New-York tribune., 1885-02-08
LUKERJA.
Bjrthpiace OF those who suffer-,
Land pAere TIE RusssQns dUeH.-lF. TJu5tsch
IVAN TuRGENIEFF.

,et hunter are o sorry spectacle" As have never
Ssd any passion tor angling can't Judge what
s%srman has TO bear in fine, clear weather or how
Sar ON a rainy day. delight IN an abundant eaten
,ompensates him for the discomfort Of not having
lry thread ON his body. But TO the hunter RAIN is
andonhtedly a real distress And to this misery
q Jeruolay and were exposed or one OF our grouse
shooting excursions . ,... w. had
Sried all means to protect ourselves, drawn our
rubber cloaks almost our heads ana stoou unuo
the trees to be better sheltered Hoiu 'he 'aiiis
drops. ,o.;dos rreventino
our shooting-et the water rlckie througi t ~" 10
.5 naoss 40 - not even drop of the rain Sond drip
fbromah but after the water had collecten on @ .ne
foliage it suddenly 9siee seamna Ma from the caves OF
Honse tifI n riynlet of cold water glnied under my
neck handkerchief aud trickied down my back;
&c No Peter Petrovitsch," he exclaimed at last
this /, unbcarable. It's impossible to hunt to-day
The guns miss nre sNe anu 'nS what uts weatherr
What shall we do j. asked. 4. ,,o,,
I'll make proposal well dr,se 20 htfIe
farm e,ghf yersts from here. owned by your mother
We'll spend the night there: and tomorrow
No I know tue hunting grounds about Alex
eieysa. Many Of them afford better srouSe-shootihg
than this neghborhood: h bo
i would not ask my faithful companion why ne
had not taken me straight to that region and on
Che same day we reached the farm he mentioned ol
whose existence confess hnt nau unnccnpiod and
.SSausfore clean wing belonged to the farmhouse
and in this spent q toerably comior:aole nignt: ign ~
Iawoke very early the next morning. Inc sun
had inst risen not single clond appeared IN tne
sIv. ererythIng was glttering in q double radl,
the light Of the ySnng G dawR s SeS So1e 1ee
While my hunting-wagon was being made
ready 1 wandered into tLer,Ssa little GrdhaTd ,bs
wing on ali sides with a fragrant tangls
Of branches. oh, how delightful il, was ont
of doors under the open sky IN whose Diue I vault
~.
dlous notes like shower OF SILVER peaus' ouLo! ~
they had dew drops on their wings ana OH y dnr
lifted INV cap fro a nv head and drew long breath
On the slope of shallow rayin" close beside tlle
led a narrow footpath winding through dens denss
clnmps OF steppegrass and nettles above when when
rise the sharp blades .0dws OF aaTIspeen where
s~,ared this foO;path and reached tine hives.
Close by them was small shed roughly built OF
boards where the bee-hives were sheltsred during @
fha winter. / glanced through the haf-open door;
Ali was dark, dry. silent. IL sInelt OF balm ana
mint. In one corner was 1restie,;, anu nit ou III
wrapped in q quilt, lay some small OBJECT.
Young master. youag master. Peter Petro,
vftschw slowly murmur,d faint. hoarSe voice. IKE
the rnstling oil the sedges in the marsh stopped.
aPeter Peirovitsch. Please come nearer 'he
voice repeated. -. s.ooa .bo f-oro-
work already mentioned. ] advanced and stood
rooted to the ground in my analenent. beiore
ma lay living human beng-but what creature
at,aiiy a hronze hue-almost like the pictures in
the Old 1estament-the nose as thin as ar hn,ie ,ts
the teeth and the eyes glttered ana a lew STRANDS
of golden hair fell On the forehead from beneath
fhe kercbef worn uDon the head Below the chin
yxere two tiny hands-also of a bronze color-whose
little fngers-tbey looked like bits OF wood-slowly
stroked the folds of the eoverlet m gaIed more
really beautiful. But it was horribly strange and
seemed ali the more terrible because noticed
smile vainly trying to hrignten cheeks which
aeamed almost rigid metal
sYou don't recognize mef' the voice whispered
again It appeared to die on the almost motlonless
Inns q Vet. how should youl am Lukerja-you
remember always led the singing AZ your mothers
=" aIassriaw 1 exclaimed. ais it you'll How is
Yes. sir. it ISL lam Lukerja.'
I did not know what ouRht to say and gaZed
.neechIessy at the dark IN etionless visage. whose
dim yet sparkling eyes were liked upon me. was IL
possible This amsy Girl 1in in the whole heShBor
hood. the tall. plump. blooming creature with the
delicate complexion; the ever Laughing. dancins;
singing Lukerja! Lakerja. clever Lnkerai -. TO
whom all the young fellows paid court ana i0r
whom myself, when a Lad of sixteen, had secretly
Good Heavens. LukerJa,' said at last, what
has happened to you -, n. -
"a great misfortune has befallen me- but you
dout shrink from me. srf You don't abhor me IN
INV miseryf Sit down on the tub yonderIdraw II
a little nearer, you can't understand me thefe-my
VOICE has grown 80 weak! But how glad am 10
zee Won again. How did you come to Alexeevkar
Lnkeria spoke very slowly and family but VIII
ont hesitating. ,,u..., ,,onob. ma here But
"Jernoiay my hunter. Drought mo here' Du'
Tell you the story of my misfortunei Very
seyen wears / was just betrothed to Vassiii
Poljakof-you remember the handsome. curly IVY
hsaed ow sbs ne sas them yoa had sent to
the high school at Moscow. Vassili and were very
fond OF each other hs was never out & OF ny MIND
IL was spring One night-not far from dawn-l
could not sleep the nightingale was singn 80
exquistely. so marvellously in the garden outside
stsrs Se1s To IL sten It was rng 50 loudly 50
exauisteyi Suddenly it seemed as Il some one was
calling softy-the voice sounded IKE fassrs sianced
aside walked, still half asleep, down the stairs,
made a misstep, and fell-slap-dcwp on the
soon 1o rose and went bask to my room. Only felt
a. If something was torn lnsde-in my body. Let
me take breath-sir-jusr moment"
Iukeria was silent / gazed at her in amazement.
Iwondered of all that she should tell her story
almost eheerfully. without sighs or lamentations.
without complaining or asking my pity. ..,,od
81 began to grow thin and pine away my skin
turned perfectly dark. it became difficult for me to
walk because my feet we're no Longer entirely under
INV control. | could neither stand nor sit, but was
obliged to lie down all the time. felt no desire To
eat or drink. and constantly grew, worse Your
kind mother sent for doctors and had me carried 10
q hosptal But my suffer ngs did not lessen at all
The phys clans could not even tell what disease
had Aud what experiments they tried upon me .
They burned my back with red hot lion. they laid
me on broken ice; It was all IN VAN. flnsily
became perfectly sti1 hen the gehtemen gtNe
the opinion that could never be cnred. But II
wouldn't do to keep cripple IN the manor-house
80 they sent me here for l have someTelatives IN
this neighb orhood-and now lie as You see me-
AGAIN Lukerja paused. aud again she tried to
smile.
But such situation is horriblew exclaimed
Then as did not know what more ! ought to say
Toeked What has become of Vassil Poljako1T
This was certainly very stnpid question.
aOf PoljakoHf He grievee deeply for long time
Then he married some one else, girl from
Glinnoje. DO you know where Glinnoje isl Not
far from here Her name is Agrafena, Vassi III
loved me very much bat yOung man can't remain