¦ ILHIBII&&IF£T •

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REV. WILLIAM H. OWEN

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST

THE NOVELS AND STORIES OF
IVAN TURGENIEFF
Published by CHAELES SCEIBNEB'S SONS
Each V2mo, $1.25 net
RtJDIN, AND A KING LEAR OF THE STEPPES
A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
ON THE EVE
FATHERS AND CHILDREN
SMOKEVIRGIN SOIL
MEMOIRS OF A SPORTSMAN
THE JEW, AND OTHER STORIES
DIARY OF A SUPERFLUOUS MAN, AND OTHER
STORIES
FIRST LOVE, AND OTHER STORIES
PHANTOMS, AND OTHER STORIES
THE BRIGADIER, AND OTHER STORIES
SPRING FRESHETS, AND OTHER STORIES
RECKLESS CHARACTER, AND OTHER STORIES

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST

BY
IVAN TURGENIEFF

TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN BY
ISABEL F. HAPGOOD

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1918

Copyright, 1903, by
Chaui.es Scribner's Sons

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
(1858)

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST

THE brilliant, spring day was inclining
toward the evening, tiny rose-tinted cloud
lets hung high in the heavens, and seemed not to
be floating past, but retreating into the very
depths of the azure.
In front of the open window of a handsome
house, in one of the outlying streets of O * * *
the capital of a Government, sat two women ; one
fifty years of age, the other seventy years old, and
already aged.
The former was named Marya Dmitrievna
Kalitin. Her husband, formerly the govern
mental procurator, well known in his day as an
active official — a man of energetic and decided
character, splenetic and stubborn — had died ten
years previously. He had received a fairly good
education, had studied at the university, but, hav
ing been born in a poverty-stricken class of so
ciety, he had early comprehended the necessity
of opening up a way for himself, and of accumu
lating money. Marya Dmitrievna had married
3

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
him for love; he was far from uncomely in ap
pearance, he was clever, and, when he chose, he
could be very amiable. Marya Dmitrievna (her
maiden name had been Pestoff ) had lost her pa
rents in early childhood, had spent several years
in Moscow, in a government educational institute,
and, on returning thence, had lived fifty versts
from O * * *, in her native village, Pokrovskoe,
with her aunt and her elder brother. This bro
ther soon removed to Petersburg on service, and
kept his sister and his aunt on short commons,
until his sudden death put an end to his career.
Marya Dmitrievna inherited Pokrovskoe, but did
not live there long; during the second year after
her marriage to Kalitin, who succeeded in con
quering her heart in the course of a few days, Po
krovskoe was exchanged for another estate, much
more profitable, but ugly and without a manor-
house, and, at the same time, Kalitin acquired a
house in the town of O * * *, and settled down
there permanently with his wife. A large gar
den was attached to the house; on one side, it
joined directly on to the open fields, beyond the
town. Kalitin, — who greatly disliked the stagna
tion of the country, — had evidently made up his
mind, that there was no reason for dragging out
existence on the estate. Marya Dmitrievna, many
a time, in her own mind regretted her pretty Po
krovskoe, with its merry little stream, its broad
meadows, and verdant groves; but she opposed
4

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
ner husband in nothing, and worshipped his clev
erness and knowledge of the world. But when,
after fifteen years of married life, he died, leav
ing a son and two daughters, Marya Dmitrievna
had become so wonted to her house, and to town
life, that she herself did not wish to leave O * * *.
In her youth, Marya Dmitrievna had enjoyed
the reputation of being a pretty blonde, and at
the age of fifty her features were not devoid
of attraction, although they had become some
what swollen and indefinite in outline. She was
more sentimental than kind, and even in her ma
ture age she had preserved the habits of her
school-days; she indulged herself, was easily irri
tated, and even wept when her ways were inter
fered with; on the other hand, she was very af
fectionate and amiable, when all her wishes were
complied with, and when no one contradicted
her. Her house was one of the most agreeable
in the town. Her fortune was very considerable,
not so much her inherited fortune, as that acquired
by her husband. Both her daughters lived with
her; her son was being educated at one of the
best government institutions in Petersburg.
The old woman, who was sitting by the window
with Marya Dmitrievna, was that same aunt, her
father's sister, with whom she had spent several
years, in days gone by, at Pokrovskoe. Her name
was Marfa Timofeevna Pestoff. She bore the
reputation of being eccentric, had an independent
5

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
character, told the entire truth to every one,
straight in the face, and, with the most scanty
resources, bore herself as though she possessed
thousands. She had not been able to endure the
deceased Kalitin, and as soon as her niece married
him, she retired to her tiny estate, where she lived
for ten whole years in the hen-house of a peasant.
Marya Dmitrievna was afraid of her. Black-
haired and brisk-eyed even in her old age, tiny,
sharp-nosed Marfa Timofeevna walked quickly,
held herself upright, and talked rapidly and in
telligibly, in a shrill, ringing voice. She always
wore a white cap and a white jacket.
" What art thou doing that for? — " she sud
denly inquired of Marya Dmitrievna. — " What
art thou sighing about, my mother? "
" Because," said the other.—" What wonder
fully beautiful clouds!"
" So, thou art sorry for them, is that it? "
Marya Dmitrievna made no reply.
I " Isn't that Gedeonovsky coming yonder?" —
said Marfa Timofeevna, briskly moving her knit
ting-needles (she was knitting a huge, motley-
hued scarf). " He might keep thee company in
sighing,— or, if not, he might tell us some lie or
other." " How harshly thou always speakest about
him! Sergyei Petrovitch is an — estimable man."
"Estimable!" repeated the old woman re
proachfully. 6

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" And how devoted he was to my dead hus
band! " remai'ked Marya Dmitrievna; — " to this
day, I cannot think of it with indifference."
" I should think not! he pulled him out of the
mire by his ears," — growled Marfa Timofeevna,
and her knitting-needles moved still more swiftly
in her hands.
" He looks like such a meek creature," — she
began again, — " his head is all grey, but no sooner
does he open his mouth, than he lies or calumni
ates. And he 's a State Councillor, to boot !
Well, he 's a priest's son : and there 's nothing
more to be said! "
" Who is without sin, aunty? Of course, he
has that weakness. Sergyei Petrovitch received
no education, — of course he does not speak
French ; but, say what you will, he is an agreeable
man." " Yes, he 's always licking thy hand. He
does n't talk French, — what a calamity ! I 'm not
strong on the French ' dialect ' myself. 'T would
be better if he did not speak any language at all :
then he would n't lie. But there he is, by the way
— speak of the devil, — " added Marfa Timo
feevna, glancing into the street. — " There he
strides, thine agreeable man. What a long-legged
fellow, just like a stork."
Marya Dmitrievna adjusted her curls. Marfa
Timofeevna watched her with a grin.
" Hast thou not a grey hair there, my mother?

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Thou shouldst scold thy Palashka. Why does n't
she see it? "
" Oh, aunty, you're always so ... " muttered
Marya Dmitrievna, with vexation, and drummed
on the arm of her chair with her fingers.
" Sergyei Petrovitch Gedeonovsky!" squeaked
a red-cheeked page-lad, springing in through the
door.

II
There entered a man of lofty stature, in a neat
coat, short trousers, grey chamois-skin gloves, and
two neckties — one black, on top, and the other
white, underneath. Everything about him ex
haled decorum and propriety, beginning with his
good-looking face and smoothly brushed temple-
curls, and ending with his boots, which had neither
heels nor squeak. He bowed first to the mistress
of the house, then to Marfa Timofeevna, and
slowly drawing off his gloves, took Marya Dmi-
trievna's hand. After kissing it twice in suc
cession, with respect, he seated himself, without
haste, in an arm-chair, and said with a smile, as
he rubbed the very tips of his fingers :
" And is Elizaveta Mikhailovna well? "
" Yes," — replied Marya Dmitrievna, — " she is
in the garden."
" And Elena Mikhailovna? "
" Lyenotchka is in the garden also. Is there
anything new? "
" How could there fail to be, ma'am, how could
there fail to be," — returned the visitor, slowly
blinking his eyes, and protruding his lips. " Hm !
9

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
. . . now, here 's a bit of news, if you please, and
a very astounding bit: Lavretzky, Feodor Iva
nitch, has arrived."
" Fedya? " — exclaimed Marfa Timofeevna.
— " But come now, my father, art not thou in
venting that? "
" Not in the least, ma'am, I saw him myself."
" Well, that 's no proof."
" He has recovered his health finely," — went
on Gedeonovsky, pretending not to hear Marfa
Timof eevna's remark: — "he has grown broader
in the shoulders, and the rosy colour covers the
whole of his cheeks."
" He has recovered his health," — ejaculated
Marya Dmitrievna, with pauses : — " that means,
that he had something to recover from? "
" Yes, ma'am," — returned Gedeonovsky : —
" Any other man, in his place, would have been
ashamed to show himself in the world."
" Why so? " — interrupted Marfa Timofeevna;
— " what nonsense is this? A man returns to his
native place — what would you have him do with
himself ? And as if he were in any way to blame !"
" The husband is always to blame, madam, I
venture to assure you, when the wife behaves
badly." " Thou say est that, my good sir, because thou
hast never been married thyself." Gedeonovsky
smiled in a constrained way.
" Permit me to inquire," he asked, after a brief
10

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
pause, — " for whom is that very pretty scarf
destined? "
Marfa Timofeevna cast a swift glance at him.
" It is destined " — she retorted, — "for the man
who never gossips, nor uses craft, nor lies, if such
a man exists in the world. I know Fedya well;
his sole fault is, that he was too indulgent to his
wife. Well, he married for love, and nothing
good ever comes of those love-marriages," —
added the old woman, casting a sidelong glance
at Marya Dmitrievna, and rising. — "And now,
dear little father, thou mayest whet thy teeth on
whomsoever thou wilt, only not on me ; I 'm going
away, I won't interfere." — And Marfa Timo
feevna withdrew.
" There, she is always like that," — said Marya
Dmitrievna, following her aunt with her eyes: —
"Always!" " It 's her age! There 's no help for it, ma'am!"
remarked Gedeonovsky. — " There now, she per
mitted herself to say : ' the man who does not use
craft.' But who does n't use craft nowadays?
it 's the spirit of the age. One of my friends, a
very estimable person, and, I must tell you, a man
of no mean rank, was wont to say : that ' now
adays, a hen approaches a grain of corn craftily
— she keeps watching her chance to get to it from
one side.' But when I look at you, my lady, you
have a truly angelic disposition ; please to favour
me with your snow-white little hand."
11

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Marya Dmitrievna smiled faintly, and ex
tended her plump hand, with the little finger
standing out apart, to Gedeonovsky. He applied
his lips to it, and she moved her arm-chair closer
to him, and bending slightly toward him, she
asked in a low tone :
"So, you have seen him? Is he really — all
right, well, cheerful? "
" He is cheerful, ma'am; all right, ma'am,"
returned Gedeonovsky, in a whisper.
" And you have not heard where his wife is
now? "
" She has recently been in Paris, ma'am; now,
I hear, she has removed to the kingdom of Italy."
"It is dreadful, really, — Fedya's position ; I
do not know how he can endure it. Accidents do
happen, with every one, in fact ; but he, one may
say, has been advertised all over Europe."
Gedeonovsky sighed.
" Yes, ma'am ; yes, ma'am. Why, she, they
say, has struck up acquaintance with artists, and
pianists, and, as they call it in their fashion, with
lions and wild beasts. She has lost her shame,
completely. . ."
" It is very, very sad,"— said Marya Dmi
trievna: — "on account of the relationship; for
you know, Sergyei Petrovitch, he 's my nephew,
once removed."
" Of course, ma'am; of course, ma'am. How
could I fail to be aware of everything which
12

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
relates to your family? Upon my word,
ma'am! "
" Will he come to see us, — what do you think? "
" We must assume that he will, ma'am; but I
hear, that he is going to his country estate."
Marya Dmitrievna cast her eyes heavenward.
" Akh, Sergyei Petrovitch, when I think of it,
how circumspectly we women must behave ! "
" There are different sorts of women, Marya
Dmitrievna. Unfortunately, there are some of
fickle character . . . well, and it 's a question of
age, also ; then, again, the rules have not been in
culcated in their childhood." (Sergyei Petro
vitch pulled a checked blue handkerchief out of
his pocket, and began to unfold it). — "Such
women exist, of course," (Sergyei Petrovitch
raised a corner of the handkerchief to his eyes,
one after the other) , — " but, generally speaking,
if we take into consideration, that is . . . There is
an unusual amount of dust in town," he con
cluded. " Maman, maman" — screamed a pretty little
girl of eleven, as she rushed into the room: —
" Vladimir Nikolaitch is coming to our house on
horseback! "
Marya Dmitrievna rose; Sergyei Petrovitch
also rose and bowed : — " Our most humble salute
to Elena Mikhailovna," he said, and withdrawing
into a corner, out of propriety, he began to blow
his long and regularly-formed nose.
13

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
"What a splendid horse he has! — " went on
the httle girl. — " He was at the gate just now,
and told Liza and me, that he would ride up to
the porch."
The trampling of hoofs became audible ; and a
stately horseman, on a fine brown steed, made his
appearance in the street, and halted in front of
the open window.

!#

Ill
" Good afternoon, Marya Dmitrievna! " — ex
claimed the horseman, in a ringing, agreeable
voice. — " How do you like my new purchase? "
Marya Dmitrievna went to the window.
" Good afternoon, Woldemar! Akh, what a
magnificent horse ! From whom did you buy it ? "
" From the remount officer. . . He asked a
high price, the robber! "
"What is its name?"
" Orlando. . . . But that 's a stupid name ; I
want to change it. . . Eh ~bien, eh hien, mon
gar con. . . What a turbulent beast ! " The horse
snorted, shifted from foot to foot, and tossed his
foaming muzzle.
" Pat him, Lenotchka, have no fears. . . "
The little girl stretched her hand out of the
window, but Orlando suddenly reared up, and
leaped aside. The rider did not lose control,
gripped the horse with his knees, gave him a lash
on the neck with his whip, and, despite his oppo
sition, placed him once more in front of the
window. "Prenez garde! prenez garde!" — Marya Dmi
trievna kept repeating. 15

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Pat him, Lyenotchka, "—returned the rider,
— " I will not permit him to be wilful."
Again the little girl stretched forth her hand,
and timidly touched the quivering nostrils of Or
lando, who trembled incessantly and strained at
the bit.
"Bravo!" — exclaimed Marya Dmitrievna, —
" and now, dismount, and come in."
The horseman turned his steed round adroitly,
gave him the spurs, and after dashing along the
street at a brisk gallop, rode into the yard. A
minute later, he ran in through the door of the
anteroom into the drawing-room, flourishing his
whip; at the same moment, on the threshold of
another door, a tall, graceful, black-haired girl
of nineteen — Marya Dmitrievna's eldest daugh
ter, Liza — made her appearance.

16

IV
The young man, with whom we have just made
the reader acquainted, was named Vladimir Niko
laitch Panshin. He served in Petersburg, as an
official for special commissions, in the Ministry
of the Interior. He had come to the town of
O * * * to execute a temporary governmental
commission, and was under the command of
Governor-General Zonnenberg, to whom he was
distantly related. Panshin's father, a stafF-cap-
tain of cavalry on the retired list, a famous gam
bler, a man with a crumpled visage and a nervous
twitching of the lips, had passed his whole life
in the society of people of quality, had frequented
the English Clubs in both capitals, and bore the
reputation of an adroit, not very trustworthy, but
charming and jolly fellow. In spite of his adroit
ness, he found himself almost constantly on the
very verge of indigence, and left behind him to
his only son a small and impaired fortune. On
the other hand, he had, after his own fashion,
taken pains with his education: Vladimir Niko
laitch spoke French capitally, English well, and
German badly; but it is permissible to let fall a
German word in certain circumstances — chiefly
17

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
humorous, — " c'est meme tres chic" as the Peters
burg Parisians express themselves. Vladimir
Nikolaitch already understood, at the age of fif
teen, how to enter any drawing-room whatever
without embarrassment, how to move about in it
agreeably, and to withdraw at the proper time.
Panshin's father had procured for his son many
influential connections; as he shuffled the cards
between two rubbers, or after a successful capture
of all the tricks, he let slip no opportunity to drop
a nice little word about his " Volodka " to some
important personage who was fond of social
games. On his side, Vladimir Nikolaitch, during
his stay in the university, whence he emerged with
the rank of actual student, made acquaintance
with several young men of quality, and became
a frequenter of the best houses. He was received
gladly everywhere; he was extremely good-look
ing, easy in his manners, entertaining, always well
and ready for everything; where it was requisite,
he was respectful; where it was possible, he was
insolent, a capital companion, un charmant
garcon. The sacred realm opened out before him.
Panshin speedily grasped the secret of the science
of society; he understood how to imbue himself
with genuine respect for its decrees; he under
stood how, with half -bantering gravity, to busy
himself with nonsense and assume the appear
ance of regarding everything serious as trivial;
he danced exquisitely, he dressed in English style.
18

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
In a short time he became renowned as one of the
most agreeable and adroit young men in Peters
burg. Panshin was, in reality, very adroit, — no
less so than his father: but he was, also, very
gifted. He could do everything : he sang prettily,
he drew dashingly, he wrote verses, he acted very
far from badly on the stage. He had only just
passed his twenty-eighth birthday, but he was al
ready Junior Gentleman of the Emperor's bed
chamber, and had a very tolerable rank. Panshin
firmly believed in himself, in his brains, in his
penetration; he advanced boldly and cheerfully,
at full swing; his life flowed along as on oil.
He was accustomed to please everybody, old and
young, and imagined that he was a judge of peo
ple, especially of women : he did know well their
everyday weaknesses. As a man not a stranger
to art, he felt within him both fervour, and some
enthusiasm, and rapture, and in consequence of
this he permitted himself various deviations from
the rules : he caroused, he picked up acquaintance
with persons who did not belong to society, and,
in general, maintained a frank and simple de
meanour; but in soul he was cold and cunning, and
in the midst of the wildest carouse his clever httle
brown eye was always on guard, and watching;
this bold, this free young man could never for
get himself and get completely carried away. To
his honour it must be said, that he never bragged
of his conquests. He had hit upon Marya Dmi-
19

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
trievna's house immediately on his arrival in
O * * *, and had promptly made himself en
tirely at home there. Marya Dmitrievna fairly
adored him.
Panshin amiably saluted all who were in the
room, shook hands with Marya Dmitrievna and
Lizaveta Mikhailovna, lightly tapped Gedeonov
sky on the shoulder, and whirling round on his
heels, caught Lyenotchka by the head, and kissed
her on the brow.
" And you are not afraid to ride such a vicious
horse? " — Marya Dmitrievna asked him.
" Good gracious! it is a very peaceable beast;
but I '11 tell you what I am afraid of : I 'm afraid
to play preference with Sergyei Petrovitch; last
night, at the Byelenitzyns', he won my last
farthing." Gedeonovsky laughed a shrill and servile
laugh: he fawned on the brilliant young official
from Petersburg, the pet of the governor. In
his conversations with Marya Dmitrievna, he fre
quently alluded to Panshin's remarkable capaci
ties. " For why should not I praise him? " he ar
gued. " The young man is making a success in
the highest sphere of life, discharges his service
in an exemplary manner, and is not the least bit
proud." Moreover, even in Petersburg Panshin
was considered an energetic official: he got
through an immense amount of work; he alluded
to it jestingly, as is befitting a fashionable man
20

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
who attaches no particular importance to his la
bours, but he was " an executor." The higher
officials love such subordinates; he never had the
slightest doubt himself, that, if he so wished, he
could become a Minister in course of time.
" You are pleased to say that I beat you at
cards," — remarked Gedeonovsky: — " but who
was it that won twelve rubles from me last week?
and besides . . . ."
" Villain, villain," Panshin interrupted him,
with a caressing but almost disdainful careless
ness, and without paying any further attention to
him, he stepped up to Liza.
" I have not been able to find the overture of
' Oberon ' here," he began: — " Mme. Byelenft-
zyn was merely boasting, that she had all the
classical music, — as a matter of fact, she has no
thing except polkas and waltzes; but I have al
ready written to Moscow, and within a week I
shall have that overture. By the way," — he con
tinued, — " I wrote a new romance yesterday; the
words also are my own. Would you like to have
me sing it for you? I do not know how it has
turned out; Mme. Byelenitzyn thought it ex
tremely charming, but her words signify no
thing, — I wish to know your opinion. However,
I think it will be better later on  "
" Why later on? " — interposed Marya Dmi
trievna: — " Why not now? "
" I obey, ma'am,"— said Panshin, with a cer-
21

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
tain bright, sweet smile, which was wont to appear
on his face, and suddenly to vanish, — pushed for
ward a chair with his knee, seated himself at the
piano, and after striking several chords, he began
to sing, clearly enunciating the words, the follow
ing romance :
The moon floats high above the earth
Amid the clouds so pale;
But from the crest of the sea surge moveth
A magic ray.
The sea of my soul hath acknowledged thee
To be its moon,
And 't is moved, — in joy and in sorrow, —
By thee alone.
With the anguish of love, the anguish of dumb aspira
tions,
The soul is full;
I suffer pain. . . But thou from agitation art as free
As that moon.
Panshin sang the second couplet with peculiar
expression and force; the surging of the waves
could be heard in the tempestuous accompani
ment. After the words: " I suffer pain. . ." he
heaved a slight sigh, dropped his eyes, and low
ered his voice, — morendo. When he had finished,
Liza praised the motive, Marya Dmitrievna said:
"It is charming;"— while Gedeonovsky even
shouted: "Ravishing! both poetry and harmony
are equally ravishing! ..." Lyenotchka, with
22

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
childish adoration, gazed at the singer. In a
word, the composition of the youthful dilettante
pleased all present extremely; but outside of the
door of the drawing-room, in the anteroom, stood
an elderly man, who had just arrived, to whom,
judging by the expression of his downcast face
and the movement of his shoulders, Panshin's ro
mance, charming as it was, afforded no pleasure.
After waiting a while, and whisking the dust
from his boots with a coarse handkerchief, this
man suddenly screwed up his eyes, pressed his
lips together grimly, bent his back, which was al
ready sufficiently bowed without that, and slowly
entered the drawing-room.
"Ah! Christofor Feodoritch, good after
noon ! " — Panshin was the first of all to exclaim,
and sprang hastily from his seat. — " I had no sus
picion that you were here, — I could not, on any
account, have made up my mind to sing my ro
mance in your presence. I know that you do not
care for frivolous music."
" I vas not listening," remarked the new
comer, in imperfect Russian, and having saluted
all, he remained awkwardly standing in the mid
dle of the room.
" Have you come, Monsieur Lemm," — said
Marya Dmitrievna, — " to give a music lesson to
Liza? "
" No, not to Lisaf eta Mikhailovna, but to Elena
Mikhailovna." 2a

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
"Ah! Well, — very good. Lyenotchka, go
upstairs with Monsieur Lemm."
The old man was on the point of following the
little girl, but Panshin stopped him.
" Do not go away after the lesson, Christofor
Feodoritch," — he said : — " Lizaveta Mikhailovna
and I will play a Beethoven sonata for four
hands." The old man muttered something, but Panshin
went on in German, pronouncing his words badly :
" Lizaveta Mikhailovna has shown me the
spiritual cantata which you presented to her — 't is
a very fine thing ! Please do not think that I am
incapable of appreciating serious music, — quite
the contrary: it is sometimes tiresome, but, on the
other hand, it is very beneficial."
The old man crimsoned to his very ears, cast a
sidelong glance at Liza, and hastily left the
room. Marya Dmitrievna requested Panshin to re
peat the romance; but he declared, that he did
not wish to wound the ears of the learned Ger
man, and proposed to Liza that they should oc
cupy themselves with the Beethoven sonata.
Then Marya Dmitrievna sighed, and in her turn,
proposed to Gedeonovsky that he should take a
stroll in the garden with her. — " I wish," — she
said, " to talk and take counsel with you still fur
ther, over our poor Fedya." Gedeonovsky
grinned, bowed, took up — with two fingers, his
24

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
hat, and his gloves neatly laid on its brim, and
withdrew, in company with Marya Dmitrievna.
Panshin and Liza were left alone in the room;
she fetched the sonata, and opened it ; both seated
themselves, in silence, at the piano. — From
above, the faint sounds of scales, played by Lye-
notchka's uncertain little fingers, were wafted to
them.

| Christopher-Theodore-Gottlieb Lemm was
born in the year 1786, in the kingdom of Sax
ony, in the town of Chemnitz, of poor musicians.
His father played the French horn, his mother the
harp; he himself, at the age of five, was already
practising on three different instruments. At
eight years of age he became an orphan, and at
the age of ten he began to earn a bit of bread for
himself by his art. For a long time he led a wan
dering life, played everywhere — in inns, at fairs,
and at peasant weddings and at balls; at last, he
got into an orchestra, and rising ever higher and
higher, he attained to the post of director. He
was rather a poor executant; but he possessed a
thorough knowledge of music. At the age of
twenty-eight he removed to Russia. He was im
ported by a great gentleman, who himself could
not endure music, but maintained an orchestra as
a matter of pride. Lemm lived seven years with
him, in the capacity of musical conductor, and
left him with empty hands; the gentleman was
ruined, and wished to give him a note of hand,
but afterward refused him even this, — in a word,
did not pay him a farthing. People advised him
26

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
to leave the country: but he was not willing to
return home in poverty from Russia, from great
Russia, that gold-mine of artists; he decided to
remain, and try his luck. For the space of twenty
years he did try his luck: he sojourned with vari
ous gentry, he lived in Moscow and in the capitals
of various governments, he suffered and endured
a great deal, he learned to know want, he floun
dered like a fish on the ice ; but the idea of return
ing to his native land never abandoned him in
the midst of all these calamities to which he was
subjected; it alone upheld him. But it did not
suit Fate to render him happy with this last and
first joy: at the age of fifty, ill, prematurely in
firm, he got stranded in the town of O * * * and
there remained for good, having finally lost all
hope of quitting the Russia which he detested,
and managing, after a fashion, to support his
scanty existence by giving lessons. Lemm's ex
ternal appearance did not predispose one in his
favour. He was small of stature, round-shoul
dered, with shoulder-blades which projected
crookedly, and a hollow chest, with huge, flat
feet, with pale-blue nails on the stiff, unbend
ing fingers of his sinewy, red hands; he had a
wrinkled face, sunken cheeks, and tightly-com
pressed lips, that he was incessantly moving as
though chewing, which, added to his customary
taciturnity, produced an almost malevolent im
pression; his grey hair hung in elf-locks over his
27

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
low brow; his tiny, motionless eyes smouldered
like coals which had just been extinguished; "he
walked heavily, swaying his clumsy body from
side to side at every step. Some of his move
ments were suggestive of the awkward manner
in which an owl in a cage plumes itself when it
is conscious that it is being watched, though it
itself hardly sees anything with its huge, yellow,
timorously and dozily blinking eyes. Confirmed,
inexorable grief had laid upon the poor musician
its ineffaceable seal, had distorted and disfigured
his already ill-favoured figure; but for any one
who knew enough not to stop at first impres
sions, something unusual was visible in this half-
wrecked being. A worshipper of Bach and
Handel, an expert in his profession, gifted with
a lively imagination, and with that audacity of
thought which is accessible only to the German
race, Lemm, in course of time— who knows?—
might have entered the ranks of the great com
posers of his native land, if life had led him
differently; but he had not been born under a
fortunate star! He had written a great deal in
his day — and he had not succeeded in seeing a
single one of his compositions published ; he had
not understood how to set about the matter in
the proper way, to cringe opportunely, to bustle
at the right moment. Once, long, long ago, one
of his admirers and friends, also a German and
also poor, had published two of his sonatas at
28

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
his own expense, — and the whole edition re
mained in the cellars of the musical shops; they
had vanished dully, without leaving a trace, as
though some one had flung them into the river
by night. At last Lemm gave up in despair;
moreover, his years were making themselves felt :
he had begun to grow rigid, to stiffen, as his
fingers stiffened also. Alone, with an aged cook,
whom he had taken from the almshouse (he had
never been married), he lived on in O * * *,
in a tiny house, not far from the Kalitin residence ;
he walked a great deal, read the Bible and col
lections of Protestant psalms, and Shakespeare
in Schlegel's translation. It was long since he
had composed anything; but, evidently, Liza, his
best pupil, understood how to arouse him : he had
written for her the cantata to which Panshin had
alluded. He had taken the words for this cantata
from the psalms ; several verses he had composed
himself; it was to be sung by two choruses, — the
chorus of the happy, and the chorus of the un
happy; both became reconciled, in the end, and
sang together: "O merciful God, have mercy
upon us sinners, and purge out of us by fire all
evil thoughts and earthly hopes ! " — On the title-
page, very carefully written, and even drawn,
stood the following: " Only the Just are Right.
A Spiritual Cantata. Composed and dedicated
to Miss Elizaveta Kalitin, my beloved pupil, by
her teacher, C. T. G. Lemm." The words:
29

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Only the Just are Right," and " Elizaveta
Kahtin," were surrounded by rays. Below was
added: "For you alone,"— " Fiir Sie allein."—
Therefore Lemm had crimsoned and had cast
a sidelong glance at Liza; it pained him greatly
when Panshin spoke of his cantata in his presence.

<M>

VI
Panshin struck the opening chords of the sonata
loudly, and with decision (he was playing the
second hand), but Liza did not begin her part.
He stopped, and looked at her. Liza's eyes,
fixed straight upon him, expressed displeasure;
her lips were not smiling, her whole face was
stern, almost sad.
" What is the matter with you? " — he inquired.
" Why did not you keep your word? " said she.
— " I showed you Christofor Feodoritch's cantata
on condition that you would not mention it to
him." " Pardon me, Lizaveta Mikhailovna, it was a
slip of the tongue."
" You have wounded him — and me also. Now
he will not trust me any more."
" What would you have me do, Lizaveta Mi
khailovna! From my earliest childhood, I have
never been able to endure the sight of a German :
something simply impels me to stir him up."
" Why do you say that, Vladimir Nikolaitch!
This German is a poor, solitary, broken man —
and you feel no pity for him? You want to stir
him up? " 31

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Panshin was disconcerted.
" You are right, Lizaveta Mikhailovna,"— he
said. " My eternal thoughtlessness is responsible
for the whole thing. No, do not say a word; I
know myself well. My thoughtlessness has done
me many an ill turn. Thanks to it, I have won
the reputation of an egoist."
Panshin paused for a moment. No matter how
he began a conversation, he habitually wound up
by speaking of himself, and he did it in a charm
ing, soft, confidential, almost involuntary way.
"And here in your house," — he went on: —
" your mother likes me, of course, — she is so kind;
you . . . however, I do not know your opinion
of me; but your aunt, on the contrary, cannot
bear me. I must have offended her, also, by some
thoughtless, stupid remark. For she does not
like me, does she? "
" No," said Liza, with some hesitation: — " you
do not please her."
Panshin swept his fingers swiftly over the
keys ; a barely perceptible smile flitted across his
lips. 'Well, and you?" — he said: — "Do I seem
an egoist to you also? "
" I know you very slightly," — returned Liza :
— " but I do not consider you an egoist ; on the
contrary, I ought to feel grateful to you. ..."
" I know, I know, what you mean to say," —
Panshin interrupted her, and again ran his fin-
32

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
gers over the keys :— " for the music, for the books
which I bring you, for the bad drawings with
which I decorate your album, and so forth and so
on. I can do all that — and still be an egoist. I
venture to think, that you are not bored in my
company, and that you do not regard me as a
bad man, but still you assume, that I — how in
the world shall I express it? — would not spare my
own father or friend for the sake of a jest."
' You are heedless and forgetful, like all
worldly people," — said Liza: — "that is all."
Panshin frowned slightly.
" Listen," he said: — " let us not talk any more
about me ; let us play our sonata. One thing only
I will ask of you," — he said, as with his hand he
smoothed out the leaves of the bound volume
which stood on the music-rack: — " think what you
will of me, call me an egoist even, — so be it! but
do not call me a worldly man : that appellation is
intolerable to me. . . . Anch'io son pittore. I
also am an artist, — and I will immediately prove
it to you in action. Let us begin."
" We will begin, if you please," — said Liza.
The first adagio went quite successfully, al
though Panshin made more than one mistake.
He played his own compositions and those which
he had practised very prettily, but he read music
badly. On the other hand, the second part of the
sonata — a rather brisk allegro — did not go at all :
at the twentieth measure, Panshin, who had got
33

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
two measures behind, could hold out no longer,
and pushed back his chair with a laugh.
"No!"— he exclaimed: — "I cannot play to
day; it is well that Lemm does not hear us: he
would fall down in a swoon."
Liza rose, shut the piano, and turned to,
Panshin. " What shall we do now? " — she asked.
" I recognise you in that question ! You can*
not possibly sit with folded hands. Come, if you
like, let us draw, before it has grown completely
dark. Perhaps the other muse, — the muse of
drawing .... what 's her name? I 've forgot
ten .... will be more gracious to me. Where
is your album? Do you remember? — my land
scape there is not finished."
Liza went into the next room for her album,
and Panshin, when he was left alone, pulled a
batiste handkerchief from his pocket, polished his
nails, and gazed somewhat askance at his hands.
They were very handsome and white; on the
thumb of the left hand he wore a spiral gold
ring. Liza returned ; Panshin seated himself near
the window, and opened the album.
"Aha! " — he exclaimed: — "I see that you have
begun to copy my landscape — and that is fine.
Very good! Only here— give me a pencil — the
shadows are not put on thickly enough. . . .
Look." And Panshin, with a bold sweep, prolonged
34

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
several long strokes. He constantly drew one
and the same landscape: in the foreground were
large, dishevelled trees, in the distance, a meadow,
and saw-toothed mountains on the horizon. Liza
looked over his shoulder at his work.
" In drawing, and in life in general," — said
Panshin, bending his head now to the right, now
to the left: — "lightness and boldness are the
principal thing."
At that moment, Lemm entered the room, and,
with a curt inclination, was on the point of de
parting; but Panshin flung aside the album and
pencil, and barred his way.
" Whither are you going, my dear Christofor
Feodoritch? Are not you going to stay and drink
tea?" " I must go home," — said Lemm in a surly
voice: — " my head aches."
" Come, what nonsense! — stay. You and I
will have a dispute over Shakespeare."
" My head aches," — repeated the old man.
" We tried to play a Beethoven sonata without
you," — went on Panshin, amiably encircling his
waist with his arm, and smiling brightly: —
" but we could n't make it go at all. Just ima
gine, I couldn't play two notes in succession
correctly." " You vould haf done better to sing your ro-
mantz," — retorted Lemm, pushing aside Pan
shin's arm, and left the room.
35

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Liza ran after him. She overtook him on the
steps. " Christofor Feodoritch, listen," — she said to
him in German, as she accompanied him to the
gate, across the close-cropped green grass of the
yard: — "I am to blame toward you — forgive
me." Lemm made no reply.
" I showed your cantata to Vladimir Niko
laitch; I was convinced that he would appreciate
it, — and it really did please him greatly."
Lemm halted.
" Zat is nozing," — he said in Russian, and
then added in his native tongue: — " but he can
not understand anything; how is it that you do
not perceive that? — he is a dilettante — and that 's
all there is to it ! "
"You are unjust to him," — returned Liza: —
" he understands everything, and can do nearly
everything himself."
' Yes, everything is second-class, light-weight,
hasty work. That pleases, and he pleases, and
he is content with that — well, and bravo! But I
am not angry; that cantata and I — we are old
fools ; I am somewhat ashamed, but that does not
matter." " Forgive me, Christofor Feodoritch," — said
Liza again.
" It does not mattair, it does not mattair," he
repeated again in Russian: — "you are a goot
36

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
girl . . . but see yonder, some vun is coming to
your house. Good-bye. You are a fery goot
girl." And Lemm, with hasty strides, betook himself
toward the gate, through which was entering a
gentleman with whom he was not acquainted,
clad in a grey coat and a broad-brimmed straw
hat. Courteously saluting him (he bowed to all
newcomers in the town of O * * * ; he turned
away from his acquaintances on the street — that
was the rule which he had laid down for himself) ,
Lemm passed him, and disappeared behind the
hedge. The stranger looked after him in amaze
ment, and, exchanging a glance with Liza, ad
vanced straight toward her.

37

VII
" You do not recognise me," — he said, removing
his hat, — " but I recognise you, although eight
years have passed since I saw you last. You were
a child then. I am Lavretzky. Is your mother
at home? Can I see her? "
" Mamma will be very glad," — replied Liza: —
" she has heard of your arrival."
" Your name is Elizaveta, I beheve? " — said
Lavretzky, as he mounted the steps of the porch.
" Yes."
" I remember you well; you had a face, at that
time, such as one does not forget ; I used to bring
you bonbons then."
Liza blushed and thought, " What a strange
man he is! " Lavretzky paused for a minute in
the anteroom. Liza entered the drawing-room,
where Panshin's voice and laughter were re
sounding; he had imparted some gossip of the
town to Marya Dmitrievna and Gedeonovsky,
who had already returned from the garden, and
was himself laughing loudly at what he had nar
rated. At the name of Lavretzky, Marya Dmi
trievna started in utter trepidation, turned pale,
and advanced to meet him. 38

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" How do you do, how do you do, my dear
cousin! " — she exclaimed, in a drawling and al
most tearful voice : — " how glad I am to see you! "
" How do you do, my kind cousin," — returned
Lavretzky; and shook her proffered hand in a
friendly way: — " how does the Lord show mercy
on you? "
" Sit down, sit down, my dear Feodor Ivanitch.
Akh, how delighted I am ! Permit me, in the first
place, to present to you my daughter Liza. . . "
" I have already introduced myself to Lizaveta
Mikhailovna," — Lavretzky interrupted her.
" Monsieur Panshin .... Sergyei Petro
vitch Gedeonovsky .... But pray sit down! I
look at you, and I simply cannot believe my eyes.
How is your health? "
" As you see, I am blooming. And you,
cousin, — I don't want to cast the evil eye on you
— you have not grown thin during these eight
years." " Just think, what a long time it is since we
saw each other,"— remarked Marya Dmitrievna,
dreamily. — " Whence come you now? Where
have you left .... that is, I meant to say " — she
hastily caught herself up — " I meant to say, are
you to be with us long? "
" I have just come from Berlin," — returned
Lavretzky, — " and to-morrow I set out for my
estate — probably to remain there a long time."
" Of course, you will live at Lavriki? "
39

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" No, not at Lavriki, but I have a tiny village
about twenty-five versts from here; I am going
there." " The village which you inherited from Glafira
Petrovna? "
" The same."
" Good gracious, Feodor Ivanitch ! You have
a splendid house at Lavriki ! "
Lavretzky scowled slightly.
" Yes .... but in that little estate there is a
small wing ; and, for the present, I need nothing
more. That place is the most convenient for
me just now."
Marya Dmitrievna again became so perturbed,
that she even straightened herself up, and flung
her hands apart. Panshin came to her assistance,
and entered into conversation with Lavretzky.
Marya Dmitrievna recovered her composure,
leaned back in her chair, and only interjected a
word from time to time; but, all the while, she
gazed so compassionately at her visitor, she sighed
so significantly, and shook her head so mourn
fully, that the latter, at last, could endure it no
longer, and asked her, quite sharply: was she
well? "Thank God, yes," — replied Marya Dmi
trievna, — " why? "
" Because it seemed to me that you were not
quite yourself."
Marya Dmitrievna assumed a dignified and
40

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
somewhat offended aspect. — " If that 's the way
you take it," — she said to herself, — " I don't care
in the least ; evidently, my good man, nothing af
fects thee any more than water does a goose ; any
one else would have pined away with grief, but
it swells thee up more than ever." Marya Dmi
trievna did not stand on ceremony with herself;
she expressed herself more elegantly aloud.
As a matter of fact, Lavretzky did not resemble
a victim of fate. His rosy-cheeked, purely-Rus
sian face, with its large, white brow, rather thick
nose, and broad, regular lips, fairly overflowed
with native health, with strong, durable force.
He was magnificently built, — and his blond hair
curled all over his head, like a young man's. Only
in his eyes, which were blue and prominent and
fixed, was there to be discerned something which
was not revery, nor yet weariness, and his voice
sounded rather too even.
In the meantime, Panshin had continued to
keep up the conversation. He turned it on the
profits of sugar-refining, concerning which two
French pamphlets had recently made their ap
pearance, and with calm modesty undertook to
set forth their contents, but without saying one
word about them.
"Why, here's Fedya!" suddenly rang out
Marfa Timof eevna's voice in the adjoining room,
behind the half -closed door: — "Actually, Fe
dya! " And the old woman briskly entered the
41

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
room. Before Lavretzky could rise from his
chair, she clasped him in her embrace. — " Come,
show thyself, show thyself," — she said, moving
back from his face. — " Eh! What a splendid fel
low thou art! Thou hast grown older, but hast
not grown in the least less comely, really! But
why art thou kissing my hands, — kiss me myself,
if my wrinkled cheeks are not repulsive to thee.
Can it be, that thou didst not ask after me : ' Well,
tell me, is aunty alive?' Why, thou wert born
into my arms, thou rogue! Well, never mind
that; why shouldst thou have remembered me?
Only, thou art a sensible fellow, to have come.
Well, my mother," — she added, addressing Ma
rya Dmitrievna, — " hast thou given him any re
freshments? "
" I want nothing," — said Lavretzky, hastily.
" Come, drink some tea, at least, my dear little
father. O Lord my God! He has come, no
one knows whence, and they don't give him a cup
of tea! Go, Liza, and see about it, as quickly as
possible. I remember that, as a httle fellow, he
was a dreadful glutton, and he must be fond of
eating even now."
" My respects, Marfa Timofeevna," — said
Panshin, approaching the angry old woman from
one side, and bowing low.
" Excuse me, sir," — retorted Marfa Timo
feevna, — " I did not notice you for joy. — Thou
hast grown to resemble thy mother, the darling,"
42

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
— she went on, turning again to Lavretzky: —
" only, thy nose was and remains like thy fa
ther's. Well — and art thou to be long with us? "
" I am going away to-morrow, aunty."
" Whither? "
" Home, to Vasilievskoe."
" To-morrow? "
" Yes."
" Well, if it must be to-morrow, it must. God
be with thee, — thou knowest best. Only, see here,
thou must come to say farewell." — The old
woman tapped him on the cheek. — " I did not
think I should live to see thee; and that not be
cause I was preparing to die ; no — I am good for
another ten years, probably: all we Pestoffs are
tenacious of life; thy deceased grandfather used
to call us double-lived; but the Lord only knew
how much longer thou wouldst ramble about
abroad. Well, but thou art a dashing fine fel
low, a fine fellow; thou canst still lift ten puds
in one hand as of yore, I suppose? Thy deceased
father, excuse me, was cranky in some respects,
but he did well when he hired a Swiss for thee ;
thou rememberest, how thou and he had fist-
fights; that's called gymnastics, isn't it? — But
why have I been cackling thus? I have only been
keeping Mr. Panshin " (she never called him
Panshin, as she ought) " from arguing. But we
had better drink tea; let us go and drink it on the
terrace, my dear ; our cream — is not like what you
43

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
get in your Londons and Parises. Let us go, let
us go, and do thou, Fediusha, give me thy arm.
O ! how thick it is ! There 's no danger of falling
with thee."
All rose and betook themselves to the terrace,
with the exception of Gedeonovsky, who quietly
departed. During the entire duration of La-
vretzky's conversation with the mistress of the
house, Panshin, and Marfa Timofeevna, he had
sat in a corner, attentively blinking, and sticking
out his lips, in childish curiosity: he now hastened
to carry the news about the new visitor through
out the town.
On that same day, at eleven o'clock in the even
ing, this is what was going on at Mme. Kalitin's
house. Down-stairs, on the threshold of the
drawing-room, Vladimir Nikolaitch, having seized
a favourable moment, was saying farewell to
Liza, and telling her, as he held her hand: " You
know who it is that attracts me hither ; you know
why I am incessantly coming to your house; what
is the use of words, when everything is so plain? "
Liza made him no reply, and without a smile, and
with eyebrows slightly elevated, and blushing, she
stared at the floor, but did not withdraw her
hand; and up-stairs, in Marfa Timof eevna's
chamber, by the light of the shrine-lamp, which
hung in front of the dim, ancient holy pictures,
Lavretzky was sitting in an arm-chair, with his
44

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
elbows on his knees, and his face in his hands ; the
old woman, standing before him, was silently
stroking his hair, from time to time. He spent
more than an hour with her, after taking leave
of the mistress of the house; he said almost
nothing to his kind old friend, and she did not
interrogate him. . . And what was the use of
talking, what was there to interrogate him about?
She understood everything as it was, and she
sympathised with everything wherewith his heart
was full to overflowing.

