VIII + 

Pavel Ostapenko lifted his dripping face from the washing-basin and looked out of the window, blinking his staring eyes. Two unknown young men with TatianaтБатАФno, on second thoughts, one, for the second was a Chinese. тАЬFunny,тАЭ thought Pavel. тАЬI seem to have seen them both before.тАЭ тАЬVaritchka,тАЭ he called hoarsely to his wife in the next room, тАЬWhere have we seen these young men before?тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat, more young menтБатАКтБатАжтАК?тАЭ moaned Varvara. She looked between the flowers in the window at Seryozha and Wilfred. Seryozha was squatting down, launching the hens into freedom, as though they were little ships. Like little ships in full sail they sprang away from him with wings out and bowsprit necks craning. Tatiana, watching them, had a simple henтАЩs relief written upon her face. Her fingers fluttered like rudimentary wings. + 

тАЬThe Chinese,тАЭ said Varvara, тАЬis the man who came in once, with an Englishman and a French valet, when their car broke down. We gave them tea, you remember. We could only talk to them through the valet. I remember the Chinese because of his one gold tooth. That Russian lad is a stranger to me. So he is to you, Pavlik. You are muddled today. How could you ever have seen him before without me?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, I have. His face is absolutely familiar. It is something about that line from jaw to ear; something, too, about his eyesтБатАФthe lids so deeply tucked in. Who can it be?тАЭ He turned SeryozhaтАЩs face about in his memory as one turns an unopened letter, testing oneтАЩs instinct, yet refusing to prove it by a simple practical act. + 

тАЬI have it,тАЭ said Pavel. тАЬThat boy is exactly like my sisterтАЩs husbandтАЩs cousin, Sergei Dmitrivitch Malinin. He had those eyes and that carriage of the head, exactly. I knew him when I was a child and he was this ladтАЩs age. I may have met him once or twice later, too. He was in my brother-in-lawтАЩs business in Moscow. This boyтАЩs height and build and coloring are all quite unlikeтБатАФyet the eyes and the jaw.тБатАКтБатАж I never saw such a likeness. Sergei Dmitrivitch was a silly lad, I see now, but I thought a lot of him then, because he could move his scalp and his ears by themselvesтБатАФhis hair slipped all of a piece right back, like this. Ah, tschah! I canтАЩt do it.тБатАКтБатАж How well I remember.тБатАКтБатАж I used to say, тАШWobble your hair, Seryozha,тАЩ and he always did it for me. I think he was flattered by my admiration of his skill.тАЭ + 

тАЬYour cousin Sergei Dmitrivitch,тАЭ said Varvara, assent dawning in her face. тАЬThe man who said that the seat of the soul was in the nape of the neck? He came to supper with us, in Moscow, soon after we were married. It must be twenty-five years ago. I have never forgotten the way he fingered the back of his neck as he talked, as if he were encouraging his soul. Yes,тАЭ she said, leaning tensely between the fuchsias in the window, тАЬI can see what you mean about the eyes of this boy. But it must be imagination, Pavlik.тАЭ + 

Tatiana came in. She felt almost as if she had created Seryozha; it was quite important to her that her parents should approve of this new Russian that she and her hens had conjured out of empty air on a Korean trail where no new Russian had been heard of before. Russians in Far Eastern villages are so well used to living in watertight communities that they forget there are such things as strangers of their own race. + 

тАЬA Russian young fellow is here,тАЭ said Tatiana. тАЬAnd a Chinese who says he is the one that came with that imbecile Englishman whom you taught to say Za Vashe zdorovye papasha.тАЭ + 

Pavel was now feeling that exalted feeling that comes just after a drink and just before the reaction. He went to the door sparkling with handsomeness and enthusiasm. Seryozha, in the yard, still showing off a little in case someone might be looking out of the window, was making his dog jump over an upraised stick. + 

тАЬCome in! Come in! Come in!тАЭ shouted Pavel Ostapenko. тАЬIt is seldom we meet strangers of our raceтБатАФseldom indeed that we have the pleasure ofтБатАФтАЭ + 

Wilfred Chew pushed in front of Seryozha and shook one of PavelтАЩs two generous outstretched hands. тАЬYou will remember me, I feel sure, Mr.┬аOstapenko,тАЭ he said in English. тАЬI had the mutual pleasure of calling here with a gentleman called Sir Theo Mustard, of Leeds, England, about a month ago. And now I introduce another gentlemanтБатАФтАЭ + 

Pavel laughed breezily. тАЬTell your friend,тАЭ he said in Russian to Seryozha, тАЬthat I canтАЩt speak or understand English. I can understand it written down, because I have to depend for news on the English newspapers, but spoken it means nothing to me.тАЭ As usual, his pleased voice made this ignorance sound like a virtue or a cleverness. The spontaneous reply to the tone of PavelтАЩs voice explaining one of his shortcomings would have been, тАЬWell, wellтБатАФI congratulate you.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬWhere do you come from, my dear sir, and may I know your name?тАЭ + 

тАЬWe come from Chi-tao-kou,тАЭ mumbled Seryozha, feeling too large for the door as he was drawn in. Wilfred Chew, coming across the sitting-room between the two big Russians, looked like a coconut palm between two oaks. + 

Then Pavel said, тАЬDo you know my cousin, Sergei Dmitrivitch Malinin?тАЭ + 

тАЬWe know him,тАЭ said Seryozha, with the young boorтАЩs natural instinct to begin by being disobliging in the giving of information. He added to Wilfred in English, тАЬThey speak, do I know my own papa?тАЭ + 

This was the kind of joke that appealed to Wilfred. That someone else should not know something that he himself knew, seemed to him essentially flattering and amusing. (One notices the same ready sense of simple fun in a rustic, directing a stranger through his villageтБатАФтАЬTurn by WinklerтАЩs Corner.тБатАКтБатАж What, you donтАЩt know WinklerтАЩs Corner where Mrs.┬аThompsonтАЩs mare fell down dead last year? Well, itтАЩs opposite the Glebe Field.тБатАКтБатАж For goodnessтАЩ sakes, you donтАЩt know that, either?тАЭ etc., etc.) Wilfred Chew laughed with delighted hissings, because these simple Ostapenkos did not know that Seryozha was his fatherтАЩs son. + 

Pavel was baffled by SeryozhaтАЩs uncommunicative manner. тАЬIs Sergei Dmitrivitch in good health?тАЭ he asked, though he really wanted to say: тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter? Is my old cousin dead or has he turned you out of doors, young man?тАЭ + 

