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Our Little Russian Cousin




THE

Little Cousin Series

(TRADE MARK)



    Each volume illustrated with six or more full page plates in
    tint. Cloth, 12mo, with decorative cover
    per volume, 60 cents



LIST OF TITLES


    BY MARY HAZELTON WADE, MARY F.
    NIXON-ROULET, BLANCHE MCMANUS,
    CLARA Y. WINLOW, FLORENCE E.
    MENDEL AND OTHERS



    Our Little African Cousin
    Our Little Alaskan Cousin
    Our Little Arabian Cousin
    Our Little Argentine Cousin
    Our Little Armenian Cousin
    Our Little Australian Cousin
    Our Little Austrian Cousin
    Our Little Belgian Cousin
    Our Little Bohemian Cousin
    Our Little Boer Cousin
    Our Little Brazilian Cousin
    Our Little Bulgarian Cousin
    Our Little Canadian Cousin
    Our Little Chinese Cousin
    Our Little Cuban Cousin
    Our Little Danish Cousin
    Our Little Dutch Cousin
    Our Little Egyptian Cousin
    Our Little English Cousin
    Our Little Eskimo Cousin
    Our Little French Cousin
    Our Little German Cousin
    Our Little Grecian Cousin
    Our Little Hawaiian Cousin
    Our Little Hindu Cousin
    Our Little Hungarian Cousin
    Our Little Indian Cousin
    Our Little Irish Cousin
    Our Little Italian Cousin
    Our Little Japanese Cousin
    Our Little Jewish Cousin
    Our Little Korean Cousin
    Our Little Malayan (Brown) Cousin
    Our Little Mexican Cousin
    Our Little Norwegian Cousin
    Our Little Panama Cousin
    Our Little Persian Cousin
    Our Little Philippine Cousin
    Our Little Polish Cousin
    Our Little Porto Rican Cousin
    Our Little Portuguese Cousin
    Our Little Russian Cousin
    Our Little Scotch Cousin
    Our Little Servian Cousin
    Our Little Siamese Cousin
    Our Little Spanish Cousin
    Our Little Swedish Cousin
    Our Little Swiss Cousin
    Our Little Turkish Cousin



    THE PAGE COMPANY
    53 Beacon Street,      Boston, Mass.


[Illustration: PETROVNA.]





    Our Little
    Russian Cousin

    By
    Mary Hazelton Wade


    _Illustrated by_
    L. J. Bridgman

    [Illustration]

    Boston
    The Page Company
    Publishers






    _Copyright, 1901_
    BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
    (INCORPORATED)

    _All rights reserved_


    Twelfth Impression, April, 1909
    Thirteenth Impression, August, 1910
    Fourteenth Impression, April, 1913
    Fifteenth Impression, July, 1915


    THE COLONIAL PRESS
    C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.





Preface


A LARGE country, called Russia, lies in the eastern part of Europe. It
stretches from the icy shores of the Arctic Ocean, on the north, to the
warm waters of the Black Sea, on the south.

Many of the children of this great country have fair skins and blue
eyes. They belong to the same race as their English and American
cousins, although they speak a different language.

Some of them live in palaces, and have everything that heart could
desire; but a vast number of them are very poor, and their parents are
obliged to work hard to keep the grim wolf, hunger, away from the door.

Russia, as a nation, is very young, as compared with many others. She
is still in her childhood. Perhaps it is because of this that her
people do not enjoy as much freedom as ourselves.

A few years ago the Emperor of Russia spoke some words to which the
people of the western world listened with surprise and delight. He
said, "I wish there were peace between all countries, and that we could
settle our differences with each other without fighting." These wise
words did a great deal of good. The emperor, without doubt, meant what
he said. He did wish heartily that wars should be at an end. He has not
felt able, however, to carry out his ideas of peace, for at this very
moment he is at war with the people of Japan.

Let us hope that this war will soon be over, and that the nation to
which our Russian Cousin belongs will become as truly free and wise as
she is now large and powerful.

MALDEN, MASS., _May 1904_.




