ze lot for which shoult pe Soldat. Johann drew ze fatal nomper, and me
vas not necessary to pe Soldat. Ant Papa sayt, 'I have only vun son, ant
wis him I must now separate!'
"Den I take his hant, ant says, 'Why say you so, Papa? Come wis me,
ant I will say you somesing.' Ant Papa come, ant we seat togezer at ze
publics-house, ant me sayt, 'Vaiter, give us one Bierkrug,' ant he gives
us one. We trink altogezer, and broser Johann also trink. 'Papa,' sayt
me, 'ton't say zat you have only one son, ant wis it you must separate,
My heart was breaking ven you say sis. Broser Johann must not serve;
ME shall pe Soldat. Karl is for nopoty necessary, and Karl shall pe
Soldat.'
"'You is one honest man, Karl,' sayt Papa, ant kiss me. Ant me was
Soldat."
IX. CONTINUATION OF KARL'S NARRATIVE
"Zat was a terrible time, Nicolinka," continued Karl Ivanitch, "ze
time of Napoleon. He vanted to conquer Germany, ant we protected
our Vaterland to ze last trop of plot. Me vere at Ulm, me vere at
Austerlitz, me vere at Wagram."
"Did you really fight?" I asked with a gaze of astonishment "Did you
really kill anybody?"
Karl instantly reassured me on this point,
"Vonce one French grenadier was left behint, ant fell to ze grount.
I sprang forvarts wis my gon, ant vere about to kill him, aber der
Franzose warf sein Gewehr hin und rief, 'Pardon'--ant I let him loose.
"At Wagram, Napoleon cut us open, ant surrountet us in such a way as
zere vas no helping. Sree days hat we no provisions, ant stoot in
ze vater op to ze knees. Ze evil Napoleon neiser let us go loose nor
catchet us.
"On ze fours day zey took us prisoners--zank Got! ant sent us to one
fortress. Upon me vas one blue trousers, uniforms of very goot clos,
fifteen of Thalers, ant one silver clock which my Vater hat given me,
Ze Frans Soldaten took from me everysing. For my happiness zere vas
sree tucats on me which my Mamma hat sewn in my shirt of flannel. Nopoty
fount zem.
"I liket not long to stay in ze fortresses, ant resoluted to ron away.
Von day, von pig holitay, says I to the sergeant which hat to look after
us, 'Mister Sergeant, to-day is a pig holitay, ant me vants to celeprate
it. Pring here, if you please, two pottle Mateira, ant we shall trink
zem wis each oser.' Ant ze sergeant says, 'Goot!' Ven ze sergeant pring
ze Mateira ant we trink it out to ze last trop, I taket his hant
ant says, 'Mister Sergeant, perhaps you have still one Vater and one
Mutter?' He says, 'So I have, Mister Mayer.' 'My Vater ant Mutter not
seen me eight year,' I goes on to him, 'ant zey know not if I am yet
alive or if my bones be reposing in ze grave. Oh, Mister Sergeant, I
have two tucats which is in my shirt of flannel. Take zem, ant let me
loose! You will pe my penefactor, ant my Mutter will be praying for you
all her life to ze Almighty Got!'
"Ze sergeant emptiet his glass of Mateira, ant says, 'Mister Mayer, I
loaf and pity you very much, pot you is one prisoner, ant I one soldat.'
So I take his hant ant says, 'Mister Sergeant!'
"Ant ze sergeant says, 'You is one poor man, ant I will not take your
money, pot I will help you. Ven I go to sleep, puy one pail of pranty
for ze Soldaten, ant zey will sleep. Me will not look after you.' Sis
was one goot man. I puyet ze pail of pranty, ant ven ze Soldaten was
trunken me tresset in one olt coat, ant gang in silence out of ze doon.
"I go to ze wall, ant will leap down, pot zere is vater pelow, ant I
will not spoil my last tressing, so I go to ze gate.
