Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

The appearance of the mansion had a certain air of grandeur. From the windows of one side the eye stretched over the lake, which reminds one of the sea, for its even and dark edges disappear, morning and evening, in the mists of the horizon ; from those of the other side, over vast pastures, intersected by ditches, and abounding with osiers. In these pastures, which are never mown, consist the chief riches

THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.99

of the country, and the care bestowed in the rearing of the cattle which roam over them at large, forms the sole occupation of the peasants.

Numerous herds and flocks, whose diminutive size and feeble frames evince the severity of the climate, feed on the banks of the lake of Vologda, and form the only enlivening objects in the scene. Such landscapes are destitute of real beauty; nevertheless they have a tranquil, indistinct, and dreamy kind of grandeur, whose deep repose lacks neither sublimity nor poetry : it is the east without the sun.

One morning, Xenie went out with her father to assist in numbering the eattle, an operation which he himself performed every day. The herds, picturesquely grouped at different distances before the castle, animated the green banks of the lake, which were brightened by the rays of the rising sun, whilst the bell of a neighbouring chapel was summoning to morning prayer some infirm, and therefore unemployed women, and several decayed old men, who enjoyed with resignation the repose of age.

The noble form of these hoary heads, the still fresh complexion of faces, whose brows were silvered with age, demonstrate the salubrity of the atmosphere, and evidence the beauty of the human race in this frozen zone. It is not to youthful countenances we must look, when we would know if beauty exists in a country.

' Look, my father,' said Xenie, as she crossed the causeway which formed the isthmus that united the peninsula of the eastle to the plain ; ' look at the flag floating over the cabin of my foster-brother.' f 2

100THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.

The Russian peasants are frequently permitted to leave home, in order to exercise their industry in the neighbouring towns, and sometimes even as far off' as St. Petersburg. On such occasions they pay to their masters a rent or fine, and only what they gain beyond this is their own. When one of these travelling serfs returns home to his wife, a pine, like a mast, is raised above the cabin, and a flag flutters on the top as a signal to the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, in order that when they see the joyful sign, they may sympathise with the happiness of the wife.

It was in accordance with this ancient custom that they had raised the streamer upon the pinnacle of the Pacome's cottage. The aged Elizabeth, the mother of Fedor, had been the nurse of Xenie.

i? He has returned then, this good-for-nothing foster-brother of thine,' replied Thelenef. ' Oh ! I am so glad he has,' said Xenie. ·: One knave more in the district,' muttered Thelenef, ' we have already enough of them;' and the face of the steward, always gloomy, assumed a yet more forbidding expression.

·? It would be easy to make him good,' replied Xenie ; ' but you will not exert your power.'

' It is you who prevent me : you interfere with the duties of a master, by your soft ways and counsels of false prudence. Ah ! it was not in this manner that my father and grandfather ruled the serfs of our lord's father.'

' But yoTi forget,' replied Xenie, with a trembling voice, ' that Fedor was from his childhood more gently brought up than other peasants ; how can he

THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.101

be like them ? His education was from the first as much cared for as mine.'

'` He ought to be so much the better, and he is all the worse; such are the effects of education ; but it is your fault, you and your nurse would constantly bring him to the castle, and I in my kind wish to please you, forgot, and allowed him to forget, that he was not born to live with us.'

' You cruelly reminded him of it afterwards,'' answered Xenie, with a sigh.

' Your ideas are not Eussian : sooner or later, you will learn to your cost, to know how peasants must be governed.' He then continued, muttering between his teeth, ' `Wbat is this devil of a Fedor doing, to come back here, after my letters to the prince. The prince cannot have read them, and the steward down there is jealous of me ! '

Xenie heard the self-communings of Thelenef, and anxiously watched the progress of the resentful feelings of the steward, who considered that he had been braved in his own house by an intractable serf. She hoped to appease him by these reasonable words : — ' It is now two years since you had my poor foster-brother almost beaten to death. What have you gained by your severity ? Nothing; his lips did not utter one word of excuse, he would have expired under the torture, rather than have humbled himself before you : for he knew that lns punishment was too severe for his fault. I confess he had disobeyed you, but he was in love with Catharine. The cause of the offence lessened its importance; this you would not take into consideration. Since that scene, and the marriage and departure which followed it, the hatred

г 3

102THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.

of all our peasants has become so intense, that I fear for you, my father.'

' And therefore you rejoice at the return of one of my most formidable enemies,' replied the exasperated Thelenef.

' Ah ! I do not fear him : we have both sucked the same breast ; he would die rather than make me unhappy.'

' He has given good proof of this truly ; he would be the first to murder me if he dared.'

' You judge him too harshly. Fedor would, I am sure, defend you against them all, even though you have deeply offended him : you remember your severity too well yourself, for him to forget it. Is not this the truth, father ? He is полу married, and his wife has already a little one; this domestic happiness луШ soften his character. The birth of children often changes the hearts of husbands.'

' Silence ! You will deprive me of all sense with your romantic notions. Go and read in your books about affectionate peasants and generous slaves. i know better than you do, the men I have to deal with: they are idle and vindictive like their fathers, and you луШ never change them.'

' If you Avould permit me to act, and would give

me your aid, лve might, together, reform them ; but

here comes my good Elizabeth, returning from mass.'*

Thus speaking, Xenie ran to throw her arms around

her nurse. ' !№олу then you are happy !'

' Perhaps,' replied the old woman, in а 1олу voice. ' He is come back.' ' Not for long, I fear.' ' What do you mean ? ' ^

THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.103

' They have all lost their senses; but, hush !'

' 'Well, Mother Pacome,' said Thelenef, casting a sinister glance upon the old woman, ' your good-for-nothing son has returned to you ; his wife, I suppose, is satisfied; his return will рголе to you and all, that I do not wish him ill.'

' I am glad of it, sir, we need your protection ; the prince is coming, and we do not