The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-30


and Balaldreff we're strolling about one of the |
less freduented quarters of st. Petersburg, |
when a brilliant light suddenly shone out in |
the sky above them The Jester, stopping |
passing workman, cried out to him, 'Holloa,
brother, is that the moon up yonder PIN
a stranger here, your honor, replied the man;
'ebetter ask some of the townsfolk.
But perhaps the most popular of all the
current anecdotes of Balakiref is that of the
transformed sword, a story which we have
heard related with infinite gusto by more than
one of the testers countrymen, as fine IN
stance of that dextrous ovation and ready
wtted cunning in which they so much de-
light Curiously enough, the whole scene (as
the readers of Captain Marryat will doubtless
remarll) is almost identical with one which
occurs in ''The Pacha of Many Tales; and
Balakireff's ingenious stratagem is precisely
the same as that by which Yussuf the water
carrier extricates himself from the dilemma
in which he is placed by the Caliph Haroun
Al-Raschid. The story is as follows
Balakiren, once upon time took sudden fancy
to stand sentinel at the gate of the palace, ana en-
treated the permission of his master, who at lrst
only laughed at him, but eventually consented, on
condition that the new sentinel should never be
found on duty without his sword, which contn-
genCy should be held to nulliiy the agreement Ou-
Fortunately for the credit OF our hero, the very
first evening Of his new dignity he allowed himself
to be overcome with liquor, and was rOODeu OF MS
treasured weapon by passing grenadier, VINO cur.
red II to the Emperor The latter, feeling cOnhdeh
that he had trapped his willy associate at last, turned
out the guard the first thing next morning when
| Balakiren, who had meanwhile replaced ms losI
weapon by sword OF painted wood, put DOld lace
! on the matter, and appeared along with the rest
! Thereupon the car, pretending to detect some
| naccuiacy in the equipment of one Of the men,
! began to abuse him violently, and, turning 10
| Balkiretl cried out, "Draw your sword, my lrlend
| and cut that rascal down.! The soldiers knowing
how matters Stood were in eCstaCies but the Jester
! was equal to the occasion; he upifted his hands
| towards the sky, and exclaimed with the utmost
! solemnity, "Merciful Lord pray thee, turn my
| sword into ath!' and at the same moment drawing
| his sword, a lath 1t actually proved to be. The
! guardsmen, Notwithstanding the EmperOrs pre-
sence, could not restrain their laughter; and Peter,
| delighted with the acuteness of his favorite, gave
| him handsome reward.
1t is well known that testers as a class are
! somewhat apt to presume upon the privileges
| of their station, and to risk the turning of
their jest into earnest; and the last of our
friend Balakiretfs exploits which is COM
memorated in the present volume shows
clearly enough that he was no exception to
| the rule. 1t must be admitted, however, in
justice to these versatile gentlemen, that they
were, as a rule, not whit less adroit in
! getting out of difficulties than in getting
| into them. The example of Sultan Nah
mouds butfoon, who, on being permitted
| by his Justly offended lord, as last
favor, to select his owr m... of death, elected
to Idle of old age"-aua chat of the Irish wit,
who, when seized by the rebels, and ordered
|
| begged to be suspended on a gooseberry bush
are doubtless familiar to every reader; but
the device resorted to by Tyll Eulenspiegel in
the German legend, when under the sentence
of banishment, approaches nearest to the Rus
sian story, and may possibly have suggested
the latter, which is not clearly authenticated
M. Basistoff's version runs thus:-
on one occasion BaakireT happened to give
selious ofense to the Emperor, who, giving way to
his rage angrily ordered him to quit his presence
and never dare to appear Russian soil again.
| The culprit, with an appearance of great humility,
| replied that his Majesty should be obeyed, and LETT
! the palace forthwith. few days later, however,
the Car, while sitting at one of the front windows
Of the palace, was asounded by the sight of his
lice tCster seated in cart, and going quietly past
uncOncen Furious at this barefaced transgTessiol
of his commands, Peter rushed into the
street, and, approaching tue culnris with a
| mehaGng an, show he dared
come upon Russian soil again ?'-"Gently, gently,
Car OF Russia y answered Balakiren with an imp
ish chuckle; 'this cart-load of earth on which I'm
sitting is none Of yours it's all Swedish every bit Of
1t " Qt must be remembered that this took place at
o period when Finland was still a dependencv of the
| Swedish CROWN SO saying the wag coolly pursued
| his journey; but Peter, who had doubtless had
leisure by this time to regret the absence of di
yerting companion, laughed loudly at the evasion,
| and instantly despatched an officer after him with
the promise of full pardon for all his past oenses
This literal Interpretation of the imperial
| command reminds us of an old American
story, 700 SOOu not TO De quoted young
ster, who had been detected by his father in
the act of stealing some fruit stored for winter
consumption, was angrily bidden to Ego into
the next room, and prepare himself for a
severe fogging." Having finished the work
which he had in hand, the inexorable parent
armed himself with a stout horsewhip and
went in quest of the culprit, whom he found
ornamented with a hump at which Quasimodo
himself would have shuddered. ''What on
airth have you got on your back ?" asked the
wondering sire. "a leather apron, replied
John, three double You told me to prepare
myself for severe fogging, and guess I've
done the best l could :" The fathers gravity
was not proof against this unexpected trans
lation of his words; the muscles of his face
and hand relaxed simultaneously, the whip
was let fall, and John escaped for that time
with an 'admonition.'
Altogether, NJ. Basstoff's work is well
worth reading, not merely as exhibiting a
Characteristic specimen of native humor. but
also as atiording numerous interesting
glimpses of the temper and habits of a ruler
whose life was an era, not merely in the his
tory of his own country, but in that of the
world.