x
Kransnoyarsk357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPnt8GhwHI
May 29th, 1880357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyI1O12DmKj
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmI8pNZUep
How are you, Ludmilla, my favorite stargazer?357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DlBCTrAYh
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcfuYqK6tM
Here I am in Siberia, and you're oh, so far away. Ah, but how I wish you had been at my side last night so that I could squeeze your hand in the starlight and ask for your advice on matters interplanetary, of which a humble doctor and scribbler knows nothing. (Apart from the fact that the heavens are vast and dreary, and that time stretches out intolerably till this planet will be as cold as space itself...)357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5H6XsukaYh
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNySyHR72w6
But first a scribbler should set the scene, don't you think?357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPBNdct2df
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLI2Yu9g4eI
Kransnoyarsk is a first-rate town---particularly after such vile Oriental shitholes at Tomsk. God alone knows why they send exiles here to Kransnoyarsk! This must seem more like a reward, what with the grand forested mountains encompassing the city like high walls, and the broad swift Yenisey winding its way through---worthier of Levitan's deft brush than the Volga will ever be! And I mustn't forget the town itself. Why, there are paved streets and gracious churches and handsome houses built of stone! But they do send exiles here, and they've done so for years. Result? Krasnoyarsk is quite cultured in addition to being picturesque.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoUN690RYL
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5UxNCZDLl
Anyhow, I have fallen in with an army doctor and two lieutenants all on their way to the Amur. We intend to travel onward together, so I shall hardly have need of my revolver. Boldly would I harrow Hell itself in company with this trio.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuHkak8Hvc
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RLg9p0lNk
Can you read my writing? This ink is disgusting. Blot and splotch and splotch and blot!357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4sgZxgFDK
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19mHBoaJGk
And now, I shall tell you about these brave fellows. Dr. Aho is something of a philosopher and pessimist---and, by turns, an idealist. Half the time he speaks of the new and happy life awaiting us in some distant future epoch when we'll all fly across Siberia by balloon, and when a sixth sense will be developed so that our brains can reach out to the stars. Then he grows gloomy (worn down by his own enthusiasm) and it's all a case of: "We can't be real. The present can't be real. This is all a nightmare in someone's mind a thousand years ahead!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmm4uNsDV61
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIcEtzMm6u
Then there's the great Baron Kuzma Mishin. The Baron really puts it out as a military man, growling the letter 'R' deep in his through like the doyen of some posh cavalry regiment. He is forever barking at people. You'd think he was ordering a Cossack to be flogged for cowardice when he calls for a cup of tea and jam on black bread. Generally, he's abusive in company that he doesn't know, but just you get him on his own and he's quite a kindly, sensible man---with a concern for society. "The avalanche is coming," he'll warn you. He thinks Science might save us, though. And he has read Herber Spencer, or at least claims to have. But he does throw his weight around, and there's quite a lot of weight to throw.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluK2Kj5ZF3
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlK0TCUL5C
Last, but not least, is Rudolph Abramovich, who never glances at any reading matter save a newspaper. I'm sure he hasn't lifted an intellectual finger for the past two decades. All that interests our Rudolph is hunting and boozing, and once he has made up his mind on a subject it would be far too much trouble to alter his opinion. Only thing he had fixed in his mind is that Aho and Mishin are both excellent wise fellows, so he has a habit of dropping the drollest apercus into the conversation, which are all warped echoes of something the other two men have said. Invariably these "mottos" are way off the beaten path, like the wisdom of some demented old babushka.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBzRvcI5zk
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMDJTEvfcP
Yesterday evening, out I sailed in company with these three musketeers to see the town...357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXyVsFUW2v
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaDhFNZPig
Everything on the journey thus far has turned out contrary to expectation. In Tomsk where the local ladies are as charming as a butt of frozen herrings---fit males for a walrus---who would have imagined that the Assistant Chief of Police would be a connoisseur of my works? Who would have expected him to do me the honor of driving me on a tour of the local house of prostitution, as his way of paying respect to my literary achievements?357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskvdAQEpEP
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UXjn98Gru
Anyhow, there was I forming a wholly favorable impression of the town on our promenade around its surprisingly clean streets---when Mishin must suffer a sudden attack of drought. So, we all had to perform an about-turn into the less salubrious quarter of town to find him an inn on the double for medicinal relief. Oh ho, thought I: Tomsk revisited?