45

VIII
Feodor Ivanovitch Lavretzky (we must ask
the reader's permission to break the thread of our
narrative for a time) was descended from an an
cient family of the nobility. The ancestral foun
der of the Lavretzkys had come out of Prussia
during the princely reign of Vasily the Blind,
and had been granted two hundred quarters1 of
land, on Byezhetsk Heights. Many of his de
scendants were members of various branches of
the public service, and sat under princes and dis
tinguished personages in distant governorships,
but not one of them ever rose above the rank of
table-decker at the Court of the Tzars, or ac
quired any considerable fortune. The most opu
lent and noteworthy of all the Lavretzkys had
been Feodor Ivanitch's great-grandfather, An
drei, a harsh, insolent, clever, and crafty man.
Down to the day of which we are speaking, the
fame of his arbitrary violence, of his fiendish dis
position, his mad lavishness, and unquenchable
thirst had not died out. He had been very stout
and lofty of stature, swarthy of visage, and
'An ancient land-measure, varying in different localities; the
average " quarter " being about thirty by forty fathoms. — Trans
lator.
46

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
beardless; he lisped, and appeared to be sleepy;
but the more softly he spoke, the more did every
one around him tremble. He obtained for him
self a wife to match. Goggle-eyed, with hawk
like nose, with a round, sallow face, a gipsy by
birth, quick-tempered and revengeful, she was not
a whit behind her husband, who almost starved
her to death, and whom she did not survive, al
though she was eternally snarling at him.
Andrei's son, Piotr, Feodor's grandfather, did
not resemble his father : he was a simple squire of
the steppes, decidedly hare-brained, a swash
buckler and dawdler, rough but not malicious,
hospitable, and fond of dogs. He was more than
thirty years old when he inherited from his fa
ther two thousand souls in capital order; but he
speedily dispersed them, sold a part of his es
tate, and spoiled his house-servants. Petty little
people, acquaintances and non-acquaintances,
crawled from all sides, like black-beetles, to his
spacious, warm, and slovenly mansion; all these
ate whatever came to hand, but ate their fill,
drank themselves drunk, and carried off what
they could, lauding and magnifying the amiable
host; and the host, when he was not in a good
humour, also magnified his guests — as drones and
blackguards — but he was bored without them.
Piotr Andreitch's wife was a meek person: he
took her from a neighbouring family, at his fa
ther's choice and command; her name was Anna
47

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Pavlovna. She never interfered with anything,
received visitors cordially, and was fond of going
out herself, although powdering her hair, accord
ing to her own words, was death to her. They put
a felt hood on your head, she was wont to narrate
in her old age, combed your hair all up on top,
smeared it with tallow, sprinkled on flour, stuck
in iron pins, — and you could not wash yourself
afterward ; but to go visiting without powder was
impossible — people would take offence; — tor
ture !— 1She was fond of driving after trotters, was
ready to play cards from morning until night,
and always covered up with her hand the few
farthings of winnings set down to her when her
husband approached the card-table ; but she gave
her dowry and all her money to him, and required
no accounting for its use. She bore him two
children: a son, Ivan, Feodor's father, and a
daughter, Glafira.
Ivan was not brought up at home, but at the
house of a wealthy old aunt, Princess Kuben-
skoy; she had designated him as her heir (had
it not been for that, his father would not have
let him go) ; she dressed him like a doll, hired
every sort of teacher for him, provided him with
a governor, a Frenchman, a former abbe, a disci
ple of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a certain M.
Courtin de Vaucelles, an adroit and subtle in
triguer, — the most fine fleur of the emigration,
as she expressed it, — and ended by marrying this
48

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" fine-fleur " when she was almost seventy years
of age ; she transferred to his name her entire f or-_
tune, and soon afterward, rouged, scented with '<
amber, a la Richelieu, surrounded by small ne
groes, slender-legged dogs, and screeching par
rots, she died on a crooked little couch of the time
of Louis XV, with an enamelled snuff-box, the
work of Petitot, in her hands, — and died, deserted
by her husband: the sneaking M. Courtin had
preferred to retire to Paris with her money.
Ivan was only in his twentieth year when this
blow (we are speaking of the Princess's marriage,
not Of her death) descended upon him; he did not
wish to remain in his aunt's house, where from a
wealthy heir he had suddenly been converted into
a parasite ; in Petersburg, the society in which he
had been reared, was closed to him ; to service, be
ginning with the lowest ranks, difficult and dark,
he felt repugnance (all this took place at the
very beginning of the reign of the Emperor
Alexander). He was compelled, perforce, to
return to the country, to his father. Dirty, poor,
tattered did his native nest appear to him: the
dulness and soot of existence on the steppes of
fended him at every step ; he was tormented with
boredom; on the other hand, every one in the
house, with the exception of his mother, looked
upon him with unfriendly eyes. His father did not
like his habits of the capital ; his dress-suits, frilled
shirts, books, his flute, his cleanliness, in which,
49

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
not without reason, they scented his fastidious
ness; he was constantly complaining and grum
bling at his son. — " Nothing here suits him," he
was wont to say: " at table he is dainty, he does
not eat, he cannot endure the odour of the ser
vants, the stifling atmosphere; the sight of
drunken men disturbs him, and you must n't dare
to fight in his presence, either; he will not enter
government service : he 's frail in health, for
sooth; phew, what an effeminate creature! And
all because Voltaire sticks in his head! "
The old man cherished a particular dislike for
Voltaire, and for the " fanatic " Diderot, al
though he had never read a single line of their
writings : reading was not in his line. Piotr An-
dreitch was not mistaken: Diderot and Voltaire
really were sticking in his son's head, and not they
only, — but Rousseau and Raynal and Helvetius,
and many other writers of the same sort, were
sticking in his head, — but only in his head. Ivan
Petrovitch's former tutor, the retired abbe and
encyclopedist, had contented himself with pour
ing the whole philosophy of the XVIII century
into his pupil in a mass, and the latter went about
brimful of it; it gained lodgment within him,
without mingling with his blood, without penetra
ting into his soul, without making itself felt as a
firm conviction. . . And could convictions be de
manded of a young fellow of fifty years ago,
when we have not even yet grown up to them?
50

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
He also embarrassed the visitors to his father's
house : he loathed them, and they feared him ; and
with his sister, Glafira, who was twelve years
older than he, he did not get on at all.
This Glafira was a strange being; homely,
hunchbacked, gaunt, with stern, staring eyes and
thin, tightly compressed lips; in face, voice, and
quick, angular movements, she recalled her grand
mother, the gipsy, the wife of Andrei. Per
sistent, fond of power, she would not even hear
of marriage. The return of Ivan Petrovitch did
not please her; so long as the Princess Kubenskoy
had kept him with her, she had cherished the hope
of receiving at least half of the parental estate:
she resembled her grandmother in her avarice.
Moreover, Glafira was envious of her brother:
he was so cultivated, he spoke French so well, with
a Parisian accent, while she was scarcely able to
say: " bon jour" and "comment vous portez
vous? " To tell the truth, her parents did not un
derstand any French at all,— but that did not
render it any the more pleasant for her.
Ivan Petrovitch did not know what to do with
himself for tedium and melancholy; he spent
nearly a year in the country, and it seemed to him
like ten years. — Only with his mother did he re
lieve his heart, and he was wont to sit, by the hour,
in her low-ceiled rooms, listening to the simple
prattle of the good woman, and gorging himself
with preserves. It so happened, that among
51

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Anna Pavlovna's maids there was one very pretty
girl, with clear, gentle eyes and delicate features,
named Malanya, both clever and modest. She
pleased Ivan Petrovitch at first sight, and he fell
in love with her: he fell in love with her timid
walk, her shy answers, her soft voice, her gentle
smile ; with every passing day she seemed to him
more charming. And she became attached to Ivan
Petrovitch with her whole soul, as only Russian
girls can become attached — and gave herself to
him. In the country manor-house of a landed pro
prietor, no secret can be kept long: every one
soon knew of the bond between the young master
and Malanya; the tidings of this connection at
last reached Piotr Andreitch himself. At any
other time, he would, in all probability, have paid
no heed to such an insignificant matter; but he
had long been in a rage with his son, and rejoiced
at the opportunity to put to shame the Peters
burg philosopher and dandy. Tumult, shrieks,
and uproar arose : Malanya was locked up in the
lumber-room ; Ivan Petrovitch was summoned to
his parent. Anna Pavlovna also hastened up at
the outcry. She made an effort to pacify her hus
band, but Piotr Andreitch no longer listened to
anything. Like a vulture he pounced upon his
son, upbraided him with immorality, with im
piety, with hypocrisy; incidentally, he vented on
him all his accumulated wrath against the
52

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Princess Kubenskoy, and overwhelmed him with
insulting epithets. At first, Ivan Petrovitch held
his peace, and stood firm, but when his father took
it into his head to threaten him with a disgrace
ful chastisement, he lost patience. " The fa
natic Diderot has come on the stage again," he
thought, — •" so just wait, I'll put him in action;
I '11 astonish you all."
Thereupon, in a quiet voice, although trem
bling in every limb, Ivan Petrovitch announced
to his father, that there was no necessity for up
braiding him with immorality, that, although he
did not intend to justify his fault, yet he was
ready to rectify it, and that the more willingly be
cause he felt himself superior to all prejudices
— in short, he was ready to marry Malanya. By
uttering these words, Ivan Petrovitch did, un
doubtedly, attain his object: he astounded Piotr
Andreitch to such a degree, that the latter stared
with all his eyes, and was rendered dumb for a
moment; but he immediately recovered himself,
and just as he was, clad in a short coat lined with
squirrel-skin, and with slippers on his bare feet,
he flung himself with clenched fists upon Ivan
Petrovitch, who that day, as though expressly,
had his hair dressed a la Titus, and had donned a
new blue English dress-coat, boots with tassels,
and dandified chamois trousers, skin-tight. Anna
Pavlovna shrieked at the top of her voice, and
covered her face with her hands, but her son ran
53

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
through the whole house, sprang out into the
yard, rushed into the vegetable garden, across the
garden, flew out upon the highway, and kept run
ning, without looking behind him, until, at last,
he ceased to hear behind him the heavy tramp of
his father's footsteps, and his violent, broken
shouts. ..." Stop, rascal! " he roared, — " stop!
I '11 curse thee!"
Ivan Petrovitch hid himself in the house of a
neighbouring peasant proprietor, while Piotr An
dreitch returned home utterly exhausted and
perspiring, and announcing almost before he had
recovered his breath, that he would deprive his
son of his blessing and his heritage, ordered all
his idiotic books to be burned, and the maid Ma
lanya to be sent forthwith to a distant village.
Kind people turned up, who sought out Ivan Pe
trovitch and informed him of all. Mortified, en
raged, he vowed that he would take revenge on
his father ; and that very night, lying in wait for
the peasant cart in which Malanya was being car-
| ried off, he rescued her by force, galloped off with
her to the nearest town, and married her. He was
supplied with money by a neighbour, an eternally
intoxicated and extremely good-natured retired
naval officer, a passionate lover of every sort of
noble adventure, as he expressed it. On the fol
lowing day, Ivan Petrovitch wrote a caustically-
cold and courteous letter to Piotr Andreitch, and
betook himself to an estate where dwelt his sec-
54

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
ond cousin, Dmitry Pestoff, and his sister, Marfa
Timofeevna, already known to the reader. He
told them everything, announced that he intended
to go to Petersburg to seek a place, and requested
them to give shelter to his wife, for a time at
least. At the word " wife " he fell to weeping
bitterly, and, despite his city breeding and his
philosophy, he prostrated himself humbly, after
the fashion of a Russian beggar, before the feet
of his relatives, and even beat his brow against
the floor. The Pestoff s, kind and compassionate
people, gladly acceded to his request; he spent
three weeks with them, in secret expectation of a
reply from his father; but no reply came, — and
none could come. Piotr Andreitch, on learning
of his son's marriage, had taken to his bed, and
had forbidden the name of Ivan Petrovitch to
be mentioned in his presence; but his mother,
without the knowledge of her husband, borrowed
five hundred rubles from the ecclesiastical super
visor of the diocese, and sent them to him, to
gether with a small holy picture for his wife ;* she
was afraid to write, but she gave orders that Ivan
Petrovitch was to be told, by the lean peasant her
envoy, who managed to walk sixty versts in
the course of twenty-four hours, that he must not
grieve too much, that, God willing, everything
would come right, and his father would convert
wrath into mercy; that she, also, would have pre-
'That is to say, she sent her maternal blessing. — Translator.
55

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
ferred a different daughter-in-law, but that, evi
dently, God had so willed it, and she sent her ma
ternal blessing to Malanya Sergyeevna. The
lean little peasant received a ruble, requested per
mission to see his new mistress, to whom he was
related as co-sponsor at a baptism, kissed her
hand, and hastened off homeward.
And Ivan Petrovitch set off for Petersburg
with a light heart. The unknown future awaited
him; poverty, perhaps, menaced him, but he had
bidden farewell to the life in the country which
he detested, and, most important of all, he had not
betrayed his teachers, he really had " put in ac
tion " and justified in fact Rousseau, Diderot,
and la declaration des droits de I'homme. . A
sense of duty accomplished, of triumph, of pride,
filled his soul; and his separation from his wife
did not greatly alarm him ; the necessity of living
uninterruptedly with his wife would have per
turbed him more. That affair was ended; he
must take up other affairs. In Petersburg, con
trary to his own expectation, fortune smiled on
him: Princess Kubenskoy — whom Monsieur
Courtin had already succeeded in abandoning,
but who had not yet succeeded in dying, — by way,
in some measure, of repairing the injury which
she had done to her nephew, recommended him to
the good graces of all her friends, and gave him
five thousand rubles, — almost her last farthing, —
and a Lepikovsky watch with his coat of arms
56

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
in a garland of cupids. Three months had not
elapsed, when he had already obtained a place in
the Russian mission to London, and he went to
sea on the first English ship which sailed (there
was no thought of steamers in those days). A
few months later, he received a letter from Pes
toff. The kind-hearted squire congratulated
Ivan Petrovitch on the birth of a son, who had
made his appearance in the world, in the village
of Pokrovskoe, on August 20, 1807, and was
named Feodor, in honour of the holy martyr,
Feodor the Strategist. Owing to her extreme
weakness, Malanya Sergyeevna added only a few
lines ; but those few lines astonished Ivan Petro
vitch: he was not aware that Marfa Timofeevna
had taught his wife to read and write. However,
Ivan Petrovitch did not give himself up for long
to the sweet agitation of paternal emotions: he
was paying court to one of the most famous
Phrynes or Lai'ses of the period (classical appel
lations were still flourishing at that epoch) ; the
peace of Tilsit had just been concluded, and
everybody was making haste to enjoyment, every
thing was whirling round in a sort of mad whirl
wind. He had very little money; but he played
luckily at cards, he picked up acquaintances, he
took part in all the merrymakings, — in a word,
he was dashing along under full sail.

57

IX
It was long before old Lavretzky could forgive
his son for his marriage; if, after the lapse of
half a year, Ivan Petrovitch had presented him
self in contrition, and had flung himself at his
feet, he would, probably, have pardoned him, af
ter first scolding him roundly, and administering
a few taps with his crutch, by way of inspiring
awe ; but Ivan Petrovitch was living abroad, and,
evidently, cared not a rap. — " Hold your tongue!
Don't dare ! " Piotr Andreitch kept repeating to
his wife, as soon as she tried to incline him to
mercy : " He ought to pray to God for me for
ever, the pup, for not having laid my curse upon
him ; my late father would have slain him with his
own hands, the good-for-nothing, and he would
have done right." At such terrible speeches, Anna
Pavlovna merely crossed herself furtively. As
for Ivan Petrovitch's wife, Piotr Andreitch, at
first, would not allow her to be mentioned, and
even in reply to a letter of Pestoff, wherein the
latter alluded to his daughter-in-law, he gave or
ders to say to him, that he knew nothing whatever
about any daughter-in-law of his, and that it was
prohibited by the laws to harbour runaway maids,
58

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
on which point he regarded it as his duty to warn
him; but later on, when he learned of the birth
of a grandson, he softened, gave orders that in
quiries should be made on the sly concerning the
health of the young mother, and sent her, also as
though it did not come from him, a little money.
Fedya had not reached his first birthday, when
Anna Pavlovna was seized with a fatal illness. A
few days before her end, when she could no longer
leave her bed, she declared to her husband, in the
presence of the priest, that she wished to see and
bid farewell to her daughter-in-law, and to bestow
her blessing on her grandchild. The afflicted old
man soothed her, and immediately sent his own
equipage for his daughter-in-law, for the first
time calling her Malanya Sergyeevna.1 She came
with her son and with Marfa Timofeeyna, who
would not let her go alone on any terms, and
would not have allowed her to be affronted. Half
dead with terror, Malanya entered Piotr Andre-
itch's study. The nurse carried Fedya after her.
Piotr Andreitch gazed at her in silence; she ap
proached to kiss his hand; her quivering lips
hardly met in a noiseless kiss.
" Well, new-ground, undried noblewoman," —
he said at last : — " how do you do ; let us go to the
mistress." He rose and bent over Fedya; the baby smiled,
1 Serfs were not addressed with their patronymic by their
superiors. — Translator.
59

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
and stretched out his little, white arms. The old
man was completely upset.
" Okh," he said,—" thou orphan! Thou hast
plead thy father's cause with me ; I will not aban
don thee, my birdling ! "
As soon as Malanya Sergyeevna entered the
bedchamber of Anna Pavlovna, she knelt down
near the door. Anna Pavlovna beckoned her to
the bed, embraced her, blessed her son ; then, turn
ing her countenance, ravaged by disease, to her
husband, she tried to speak. . .
" I know, I know what entreaty thou desirest
to make," — said Piotr Andreitch : — " do not
worry: she shall stay with us, and I will pardon
Vanka for her sake."
Anna Pavlovna, with an effort, grasped her
husband's hand, and pressed it to her lips. On
that same evening she died.
Piotr Andreitch kept his word. He informed
his son, that, for the sake of his mother's dying
hour, for the sake of baby Feodor, he restored to
him his blessing, and would keep Malanya Ser
gyeevna in his own house. Two rooms were set
apart for her use in the entresol, he introduced
her to his most respected visitor, one-eyed Briga
dier Skuryokhin, and to his wife; he presented
her with two maids and a page-boy for errands.
Marfa Timofeevna bade her farewell; she de
tested Glafira, and quarrelled with her thrice in
the course of one day. 60

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
At first the poor woman found her situation
painful and awkward ; but afterward, she learned
to bear things patiently, and became accustomed
to her father-in-law. He, also, became accus
tomed to her, he even grew to love her, although
he almost never spoke to her, although in his ca
resses a certain involuntary disdain toward her
was perceptible. Malanya Sergyeevna had most
of all to endure from her sister-in-law. Gla
fira, already during her mother's lifetime, had
succeeded in getting gradually the entire house
into her hands : every one, beginning with her fa
ther, was subject to her; not a lump of sugar was
given out without her permission ; she would have
consented to die, rather than to share the power
with any other mistress of the house! Her bro
ther's marriage had angered her even more than
it had Piotr Andreitch : she took it upon herself
to teach the upstart a lesson, and from the very
first hour Malanya Sergyeevna became her slave.
And how could she contend with the self-
willed, arrogant Glafira, she who was mild, con
stantly agitated, and terrified, and also weak in
health? Not a day passed, that Glafira did not re
mind her of her former position, did not praise
her for not forgetting her place. Malanya Ser
gyeevna would gladly have reconciled herself to
these reminders and praises, however bitter they
might be ... . but they took Fedya away from
her: that was what broke her heart. Under the
61

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
pretext that she was not competent to take charge
of his education, she was hardly permitted to see
him; Glafira took this matter upon herself; the
child passed under her full control. Malanya
Sergyeevna began, out of grief, to entreat Ivan
Petrovitch, in her letters, to come home as speed
ily as possible ; Piotr Andreitch himself wished to
see his son ; but he merely wrote in reply, thanking
his father about his wife, and for the money sent,
and promising to come soon, — and did not come.
The year '12 recalled him, at last, to his father
land from abroad.
On meeting again, for the first time, after their
six years' separation, the father and son ex
changed embraces, and did not allude, by so much
as a word, to their former dissensions; they were
not in the mood for it then : all Russia had risen
against the enemy, and both of them felt that
Russian blood was flowing in their veins. Piotr
Andreitch, at his own expense, clothed an entire
regiment of soldiers. But the war came to an
end, the danger passed; again Ivan Petrovitch
began to feel bored, again he longed for far-away
places, for the world to which he had grown fast,
and where he felt himself at home. Malanya Ser
gyeevna could not hold him back ; she counted for
too little with him. Even her hopes had not been
realised : her husband, also, deemed it much more
fitting that Fedya's education should be entrusted
to Glafira. Ivan Petrovitch's poor wife could
62

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
not withstand this blow, could not endure this sec
ond parting: without a murmur, in a few days
she expired. During the whole course of her life,
she had never been able to offer resistance, and
she did not combat her malady. She could no
longer speak, the shadows of the tomb had al
ready descended upon her face, but her features,
as of old, expressed patient perplexity, and the
steadfast gentleness of submission ; with the same
dumb humility she gazed at Glafira, and, like
Anna Pavlovna on her deathbed, she kissed the
hand of Piotr Andreitch, and pressed her lips to
Glafira's hand also, entrusting to her, Glafira,
her only son. Thus ended its earthly career a
kind and gentle being, torn, God alone knows
why, from its native soil and immediately flung
aside, like an uprooted sapling, with its roots
to the sun; it faded away, it vanished, without a
trace, that being, and no one mentioned it. Those
who grieved for Malanya Sergyeevna were her
maid and Piotr Andreitch. The old man missed
her silent presence. " Forgive — farewell, my pa
tient one! " he whispered, as he made her the part
ing reverence in church. He wept as he threw
a handful of earth into the grave.
He did not long survive her — not more than
five years. In the winter of 1819, he died peace
fully in Moscow, whither he had removed with
Glafira and his grandson, and left orders in his
will, that he should be buried by the side of Anna
63

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Pavlovna and " Malasha." Ivan Petrovitch was
in Paris at the time, for his pleasure; he had re
signed from the service soon after 1815. On
hearing of his father's death, he decided to return
to Russia. It was necessary to consider the or
ganisation of the estate . . . and Fedya, ac
cording to Glafira's letter, had reached the age
of twelve years, and the time had arrived for oc
cupying himself seriously with the boy's educa
tion.

&4

X
Ivan Petrovitch returned to Russia an Anglo-
maniac. His closely-clipped hair, starched neck
cloth, long-skirted, yellowish-gray overcoat with
a multitude of capes, his sour expression of vis
age, a certain harshness and also indifference of
demeanour, his manner of talking through his
teeth, a wooden, abrupt laugh, the absence of
smiles, a conversation exclusively political and
politico-economical, a passion for bloody roast
beef and port wine, — everything about him fairly
reeked of Great Britain; he seemed thoroughly
imbued with her spirit. But — strange to say!
while he had turned into an Anglomaniac, Ivan
Petrovitch had simultaneously become a patriot;
at all events, he called himself a patriot, although
he was but badly acquainted with Russia, was not
wedded to a single Russian habit, and expressed
himself queerly in Russian: in ordinary conver
sation, his speech was clumsy and pithless, studded
all over with Gallicisms ; but no sooner did the dis
cussion touch upon important topics, than Ivan
Petrovitch instantly brought out such expressions
as: " to show new proofs of self -zeal,"1 " that doth
1 That is to say, he used such fundamentally national words as oc
cur only in the Old Church Slavonic, well-nigh untranslatable here,
also employed upon occasions of ceremony . — Translator.
65

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
not agree with the nature of the circumstances,"
and so forth. Ivan Petrovitch brought with him
several manuscript plans touching the organisa
tion and amelioration of the empire; he was ex
tremely dissatisfied with everything he saw, — the
absence of system, in particular, stirred up his
bile. On meeting his sister, he announced to her,
with his very first words, that he intended to in
troduce radical reforms, that henceforth every
thing on his estate should proceed upon a new
system. Glafira Petrovna made no reply to Ivan
Petrovitch, but merely set her teeth, and said to
herself: " And what is to become of me? " — But
when she reached the country estate, in company
with her brother and her nephew, she speedily re
gained her composure. In the house, several
changes actually took place: the female hangers-
on and drones were subjected to instant expul
sion; among their number two old women suf
fered, one who was blind and the other crippled
with paralysis, also a decrepit Major of the
Otchakoff period, who, on account of his truly
astonishing voracity, was fed on nothing but black
bread and lentils. A decree was also issued, that
the former guests were not to be received: they
were superseded by a distant neighbour, a fair-
haired, scrofulous baron, a very well educated
and very stupid man. New furniture from Mos
cow made its appearance; cuspidors, and bells,
and wash-stands were introduced and they began
66

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
to serve the noon breakfast differently; for
eign wines took the place of vodka and home
made liqueurs; new liveries were made for the
servants; the motto, " in recto virtus," was added
to the family coat of arms. . . . But, in reality,
Glafira's power was not diminished: all the dis
bursements and purchases depended on her, as
before; the imported Alsatian valet made an at
tempt to vie with her — and lost his place, in spite
of the fact that his master took his side. So far
as the management, the administration, of the
estates was concerned (Glafira Petrovna entered
into all these matters), despite Ivan Petrovitch's
frequently expressed intention " to infuse new
life into this chaos," everything remained as of
yore, except that, here and there, the quit -rents
were augmented, and the husbandry-service be
came more oppressive, and the peasants were for
bidden to apply directly to Ivan Petrovitch. The
patriot heartily despised his fellow-citizens. Ivan
Petrovitch's system was applied, in its full force,
to Fedya only: his education actually was sub
jected to " radical reform " ; his father had ex
clusive charge of it.

67

XI
Up to the time of Ivan Petrovitch's return from
abroad, Fedya had been, as we have already said,
in the hands of Glafira Petrovna. He was less
than eight years of age when his mother died, he
had not seen her every day, and he had loved her
passionately: the memory of her, of her pale and
gentle face, her melancholy glances and timid
caresses, had forever imprinted itself upon his
heart; but he dimly comprehended her position
in the house; he was conscious that between him
and her there existed a barrier which she dared
not and could not overthrow. He shunned his
father, and Ivan Petrovitch never petted him;
his grandfather occasionally stroked his head, and
permitted him to kiss his hand, but he called him
and considered him a little fool. After the death
of Malanya Sergyeevna, his aunt took him in
hand definitively. Fedya feared her, — feared her
bright, keen eyes, her sharp voice; he dared not
utter a sound in her presence; it sometimes hap
pened that when he had merely fidgeted on his
chair, she would scream out: "Where art thou
going? sit still! " On Sundays, after the Liturgy,
he was permitted to play, — that is to say, he was
68

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
given a thick book, a mysterious book, the work
of a certain Maximovitch-Ambodik, entitled:
" Symbols and Emblems." This book contained
about a thousand in part very puzzling pictures,
with equally puzzling explanations in five lan
guages. Cupid, with a plump, naked body,
played a great part in these pictures. To one of
them, labelled " Saffron and Rainbow," was ap
pended the explanation: "The action of this is
great . . . "; opposite another, which represented
" A Heron flying with a violet blossom in his
mouth," stood the inscription: " All of them are
known unto thee." Cupid and a bear licking its
cub was designated as: " Little by little." Fedya
contemplated these pictures ; he was familiar with
the most minute details of them all ; some of them
— always the same ones — set him to thinking and
excited his imagination; he knew no other diver
sions. When the time came to teach him lan
guages and music, Glafira Petrovna hired, for a
paltry sum, an elderly spinster, a Swede, with
frightened, hare-like eyes, who spoke French and
German indifferently, played the piano after a
fashion, and, in addition, knew how to salt cu
cumbers in first-class style. In the society of this
instructress, of his aunt, and of an old chamber
maid, Vasilievna, Fedya passed four whole years.
He used to sit in the corner with his " Emblems "
— and sit . . . and sit . . . while the low-ceiled
room smelled of geraniums, a solitary tallow
69

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
candle burned dimly, a cricket chirped monoto
nously, as though it were bored, the little clock
ticked hastily on the wall, a mouse stealthily
scratched and gnawed behind the wall-hangings,
and the three old maids, like the Parcse, moved
their knitting-needles silently and swiftly to and
fro, the shadows cast by their hands now flitted,
again quivered strangely in the semi-darkness,
and strange thoughts, also half -dark, swarmed in
the child's head. No one would have called Fedya
an interesting child: he was quite pallid, but fat,
awkwardly built, and clumsy, — " a regular peas
ant," according to Glafira Petrovna's expression ;
the pallor would speedily have disappeared from
his face if he had been permitted to go out of
doors more frequently. He studied tolerably
well, although he frequently idled; he never
wept; on the other hand, at times a fierce obsti
nacy came over him; then no one could do any
thing with him. Fedya loved none of the per-
f sons around him  Woe to the heart which
loves not in its youth !
Thus did Ivan Petrovitch find him, and with
out loss of time he set to work to apply his sys
tem to him. — " I want to make a man of him first
of all, un homme" — he said to Glafira Petrovna :
— " and not only a man, but a Spartan." Ivan
Petrovitch began the execution ofhis intention
by dressing his son in Highland garb: the lad
of twelve began to go about with bare knees,
70

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
and with a cock's feather in his crush-cap; the
Swede was superseded by a young Swiss man,
who had learned gymnastics to perfection ; music,
as an occupation unworthy of a man, was ban
ished forever; the natural sciences, international
law, mathematics, the carpenter's trade after the
advice of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and heraldry,
for the maintenance of knightly sentiments — •
these were the things wherewith the future
" man " was to occupy himself; he was waked at
four o'clock in the morning, was immediately
, drenched with cold water, and made to run around
*¦ a tall pillar, at the end of a rope; he ate once a
day, one dish, rode on horseback, practised firing
a cross-bow; on every convenient opportunity he
exercised his strength of will, after the model of
his parent, and every evening he noted down in
a special book an account of the past day and his
impressions; and Ivan Petrovitch, on his side,
wrote him precepts in French, in which he called
him mon fils, and addressed him as vous. In Rus
sian Fedya called his father " thou," but he dared
not sit down in his presence. The " system " be
wildered the boy, introduced confusion into his
head, squeezed it ; but, on the other hand, the new
mode of life acted beneficially on his health: at
first he caught a fever, but soon recovered, and
became a fine, dashing fellow. His father was
proud of him, and called him, in his strange jar
gon: "A son of nature, my product." When
71

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Fedya reached the age of sixteen, Ivan Petro
vitch regarded it as his duty to instil into him be
times scorn for the fair sex, — and the youthful
Spartan, with timidity in his soul, with the first
down upon his lips, full of vigour, strength, and
blood, attempted to appear indifferent, cold, and
harsh. Meanwhile, time passed and passed. Ivan Pe
trovitch spent the greater part of the year at
Lavriki (that was the name of his paternal es
tate), and in the winters he went alone to Mos
cow, stopped at an inn, diligently frequented the
club, orated and set forth his plans in drawing-
rooms, and conducted himself more like an An-
glomaniac, a grumbler, and a statesman than
ever. But the year 1825 arrived, and brought
with it much woe.1 Ivan Petrovitch's intimate
friends and acquaintances were subjected to se
vere trials. Ivan Petrovitch made haste to re
treat to his country estate, and locked himself up
in his house. Another year elapsed, and Ivan
Petrovitch suddenly grew feeble, weakened, de
clined, his health deserted him. A free-thinker
— he took to going to church, and to ordering ser
vices of prayer ; a European — he began to steam
himself at the bath, to dine at two o'clock, to go to
bed at nine, to fall asleep to the chatter of the
aged butler; a statesman — he burned all his plans,
all his correspondence, trembled before the gov-
' At the accession to the throne of Nicholas I.— Translator.
72

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
ernor, and fidgeted in the presence of the rural
chief of police; a man with a will of iron — he
whimpered and complained when an abscess
broke out on him, when he was served with a plate
of cold soup. Glafira Petrovna again reigned
over everything in the house ; again clerks, village
bailiffs, common peasants, began to creep through
the back entrance to the " ill-tempered old hag,"
— that was what the house-servants called her.
The change in Ivan Petrovitch gave his son a
great shock ; he was already in his nineteenth year,
and had begun to reason and to free himself
from the weight of the hand which oppressed
him. He had noticed, even before this, a dis
crepancy between his father's words and deeds,
between his broad and liberal theories and his
harsh, petty despotism ; but he had not anticipated
such a sudden break. The inveterate egoist sud
denly revealed himself at full length. Young
Lavretzky was getting ready to go to Moscow,
to prepare himself for the university , — when an
unforeseen, fresh calamity descended upon the
head of Ivan Petrovitch: he became blind, and
that hopelessly, in one day.
Not trusting in the skill of Russian physicians,
he began to take measures to obtain permission
to go abroad. It was refused. Then he took his
son with him, and for three whole years he
roamed over Russia, from one doctor to another,
incessantly journeying from town to town and
73

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
driving the physicians, his son, his servants, to
despair by his pusillanimity and impatience. He
returned to Lavriki a perfect rag, a tearful and
capricious child. Bitter days ensued, every one
endured much at his hands. Ivan Petrovitch
calmed down only while he was eating his dinner ;
he had never eaten so greedily, nor so much; all
the rest of the time he never gave himself or
others any peace. He prayed, grumbled at fate,
railed at himself, reviled politics, his system, — re
viled everything which he had made his boast and
upon which he had prided himself, everything
which he had held up as an example for his son;
he insisted that he believed in nothing, and then
prayed again; he could not bear to be left alone
for a single moment, and demanded from the
members of his household, that they should sit
uninterruptedly, day and night, beside his arm
chair, and amuse him with stories, which he in
cessantly interrupted with the exclamation: "You
are inventing the whole of it — what trash! "
Glafira Petrovna had a particularly hard time ;
he positively could not get along without her —
and to the end she complied with all the invalid's
whims, although sometimes she could not make
up her mind on the instant to answer him, lest
the sound of her voice should betray her inward
wrath. In this manner he lingered on two years,
and died in the beginning of May, when he had
been carried out upon the balcony, in the sunshine.
74

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Glashka, Glashka! the bouillon, the bouillon,
you old foo  " lisped his stiffening tongue,
and without finishing the last word, it became si
lent forever. Glafira Petrovna, who had just
snatched the cup of bouillon from the hands of
the butler, stopped short, stared her brother in
the face, crossed herself slowly and broadly, and
withdrew in silence ; and his son, who was present,
said nothing, either, but leaned against the railing
of the balcony, and gazed for a long time into the
garden, all fragrant and verdant, all glittering
in the rays of the golden sun of spring. He was
twenty -three years old; how terribly, how im
perceptibly fast those three and twenty years had
sped past!  Life was opening before him.

