A Reckless Character | Page 7

not think that he was or imagined himself to be a Lovelace.... Oh, no! In that respect he was very modest. Whether he had inherited from his parents such cold blood, or whether herein was expressed his disinclination to do evil to any one,--since, according to his ideas, to consort with a woman means inevitably to insult the woman,--I will not take it upon myself to decide; only, in his relations with the fair sex he was extremely delicate. The women felt this, and all the more willingly did they pity and aid him until he, at last, repelled them by his sprees and hard drinking, by the recklessness of which I have already spoken.... I cannot hit upon any other word.
On the other hand, in other respects he had already lost all delicacy and had gradually descended to the extreme depths of degradation. He once went so far that in the Assembly of Nobility of T---- he placed on the table a jug with the inscription:
"Any one who finds it agreeable to tweak the nose of hereditary nobleman[14] P��lteff (whose authentic documents are herewith appended) may satisfy his desire, on condition that he puts a ruble in this jug."
And it is said that there were persons who did care to tweak the nobleman's nose! It is true that he first all but throttled one amateur who, having put but one ruble in the jug, tweaked his nose twice, and then made him sue for pardon; it is true also that he immediately distributed to other tatterdemalions a portion of the money thus secured ... but, nevertheless, what outrageous conduct!
In the course of his wanderings through the seven Semy��ns he had also reached his ancestral nest, which he had sold for a song to a speculator and usurer well known at that period. The speculator was at home, and on learning of the arrival of the former owner, who had been transformed into a tramp, he gave orders that he was not to be admitted into the house, and that in case of need he was to be flung out by the scruff of the neck. M��sha declared that he would not enter the house, defiled as it was by the presence of a scoundrel; that he would allow no one to throw him out; but that he was on his way to the churchyard to salute the dust of his ancestors. This he did. At the churchyard he was joined by an old house-serf, who had formerly been his man-nurse. The speculator had deprived the old man of his monthly stipend and expelled him from the home farm; from that time forth the man sought shelter in the kennel of a peasant. M��sha had managed his estate for so short a time that he had not succeeded in leaving behind him a specially good memory of himself; but the old servitor had not been able to resist, nevertheless, and on hearing of his young master's arrival, he had immediately hastened to the churchyard, had found M��sha seated on the ground among the mortuary stones, had begged leave to kiss his hand in memory of old times, and had even melted into tears as he gazed at the rags wherewith the once petted limbs of his nursling were swathed. M��sha looked long and in silence at the old man.
"Timof��i!" he said at last.
Timof��i gave a start.
"What do you wish?"
"Hast thou a spade?"
"I can get one.... But what do you want with a spade, Mikha��lo Andr��itch?"
"I want to dig a grave for myself here, Timof��i; and lie down here forever between my parents. For this is the only spot which is left to me in the world. Fetch the spade!"
"I obey," said Timof��i; and went off and brought it.
And M��sha immediately began to dig up the earth, while Timof��i stood by with his chin propped on his hand, repeating: "That's the only thing left for thee and me, master!"
And M��sha dug and dug, inquiring from time to time: "Life isn't worth living, is it, Timof��i?"
"It is not, dear little father."
The hole had already grown fairly deep. People saw M��sha's work and ran to report about it to the speculator-owner. At first the speculator flew into a rage, and wanted to send for the police. "What hypocrisy!" he said. But afterward, reflecting, probably, that it would be inconvenient to have a row with that lunatic, and that a scandal might be the result, he betook himself in person to the churchyard, and approaching the toiling M��sha, he made a polite obeisance to him. The latter continued to dig, as though he had not noticed his successor.
"Mikha��l Andr��itch," began the speculator, "permit me to inquire what you are doing there?"
"As you see--I am digging a grave for myself."
"Why are you doing that?"
"Because I