CHAPTER I
Why do I so persistently paint the poverty, the imperfections of Russianlife, and delve into the remotest depths, the most retired holes andcorners, of our Empire for my subjects? The answer is that there isnothing else to be done when an author's idiosyncrasy happens to inclinehim that way. So again we find ourselves in a retired spot. But what aspot!
Imagine, if you can, a mountain range like a gigantic fortress, withembrasures and bastions which appear to soar a thousand versts towardsthe heights of heaven, and, towering grandly over a boundless expanseof plain, are broken up into precipitous, overhanging limestone cliffs.Here and there those cliffs are seamed with water-courses and gullies,while at other points they are rounded off into spurs of green--spursnow coated with fleece-like tufts of young undergrowth, now studded withthe stumps of felled trees, now covered with timber which has, by somemiracle, escaped the woodman's axe. Also, a river winds awhile betweenits banks, then leaves the meadow land, divides into runlets (allflashing in the sun like fire), plunges, re-united, into the midst of athicket of elder, birch, and pine, and, lastly, speeds triumphantly pastbridges and mills and weirs which seem to be lying in wait for it atevery turn.
At one particular spot the steep flank of the mountain range is coveredwith billowy verdure of denser growth than the rest; and here the aid ofskilful planting, added to the shelter afforded by a rugged ravine, hasenabled the flora of north and south so to be brought together that,twined about with sinuous hop-tendrils, the oak, the spruce fir, thewild pear, the maple, the cherry, the thorn, and the mountain ash eitherassist or check one another's growth, and everywhere cover the declivitywith their straggling profusion. Also, at the edge of the summit therecan be seen mingling with the green of the trees the red roofs of amanorial homestead, while behind the upper stories of the mansion properand its carved balcony and a great semi-circular window there gleam thetiles and gables of some peasants' huts. Lastly, over this combinationof trees and roofs there rises--overtopping everything with its gilded,sparkling steeple--an old village church. On each of its pinnacles across of carved gilt is stayed with supports of similar gilding anddesign; with the result that from a distance the gilded portionshave the effect of hanging without visible agency in the air. Andthe whole--the three successive tiers of woodland, roofs, and crosseswhole--lies exquisitely mirrored in the river below, where hollowwillows, grotesquely shaped (some of them rooted on the river's banks,and some in the water itself, and all drooping their branches untiltheir leaves have formed a tangle with the water lilies which float onthe surface), seem to be gazing at the marvellous reflection at theirfeet.
Thus the view from below is beautiful indeed. But the view from aboveis even better. No guest, no visitor, could stand on the balcony of themansion and remain indifferent. So boundless is the panorama revealedthat surprise would cause him to catch at his breath, and exclaim: "Lordof Heaven, but what a prospect!" Beyond meadows studded with spinneysand water-mills lie forests belted with green; while beyond, again,there can be seen showing through the slightly misty air strips ofyellow heath, and, again, wide-rolling forests (as blue as the sea or acloud), and more heath, paler than the first, but still yellow. Finally,on the far horizon a range of chalk-topped hills gleams white, even indull weather, as though it were lightened with perpetual sunshine;and here and there on the dazzling whiteness of its lower slopes someplaster-like, nebulous patches represent far-off villages which lietoo remote for the eye to discern their details. Indeed, only when thesunlight touches a steeple to gold does one realise that each suchpatch is a human settlement. Finally, all is wrapped in an immensity ofsilence which even the far, faint echoes of persons singing in the voidof the plain cannot shatter.
Even after gazing at the spectacle for a couple of hours or so, thevisitor would still find nothing to say, save: "Lord of Heaven, butwhat a prospect!" Then who is the dweller in, the proprietor of, thismanor--a manor to which, as to an impregnable fortress, entrance cannotbe gained from the side where we have been standing, but only from theother approach, where a few scattered oaks offer hospitable welcome tothe visitor, and then, spreading above him their spacious branches (asin friendly embrace), accompany him to the facade of the mansion whosetop we have been regarding from the reverse aspect, but which now standsfrontwise on to us, and has, on one side of it, a row of peasants' hutswith red tiles and carved gables, and, on the other, the village church,with those glittering golden crosses and gilded open-work charms whichseem to hang suspended in the air? Yes, indeed!--to what fortunateindividual does this corner of the world belong? It belongs to AndreiIvanovitch Tientietnikov, landowner of the canton of Tremalakhan, and,withal, a bachelor of about thirty.
Should my lady readers ask of me what manner of man is Tientietnikov,and what are his attributes and peculiarities, I should refer themto his neighbours. Of these, a member of the almost extinct tribeof intelligent staff officers on the retired list once summed upTientietnikov in the phrase, "He is an absolute blockhead;" while aGeneral who resided ten versts away was heard to remark that "he is ayoung man who, though not exactly a fool, has at least too much crowdedinto his head. I myself might have been of use to him, for not only doI maintain certain connections with St. Petersburg, but also--" And theGeneral left his sentence unfinished. Thirdly, a captain-superintendentof rural police happened to remark in the course of conversation:"To-morrow I must go and see Tientietnikov about his arrears." Lastly,a peasant of Tientietnikov's own village, when asked what his barin waslike, returned no answer at all. All of which would appear to show thatTientietnikov was not exactly looked upon with favour.
To speak dispassionately, however, he was not a bad sort offellow--merely a star-gazer; and since the world contains many watchersof the skies, why should Tientietnikov not have been one of them?However, let me describe in detail a specimen day of his existence--onethat will closely resemble the rest, and then the reader will be enabledto judge of Tientietnikov's character, and how far his life correspondedto the beauties of nature with which he lived surrounded.
On the morning of the specimen day in question he awoke very late, and,raising himself to a sitting posture, rubbed his eyes. And since thoseeyes were small, the process of rubbing them occupied a very long time,and throughout its continuance there stood waiting by the door hisvalet, Mikhailo, armed with a towel and basin. For one hour, for twohours, did poor Mikhailo stand there: then he departed to the kitchen,and returned to find his master still rubbing his eyes as he sat on thebed. At length, however, Tientietnikov rose, washed himself, donned adressing-gown, and moved into the drawing-room for morning tea, coffee,cocoa, and warm milk; of all of which he partook but sparingly, whilemunching a piece of bread, and scattering tobacco ash with completeinsouciance. Two hours did he sit over this meal, then poured himselfout another cup of the rapidly cooling tea, and walked to the window.This faced the courtyard, and outside it, as usual, there took place thefollowing daily altercation between a serf named Grigory (who purportedto act as butler) and the housekeeper, Perfilievna.
Grigory. Ah, you nuisance, you good-for-nothing, you had better holdyour stupid tongue.
Perfilievna. Yes; and don't you wish that I would?
Grigory. What? You so thick with that bailiff of yours, you housekeepingjade!
Perfilievna. Nay, he is as big a thief as you are. Do you think thebarin doesn't know you? And there he is! He must have heard everything!
Grigory. Where?
Perfilievna. There--sitting by the window, and looking at us!
Next, to complete the hubbub, a serf child which had been clouted by itsmother broke out into a bawl, while a borzoi puppy which had happenedto get splashed with boiling water by the cook fell to yelpingvociferously. In short, the place soon became a babel of shouts andsqueals, and, after watching and listening for a time, the barin foundit so impossible to concentrate his mind upon anything that he sent outword that the noise would have to be abated.