75

XII
After having buried his father, and entrusted to
the immutable Glafira Petrovna the management
of the farming and the oversight over the clerks,
young Lavretzky betook himself to Moscow,
whither he was drawn by an obscure but powerful
sentiment. He recognised the defects of his edu
cation, and intended to repair omissions, so far
as possible. During the last five years, he had
read a great deal, and had seen some things ; many
thoughts had been seething in his brain ; any pro
fessor might have envied him some of his know
ledge, but, at the same time, he did not know
much with which every gymnasium lad has long
been familiar. The Anglomaniac had played his
son an evil trick; his whimsical education had
borne its fruits. For long years, he had abased
himself before his father without a question; but
when, at last, he had divined him, the deed was
done, the habits had become rooted. He did not
know how to make acquaintance with people : at
twenty-three years of age, with an indomitable
thirst for love in his shame-stricken heart, he did
not dare to look a single woman in the eye. With
his clear, solid but somewhat heavy sense, with
76

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
his inclination to stubbornness, contemplation,
and indolence, he ought, from his earliest years,
to have been cast into the whirlpool of life, but
he had been kept in an artificial isolation. . . .
And now the charmed circle was broken, yet he
continued to stand in one spot, locked up, tightly
compressed in himself. It was ridiculous, at his
age, to don a student's uniform; but he was not
afraid of ridicule : his Spartan training had served
its turn to this extent at least, that it had devel
oped in him scorn for other people's remarks, —
and so, unabashed, he donned the uniform of a
student. He entered the physico-mathematical
department. Healthy, rosy-cheeked, with a well-
grown beard, taciturn, he produced a strange im
pression upon his comrades ; they did not suspect
that in this surly man, who punctually drove to
the lectures in a roomy country sledge and pair,
there was concealed almost a child. He seemed
to them some sort of wise pedant; they did not
need him and did not seek his society, he avoided
them. In the course of the first two years which
he spent at the university, he came into close con
tact with only one student, from whom he took
lessons in Latin. This student, Mikhalevitch by
name, an enthusiast and a poet, sincerely loved
Lavretzky, and quite innocently became the cause
of an important change in his fate.
One day, at the theatre (Motchaloff was then
at the height of his fame, and Lavretzky never
77

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
missed a performance), he saw a young girl in
a box of the bel-etage, — and, although no woman
ever passed his surly figure without causing his
heart to quiver, it never yet had beaten so vio
lently. With her elbows resting on the velvet
of the box, the young girl sat motionless; alert,
young life sparkled in every feature of her pretty,
round, dark-skinned face; an elegant mind was
expressed in the beautiful eyes which gazed at
tentively and softly from beneath slender brows,
in the swift smile of her expressive lips, in the
very attitude of her head, her arms, her neck ; she
was charmingly dressed. Beside her sat a wrin
kled, sallow woman, forty-five years of age, with
a toothless smile on her constrainedly-anxious and
empty countenance, and in the depths of the box
an elderly man was visible, wearing an ample
coat and a tall neckcloth, with an expression of
feeble stateliness and a certain obsequious sus
picion in his little eyes, with dyed moustache and
side-whiskers, an insignificant, huge forehead,
and furrowed cheeks, — a retired General, by all
the signs. Lavretzky could not take his eyes from
the young girl who had startled him ; all at once,
the door of the box opened, and Mikhalevitch en
tered. The appearance of that man, almost his
sole acquaintance in all Moscow, — his appearance
in the company of the only young girl who had
engrossed his whole attention, seemed to La
vretzky strange and significant. As he continued
78

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
to gaze at the box, he noticed that all the persons
in it treated Mikhalevitch like an old friend.
The performance on the stage ceased to interest
Lavretzky; Motchaloff himself, although that
evening he was " in high feather," did not pro
duce upon him the customary impression. In one
very pathetic passage, Lavretzky involuntarily
glanced at his beauty : she was bending her whole
body forward, her cheeks were aflame ; under the
influence of his persistent gaze, her eyes, which
were riveted on the stage, turned slowly, and
rested upon him. . . . All night long, those eyes
flitted before his vision. At last, the artificially
erected dam had given way: he trembled and
burned, and on the following day he betook him
self to Mildialevitch. From him he learned, that
the beauty's name was Varvara Pavlovna Ko-
robyn ; that the old man and woman who had sat
with her in the box were her father and mother,
and that he himself, Mildialevitch, had made
their acquaintance a year previously, during his
stay in the suburbs of Moscow, " on contract ser
vice " (as tutor) with Count N. The enthusiast
expressed himself in the most laudatory manner
concerning Varvara Pavlovna — " My dear fel
low," he exclaimed, with the impetuous harmony
in his voice which was peculiar to him, — " that
young girl is an amazing, a talented being, an
artist in the genuine sense of the word, and ex
tremely amiable to boot." — Perceiving from La-
79

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
vretzky's question what an impression Varvara
Pavlovna had produced upon him, he himself pro
posed to introduce him to her, adding that he
was quite at home in their house ; that the General
was not at all a proud man, and the mother was
so stupid that she all but sucked a rag. Lavret
zky blushed, muttered something unintelligible,
and fled. For five whole days he wrestled with
his timidity; on the sixth day the young Spartan
donned a new uniform, and placed himself at the
disposition of Mildialevitch, who being his own
valet, confined himself to brushing his hair, —
and the two set out for the Korobyns'.

m

XIII
The father of Varvara Pavlovna, Pavel Petro
vitch Korobyn, Major-General on the retired
list, had spent his whole life in Petersburg, in
the service ; had borne the reputation, in his youth,
of being an accomplished dancer and officer of
the line; found himself, owing to poverty, the
adjutant of two or three ill-favoured Generals;
married the daughter of one of them, receiv
ing twenty-five thousand rubles as her dowry ; ac
quired, in its finest details, the love of drills
and reviews ; toiled, and toiled hard, for his liveli
hood, and at last, at the end of twenty years, at
tained to the rank of General, and received a
regiment. It was time for him to rest, and with
out delay to establish his prosperity on a firm ba
sis; this was what he calculated on doing, but he
managed the matter somewhat incautiously: he
hit upon a new method of putting the coin of
the realm into circulation, — the method proved
to be a capital one, but he did not get out in sea
son: a complaint was made against him; a more
than unpleasant, an ugly scandal ensued. The
General managed to wriggle out of the scandal,
after a fashion, but his career was ruined : he was
81

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
advised to resign. He hung about in Petersburg
for a couple of years longer in the hope that
some snug little place would get stranded on him :
but the place did not strand on him, and his
daughter came out of the government school, and
his expenses increased every day. . . . Repress
ing his wrath, he decided to remove to Moscow for
the sake of economy, hired a tiny, low-roofed
house on Old Stable Street, with a coat of arms
a fathom tall on the roof, and began to live the
life of a Moscow General on the retired list,
spending 2750 rubles a year. Moscow is a hos
pitable town, glad to welcome everybody who
comes along, and more particularly, Generals;
Pavel Petrovitch's heavy figure, which yet was
not lacking in military mien, speedily began to
make its appearance in the best drawing-rooms of
Moscow. His bald nape, with tufts of dyed hair,
and the dirty ribbon of the order of St. Anna on
a neckcloth the hue of the raven's wing, began to
be well known to all the easily bored and pallid
young men who morosely hovered around the
gambling-tables while dancing was in progress.
Pavel Petrovitch understood how to place himself
in society; he talked little, but, by force of old
habit, through his nose, — of course, not with indi
viduals belonging to the higher ranks ; he played
cards cautiously, at home he ate sparingly, but
when visiting he ate for six. Concerning his wife,
there is hardly anything to say: her name was
82

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Kalliope Karlovna; a tear oozed from her left
eye, by virtue of which Kalliope Karlovna (she
was, moreover, of German extraction) regarded
herself as a woman of sentiment ; she lived in con
stant fear of something, never seemed to have had
quite enough to eat, and wore tight velvet gowns,
a turban, and dull bracelets of hollow metal.
Varvara Pavlovna, the only daughter of Pavel
Petrovitch and Kalliope Karlovna, had just
passed her seventeenth birthday when she came
out of the * * * Institute, where she had been
considered, if not the greatest beauty, certainly
the cleverest girl and the best musician, and where
she had received the chiffre;1 she was not yet
nineteen when Lavretzky beheld her for the first
time.
1 In the Government Institutes for girls, the chief prize is
the Empress's initial, in jewels.— Translator.

XIV
The legs of the Spartan gave way beneath him
when Mikhalevitch conducted him into the rather
shabbily furnished drawing-room of the Koro-
byns, and presented him to the master and mis
tress of the house. But the feeling of timidity
which had taken possession of him promptly dis
appeared: in the General the kindliness of na
ture innate in all Russians was greatly increased
by that special sort of courtesy which is peculiar
to all besmirched people; the Generaless soon
disappeared, somehow ; as for Varvara Pavlovna,
she was so calm and self-possessedly amiable, that
any one would immediately have felt himself at
home in her presence; moreover, from the whole
of her enchanting person, from her smiling eyes,
from her innocently-sloping shoulders and
faintly-rosy hands, from her light and, at the
same time, rather languid gait, from the very
sound of her voice, which was low and sweet, —
there breathed forth an insinuating charm, as
intangible as a delicate perfume, a soft and as
yet modest intoxication, something which it is
difficult to express in words, but which touched
and excited,— and, of course, excited something
which was not timidity. Lavretzky turned the
84

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
conversation on the theatre, on the performance
of the preceding evening ; she immediately began, 4, .¦'
herself, to speak of Motchaloff , and did not con
fine herself merely to exclamations and sighs, but
uttered several just and femininely -penetrating
remarks concerning his acting. Mikhalevitch
alluded to music; without any affectation she
seated herself at the piano, and played with pre
cision several mazurkas by Chopin, which had
only just come into fashion. The dinner-hour
arrived ; Lavretzky made a motion to depart, but
they kept him ; at table, the General treated him
to good claret, for which the General's lackey had
galloped in a cab to Depre's. Late at night,
Lavretzky returned home, and sat for a long
time, without undressing, his eyes covered with
his hand, in dumb enchantment. It seemed to
him, that only now had he come to understand
why life was worth living ; all his hypotheses, his
intentions, all that nonsense and rubbish, van
ished instantaneously ; his whole soul was merged
in one sentiment, in one desire, in the desire for
happiness, possession, love, the sweet love of
woman. From that day forth, he began to go
often to the Korobyns'. Six months later, he
declared himself to Varvara Pavlovna, and of
fered her his hand. His proposal was accepted;
the General had long since, almost on the eve of
his first visit, inquired of Mikhalevitch how many
serfs he, Lavretzky, had: and Varvara Pavlovna
85

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
also, who, during the whole period of the young
man's courtship and even at the moment of his
declaration, had preserved her habitual tranquil
lity and clearness of soul, — Varvara Pavlovna
also was well aware that her lover was rich;
and Kalliope Karlovna said to herself: " Meine
Tochter macht eine schone Partie " — and bought
herself a new turban.

XV
So his proposal was accepted, but on certain con
ditions. In the first place, Lavretzky must im
mediately leave the university: who marries a
student? and what a dreadful idea,— for a landed
proprietor, rich, and twenty -six years old, to take
lessons like a school-boy! In the second place,
Varvara Pavlovna took upon herself the labour
of ordering and purchasing the trousseau, even
of choosing the bridegroom's gifts. She had a
great deal of practical sense, much taste, much
love for comfort, and a great knack for secur
ing for herself that comfort. This knack partic
ularly astonished Lavretzky when, immediately
after the wedding, he and his wife set out in a
commodious carriage, which she had bought, for
Lavriki. How everything which surrounded him
had been planned, foreseen, provided for by Var
vara Pavlovna! What charming travelling re
quisites, what fascinating toilet-boxes and coffee
pots, made their appearance in divers snug nooks,
and how prettily Varvara Pavlovna herself boiled
the coffee in the mornings! But Lavretzky was
not then in a mood for observation: he was in a
beatific state, he was intoxicating himself with
87

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
happiness; he gave himself up to it like a
child. . . . And he was as innocent as a child,
that young Alcides. Not in vain did witchery
exhale from the whole being of his young wife ;
not in vain did she promise to the senses the secret
luxury of unknown delights; she fulfilled more
than she had promised. On arriving at Lavriki,
in the very hottest part of the summer, she found
the house dirty and dark, the servants ridiculous
and antiquated, but she did not find it necessary
even to hint at this to her husband. If she had
been making preparations to settle down at La
vriki, she would have made over everything about
it, beginning, of course, with the house; but the
idea of remaining in that God-forsaken corner of
the steppes never entered her mind for one mo
ment; she lived in it, as though camping out,
gently enduring all the inconveniences and mak
ing amusing jests over them. Marfa Timofeevna
came to see her nursling ; Varvara Pavlovna took
a great liking for her, but she did not take a
liking for Varvara Pavlovna. Neither did the
new mistress of the house get on well with Glafira
Petrovna; she would have left her in peace, but
old Korobyn wanted to feather his nest from his
son-in-law's affairs; " it was no shame, even for
a General," said he, " to manage the estate of so
near a relative." It must be assumed that Pavel
Petrovitch would not have disdained to busy him
self with the estate of an entire stranger. Var-
88

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
vara Pavlovna conducted her attack in a very art
ful manner: without thrusting herself forward,
and still, to all appearances, wholly absorbed in
the felicity of the honeymoon, in quiet country
life, in music and reading, she little by little drove
Glafira Petrovna to such a state, that one morn
ing the latter rushed like a madwoman into
Lavretzky 's study, and, hurling her bunch of keys
on the table, announced that it was beyond her
power to occupy herself with the housekeeping,
and that she did not wish to remain in the country.
Having been properly prepared in advance, La
vretzky immediately consented to her departure.
— Glafira Petrovna had not expected this. " Very
well," said she, and her eyes grew dark, — " I see
that I am not wanted here ! I know who it is that
is driving me hence — from my native nest. But
do thou remember my words, nephew : thou shalt
never be able to build thyself a nest anywhere,
thou must wander all thy life. That is my legacy
to thee." — That very day she departed to her own
little estate, and a week later General Korobyn
arrived, and with agreeable melancholy in his
gaze and movements, took the management of the
entire estate into his hands.
In September, Varvara Petrovna carried her
husband off to Petersburg. She spent two win
ters in Petersburg (they removed to Tzarskoe
Selo for the summer), in a beautiful, light, ele
gantly furnished apartment; they made many
89

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
acquaintances in middle-class and even in the
higher circles of society, they went out and re
ceived a great deal, and gave most charming mu
sical and dancing parties. Varvara Pavlovna at
tracted guests as a flame attracts moths. Such a
dissipated life did not altogether please Feodor
Ivanitch. His wife advised him to enter the ser
vice; owing to his father's old memories, and his
own conceptions, he would not serve, but to please
his wife he remained in Petersburg. But he
speedily divined that no one prevented his iso
lating himself, that it was not for nothing that
he had the quietest and most comfortable study
in all Petersburg, that his solicitous wife was even
ready to help him to isolate himself, — and from
that time forth all went splendidly. Once more
he took up his own education, which, in his opin
ion, was unfinished, once more he began to read,
he even began to study the English language. It
was strange to see his mighty, broad-shouldered
figure, eternally bent over his writing-table, his
full, hairy, ruddy face half concealed by the pages
of a dictionary or an exercise-book. Every morn
ing he spent in work, dined capitally (Varvara
Pavlovna was an excellent housewife) , and in the
evening he entered an enchanting, fragrant, bril
liant world, all populated with young, merry
faces, — and the central point of that world was
also the zealous hostess, his wife. She gladdened
him with the birth of a son, but the poor boy did
90

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
not live long: he died in the spring, and in the
summer, by the advice of the physicians, La
vretzky took his wife abroad, to the baths. Di
version was indispensable to her, after such a
bereavement, and her health required a warm
climate. They spent the summer and autumn in
Germany and Switzerland, and in the winter, as
might have been expected, they went to Paris.
In Paris Varvara Pavlovna blossomed out like a
rose, and managed to build a little nest for her
self as promptly and as adroitly as in Petersburg.
She found an extremely pretty apartment, in one
of the quiet but fashionable Paris streets; she
made her husband such a dressing-gown as he had
never owned before; she hired a trim maid, a
capital cook, a smart footman; she got an en
chanting carriage, a charming little piano. A
week had not passed before she crossed a street,
wore her shawl, opened her parasol, and put on
her gloves in a style equal to that of the purest-
blooded Parisienne. And she soon provided her
self with acquaintances. At first, only Russians
went to her house, then Frenchmen began to
make their appearance, very amiable, courteous,
unmarried, with beautiful manners and euphoni
ous family names ; they all talked fast and much,
bowed with easy grace, and screwed up their eyes
in a pleasing way; all of them had white teeth
which gleamed beneath rosy lips, — and how they
did understand the art of smiling ! Every one of
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
them brought his friends, and " la belle Madame
de Lavretzki " soon became known from the
Chaussee d'Antin to the Rue de Lille. In those
days (this took place in 1836), that tribe of
f euilleton and chronicle writers, which now swarm
everywhere, like ants in an ant-hill which has
been cut open, had not multiplied ; but even then,
a certain M — r Jules presented himself in Var
vara Pavlovna's salon, a gentleman of insignifi
cant appearance, with a scandalous reputation,
insolent and base, like all duellists and beaten
men. This M — r Jules was extremely repulsive
to Varvara Pavlovna, but she received him be
cause he scribbled for various journals, and inces
santly alluded to her, calling her now " Mme. de
L * * * tzki," now " Mme. de* * * cette grande
dame Eusse si distinguee, qui demeure rue de P.";
narrating to all the world, that is to say, to a few
hundred subscribers, who cared nothing whatever
about " Mme. de L * * * tzki," how that pretty
and charming lady was a real Frenchwoman in
mind (une vraie f rancaise par I'esprit), — there is
no higher encomium for the French, — what a re
markable musician she was, and how wonderfully
she waltzed (Varvara Pavlovna, in reality, did
waltz in such a manner as to draw all hearts after
the hem of her light, fluttering gown) ... in a
word, he spread her fame throughout the world,
— and assuredly that is agreeable, say what you
will. Mile. Mars had already left the stage, and
.92

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Mile. Rachel had not yet made her appearance;
nevertheless, Varvara Pavlovna diligently fre
quented the theatres. She went into ecstasies
over Italian music, and laughed at the ruins of
Odra, yawned decorously at the Comedie Fran
chise, and wept at the acting of Mme. Dorval in
some ultra-romantic melodrama or other; but,
chief of all, Liszt played a couple of times at her
house, and was so nice, so simple — it was de
lightful! In such pleasant sensations passed a
winter, at the end of which Varvara Pavlovna
was even presented at Court. Feodor Ivanitch,
on his side, was not bored, although life, at times,
weighed heavily on his shoulders, — heavily, be
cause it was empty. He read the newspapers, he
listened to lectures at the Sorbonne and the Col
lege de France, he kept track of the debates in
parliament, he undertook the translation of a
well-known scientific work on irrigation. " I am
not wasting time," — he said to himself, — " all
this is useful; but next winter I must, without
fail, return to Russia and set to work." It is dif
ficult to say, whether he was clearly conscious
in what that work consisted, and God knows
whether he would have succeeded in returning to
Russia for the winter, — in the meantime, he went
with his wife to Baden-Baden. . . An unex
pected event destroyed all his plans.

93

XVI
One day, on entering Varvara Pavlovna's bou
doir in her absence, Lavretzky beheld on the floor
a tiny, carefully-folded scrap of paper. He
mechanically picked it up, mechanically unfolded
it, and read the following, written in French:
"Dear angel Betsy! (I cannot possibly bring myself
to call thee Barbe or Varvara). I waited in vain for
thee at the corner of the Boulevard; come to-morrow,
at half-past one, to our little apartment. Thy good
fatty (ton gros bonhomme de mari) generally buries
himself in his books at that hour; again we will sing
the song of your poet Puskin (de votre poete Pous-
hine) which thou hast taught me : ' Old husband, men
acing husband ! ' — A thousand kisses on thy hands and
feet! I await thee." " Ernest."
Lavretzky did not, on the instant, understand
what sort of thing it was he had read; he perused
it a second time — and his head reeled, the floor
swayed beneath his feet, like the deck of a steamer
when it is pitching — he cried out, and sobbed and
wept simultaneously.
He lost his senses. He had so blindly trusted
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
his wife, that the possibility of deception, of
treachery; had never presented itself to his mind.
That Ernest, that lover of his wife's was a fair-
haired, good-looking boy of three and twenty,
with a small snub nose and thin moustache, almost
the most insignificant of all her admirers. Sev
eral minutes passed, half an hour passed ; Lavret
zky still stood, crushing the fatal missive in his
hand and staring senselessly at the floor; through
a sort of dark whirlwind, visions of pale faces
flitted before him; his heart sank within him, in
anguish; it seemed to him that he was falling,
falling, falling . . . and that there was no end
to it. The light, familiar rustle of a silken robe
aroused him from his state of stupefaction; Var
vara Pavlovna, in bonnet and shawl, had hastily
returned from her stroll. Lavretzky trembled all
over, and rushed out of the room ; he felt that at
that moment he was capable of tearing her to
pieces, of beating her until she was half dead, in
peasant fashion, of strangling her with his hands.
The astonished Varvara Pavlovna tried to stop
him; he could only whisper: " Betsy " — and fled
from the house.
Lavretzky took a carriage, and ordered the
man to drive him out of town. The entire re
mainder of the day, and the whole night long until
the morning, he roamed about, incessantly halt
ing and wringing his hands : now he raged, again
it seemed rather ridiculous to him, even rather
95

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
amusing. In the morning he was chilled through,
and entered a wretched suburban inn, asked for
a room, and seated himself on a chair by the win
dow. A convulsive yawning seized hold upon
him. He could hardly stand on his feet, his body
was exhausted, — but he was conscious of no
fatigue, — yet fatigue claimed its rights: he sat
and stared, and understood nothing; he did not
understand what had happened to him, why he
found himself alone, with benumbed limbs, with
a bitterness in his mouth, with a stone on his
breast, in a bare, strange room ; he did not under
stand what had made her, Varya, give herself to
that Frenchman, and how she had been able,
knowing herself to be unfaithful, to be as calm,
amiable, and confiding toward him as before ! " I
understand nothing! " whispered his parched hps.
' Who will guarantee me now, that in Peters
burg . . . ." And he did not finish the question,
and yawned again, quivering and writhing all
over. The bright and the dark memories tor
mented him equally ; it suddenly occurred to him,
that a few days previously, in his presence and in
that of Ernest, she had seated herself at the piano
and had sung: "Old husband, menacing hus
band!" He recalled the expression of her face,
the strange glitter of her eyes, and the flush on
her cheeks, — and he rose from his chair; he
wanted to go and to say to them: " You have
made a mistake in trifling with me; my great-
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
grandfather used to hang the peasants up by the
ribs, and my grandfather himself was a peasant "
— and kill them both. Then, all of a sudden, it
seemed to him, that everything which was taking
place with him was a dream, and not even a dream,
but merely some nonsense or other: that all he
had to do was to shake himself, to look about
him. . . . He did look about him, and as the
hawk buries his claws in the bird he has captured,
anguish pierced more and more deeply into his
heart. To crown all, Lavretzky was hoping at
the end of a few months to become a father. . .
The past, the future, his whole life was poisoned.
He returned, at last, to Paris, put up at a hotel,
and sent Varvara Pavlovna the note of M — r
Ernest, with the following letter:
" The accompanying document will explain everything
to you. I will say to you, by the way, that I did not
recognise you : you, always such a precise person, to
drop such an important paper ! " (This phrase poor La
vretzky had prepared and cherished for the space of sev
eral hours. ) "I can see you no more ; I assume that you,
also, cannot wish to meet me. I have assigned fifteen
thousand francs a year to you ; I cannot give more.
Send your address to the office of the estate. Do what
you will, live where you please. I wish you happiness.
No answer is necessary."
Lavretzky wrote to his wife, that no answer
was necessary . . . but he waited, he thirsted for
07

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
an answer, an explanation of this incomprehensi
ble, this incredible affair. Varvara Pavlovna,
that very day, sent him a long letter in French.
It made an end of him; his last doubts vanished,
— and he felt ashamed that he had still cherished
doubts. Varvara Pavlovna did not defend her
self: she merely wished to see him, she entreated
him not to condemn her irrevocably. The letter
was cold and constrained, although the traces of
tears were visible here and there. Lavretzky ut
tered a bitter laugh, and bade the messenger say
that it was all very good. Three days later, he
had quitted Paris : but he went, not to Russia, but
to Italy. He himself did not know why he had
chosen Italy, in particular; in reality, it made no
difference to him whither he went, — provided it
were not home. He sent instructions to his peas
ant-steward in regard to his wife's pension, or
dered him, at the same time, to take all matters
pertaining to the estate instantly out of the hands
of General Korobyn, without awaiting the sur
render of the accounts, and to make arrangements
for the departure of His Excellency from La
vriki ; he formed a vivid picture to himself, of the
consternation, the fruitless haughtiness of the
ejected General, and, with all his grief, he felt a
certain malicious satisfaction. Then he invited
Glafira Petrovna, in a letter also, to return to
Lavriki, and sent her a power of attorney.
Glafira Petrovna did not return to Lavriki,
98

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
and herself published in the newspapers that
she had destroyed the power of attorney, which
was quite superfluous. Hiding himself in a small
Italian town, it was a long time still before La
vretzky could force himself not to watch his
wife. He learned from the newspapers, that she
had quitted Paris, as it was supposed, for Baden-
Baden : her name soon made its appearance in an
article written by that same M'sieu Jules. In
this article, a sort of friendly condolence pierced
through the customary playfulness; Feodor
Ivanitch's soul was in a very ugly state when he
read that article. Later on, he learned that a
daughter had been born to him; at the end of a
couple of months, he was informed by his peasant-
steward, that Varvara Pavlovna had demanded
the first third of her allowance. Then more and
more evil reports began to arrive ; at last, a tragi
comic tale made the rounds — creating a sensa
tion — of the newspapers, wherein his wife played
an unenviable part. All was at an end : Varvara
Pavlovna had become " a celebrity."
Lavretzky ceased to follow her career; but he
was not able speedily to conquer himself. At
times, he was seized with such a longing for his
j wife, that it seemed to him, he would give every
thing — he would even, if necessary . . . forgive
her — if only he might again hear her caressing
voice, again feel her hand in his hand. But time
went on, and not in vain. He was not born to
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
be a martyr ;(his healthy nature asserted its rights*
Much became clear to him; the very blow which
had assailed him, no longer seemed to him un
foreseen; he understood his wife, — one under
stands a person who is near to one, when parted
from him. Again he was able to occupy himself,
to work, although with far less zeal than of-yere :
scepticism, for which the way had been prepared
by the experiences of life, by his education, defin
itively took possession of his soul. He became
extremely indifferent to everything. Four years
elapsed, and he felt himself strong enough to re
turn to his native land, to meet his own people.
Without halting either in Petersburg or Moscow,
he arrived in the town of O * * * where we took
leave of him, and whither we now beg the indul
gent reader to return with us.

300

XVII
On the morning following the day which we
have described, at nine o'clock, Lavretzky as
cended the porch of the Kalitin house. Liza
emerged to meet him, in hat and gloves.
" Where are you going? " he asked her.
" To church. To-day is Sunday."
" And do you really care to go to the Liturgy?"
Liza said nothing, but gazed at him in amaze
ment. " Pardon me, please," — said Lavretzky, —
" I ... I did not mean to say that. I came to
say good-bye to you: I am going to my country
place an hour hence."
"It is not far from here, is it? " — inquired
Liza. " Twenty-five versts."
Lyenotchka made her appearance on the
threshold of the door, accompanied by a maid.
" See that you do not forget us," — said Liza,
and descended the steps.
" And do not you forget me. And see here," —
he added, — " you are going to church : pray for
me also, by the way."
Liza paused and turned toward him.
" Certainly," — she said, looking him straight in
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
the face: — " I will pray for you. Come along,
Lyenotchka." Lavretzky found Marya Dmitrievna alone in
the dr,awing-room. An odour of eau de cologne
and mint emanated from her. She had a head
ache, according to her own account, and she had
passed a restless night. She welcomed him with
her customary languid amiability, and gradually
got to talking.
" What an agreeable young man Vladimir
Nikolaitch is," she inquired: — " is he not? "
" What Vladimir Nikolaitch? "
" Why, Panshin, you know, — the one who was
here yesterday evening. He took an immense
liking to you ; I will tell you, as a secret, mon cher
cousin, he is simply beside himself over my Liza.
What do you think of that? He comes of a good
family, he discharges his service splendidly, he
is clever, well, and a Junior Gentleman of the
Bedchamber, and if it be God's will .... I, on
my side, as a mother, shall be very glad. It is a
great responsibility, of course: up to the present
time, whether it be for good or evil, you see, I
am always, everywhere, entirely alone: I have
reared my children, I have taught them, I have
done everything .... and now I have ordered
a governess from Mme. Bolius  "
Marya Dmitrievna launched out into a de
scription of her toils, her efforts, and her ma
ternal feelings. Lavretzky listened to her in si-
102

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
lence, and twirled his hat in his hands. His cold,
heavy gaze disconcerted the loquacious lady.
" And how do you like Liza? " — she asked.
" Lizaveta Mikhailovna is an extremely beau
tiful girl," — replied Lavretzky, rose, bowed, and
went to Marfa Timofeevna. Marya Dmitrievna
gazed after him with displeasure, and said to
herself; "What a dolt, what a peasant! Well,
nowT understand why his wife could not remain
faithful to him."
Marfa Timofeevna was sitting in her own
room, surrounded by her suite. It consisted of
five beings, almost equally near to her heart : a f at-
jowled trained bullfinch, which she loved because
he had ceased to whistle and draw water; a tiny,
very timorous and peaceable dog, Roska; an an
gry cat Matros (Sailor) ; a black-visaged nimble
little girl of nine, with huge eyes and a sharp
little nose, who was named Schurotchka; and an
elderly woman, fifty years of age, in a white
cap, and a light brown, bob-tailed jacket over a
dark gown, by name Nastasya Karpovna Ogar-
koff. Schurotchka was of the petty burgher
class, a full orphan. Marfa Timofeevna had
taken charge of her out of pity, as she had of
Roska: she had picked up both the dog and the
girl in the street ; both were thin and hungry, both
were being drenched by the autumnal rain, no
one had hunted up Roska, and Schiirotchka's
uncle, a drunken shoemaker, who had not enough
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
to eat himself, and who did not feed his niece,
though he beat her over the head with his last,
gladly surrendered her to Marfa Timofeevna.
With Nastasya Karpovna, Marfa Timofeevna
had made acquaintance on a pilgrimage, in a
monastery; she herself had gone up to her in
church (Marfa Timofeevna liked her because, to
use her own words, " she prayed tastily "), had
herself begun the conversation, and had invited
her to come to her for a cup of tea. From that
day forth, she had never parted with her. Nasta
sya Karpovna was a woman of the merriest and
gentlest disposition, a childless widow, member
of a poverty-stricken family of the petty no
bility; she had a round, grey head, soft white
hands, a soft face, with large, kindly features, and
a rather ridiculous snub nose; she fairly wor
shipped Marfa Timofeevna, and the latter loved
her greatly, although she jeered at her tender
heart : Nastasya Karpovna felt a weakness for all
young people, and involuntarily blushed like a
girl at the most innocent jest. Her entire capital
consisted of twelve hundred paper rubles; she
lived at the expense of Marfa Timofeevna, but on
equal terms with her: Marfa Timofeevna would
not have tolerated servility.
" Ah, Fedya! " she began, as soon as she caught
sight of him: — " last night, thou didst not see my
family : admire it. We are all assembled for tea ;
this is our second, feast-day tea. Thou mayest
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
pet all : only Schurotchka will not allow thee, and
the cat scratches. Art thou going away to-day? "
'Yes," — Lavretzky seated himself on a nar
row little chair. — " I have already said farewell
to Marya Dmitrievna. I have also seen Lizaveta
Mikhailovna." " Call her Liza, my father, — why should she be
Mikhailovna to thee! And sit still, or thou wilt
break Schurotchka's chair."
" She has gone to church," — pursued La
vretzky. " Is she pious? "
' Yes, Fedya, — very. More than thou and I,
Fedya." " But are not you pious? " — remarked Nasta
sya Karpovna, in a whisper. " And to-day: you
did not get to the early Liturgy, but you will go
to the later one."
" Not a bit of it — thou wilt go alone : I am
lazy, my mother," — retorted Marfa Timofeevna,
— " I am pampering myself greatly with my
tea."— She called Nastasya thou, although she
lived on equal terms with her, — she was not a
Pestoff for nothing: three Pestoff s are recorded
with distinction in the Book of Remembrance of
Ivan Vasilievitch, the Terrible;1 Marfa Timo
feevna knew it.
1 Ivan the Terrible left a long record of his distinguished victims,
for the repose of whose souls he ordered prayers to be said in per
petuity. " Book of Remembrance " contains the names of per
sons who are to be prayed for at the general requiem services, and
so forth. — Translator.
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Tell me, please," — began Lavretzky again: —
" Marya Dmitrievna has just been talking about
that .... what 's his name .... Panshin. What
sort of a person is he? "
"What a chatterbox, the Lord forgive her!"
—grumbled Marfa Timofeevna: — " I suppose
she imparted to you, as a secret, what a fine suitor
has turned up. She might do her whispering with
her priest's son; but no, that is not enough for
her. But there 's nothing in it, as yet, and thank
God for that! but she 's babbling already."
" Why ' thank God ' ? "—asked Lavretzky.
" Why, because the young fellow does not
please me; and what is there to rejoice about? "
" He does not please you? "
" Yes, he cannot fascinate everybody. It 's
enough that Nastasya Karpovna here should be
in love with him."
The poor widow was thoroughly startled.
" What makes you say that, Marfa Timo
feevna? You do not fear God! " — she exclaimed,
and a blush instantly suffused her face and
neck. " And he certainly knows the rogue," — Marfa
Timofeevna interrupted her : — " he knows how to
captivate her : he presented her with a snuff-box.
Fedya, ask her to give thee a pinch of snuff ; thou
wilt see what a splendid snuff-box it is: on the
lid is depicted a hussar on horseback. Thou hadst
better not defend thyself, my mother."
106

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Nastasya Karpovna merely repelled the sug
gestion with a wave of her hands.
" Well," — -inquired Lavretzky, — " and is Liza
not indifferent to him? "
" Apparently, she likes him, — however, the
Lord only knows. Another man's soul, thou
knowest, is a dark forest, much more the soul of
a young girl. Now, there 's Schiirotchka's soul —
try to dissect that ! Why has she been hiding her
self, and yet does not go away, ever since thou
earnest? "
Schurotchka snorted with suppressed laughter
and ran out of the room, and Lavretzky rose from
his seat.
"Yes," — he said slowly: — "a maiden's soul
is not to be divined."
He began to take leave.
" Well? Shall we see thee again soon? " —
asked Marfa Timofeevna.
" That 's as it may happen, aunty; it is not far
off." " Yes, but thou art going to Vasilievskoe.
Thou wilt not live at Lavriki: — well, that is
thy affair; only, go and salute the tomb of thy
mother, and the tomb of thy grandmother too, by
the bye. Thou hast acquired all sorts of learning
yonder abroad, and who knows, perchance they
will feel it in their graves that thou hast come to
them. And don't forget, Fedya, to have a re
quiem service celebrated for Glafira Petrovna
107

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
also ; here 's a silver ruble for thee. Take it, take
it, I want to pay for having a requiem service for
her. During her lifetime I did not like her, but
there 's no denying it, the woman had plenty of
character. She was a clever creature; and she
did not wrong thee, either. And now go, with
God's blessing, or thou wilt grow weary of me."
And Marfa Timofeevna embraced her nephew.
" And Liza shall not marry Panshin, — don't
worry about that ; that 's not the sort of husband
she deserves."
" Why, I am not worrying in the least," rephed
Lavretzky, and withdrew.

108

XVIII
Four hours later, he was driving homeward. His
tarantas rolled swiftly along the soft country
road. There had been a drought for a fortnight ;
a thin milky cloud was diffused through the air,
and veiled the distant forests; it reeked with the
odour of burning. A multitude of small, dark
cloudlets, with indistinctly delineated edges, were
creeping across the pale-blue sky; a fairly strong
wind was whisking along in a dry, uninterrupted
stream, without dispelling the sultriness. Lean
ing his head against a cushion, and folding
his arms on his breast, Lavretzky gazed at the
strips of ploughed land, in fan-shape, which flew
past, at the willow-trees slowly flitting by, at the
stupid crows and daws gazing with dull suspicion
askance at the passing equipage, at the long strips
of turf between the cultivated sections, overgrown
with artemisia, wormwood, and wild tansy; he
gazed .... and that fresh, fertile nakedness
and wildness of the steppe, that verdure, those
long hillocks, the ravines with stubby oak bushes,
the grey hamlets, the flexible birch-trees, — this
whole Russian picture, which he had not seen for
a long time, wafted into his soul sweet and, at
109

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
the same time, painful sensations, weighed on his
breast with a certain agreeable oppression. His
thoughts slowly roved about; their outlines were
as indistinct and confused as the outlines of those
lofty cloudlets, which, also, seemed to be roving.
He recalled his childhood, his mother ; he remem
bered how she died, how they had carried him to
her, and how she, pressing his head to her bosom,
had begun to sing feebly over him, but had cast
a glance at Glafira Petrovna— and had relapsed
into silence. He recalled his father, at first alert,
dissatisfied with every one, and with a brazen
voice, — then blind, tearful, and with a dirty grey
beard; he recalled how, one day, at table, after
drinking an extra glass of wine, and spilling the
sauce over his napkin, he had suddenly burst out
laughing, and had begun, winking his sightless
eyes and flushing crimson, to tell stories of his
conquests; he recalled Varvara Pavlovna,— and
involuntarily screwed up his eyes, as a man does
from momentary inward pain, and shook his
head. Then his thoughts came to a pause on
Liza. " Here," he thought, " is a new being, who
is only just entering upon life. A splendid
young girl, what will become of her? She is
comely. A pale, fresh face, such serious eyes
and lips, and an honest and innocent gaze. It is
a pity that she seems to be somewhat enthusiastic.
A splendid figure, and she walks so lightly, and
110

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
her voice is soft. I greatly like to see her pause
suddenly, listen attentively, without a smile, and
then meditate, and toss back her hair. Really,
it strikes me that Panshin is not worthy of her.
But what is there wrong about him? She will
traverse the road which all traverse. I had better
take a nap." And Lavretzky closed his eyes.
He could not get to sleep, but plunged into the
dreamy stupor of the road. Images of the past,
as before, arose in leisurely fashion, floated
through his soul, mingling and entangling them
selves with other scenes. Lavretzky, God knows
why, began to think about Robert Peel . . .
about French history . . . about how he would
win a battle if he were a general; he thought he
heard shots and shrieks. . . His head sank to one
side, he opened his eyes. . . The same fields, the
same views of the steppe; the polished shoes of
the trace-horse flashed in turn through the billow
ing dust; the shirt of the postilion, yellow, with
red gussets at the armpits, puffed out in the
wind. ..." A pretty way to return to my na
tive land " — flashed through Lavretzky's head ;
and he shouted: " Faster! " wrapped himself up
in his cloak, and leaned back harder against his
pillow. The tarantas gave a jolt: Lavretzky sat
upright, and opened his eyes wide. Before him,
on a hillock, a tiny hamlet lay outspread; a
little to the right, a small, ancient manor-house
was to be seen, with closed shutters and a crooked
111

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
porch; all over the spacious yard, from the very
gates, grew nettles, green and thick as hemp;
there, also, stood a small oaken store-house, still
sound. This was Vasilievskoe.
The postilion turned up to the gate, and
brought the horses to a standstill; Lavretzky's
footman rose on the box, and, as though prepar
ing to spring down, shouted: " Hey! " A hoarse,
dull barking rang out, but not even the dog
showed himself; the lackey again prepared to
leap down, and again shouted: " Hey! " The de
crepit barking was renewed, and, a moment later,
a man ran out into the yard, no one could tell
whence, — a man in a nankeen kaftan, with a head
as white as snow ; shielding his eyes with his hand,
he stared at the tarantas, suddenly slapped him
self on both thighs, at first danced about a little
on one spot, then ran to open the gate. The ta
rantas drove into the yard, the wheels rustling
against the nettles, and halted in front of the
porch. The white-headed man, very nimble, to
all appearances, was already standing, with his
feet planted very wide apart and very crooked,
on the last step; and having unbuttoned the
apron, convulsively held up the leather and aided
the master to descend to the earth, and then kissed
his hand.
" Good-day, good-day, brother," — said La
vretzky, — " I think thy name is Anton? Thou
art still alive? " 112

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
The old man bowed in silence, and ran to fetch
the keys. While he was gone, the postilion sat
motionless, bending sideways and gazing at the
locked door; but Lavretzky's lackey remained
standing as he had sprung down, in a picturesque
pose, with one hand resting on the box. The old
man brought the keys, and quite unnecessarily
writhing like a serpent, raising his elbows on
high, he unlocked the door, stepped aside, and
again bowed to his girdle.
" Here I am at home, here I have got back," —
said Lavretzky to himself, as he entered the tiny
anteroom, while the shutters were opened, one
after the other, with a bang and a squeak, and
the daylight penetrated into the deserted rooms.

