At his interview with his sister, he informed her
in the first words he spoke that he meant to introduce
radical reforms on his property, and that for the
future all his affairs would be conducted on a new
system. Glafira made no reply, but she clenched
her teeth and thought, “What is to become of
me then?” However, when she had gone with her
brother and her nephew to the estate, her mind was
soon set at ease. It is true that a few changes
were made in the house, and the hangers-on and parasites
were put to immediate flight. Among their number
suffered two old women, the one blind, the other paralyzed,
and also a worn-out major of the Ochakof[A] days,
who, on account of his great voracity, was fed upon
nothing but black bread and lentiles. An order
was given also not to receive any of the former visitors;
they were replaced by a distant neighbor, a certain
blonde and scrofulous baron, an exceedingly well brought-up
and remarkably dull man. New furniture was sent
from Moscow; spittoons, bells, and washhand basins
were introduced; the breakfast was served in a novel
fashion; foreign wines replaced the old national spirits
and liquors; new liveries were given to the servants,
and to the family coat of arms was added the motto,
“In recto virtus.”
[Footnote A: Ochakof is a town which was taken
from the Turks by the Russians in 1788.]
In reality, however, the power of Glafira did not
diminish; all receipts and expenditures were settled,
as before, by her. A Valet, who had been brought
from abroad, a native of Alsace, tried to compete
with her, and lost his place, in spite of the protection
which his master generally afforded him. In all
that related to house-keeping, and also to the administration
of the estate (for with these things too Glafira interfered)—in
spite of the intention often expressed by Ivan Petrovich
“to breathe new life into the chaos,”—all
remained on the old footing. Only the obrok[A]
remained on the old footing, and the barshina[B]
became heavier, and the peasants were forbidden to
go straight to Ivan Petrovich. The patriot already
despised his fellow-citizens heartily. Ivan Petrovich’s
system was applied in its full development only to
Fedia. The boy’s education really underwent
“a radical reform.” His father undertook
the sole direction of it himself.
[Footnote A: What the peasant paid his lord in
money.]
[Footnote B: What the peasant paid his lord in
labor.]
XI.
Until the return of Ivan Petrovich from abroad, Fedia
remained, as we have already said, in the hands of
Glafira Petrovna. He was not yet eight years
old when his mother died. It was not every day
that he had been allowed to see her, but he had become
passionately attached to her. His recollections
of her, especially of her pale and gentle face, her
mournful eyes, and her timid caresses, were indelibly
impressed upon his heart. It was but vaguely