The next item was that, a couple of hours bef
ore luncheon time, hewithdrew to his study, to set about employing himself upon a weightywork which was to consider Russia from every point of view: from thepolitical, from the philosophical, and from the religious, as well as toresolve various problems which had arisen to confront the Empire, and todefine clearly the great future to which the country stood ordained. Inshort, it was to be the species of compilation in which the man of theday so much delights. Yet the colossal undertaking had progressed butlittle beyond the sphere of projection, since, after a pen had beengnawed awhile, and a few strokes had been committed to paper, the wholewould be laid aside in favour of the reading of some book; and thatreading would continue also during luncheon and be followed by thelighting of a pipe, the playing of a solitary game of chess, and thedoing of more or less nothing for the rest of the day.
The foregoing will give the reader a pretty clear idea of the manner inwhich it was possible for this man of thirty-three to waste his time.Clad constantly in slippers and a dressing-gown, Tientietnikov neverwent out, never indulged in any form of dissipation, and never walkedupstairs. Nothing did he care for fresh air, and would bestow not apassing glance upon all those beauties of the countryside which movedvisitors to such ecstatic admiration. From this the reader will see thatAndrei Ivanovitch Tientietnikov belonged to that band of sluggards whomwe always have with us, and who, whatever be their present appellation,used to be known by the nicknames of "lollopers," "bed pressers," and"marmots." Whether the type is a type originating at birth, or a typeresulting from untoward circumstances in later life, it is impossible tosay. A better course than to attempt to answer that question would be torecount the story of Tientietnikov's boyhood and upbringing.
Everything connected with the latter seemed to promise success, for attwelve years of age the boy--keen-witted, but dreamy of temperament, andinclined to delicacy--was sent to an educational establishment presidedover by an exceptional type of master. The idol of his pupils, and theadmiration of his assistants, Alexander Petrovitch was gifted withan extraordinary measure of good sense. How thoroughly he knew thepeculiarities of the Russian of his day! How well he understood boys!How capable he was of drawing them out! Not a practical joker in theschool but, after perpetrating a prank, would voluntarily approach hispreceptor and make to him free confession. True, the preceptor wouldput a stern face upon the matter, yet the culprit would depart with headheld higher, not lower, than before, since in Alexander Petrovitchthere was something which heartened--something which seemed to say to adelinquent: "Forward you! Rise to your feet again, even though you havefallen!" Not lectures on good behaviour was it, therefore, that fellfrom his lips, but rather the injunction, "I want to see intelligence,and nothing else. The boy who devotes his attention to becoming cleverwill never play the fool, for under such circumstances, folly disappearsof itself." And so folly did, for the boy who failed to strive in thedesired direction incurred the contempt of all his comrades, and evendunces and fools of senior standing did not dare to raise a finger whensaluted by their juniors with opprobrious epithets. Yet "This is toomuch," certain folk would say to Alexander. "The result will be thatyour students will turn out prigs." "But no," he would reply. "Not atall. You see, I make it my principle to keep the incapables for a singleterm only, since that is enough for them; but to the clever ones I allota double course of instruction." And, true enough, any lad of brains wasretained for this finishing course. Yet he did not repress all boyishplayfulness, since he declared it to be as necessary as a rash to adoctor, inasmuch as it enabled him to diagnose what lay hidden within.
Consequently, how the boys loved him! Never was there such an attachmentbetween master and pupils. And even later, during the foolish years,when foolish things attract, the measure of affection which AlexanderPetrovitch retained was extraordinary. In fact, to the day of his death,every former pupil would celebrate the birthday of his late master byraising his glass in gratitude to the mentor dead and buried--then closehis eyelids upon the tears which would come trickling through them.Even the slightest word of encouragement from Alexander Petrovitch couldthrow a lad into a transport of tremulous joy, and arouse in him anhonourable emulation of his fellows. Boys of small capacity he didnot long retain in his establishment; whereas those who possessedexceptional talent he put through an extra course of schooling. Thissenior class--a class composed of specially-selected pupils--was a verydifferent affair from what usually obtains in other colleges. Only whena boy had attained its ranks did Alexander demand of him what othermasters indiscreetly require of mere infants--namely the superiorframe of mind which, while never indulging in mockery, can itself bearridicule, and disregard the fool, and keep its temper, and repressitself, and eschew revenge, and calmly, proudly retain its tranquillityof soul. In short, whatever avails to form a boy into a man of assuredcharacter, that did Alexander Petrovitch employ during the pupil'syouth, as well as constantly put him to the test. How well he understoodthe art of life!
Of assistant tutors he kept but few, since most of the necessaryinstruction he imparted in person, and, without pedantic terminologyand inflated diction and views, could so transmit to his listeners theinmost spirit of a lesson that even the youngest present absorbed itsessential elements. Also, of studies he selected none but those whichmay help a boy to become a good citizen; and therefore most of thelectures which he delivered consisted of discourses on what may beawaiting a youth, as well as of such demarcations of life's field thatthe pupil, though seated, as yet, only at the desk, could beforehandbear his part in that field both in thought and spirit. Nor did themaster CONCEAL anything. That is to say, without mincing words, heinvariably set before his hearers the sorrows and the difficulties whichmay confront a man, the trials and the temptations which may besethim. And this he did in terms as though, in every possible calling andcapacity, he himself had experienced the same. Consequently, either thevigorous development of self-respect or the constant stimulus of themaster's eye (which seemed to say to the pupil, "Forward!"--that wordwhich has become so familiar to the contemporary Russian, that wordwhich has worked such wonders upon his sensitive temperament); one orthe other, I repeat, would from the first cause the pupil to tackledifficulties, and only difficulties, and to hunger for prowess onlywhere the path was arduous, and obstacles were many, and it wasnecessary to display the utmost strength of mind. Indeed, few completedthe course of which I have spoken without issuing therefrom reliable,seasoned fighters who could keep their heads in the most embarrassingof official positions, and at times when older and wiser men, distractedwith the annoyances of life, had either abandoned everything or, grownslack and indifferent, had surrendered to the bribe-takers and therascals. In short, no ex-pupil of Alexander Petrovitch ever wavered fromthe right road, but, familiar with life and with men, armed with theweapons of prudence, exerted a powerful influence upon wrongdoers.
For a long time past the ardent young Tientietnikov's excitable hearthad also beat at the thought that one day he might attain the seniorclass described. And, indeed, what better teacher could he have hadbefall him than its preceptor? Yet just at the moment when he had beentransferred thereto, just at the moment when he had reached the covetedposition, did his instructor come suddenly by his death! This wasindeed a blow for the boy--indeed a terrible initial loss! In his eyeseverything connected with the school seemed to undergo a change--thechief reason being the fact that to the place of the deceased headmasterthere succeeded a certain Thedor Ivanovitch, who at once began toinsist upon certain external rules, and to demand of the boys what oughtrightly to have been demanded only of adults. That is to say, sincethe lads' frank and open demeanour savoured to him only of lackof discipline, he announced (as though in deliberate spite of hispredecessor) that he cared nothing for progress and intellect, but thatheed was to be paid only to good behaviour. Yet, curiously enough, goodbehaviour was just what he never obtained, for every kind of secretprank became the rule; and while, by day, there reigned restraintand conspiracy, by night there began to take place chambering andwan
tonness.
