 'But I have been walking alone,' I was on the point +of replying, but I looked at my father, and for some reason or other +held my peace. + + + + +XV + + +For the next five or six days I hardly saw Zinaida; she said she was +ill, which did not, however, prevent the usual visitors from calling +at the lodge to pay--as they expressed it, their duty--all, that is, +except Meidanov, who promptly grew dejected and sulky when he had +not an opportunity of being enthusiastic. Byelovzorov sat sullen and +red-faced in a corner, buttoned up to the throat; on the refined face +of Malevsky there flickered continually an evil smile; he had really +fallen into disfavour with Zinaida, and waited with special assiduity +on the old princess, and even went with her in a hired coach to call +on the Governor-General. This expedition turned out unsuccessful, +however, and even led to an unpleasant experience for Malevsky; he was +reminded of some scandal to do with certain officers of the engineers, +and was forced in his explanations to plead his youth and inexperience +at the time. Lushin came twice a day, but did not stay long; I was +rather afraid of him after our last unreserved conversation, and at +the same time felt a genuine attraction to him. He went a walk with +me one day in the Neskutchny gardens, was very good-natured and nice, +told me the names and properties of various plants and flowers, and +suddenly, _a propos_ of nothing at all, cried, hitting himself on +his forehead, 'And I, poor fool, thought her a flirt! it's clear +self-sacrifice is sweet for some people!' + +'What do you mean by that?' I inquired. + +'I don't mean to tell you anything,' Lushin replied abruptly. + +Zinaida avoided me; my presence--I could not help noticing +it--affected her disagreeably. She involuntarily turned away from me +... involuntarily; that was what was so bitter, that was what crushed +me! But there was no help for it, and I tried not to cross her path, +and only to watch her from a distance, in which I was not always +successful. As before, something incomprehensible was happening to +her; her face was different, she was different altogether. I was +specially struck by the change that had taken place in her one warm +still evening. I was sitting on a low garden bench under a spreading +elderbush; I was fond of that nook; I could see from there the window +of Zinaida's room. I sat there; over my head a little bird was busily +hopping about in the darkness of the leaves; a grey cat, stretching +herself at full length, crept warily about the garden, and the first +beetles were heavily droning in the air, which was still clear, though +it was not light. I sat and gazed at the window, and waited to see if +it would open; it did open, and Zinaida appeared at it. She had on a +white dress, and she herself, her face, shoulders, and arms, were pale +to whiteness. She stayed a long while without moving, and looked out +straight before her from under her knitted brows. I had never known +such a look on her. Then she clasped her hands tightly, raised them to +her lips, to her forehead, and suddenly pulling her fingers apart, she +pushed back her hair behind her ears, tossed it, and with a sort of +determination nodded her head, and slammed-to the window. + +Three days later she met me in the garden. I was turning away, but she +stopped me of herself. + +'Give me your arm,' she said to me with her old affectionateness, +'it's a long while since we have had a talk together.' + +I stole a look at her; her eyes were full of a soft light, and her +face seemed as it were smiling through a mist. + +'Are you still not well?' I asked her. + +'No, that's all over now,' she answered, and she picked a small red +rose. 'I am a little tired, but that too will pass off.' + +'And will you be as you used to be again?' I asked. + +Zinaida put the rose up to her face, and I fancied the reflection of +its bright petals had fallen on her cheeks. 'Why, am I changed?' she +questioned me. + +'Yes, you are changed,' I answered in a low voice. + +'I have been cold to you, I know,' began Zinaida, 'but you mustn't pay +attention to that ... I couldn't help it.... Come, why talk about it!' + +'You don't want me to love you, that's what it is!' I cried gloomily, +in an involuntary outburst. + +'No, love me, but not as you did.' + +'How then?' + +'Let us be friends--come now!' Zinaida gave me the rose to smell. +'Listen, you know I'm much older than you--I might be your aunt, +really; well, not your aunt, but an older sister. And you ...' + +'You think me a child,' I interrupted. + +'Well, yes, a child, but a dear, good clever one, whom I love very +much. Do you know what? From this day forth I confer on you the rank +of page to me; and don't you forget that pages have to keep close +to their ladies. Here is the token of your new dignity,' she added, +sticking the rose in the buttonhole of my jacket, 'the token of my +favour.' + +'I once received other favours from you,' I muttered. + +'Ah!' commented Zinaida, and she gave me a sidelong look, 'What a +memory he has! Well? I'm quite ready now ...' And stooping to me, she +imprinted on my forehead a pure, tranquil kiss. + +I only looked at her, while she turned away, and saying, 'Follow me, +my page,' went into the lodge. I followed her--all in amazement. 'Can +this gentle, reasonable girl,' I thought, 'be the Zinaida I used to +know?' I fancied her very walk was quieter, her whole figure statelier +and more graceful ... + +And, mercy! with what fresh force love burned within me! + + + + +XVI + + +After dinner the usual party assembled again at the lodge, and the +young princess came out to them. All were there in full force, just as +on that first evening which I never forgot; even Nirmatsky had limped +to see her; Meidanov came this time earliest of all, he brought some +new verses. The games of forfeits began again, but without the strange +pranks, the practical jokes and noise--the gipsy element had vanished. +Zinaida gave a different tone to the proceedings. I sat beside her by +virtue of my office as page. Among other things, she proposed that +any one who had to pay a forfeit should tell his dream; but this was +not successful. The dreams were either uninteresting (Byelovzorov had +dreamed that he fed his mare on carp, and that she had a wooden head), +or unnatural and invented. Meidanov regaled us with a regular romance; +there were sepulchres in it, and angels with lyres, and talking +flowers and music wafted from afar. Zinaida did not let him finish. +'If we are to have compositions,' she said, 'let every one tell +something made up, and no pretence about it.' The first who had to +speak was again Byelovzorov. + +The young hussar was confused. 'I can't make up anything!' he cried. + +'What nonsense!' said Zinaida. 