May 29th, 1880357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyI1O12DmKj
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmI8pNZUep
How are you, Ludmilla, my favorite stargazer?357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DlBCTrAYh
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcfuYqK6tM
Here I am in Siberia, and you're oh, so far away. Ah, but how I wish you had been at my side last night so that I could squeeze your hand in the starlight and ask for your advice on matters interplanetary, of which a humble doctor and scribbler knows nothing. (Apart from the fact that the heavens are vast and dreary, and that time stretches out intolerably till this planet will be as cold as space itself...)357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5H6XsukaYh
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNySyHR72w6
But first a scribbler should set the scene, don't you think?357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPBNdct2df
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLI2Yu9g4eI
Kransnoyarsk is a first-rate town---particularly after such vile Oriental shitholes at Tomsk. God alone knows why they send exiles here to Kransnoyarsk! This must seem more like a reward, what with the grand forested mountains encompassing the city like high walls, and the broad swift Yenisey winding its way through---worthier of Levitan's deft brush than the Volga will ever be! And I mustn't forget the town itself. Why, there are paved streets and gracious churches and handsome houses built of stone! But they do send exiles here, and they've done so for years. Result? Krasnoyarsk is quite cultured in addition to being picturesque.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoUN690RYL
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5UxNCZDLl
Anyhow, I have fallen in with an army doctor and two lieutenants all on their way to the Amur. We intend to travel onward together, so I shall hardly have need of my revolver. Boldly would I harrow Hell itself in company with this trio.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuHkak8Hvc
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RLg9p0lNk
Can you read my writing? This ink is disgusting. Blot and splotch and splotch and blot!357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4sgZxgFDK
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19mHBoaJGk
And now, I shall tell you about these brave fellows. Dr. Aho is something of a philosopher and pessimist---and, by turns, an idealist. Half the time he speaks of the new and happy life awaiting us in some distant future epoch when we'll all fly across Siberia by balloon, and when a sixth sense will be developed so that our brains can reach out to the stars. Then he grows gloomy (worn down by his own enthusiasm) and it's all a case of: "We can't be real. The present can't be real. This is all a nightmare in someone's mind a thousand years ahead!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmm4uNsDV61
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIcEtzMm6u
Then there's the great Baron Kuzma Mishin. The Baron really puts it out as a military man, growling the letter 'R' deep in his through like the doyen of some posh cavalry regiment. He is forever barking at people. You'd think he was ordering a Cossack to be flogged for cowardice when he calls for a cup of tea and jam on black bread. Generally, he's abusive in company that he doesn't know, but just you get him on his own and he's quite a kindly, sensible man---with a concern for society. "The avalanche is coming," he'll warn you. He thinks Science might save us, though. And he has read Herber Spencer, or at least claims to have. But he does throw his weight around, and there's quite a lot of weight to throw.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluK2Kj5ZF3
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlK0TCUL5C
Last, but not least, is Rudolph Abramovich, who never glances at any reading matter save a newspaper. I'm sure he hasn't lifted an intellectual finger for the past two decades. All that interests our Rudolph is hunting and boozing, and once he has made up his mind on a subject it would be far too much trouble to alter his opinion. Only thing he had fixed in his mind is that Aho and Mishin are both excellent wise fellows, so he has a habit of dropping the drollest apercus into the conversation, which are all warped echoes of something the other two men have said. Invariably these "mottos" are way off the beaten path, like the wisdom of some demented old babushka.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBzRvcI5zk
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMDJTEvfcP
Yesterday evening, out I sailed in company with these three musketeers to see the town...357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXyVsFUW2v
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaDhFNZPig
Everything on the journey thus far has turned out contrary to expectation. In Tomsk where the local ladies are as charming as a butt of frozen herrings---fit males for a walrus---who would have imagined that the Assistant Chief of Police would be a connoisseur of my works? Who would have expected him to do me the honor of driving me on a tour of the local house of prostitution, as his way of paying respect to my literary achievements?357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskvdAQEpEP
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UXjn98Gru
Anyhow, there was I forming a wholly favorable impression of the town on our promenade around its surprisingly clean streets---when Mishin must suffer a sudden attack of drought. So, we all had to perform an about-turn into the less salubrious quarter of town to find him an inn on the double for medicinal relief. Oh ho, thought I: Tomsk revisited?
"This fatal attraction for low life!" proclaimed the good Dr. Aho, as we hastened towards the dives. "It proves how democratic we Russians are..."
"Quite right," said Mishin. "The prince shall sit down with the pauper."
"Probably the Prince is a pauper," observed the Baron, with a raucous laugh.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvMJ7WfuOv
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAomFCy8H4
"That's because there are too many Princes and Counts, and Barons, if you'll forgive me," said Aho. "But who's to say that's such a bad thing? In the future everybody may be ennobled."
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAomFCy8H4
"That's because there are too many Princes and Counts, and Barons, if you'll forgive me," said Aho. "But who's to say that's such a bad thing? In the future everybody may be ennobled."
Mishin nodded. "Ennobled by the magic of Science. One chap will be a Count of Chemistry, and another a Grand Duke of Dentistry."
"The trouble with all these intellectual blokes," said Abramovich, "is that they have their heads too far up their asses." And he remembered to add, "Present company excepted, naturally."
"That's when we Russians feel most at home," Aho said. "With our heads stuck up our asses. And why should that be? Is it because our ordinary lives are so stuck in the mud? Is it because we're all just stuck in a bad dream, anyway?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTuspIqA5X
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOW594J2FXO
Abramovich seems to possess an uncanny sixth sense for inns; quite soon we found a fairly decent one. Decent, if one overlooked the blue fog of wood smoke proceeding from the stove...357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2FeqkFbRE
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgdEZSwQku
We ordered ourselves a bottle of Smirnov 21 (would you believe it?) and drank a toast to our journey's next phase.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMQvVyghYu
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5xBCOPbkT
Sitting nearby there was a man whose face was as flabby as a boiled turnip. From time to time he buttoned up his coat resolutely then unbuttoned it again in a perfect imitation of frustration---as if he ought to set out on some trip but was unable to make up his mind. Every time this happened, he edged a little closer to us, trying to eavesdrop on our conversation in the usual manner of inebriates, the better to rudely butt in....357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUjLFxPbrD
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNh2A5Suly
His chance arose when Aho said something or other to me, "speaking as one man of science to another...."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5moJVrSiZk
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9ONiP4DYr
"Pardon me, gentlemen," interrupted our rotten turnip, "but science is the most noble and beautiful pursuit of all!" His voice had a self-righteous lilt, with undertones of wheedling incrimination. "Pardon me, but in my opinion your scientist struggles with Nature---out of his love for Humanity!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTo5xClhy1
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJmjiF8xXy
Our Russian genius for soulful generalizations....357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OlpnV1NzV
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvd8CuEQUIk
"Quite right," agreed Abramovich. "Nature, red in tooth and claw, must be tamed by the brave hunter!" He poured himself another glassful.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCE8E3WVyRH
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4ZT7vVb4I
Mishin went bright red in the face. "Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91eDUpHkGz
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ503GnLWIsz
"Milorad Yanovich, by your leave, sir!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNkL0dxvrM
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstQWcqMiJC
"Away with you, you banal Milorad Yanovich! How could someone by your name know one iota of the heights of human thought?"
