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.
VIII
AT the time when Aniuta was dreaming of knights,
- and weeping bitter tears over the fate of
Harold and Edith, the majority of the intelligent young
people in the rest of Russia had been captured by an
entirely different current, by wholly different ideals.
Therefore Aniuta’s impulses may appear to be strange
anachronisms. But the nook where our estate was
situated lay so far removed from all centers, such
strong and lofty walls guarded Palibino from the
outside world, that the wave of new currents could
only reach our peaceful inlet a long while after it had
arisen in the open sea. On the other hand, when
these new currents did reach the shore at last they
instantly seized upon Aniuta and bore her along with
them.
It would be difficult to say how, when, and in what
form the new ideas reached our house. It is
well-known that such is the peculiarity of all periods of
transition — to leave few traces behind them. For
example, a paleontologist studies a layer of a
geological section, and finds in it a mass of petrified traces of
sharply characterized fauna and flora, from which he
can construct in his imagination the whole picture of
creation at that epoch; he goes one layer higher, and
there, before him, lies a totally different formation,
entirely new types; but whence they have come, how
91
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
