A Reckless Character And Other Stories

ST

on it from all sides, at high tide, on a sunny spring day-beating and sparkling and

ne, but brilliant colours star

the molten granite was only just beginning t

all quarters,-and beneath their caressing touch it glowed once more

e colours have not yet grown dim, a

, 1

O

ront of me lay outspread, and motley of hue, the ri

is sea; no sultry breeze was blowin

in the distance, beyond the rye, not too far away, a dark-blue

e sun's last rays. Not a single bird was to be seen or heard; even the sparrows had hidden thems

sued in my soul. "Well, be quick, then, be quick!" I thought. "Flash out, ye golden serpent! Rumble, ye th

, it continued to crush the dumb earth ...

oth and even; precisely like a white handkerchief, or a snowbal

ways straight onward ... and

hold! Now two handkerchiefs are fluttering, two snowballs are floating

storm has broken loo

ugh rent in bits; everything whirled, got mixed up, lashed and rocked with the slanting columns of the furious downpour; the lightni

e by side sit the two white doves,-the one which flew after i

age, and each feels with its wi

And it is well with me

alone ... al

, 1

OW! TO-

have lived through! How few traces it leaves behind it! In what a tho

s life, he hopes in it, in himself, in the future

her future days will not resemb

he whole, he is not fond of thinki

he comforts himself-until that "to-m

grave,-one ceases,

, 1

TU

amber with a lofty, arched roof. It was completely

n a flowing robe green in hue. With her head bowed on he

was Nature itself,-and reverent awe pie

" I exclaimed, "what is the subject of thy meditation? Art thou pondering the future de

s upon me. Her lips moved, and a stentorian vo

a flea, so that it may more readily escape from its enemies. The equili

t is what thou art thinking about? But

es are my children," she said, "and I look after all of the

on ... justice....

to me-and what is justice?-I have given thee life,-I take it away and give it to others; whether worms o

earth round about me uttered a d

st,

NG

r 1803," began my old f

nt of which I was an o

ra

s the inhabitants; and they looked askance on u

y name. He was an honest and peaceable fellow; I had kn

hens, and she accused my orderly of the theft. He denied it, and called upon me to bear witness whether 'h

the Commander-in-Chief himself riding by with his staff. He was proceeding at a foot

e's path, she fell on her knees and, all distraught, with head uncovered

Your Radiance! Judge! Help! Sav

t his feet, like a sentry,-and not a word did he utter! Whether he was daunted by all that mass of generals halting there in the middle of the street, o

thfully: 'Well, what hast thou to say?'.... Egór stood like a statue and showed h

and rode on, first at a foot-pace, as before, then at a brisk trot. The whole staff das

ey.... Egór was instantly s

ouple of times, with difficulty, 'Good heavens! Good hea

farewell. I was in despair.-'Egór! Egór!' I cr

the least expected such a dreadful verdict, and fell to shrieking in her turn. She began to entreat each and al

no use whatsoever. Mil

usewife sobbed mor

d already confessed and c

orn, that she must not

already for

vant, he whispered: "Egórushka[76] darling, just

st,

ALL I T

come to die,-if I am the

f my life, how I have dozed it through, ho

e! Why, I have not succeeded in accomplishing an

ought of the few bright moments I have liv

e my memory, and will the corrosive grief o

yond the grave ... yes, and whethe

my mind to busy itself with some nonsense or other, if only to divert

ed-hot nuts to gnaw ... and only in the depths of his dimming eyes was there th

st,

OW FRESH WER

read a poem. I speedily forgot it ...

w fresh were

he warm chamber a single candle is burning. I am sitting cur

w fresh were

ed arm, and with her head bent on her shoulder, sits a young girl, gazing mutely and intently at the sky, as though watching for the appearance of the first stars. How ingenuously inspired are the thoughtful eyes; how touchingly innocent are the part

w fresh were

ned low begins to flicker; white shadows waver across the low ceiling; the fros

w fresh were

cheeks quiver with suppressed laughter; their hands are affectionately intertwined; their young, kind voices ring out, vying with each other; and a little further away, in the depths of a snug

w fresh were

ly? Curled up in a ring, my aged dog, my sole companion, is nestling and quivering at

ow fresh wer

mbers

A VO

us passengers: I and a tiny monkey, a female of the ouistiti breed,

f the benches on the deck, and threw herself

tle hand, and gazed at me with her mournful, almost human little eye

y over it, shrouding even the tips of the masts, and blinding and wearying the eyes with its soft gloom. The sun hung lik

roadening, becoming smoother at last, swaying and vanishing. The churned foam swirled under the monotonous beat of the paddle-wheels; gleaming white like mil

as incessantly and plaintively a

and turning an abrupt somersault, darted

sunburned face, smoked a short pipe and spat a

rowl. I was compelled, willy-nilly, to have rec

ceased to whine, and again

umidity; and equally immersed in one unconscious though

t then another fee

hat the poor little beastie should quiet down so conf

ber,

.