'Well, imagine, for instance, you are +married, and tell us how you would treat your wife. Would you lock her +up?' + +'Yes, I should lock her up.' + +'And would you stay with her yourself?' + +'Yes, I should certainly stay with her myself.' + +'Very good. Well, but if she got sick of that, and she deceived you?' + +'I should kill her.' + +'And if she ran away?' + +'I should catch her up and kill her all the same.' + +'Oh. And suppose now I were your wife, what would you do then?' + +Byelovzorov was silent a minute. 'I should kill myself....' + +Zinaida laughed. 'I see yours is not a long story.' + +The next forfeit was Zinaida's. She looked at the ceiling and +considered. 'Well, listen, she began at last, 'what I have thought +of.... Picture to yourselves a magnificent palace, a summer night, and +a marvellous ball. This ball is given by a young queen. Everywhere +gold and marble, crystal, silk, lights, diamonds, flowers, fragrant +scents, every caprice of luxury.' + +'You love luxury?' Lushin interposed. 'Luxury is beautiful,' she +retorted; 'I love everything beautiful.' + +'More than what is noble?' he asked. + +'That's something clever, I don't understand it. Don't interrupt me. +So the ball is magnificent. There are crowds of guests, all of them +are young, handsome, and brave, all are frantically in love with the +queen.' + +'Are there no women among the guests?' queried Malevsky. + +'No--or wait a minute--yes, there are some.' + +'Are they all ugly?' + +'No, charming. But the men are all in love with the queen. She is tall +and graceful; she has a little gold diadem on her black hair.' + +I looked at Zinaida, and at that instant she seemed to me so much +above all of us, there was such bright intelligence, and such power +about her unruffled brows, that I thought: 'You are that queen!' + +'They all throng about her,' Zinaida went on, 'and all lavish the most +flattering speeches upon her.' + +'And she likes flattery?' Lushin queried. + +'What an intolerable person! he keeps interrupting ... who doesn't +like flattery?' + +'One more last question,' observed Malevsky, 'has the queen a +husband?' + +'I hadn't thought about that. No, why should she have a husband?' + +'To be sure,' assented Malevsky, 'why should she have a husband?' + +'_Silence!_' cried Meidanov in French, which he spoke very badly. + +'_Merci!_' Zinaida said to him. 'And so the queen hears their +speeches, and hears the music, but does not look at one of the guests. +Six windows are open from top to bottom, from floor to ceiling, and +beyond them is a dark sky with big stars, a dark garden with big +trees. The queen gazes out into the garden. Out there among the trees +is a fountain; it is white in the darkness, and rises up tall, tall +as an apparition. The queen hears, through the talk and the music, +the soft splash of its waters. She gazes and thinks: you are all, +gentlemen, noble, clever, and rich, you crowd round me, you treasure +every word I utter, you are all ready to die at my feet, I hold you in +my power ... but out there, by the fountain, by that splashing water, +stands and waits he whom I love, who holds me in his power. He has +neither rich raiment nor precious stones, no one knows him, but he +awaits me, and is certain I shall come--and I shall come--and there +is no power that could stop me when I want to go out to him, and to +stay with him, and be lost with him out there in the darkness of the +garden, under the whispering of the trees, and the splash of the +fountain ...' Zinaida ceased. + +'Is that a made-up story?' Malevsky inquired slyly. Zinaida did not +even look at him. + +'And what should we have done, gentlemen?' Lushin began suddenly, 'if +we had been among the guests, and had known of the lucky fellow at the +fountain?' + +'Stop a minute, stop a minute,' interposed Zinaida, 'I will tell you +myself what each of you would have done. You, Byelovzorov, would have +challenged him to a duel; you, Meidanov, would have written an epigram +on him ... No, though, you can't write epigrams, you would have made +up a long poem on him in the style of Barbier, and would have inserted +your production in the _Telegraph_. You, Nirmatsky, would have +borrowed ... no, you would have lent him money at high interest; you, +doctor,...' she stopped. 'There, I really don't know what you would +have done....' + +'In the capacity of court physician,' answered Lushin, 'I would have +advised the queen not to give balls when she was not in the humour for +entertaining her guests....' + +'Perhaps you would have been right. And you, Count?...' + +'And I?' repeated Malevsky with his evil smile.... + +'You would offer him a poisoned sweetmeat.' Malevsky's face changed +slightly, and assumed for an instant a Jewish expression, but he +laughed directly. + +'And as for you, Voldemar,...' Zinaida went on, 'but that's enough, +though; let us play another game.' + +'M'sieu Voldemar, as the queen's page, would have held up her train +when she ran into the garden,' Malevsky remarked malignantly. + +I was crimson with anger, but Zinaida hurriedly laid a hand on my +shoulder, and getting up, said in a rather shaky voice: 'I have never +given your excellency the right to be rude, and therefore I will ask +you to leave us.' She pointed to the door. + +'Upon my word, princess,' muttered Malevsky, and he turned quite pale. + +'The princess is right,' cried Byelovzorov, and he too rose. + +'Good God, I'd not the least idea,' Malevsky went on, 'in my words +there was nothing, I think, that could ... I had no notion of +offending you.... Forgive me.' + +Zinaida looked him up and down coldly, and coldly smiled. 'Stay, then, +certainly,' she pronounced with a careless gesture of her arm. + +'M'sieu Voldemar and I were needlessly incensed. It is your pleasure +to sting ... may it do you good.' + +'Forgive me,' Malevsky repeated once more; while I, my thoughts +dwelling on Zinaida's gesture, said to myself again that no real queen +could with greater dignity have shown a presumptuous subject to the +door. + +The game of forfeits went on for a short time after this little scene; +every one felt rather ill at ease, not so much on account of this +scene, as from another, not quite definite, but oppressive feeling. No +one spoke of it, but every one was conscious of it in himself and in +his neighbour. Meidanov read us his verses; and Malevsky praised them +with exaggerated warmth. 'He wants to show how good he is now,' Lushin +whispered to me. We soon broke up. A mood of reverie seemed to have +come upon Zinaida; the old princess sent word that she had a headache; +Nirmatsky began to complain of his rheumatism.... + +I could not for a long while get to sleep. I had been impressed by +Zinaida's story. 'Can there have been a hint in it?' I asked myself: +'and at whom and at what was she hinting? And if there really is +anything to hint at ... how is one to make up one's mind? No, no, it +can't be,' I whispered, turning over from one hot cheek on to the +other.... But I remembered the expression of Zinaida's face during her +story.... I remembered the exclamation that had broken from Lushin in +the Neskutchny gardens, the sudden change in her behaviour to me, and +I was lost in conjectures. 