- Project Runeberg -  Sónya Kovalévsky. Her recollections of childhood with a biography of Anna Carlotta Leffler /
222

(1895) [MARC] Author: Sofja Kovalevskaja, Anne Charlotte Leffler, Ellen Key
Table of Contents / Innehåll | << Previous | Next >>
  Project Runeberg | Catalog | Recent Changes | Donate | Comments? |   

Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...

scanned image

<< prev. page << föreg. sida <<     >> nästa sida >> next page >>


Below is the raw OCR text from the above scanned image. Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan. Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!

This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.

222

SÖNYA KOVALÉVSKY

this was no boasting; she thoroughly believed in it.
She always intended to do something wonderful each
time she went to the riding-school, and was continually
proposing riding-tours. Her explanation of her
overwhelming fear when once mounted was that it was not
really fright, only she was very nervous, which made
her sensitive to every noise, so that the tramping of
the other horses upset her composure. Her friends
often could not resist asking her what kind of noise
it was that, when out walking, made her jump over
hedges and ditches to avoid a harmless cow, or run
away from a dog that merely sniffed at her.

She describes this kind of cowardice very well in an
otherwise great character in her posthumous novel,
" Vera Yorontzoff ":

In the learned circle in which he lived no one would have
dreamed of suspecting him of cowardice. On the contrary, all
his colleagues dreaded lest his courage should lead him into
difficulties. In his own heart he knew himself to he far from
courageous. But in his day-dreams he loved to imagine himself
among the most dangerous circumstances. More than once, in
the silence of his quiet study, he had fancied himself defending
a barricade. In spite of this, he kept at a respectful distance
from village curs, and declined to make any near acquaintance
with horned cattle.

Sönya perhaps exaggerated her fear out of coquetry.
She possessed to a high degree that feminine grace so
highly appreciated by men. She loved to be protected.

To a quite masculine energy and genius, and, in
some ways, an inflexible character, she united a very
feminine helplessness. She never learned her way
about Stockholm. She only knew perfectly a few
streets—those which led to the University or to the
houses of her intimate friends. She could look neither
after her money matters, her house, nor her child. The
latter she was obliged to leave in the care of others. In

<< prev. page << föreg. sida <<     >> nästa sida >> next page >>


Project Runeberg, Mon Dec 11 20:17:07 2023 (aronsson) (download) << Previous Next >>
https://runeberg.org/skovalvsky/0239.html

Valid HTML 4.0! All our files are DRM-free