тАЬHe is in good health,тАЭ said Seryozha, and added, indifferently, тАЬHe is my father.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, well!тАЭ shouted Pavel, leaping up and clapping his hands about SeryozhaтАЩs shoulders. тАЬMy dear, dear boy, you donтАЩt know what it means to us in our exile to have a kinsman walking in like this. We havenтАЩt heard anything of any of our kin since the revolution, and though your father and I are only distant cousins, I used to have the greatest admiration for him. Can he still move his ears and the hair on the top of his head?тАЭ + 

тАЬHe has no hair to move, now,тАЭ said Seryozha. тАЬAnd he isnтАЩt merry enough to do that kind of thing now. He is blind.тАЭ + 

тАЬBlind!тАЭ PavelтАЩs emotions, always a little exaggerated by the excitement of a drink just over or that of a drink to come, at once materialized in the form of a tear in each eye. тАЬAh, poor man! poor man! Blind!тБатАКтБатАж I am very tenderhearted. Excuse me.тАЭ + 

тАЬExplain me what he is saying,тАЭ said Wilfred, anxiously. But there was no time, for Pavel went on: + 

тАЬBlindnessтБатАФthe most terrible of all afflictions, especially to a man of your fatherтАЩs sturdy independence of character.тБатАКтБатАж He used to be so kind to me when I was a young boy and he a youth about town in Moscow. His hair, falling backward, looked like an accident. Lord! How I used to laugh! And now he is blind. Ah, how carefree children areтБатАКтБатАж how little they know.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

His beautiful deep voice, uttering these sad words, seemed to bring to the minds of all three Ostapenkos the unearthly and tragic glamour of a remembered Ostapenko childhood. Egoists always have unhappy childhoods, and always look back on them in an agony of rapture and emotion. The eyes of both Varvara and Tatiana were wet at the thought of the laughter of little Ostapenkos, unconscious of a threatened doom. + 

тАЬThey are all crying,тАЭ said Wilfred, feverishly. тАЬExplain me, please, Saggay Saggayitch, what is being said.тАЭ + 

тАЬIt is curious how all members of our familyтБатАФmine and no doubt yours, Sergei SergeievitchтБатАФтАЭ Pavel included SeryozhaтАЩs family as a polite afterthought, тАЬare haunted by this sense of doomтБатАФthis atmosphere of tragedyтБатАФfrom birth till death, and always a tragically sudden death, mind you. A hard-drinking, hard-riding, passionate, gloomy, sensitive, tragic breed.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ He rolled these delicious words in his throat, drew himself up to his full splendid height, and glared at Seryozha, as though scorching into his young kinsmanтАЩs intelligence the baneful splendor of his connection with the tragic Ostapenkos. тАЬThis air of doomтБатАФyour fatherтАЩs blindness is a fearful example of itтБатАФseems to affect even those who come in contact with us. My daughterтАЩs betrothed, Alexander Petrovitch WeberтБатАФBy the way, were you still at Chi-tao-kou when that tragedy culminated?тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat tragedy? You mean when Alexander Petrovitch lost his papers?тАЭ + 

тАЬHe lost his life,тАЭ said Pavel. тАЬHe cut his throat.тАЭ + 

Seryozha caught his breath and looked at Tatiana. There seemed to him to be no spontaneous connection between this live young woman and that dead young man. For he had an extravagant respect for life; unconsciously, he enshrined it as a holiness. The power of movement, the sight of movement, and the feeling of movement were his trinity. + 

Tatiana rubbed her hands slowly together and passed the tip of her tongue across her lips, looking here and there, but not at Seryozha. + 

тАЬIt is certainly a curse,тАЭ boomed Pavel, standing swinging his weight from one foot to the other, almost as though he were dancing. тАЬIt is part of the family curse which you and we, as kinsmen, share. Tanya has had seven admirers, and all have felt the force of the family doom. We are certainly accursed.тБатАКтБатАж If you were not a cousin of oursтБатАФand thus involved in any caseтБатАФI would advise you to keep away from us, young man. Ostapenkos affect all who approach them.тАЭ + 

тАЬKindly explain what he is saying, Saggay Saggayitch,тАЭ twittered Wilfred. + 

тАЬThat case of champagne, Varitchka my dear,тАЭ said Pavel, тАЬmay be said to have been long waiting to be opened in honor of a kinsman.тАЭ + 

Varvara, frowning with excitement, went out of the room, and as she passed Seryozha she said in a low voice to him, тАЬSergei SergeievitchтБатАФyou mustnтАЩt judge her by love.тАЭ + 

Seryozha turned quickly and looked after her, gaping. тАЬWell, these are queer birds, these Ostapenkos,тАЭ he thought, and had an impulse to step to the door and shout after his hostess, тАЬI donтАЩt intend to.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat did Mrs.┬аOstapenko whisper to you, Saggay Saggayitch?тАЭ cried Wilfred, rumpling his thick black hair in a frenzy of thwarted enthusiasm. + 

тАЬAlexander Petrovitch,тАЭ said Pavel, тАЬwas my darling future son-in-lawтБатАФthe ideal son-in-law. Sometimes I think, Sergei Sergeievitch, that women exist only to suck the blood out of men.тБатАКтБатАж Excuse me a momentтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ He could hear that Varvara was looking in the wrong place for the champagne. + 

тАЬPlease, please, what is he talking about, Saggay Saggayitch?тАЭ said Wilfred desperately, as their host went out. + 

тАЬOiтБатАКтБатАж about mansтБатАКтБатАж and womansтБатАКтБатАж plenty things,тАЭ said Seryozha. He was looking blankly at TatianaтАЩs reflection in a looking-glass. It was an old dark glass that made everything seem twilit and leadenтБатАФeven TatianaтАЩs bright hair. + 

Tatiana, crouched over something on the table, said, тАЬHave you ever noticed that there are always pictures of spotted deer on all Japanese matchboxes? Sometimes in one attitude, sometimes in another, but always under a little tree. I wonder why.тАЭ + 

Seryozha did not know why, so he only grunted humbly. Wilfred Chew, feeling anxiously that an opportunity for wit or sentiment was being missed, leaned forward, grinning with all his teeth, and said, тАЬHorosho, Miss Ostapenko, horosho horosho.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ Horosho was the only Russian word he knew, and of course it was an enthusiastic and ambiguous one. Poor Wilfred, it was torture for him to be left out of talk. + 

Pavel came back with the hurried gait of one who has thought of several good things to say while he has been away. + 

тАЬWomen, Sergei Sergeievitch, are like a kind of dry rot in a manтАЩs world,тАЭ shouted Pavel, who was suffering from one of the momentary spasms of dislike of women that come to a man who lives alone with devoted women to whom he is reluctantly devoted. + 

