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THE QUEEN OF SPADES

AND OTHER STORIES.

BY

ALEXANDER PUSHKIN.

TRANSLATED BY

MRS. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS.

_BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED._

LONDON:

CROOME & CO.,

322, UPPER STREET, N.

1892




CONTENTS

    BIOGRAPHY OF PUSHKIN
    THE QUEEN OF SPADES
    THE PISTOL SHOT
    THE SNOWSTORM
    THE UNDERTAKER
    THE POSTMASTER
    THE LADY RUSTIC
    KIRDJALI
    THE HISTORY OF  THE VILLAGE OF GOROHINA
    PETER THE GREAT'S <DW64>
    THE GYPSIES


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

    "THE OLD MAGICIAN CAME AT ONCE"
    "SEATED BEFORE HER LOOKING GLASS"
    "PAUL AND LISAVETA"
    "THERE SHE SHED TEARS"
    "SHE TORE IT INTO A HUNDRED PIECES"
    "A FOOTMAN IN A GREASY DRESSING GOWN"
    "A STRANGE MAN HAD APPEARED"
    "ONE GLANCE SHOWED HER THAT HE WAS NOT THERE"
    "HERMANN STARTED AND FELL BACKWARDS"
    "HE SAW BEFORE HIM A QUEEN OF SPADES"
    "THE OFFICER SEIZED A BRASS CANDLESTICK"
    "HERE IS A MEMENTO OF OUR DUEL"
    "WE CLUTCHED OUR SWORDS"
    "HIS LIFE AT LAST WAS IN MY HANDS"
    "SILVIO! _YOU_ KNEW SILVIO?"
    "MASHA THREW HERSELF AT HIS FEET"
    "THE LOVERS MET IN THE PINE WOOD"
    "SHE BURST INTO TEARS"
    "A TIME OF GLORY AND DELIGHT"
    "IN THE IVY BOWER"




PUSHKIN.


Alexander Sergueievitch Pushkin came of a noble family, so ancient that
it was traced back to that Alexander Nevsky who, in the thirteenth
century, gained a great victory over the Swedes upon the ice of the
River Neva, in token whereof he was surnamed "Nevsky" of the Neva.

His mother, Nadejda Ossipovna Hannibal, was the grand-daughter of
Abraham Petrovitch Hannibal, Peter the Great's famous <DW64>. His
father, Surguei Lvovitch Pushkin, was a frivolous man of pleasure.

The poet was born on the 26th of May, 1799, at Moscow. He was an
awkward and a silent child. He was educated by French tutors. A poor
scholar, he read with eagerness whatever he could get in his father's
library, chiefly the works of French authors. His brother states
that at eleven years old Pushkin knew French literature by heart.
This cannot, of course, be taken literally; but it shows under what
influence he grew up. In October, 1811, he entered the Lyceum of
Tsarskoe Selo. Among the students a society was soon formed, whose
members were united by friendship and by a taste for literature. They
brought out several periodicals, in which tales and poems formed the
chief features. Of this society (the late Prince Gortchakoff belonged
to it) Pushkin was the leading spirit. His first printed poem appeared
in the _Messenger of Europe_ in 1814. At a public competition in 1815,
at which the veteran poet Derjavin was present, Pushkin read his
"Memories of Tsarskoe Selo." This poem, which contains many beautiful
passages, so delighted Derjavin, that he wished to embrace the young
author; but Pushkin fled in confusion from the hall.

In June, 1817, Pushkin's free and careless student life ended. After
finishing his course at the Lyceum he went to St. Petersburg, and,
though he entered thoroughly into the dissipated pleasures of its
turbulent youth, he still clung to the intellectual society of such men
as Jukovsky and Karamsin, men occupied in literature, whose friendship
he valued very highly.

At that time society was much disturbed. Political clubs were
everywhere being formed. In every drawing-room new views were freely
and openly advanced; and in these discussions the satire and brilliant
verse of Pushkin attracted general attention. These at last brought
him into great danger. But Karamsin came to his rescue, and managed
to get him an appointment at Ekaterinoslavl, in the office of the
Chief Inspector of the Southern Settlements. There he remained till
1824, travelling from place to place, first with the Raevskys to the
Caucasus, and thence again with them through the Crimea. This journey
gave him materials for his "Prisoner of the Caucasus," and "Fountain of
Bachtchisarai." Both poems reveal the influence of Byron.

Towards the end of 1820 he went to Bessarabia with his chief, who had
just been appointed viceroy of the province. Once, on account of some
quarrel, this person, Insoff by name, sent Pushkin to Ismail. There the
poet joined a band of gypsies and remained with them for some time in
the Steppes. In 1823 he went to Odessa, having been transferred to the
office of the new governor-general, Count Vorontsoff, who succeeded
Insoff.

Here he wrote part of "Evguenie Onegin," a sort of Russian "Don Juan,"
full of sublime passages and varied by satire and bitter scorn. This
work has lately been formed the subject of a very successful opera
by Tchaikovski, who took from Pushkin's poems a story now known and
admired by every educated Russian.

The poet, however, did not get on with his new chief. A scathing
epigram upon Vorontsoff led the count to ask for Pushkin's removal from
Odessa, "where," he said, "excessive flattery had turned the young
maids head."

Pushkin had to resign; and early in August, 1824, he was sent into
retirement to live under the supervision of the local authorities at
Michailovskoe, a village belonging to his father in the province of
Pskoff. Here the elder Pushkin kept a petty watch over his son, whom he
regarded as a perverted nature and, indeed, a kind of monster.