'Who is he?' These three words seemed to +stand before my eyes traced upon the darkness; a lowering malignant +cloud seemed hanging over me, and I felt its oppressiveness, and +waited for it to break. I had grown used to many things of late; I had +learned much from what I had seen at the Zasyekins; their disorderly +ways, tallow candle-ends, broken knives and forks, grumpy Vonifaty, +and shabby maid-servants, the manners of the old princess--all +their strange mode of life no longer struck me.... But what I was +dimly discerning now in Zinaida, I could never get used to.... 'An +adventuress!' my mother had said of her one day. An adventuress--she, +my idol, my divinity? This word stabbed me, I tried to get away from +it into my pillow, I was indignant--and at the same time what would I +not have agreed to, what would I not have given only to be that lucky +fellow at the fountain!... My blood was on fire and boiling within +me. 'The garden ... the fountain,' I mused.... 'I will go into the +garden.' I dressed quickly and slipped out of the house. The night +was dark, the trees scarcely whispered, a soft chill air breathed +down from the sky, a smell of fennel trailed across from the kitchen +garden. I went through all the walks; the light sound of my own +footsteps at once confused and emboldened me; I stood still, waited +and heard my heart beating fast and loudly. At last I went up to the +fence and leaned against the thin bar. Suddenly, or was it my fancy, a +woman's figure flashed by, a few paces from me ... I strained my eyes +eagerly into the darkness, I held my breath. What was that? Did I hear +steps, or was it my heart beating again? 'Who is here?' I faltered, +hardly audibly. What was that again, a smothered laugh ... or a +rustling in the leaves ... or a sigh just at my ear? I felt afraid ... +'Who is here?' I repeated still more softly. + +The air blew in a gust for an instant; a streak of fire flashed across +the sky; it was a star falling. 'Zinaida?' I wanted to call, but +the word died away on my lips. And all at once everything became +profoundly still around, as is often the case in the middle of the +night.... Even the grasshoppers ceased their churr in the trees--only +a window rattled somewhere. I stood and stood, and then went back to +my room, to my chilled bed. I felt a strange sensation; as though I +had gone to a tryst, and had been left lonely, and had passed close by +another's happiness. + + + + +XVII + + +The following day I only had a passing glimpse of Zinaida: she was +driving somewhere with the old princess in a cab. But I saw Lushin, +who, however, barely vouchsafed me a greeting, and Malevsky. The young +count grinned, and began affably talking to me. Of all those who +visited at the lodge, he alone had succeeded in forcing his way into +our house, and had favourably impressed my mother. My father did not +take to him, and treated him with a civility almost insulting. + +'Ah, _monsieur le page_,' began Malevsky, 'delighted to meet you. What +is your lovely queen doing?' + +His fresh handsome face was so detestable to me at that moment, and he +looked at me with such contemptuous amusement that I did not answer +him at all. + +'Are you still angry?' he went on. 'You've no reason to be. It wasn't +I who called you a page, you know, and pages attend queens especially. +But allow me to remark that you perform your duties very badly.' + +'How so?' + +'Pages ought to be inseparable from their mistresses; pages ought to +know everything they do, they ought, indeed, to watch over them,' he +added, lowering his voice, 'day and night.' + +'What do you mean?' + +'What do I mean? I express myself pretty clearly, I fancy. Day and +night. By day it's not so much matter; it's light, and people are +about in the daytime; but by night, then look out for misfortune. I +advise you not to sleep at nights and to watch, watch with all your +energies. You remember, in the garden, by night, at the fountain, +that's where there's need to look out. You will thank me.' + +Malevsky laughed and turned his back on me. He, most likely, attached +no great importance to what he had said to me, he had a reputation +for mystifying, and was noted for his power of taking people in at +masquerades, which was greatly augmented by the almost unconscious +falsity in which his whole nature was steeped.... He only wanted to +tease me; but every word he uttered was a poison that ran through my +veins. The blood rushed to my head. 'Ah! so that's it!' I said to +myself; 'good! So there was reason for me to feel drawn into the +garden! That shan't be so!' I cried aloud, and struck myself on the +chest with my fist, though precisely what should not be so I could not +have said. 'Whether Malevsky himself goes into the garden,' I thought +(he was bragging, perhaps; he has insolence enough for that), 'or +some one else (the fence of our garden was very low, and there was +no difficulty in getting over it), anyway, if any one falls into +my hands, it will be the worse for him! I don't advise any one to +meet me! I will prove to all the world and to her, the traitress (I +actually used the word 'traitress') that I can be revenged!' + +I returned to my own room, took out of the writing-table an English +knife I had recently bought, felt its sharp edge, and knitting my +brows with an air of cold and concentrated determination, thrust it +into my pocket, as though doing such deeds was nothing out of the way +for me, and not the first time. My heart heaved angrily, and felt +heavy as a stone. All day long I kept a scowling brow and lips tightly +compressed, and was continually walking up and down, clutching, with +my hand in my pocket, the knife, which was warm from my grasp, while I +prepared myself beforehand for something terrible. These new unknown +sensations so occupied and even delighted me, that I hardly thought +of Zinaida herself. I was continually haunted by Aleko, the young +gipsy--'Where art thou going, young handsome man? Lie there,' and +then, 'thou art all besprent with blood.... Oh, what hast thou +done?... Naught!' With what a cruel smile I repeated that 'Naught!' My +father was not at home; but my mother, who had for some time past been +in an almost continual state of dumb exasperation, noticed my gloomy +and heroic aspect, and said to me at supper, 'Why are you sulking like +a mouse in a meal-tub?' I merely smiled condescendingly in reply, and +thought, 'If only they knew!' It struck eleven; I went to my room, but +did not undress; I waited for midnight; at last it struck. 