The Diary of a Superfluous Man and Other Stories Part 31

Avdotya had but just returned from church when she was informed that her husband's uncle was inquiring for her. Up to that time she had very rarely seen him; he had not been in the habit of coming to their inn, and in general he bore the reputation of being a queer fellow; he was pa.s.sionately fond of snuff, and preserved silence most of the time.

She went out to him.

"What dost thou want, Petrovitch? Has anything happened, pray?"

"Nothing has happened, Avdotya Arefyevna; thy husband is asking for thee."

"Has he returned?"

"Yes."

"But where is he?"

"Why, in the village; he 's sitting in his cottage."

Avdotya quailed.

"Well, Petrovitch,"--she asked, looking him straight in the eye,--"is he angry?"

"'T is not perceptible that he is."

Avdotya dropped her eyes.

"Well, come along,"--she said, throwing on a large kerchief, and the two set out. They walked in silence until they reached the village. But when they began to draw near to the cottage, Avdotya was seized with such alarm that her knees trembled under her.

"Dear little father, Petrovitch,"--she said,--"do thou go in first....

Tell him that I have come."

Petrovitch entered the cottage and found Akim sitting buried in profound thought, on the selfsame spot where he had left him.

"Well,"--said Akim, raising his head;--"has n't she come?"

"Yes, she has come,"--replied the old man.--"She 's standing at the gate...."

"Send her hither."

The old man went out, waved his hand to Avdotya, said to her: "Go along!" and sat down again himself on the earthen bank along the cottage wall. With trepidation Avdotya opened the door, crossed the threshold and paused....

Akim looked at her.

"Well, Arefyevna,"--he began,--"what are we--thou and I--to do now?"

"Forgive me,"--she whispered.

"Ekh, Arefyevna, we are all sinful folks. What 's the use of discussing it!"

"That villain has ruined both of us,"--began Avdotya in a voice which jingled and broke, and the tears streamed down her face.--"Thou must not let things stand as they are, Akim Semyonitch; thou must get the money from him. Do not spare me. I am ready to declare under oath that I lent the money to him. Lizaveta Prokhorovna had a right to sell our house, but why should he rob us?.... Get the money from him."

"I have no money to receive from him,"--replied Akim, gloomily.--"He and I have settled our accounts."

Avdotya was astounded.--"How so?"

"Why, because we have. Knowest thou,"--pursued Akim, and his eyes began to blaze;--"knowest thou where I spent the night? Thou dost not know? In Naum's cellar, bound hand and foot, like a ram, that 's where I spent last night. I tried to burn down his house, and he caught me, did Naum; he 's awfully clever! And to-day he was preparing to carry me to the town, but he pardoned me; consequently, there is no money coming to me from him.... 'And when did I ever borrow any money of thee?' he will say. And am I to say: 'My wife took it out from under my floor, and carried it to thee?'--'Thy wife is a liar,' he will say. And would n't it be a big exposure for thee, Arefyevna? Hold thy tongue, rather, I tell thee, hold thy tongue."

"Forgive me, Semyonitch, forgive me,"--whispered the thoroughly frightened Avdotya.

"That 's not the point,"--replied Akim, after remaining silent for a while:--"but what are we--thou and I--to do? We no longer have a home ... nor money either...."

"We 'll get along somehow, Akim Semyonitch;--we will ask Lizaveta Prokhorovna and she will help us; Kirillovna has promised me that."

"No, Arefyevna, thou mayest ask her for thyself along with thy Kirillovna; thou and she are birds of a feather.[43] But I 'll tell thee what: do thou stay here, with G.o.d's blessing. I shall not stay here.

Luckily, we have no children, and perhaps I shall not starve alone. One person can worry along alone."

"What wilt thou do, Semyonitch--dost mean to go as carrier again?"

Akim laughed bitterly.

"A pretty carrier I would make, there 's no denying that! A fine, dashing young fellow thou hast picked out! No, Arefyevna, that is not the same sort of business as marrying, for example; an old man is not fit for it. Only I will not remain here, that 's what; I won't have people pointing the finger at me .... understand? I shall go to pray away my sins, Arefyevna, that 's where I shall go."

"What sins hast thou, Semyonitch?"--articulated Avdotya, timidly.

"Well, wife, I know what they are."