Also, certain changes in the curriculum of studies came about, for therewere engaged new teachers who held new views and opinions, and confusedtheir hearers with a multitude of new terms and phrases, and displayedin their exposition of things both logical sequence and a zestfor modern discovery and much warmth of individual bias. Yet theirinstruction, alas! contained no LIFE--in the mouths of those teachers adead language savoured merely of carrion. Thus everything connected withthe school underwent a radical alteration, and respect for authorityand the authorities waned, and tutors and ushers came to be dubbed "OldThedor," "Crusty," and the like. And sundry other things began to takeplace--things which necessitated many a penalty and expulsion; until,within a couple of years, no one who had known the school in former dayswould now have recognised it.
Nevertheless Tientietnikov, a youth of retiring disposition, experiencedno leanings towards the nocturnal orgies of his companions, orgiesduring which the latter used to flirt with damsels before the verywindows of the headmaster's rooms, nor yet towards their mockery ofall that was sacred, simply because fate had cast in their way aninjudicious priest. No, despite its dreaminess, his soul ever rememberedits celestial origin, and could not be diverted from the path of virtue.Yet still he hung his head, for, while his ambition had come to life,it could find no sort of outlet. Truly 'twere well if it had NOT cometo life, for throughout the time that he was listening to professorswho gesticulated on their chairs he could not help remembering theold preceptor who, invariably cool and calm, had yet known how to makehimself understood. To what subjects, to what lectures, did the boy nothave to listen!--to lectures on medicine, and on philosophy, and on law,and on a version of general history so enlarged that even three yearsfailed to enable the professor to do more than finish the introductionthereto, and also the account of the development of some self-governingtowns in Germany. None of the stuff remained fixed in Tientietnikov'sbrain save as shapeless clots; for though his native intellect could nottell him how instruction ought to be imparted, it at least told him thatTHIS was not the way. And frequently, at such moments he would recallAlexander Petrovitch, and give way to such grief that scarcely did heknow what he was doing.
But youth is fortunate in the fact that always before it there lies afuture; and in proportion as the time for his leaving school drew nigh,Tientietnikov's heart began to beat higher and higher, and he said tohimself: "This is not life, but only a preparation for life. True lifeis to be found in the Public Service. There at least will there be scopefor activity." So, bestowing not a glance upon that beautiful corner ofthe world which never failed to strike the guest or chance visitor withamazement, and reverencing not a whit the dust of his ancestors, hefollowed the example of most ambitious men of his class by repairing toSt. Petersburg (whither, as we know, the more spirited youth of Russiafrom every quarter gravitates--there to enter the Public Service, toshine, to obtain promotion, and, in a word, to scale the topmost peaksof that pale, cold, deceptive elevation which is known as society). Butthe real starting-point of Tientietnikov's ambition was the moment whenhis uncle (one State Councillor Onifri Ivanovitch) instilled into himthe maxim that the only means to success in the Service lay in goodhandwriting, and that, without that accomplishment, no one could everhope to become a Minister or Statesman. Thus, with great difficulty,and also with the help of his uncle's influence, young Tientietnikov atlength succeeded in being posted to a Department. On the day that hewas conducted into a splendid, shining hall--a hall fitted with inlaidfloors and lacquered desks as fine as though this were actually theplace where the great ones of the Empire met for discussion of thefortunes of the State; on the day that he saw legions of handsomegentlemen of the quill-driving profession making loud scratchings withpens, and cocking their heads to one side; lastly on the day that hesaw himself also allotted a desk, and requested to copy a document whichappeared purposely to be one of the pettiest possible order (as a matterof fact it related to a sum of three roubles, and had taken half ayear to produce)--well, at that moment a curious, an unwonted sensationseized upon the inexperienced youth, for the gentlemen around himappeared so exactly like a lot of college students. And, the further tocomplete the resemblance, some of them were engaged in reading trashytranslated novels, which they kept hurriedly thrusting between thesheets of their apportioned work whenever the Director appeared, asthough to convey the impression that it was to that work alone that theywere applying themselves. In short, the scene seemed to Tientietnikovstrange, and his former pursuits more important than his present, andhis preparation for the Service preferable to the Service itself. Yes,suddenly he felt a longing for his old school; and as suddenly, and withall the vividness of life, there appeared before his vision the figureof Alexander Petrovitch. He almost burst into tears as he beheld his oldmaster, and the room seemed to swim before his eyes, and the tchinovniksand the desks to become a blur, and his sight to grow dim. Then hethought to himself with an effort: "No, no! I WILL apply myself tomy work, however petty it be at first." And hardening his heart andrecovering his spirit, he determined then and there to perform hisduties in such a manner as should be an example to the rest.
But where are compensations to be found? Even in St. Petersburg, despiteits grim and murky exterior, they exist. Yes, even though thirty degreesof keen, cracking frost may have bound the streets, and the family ofthe North Wind be wailing there, and the Snowstorm Witch have heapedhigh the pavements, and be blinding the eyes, and powdering beards andfur collars and the shaggy manes of horses--even THEN there will beshining hospitably through the swirling snowflakes a fourth-floor windowwhere, in a cosy room, and by the light of modest candles, and to thehiss of the samovar, there will be in progress a discussion which warmsthe heart and soul, or else a reading aloud of a brilliant page of oneof those inspired Russian poets with whom God has dowered us, while thebreast of each member of the company is heaving with a rapture unknownunder a noontide sky.
Gradually, therefore, Tientietnikov grew more at home in the Service.Yet never did it become, for him, the main pursuit, the main objectin life, which he had expected. No, it remained but one of a secondarykind. That is to say, it served merely to divide up his time, and enablehim the more to value his hours of leisure. Nevertheless, just when hisuncle was beginning to flatter himself that his nephew was destined tosucceed in the profession, the said nephew elected to ruin his everyhope. Thus it befell. Tientietnikov's friends (he had many) includedamong their number a couple of fellows of the species known as"embittered." That is to say, though good-natured souls of thatcuriously restless type which cannot endure injustice, nor anythingwhich it conceives to be such, they were thoroughly unbalanced ofconduct themselves, and, while demanding general agreement withtheir views, treated those of others with the scantiest of ceremony.Nevertheless these two associates exercised upon Tientietnikov--bothby the fire of their eloquence and by the form of their nobledissatisfaction with society--a very strong influence; with the resultthat, through arousing in him an innate tendency to nervous resentment,they led him also to notice trifles which before had escaped hisattention. An instance of this is seen in the fact that he conceivedagainst Thedor Thedorovitch Lienitsin, Director of one of theDepartments which was quartered in the splendid range of offices beforementioned, a dislike which proved the cause of his discerning in theman a host of hitherto unmarked imperfections. Above all things didTientietnikov take it into his head that, when conversing with hissuperiors, Lienitsin became, of the moment, a stick of luscioussweetmeat, but that, when conversing with his inferiors, he approximatedmore to a vinegar cruet. Certain it is that, like all petty-mindedindividuals, Lienitsin made a note of any one who failed to offer hima greeting on festival days, and that he revenged himself upon any onewhose visiting-card had not been handed to his butler. Eventually theyouth's aversion almost attained the point of hysteria; until he feltthat, come what might, he MUST insult the fellow in some fashion. Tothat task he applied himself con amore; and so thoroughly that he metwith complete su
ccess. That is to say, he seized on an occasion toaddress Lienitsin in such fashion that the delinquent receivednotice either to apologise or to leave the Service; and when of thesealternatives he chose the latter his uncle came to him, and made aterrified appeal. "For God's sake remember what you are doing!" hecried. "To think that, after beginning your career so well, you shouldabandon it merely for the reason that you have not fallen in with thesort of Director whom you prefer! What do you mean by it, what do youmean by it? Were others to regard things in the same way, the Servicewould find itself without a single individual. Reconsider yourconduct--forego your pride and conceit, and make Lienitsin amends."
