Berezovo: A Revolutionary Russian Epic

Replacing his pince-nez, he forced himself to pick up the pen and resume his letter to Natalya Sedova.

Almost in every village since Tobolsk there have been political exiles, most of them ‘agrarians’ (peasants exiled for rioting) soldiers, workers and only a few intellectuals. Some are ‘administratives’, a few are settlers i.e. exiles condemned to settle there. Altogether we have not yet encountered really desperate poverty among the exiles. This is because life in these parts is extremely cheap: ‘politicals’ pay the peasants six roubles a month for board and lodging. For ten roubles a month you can live quite well. The further north you go, the more expensive it becomes and the more difficult it is to find work.

Yes, he thought, money will be a problem.

He reckoned that he had enough to pay his way south again, but who knew when that opportunity would arise? In the meantime the cost of living from day to day would chip away at his capital. One thing was certain: there would be no more journalism. Even if he could smuggle out a manuscript, no Russian publisher would dare to print it.

Ah well, he thought, a man has to recognise the consequences of his own actions.

It had been his choice, he told himself sternly, to take the first step along the road that had now led him to Obdorskoye and there was no use grieving over this. Instead, he must put a brave face on it and stir himself. Besides, who knew how many pairs of eyes would read his letter before it reached her? It was imperative that he showed them he hadn’t surrendered. At the same time his instincts were warning him to be careful. There was a real danger that the unseen eyes would interpret optimism as confidence in some pre-conceived plan for escape. In his next letter he would invite Natalya to join him and to bring the baby with her. It was essential that he appeared to be resigned to his fate. Cheerful but resigned: that was the way. He picked up his pen and began to write.

We have met some comrades who used to live in Obdorskoye. All of them had good things to say about the place. The village is large with more than one thousand inhabitants and twelve shops. The houses are built on the town model and good lodgings are easy to find. The countryside is mountainous and very beautiful, the climate very healthy. The workers among us will find jobs. It is possible to earn some money giving lessons. Life is quite expensive, it is true, but earnings are also higher. This incomparable place has just one drawback: it is almost entirely cut off from the rest of the world. One and a half thousand versts from the nearest railway, eight hundred versts from the nearest telegraph office. Mail arrives twice a week but when the roads are bad in spring and autumn it stops altogether for six weeks to two months. If a provisional government is formed in Petersburg today, the local policeman will still be king in Obdorsk for a long time. The fact that Obdorsk is so far from the Tobolsk Highway explains its relative liveliness, for it serves as an independent centre for an enormous area.