The Orloff Couple and Malva

ka." With these words Matrona aw

ntly at him; her hair was brushed, and looked glossy and nea

the thought glanced through his brain that the other men

have my tea here!... Where do you want me

ther," she proposed, looking at

replied in a curt voice t

etched himself once more in

as pleasant as possible! She has grown

have bought some cakes or something of that sort to eat with their tea. But whilst he was washing he

on the floor. Dew still sparkled on the grass under the window. Along the distant horizon could be just seen through a light opal morning mis

ey eyes. She was called Felizata Jegorovna, and she was a spinster and the daughter of a college superintendent She could not drink the tea provided by the Infirmary, and so used her own samovar. All this s

tired yesterday?" O

er me, and my head was swimming. I moved about at last as if I were half dead, and could scarcely hold on

n? Don't you fe

the sick

ple ... or of an

nt down towards him and whispered in a scared voice—"they

er Nazaroff nearly gave me a box on the ear as he lay on the stretcher. I was carrying him to the m

lue sky, pleased him immensely. And there was something else too which caused him pleasure—something which radiated, as it were, from his own p

at it! I have my own special reasons for doing so.... The people

and whilst he unconsciously exaggerated a little, he

is this cholera after all?... We must first understand that clearly, and then we must use all means possible to fight it.... Doctor Wasschtschenko said to me, 'We need you, Orloff, in this business. Don't let yourself be frightened. Continue to rub the feet and the stomachs of the

es. She smiled back at him, but did not reply. He looked so handsome whilst he was speaki

"There's that lady doctor with the spectacles, and all the nurses, they are all first-rat

?" asked Grigori, when his e

at makes thirty-two roubles a month! And our keep besides.... What a lot we shall be able to save if the cholera lasts r

he tapped Matrona on the shoulder, and continued, with a ring of hope in his voice, "Ah, Ma

filled with

er," she remarked after a few mo

entirely on circumstances.... Once our lives

ghed Matrona from the bottom of her hea

Grisch

however, that the other attendants were envious of him, and were trying to make mischief, so that he had to be constantly on his guard. This awoke in him a feeling of enmity, whereas, before that, he had been good friends with Pronim. The secret and open enmity of these fellow-workers was really a pain to him. "The jealous brute

to be done. He was chatty and pleasant, and knew how to divert the attention of the patients, and this pleased increasingly the doctors and students. All the impressions which in his new occupation pressed in upon him, worked together to elevate his feelings, and to increase his own self-respect. He felt within himself a lively desire to do something great, so that the attention of all should be directed to him, and that every one should be astonished. It seemed almost as if he had now for the first time become conscious that he was a human bein

re out of the common. This unappeased longing caused him pain, and brought back his former m

orizon; on the south it was bordered by the deep ravine-like banks of the river, which ran through the country roads, shaded on either side by trees planted at regular intervals The sun was just setting, and the golden crosses of the church-towers of the town, rising above the dark green of the gardens, flashed in all their brilliance against the background of the sky, and reflected golden rays. Th

ghtedly the fresh air, which, in contrast with the atmosphere

up at the barracks?" Matrona asked in a low voice

moments strange and far away. They had seen but little of each other these last few day

take such music!... You should just listen to the music which i

lking about?" said Matrona, lo

th!... If for instance this cholera would change itself into a man, into a giant, into Ilja Murometz himself, for instance ... then I would wrestle with him, and we would see who would conquer!... Thou art strong, and I, Grischka Orloff, am also strong ... we will see which i

d his eyes flashed w

spered Matrona, and pres

own ... he needs no more ... he is a rich man already.... When he was ill lately, Doctor Wasschtschenko watched by him for four days and nights; not once did he go home during the whole time.... Money plays no part in all this; they do it out of pity ... they are sorry for the people, and so they sacrifice themselves ... And for whom?... For everybody ... as much for Mischka Ussoff as for anybody else.... They took as much pains to get him better as they did about the others,

rapidly. The excited state of mind of her husband made her feel vaguely anxious. She felt distinctly in his words the burning pain which op

orwards a light breath of wind swept over the ravine; the tops of the young trees moved softly, and the whole forest seemed filled simultaneously with a shy whispering, as if some beloved person were asleep under the shelter of its trees, and it feared to wake him. The star

d his neck, laid her head agai

lad!... We are living now just as we did when we were first married—you never say a bad wo

or her in his heart nothing but sympathy and tenderness. He stroked her hair softly, and experienced a real pleasure in giving her these

ear one!" s

from his mouth, which were to her,

a! We lived in our hole ... we saw no sunlight, we knew no one. Now I have got out of the hole, and am among human beings. How blind I was to the world and to life!... Now I understand that a wife should be a man's best friend, the friend of his heart, so to speak. For men are vicious and cruel...

as she realized the happiness which he pictu

derly together, they sat there and kissed the salt tears from each other's

hich looked down with triumphant sadness on the earth. The plain al