"But, dear Uncle," the nephew replied, "that is not the point. The pointis, not that I should find an apology difficult to offer, seeing that,since Lienitsin is my superior, and I ought not to have addressed him asI did, I am clearly in the wrong. Rather, the point is the following.To my charge there has been committed the performance of another kind ofservice. That is to say, I am the owner of three hundred peasant souls,a badly administered estate, and a fool of a bailiff. That being so,whereas the State will lose little by having to fill my stool withanother copyist, it will lose very much by causing three hundred peasantsouls to fail in the payment of their taxes. As I say (how am I to putit?), I am a landowner who has preferred to enter the Public Service.Now, should I employ myself henceforth in conserving, restoring, andimproving the fortunes of the souls whom God has entrusted to my care,and thereby provide the State with three hundred law-abiding, sober,hard-working taxpayers, how will that service of mine rank as inferiorto the service of a department-directing fool like Lienitsin?"
On hearing this speech, the State Councillor could only gape, for hehad not expected Tientietnikov's torrent of words. He reflected a fewmoments, and then murmured:
"Yes, but, but--but how can a man like you retire to rustication inthe country? What society will you get there? Here one meets at leasta general or a prince sometimes; indeed, no matter whom you pass in thestreet, that person represents gas lamps and European civilisation; butin the country, no matter what part of it you are in, not a soul isto be encountered save muzhiks and their women. Why should you go andcondemn yourself to a state of vegetation like that?"
Nevertheless the uncle's expostulations fell upon deaf ears, for alreadythe nephew was beginning to think of his estate as a retreat of a typemore likely to nourish the intellectual faculties and afford the onlyprofitable field of activity. After unearthing one or two modern workson agriculture, therefore, he, two weeks later, found himself inthe neighbourhood of the home where his boyhood had been spent, andapproaching the spot which never failed to enthral the visitor or guest.And in the young man's breast there was beginning to palpitate anew feeling--in the young man's soul there were reawakening old,long-concealed impressions; with the result that many a spot which hadlong been faded from his memory now filled him with interest, and thebeautiful views on the estate found him gazing at them like a newcomer,and with a beating heart. Yes, as the road wound through a narrowravine, and became engulfed in a forest where, both above and below, hesaw three-centuries-old oaks which three men could not have spanned,and where Siberian firs and elms overtopped even the poplars, and ashe asked the peasants to tell him to whom the forest belonged, andthey replied, "To Tientietnikov," and he issued from the forest, andproceeded on his way through meadows, and past spinneys of elder, andof old and young willows, and arrived in sight of the distant range ofhills, and, crossing by two different bridges the winding river (whichhe left successively to right and to left of him as he did so), he againquestioned some peasants concerning the ownership of the meadows andthe flooded lands, and was again informed that they all belonged toTientietnikov, and then, ascending a rise, reached a tableland where, onone side, lay ungarnered fields of wheat and rye and barley, and, on theother, the country already traversed (but which now showed in shortenedperspective), and then plunged into the shade of some forked, umbrageoustrees which stood scattered over turf and extended to the manor-houseitself, and caught glimpses of the carved huts of the peasants, and ofthe red roofs of the stone manorial outbuildings, and of the glitteringpinnacles of the church, and felt his heart beating, and knew, withoutbeing told by any one, whither he had at length arrived--well, then thefeeling which had been growing within his soul burst forth, and he criedin ecstasy:
"Why have I been a fool so long? Why, seeing that fate has appointedme to be ruler of an earthly paradise, did I prefer to bind myself inservitude as a scribe of lifeless documents? To think that, after I hadbeen nurtured and schooled and stored with all the knowledge necessaryfor the diffusion of good among those under me, and for the improvementof my domain, and for the fulfilment of the manifold duties of alandowner who is at once judge, administrator, and constable of hispeople, I should have entrusted my estate to an ignorant bailiff, andsought to maintain an absentee guardianship over the affairs of serfswhom I have never met, and of whose capabilities and characters I amyet ignorant! To think that I should have deemed true estate-managementinferior to a documentary, fantastical management of provinces which liea thousand versts away, and which my foot has never trod, and where Icould never have effected aught but blunders and irregularities!"
Meanwhile another spectacle was being prepared for him. On learningthat the barin was approaching the mansion, the muzhiks collected onthe verandah in very variety of picturesque dress and tonsure; and whenthese good folk surrounded him, and there arose a resounding shout of"Here is our Foster Father! He has remembered us!" and, in spite ofthemselves, some of the older men and women began weeping as theyrecalled his grandfather and great-grandfather, he himself could notrestrain his tears, but reflected: "How much affection! And in returnfor what? In return for my never having come to see them--in return formy never having taken the least interest in their affairs!" And thenand there he registered a mental vow to share their every task andoccupation.
So he applied himself to supervising and administering. He reduced theamount of the barstchina [40], he decreased the number of working-daysfor the owner, and he augmented the sum of the peasants' leisure-time.He also dismissed the fool of a bailiff, and took to bearing apersonal hand in everything--to being present in the fields, at thethreshing-floor, at the kilns, at the wharf, at the freighting of bargesand rafts, and at their conveyance down the river: wherefore even thelazy hands began to look to themselves. But this did not last long. Thepeasant is an observant individual, and Tientietnikov's muzhiks soonscented the fact that, though energetic and desirous of doing much, thebarin had no notion how to do it, nor even how to set about it--that, inshort, he spoke by the book rather than out of his personal knowledge.Consequently things resulted, not in master and men failing tounderstand one another, but in their not singing together, in their notproducing the very same note.
That is to say, it was not long before Tientietnikov noticed that onthe manorial lands, nothing prospered to the extent that it did on thepeasants'. The manorial crops were sown in good time, and came up well,and every one appeared to work his best, so much so that Tientietnikov,who supervised the whole, frequently ordered mugs of vodka to be servedout as a reward for the excellence of the labour performed. Yet the ryeon the peasants' land had formed into ear, and the oats had begun toshoot their grain, and the millet had filled before, on the manoriallands, the corn had so much as grown to stalk, or the ears had sproutedin embryo. In short, gradually the barin realised that, in spite offavours conferred, the peasants were playing the rogue with him. Next heresorted to remonstrance, but was met with the reply, "How could we notdo our best for our barin? You yourself saw how well we laboured at theploughing and the sowing, for you gave us mugs of vodka for our pains."
"Then why have things turned out so badly?" the barin persisted.
"Who can say? It must be that a grub has eaten the crop from below.Besides, what a summer has it been--never a drop of rain!"
Nevertheless, the barin noted that no grub had eaten the PEASANTS'cro
ps, as well as that the rain had fallen in the most curiousfashion--namely, in patches. It had obliged the muzhiks, but had shed amere sprinkling for the barin.
Still more difficult did he find it to deal with the peasant women.Ever and anon they would beg to be excused from work, or start makingcomplaints of the severity of the barstchina. Indeed, they were terriblefolk! However, Tientietnikov abolished the majority of the tithes oflinen, hedge fruit, mushrooms, and nuts, and also reduced by one-halfother tasks proper to the women, in the hope that they would devotetheir spare time to their own domestic concerns--namely, to sewing andmending, and to making clothes for their husbands, and to increasingthe area of their kitchen gardens. Yet no such result came about. On thecontrary, such a pitch did the idleness, the quarrelsomeness, and theintriguing and caballing of the fair sex attain that their helpmeetswere for ever coming to the barin with a request that he would rid oneor another of his wife, since she had become a nuisance, and to livewith her was impossible.
Next, hardening his heart, the barin attempted severity. But of whatavail was severity? The peasant woman remained always the peasantwoman, and would come and whine that she was sick and ailing, and keeppitifully hugging to herself the mean and filthy rags which she haddonned for the occasion. And when poor Tientietnikov found himselfunable to say more to her than just, "Get out of my sight, and may theLord go with you!" the next item in the comedy would be that he wouldsee her, even as she was leaving his gates, fall to contending with aneighbour for, say, the possession of a turnip, and dealing out slapsin the face such as even a strong, healthy man could scarcely havecompassed!
Again, amongst other things, Tientietnikov conceived the idea ofestablishing a school for his people; but the scheme resulted in a farcewhich left him in sackcloth and ashes. In the same way he found that,when it came to a question of dispensing justice and of adjustingdisputes, the host of juridical subtleties with which the professors hadprovided him proved absolutely useless. That is to say, the one partylied, and the other party lied, and only the devil could have decidedbetween them. Consequently he himself perceived that a knowledge ofmankind would have availed him more than all the legal refinements andphilosophical maxims in the world could do. He lacked something; andthough he could not divine what it was, the situation brought about wasthe common one of the barin failing to understand the peasant, and thepeasant failing to understand the barin, and both becoming disaffected.In the end, these difficulties so chilled Tientietnikov's enthusiasmthat he took to supervising the labours of the field with greatlydiminished attention. That is to say, no matter whether the scythes weresoftly swishing through the grass, or ricks were being built, or raftswere being loaded, he would allow his eyes to wander from his men, andto fall to gazing at, say, a red-billed, red-legged heron which, afterstrutting along the bank of a stream, would have caught a fish in itsbeak, and be holding it awhile, as though in doubt whether to swallowit. Next he would glance towards the spot where a similar bird, but onenot yet in possession of a fish, was engaged in watching the doings ofits mate. Lastly, with eyebrows knitted, and face turned to scan thezenith, he would drink in the smell of the fields, and fall to listeningto the winged population of the air as from earth and sky alike themanifold music of winged creatures combined in a single harmoniouschorus. In the rye the quail would be calling, and, in the grass, thecorncrake, and over them would be wheeling flocks of twittering linnets.Also, the jacksnipe would be uttering its croak, and the lark executingits roulades where it had become lost in the sunshine, and cranessending forth their trumpet-like challenge as they deployed towards thezenith in triangle-shaped flocks. In fact, the neighbourhood would seemto have become converted into one great concert of melody. O Creator,how fair is Thy world where, in remote, rural seclusion, it lies apartfrom cities and from highways!
But soon even this began to pall upon Tientietnikov, and he ceasedaltogether to visit his fields, or to do aught but shut himself upin his rooms, where he refused to receive even the bailiff when thatfunctionary called with his reports. Again, although, until now, he hadto a certain extent associated with a retired colonel of hussars--a mansaturated with tobacco smoke--and also with a student of pronounced, butimmature, opinions who culled the bulk of his wisdom from contemporarynewspapers and pamphlets, he found, as time went on, that thesecompanions proved as tedious as the rest, and came to think theirconversation superficial, and their European method of comportingthemselves--that is to say, the method of conversing with much slappingof knees and a great deal of bowing and gesticulation--too direct andunadorned. So these and every one else he decided to "drop," and carriedthis resolution into effect with a certain amount of rudeness. On thenext occasion that Varvar Nikolaievitch Vishnepokromov called to indulgein a free-and-easy symposium on politics, philosophy, literature,morals, and the state of financial affairs in England (he was, in allmatters which admit of superficial discussion, the pleasantest fellowalive, seeing that he was a typical representative both of the retiredfire-eater and of the school of thought which is now becoming therage)--when, I say, this next happened, Tientietnikov merely sent outto say that he was not at home, and then carefully showed himself at thewindow. Host and guest exchanged glances, and, while the one mutteredthrough his teeth "The cur!" the other relieved his feelings with aremark or two on swine. Thus the acquaintance came to an abrupt end, andfrom that time forth no visitor called at the mansion.
Tientietnikov in no way regretted this, for he could now devote himselfwholly to the projection of a great work on Russia. Of the scale onwhich this composition was conceived the reader is already aware. Thereader also knows how strange, how unsystematic, was the system employedin it. Yet to say that Tientietnikov never awoke from his lethargywould not be altogether true. On the contrary, when the post brought himnewspapers and reviews, and he saw in their printed pages, perhaps, thewell-known name of some former comrade who had succeeded in the greatfield of Public Service, or had conferred upon science and theworld's work some notable contribution, he would succumb to secret andsuppressed grief, and involuntarily there would burst from his soulan expression of aching, voiceless regret that he himself had done solittle. And at these times his existence would seem to him odious andrepellent; at these times there would uprise before him the memory ofhis school days, and the figure of Alexander Petrovitch, as vivid as inlife. And, slowly welling, the tears would course over Tientietnikov'scheeks.
What meant these repinings? Was there not disclosed in them the secretof his galling spiritual pain--the fact that he had failed to order hislife aright, to confirm the lofty aims with which he had started hiscourse; the fact that, always poorly equipped with experience, hehad failed to attain the better and the higher state, and there tostrengthen himself for the overcoming of hindrances and obstacles; thefact that, dissolving like overheated metal, his bounteous store ofsuperior instincts had failed to take the final tempering; the fact thatthe tutor of his boyhood, a man in a thousand, had prematurely died, andleft to Tientietnikov no one who could restore to him the moralstrength shattered by vacillation and the will power weakened by wantof virility--no one, in short, who could cry hearteningly to his soul"Forward!"--the word for which the Russian of every degree, of everyclass, of every occupation, of every school of thought, is for everhungering.
Indeed, WHERE is the man who can cry aloud for any of us, in the Russiantongue dear to our soul, the all-compelling command "Forward!"? Who isthere who, knowing the strength and the nature and the inmost depths ofthe Russian genius, can by a single magic incantation divert our idealsto the higher life? Were there such a man, with what tears, with whataffection, would not the grateful sons of Russia repay him! Yet agesucceeds to age, and our callow youth still lies wrapped in shamefulsloth, or strives and struggles to no purpose. God has not yet given usthe man able to sound the call.
