Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1893-06-02

HOE 4 LGAAOANs nuA II SEGAlltAA 10 LAlaN
from morning till night the bells
ceased not to ring in Moscow. A clock
was before me; when the hands were
approaching midnight my patience
was turned to a species of madness !
was suffocating; malignant fever
struck me. and cold sweat came out on
my face. At half-past eleven l put on
n light overcoat and started for the
theater All the streets We're empty.
Though my rooms were a couple of
versts from the theater, fifteen minutes
had not passed before | had run over
the whole Prechistenllai, the Mohovaya,
and had come out on the square of the
game market. Two hundred yards dis
tant rose the colossal roof of the Pc
trovslli Theater. 1t was a moonless
night. but the stars seemed more nu-
merous and brighter than usual; many
of them fell directly on the roof of the
theater, were scattered in sparks, and
then vanished l approac he'd the prin
cipal entrance One door was partly
open, and near it stood a decrepit old
housekeeper with lantern: he beck
oned to me and went ahead through the
dark corridors.
~ know not whether it was because
had reached the appointed place, or
for some other reason, but | grew
notably calmer. and remember, too,
that when l had looked carefully at my
guide saw that he moved without put
ting one foot before the other and that
his eyes were as dim and immovable as
the glass eyes in wax figures. Having
.passed through long gallery, we en-
tered at last the rotunda 1t was
lighted up, all the chandeliers were
filed with burning tapers, but still it
was dark; the flames from them seemed
as if painted, and gave out no light
whatever. But four candles, on high
funeral candlesticks, cast an uncertain
glimmer on the first seats and the plat
form in front of them. This wooden
platform was covered with music
stands, instrument-cases, notes; in one
word, everything was prepared for a
concert, but the musicians had not yet
come. In the front row of seats sat
thirty or forty gentlemen, some of
whom were in embroidered French
coats, and had their hair powdered;
others were in simple evening dress l
sat near one of the latter.
ALLOW me to ask" said | to my
neighbor, ARE these all friends and
connoisseurs of music. whom Nine
Baldusi has invited?"
Precisely So"
Il make bold to ask who that young
gentleman with the expressive face is;
he wears German dress"
THAT is Mozart
'MozartI repeated /; What Mo-
zart?"
What Mozart? That's strange
question. Why, of course, Mozart, the
author of Don Giovanni the Magic
Flute"
What do you tell me! Why, he died
four years ago"
II beg your pardon He died in Sep
tember, 1791 that is five years ago.
Near him are Cimarosa and Handel, and
behind them Rameau and Gluck."
'Rameau and Gluck?"
ION our left stands the director of
the orchestra, Araya, whose opera
'Bellerophon' was given in st. Peters
burg"
''In 1880 during the reign of Elizabeth
Petrovna?"
Just so; he is talking with Lulli
now"
THE chief of the orchestra of Louis
XIv.?"
THE very same. But do you notice
in the dark corner-oh, you will see him
from here: Jean Jacques Rousseau is
sitting there. He is invited, not as an
artist, but as judge and lover of music.
Of course, his Village Wizard is
.etry opera; but you-tn..at -eonfoss
yourself"
''But what does this mean?" inter
rupted |, looking fixedly at my neigh
Dor was about to ask him how he
dared to jest me in such insolent
fashion, when saw that he was the old
man Volgin, who had been my friend
for years, passionate lover of music,
and great humorist.
''Ba, ba, bap' cried l, 80 it is you
who are pleased to amuse yourself over
me- Is it possible? Is this you, Stepan
Alexaievich?"
Eyes. it is" answered he, very coolly.
"And YOU have come here also to listen
to the rehearsal of to-morrow's con-
cert?'
MY neighbor nodded
But permit me- said /, while my
hair was rising on end, what does this
mean? 1t seems to me that you died
six years ago
Pardon me-" replied my neighbor,
''it is not six, but just seven"
Il recollect now that / was at your
funeral" said l.
Quite possible. But when were
81 70 Atao,s
"Who? /? Have mercy on us! | am
alive"
you alive? All, that is strange" said
the dead man, struggling his shoulders
Il wished to spring up, wished to es-
cape. My legs would not stir; but ],
as if nailed down with spikes, remained
motionless in my place. All at once
loud clapping of hands was heard
through the hall. and Lauretta in
mask and dark Venetian dress appeared
on the stage.
After her stretched long file of mu-
sicians - and such musiciansl o,
my Lord Godl what figures! Necls
of storks with faces of dogs
bodies of oxen with heads of swallows
cocks with goats feet, goats with mems
hands-in other words, no wild imagi-
ma ton, no mad fancy, could create
such repulsive and deformed wonders;
it could not even represent them to it.
self after description. Especially dis
gusting seemed to me those who had
human faces-if faces might thus be
called in which all the features were so
distorted that except the chief human
traits all the rest had no likeness to any
thing When all this band rushed out
after Lauretta to the platform, the
leader OF the orchestra, with the owls
face and powered head, sat down in the
chair made ready for him; then began
the tuning of the instruments. Many
of the musicians were dissatisfied; most
of all the contra bass with the bears
face.
"'What sort of a bark box is this?
roared he, turning in every direction.
Have mercy on me! Is is possible,
Signora Baldusi, that am to play on
an instrument like this?'
'Lauretta, in silence, pointed to my
neighbor The contra bass sprang
from his seat, seized poor Volgin by the
neck, dragged him to the stage, and
placing him head downward, caught
both his legs with one hand, and with
the other began to draw the bow across
his legs, the fullest and deepest bass
sounds thundered beneath the rotunda-
At last all the instruments were tuned.
The leader of the orchestra gave sig