Veshnie vody. English Read online

  Of late years, in response to the assiduous search for 'new types,'young men have begun to appear in our literature, determined atall hazards to be 'fresh'... as fresh as Flensburg oysters, whenthey reach Petersburg.... Sanin was not like them. Since we havehad recourse already to simile, he rather recalled a young, leafy,freshly-grafted apple-tree in one of our fertile orchards--orbetter still, a well-groomed, sleek, sturdy-limbed, tender young'three-year-old' in some old-fashioned seignorial stud stable, ayoung horse that they have hardly begun to break in to the traces....Those who came across Sanin in later years, when life had knocked himabout a good deal, and the sleekness and plumpness of youth had longvanished, saw in him a totally different man.

  * * * * *

  Next day Sanin was still in bed when Emil, in his best clothes, witha cane in his hand and much pomade on his head, burst into his room,announcing that Herr Klueber would be here directly with the carriage,that the weather promised to be exquisite, that they had everythingready by now, but that mamma was not going, as her head was bad again.He began to hurry Sanin, telling him that there was not a minute tolose.... And Herr Klueber did, in fact, find Sanin still at his toilet.He knocked at the door, came in, bowed with a bend from the waist,expressed his readiness to wait as long as might be desired, andsat down, his hat balanced elegantly on his knees. The handsomeshop-manager had got himself up and perfumed himself to excess: hisevery action was accompanied by a powerful whiff of the most refinedaroma. He arrived in a comfortable open carriage--one of the kindcalled landau--drawn by two tall and powerful but not well-shapedhorses. A quarter of an hour later Sanin, Klueber, and Emil, in thissame carriage, drew up triumphantly at the steps of the confectioner'sshop. Madame Roselli resolutely refused to join the party; Gemmawanted to stay with her mother; but she simply turned her out.

  'I don't want any one,' she declared; 'I shall go to sleep. I wouldsend Pantaleone with you too, only there would be no one to mind theshop.'

  'May we take Tartaglia?' asked Emil.

  'Of course you may.'

  Tartaglia immediately scrambled, with delighted struggles, on to thebox and sat there, licking himself; it was obviously a thing he wasaccustomed to. Gemma put on a large straw hat with brown ribbons; thehat was bent down in front, so as to shade almost the whole of herface from the sun. The line of shadow stopped just at her lips; theywore a tender maiden flush, like the petals of a centifoil rose, andher teeth gleamed stealthily--innocently too, as when children smile.Gemma sat facing the horses, with Sanin; Klueber and Emil sat opposite.The pale face of Frau Lenore appeared at the window; Gemma waved herhandkerchief to her, and the horses started.

  XV

  Soden is a little town half an hour's distance from Frankfort. It liesin a beautiful country among the spurs of the Taunus Mountains, andis known among us in Russia for its waters, which are supposed to bebeneficial to people with weak lungs. The Frankforters visit it morefor purposes of recreation, as Soden possesses a fine park and various'wirthschaften,' where one may drink beer and coffee in the shadeof the tall limes and maples. The road from Frankfort to Soden runsalong the right bank of the Maine, and is planted all along with fruittrees. While the carriage was rolling slowly along an excellent road,Sanin stealthily watched how Gemma behaved to her betrothed; it wasthe first time he had seen them together. _She_ was quiet and simplein her manner, but rather more reserved and serious than usual; _he_had the air of a condescending schoolmaster, permitting himself andthose under his authority a discreet and decorous pleasure. Sanin sawno signs in him of any marked attentiveness, of what the French call'_empressement_,' in his demeanour to Gemma. It was clear that HerrKlueber considered that it was a matter settled once for all, andthat therefore he saw no reason to trouble or excite himself. Buthis condescension never left him for an instant! Even during a longramble before dinner about the wooded hills and valleys behind Soden,even when enjoying the beauties of nature, he treated nature itselfwith the same condescension, through which his habitual magisterialseverity peeped out from time to time. So, for example, he observedin regard to one stream that it ran too straight through the glade,instead of making a few picturesque curves; he disapproved, too, ofthe conduct of a bird--a chaffinch--for singing so monotonously.Gemma was not bored, and even, apparently, was enjoying herself; butSanin did not recognise her as the Gemma of the preceding days; itwas not that she seemed under a cloud--her beauty had never been moredazzling--but her soul seemed to have withdrawn into herself. With herparasol open and her gloves still buttoned up, she walked sedately,deliberately, as well-bred young girls walk, and spoke little.Emil, too, felt stiff, and Sanin more so than all. He was somewhatembarrassed too by the fact that the conversation was all the timein German. Only Tartaglia was in high spirits! He darted, barkingfrantically, after blackbirds, leaped over ravines, stumps and roots,rushed headlong into the water, lapped at it in desperate haste, shookhimself, whining, and was off like an arrow, his red tongue trailingafter him almost to his shoulder. Herr Klueber, for his part, dideverything he supposed conducive to the mirthfulness of the company;he begged them to sit down in the shade of a spreading oak-tree, andtaking out of a side pocket a small booklet entitled, '_Knallerbsen;oder du sollst und wirst lachen!_' (Squibs; or you must and shalllaugh!) began reading the funny anecdotes of which the little book wasfull. He read them twelve specimens; he aroused very little mirth,however; only Sanin smiled, from politeness, and he himself, HerrKlueber, after each anecdote, gave vent to a brief, business-like, butstill condescending laugh. At twelve o'clock the whole party returnedto Soden to the best tavern there.