"Ze sentry go up and town wis one gon, ant look at me. 'Who goes zere?'
ant I was silent. 'Who goes zere ze second time?' ant I was silent.
'Who goes zere ze third time?' ant I ron away, I sprang in ze vater,
climp op to ze oser site, ant walk on.
"Ze entire night I ron on ze vay, pot ven taylight came I was afrait
zat zey woult catch me, ant I hit myself in ze high corn. Zere I kneelet
town, zanket ze Vater in Heaven for my safety, ant fall asleep wis a
tranquil feeling.
"I wakenet op in ze evening, ant gang furser. At once one large German
carriage, wis two raven-black horse, came alongside me. In ze carriage
sit one well-tresset man, smoking pipe, ant look at me. I go slowly,
so zat ze carriage shall have time to pass me, pot I go slowly, ant ze
carriage go slowly, ant ze man look at me. I go quick, ant ze carriage
go quick, ant ze man stop its two horses, ant look at me. 'Young man,'
says he, 'where go you so late?' I says, 'I go to Frankfort.' 'Sit in ze
carriage--zere is room enough, ant I will trag you,' he says. 'Bot
why have you nosing about you? Your boots is dirty, ant your beart not
shaven.' I seated wis him, ant says, 'Ich bin one poor man, ant I would
like to pusy myself wis somesing in a manufactory. My tressing is dirty
because I fell in ze mud on ze roat.'
"'You tell me ontruse, young man,' says he. 'Ze roat is kvite dry now.'
I was silent. 'Tell me ze whole truse,' goes on ze goot man--'who you
are, ant vere you go to? I like your face, ant ven you is one honest
man, so I will help you.' Ant I tell all.
"'Goot, young man!' he says. 'Come to my manufactory of rope, ant I will
give you work ant tress ant money, ant you can live wis os.' I says,
'Goot!'
"I go to ze manufactory of rope, ant ze goot man says to his voman,
'Here is one yong man who defented his Vaterland, ant ron away from
prisons. He has not house nor tresses nor preat. He will live wis os.
Give him clean linen, ant norish him.'
"I livet one ant a half year in ze manufactory of rope, ant my lantlort
loaft me so much zat he would not let me loose. Ant I felt very goot.
"I were zen handsome man--yong, of pig stature, with blue eyes and
romische nose--ant Missis L-- (I like not to say her name--she was ze
voman of my lantlort) was yong ant handsome laty. Ant she fell in loaf
wis me."
Here Karl Ivanitch made a long pause, lowered his kindly blue eyes,
shook his head quietly, and smiled as people always do under the
influence of a pleasing recollection.
"Yes," he resumed as he leant back in his arm-chair and adjusted his
dressing-gown, "I have experiencet many sings in my life, pot zere is
my witness,"--here he pointed to an image of the Saviour, embroidered
on wool, which was hanging over his bed--"zat nopoty in ze worlt can say
zat Karl Ivanitch has been one dishonest man, I would not repay black
ingratitude for ze goot which Mister L-- dit me, ant I resoluted to ron
away. So in ze evening, ven all were asleep, I writet one letter to my
lantlort, ant laid it on ze table in his room. Zen I taket my tresses,
tree Thaler of money, ant go mysteriously into ze street. Nopoty have
seen me, ant I go on ze roat."
X. CONCLUSION OF KARL'S NARRATIVE
"I had not seen my Mamma for nine year, ant I know not whether she lived
or whether her bones had long since lain in ze dark grave. Ven I come to
my own country and go to ze town I ask, 'Where live Kustaf Mayer who was
farm
er to ze Count von Zomerblat?' ant zey answer me, 'Graf Zomerblat
is deat, ant Kustaf Mayer live now in ze pig street, ant keep a
public-house.' So I tress in my new waistcoat and one noble coat which
ze manufacturist presented me, arranged my hairs nice, ant go to ze
public-house of my Papa. Sister Mariechen vas sitting on a pench, and
she ask me what I want. I says, 'Might I trink one glass of pranty?'
