Volume V Part 85 (1/2)
The party was a merry one Bomback talked to the adventuress, Zaira sat on hed in season and out of season, and walked up and down The crafty Madame Riviere incited Bomback to risk twenty-five roubles at quinze; he lost and paid pleasantly, and only got a kiss for his hted to be able to watch over me and my fidelity, jested pleasantly on the Frenchwoether beyond her comprehension, and she could not understand how he could bear such deeds as were done before his face
The next day I went to Bo Russian officers, ould have annoyed e I found the two travellers and the brothers Lunin, then lieutenants but now generals The younger of theirl He had been the beloved of the minister Teploff, and, like a lad of wit, he not only was not ashaood-will of all ined the rich citizen of Ha to be of the same tastes as Teploff, and he had not beenthe same supposition With this idea he seated himself next todinner that I began to believe hiirl inat the fire, between him and the Frenchman, I imparted my suspicions to him; but jealous of the superiority of his sex, he displayed proof of it on the spot, and forthwith got hold of me and put himself in a position to make my happiness and his own as he called it I confess, to ht perhaps have succeeded, if Madanant at this encroachment of her peculiar province, had not made him desist
Lunin the elder, Crevecceur, and Bohtfall with two or three friends, and easily consoled the Frencher Lunin and iven him
Bomback held a bank at faro, which only caone We then supped, and the real orgy began, in which la Riviere bore the brunt in a
I and my friend Lunin were one to bed We did not separate till day-break
I got home, and, fortunately forat my head, and which would infallibly have killed round, and began to strike it with her forehead I thought she had gone mad, and wondered whether I had better call for assistance; but she becah to call me assassin and traitor, with all the other abusive epithets that she could remember To convict me of my crime she shewed me twenty-five cards, placed in order, and on theuilty
I let her go on till her rage was so apparatus into the fire, I looked at her in pity and anger, and said that weme I confessed that I had been with Boirl in the house; but I denied all the other sins of which she accused htest notice of her, in spite of all she said and did to prove her repentance
I woke after a few hours to find her sleeping soundly, and I began to consider how I could best rid irl, ould probably kill ether Whilst I was absorbed in these thoughts she awoke, and falling at my feet wept and professed her utter repentance, and pro as I kept her
At last I could resist her entreaties no longer, so I took her in ave her; and we did not part till she had received undeniable proofs of the return of my affection I intended to start for Moscow in three days, and she was delighted when she heard she was to go
Three circuirl's furious affection In the first place I often took her to see her family, hom I always left a rouble; in the second I made her eat with me; and in the third I had beaten her three or four ti out
In Russia beating is a matter of necessity, for words have no force whatever A servant,but the lash Words are altogether throay, but a few good strokes are entirely efficacious The servant, whose soul is still more enslaved than his body, reasons so:
”My master has not sent ht to be attached to him”
It is the same with the Russian soldier, and in fact with everybody
Honour stands for nothing, but with the knout and brandy one can get anything frohed at me when I said that as I liked my Cossack I should endeavour to correct him ords only when he took too much brandy
”If you do not beat hi you;” and he spoke the truth
One day, when he was so drunk as to be unable to attend on an to scold him, and threatened him with the stick if he did not mend his ways As soon as he saw ot hold of it; and if I had not knocked him down immediately, he would doubtless have beaten me I dismissed him on the spot There is not a better servant in the world than a Russian He works without ceasing, sleeps in front of the door of his master's bedroo his reproaches, incapable of theft But after drinking a little too much brandy he becomes a perfect monster; and drunkenness is the vice of the whole nation
A coach the bitter cold to which he is exposed, than by drinking rye brandy It sometimes happens that he drinks till he falls asleep, and then there is no awaking for him in this world Unless one is very careful, it is easy to lose an ear, the nose, a cheek, or a lip by frost bites One day as I alking out on a bitterly cold day, a Russian noticed that one of my ears was frozen
He ran up to me and rubbed the affected part with a handful of snow till the circulation was restored I asked him how he had noticed my state, and he said he had remarked the livid whiteness of n that the frost had taken it What surprised ain after it has dropped off Prince Charles of Courland assured rown again the next summer I have been assured of the truth of this by several Russians
About this time the empress made the architect Rinaldi, who had been fifty years in St Petersburg, build her an enore as to cover the whole of the space in front of the palace
It would contain a hundred thousand spectators, and in it Catherine intended to give a vast tournahts of her ehts each, and all the cavaliers were to be clad in the national costume of the nations they represented All the Russians were inforiven at the expense of the sovereign, and the princes, counts, and barons were already arriving with their chargers from the most remote parts of the e me of his intention to be present
It had been ordained, that the tournament should take place on the first fine day, and this precaution was a very wise one; for, excepting in the season of the hard frosts, a day without rain, or snow, or wind, is a marvel In Italy, Spain, and France, one can reckon on fine weather, and bad weather is the exception, but it is quite the contrary in Russia
Ever since I have known this hoh when I hear travelling Russians talking of the fine climate of their native country However, it is a pardonable weakness, most of us prefer ”mine” to ”thine;” nobles affect to consider the, and the Romans and other ancient nations pretended that they were the children of the Gods, to draw a veil over their actual ancestors ere doubtless robbers The truth is, that during the whole year 1756 there was not one fine day in Russia, or in Ingria at all events, and the mere proofs of this statement may be found in the fact that the tournament was not held in that year It was postponed till the next, and the princes, counts, barons, and knights spent the winter in the capital, unless their purses forbade thee in the luxuries of Court life The dear Prince of Courland was in this case, to ee with Zaira, having a servant behind who could speak both Russian and German For twenty-four roubles the chevochic (hirer out of horses) engaged to carry hts with six horses This struckextrees, almost equivalent to five hundred Italian ues