  They had to make arrangements about dinner. Herr Klueber proposedthat the dinner should be served in a summer-house closed in on allsides--'_im Gartensalon_'; but at this point Gemma rebelled anddeclared that she would have dinner in the open air, in the garden, atone of the little tables set before the tavern; that she was tired ofbeing all the while with the same faces, and she wanted to see freshones. At some of the little tables, groups of visitors were alreadysitting.

  While Herr Klueber, yielding condescendingly to 'the caprice of hisbetrothed,' went off to interview the head waiter, Gemma stoodimmovable, biting her lips and looking on the ground; she wasconscious that Sanin was persistently and, as it were, inquiringlylooking at her--it seemed to enrage her. At last Herr Klueber returned,announced that dinner would be ready in half an hour, and proposedtheir employing the interval in a game of skittles, adding that thiswas very good for the appetite, he, he, he! Skittles he played inmasterly fashion as he threw the ball, he put himself into amazinglyheroic postures, with artistic play of the muscles, with artisticflourish and shake of the leg. In his own way he was an athlete--andwas superbly built! His hands, too, were so white and handsome, and hewiped them on such a sumptuous, gold-striped, Indian bandana!

  The moment of dinner arrived, and the whole party seated themselves atthe table.

  XVI

  Who does not know what a German dinner is like? Watery soup withknobby dumplings and pieces of cinnamon, boiled beef dry as cork,with white fat attached, slimy potatoes, soft beetroot and mashedhorseradish, a bluish eel with French capers and vinegar, a roastjoint with jam, and the inevitable '_Mehlspeise_,' something of thenature of a pudding with sourish red sauce; but to make up, the beerand wine first-rate! With just such a dinner the tavernkeeper atSoden regaled his customers. The dinner, itself, however, went offsatisfactorily. No special liveliness was perceptible, certainly;not even when Herr Klueber proposed the toast 'What we like!' (Waswir lieben!) But at least everything was decorous and seemly. Afterdinner, coffee was served, thin, reddish, typically German coffee.Herr Klueber, with true gallantry, asked Gemma's permission to smoke acigar.... But at this point suddenly something occurred, unexpected,and decidedly unpleasant, and even unseemly!

  At one of the tables near were sitting several officers of thegarrison of the Maine. From their glances and whispering togetherit was easy to perceive that they were struck by Gemma
's beauty;one of them, who had probably stayed in Frankfort, stared at herpersistently, as at a figure familiar to him; he obviously knew whoshe was. He suddenly got up, and glass in hand--all the officershad been drinking hard, and the cloth before them was crowded withbottles--approached the table at which Gemma was sitting. He wasa very young flaxen-haired man, with a rather pleasing and evenattractive face, but his features were distorted with the wine he haddrunk, his cheeks were twitching, his blood-shot eyes wandered, andwore an insolent expression. His companions at first tried to hold himback, but afterwards let him go, interested apparently to see what hewould do, and how it would end. Slightly unsteady on his legs, theofficer stopped before Gemma, and in an unnaturally screaming voice,in which, in spite of himself, an inward struggle could be discerned,he articulated, 'I drink to the health of the prettiest confectionerin all Frankfort, in all the world (he emptied his glass), and inreturn I take this flower, picked by her divine little fingers!' Hetook from the table a rose that lay beside Gemma's plate. At first shewas astonished, alarmed, and turned fearfully white ... then alarmwas replaced by indignation she suddenly crimsoned all over, to hervery hair--and her eyes, fastened directly on the offender, at thesame time darkened and flamed, they were filled with black gloom, andburned with the fire of irrepressible fury. The officer must have beenconfused by this look; he muttered something unintelligible, bowed,and walked back to his friends. They greeted him with a laugh, andfaint applause.