One circumstance which almost aroused Tientietnikov, which almostbrought about a revolution in his character, was the fact that he camevery near to falling in love. Yet even this
resulted in nothing. Tenversts away there lived the general whom we have heard expressinghimself in highly uncomplimentary terms concerning Tientietnikov. Hemaintained a General-like establishment, dispensed hospitality (thatis to say, was glad when his neighbours came to pay him their respects,though he himself never went out), spoke always in a hoarse voice, reada certain number of books, and had a daughter--a curious, unfamiliartype, but full of life as life itself. This maiden's name was Ulinka,and she had been strangely brought up, for, losing her mother in earlychildhood, she had subsequently received instruction at the hands of anEnglish governess who knew not a single word of Russian. Moreover herfather, though excessively fond of her, treated her always as a toy;with the result that, as she grew to years of discretion, she becamewholly wayward and spoilt. Indeed, had any one seen the sudden ragewhich would gather on her beautiful young forehead when she was engagedin a heated dispute with her father, he would have thought her one ofthe most capricious beings in the world. Yet that rage gathered onlywhen she had heard of injustice or harsh treatment, and never becauseshe desired to argue on her own behalf, or to attempt to justify her ownconduct. Also, that anger would disappear as soon as ever she saw anyone whom she had formerly disliked fall upon evil times, and, at hisfirst request for alms would, without consideration or subsequentregret, hand him her purse and its whole contents. Yes, her every actwas strenuous, and when she spoke her whole personality seemed to befollowing hot-foot upon her thought--both her expression of face and herdiction and the movements of her hands. Nay, the very folds of her frockhad a similar appearance of striving; until one would have thoughtthat all her self were flying in pursuit of her words. Nor did she knowreticence: before any one she would disclose her mind, and no forcecould compel her to maintain silence when she desired to speak. Also,her enchanting, peculiar gait--a gait which belonged to her alone--wasso absolutely free and unfettered that every one involuntarily gave herway. Lastly, in her presence churls seemed to become confused and fallto silence, and even the roughest and most outspoken would lose theirheads, and have not a word to say; whereas the shy man would findhimself able to converse as never in his life before, and would feel,from the first, as though he had seen her and known her at some previousperiod--during the days of some unremembered childhood, when he was athome, and spending a merry evening among a crowd of romping children.And for long afterwards he would feel as though his man's intellect andestate were a burden.
This was what now befell Tientietnikov; and as it did so a new feelingentered into his soul, and his dreamy life lightened for a moment.
At first the General used to receive him with hospitable civility, butpermanent concord between them proved impossible; their conversationalways merged into dissension and soreness, seeing that, while theGeneral could not bear to be contradicted or worsted in an argument,Tientietnikov was a man of extreme sensitiveness. True, for thedaughter's sake, the father was for a while deferred to, and thus peacewas maintained; but this lasted only until the time when there arrived,on a visit to the General, two kinswomen of his--the Countess Bordirevand the Princess Uziakin, retired Court dames, but ladies who stillkept up a certain connection with Court circles, and therefore were muchfawned upon by their host. No sooner had they appeared on the scene than(so it seemed to Tientietnikov) the General's attitude towards the youngman became colder--either he ceased to notice him at all or he spoke tohim familiarly, and as to a person having no standing in society. Thisoffended Tientietnikov deeply, and though, when at length he spoke outon the subject, he retained sufficient presence of mind to compress hislips, and to preserve a gentle and courteous tone, his face flushed andhis inner man was boiling.
"General," he said, "I thank you for your condescension. By addressingme in the second person singular, you have admitted me to the circleof your most intimate friends. Indeed, were it not that a difference ofyears forbids any familiarity on my part, I should answer you in similarfashion."
The General sat aghast. At length, rallying his tongue and hisfaculties, he replied that, though he had spoken with a lack ofceremony, he had used the term "thou" merely as an elderly man naturallyemploys it towards a junior (he made no reference to difference ofrank).
Nevertheless, the acquaintance broke off here, and with it anypossibility of love-making. The light which had shed a momentary gleambefore Tientietnikov's eyes had become extinguished for ever, and uponit there followed a darkness denser than before. Henceforth everythingconduced to evolve the regime which the reader has noted--that regimeof sloth and inaction which converted Tientietnikov's residence into aplace of dirt and neglect. For days at a time would a broom and a heapof dust be left lying in the middle of a room, and trousers tossingabout the salon, and pairs of worn-out braces adorning the what-not nearthe sofa. In short, so mean and untidy did Tientietnikov's mode of lifebecome, that not only his servants, but even his very poultry ceased totreat him with respect. Taking up a pen, he would spend hours in idlysketching houses, huts, waggons, troikas, and flourishes on a piece ofpaper; while at other times, when he had sunk into a reverie, the penwould, all unknowingly, sketch a small head which had delicate features,a pair of quick, penetrating eyes, and a raised coiffure. Then suddenlythe dreamer would perceive, to his surprise, that the pen had executedthe portrait of a maiden whose picture no artist could adequately havepainted; and therewith his despondency would become greater than ever,and, believing that happiness did not exist on earth, he would relapseinto increased ennui, increased neglect of his responsibilities.
But one morning he noticed, on moving to the window after breakfast,that not a word was proceeding either from the butler or thehousekeeper, but that, on the contrary, the courtyard seemed to smack ofa certain bustle and excitement. This was because through the entrancegates (which the kitchen maid and the scullion had run to open) therewere appearing the noses of three horses--one to the right, one in themiddle, and one to the left, after the fashion of triumphal groups ofstatuary. Above them, on the box seat, were seated a coachman and avalet, while behind, again, there could be discerned a gentleman in ascarf and a fur cap. Only when the equipage had entered the courtyarddid it stand revealed as a light spring britchka. And as it came to ahalt, there leapt on to the verandah of the mansion an individualof respectable exterior, and possessed of the art of moving with theneatness and alertness of a military man.
Upon this Tientietnikov's heart stood still. He was unused to receivingvisitors, and for the moment conceived the new arrival to be aGovernment official, sent to question him concerning an abortive societyto which he had formerly belonged. (Here the author may interpolate thefact that, in Tientietnikov's early days, the young man had become mixedup in a very absurd affair. That is to say, a couple of philosophersbelonging to a regiment of hussars had, together with an aesthetewho had not yet completed his student's course and a gambler who hadsquandered his all, formed a secret society of philanthropic aims underthe presidency of a certain old rascal of a freemason and the ruinedgambler aforesaid. The scope of the society's work was to be extensive:it was to bring lasting happiness to humanity at large, from the banksof the Thames to the shores of Kamtchatka. But for this much money wasneeded: wherefore from the noble-minded members of the society generouscontributions were demanded, and then forwarded to a destination knownonly to the supreme authorities of the concern. As for Tientietnikov'sadhesion, it was brought about by the two friends already alluded to as"embittered"--good-hearted souls whom the wear and tear of their effortson behalf of science, civilisation, and the future emancipation ofmankind had ended by converting into confirmed drunkards. Perhaps itneed hardly be said that Tientietnikov soon discovered how things stood,and withdrew from the association; but, meanwhile, the latter had hadthe misfortune so to have engaged in dealings not wholly creditableto gentlemen of noble origin as likewise to have become entangled indealings with the police. Consequently, it is not to be wondered atthat, though Tientietnikov had long severed his connection with thesociety and its policy, he still rema
ined uneasy in his mind as to whatmight even yet be the result.)
