Kransnoyarsk570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLtDCuXQZn
May 29th, 1880570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXVRnaYpc1
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM37i6EWvjq
How are you, Ludmilla, my favorite stargazer?570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXqrJR8eIT
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdeJNsp3D6
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...)570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRyKM24LvC
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHKQq50amr
But first a scribbler should set the scene, don't you think?570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7rVyrbnEu
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoxF4smZdF
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3dHgHBF2x
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xWxip9Dgw
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluVowDKkuk
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgir9KhW0sJ
Can you read my writing? This ink is disgusting. Blot and splotch and splotch and blot!570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRODBawXRx
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53nO3iUrjH
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!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJsPgPdbmo
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRhBC7kqMM
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWu6AU6bBIQ
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQA7E2GqVt
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjHicjeQvE
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzEpjL06yE
Yesterday evening, out I sailed in company with these three musketeers to see the town...570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCFfU72fHl
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChLjvSURxD
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?570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lwOWLcRpw
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRSFwhbboS
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, 1880570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXVRnaYpc1
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM37i6EWvjq
How are you, Ludmilla, my favorite stargazer?570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXqrJR8eIT
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdeJNsp3D6
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...)570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRyKM24LvC
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHKQq50amr
But first a scribbler should set the scene, don't you think?570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7rVyrbnEu
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoxF4smZdF
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3dHgHBF2x
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xWxip9Dgw
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluVowDKkuk
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgir9KhW0sJ
Can you read my writing? This ink is disgusting. Blot and splotch and splotch and blot!570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRODBawXRx
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53nO3iUrjH
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!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJsPgPdbmo
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRhBC7kqMM
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWu6AU6bBIQ
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQA7E2GqVt
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjHicjeQvE
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzEpjL06yE
Yesterday evening, out I sailed in company with these three musketeers to see the town...570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCFfU72fHl
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChLjvSURxD
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?570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lwOWLcRpw
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRSFwhbboS
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqXJxP7Xtd
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4fwltRyem
"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."
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4fwltRyem
"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?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFj7dXucIW
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jb45h8zIF
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...570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoI0qtory6
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk50xoUr8c1
We ordered ourselves a bottle of Smirnov 21 (would you believe it?) and drank a toast to our journey's next phase.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvGPNgsTag
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhuzg9bVAk
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....570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYuplRGNnZ2
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfNpNI3q1r
His chance arose when Aho said something or other to me, "speaking as one man of science to another...."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2WNR56u32
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4JotzQ1EB
"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!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAPc7o8RO0
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlHgRewjbZ
Our Russian genius for soulful generalizations....570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SbtIGOd2m
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZMeoQ0rnh
"Quite right," agreed Abramovich. "Nature, red in tooth and claw, must be tamed by the brave hunter!" He poured himself another glassful.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8y0KTubPbc
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowendB1OZJ
Mishin went bright red in the face. "Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuKy1nFs9T
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lEYWHRKQK
"Milorad Yanovich, by your leave, sir!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzx8FT6mJYW
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0j6SLSd4i
"Away with you, you banal Milorad Yanovich! How could someone by your name know one iota of the heights of human thought?"
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jb45h8zIF
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...570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoI0qtory6
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk50xoUr8c1
We ordered ourselves a bottle of Smirnov 21 (would you believe it?) and drank a toast to our journey's next phase.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvGPNgsTag
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhuzg9bVAk
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....570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYuplRGNnZ2
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfNpNI3q1r
His chance arose when Aho said something or other to me, "speaking as one man of science to another...."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2WNR56u32
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4JotzQ1EB
"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!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAPc7o8RO0
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlHgRewjbZ
Our Russian genius for soulful generalizations....570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SbtIGOd2m
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZMeoQ0rnh
"Quite right," agreed Abramovich. "Nature, red in tooth and claw, must be tamed by the brave hunter!" He poured himself another glassful.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8y0KTubPbc
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowendB1OZJ
Mishin went bright red in the face. "Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuKy1nFs9T
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lEYWHRKQK
"Milorad Yanovich, by your leave, sir!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzx8FT6mJYW
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0j6SLSd4i
"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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWjLnwqPbH
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrFQoBQZWy
"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."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhWrlgOlbb
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqlJM9OVq0
"Present premises excused," chipped in Abramovich.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZMFcE6rlF
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggKwWX9yJ4
"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."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc64jmc7D4f
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxcbPaRif2
"A brute needs the whip," quoted Abramovich.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzS6B9BOTUa
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9XzQi58qw
"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?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0m45d7Lz2w
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFt2xIRW4au
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhFciegJez
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8QlgJ6zdE
"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?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3xDqE2pyd
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNK2ReFMUAM
Reluctantly, I conceded the fact.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4riWUIjqN
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbrGLgR99h
Mishin nudged Abramovich in the ribs. "We've got ourselves a provincial bore. Sic the dogs on him, Rudolph!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIHte2hxiH
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGV1LMSqSL
"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?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnv4PxnlKAx
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MDL8z0eVm
As soon as those words were out, to my not very great surprise Yanovich became jealously hostile.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVArbEUR4u
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXA5gCZkSp
"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!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc55SMC7TXM
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroVdlPWCgb
"Turning a blind eye," Abramovich dutifully supplied.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaL9oJLJB0y
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKSm240qzb
"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?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtvShren5E
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxCEDR8xC5
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7K1nZ9ozH
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlj9LGSAbex
Our turnip was shaken, but all the drink he had swilled gave him courage.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8sDHKJd1N
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaWuosfgyq
"You smart Muscovites haven't even heard! And it's the greatest mystery of the age."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZV8RqEjB1
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQVkiwGGic
"If you don't tell me, then, by God, I'll beat the living shit out of you!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmlsAACDwo
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBT61GyIDP
"The explosion that devastated the Taiga. The visitor from beyond. You haven't heard."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeMHaFMn7T
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tCygKL1Ih
"Hang on," said I..."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZ1jebzctK
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPZ4EWAupf
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZC082M3lT
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zeIl1R2Zv
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....570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3krsSaQrA
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMS9BjGiAjC
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODFgNmpaRX
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyeU6hoA33
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrFQoBQZWy
"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."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhWrlgOlbb
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqlJM9OVq0
"Present premises excused," chipped in Abramovich.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZMFcE6rlF
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggKwWX9yJ4
"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."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc64jmc7D4f
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"A brute needs the whip," quoted Abramovich.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzS6B9BOTUa
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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?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0m45d7Lz2w
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFt2xIRW4au
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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhFciegJez
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8QlgJ6zdE
"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?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3xDqE2pyd
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Reluctantly, I conceded the fact.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4riWUIjqN
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Mishin nudged Abramovich in the ribs. "We've got ourselves a provincial bore. Sic the dogs on him, Rudolph!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIHte2hxiH
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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?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnv4PxnlKAx
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MDL8z0eVm
As soon as those words were out, to my not very great surprise Yanovich became jealously hostile.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVArbEUR4u
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXA5gCZkSp
"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!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc55SMC7TXM
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroVdlPWCgb
"Turning a blind eye," Abramovich dutifully supplied.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaL9oJLJB0y
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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?"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtvShren5E
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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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7K1nZ9ozH
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Our turnip was shaken, but all the drink he had swilled gave him courage.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8sDHKJd1N
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"You smart Muscovites haven't even heard! And it's the greatest mystery of the age."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZV8RqEjB1
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"If you don't tell me, then, by God, I'll beat the living shit out of you!"570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmlsAACDwo
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBT61GyIDP
"The explosion that devastated the Taiga. The visitor from beyond. You haven't heard."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeMHaFMn7T
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"Hang on," said I..."570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZ1jebzctK
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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.570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZC082M3lT
570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zeIl1R2Zv
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....570Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3krsSaQrA
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