113

XIX
The tiny house where Lavretzky had arrived,
and where, two years previously, Glafira Pe
trovna had breathed her last, had been built in
the previous century, out of sturdy pine lumber ;
in appearance it was decrepit, but was capable
of standing another fifty years or more. La
vretzky made the round of all the rooms, and, to
the great discomfiture of the aged, languid flies,
with white dust on their backs, who were sitting
motionless under the lintels of the doors, he or
dered all the windows to be opened; no one had
opened them since the death of Glafira Petrovna.
Everything in the house remained as it had been :
the small, spindle-legged couches in the drawing-
room, covered with glossy grey material, worn
through and flattened down, vividly recalled the
days of Katherine II ; in the drawing-room, also,
stood the mistress's favourite chair, with a tall,
straight back, against which, even in her old age,
she had not leaned. On the principarwall hung
an ancient portrait of Feodor's great-grand
father, Andrei Lavretzky; the dark, sallow face
was barely discernible against the warped and
blackened background; the small, vicious eyes
114

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
gazed surlily from beneath pendent, swollen lids ;
the black hair, devoid of powder, rose in a brush
over the heavy, deeply-seamed brow. On the
corner of the portrait hung a wreath of dusty
immortelles. " Glafira Petrovna herself was
pleased to weave it," announced Anton. In the
bedchamber rose a narrow bed, under a tester
of ancient, striped material, of very excellent
quality; a mountain of faded pillows, and a thin
quilted coverlet, lay on the bed, and by the head
of the bed hung an image of the Presentation
in the Temple of the All-Holy Birthgiver of
God, the very same image to which the old
spinster, as she lay dying alone and forgotten
by every one, had pressed for the last time, her
lips which were already growing cold. The
toilet-table, of inlaid wood with brass trimmings
and a crooked mirror with tarnished gilding,
stood by the window. Alongside the bedroom
was the room for the holy pictures, a tiny cham
ber, with bare walls and a heavy shrine of images
in the corner ; on the floor lay a small, threadbare
rug, spotted with wax; Glafira Petrovna had
been wont to make her prostrations upon it.
Anton went off with Lavretzky's lackey to open
the stable and carriage-house; in his stead, there
presented herself an old woman, almost of the
same age as he, with a kerchief bound round her
head, down to her very brows ; her head trembled,
and her eyes gazed dully, but expressed zeal, and
115

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
a long-established habit of serving with assiduity,
and, at the same time, a certain respectful com
miseration. She kissed Lavretzky's hand, and
<. paused at the door, in anticipation of orders. He
positively was unable to recall her name ; he could
not even remember whether he had ever seen her.
It turned out that her name was Apraxyeya;
forty years before, that same Glafira Petrovna
had banished her from the manor-house service,
and had ordered her to attend to the fowls ; how
ever, she said little, — as though she had outlived
her mind, — and only looked on cringingly. In
addition to these two old people, and three pot
bellied brats in long shirts, Anton's great-grand
children, there dwelt in the service-rooms of the
manor a one-armed little old peasant, who was
exempt from compulsory service; he made a
drumming noise like a woodcock when he spoke,
and was not capable of doing anything. Not
much more useful than he was the decrepit dog,
who had welcomed Lavretzky's home-coming
with his bark : it had already been fastened up for
ten years with a heavy chain, bought by order of
Glafira Petrovna, and was barely in a condition
to move and drag its burden. After inspecting
the house, Lavretzky went out into the park,
and was satisfied with it. It was all overgrown
with tall grass, burdock, and gooseberry and rasp
berry bushes; but there was much shade in it:
there were many old linden-trees, which surprised
116

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
the beholder by their huge size and the strange
arrangement of their branches ; they had been too
closely planted, and at some time or other — a
hundred years before — had been pollarded. The
park ended in a small, clear pond, with a rim
of tall, reddish reeds. The traces of human life
fade away very quickly : Glafira Petrovna's farm
had not succeeded in running wild, but it already
seemed plunged in that tranquil dream where
with everything on earth doth dream, where the
restless infection of people does not exist. Feo
dor Ivanitch also strolled through the village ; the
women stared at him from the thresholds of their
cottages, each with her cheek propped on one
hand ; the peasant men saluted him from afar ; the
children ran away ; the dogs barked indifferently.
At last he felt hungry, but he did not expect his
servants and cook until toward evening; the cart
with provisions from Lavriki had not yet arrived,
— he was compelled to appeal to Anton. Anton
immediately arranged matters: he caught an old
hen, cut its throat, and plucked it; Apraxyeya
rubbed and scrubbed it for a long time, and
washed it, like linen, before she placed it in the
stew-pan ; when, at last, it was cooked, Anton put
on the table-cloth and set the table, placed in
front of the plate a blackened salt-cellar of plated
ware on three feet, and a small faceted carafe
with a round glass stopper and a narrow neck;
then he announced to Lavretzky, in a chanting
117

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
voice, that the meal was ready, — and took up his
post behind his chair, having wound a napkin
around his right fist, and disseminating some
strong, ancient odour, which resembled the odour
of cypress wood. Lavretzky tasted the soup, and
came upon the hen ; its skin was all covered with
big pimples, a thick tendon ran down each leg, its
flesh had a flavour of charcoal and lye. When he
had finished his dinner, Lavretzky said that he
would like some tea, if  " This very moment,
sir, I will serve it, sir," — interrupted the old man,
— and he kept his promise. A pinch of tea was
hunted up, wrapped in a scrap of red paper, a
small but very mettlesome and noisy samovar was
searched out, also sugar, in very tiny bits, that
seemed to have been melted around the edges.
Lavretzky drank his tea out of a large cup; he
remembered that cup in his childhood: playing-
cards were depicted on it, only visitors drank out
of it, — and he now drank out of it, like a visitor.
Toward evening, his servants arrived; La
vretzky did not wish to sleep in his aunt's bed;
he gave orders that a bed should be made up for
him in the dining-room. Extinguishing the
candle, he stared about him for a long time, and
meditated on cheerless thoughts; he experienced
the sensation familiar to every man who chances
to pass the night, for the first time, in a place
which has long been uninhabited; it seemed to
him that the darkness which surrounded him on
118

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
all sides could not accustom itself to the new in
habitant, that the very walls of the house were
waxing indignant. At last he sighed, drew the
coverlet up over him, and fell asleep. Anton re
mained afoot longer than the rest; for a long
time he whispered with Apraxyeya, groaned in
a low tone, and crossed himself a couple of times.
Neither of them expected that the master would
settle down among them at Vasilievskoe, when,
near at hand, he owned such a magnificent estate,
with a capitally -organised manor-house ; they did
not even suspect that it was precisely that manor-
house which was repugnant to Lavretzky: it
evoked in him oppressive memories. After hav
ing whispered his fill, Anton took his staff, and
beat upon the board at the store-house which had
long been hanging silent,1 and immediately lay
down for a nap in the yard, without covering up
his grey head with anything. The May night
was tranquil and caressing — and the old man
slumbered sweetly.
1 It is the duty of the night-watchman to beat upon the board at
regular intervals, to show that he is vigilant. — Translator.

119

XX
The next morning Lavretzky rose quite early,
had a talk with the overseer, visited the threshing-
floor, ordered the chain to be removed from the
watch-dog, who only barked a little, but did not
even move away from his kennel; — and on his
return home, sank into a sort of peaceful torpor,
from which he did not emerge all day. " I have
sunk down to the very bottom of the river now,"
he said to himself more than once. He sat by the
window, made no movement, and seemed to be
listening to the current of tranquil life which sur
rounded him, to the infrequent noises of the
country solitudes. Yonder, somewhere beyond
the nettles, some one began to sing, in the shrillest
of voices; a gnat seemed to be chiming in with
the voice. Now it ceased, but the gnat still
squeaked on; athwart the energetic, insistently-
plaintive buzzing of the flies resounded the boom
ing of a fat bumble-bee, which kept bumping its
head against the ceiling ; a cock on the road began
to crow, hoarsely prolonging the last note; a
peasant cart rumbled past; the gate toward the
village creaked. " Well? " suddenly quavered a
woman's voice. — "Okh, thou my dear little sweet-
120

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
heart," said Anton to a little girl of two years,
whom he was dandling in his arms. " Fetch
some kvas," repeats the same female voice, — and
all at once a deathlike silence ensues; nothing
makes any noise, nothing stirs; the breeze does
not flutter a leaf; the swallows dart along near
the ground, one after the other, without a cry, and
sadness descends upon the soul from their silent
flight. — " Here I am, sunk down to the bottom
of the river," Lavretzky says to himself again. —
" And life is at all times tranquil, leisurely here,"
he thinks: — "whoever enters its circle must be
come submissive: here there is nothing to agitate
one's self about, nothing to disturb; here success
awaits only him who lays out his path without
haste, as the husbandman lays the furrow with his
plough." And what strength there is all around,
what health there is in this inactive calm! Yonder
now, under the window, a sturdy burdock is
making its way out from among the thick grass ;
above it, the lovage is stretching forth its succu
lent stalk, the Virgin's-tears 1 toss still higher
their rosy tendrils; and yonder, further away, in
the fields, the rye is gleaming, and the oats are
beginning to shoot up their stalks, and every leaf
on every tree, every blade of grass on its stalk,
spreads itself out to its fullest extent. " My best
years have been spent on the love of a woman,"
1 This plant bears round seed-pods of mottled-grey, which are
often used to make very pretty rosaries. — Transistor.
121

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Lavretzky pursued his meditations: — "may the
irksomeness here sober me, may it soothe me, pre
pare me so that I may understand how to do my
work without haste " ; and again he began to lend
an ear to the silence, expecting nothing, — and, at
the same time, as it were incessantly expecting
something: the silence enfolds him on all sides,
the sun glides quietly across the calm blue sky,
a cloud floats gently in its wake; it seems as
though they know whither and why they are
floating. At that same moment, in other spots
on earth, life was seething, bustling, roaring ; here
the same life was flowing on inaudibly, like water
amid marsh-grass; and until the very evening,
Lavretzky could not tear himself from the con
templation of that life fleeting, flowing onward;
grief for the past melted in his soul like snows
of springtime, — and, strange to say! — never had
the feeling of his native land been so deep and
strong within him.

122

XXI
In the course of a fortnight, Feodor Ivanitch
brought Glafira Petrovna' s little house into or
der ; cleaned up the yard, the garden ; comfortable
furniture was brought to him from Lavriki, wine,
books, newspapers from the town; horses made
their appearance in the stables ; in a word, Feodor
Ivanitch provided himself with everything that
was necessary and began to live — not exactly
like a country squire, nor yet exactly like a re
cluse. His days passed monotonously, but he was
not bored, although he saw no one; he occupied
himself diligently and attentively with the farm
ing operations, he rode about the neighbourhood
on horseback, he read. He read but little, how
ever: it was more agreeable for him to listen to
the tales of old Anton. As a rule, Lavretzky
would seat himself with a pipe of tobacco and
a cup of cold tea near the window ; Anton would
stand near the door, with his hands clasped behind
him, and begin his leisurely stories of olden
times, — of those fabulous times — when the oats
and barley were sold not by measures but by huge
sacks, at two or three kopeks the sack ; when in all
directions, even close to the town, stretched im-
123

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
penetrable forests, untouched steppes. " And
now," wailed the old man, who was already over
eighty years of age : — " they have felled and
ploughed up everything until there is no place
to drive through." Anton, also, related many
things concerning his mistress Glafira Petrovna:
how sagacious and economical she had been ; how
a certain gentleman, a youthful neighbour, had
attempted to gain her good-will, had taken to
calling frequently, — and how she had been
pleased, for his benefit, even to don her cap with
rose-purple ribbons, and her yellow gown of tru-
tru levantine ; but how, later on, having flown into
a rage with her neighbour, on account of the
unseemly question: "What might your capital
amount to, madam? " she had given orders that
he should not be admitted, and how she had then
commanded, that everything, down to the very
smallest scrap, should be given to Feodor Ivanitch
after her death. And, in fact, Lavretzky found
all his aunt's effects intact, not excepting the
festival cap, with the rose-purple ribbons, and the
gown of yellow tru-tru levantine. The ancient
papers and curious documents, which Lavretzky
had counted upon, proved not to exist, with the
exception of one tattered little old book, in which
his grandfather, Piotr Andreitch, had jotted
down, now — " Celebration in the city of Saint
Petersburg of the peace concluded with the Turk
ish Empire by his Illustriousness Prince Alexan-
124

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
der Alexandrovitch Prozorovsky " ; now a recipe
for a decoction for the chest, with the comment:
" This instruction was given to Generaless Pras-
kovya Feodorovna Saltykoff , by Feodor Avksen-
tievitch, Archpriest of the Church of the Life-
giving Trinity " ; again, some item of political
news, like the following: "In the ' Moscow
News/ it is announced that Premier-Major Mi
khail Petrovitch Kolytcheff has died. Was not
he the son of Piotr Vasilievitch Kolytcheff? "
Lavretzky also found several ancient calendars
and dream-books, and the mystical works of Mr.
Ambodik ; many memories were awakened in him
by the long-forgotten but familiar " Symbols
and Emblems." In Glafira Petrovna's toilet-
table Lavretzky found a small packet, tied with
black ribbon, and sealed with black wax, thrust
into the remotest recesses of the drawer. In the
packet, face to face, lay a pastel portrait of his
father in his youth, with soft curls tumbling over
his brow, with long, languid eyes, and mouth
half opened, — and the almost effaced portrait of
a pale woman in a white gown, with a white rose
in her hand, — his mother. Glafira Petrovna had
never permitted her own portrait to be made. —
" Dear little father Feodor Ivanitch," — Anton
was wont to say to Lavretzky: — " although I did
not then have my residence in the manor-house
of the masters, yet I remember your great-grand
father, Andrei Af anasievitch, — that I do ; I was
125

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
eighteen years of age when he died. Once I met
him in the garden, — my very hamstrings shook;
but he did nothing, only inquired my name, —
and sent me to his chamber for a pocket-handker
chief. He was a real gentleman, there 's no gain
saying that, — and he recognised no superior over
him. For I must inform you, that your great
grandfather had a wonderful amulet, — a monk
from Mount Athos gave him that amulet. And
that monk said to him : ' I give thee this for thine
affability, Boyarin; wear it — and fear not fate.'
Well, and of course, dear little father, you
know, what sort of times those were; what the
master took a notion to do, that he did. Once
in a while, some one, even one of the gentry,
would take it into his head to thwart him;
but no sooner did he look at him, than he would
say : ' You 're sailing in shoal water ' — that was
his favourite expression. And he lived, your
great-grandfather of blessed memory, in a tiny
wooden mansion; but what property he left be
hind him, what silver, and all sorts of supplies, —
all the cellars were filled to the brim ! He was a
master. That little carafe, which you were
pleased to praise, — belonged to him: he drank
vodka from it. And then your grandfather,
Piotr Ivanitch, built himself a stone mansion ; but
he acquired no property; with him everything
went at sixes and sevens ; and he hved worse than
his papa, and got no pleasure for himself, — but
126

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
wasted all the money, and there was none to pay
for requiems for his soul ; he left not even a silver
spoon behind him, so it was lucky that Glafira
Petrovna brought things into order."
" And is it true," — Lavretzky interrupted him,
— " that she was called an ill-tempered old hag? "
'Why, surely, some did call her that!" — re
turned Anton, in displeasure.
" Well, Httle father," — the old man one day
summoned the courage to ask; — " and how about
our young mistress; where is she pleased to have
her residence? "
" I have separated from my wife," — said La
vretzky, with an effort: — " please do not inquire
about her."
" I obey, sir," — replied the old man, sadly.
After the lapse of three weeks, Lavretzky rode
into O * * * on horseback, to the Kalitins', and
passed the evening with them. Lemm was there ;
Lavretzky conceived a great liking for him. Al
though, thanks to his father, he did not play on
any instrument, yet he was passionately fond of
music, — intelligent, classical music. Panshin was
not at the Kalitins' that evening. The Governor
had sent him off somewhere, out of town. Liza
played alone, and with great precision; Lemm
grew animated, excited, rolled a piece of paper
into a baton, and beat time. Marya Dmitrievna
laughed, at first, as she watched him, and then
127

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
went off to bed; as she said, Beethoven was too
agitating for her nerves. At midnight, La
vretzky escorted Lemm to his lodgings, and sat
with him until three o'clock in the morning.
Lemm talked a great deal; his bent shoulders
straightened up, his eyes opened widely and
sparkled; his very hair stood upright above his
brow. It was such a very long time since any
one had taken an interest in him, but Lavretzky
evidently did take an interest, and interrogated
him solicitously and attentively. This touched
the old man; he ended by showing his visitor his
music, he even played and sang to him, with his
ghost of a voice, several selections from his com
positions, — among others, the whole of Schiller's
ballad " Fridolin," which he had set to music.
Lavretzky lauded it, made him repeat portions
of it, and invited him to visit him for a few days.
Lemm, who was escorting him to the street, im
mediately accepted, and shook his hand warmly;
but when he was left alone, in the cool, damp air
of the day which was just beginning to dawn,
he glanced around him, screwed up his eyes,
writhed, and went softly to his tiny chamber, like
a guilty creature : " Ich bin wohl nicht klug "
(I 'm not in my right mind), — he muttered, as
he lay down on his hard, short bed. He tried to
assert that he was ill when, a few days later, La
vretzky came for him in a calash; but Feodor
Ivanitch went to him, in his room, and persuaded
128

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
him. The circumstance which operated most
powerfully of all on Lemm was, that Lavretzky
had ordered a piano to be sent to his country-
house from the town : a piano for his — Lemm's —
use. Together they went to the Kalitins', and
spent the evening, but not so agreeably as on the
former occasion. Panshin was there, had a great
deal to narrate about his journey, and very amus
ingly mimicked and illustrated in action the coun
try squires he had seen; Lavretzky laughed, but
Lemm did not emerge from his corner, main
tained silence, quietly quivered all over like a
spider, looked glum and dull, and grew animated
only when Lavretzky began to take his leave.
Even when he was seated in the calash, the old
man continued to be shy and to fidget; but the
quiet, warm air, the light breeze, the delicate
shadows, the perfume of the grass, of the birch
buds, the peaceful gleam of the starry, moonless
heaven, the energetic hoof -beats and snorting of
the horses, all the charms of the road, of spring,
of night, — descended into the heart of the poor
German, and he himself was the first to address
Lavretzky.

129

XXII
He began to talk of music, of Liza, then again
of music. He seemed, somehow, to utter his
words more slowly when he spoke of Liza. La
vretzky turned the conversation on his composi
tions, and, half in jest, proposed to write a libretto
for him.
" H'm, a libretto!" — rejoined Lemm: — "no,
that is beyond me : I have not that animation, that
play of fancy, which is indispensable for an
opera ; I have already lost my powers  But
if I could still do something, — I would be satis
fied with a romance ; of course, I should like some
good words. ..."
He relapsed into silence, and sat for a long
time motionless, with his eyes raised heavenward.
" For example," he said at last: — " something
of this sort : ' Ye stars, O ye pure stars ' ? " . . .
Lavretzky turned his face slightly toward him
and began to stare at him.
' Ye stars, ye pure stars,' " — repeated Lemm.
. . . " ' Ye gaze alike upon the just and upon the
guilty .... but only the innocent of heart,' —
or something of that sort . . . ' understand you,'
that is to say, no, — ' love you.' However, I am
130

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
not a poet . . how should I be ! But something in
that style, something lofty."
Lemm pushed his hat back on the nape of his
neck ; in the delicate gloom of the light night, his
face seemed whiter and more youthful.
' And ye also,' " — he went on, with a voice
which gradually grew quieter: — " ' ye know who
loves, who knows how to love, for ye are pure,
ye, alone, can comfort.' . . . No, that 's not
right yet! I am not a poet," — he said: — "but
something of that sort. . . ."
" I regret that I am not a poet," — remarked
Lavretzky. " Empty visions !" retorted Lemm, and huddled
in the corner of the calash. He closed his eyes,
as though preparing to go to sleep.
Several moments elapsed. . . . Lavretzky lis
tened. . . . " ' Stars, pure stars, love,' " — the old
man was whispering.
" Love," — Lavretzky repeated to himself, be
came thoughtful, and his soul grew heavy within
him. ' You have written some very beautiful music
for ' Fridolin,' Christofor Feodoritch, " — he said
aloud : — " and what think you ; did that Fridolin,
after the Count had led him to his wife, become
her lover — hey? "
" That is what you think," — returned Lemm:
" because, probably, experience . . . . " He sud
denly fell silent, and turned away in confusion.
131

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Lavretzky laughed in a constrained way, turned
away also, and began to stare along the road.
The stars had already begun to pale, and the
sky was grey, when the calash rolled up to the
porch of the little house at Vasilievskoe. La
vretzky conducted his guest to the chamber which
had been assigned to him, returned to his study,
and sat down by the window. In the park, a
nightingale was singing its last lay before the
dawn. Lavretzky remembered that a nightingale
had been singing in the Kalitins' garden also;
he recalled, too, the tranquil movement of Liza's
eyes when, at the first sounds of it, they had
turned toward the dark window. He began to
think of her, and his heart grew calm within him.
" Pure little star," — he said to himself, in a low
tone : — " pure stars," — he added, with a smile,
and calmly lay down to sleep.
But Lemm sat, for a long time, on his bed,
with a book of music-paper on his knees. It
seemed as though a strange, sweet melody were
about to visit him: he was already burning and
growing agitated, he already felt the lassitude
and sweetness of its approach . . . but it did
not come.
" I am not a poet, and not a musician! " — he
whispered at last 
And his weary head sank back heavily on the
pillow.

132

XXIII
On the following morning, host and guest drank
tea in the garden, under an ancient linden-tree.
" Maestro ! " — said Lavretsky, among other
things : — " you will soon have to compose a tri
umphal cantata."
" On what occasion? "
" On the occasion of the marriage of Mr.
Panshin to Liza. Did you notice how he was
paying court to her last evening? It seems as
though everything were going smoothly with
them." " That shall not be! " exclaimed Lemm.
" Why not? "
" Because it is impossible. However," — he
added, after a pause: — "everything is possible
in this world. Especially here, with you, in
Russia." " Let us leave Russia out of the question for
the present ; but what evil do you see in that mar-
riage :
" All is evil, all. Lizaveta Mikhailovna is an
upright, serious maiden, with exalted senti
ments, — but he  he is a di-let-tante, in
one word." 133

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" But surely she loves him? "
Lemm rose from the bench.
" No, she does not love him, that is to say, she
is very pure in heart, and does not know herself
what ' love ' means. Madam von Kalitin tells
her, that he is a nice young man, and she listens
to Madam von Kalitin, because she is still a
perfect child, although she is nineteen years of
age: she says her prayers in the morning, she
says her prayers in the evening, — and that is very
praiseworthy; but she does not love him. She
can love only the fine, but he is not fine; that is,
his soul is not fine."
Lemm uttered this whole speech coherently
and with fervour, pacing back and forth, with
short strides, in front of the tea-table, and with
his eyes flitting over the ground.
"My dearest Maestro!" — exclaimed Lavret
zky all at once : — " it strikes me, that you are in
love with my cousin yourself."
Lemm came to a sudden halt.
" Please," — he began in an uncertain voice: —
" do not jest thus with me. I am not a lunatic."
Lavretzky felt sorry for the old man; he en
treated his forgiveness. After tea, Lemm
played him his cantata, and at dinner, being
instigated thereto by Lavretzky himself, he
again began to talk about Liza. Lavretzky lis
tened to him with attention and curiosity.
" What think you, Christofor Feodoritch,"—
134

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
he said at last — " everything appears to be in
order with us now, the garden is in full bloom.
.... Shall not we invite her here for the day,
together with her mother and my old aunt, —
hey? Would that be agreeable to you? "
Lemm bent his head over his plate.
" Invite her," — he said, almost inaudibly.
" And Panshin need not be asked? "
" He need not,"— replied the old man, with a
half -childlike smile.
Two days later, Feodor Ivanitch set out for
the town, to the Kalitins.

135

XXIV
He found them all at home, but he did not im
mediately announce to them his intention: he
wished, first, to have a talk alone with Liza.
Chance aided him: they were left alone together
in the drawing-room. They fell into conversa
tion : she had succeeded in getting used to him, —
and, in general, she was not shy of any one. He
listened to her, looked her straight in the face,
and mentally repeated Lemm's words, and
agreed with him. It sometimes happens, that
two persons who are already acquainted, but not
intimate, suddenly and swiftly draw near to each
other in the course of a few minutes, — and the
consciousness of this approach is immediately re
flected in their glances, in their friendly, quiet
smiles, in their very movements. Precisely this
is what took place with Lavretzky and Liza.
" So that 's what he is like," she thought, gazing
caressingly at him ; " so that 's what thou art
like," he said to himself also. And therefore,
he was not greatly surprised when she, not with
out a slight hesitation, however, announced to
him, that she had long had it in her heart to say
something to him, but had been afraid of annoy
ing him. 136

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
"Have no fear; speak out," — he said, and
halted in front of her.
Liza raised her clear eyes to his.
" You are so kind," — she began, and, at the
same time, she said to herself: — " ' yes, he really
is kind ' . . . you will pardon me, but I ought
not to speak of this to you .... but how could
you . . . why did you separate from your wife? "
Lavretzky shuddered, glanced at Liza, and
seated himself beside her.
" My child," he began, — " please do not touch
that wound ; your hands are tender, but neverthe
less I shall suffer pain."
" I know," — went on Liza, as though she had
not heard him: — " she is culpable toward you, I
do not wish to defend her; but how is it possible
to put asunder that which God has joined to
gether? "
" Our convictions on that point are too dis
similar, Lizaveta Mikhailovna,"- — said Lavret
zky, rather sharply; — "we shall not understand
each other."
Liza turned pale; her whole body quivered
slightly ; but she did not hold her peace.
"You ought to forgive," — she said softly: —
" if you wish to be forgiven."
"Forgive!" — Lavretzky caught her up: —
" Ought not you first to know for whom you are
pleading? Forgive that woman, take her back
into my house, — her, — that empty, heartless crea-
137

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
ture! And who has told you, that she wishes to
return to me? Good heavens, she is entirely sat
isfied with her position  But what is the
use of talking about it! Her name ought not to
be uttered by you. You are too pure, you are
not even in a position to understand what sort of
a being she is."
" Why vilify her? " — said Liza, with an effort.
•j The trembling of her hands became visible. " It
/ I was you yourself who abandoned her, Feodor
Ivanitch." " But I tell you," — retorted Lavretzky, with
an involuntary outburst of impatience : — " that
you do not know what sort of a creature
she is ! "
" Then why did you marry her? "—whispered
Liza, and dropped her eyes.
Lavretzky sprang up hastily from his seat.
" Why did I marry? I was young and inex
perienced then; I was deceived, I was carried
away by a beautiful exterior. I did not know
women, I did not know anything. God grant
that you may make a happier marriage ! But, be
lieve me, it is impossible to vouch for anything."
" And I may be just as unhappy," — said Liza
(her voice began to break) : " but, in that case,
I must submit; I do not know how to talk, but
if we do not submit ..."
Lavretzky clenched his fists and stamped his
foot. 138

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
"Be not angry; forgive me! "—ejaculated
Liza, hastily.
At that moment, Marya Dmitrievna entered.
Liza rose, and started to leave the room.
"Stop!" — Lavretzky unexpectedly called
after her. " I have a great favour to ask of your
mother and of you: make me a visit to celebrate
my new home. You know, I have set up a piano ;
Lemm is staying with me; the lilacs are now in
bloom; you will get a breath of the country
air, and can return the same day, — do you
accept? "
Liza glanced at her mother, and Marya Dmi
trievna assumed an air of suffering, but Lavret
zky, without giving her a chance to open her
mouth, instantly kissed both her hands. Marya
Dmitrievna, who was always susceptible to en
dearments, and had not expected such amiability
from " the dolt," was touched to the soul, and
consented. While she was considering what day
to appoint, Lavretzky approached Liza, and, still
greatly agitated, furtively whispered to her:
" Thank you, you are a good girl, I am to blame."
.... And her pale face flushed crimson with a
cheerful — bashful smile; her eyes also smiled, —
up to that moment, she had been afraid that she
had offended him.
"May Vladimir Nikolaitch go with us?" —
asked Marya Dmitrievna.
' ' Certainly, ' ' — responded Lavretzky : — ' ' but
139

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
would it not be better if we confined ourselves
to our own family circle? "
" Yes, certainly, but you see . . . ." Marya
Dmitrievna began. " However, as you like,"
she added.
It was decided to take Lyenotchka and Schu
rotchka. Marfa Timofeevna declined to make
the journey.
" It is too hard for me, my dear," — she said, —
" my old bones ache : and I am sure there is no
place at your house where I can spend the night ;
and I cannot sleep in a strange bed. Let these
young people do the gallivanting."
Lavretzky did not succeed in being alone
again with Liza; but he looked at her in such a
way, that she felt at ease, and rather ashamed,
and sorry for him. On taking leave of her, he
pressed her hand warmly; when she was left
alone, she fell into thought.

140

xxv
When Lavretzky reached home, he was met on
the threshold of the drawing-room by a tall, thin
man, in a threadbare blue coat, with frowzy grey
side-whiskers, a long, straight nose, and small,
inflamed eyes. This was Mikhalevitch, his
former comrade at the university. Lavretzky
did not recognise him at first, but embraced him
warmly as soon as he mentioned his name. They
had not seen each other since the Moscow days.
There was a shower of exclamations, of ques
tions; long-smothered memories came forth into
the light of day. Hurriedly smoking pipe after
pipe, drinking down tea in gulps, and flour
ishing his long arms, Mikhalevitch narrated his
adventures to Lavretzky ; there was nothing very
cheerful about them, he could not boast of success
in his enterprises, — but he laughed incessantly,
with a hoarse, nervous laugh. A month pre
viously, he had obtained a situation in the private
counting-house of a wealthy distiller, about three
hundred versts from the town of O * * *, and,
on learning of Lavretzky's return from abroad,
he had turned aside from his road, in order to see
141

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
his old friend. Mikhalevitch talked as abruptly
as in his younger days, was as noisy and effer
vescent as ever. Lavretzky was about to allude
to his circumstances, but Mikhalevitch inter
rupted him, hastily muttering : " I 've heard,
brother, I 've heard about it, — who could have
anticipated it?" — and immediately turned the
conversation into the region of general com
ments. "I, brother," — he said: — "must leave thee
to-morrow; to-day, thou must excuse me — we
will go to bed late — I positively must find out
what are thy opinions, convictions, what sort of
a person thou hast become, what life has taught
thee." (Mikhalevitch still retained the phrase
ology of the '30s. ) " So far as I myself am con
cerned, I have changed in many respects, bro
ther: the billows of life have fallen upon my
breast, — who the dickens was it that said that? —
although, in important, essential points, I have
not changed; I believe, as of yore, in the good,
in the truth; but I not only believe, — I am now
a believer, yes — I am a believer, a religious be
liever. Hearken, thou knowest that I write
verses; there is no poetry in them, but there is
truth. I will recite to thee my last piece : in it I
have given expression to my most sincere convic
tions. Listen." — Mikhalevitch began to recite a
poem; it was rather long, and wound up with
the following lines : 142

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" To new feeling I have surrendered myself with all
my heart,
I have become like a child in soul :
And I have burned all that I worshipped.
I have worshipped all that I burned."
As he declaimed these last two lines, Mikha
levitch was on the verge of tears; slight convul
sive twitchings, the signs of deep feeling — flitted
across his broad lips, his ugly face lighted up.
Lavretzky listened and listened to him ; the spirit
of contradiction began to stir within him: the
ever-ready, incessantly-seething enthusiasm of
the Moscow student irritated him. A quarter
of an hour had not elapsed, before a dispute
flared up between them, one of those intermina
ble disputes, of which only Russians are capable.
After a separation of many years' duration,
spent in two widely-different spheres, under
standing clearly neither other people's thoughts
nor their own, — cavilling at words and retorting
with mere words, they argued about the most ab
stract subjects, — and argued as though it were
a matter of life and death to both of them: they
shouted and yelled so, that all the people in the
house took fright, and poor Lemm, who, from
the moment of Mikhalevitch's arrival, had locked
himself up in his room, became bewildered, and
began, in a confused way, to be afraid.
"But what art thou after this? disillusioned? "
143

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
¦ — shouted Mildialevitch at one o'clock in the
morning. " Are there any such disillusioned people? " —
retorted Lavretzky: — " they are all poor and ill,
— and I '11 pick thee up with one hand, shall I? "
" Well, if not a disillusioned man, then a scep-
tuik, and that is still worse." (Mikhalevitch's
pronunciation still smacked of his native Little
Russia.) "And what right hast thou to be a
sceptic? Thou hast had bad luck in life, granted;
that was no fault of thine: thou wert born with
a passionate, loving soul, and thou wert forcibly
kept away from women: the first woman that
came in thy way was bound to deceive thee."
" And she did deceive me," — remarked La
vretzky, gloomily.
" Granted, granted ; I was the instrument of
fate there, — «but what nonsense am I talking? —
there 's no fate about it ; it 's merely an old habit
of expressing myself inaccurately. But what
does that prove?"
" It proves, that they dislocated me in my
'childhood." "But set thy joints! to that end thou art a
human being, a man ; thou hast no need to borrow
energy! But, at any rate, is it possible, is it per
missible, to erect a private fact, so to speak, into
a general law, into an immutable law? "
"Where is the rule?"" — interrupted Lavret
zky, — " I do not admit . . ."
144

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Yes, it is thy rule, thy rule," Mikhalevitch
interrupted him in his turn. . . .
" Thou art an egoist, that 's what thou art! "
— he thundered, an hour later: — " thou hast de
sired thine own personal enjoyment, thou hast
desired happiness in life, thou hast desired to live
for thyself alone. . . ."
" What dost thou mean by personal enjoy
ment? "
"And everything has deceived thee; every
thing has crumbled away beneath thy feet."
" What is personal enjoyment, — I ask thee? "
" And it was bound to crumble. For thou
hast sought support where it was not to be found,
for thou hast built thy house on a quicksand. . ."
" Speak more plainly, without metaphors, be
cause I do not understand thee."
" Because, — laugh if it pleases thee, — because
there is no faith in thee, no warmth of heart;
mind, merely a farthing mind; thou art simply
a pitiful, lagging Voltairian — that 's what thou
art!" " Who— I am a Voltairian? "
" Yes, just the same sort as thy father was,
and dost not suspect it thyself."
" After that," — cried Lavretzky, — " I have
a right to say that thou art a fanatic! "
" Alas ! " — returned Mikhalevitch, with contri
tion : — " unhappily, as yet I have in no way
earned so lofty an appellation. . ."
145

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Now I have discovered what to call thee," — ¦
shouted this same Mikhalevitch, at three o'clock
in the morning; — " thou art not a sceptic, not a
disillusioned man, not a Voltairian, — thou art a
trifler, and thou art an evil-minded trifler, a con
scious trifler, not an ingenuous trifler. Ingenuous
triflers lie around on the oven and do nothing,
because they do not know how to do anything;
and they think of nothing. But thou art a
thinking man, — and thou liest around; thou
mightest do something — and thou dost nothing;
thou liest with thy well-fed belly upward and
sayest : ' It is proper to lie thus, because every
thing that men do is nonsense, and twaddle which
leads to nothing.' "
" But what makes thee think that I trifle," —
insisted Lavretzky: — "why dost thou assume
such thoughts on my part? "
" And more than that, all of you, all the people
of your sort," — pursued the obstreperous Mikha
levitch: — " are erudite triflers. You know on
what foot the German limps, you know what is
bad about the English and the French, — and your
knowledge comes to your assistance, justifies your
shameful laziness, your disgusting inactivity.
Some men will even pride themselves, and say,
' What a clever fellow I am ! — I lie around, but
the others, the fools, bustle about.' Yes! — And
there are such gentlemen among us, — I am not
saying this wdth reference to thee, however,—
146

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
who pass their whole lives in a sort of stupor of
tedium, grow accustomed to it, sit in it hke ....
like a mushroom in sour cream," Mikhalevitch
caught himself up, and burst out laughing at his
own comparison. — " Oh, that stupor of tedium
is the ruin of the Russians! The repulsive trifler,
all his life long, is getting ready to work  ."
" Come, what art thou calling names for? " —
roared Lavretzky, in his turn. — " Work . . .
act . . . Telrme, rather, what to do, but don't call
names, you Poltava Demosthenes! "
" Just see what a freak he has taken! I '11 not
tell thee that, brother ; every one must know that
himself," retorted Demosthenes, ironically. — " A
landed proprietor, a nobleman — and he does n't
know what to do! Thou hast no faith, or thou
wouldst know; thou hast no faith — and there is
no revelation."
" Give me a rest, at any rate, you devil: give
me a chance to look around me," — entreated
Lavretzky. "Not a minute, not a second of respite!" —
retorted Mikhalevitch, with an imperious gesture
of the hand. — " Not one second ! — Death does
Snot wait, and life ought not to wait." . . .
" And when, where did men get the idea of
becoming triflers? " — he shouted, at four o'clock
in the morning, but his voice had now begun to
be rather hoarse: "among us! now! in Russia!
when on every separate individual a duty, a great
147

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
obligation is incumbent toward God, toward the
nation, toward himself! We are sleeping, but
time is passing on; we are sleeping. . . ."
" Permit me to observe to thee," — said La
vretzky, — " that we are not sleeping at all, now,
but are, rather, preventing others from sleeping.
We are cracking our throats like cocks. Hark,
is n't that the third cock-crow? "
This sally disconcerted and calmed down
Mikhalevitch. " Farewell until to-morrow," —
he said, with a smile, — and thrust his pipe into
his tobacco-pouch. " Farewell until to-morrow,"
repeated Lavretzky. But the friends conversed
for an hour longer. However, their voices were
no longer raised, and their speeches were quiet,
sad, and kind.
Mikhalevitch departed on the following day,
in spite of all Lavretzky's efforts to detain him.
Feodor Ivanitch did not succeed in persuading
him to remain; but he talked with him to his
heart's content. It came out, that Mikhalevitch
had not a penny in the world. Already, on the
preceding evening, Lavretzky, with compassion,
had observed in him all the signs and habits of
confirmed poverty ; his boots were broken, a but
ton was missing from the back of his coat, his
hands were guiltless of gloves, down was visible
in his hair; on his arrival, it had not occurred to
him to ask for washing materials, and at supper
he ate like a shark tearing the meat apart with
148

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
his hands, and cracking the bones noisily with
his strong, black teeth. It appeared, also, that
the service had been of no benefit to him, that he
had staked all his hopes on the revenue-farmer,
who had engaged him simply with the object of
having in his counting-house " an educated man."
In spite of all this, Mikhalevitch was not de
jected, and lived on as a cynic, an idealist, a poet,
sincerely rejoicing and grieving over the lot of
mankind, over his own calling, — and troubled
himself very little as to how he was to keep him
self from dying with hunger. Mikhalevitch had
not married, but had been in love times without
number, and wrote verses about all his lady-loves ;
with especial fervour did he sing the praises of
one mysterious " panna "J with black and curling
locks. . . . Rumours were in circulation, it is true,
to the effect that the " panna " in question was a
plain Jewess, well known to many cavalry offi
cers . . . but, when you come to think of it, —
does that make any difference?
Mikhalevitch did not get on well with Lemm:
his vociferous speeches, his harsh manners, fright
ened the German, who was not used to such
things. . . An unfortunate wretch always scents
another unfortunate wretch from afar, but
rarely makes up to him in old age, — and this is
not in the least to be wondered at : he has nothing
to share with him, — not even hopes.
1 Polish for " gentlewoman." — Translator.
149

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Before his departure, Mikhalevitch had an
other long talk with Lavretzky, prophesied per
dition to him, if he did not come to a sense of his
errors, entreated him to occupy himself seriously
with the existence of his peasants, set himself up
as an example, saying, that he had been purified
in the furnace of affliction, — and immediately
thereafter, several times mentioned himself as a
happy man, compared himself to the birds of
heaven, the lilies of the field  "
" A black lily, at any rate," — remarked La
vretzky. " Eh, brother, don't put on any of your
aristocratic airs," — retorted Mikhalevitch, good-
naturedly: — " but thank God, rather, that in thy
veins flows honest, plebeian blood. But I per
ceive, that thou art now in need of some pure,
unearthly being, who shall wrest thee from this
apathy of thine."
" Thanks, brother," — said Lavretzky: — " I
have had enough of those unearthly beings."
" Shut up, cuinuik! " — exclaimed Mikhale
vitch. " Cynic," — Lavretzky corrected him.
" Just so, cuinuik," — repeated Mikhalevitch,
in no wise disconcerted.
Even as he took his seat in the tarantas, to
which his flat, yellow, strangely light trunk was
carried forth, he continued to talk; wrapped up
in some sort of a Spanish cloak with a rusty col-
150

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
lar, and lion's paws in place of clasps, he still
went on setting forth his views as to the fate of
Russia, and waving his swarthy hand through
the air, as though he were sowing the seeds of its
future welfare. At last the horses started. . . .
" Bear in mind my last three words," — he
shouted, thrusting his whole body out of the ta
rantas, and balancing himself: — " religion, prog
ress, humanity! .... Farewell! " His head, with
its cap pulled down to the very eyes, vanished.
Lavretzky remained standing alone on the porch
and staring down the road until the tarantas dis
appeared from his sight. " But I think he
probably is right," — he said to himself, as he re
entered the house: — "probably I am a trifler."
Many of Mikhalevitch's words had sunk indelibly
into his soul, although he had disputed and had
rnot agreed with him. If only a man be kindly, no
one can repulse him.