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOW594J2FXO
Abramovich seems to possess an uncanny sixth sense for inns; quite soon we found a fairly decent one. Decent, if one overlooked the blue fog of wood smoke proceeding from the stove...357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2FeqkFbRE
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgdEZSwQku
We ordered ourselves a bottle of Smirnov 21 (would you believe it?) and drank a toast to our journey's next phase.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMQvVyghYu
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5xBCOPbkT
Sitting nearby there was a man whose face was as flabby as a boiled turnip. From time to time he buttoned up his coat resolutely then unbuttoned it again in a perfect imitation of frustration---as if he ought to set out on some trip but was unable to make up his mind. Every time this happened, he edged a little closer to us, trying to eavesdrop on our conversation in the usual manner of inebriates, the better to rudely butt in....357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUjLFxPbrD
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNh2A5Suly
His chance arose when Aho said something or other to me, "speaking as one man of science to another...."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5moJVrSiZk
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9ONiP4DYr
"Pardon me, gentlemen," interrupted our rotten turnip, "but science is the most noble and beautiful pursuit of all!" His voice had a self-righteous lilt, with undertones of wheedling incrimination. "Pardon me, but in my opinion your scientist struggles with Nature---out of his love for Humanity!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTo5xClhy1
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJmjiF8xXy
Our Russian genius for soulful generalizations....357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OlpnV1NzV
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvd8CuEQUIk
"Quite right," agreed Abramovich. "Nature, red in tooth and claw, must be tamed by the brave hunter!" He poured himself another glassful.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCE8E3WVyRH
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4ZT7vVb4I
Mishin went bright red in the face. "Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91eDUpHkGz
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ503GnLWIsz
"Milorad Yanovich, by your leave, sir!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNkL0dxvrM
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstQWcqMiJC
"Away with you, you banal Milorad Yanovich! How could someone by your name know one iota of the heights of human thought?"
Naturally, Yanovich shuffled himself even closer to us.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqxjAQUcnA
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChbLT0OeSS
"Pardon me, gentlemen, but banality is the whole trouble---you've hit the nail on the head. The ordinary human being is downright idiotic. You can see that easily in these God-forsaken Siberian hellholes."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0zNhLJuds
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpzeVLVM2a
"Present premises excused," chipped in Abramovich.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5y6MZGCoDp
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLxrQ1yB21
"But nature is even stupider. The Earth whirls around the Sun, like a child's spinning top: how trivial it all is! At any moment a dark star or a wandering moon might crash into us. Splat! And that's all. Goodbye to the Parthenon and to Venice Srenissima." Tears rose to Yanovich's eyes. "Look at your average Siberian---a beast is he not? Mind you, he's your ordinary run of Russian peasant who's been brutalized."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsdWJIicFS
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgu0h5Sp8N
"A brute needs the whip," quoted Abramovich.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtmx7Xpgpn
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4a2adwzxVI
"Mark my words, sirs, compared with him the tribes a few hundred versts north of here are noble..." and Yanovich hunted for the word, "savages. Well, almost. Compared to him they're quite magnificent. They're heroes. But how can they be heroes if they've always stayed here?---that's what mystifies me. They never rose above their condition. Whereas we Russians have sunk down to it. Ah, the disgusting flatness of it all! And under the surface everything is rotten and decayed....What was I talking about?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtK9ZndcFj
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fPU972Oaw
At this moment, the wick in the nearest lam started humming loudly. Yanovich pricked up his ears as if he heard something rush through the sky above the roofs of Krasnoyarsk. He buttoned his coat swiftly and ran out of the inn, leaving the door wide open. Thus, we were able to see him standing in the street, staring up at the night sky as if to reassure himself that all the stars were in their right places. Or maybe he was only wondering whether it was going to rain, since his boots had holes in them. Presently, he returned, unbuttoned and subsided right up against us.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ckWWxS07X
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5P1vzbGMsn
"Excuse me, but I'm sacrificing myself to science," he confided to me in a loud whisper. (I swear to you, Ludmilla---by Mars and Jupiter---that I am not inventing this Yanovich is a mirror for my own personal soul!) "Why, if I went to Moscow to present a proper report to the authorities, they'd make me a professor or even a privy councilor on the spot. You have the floor of Moscow all about you, sir, is this not so?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyRpyQUNJC
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tZYmWsmJN
Reluctantly, I conceded the fact.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRfSTeTpal
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxVZk1TQdA
Mishin nudged Abramovich in the ribs. "We've got ourselves a provincial bore. Sic the dogs on him, Rudolph!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZawAKviJ2
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNq3UBy4RI4
"Ah, Moscow!" cried Vasilyev, in tipsy torment. "Freedom, fulfillment! Afterwards I could drain the bogland. With all the trees down, I could sell the timber and plant wheat. Alas, it's too cold for that...Anyway, the mosquitoes! And the people: too corrupted. Maybe you two men of Science might help me present a good report?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeY4zjjDkSz
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMSCaC5fK8
As soon as those words were out, to my not very great surprise Yanovich became jealously hostile.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPy5DD5DoYJ
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHMNsOzri5
"Scientists! You ordinary scientists!" he sneered. "If the Earth blew up tomorrow, they'd go on staring down their microscopes like England's Lord Nelson at Gibraltar!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbr4eqC7it
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAXEQ79PsW
"Turning a blind eye," Abramovich dutifully supplied.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAmsCAEooB
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwzce9B9mG
"Would they listen to me? As for the authorities...well, that's our whole sickness, is it not? Authority: how we worship authority. Ah, I can see how you hate me for not acting like a hero and setting off forthwith to Moscow and fame---but it's not so easy. There aren't many authorities on an event like this---except for the Biblical narrative of Sodom and Gamora, destroyed by God. I can't persuade anyone in Krasnoyarsk to do anything about it. In Moscow, who gives a shit about Krasnoyarsk?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKIe8xDjRt
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCSWffkFMO
By now Baron Kuzma was in an orgy of wrath. He grabbed Yanovich by the lapels. "What in the hell are you going on about?" he shouted into the man's face.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5l6HuV7RfO
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdNpyOxsEO
Our turnip was shaken, but all the drink he had swilled gave him courage.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhXwCpwPXD
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXKF8n3CeT
"You smart Muscovites haven't even heard! And it's the greatest mystery of the age."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ8XsI94Th
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUUo4qYd4z
"If you don't tell me, then, by God, I'll beat the living shit out of you!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLr4aZRMHy
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6cYzd9PiP
"The explosion that devastated the Taiga. The visitor from beyond. You haven't heard."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcoXyPDRry
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPVjzur0BR
"Hang on," said I..."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKmKDT8oUC
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvE3WIo92ey
Because my celestial charmer, I had heard of it---hadn't you? I refer to the enclosed clipping from the Siberian Herald, which I originally intended for quite another 'sanitary' purpose.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkLLy7Xx5o
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjHvKC7nMb
Yanovich went on to spin us the tallest tale I'd ever heard, of massive destruction a few hundred versts north of Kransoyarsk up by the Stony Tunguska River. I shall list his "details" in a moment, since I want to ask you quite seriously, Ludmilla: What do you make of this? My telescopic tormentress, I wish your frank scientific opinion....357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQYZlcpiJa
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6U1M4lX3v5
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItSBV31ViT
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mB3wnSz3Q
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChbLT0OeSS
"Pardon me, gentlemen, but banality is the whole trouble---you've hit the nail on the head. The ordinary human being is downright idiotic. You can see that easily in these God-forsaken Siberian hellholes."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0zNhLJuds
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpzeVLVM2a
"Present premises excused," chipped in Abramovich.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5y6MZGCoDp
357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLxrQ1yB21
"But nature is even stupider. The Earth whirls around the Sun, like a child's spinning top: how trivial it all is! At any moment a dark star or a wandering moon might crash into us. Splat! And that's all. Goodbye to the Parthenon and to Venice Srenissima." Tears rose to Yanovich's eyes. "Look at your average Siberian---a beast is he not? Mind you, he's your ordinary run of Russian peasant who's been brutalized."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsdWJIicFS
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"A brute needs the whip," quoted Abramovich.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtmx7Xpgpn
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"Mark my words, sirs, compared with him the tribes a few hundred versts north of here are noble..." and Yanovich hunted for the word, "savages. Well, almost. Compared to him they're quite magnificent. They're heroes. But how can they be heroes if they've always stayed here?---that's what mystifies me. They never rose above their condition. Whereas we Russians have sunk down to it. Ah, the disgusting flatness of it all! And under the surface everything is rotten and decayed....What was I talking about?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtK9ZndcFj
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At this moment, the wick in the nearest lam started humming loudly. Yanovich pricked up his ears as if he heard something rush through the sky above the roofs of Krasnoyarsk. He buttoned his coat swiftly and ran out of the inn, leaving the door wide open. Thus, we were able to see him standing in the street, staring up at the night sky as if to reassure himself that all the stars were in their right places. Or maybe he was only wondering whether it was going to rain, since his boots had holes in them. Presently, he returned, unbuttoned and subsided right up against us.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ckWWxS07X
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"Excuse me, but I'm sacrificing myself to science," he confided to me in a loud whisper. (I swear to you, Ludmilla---by Mars and Jupiter---that I am not inventing this Yanovich is a mirror for my own personal soul!) "Why, if I went to Moscow to present a proper report to the authorities, they'd make me a professor or even a privy councilor on the spot. You have the floor of Moscow all about you, sir, is this not so?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyRpyQUNJC
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Reluctantly, I conceded the fact.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRfSTeTpal
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Mishin nudged Abramovich in the ribs. "We've got ourselves a provincial bore. Sic the dogs on him, Rudolph!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZawAKviJ2
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"Ah, Moscow!" cried Vasilyev, in tipsy torment. "Freedom, fulfillment! Afterwards I could drain the bogland. With all the trees down, I could sell the timber and plant wheat. Alas, it's too cold for that...Anyway, the mosquitoes! And the people: too corrupted. Maybe you two men of Science might help me present a good report?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeY4zjjDkSz
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As soon as those words were out, to my not very great surprise Yanovich became jealously hostile.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPy5DD5DoYJ
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"Scientists! You ordinary scientists!" he sneered. "If the Earth blew up tomorrow, they'd go on staring down their microscopes like England's Lord Nelson at Gibraltar!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbr4eqC7it
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"Turning a blind eye," Abramovich dutifully supplied.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAmsCAEooB
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"Would they listen to me? As for the authorities...well, that's our whole sickness, is it not? Authority: how we worship authority. Ah, I can see how you hate me for not acting like a hero and setting off forthwith to Moscow and fame---but it's not so easy. There aren't many authorities on an event like this---except for the Biblical narrative of Sodom and Gamora, destroyed by God. I can't persuade anyone in Krasnoyarsk to do anything about it. In Moscow, who gives a shit about Krasnoyarsk?"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKIe8xDjRt
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By now Baron Kuzma was in an orgy of wrath. He grabbed Yanovich by the lapels. "What in the hell are you going on about?" he shouted into the man's face.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5l6HuV7RfO
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Our turnip was shaken, but all the drink he had swilled gave him courage.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhXwCpwPXD
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"You smart Muscovites haven't even heard! And it's the greatest mystery of the age."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ8XsI94Th
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"If you don't tell me, then, by God, I'll beat the living shit out of you!"357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLr4aZRMHy
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"The explosion that devastated the Taiga. The visitor from beyond. You haven't heard."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcoXyPDRry
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"Hang on," said I..."357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKmKDT8oUC
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Because my celestial charmer, I had heard of it---hadn't you? I refer to the enclosed clipping from the Siberian Herald, which I originally intended for quite another 'sanitary' purpose.357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkLLy7Xx5o
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Yanovich went on to spin us the tallest tale I'd ever heard, of massive destruction a few hundred versts north of Kransoyarsk up by the Stony Tunguska River. I shall list his "details" in a moment, since I want to ask you quite seriously, Ludmilla: What do you make of this? My telescopic tormentress, I wish your frank scientific opinion....357Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQYZlcpiJa
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