- Project Runeberg -  Sónya Kovalévsky. Her recollections of childhood with a biography of Anna Carlotta Leffler /
211

(1895) [MARC] Author: Sofja Kovalevskaja, Anne Charlotte Leffler, Ellen Key
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A BIOGRAPHY

211

else with her, was under the influence of her personal
moods.

During the last autumn of her life, when she returned
from Italy,— where she spent a couple of weeks, and
fell in love with that country, as every one who goes
there does,— she spoke Italian fairly; but, on the other
hand, she spoke Swedish very badly, because she was
out of harmony with Sweden.

French was the foreign language she spoke best,
though she did not write it quite correctly. It was
said that in Russian her style showed a certain foreign
influence.

She often complained that she could not speak
Russian with her intimate friends in Sweden. She
used to say, "I can never quite express the delicate
nuances of thought. I have always to content myself
with the next best expression, or say what I want to
say in a roundabout way. I never find the exact
expressions. That is why, when I return to Russia, I feel
released from the prison in which my best thoughts
were in bondage. You cannot think what suffering it
is to have to speak always a foreign language to your
friends. You might as well wear a mask on your
face."

In February, 1884,1 went to London, and did not
meet Sonya again till the following October. While
in London I had only one letter from her. In it she
describes her winter at Stockholm. The letter has no
date, but it was evidently written in April, and, like
the former letters quoted, was in French.

What shall I tell you about our life in Stockholm? [she says].
If it has not been very inhaltsreich, it has at least been very
lively, and lately very tiring. Suppers, dinners, soirees, and
receptions have succeeded one another, and it has been difficult to
find time to go to all these parties, and also to prepare mean-

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