school, Yegor, I'll stand by you.'
He took his purse out of his pocket, turned his back to Yegorushka, fumbled for a long time among the smaller coins, and, finding a ten-kopeck piece, gave it to Yegorushka.
Father Christopher, without haste, blessed Yegorushka.
'In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. . . . Study,' he said. 'Work hard, my lad. If I die, remember me in your prayers. Here is a ten-kopeck piece from me, too. . . .'
Yegorushka kissed his hand, and shed tears; something whispered in his heart that he would never see the old man again.
'I have applied at the high school already,' said Ivan Ivanitch in a voice as though there were a corpse in the room. 'You will take him for the entrance examination on the seventh of August. . . . Well, good-bye; God bless you, good-bye, Yegor!'
'You might at least have had a cup of tea,' wailed Nastasya Petrovna.
Through the tears that filled his eyes Yegorushka could not see his uncle and Father Christopher go out. He rushed to the window, but they were not in the yard, and the red dog, who had just been barking, was running back from the gate with the air of having done his duty. When Yegorushka ran out of the gate Ivan Ivanitch and Father Christopher, the former waving his stick with the crook, the latter his staff, were just turning the corner. Yegorushka felt that with these people all that he had known till then had vanished from him for ever. He sank helplessly on to the little bench, and with bitter tears greeted the new unknown life that was beginning for him now. . . .
What would that life be like?
NOTES
the widow of a collegiate secretary: a minor official, Class 10 in the civil service Table of Ranks
on the day of the Holy Mother of Kazan: July 8 (Julian Calendar)
eyes: an old Russian custom
Lomonosov set off with the fishermen: Mikhaylo V. Lomonosov (1711-1765) was the son of a fisherman; he became famous as a scientist and poet
For the glory of our Maker . . . : the ending of the morning prayer that was recited in Russian classrooms before the start of class
barrows: stone sculptures up to 17 feet high, used as tombstones by Turkic peoples 2,000 years ago
Arctic petrels: a type of sea bird
crosier-bearer: cross-bearer, an honor only given to a boy or man of good character
patron saint's day: August 30; Alexander I died in 1825
Puer bone, quam appelaris?: Good boy, what is your name?
Christopherus sum: I am Christopher
Robinson Crusoe: hero of Daniel Defoe's novel of the same name, published in 1719; about a man who survives living on an island
'Like the cherubim': see Ezekiel 10:19; sung while Russian Orthodox priests bring bread and wine to the altar
Plague take you, cursed idolater!: the Russian translates literally as 'the anathema of an idol upon you'
Moisey Moisevitch: Ashkenazic Jews in Russia would not have named a son for a living father (Solomon is a younger brother); however, Russians tend to make up a patronymic based on one's first name if they don't know the correct patronymic
eagle: the symbol of pre-1917 Russia
Molokans': Molokans were a religious sect
high school:
stamped paper: legal documents had to be on special paper bearing the Imperial Russian seal (a form of taxation)
Pharaoh in his chariot: Exodus 14
Jacob: Genesis 37; Jacob's favorite son, Joseph, was sold into slavery by his brothers
Tchernigov: Chernigov province is located in the Ukraine
Solomon the Wise: meant ironically of course; Solomon in the Bible was noted for his wisdom
mouth: so that the devil cannot enter his soul through his open mouth
Dranitsky: Dranicka is a Polish surname
Ilya Muromets and Solovy the Brigand: two mythical Russian folk heroes
coat: short jacket worn in the Ukraine
Yegory, the Bearer of Victory: a name for St. George, 4th century Roman soldier who died for Christianity; the Russian Order of St. George is given for the highest military bravery in battle
Tim: town about 250 miles south of Moscow
Varvara: also called St. Barbara the Great, martyred in the 3rd century
holy bread: altar bread given out at the end of the liturgy
