Stories by Foreign Authors: Russian | Page 3

perhaps he would be steadier?"
"Why not marry him, indeed, 'm? He could be married, 'm," answered
Gavrila, "and it would be a very good thing, to be sure, 'm."
"Yes; only who is to marry him?"
"Ay, 'm. But that's at your pleasure, 'm. He may, any way, so to say, be
wanted for something; he can't be turned adrift altogether."
"I fancy he likes Tatiana."
Gavrila was on the point of making some reply, but he shut his lips
tightly.
"Yes! . . . let him marry Tatiana," the lady decided, taking a pinch of
snuff complacently, "Do you hear?"
"Yes, 'm," Gavrila articulated, and he withdrew.
Returning to his own room (it was in a little lodge, and was almost
filled up with metal-bound trunks), Gavrila first sent his wife away, and

then sat down at the window and pondered. His mistress's unexpected
arrangement had clearly put him in a difficulty. At last he got up and
sent to call Kapiton. Kapiton made his appearance. . . But before
reporting their conversation to the reader, we consider it not out of
place to relate in few words who was this Tatiana, whom it was to be
Kapiton's lot to marry, and why the great lady's order had disturbed the
steward.
Tatiana, one of the laundresses referred to above (as a trained and
skilful laundress she was in charge of the fine linen only), was a
woman of twenty-eight, thin, fair-haired, with moles on her left cheek.
Moles on the left cheek are regarded as of evil omen in Russia--a token
of unhappy life. . . Tatiana could not boast of her good luck. From her
earliest youth she had been badly treated; she had done the work of two,
and had never known affection; she had been poorly clothed and had
received the smallest wages. Relations she had practically none; an
uncle she had once had, a butler, left behind in the country as useless,
and other uncles of hers were peasants--that was all. At one time she
had passed for a beauty, but her good looks were very soon over. In
disposition, she was very meek, or, rather, scared; towards herself, she
felt perfect indifference; of others, she stood in mortal dread; she
thought of nothing but how to get her work done in good time, never
talked to any one, and trembled at the very name of her mistress,
though the latter scarcely knew her by sight. When Gerasim was
brought from the country, she was ready to die with fear on seeing his
huge figure, tried all she could to avoid meeting him, even dropped her
eyelids when sometimes she chanced to run past him, hurrying from the
house to the laundry. Gerasim at first paid no special attention to her,
then he used to smile when she came his way, then he began even to
stare admiringly at her, and at last he never took his eyes off her. She
took his fancy, whether by the mild expression of her face or the
timidity of her movements, who can tell? So one day she was stealing
across the yard, with a starched dressing-jacket of her mistress's
carefully poised on her outspread fingers . . . some one suddenly
grasped her vigorously by the elbow; she turned round and fairly
screamed; behind her stood Gerasim. With a foolish smile, making
inarticulate caressing grunts, he held out to her a gingerbread cock with
gold tinsel on his tail and wings. She was about to refuse it, but he

thrust it forcibly into her hand, shook his head, walked away, and
turning round, once more grunted something very affectionately to her.
From that day forward he gave her no peace; wherever she went, he
was on the spot at once, coming to meet her, smiling, grunting, waving
his hands; all at once he would pull a ribbon out of the bosom of his
smock and put it in her hand, or would sweep the dust out of her way.
The poor girl simply did not know how to behave or what to do. Soon
the whole household knew of the dumb porter's wiles; jeers, jokes, sly
hints, were showered upon Tatiana. At Gerasim, however, it was not
every one who would dare to scoff; he did not like jokes; indeed, in his
presence, she, too, was left in peace. Whether she liked it or not, the
girl found herself to be under his protection. Like all deaf-mutes, he
was very suspicious, and very readily perceived when they were
laughing at him or at her. One day, at dinner, the wardrobe-keeper,
Tatiana's superior, fell to nagging, as it is called, at her, and brought the
poor thing to such a state that she did not know where to look,