'The time +has come!' I muttered between my teeth; and buttoning myself up to the +throat, and even pulling my sleeves up, I went into the garden. + +I had already fixed on the spot from which to keep watch. At the end +of the garden, at the point where the fence, separating our domain +from the Zasyekins,' joined the common wall, grew a pine-tree, +standing alone. Standing under its low thick branches, I could see +well, as far as the darkness of the night permitted, what took +place around. Close by, ran a winding path which had always seemed +mysterious to me; it coiled like a snake under the fence, which at +that point bore traces of having been climbed over, and led to a round +arbour formed of thick acacias. I made my way to the pine-tree, leaned +my back against its trunk, and began my watch. + +The night was as still as the night before, but there were fewer +clouds in the sky, and the outlines of bushes, even of tall flowers, +could be more distinctly seen. The first moments of expectation were +oppressive, almost terrible. I had made up my mind to everything. I +only debated how to act; whether to thunder, 'Where goest thou? Stand! +show thyself--or death!' or simply to strike.... Every sound, every +whisper and rustle, seemed to me portentous and extraordinary.... I +prepared myself.... I bent forward.... But half-an-hour passed, an +hour passed; my blood had grown quieter, colder; the consciousness +that I was doing all this for nothing, that I was even a little +absurd, that Malevsky had been making fun of me, began to steal over +me. I left my ambush, and walked all about the garden. As if to taunt +me, there was not the smallest sound to be heard anywhere; everything +was at rest. Even our dog was asleep, curled up into a ball at the +gate. I climbed up into the ruins of the greenhouse, saw the open +country far away before me, recalled my meeting with Zinaida, and fell +to dreaming.... + +I started.... I fancied I heard the creak of a door opening, then the +faint crack of a broken twig. In two bounds I got down from the ruin, +and stood still, all aghast. Rapid, light, but cautious footsteps +sounded distinctly in the garden. They were approaching me. 'Here he +is ... here he is, at last!' flashed through my heart. With spasmodic +haste, I pulled the knife out of my pocket; with spasmodic haste, I +opened it. Flashes of red were whirling before my eyes; my hair stood +up on my head in my fear and fury.... The steps were coming straight +towards me; I bent--I craned forward to meet him.... A man came into +view.... My God! it was my father! I recognised him at once, though +he was all muffled up in a dark cloak, and his hat was pulled down +over his face. On tip-toe he walked by. He did not notice me, though +nothing concealed me; but I was so huddled up and shrunk together that +I fancy I was almost on the level of the ground. The jealous Othello, +ready for murder, was suddenly transformed into a school-boy.... I was +so taken aback by my father's unexpected appearance that for the first +moment I did not notice where he had come from or in what direction he +disappeared. I only drew myself up, and thought, 'Why is it my father +is walking about in the garden at night?' when everything was still +again. In my horror I had dropped my knife in the grass, but I did not +even attempt to look for it; I was very much ashamed of myself. I was +completely sobered at once. On my way to the house, however, I went up +to my seat under the elder-tree, and looked up at Zinaida's window. +The small slightly-convex panes of the window shone dimly blue in the +faint light thrown on them by the night sky. All at once--their colour +began to change.... Behind them--I saw this, saw it distinctly--softly +and cautiously a white blind was let down, let down right to the +window-frame, and so stayed. + +'What is that for?' I said aloud almost involuntarily when I found +myself once more in my room. 'A dream, a chance, or ...' The +suppositions which suddenly rushed into my head were so new and +strange that I did not dare to entertain them. + + + + +XVIII + + +I got up in the morning with a headache. My emotion of the previous +day had vanished. It was replaced by a dreary sense of blankness and +a sort of sadness I had not known till then, as though something had +died in me. + +'Why is it you're looking like a rabbit with half its brain removed?' +said Lushin on meeting me. At lunch I stole a look first at my father, +then at my mother: he was composed, as usual; she was, as usual, +secretly irritated. I waited to see whether my father would make some +friendly remarks to me, as he sometimes did.... But he did not even +bestow his everyday cold greeting upon me. 'Shall I tell Zinaida all?' +I wondered.... 'It's all the same, anyway; all is at an end between +us.' I went to see her, but told her nothing, and, indeed, I could not +even have managed to get a talk with her if I had wanted to. The old +princess's son, a cadet of twelve years old, had come from Petersburg +for his holidays; Zinaida at once handed her brother over to me. +'Here,' she said,' my dear Volodya,'--it was the first time she +had used this pet-name to me--'is a companion for you. His name is +Volodya, too. Please, like him; he is still shy, but he has a good +heart. Show him Neskutchny gardens, go walks with him, take him under +your protection. You'll do that, won't you? you're so good, too!' She +laid both her hands affectionately on my shoulders, and I was utterly +bewildered. The presence of this boy transformed me, too, into a +boy. I looked in silence at the cadet, who stared as silently at me. +Zinaida laughed, and pushed us towards each other. 'Embrace each +other, children!' We embraced each other. 'Would you like me to show +you the garden?' I inquired of the cadet. 'If you please,' he replied, +in the regular cadet's hoarse voice. Zinaida laughed again.... I had +time to notice that she had never had such an exquisite colour in her +face before. I set off with the cadet. There was an old-fashioned +swing in our garden. I sat him down on the narrow plank seat, and +began swinging him. He sat rigid in his new little uniform of stout +cloth, with its broad gold braiding, and kept tight hold of the cords. +'You'd better unbutton your collar,' I said to him. 'It's all right; +we're used to it,' he said, and cleared his throat. He was like his +sister. The eyes especially recalled her, I liked being nice to him; +and at the same time an aching sadness was gnawing at my heart. 'Now +I certainly am a child,' I thought; 'but yesterday....' I remembered +where I had dropped my knife the night before, and looked for it. The +cadet asked me for it, picked a thick stalk of wild parsley, cut a +pipe out of it, and began whistling. Othello whistled too. + +But in the evening how he wept, this Othello, in Zinaida's arms, when, +seeking him out in a corner of the garden, she asked him why he was so +depressed. My tears flowed with such violence that she was frightened. +'What is wrong with you? What is it, Volodya?' she repeated; and +seeing I made no answer, and did not cease weeping, she was about to +kiss my wet cheek. But I turned away from her, and whispered through +my sobs, 'I know all. Why did you play with me?... What need had you +of my love?' + +'I am to blame, Volodya ...' said Zinaida. 