x
Kransnoyarsk480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmcVSDfcR7
May 29th, 1880480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUAFCr7HvG
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvsDmTZdI0
How are you, Ludmilla, my favorite stargazer?480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkdwY0mC02
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OrTlMIOe9
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...)480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡReP7rv9sZ4
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqq8vMs3FD
But first a scribbler should set the scene, don't you think?480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvO496qBfr
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3NBK20gsC
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUHDitx4Ne
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpN5nw8T3f
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0NEAURHzR
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFrwvdUI0x
Can you read my writing? This ink is disgusting. Blot and splotch and splotch and blot!480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fkLJolW3l
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuemQbF0fk
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!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdu0B5r8J0i
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDB7CWXk9Xk
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGMrZBpsqz
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6ufx8iVcb
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSJDOhjhrb
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpIrOx8bct
Yesterday evening, out I sailed in company with these three musketeers to see the town...480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Au5xIEqg9
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTiws58BjL
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?480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvx8H7CFUqf
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQ1uHPXgLU
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, 1880480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUAFCr7HvG
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvsDmTZdI0
How are you, Ludmilla, my favorite stargazer?480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkdwY0mC02
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OrTlMIOe9
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...)480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡReP7rv9sZ4
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqq8vMs3FD
But first a scribbler should set the scene, don't you think?480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvO496qBfr
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3NBK20gsC
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUHDitx4Ne
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpN5nw8T3f
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0NEAURHzR
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFrwvdUI0x
Can you read my writing? This ink is disgusting. Blot and splotch and splotch and blot!480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fkLJolW3l
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuemQbF0fk
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!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdu0B5r8J0i
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDB7CWXk9Xk
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGMrZBpsqz
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6ufx8iVcb
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSJDOhjhrb
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpIrOx8bct
Yesterday evening, out I sailed in company with these three musketeers to see the town...480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Au5xIEqg9
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTiws58BjL
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?480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvx8H7CFUqf
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQ1uHPXgLU
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡse4M9FY3pN
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FomD2GlrW
"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."
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FomD2GlrW
"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?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwK2KdYqsLP
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUczuiZCeq
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...480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0z4ChxtqRC
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuVgikQqRU
We ordered ourselves a bottle of Smirnov 21 (would you believe it?) and drank a toast to our journey's next phase.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iK1uvurug
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMUGIjnV1s
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....480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UUXGwirD6
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIDaz4iy3V
His chance arose when Aho said something or other to me, "speaking as one man of science to another...."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cYHPLo34K
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCkrhD37QQ
"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!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHayJgW2JQ
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZYsWHJ6oB
Our Russian genius for soulful generalizations....480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtnQGrm3PJ
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkO1S63tjgj
"Quite right," agreed Abramovich. "Nature, red in tooth and claw, must be tamed by the brave hunter!" He poured himself another glassful.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJMfkgnRoK
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun1CxzzNMB
Mishin went bright red in the face. "Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAfv6o7Pcr
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPrAJmAMqO
"Milorad Yanovich, by your leave, sir!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEQJLtbOkS
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlFbZgviyg
"Away with you, you banal Milorad Yanovich! How could someone by your name know one iota of the heights of human thought?"