151

XXVI
Two days later, Marya Dmitrievna arrived with
all her young people at Vasilievskoe, in accord
ance with her promise. The little girls imme
diately ran out into the garden, while Marya
Dmitrievna languidly traversed the rooms, and
languidly praised everything. Her visit to La
vretzky she regarded as a token of great con
descension, almost in the light of a good deed.
She smiled affably when Anton and Apraxyeya,
after the ancient custom of house-serfs, came
to kiss her hand, — and in an enervated voice,
through her nose, she asked them to give her some
tea. To the great vexation of Anton, who had
donned white knitted gloves, the newly-arrived
lady was served with tea not by him, but by La
vretzky's hired valet, who, according to the as
sertion of the old man, knew nothing whatever
about proper forms. On the other hand, Anton
reasserted his rights at dinner: firm as a post he
stood behind Marya Dmitrievna's chair — and
yielded his place to no one. The long-unpre
cedented arrival of visitors at Vasilievskoe both
agitated and rejoiced the old man: it pleased him
to see, that his master knew nice people. How-
152

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
ever, he was not the only one who was excited
on that day: Lemm, also, was excited. He put
on a short, snuff-coloured frock-coat, with a
sharp-pointed collar, bound his neckerchief
tightly, and incessantly coughed and stepped
aside, with an agreeable and courteous mien. La
vretzky noted, with satisfaction, that the close
relations between himself and Liza still contin
ued : no sooner did she enter, than she offered him
her hand, in friendly wise. After dinner, Lemm
drew forth, from the back pocket of his coat, into
which he had been constantly thrusting his hand,
a small roll of music, and pursing up his lips, he
silently laid it on the piano. It was a romance,
which he had composed on the preceding day to
old-fashioned German words, in which the stars
were alluded to. Liza immediately seated her
self at the piano and began to decipher the
romance. . . . Alas, the music turned out to be
complicated, and disagreeably strained; it was
obvious that the composer had attempted to ex
press some passionate, profound sentiment, but
nothing had come of it : so the attempt remained
merely an attempt. . Lavretzky and Liza both
felt this, — and Lemm understood it: he said not
a word, put his romance back in his pocket, and
in reply to Liza's proposal to play it over again,
he merely said significantly, with a shake of his
head: "Enough — for the present!" — bent his
shoulders, shrank together, and left the room.
[153

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Toward evening, they all went fishing to
gether. The pond beyond the garden contained
a quantity of carp and loach. They placed
Marya Dmitrievna in an arm-chair near the bank,
in the shade, spread a rug under her feet, and
gave her the best hook; Anton, in the quality of
an old and expert fisherman, offered his services.
He assiduously spitted worms on the hook,
slapped them down with his hand, spat on them,
and even himself flung the line and hook, bend
ing forward with his whole body. That same
day, Marya Dmitrievna expressed herself to
Feodor Ivanitch, with regard to him, in the fol
lowing phrase, in the French language of girls'
institutes : " II n'y a plus maintenant de ces gens
comme fa comme autrefois." Lemm, with the
two little girls, went further away, to the dam;
Lavretzky placed himself beside Liza. The fish
bit incessantly, the carp which were caught were
constantly flashing their sides, now gold, now
silver, in the air; the joyous exclamations of the
little girls were unceasing; Marya Dmitrievna
herself gave vent to a couple of shrill, feminine
shrieks. Lavretzky and Liza caught fewer than
the others; this, probably, resulted from the fact
that they paid less attention than the rest to their
fishing, and allowed their floats to drift close in
shore. The tall, reddish reeds rustled softly
around them, in front of them the motionless
water gleamed softly, and their conversation was
154

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
soft also. Liza stood on a small raft ; Lavretzky
sat on the inclined trunk of a willow ; Liza wore
a white gown, girt about the waist with a broad
ribbon, also white in hue ; her straw hat was hang
ing from one hand, with the other, she supported,
with some effort, the curved fishing-rod. La
vretzky gazed at the pure, rather severe profile,
at her hair tucked behind her ears, at her soft
cheeks, which were as sunburned as those of a
child, — and said to himself: " O how charm
ingly thou standest on my pond! " Liza did not
turn toward him, but stared at the water, — and
half smiled, half screwed up her eyes. The
shadow of a linden-tree near at hand fell upon
both of them.
"Do you know," — began Lavretzky: — "I
have been thinking a great deal about my last
conversation with you, and have come to the con
clusion, that you are extraordinarily kind."
" I did not mean it in that way at all . . . ."
Liza began, — and was overcome with shame.
" You are kind," — repeated Lavretzky. " I
am a rough man, but I feel that every one must
love you. There 's Lemm now, for example : he
is simply in love with you."
Liza's brows quivered, rather than contracted ;
this always happened with her when she heard
something disagreeable.
" I felt very sorry for him to-day," — Lavret
zky resumed: — "with his unsuccessful romance.
155

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
To be young, and be able to do a thing — that
can be borne; but to grow old, and not have the
power — is painful. And the offensive thing
about it is, that you are not conscious when your
powers begin to wane. It is difficult for an old
man to endure these shocks! .... Look out,
the fish are biting at your hook. . . They say,"
— added Lavretzky, after a brief pause, — " that
Vladimir Nikolaitch has written a very pretty
romance." " Yes," — rephed Liza; — " it is a trifle, but it is
not bad."
" And what is your opinion," — asked Lavret
zky: — " is he a good musician? "
" It seems to me that he has great talent for
music; but up to the present time he has not cul
tivated it as he should."
" Exactly. And is he a nice man? "
Liza laughed, and cast a quick glance at Feo
dor Ivanitch.
" What a strange question ! " — she exclaimed,
drawing up her hook, and flinging it far out
again. " Why is it strange? — I am asking you about
him as a man who has recently come hither, as
your relative."
" As a relative? "
" Yes. I believe I am a sort of uncle to
you." " Vladimir Nikolaitch has a kind heart," — said
156

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Liza: — "he is clever; mamma is very, fond of
him." " And do you like him? "
"He is a nice man: why should not I like
him? "
" Ah ! " — said Lavretzky, and relapsed into si
lence. A half -mournful, half -sneering expres
sion flitted across his face. His tenacious gaze
discomfited Liza, but she continued to smile.
"Well, God grant them happiness!" — he mut
tered, at last, as though to himself, and turned
away his head.
Liza blushed.
" You are mistaken, Feodor Ivanitch," — she
said: — " there is no cause for your thinking ....
But do not you like Vladimir Nikolaitch?"
" I do not."
" Why? "
" It seems to me, that he has no heart."
The smile vanished from Liza's face.
" You have become accustomed to judge peo
ple harshly," — she said, after a long silence.
" I think not. What right have I to judge
others harshly, when I myself stand in need of
indulgence? Or have you forgotten that a lazy
man is the only one who does not laugh at
me? ... . Well," — he added: — "and have you
kept your promise?"
" What promise? "
" Have you prayed for me? "
157

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Yes, I have prayed, and I do pray for you
every day. But please do not speak lightly of
that." Lavretzky began to assure Liza, that such a
thing had never entered his head, that he enter
tained a profound respect for all convictions;
then he entered upon a discussion of religion,
its significance in the history of mankind, the
significance of Christianity. . . .
" One must be a Christian," — said Liza, not
without a certain effort: — "not in order to un
derstand heavenly things  yonder . . .
earthly things, but because every man must
die." Lavretzky, with involuntary surprise, raised
his eyes to Liza's, and encountered her glance.
"What a word you have uttered!" — said
he. " The word is not mine," — she replied.
" It is not yours. . . But why do you speak
of death? "
" I do not know. I often think about it."
" Often? "
" Yes."
" One would not say so, to look at you now:
you have such a merry, bright face, you are
smiling. .„ . . ."
" Yes, I am very merry now," — returned Liza,
ingenuously. 158

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Lavretzky felt like seizing both her hands, and
clasping them tightly.
"Liza, Liza!" — called Marya Dmitrievna, —
"come hither, look! What a carp I have caught!"
" Immediately, maman," — replied Liza, and
went to her, but Lavretzky remained on his wil
low-tree. " I talk with her as though I were not a man
whose life is finished," he said to himself. As she
departed, Liza had hung her hat on a bough;
with a strange, almost tender sentiment, Lavret
zky gazed at the hat, at its long, rather crumpled
ribbons. Liza speedily returned to him, and
again took up her stand on the raft.
" Why do you think that Vladimir Nikolaitch
has no heart? "-—she inquired, a few moments
later. " I have already told you, that I may be mis
taken; however, time will show."
Liza became thoughtful. Lavretzky began to
talk about his manner of life at Vasilievskoe,
about Mikhalevitch, about Anton; he felt im
pelled to talk to Liza, to communicate to her
everything that occurred to his soul: she was so
charming, she listened to him so attentively; her
infrequent comments and replies seemed to him
so simple and wise. He even told her so.
Liza was amazed.
"Really?" — she said; — "why, I have always
159

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
thought that I, like my maid Nastya, had no
words of my own. One day she said to her be
trothed: ' Thou must find it tiresome with me;
thou always sayest such fine things to me, but I
have no words of my own.' "
"And thank God for that!" thought La
vretzky.

180

XXVII
In the meantime, evening drew on, and Marya
Dmitrievna expressed a desire to return home.
The little girls were, with difficulty, torn away
from the pond, and made ready. Lavretzky an
nounced his intention to escort his guests half
way, and ordered his horse to be saddled. As
he seated Marya Dmitrievna in the carriage, he
remembered Lemm ; but the old man was nowhere
to be found. He had disappeared as soon as the
angling was over. Anton slammed to the carriage
door, with a strength remarkable for his years,
and grimly shouted: "Drive on, coachman!"
The carriage rolled off. On the back seat sat
Marya Dmitrievna and Liza; on the front seat,
the httle girls and the maid. The evening was
warm and still, and the windows were lowered on
both sides. Lavretzky rode at a trot by Liza's
side of the carriage, with his hand resting on
the door, — he had dropped the reins on the neck
of his steed, which was trotting smoothly, — and
from time to time exchanged a few words with
the young girl. The sunset glow vanished ; night
descended, and the air grew even warmer. Marya
Dmitrievna soon fell into a doze; the little girls
and the maid also dropped off to sleep. The
161

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
carriage rolled swiftly and smoothly onward;
Liza leaned forward; the moon, which had just
risen, shone on her face, the fragrant night
breeze blew on her cheeks and neck. She felt at
ease. Her hand lay on the door of the carriage,
alongside of Lavretzky's hand. And he, also,
felt at ease: he was being borne along through
the tranquil nocturnal warmth, never taking his
eyes from the kind young face, listening to tLe
youthful voice, which was ringing even in a whis
per, saying simple, kindly things ; he did not even
notice that he had passed the half-way point. He
did not wish to awaken Marya Dmitrievna,
pressed Liza's hand lightly, and said: — " We are
friends, now, are we not? " She nodded, he drew
up his horse. The carriage rolled on, gently
swaying and lurching: Lavretzky proceeded
homeward at a footpace. The witchery of the
summer night took possession of him ; everything
around him seemed so unexpectedly strange, and,
at the same time, so long, so sweetly f amiliar ; far
and near, — and things were visible at a long dis
tance, although the eye did not comprehend much
of what it beheld, — everything was at rest;
young, blossoming life made itself felt in that
very repose. Lavretzky's horse walked briskly,
swaying regularly to right and left; its huge
black shadow kept pace alongside; there was
something mysteriously pleasant in the tramp of
its hoofs, something cheerful and wondrous in the
162

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
resounding call of the quail. The stars were hid
den in a sort of brilhant smoke ; the moon, not yet
at the full, shone with a steady gleam; its light
flooded the blue sky in streams, and fell like a
stain of smoky gold upon the thin cloudlets
which floated past ; the crispness of the air called
forth a slight moisture in the eyes, caressingly
enveloped all the limbs, poured in an abundant
flood into the breast. Lavretzky enjoyed himself,
and rejoiced at his enjoyment. " Come, life is
still before us," he thought : — " it has not been
completely ruined yet by  " He did not
finish his sentence, and say who or what had
ruined it. . . Then he began to think of Liza, that
it was hardly likely that she loved Panshin ; that
had he met her under different circumstances, —
God knows what might have come of it; that he
understood Lemm, although she had no " words
of her own." Yes, but that was not true: she
had words of her own. ..." Do not speak
lightly of that," recurred to Lavretzky's memory.
He rode for a long time, with drooping head,
then he straightened himself up, and slowly
recited :
" And I have burned all that I worshipped,
I have worshipped all that I burned . . . ."
but immediately gave his horse a cut with the
whip, and rode at a gallop all the rest of the way
home. 163

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
As he alighted from his horse, he cast a last
glance around him, with an involuntary, grate
ful smile. Night, the speechless, caressing night,
lay upon the hills and in the valleys ; from afar,
from its fragrant depths, God knows whence, —
whether from heaven or earth, — emanated a
soft, quiet warmth. Lavretzky wafted a last
salutation to Liza, and ran up the steps.
The following day passed rather languidly.
Rain fell from early morning ; Lemm cast furtive
glances from beneath his eyebrows, and pursed
up his lips more and more tightly, as though he
had vowed to himself never to open them again.
On lying down to sleep, Lavretzky had taken to
bed with him a whole pile of French newspapers,
which had already been lying on his table for
two weeks, with their wrappers unbroken. He
set to work idly to strip off the wrappers, and
glance through the columns of the papers, which,
however, contained nothing new. He was on the
point of throwing them aside, — when, all of a
sudden, he sprang out of bed as though he had
been stung. In the feuilleton of one of the pa
pers, M'sieu Jules, already known to us, imparted
to his readers " a sad bit of news ": " The charm
ing, bewitching native of Moscow," he wrote,
" one of the queens of fashion, the ornament of
Parisian salons, Madame de Lavretzki, had died
almost instantaneously,— and this news, unhap
pily only too true, had only just reached him,
164

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
M. Jules. He was," — he continued, — " he might
say, a friend of the deceased  "
Lavretzky dressed himself, went out into the
garden, and until morning dawned, he paced
back and forth in one and the same alley.

165

XXVIII
On the following morning, at tea, Lemm re
quested Lavretzky to furnish him with horses,
that he might return to town. " It is time that
I should set about my work, — that is to say, my
lessons," remarked the old man: — "but here I
am only wasting time in vain." Lavretzky did
not immediately reply to him: he seemed pre
occupied. "Very well," — he said at last; — "I
will accompany you myself." — Without any aid
from the servants, grunting and fuming, Lemm
packed his small trunk, and tore up and burned
several sheets of music-paper. The horses were
brought round. As he emerged from his study,
Lavretzky thrust into his pocket the newspaper
of the day before. During the entire journey,
Lemm and Lavretzky had very httle to say to
each other: each of them was engrossed with his
own thoughts, and each was delighted that the
other did not disturb him. And they parted rather
coldly, — which, by the way, frequently happens
between friends in Russia. Lavretzky drove the
old man to his tiny house : the latter alighted, got
out his trunk, and without offering his hand to
his friend (he held his trunk in front of his chest
166

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
with both hands) , without even looking at him, —
he said in Russian: " Good-bye, sir! " — " Good
bye," — repeated Lavretzky, and ordered his
coachman to drive him to his own lodgings. (He
had hired a lodging in the town of O * * * in
case he might require it. ) After writing several
letters and dining in haste, Lavretzky took his
way to the Kalitins. In their drawing-room he
found no one but Panshin, who informed him
that Marya Dmitrievna would be down directly,
and immediately entered into conversation with
him, with the most cordial amiability. Up to
that day, Panshin had treated Lavretzky, not ex
actly in a patronizing way, yet condescendingly;
but Liza, in telling Panshin about her jaunt of
the day before, had expressed herself to the effect
that Lavretzky was a very fine and clever man;
that was enough : the " very fine " man must be
captivated. Panshin began with compliments to
Lavretzky, with descriptions of the raptures with
which, according to his statement, Marya Dmi-
trievna's whole family had expressed themselves
about Vasilievskoe, and then, according to his
wont, passing adroitly to himself, he began to
talk about his own occupations, his views of life,
of the world, of the government service ; — he said
a couple of words about the future of Russia,
about the proper way of keeping the governors
in hand; thereupon, merrily jeered at himself,
and added, that, among other things, he had been
167

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
commissioned in Petersburg — "de populariser
I'idee du cadastre." He talked for quite a long
time, with careless self-confidence solving all dif
ficulties, and juggling with the most weighty ad
ministrative and political questions, as a sleight-
of-hand performer juggles with his balls. The
expressions: " This is what I would do, if I were
the government " ; " You, as a clever man, will
immediately agree with me " — were never absent
from his tongue. Lavretzky listened coldly to
Panshin's idle chatter: he did not like this hand
some, clever, and unconstrainedly elegant man,
with his brilliant smile, courteous voice, and
searching eyes. Panshin speedily divined, with
the swift comprehension of other people's senti
ments which was peculiar to him, that he was not
affording his interlocutor any particular pleasure,
and made his escape, under a plausible pretext, de
ciding in his own mind that Lavretzky might be
a very fine man, but that he was not sympathetic,
was "aigri," and, " en somme," rather ridiculous.
— Marya Dmitrievna made her appearance ac
companied by Gedeonovsky; then Marfa Timo
feevna entered with Liza ; after them followed the
other members of the household; then came that
lover of music, Mme. Byelenitzvn, a small, thin
lady, with an almost childish, fatigued and hand
some little face, in a rustling black gown, with a
motley -hued fan, and heavy gold bracelets; her
husband also came, a rosy-cheeked, plump man,,
168

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
with huge feet and hands, with white eyelashes,
and an impassive smile on his thick lips ; in com
pany his wife never spoke to him, but at home,
in moments of tenderness, she was wont to call
him "her little pig"; Panshin returned: the
rooms became very full of people and very noisy.
Such a throng of people was not to Lavretzky's
liking; Mme. Byelenftzyn particularly enraged
him by constantly staring at him through her
lorgnette. He would have withdrawn at once,
had it not been for Liza: he wished to say two
words to her in private, but for a long time he
was not able to seize a convenient moment, and
contented himself with watching her in secret
joy ; never had her face seemed to him more noble
and charming. She appeared to great advan
tage from the proximity of Mme. Byelenitzyn.
The latter was incessantly fidgeting about on
her chair, shrugging her narrow little shoulders,
laughing, in an enervated way, and screwing up
her eyes, then suddenly opening them very wide.
Liza sat quietly, her gaze was direct, and she did
not laugh at all. The hostess sat down to play
cards with Marfa Timofeevna, Mme. Byelenit
zyn, and Gedeonovsky, who played very slowly,
was constantly making mistakes, blinking his
eyes, and mopping his face with his hand
kerchief. Panshin assumed a melancholy mien,
expressed himself with brevity, with great sig
nificance and moumfulness, — for all the world
169

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
like an artist who has not had his say, — but de
spite the entreaties of Mme. Byelenitzyn, who
was having a violent flirtation with him, he would
not consent to sing his romance: Lavretzky
embarrassed him. Feodor Ivanitch also said
little; the peculiar expression of his face had
startled Liza, as soon as he entered the room : she
immediately felt that he had something to com
municate to her, but, without herself knowing
why, she was afraid to interrogate him. At last,
as she passed into the hall % to pour tea, she invol
untarily turned her head in his direction. He
immediately followed her.
" What is the matter with you? " — she said, as
she placed the teapot on the samovar.
" Have you noticed it? "
" You are not the same to-day as I have seen
you heretofore."
Lavretzky bent over the table.
" I wanted," — he began, — " to tell you a cer
tain piece of news, but now it is not possible. —
However, read what is marked with pencil in
this feuilleton," — he added, giving her the copy
of the newspaper which he had brought with him.
— " I beg that you will keep this secret; I will
call on you to-morrow morning."
Liza was surprised. . . Panshin made his ap
pearance on the threshold of the door: she put
the newspaper in her pocket.
1 A combination of music-room, ball-room, play-room, also used for
all sorts of purposes, in all well-to-do Russian houses.— Translator.
170

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Have you read Obermann, Lizaveta Mikhai
lovna? " — Panshin asked her meditatively.
Liza gave him a superficial answer, left the
hall, and went up-stairs. Lavretzky returned to
the drawing-room, and approached the card-
table. Marfa Timofeevna, with her cap-ribbons
untied, and red in the face, began to complain to
him about her partner, Gedeonovsky, who, ac
cording to her, did not know how to lead.
" Evidently,"- — she said, — " playing cards is
quite a different thing from inventing fibs."
Her partner continued to blink and mop his
' face. Liza entered the drawing-room, and seated
herself in a corner; Lavretzky looked at her, she
looked at him, — and something like dread fell
upon them both. He read surprise and a sort of
secret reproach in her face. Long as he might to
talk to her, he could not do it; to remain in the
same room with her, a guest among strangers,
was painful to him : he decided to go away. As
he took leave of her, he managed to repeat that
he would come on the morrow, and he added that
he trusted in her friendship.
" Come," — she replied, with the same amaze
ment on her face.
Panshin brightened up after Lavretzky's de
parture ; he began to give advice to Gedeonovsky,
banteringly paid court to Mme. Byelenitzyn,
and, at last, sang his romance. But he talked with
Liza and gazed at her as before : significantly and
rather sadly. 171

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
And again, Lavretzky did not sleep all night
long. He did not feel sad, he was not excited,
he had grown altogether calm; but he could not
sleep. He did not even recall the past ; he simply
gazed at his life: his heart beat strongly and
evenly, the hours flew past, but he did not even
think of sleeping. At times, only, did the thought
come to the surface in his mind : " But that is not
true, it is all nonsense," — and he paused, lowered
his head, and began again to gaze at his life.

172

XXIX
Marya Dmitrievna did not receive Lavretzky
with any excess of cordiality, when he presented
himself on the following day. " Well, you are
making yourself pretty free of the house," — she
said to herself. Personally, he did not greatly
please her, and, in addition, Panshin, under whose
influence she was, had sung his praises in a very
sly and careless manner on the preceding even
ing. As she did not look upon him in the light
of a guest, and did not consider it necessary to
trouble herself about a relative almost a mem
ber of the family, half an hour had not elapsed
before he was strolling down an alley in the
garden with Liza. Lyenotchka and Schurotchka
were frolicking a short distance away, among the
flower-beds. Liza was composed, as usual, but paler than
usual. She took from her pocket and handed to
Lavretzky the sheet of newspaper, folded small.
" This is dreadful! " — said she.
Lavretzky made no reply.
" But perhaps it is not yet true," — added Liza.
" That is why I asked you not to mention it
to any one." 173

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Liza walked on a little way.
"Tell me,"- — she began: — "you are not
grieved? Not in the least? "
" I do not know myself what my feelings are,"
— replied Lavretzky.
" But, assuredly, you used to love her? "
" Yes, I did." '
" Very much? "
" Very much."
" And you are not grieved by her death? "
^- " It is not now that she has died to me."
" What you say is sinful. . . . Do not be
angry with me. You call me your friend: a
friend may say anything. To tell the truth, I
feel terrified. . . . Your face was so malign
yesterday. . . . Do you remember, how you
were complaining of her, not long ago? — and
perhaps, already, at that very time, she was no
longer alive. This is terrible. It is exactly as
though it had been sent to you as a chastise
ment." Lavretzky laughed bitterly.
"Do you think so? ... At all events, I am
free now."
Liza gave a slight start.
" Stop, do not talk like that. Of what use
to you is your freedom? You must not think
about that now, but about forgiveness. . ."
" I forgave her long ago," — interrupted La
vretzky, with a wave of the hand.
174

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" No, not that," — returned Liza, and blushed.
' You did not understand me rightly. You
must take means to obtain forgiveness. . . ."
" Who is there to forgive me? "
" Who?— God. Who else but God can for
give us? "
Lavretzky caught her hand.
" Akh, Lizaveta Mikhailovna, believe me," —
he exclaimed:—" I have been sufficiently pun
ished as it is. I have already atoned for every
thing, believe me."
' You cannot know that," — said Liza in a
low voice. " You have forgotten ; — not very
long ago, — when you were talking to me, — you
were not willing to forgive her. ..."
The two walked silently down the alley.
" And how about your daughter? "¦ — Liza sud
denly inquired, and halted.
Lavretzky started.
" Oh, do not worry yourself! I have already
despatched letters to all the proper places. The
future of my daughter, as you call .... as you
say ... is assured. Do not disquiet yourself."
Liza smiled sadly.
" But you are right," — went on Lavretzky: —
" what can I do with my freedom? Of what use
is it to me? "
" When did you receive -that newspaper? " —
said Liza, making no reply to his question.
" The day after your visit."
175

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" And is it possible .... is it possible that
you did not even weep? "
" No. I was stunned ; but where were the tears
to come from? Weep over the past, — but, you
see, it is entirely extirpated in my case! ....
Her behaviour itself did not destroy my happi
ness, but merely proved to me that it had never
existed. What was there to cry about? But,
who knows? — perhaps I should have been more
grieved if I had received this news two weeks
earlier  "
" Two weeks? " — returned Liza. " But what
has happened in those two weeks? "
Lavretzky made no answer, and Liza suddenly
blushed more furiously than before.
" Yes, yes, you have guessed it," — interposed
Lavretzky: — " in the course of those two weeks
I have learned what a pure woman's soul is like,
and my past has retreated still further from me."
Liza became confused, and softly walked
toward the flower-garden, to Lyenotchka and
Schurotchka. " And I am glad that I have shown you this
newspaper," — said Lavretzky, as he followed
her: — " I have already contracted the habit of
concealing nothing from you, and I hope that
you will repay me with the same confidence."
" Do you think so? " — said Liza, and stopped
short. " In that case, I ought to  but
no! That is impossible." 176

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" What is it? Speak, speak! "
" Really, it seems to me that I ought not. . . .
However," added Liza, and turned to Lavretzky
with a smile: — " what is half -frankness worth? —
Do you know? I received a letter to-day."
" From Panshin? "
" Yes, from him  How did you know? "
" He asks your hand? "
' Yes," — uttered Liza, and looked seriously
in Lavretzky's eyes.
Lavretzky, in his turn, gazed seriously at Liza.
' Well, and what reply have you made to
him? " — he said at last.
" I do not know what reply to make," — replied
Liza, and dropped her clasped hands.
" What? Surely, you like him? "
" Yes, he pleases me ; he seems to be a nice
man. . . ."
' You said the same thing to me, in those very
same words, three days ago. What I want to
know is, whether you love him with that strong,
passionate feeling which we are accustomed to
call love?"
" As you understand it, — no."
" You are not in love with him? "
" No. But is that necessary? "
"Of course it is!"
" Mamma likes him," — pursued Liza : — " he
is amiable; I have nothing against him."
" Still, you are wavering? "
177

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Yes . . . and perhaps, — your words may be
the cause of it. Do you remember what you said
day before yesterday? But that weakness . . . ."
"Oh, my child!" — suddenly exclaimed La
vretzky— and his voice trembled: — "do not
argue artfully, do not designate as weakness the
cry of your heart, which does not wish to surren
der itself without love. Do not take upon your
self that terrible responsibility toward a man
whom you do not love and to whom you do not
wish to belong. ..."
" I am listening, — I am taking nothing upon
myself. . ." Liza was beginning.
" Listen to your heart ; it alone will tell you the
truth," — Lavretzky interrupted her. . . " Ex
perience, reasoning — all that is stuff and non
sense! Do not deprive yourself of the best, the
only happiness on earth."
"Is it you, Feodor Ivanitch, who are speaks
ing thus? You, yourself, married for love — and
were you happy? "
Lavretzky wrung his hands.
" Akh, do not talk to me of that! You cannot
even understand all that a young, untried, ab
surdly educated lad can mistake for love! . . .
Yes, and in short, why calumniate one's self? I
just told you, that I had not known happiness
. ... no! I was happy!"
" It seems to me, Feodor Ivanitch," — said
Liza, lowering her voice (when she did not agree
178

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
with her interlocutor, she always lowered her
voice; and, at the same time, she became greatly
agitated) :— " happiness on earth does not de
pend upon us. ..."
" It does, it does depend upon us, believe me "
(he seized both her hands; Liza turned pale, and
gazed at him almost in terror, but with atten
tion) : — " if only we have not ruined our own
lives. For some people, a love-marriage may
prove unhappy; but not for you, with your calm
temperament, with your clear soul! I entreat
you, do not marry without love, from a sense of
duty, of renunciation, or anything else 
That, also, is want of faith, that is calculation, —
and even worse. Believe me, — I have a right to
speak thus: I have paid dearly for that right.
And if your God . . . ."
At that moment, Lavretzky noticed that Lye
notchka and Schurotchka were standing beside
Liza, and staring at him with dumb amazement.
He released Liza's hands, said hastily : " Pray
pardon me," — and walked toward the house.
" I have only one request to make of you," —
he said, returning to Liza: — " do not decide in
stantly, wait, think over what I have said to you.
Even if you have not believed me, if you have
made up your mind to a marriage of reason, —
even in that case, you ought not to marry Mr.
Panshin: he cannot be your husband. . . .
Promise me, will you not^ not to be in a hurry? "
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Liza tried to answer Lavretzky, but did not
utter a word, — not because she had made up her
mind " to be in a hurry "; but because her heart
was beating too violently, and a sensation re
sembling fear had stopped her breath.

180

XXX
As he was leaving the Kalitins' house, Lavretzky
encountered Panshin; they saluted each other
coldly. Lavretzky went home to his apartment,
and locked himself in. He experienced a sensa
tion such as he had, in all probability, never ex
perienced before. Had he remained long in that
state of " peaceful numbness "? had he long con
tinued to feel, as he had expressed it, " at the bot
tom of the river "? What had altered his posi
tion? what had brought him out, to the surface?
the most ordinary, inevitable though always un
expected of events; — death? Yes: but he did
not think so much about the death of his wife,
about his freedom, as, — what sort of answer
would Liza give to Panshin? He was conscious
that, in the course of the last three days, he had
come to look upon her with different eyes ; he re
called how, on returning home, and thinking
about her in the silence of the night, he had said
to himself: " If . . . ." That " if," wherein he
had alluded to the past, to the impossible, had
come to pass, although not in the way he had an
ticipated, — but this was little in itself. " She will
obey her mother," he thought, " she will marry
181

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Panshin; but even if she refuses him, — is it not
all the same to me? " As he passed in front of
the mirror, he cast a cursory glance at his face,
and shrugged his shoulders.
The day sped swiftly by in these reflections;
evening arrived. Lavretzky wended his way to
the Kalitins. He walked briskly, but approached
their house with lingering steps. In front of the
steps stood Panshin's drozhky. " Come," —
thought Lavretzky, — " I will not be an egoist,"
and entered the house. Inside he met no one,
and all was still in the drawing-room; he opened
the door, and beheld Marya Dmitrievna, playing
picquet with Panshin. Panshin bowed to him
in silence, and the mistress of the house uttered
a little scream: — "How unexpected!" — and
frowned slightly. Lavretzky took a seat by her
side, and began to look over her cards.
"Do you know how to play picquet?" — ¦
she asked him, with a certain dissembled vexa
tion, and immediately announced that she dis
carded. Panshin reckoned up ninety, and politely and
calmly began to gather up the tricks, with a
severe and dignified expression on his coun
tenance. That is the way in which diplomats
should play; probably, that is the way in which
he was wont to play in Petersburg, with some
powerful dignitary, whom he desired to impress
with a favourable opinion as to his solidity and
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
maturity. " One hundred and one, one hundred
and two, hearts; one hundred and three," — rang
out his measured tone, and Lavretzky could not
understand what note resounded in it: reproach
or self-conceit.
" Is Marfa Timofeevna to be seen? " — he
asked, observing that Panshin, still with great
dignity, was beginning to shuffle the cards. Not
a trace of the artist was, as yet, to be observed in
him. " Yes, I think so. She is in her own apart
ments, up-stairs," — replied Marya Dmitrievna:
- — " you had better inquire."
Lavretzky went up-stairs, and found Marfa
Timofeevna at cards also: she was playing
duratchki (fools) with Nastasya Karpovna.
Roska barked at him ; but both the old ladies wel
comed him cordially, and Marfa Timofeevna, in
particular, seemed to be in high spirits.
"Ah! Fedya! Pray come in," — she said: —
" sit down, my dear little father. We shall be
through our game directly. Wouldst thou like
some preserves? Schurotchka, get him a jar of
strawberries. Thou dost not want it ? Well, then
sit as thou art; but as for smoking — thou must
not: I cannot bear thy tobacco, and, moreover, it
makes Matros sneeze."
Lavretzky made haste to assert that he did
not care to smoke.
" Hast thou been down-stairs? " — went on the
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
old woman: — "whom didst thou see there? Is
Panshin still on hand, as usual? And didst thou
see Liza? No? She intended to come hither. . . .
Yes, there she is ; speak of an angel. . ."
Liza entered the room and, on perceiving La
vretzky, she blushed.
" I have run in to see you for a minute, Marfa
Timofeevna," she began. . . .
"Why for a minute?" — returned the old
woman. " What makes all you young girls such
restless creatures? Thou seest, that I have a
visitor: chatter to him, entertain him."
Liza seated herself on the edge of a chair,
raised her eyes to Lavretzky, — and felt that it
was impossible not to give him to understand how
her interview with Panshin had ended. But how
was that to be done ? She felt both ashamed and
awkward. She had not been acquainted with
him long, with that man who both went rarely
to church and bore with so much indifference
the death of his wife, — and here she was already
imparting her secrets to him. . . . He took an in
terest in her, it is true; she, herself, trusted him,
and felt attracted to him; but, nevertheless, she
felt ashamed, as though a stranger had entered
her pure, virgin chamber.
Marfa Timofeevna came to her assistance.
" If thou wilt not entertain him," — she began,
" who will entertain him, poor fellow? I am too
old for him, he is too clever for me, and for
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Nastasya Karpovna he is too old, you must give
her nothing but very young men."
"How can I entertain Feodor Ivanitch?" —
said Liza. — " If he likes, I will play something
for him on the piano," — she added, irresolutely.
' Very good indeed: that 's my clever girl," —
replied Marfa Timofeevna, — " Go down-stairs,
my dear people; when you are through, come
back ; for I have been left the ' fool,' and I feel
insulted, and want to win back."
Liza rose: Lavretzky followed her. As they
were descending the staircase, Liza halted.
"They tell the truth," — she began: — "when
they say that the hearts of men are full of contra
dictions. Your example ought to frighten me,
to render me distrustful of marriage for love,
but I  "
'You have refused him?" — interrupted La
vretzky. "No; but I have not accepted him. I told
him everything, everything that I felt, and asked
him to wait. Are you satisfied? " — she added,
with a swift smile, — and lightly touching the
railing with her hand, she ran down the stairs.
" What shall I play for you? " — she asked, as
she raised the lid of the piano.
" Whatever you like," — replied Lavretzky,
and seated himself in such a position that he could
watch her.
Liza began to play, and, for a long time, never
185

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
took her eyes from her fingers. At last, she
glanced at Lavretzky, and stopped short : so won
derful and strange did his face appear to her.
" What is the matter with you? " — she asked.
" Nothing,"- — he replied : — " all is very well
with me ; I am glad for you, I am glad to look at
you, — go on."
" It seems to me," — said Liza, a few moments
later: — " that if he really loved me, he would not
have written that letter ; he ought to have felt that
I could not answer him now."
" That is of no importance," — said Lavretzky:
¦ — " the important point is, that you do not love
him." " Stop, — what sort of a conversation is this! I
keep having visions of your dead wife, and you
are terrible to me ! "
" My Lizeta plays charmingly, does she not,
Valdemar? "- — Marya Dmitrievna was saying to
Panshin at the same moment.
" Yes," — replied Panshin ; — " very charm
ingly." Marya Dmitrievna gazed tenderly at her
young partner ; but the latter assumed a still more
important and careworn aspect, and announced
fourteen kings.

186

XXXI
Lavretzky was not a young man; he could not
long deceive himself as to the sentiments with
which Liza had inspired him; he became defin
itively convinced, on that day, that he had fallen
in love with her. This conviction brought no
great joy to him. " Is it possible," he thought,
" that at the age of five and thirty I have nothing
better to do than to put my soul again into the
hands of a woman ? But Liza is not like that one;
she would not require from me shameful sacri
fices; she would not draw me away from my oc
cupations; she herself would encourage me to
honourable, severe toil, and we would advance to
gether toward a fine goal. Yes," he wound up
his meditations : — " all that is good, but the bad
thing is, that she will not in the least wish to
marry me. It was not for nothing that she told
me, that I am terrible to her. On the other hand,
she does not love that Panshin either. ... A poor
consolation ! "
Lavretzky rode out to Vasilievskoe ; but he did
not remain four days, — it seemed so irksome to
him there. He was tortured, also, by expectancy :
the information imparted by M — r. Jules re-
187

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
quired confirmation, and he had received no let
ters. He returned to the town, and sat out the
evening at the Kalitins'. It was easy for him
to see, that Marya Dmitrievna had risen in revolt
against him; but he succeeded in appeasing her
somewhat by losing fifteen rubles to her at
picquet, — and he spent about half an hour alone
with Liza, in spite of the fact that her mother,
no longer ago than the day before, had advised
her not to be too familiar with a man "qui a un si
grand ridicule." He found a change in her: she
seemed, somehow, to have become more thought
ful, she upbraided him for his absence, and asked
him — would he not go to church on the following
morning (the next day was Sunday) ?
" Go," — she said to him, before he had suc
ceeded in replying: — " we will pray together for
the repose of her soul." — Then she added, that
she did not know what she ought to do, — she did
not know whether she had the right to make
Panshin wait any longer for her decision.
" Why? "—asked Lavretzky.
"Because," — said she: "I am already begin
ning to suspect what that decision will be."
She declared that her head ached, and went
off to her own room up-stairs, irresolutely offer
ing Lavretzky the tips of her fingers.
The next day, Lavretzky went to the morning
service. Liza was already in the church when
he arrived. She observed him, although she did
188

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
not turn toward him. She prayed devoutly; her
eyes sparkled softly, her head bent and rose
softly. He felt that she was praying for him
also, — and a wonderful emotion filled his soul.
He felt happy, and somewhat conscience-stricken.
The decorously-standing congregation, the fa
miliar faces, the melodious chanting, the odour of
the incense, the long, slanting rays of hght from
the windows, the very gloom of the walls and
vaulted roof, — all spoke to his ear. He had not
been in a church for a long time, he had not ap
pealed to God for a long time: and even now,
he did not utter any words of prayer, — he did
not even pray without words, but for a moment,
at least, if not in body, certainly with all his mind,
he prostrated himself and bowed humbly to the
very earth. He recalled how, in his childhood,
he had prayed in church on every occasion until
he became conscious of some one's cool touch on
his brow; " this," he had been accustomed to say
to himself at that time, " is my guardian-angel
accepting me, laying upon me the seal of the
chosen." He cast a glance at Liza. ..." Thou
hast brought me hither," he thought : — " do thou
also touch me, touch my soul." She continued
to pray in the same calm manner as before; her
face seemed to him joyful, and he was profoundly
moved once more ; he entreated for that other soul
— peace, for his own — pardon 
They met in the porch; she greeted him with
189

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
cheerful and amiable dignity. The sun brilliantly
illuminated the young grass in the churchyard,
and the motley-hued gowns and kerchiefs of the
women; the bells of the neighbouring churches
were booming aloft; the sparrows were chirping
in the hedgerows. Lavretzky stood with head un
covered, and smiled ; a light breeze lifted his hair,
and the tips of the ribbons on Liza's hat. He put
Liza into her carriage, distributed all his small
change to the poor, and softly wended his way
homeward.

XXXII
Difficult days arrived for Feodor Ivanitch.
He found himself in a constant fever. Every
morning he went to the post-office, with excite
ment broke the seals of his letters and newspapers,
— and nowhere did he find anything which might
have confirmed or refuted the fateful rumour.
Sometimes he became repulsive even to himself:
" Why am I thus waiting," — he said to himself,
" like a crow for blood, for the sure news of my
wife's death? " He went to the Kalitins' every
day; but even there he was no more at his ease:
the mistress of the house openly sulked at him,
received him with condescension ; Panshin treated
him with exaggerated courtesy; Lemm had be
come misanthropic, and hardly even bowed to
him, — and, chief of all, Liza seemed to avoid
him. But when she chanced to be left alone with
him, in place of her previous trustfulness, confu
sion manifested itself in her: she did not know
what to say to him, and he himself felt agitation.
In the course of a few days, Liza had become
quite different from herself as he had previously
known her: in her movements, her voice, in her
very laugh, a secret trepidation was perceptible,
191

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
an unevenness which had not heretofore existed.
Marya Dmitrievna, like the genuine egoist she
was, suspected nothing; but Marfa Timofeevna
began to watch her favourite. Lavretzky more
than once reproached himself with having shown
to Liza the copy of the newspaper which he had
received: he could not fail to recognise the fact,
that in his spiritual condition there was an ele
ment which was perturbing to pure feeling. He
also assumed that the change in Liza had been
brought about by her conflict with herself, by
her doubts : what answer should she give to Pan
shin? One day she brought him a book, one of
Walter Scott's novels, which she herself had
asked of him.
" Have you read this book? " — he asked.
" No ; I do not feel in a mood for books now,"
— she replied, and turned to go.
" Wait a minute : I have not been alone with
you for a long time. You seem to be afraid of
me. " Yes."
" Why so, pray? "
" I do not know."
Lavretzky said nothing for a while.
"Tell me," — he began: — "you have not yet
made up your mind? "
" What do you mean by that? " — she said,
without raising her eyes.
" You understand me. . . . "
192

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST,
Liza suddenly flushed up.
" Ask me no questions about anything," — she
ejaculated, with vivacity: — " I know nothing, I
do not even know myself  " And she im
mediately beat a retreat.
On the following day, Lavretzky arrived at the
Kalitins' after dinner, and found all prepara
tions made to have the Ail-Night Vigil service
held there.1 In one corner of the dining-room,
on a square table, covered with a clean cloth, small
holy pictures in gold settings, with tiny, dull
brilliants in their halos, were already placed,
leaning against the wall. An old man-servant,
in a grey frock-coat and slippers, walked the
whole length of the room in a deliberate manner,
and without making any noise with his heels, and
placed two wax tapers in slender candlesticks in
front of the holy images, crossed himself, made
a reverence, and softly withdrew. The unlighted
drawing-room was deserted. Lavretzky walked
down the dining-room, and inquired — was it not
some one's Name-day? He was answered, in a
whisper, that it was not, but that the Vigil ser
vice had been ordered at the desire of Lizaveta
Mikhailovna and Marfa Timofeevna ; that the in
tention had been to bring thither the wonder
working ikona, but it had gone to a sick person,
1 This service, consisting (generally) of Vespers and Matins, can be
read in private houses, and even by laymen: whereas, the Liturgy, or
Mass, must be celebrated at a duly consecrated altar, by a duly or
dained priest. —Translator.
193

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
thirty versts distant. There soon arrived, also, in
company with the chanters, the priest, a man
no longer young, with a small bald spot, who
coughed loudly in the anteroom; the ladies all
immediately trooped in single file from the bou
doir, and approached to receive his blessing;
Lavretzky saluted him in silence ; and he returned
the salute in silence. The priest stood still for
a short time, then cleared his throat again, and
asked in a low tone, with a bass voice:
"Do you command me to proceed?"
" Proceed, batiushka," — -replied Marya Dmi
trievna. He began to vest himself ; the chanter obsequi
ously asked for a live coal; the incense began to
diffuse its fragrance. The maids and lackeys
emerged from the anteroom and halted in a
dense throng close to the door. Roska, who
never came down-stairs, suddenly made his ap
pearance in the dining-room: they began to
drive him out, and he became confused, turned
around and sat down; a footman picked him
up and carried him away. The Vigil service
began. Lavretzky pressed himself into a corner ;
his sensations were strange, almost melancholy;
he himself was not able clearly to make out what
he felt. Marya Dmitrievna stood in front of
them all, before an arm-chair ; she crossed herself
with enervated carelessness, in regular lordly
fashion, — now glancing around her, again sud
denly casting her eyes upward: she was bored.