тАЬI must say, I donтАЩt understand this grumbling at things for being things,тАЭ said Seryozha, feeling very manly. тАЬYou canтАЩt grumble even at a louse for being a louse; only if it pretends to be a beetleтБатАФthen you can grumble. Or if it bites you, you can grumble at the bite. But bite or no bite, it is what it is. I donтАЩt think women are dry rot, or anything but just women. They do what they were born to do, just as we do and lice do.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou are like all young people in these days, cousin, full of contradictory arguments,тАЭ said Pavel, genially, without giving attention to a word Seryozha had said. тАЬIтАЩll tell you a story out of my own experienceтБатАФa story that always seems to me to typify the mean part women play in menтАЩs affairs. Excuse me a moment while I open this bottle. Tanya, the wire-cutter.тАЭ + 

Tatiana, without rising and without lowering her eyes, which were fixed in a kind of blurred stare on the matchbox on the table, pulled out a drawer close to her. She was for a second obliged to focus her eyes on the contents of the drawer as she selected the wire-cutter and handed it to her father. Then she fixed her blurred, trance-like gaze on her father. He was half turned away from her toward the guests, and she could see the layer of healthy fat at the corner of his jaw, his cheek, the side muscle of his neck, and even his ear, wobbling as he talked. She thought, what an inconceivably over-elaborate use we make of these strips of fleshтБатАФour lips, our tongues, our hands, our feetтБатАКтБатАж praying, singing, telling lies, explaining philosophies, opening champagne bottles, making watches and guns, dancing, treading out grapes.тБатАКтБатАж What a complicated destiny for something that is, after all, nothing but meat.тБатАКтБатАж The natural thing for lips to utter is a grunt, thought TatianaтБатАФa kind, calm grunt like SeryozhaтАЩs. Yet there was the flesh on the sides of her fatherтАЩs skull all quivering like a jelly to no purpose, the bones all shaking anxiously with superfluous effort. + 

Pavel poured out three glasses of champagne for his two guests and himself. Wilfred shook his head vigorously. тАЬI never touch alcohol,тАЭ he said. тАЬIts dangers have been so well explained to me by Reverend Mr.┬аOswald Fawcett. And, Miss Ostapenko, I see, does not touch alcohol, either.тАЭ + 

Pavel hesitated and then poured out half a glass for his daughter. His attention was drawn by this to Wilfred, and he said: тАЬYour friend might be interested in my story too. What a pity that he speaks no civilised language.тАЭ + 

Wilfred, feeling that he was being referred to, bowed excitedly several times. + 

тАЬAbout ten years ago,тАЭ said Pavel, settling down. тАЬOr wasnтАЩt it ten years ago? Anyway, at the time the Japanese and Americans were at Vladivostok, I happened to be buying ponies in Mongolia. Wherever there is war, Sergei Sergeievitch, somebody will be ready to pay for horses, and horses are my skill. All Ostapenkos have an eye for a horse. Some people have skill in writing poetry, some in starching evening dress shirts. I have skill in horses. Those little Mongolian horses are excellent in their wayтБатАФthe English race them and play polo with them in Shanghai, I believeтБатАФand in the war I found it several times worth while to go down into Mongolia, leaving my wife and baby in Vladivostok, and buy direct from the Mongolian breeders. An amusing expedition, that; the Mongol horse-breeders are decent, hospitable men if you treat them fairly, thoughтБатАФGod!тБатАФthey smell! They live in tents and feed you on muttonтБатАФmuttonтБатАФmuttonтБатАФcooked sour, somehowтБатАФnothing but mutton (except that once I found a horsetail in the big family stewpot. Lord! I can tell you I went out and vomited).тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat is all this about, Saggay Saggayitch?тАЭ + 

тАЬHe eat sheep and horseтАЩs tail,тАЭ said Seryozha, and poor Wilfred, astounded, fell back in his chair, trying to hook this information on to anything that had gone before. + 

тАЬAt the time I crossed the border into Mongolia, the out-of-the-way districts were hardly affected at all, as yet, by the revolution or its after effects. Once one got away from the railway zone, one was off the track of politics. So when I returned into Siberia, with fifty good ponies, I was surprised to come across a troop of Red cavalryтБатАФthe offshoots of BoudenyтАЩs activities, I supposeтБатАФunder the command of a scoundrel called Ivanov.тАЭ + 

тАЬBolshevik horses,тАЭ said Seryozha in English, seeing Wilfred drawing breath to bleat another hopeless appeal. + 

тАЬNow I, Sergei Sergeievitch, am an unsentimental man without any prejudices. I am always ready to receive new ideas. My skill in horses is my only fixed idea. Perhaps I shall shock you by saying thatтБатАФat any rate at that timeтБатАФthough I had steered clear of politics my sympathies were rather with the revolution than against it. Twenty years before, my younger brother had been sent to Siberia, as a student, for speaking at a meeting in Moscow. I never heard of him again, and naturally that had made an impression on me that was hostile to the Tsarist regime. I always behaved as a good and cautious subject of the Tsar, of course, still, I was open-minded about a change of government. So that when I found myself, without warning, in a camp of Red soldiers, and was detained, with my four Korean grooms, I was able to face Ivanov without prejudice or panic. тАШGeneral,тАЩ I said, тАШIтАЩm a man of no prejudices. IтАЩm not afraid of you, and I tell you straight out, I can see that most of your horses are worn out and only fit for a merciful bullet, and that half your men donтАЩt know how to put a saddle across a horse properly or ride the beast when saddled.тАЩ Ivanov was astounded at my sangfroid. тАШHmph!тАЩ he said.тАЭ + 

PavelтАЩs voice was quite enough to make himself the hero of his story, unaided by the sense of his words. He quoted himself in a voice of noble clarion courage, and Ivanov in a barbarous snarl. The hmph of Ivanov whetted WilfredтАЩs appetite for explanation to an almost unbearable keenness. + 

тАЬMy goodness gracious! Saggay Saggayitch, what does that mmpp mean?тАЭ + 

тАЬHe speak, Bolshevik has bad horses.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut this story cannot be all about horses,тАЭ wailed Wilfred. + 

Pavel, however, swept on: тАЬWell, of course, Ivanov could see at once what kind of man I was, and, in a word, he not only promised to buy my horses, but, since he was likely to be in that valley most of the hot weather, employed me, informally, to lick his detachment into shape, both horse and man. It was a job. As a rule, our peasants have what I call тАШhorse sense,тАЩ but those loutsтБатАФmy God!тБатАФthey must have been brought up with newts in a swamp or polar bears on an iceberg. They simply didnтАЩt know which end of a horse was which.тАЭ + 

тАЬI thought you said this story was about women,тАЭ said Seryozha, who had been rather touched by WilfredтАЩs last cry.тБатАКтБатАж He added aside to Wilfred, тАЬHe speak still about horse.тАЭ + 

