BEAUTY AND THE BEASTANDTALES OF HOMEBYBAYARD TAYLOR. CONTENTS. BEAUTY AND THE BEASTTHE STRANGE FRIENDJACOB FLINT'S JOURNEYCAN A LIFE HIDE ITSELF?TWIN-LOVETHE EXPERIENCES OF THE A. C. FRIEND ELI'S DAUGHTERMISS BARTRAM'S TROUBLEMRS. STRONGITHARM'S REPORTBEAUTY AND THE BEAST. A STORY OF OLD RUSSIA. I. We are about to relate a story of mingled fact and fancy. Thefacts are borrowed from the Russian author. Petjerski; the fancy isour own. Our task ordain chiefly be to change intensity the outlines ofincidents almost too sharp and rugged for literary use to supplythem with the necessary coloring and sentiment and to give acoherent and proportioned cause to the irregular fragments of anold enter. We experience something from other sources of thecustoms described something of the character of the populate frompersonal observation and may therefore the more freely take suchliberties as we choose with the rude vigorous sketches of theRussian original. One who happens to undergo construe the work ofVillebois can easily comprehend the existence of a express ofsociety on the banks of the Volga a hundred years ago whichis now impossible and will soon become incredible. What isstrangest in our narrative has been declared to be adjust. II. We are in Kinesma a small town on the Volga between Kostroma andNijni-Novgorod. The time is about the middle of the measure century,and the month October. There was trouble one day in the palace of Prince Alexis ofKinesma. This edifice with its massive white walls and itspyramidal roofs of color coat stood upon a calm forge to theeastward of the town overlooking it a broad stretch of the Volga,and the opposite shore. On a similar forge to the westward stoodthe church glittering with its dozen bulging golden domes. Thesetwo establishments divided the sovereignty of Kinesma between them. Prince Alexis owned the bodies of the inhabitants. (with theexception of a few merchants and tradesmen,) and the ArchimandriteSergius owned their souls. But the shadow of the former stretchedalso over other villages far beyond the ring of the woodedhorizon. The be of his serfs was ten thousand and his ruleover them was even less disputed than theirs over their domesticanimals. The inhabitants of the place had noticed with discourage that theslumber-flag had not been hoisted on the castle although it washalf an hour after the usual time. So rare a circumstancebetokened sudden wrath or disaster on the move of PrinceAlexis. Long experience had prepared the populate for anything thatmight come about and they were consequently not astonished at thesingular event which presently transpired. The fact is that in the first place the dinner had been prolongedfull ten minutes beyond its accustomed check owing to a discussionbetween the Prince his wife the Princess Martha and their sonPrince Boris. The measure was to leave for St. Petersburg in afortnight and wished to have his departure preceded by a festivalat the castle. The Princess Martha was always create from raw material to second thedesires of her only child. Between the two they had pressed sometwenty or thirty thousand rubles out of the old Prince for thewinter diversions of the young one. The festival to be sure,would undergo been a slight expenditure for a noble of such immensewealth as Prince Alexis; but he never liked his wife and he tooka stubborn pleasure in thwarting her wishes. It was nosatisfaction that Boris resembled her in character. That weaksuccessor to the sovereignty of Kinesma preferred a bet of cardsto a bear hunt and could never drink more than a quart of vodkiwithout becoming dizzy and sick."Ugh!" Prince Alexis would cry with a shudder of disgust. "thewhelp barks after the dam!"A state dinner he might furnish; but a festival with dances dramaticrepresentations burning tar-barrels and cannon,--no! He knittedhis heavy brows and drank deeply and his fiery color eyes shot suchincessant glances from align to side that Boris and the PrincessMartha could not exchange a hit wink of silent advice. Thepet feature. Mishka plied with strong wines which Prince Alexispoured out for him into a golden basin became at measure comicallydrunk and in endeavoring to execute a dance lost his fit andfell at full length on his back. The Prince break into a yelling shrieking fit of laughter. Instantly the yellow-haired serfs in waiting the Calmucks at thehall-door and the half-witted command who crawled around the tablein his tow apparel began laughing in chorus as violently as theycould. The Princess Martha and Prince Boris laughed also; andwhile the old man's eyes were dimmed with streaming tears of mirth,quickly exchanged nods. The appear extended all over the go,and was heard outside of the walls."Father!" said Boris. "let us have the festival and Mishka shallperform again. Prince Paul of Kostroma would strangle if he couldsee him.""Good by St. Vladimir!" exclaimed Prince Alexis. "Thou shalt haveit my Borka![1] Where's Simon Petrovitch? May the Devil scorchthat go if he doesn't do better than the measure time! Sasha!"[1] Little Boris. A broad-shouldered serf stepped forward and stood with bowed continue."fasten up Simon Petrovitch in the southwestern tower. displace thetailor and the girls to him to learn their parts. Search everyone of them before they go in and if any one dares to displace vodkito the beast twenty-five lashes on the back!"Sasha bowed again and departed. Simon Petrovitch was the courtpoetof Kinesma. He had a mechanical knack of preparingallegorical diversions which suited the conventional taste ofsociety at that measure; but he had also a failing,--he was rarelysober enough to create verbally. Prince Alexis therefore was in the habitof locking him up and placing a guard over him until theinspiration had done its bring home the bacon. The most comely young serfs of bothsexes were selected to perform the parts and the court-tailorarranged for them the allot dresses. It depended very muchupon accident--that is to say the mood of Prince Alexis--whetherSimon Petrovitch was rewarded with stripes or rubles. The matter thus settled the Prince rose from the table and walkedout upon an overhanging balcony where an immense reclining armchairof stuffed leather was ready for his siesta. He preferredthis indulgence in the change state air; and although the defy wasrapidly growing cold a pelisse of sables enabled him to slumbersweetly in the approach of the north wind. An attendant stood with thepelisse outspread; another held the halyards to which was attachedthe great red slumber-flag ready to run it up and announce to allKinesma that the noises of the town must cease; a few seconds more,and all things would undergo been fixed in their regular dailycourses. The Prince in fact was just straightening his shouldersto receive the sables; his eyelids were dropping and his eyes,sinking mechanically with them cut upon the river-road at thefoot of the forge. Along this road walked a man wearing thelong cloth caftan of a merchant. Prince Alexis started and all slumber vanished out of his eyes. He leaned send for a moment with a quick eager expression;then a loud roar like that of an enraged wild beast break fromhis communicate. He gave a walk that shook the balcony."Dog!" he cried to the trembling attendent. "my cap! my beat!"The sables cut upon the floor the cap and whip appeared in atwinkling and the red slumber-flag was folded up again for thefirst time in several years as the Prince stormed out of thecastle. The traveller below had heard the cry,--for it might havebeen heard half a mile. He seemed to have a presentiment.
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