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Marfa Timofeevna seemed troubled; Nastasya
Karpovna kept prostrating herself, and rising
with a sort of modest, soft rustle; Liza took up
her stand, and never stirred from her place, never
moved; from the concentrated expression of her
countenance, it was possible to divine that she
was praying assiduously and fervently. When
she kissed the cross, at the end of the service, she
also kissed the priest's large, red hand. Marya
Dmitrievna invited him to drink tea; he took off
his stole, assumed a rather secular air, and passed
into the drawing-room with the ladies. A not
over animated conversation began. The priest
drank four cups of tea, incessantly mopping his
bald spot with his handkerchief, and narrated,
among other things, that merchant Avoshnikoff
had contributed seven hundred rubles to gild the
" cupola " of the church, and he also imparted
a sure cure for freckles. Lavretzky tried to seat
himself beside Liza, but she maintained a severe,
almost harsh demeanour, and never once glanced
at him; she appeared to be deliberately refrain
ing from noticing him; a certain cold, dignified
rapture had descended upon her. For some rea
son or other, Lavretzky felt inclined to smile un
interruptedly, and say something amusing; but
there was confusion in his heart, and he went
away at last, secretly perplexed. . . . He felt
that there was something in Liza into which he
could not penetrate.
On another occasion, Lavretzky, as he sat in
195

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
the drawing-room, and listened to the insinuating
but heavy chatter of Gedeonovsky, suddenly
turned round, without himself knowing why he
did so, and caught a deep, attentive, questioning
gaze in Liza's eyes  It was riveted on
him, that puzzling gaze, afterward. Lavretzky
thought about it all night long. He had not
fallen in love in boyish fashion, it did not suit him
to sigh and languish, neither did Liza arouse that
sort of sentiment; but love has its sufferings at
every age, — and he underwent them to the full.

XXXIII
One day, according to his custom, Lavretzky was
sitting at the Kalitins'. A fatiguingly-hot day
had been followed by so fine an evening, that
Marya Dmitrievna, despite her aversion to the
fresh air, had ordered all the windows and doors
into the garden to be opened, and had announced
that she would not play cards, that it was a sin
to play cards in such weather, and one must en
joy nature. Panshin was the only visitor. Tuned
up by the evening, and unwilling to sing before
Lavretzky, yet conscious of an influx of artistic
emotions, he turned to poetry: he recited well,
but with too much self -consciousness, and with
unnecessary subtleties, several of Lermontoff 's
poems (at that time, Pushkin had not yet become
fashionable again) — and, all at once, as though
ashamed of his expansiveness, he began, apropos
of the familiar " Thought," to upbraid and
reprove the present generation; in that connec
tion, not missing the opportunity to set forth,
how he would turn everything around in his own
way, if the power were in his hands. " Russia,"
said he, — " has lagged behind Europe ; she must
catch up with it. People assert, that we are young
197

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
— that is nonsense; and moreover, that we pos
sess no inventive genius: X . . . himself admits
that we have not even invented a mouse-trap.
Consequently, we are compelled, willy-nilly, to
borrow from others. ' We are ill,' — says Ler
montoff, — I agree with him; but we are ill be
cause we have only half converted ourselves into
Europeans ; that is where we have made our mis
take, and that is what we must be cured of." ("Le
cadastre," — thought Lavretzky). — "The best
heads among us," — he went on, — " les meilleurs
tetes — have long since become convinced of this ;
all nations are, essentially, alike; only introduce
good institutions, and there 's an end of the mat
ter. One may even conform to the existing na
tional life; that is our business, the business of
men . . . ." (he came near saying: "of states
men") "who are in the service; but, in case of
need, be not uneasy: the institutions will trans
form that same existence." Marya Dmitrievna,
with emotion, backed up Panshin. " What a
clever man this is," — she thought, — " talking in
my house ! " Liza said nothing, as she leaned
against a window-frame; Lavretzky also main
tained silence ; Marfa Timofeevna, who was play
ing cards in the corner with her friend, muttered
something to herself. Panshin strode up and
down the room, and talked eloquently, but with a
secret spite: he seemed to be scolding not the
whole race, but certain individuals of his ac-
198

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
quaintance. In the Kalitins' garden, in a large
lilac-bush, dwelt a nightingale, whose first even
ing notes rang forth in the intervals of this elo
quent harangue; the first stars lighted up in the
rosy sky, above the motionless crests of the lin
dens. Lavretzky rose, and began to reply to
Panshin; an argument ensued. Lavretzky de
fended the youth and independence of Russia;,
he surrendered himself, his generation as sacrifice,
— but upheld the new men, their convictions, and
their desires ; Panshin retorted in a sharp and irri
tating way, declared that clever men must reform
everything, and went so far, at last, that, forget
ting his rank of Junior Gentleman of the Im
perial Bedchamber, and his official career, he
called Lavretzky a " laggard conservative," he
even hinted, — in a very remote way, it is true, —
at his false position in society. Lavretzky did
not get angry, did not raise his voice (he remem
bered that Mikhalevitch also had called him a
laggard — only, a Voltairian) — and calmly van
quished Panshin on every point. He demon
strated to him the impossibility of leaps and
supercilious reforms, unjustified either by a
knowledge of the native land or actual faith in an
ideal, even a negative ideal ; he cited, as an exam
ple, his own education, and demanded, first of all,
a recognition of national truth and submission to
it, — that submission without which even boldness
against falsehood is impossible ; he did not evade,
199

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
in conclusion, the reproach — merited, in his opin
ion — of frivolous waste of time and strength.
" All that is very fine ! " — exclaimed the en
raged Panshin, at last: — "Here, you have re
turned to Russia, — what do you intend to do? "
"Till the soil," — replied Lavretzky: — "and
try to till it as well as possible."
" That is very praiseworthy, there 's no dis
puting that," — rejoined Panshin: — " and I have
been told, that you have already had great suc
cess in that direction; but you must admit, that
not every one is fitted for that sort of occu
pation. . . "
" Une nature poetique," — began Marya Dmi
trievna, — " of course, cannot till the soil . . . . et
puis, you are called, Vladimir Nikolaitch, to do
everything en grand."
This was too much even for Panshin: he
stopped short, and the conversation stopped short
also. He tried to turn it on the beauty of the
starry sky, on Schubert's music — but, for some
reason, it would not run smoothly; he ended, by
suggesting to Marya Dmitrievna, that he should
play picquet with her. — "What! on such an
evening?" — she replied feebly; but she ordered
the cards to be brought.
Panshin, with a crackling noise, tore open the
fresh pack, while Liza and Lavretzky, as though
in pursuance of an agreement, both rose, and
placed themselves beside Marfa Timofeevna.
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
They both, suddenly, felt so very much at ease
that they were even afraid to be left alone to
gether, — and, at the same time, both felt that the
embarrassment which they had experienced dur
ing the last few days had vanished, never more
to return. The old woman stealthily patted La
vretzky on the cheek, slyly screwed up her eyes,
and shook her head several times, remarking in
a whisper: " Thou hast got the best of the clever
fellow, thanks." Everything in the room became
still; the only sound was the faint crackling of
the wax candles, and, now and then, the tapping
of hands on the table, and an exclamation, or the
reckoning of the spots, — and the song, mighty,
resonant to the verge of daring, of the night
ingale, poured in a broad stream through the
window, in company with the dewy coolness.

201

XXXIV
Liza had not uttered a single word during the
course of the dispute between Lavretzky and
Panshin, but had attentively followed it, and had
been entirely on Lavretzky's side. Politics pos
sessed very little interest for her; but the self-
confident tone of the fashionable official (he had
never, hitherto, so completely expressed himself)
had repelled her ; his scorn of Russia had wounded
her. It had never entered Liza's head, that she
was a patriot; but she was at her ease with Rus
sian people ; the Russian turn of mind gladdened
her ; without any affectation, for hours at a time,
she chatted with the overseer of her mother's es
tate, when he came to town, and talked with him
as with an equal, without any lordly condescen
sion. Lavretzky felt all this: he would not have
undertaken to reply to Panshin alone; he had
been talking for Liza only. They said nothing
to each other, even their eyes met but rarely ; but
both understood that they had come very close
together that evening, understood that they
loved and did not love the same things. On only
one point did they differ ; but Liza secretly hoped
to bring him to God. They sat beside Marfa
202

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Timofeevna, and appeared to be watching her
play; and they really were watching it, — but, in
the meanwhile, their hearts had waxed great in
their bosoms, and nothing escaped them : for them
the nightingale was singing, the stars were shin
ing, and the trees were softly whispering, lulled
both by slumber and by the softness of the sum
mer, and by the warmth. Lavretzky surrendered
himself wholly to the billow which was bearing
him onward, — and rejoiced; but no word can ex
press that which took place in the young girl's
pure soul: it was a secret to herself; so let it
remain for all others. No one knows, no one has
seen, and no one ever will see, how that which is
called into life and blossom pours forth and ma
tures grain in the bosom of the earth.
The clock struck ten. Marfa Timofeevna went
off to her rooms up-stairs, with Nastasya Kar
povna; Lavretzky and Liza strolled through the
room, halted in front of the open door to the
garden, gazed into the dark distance, then at each
other — and smiled; they would have liked, it ap
peared, to take each other by the hand, and talk
their fill. They returned to Marya Dmitrievna
and Panshin, whose picquet had become pro
tracted. The last " king " came to an end at
length, and the hostess rose, groaning and sigh
ing, from the cushion-garnished arm-chair; Pan
shin took his hat, kissed Marya Dmitrievna's
hand, remarked that nothing now prevented other
203

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
happy mortals from going to bed, or enjoying
the night, but that he must sit over stupid papers
until the morning dawned, bowed coldly to Liza
(he had not expected that in reply to his offer
of marriage, she would ask him to wait, — and
therefore he was sulking at her) — and went
away. Lavretzky followed him. At the gate
they parted; Panshin aroused his coachman by
poking him with the tip of his cane in the neck,
seated himself in his drozhky, and drove off. La
vretzky did not feel like going home ; he walked
out beyond the town, into the fields. The night
was tranquil and bright, although there was no
moon ; Lavretzky roamed about on the dewy grass
for a long time; he came by accident upon a
narrow path; he walked along it. It led him to
a long fence, to a wicket-gate; he tried, without
himself knowing why, to push it open : it creaked
softly, and opened, as though it had been await
ing the pressure of his hand; Lavretzky found
himself in a garden, advanced a few paces along
an avenue of lindens, and suddenly stopped short
in amazement: he recognised the garden of the
Kalitins. He immediately stepped into a black blot of
shadow which was cast by a thick hazel-bush, and
stood for a long time motionless, wondering and
shrugging his shoulders.
" This has not happened for nothing," he
thought. 204

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Everything was silent round about ; not a sound
was borne to him from the direction of the house.
He cautiously advanced. Lo, at the turn in the
avenue, the whole house suddenly gazed at him
with its dark front ; only in two of the upper win
dows were lights twinkling: in Liza's room, a
candle was burning behind a white shade, and in
Marfa Timofeevna's bedroom a shrine-lamp was
glowing with a red gleam in front of the holy
pictures, reflecting itself in an even halo in the
golden settings; down-stairs, the door lead
ing out on the balcony yawned broadly, as it stood
wide open. Lavretzky seated himself on a
wooden bench, propped his head on his hand, and
began to gaze at the door and the window. Mid
night struck in the town; in the house, the small
clocks shrilly rang out twelve ; the watchman beat
with a riffle of taps on the board. Lavretzky
thought of nothing, expected nothing; it was
pleasant to him to feel himself near Liza, to sit in
her garden on the bench, where she also had sat
more than once  The light disappeared in
Liza's room.
" Good night, my dear girl," whispered La
vretzky, as he continued to sit motionless, and
without taking his eyes from the darkened
window. Suddenly a light appeared in one of the win
dows of the lower storey, passed to a second, a
third. . . . Some one was walking through the
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
rooms with a candle. " Can it be Liza? Im
possible !".... Lavretzky half rose to his feet.
A familiar figure flitted past, and Liza made her
appearance in the drawing-room. In a white
gown, with her hair hanging loosely on her
shoulders, she softly approached a table, bent over
it, set down the candle, and searched for some
thing; then, turning her face toward the garden,
she approached the open door, and, all white,
light, graceful, paused on the threshold. A
quiver ran through Lavretzky's limbs.
" Liza! "—burst from his lips, in barely audi
ble tones.
She started, and began to stare into the dark
ness. " Liza! " — repeated Lavretzky more loudly,
and emerged from the shadow of the avenue.
Liza, in alarm, stretched forth her head, and
staggered backward. He called her for the third
time, and held out his arms toward her. She left
the door, and advanced into the garden.
" Is it you?"— she said. — " Are you here? "
" It is I  I . . . listen to me," — whispered
Lavretzky, and, grasping her hand, he led her to
the bench.
She followed him without resistance; her pale
face, her impassive eyes, all her movements, were
expressive of unutterable amazement. Lavret
zky seated her on the bench, and himself took up
his stand in front of her. 206

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" I had no thought of coming hither, "— he be
gan : — " I came hither by chance  I . . . .
I ... I love you," — he said, with involuntary
terror. Liza slowly glanced at him; apparently, she
had only that moment comprehended where she
was, and that she was with him. She tried to
rise, but could not, and covered her face with her
hands. "Liza," — said Lavretzky: — "Liza," — he re
peated, and bowed down at her feet. . . .
Her shoulders began to quiver slightly, the
fingers of her pale hands were pressed more
tightly to her face.
" What is the matter with you? " — Lavretzky
uttered, and caught the sound of soft sobbing.
His heart turned cold. . . . He understood the
meaning of those tears. " Can it be that you
love me? " — he whispered, and touched her knee.
"Rise," he heard her voice: — "rise, Feodor
Ivanitch. What is this that you and I are
doing? "
He rose, and seated himself by her side on the
bench. She was no longer weeping, but was
gazing attentively at him with her wet eyes.
" I am frightened: what are we doing? " — she
repeated. " I love you," — he said again: — " I am ready
to give the whole of my life to you."
Again she shuddered, as though something
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
had stung her, and raised her gaze heaven
ward. " All this is in God's power," — -she said.
" But do you love me, Liza? Shall we be
happy? "
She dropped her eyes; he softly drew her to
him, and her head sank upon his shoulder. . . .
He turned her head a little to one side, and
touched her pale lips.
Half an hour later, Lavretzky was standing be
fore the wicket. He found it locked, and was
obliged to leap across the fence. He returned
to the town, and walked through the sleeping
streets. A sensation of great, of unexpected
happiness filled his soul; all doubts had died
within him. " Vanish, past, dark spectre," he
thought: " she loves me, she will be mine." All
at once, it seemed to him that in the air, over his
head, wondrous, triumphant sounds rang out;
the sounds rolled on still more magnificently; in
a chanting, mighty flood they streamed on, — and
in them, so it seemed, all his happiness was speak
ing and singing. He glanced around him: the
sounds were floating from two upper windows
of a tiny house.
" Lemm ! " — cried Lavretzky, and ran to the
house. — " Lemm! Lemm! " — he repeated loudly.
The sounds died away, and the figure of the
old man in his dressing-gown, with breast bare,
208

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
and hair dishevelled, made its appearance at the
window. "Aha!" — he said, with dignity: — "is that
you? "
" Christofor Feodoritch! what splendid music!
For God's sake, let me in."
The old man, without uttering a word, with
a majestic movement of the arm flung the door-
key out of the window into the street. Lavretzky
briskly ran up-stairs, entered the room, and was
on the point of rushing at Lemm, but the latter
imperiously motioned him to a chair; he said,
abruptly, in Russian: "Sit down and listen!"
seated himself at the piano, gazed proudly and
sternly about him, and began to play. It was
long since Lavretzky had heard anything of the
sort: a sweet, passionate melody, which gripped
the heart from its very first notes ; it was all beam
ing and languishing with inspiration, with hap
piness, with beauty; it swelled and melted away;
it touched everything which exists on earth of
precious, mysterious, holy; it breathed forth
deathless sadness, and floated away to die in
heaven. Lavretzky straightened himself up and
stood there, cold and pale with rapture. Those
sounds fairly sank into his soul, which had only
just been shaken with the bliss of love ; they them
selves were flaming with love. " Repeat it," —
he whispered, as soon as the last chord resounded.
The old man cast upon him an eagle glance,
209

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
struck his breast with his hand, and saying delib
erately, in his native language: — >" I made that,
for I am a great musician," — he again played his
wonderful composition. There was no candle
in the room; the light of the rising moon fell
aslant through the window; the sensitive air
trembled resonantly; the pale, little room seemed
a sanctuary, and the head of the old man rose
high and inspired in the silvery semi-darkness.
Lavretzky approached and embraced him. At
first, Lemm did not respond to his embrace, he
even repulsed it with his elbow; for a long time,
without moving a single limb, he continued to
gaze forth, as before, sternly, almost roughly,
and only bellowed a couple of times : " Aha ! "
At last his transfigured face grew calm, relaxed,
and, in reply to Lavretzky's warm congratula
tions, he first smiled a little, then fell to weeping,
feebly sobbing like a child.
"This is marvellous," — he said: — "that pre
cisely you should now have come ; but I know — I
know all."
'You know all?" — ejaculated Lavretzky, in
confusion. 'You have heard me," — returned Lemm: —
" have not you understood that I know all? "
Lavretzky could not get to sleep until the
morning: all night long, he sat on his bed. And
Liza did not sleep: she prayed.

210

XXXV
The reader knows how Lavretzky had grown up
and developed; let us say a few words about
Liza's bringing up. She was ten years old when
,her father died; but he had paid little heed to
her. Overwhelmed with business, constantly ab
sorbed in increasing his property, splenetic,
harsh, impatient, he furnished money unsparingly
for teachers, tutors, clothing, and the other wants
of the children; but he could not endure, as he
expressed it, " to dandle the squalling brats," —
and he had no time to dandle them: he worked,
toiled over his business, slept little, occasionally
played cards, worked again ; he compared himself
to a horse harnessed to a threshing-machine.
" My life has rushed by fast," he said on his death
bed, with a proud smile on his parched lips.
Marya Dmitrievna, in reality, troubled herself!
about Liza hardly more than did the father, al
though she had boasted to Lavretzky that she
alone had reared her children; she had dressed
Liza like a doll, in the presence of visitors had
patted her on the head, and called her, to her face,
a clever child and a darling — and that was all:
any regular care wearied the lazy gentlewoman.
211

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
During her father's lifetime, Liza had been in the
hands of a governess, Mile. Moreau, from Paris,
and after his death she had passed into the charge
of Marfa Timofeevna. The reader is acquainted
with Marfa Timofeevna ; but Mile. Moreau was a
tiny, wrinkled creature, with birdlike ways and a
tiny, birdlike mind. In her youth she had led
a very dissipated life, and in her riper years she
had but two passions left — for dainties and for
cards. When she was gorged, was not playing
cards, and not chattering, her face instantly as
sumed an almost deathlike expression: she would
sit, and gaze, and breathe, and it was evident
that no thought was passing through her head.
It was not even possible to call her good-
natured : there are also birds which are not good-
natured. Whether it was in consequence of her
frivolously-spent youth, or of the Paris air, which
she had breathed since her childhood, — she har
boured within her a certain cheap, general
scepticism, which is usually expressed by the
words : " tout pq c'est des betises." She talked
an irregular, but purely Parisian jargon, did not
gossip, was not capricious,— and what more could
be desired in a governess? On Liza she had little
influence; all the more powerful upon her was
the influence of her nurse, Agafya Vlasievna.
The lot of this woman was remarkable. She
sprang from a peasant family ; at the age of six
teen, they married her to a peasant; but there
212

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
was a sharp distinction between her and her sister-
peasant women. For twenty years her father
had been the village elder, had accumulated a
good deal of money, and had petted her. She was
a wonderful beauty, the most dashingly-elegant
peasant maid in all the country round about,
clever, a good talker, daring. Her master, Dmi
try Pestoff, the father of Marya Dmitrievna, a
modest, quiet man, caught sight of her one day
at the threshing, talked with her, and fell passion
ately in love with her.
Soon afterward, she became a widow; Pestoff,
although he was a married man, took her into his
house, and clothed her in the style of a house-
servant. Agafya immediately accommodated
herself to her new position, exactly as though she
had never lived in any other way. Her skin be
came white, she grew plump; her arms, under
their muslin sleeves, became " like fine wheat
flour," like those of a cook; the samovar stood
constantly on her table; she would wear nothing
but velvet and silk, she slept on a feather-bed of
down. This blissful life lasted for the space of
five years; but Dmitry Pestoff died: his widow,
a good-natured gentlewoman, desirous of sparing
her husband's memory, was not willing to be
have dishonourably toward her rival, the more
so, as Agafya had never forgotten herself before
her; but she married her to the cow-herd, and
sent her out of her sight. Three years passed.
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Once, on a hot summer day, the lady of the manor
went to her dairy. Agafya treated her to such
splendid cold cream, bore herself so modestly, and
was so neat in person, and so cheerful and satis
fied with everything, that her mistress announced
to her her pardon, and permitted her to come to
the manor-house; and six months later, she had
become so attached to her, that she promoted her
to the post of housekeeper, and entrusted the en
tire management to her. Again Agafya came
into power, again she grew plump and white-
skinned; her mistress had complete confidence
in her. In this manner, five more years elapsed.
Again misfortune fell upon Agafya. Her hus
band, whom she had had raised to the post of foot
man, took to drink, began to disappear from the
house, and wound up by stealing six of the fam
ily's silver spoons, and hiding them — until a con
venient opportunity — in his wife's chest. This
was discovered. He was again degraded to the
rank of cow-herd, and a sentence of disgrace was
pronounced upon Agafya; she was not banished
from the house, but she was reduced from the
place of housekeeper to that of seamstress, and
ordered to wear a kerchief on her head, instead
of a cap. To the amazement of all, Agafya ac
cepted the blow which had overtaken her with
humble submission. She was then over thirty
years of age, all her children had died, and her
husband did not long survive. The time had ar-
214

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
rived for her to come to a sense of her position;
she did so. She became very taciturn and devout,
never missed a single Matins service, nor a single
Liturgy, and gave away all her fine clothes. Fif
teen years she spent quietly, peacefully, with dig
nity, quarrelling with no one, yielding to every
one. If any one spoke rudely to her, — she merely
bowed, and returned thanks for the lesson. Her
mistress had forgiven her long since, had re
moved the ban from her, and had given her a
cap from her own head; but she herself refused
to remove her kerchief, and always went about
in a dark-hued gown ; and after the death of her
mistress, she became still more quiet and humble.
A Russian easily conceives fear and affection;
but it is difficult to win his respect: it is not soon
given, nor to every one. Every one in the house
respected Agafya; no one even recalled her for
mer sins, as though they had been buried in the
earth, along with the old master.
When Kalitin became the husband of Marya
Dmitrievna, he wished to entrust the housekeep
ing to Agafya; but she declined, " because of the
temptation " ; he roared at her, she made him a
lowly reverence, and left the room. The clever
Kalitin understood people; and he also under
stood Agafya, and did not forget her. On re
moving his residence to the town, he appointed
her, with her own consent, as nurse to Liza, who
had just entered her fifth year.
215

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
At first, Liza was frightened by the serious
and stern face of her new nurse ; but she speedily
became accustomed to her, and conceived a strong
affection for her. She herself was a serious child ;
her features recalled the clear-cut, regular face
of Kalitin; only, she had not her father's eyes;
hers beamed with a tranquil attention and kind
ness which are rare in children. She did not like
to play with dolls, her laughter was neither loud
nor long, she bore herself with decorum. She
was not often thoughtful, and was never so with
out cause; after remaining silent for a time, she
almost always ended by turning to some one of
her elders, with a question which showed that her
brain was working over a new impression. She
very early ceased to lisp, and already in her fourth
year she spoke with perfect distinctness. She
was afraid of her father; her feeling toward her
mother was undefined, — she did not fear her,
neither did she fondle her ; but she did not fondle
Agafya either, although she loved only her alone.
Agafya and she were never separated. It was
strange to see them together. Agafya, all in
black, with a dark kerchief on her head, with a face
thin and transparent as wax, yet still beautiful
and expressive, would sit upright, engaged in
knitting a stocking; at her feet, in a little arm
chair, sat Liza, also toiling over Some sort of
work, or, with her bright eyes uplifted gravely,
listening to what Agafya was relating to her, and
216

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Agafya did not tell her fairy-stories; in a meas
ured, even voice, she would narrate the life of the
Most-pure Virgin, the lives of the hermits, the
saints of God, of the holy martyrs ; she would tell
Liza how the holy men lived in the deserts, how
they worked out their salvation, endured hunger
and want, — and, fearing not kings, confessed
Christ; how the birds of heaven brought them
food, and the wild beasts obeyed them; how on
those spots where their blood fell, flowers sprang
up. — ¦" Yellow violets? " — one day asked Liza,
who was very fond of flowers. . . . Agafya
talked gravely and meekly to Liza, as though she
felt that it was not for her to utter such lofty and
sacred words. Liza listened to her — and the
image of the Omnipresent, Omniscient God pene
trated into her soul with a certain sweet power,
filled her with pure, devout awe, and Christ be
came for her a person close to her, almost a rela
tive: and Agafya taught her to pray. Some
times she woke Liza early, at daybreak, hastily
dressed her, and surreptitiously took her to
Matins: Liza followed her on tiptoe, hardly
breathing; the chill and semi-obscurity of the
dawn, the freshness and emptiness of the streets,
the very mysteriousness of these unexpected ab
sences, the cautious return to the house, to bed, —
all this mingling of the forbidden, the strange,
the holy, agitated the little girl, penetrated into
the very depths of her being. Agafya never con-
217

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
demned anybody, and did not scold Liza for her
pranks. When she was displeased over anything,
she simply held her peace; and Liza understood
that silence ; with the swift perspicacity of a child,
she also understood very well when Agafya was
displeased with other people — with Marya Dmi'
trievna herself, or with Kalitin. Agafya took
care of Liza for a little more than three years;
she was replaced by Mile. Moreau ; but the frivo
lous Frenchwoman, with her harsh manners and
her exclamation : " tout pa c'est des betises," —
could not erase from Liza's heart her beloved
nurse: the seeds which had been sown had struck
down roots too deep. Moreover, Agafya, al
though she had ceased to have charge of Liza, re
mained in the house, and often saw her nursling.
who confided in her as before.
But Agafya could not get along with Marfa
Timofeevna, when the latter came to live in the
Kalitin house. The stern dignity of the former
" peasant woman " did not please the impatient
and self-willed old woman. Agafya begged per
mission to go on a pilgrimage, and did not return.
Dark rumours circulated, to the effect that she
had withdrawn to a convent of Old Ritualists.
But the traces left by her in Liza's soul were not
effaced. As before, the latter went to the Liturgy
as to a festival, prayed with delight, with a cer
tain repressed and bashful enthusiasm, which se
cretly amazed Marya Dmitrievna not a little, al-
218

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
though she put no constraint upon Liza, but
merely endeavoured to moderate her zeal, and did
not permit her to make an excessive number of
prostrations: that was not lady-like manners, she
said. Liza studied well, — that is to say, assidu
ously ; God had not endowed her with particularly
brilliant capacities, with a great mind; she ac
quired nothing without labour. She played well
on the piano ; but Lemm alone knew what it cost
her. She read little ; she had no " words of her
own," but she had thoughts of her own, and she
went her own way. It was not for nothing that
she resembled her father: he, also, had not been
wont to ask others what he should do. Thus she
grew up — quietly, at leisure; thus she attained
her nineteenth year. She was very pretty, with
out herself being aware of the fact. An uncon
scious, rather awkward grace revealed itself in her
every movement; her voice rang with the silvery
sound of unaffected youth, the slightest sensa
tion of pleasure evoked a winning smile on her
hps, imparted a deep gleam and a certain mys
terious caress to her sparkling eyes. Thoroughly
imbued with the sense of duty, with the fear of
wounding any one whatsoever, with a kind and
gentle heart, she loved every one in general, and
no one in particular; God alone she loved with
rapture, timidly, tenderly. Lavretzky was the
first to break in upon her tranquil inner life.
Such was Liza. 219

XXXVI
At twelve o'clock on the following day, La
vretzky set out for the Kalitins'. On the way
thither, he met Panshin, who galloped past him
on horseback, with his hat pulled down to his
very eyebrows. At the Kalitins', Lavretzky was
not admitted, — for the first time since he had
known them. Marya Dmitrievna was " lying
down," — so the lackey announced ; " they " had
a headache. Neither Marfa Timofeevna nor
Lizaveta Mikhailovna was at home. Lavretzky
strolled along the garden, in anxious hope of
meeting Liza, but saw no one. He returned a
couple of hours later, and received the same an
swer, in connection with which the lackey be
stowed a sidelong glance upon him. It seemed
to Lavretzky impolite to intrude himself upon
them for a third time that day — and he decided
to drive out to Vasilievskoe, where, without ref
erence to this, he had business to attend to. On
the way he constructed various plans, each more
beautiful than the other ; but in his aunt's hamlet,
sadness fell upon him; he entered into conversa
tion with Anton; the old man, as though ex
pressly, had nothing but cheerless thoughts in his
220

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
mind. He narrated to Lavretzky, how Glafira
Petrovna, before her death, had bitten her own
hand, — and, after a short pause, he added:
" Every man, master — dear little father, is given
to devouring himself." It was already late when
Lavretzky set out on the return journey. The
sounds of the preceding day took possession of
him, the image of Liza arose in his soul in all its
gentle transparency; he melted at the thought
that she loved him, — and drove up to his little
town-house in a composed and happy frame of
mind. The first thing which struck him on entering
the anteroom was the scent of patchouli, which
was very repulsive to him; several tall trunks
and coffers were standing there. The face of the
valet who ran forth to receive him seemed to him
strange. Without accounting to himself for his
impressions, he crossed the threshold of the draw
ing-room  From the couch there rose to
greet him a lady in a black gown with flounces,
and raising a batiste handkerchief to her pale
face, she advanced several paces, bent her care
fully-dressed head, — and fell at his feet. . . .
Then only did he recognise her: the lady was —
his wife.
It took his breath away. . . He leaned against
the wall.
" Theodore, do not drive me away! " — she said
in French, and her voice cut his heart like a knife.
221

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
He glanced at her without comprehending, yet
he immediately noticed that she had grown pale
and thin.
" Theodore," — she went on, from time to time
raising her eyes, and cautiously wringing her
wondrously-beautiful fingers, with rosy, polished
nails: — " Theodore, I am to blame toward you,
deeply to blame, — I will say more, I am a crim
inal ; but do you listen to me ; repentance tortures
me, I have become a burden to myself, I could
not longer endure my position; how many times
have I meditated returning to you, but I feared
your wrath ; — I have decided to break every con
nection with the past .... puis, j'ai ete si malade,
— I have been so ill,"- — she added, and passed her
hand across her brow and her cheek, — " I haye
taken advantage of the rumour of my death which
had got into circulation, I have abandoned every
thing; without halting, day and night I have
hastened hither ; I have hesitated, for a long time,
to present myself before you, my judge — paraitre
devant vous, mon juge, — but, at last, I made up
my mind, remembering your invariable kindness,
to come to you; I learned your address in Mos
cow. Believe me," she continued, softly rising
from the floor, and seating herself on the very
edge of an arm-chair: — " I have often meditated
death, and I would have summoned up sufficient
courage to take my life — akh, life is now an in
tolerable burden to me! — but the thought of my
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
daughter, of my Adotchka, held me back; she
is here, she is asleep in the adjoining room, poor
child! She is weary, — you shall see her: she, at
least, is not guilty toward you, — and I am so un
happy, so unhappy! " — exclaimed Mme. Lavret
zky, and burst into tears.
Lavretzky came to himself, at last; he sep
arated himself from the wall, and moved toward
the door.
"You are going away?" — said his wife, in
despair: — "oh, this is cruel! — Without saying
one word to me, without even one reproach. . . .
This scorn is killing me, this is terrible! "
Lavretzky stopped short.
" What is it that you wish to hear from me? "
— he uttered, in a toneless voice.
" Nothing, nothing," — she caught him up with
vivacity: — " I know that I have no right to de
mand anything ; — I am not a fool, believe me ; —
I do not hope, I do not dare to hope for your
forgiveness ; — I only venture to entreat you, that
you will give me directions what I am to do,
where I am to live? — I will fulfil your command,
whatever it may be, like a slave."
" I have no commands to give you," — returned
Lavretzky, in the same voice : — " you know, that
everything is at an end between us . . . and
now more than ever. — You may live where you
see fit ; — and if your allowance is insufficient . . ."
" Akh, do not utter such dreadful words," —
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Varvara Pavlovna interrupted him: — " spare me,
if only .... if only for the sake of that
angel  " And, as she said these words,
Varvara Pavlovna flew headlong into the next
room, and immediately returned with a tiny, very
elegantly dressed little girl in her arms. Heavy,
ruddy -gold curls fell over her pretty, rosy little
face, over her large, black, sleepy eyes; she
smiled, and blinked at the light, and clung with
her chubby hand to her mother's neck.
"Ada, vois, c'est ton pere," — said Varvara Pav
lovna, pushing the curls aside from her eyes, and
giving her a hearty kiss : — " prie le avec moi."
" C'est pa, papa? " — lisped the little girl,
brokenly. "Oui, mon enfant, n'est ce pas, que tu I'aimes? "
But this was too much for Lavretzky.
" In what melodrama is it that there is pre
cisely such a scene? " — he muttered, and left the
room. Varvara Pavlovna stood for a while rooted to
the spot, slightly shrugged her shoulders, carried
the little girl into the other room, undressed her,
and put her to bed. Then she got a book, sat
down near the lamp, waited for about an hour,
and, at last, lay down on the bed herself.
"Eh bien, madame? " — inquired her maid, a
Frenchwoman, whom she had brought from Paris,
as she removed her corsets.
"Eh bien j Justine" — she replied; — "he has
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
aged greatly, but it strikes me that he is as good-
natured as ever. — Give me my gloves for the
night, prepare my high-necked grey gown for to
morrow; and do not forget the mutton chops for
Ada. . . . Really, it will be difficult to obtain
them here; but we must make the effort."
"A la guerre, comme a la guerre," — responded
Justine, and put out the light.

225

XXXVII
For more than two hours Lavretzky roamed
about the streets of the town. The night which he
had spent in the suburbs of Paris recurred to his
mind. His heart swelled to bursting within him,
and in his head, which was empty, and, as it were,
stunned, the same set of thoughts kept swirling,
— dark, wrathful, evil thoughts. " She is alive,
she is here," he whispered, with constantly aug
menting amazement. He felt that he had lost
Liza. Bile choked him ; this blow had struck him
too suddenly. How could he so lightly have be
lieved the absurd gossip of a feuilleton, a scrap
of paper? " Well, and if I had not believed it,
what difference would that have made? I should
not have known that Liza loves me; she herself
would not have known it." He could not banish
from himself the form, the voice, the glances of
his wife .... and he cursed himself, cursed every
thing in the world.
Worn out, he arrived toward morning at
Lemm's. For a long time, he could produce no
effect with his knocking; at last, the old man's
head, in a nightcap, made its appearance in the
226

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
window, sour, wrinkled, no longer bearing the
slightest resemblance to that inspiredly-morose
head which, four and twenty hours previously,
had gazed on Lavretzky from the full height of
its artistic majesty.
"What do you want? "—inquired Lemm: —
" I cannot play every night; I have taken a de
coction." — But, evidently, Lavretzky's face was
very strange: the old man made a shield for his
eyes out of his hands, stared at his nocturnal
visitor, and admitted him.
Lavretzky entered the room, and sank down
on a chair; the old man halted in front of him,
with the skirts of his motley-hued, old dressing-
gown tucked up, writhing and mumbling with
his lips.
" My wife has arrived,"— said Lavretzky,
raising his head, and suddenly breaking into an
involuntary laugh.
Lemm's face expressed surprise, but he did not
even smile, and only wrapped himself more
closely in his dressing-gown.
" You see, you do not know," — went on La
vretzky: — " I imagined .... I read in a news
paper, that she was no longer alive."
" O — o, you read that a short time ago? " —
asked Lemm.
" Yes."
" O — o," — repeated the old man, and elevated
his eyebrows. — " And she has arrived? "
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Yes. She is now at my house ; but I ... I
am an unhappy man."
And again he broke into a laugh.
" You are an unhappy man," — repeated
Lemm, slowly.
" Christofor Feodoritch," — began Lavretzky:
— " will you undertake to deliver a note? "
" H'm. May I inquire, to whom? "
" To Liza. . . ."
" Ah, — yes, yes, I understand. Very well.
But when must the note be delivered? "
" To-morrow, as early as possible."
" H'm. I can send Katrina, my cook. No, I
will go myself."
" And will you bring me the answer? "
" Yes, I will"
Lemm sighed.
" Yes, my poor young friend ; you really are
— an unhappy man."
Lavretzky wrote a couple of words to Liza:
he informed her of his wife's arrival, begged her
to appoint a meeting, — and flung himself on the
narrow divan, face to the wall; and the old man
lay down on the bed, and tossed about for a long
time, coughing and taking sips of his decoction.
Morning came : they both rose. With strange
eyes they gazed at each other. Lavretzky wanted
to kill himself at that moment. The cook, Ka
trina, brought them some bad coffee. The clock
struck eight. Lemm put on his hat, and saying
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
that he had a lesson to give at the Kalitins' at
nine, but that he would find a decent pretext, set
out. Lavretzky again flung himself on the little
couch, and again, from the depths of his soul, a
sorrowful laugh welled up. He thought of how
his wife had driven him out of his house ; he pic
tured to himself Liza's position, closed his eyes,
and threw his hands behind his head. At last
Lemm returned, and brought him a scrap of pa
per, on which Liza had scrawled with pencil the
following words : " We cannot see each other to
day; perhaps — to-morrow evening. Farewell."
Lavretzky quietly and abstractedly thanked
Lemm, and went to his own house.
He found his wife at breakfast ; Ada, all curls,
in a white frock with blue ribbons, was eating a
mutton chop. Varvara Pavlovna immediately
rose, as soon as Lavretzky entered the room, and
approached him, with humility depicted on her
face. He requested her to follow him to his
study, locked the door behind him, and began to
stride to and fro; she sat down, laid one hand
modestly on the other, and began to watch him
with her still beautiful, although slightly painted
eyes. For a long time Lavretzky did not speak: he
felt that he could not control himself; he per
ceived clearly, that Varvara Pavlovna was not in
the least afraid of him, but was assuming the air
of being on the very verge of falling into a swoon.
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Listen, madam," — he began, at last, breath
ing heavily at times, grinding his teeth :— " there
is no necessity for our dissembling with each
other; I do not believe in your repentance; and
even if it were genuine, it is impossible for me to
become reconciled to you, to live with you again."
Varvara Pavlovna compressed her lips and
narrowed her eyes. " This is disgust," — she
thought: — " of course! I am no longer even a
woman to him."
" It is impossible," — repeated Lavretzky, and
buttoned up his coat to the throat. — " I do not
know why you have taken it into your head to
come hither: probably, you have no money
left." "Alas! you are insulting me," — whispered
Varvara Pavlovna.
" However that may be, — you are, unhappily,
my wife, nevertheless. I cannot turn you out
.... and this is what I have to propose to you.
You may set out, this very day, if you like, for
Lavriki, and live there ; the house is good, as you
know; you will receive all that is necessary, in
addition to your allowance. . . . Do you agree? "
Varvara Pavlovna raised her embroidered
handkerchief to her eyes.
" I have already told you," — she said, her lips
twitching nervously : — " that I shall agree to any
thing whatever you may see fit to do with me : on
this occasion, nothing is left for me to do, except
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
to ask you: will you permit me, at least, to thank
you for your magnanimity? "
" No gratitude, I beg of you; it is better so," —
hastily returned Lavretzky. — " Accordingly," —
he went on, approaching the door: — "I may
count upon . . . ."
" To-morrow I shall be at Lavriki," — said Var
vara Pavlovna, respectfully rising from her seat.
— " But, Feodor Ivanitch " (she no longer called
him Theodore) ....
" What do you want? "
" I know that I have, as yet, in no way earned
my forgiveness; may I hope, at least, in
time . . . ."
" Ekh, Varvara Pavlovna," — Lavretzky in
terrupted her: — " you are a clever woman, and as
I am not a fool, I know that that is quite un
necessary for you. And I forgave you long ago ;
but there was always a gulf between us."
" I shall know how to submit,"- — replied Var
vara Pavlovna, and bowed her head. " I have
not forgotten my fault; I should not be sur
prised to learn that you were even delighted
at the news of my death," — she added gently,
pointing slightly with her hand at the copy of the
newspaper which lay on the table, forgotten by
Lavretzky. Feodor Ivanitch shuddered : the f euilleton was
marked with a pencil. Varvara Pavlovna gazed
at him with still greater humility. She was very
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
pretty at that moment. Her grey Paris gown
gracefully clothed her willowy form, which was
almost that of a girl of seventeen; her slender,
delicate neck encircled with a white collar, her
bosom which rose and fell evenly, her arms de
void of bracelets and rings, — her whole figure,
from her shining hair to the tip of her barely
revealed little boot, was so elegant 
Lavretzky swept an angry glance over her,
came near exclaiming: " Brava! " came near smit
ing her in the temple with his fist — and left
the room. An hour later, he had already set out
for Vasilievskoe, and two hours later, Varvara
Pavlovna gave orders that the best carriage in
town should be engaged, donned a simple straw
hat with a black veil, and a modest mantle, en
trusted Ada to Justine, and set out for the Kali
tins: from the inquiries instituted by her servant
she had learned that her husband was in the habit
of going to them every day.