ant she says, 'Vater, here is a yong man who wish to trink one glass of
pranty.' Ant Papa says, 'Give him ze glass.' I set to ze table, trink my
glass of pranty, smoke my pipe, ant look at Papa, Mariechen, ant Johann
(who also come into ze shop). In ze conversation Papa says, 'You know,
perhaps, yong man, where stants our army?' and I say, 'I myself am come
from ze army, ant it stants now at Wien.' 'Our son,' says Papa, 'is a
Soldat, ant now is it nine years since he wrote never one wort, and we
know not whether he is alive or dead. My voman cry continually for him.'
I still fumigate the pipe, ant say, 'What was your son's name, and where
servet he? Perhaps I may know him.' 'His name was Karl Mayer, ant he
servet in ze Austrian Jagers.' 'He were of pig stature, ant a handsome
man like yourself,' puts in Mariechen. I say, 'I know your Karl.'
'Amalia,' exclaimet my Vater. 'Come here! Here is yong man which knows
our Karl!'--ant my dear Mutter comes out from a back door. I knew her
directly. 'You know our Karl?' says she, ant looks at me, ant, white all
over, trembles. 'Yes, I haf seen him,' I says, without ze corage to look
at her, for my heart did almost burst. 'My Karl is alive?' she cry. 'Zen
tank Got! Vere is he, my Karl? I woult die in peace if I coult see him
once more--my darling son! Bot Got will not haf it so.' Then she cried,
and I coult no longer stant it. 'Darling Mamma!' I say, 'I am your son,
I am your Karl!'--and she fell into my arms."
Karl Ivanitch covered his eyes, and his lips were quivering.
"'Mutter,' sagte ich, 'ich bin ihr Sohn, ich bin ihr Karl!'--und sie
sturtzte mir in die Arme!'" he repeated, recovering a little and wiping
the tears from his eyes.
"Bot Got did not wish me to finish my tays in my own town. I were
pursuet by fate. I livet in my own town only sree mons. One Suntay I sit
in a coffee-house, ant trinket one pint of Pier, ant fumigated my
pipe, ant speaket wis some frients of Politik, of ze Emperor Franz, of
Napoleon, of ze war--ant anypoty might say his opinion. But next to us
sits a strange chentleman in a grey Uberrock, who trink coffee, fumigate
the pipe, ant says nosing. Ven the night watchman shoutet ten o'clock I
taket my hat, paid ze money, and go home. At ze middle of ze night
some one knock at ze door. I rise ant says, 'Who is zere?' 'Open!' says
someone. I shout again, 'First say who is zere, ant I will open.' 'Open
in the name of the law!' say the someone behint the door. I now do so.
Two Soldaten wis gons stant at ze door, ant into ze room steps ze man in
ze grey Uberrock, who had sat with us in ze coffeehouse. He were Spion!
'Come wis me,' says ze Spion, 'Very goot!' say I. I dresset myself in
boots, trousers, ant coat, ant go srough ze room. Ven I come to ze wall
where my gon hangs I take it, ant says, 'You are a Spion, so defent
you!' I give one stroke left, one right, ant one on ze head. Ze Spion
lay precipitated on ze floor! Zen I taket my cloak-bag ant money, ant
jompet out of ze vintow. I vent to Ems, where I was acquainted wis one
General Sasin, who loaft me, givet me a passport from ze Embassy, ant
taket me to Russland to learn his chiltren. Ven General Sasin tiet, your
Mamma callet for me, ant says, 'Karl Ivanitch, I gif you my children.
Loaf them, ant I will never leave you, ant will take care for your olt
age.' Now is she teat, ant all is forgotten! For my twenty year full of
service I most now go into ze street ant seek for a try crust of preat
for my olt age! Got sees all sis, ant knows all sis. His holy will be
done! Only-only, I yearn for you, my children!"--and Karl drew me to
him, and kissed me on the forehead.
