his shop. His shop boy Nikolka died of cholera. Karpovna is still alive and, as always, she loves and fears her Prokofy. When she sees me, she always shakes her head mournfully, and says with a sigh: 'Your life is ruined.'
On working days I am busy from morning till night. On holidays, in fine weather, I take my tiny niece (my sister reckoned on a boy, but the child is a girl) and walk in a leisurely way to the cemetery. There I stand or sit down, and stay a long time gazing at the grave that is so dear to me, and tell the child that her mother lies here.
Sometimes, by the graveside, I find Anyuta Blagovo. We greet each other and stand in silence, or talk of Kleopatra, of her child, of how sad life is in this world; then, going out of the cemetery we walk along in silence and she slackens her pace on purpose to walk beside me a little longer. The little girl, joyous and happy, pulls at her hand, laughing and screwing up her eyes in the bright sunlight, and we stand still and join in caressing the dear child.
When we reach the town Anyuta Blagovo, agitated and flushing crimson, says good-bye to me and walks on alone, austere and respectable. . . . And no one who met her could, looking at her, imagine that she had just been walking beside me and even caressing the child.
NOTES
Borodino: the most important battle of the 1812 war between Russia and France, 75 miles west of Moscow
Marshal of Nobility: elected leader of the district gentry
collegiate assessor: Rank 8 on the Russian civil service scale
beau monde: fashionable society
uncut: many books in the 19th century had to have their pages cut by the owner before reading
Jean: French for 'Ivan'; the Russian nobility often spoke French better than Russian, although by Chekhov's time the practice was old-fashioned
St. Peter's fast: the fast from Trinity until St. Peter's day, June 29 (Julian Calendar); depending on when Trininty fell, the fast could last from 8 days to 6 weeks
Karpovna: using the nurse's patronymic by itself shows both intimacy and respect
Shakespeare's Polonius: in
Gogolesque pig faces: many extravagant fantasies occur in Gogol's works
Baty: Batu, the nephew of Genghis Khan, led the Mongols in their conquest of Russia in the 13th century
Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness: Luke 16:9
kvass: a slightly fermented drink made from black bread and malt
gendarmes: the political police
pepper cordial: vodka laced with pepper
Order of Vladimir: Russian award founded by Catherine II in 1782
vegetarian: followers of Tolstoy, among others whose loyalty to the government was questioned, were vegetarians
watchman striking on a sheet of iron: to let thieves know that the watchman was actively on duty
St. Thomas's week: first week after Easter
Petchenyegs: Pechenegs were a savage, marauding Turkic tribe during the 9th-11th centuries; synonymous with savage or barbarian
barked the limetrees: stripped off the bark to make shoes with
village elder: the elected leader of the
Flagellant: member of a religious sect that arose in the 17th century; they repudiated priests and much of the Orthodox Church, and tended to favor clean, white clothes
clack, clack, clack: blah-blah-blah
forties or the sixties: in the 1840's there was a romantic, high-minded movement; in the 1860's the nihilist and radicals predominated; both were times of intellectual ferment in Russia
862: the year in which Ryurik and his brothers became the leaders of the Russian tribes, according to legend
big loaf and a gilt salt cellar: traditional Russian welcome ceremony was the giving of a loaf of bread and salt
winter: Russians put on second window-frames in fall and remove them in spring
receipt: recipe
sugar: sugar was expensive
Kleopatra of Egypt: Cleopatra (69 B. C. - 30 B. C.) was the ruler of Egypt and mistress of both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony
stove: the long, flat Russian stove held its heat for a long time after being used for cooking; in winter the top of the stove was a desirable place to sleep
exhibition: the World's Columbian exposition in Chicago in 1893