However, his fears vanished the instant that the guest saluted him withmarked politeness and explained, with many deferential poises of thehead, and in terms at once civil and concise, that for some time pasthe (the newcomer) had been touring the Russian Empire on business andin the pursuit of knowledge, that the Empire abounded in objectsof interest--not to mention a plenitude of manufactures and a greatdiversity of soil, and that, in spite of the fact that he was greatlystruck with the amenities of his host's domain, he would certainlynot have presumed to intrude at such an inconvenient hour but for thecircumstance that the inclement spring weather, added to the state ofthe roads, had necessitated sundry repairs to his carriage at the handsof wheelwrights and blacksmiths. Finally he declared that, even if thislast had NOT happened, he would still have felt unable to deny himselfthe pleasure of offering to his host that meed of homage which was thelatter's due.
This speech--a speech of fascinating bonhomie--delivered, the guestexecuted a sort of shuffle with a half-boot of patent leather studdedwith buttons of mother-of-pearl, and followed that up by (in spite ofhis pronounced rotundity of figure) stepping backwards with all the elanof an india-rubber ball.
From this the somewhat reassured Tientietnikov concluded that hisvisitor must be a literary, knowledge-seeking professor who was engagedin roaming the country in search of botanical specimens and fossils;wherefore he hastened to express both his readiness to further thevisitor's objects (whatever they might be) and his personal willingnessto provide him with the requisite wheelwrights and blacksmiths.Meanwhile he begged his guest to consider himself at home, and,after seating him in an armchair, made preparations to listen to thenewcomer's discourse on natural history.
But the newcomer applied himself, rather, to phenomena of the internalworld, saying that his life might be likened to a barque tossed on thecrests of perfidious billows, that in his time he had been fated to playmany parts, and that on more than one occasion his life had stoodin danger at the hands of foes. At the same time, these tidings werecommunicated in a manner calculated to show that the speaker was alsoa man of PRACTICAL capabilities. In conclusion, the visitor took out acambric pocket-handkerchief, and sneezed into it with a vehemence whollynew to Tientietnikov's experience. In fact, the sneeze rather resembledthe note which, at times, the trombone of an orchestra appears to utternot so much from its proper place on the platform as from the immediateneighbourhood of the listener's ear. And as the echoes of the drowsymansion resounded to the report of the explosion there followed upon thesame a wave of perfume, skilfully wafted abroad with a flourish of theeau-de-Cologne-scented handkerchief.
By this time the reader will have guessed that the visitor was noneother than our old and respected friend Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov.Naturally, time had not spared him his share of anxieties and alarms;wherefore his exterior had come to look a trifle more elderly, hisfrockcoat had taken on a suggestion of shabbiness, and britchka,coachman, valet, horses, and harness alike had about them a sort ofsecond-hand, worse-for-wear effect. Evidently the Chichikovian financeswere not in the most flourishing of conditions. Nevertheless, the oldexpression of face, the old air of breeding and refinement, remainedunimpaired, and our hero had even improved in the art of walking andturning with grace, and of dexterously crossing one leg over theother when taking a seat. Also, his mildness of diction, his discreetmoderation of word and phrase, survived in, if anything, increasedmeasure, and he bore himself with a skill which caused his tactfulnessto surpass itself in sureness of aplomb. And all these accomplishmentshad their effect further heightened by a snowy immaculateness of collarand dickey, and an absence of dust from his frockcoat, as complete asthough he had just arrived to attend a nameday festival. Lastly, hischeeks and chin were of such neat clean-shavenness that no one but ablind man could have failed to admire their rounded contours.
From that moment onwards great changes took place in Tientietnikov'sestablishment, and certain of its rooms assumed an unwonted air ofcleanliness and order. The rooms in question were those assigned toChichikov, while one other apartment--a little front chamber openinginto the hall--became permeated with Petrushka's own peculiar smell.But this lasted only for a little while, for presently Petrushka wastransferred to the servants' quarters, a course which ought to have beenadopted in the first instance.
During the initial days of Chichikov's sojourn, Tientietnikov fearedrather to lose his independence, inasmuch as he thought that hisguest might hamper his movements, and bring about alterations in theestablished routine of the place. But these fears proved groundless, forPaul Ivanovitch displayed an extraordinary aptitude for accommodatinghimself to his new position. To begin with, he encouraged his hostin his philosophical inertia by saying that the latter would helpTientietnikov to become a centenarian. Next, in the matter of a life ofisolation, he hit things off exactly by remarking that such a lifebred in a man a capacity for high thinking. Lastly, as he inspected thelibrary and dilated on books in general, he contrived an opportunity toobserve that literature safeguarded a man from a tendency to waste histime. In short, the few words of which he delivered himself were brief,but invariably to the point. And this discretion of speech was outdoneby his discretion of conduct. That is to say, whether enteringor leaving the room, he never wearied his host with a question ifTientietnikov had the air of being disinclined to talk; and with equalsatisfaction the guest could either play chess or hold his tongue.Consequently Tientietnikov said to himself:
"For the first time in my life I have met with a man with whom it ispossible to live. In general, not many of the type exist in Russia, and,though clever, good-humoured, well-educated men abound, one would behard put to it to find an individual of equable temperament with whomone could share a roof for centuries without a quarrel arising. Anyway,Chichikov is the first of his sort that I have met."
For his part, Chichikov was only too delighted to reside with aperson so quiet and agreeable as his host. Of a wandering life he wastemporarily weary, and to rest, even for a month, in such a beautifulspot, and in sight of green fields and the slow flowering of spring, waslikely to benefit him also from the hygienic point of view. And, indeed,a more delightful retreat in which to recuperate could not possibly havebeen found. The spring, long retarded by previous cold, had now begunin all its comeliness, and life was rampant. Already, over the firstemerald of the grass, the dandelion was showing yellow, and the red-pinkanemone was hanging its tender head; while the surface of every pondwas a swarm of dancing gnats and midges, and the water-spider was beingjoined in their pursuit by birds which gathered from every quarter tothe vantage-ground of the dry reeds. Every species of creature alsoseemed to be assembling in concourse, and taking stock of one another.Suddenly the earth became populous, the forest had opened its eyes, andthe meadows were lifting up their voice in song. In the same way hadchoral dances begun to be weaved in the village, and everywhere that theeye turned there was merriment. What brightness in the green of nature,what freshness in the air, what singing of birds in the gardens of themansion, what general joy and rapture and exaltation! Particularly inthe village might the shouting and singing have been in honour of awedding!
Chichikov walked hither, thither, and everywhere--a pursuit for whichthere was ample choice and facility. At one time he would direct hissteps along the edge of the flat tableland, and contemplate the depthsbelow, where still there lay sheets of water left by the floods ofwinter, and where the island-like patches of forest showed leaflessboughs; while at another time he would plunge into the thicket andravine country, where nests of birds weighted branches almost to theground, and the sky was darkened with the criss-cross flight of cawingrooks. Again, the drier portions of the meadows could be crossed to theriver wharves, whence the first barges were just beginning to set forthwith pea-meal and barley and wheat, while at the same time one's earwould be caught with the sound of some mill resuming its functions asonce more the water turned the wheel. Chichikov would
also walk afieldto watch the early tillage operations of the season, and observe howthe blackness of a new furrow would make its way across the expanse ofgreen, and how the sower, rhythmically striking his hand against thepannier slung across his breast, would scatter his fistfuls of seed withequal distribution, apportioning not a grain too much to one side or tothe other.