e path of life, without tears and without smil

d everything is alien to thee-a

her thou prizest thy beauty or not.-Thou art dev

not thoughtful; emptiness

des pass by without gri

he dignified sounds

ber,

T

d thee remain thou e

ted with happiness, with the blissful consciousness of that beauty to which thou hast succeeded in giving expre

sunlight, hath been diffused over all thy li

ng inflatus, hath tossed b

on thy brow, grow

ve! Here it is, here it is-immortality! There is no other immort

that to thee!-At this moment thou hast become loftier than all transitory, tempo

thy immortality, drop into my soul

ber,

E

as he quaffed it, he knelt so long on the cold floor of the church that his legs below

but let him also understand me and not cond

hated ego; but the fact that I do not

more burdensome and repulsi

mself ... and I find a means to d

ie ... and ne

ber,

STILL F

ifle can sometimes put t

was walking one day

ssed my breast; melanch

een two rows of lofty poplars, the r

e little family of sparrows was hopping,

t his crop, and twittering audaciously, as though the very devil wa

was soaring a hawk who, possibly, was fat

melancholy thoughts instantly fled. I

k soar over me

l fight on, d

ber,

AY

a miracle.-Every prayer amounts to the following: "G

To pray to the Universal Spirit, to the Supreme Being of Kant, of

g God with a form cause that t

eply, "He can," and is bound

son revolts against

assistance: "There are many things in the

truth,-all he has to do is to repeat

et us drink and

y,

SSIAN

pport, O great, mighty, just and free Russian language!-Were it not for thee, how could one fail to fall into despair at the

e,

NOT

ld Portraits," in thi

Matins) may be celebrated in unconsecrated buildings, and the devout no

t be used in preparing food, instead of bu

visiting all the houses in the neighbourhood, is still kept up in rusti

twenty-eight in

resort in the suburbs

written for Po

lish he is. If he is not fat naturally, h

s in 1340. It is situated about forty miles from Moscow, and is the most famou

nced Aryól.

l team of three horses, will hold five o

demons are forced to renounce their claims. These demons assault the soul in relays, each "trial," "suffering," or "tribulation" being a mytárstvo. One ancient authority enumerates twenty such trials. The soul is accompanied and defended in its trials by angels, who plead its cause. Eventually, they conduct it into the presence of God, who then assigns to it a temporary abode of bliss or woe until the day of judgment. The derivation of this curious and utterly untranslatab

Semyóns," who were his peasants. The bride was distant a ten years' journey; but each of the brothers had a different "trade

t that his nobility was ancient-a matter of some moment in a country where nobility

u is made to express d

e card-game.

m of pop(e), or priest. Svyashtchénnik is, howe

S.), July 12 (N

ests generally became priests. It i

unless some young man could be found to marry one of the daughters, be or

they are ordained sub-deacon, and are not allowed to re

by putting water on rye meal or the crusts of sour b

lso a "tzarévitch," or king's son. For a brief account of these ballads see: "The Epic Songs of Russia" (Introduction), and Chapter I

er book in English where any information whatever can

d as plebeians by the gentry o

ter of blessed bread, cut in small bits, and a porringer of warm water and wine, which (besides their symbolical significance) are taken by

the wine, which is placed in the mouth by the

s and Those of Other People." In a foot-note he begs the reader not to mistake the "I" for th

n is: "A black cat had run

er the centre, or the centre and ends of

d ball-room, music-room, play-room, and exerci

l such a watch a "

ame he has chosen for this family, which is de

etersburg.

ens, according to supersti

emble the pictures of Christ. Missionaries in foreign lands are permitt

is the Russian expression. That is, had

lied by the Little Russians to

plank, without springs, mounted on four small wheels of equal size. The dr

tismal cross

or in beer) to keep it soft. The massage administered with the besom is delightful. The peasants

, in the vicinity of Petróvsky Park and Palace. Here the disaster took p

y have renounced. The exceptions are when monks are appointed parish priests (as in some of the American parishes, for instance), and, therefore, must fulfil the obligations of

nd orange ribbon, must be won by great persona

ret Service under Al

living too lon

ural (proper names are declinable), me

the Table of Ranks instituted

a measure, to an Amer

scornful nickname for a L

rses to attend to, and has nothing to do with any o

cottish extraction, born in Moscow, 1670, became Grand Mas

Russian triumph in the war of 1812, which was b

unable to speak Russian (hence, any foreigner)

Nízhni Nóvgor

yégin, in Pushkin's celebrated poem. The music to the opera of the same

are not published in the daily papers, but in an affiche, printed ever

s famous satires under the na

es of pronunciation attached to their dialect) us

on the contrary, or the proto-deacon (attached to a cathedral) is supposed to have a huge voice, and, especially at certain points,

tive "cultured" is derived from the same word in it

merchant class are irresistibly amusing,

m for the diminutive of Agrippína, in Russian Agra

just under the armpits and suspended over the

which Peter the Great instituted. A sufficiently high grade in that table confer

th large sleeves, and flarin

e on page 24

ákoff, implying great

Stasiulévitch

coration in rustic ar

not rhyme in the o

an" would be the literal

e for what we call

made without m

ibed as standing "like a candle"; that is

ies between the tilled fields allott

ionate diminuti