  Herr Klueber rose spasmodically from his seat, drew himself up to hisfull height, and putting on his hat pronounced with dignity, but nottoo loud, 'Unheard of! Unheard of! Unheard of impertinence!' and atonce calling up the waiter, in a severe voice asked for the bill ...more than that, ordered the carriage to be put to, adding that it wasimpossible for respectable people to frequent the establishment ifthey were exposed to insult! At those words Gemma, who still sat inher place without stirring--her bosom was heaving violently--Gemmaraised her eyes to Herr Klueber ... and she gazed as intently, with thesame expression at him as at the officer. Emil was simply shaking withrage.

  'Get up, _mein Fraeulein_,' Klueber admonished her with the sameseverity, 'it is not proper for you to remain here. We will go inside,in the tavern!'

  Gemma rose in silence; he offered her his arm, she gave him hers, andhe walked into the tavern with a majestic step, which became, with hiswhole bearing, more majestic and haughty the farther he got from theplace where they had dined. Poor Emil dragged himself after them.

  But while Herr Klueber was settling up with the waiter, to whom, by wayof punishment, he gave not a single kreutzer for himself, Sanin withrapid steps approached the table at which the officers were sitting,and addressing Gemma's assailant, who was at that instant offering herrose to his companions in turns to smell, he uttered very distinctlyin French, 'What you have just done, sir, is conduct unworthy of anhonest man, unworthy of the uniform you wear, and I have come to tellyou you are an ill-bred cur!' The young man leaped on to his feet, butanother officer, rather older, checked him with a gesture, made himsit down, and turning to Sanin asked him also in French, 'Was he arelation, brother, or betrothed of the girl?'

  'I am nothing to her at all,' cried Sanin, 'I am a Russian, but Icannot look on at such insolence with indifference; but here is mycard and my address; _monsieur l'officier_ can find me.'

  As he uttered these words, Sanin threw his visiting-card on the table,and at the same moment hastily snatched Gemma's rose, which one of theofficers sitting at the table had dropped into his plate. The youngman was again on the point of jumping up from the table, but hiscompanion again checked him, saying, 'Doenhof, be quiet! Doenhof, sitstill.' Then he got up himself, and putting his hand to the peak ofhis cap, with a certain shade of respectfulness in his voice andmanner, told Sanin that to-morrow morning an officer of the regimentwould have the honour of calling upon him. Sanin replied with a shortbow, and hurriedly returned to his friends.

  Herr Klueber pretended he had not noticed either Sanin's absencenor his interview with the officers; he was urging on the coachman,who was putting in the horses, and was furiously angry at hisdeliberateness. Gemma too said nothing to Sanin, she did not evenlook at him; from her knitted brows, from her pale and compressedlips, from her very immobility it could be seen that she was sufferinginwardly. Only Emil obviously wanted to speak to Sanin, wanted toquestion him; he had seen Sanin go up to the officers, he had seen himgive them something white--a scrap of paper, a note, or a card.... Thepoor boy's heart was beating, his cheeks burned, he was ready to throwhimself on Sanin's neck, ready to cry, or to go with him at once tocrush all those accursed officers into dust and ashes! He controlledhimself, however, and did no more than watch intently every movementof his noble Russian friend.

  The coachman had at last harnessed the horses; the whole partyseated themselves in the carriage. Emil climbed on to the box, afterTartaglia; he was more comfortable there, and had not Klueber, whom hecould hardly bear the sight of, sitting opposite to him.

