Part 13 (1/2)

'My dear, I vow by the Almighty.'

'Well, send your grandson very quietly a Give him this note for O... for that...

Our neighbour... Tell him not to chat To anybody or to dawdle And not to mention me by name...'

'To whom, then?'asked the ancient dame.

'Oh, nowadays my head's a muddle.

Neighbours are many in this part, I cannot think of where to start.'

35.

'Oh really, nurse, you are slow-witted!'

'I'm old, I'm very old, my heart, The mind grows dull, you must admit it, But way back I was very smart, And if the master once requested...'

'Oh nurse, nurse, I'm not interested.

What you were like then I don't care, What matters is this letter here: It's for Onegin.' 'Oh the letter.

Do not be cross with me, my soul, You know, I make no sense at all.

But you look pale again, not better.'

'It's nothing, nurse, but don't delay, Please send your grandson on his way.'

36.

The day flowed by, there came no letter Nor anything the following day.

Since morning dressed, pale as a spectre, Tatiana waits for a reply.

Olga's adorer drove up. 'Tell us, Where's your companion?' came the zealous Inquiry from the chatelaine.

'He has forgotten us, that's plain.'

Tatiana trembled, flushed, uneasy.

'He promised that today he'd come.'

Lensky replied to the old dame: 'No doubt the post has kept him busy.'

Tatiana cast a downward look, As though she'd heard a harsh rebuke.

37.

It darkened: on the table, gleaming, The evening samovar now hissed, On it the Chinese teapot, warming; Light vapour eddied under it.

Poured out by Olga's hand, the steady, Dark flow of fragrant tea already Into the cups ran, in a stream; A household boy served up the cream; Tatiana, though, preferred to linger Before the window, breathing on The frosted panes; and, pensive one, She wrote, with a beguiling finger, In windowpane calligraphy, A monogram: an O and E.

38.

And, meanwhile, still her soul is aching, And tears have filled her languid gaze.

A thud of hoofs!... Her blood is shaking.