x
Kransnoyarsk223Please respect copyright.PENANAQelkGNAPxw
May 29th, 1880223Please respect copyright.PENANAL0Kpr0qetL
223Please respect copyright.PENANAOoe3ZXrPun
How are you, Ludmilla, my favorite stargazer?223Please respect copyright.PENANALLiOcfQRRJ
223Please respect copyright.PENANAUA5SbRnQ6t
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...)223Please respect copyright.PENANAEIdpFBqm3u
223Please respect copyright.PENANAjm4YLqQMnq
But first a scribbler should set the scene, don't you think?223Please respect copyright.PENANAK26MtViajc
223Please respect copyright.PENANAGdrYeUnktQ
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAlZinjN1e1d
223Please respect copyright.PENANAPWYIk6ucIx
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAsXgQozMSCB
223Please respect copyright.PENANATtI4uDNwwZ
Can you read my writing? This ink is disgusting. Blot and splotch and splotch and blot!223Please respect copyright.PENANAnpU1K6RHNN
223Please respect copyright.PENANA1bFfsbRyth
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!"223Please respect copyright.PENANACcTvObDFYg
223Please respect copyright.PENANAU4zwvxSLL9
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAC8SE4Asqql
223Please respect copyright.PENANAGC9JdaTNps
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAQPiu8mj4gK
223Please respect copyright.PENANAWXebVEoagH
Yesterday evening, out I sailed in company with these three musketeers to see the town...223Please respect copyright.PENANAAa4BfnmSzu
223Please respect copyright.PENANARvY5t2s66U
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?223Please respect copyright.PENANAD1yrlBrV4F
223Please respect copyright.PENANA1JHbWWoqTu
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, 1880223Please respect copyright.PENANAL0Kpr0qetL
223Please respect copyright.PENANAOoe3ZXrPun
How are you, Ludmilla, my favorite stargazer?223Please respect copyright.PENANALLiOcfQRRJ
223Please respect copyright.PENANAUA5SbRnQ6t
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...)223Please respect copyright.PENANAEIdpFBqm3u
223Please respect copyright.PENANAjm4YLqQMnq
But first a scribbler should set the scene, don't you think?223Please respect copyright.PENANAK26MtViajc
223Please respect copyright.PENANAGdrYeUnktQ
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAlZinjN1e1d
223Please respect copyright.PENANAPWYIk6ucIx
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAsXgQozMSCB
223Please respect copyright.PENANATtI4uDNwwZ
Can you read my writing? This ink is disgusting. Blot and splotch and splotch and blot!223Please respect copyright.PENANAnpU1K6RHNN
223Please respect copyright.PENANA1bFfsbRyth
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!"223Please respect copyright.PENANACcTvObDFYg
223Please respect copyright.PENANAU4zwvxSLL9
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAC8SE4Asqql
223Please respect copyright.PENANAGC9JdaTNps
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAQPiu8mj4gK
223Please respect copyright.PENANAWXebVEoagH
Yesterday evening, out I sailed in company with these three musketeers to see the town...223Please respect copyright.PENANAAa4BfnmSzu
223Please respect copyright.PENANARvY5t2s66U
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?223Please respect copyright.PENANAD1yrlBrV4F
223Please respect copyright.PENANA1JHbWWoqTu
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAEtugxCJbnM
223Please respect copyright.PENANAMZBiwb8NX7
"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."
223Please respect copyright.PENANAMZBiwb8NX7
"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?"223Please respect copyright.PENANAJkOkCUr1Ij
223Please respect copyright.PENANA2tjQKP6nAj
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...223Please respect copyright.PENANAMr7IH63j2f
223Please respect copyright.PENANAYrRrUAL4uu
We ordered ourselves a bottle of Smirnov 21 (would you believe it?) and drank a toast to our journey's next phase.223Please respect copyright.PENANAHOwCeFiCW9
223Please respect copyright.PENANAOnxUvcIVjp
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....223Please respect copyright.PENANArrDNusdN5p
223Please respect copyright.PENANAj4qkGe5II4
His chance arose when Aho said something or other to me, "speaking as one man of science to another...."223Please respect copyright.PENANA8pONHDvDEV
223Please respect copyright.PENANAAddrmOEzue
"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!"223Please respect copyright.PENANAG6Mm0HYshi
223Please respect copyright.PENANAws7lXabwhF
Our Russian genius for soulful generalizations....223Please respect copyright.PENANA5fCREJurt7
223Please respect copyright.PENANAiaYC90FX2S
"Quite right," agreed Abramovich. "Nature, red in tooth and claw, must be tamed by the brave hunter!" He poured himself another glassful.223Please respect copyright.PENANABCErFloOuD
223Please respect copyright.PENANAk7kS7puepR
Mishin went bright red in the face. "Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?"223Please respect copyright.PENANAYAco0lk8NT
223Please respect copyright.PENANAzWECdRJ8Xp
"Milorad Yanovich, by your leave, sir!"223Please respect copyright.PENANAz8y4ylwRxE
223Please respect copyright.PENANA9u3ukWp0LJ
"Away with you, you banal Milorad Yanovich! How could someone by your name know one iota of the heights of human thought?"
223Please respect copyright.PENANA2tjQKP6nAj
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...223Please respect copyright.PENANAMr7IH63j2f
223Please respect copyright.PENANAYrRrUAL4uu
We ordered ourselves a bottle of Smirnov 21 (would you believe it?) and drank a toast to our journey's next phase.223Please respect copyright.PENANAHOwCeFiCW9
223Please respect copyright.PENANAOnxUvcIVjp
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....223Please respect copyright.PENANArrDNusdN5p
223Please respect copyright.PENANAj4qkGe5II4
His chance arose when Aho said something or other to me, "speaking as one man of science to another...."223Please respect copyright.PENANA8pONHDvDEV
223Please respect copyright.PENANAAddrmOEzue
"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!"223Please respect copyright.PENANAG6Mm0HYshi
223Please respect copyright.PENANAws7lXabwhF
Our Russian genius for soulful generalizations....223Please respect copyright.PENANA5fCREJurt7
223Please respect copyright.PENANAiaYC90FX2S
"Quite right," agreed Abramovich. "Nature, red in tooth and claw, must be tamed by the brave hunter!" He poured himself another glassful.223Please respect copyright.PENANABCErFloOuD
223Please respect copyright.PENANAk7kS7puepR
Mishin went bright red in the face. "Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?"223Please respect copyright.PENANAYAco0lk8NT
223Please respect copyright.PENANAzWECdRJ8Xp
"Milorad Yanovich, by your leave, sir!"223Please respect copyright.PENANAz8y4ylwRxE
223Please respect copyright.PENANA9u3ukWp0LJ
"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.223Please respect copyright.PENANA2S01bywzwA
223Please respect copyright.PENANAVU7OVdsmzQ
"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."223Please respect copyright.PENANAdVyLTOrUGV
223Please respect copyright.PENANAPZ7ixt7nhd
"Present premises excused," chipped in Abramovich.223Please respect copyright.PENANAhidMq35iV5
223Please respect copyright.PENANAX9AU9UEcEG
"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."223Please respect copyright.PENANABp9mevUkrR
223Please respect copyright.PENANAnta5Izm5cH
"A brute needs the whip," quoted Abramovich.223Please respect copyright.PENANAeHR665MB1k
223Please respect copyright.PENANA5pAFsi5AjT
"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?"223Please respect copyright.PENANApapqhzMFUH
223Please respect copyright.PENANAas8EExAtMV
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANArfLwbfTmkr
223Please respect copyright.PENANAQnIO9sCRa8
"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?"223Please respect copyright.PENANAGkU2VOsZgO
223Please respect copyright.PENANA4g72DAEr4C
Reluctantly, I conceded the fact.223Please respect copyright.PENANAK0M78YdfZf
223Please respect copyright.PENANAsXBnjox5eA
Mishin nudged Abramovich in the ribs. "We've got ourselves a provincial bore. Sic the dogs on him, Rudolph!"223Please respect copyright.PENANAzYbrSpK0Yq
223Please respect copyright.PENANAGlKGBkW94i
"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?"223Please respect copyright.PENANAbhBqW24dfu
223Please respect copyright.PENANAoVwboKDf6r
As soon as those words were out, to my not very great surprise Yanovich became jealously hostile.223Please respect copyright.PENANADi7o92aY7o
223Please respect copyright.PENANAGM0acNR0op
"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!"223Please respect copyright.PENANA5di8yCd2wP
223Please respect copyright.PENANARJfnkiW7i2
"Turning a blind eye," Abramovich dutifully supplied.223Please respect copyright.PENANACwiE8Up0Ci
223Please respect copyright.PENANAtD2LuLH0mB
"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?"223Please respect copyright.PENANAtIAYzgL0ge
223Please respect copyright.PENANALFRSEIzwqM
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAjbXCgVz0Dv
223Please respect copyright.PENANAcKSNxMpTuK
Our turnip was shaken, but all the drink he had swilled gave him courage.223Please respect copyright.PENANApc8bVUN85n
223Please respect copyright.PENANA9r4mpOnsPx
"You smart Muscovites haven't even heard! And it's the greatest mystery of the age."223Please respect copyright.PENANAyf6SqRqvu5
223Please respect copyright.PENANACGmvmA4rYg
"If you don't tell me, then, by God, I'll beat the living shit out of you!"223Please respect copyright.PENANAASFFWE4Q2I
223Please respect copyright.PENANAvQgu9FAW9b
"The explosion that devastated the Taiga. The visitor from beyond. You haven't heard."223Please respect copyright.PENANAnFKfGKoiol
223Please respect copyright.PENANAqESdMMS8Gu
"Hang on," said I..."223Please respect copyright.PENANAo6P6TD8daK
223Please respect copyright.PENANAeLw8Bslc5F
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANALUa4yvJC3i
223Please respect copyright.PENANArlzgzEfjMn
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....223Please respect copyright.PENANAFN8OCPRz3T
223Please respect copyright.PENANAW2Gz0LjDyG
223Please respect copyright.PENANADP94kP4xVr
223Please respect copyright.PENANA58y0jtUHop
223Please respect copyright.PENANAVU7OVdsmzQ
"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."223Please respect copyright.PENANAdVyLTOrUGV
223Please respect copyright.PENANAPZ7ixt7nhd
"Present premises excused," chipped in Abramovich.223Please respect copyright.PENANAhidMq35iV5
223Please respect copyright.PENANAX9AU9UEcEG
"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."223Please respect copyright.PENANABp9mevUkrR
223Please respect copyright.PENANAnta5Izm5cH
"A brute needs the whip," quoted Abramovich.223Please respect copyright.PENANAeHR665MB1k
223Please respect copyright.PENANA5pAFsi5AjT
"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?"223Please respect copyright.PENANApapqhzMFUH
223Please respect copyright.PENANAas8EExAtMV
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANArfLwbfTmkr
223Please respect copyright.PENANAQnIO9sCRa8
"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?"223Please respect copyright.PENANAGkU2VOsZgO
223Please respect copyright.PENANA4g72DAEr4C
Reluctantly, I conceded the fact.223Please respect copyright.PENANAK0M78YdfZf
223Please respect copyright.PENANAsXBnjox5eA
Mishin nudged Abramovich in the ribs. "We've got ourselves a provincial bore. Sic the dogs on him, Rudolph!"223Please respect copyright.PENANAzYbrSpK0Yq
223Please respect copyright.PENANAGlKGBkW94i
"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?"223Please respect copyright.PENANAbhBqW24dfu
223Please respect copyright.PENANAoVwboKDf6r
As soon as those words were out, to my not very great surprise Yanovich became jealously hostile.223Please respect copyright.PENANADi7o92aY7o
223Please respect copyright.PENANAGM0acNR0op
"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!"223Please respect copyright.PENANA5di8yCd2wP
223Please respect copyright.PENANARJfnkiW7i2
"Turning a blind eye," Abramovich dutifully supplied.223Please respect copyright.PENANACwiE8Up0Ci
223Please respect copyright.PENANAtD2LuLH0mB
"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?"223Please respect copyright.PENANAtIAYzgL0ge
223Please respect copyright.PENANALFRSEIzwqM
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.223Please respect copyright.PENANAjbXCgVz0Dv
223Please respect copyright.PENANAcKSNxMpTuK
Our turnip was shaken, but all the drink he had swilled gave him courage.223Please respect copyright.PENANApc8bVUN85n
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"You smart Muscovites haven't even heard! And it's the greatest mystery of the age."223Please respect copyright.PENANAyf6SqRqvu5
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"If you don't tell me, then, by God, I'll beat the living shit out of you!"223Please respect copyright.PENANAASFFWE4Q2I
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"The explosion that devastated the Taiga. The visitor from beyond. You haven't heard."223Please respect copyright.PENANAnFKfGKoiol
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"Hang on," said I..."223Please respect copyright.PENANAo6P6TD8daK
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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.223Please respect copyright.PENANALUa4yvJC3i
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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....223Please respect copyright.PENANAFN8OCPRz3T
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