'I am very much to blame +...' she added, wringing her hands. 'How much there is bad and black +and sinful in me!... But I am not playing with you now. I love you; +you don't even suspect why and how.... But what is it you know?' + +What could I say to her? She stood facing me, and looked at me; and I +belonged to her altogether from head to foot directly she looked at +me.... A quarter of an hour later I was running races with the cadet +and Zinaida. I was not crying, I was laughing, though my swollen +eyelids dropped a tear or two as I laughed. I had Zinaida's ribbon +round my neck for a cravat, and I shouted with delight whenever I +succeeded in catching her round the waist. She did just as she liked +with me. + + + + +XIX + + +I should be in a great difficulty, if I were forced to describe +exactly what passed within me in the course of the week after my +unsuccessful midnight expedition. It was a strange feverish time, a +sort of chaos, in which the most violently opposed feelings, thoughts, +suspicions, hopes, joys, and sufferings, whirled together in a kind +of hurricane. I was afraid to look into myself, if a boy of sixteen +ever can look into himself; I was afraid to take stock of anything; I +simply hastened to live through every day till evening; and at night I +slept ... the light-heartedness of childhood came to my aid. I did not +want to know whether I was loved, and I did not want to acknowledge to +myself that I was not loved; my father I avoided--but Zinaida I could +not avoid.... I burnt as in a fire in her presence ... but what did I +care to know what the fire was in which I burned and melted--it was +enough that it was sweet to burn and melt. I gave myself up to all my +passing sensations, and cheated myself, turning away from memories, +and shutting my eyes to what I foreboded before me.... This weakness +would not most likely have lasted long in any case ... a thunderbolt +cut it all short in a moment, and flung me into a new track +altogether. + +Coming in one day to dinner from a rather long walk, I learnt with +amazement that I was to dine alone, that my father had gone away and +my mother was unwell, did not want any dinner, and had shut herself +up in her bedroom. From the faces of the footmen, I surmised that +something extraordinary had taken place.... I did not dare to +cross-examine them, but I had a friend in the young waiter Philip, +who was passionately fond of poetry, and a performer on the guitar. I +addressed myself to him. From him I learned that a terrible scene had +taken place between my father and mother (and every word had been +overheard in the maids' room; much of it had been in French, but Masha +the lady's-maid had lived five years' with a dressmaker from Paris, +and she understood it all); that my mother had reproached my father +with infidelity, with an intimacy with the young lady next door, that +my father at first had defended himself, but afterwards had lost his +temper, and he too had said something cruel, 'reflecting on her age,' +which had made my mother cry; that my mother too had alluded to some +loan which it seemed had been made to the old princess, and had spoken +very ill of her and of the young lady too, and that then my father had +threatened her. 'And all the mischief,' continued Philip, 'came from +an anonymous letter; and who wrote it, no one knows, or else there'd +have been no reason whatever for the matter to have come out at all.' + +'But was there really any ground,' I brought out with difficulty, +while my hands and feet went cold, and a sort of shudder ran through +my inmost being. + +Philip winked meaningly. 'There was. There's no hiding those things; +for all that your father was careful this time--but there, you see, +he'd, for instance, to hire a carriage or something ... no getting on +without servants, either.' + +I dismissed Philip, and fell on to my bed. I did not sob, I did not +give myself up to despair; I did not ask myself when and how this had +happened; I did not wonder how it was I had not guessed it before, +long ago; I did not even upbraid my father.... What I had learnt was +more than I could take in; this sudden revelation stunned me.... +All was at an end. All the fair blossoms of my heart were roughly +plucked at once, and lay about me, flung on the ground, and trampled +underfoot. + + + + +XX + + +My mother next day announced her intention of returning to the town. +In the morning my father had gone into her bedroom, and stayed there a +long while alone with her. No one had overheard what he said to her; +but my mother wept no more; she regained her composure, and asked for +food, but did not make her appearance nor change her plans. I remember +I wandered about the whole day, but did not go into the garden, +and never once glanced at the lodge, and in the evening I was the +spectator of an amazing occurrence: my father conducted Count Malevsky +by the arm through the dining-room into the hall, and, in the presence +of a footman, said icily to him: 'A few days ago your excellency was +shown the door in our house; and now I am not going to enter into any +kind of explanation with you, but I have the honour to announce to you +that if you ever visit me again, I shall throw you out of window. I +don't like your handwriting.' The count bowed, bit his lips, shrank +away, and vanished. + +Preparations were beginning for our removal to town, to Arbaty Street, +where we had a house. My father himself probably no longer cared +to remain at the country house; but clearly he had succeeded in +persuading my mother not to make a public scandal. Everything was +done quietly, without hurry; my mother even sent her compliments to +the old princess, and expressed her regret that she was prevented by +indisposition from seeing her again before her departure. I wandered +about like one possessed, and only longed for one thing, for it all +to be over as soon as possible. One thought I could not get out of +my head: how could she, a young girl, and a princess too, after all, +bring herself to such a step, knowing that my father was not a free +man, and having an opportunity of marrying, for instance, Byelovzorov? +What did she hope for? How was it she was not afraid of ruining her +whole future? Yes, I thought, this is love, this is passion, this +is devotion ... and Lushin's words came back to me: to sacrifice +oneself for some people is sweet. I chanced somehow to catch sight +of something white in one of the windows of the lodge.... 