XX + 

To Olga frequently he would + 

Some nice instructive novel read, + 

Whose author nature understood + 

Better than Chateaubriand did + 

Yet sometimes pages two or three + 

(Nonsense and pure absurdity, + 

For maiden’s hearing deemed unfit), + 

He somewhat blushing would omit: + 

Far from the rest the pair would creep + 

And (elbows on the table) they + 

A game of chess would often play, + 

Buried in meditation deep, + 

Till absently Vladimir took + 

With his own pawn alas! his rook! + 