Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - X. The Skoptsi in Exile
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some windmills were seen between groves of birch-trees,
and soon rows of well-built wooden izbas or farm-houses
came in sight, and crossing a bridge over a beautiful brook
we came into one of the main streets of the village.
Neatly-clad men and women in holiday dress—it was a
Sunday—stood in groups by the roadside, saluting
reverentially the Governor and the strangers. Our carriage turned
through an open gate into a yard in front of the house
of the starosta or village elder, a tall and strongly-built
man, who, surrounded by a number of his co-religionists,
received us with uncovered head and conducted us to a
large verandah. The floor was covered with carpets, and
on a large table stood a boiling samovar, surrounded by
all sorts of eatables, from delicious butter, eggs, and
sardines to different kinds of marmalades and biscuits. Before
sitting down to luncheon, we looked at the rooms. On
all the floors were carpets, on the walls hung portraits of
the imperial family and of different distinguished persons,
but no pictures of saints were to be seen.
While at table, the Governor told me that there was
a Swedish-speaking Finn among the exiled Skoptsi, and
asked me if I would like to meet him. To this of course
I gladly assented, and in a few minutes a venerable-looking
old man came in and made a deep bow, whereupon he
was introduced by the Governor. His name, I learnt, was
Aug. Lindström. Born in Åbo in Finland, 72 years before,
he had spent no less than forty years in exile in Yakutsk,
yet he spoke Swedish still with perfect fluency. He had
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