тАЬWait,тАЭ said Pavel, with a breathy laugh. тАЬThe women will comeтБатАФthey always do, curse them.тАЭ He poured out more champagne. He felt very much alive, as he always felt when he had been more than half drunk and, after a period of irritation and partial sobriety, had begun to drink again. He tingled with a glorious heroism; every muscle, every nerve, every thought felt bright as a sword, after a little hour of rusty eclipse. тАЬThey were waiting to be reinforced by some artillery before tackling a stray independent party of White military engineers and miners, in a high mining village in the mountains. The Whites were in a very strong position. The only way up to the village was up a very steep ravine, or in a little dangling gravity trolley on a wire (which had, of course, been cut by Ivanov). The village must have been quite fifteen hundred feet above valley level; you could see it likeтБатАФlikeтБатАФwell, like the gold crown on a tall tooth, if you can imagine it, clamped, one might say, on a tiny peaked plateau. A couple of machine-guns could, and did, easily defend the pass. It was a difficult job for Ivanov, and he was particularly anxious to put it through because Colonel Rodin was said to be in command up thereтБатАФa colonel of engineers who had given a good deal of trouble up and down that region. The place, too, was a regular magnet to all the miners of White sympathies in those mountains. The only thing Ivanov could do for the present was to stop their valley water supplyтБатАФan elaborate hydraulic business that fed several of the mines from the river. I remember it being constructed several years before by an American mining engineer. Ivanov, of course, put that out of action, but still they held on, so they must have had mountain streams up there, or pretty big emergency cisterns.тАЭ + 

Wilfred bounced in his chair, performing a little impromptu dance on his buttocks. тАЬWhat is all this about, please?тАЭ + 

тАЬThey stop water-pipe,тАЭ said Seryozha, and Wilfred, though profoundly puzzled, was at least relieved that the story had left the subject of horses. + 

тАЬтАКтАШMy dear Ivanov,тАЩ I said, тАШexcuse me, but you simply donтАЩt know the kind of people youтАЩre up against. I know this region; I know these miners; I know dozens of the men in charge of these mines; youтАЩre up against something as stubborn as the mountains themselves, given just these kinds of conditions. TheyтАЩre adventurers, these miners, and that means theyтАЩre individualists, and that again means that in ordinary circumstances every man is for himselfтБатАФtheyтАЩre not the тАЬshoulder-to-shoulderтАЭ kind, when nothing threatens them; theyтАЩd as soon break a manтАЩs nose as shake his hand. Sometimes theyтАЩre the sons of political exiles, and sometimes theyтАЩve lived in these mountains so long that theyтАЩve almost forgotten their mother tongue. They donтАЩt sing pretty songs about Holy Russia, or go, with clean faces, to church on Sunday. But once something does happen to bring them together (and you may depend on it, Stepan Rodin knows how to handle them), well, I tell you theyтАЩll never give in. You know what Rodin isтБатАФpeople say heтАЩs the son of a priest, you know, and only the adopted son of old Rodin, and I bet heтАЩs made a holy war of this.тБатАКтБатАж WhatтАЩs more, IтАЩll bet theyтАЩve got a priest in that village, praying night and day while we sit here, to a little packed church. TheyтАЩve got their women and children to defend up there, too, and that always makes a difference. Once these fellows remember GodтБатАФonce they feel theyтАЩve got God behind themтБатАФwell,тАЩ I said (and it was a funny thing to say to a Red anarchist like Ivanov), тАШGod is behind them.тБатАКтБатАжтАЩ You see, Sergei Sergeievitch, I remembered I was a religious man myself. Political reform is one thing, but I was sick of the blasphemy and filthy twaddle in that camp. I donтАЩt see why you canтАЩt set up an enlightened government and still worship God. Well, thatтАЩs what I said, anywayтБатАФand it was disastrous for me.тАЭ + 

The good-natured Seryozha realized that this part of the story would certainly interest the student from the Wesleyan Academy. тАЬIn such high mountains they are praying to God, he speak,тАЭ said Seryozha, and was rewarded by WilfredтАЩs look of bland, if blank, gratification. WilfredтАЩs glass of champagne was strangely empty. Wrapt away in his emotional prison, he had been absently sipping his wine all this time, for lack of anything better to do with his lips. It was at this point that Wilfred was inspired to get out his notebook and his fountain pen and begin to write in English in his insipid clerkly hand. The plot of PavelтАЩs story as it filtered through to Wilfred, was so very exiguous as hardly to be able to engage even the most optimistic attention, and Wilfred had thought of another way to reestablish himself in the center of the stage. Hardly had he put pen to tooth when, as by a miracle, his glass was full again. He wrote earnestly on, sipping his wine, sucking his pen, writing again, and only rarely lifting up his voice to inquire affably after the progress of the story. + 

Seryozha was getting bored. He looked at Tatiana across the stream of her fatherтАЩs voice that ran between them. She seemed to be getting smaller and smaller; she was sinking lower and lower in her chair. She was really trying to be unobtrusiveтБатАФto be part of the twilightтБатАФbecause if her father should notice her, she was likely to be sent to help her mother and Katya in the kitchen. Tatiana, when still, was very indolent, afraid to break a spell of peace; when moving, she moved ardently, she danced, she ran. Now she hardly breathed. She listened to the story, lending her faint changes of expression to the changing phases of the storyтБатАФfrowning for Ivanov, tossing her head for Rodin, assuming a delicate insolence for her fatherтАЩs defiances. She and Seryozha, all the time, looked at each other across the river of talk with eyes endowed by wine with a sort of magnifying intensity of sight. + 

