Fifty-Two Stories

In early spring the Obruchanovo peasants saw wood near the train station. Now they are going home after work, going unhurriedly, one by one; the wide saws bend over their shoulders, and the sun is reflected in them. Nightingales sing in the bushes along the riverbank, larks pour out their song in the sky. It is quiet at the New Dacha, not a soul is there, and only golden pigeons, golden because the sun is shining on them, fly over the house. Everyone—Rodion, both Lychkovs, and Volodka—remembers the white horses, the little ponies, the fireworks, the boat with its lamps, remembers how the engineer’s wife, beautiful, finely dressed, came to the village and spoke so gently. And it is all as if it never was. All like in a dream or a fairy tale.

They walk one foot after the other, worn out, and they think…

In their village, they think, the folk are good, quiet, sensible, they fear God, and Elena Ivanovna was also quiet, kind, meek, it was such a pity to look at her, but why is it that they did not get along and parted as enemies? What was this mist that hid from sight the most important things and let only the damage be seen, the bridles, the pincers, and all those trifles which now in recollection seem like such nonsense? Why is it that they live in peace with the new owner, but could not get along with the engineer?

And, not knowing how to answer these questions for themselves, they all keep silent, and only Volodka mutters something.

“What’s that?” asks Rodion.

“We lived without the bridge…,” Volodka says glumly. “We lived without the bridge and didn’t ask…and we’ve got no need.”

Nobody responds to him, and they walk on silently, hanging their heads.

1898

NOTES

JOY

1.

Collegiate Registrar:

In the table of ranks established by Peter the Great in 1722, there were fourteen grades of government officials, of which collegiate registrar was fourteenth and lowest.

FAT AND SKINNY

1.

Nikolaevsky train station:

A railway terminal in Moscow and Petersburg, named after the emperor Nicholas I.

2.

Herostratus…Ephialtes:

In the fourth century B.C. the arsonist Herostratus burned down the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, listed by the historian Herodotus as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Ephialtes of Trachis betrayed the Greeks to the Persians, enabling the latter to win the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

3.

collegiate assessor…a Stanislas:

Collegiate assessor was eighth in the table of ranks (see note 1 to “Joy,” above). The Polish Order of St. Stanislaus (or Stanislas), founded in 1765, was adopted by Russia in 1832.

4.

state councillor…privy councillor:

State councillor was fifth in the table of ranks; privy councillor was third and brought with it the right to be addressed as “Your Excellency.”

AT THE POST OFFICE

1.

blini:

Thin Russian wheat or buckwheat pancakes served with various accompaniments, sweet or savory.

READING

1.

actual state councillor:

Or “active state councillor,” fourth grade in the table of ranks.

2.

The Count of Monte Cristo

:

Well-known adventure novel (1844) by the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802–70).

3.

gulps milk all through Lent:

Dairy products are forbidden during the forty-day fast (the Great Lent) preceding Easter.

4.

The Wandering Jew

:

A multivolume novel (1844–45) by French author Eugène Sue (1804–57), which became an international best seller.

THE COOK GETS MARRIED

1.

Chernomor:

The name of the wizard who steals Lyudmila on her wedding night, in the poem

Ruslan and Lyudmila

(1820), by Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837).

IN A FOREIGN LAND

1.

say tray jolee:

crude mispronunciation of the French

c’est très jolie

(“it’s very pretty”).

THE EXCLAMATION POINT

1.

collegiate secretary:

The tenth grade in the table of ranks.

2.

his Stanislas medal:

Decoration of the Order of St. Stanislas (see note 3 to “Fat and Skinny”).

AN EDUCATED BLOCKHEAD

1.

Sixwingsky:

The seraphim, as described in Isaiah 6:2, are angels with six wings. They belong to the highest rank in the Judeo-Christian angelic hierarchy.

A SLIP-UP

1.

Nekrasov:

Nikolai Alexeevich Nekrasov (1821–78), poet, essayist, editor, and social critic with strong liberal views, was a major figure in mid-nineteenth-century Russian literature.

2.

be fruitful…multiply:

God’s words to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28.

3.

Lazhechnikov:

Ivan Ivanovich Lazhechnikov (1792–1869) was a novelist and playwright, credited with introducing the historical novel into Russian literature.

ANGUISH

1.

To whom will I impart my sorrow?:

The beginning of an anonymous fifteenth- or sixteenth-century Russian poem known as “Joseph’s Lament.”

2.

On the stove…: