The Daughter of the Commandant

僌
The Daughter of the Commandant, by Alexksandr

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Title: The Daughter of the Commandant
Author: Alexksandr Sergeevich Pushkin
Release Date: September 22, 2004 [eBook #13511] [Date last updated: September 13, 2006]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE DAUGHTER OF THE COMMANDANT
A Russian Romance
by
ALEXKSANDR POUSHKIN
Translated by Mrs. Milne Home
Authoress of "Mamma's Black Nurse Stories," "West Indian Folklore"

PREFACE.
ALEXKSANDR POUSHKIN, the Poet, was born at Petersburg in 1799 of good family, and died before he was forty, in the prime of his genius. The novel here offered to the public is considered by Russians his best prose work. Others are Boris Godúnof, a dramatic sketch, but never intended to be put on the stage, and The Prisoner of the Caucasus. Among his poems are "The Gipsies," "Rúslan and Ludmilla," "The Fountain of Tears," and "Evgeni Onéghin." The last, if I mistake not, was translated into English some years ago. Some of Poushkin's writings having drawn suspicion on him he was banished to a distant part of the Empire, where he filled sundry administrative posts. The Tzar Nicholai, on his accession in 1825, recalled him to Petersburg and made him Historiographer. The works of the poet were much admired in society, but he was not happy in his domestic life. His outspoken language made him many enemies, and disgraceful reports were purposely spread abroad concerning him, which resulted in a duel in which he was mortally wounded by his brother-in-law, George Danthès. His death was mourned publicly by all Russia.
M.P.M.H.
April, 1891.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
I.
Sergeant of the Guards II. The Guide III. The Little Fort IV. The Duel V. Love VI. Pugatchéf VII. The Assault VIII. The Unexpected Visit IX. The Parting X. The Siege XI. The Rebel Camp XII. The Orphan XIII. The Arrest XIV. The Trial
CHAPTER I.
SERGEANT OF THE GUARDS.
My father, Andréj Petróvitch Grineff, after serving in his youth under Count Münich,[1] had retired in 17--with the rank of senior major. Since that time he had always lived on his estate in the district of Simbirsk, where he married Avdotia, the eldest daughter of a poor gentleman in the neighbourhood. Of the nine children born of this union I alone survived; all my brothers and sisters died young. I had been enrolled as sergeant in the Séménofsky regiment by favour of the major of the Guard, Prince Banojik, our near relation. I was supposed to be away on leave till my education was finished. At that time we were brought up in another manner than is usual now.
From five years old I was given over to the care of the huntsman, Savéliitch,[2] who from his steadiness and sobriety was considered worthy of becoming my attendant. Thanks to his care, at twelve years old I could read and write, and was considered a good judge of the points of a greyhound. At this time, to complete my education, my father hired a Frenchman, M. Beaupré, who was imported from Moscow at the same time as the annual provision of wine and Provence oil. His arrival displeased Savéliitch very much.
"It seems to me, thank heaven," murmured he, "the child was washed, combed, and fed. What was the good of spending money and hiring a 'moussié,' as if there were not enough servants in the house?"
Beaupré, in his native country, had been a hairdresser, then a soldier in Prussia, and then had come to Russia to be "outchitel," without very well knowing the meaning of this word.[3] He was a good creature, but wonderfully absent and hare-brained. His greatest weakness was a love of the fair sex. Neither, as he said himself, was he averse to the bottle, that is, as we say in Russia, that his passion was drink. But, as in our house the wine only appeared at table, and then only in liqueur glasses, and as on these occasions it somehow never came to the turn of the "outchitel" to be served at all, my Beaupré soon accustomed himself to the Russian brandy, and ended by even preferring it to all the wines of his native country as much better for the stomach. We became great friends, and though, according to the contract, he had engaged himself to teach me French, German, and all the sciences, he liked better learning of me to chatter Russian indifferently. Each of us busied himself with our own affairs; our friendship was