Pavel was opening a third bottle of champagne, but he did not stop talking. тАЬWhat I said made Ivanov uncontrollably angry. IтАЩve often thought since that he must once have been a man of simple orthodoxy, before Bolshevik propaganda filled his stupid mind. That would account for his anger at what I said; one is always more annoyed by hearing something one might once have said oneself. He said a good many things about my infecting his sound men with outworn superstitionsтБатАФtreason to the SovietтБатАФyou know the kind of thingтБатАКтБатАж and then he literally kicked me out of campтБатАФunarmedтБатАФwithout a kopek. HeтАЩd got my horses, mind you, and not a penny did he pay for them, the dirty scoundrel. You can carry a message to your friends, sitting trusting in their divine cockalorum on that mountain top,тАЩ he shouted. тАШYou can tell them that with the hot weather coming on and their water supply in my hands, theyтАЩd find it wisest to change sides.тБатАКтБатАж You go there and tell them that and stay there,тАЩ he said. тАШPerhaps IтАЩll pay you your money when you bring them all down, all with your tongues hanging out, ready to lick our hands for a drink.тБатАКтБатАжтАЩ I really think he wanted me to carry that messageтБатАФthatтАЩs why he let me go. Anyway, I went. I couldnтАЩt do anything else. His men had taken all my money and papers and my grooms had disappeared. I just thrust my chest out and walked up the passтБатАФas well as I could for a kick one of the dirty brutes had given me on the ankle. The defenders wouldnтАЩt waste their machine-gun ammunition on one lame man. I shouted, тАШDonтАЩt shoot,тАЩ and waved my arms, and they let me come. They searched me, and then I had a talk with Rodin. Would you believe it? there were some quite good-looking women in the villageтБатАФRussian refugee women, I mean, not the minersтАЩ wivesтБатАФrefugees whoтАЩd drifted there in RodinтАЩs wake, I suppose.тБатАКтБатАж Everything was upside down in those days. My God! they were hard up for water. There was a little cascade in the ravine, but it was almost dried up, and their cisterns were almost empty. No likelihood of rain, either, and, of course, not a drop coming up from the valley. Ivanov had seen to that. People were allowed to drink by measure. I saw a woman faint in the street, the day I got there, and next day a young fellow had a kind of fit. I liked Rodin, and he saw at once what kind of man I was. We found we had friends in common. I was with him when a group of menтБатАФthe village storekeeper, the publican, a couple of mine agents, and some such outsiders, came and asked him to give up the village or take his soldiers somewhere else. тАШBetter give up than die of thirst,тАЩ they said. тАШWeтАЩll have to give up some time, at this rate. You said we were to trust in God, but he doesnтАЩt send us water, so it couldnтАЩt be much worse for us if we put our trust in Red Ivanov.тАЩ Rodin said, тАШWait five daysтАЩтБатАФjust like thatтБатАФтАШwait five days.тАЩ He said it so confidently and so mysteriously that the deputation thought heтАЩd got some idea up his sleeve. When theyтАЩd gone I said, тАШMy dear Colonel, what in the world do you expect will happen in five days? The Second Advent?тАЩ тАШOh, anything may happen,тАЩ he said. тАШI never look more than four days ahead; the fifth day is the one I canтАЩt see, so I always expect a good deal of it.тАЩ And that day, while he and I were talking, Julia Arcadievna sent to ask Rodin to spare her a few minutes. She was the widow of a man whoтАЩd died of sunstroke during the retreat across Siberia, and there she was drifting east with the refugees, and had somehow drifted hereтБатАФone never knew where people would turn up in those daysтБатАФbut she was absolutely virtuous, my dear Sergei Sergeievitch, absolutely virtuous.тАЭ + 

Seryozha shifted in his chair, his big limbs tired of stillness. He became aware that a certain activity in the slowly spinning room was to be identified as the appearance of dinner. He saw the bottles fly upward to allow for the laying of the cloth and then descend again, upright, like angels. He saw blue plates settling like leaves upon the cloth. The movements of Varvara and the servant were like a little controlled wind making all these orderly displacements. + 

тАЬWhat does dobbri-dyet-il-niar genstchina mean?тАЭ asked Wilfred, but not in the manner of one who really wants very much to know. His notebook, like the bottles and glasses, had been mysteriously snatched to heaven, a white cloud of cloth filled his sight, and now the notebook alighted again, ready for use, with a full glass of champagne beside it. + 

Seryozha could not remember the English words for a virtuous woman. тАЬNyet singing girl,тАЭ he said, uncertainly. + 

Katya, the servant, leaning over Pavel with a plate, said: тАЬHave you heard the news, Varvara Alexeievna? Piotr Gavrilovitch has joined the Chinese army. He wrote from Mukden yesterday. I heard it from Olga IvanovnaтАЩs nieceтАЩs woman.тАЭ + 

Pavel glanced with vindictiveness at his daughter. тАЬHa, Tanya! News about your Petya. That disposes of another of them, doesnтАЩt it? Tanya, you are listening to my story, arenтАЩt you?тАЭ He went on: тАЬWell, Sergei Sergeievitch, when this virtuous woman saw Rodin, she said, тАШStepan Stepanovitch, what have you said? Five days? You have given God five days to save us in. What blasphemy to set such a limit. If faith can sustain us for five days, why not five hundred? Surely we can wait on GodтАЩs will for longer than five days.тАЩ тАШThereтАЩs such a thing as being too thirsty to trust in God,тАЩ said Rodin. тАШThereтАЩs such a thing as having too dry a throat to pray with. Not for people like you and me, Julia Arcadievna, but for the ordinary ruck. Even five days is something. If you pray for us, perhaps something will happen to help us, even in five days.тАЩ He had a great admiration for Julia Arcadievna. I always say myself that women are in the way when thereтАЩs fighting to be done. If it hadnтАЩt been for all those women and children, we could have given up our position and tried our luck against IvanovтАЩs men in the valley. They outnumbered us, of course, but they were a poor lot, as I knew. Still, Julia Arcadievna was a damned handsome woman, and intelligent, too. She said: тАШIтАЩve got an idea. I wonтАЩt tell you what it is. If it fails, nobody but me loses anything. So donтАЩt ask me any questions, but come to the head of the pass tonight, Stepan Stepanovitch, and wish me luck.тАЩ тАШWhy, where will you be going?тАЩ тАШDonтАЩt ask questions, I tell you. IтАЩve always thought I was born to be a spy.тАЩ Would you believe it, Rodin thought so much of that woman, he let her go. He even told me he had great faith in her. ItтАЩs wonderful how good looks in women go to menтАЩs heads. Wonderful,тАЭ he repeated in a different and savage tone, turning his white glare on his daughter. + 

тАЬRodin was a curious fellowтБатАФa fine-looking fellow, but quite bald,тАЭ went on Pavel, stroking his own thick auburn hair, glad to establish superiority over the hero he spoke of. тАЬPlenty of hair on his upper lip, but none on his head. He and I went to the sandbag barricade at the top of the pass that eveningтБатАФfor by that time he trusted me absolutely, and certainly it wasnтАЩt likely I should hold any more with these revolutionaries after theyтАЩd behaved like that over my horses. At sunset Julia Arcadievna, with her little Korean maid carrying a parcel, came mincing down the pass. Good lord!тБатАФwhat a change! SheтАЩd put aside all her widowтАЩs blacks and there she was in a sandy-colored Paris-looking frock with red embroidery, and no hat or veil to hide her pretty yellow hair. She looked stunning. SheтАЩd rouged up her lips and blacked her eyes a little. SheтАЩd a way of opening her eyes suddenly very wide as she looked at you.тБатАКтБатАж тАШLet your gunners and sentries know I shall be coming back in four days, Stepan Stepanovitch,тАЩ she said. So she went. She went in the evening, I suppose so that she could pretend to IvanovтАЩs men that sheтАЩd slipped away unseen down the pass.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, did she come back?тАЭ asked Seryozha. The widow, Julia Arcadievna, sounded to him almost too mature to be interesting. He imagined a brazen hard-bosomed blonde of thirtyтБатАФalmost an auntтАЩs age. Seryozha could just remember meeting his motherтАЩs sister in Russia before the revolution, and women admired by older men always ever since appeared in his mindтАЩs sight as shrill, plump, vivacious old women of twenty-nine or so. + 