  * * * * *

  The whole way home Herr Klueber discoursed ... and he discoursed alone;no one, absolutely no one, opposed him, nor did any one agree withhim. He especially insisted on the point that they had been wrongin not following his advice when he suggested dining in a shut-upsummer-house. There no unpleasantness could have occurred! Thenhe expressed a few decided and even liberal sentiments on theunpardonable way in which the government favoured the military,neglected their discipline, and did not sufficiently considerthe civilian element in society (_das buergerliche Element in derSocietaet_!), and foretold that in time this cause would give rise todiscontent, which might well pass into revolution, of which (herehe dropped a sympathetic though severe sigh) France had given thema sorrowful example! He added, however, that he personally had thegreatest respect for authority, and never ... no, never!... could be arevolutionist--but he could not but express his ... disapprobation atthe sight of such licence! Then he made a few general observations onmorality and immorality, good-breeding, and the sense of dignity.

  During all these lucubrations, Gemma, who even while they were walkingbefore dinner had not seemed quite pleased with Herr Klueber, and hadtherefore held rather aloof from Sanin, and had been, as it were,embarrassed by his presence--Gemma was unmistakably ashamed of herbetrothed! Towards the end of the drive she was positively wretched,and though, as before, she did not address a word to Sanin, shesuddenly flung an imploring glance at him.... He, for his part, feltmuch more sorry for her than indignant with Herr Klueber; he was evensecretly, half-consciously, delighted at what had happened in thecourse of that day, even though he had every reason to expect achallenge next morning.

  This miserable _partie de plaisir_ came to an end at last. As hehelped Gemma out of the carriage at the confectionery shop, Saninwithout a word put into her hand the rose he had recovered. Sheflushed crimson, pressed his hand, and instantly hid the rose. Hedid not want to go into the house, though the evening was only justbeginning. She did not even invite him. Moreover Pantaleone, who cameout on the steps, announced that Frau Lenore was asleep. Emil took ashy good-bye of Sanin; he felt as it were in awe of him; he greatlyadmired him. Klueber saw Sanin to his lodging, and took leave of himstiffly. The well-regulated German, for all his self-confidence, feltawkward. And indeed every one felt awkward.

  But in Sanin this feeling of awkwardness soon passed off. It wasreplaced by a vague, but pleasant, even triumphant feeling. He walkedup and down his room, whistling, and not caring to think aboutanything, and was very well pleased with himself.

  XVII

  'I will wait for the officer's visit till ten o'clock,' he reflectednext morning, as he dressed,' and then let him come and look for me!'But Germans rise early: it had not yet struck nine when the waiterinformed Sanin that the Herr Seconde Lieutenant von Richter wishedto see him. Sanin made haste to put on his coat, and told him to askhim up. Herr Richter turned out, contrary to Sanin's expectation, tobe a very young man, almost a b
oy. He tried to give an expression ofdignity to his beardless face, but did not succeed at all: he couldnot even conceal his embarrassment, and as he sat down on a chair, hetripped over his sword, and almost fell. Stammering and hesitating, heannounced to Sanin in bad French that he had come with a message fromhis friend, Baron von Doenhof; that this message was to demand fromHerr von Sanin an apology for the insulting expressions used by himon the previous day; and in case of refusal on the part of Herr vonSanin, Baron von Doenhof would ask for satisfaction. Sanin replied thathe did not mean to apologise, but was ready to give him satisfaction.Then Herr von Richter, still with the same hesitation, asked withwhom, at what time and place, should he arrange the necessarypreliminaries. Sanin answered that he might come to him in two hours'time, and that meanwhile, he, Sanin, would try and find a second.('Who the devil is there I can have for a second?' he was thinking tohimself meantime.) Herr von Richter got up and began to take leave... but at the doorway he stopped, as though stung by a prick ofconscience, and turning to Sanin observed that his friend, Baron vonDoenhof, could not but recognise ... that he had been ... to a certainextent, to blame himself in the incident of the previous day, andwould, therefore, be satisfied with slight apologies ('_des exghizeslecheres_.') To this Sanin replied that he did not intend to make anyapology whatever, either slight or considerable, since he did notconsider himself to blame. 'In that case,' answered Herr von Richter,blushing more than ever,' you will have to exchange friendlyshots--_des goups de bisdolet a l'amiaple_!'

  'I don't understand that at all,' observed Sanin; 'are we to fire inthe air or what?'

  'Oh, not exactly that,' stammered the sub-lieutenant, utterlydisconcerted, 'but I supposed since it is an affair between men ofhonour ... I will talk to your second,' he broke off, and went away.