232

XXXVIII
The day of the arrival of Lavretzky's wife in
town of O * * *, a cheerless day for him, was
also a painful day for Liza. She had not suc
ceeded in going down-stairs and bidding her
mother " good morning," before the trampling of
a horse's hoofs resounded under the window, and
with secret terror she beheld Panshin riding into
the yard : " He has presented himself thus early
for a definitive explanation," — she thought — and
she was not mistaken; after spending a while in
the drawing-room, he suggested that she should
go with him into the garden, and demanded her
decision as to his fate. Liza summoned up her
courage, and informed him that she could not be
his wife. He listened to her to the end, as he
stood with his side toward her, and his hat pulled
down on his brows ; courteously, but in an altered
tone, he asked her: was that her last word, and
had he, in any way, given her cause for such a
change in her ideas? then he pressed his hand to
his eyes, sighed briefly and abruptly, and removed
his hand from his face.
" I have not wished to follow the beaten path,"
— he said, in a dull voice, — " I have wished to find
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
my companion after the inclination of the heart ;
but, evidently, that was not destined to be. Fare
well, dream!" — He bowed profoundly to Liza,
and returned to the house.
She hoped that he would immediately take his
departure ; but he went into Marya Dmitrievna's
boudoir, and sat with her for about an hour. As
he went away, he said to Liza : " Votre mere vous
appelle; adieu a jamais . . '." mounted his horse,
and set off from the very porch at full gallop.
Liza went in to Marya Dmitrievna, and found
her in tears : Panshin had communicated to her his
misfortune. "Why hast thou killed me? Why hast thou
killed me? " — in this wise did the mortified widow
begin her complaints. — " Whom else didst thou
want? What! is not he a suitable husband for
thee? A Junior Gentleman of the Emperor's
Bedchamber! not interessant! He might marry
any Maid of Honour he chose in Petersburg.
And I — I had been hoping so! And hast thou
changed long toward him? What has sent this
cloud drifting hither — it did not come of itself!
Can it be that ninny? A pretty counsellor thou
hast found!
" And he, my dear one,"— pursued Marya
Dmitrievna : — " how respectful, how attentive,
even in his own grief! He has promised not to
abandon me. Akh, I shall not survive this ! Akh,
I have got a deadly headache. Send Palasha to
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
me. Thou wilt be the death of me, if thou dost
not change thy mind, — dost thou hear? " And
calling her an ingrate a couple of times, Marya
Dmitrievna sent Liza away.
She went to her own room. But before she had
time to recover her breath from her explanation
with Panshin and her mother, another thunder
storm broke over her, and this time from a quar
ter whence she had least expected it. Marfa
Timofeevna entered her room, and immediately
slammed the door behind her. The old woman's
face was pale, her cap was awry, her eyes were
flashing, her hands and lips were trembling.
Liza was amazed: never before had she seen her
sensible and reasonable aunt in such a state.
" Very fine, madam," — began Marfa Timo
feevna, in a tremulous and broken whisper: " very
fine indeed! From whom hast thou learned this,
my mother? . . . Give me water; I cannot speak."
" Calm yourself, aunty ; what is the matter with
you? " — said Liza, giving her a glass of water. —
" Wny> y°u yourself did not favour Mr. Pan
shin." Marfa Timofeevna set down the glass.
" I cannot drink : I shall knock out my last re
maining teeth. What dost thou mean by Pan
shin? What has Panshin to do with it? Do thou
tell me, rather, who taught thee to appoint rendez
vous by night — hey? my mother? "
Liza turned pale. 235

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Please do not think of excusing thyself," —
continued Marfa Timofeevna. — " Schurotchka
herself saw all, and told me. I have forbidden
her to chatter, but she does not lie."
" I have made no excuses, aunty," — said Liza,
in a barely audible voice.
"Ah, ah! Now, see here, my mother; didst
thou appoint a meeting with him, with that old
sinner, that quiet man? "
" No."
" Then how did it come about? "
" I went down-stairs, to the drawing-room, for
a book; he was in the garden, and called me."
"And thou wentest? Very fine. And thou
lovest him, dost thou not? "
" I do," — replied Liza, in a tranquil voice.
"Gracious heavens! she loves him!" — Marfa
Timofeevna tore off her cap. — " She loves a mar
ried man! Hey? she loves! "
" He told me," — began Liza ....
" What did he tell thee, the darling, wha-at
was it?"
" He told me that his wife was dead."
Marfa Timofeevna crossed herself. — " The
kingdom of heaven be hers,"— she whispered: —
" she was a frivolous woman — God forgive her.
So that 's how it is : then he 's a widower. Yes, I
see that he is equal to anything. He killed off his
first wife, and now he 's after another. Thou art
a sly one, art thou not? Only, this is what I have
to say to thee, niece: in my time, when I was
236

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
young, girls were severely punished for such
capers. Thou must not be angry with me, my
mother ; only fools get angry at the truth. I have
given orders that he is not to be admitted to-day.
I am fond of him, but I shall never forgive him
for this. A widower, forsooth! Give me some
water. . . But thou art my brave girl, for send
ing Panshin off with a long face ; only, do not sit
out nights with that goat's breed, — with men, —
do not grieve me, an old woman ! For I am not
always amiable — I know how to bite, also ! . . . .
A widower! "
Marfa Timofeevna departed, but Liza sat
down in the corner and began to cry. She felt
bitter in soul ; she had not deserved such humilia
tion. Her love had not announced its presence
by cheerfulness ; this was the second time she had
wept since the night before. That new, unex
pected feeling had barely come to life in her
heart when she had had to pay so heavily for it,
when strange hands had roughly touched her
private secret! She felt ashamed, and pained,
and bitter : but there was neither doubt nor terror
in her, — and Lavretzky became all the dearer to
her. She had hesitated as long as she did not
understand herself; but after that meeting — she
could hesitate no longer ; she knew that she loved,
— and had fallen in love honourably, not jest
ingly, she had become strongly attached, for her
whole life; she felt that force could not break
that bond. 237

XXXIX
Marya Dmitrievna was greatly perturbed
when the arrival of Varvara Pavlovna was an
nounced to her; she did not even know whether
to receive her; she was afraid of offending Feo
dor Ivanitch. At last, curiosity carried the day.
" What of it? " — she said to herself, — " why, she
is a relative also,"— and seating herself in her
arm-chair, she said to the lackey: "Ask her in! "
Several minutes elapsed; the door opened, Var
vara Pavlovna approached Marya Dmitrievna
swiftly, with barely audible footsteps, and, with
out giving her a chance to rise from her chair,
almost went down on her knees before her.
" Thank you, aunty," — she began in a touched
and gentle voice, in Russian: "thank you! I
had not hoped for such condescension on your
part; you are as kind as an angel."
As she uttered these words, Varvara Pavlovna
unexpectedly took possession of one of Marya
Dmitrievna's hands, and pressing it lightly in her
pale-lilac gloves, obsequiously raised it to her full,
rosy lips. Marya Dmitrievna completely lost
her head, on beholding such a beautiful, charm
ingly-dressed woman, almost on her knees at her
238

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
feet; she did not know what to do: she did not
wish to withdraw her hand, she wished to give
her a seat, and to say something amiable to her;
she ended by rising, and kissing Varvara Pav
lovna on her smooth, fragrant brow. Varvara
Pavlovna was perfectly dumfounded by this kiss.
" Good morning,— &ore jour" — said Marya
Dmitrievna : — " of course, I had no idea, ....
however, of course, I am delighted to see you.
You understand, my dear, — it is not for me to sit
in judgment between wife and husband."
" My husband is wholly in the right," — Var
vara Pavlovna interrupted her: — " I alone am to
blame." " That is a very praiseworthy sentiment," —
returned Marya Dmitrievna : — " very. Have
you been here long? Have you seen him? But
sit down, pray."
" I arrived yesterday," — replied Varvara Pav
lovna, meekly seating herself on a chair ; " I have
seen Feodor Ivanitch, I have talked with him."
" Ah! Well, and how does he take it? "
" I was afraid that my sudden arrival would
arouse his wrath,"- — went on Varvara Pavlovna:
— " but he did not deprive me of his presence."
" That is to say, he did not .... Yes, yes, I
understand," — ejaculated Marya Dmitrievna. —
" He is only rather rough in appearance, but his
heart is soft."
"Feodor Ivanitch has not forgiven me; he
239

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
would not listen to me. . . . But he was so kind
as to appoint Lavriki for my place of residence."
" Ah ! A very fine estate ! "
"I set out thither to-morrow, in compliance
with his will; but I considered it my duty to call
on you first."
" I am very, very grateful to you, my dear.
One must never forget one's relatives. And, do
you know, I am astonished that you speak Rus
sian so well. C'est etonnant! "
Varvara Pavlovna sighed.
" I have spent too much time abroad, Marya
Dmitrievna, I know that; but my heart has al
ways been Russian, and I have not forgotten my
native land."
" Exactly so, exactly so; that is the best of all.
Feodor Ivanitch, however, did not in the least ex
pect you. . . . Yes; believe my experience; la
patrie avant tout. Akh, please show me, — what a
charming mantle that is you have on! "
"Do you like it?" — Varvara Pavlovna
promptly dropped it from her shoulders. — " It
is a very simple thing, from Madame Baudran."
" That is instantly perceptible. From Madame
Baudran. . . . How charming, and what taste!
I am convinced that you have brought with you
a mass of the most entrancing things. I should
like to look them over."
" My entire toilette is at your service, my dear
est aunt. If you will permit, I can give your
240

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
maid some points. I have a maid-servant from
Paris, — a wonderful seamstress."
" You are very kind, my dear. But, really, I
am ashamed."
"Ashamed! . . ." repeated Varvara Pavlovna,
reproachfully. — " If you wish to make me happy,
— command me, as though I belonged to you."
Marya Dmitrievna thawed.
"Vous etes charmante," she said. — " But why
do not you take off your bonnet, your gloves? "
" What? You permit? " — asked Varvara Pav
lovna, clasping her hands, as though with emotion.
" Of course ; for you will dine with us, I hope.
I .... I will introduce you to my daughter." —
Marya Dmitrievna became slightly confused.
" Well! here goes! " — she said to herself. — " She
is not quite well to-da.j."
" Oh, ma tante, how kind you are! " — ex
claimed Varvara Pavlovna, and raised her hand
kerchief to her eyes.
A page announced the arrival of Gedeonovsky.
The old chatterbox entered, made his bows, and
smiled. Marya Dmitrievna presented him to her
visitor. He came near being discomfited at first ;
but Varvara Pavlovna treated him with such
coquettish respect, that his ears began to burn,
and fibs, scandals, amiable remarks trickled out
of his mouth like honey. Varvara Pavlovna lis
tened to him with a repressed smile, and became
rather talkative herself. She modestly talked
241

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
about Paris, about her travels, about Baden;
twice she made Marya Dmitrievna laugh, and on
each occasion she heaved another little sigh, as
though she were mentally reproaching herself for
her ill-timed mirth ; she asked permission to bring
Ada; removing her gloves, she showed, with her
smooth hands washed with soap a la guimauve,
how and where flounces, ruches, lace, and knots
of ribbon were worn; she promised to bring a
phial of the new English perfume, Victoria's Es
sence, and rejoiced like a child when Marya Dmi
trievna consented to accept it as a gift; she wept
at the remembrance of the feeling she had ex
perienced when, for the first time, she had heard
the Russian bells ; — " so profoundly did they
stagger my very heart," — she said.
At that moment, Liza entered.
From the morning, from the very moment
when, chilled with terror, she had perused La
vretzky's note, Liza had been preparing herself
to meet his wife ; she had a presentiment that she
should see her, by way of punishment to her own
criminal hopes, as she called them. She had made
up her mind not to shun her. The sudden cri
sis in her fate had shaken her to the very foun
dations; in the course of about two hours her
face had grown haggard; but she did not shed
a tear. " It serves me right! " — she said to her
self, with difficulty and agitation suppressing in
her soul certain bitter, spiteful impulses, which
242

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
alarmed even herself: — " Come, I must go
down!" — she thought, as soon as she heard of
Mme. Lavretzky's arrival, and she went. . . .
For a long time she stood outside the door of the
drawing-room, before she could bring herself to
open it ; with the thought : " I am to blame toward
her," — she crossed the threshold, and forced her
self to look at her, forced herself to smile. Var
vara Pavlovna advanced to meet her as soon as
she saw her, and made a slight but nevertheless
respectful inclination before her. — " Allow me
to introduce myself," — she began, in an insin
uating voice: — " your maman is so indulgent to
ward me, that I hope you will also be  kind."
The expression on Varvara Pavlovna's face, as
she uttered this last word, her sly smile, her cold
and at the same time soft glance, the movement
of her arms and shoulders, her very gown, her
whole being, aroused in Liza such a feeling of
repulsion, that she could make her no answer, and
with an effort she offered her hand. " This
young lady despises me," — thought Varvara
Pavlovna, as she warmly pressed Liza's cold fin
gers, and, turning to Marya Dmitrievna, she said
in an undertone : "Mais elle est delicieuse! " Liza
flushed faintly, insult was audible to her in this
exclamation; but she made up her mind not to
trust her impressions, and seated herself by the
window, at her embroidery-frame. Even there,
Varvara Pavlovna did not leave her in peace : she
243

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
went up to her, began to praise her taste, her
art. . . . Liza's heart beat violently and pain
fully, she could hardly control herself, she could
hardly sit still on her chair. It seemed to her
that Varvara Pavlovna knew everything, and,
secretly triumphing, was jeering at her. For
tunately for her, Gedeonovsky entered into con
versation with Varvara Pavlovna, and distracted
her attention. Liza bent over her embroidery-
frame, and stealthily watched her. " He loved
that woman," — she said to herself. But she im
mediately banished from her head the thought of
Lavretzky: she was afraid of losing control over
herself, she felt that her head was softly whirling.
Marya Dmitrievna began to talk about music.
" I have heard, my dear," — she began:—" that
you are a wonderful performer."
"It is a long time since I have played," — re
plied Varvara Pavlovna, as she seated herself, in
a leisurely manner, at the piano, and ran her fin
gers in a dashing way over the keys. — " Would
you like to have me play? "
" Pray do."
Varvara Pavlovna played a brilliant and diffi
cult etude of Herz in a masterly style. She had
a great deal of strength and execution.
" A sylph ! " — exclaimed Gedeonovsky.
"Remarkable!" — assented Marya Dmitri
evna.—" Well, Varvara Pavlovna, I must con
fess," — she said, calling her, for the first time,
244

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
by her name : — " you have amazed me ; you might
even give concerts. We have an old musician
here, a German, an eccentric fellow, very learned ;
he gives Liza lessons; he will simply go out of
his mind over you."
" Lizaveta Mikhailovna is also a musician? " —
inquired Varvara Pavlovna, turning her head
slightly in her direction.
' Yes, she plays quite well, and loves music;
but what does that signify, in comparison with
you? But there is a young man here; you ought
to make his acquaintance. He is — an artist in
soul, and composes very prettily. He is the only
one who can fully appreciate you."
" A young man? " — said Varvara Pavlovna. —
" Who is he? Some poor fellow? "
" Good gracious, — he 's our chief cavalier, and
not among us only — et a Petersbourg. A Junior
Gentleman of the Bedchamber, received in the
best society. You certainly must have heard of
him, — Panshin, Vladimir Nikolaitch. He is here
on a government commission .... a future Min
ister, upon my word ! "
"And an artist?"
" An artist in soul, and such a charming fel
low. You shall see him. He has been at my
house very frequently of late ; I have invited him
for this evening; I hope that he will come," — ¦
added Marya Dmitrievna, with a gentle sigh and
a sidelong bitter smile. 245

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Liza understood the significance of that smile ;
but she cared nothing for it.
" And is he young? " — repeated Varvara Pav
lovna, lightly modulating from one key to an
other. " He is eight and twenty — and of the most
happy personal appearance. Un jeune homme
accompli, upon my word."
" A model young man, one may say," — re
marked Gedeonovsky.
Varvara Pavlovna suddenly began to play a
noisy Strauss waltz, which started with such a
mighty and rapid trill as made even Gedeonov
sky start; in the very middle of the waltz, she
abruptly changed into a mournful motif, and
wound up with the aria from "Lucia": " Fra
poco." . . . She had reflected that merry music
was not compatible with her situation. The aria
from " Lucia," with emphasis on the sentimental
notes, greatly affected Marya Dmitrievna.
"What soul!" — she said, in a low tone, to
Gedeonovsky. "A sylph!" — repeated Gedeonovsky, and
rolled his eyes heavenward.
Dinner-time arrived. Marfa Timofeevna
came down-stairs when the soup was already
standing on the table. She treated Varvara Pav
lovna very coolly, replying with half-words to her
amiabilities, and not looking at her. Varvara Pav
lovna herself speedily comprehended that she
246

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
could do nothing with the old woman, and ceased
to address her; on the other hand, Marya Dmi
trievna became more affectionate than ever with
her guest: her aunt's discourtesy enraged her.
However, Varvara Pavlovna was not the only
person at whom Marfa Timofeevna refused to
look: she never cast a glance at Liza, either, al
though her eyes fairly flashed. She sat like a
stone image, all sallow, pale, with tightly com
pressed lips — and ate nothing. Liza seemed to
be composed; and, as a matter of fact, all had
become more tranquil in her soul; a strange in
sensibility, the insensibility of the man condemned
to death, had come upon her. At dinner Varvara
Pavlovna talked little: she seemed to have be
come timid once more, and spread over her face
an expression of modest melancholy. Gedeo
novsky alone enlivened the conversation with his
tales, although he kept casting cowardly glances
at Marfa Timofeevna, and a cough and tickling
in the throat seized upon him every time that he
undertook to lie in her presence, — but she did not
hinder him, she did not interrupt him. After
dinner it appeared that Varvara Pavlovna was
extremely fond of preference; this pleased Ma
rya Dmitrievna to such a degree, that she even
became greatly affected, and thought to herself:
— " But what a fool Feodor Ivanitch must be : he
was not able to appreciate such a woman ! "
She sat down to play cards with her and
247

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Gedeonovsky, while Marfa Timofeevna led Liza
off to her own rooms up-stairs, saying that she
looked ill, that her head must be aching.
" Yes, she has a frightful headache," — said
Marya Dmitrievna, turning to Varvara Pav
lovna, and rolling up her eyes. — " I myself have
such sick-headaches  " Liza entered her
aunt's room and dropped on a chair, exhausted.
Marfa Timofeevna gazed at her for a long time,
in silence, knelt down softly in front of her — and
began, in the same speechless manner, to kiss
her hands, in turn. Liza leaned forward, blushed,
and fell to weeping, but did not raise Marfa
Timofeevna, did not withdraw her hands: she
felt that she had not the right to withdraw them,
had not the right to prevent the old woman show
ing her contrition, her sympathy, asking her par
don for what had taken place on the day before ;
and Marfa Timofeevna could not have done with
kissing those poor, pale, helpless hands — and si
lent tears streamed from her eyes and from Liza's
eyes ; and the cat Matros purred in the wide arm
chair beside the ball of yarn and the stocking,
the elongated flame of the shrine-lamp quivered
gently and flickered in front of the holy picture,
— in the adjoining room, behind the door, stood
Nastasya Karpovna, and also stealthily wiped
her eyes, with a checked handkerchief rolled up
into a ball.

248

XL
And, in the meantime, down-stairs in the draw
ing-room preference was in progress; Marya
Dmitrievna won, and was in high spirits. A
footman entered, and announced the arrival of
Panshin. Marya Dmitrievna dropped her cards, and
fidgeted about in her chair; Varvara Pavlovna
looked at her with a half -smile, then directed her
gaze to the door. Panshin made his appearance,
in a black frock-coat, with a tall English collar,
buttoned up to the throat. " It was painful for
me to obey, but you see I have come." That was
what his freshly-shaved, unsmiling face ex
pressed. " Goodness, Woldemar," — exclaimed Marya
Dmitrievna: — " you always used to enter without
being announced! "
Panshin replied to Marya Dmitrievna merely
with a look, bowed courteously to her, but did
not kiss her hand. She introduced him to Var
vara Pavlovna; he retreated a pace, bowed to
her with equal courtesy, but with a shade of ele
gance and deference, and seated himself at the
card-table. The game of preference soon came
to an end. Panshin inquired after Lizaveta Mi-
249

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
khaflovna, learned that she did not feel quite well,
and expressed his regrets; then he entered into
conversation with Varvara Pavlovna, weighing
and chiselling clearly every word, in diplomatic
fashion, respectfully listening to her replies to the
very end. But the importance of his diplomatic
tone had no effect on Varvara Pavlovna, did not
communicate itself to her. Quite the contrary:
she gazed into his face with merry attention,
talked in a free-and-easy way, and her delicate
nostrils quivered slightly, as though with sup
pressed laughter. Marya Dmitrievna began to
extol her talent; Panshin inclined his head as
politely as his collar permitted, declared that " he
was convinced of it in advance," — and turned
the conversation almost on Metternich himself.
Varvara Pavlovna narrowed her velvety eyes,
and saying, in a low tone : " Why, you also are an
artist yourself, un confrere," — added in a still
lower tone : " Venez! " — and nodded her head in
the direction of the piano. That one carelessly
dropped word : " Venez! " — instantaneously, as
though by magic, altered Panshin's entire aspect.
His careworn mien vanished; he smiled, became
animated, unbuttoned his coat, and repeating:
" What sort of an artist am I, alas ! But you, I
hear, are a genuine artist "• — wended his way, in
company with Varvara Pavlovna, to the piano.
"Make him sing his romance: — 'When the
moon floats,' " — exclaimed Marya Dmitrievna.
250

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Do you sing? " — said Varvara Pavlovna, il
luminating him with a bright, swift glance. —
" Sit down."
Panshin began to decline.
" Sit down," — she repeated, insistently tap
ping the back of the chair.
He sat down, coughed, pulled open his collar,
and sang his romance.
"Charmant! " — said Varvara Pavlovna : —
" you sing beautifully, vous avez du style, — sing
it again." She walked round the piano, and took up her
stand directly opposite Panshin. He sang his
romance again, imparting a melodramatic quiver
to his voice. Varvara Pavlovna gazed intently
at him, with her elbows propped on the piano,
and her white hands on a level with her lips.
Panshin finished.
"Charmant, charmante idee," — said she, with
the calm confidence of an expert. — " Tell me,
have you written anything for the female voice,
for a mezzo-soprano? "
" I hardly write anything," — replied Panshin ;
— " you see, I only do this sort of thing in the in
tervals between business affairs .... but do
you sing? "
"Yes."" Oh! do sing something for us," — said Marya
Dmitrievna. Varvara Pavlovna pushed back her hair from
251

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
her flushed cheeks with her hand, and shook her
head. " Our voices ought to go well together," — she
said, turning to Panshin : — " let us sing a duet.
Do you know ' Son geloso,' or ' La ci darem,' or
' Mira la bianca luna ' ? "
" I used to sing ' Mira la bianca luna,' " — re
plied Panshin: — "but I have forgotten it long
ago." " Never mind, we will try it over in an under
tone. Let me come."
Varvara Pavlovna sat down at the piano. Pan
shin stood beside her. They sang the duet in an
undertone, Varvara Pavlovna correcting him sev
eral times ; then they sang it aloud, then they re
peated it twice : " Mira la bianca lu . . . u . . . una."
Varvara Pavlovna's voice had lost its freshness,
but she managed it very adroitly. Panshin was
timid at first, and sang rather out of tune, but
later on he warmed up, and if he did not sing
faultlessly, at least he wriggled his shoulders,
swayed his whole body, and elevated his hand
now and then, like a genuine singer. Varvara
Pavlovna played two or three little things of
Thalberg's, and coquettishly " recited " a French
ariette. Marya Dmitrievna no longer knew how
to express her delight; several times she was on
the point of sending for Liza; Gedeonovsky, also,
found no words and merely rocked his head, — but
all of a sudden he yawned, and barely succeeded
252

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
in concealing his mouth with his hand. This
yawn did not escape Varvara Pavlovna; she sud
denly turned her back to the piano, said: "Assez
de musique, comme pa; let us chat," — and folded
her hands. " Oui, assez de musique," — merrily
repeated Panshin — and struck up a conversation
with her, — daring, light, in the French language.
" Exactly as in the best Parisian salon," —
thought Marya Dmitrievna, as she listened to
their evasive and nimble speeches. Panshin felt
perfectly contented ; his eyes sparkled, he smiled ;
at first, he passed his hand over his face, con
tracted his brows, and sighed spasmodically when
he chanced to meet the glances of Marya Dmi
trievna; but later on, he entirely forgot her, and
surrendered himself completely to the enjoyment
of the half -fashionable, half -artistic chatter.
Varvara Pavlovna showed herself to be a great
philosopher: she had an answer ready for every
thing, she did not hesitate over anything, she
doubted nothing; it could be seen that she had
talked much and often with clever persons of
various sorts. All her thoughts, all her feelings,
circled about Paris. Panshin turned the conver
sation on literature: it appeared that she, as well
as he, read only French books: Georges Sand
excited her indignation; Balzac she admired, al
though he fatigued her; in Sue and Scribe she
discerned great experts of the heart; she adored
Dumas and Feval; in her soul she preferred
253

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Paul de Kock to the whole of them, but, of
course, she did not even mention his name. To
tell the truth, literature did not interest her
greatly. Varvara Pavlovna very artfully avoided
everything which could even distantly recall her
position; there was not a hint about love in her
remarks: on the contrary, they were rather dis
tinguished by severity toward the impulses of
passion, by disenchantment, by meekness. Pan
shin retorted; she disagreed with him .... but,
strange to say ! — at the very time when words of
condemnation, often harsh, were issuing from her
lips, the sound of those words caressed and ener
vated, and her eyes said  precisely what
those lovely eyes said, it would be difficult to
state; but their speech was not severe, not clear,
yet sweet. Panshin endeavoured to understand
their mysterious significance, endeavoured to talk
with his own eyes, but he was conscious that he
was not at all successful; he recognised the fact
that Varvara Pavlovna, in her quality of a genu
ine foreign lioness, stood above him, and there
fore he was not in full control of himself. Var
vara Pavlovna had a habit, while talking, of
lightly touching the sleeve of her interlocutor;
these momentary touches greatly agitated Vla
dimir Nikolaitch. Varvara Pavlovna possessed
the art of getting on easily with every one; two
hours had not elapsed before it seemed to Pan
shin that he had known her always, and Liza,
254

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
that same Liza, whom he loved, nevertheless, to
whom he had offered his hand on the preceding
day, — vanished as in a mist. Tea was served ; the
conversation became still more unconstrained.
Marya Dmitrievna rang for her page, and or
dered him to tell Liza to come down-stairs if her
head felt better. Panshin, on hearing Liza's
name, set to talking about self-sacrifice, about
who was the more capable of sacrifice — man or
woman? Marya Dmitrievna immediately be
came agitated, began to assert that woman is
the more capable, declared that she would prove
it in two words, got entangled, and wound up
by a decidedly infelicitous comparison. Varvara
Pavlovna picked up a music-book, half -concealed
herself with it, and leaning over in the direction
of Panshin, nibbling at a biscuit, with a calm
smile on her lips and in her glance, she remarked,
in an undertone : "Elle n'a pas invente la poudre,
la bonne dame." Panshin was somewhat alarmed
and amazed at Varvara Pavlovna's audacity ; but
he did not understand how much scorn for him,
himself, was concealed in that unexpected sally,
and, forgetting the affection and the devotion of
Marya Dmitrievna, forgetting the dinners where
with she had fed him, the money which she had
lent him, — he, with the same little smile, the same
tone, replied (unlucky wight!) : " Je crois bien,"
—and not even: "Je crois bien," but: — "Je crois
ben! " 255

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Varvara Pavlovna cast a friendly glance at
him, and rose. Liza had entered; in vain had
Marfa Timofeevna sought to hold her back: she
had made up her mind to endure the trial to the
end. Varvara Pavlovna advanced to meet her,
in company with Panshin, on whose face the for
mer diplomatic expression had again made its
appearance. " How is your health? " — he asked Liza.
" I feel better now, thank you," — she replied.
" We have been having a little music here; it is
a pity that you did not hear Varvara Pavlovna.
She sings superbly, un artiste consommee."
" Come here, ma cherie," — rang out Marya
Dmitrievna's voice.
Varvara Pavlovna instantly, with the submis-
siveness of a little child, went up to her, and
seated herself on a small tabouret at her feet.
Marya Dmitrievna had called her for the pur
pose of leaving her daughter alone with Panshin,
if only for a moment : she still secretly cherished
the hope that the girl would come to her senses.
Moreover, a thought had occurred to her, to
which she desired to give immediate expression.
" Do you know," — she whispered to Varvara
Pavlovna: — "I want to make an effort to re
concile you with your husband : I do not guarantee
success, but I will try. You know that he has
great respect for me."
Varvara Pavlovna slowly raised her eyes to
256

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Marya Dmitrievna, and clasped her hands
prettily. " You would be my saviour, ma tante," — she
said, in a mournful voice : — " I do not know how
to thank you for all your affection ; but I am too
guilty toward Feodor Ivanitch; he cannot for
give me."
" But is it possible that you .... really  "
began Marya Dmitrievna, with curiosity.
" Do not ask me," — Varvara Pavlovna inter
rupted her, and dropped her eyes. — " I was
young, giddy. . . . However, I do not wish to
defend myself."
" Well, nevertheless, why not make the effort?
Do not despair," — returned Marya Dmitrievna,
and was on the point of patting her on the shoul
der, but glanced at her face — and grew timid.
" She is a modest, modest creature," — she
thought, — " and exactly like a young girl still."
" Are you ill? " — Panshin was saying, mean
while, to Liza.
" Yes, I am not very well."
" I understand you," — he said, after a rather
prolonged silence. — " Yes, I understand you."
"How so?"
" I understand you," — significantly repeated
Panshin, who simply did not know what to say.
Liza became confused, and then said to her
self: " So be it! " Panshin assumed a mysterious
air, and fell silent, gazing severely to one side.
257

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" But the clock has struck eleven, I think,"—
remarked Marya Dmitrievna.
The guests understood the hint, and began to
take their leave. Varvara Pavlovna was made to
promise that she would come to dinner on the
morrow, and bring Ada; Gedeonovsky, who had
almost fallen asleep as he sat in one corner, of
fered to escort her home. Panshin solemnly sa
luted every one, and at the steps, as he put Var
vara Pavlovna into her carriage, he pressed her
hand and shouted after her : "Au revoir!" Gedeo
novsky seated himself by her side; all the way
home, she amused herself by placing the tip of
her foot on his foot, as though by accident; he
became confused, and paid her compliments; she
giggled and made eyes at him when the light
from a street-lantern fell on the carriage. The
waltz which she had herself played, rang in her
head, and excited her; wherever she happened to
find herself, all she had to do was to imagine to
herself lights, a ball-room, the swift whirling to
the sounds of music — and her soul went fairly
aflame, her eyes darkened strangely, a smile hov
ered over her lips, something gracefully-bacchic
was disseminated all over her body. On arriving
at home, Varvara Pavlovna sprang lightly from
the carriage,- — only fashionable lionesses know
how to spring out in that way, — turned to Ge
deonovsky, and suddenly burst into a ringing
laugh, straight in his face. 258

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" A charming person," — thought the State
Councillor, as he wended his way homeward to his
lodgings, where his servant was awaiting him
with a bottle of eau de Cologne : — " it is well that
I am a staid man .... only, what was she
laughing at? "
Marfa Timofeevna sat all night long by Liza's
pillow.

259

XLI
Lavretzky spent a day and a half at Vasiliev
skoe, and during nearly the whole of that time
he wandered about the neighbourhood. He could
not remain long in one place: anguish gnawed
him; he experienced all the torture of incessant,
impetuous, and impotent impulses. He recalled
the feeling which had taken possession of his
soul on the day following his arrival in the coun
try; he recalled his intentions at that time, and
waxed very angry with himself. What could
have torn him away from that which he recog
nised as his duty, the sole task of his future? The
thirst for happiness — once more, the thirst for
happiness! — " Obviously, Mikhalevitch is right,"
he thought. " Thou hast wished once more to
taste of happiness in life,"— he said to himself, —
" thou hast forgotten what a luxury, what an
unmerited mercy it is when it has visited a man
even once. It was not complete, thou wilt say?
But put forth thy claims to complete, genuine
happiness ! Look about thee : who of those around
thee is blissful, who enjoys himself? Yonder,
a peasant is driving to the reaping; perchance,
he is satisfied with his lot. . . . What of that?
Wouldst thou change with him? Remember
thy mother: how insignificantly small were her
260

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
demands, and what lot fell to her share? Thou
hast, evidently, only been bragging before Pan
shin, when thou saidst to him, that thou hadst
come to Russia in order to till the earth; thou
hast come in order to run after the girls in thine
old age. The news of thy freedom came, and
thou didst discard everything, thou didst forget
everything, thou didst run like a little boy after
a butterfly." .... Liza's image uninterruptedly
presented itself before his thoughts; with an ef
fort he drove it away, as he did also another
importunate image, other- imperturbably-craf ty,
beautiful, and detested features. Old Anton no
ticed that his master was not himself ; after heav
ing several sighs outside the door, and several
more on the threshold, he made up his mind to
approach him, and advised him to drink some
thing warm. Lavretzky shouted at him, ordered
him to leave the room, but afterward begged his
pardon ; but this caused Anton to grow still more
disconsolate. Lavretzky could not sit in the
drawing-room ; he felt as though his great-grand
father Andrei were gazing scornfully from the
canvas at his puny descendant. — " Ekh, look out
for thyself! thou art sailing in shoal water! " his
lips, pursed up on one side, seemed to be saying.
" Can it be," — he thought, — " that I shall not be
able to conquer myself, — that I shall give in to
this — nonsense?" (The severely -wounded in war
always call their wounds " nonsense." If a man
261

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
could not deceive himself, — he could not live on
the earth.) "Am I really a miserable little boy?
Well, yes: I have beheld close by, I have almost
held in my hand, the possibility of happiness for
my whole life — it has suddenly vanished; and in
a lottery, if you turn the wheel just a little fur
ther, a poor man might become a rich one. If it
was not to be, it was not to be, — and that 's the
end of the matter. 1 11 set to work, with clenched
teeth, and I will command myself to hold my
tongue ; luckily, it is not the first time I have had
to take myself in hand. And why did I run
away, why am I sitting here, with my head
thrust into a bush, like an ostrich? To be afraid
to look catastrophe in the face — is nonsense! —
Anton!" — he called loudly, — "order the taran
tas to be harnessed up immediately. Yes," —
he meditated once more, — " I must command
myself to hold my tongue, I must keep a tight
rein on myself." ....
With such arguments did Lavretzky strive to
alleviate his grief; but it was great and powerful;
I and even Apraxyeya, who had outlived not so
' much her mind as every feeling, even Apraxyeya
shook her head, and sorrowfully followed him
with her eyes, when he seated himself in the
tarantas, in order to drive to the town. The
horses galloped off; he sat motionless and up
right, and stared impassively ahead along the
road. 262

XLII
Liza had written to Lavretzky on the day be
fore, that he was to come to their house in the
evening ; but he first went up to his own quarters.
He did not find either his wife or his daughter at
home ; from the servants he learned that she had
gone with her to the Kalitins'. This news both
startled and enraged him. " Evidently, Varvara
Pavlovna is determined not to give me a chance to
live,"— he thought, with the excitement of wrath
in his heart. He began to stride to and fro,
incessantly thrusting aside with his feet and
hands the child's toys, the books, and the femi
nine appurtenances which came in his way; he
summoned Justine, and ordered her to remove all
that " rubbish." — " Oui, monsieur," — said she,
with a grimace, and began to put the room in
order, gracefully bending, and giving Lavretzky
to understand, by every movement, that she re
garded him as an unlicked bear. With hatred he
watched her worn but still " piquant," sneering,
Parisian face, her white cuffs, her silken apron,
and light cap. He sent her away, at last, and
after long wavering (Varvara Pavlovna still did
not return) he made up his mind to betake him-
263

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
self to the Kalitins', — not to Marya Dmitrievna
¦ — (not, on any account, would he have entered
her drawing-room, that drawing-room where his
wife was) , but to Marfa Timofeevna; he remem
bered that a rear staircase from the maids' en
trance led straight to her rooms. This is what
Lavretzky did. Chance favoured him: in the
yard he met Schurotchka; she conducted him to
Marfa Timofeevna. He found her, contrary to
her wont, alone ; she was sitting in a corner, with
hair uncovered, bowed over, with her hands clasped
in her lap. On perceiving Lavretzky, the old
woman was greatly alarmed, rose briskly to her
feet, and began to walk hither and yon in the
room, as though in search of her cap.
" Ah, here thou art, here thou art," — she began,
avoiding his gaze, and bustling about — " well,
how do you do? Come, what now? What is to
be done? Where wert thou yesterday? Well, she
has come, — well, yes. Well, we must just 
somehow or other."
Lavretzky dropped into a chair.
" Come, sit down, sit down," — went on the old
woman. — -" Thou hast come straight up-stairs.
Well, yes, of course. What? thou art come to
look at me? Thanks."
The old woman was silent for a while ; Lavret
zky did not know what to say to her ; but she un
derstood him.
" Liza .... yes, Liza was here just now," —
264

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
went on Marfa Timofeevna, tying and untying
the cords of her reticule. " She is not quite well.
Schurotchka, where art thou? Come hither, my
mother, why canst thou not sit still? And I have
a headache. It must be from that — from the sing
ing and from the music."
" From what singing, aunty? "
" Why, of course, they keep singing — what
do you call it? — duets. And always in Italian:
tchi-tchi, and tcha-tcha, regular magpies. They
begin to drag the notes out, and it 's just like tug
ging at your soul. Panshin and that wife of
yours. And all that has come about so quickly;
already they are on the footing of relatives, they
do not stand on ceremony. However, I will say
this much: even a dog seeks a refuge; no harm
will come to her, so long as people don't turn her
out." " Nevertheless, I must confess that I did not
expect this," — replied Lavretzky: — "it must
have required great boldness."
" No, my dear soul, that is not boldness ; it is i
calculation. The Lord be with her — I want
nothing to do with her! They tell me that thou
art sending her to Lavriki, — is it true? "
" Yes, I am placing that estate at the disposal
of Varvara Pavlovna."
" Has she asked for money? "
" Not yet."
" Well, it will not be long before she does.
265

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
But I have only just taken a good look at thee.
Art thou well? "
" Yes."
" Schurotchka," — suddenly cried Marfa Timo
feevna : — " go, and tell Lizaveta Mikhailovna —
that is to say, no, ask her . . . she 's down-stairs,
isn't she?"
" Yes, ma'am."
" Well, yes; then ask her: ' Where did she put
my book? ' She knows."
" I obey, ma'am."
Again the old woman began to bustle about,
and to open the drawers of her commode. La
vretzky sat motionless on his chair.
Suddenly light footsteps became audible on
the stairs — and Liza entered. Lavretzky rose
to his feet, and bowed ; Liza halted by the door.
" Liza, Lizotchka," — said Marfa Timofeevna
hastily; — "where is my book, where didst thou
put my book? "
" What book, aunty? "
" Why, my book; good heavens! However, I
did not call thee .... Well, it makes no differ
ence. What are you doing there — down-stairs?
See here, Feodor Ivanitch has come. — How is
thy head? "
" It is all right."
"Thou art always saying: 'It is all right.'
What 's going on with you down-stairs, — music
again? " 266

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" No — they are playing cards."
" Yes, of course, she is up to everything.
Schurotchka, I perceive that thou wishest to
have a run in the garden. Go along."
" Why, no, Marfa Timofeevna  "
"Don't argue, if you please. Go! Nastasya
Karpovna has gone into the garden alone: stay
with her. Respect the old woman." — Schurotchka
left the room. — " Why, where is my cap? Really,
now, where has it got to? "
" Pray let me look for it," — said Liza.
" Sit down, cit down ; my own legs have n't
given out yet. I must have left it yonder, in my
bedroom." And, casting a sidelong glance at Lavretzky,
Marfa Timofeevna left the room. She was on
the point of leaving the door open, but suddenly
turned round toward it, and shut it.
Liza leaned against the back of her chair, and
gently lifted her hands to her face; Lavretzky
remained standing, as he was.
" This is how we were to meet again,"— he
said, at last.
Liza took her hands from her face.
" Yes," — she said dully: — " we were promptly
punished." " Punished? " — said Lavretzky. " But what
were you punished for? "
Liza raised her eyes to him. They expressed
neither grief nor anxiety: they looked smaller
267

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
and dimmer. Her face was pale; her slightly
parted lips had also grown pale.
Lavretzky's heart shuddered with pity and
with love.
" You wrote to me : ' All is at an end,' " — he
whispered : — " Yes, all is at an end — before it
has begun."
" We must forget all that," — said Liza: — " I
am glad that you came ; I wanted to write to you,
but it is better thus. Only, we must make use,
as promptly as possible, of these minutes. It re
mains for both of us to do our duty. You, Feo
dor Ivanitch, ought to become reconciled to your
wife." "Liza!" "I implore you to do it; in that way alone
can we expiate . . . everything which has taken
place. Think it over — and you will not refuse
me." " Liza, for God's sake,- — you are demanding
the impossible. I am ready to do everything you
command; but become reconciled to her now! . . .
I agree to everything, I have forgotten every
thing; but I cannot force my heart to 
Have mercy, this is cruel! "
" I do not require from you . . . what you
think; do not live with her, if you cannot; but
become reconciled," — replied Liza, and again
raised her hand to her eyes. — ¦" Remember your
little daughter; do this for me."
268

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Very well," — said Lavretzky, through his
teeth: — " I will do it; let us assume that thereby
I am fulfilling my duty. Well, and you — in
what does your duty consist? "
" I know what it is."
Lavretzky suddenly started.
" Surely, you are not preparing to marry Pan
shin? " — he asked.
Liza smiled almost imperceptibly.
"Oh, no!"— she said.
" Akh, Liza, Liza! " — cried Lavretzky: — •
" how happy we might have been! "
Again Liza glanced at him.
" Now you see yourself, Feodor Ivanitch, that
happiness does not depend upon us, but upon
God." " Yes, because you . . . ."
The door of the adjoining room opened
swiftly, and Marfa Timofeevna entered, with her
cap in her hand.
" I have found it at last," — she said, taking
up her stand between Lavretzky and Liza. — " I
had mislaid it myself. That 's what it is to be
old, alack! However, youth is no better. Well,
and art thou going to Lavriki thyself, with thy
wife? " — she added, addressing Feodor Ivanitch.
" With her, to Lavriki? — I do not know," —
he said, after a pause.
" Thou art not going down-stairs? "
" Not to-day." 269

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST,
"Well, very good, as it pleases thee; but I
think thou shouldst go down-stairs, Liza. Akh,
gracious goodness! — and I have forgotten to give
the bullfinch his food. Just wait, I '11 be back
directly  "
And Marfa Timofeevna ran out of the room,
without putting on her cap.
Lavretzky went quickly up to Liza.
" Liza," — he began in a beseeching voice: —
" we are parting forever, my heart is breaking, —
give me your hand in farewell."
Liza raised her head. Her weary, almost ex
tinct gaze rested on him. . .
" No," — she said, and drew back the hand
which she had already put forward — " no. La
vretzky" — (she called him thus, for the first
time) — " I will not give you my hand. To what
end? Go away, I entreat you. You know that I
love you," — she added, with an effort: — " but no
. . . no."
And she raised her handkerchief to her eyes.
The door creaked. . . The handkerchief slipped
off Liza's knees. Lavretzky caught it before
it fell to the floor, hastily thrust it into his side
pocket, and, turning round, his eyes met those
of Marfa Timofeevna.
" Lizotchka, I think thy mother is calling
thee," — remarked the old woman.
Liza immediately rose, and left the room.
270

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Marfa Timofeevna sat down again in her cor
ner. Lavretzky began to take leave of her.
" Fedya," — she suddenly said.
" What, aunty? "
" Art thou an honourable man? "
" What? "
" I ask thee: art thou an honourable man? "
" I hope so."
" H'm. But give me thy word of honour that
thou art an honourable man."
" Certainly.— But why? "
" I know why. Yes, and thou also, my bene
factor, if thou wilt think it over well, — for thou
art not stupid, — wilt understand thyself why I
ask this of thee. And now, farewell, my dear.
Thanks for thy visit ; and remember the word that
has been spoken, Fedya, and kiss me. Okh, my
soul, it is hard for thee, I know: but then, life is
not easy for any one. That is why I used to
envy the flies ; here, I thought, is something that
finds life good ; but once, in the night, I heard a
fly grieving in the claws of a spider, — no, I ,
thought, a thundercloud hangs over them also.
What is to be done, Fedya? but remember thy
word, nevertheless. — Go."
Lavretzky emerged from the back entrance,
and was already approaching the gate . . . when
a lackey overtook him.
" Marya Dmitrievna ordered me to ask you to
271

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
be so good as to come to her," — he announced to
Lavretzky. " Say to her, my good fellow, that I cannot at
present . . ." began Feodor Ivanitch.
" She ordered me to entreat you urgently," —
went on the lackey: — "she ordered me to say,
that she is at home."
"But have the visitors gone?"— asked La
vretzky. " Yes, sir," — returned the lackey, and grinned.
Lavretzky shrugged his shoulders, and fol
lowed him.