'Can it be +Zinaida's face?' I thought ... yes, it really was her face. I could +not restrain myself. I could not part from her without saying a last +good-bye to her. I seized a favourable instant, and went into the +lodge. + +In the drawing-room the old princess met me with her usual slovenly +and careless greetings. + +'How's this, my good man, your folks are off in such a hurry?' she +observed, thrusting snuff into her nose. I looked at her, and a load +was taken off my heart. The word 'loan,' dropped by Philip, had been +torturing me. She had no suspicion ... at least I thought so then. +Zinaida came in from the next room, pale, and dressed in black, with +her hair hanging loose; she took me by the hand without a word, and +drew me away with her. + +'I heard your voice,' she began, 'and came out at once. Is it so easy +for you to leave us, bad boy?' + +'I have come to say good-bye to you, princess,' I answered, 'probably +for ever. You have heard, perhaps, we are going away.' + +Zinaida looked intently at me. + +'Yes, I have heard. Thanks for coming. I was beginning to think I +should not see you again. Don't remember evil against me. I have +sometimes tormented you, but all the same I am not what you imagine +me.' She turned away, and leaned against the window. + +'Really, I am not like that. I know you have a bad opinion of me.' + +'I?' + +'Yes, you ... you.' + +'I?' I repeated mournfully, and my heart throbbed as of old under the +influence of her overpowering, indescribable fascination. 'I? Believe +me, Zinaida Alexandrovna, whatever you did, however you tormented me, +I should love and adore you to the end of my days.' + +She turned with a rapid motion to me, and flinging wide her arms, +embraced my head, and gave me a warm and passionate kiss. God knows +whom that long farewell kiss was seeking, but I eagerly tasted +its sweetness. I knew that it would never be repeated. 'Good-bye, +good-bye,' I kept saying ... + +She tore herself away, and went out. And I went away. I cannot +describe the emotion with which I went away. I should not wish it +ever to come again; but I should think myself unfortunate had I never +experienced such an emotion. + +We went back to town. I did not quickly shake off the past; I did +not quickly get to work. My wound slowly began to heal; but I had no +ill-feeling against my father. On the contrary he had, as it were, +gained in my eyes ... let psychologists explain the contradiction +as best they can. One day I was walking along a boulevard, and to +my indescribable delight, I came across Lushin. I liked him for his +straightforward and unaffected character, and besides he was dear to +me for the sake of the memories he aroused in me. I rushed up to him. +'Aha!' he said, knitting his brows,' so it's you, young man. Let me +have a look at you. You're still as yellow as ever, but yet there's +not the same nonsense in your eyes. You look like a man, not a +lap-dog. That's good. Well, what are you doing? working?' + +I gave a sigh. I did not like to tell a lie, while I was ashamed to +tell the truth. + +'Well, never mind,' Lushin went on, 'don't be shy. The great thing is +to lead a normal life, and not be the slave of your passions. What do +you get if not? Wherever you are carried by the tide--it's all a bad +look-out; a man must stand on his own feet, if he can get nothing but +a rock to stand on. Here, I've got a cough ... and Byelovzorov--have +you heard anything of him?' + +'No. What is it?' + +'He's lost, and no news of him; they say he's gone away to the +Caucasus. A lesson to you, young man. And it's all from not knowing +how to part in time, to break out of the net. You seem to have got off +very well. Mind you don't fall into the same snare again. Good-bye.' + +'I shan't,' I thought.... 'I shan't see her again.' But I was destined +to see Zinaida once more. + + + + +XXI + + +My father used every day to ride out on horse-back. He had a splendid +English mare, a chestnut piebald, with a long slender neck and long +legs, an inexhaustible and vicious beast. Her name was Electric. No +one could ride her except my father. One day he came up to me in a +good humour, a frame of mind in which I had not seen him for a long +while; he was getting ready for his ride, and had already put on his +spurs. I began entreating him to take me with him. + +'We'd much better have a game of leap-frog,' my father replied. +'You'll never keep up with me on your cob.' + +'Yes, I will; I'll put on spurs too.' + +'All right, come along then.' + +We set off. I had a shaggy black horse, strong, and fairly spirited. +It is true it had to gallop its utmost, when Electric went at full +trot, still I was not left behind. I have never seen any one ride like +my father; he had such a fine carelessly easy seat, that it seemed +that the horse under him was conscious of it, and proud of its rider. +We rode through all the boulevards, reached the 'Maidens' Field,' +jumped several fences (at first I had been afraid to take a leap, but +my father had a contempt for cowards, and I soon ceased to feel fear), +twice crossed the river Moskva, and I was under the impression that +we were on our way home, especially as my father of his own accord +observed that my horse was tired, when suddenly he turned off away +from me at the Crimean ford, and galloped along the river-bank. I rode +after him. When he had reached a high stack of old timber, he slid +quickly off Electric, told me to dismount, and giving me his horse's +bridle, told me to wait for him there at the timber-stack, and, +turning off into a small street, disappeared. I began walking up and +down the river-bank, leading the horses, and scolding Electric, who +kept pulling, shaking her head, snorting and neighing as she went; and +when I stood still, never failed to paw the ground, and whining, bite +my cob on the neck; in fact she conducted herself altogether like a +spoilt thorough-bred. My father did not come back. A disagreeable damp +mist rose from the river; a fine rain began softly blowing up, and +spotting with tiny dark flecks the stupid grey timber-stack, which +I kept passing and repassing, and was deadly sick of by now. I +was terribly bored, and still my father did not come. A sort of +sentry-man, a Fin, grey all over like the timber, and with a huge +old-fashioned shako, like a pot, on his head, and with a halberd +(and how ever came a sentry, if you think of it, on the banks of +the Moskva!) drew near, and turning his wrinkled face, like an old +woman's, towards me, he observed, 'What are you doing here with the +horses, young master? Let me hold them.' + +I made him no reply. He asked me for tobacco. To get rid of him (I was +in a fret of impatience, too), I took a few steps in the direction in +which my father had disappeared, then walked along the little street +to the end, turned the corner, and stood still. In the street, forty +paces from me, at the open window of a little wooden house, stood +my father, his back turned to me; he was leaning forward over the +window-sill, and in the house, half hidden by a curtain, sat a woman +in a dark dress talking to my father; this woman was Zinaida. + +I was petrified. This, I confess, I had never expected. My first +impulse was to run away. 