In October, however, the father left Michailovskoe, and the poet
remained alone with Arina Rodionovna, an old woman who had nursed
him in childhood, and whose tales had first inspired him with a love
of Russian popular poetry. At Michailovskoe, Pushkin continued his
"Evguenie Onegin," finished "The Gypsies," and wrote the drama of
"Boris Godunoff." Here he lived more than two years--years of seclusion
following a long period of town life and dissipation.

These two years spent in the simple, pleasant company of country
neighbours proved a turning point in his career. Now for the first time
he had leisure to look about him, to meditate, and to rest.

He had come into the country with a passionate love for everything
that showed the feeling or fancy of the Russian peasant. His taste
for popular poetry was insatiable. He listened to his old nurse's
stories, collected and noted down songs, studied the habits and customs
of Russian villages, and began a serious study of Russian history.
All this helped greatly to develop the popular side of his genius. He
afterwards relinquished his earlier models of the romantic school, and
sought a simpler, truer inspiration in the pages of Shakespeare.

Writing to a friend, Bashkin says that he has brought up from the
country to Moscow the two last cantos of "Evguenie Onegin," ready for
the press, a poem called "The Little House at Kolomna," and several
dramatic scenes, including "The Miser Knight," "Mozart and Salieri,"
"The Beast during the Plague" and "The Commander's Statue."

"Besides that," he goes on to say, "I have written about thirty short
poems, Nor is that, all, I have also (a great secret) written some
prose--five short tales."

Fortunately for him, Pushkin was living in the country, when, in
December, 1825, the insurrection and military revolt against the
Emperor Nicholas, who had just ascended the throne, broke out at St.
Petersburg.

Pushkin was affiliated to the secret society, with Pestle and Ryleieff
at its head, which had organised the rebellion; and, on receiving
a summons from his confederates, he started for the capital. So,
at least, says Alexander Herzen in his curious "Development of
Revolutionary Ideas in Russia." On leaving his country house, Pushkin
met three ill omens. First a hare crossed his path, next he saw a
priest, and, finally, he met a funeral. He went on, however, towards
Moscow, and there learned that the insurrection had been crushed. The
five principal leaders were executed, and whole families were exiled to
Siberia.

In September, 1826, the Emperor Nicholas had an interview with Pushkin
at Moscow. Pushkin replied simply and frankly to all the Tsar's
questions, and the latter at last promised in future to be himself sole
censor of the poet's works.

Pushkin remained at Moscow till about the end of the winter of 1827,
when he was allowed to go to St. Petersburg. There he afterwards
chiefly resided, returning sometimes to the country to work, usually in
autumn, when his power of production, he said, was strongest.

In the summer of 1829 Pushkin visited the Army of the Caucasus then
operating against the Turks. He describes his experiences in his
"Journey to Erzeroum."

On the 18th of February, 1831, he married Natalia Nikolaevna
Gontcharova, and soon afterwards received a Foreign Office appointment
with a salary of 5,000 roubles.

In August, 1833, meaning to write a novel on the Pugatcheff
Insurrection, Pushkin paid a short visit to Kazan and Orenburg to
acquaint himself with the locality and collect materials. But his tale,
"The Captain's Daughter," appeared considerably later.

Pushkin and his wife were invited to the court balls, and the Emperor
was very gracious and attentive to the poet.

This roused the jealousy of the court nobles, though in descent
Pushkin was not inferior to many of them. The studied hauteur of these
personages caused the poet much irritation, and led him to waste much
energy on petty struggles for social precedence. He was, moreover,
constantly in lack of means to meet the expenses attending his
position. Partly on this account he undertook, in 1836, the editorship
of the _Contemporary Review_, and continued it until his death. In
the four numbers issued under his care, Pushkin published original
articles, besides the translations then so much in vogue.

All the publications of that time were made to serve the personal aims
of their editor. It was useless to seek in them impartiality. Pushkin's
criticism, however, were independent, and for this reason they made
a deep impression. On starting his Review he had taken great care
to entrust the criticism to a small circle of the most accomplished
writers.

Pushkin's correspondence throws full light on his character, and
reveals it as frank, sincere, and independent. His letters show that he
had original ideas on literature, on contemporary politics, on social
and domestic relations, and, in short, on every subject. These views
were always clear and independent of party.

During his later years the poet felt a longing for the country. As
early as 1835 he petitioned for some years' leave in order that he
might retire from the capital. In his last poem, "To my Wife," he says
how weary he is of noisy town existence and how he longs for rest.

At the end of 1836 scandals were circulated at St. Petersburg about
his wife. Dantes von Heckeeren, an officer in the Horse Guards, began
openly to pay her attention. Pushkin and many of his friends received
anonymous letters maliciously hinting at Dantes success. Dantes's
father, a dissipated old man, threw oil upon the flames. Meeting Madame
Pushkin in society, he did his best to make her quarrel with, and leave
her husband.

All this being repeated to Pushkin, greatly incensed him. He challenged
young Heckeeren, but the latter made an offer to Madame Pushkin's
sister, and married her. This did little to mend matters. Pushkin
withdrew the challenge, but nursed his hatred for Dantes, and would not
receive him in his house.

Meanwhile the scandal grew, and the two Heckeerens continued their
persecution of Madame Pushkin. In