XI. ONE MARK ONLY
The year of mourning over, Grandmamma recovered a little from her grief,
and once more took to receiving occasional guests, especially children
of the same age as ourselves.
On the 13th of December--Lubotshka's birthday--the Princess Kornakoff
and her daughters, with Madame Valakhin, Sonetchka, Ilinka Grap, and the
two younger Iwins, arrived at our house before luncheon.
Though we could hear the sounds of talking, laughter, and movements
going on in the drawing-room, we could not join the party until our
morning lessons were finished. The table of studies in the schoolroom
said, "Lundi, de 2 a 3, maitre d'Histoire et de Geographie," and this
infernal maitre d'Histoire we must await, listen to, and see the back
of before we could gain our liberty. Already it was twenty minutes past
two, and nothing was to be heard of the tutor, nor yet anything to be
seen of him in the street, although I kept looking up and down it with
the greatest impatience and with an emphatic longing never to see the
maitre again.
"I believe he is not coming to-day," said Woloda, looking up for a
moment from his lesson-book.
"I hope he is not, please the Lord!" I answered, but in a despondent
tone. "Yet there he DOES come, I believe, all the same!"
"Not he! Why, that is a GENTLEMAN," said Woloda, likewise looking out of
the window, "Let us wait till half-past two, and then ask St. Jerome if
we may put away our books."
"Yes, and wish them au revoir," I added, stretching my arms, with the
book clasped in my hands, over my head. Having hitherto idled away my
time, I now opened the book at the place where the lesson was to begin,
and started to learn it. It was long and difficult, and, moreover, I
was in the mood when one's thoughts refuse to be arrested by anything at
all. Consequently I made no progress. After our last lesson in history
(which always seemed to me a peculiarly arduous and wearisome subject)
the history master had complained to St. Jerome of me because only two
good marks stood to my credit in the register--a very small total. St.
Jerome had then told me that if I failed to gain less than THREE marks
at the next lesson I should be severely punished. The next lesson was
now imminent, and I confess that I felt a little nervous.
So absorbed, however, did I become in my reading that the sound of
goloshes being taken off in the ante-room came upon me almost as a
shock. I had just time to look up when there appeared in the doorway the
servile and (to me) very disgusting face and form of the master, clad in
a blue frockcoat with brass buttons.
Slowly he set down his hat and books and adjusted the folds of his coat
(as though such a thing were necessary!), and seated himself in his
place.
"Well, gentlemen," he said, rubbing his hands, "let us first of all
repeat the general contents of the last lesson: after which I will
proceed to narrate the succeeding events of the middle ages."
This me
ant "Say over the last lesson." While Woloda was answering the
master with the entire ease and confidence which come of knowing a
subject well, I went aimlessly out on to the landing, and, since I
was not allowed to go downstairs, what more natural than that I should
involuntarily turn towards the alcove on the landing? Yet before I had
time to establish myself in my usual coign of vantage behind the door I
found myself pounced upon by Mimi--always the cause of my misfortunes!
"YOU here?" she said, looking severely, first at myself, and then at the
maidservants' door, and then at myself again.
I felt thoroughly guilty, firstly, because I was not in the schoolroom,
and secondly, because I was in a forbidden place. So I remained silent,
and, dropping my head, assumed a touching expression of contrition.
"Indeed, this is TOO bad!" Mimi went on, "What are you doing here?"
Still I said nothing.
"Well, it shall not rest where it is," she added, tapping the banister
with her yellow fingers. "I shall inform the Countess."
It was five minutes to three when I re-entered the schoolroom. The
master, as though oblivious of my presence or absence, was explaining
the new lesson to Woloda. When he had finished doing this, and had put
his books together (while Woloda went into the other room to fetch his
ticket), the comforting idea occurred to me that perhaps the whole thing
was over now, and that the master had forgotten me.
But suddenly he turned in my direction with a malicious smile, and said
as he rubbed his hands anew, "I hope you have learnt your lesson?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Would you be so kind, then, as to tell me something about St. Louis'