"But in whose care wilt thou leave me, Semyonitch? How am I to live without a husband?"

"In whose care shall I leave thee? Ekh, Arefyevna, how thou sayest that, forsooth! Much need hast thou of a husband like me, and an old man and a ruined one to boot. The idea! Thou has dispensed with me before, thou canst dispense with me hereafter also. And what property we have left thou mayest take for thyself, curse it!...."

"As thou wilt, Semyonitch,"--replied Avdotya, sadly;--"thou knowest best about that."

"Exactly so. Only, don't think that I am angry with thee, Arefyevna.

"No, what 's the use of being angry, when .... I ought to have discovered how things stood earlier in the day. I myself am to blame--and I am punished."--(Akim heaved a sigh.)--"As you have made your bed, so you must lie upon it.[44] I am advanced in years, and 't is time for me to be thinking of my soul. The Lord Himself has brought me to my senses. Here was I, seest thou, an old fool, who wanted to live at his ease with a young wife.... No, brother--old man, first do thou pray, and beat thy brow against the earth, and be patient, and fast.... And now, go, my mother. I am very tired and I will get a bit of sleep."

And Akim stretched himself out, grunting on the bench.

Avdotya started to say something, stood for a while gazing at him, then turned and went away....

"Well, did n't he thrash thee?"--Petrovitch asked her, as he sat, all bent double, on the earthen bank, when she came alongside of him.

Avdotya pa.s.sed him in silence.--"See there now, he did n't beat her,"--said the old man to himself, as he grinned, ruffled up his hair, and took a pinch of snuff.

Akim carried out his purpose. He speedily put his petty affairs in order, and a few days after the conversation which we have transcribed, he went, already garbed for the journey, to bid farewell to his wife, who had settled for the time being in a tiny wing of the mistress's manor-house. Their leave-taking did not last long.... Kirillovna, who chanced to be on hand, advised Akim to present himself to the mistress; and he did so. Lizaveta Prokhorovna received him with a certain amount of confusion, but affably permitted him to kiss her hand, and inquired where he was intending to betake himself? He replied that he was going first to Kieff, and thence wherever G.o.d should grant. She lauded his purpose, and dismissed him. From that time forth he rarely made his appearance at home, although he never forgot to bring his mistress a blessed bread with a particle taken out for her health....[45] But, on the other hand, everywhere where devout Russians congregate, his gaunt and aged but still comely and sedate face was to be seen: at the shrine of St. Sergius, and on the White Sh.o.r.es, and in the optin Hermitage, and in distant Valaam.[46] He went everywhere.... This year he pa.s.sed you in the ranks of the countless throng which marched in a procession of the cross behind the holy picture of the Birth-giver of G.o.d at the Korennaya Hermitage;[47] next year you would find him sitting with his wallet on his back, along with other pilgrims on the porch of St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker in Mtzensk.... He made his appearance in Moscow nearly every spring.

From place to place he trudged with his quiet, unhurried but unceasing stride--'t is said that he even went to Jerusalem.... He appeared to be perfectly composed and happy, and many persons talked about his piety and humility, especially those people who had chanced to converse with him.

In the meanwhile, Naum's affairs throve exceedingly. He took hold briskly and understandingly, and, as the saying is, went to the head fast. Everybody in the neighbourhood knew by what means he had acquired possession of the inn, and they knew also that Avdotya had given him her husband's money; no one liked Naum because of his cold and harsh character..... They narrated with condemnation concerning him that one day he had replied to Akim himself, who had begged alms under his window, "G.o.d will provide," and had brought out nothing to him; but all agreed that no more lucky man than he existed; his grain throve better than his neighbours' grain; his bees swarmed more abundantly; even his hens laid more eggs; his cattle never fell ill; his horses never went lame..... For a long time Avdotya could not endure to hear his name (she had accepted Lizaveta Prokhorovna's offer, and had again entered her service in the capacity of head-seamstress); but eventually, her aversion diminished somewhat; 't was said that want forced her to have recourse to him, and he gave her a hundred rubles.... We shall not condemn her too severely; poverty will break any one's spirit, and the sudden revolution in her life had aged and tamed her down greatly; it is difficult to believe how quickly she lost her good looks, how she grew disheartened and low-spirited....

"And how did it all end?"--the reader will ask.