тАЬYes, she came back,тАЭ said Pavel, looking almost alarmed at the climax of his story. тАЬShe came back on the evening of the fourth day, with a parcel.тАЭ + 

тАЬWellтБатАКтБатАж she went away with a parcel didnтАЩt she?тАЭ said Seryozha. + 

тАЬYesтБатАКтБатАж but this was a different parcelтБатАФbigger and heavier. She opened it in the presence of Rodin and me and a lot of the men, on the terrace looking over the valley. It was wrapped up in an ordinary army blanket. It was IvanovтАЩs head.тАЭ + 

Seryozha snorted with surprise. тАЬIvanovтАЩs head! How had she killed him?тАЭ + 

тАЬTschah! I leave you to imagine. In a womanтАЩs way, of course. Poor devil! Playing on his manhood. ThatтАЩs a womanтАЩs way, Sergei Sergeievitch. And what do you think she told Rodin and me? That she hadnтАЩt actually slept with Ivanov. She hadnтАЩt even given the poor beast that satisfaction. Lord! it was a disgusting thing to see her holding up that headтБатАФall bloody it wasтБатАФwith both hands, smiling a smug, rouged, womanly smile.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, what happened? I suppose the revolution didnтАЩt stop for lack of IvanovтАЩs head,тАЭ said Seryozha, prosaically. + 

тАЬNo, but the troop moved off in the dawn of the next day. I watched them goтБатАФlittle lolloping specks in loose formation. I knew why, of courseтБатАФthey were nothing but raw louts; only Ivanov held them together; they were lost without him. Some of our miners went out along the mountains and sniped them when they came to the narrow head of the valley. They even got back some of my horses.тАЭ + 

Varvara watched her husband. Only she knew how little of his story was true, and she did not mind. On the contrary, the story seemed to her a wonderful and brilliant fruit to have grown out of the seed of a little drab anecdote about a minerтАЩs Yakut woman who went out spying. Nobody was like Pavel, thought Varvara. He was her contribution to the sum of thingsтБатАФand, through him, Tatiana. She made no other contribution, and therefore had no other return. She sat self-contained, contributing no smile, no wit, no generosity, no money, no tyranny, no songтБатАФnone of those forms of invested capital which alone pay dividends of friendship, fear, gratitude, love, or power. Nothing comes to the heart that hasnтАЩt first gone from it; Varvara knew that. But she didnтАЩt mind, because Pavel and Tatiana were her songs, and the voices of Pavel and Tatiana the returning echoes of her songs. + 

тАЬIs this the end of the story?тАЭ asked Wilfred, noticing a silence, in spite of a slight fogginess of perception. + 

тАЬYist. She cutted off Bolshevik head.тАЭ + 

тАЬGood!тАЭ said Wilfred, feeling himself at last in possession of the facts. тАЬHorosho, horosho,тАЭ he added, nodding brightly to Pavel. + 

тАЬDid you listen to my story, Tanya?тАЭ asked Pavel, suddenly turning on his daughter. + 

тАЬYes, papasha.тАЭ + 

тАЬA good one, wasnтАЩt it?тАЭ + 

тАЬGood, but perhaps a little long,тАЭ said TatianaтАЩs mother, hastily. + 

тАЬIтАЩm glad, at least, she kept herself clean of him,тАЭ said Tatiana between trembling lips. + 

тАЬWhat?тАЭ roared Pavel. + 

The usually restrained Varvara suddenly made a great noise, clapping her hands, rapping the table, speaking in a shrill brisk voice: тАЬDo you know what we are going to have for dinner? A goslingтБатАФa gosling in honor of our young cousin.тАЭ She looked desperately at her husband and spoke more loudly still: тАЬOh, so goodтБатАФyouтАЩll never guess how good, Pavlik!тБатАКтБатАж YouтАЩve all been talking so long, you men, that Katya and I had plenty of time to roast it to a turn. A goslingтБатАФa goslingтБатАФoh so good!тАЭ She banged the table for her husbandтАЩs attention. + 

тАЬWhat is she saying?тАЭ asked Wilfred, startled. + 

тАЬShe speak, we bite goose for dinner.тАЭ + 

тАЬMy goodness gracious!тАЭ breathed Wilfred. тАЬI thought she was announcing some calamity. So loud.тАЭ He looked ruefully at his notebook, for the sudden noise had caused his shocked hand to make a little blot in the middle of one page of his neat writing. + 

Pavel, though his impulse of anger was a little softened by the goose, would not allow his attention to be entirely distracted by his wifeтАЩs irrelevance. тАЬVery well done, Varitchka. A gosling. Very good. But, TanyaтБатАФwhat was your comment on my story?тАЭ + 

Tatiana was silent. тАЬTanya made no comment,тАЭ said Varvara. + 

Yet in SeryozhaтАЩs hearing was ringing quite clearly the comment that Tatiana had made. IтАЩm glad, at least, she kept herself clean of him. What a curious wordтБатАФтАЬcleanтАЭтБатАФhe thought, and his thoughts went round and round it in a slow spin. CleanтБатАФcleanтБатАФcleanтБатАКтБатАж women clean of menтБатАФmen clean of women. He was young enough to be very impressionable by words, and the word тАЬcleanтАЭ did not strike him as being a euphemism for something much less attractive. On the contrary, in his present thin-spun, rarefied, wine-blessed mood, it seemed to him to express an ideal of some sort. That was the word that fitted his own rare moon-washed feelingтБатАФthat hunger in the presence of quietness and color for something that would not appease the demands of either stomach, brain, or sex. Poor Seryozha! He almost recognized that hunger of his at that moment, though he could give it no other word than тАЬclean.тАЭ It was his body hungering to be free of talk and understandingтБатАФhungering to be a bit of world, a blade of grass, a tigerтБатАФanything that was not dirtied by talk and thought. Everything between men and women was dirtyтБатАФexcept one thing. тАЬThat girlтБатАФone could eat that girl, and remain clean,тАЭ thought Seryozha. + 

He was obsessed with the image of hunger, since the gosling had been mentioned. + 

тАЬTanya,тАЭ said Varvara, clearing away the zakuska, тАЬcome and help me dish up the goose.тАЭ + 

