Is everything in order,
Maximitch?
Pushkin - Daughter of the Commandant
And you, my little father," she
continued, turning to me, "do not bemoan yourself too much because you
have been shoved into our little hole of a place; you are not the first,
and you will not be the last. One may suffer, but one gets accustomed to
it. For instance, Chvabrine, Alexey Ivanytch,[35] was transferred to us
four years ago on account of a murder. Heaven knows what ill-luck befel
him. It happened one day he went out of the town with a lieutenant, and
they had taken swords, and they set to pinking one another, and Alexey
Ivanytch killed the lieutenant, and before a couple of witnesses. Well,
well, there's no heading ill-luck! "
At this moment the "_ouriadnik_," a young and handsome Cossack, came in.
"Maximitch," the Commandant's wife said to him, "find a quarter for this
officer, and a clean one. "
"I obey, Vassilissa Igorofna,"[36] replied the "_ouriadnik_. " "Ought not
his excellency to go to Iwan Polejaieff? "
"You are doting, Maximitch," retorted the Commandant's wife; "Polejaieff
has already little enough room; and, besides, he is my gossip; and then
he does not forget that we are his superiors. Take the gentleman--What
is your name, my little father? "
"Petr' Andrejitch. "
"Take Petr' Andrejitch to Semeon Kouzoff's. The rascal let his horse get
into my kitchen garden.
Is everything in order, Maximitch? "
"Thank heaven! all is quiet," replied the Cossack. "Only Corporal
Prokoroff has been fighting in the bathhouse with the woman Oustinia
Pegoulina for a pail of hot water. "
"Iwan Ignatiitch,"[37] said the Commandant's wife to the little one-eyed
man, "you must decide between Prokoroff and Oustinia which is to blame,
and punish both of them; and you, Maximitch, go, in heaven's name! Petr'
Andrejitch, Maximitch will take you to your lodging. "
I took leave. The "_ouriadnik"_ led me to an _izba_, which stood on the
steep bank of the river, quite at the far end of the little fort. Half
the _izba_ was occupied by the family of Semeon Kouzoff, the other half
was given over to me. This half consisted of a tolerably clean room,
divided into two by a partition.
Saveliitch began to unpack, and I looked out of the narrow window. I saw
stretching out before me a bare and dull steppe; on one side there stood
some huts. Some fowls were wandering down the street. An old woman,
standing on a doorstep, holding in her hand a trough, was calling to
some pigs, the pigs replying by amicable grunts.
And it was in such a country as this I was condemned to pass my youth!
Overcome by bitter grief, I left the window, and went to bed supperless,
in spite of Saveliitch's remonstrances, who continued to repeat, in a
miserable tone--
"Oh, good heavens!
continued, turning to me, "do not bemoan yourself too much because you
have been shoved into our little hole of a place; you are not the first,
and you will not be the last. One may suffer, but one gets accustomed to
it. For instance, Chvabrine, Alexey Ivanytch,[35] was transferred to us
four years ago on account of a murder. Heaven knows what ill-luck befel
him. It happened one day he went out of the town with a lieutenant, and
they had taken swords, and they set to pinking one another, and Alexey
Ivanytch killed the lieutenant, and before a couple of witnesses. Well,
well, there's no heading ill-luck! "
At this moment the "_ouriadnik_," a young and handsome Cossack, came in.
"Maximitch," the Commandant's wife said to him, "find a quarter for this
officer, and a clean one. "
"I obey, Vassilissa Igorofna,"[36] replied the "_ouriadnik_. " "Ought not
his excellency to go to Iwan Polejaieff? "
"You are doting, Maximitch," retorted the Commandant's wife; "Polejaieff
has already little enough room; and, besides, he is my gossip; and then
he does not forget that we are his superiors. Take the gentleman--What
is your name, my little father? "
"Petr' Andrejitch. "
"Take Petr' Andrejitch to Semeon Kouzoff's. The rascal let his horse get
into my kitchen garden.
Is everything in order, Maximitch? "
"Thank heaven! all is quiet," replied the Cossack. "Only Corporal
Prokoroff has been fighting in the bathhouse with the woman Oustinia
Pegoulina for a pail of hot water. "
"Iwan Ignatiitch,"[37] said the Commandant's wife to the little one-eyed
man, "you must decide between Prokoroff and Oustinia which is to blame,
and punish both of them; and you, Maximitch, go, in heaven's name! Petr'
Andrejitch, Maximitch will take you to your lodging. "
I took leave. The "_ouriadnik"_ led me to an _izba_, which stood on the
steep bank of the river, quite at the far end of the little fort. Half
the _izba_ was occupied by the family of Semeon Kouzoff, the other half
was given over to me. This half consisted of a tolerably clean room,
divided into two by a partition.
Saveliitch began to unpack, and I looked out of the narrow window. I saw
stretching out before me a bare and dull steppe; on one side there stood
some huts. Some fowls were wandering down the street. An old woman,
standing on a doorstep, holding in her hand a trough, was calling to
some pigs, the pigs replying by amicable grunts.
And it was in such a country as this I was condemned to pass my youth!
Overcome by bitter grief, I left the window, and went to bed supperless,
in spite of Saveliitch's remonstrances, who continued to repeat, in a
miserable tone--
"Oh, good heavens!