'My father will look round,' I thought, +'and I am lost ...' but a strange feeling--a feeling stronger than +curiosity, stronger than jealousy, stronger even than fear--held me +there. I began to watch; I strained my ears to listen. It seemed +as though my father were insisting on something. Zinaida would not +consent. I seem to see her face now--mournful, serious, lovely, and +with an inexpressible impress of devotion, grief, love, and a sort of +despair--I can find no other word for it. She uttered monosyllables, +not raising her eyes, simply smiling--submissively, but without +yielding. By that smile alone, I should have known my Zinaida of old +days. My father shrugged his shoulders, and straightened his hat on +his head, which was always a sign of impatience with him.... Then I +caught the words: '_Vous devez vous separer de cette..._' Zinaida sat +up, and stretched out her arm.... Suddenly, before my very eyes, the +impossible happened. My father suddenly lifted the whip, with which +he had been switching the dust off his coat, and I heard a sharp blow +on that arm, bare to the elbow. I could scarcely restrain myself from +crying out; while Zinaida shuddered, looked without a word at my +father, and slowly raising her arm to her lips, kissed the streak of +red upon it. My father flung away the whip, and running quickly up +the steps, dashed into the house.... Zinaida turned round, and with +outstretched arms and downcast head, she too moved away from the +window. + +My heart sinking with panic, with a sort of awe-struck horror, I +rushed back, and running down the lane, almost letting go my hold +of Electric, went back to the bank of the river. I could not think +clearly of anything. I knew that my cold and reserved father was +sometimes seized by fits of fury; and all the same, I could never +comprehend what I had just seen.... But I felt at the time that, +however long I lived, I could never forget the gesture, the glance, +the smile, of Zinaida; that her image, this image so suddenly +presented to me, was imprinted for ever on my memory. I stared +vacantly at the river, and never noticed that my tears were streaming. +'She is beaten,' I was thinking,... 'beaten ... beaten....' + +'Hullo! what are you doing? Give me the mare!' I heard my father's +voice saying behind me. + +Mechanically I gave him the bridle. He leaped on to Electric ... the +mare, chill with standing, reared on her haunches, and leaped ten feet +away ... but my father soon subdued her; he drove the spurs into her +sides, and gave her a blow on the neck with his fist.... 'Ah, I've no +whip,' he muttered. + +I remembered the swish and fall of the whip, heard so short a time +before, and shuddered. + +'Where did you put it?' I asked my father, after a brief pause. + +My father made no answer, and galloped on ahead. I overtook him. I +felt that I must see his face. + +'Were you bored waiting for me?' he muttered through his teeth. + +'A little. Where did you drop your whip?' I asked again. + +My father glanced quickly at me. 'I didn't drop it,' he replied; 'I +threw it away.' He sank into thought, and dropped his head ... and +then, for the first, and almost for the last time, I saw how much +tenderness and pity his stern features were capable of expressing. + +He galloped on again, and this time I could not overtake him; I got +home a quarter-of-an-hour after him. + +'That's love,' I said to myself again, as I sat at night before my +writing-table, on which books and papers had begun to make their +appearance; 'that's passion!... To think of not revolting, of bearing +a blow from any one whatever ... even the dearest hand! But it seems +one can, if one loves.... While I ... I imagined ...' + +I had grown much older during the last month; and my love, with all +its transports and sufferings, struck me myself as something small and +childish and pitiful beside this other unimagined something, which I +could hardly fully grasp, and which frightened me like an unknown, +beautiful, but menacing face, which one strives in vain to make out +clearly in the half-darkness.... + +A strange and fearful dream came to me that same night. I dreamed I +went into a low dark room.... My father was standing with a whip in +his hand, stamping with anger; in the corner crouched Zinaida, and not +on her arm, but on her forehead, was a stripe of red ... while behind +them both towered Byelovzorov, covered with blood; he opened his white +lips, and wrathfully threatened my father. + +Two months later, I entered the university; and within six months my +father died of a stroke in Petersburg, where he had just moved with +my mother and me. A few days before his death he received a letter +from Moscow which threw him into a violent agitation.... He went to +my mother to beg some favour of her: and, I was told, he positively +shed tears--he, my father! On the very morning of the day when he +was stricken down, he had begun a letter to me in French. 'My son,' +he wrote to me, 'fear the love of woman; fear that bliss, that +poison....' After his death, my mother sent a considerable sum of +money to Moscow. + + + + +XXII + + +Four years passed. I had just left the university, and did not know +exactly what to do with myself, at what door to knock; I was hanging +about for a time with nothing to do. One fine evening I met Meidanov +at the theatre. He had got married, and had entered the civil service; +but I found no change in him. He fell into ecstasies in just the same +superfluous way, and just as suddenly grew depressed again. + +'You know,' he told me among other things, 'Madame Dolsky's here.' + +'What Madame Dolsky?' + +'Can you have forgotten her?--the young Princess Zasyekin whom we were +all in love with, and you too. Do you remember at the country-house +near Neskutchny gardens?' + +'She married a Dolsky?' + +'Yes.' + +'And is she here, in the theatre?' + +'No: but she's in Petersburg. She came here a few days ago. She's +going abroad.' + +'What sort of fellow is her husband?' I asked. + +'A splendid fellow, with property. He's a colleague of mine in Moscow. +You can well understand--after the scandal ... you must know all +about it ...' (Meidanov smiled significantly) 'it was no easy task +for her to make a good marriage; there were consequences ... but with +her cleverness, everything is possible. Go and see her; she'll be +delighted to see you. She's prettier than ever.' + +Meidanov gave me Zinaida's address. She was staying at the Hotel +Demut. Old memories were astir within me.... I determined next day to +go to see my former 'flame.' But some business happened to turn up; a +week passed, and then another, and when at last I went to the Hotel +Demut and asked for Madame Dolsky, I learnt that four days before, she +had died, almost suddenly, in childbirth. + +I felt a sort of stab at my heart. The thought that I might have seen +her, and had not seen her, and should never see her--that bitter +thought stung me with all the force of overwhelming reproach. 