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUczuiZCeq
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...480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0z4ChxtqRC
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuVgikQqRU
We ordered ourselves a bottle of Smirnov 21 (would you believe it?) and drank a toast to our journey's next phase.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iK1uvurug
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMUGIjnV1s
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....480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UUXGwirD6
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIDaz4iy3V
His chance arose when Aho said something or other to me, "speaking as one man of science to another...."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cYHPLo34K
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCkrhD37QQ
"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!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHayJgW2JQ
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZYsWHJ6oB
Our Russian genius for soulful generalizations....480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtnQGrm3PJ
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkO1S63tjgj
"Quite right," agreed Abramovich. "Nature, red in tooth and claw, must be tamed by the brave hunter!" He poured himself another glassful.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJMfkgnRoK
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun1CxzzNMB
Mishin went bright red in the face. "Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAfv6o7Pcr
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPrAJmAMqO
"Milorad Yanovich, by your leave, sir!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEQJLtbOkS
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlFbZgviyg
"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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspbqllKcYU
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzk956WscDy
"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."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtsXdsIGas
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3uuQbCwK3E
"Present premises excused," chipped in Abramovich.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEs5JCBBe0
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BEj3fY8sZ
"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."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbMvWrJCL4
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡng4S05U6b9
"A brute needs the whip," quoted Abramovich.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUfHfcePOd
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFW0dELEZb
"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?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvQW5kFHA7
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRuYjrSoL3
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FerBpxeav
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiG96W3qFp
"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?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt81fj0LI0H
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUB8mTVIKpW
Reluctantly, I conceded the fact.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEdjIVLWSv
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpcP0kPO1f
Mishin nudged Abramovich in the ribs. "We've got ourselves a provincial bore. Sic the dogs on him, Rudolph!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FPk4xQSGC
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDWkJnACxQ
"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?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfp7ek0xvoX
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmW9ph0L1e
As soon as those words were out, to my not very great surprise Yanovich became jealously hostile.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MmvyC2GTy
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRL8RT8TBr
"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!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYI7QNleac
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rtav8qNcN
"Turning a blind eye," Abramovich dutifully supplied.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVClGcbFYj
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEszCzx0HjR
"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?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xDH6sRsJp
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2V5PQTECRU
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkdMFBzW2H
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdO3F2lVwf
Our turnip was shaken, but all the drink he had swilled gave him courage.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhfXq4cnfS
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSj4PTGaFNl
"You smart Muscovites haven't even heard! And it's the greatest mystery of the age."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwk7KKGp5Uu
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEX4YBaxEG
"If you don't tell me, then, by God, I'll beat the living shit out of you!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8whlsGs073
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCALou20iB
"The explosion that devastated the Taiga. The visitor from beyond. You haven't heard."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDKFeMV9ik
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyNQsFRXea
"Hang on," said I..."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4NwuLQeuy
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWld43EZbeZ
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99BBwVRaUd
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp8batz1Qfy
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....480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIu81mxlRb9
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINbXqNA0jS
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMta971wbN
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotrmrVnpNI
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzk956WscDy
"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."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtsXdsIGas
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3uuQbCwK3E
"Present premises excused," chipped in Abramovich.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEs5JCBBe0
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BEj3fY8sZ
"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."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbMvWrJCL4
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"A brute needs the whip," quoted Abramovich.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUfHfcePOd
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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?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvQW5kFHA7
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRuYjrSoL3
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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FerBpxeav
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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?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt81fj0LI0H
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Reluctantly, I conceded the fact.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEdjIVLWSv
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Mishin nudged Abramovich in the ribs. "We've got ourselves a provincial bore. Sic the dogs on him, Rudolph!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FPk4xQSGC
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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?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfp7ek0xvoX
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As soon as those words were out, to my not very great surprise Yanovich became jealously hostile.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MmvyC2GTy
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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!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYI7QNleac
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"Turning a blind eye," Abramovich dutifully supplied.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVClGcbFYj
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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?"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xDH6sRsJp
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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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkdMFBzW2H
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Our turnip was shaken, but all the drink he had swilled gave him courage.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhfXq4cnfS
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"You smart Muscovites haven't even heard! And it's the greatest mystery of the age."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwk7KKGp5Uu
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"If you don't tell me, then, by God, I'll beat the living shit out of you!"480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8whlsGs073
480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCALou20iB
"The explosion that devastated the Taiga. The visitor from beyond. You haven't heard."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDKFeMV9ik
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"Hang on," said I..."480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4NwuLQeuy
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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.480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99BBwVRaUd
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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....480Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIu81mxlRb9
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