登陆注册
15691500000031

第31章 THE THIRD EXTRACT FROM PECHORIN'S DIARYPRINCESS MA

CHAPTER I

11th May.

YESTERDAY I arrived at Pyatigorsk.

I have engaged lodgings at the extreme end of the town,the highest part,at the foot of Mount Mashuk:during a storm the clouds will descend on to the roof of my dwelling.

This morning at five o'clock,when I opened my window,the room was filled with the fra-grance of the flowers growing in the modest little front-garden.Branches of bloom-laden bird-cherry trees peep in at my window,and now and again the breeze bestrews my writing-table with their white petals.The view which meets my gaze on three sides is wonderful:westward towers five-peaked Beshtau,blue as "the last cloud of a dispersed storm,"and northward rises Mashuk,like a shaggy Persian cap,shutting in the whole of that quarter of the horizon.Eastward the outlook is more cheery:down below are dis-played the varied hues of the brand-new,spotlessly clean,little town,with its murmuring,health-giving springs and its babbling,many-tongued throng.Yonder,further away,the mountains tower up in an amphitheatre,ever bluer and mistier;and,at the edge of the horizon,stretches the silver chain of snow-clad summits,begin-ning with Kazbek and ending with two-peaked Elbruz...Blithe is life in such a land!A feeling akin to rapture is diffused through all my veins.

The air is pure and fresh,like the kiss of a child;the sun is bright,the sky is blue --what more could one possibly wish for?What need,in such a place as this,of passions,desires,regrets?

Pushkin.Compare Shelley's Adonais,xxxi.3:"as the last cloud of an expiring storm."However,it is time to be stirring.I will go to the Elizaveta spring --I am told that the whole society of the watering-place assembles there in the morning.

.....

Descending into the middle of the town,Iwalked along the boulevard,on which I met a few melancholy groups slowly ascending the moun-tain.These,for the most part,were the families of landed-gentry from the steppes --as could be guessed at once from the threadbare,old-fashioned frock-coats of the husbands and the exquisite attire of the wives and daughters.

Evidently they already had all the young men of the watering-place at their fingers'ends,because they looked at me with a tender curiosity.The Petersburg cut of my coat misled them;but they soon recognised the military epaulettes,and turned away with indignation.

The wives of the local authorities --the host-esses,so to speak,of the waters --were more graciously inclined.They carry lorgnettes,and they pay less attention to a uniform --they have grown accustomed in the Caucasus to meeting a fervid heart beneath a numbered button and a cultured intellect beneath a white forage-cap.

These ladies are very charming,and long continue to be charming.Each year their adorers are exchanged for new ones,and in that very fact,it may be,lies the secret of their unwearying amiability.

Ascending by the narrow path to the Elizaveta spring,I overtook a crowd of officials and military men,who,as I subsequently learned,compose a class apart amongst those who place their hopes in the medicinal waters.They drink --but not water --take but few walks,indulge in only mild flirtations,gamble,and complain of boredom.

They are dandies.In letting their wicker-sheathed tumblers down into the well of sulphur-ous water they assume academical poses.The officials wear bright blue cravats;the military men have ruffs sticking out above their collars.They affect a profound contempt for provincial ladies,and sigh for the aristocratic drawing-rooms of the capitals --to which they are not admitted.

Here is the well at last!...Upon the small square adjoining it a little house with a red roof over the bath is erected,and somewhat further on there is a gallery in which the people walk when it rains.Some wounded officers were sitting --pale and melancholy --on a bench,with their crutches drawn up.A few ladies,their tumbler of water finished,were walking with rapid steps to and fro about the square.

There were two or three pretty faces amongst them.Beneath the avenues of the vines with which the slope of Mashuk is covered,occasional glimpses could be caught of the gay-coloured hat of a lover of solitude for two --for beside that hat I always noticed either a military forage-cap or the ugly round hat of a civilian.Upon the steep cliff,where the pavilion called "The Aeolian Harp"is erected,figured the lovers of scenery,directing their telescopes upon Elbruz.Amongst them were a couple of tutors,with their pupils who had come to be cured of scrofula.

Out of breath,I came to a standstill at the edge of the mountain,and,leaning against the corner of a little house,I began to examine the picturesque surroundings,when suddenly I heard behind me a familiar voice.

"Pechorin!Have you been here long?"

I turned round.Grushnitski!We embraced.

I had made his acquaintance in the active service detachment.He had been wounded in the foot by a bullet and had come to the waters a week or so before me.

Grushnitski is a cadet;he has only been a year in the service.From a kind of foppery peculiar to himself,he wears the thick cloak of a common soldier.He has also the soldier's cross of St.

同类推荐
  • 窥词管见

    窥词管见

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 泣红亭

    泣红亭

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 童蒙诗训

    童蒙诗训

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 纳兰家族墓碑铭文

    纳兰家族墓碑铭文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 般若波罗蜜多心经-法成

    般若波罗蜜多心经-法成

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 皇上滚开,我是唐公公

    皇上滚开,我是唐公公

    唐音,在现代有多牛,在古代就有多挫。阴差阳错进了宫,身份竟是唐公公。这个公公好嚣张!没办法,人家有皇上罩着。“大胆唐公公,竟然敢,竟然敢捏熹妃娘娘的胸”某女:“不好意思,捏错了,本来是捏屁股的”
  • 觅影生

    觅影生

    步步紧靠,他走向她,最终的影也悄悄地隐现……
  • 他杀的纯真

    他杀的纯真

    有些纯真是他杀,有些纯真是自杀。那些美好,都他妈死了。
  • 八尊

    八尊

    万千诸魔攻破神界,亿万生灵流离失所,至强八尊饮恨收场。几万年后,一个不起眼的位面,魂尊传承至此,废柴少爷强势崛起..浩荡神界,万宗林立,八位传人携带最强天赋,神界涿鹿,万神朝拜..新体系新篇章,喜欢的朋友加企鹅群:478859111
  • 修炼供应商

    修炼供应商

    方元有一颗玄幻梦!还有一颗修真心!但是他不能修炼也不能修真,所以方元开起了修炼供应商,帮人提升武力,帮人提升等级,还帮人渡天劫,哦买噶!方元未来的梦想是把分店开满全部星球。《这将是一部4000万字的小说》
  • 凡界之皇

    凡界之皇

    自古以来空间被分为上界、凡界、下界,上界灵气浓郁为神魔所住之地,凡界灵气稀薄为人、妖所住之地,下界几乎没有灵气为鬼物积聚之地,这三界各行其道,不能随意跨界,所有生灵都向往上界,只有到达上界才能与日月同辉,拥有无限的生命,而生灵想到达上界必须要不断修炼,只有修炼成神魔之身,才可真正羽化成仙魔进入上界,然而在无数生灵悠悠岁月的修炼当中真正能去上界的人可谓凤毛菱角,少之又少。一个一心向往修仙的店小二,被魔宗大小姐绑入了魔宗,又机缘巧合之下拜了一个蒙面的女魔头为师,从此卷入了一场正道、魔道、妖族之争。命运从来都是非常残酷的,在经过师徒别离,好朋友反目,感情迷惑后,云恒终于站在了凡界之巅成为了凡界之皇。
  • 特种狂兵

    特种狂兵

    他,是战场上令人闻风丧胆的恐怖杀神。她,是娱乐圈炙手可热的大明星。他们的相遇是一场阴谋还是天意?昔日的恋人,却是害死至亲的祸因,沈飞又该如何面对?‘神剑’出鞘,护美杀敌,再掀腥风血雨!
  • 捣蛋男生VS野蛮女生

    捣蛋男生VS野蛮女生

    不知不觉班上怎么成了女生的天下?班委干部大部分是女生,成绩好的也是女生多,有的女生还练就了“掐人神功”让男生们闻“掐”丧胆。不行,让男子汉们的颜面何存呢?“捣蛋三剑客”为了挽回男生的面子,向班上的野蛮女生发起了挑战,誓与她们比高低。一边是调皮捣蛋的男生,一边是野蛮的女生,两强相争,究竟谁输谁赢呢?
  • 邪少的宠妻秘史

    邪少的宠妻秘史

    一次又一次的陷害,让相恋数年的他对她说:“警告你,不要伤害她。”让对自己一直疼爱有佳的父亲对她说:“你走吧,这里不需要你了。”命运为你关掉一扇门时,会为你打开另一扇窗。多幸运,她遇到了曾儿时陪她一起疯,一起笑的姜楠。姜楠说:“多幸运,这么多年的思念终于化作与你相见的门票,这一次,我不会再错过。”阴谋初解,夏沫终于每天都可以享受父爱,和他的爱,可,奈何人生不愿一帆风顺……
  • 甜蜜小时光

    甜蜜小时光

    来自水球国的公主碰上无敌暖男,撒娇卖萌趣味不断,看公主怎样玩转暖男……