The two women went to the door. As Tatiana passed Seryozha, he expected her to smile at him; he felt so sure that an understanding had been established between them, that she would be grateful to him for so keenly appreciating her word тАЬclean.тАЭ But she did not smile at all. She walked past him, meeting his eager eyes without a change of expression, grave, blank, as though thinking of something else. And so strange was the chill that this blank look gave him, that his memory, shocked, threw back to the context of her remark, and he knew instantly that he had entirely misunderstood her words. She kept herself clean of him. By clean she meant cold, deadтБатАФall life was dirty to her. Her ideal was coldness. No tiger of life could hunger for that white unsmiling ghost. Seryozha thought, тАЬIf I had her, sheтАЩd melt like ice in my armsтБатАФsheтАЩd be clean of me, then.тАЭ The word cold occurred to him many timesтБатАФcoldтБатАФcoldтБатАФcoldтБатАФbefore he realized what it suggested to him, and then he got up, a little unsteadily, and followed mother and daughter toward the kitchen. In the passage he paused beside where his pack of possessions hung on a peg. As he unstrapped the buckle of the pack he heard Wilfred, in the sitting-room, begin to entertain Pavel Ostapenko in a bright voice. Wilfred was not sober enough to mind that his host did not understand a word that he was saying; his automatic reaction to the silence was an impulse to emit information. Pavel was not sober enough to mind not understanding, and in any case he had something else to think of. + 

тАЬThe Japanese police, Mr.┬аOzzтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ said Wilfred, тАЬshow themselves indeed marticratsтБатАФ(marticrats? Yes, mautonets)тБатАФto travelers crossing the border, and at one point I really began to think, I really began to think that I really began to thinkтБатАФoh, well, Mr.┬аOzzabanko, you know all that without really beginning to thinkтБатАФI mean, without my telling you. But being a barrister-at-law of the Middle Temple, London, I could say to them.тБатАКтБатАж And the Diamond MountainsтБатАФKongo-sanтБатАФthough honeysuckled with soupтБатАФI mean soupstitionтБатАФsuтАСperтАСstitтАСionтБатАФSaggay Saggayitch said тАШBuddhanok on every up-look,тАЩ twelve thousand peaks, you know, but not really more thanтБатАФwellтБатАФwhat would be a conservatory estimate?тАЭ He began to think very deeply. + 

Seryozha in the passage took out of his pack the little smelly package that contained the heart, gall, and liver of the fish he had caught at Pa-tao-kou. It was in a perfectly disgusting condition, yet to Seryozha the smell was a smell of fate and magic; everything that Wilfred had said about it seemed to fit the circumstances so well. Blindness. WomanтАЩs coldness. Real magic indeed. The thing must have other powers besides its powerful smell. With his clasp-knife he cut a small piece from the heart and another small piece from the liver, and then, wrapping the rest in its paper, he replaced it in his pack. The two small flabby chunks he concealed in his hand and, striding into the kitchen, dropped them in the fire. + 

тАЬWhat a curious smell!тАЭ said Varvara at once. Tatiana, pouring sauce into a bowl on the table, made no comment. She held her body too uprightтБатАФalmost bent a little backward; her head was high and she was looking down over her pale cheeks at the sauce as though she despised it. Really she was thinking of SeryozhaтАЩs skin. As he had stood for a second at the fireplace, she had noticed that the skin at the back of his neck was not pitted or pimpled like SashaтАЩs or PetyaтАЩs. This meant a great deal to her. His neck was as neat as the fur of a dog, or the charming behind of a well-kept horse, she thought. + 

The servant, Katya, seized the dish that bore the gosling in her brawny bare arms and carried it towards the sitting-room. Varvara followed with the vegetables. + 

Tatiana still stood at the table, but now, instead of looking down at the sauce, she looked sidelong at Seryozha, soberly tightening her lips. + 

тАЬWhy do you look like that, Tatiana Pavlovna?тАЭ asked Seryozha, holding the corner of the table, for he felt extremely dizzy. + 

Tatiana was silent for an unexpectedly long second, and then, тАЬO Christ!тАЭ she exclaimed in a high sudden voice. тАЬCan I not even look like myself without being asked questionsтБатАФwithout surprising somebody, offending somebody, hurting somebodyтАЩs feelings, making somebody reproach me? Even if I do nothingтБатАФgood or badтБатАФonly just beтБатАФmy beingтАЩs not allowed.тАЭ + 

тАЬWho doesnтАЩt allow it?тАЭ asked Seryozha, swaying over the table toward her, feeling very uneasy. + 

тАЬYouтБатАФpapaтБатАФmammaтБатАФPetyaтБатАФSasha. Why do you look like that, Tanya? Why do you do like that, Tanya? Why are you alive in that way, Tanya? Why arenтАЩt you alive in this way, Tanya? What can I do less than just be born, breathe, and at last die? IтАЩm not attacking, not pretendingтБатАКтБатАж I just am. I only ask to leave you all alone and be left alone.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, not be left alone, surely!тАЭ exclaimed Seryozha, shocked to imagine such a small creature growing old alone. + 

тАЬNo, not to be left alone any more than a common sparrow is left alone because it is a sparrow,тАЭ said Tatiana, violently. тАЬJust to be allowed to walk on the earth in my natural way, as a sparrow is allowed to fly in the air. No bird cuts its throat for the sake of another bird. No father bird nags at his egg for just lying quiet in the nest.тАЭ + 

They both smiled for a second or two at this. + 

тАЬI could leave you alone,тАЭ said Seryozha. тАЬGod knows itтАЩs a thing I ought to understand. I only want things to walk about and fly about by themselves.тБатАКтБатАж I like my dog to go on laughing at his own jokes without me.тБатАКтБатАж What am I saying? IтАЩd never cut my throat for anybody, Tatiana Pavlovna.тАЭ + 

тАЬCome, children, come,тАЭ called Varvara from the sitting-room. + 

But as Tatiana and Seryozha, carrying plates and sauce, joined their elders, Pavel said, тАЬHereтАЩs this snake of a daughter of mineтБатАКтБатАж hereтАЩs this virtuous murderous heroine coming back with the head of a new murdered lover in her hands. HereтАЩs thisтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬPavlik! Pavlik! Think! Think!тАЭ said Varvara, in a low violent voice. + 

тАЬCome, everybody,тАЭ she added, clapping her hands with a relapse into her unnatural shrill vivacity. тАЬGosling to eatтБатАФgood gosling to eat. Come and eat gosling.тАЭ + 

тАЬI wonтАЩt eat,тАЭ said Seryozha, suddenly seizing the end of the table and bending, with an insolent but tremulous grin, toward his host and hostessтБатАФтАЬI wonтАЩt eat until you say I can marry Tanya. Please, Mr.┬аChew, help me. Oh, but, damn it, he canтАЩt speak the language! Well, there it is.тБатАКтБатАж Pavel Nicholaievitch, may I marry your daughter?тАЭ + 

