Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< 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.
280
SÖNYA KOVALÉVSKY
It was of deep interest to me to make acquaintance
with the strange group of enthusiastic patriots who
lost themselves so entirely in the love of their
country; who sorrowed so deeply over its misfortunes;
who so longed to save it that what the ordinary
community called crime was to them a sacred duty.
Just at this time a great English newspaper
published a horrible account of the cruelties which Siberian
prisoners, and among them some highly educated
English ladies, had had to undergo.
There was something deeply touching in the sorrow
which the intelligence aroused in the Polo-Russian
clique in Paris. It seemed as though its members
had suffered personally. The sympathy of the clique
with the Russian martyrs of the Tzar’s cruelty was so
strong that to all intents and purposes they were but
one family.
The center of that clique was one of S6nya’s most
intimate friends—a woman whom she admired more
than any other, and who impressed her so greatly that
she lost all her critical judgment in regarding her.
Sönya admired this woman with the jealous adoration
characteristic of her. This friend possessed several of
the qualities which Sönya herself desired and envied
—beauty, a rare power of fascination, and an equally
rare talent for dressing in perfect taste. While in Paris,
Sönya used to get this friend to choose her dresses for
her, but they never looked so well on her as on the
charming Pole.
The latter had a gift for attracting a small court of
admirers, who vied with one another in winning a smile
from her. But Sönya admired in this friend least what
the others admired most—her genius, intelligence, and
courage. A genius not creative in its nature had no
attractions for Sönya.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