List of Illustrations



    PAGE
    PETROVNA                   _Frontispiece_
    BABY BROTHER AND HIS NURSE            17
    A VERY GRAND BUILDING                 32
    IN THE PEASANT VILLAGE                44
    MARFA AND FROST                       59
    THE GREAT FAIR OF NIJNI-NOVGOROD      74





Our Little Russian Cousin


PETROVNA is a dainty little floweret of the cold lands far away. She
is your little Russian cousin. Her home is in the largest country of
this great round ball, the Earth. How fair are her cheeks, how blue her
eyes, and what long, beautiful, yellow hair she has! Her hands are so
white and soft and plump, I know you would like to squeeze them.

She is very gentle and ladylike. Her mamma has taught her that is the
right way to behave. Yet she is full of fun, and laughs at every joke
that her brother Ivan makes. They have great sport together, these two
children. Petrovna is ten, and Ivan eight years old.

Sometimes they play they are grown up, just as you do. Then Petrovna
puts on her mother's gown with a long train, and Ivan dresses himself
up like a soldier. Petrovna "makes believe" that she is a princess at
the court of the Emperor. She powders her hair, and puffs it on the top
of her head, and places feathers in it. Ivan cuts shining ornaments out
of a sheet of tin and fastens them on his coat. He pretends that these
were given him for bravery in battle.

These little children live in a fine city near the sea. Its name is St.
Petersburg. The streets look very much like those of Chicago and New
York. There are many grand palaces, however, and the churches are quite
different from ours.

Perhaps you would like to know why St. Petersburg was built. A long
time ago Peter the Great was the ruler of Russia. There was no large
city in the country near the sea at that time. Peter said, "If my
country is to be powerful, I must have a city that is near the coast
and that looks toward the rest of Europe."

Peter went to the shores of the river Neva, near the Baltic Sea. The
land was low and marshy. That did not matter to him. He sent out an
order for workmen. Great numbers of men came to the spot he had chosen,
to prepare it for streets and houses. Thousands of piles must first be
driven into the marshy soil. Millions of stones must be brought to fill
it up before streets could be laid. It was such unhealthful work that,
before the city was finished, hundreds of the poor workmen died of
fever. But the work was done, and Peter the Great went to live there.

He brought all his court with him. He made the place his capital. It is
now the most important city of Russia, and one of the largest in the
world. It is often called the "Czar's Window," because he is said to
look out over Europe from this place. (I forgot to tell you that the
Emperor of Russia is called the Czar.)

Let us come back to Petrovna and Ivan, who are just going out on the
river to skate. Their home is almost a palace, it is so big and grand.
Their father is a merchant. He buys tea from the East and sells it to
the people of his own country. He has grown so rich that he owns a
fine house in the city, in which the family live during the long, cold
winter. They go to another home on an island of the river Neva in the
summer-time.

Let us look into the big drawing-room, where papa and mamma entertain
their friends in the evening. How high the walls are! At one side of
the room is an immense porcelain stove. It looks somewhat like a tomb.
It is big enough for a play-house for Petrovna and Ivan. A big wood
fire is built in the stove on cold winter mornings. When it has burnt
down to glowing coals, the chimney is closed up, and port-holes from
the stove are opened. Then the heat rushes out into the room. How
close the air becomes! You do not wonder at it when you look around
and notice that there are three sets of windows at each casing. There
is only one pane in the whole room which can be opened to let in the
outside air. The Russians are afraid of having the cold enter their
houses. They have enough of it out-of-doors during at least six months
of the year.

What is that strange-looking vessel on the side table? It is of shining
copper. The maid polishes it very often, as it is used every evening
by papa and mamma. They call it a "samovar," and no Russian home is
complete without one. You probably can't guess the reason, so I will
have to tell you.

You must understand that the people of this far-away land are great
tea-drinkers. Tea in the morning, tea at noon, tea at night, and tea
between-whiles. They like it fresh, too. Tea always tastes best and is
least harmful when drunk as soon as it is made. So these good Russians
must have something near them on which to heat the water. In the middle
of the samovar is a cylinder in which hot coals are placed, and the
water is heated around this cylinder.

The boiling water is taken out whenever it is wanted and poured on the
tea in papa's tumbler or mamma's cup. No milk, if you please, to suit
their taste, and no sugar _in_ the tea. They prefer to take a lump of
the very hardest sugar in their fingers and nibble it as they swallow
the beverage they like so much.

A slice of lemon is often put in the tumbler with the tea. People in
our own country have begun to copy this custom, and drink what we call