тАЬGod bless you, why not?тАЭ shouted Pavel. тАЬIтАЩve told you the truth once and IтАЩll tell it to you again. SheтАЩs been betrothed seven times and all seven men are deadтБатАФdead, arenтАЩt they, Tanya? Or if not all, what do you care? She kills lovers for pleasure. She bites them when they kiss her. She slits their throats when they touch her. She cuts off their heads whenтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬPavlik! Pavlik!тАЭ said Varvara. тАЬThink! You are talking nonsense.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, you canтАЩt say I havenтАЩt told you the truth, young man. My daughterтАЩs a snake. If you want a snake for a wifeтБатАФGod bless you, boy, you can follow the rest. IтАЩll dig your grave in my meadow tomorrow. Nevertheless, for the present, be merryтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬI wonтАЩt eat till itтАЩs all properly arranged and signed,тАЭ cried Seryozha, bravely, though his heart sank. This was the first transaction he had ever made all by himself, and he felt dimly that it was not being made in the grown-up, businesslike way he would have wished to boast of to his mother. тАЬMr.┬аChew, listen. Ah, tschah! Mr.┬аChew is asleep!тАЭ + 

For Wilfred, overcome by the wine, sat forward, his body telescoped upon itself, his elbows wide, his hands clasped upon his plate, his chin on his hands. His eyes had been shut, but now, as he heard his name, he opened them and rolled them roguishly at Seryozha. He opened his mouth, too, and waved his tongue, but no words came forth. He tapped his notebook with an idiotic significance. + 

There was a pause. Varvara looked nervously at her speechless guest. Pavel did not seem to notice Mr.┬аChewтАЩs unusual demeanor, but he drew the notebook from beneath his guestтАЩs plate and focused his frowning eyes on it at armтАЩs-length, inviting Seryozha to read over his shoulder. With care, Pavel, who was accustomed to reading English newspapers, could read what Wilfred had written. It was this: + 

This indenture made the twenty-seventh day of September One Thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight between Sergei Sergeievitch Malinin of Chi-tao-kou in the Province of Kirin Manchuria timber worker (hereinafter called the husband which expression shall unless the context otherwise determine herein include his heirs executors administrators and assigns) of the first part Tatiana Pavlovna Ostapenko of Mi-san Korea Spinster (hereinafter called the wife which expression shall unless the context otherwise determine herein include her heirs executors administrators and assigns) of the second part Wilfred Chew (ChтАЩu Wei-Fu) of the Middle Temple London England Barrister-at-Law (hereinafter called the Agent which expression shall unless the context otherwise determine include his heirs executors administrators and assigns) of the third part and Pavel Nicholaievitch Ostapenko of Mi-san in Korea Equitable Merchant (hereinafter described as the settlor which expression shall unless the context otherwise determine herein include his heirs executors administrators and assigns) of the fourth part whereas a marriage is intended shortly to be consummated between the husband and the wife and whereas the said marriage has been arranged so to be consummated as aforesaid at the suggestion and with the assistance of the agent now in consideration of the services rendered and to be rendered (at the desire express or implied of the parties hereto other than the agent) in the premises by the agent this indenture witnesseth that the settlor agrees to pay to the agent on the consummation of such marriage as aforesaid the following sums (that is to say) ┬е100 (one hundred Yen) in consideration of his services in arranging the said marriage and ┬е50 (fifty Yen) in consideration of professional services in the negotiation preparation and execution of these presents and in consideration of the natural love and affection of the husband for the wife and of divers other good and valuable considerations him hereunto moving and enabling this indenture further witnesseth and it is hereby agreed and declared as follows + 

The said husband agrees to accept the said wife as his wife and to support her as such in that state of life to which it has pleased God to call her to have and/or to hold to love and/or to cherish until death do her part (note fill in formal parts as respects wife) + 

The husband further agrees in consideration as aforesaid to settle on the said wife by will or otherwise within a reasonable period of time the sum of ┬е250 (two hundred and fifty Yen) at present at his disposal and/or under his control in the Bank of Chosen Seoul. + 

And in consideration of the love and affection of the said Settlor for the said wife and in further consideration of the natural gratitude of the said settlor to the said husband for offering the said marriage in spite of the 7 (seven) previous unfortunate circumstances the said settlor agrees on the consummation as aforesaid to pay as dowry the sum of ┬е2,000 (two thousand Yen) to the said husband + 

Nothing in this Deed shall disentitle the said agent from receiving any sum of money thereunder or from charging his reasonable professional fees in connection therewith in witness whereof the parties hereto have hereunto set their respective hands and seals the day and year first above written (Note Query add clause re agent performing Wesleyan marriage ceremony query ┬е25 fee) + 

тАЬBut I donтАЩt understand,тАЭ said Pavel, suddenly realizing that he was drunk. тАЬHave we talked about this before?тАЭ + 

тАЬNot we, but he,тАЭ said Seryozha, sheepishly. тАЬHe talked of it several timesтБатАФbeing a friend of both of us. I took little notice of him, as at that time I didnтАЩt consider myself a marrying man. HeтАЩs a good chap, Chew,тАЭ added Seryozha, sentimentally. тАЬOf course being a Chinese and a lawyer, he must drive a bargain. But he is a good honest chap. Twice he lent me his blanket, when I was cold after swimming. I shall sign this. I have sworn not to eat until I have signed something, and I am very hungry.тАЭ He wrote his name on the paper, his tongue-tip writing in the air above the pen. + 

тАЬWe will not sign it till tomorrow,тАЭ said Varvara. She could not read the agreement, but she was dubiously watching her husbandтАЩs glazed red face. + 

тАЬTanya and I will sign it now,тАЭ said Pavel, the uncertain lines of his face stiffening all at once to obstinacy. тАЬItтАЩs not every day one gets the chance to have a hero for a son-in-law.тАЭ + 

He splashed his signature under SeryozhaтАЩs large blotched name. тАЬTanya,тАЭ he added, putting the pen into his daughterтАЩs hand. + 

For a moment Tanya wrote with it on the air, as though in a dream. Her father and mother watched her. Seryozha paused childishly, with his mouth full, to watch her. Her lips were set in a little smile. She leaned back in her chair and looked down her cheeks at the paper. Then she wrote her name in tiny lettersтБатАФTatiana Pavlovna Ostapenko, and under her name she suddenly drew a little alert picture of a sparrow taking flight. + 

Her father looked guiltily at the signatures and the drawing. He folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. тАЬAh, tschah!тАЭ he said, as he seized a new bottle of champagne. тАЬIt means nothing. We still have tomorrow.тБатАКтБатАж Varitchka, letтАЩs eat your goose.тАЭ + 