272

v XLIII
Marya Dmitrievna was sitting alone, in her
boudoir, in a sofa-chair, and sniffing eau de
Cologne; a glass of orange-flower water was
standing beside her, on a small table. She was
excited, and seemed to be timorous.
Lavretzky entered.
' You wished to see me," — he said, saluting
her coldly.
" Yes," — returned Marya* Dmitrievna, and
drank a little of the water. " I heard that you
went straight up-stairs to aunty; I gave orders
that you should be requested to come to me: I
must have a talk with you. Sit down, if you
please." — Marya Dmitrievna took breath. —
"You know," — she went on: — " that your wife
has arrived? "
" That fact is known to me," — said Lavretzky.
" Well, yes, — that is, I meant to say, she came
to me, and I received her; that is what I wish to
have an explanation about with you now, Feodor
Ivanitch. I, thank God, have won universal re
spect, I may say, and I would not do anything
improper for all the world. Although I fore
saw that it would be disagreeable to you, still, I
273

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
could not make up my mind to refuse her, Feodor
Ivanitch; she is my relative — through you: put
yourself in my place — what right had I to turn
her out of my house? — You agree with me? "
" There is no necessity for your agitating your
self, Marya Dmitrievna," — returned Lavretzky:
" you have behaved very well indeed; I am not in
the least angry. I have not the slightest intention
of depriving Varvara Pavlovna of the right to
see her acquaintances ; I only refrained from en
tering your apartments to-day because I wished
to avoid meeting her, — that was all."
" Akh, how delighted I am to hear that from
you, Feodor Ivanitch, " — exclaimed Marya Dmi
trievna: — " however, I always expected this from
your noble sentiments. But that I should feel
agitated, is not wonderful: I am a woman and a
mother. And your wife .... of course, I can
not judge between her and you — I told her so
myself; but she is such an amiable lady, that she
cannot cause anything but pleasure."
Lavretzky laughed, and played with his hat.
" And this is what I wished to say to you, Feo
dor Ivanitch," — went on Marya Dmitrievna,
moving a little nearer to him : — " if you had
only seen how modestly, how respectfully she
behaves ! — Really, it is touching. But if you had
heard how she speaks of you! ' I am wholly
culpable with regard to him,' she says ; ' I did
not know how to appreciate him,' she says; ' he is
274

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
an angel,' she says, ' not a man.' Truly, she did
say that, ' an angel.' She is so penitent ....
I never beheld such penitence, I give you my
word!" " Well, Marya Dmitrievna," — said Lavretzky:
— " permit me to ask you a question: I am told
that Varvara Pavlovna has been singing for
you; did she sing during her repentance — or
how?" ....
"Akh, aren't you ashamed to talk like that!
She sang and played merely with the object of
giving me pleasure, because I begged, almost
commanded her to do so. I perceive that she is
distressed — so distressed, I wonder how I can di
vert her. And I had heard that she had such a
fine talent. — Upon my word, Feodor Ivanitch,
she is a completely crushed, overwhelmed woman
— ask Sergyei Petrovitch if she is not, tout a
fait, — what have you to say to that? "
Lavretzky simply shrugged his shoulders.
" And then, what a little angel that Ada of
your is, what a darling ! — How pretty she is, how
clever! how well she talks French; and she un
derstands Russian — she called me tyotenka
[aunty]. And do you know, as for being shy,
like nearly all children of her age, — there is no
shyness about her. She is awfully like you,
Feodor Ivanitch. Her eyes, her brows . . .
well, she 's you all over again, your perfect
image. I am not very fond of such small chil-
275

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
dren, I must confess ; but I have simply lost my
heart to your little daughter."
" Marya Dmitrievna," — exclaimed Lavret
zky, suddenly: — " allow me to ask you why you
are pleased to say all this to me? "
" Why? " — again Marya Dmitrievna sniffed
at her eau de Cologne, and sipped her water: —
" I say it, Feodor Ivanitch, because .... you
see, I am a relative, I take the closest interest
in you. ... I know that you have the very kind
est of hearts. Hearken to me, mon cousin, — I
am a woman of experience, and I am not talking
at random: forgive, forgive your wife." — Marya
Dmitrievna's eyes suddenly filled with tears. —
" Reflect: youth, inexperience . . . well, perhaps,
a bad example — she had not the sort of a mother
who might have put her on the right road. For
give her, Feodor Ivanitch; she has been suffi
ciently punished."
Tears trickled down Marya Dmitrievna's
cheeks ; she did not wipe them away : she loved to
weep. Lavretzky sat as on hot coals. " My
God," — he thought, — " what sort of torture, what
sort of a day has fallen to my lot! "
" You do not answer," — began Marya Dmi
trievna again : — " what am I to understand by
that? — is it possible that you can be so cruel? No,
I will not believe that. I feel that my words
have convinced you. Feodor Ivanitch, God
will reward you for your kindness of heart,
276

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
and you will now receive your wife from my
hands. . . ."
Lavretzky involuntarily rose from his chair;
Marya Dmitrievna also rose, and stepping
briskly behind a screen, led forth Varvara Pav
lovna. Pale, half -fainting, with eyes cast down,
she seemed to have renounced every thought,
every impulse of her own — to have placed herself
wholly in the hands of Marya Dmitrievna.
Lavretzky retreated a pace.
' You were here? " — he exclaimed.
"Do not blame her," — said Marya Dmitrievna,
hastily; — "she did not wish to remain on any
account whatever, but I ordered her to stay, and
placed her there behind the screen. She assured
me that it would only make you more angry ; but
I would not listen to her ; I know you better than
she does. Receive your wife from my hands ; go,
Varya, be not afraid, fall at your husband's feet "
(she tugged at her hand) — " and my blessing on
you!  "

Wait, Marya Dmitrievna," — Lavretzky in
terrupted her, in a dull, but quivering voice: —
" you are, probably, fond of sentimental scenes,"
(Lavretzky was not mistaken: Marya Dmitri
evna had retained from her boarding-school days
a passion for a certain theatricalness); "they
amuse you; but others suffer from them. How
ever, I will not discuss the matter with you; in
this scene you are not the principal actor. What
277

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
do you want of me, madam? " — he added, ad
dressing his wife. " Have not I done for you
all that I could? Do not retort, that you have not
plotted this meeting; I shall not believe you, —
and you know that I cannot believe you. What,
then, do you want? You are clever, — you never
do anything without an object. You must un
derstand that I am not capable of hving with
you as I used to live; not because I am angry
with you, but because I have become a different
man. I told you that on the day after your re
turn, and you yourself, at that moment, acqui
esced with me in your own soul. But you wish to
reinstate yourself in public opinion; it is not
enough for you to hve in my house, you want to
live under one roof with me, — is not that the
truth? "
" I want you to forgive me," — said Varvara
Pavlovna, without raising her eyes.
" She wants you to forgive her," — repeated
Marya Dmitrievna.
" And not for my own sake, but for Ada's," —
whispered Varvara Pavlovna.
" Not for her sake, but for Ada's," — repeated
Marya Dmitrievna.
" Very good. You wish that? " — ejaculated
Lavretzky, with an effort. "As you like, I agree
to that."
Varvara Pavlovna cast a swift glance at
him, and Marya Dmitrievna cried out : — " Well,
278

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
God be praised!" — and again tugged at Var
vara Pavlovna's hand. " Now receive from
me  "
" Wait, I tell you," — Lavretzky interrupted
her. " I consent to live with you, Varvara Pav
lovna,"- — he continued: — " That is to say, I will
take you to Lavriki, and I will live with you as
long as my strength holds out, and then I shall go
away, — and return now and then. You see, I do
not wish to deceive you ; but do not demand any
thing more. You yourself would smile, were I
to comply with the desire of your respected rela
tive, and press you to my heart, and assure you
that .... there had been no past, that the felled
tree could burst into blossom once more. But I
perceive that I must submit. You will not un
derstand that word ; .... it matters not. I re
peat, I will live with you .... or, no, I cannot
promise that ... I will join you, I will regard
you again as my wife  "
" But give her your hand on that, at least," —
said Marya Dmitrievna, whose tears were long
since dried up.
" Up to the present moment, I have not de
ceived Varvara Pavlovna," — returned Lavret
zky; — " she will believe me as it is. I will take
her to Lavriki; — and recollect, Varvara Pav
lovna: our compact will be regarded as broken
just as soon as you leave that place. And now,
permit me to withdraw." 279

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
He bowed to both ladies, and hastily quitted
the room.
"You are not taking her with you," — called
Marya Dmitrievna after him. ..." Let him
alone," — Varvara Pavlovna whispered to her,
and immediately threw her arms round her, be
gan to utter thanks, to kiss her hands,, and to call
her her saviour.
Marya Dmitrievna accepted her caresses with
condescension; but in her secret soul she was
pleased neither with Lavretzky nor with Varvara
Pavlovna, nor with the whole scene which she
had planned. There had turned out to be very
little sentimentality; Varvara Pavlovna, in her
opinion, should have flung herself at her hus
band's feet.
" How was it that you did not understand
me? " — she commented: — " why, I told you: ' fall
at his feet.' "
" It was better thus, dear aunty; do not dis
turb yourself — everything is all right," — insisted
Varvara Pavlovna.
" Well, and he is as cold as ice," — remarked
Marya Dmitrievna. " Even if you did not weep,
why, I fairly overflowed before him. He means
to shut you up in Lavriki. The idea, — and you
cannot even come to see me! All men are un
feeling," — she said, in conclusion, and shook her
head significantly.
"jOn the other hand, women know how to
280

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
value kindness and magnanimity," — said Var
vara Pavlovna, and softly dropping on her knees
before Marya Dmitrievna, she embraced the lat
ter's corpulent form with her arms, and pressed
her face against her. That face wore a quiet
smile, but Marya Dmitrievna's tears were flow
ing again.
And Lavretzky went home, locked himself up
in his valet's room, flung himself on the divan,
and lay there until the morning.

281

XLIV
The next day was Sunday. The chiming of the
bells for the early Liturgy did not awaken La
vretzky — he had not closed an eye all night long
— but it did remind him of another Sunday, when,
at the wish of Liza, he had gone to church. He
hastily rose; a certain secret voice told him that
he would see her there again to-day. He noise
lessly quitted the house, ordered Varvara Pav
lovna to be informed that he would return to din
ner, and with great strides wended his way
thither, whither the monotonously-mournful
chiming summoned him. He arrived early : there
was hardly any one in the church; a chanter in
the choir was reading the Hours ; his voice, occa
sionally broken by a cough, boomed on in meas
ured cadence, now rising, now falling. Lavret
zky took up his stand not far from the entrance.
The prayerfully inclined arrived one by one,
paused, crossed themselves, bowed on all sides;1
their footsteps resounded in the emptiness and
silence, distinctly re-echoing from the arches
overhead. A decrepit little old woman, in an
ancient hooded cloak, knelt down beside Lavret-
1That is — they figuratively begged the pardon of all whom they
might have offended, before entering on the Church service. The
officiating priest does the same. — Translator.
282

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
zky, and began to pray assiduously; her yellow,
toothless, wrinkled face expressed intense emo
tion; her red eyes gazed fixedly upward at the
holy picture on the ikonostasis; her bony hand
kept incessantly emerging from under her cloak,
and slowly but vigorously made a great, sweep
ing sign of the cross. A peasant, with a thick
beard and a surly face, tousled and dishevelled,
entered the church, went down at once on both
knees, and immediately set to crossing himself,
hastily flinging back his head and shaking it after
every prostration. Such bitter woe was depicted
on his countenance, and in all his movements,
that Lavretzky made up his mind to approach
and ask him what was the matter. The peasant
started back timidly and roughly, and looked at
him. ..." My son is dead," — he said, in hasty
accents — and again began to prostrate himself
to the floor. " What can take the place, for them,
of the consolation of the church? " — Lavretzky
thought, — and tried to pray himself ; but his heart
had grown heavy and hard, and his thoughts were
far away. He was still expecting Liza — but Liza
did not come. The church began to fill with
people ; still she did not come. The Liturgy be
gan, the deacon had already read the Gospel, the
bell had pealed for the hymn " Worthy " ; *
1 " Worthy and right is it, to bow down to the Father, and to the
Son, and to the Holy Spirit, to the Trinity, consubstantial and in
divisible " — at a very solemn point, and quite late in the Liturgy.—
Translator.
283

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Lavretzky moved a little, — and suddenly caught
sight of Liza. She had arrived before him, but
he had not descried her; crowded into the space
between the wall and the choir, she neither
glanced around nor moved. Lavretzky did not
take his eyes from her until the very end of the
Liturgy : he was bidding her farewell. The con
gregation began to disperse, but she still stood
on; she seemed to be awaiting Lavretzky's de
parture. At last, she crossed herself for the last
time, and went away, without looking round ; she
had only a maid with her. Lavretzky followed
her out of the church, and overtook her in the
street; she was walking very rapidly, with her
head bowed and her veil lowered over her face.
" Good morning, Lizaveta Mikhailovna," —
said he, loudly, with forced ease : — " may I ac
company you? "
She said nothing ; he walked along by her side.
" Are you satisfied with me? " — he asked her,
lowering his voice. — " You have heard what took
place last night? "
"Yes, yes," — she said in a whisper: — "you
did well."
And she walked on faster than ever.
" You are satisfied? "
Liza only nodded her head.
" Feodor Ivanitch," — she began, in a com
posed, but weak voice : — " I have wanted to ask
you : do not come to our house again ; go away as
284

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
speedily as possible; we can see each other later
on, — sometime, a year hence. But now, do this
for me; comply with my request, for God's sake."
" I am ready to obey you in all things, Liza
veta Mikhailovna; but is it possible that we are
to part thus? will you not say a single word to
me?" " Feodor Ivanitch, here you are now, walking
by my side. But you are already far away from
me. And not you alone, but also . . . ."
" Finish, I entreat you! " — exclaimed Lavret
zky: — " what. is it that you mean to say? "
" You will hear, perhaps .... but whatever
happens, forget . . . no, do not forget me, — re
member me."
"I forget you! . . . ."
" Enough ; farewell. Do not follow me."
" Liza . . ." — Lavretzky was beginning.
" Farewell, farewell! " — she repeated, dropped
her veil still lower, and advanced almost at a run.
Lavretzky gazed after her, and dropping his
head, went back down the street. He hit upon
Lemm, who was also walking along, with his hat
pulled down on his nose, and staring at the
ground under his feet.
They stared at each other in silence.
" Well, what have you to say? " — said Lavret
zky at last.
" What have I to say? " — returned Lemm sur
lily: — " I have nothing to say. Everything is
285

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
dead, and we are dead. (Alles ist todt und wir
sind todt. ) You are going to the right, I think? "
"Yes." " Then I go to the left. Good-bye."
On the following morning, Feodor Ivanitch
and his wife set out for Lavriki. She drove in
front, in the carriage, with Ada and Justine; he
came behind, in his tarantas. The pretty httle
girl never quitted the carriage-window during the
whole journey; she was surprised at everything:
at the peasants, the peasant women, the wells, the
shaft-arches, the carriage -bells, at the multitude
of jackdaws; Justine shared her surprise. Var
vara Pavlovna laughed at their comments and
exclamations. . . She was in high spirits; before
their departure from the town of O * * * she
had had an explanation with her husband.
" I understand your position," — she had said
to him, — and he, from the expression of her
clever eyes, was able to conclude that she did
fully understand his position, — " but you must
do me the justice, at least, to say that I am easy
to live with ; I shall not obtrude myself upon you,
embarrass you ; I wanted to assure Ada's future.
I need nothing further."
" Yes, and you have attained your object," —
said Feodor Ivanitch.
" My sole idea now is to shut myself up in the
wilds ; I shall forever remember your good deed
in my prayers. . . ." 286

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" Faugh! . . . enough of that," — he interrupted
her. " And I shall know how to respect your inde
pendence, and your repose," — she completed her
phrase, which she had prepared in advance.
Lavretzky had made her a low bow. Varvara
Pavlovna understood that her husband, in his
soul, was grateful to her.
On the second day, toward the evening, they
reached Lavriki; a week later, Lavretzky set off
for Moscow, leaving his wife five thousand rubles
for her expenses — and the day after Lavretzky's
departure, Panshin, whom Varvara Pavlovna
had begged not to forget her in her isolation,
made his appearance. She gave him the warm
est sort of a welcome, and until late into the night
the lofty rooms of the house and the very garden
rang with the sounds of music, singing, and merry
French speeches. Panshin visited Varvara Pav
lovna for three days; when he took leave of her,
and warmly pressed her beautiful hands, he
promised to return very soon — and he kept his
promise.

287

XLV
Liza had a separate little room, on the second
story of her mother's house, small, clean, bright,
with a white bed, pots of flowers in the corners
and in front of the holy pictures, with a tiny writ
ing-table, a case of books, and a crucifix on the
wall. This little chamber was called the nursery;
Liza had been born in it. On returning to it
from church, where she had seen Lavretzky, she
put everything in order, even more carefully
than usual, wiped the dust off everything, looked
over and tied up with ribbons her note-books and
the letters of her friends, locked all the drawers,
watered the plants, and touched every flower with
her hand. She did all this without haste, without
noise, with a certain touched and tranquil solici
tude on her face. She halted, at last, in the mid
dle of the room, slowly looked around her, and
stepping up to the table over which hung the
crucifix, she knelt down, laid her head on her
clasped hands, and remained motionless.
Marfa Timofeevna entered, and found her in
this position. Liza did not notice her entrance.
The old woman went outside the door, on tiptoe,
and gave vent to several loud coughs. Liza
288

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST,
rose quickly to her feet, and wiped her eyes, in
which glittered clear tears which had not fallen.
" I see that thou hast been arranging thy little
cell again," — said Marfa Timofeevna, and bent
low over a pot containing a young rose-bush: —
" what a splendid perfume it has! "
Liza gazed thoughtfully at her aunt.
" What a word you have uttered! " — she whis
pered. " What sort of a word, what word? " — inter
posed the old woman, vivaciously: — "what dost
thou mean? — This is dreadful," — she said, sud
denly tearing off her cap, and seating herself on
Liza's bed: — "this is beyond my strength! to
day is the fourth day that I seem to be seething
in a kettle ; I can no longer pretend that I notice
nothing, — I cannot see thee growing pale, wither
ing away, weeping, — I cannot, I cannot!"
" Why, what is the matter with you, aunty? "
— said Liza: — "I am all right. . . ."
" All right? " — exclaimed Marfa Timofeevna:
— " tell that to others, but not to me! All right!
But who was it that was on her knees just now?
whose eyelashes are still wet with tears? All
right ! Why, look at thyself, what hast thou done
to thy face, what has become of thine eyes? —
All right! As though I did not know all! "
" It will pass off, aunty; give me time."
" It will pass off, but when? O Lord God, my
Master I is it possible that thou didst love him
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
so? why, he is an old man, Lizotchka. Well, I
do not dispute that he is a good man, he does not
bite; but what does that signify? we are all good
people: the world is large, there will always be
plenty of that sort."
" I tell you, that it will all pass off, it is all
over already."
" Listen, Lizotchka, to what I have to say
to thee," — said Marfa Timofeevna, suddenly,
making Liza sit down beside her on the bed, and
adjusting now her hair, now her kerchief. — " It
only seems to you, while it is fresh, that your
grief is beyond remedy. Ekh, my darling,
for death alone there is no remedy! Only say to
thyself: 'I won't give in — so there now!'
and afterward thou wilt be amazed thyself — how
soon, how well, it will pass off. Only have
patience." " Aunty," — replied Liza: — " it is already past,
all is over already."
" Past — over — forsooth! Why, even thy little
nose has grown pointed, and thou sayest : ' It is
over — it is over! ' "
" Yes, it is over, aunty, if you will only help
me," — cried Liza, with sudden animation, and
threw herself on Marfa Timofeevna's neck. —
" Dear aunty, be my friend, help me; do not be
angry, understand me."
" Why, what is this, what is this, my mother?
Don't frighten me, please; I shall scream in an-
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
other minute ; don't look at me like that : tell me
quickly what thou meanest? "
" I ... I want  " Liza hid her face in
Marfa Timof eevna's bosom. ..." I want to en
ter a convent, "—she said, in a dull tone.
The old woman fairly leaped on the bed.
" Cross thyself, my mother, Lizotchka; come
to thy senses : God be with thee, what dost thou
mean? " — she stammered at last: " lie down, my
darling, sleep a little: this comes from lack of
sleep, my dear."
Liza raised her head, her cheeks were burning.
" No, aunty," — she articulated, " do not speak
hke that. I have made up my mind, I have
prayed, I have asked counsel of God; all is
ended, my life with you is ended. Such a lesson
is not in vain; and it is not the first time I have
thought of this. Happiness was not suited to
me; even when I cherished hopes of happiness,
my heart was always heavy. I know everything,
my own sins and the sins of others, and how papa
acquired his wealth ; I know everything. All that
must be atoned for by prayer — -atoned for by
prayer. I am sorry for all of you — I am sorry
for mamma, for Lyenotchka; but there is no help,
for it; I feel that I cannot live here; I have al
ready taken leave of everything, I have made my
reverence to everything in the house for the last
time; something is calling me hence; I am weary;
I want to shut myself up forever. Do not hold
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
me back, do not dissuade me; help me, or I will
go away alone."
Marfa Timofeevna listened in terror to her
niece. " She is ill, she is raving," — she thought: — " I
must send for a doctor; but for which? Gedeo
novsky was praising some one the other day;
he 's always lying, — but, perhaps, he told the
truth that time." But when she became con
vinced that Liza was not ill, and was not raving,
when to all her objections Liza steadfastly made
one and the same reply, Marfa Timofeevna be
came seriously frightened and grieved. — " But
thou dost not know, my darling," — she began to
try to prevail upon her ; — " what sort of a life
they lead in convents! Why, my own one, they
will feed thee with green hemp-oil; they will put
on thee coarse, awfully coarse linen; they will
make thee go about cold; thou canst not endure
all that, Lizotchka. All that is the traces of Aga
fya in thee ; it was she who led thee astray. Why,
she began by living her life, living a gay life ; do
thou live thy life also. Let me, at least, die in
peace, and then do what thou wilt. And who
ever heard of any one going into a convent, all
on account of such a goat's beard — the Lord for
give me! — on account of a man? Come, if thy
heart is so heavy, go away on a journey, pray to
a saint, have a prayer-service said, but don't put
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
the black cowl on thy head, my dear little father,
my dear httle mother  "
And Marfa Timofeevna began to weep bit
terly. Liza comforted her, wiped away her tears, but
remained inflexible. In her despair, Marfa
Timofeevna tried to resort to threats: she would
tell Liza's mother everything; but even that was
of no avail. Only as a concession to the old
woman's urgent -entreaties, did Liza consent to
defer the fulfilment of her intention for six
months; in return, Marfa Timofeevna was com
pelled to give her her word that she would help
her, and obtain the permission of Marya Dmi
trievna if, at the end of six months, she had not
changed her mind.
With the advent of the first cold weather,
Varvara Pavlovna, despite her promise to shut
herself up in the depths of the country, after pro
viding herself with money, removed to Peters
burg, where she hired a modest but pretty apart
ment, which had been found for her by Panshin,
who had quitted the Government of O * * * be
fore her. During the latter part of his sojourn in
O * * * he had completely fallen out of favour
with Marya Dmitrievna ; he had suddenly ceased
to call upon her and hardly ever quitted Lavriki.
Varvara Pavlovna had enslaved him, precisely
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
that, — enslaved him; no other word will express
her unlimited, irrevocable, irresponsible power
over him.
Lavretzky passed the winter in Moscow, but
in the spring of the following year the news
reached him that Liza had entered the B * * *
convent, in one of the most remote corners of
Russia.

294

/

EPILOGUE

EIGHT years have passed. Spring has come
again. . . But first, let us say a few words
about the fate of Mikhalevitch, Panshin, Mme.
Lavretzky — and take our leave of them. Mi
khalevitch, after long peregrinations, has finally
hit upon his real vocation: he has obtained the
post of head inspector in a government insti
tution. He is very well satisfied with his lot, and
his pupils " adore " him, although they mimic
him. Panshin has advanced greatly in rank, and
already has a directorship in view; he walks with
his back somewhat bent: it must be the cross of
the Order of Vladimir, which has been conferred
upon him, that drags him forward. The official
in him has, decidedly, carried the day over the
artist; his still youthful face has turned quite
yellow, his hair has grown thin, and he no longer
sings or draws, but secretly occupies himself
with literature : he has written a little comedy, in
the nature of " a proverb," — and, as every one
who writes nowadays " shows up " some one or
something, he has shown up in it a coquette, and
he reads it surreptitiously to two or three ladies
who are favourably disposed toward him. But
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
he has not married, although many fine oppor
tunities of so doing have presented themselves:
for this Varvara Pavlovna is responsible. As
for her, she lives uninterruptedly in Paris, as of
yore : Feodor Ivanitch has given her a bill of ex
change on himself, and bought himself free
from her, — from the possibility of a second, un
expected invasion. She has grown old and fat,
but it is still pretty and elegant. Every person
has his own ideal: Varvara Pavlovna has found
hers — in the dramatic productions of Dumas
fils. She assiduously frequents the theatre where
consumptive and sentimental ladies of the frail
class are put on the stage; to be Mme. Doche
seems to her the very apex of human felicity; one
day, she declared that she desired no better lot for
her daughter. It is to be hoped that fate will
deliver Mademoiselle Ada from such felicity:
from a rosy, plump child, she has turned into a
weak-chested, pale-faced young girl; her nerves
are already deranged. The number of Varvara
Pavlovna's admirers has decreased ; but they have
not transferred their allegiance: she will, in all
probability, retain several of them to the end of
her life. The most ardent of them, of late, has
been a certain Zakurdalo-Skubyrmkoff, one of
the retired dandies of the Guards; a man of eight
and thirty, of remarkably robust build. The
Frenchmen who frequent Mme. Lavretzky's
salon call him " le gros taureau de I' Ukraine " ;
296

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
Varvara Pavlovna never invites him to her fash
ionable evening gatherings, but he enjoys her
favour in the fullest measure.
So ... . eight years have passed. Again the
sky is breathing forth the beaming happiness of
spring; again it is smiling upon the earth and
upon men; again, beneath its caress, everything
has burst into blossom, into love and song. The
town of O * * * has undergone very little change
in the course of those eight years; but Marya
Dmitrievna's house seems to have grown young:
its recently painted walls shine as in welcome,
and the panes of the open windows are crim
soning and glittering in the rays of the setting
sun. Through these windows, out upon the
street, are wafted the sounds of ringing young
voices, of incessant laughter; the whole house
seems bubbling with life, and overflowing the
brim with merriment. The mistress of the house
herself has long since gone to her grave: Marya
Dmitrievna died two years after Liza's profes
sion as a nun; and Marfa Timofeevna did not
long survive her neice; they rest side by side
in the town cemetery. Nastasya Karpovna, also,
is dead; the faithful old woman went, every
week, for the space of several years, to pray over
the ashes of her friend. . . Her time came, and
her bones also were laid in the damp earth. But
Marya Dmitrievna's house has not passed into
the hands of strangers, has not left her family ; the
297

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
nest has not been destroyed: Lyenotchka, who has
become a stately, beautiful young girl, and her
betrothed, a fair-haired officer of hussars; Ma
rya Dmitrievna's son, who has just been married
in Petersburg, and has come with his young wife
to spend the spring in O * * * ; his wife's sister, an
Institute-girl of sixteen, with brilliantly scarlet
cheeks and clear eyes; Schurotchka, who has also
grown up and become pretty — these are the
young folks who are making the walls of the
Kalitin house re-echo with laughter and chatter.
Everything about it has been changed, everything
has been brought into accord with the new. in
habitants. Beardless young house-servants, who
grin and jest, have taken the places of the former
sedate old servitors ; where overgrown Roska was
wont to stroll, two setters are chasing madly
about, and leaping over the divans ; the stable has
been filled with clean-limbed amblers, high-
spirited shaft-horses, fiery trace-horses 1 with
braided manes, and riding-horses from the Don ;
the hours for breakfast, dinner, and supper have
become mixed up and confused ; according to the
expression of the neighbours, " an unprecedented
state of affairs " has been established.
On the evening of which we are speaking, the
inhabitants of the Kalitin house (the oldest of
them, Lyenotchka's betrothed, was only four and
'The trotter as shaft-horse, and the galloping side-horses
of a troika. — Translator.
298

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
twenty) were engaged in a far from complicated,
but, judging from their vigorous laughter, a
very amusing game: they were running through
the rooms, and catching each other ; the dogs, also,
were running and barking, and the canaries which
hung in cages in front of the windows vied with
each other in singing at the tops of their voices,
increasing the uproar of ringing volleys of
noise with their furious chirping. While this
deafening diversion was at its very height, a
mud-stained tarantas drove up to the gate, and
a man of forty-five, clad in travelling garb, de
scended from it, and stopped short in amazement.
He stood motionless for some time, swept an at
tentive glance over the house, passed through the
gate into the yard, and slowly ascended the steps.
There was no one in the anteroom to receive him ;
but the door of the "hall" flew wide open;
through it, all flushed, bounced Schurotchka, and
instantly, in pursuit of her, with ringing laughter,
rushed the whole youthful band. She came to a
sudden halt and fell silent at the sight of the
stranger; but the clear eyes fastened upon him
were as caressing as ever, the fresh faces did not
cease to smile. Marya Dmitrievna's son stepped
up to the visitor, and courteously asked him what
he wished.
" I am Lavretzky," — said the visitor.
A vigorous shout rang out in response — and
not because all these young people were so ex-
299

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
tremely delighted at the arrival of the distant, al
most forgotten relative, but simply because they
were ready to make an uproar and rejoice on
every convenient opportunity. They immediately
surrounded Lavretzky: Lyenotchka, in the qual
ity of an old acquaintance, was the first to intro
duce herself, and to assure him that, in another
moment, she certainly would have recognised
him, and then she presented all the rest of the
company, calling each one of them, including her
betrothed, by his pet name. The whole throng
moved through the dining-room to the drawing-
room. The hangings in both rooms were differ
ent, but the furniture remained the same;
Lavretzky recognised the piano; even the same
embroidery-frame was standing in the window,
in the same position — and almost with the same
unfinished bit of embroidery as eight years pre
viously. They made him sit down in a comfort
able easy-chair; all seated themselves decorously
around him. Questions, exclamations, stories
showered down without cessation.
" But it is a long time since we have seen you,"
— remarked Lyenotchka, ingenuously: — " and
we have not seen Varvara Pavlovna either."
" I should think so! " — interposed her brother,
hurriedly. " I carried thee off to Petersburg,
but Feodor Ivanitch lived in the country all the
time." " Yes, and mamma has died since, you know."
300

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
"And Marfa Timofeevna,"— said Schu
rotchka. " And Nastasya Karpovna," — rejoined Lye
notchka. — " And M'sieu Lemm  "
"What? And is Lemm dead also?" — asked
Lavretzky. "Yes," — replied young Kalitin: — "he went
away from here to Odessa — they say that some
one decoyed him thither; and there he died."
" You do not know — whether he left any music
behind him? "
" I don't know, — it is hardly probable."
All fell silent, and exchanged glances. A
cloud of sadness had descended upon all the
young faces.
" And Matroska is alive," — suddenly remarked
Lyenotchka. " And Gedeonovsky is alive," — added her
brother. At the name of Gedeonovsky a vigorous peal
of laughter rang out in unison.
" Yes, he is alive, and lies just as he always
did," — went on Marya Dmitrievna's son: —
" and just imagine, that naughty child there "
(and he pointed at his wife's sister, the In
stitute-girl) " put pepper in his snuff-box yes
terday." " How he did sneeze! " exclaimed Lyenotchka:
— and again a peal of irrepressible laughter rang
out. 301

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
" We received news of Liza recently," — said
young Kalitin, — and again everything grew still
round about : — " things are well with her, — her
health is now improving somewhat."
" Is she still in the same convent? " — asked
Lavretzky, not without an effort.
" Yes, still in the same place."
" Does she write to you? "
" No, never; the news reaches us through other
people." — A. sudden, profound silence ensued.
" The angel of silence has flown past," all said tp
themselves. " Would not you like to go into the garden? "
— Kalitin turned to Lavretzky: — "it is very
pretty now, although we have rather neglected it."
Lavretzky went out into the garden, and the
first thing that struck his eyes was the bench
on which he had once spent with Liza a few
happy moments, never to be repeated; it had
grown black and crooked ; but he recognised it,
and his soul was seized by that feeling which has
no peer in sweetness and in sorrow, — the feeling
of living grief for vanished youth, for happiness
which it once possessed. In company with the
young people, he strolled through the alleys: the
linden-trees had not grown much older and taller
during the last eight years, but their shade had
become more dense; on the other hand, all the
shrubs had sprung upward, the raspberry -bushes
had waxed strong, the hazel copse had become
302

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
entirely impenetrable, and everywhere there was
an odour of thickets, forest, grass, and lilacs.
" What a good place this would be to play
at puss-in-the-corner," — suddenly cried Lye
notchka, as they entered a small, verdant glade,
hemmed in by lindens: — " by the way, there are
five of us."
" And hast thou forgotten Feodor Ivanitch? "
— her brother observed to her. . . "Or art thou
not reckoning in thyself? "
Lyenotchka blushed faintly.
" But is it possible that Feodor Ivanitch, at
his age, can . . ." — she began.
" Please play," — interposed Lavretzky, has
tily: — "pay no heed to me. It will be all the
more agreeable to me if I know that I am not em
barrassing you. And there is no need for you to
bother about me ; we old fellows have occupations
of which you, as yet, know nothing, and which no
diversion can replace: memories."
The young people listened to Lavretzky with
courteous and almost mocking respect, — exactly
as though their teacher were reading them a les
son, — and suddenly all of them flew away from
him, and ran over the glade; four of them took
up their stand near the trees, one stood in the
centre, — and the fun began.
But Lavretzky returned to the house, went into
the dining-room, approached the piano, and
touched one of the keys : a faint, but pure sound
303

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
rang out, and secretly trembled in his heart: with
that note began that inspired melody wherewith,
long ago, on that same blissful night, Lemm, the
dead Lemm, had led him to such raptures. Then
Lavretzky passed into the drawing-room, and did
not emerge from it for a long time : in that room,
where he had so often seen Liza, her image rose
up before him more vividly than ever; it seemed
to him, that he felt around him the traces of her
presence; but his grief for her was exhausting
and not light: there was in it none of the tran
quillity which death inspires. Liza was still liv
ing somewhere, dully, far away; he thought of
her as among the living, but did not recognise the
young girl whom he had once loved in that pale
spectre swathed in the conventual garment, sur
rounded by smoky clouds of incense. Lavretzky
would not have recognised himself, had he been
able to contemplate himself as he mentally con^
templated Liza. In the course of those eight
years the crisis had, at last, been effected in his
life ; that crisis which many do not experience, but
without which it is not possible to remain an hon'
ourable man to the end: he had really ceased to
think of his own happiness, of selfish aims. He
had calmed down, and — why should the truth be
concealed? — he had aged, not alone in face and
body, he had aged in soul; to preserve the heart
youthful to old age, as some say, is difficult, and
t almost absurd: he may feel content who has not
304

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
lost faith in good, steadfastness of will, desire for
activity. . . . Lavretzky had a right to feel satis
fied: he had become a really fine agriculturist, he
had really learned to till the soil, and he had
toiled not for himself alone; in so far as he
had been able, he had freed from care and estab
lished on a firm foundation the existence of his
serfs. Lavretzky emerged from the house into the
garden: he seated himself on the familiar bench
— and in that dear spot, in the face of the house,
where he had, on the last occasion, stretched out
his hands in vain to the fatal cup in which seethes
and sparkles the wine of delight, — he, a solitary,
homeless wanderer, — to the sounds of the merry,
cries of the younger generation which had already
superseded him, — took a survey of his life. His
heart was sad, but not heavy and not very sor
rowful: he had nothing which he had need to
regret or be ashamed of. " Play on, make merry,
grow on, young forces," — he thought, and there
was no bitterness in his meditations: — " life lies'
before you, and it will be easier for you to live:
you will not be compelled, as we have been, to
seek your road, to struggle, to fall, and to rise
to your feet again amid the gloom ; we have given
ourselves great trouble, that we might remain
whole, — and how many of us have failed in that!
— but you must do deeds, work, — and the blessing
of old fellows like me be upon you. But all that
305

A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
remains for me, after to-day, after these emo
tions, is to make my final reverence to you, and,
although with sadness, yet without envy, without
any dark feelings, to say, in view of the end, in
view of God who is awaiting me : ' Long live
solitary old age! Burn thyself out, useless
hfe!'" Lavretzky rose softly, and softly went away;
no one noticed him, no one detained him; the
merry cries resounded more loudly than ever in
the garden behind the green, dense wall of lofty
lindens. He seated himself in his tarantas, and
ordered the coachman to drive home, and not to
press the horses hard.
" And the end? " perchance some dissatisfied
reader will say. " And what became of Lavret
zky? of Liza? " But what can one say about
people who are still alive, but who have already
departed from the earthly arena, — why revert
to them? They say that Lavretzky paid a visit
to that distant convent where Liza had hidden
herself — and saw her. In going from one choir
to the other, she passed close to him — passed with
the even, hurriedly-submissive gait of a nun —
and did not cast a glance at him; only the lashes
of the eye which was turned toward him trembled
almost imperceptibly, and her haggard face was
bowed a little lower than usual — and the fingers
of her clasped hands, interlaced with her rosary,
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A NOBLEMAN'S NEST
were pressed more tightly to one another. What
did they both think, — what did they both feel?
Who knows? Who shall say? There are mo
ments in life, there are feelings ... we can only
indicate them, — and pass by.

307