In fact, Chichikov went everywhere. He chatted and talked, now with thebailiff, now with a peasant, now with a miller, and inquired into themanner and nature of everything, and sought information as to how anestate was managed, and at what price corn was selling, and what speciesof grain was best for spring and autumn grinding, and what was the nameof each peasant, and who were his kinsfolk, and where he had bought hiscow, and what he fed his pigs on. Chichikov also made inquiry concerningthe number of peasants who had lately died: but of these there appearedto be few. And suddenly his quick eye discerned that Tientietnikov'sestate was not being worked as it might have been--that much neglect andlistlessness and pilfering and drunkenness was abroad; and on perceivingthis, he thought to himself: "What a fool is that Tientietnikov! Tothink of letting a property like this decay when he might be drawingfrom it an income of fifty thousand roubles a year!"
Also, more than once, while taking these walks, our hero pondered theidea of himself becoming a landowner--not now, of course, but later,when his chief aim should have been achieved, and he had got into hishands the necessary means for living the quiet life of the proprietorof an estate. Yes, and at these times there would include itself in hiscastle-building the figure of a young, fresh, fair-faced maiden of themercantile or other rich grade of society, a woman who could both playand sing. He also dreamed of little descendants who should perpetuatethe name of Chichikov; perhaps a frolicsome little boy and a fair youngdaughter, or possibly, two boys and quite two or three daughters; sothat all should know that he had really lived and had his being, that hehad not merely roamed the world like a spectre or a shadow; so that forhim and his the country should never be put to shame. And from that hewould go on to fancy that a title appended to his rank would not bea bad thing--the title of State Councillor, for instance, which wasdeserving of all honour and respect. Ah, it is a common thing for aman who is taking a solitary walk so to detach himself from the irksomerealities of the present that he is able to stir and to excite and toprovoke his imagination to the conception of things he knows can neverreally come to pass!
Chichikov's servants also found the mansion to their taste, and, liketheir master, speedily made themselves at home in it. In particular didPetrushka make friends with Grigory the butler, although at first thepair showed a tendency to outbrag one another--Petrushka beginningby throwing dust in Grigory's eyes on the score of his (Petrushka's)travels, and Grigory taking him down a peg or two by referring to St.Petersburg (a city which Petrushka had never visited), and Petrushkaseeking to recover lost ground by dilating on towns which he HADvisited, and Grigory capping this by naming some town which is not to befound on any map in existence, and then estimating the journeythither as at least thirty thousand versts--a statement which would socompletely flabbergast the henchman of Chichikov's suite that he wouldbe left staring open-mouthed, amid the general laughter of the domesticstaff. However, as I say, the pair ended by swearing eternal friendshipwith one another, and making a practice of resorting to the villagetavern in company.
For Selifan, however, the place had a charm of a different kind. That isto say, each evening there would take place in the village a singing ofsongs and a weaving of country dances; and so shapely and buxom were themaidens--maidens of a type hard to find in our present-day villages onlarge estates--that he would stand for hours wondering which of them wasthe best. White-necked and white-bosomed, all had great roving eyes, thegait of peacocks, and hair reaching to the waist. And as, with his handsclasping theirs, he glided hither and thither in the dance, or retiredbackwards towards a wall with a row of other young fellows, and then,with them, returned to meet the damsels--all singing in chorus (andlaughing as they sang it), "Boyars, show me my bridegroom!" and dusk wasfalling gently, and from the other side of the river there kept comingfar, faint, plaintive echoes of the melody--well, then our Selifanhardly knew whether he were standing upon his head or his heels. Later,when sleeping and when waking, both at noon and at twilight, he wouldseem still to be holding a pair of white hands, and moving in the dance.
Chichikov's horses also found nothing of which to disapprove. Yes,both the bay, the Assessor, and the skewbald accounted residence atTientietnikov's a most comfortable affair, and voted the oats excellent,and the arrangement of the stables beyond all cavil. True, on thisoccasion each horse had a stall to himself; yet, by looking over theintervening partition, it was possible always to see one's fellows, and,should a neighbour take it into his head to utter a neigh, to answer itat once.
As for the errand which had hitherto led Chichikov to travel aboutRussia, he had now decided to move very cautiously and secretly in thematter. In fact, on noticing that Tientietnikov went in absorbedly forreading and for talking philosophy, the visitor said to himself, "No--Ihad better begin at the other end," and proceeded first to feel his wayamong the servants of the establishment. From them he learnt severalthings, and, in particular, that the barin had been wont to go andcall upon a certain General in the neighbourhood, and that the Generalpossessed a daughter, and that she and Tientietnikov had had an affairof some sort, but that the pair had subsequently parted, and gonetheir several ways. For that matter, Chichikov himself had noticedthat Tientietnikov was in the habit of drawing heads of which eachrepresentation exactly resembled the rest.
Once, as he sat tapping his silver snuff-box after luncheon, Chichikovremarked:
"One thing you lack, and only one, Andrei Ivanovitch."
"What is that?" asked his host.
"A female friend or two," replied Chichikov.
Tientietnikov made no rejoinder, and the conversation came temporarilyto an end.
But Chichikov was not to be discouraged; wherefore, while waiting forsupper and talking on different subjects, he seized an opportunity tointerject:
"Do you know, it would do you no harm to marry."
As before, Tientietnikov did not reply, and the renewed mention of thesubject seemed to have annoyed him.
For the third time--it was after supper--Chichikov returned to thecharge by remarking:
"To-day, as I was walking round your property, I could not help thinkingthat marriage would do you a great deal of good. Otherwise you willdevelop into a hypochondriac."
Whether Chichikov's words now voiced sufficiently the note ofpersuasion, or whether Tientietnikov happened, at the moment, to beunusually disposed to frankness, at all events the young landownersighed, and then responded as he expelled a puff of tobacco smoke:
"To attain anything, Paul Ivanovitch, one needs to have been born undera lucky star."
And he related to his guest the whole history of his acquaintanceshipand subsequent rupture with the General.
As Chichikov listened to the recital, and gradually realised that theaffair had arisen merely out of a chance word on the General's part, hewas astounded beyond measure, and gazed at Tientietnikov without knowingwhat to make of him.
"Andrei Ivanovitch," he said at length, "what was there to take offenceat?"
"Nothing, as regards the actual words spoken," replied the other. "Theoffence lay, rather, in the insult conveyed in the General's tone."Tientietnikov was a kindly and peaceable man, yet his eyes flashed as hesaid this, and his voice vibrated with wounded feeling.
"Yet, even then, need you have taken it so much amiss?"
"What? Could I have gone on visiting him as before?"
"Certainly. No great harm had been done?"
"I disagree with you. Had he been an old man in a humble station oflife, instead of a proud and swaggering officer, I should not haveminded so much. But, as it was, I could not, and would not, brook hiswords."
"A curious fellow, this Tientietn
ikov!" thought Chichikov to himself.
"A curious fellow, this Chichikov!" was Tientietnikov's inwardreflection.
"I tell you what," resumed Chichikov. "To-morrow I myself will go andsee the General."
"To what purpose?" asked Tientietnikov, with astonishment and distrustin his eyes.
"To offer him an assurance of my personal respect."
"A strange fellow, this Chichikov!" reflected Tientietnikov.
"A strange fellow, this Tientietnikov!" thought Chichikov, and thenadded aloud: "Yes, I will go and see him at ten o'clock to-morrow; butsince my britchka is not yet altogether in travelling order, would yoube so good as to lend me your koliaska for the purpose?"
Dead Souls Page 14
