Повести Белкина / The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin

It is said that Silvio commanded a detachment of Insurgents during the revolt under Alexander Ypsilanti[15 - Alexander Ypsilanti – (1792–1828), Greek patriot and revolutionary leader], and that he was killed in the battle of Skulyani.

The Snowstorm

Horses dash across the slopes,

Trampling snow deep-drifted …

By the wayside stands a church,

Lonely cross uplifted.

* * *

Suddenly a snowstorm flings

Tufted flakes about us,

O’er the sledge with whistling wing

Flies a crow to flout us.

Weird his cry, foreboding grief!

Gathering their forces,

Manes upraised, toward the dark

Peer the speeding horses …

    Zhukovsky[16 - Zhukovsky – a Russian poet of the 18th century]

Toward the end of the year 1811, a memorable period for us, the good Gavrila Gavrilovich R – was living on his estate of Nenaradovo. He was celebrated throughout the district for his hospitality and kind-heartedness. The neighbors were constantly visiting him: some to eat and drink; some to play “Boston” at five kopecks[17 - kopecks – a kopeck is one hundredth of a ruble (Russian money)] with his wife, Praskovya Petrovna; and some to look at their daughter, Marya Gavrilovna, a pale, slender girl of seventeen.

Marya Gavrilovna had been brought up on French novels, and consequently was in love. The object of her choice was a poor sub-lieutenant, who was then on leave of absence in his village.

It need scarcely be mentioned that the young man returned her passion with equal ardor, and that the parents of his beloved one, observing their mutual inclination, forbade their daughter to think of him, and gave him a worse reception than if he were a retired assessor[18 - assessor – a person whose job is to calculate the value of property or the amount of income or taxes].

Our lovers corresponded with each other and daily saw each other alone in the little pine wood or near the old chapel.

If we cannot exist without each other, and the will of hard-hearted parents stands in the way of our happiness, why cannot we do without their consent?

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