'She is +dead!' I repeated, staring stupidly at the hall-porter. I slowly made +my way back to the street, and walked on without knowing myself where +I was going. All the past swam up and rose at once before me. So this +was the solution, this was the goal to which that young, ardent, +brilliant life had striven, all haste and agitation! I mused on +this; I fancied those dear features, those eyes, those curls--in the +narrow box, in the damp underground darkness--lying here, not far +from me--while I was still alive, and, maybe, a few paces from my +father.... I thought all this; I strained my imagination, and yet all +the while the lines: + + 'From lips indifferent of her death I heard, + Indifferently I listened to it, too,' + +were echoing in my heart. O youth, youth! little dost thou care for +anything; thou art master, as it were, of all the treasures of the +universe--even sorrow gives thee pleasure, even grief thou canst turn +to thy profit; thou art self-confident and insolent; thou sayest, 'I +alone am living--look you!'--but thy days fly by all the while, and +vanish without trace or reckoning; and everything in thee vanishes, +like wax in the sun, like snow.... And, perhaps, the whole secret of +thy charm lies, not in being able to do anything, but in being able +to think thou wilt do anything; lies just in thy throwing to the +winds, forces which thou couldst not make other use of; in each of us +gravely regarding himself as a prodigal, gravely supposing that he +is justified in saying, 'Oh, what might I not have done if I had not +wasted my time!' + +I, now ... what did I hope for, what did I expect, what rich future +did I foresee, when the phantom of my first love, rising up for an +instant, barely called forth one sigh, one mournful sentiment? + +And what has come to pass of all I hoped for? And now, when the shades +of evening begin to steal over my life, what have I left fresher, +more precious, than the memories of the storm--so soon over--of early +morning, of spring? + +But I do myself injustice. Even then, in those light-hearted young +days, I was not deaf to the voice of sorrow, when it called upon me, +to the solemn strains floating to me from beyond the tomb. I remember, +a few days after I heard of Zinaida's death, I was present, through +a peculiar, irresistible impulse, at the death of a poor old woman +who lived in the same house as we. Covered with rags, lying on hard +boards, with a sack under her head, she died hardly and painfully. Her +whole life had been passed in the bitter struggle with daily want; she +had known no joy, had not tasted the honey of happiness. One would +have thought, surely she would rejoice at death, at her deliverance, +her rest. But yet, as long as her decrepit body held out, as long as +her breast still heaved in agony under the icy hand weighing upon it, +until her last forces left her, the old woman crossed herself, and +kept whispering, 'Lord, forgive my sins'; and only with the last spark +of consciousness, vanished from her eyes the look of fear, of horror +of the end. And I remember that then, by the death-bed of that poor +old woman, I felt aghast for Zinaida, and longed to pray for her, for +my father--and for myself. + + + + +MUMU + + +In one of the outlying streets of Moscow, in a grey 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 labour. 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 labour, 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 +neighbourhood began to feel a great respect for him; even those who +came in the day-time, 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 under-tones, while the wardrobe-maid +got up and went out into the maids' 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 favour as a strong and faithful +watchman. Gerasim stood in considerable awe of her, but, all the same, +he had hopes of her favour, 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, 'favours 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 no how ... '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, what ever 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 tip-toe 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 with 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 ginshop +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 curb-stone +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 postillion +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 behaviour. 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, that 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 waggons 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 only 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 +dulness, 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 rose-bush, 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 sturdily-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 honour 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 apologise.... 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 reigned in the house, and +the old lady sat on her sofa looking blacker than a thunder-cloud. + +What trifles, if you think of it, will sometimes disturb any one! + +Till evening the lady was out of humour; 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 some +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' 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 postillion 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' 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, every one 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 hand, and gave a despairing wave of his hand, as much as to say, +'Well, well, God have mercy on him! If only it doesn't come to the +mistress' 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 laboured 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 postillion 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 away. 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 +humours, 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---- highroad. 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 highroad. 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-grey 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 haycutting +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 neighbours 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. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Torrents of Spring, by Ivan Turgenev + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORRENTS OF SPRING *** + +***** This file should be named 9911.txt or 9911.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/1/9911/ + +Produced by Keren Vergon, William Flis, and the Project +Gutenberg 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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