11.  Now when he went from Nelly Gray,
      His heart so heavy got,
    And life was such a burden grown,
      It made him take a knot!

12.  So round his melancholy neck,
      A rope he did entwine,
    And for the second time in life. 
      Enlisted in the Line!

13.  One end he tied around a beam,
      And then removed his pegs,
    And, as his legs were off, of course
      He soon was off his legs.

14.  And there he hung till he was dead
      As any nail in town: 
    For, though distress had cut him up,
      It could not cut him down!

Definitions.—­4.  De-voirs’ (French, pro, de-vwor’), respects:  compliments. 5.  Scoff, an object of ridicule. 6, U’ni-form (adj.), consistent, (noun) military dress. 7.  Blithe, merry, gay.

Notes.—­2.  Forty-second Foot.  Infantry in the army is spoken of as “the foot,” and the “Forty-second Foot” means the Forty-second Regiment of Infantry.

3.  Members.  Persons elected to Parliament in Great Britain are called “Members,” and are said to represent those who elect them.

12.  The Line is another name for the regular infantry.

XLIII.  THE GENEROUS RUSSIAN PEASANT.

1.  Let Vergil sing the praises of Augustus, genius celebrate merit, and flattery extol the talents of the great.  “The short and simple annals of the poor” engross my pen; and while I record the history of Flor Silin’s virtues, though I speak of a poor peasant, I shall describe a noble man.  I ask no eloquence to assist me in the task; modest worth rejects the aid of ornament to set it off.

2.  It is impossible, even at this distant period, to reflect without horror on the miseries of that year known in Lower Volga by the name of the “Famine Year.”  I remember the summer, whose scorching heats had dried up all the fields, and the drought had no relief but from the tears of the ruined farmer.

3.  I remember the cold, comfortless autumn, and the despairing rustics, crowding round their empty barns, with folded arms and sorrowful countenances, pondering on their misery, instead of rejoicing, as usual, at the golden harvest.  I remember the winter which succeeded, and I reflect with agony on the miseries it brought with it.  Whole families left their homes to become beggars on the highway.

4.  At night the canopy of heaven served them as their only shelter from the piercing winds and bitter frost.  To describe these scenes would be to harm the feelings of my readers; therefore, to my tale.  In those days I lived on an estate not far from Simbirsk; and, though but a child, I have not forgotten the impression made on my mind by the general calamity.

5.  In a village adjoining lived Flor Silin, a poor, laboring peasant,—­a man remarkable for his assiduity and the skill and judgment with which he cultivated his lands.  He was blessed with abundant crops; and his means being larger than his wants, his granaries, even at this time, were full of corn.  The dry year coming on had beggared all the village except himself.  Here was an opportunity to grow rich.  Mark how Flor Silin acted.  Having called the poorest of his neighbors about him, he addressed them in the following manner: