The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-05-28

divided In strips among the souls OF the VII
Iage. each soul possessing one which he mai
generally cultivate as he pleases. The village
owns three or four Of these large nelds. each
in like manner subdivided; but one Ia proba.
bly, devoted to the growing OF oats. another tc
a crop Of rye. and q third to hay. while the
fourth Ia probably lying fallow. The peas
ants Will generally prefer to grow one cror
over an entire field. each cutting his own nor.
ton when he sees 1T, or. when he Ia not drunk,
II he can ind n day under that category. II he
prefers II, however. he may grow n patch OF oats
In the middle OF n hay field. or a patch Of pota-
toes amid the rye strips OF his neighbors.
In order that we may sec what ideas OF home
comforts tho inouIiks. or peasants. have. the
author asks us to explore one Of the village
houses which. rs it happens. belongs TO a
certain Ivan 1vanovitch. Ivan is a little
richer than his noighbors. and the result Ia
that he lie oftcner drunk. On this occasion he
appears rubbing his eyes with the back OF his
hand and yawning enormously. On his
shaggy head. which is covered with long.
yellow hair. he wears a soft English hat. tho
gift OF n British employer. Over HIS broad
shoulder Is a Norfolk jacket. derived from tho
same source. 80 far he Is an Englishman, but
from the coat downward he is n moujik. His
feet are encased in a pair OF long boots. into
which are tucked tho ends OF n pair OF buggy
cotton trousers. From beneath tho Norfolk
jncket rrotrude the tails OF q red shirt, which
tails are not tucked into tho trousers. hut arc
worn outside. There is. It seems. a saying In
Russia TINT 30 long as a Russian wears his
ehirt outside he romans honest: but when no
begins to tuck it In. like n civilized Christian.
he is no longer to be trusted.
Desired by Ivan lvanovitch to enter his do
main. you endeavor to do 80. but only reach
the porch after stumbling over three decayed
steps into a pit and then clambering out Of 1t
upon the platform which the steps orig innlly
led to. In the porch. hanging from a hook at
the top. 10 q kind OF earthen vessel. something
like n teapot, with two handles and a short
spout. This Is the family ~lavatory. When u
member OF the family desires to w~ash-which
happens. VIC are told. on very rare occasions
he stands underneath the water vessel and
tits n very small quantity OF the liquid into
ono hand. He then divides the water impair
TALLY between his two hands and applies both
to his face. Part Of his countenance thus re-
ceives a little attention from ono or other OF
the damp hands. after which his additions are
over for several days. There Is another method
OF washing. but the authors pen revolts from
a description OF II. 1t Is enough to mention
that the mouth Is applied to the spout OF the
teapot. and all further washing is done with
tho water thus procured. In WORD. the moujik
considers his weekly or fortnightly steam
bath which he takes In the village bath house
quito as much In tho way Of personal cleans
ing rs is good for him. VANS house is a one
room dwelling: that is. there ia but one room
for general use. There 10. indeed. a sort OF
black hole opposite the door. quite dark and
very small. where Ivan keeps his poultry. snow
shoes. and other articles out Of place in a
drawing room. Tho living room Is . good size.
perhaps Is feet by 13. 1t has two small win
dows, with four panes in each. or these eight
panes. six are intact or nearly SO. The sew
enth is half gone. the eighth entirely 80. the
latter being stopped up with q portion OF Mrs.
Ivan's old print skirt. Round two sides OF the
room runs a bonch about a foot in width.
In front Of this at the corner is tho table.
In the opposite corner OF the room is the stove.
a huEe brick structure. reaching almo st to tho
ceiling. five feet in breadth and four feet deep.
and having a lower portion jutting out at the
side to q length Of six feet or 80. This lower
outjutting portion is used by the family to
sleep upon. Tho working OF the stove
is thus described: The door Is n foot or
so from the ground. and opens into a huge
empty cavern formed by tho whole OF the in.
side OF the structure. Into this logs Of wood
are thrust In quantities.. and iGnited. This is
only the beginning Of the operation. and the
heat OF the wood while burning is a mere
trile. When the logs are reduced to
red embers the door is shut up tight,
and tho himne securely closed. By this
means all the heat is kept in the stove. which
soon becomes a veritable scorcher. and re-
tains It's heat nearly twenty-four hours. Woe
to the occupants OF the house. however. II the
chimney be closed before the wood has been
properly consumed. Speedy sufTocation Is
their certain fate: death. II they happen to be
asleep: terrible nausea and sickness II awake
and aGle to whlsk Off the iron covering which
clos es the chimney. in time to save their lives.
Three small children climb down from the
top OF the stove. as you enter Vans room. and
stand staring up at you. On the table there is O
samovar or Russian urn Kissing comfortably.
and Mrs Ivan smiles and bows over It. Sho
has been cutting hunks from n large round
loaf OF black bread. for this is dinner time.
There Ia also a sir oked herring lying on tho
t.. ole. half wrapped in o horrible scrap OF news
paper. Probably Ivan will get the whole OF
this dainty morsel. for he Is n soul" and must
be fed ND. Black bread will do we'll enough
for tho women. who have no souls to support.
You observe that there are small Jumps OF
sugar lying promiscuously about the table.
These arc not placed in the tea. but arc nib
bled at before drinking. In order to sweeten
each mouthful as 1t Is taken. On the whole
VANS room ia not too clean. and as for the
scent thereof. 1t Is enough to say that but for
the half broken pane OF glass 1t would be worse.
There is no second story. but there is a cher
dak or garrett under the roof. This is reached
by q ladder from outside. and 10 used BY Ivan
for drying his clothes on the rarc occasion OF
a wash: for hiding away a store Of grain II he
has managed to accumulate one. and for put
ting away sundry household rubbish. Behind
the house is a yard. and at the end OF tho yard
a shed. Half Of this shed is used as a recep-
tacle for VANS cart. plough. and sledge: the
other half is the dwelling place OF tho cows
and horses when these are at home. but tho
cows are out most OF the day and night In the
summon time on the pasture lands. while the
horses Mt work during the day herd with the
cows at night.
SO much for VANS establishment. which Is
said to be q fac slmile Of every other moujik
homo in the village. with tho exception OF that
OF the Ro0pYe's. or trader. whose house Is