NIJNI-Novgorod, Lower Novgorod, situate at the junction1 of the Volga and the Oka, is the chief town in the district of the same name. It was here that Michael Strogoff was obliged to leave the railway, which at the time did not go beyond that town. Thus, as he advanced, his traveling would become first less speedy and then less safe.
Nijni-Novgorod, the fixed2 population of which is only from thirty to thirty-five thousand inhabitants, contained at that time more than three hundred thousand; that is to say, the population was increased tenfold. This addition was in consequence of the celebrated3 fair, which was held within the walls for three weeks. Formerly4 Makariew had the benefit of this concourse of traders, but since 1817 the fair had been removed to Nijni-Novgorod.
Even at the late hour at which Michael Strogoff left the platform, there was still a large number of people in the two towns, separated by the stream of the Volga, which compose Nijni-Novgorod. The highest of these is built on a steep rock. and defended by a fort called in Russia “kreml.”
Michael Strogoff expected some trouble in finding a hotel, or even an inn, to suit him. As he had not to start immediately, for he was going to take a steamer, he was compelled to look out for some lodging6; but, before doing so, he wished to know exactly the hour at which the steamboat would start. He went to the office of the company whose boats plied7 between Nijni-Novgorod and Perm. There, to his great annoyance8, he found that no boat started for Perm till the following day at twelve o’clock. Seventeen hours to wait! It was very vexatious to a man so pressed for time. However, he never senselessly murmured. Besides, the fact was that no other conveyance9 could take him so quickly either to Perm or Kasan. It would be better, then, to wait for the steamer, which would enable him to regain10 lost time.
Here, then, was Michael Strogoff, strolling through the town and quietly looking out for some inn in which to pass the night. However, he troubled himself little on this score, and, but that hunger pressed him, he would probably have wandered on till morning in the streets of Nijni-Novgorod. He was looking for supper rather than a bed. But he found both at the sign of the City of Constantinople. There, the landlord offered him a fairly comfortable room, with little furniture, it is true, but not without an image of the Virgin11, and a few saints framed in yellow gauze.
A goose filled with sour stuffing swimming in thick cream, barley12 bread, some curds13, powdered sugar mixed with cinnamon, and a jug14 of kwass, the ordinary Russian beer, were placed before him, and sufficed to satisfy his hunger. He did justice to the meal, which was more than could be said of his neighbor at table, who, having, in his character of “old believer” of the sect15 of Raskalniks, made the vow16 of abstinence, rejected the potatoes in front of him, and carefully refrained from putting sugar in his tea.
His supper finished, Michael Strogoff, instead of going up to his bedroom, again strolled out into the town. But, although the long twilight17 yet lingered, the crowd was already dispersing18, the streets were gradually becoming empty, and at length everyone retired19 to his dwelling20.
Why did not Michael Strogoff go quietly to bed, as would have seemed more reasonable after a long railway journey? Was he thinking of the young Livonian girl who had been his traveling companion? Having nothing better to do, he WAS thinking of her. Did he fear that, lost in this busy city, she might be exposed to insult? He feared so, and with good reason. Did he hope to meet her, and, if need were, to afford her protection? No. To meet would be difficult. As to protection — what right had he —
“Alone,” he said to himself, “alone, in the midst of these wandering tribes! And yet the present dangers are nothing compared to those she must undergo. Siberia! Irkutsk! I am about to dare all risks for Russia, for the Czar, while she is about to do so — For whom? For what? She is authorized21 to cross the frontier! The country beyond is in revolt! The steppes are full of Tartar bands!”
Michael Strogoff stopped for an instant, and reflected.
“Without doubt,” thought he, “she must have determined22 on undertaking23 her journey before the invasion. Perhaps she is even now ignorant of what is happening. But no, that cannot be; the merchants discussed before her the disturbances24 in Siberia — and she did not seem surprised. She did not even ask an explanation. She must have known it then, and knowing it, is still resolute25. Poor girl! Her motive26 for the journey must be urgent indeed! But though she may be brave — and she certainly is so — her strength must fail her, and, to say nothing of dangers and obstacles, she will be unable to endure the fatigue27 of such a journey. Never can she reach Irkutsk!”
Indulging in such reflections, Michael Strogoff wandered on as chance led him; being well acquainted with the town, he knew that he could easily retrace28 his steps.
Having strolled on for about an hour, he seated himself on a bench against the wall of a large wooden cottage, which stood, with many others, on a vast open space. He had scarcely been there five minutes when a hand was laid heavily on his shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” roughly demanded a tall and powerful man, who had approached unperceived.
“I am resting,” replied Michael Strogoff.
“Do you mean to stay all night on the bench?”
“Yes, if I feel inclined to do so,” answered Michael Strogoff, in a tone somewhat too sharp for the simple merchant he wished to personate.
“Come forward, then, so I can see you,” said the man.
Michael Strogoff, remembering that, above all, prudence29 was requisite30, instinctively31 drew back. “It is not necessary,” he replied, and calmly stepped back ten paces.
The man seemed, as Michael observed him well, to have the look of a Bohemian, such as are met at fairs, and with whom contact, either physical or moral, is unpleasant. Then, as he looked more attentively32 through the dusk, he perceived, near the cottage, a large caravan33, the usual traveling dwelling of the Zingaris or gypsies, who swarm34 in Russia wherever a few copecks can be obtained.
As the gypsy took two or three steps forward, and was about to interrogate35 Michael Strogoff more closely, the door of the cottage opened. He could just see a woman, who spoke36 quickly in a language which Michael Strogoff knew to be a mixture of Mongol and Siberian.
“Another spy! Let him alone, and come to supper. The papluka is waiting for you.”
Michael Strogoff could not help smiling at the epithet37 bestowed38 on him, dreading39 spies as he did above all else.
In the same dialect, although his accent was very different, the Bohemian replied in words which signify, “You are right, Sangarre! Besides, we start to-morrow.”
“To-morrow?” repeated the woman in surprise.
“Yes, Sangarre,” replied the Bohemian; “to-morrow, and the Father himself sends us — where we are going!”
Thereupon the man and woman entered the cottage, and carefully closed the door.
“Good!” said Michael Strogoff, to himself; “if these gipsies do not wish to be understood when they speak before me, they had better use some other language.”
From his Siberian origin, and because he had passed his childhood in the Steppes, Michael Strogoff, it has been said, understood almost all the languages in usage from Tartary to the Sea of Ice. As to the exact signification of the words he had heard, he did not trouble his head. For why should it interest him?
It was already late when he thought of returning to his inn to take some repose40. He followed, as he did so, the course of the Volga, whose waters were almost hidden under the countless41 number of boats floating on its bosom42.
An hour after, Michael Strogoff was sleeping soundly on one of those Russian beds which always seem so hard to strangers, and on the morrow, the 17th of July, he awoke at break of day.
He had still five hours to pass in Nijni-Novgorod; it seemed to him an age. How was he to spend the morning unless in wandering, as he had done the evening before, through the streets? By the time he had finished his breakfast, strapped43 up his bag, had his podorojna inspected at the police office, he would have nothing to do but start. But he was not a man to lie in bed after the sun had risen; so he rose, dressed himself, placed the letter with the imperial arms on it carefully at the bottom of its usual pocket within the lining44 of his coat, over which he fastened his belt; he then closed his bag and threw it over his shoulder. This done, he had no wish to return to the City of Constantinople, and intending to breakfast on the bank of the Volga near the wharf45, he settled his bill and left the inn. By way of precaution, Michael Strogoff went first to the office of the steam-packet company, and there made sure that the Caucasus would start at the appointed hour. As he did so, the thought for the first time struck him that, since the young Livonian girl was going to Perm, it was very possible that her intention was also to embark46 in the Caucasus, in which case he should accompany her.
The town above with its kremlin, whose circumference47 measures two versts, and which resembles that of Moscow, was altogether abandoned. Even the governor did not reside there. But if the town above was like a city of the dead, the town below, at all events, was alive.
Michael Strogoff, having crossed the Volga on a bridge of boats, guarded by mounted Cossacks, reached the square where the evening before he had fallen in with the gipsy camp. This was somewhat outside the town, where the fair of Nijni-Novgorod was held. In a vast plain rose the temporary palace of the governor-general, where by imperial orders that great functionary48 resided during the whole of the fair, which, thanks to the people who composed it, required an ever-watchful surveillance.
This plain was now covered with booths symmetrically arranged in such a manner as to leave avenues broad enough to allow the crowd to pass without a crush.
Each group of these booths, of all sizes and shapes, formed a separate quarter particularly dedicated49 to some special branch of commerce. There was the iron quarter, the furriers’ quarter, the woolen50 quarter, the quarter of the wood merchants, the weavers’ quarter, the dried fish quarter, etc. Some booths were even built of fancy materials, some of bricks of tea, others of masses of salt meat — that is to say, of samples of the goods which the owners thus announced were there to the purchasers — a singular, and somewhat American, mode of advertisement.
In the avenues and long alleys51 there was already a large assemblage of people — the sun, which had risen at four o’clock, being well above the horizon — an extraordinary mixture of Europeans and Asiatics, talking, wrangling52, haranguing53, and bargaining. Everything which can be bought or sold seemed to be heaped up in this square. Furs, precious stones, silks, Cashmere shawls, Turkey carpets, weapons from the Caucasus, gauzes from Smyrna and Ispahan. Tiflis armor, caravan teas. European bronzes, Swiss clocks, velvets and silks from Lyons, English cottons, harness, fruits, vegetables, minerals from the Ural, malachite, lapis-lazuli, spices, perfumes, medicinal herbs, wood, tar5, rope, horn, pumpkins54, water-melons, etc — all the products of India, China, Persia, from the shores of the Caspian and the Black Sea, from America and Europe, were united at this corner of the globe.
It is scarcely possible truly to portray55 the moving mass of human beings surging here and there, the excitement, the confusion, the hubbub56; demonstrative as were the natives and the inferior classes, they were completely outdone by their visitors. There were merchants from Central Asia, who had occupied a year in escorting their merchandise across its vast plains, and who would not again see their shops and counting-houses for another year to come. In short, of such importance is this fair of Nijni-Novgorod, that the sum total of its transactions amounts yearly to nearly a hundred million dollars.
On one of the open spaces between the quarters of this temporary city were numbers of mountebanks of every description; gypsies from the mountains, telling fortunes to the credulous57 fools who are ever to be found in such assemblies; Zingaris or Tsiganes — a name which the Russians give to the gypsies who are the descendants of the ancient Copts — singing their wildest melodies and dancing their most original dances; comedians58 of foreign theaters, acting59 Shakespeare, adapted to the taste of spectators who crowded to witness them. In the long avenues the bear showmen accompanied their four-footed dancers, menageries resounded60 with the hoarse61 cries of animals under the influence of the stinging whip or red-hot irons of the tamer; and, besides all these numberless performers, in the middle of the central square, surrounded by a circle four deep of enthusiastic amateurs, was a band of “mariners of the Volga,” sitting on the ground, as on the deck of their vessel62, imitating the action of rowing, guided by the stick of the master of the orchestra, the veritable helmsman of this imaginary vessel! A whimsical and pleasing custom!
Suddenly, according to a time-honored observance in the fair of Nijni-Novgorod, above the heads of the vast concourse a flock of birds was allowed to escape from the cages in which they had been brought to the spot. In return for a few copecks charitably offered by some good people, the bird-fanciers opened the prison doors of their captives, who flew out in hundreds, uttering their joyous63 notes.
It should be mentioned that England and France, at all events, were this year represented at the great fair of Nijni-Novgorod by two of the most distinguished64 products of modern civilization, Messrs. Harry65 Blount and Alcide Jolivet. Jolivet, an optimist66 by nature, found everything agreeable, and as by chance both lodging and food were to his taste, he jotted67 down in his book some memoranda68 particularly favorable to the town of Nijni-Novgorod. Blount, on the contrary, having in vain hunted for a supper, had been obliged to find a resting-place in the open air. He therefore looked at it all from another point of view, and was preparing an article of the most withering69 character against a town in which the landlords of the inns refused to receive travelers who only begged leave to be flayed70, “morally and physically71.”
Michael Strogoff, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his cherry-stemmed pipe, appeared the most indifferent and least impatient of men; yet, from a certain contraction72 of his eyebrows73 every now and then, a careful observer would have seen that he was burning to be off.
For two hours he kept walking about the streets, only to find himself invariably at the fair again. As he passed among the groups of buyers and sellers he discovered that those who came from countries on the confines of Asia manifested great uneasiness. Their trade was visibly suffering. Another symptom also was marked. In Russia military uniforms appear on every occasion. Soldiers are wont74 to mix freely with the crowd, the police agents being almost invariably aided by a number of Cossacks, who, lance on shoulder, keep order in the crowd of three hundred thousand strangers. But on this occasion the soldiers, Cossacks and the rest, did not put in an appearance at the great market. Doubtless, a sudden order to move having been foreseen, they were restricted to their barracks.
Moreover, while no soldiers were to be seen, it was not so with their officers. Since the evening before, aides-decamp, leaving the governor’s palace, galloped75 in every direction. An unusual movement was going forward which a serious state of affairs could alone account for. There were innumerable couriers on the roads both to Wladimir and to the Ural Mountains. The exchange of telegraphic dispatches with Moscow was incessant76.
Michael Strogoff found himself in the central square when the report spread that the head of police had been summoned by a courier to the palace of the governor-general. An important dispatch from Moscow, it was said, was the cause of it.
“The fair is to be closed,” said one.
“The regiment77 of Nijni-Novgorod has received the route,” declared another.
“They say that the Tartars menace Tomsk!”
“Here is the head of police!” was shouted on every side. A loud clapping of hands was suddenly raised, which subsided78 by degrees, and finally was succeeded by absolute silence. The head of police arrived in the middle of the central square, and it was seen by all that he held in his hand a dispatch.
Then, in a loud voice, he read the following announcements: “By order of the Governor of Nijni-Novgorod.
“1st. All Russian subjects are forbidden to quit the province upon any pretext79 whatsoever80.
“2nd. All strangers of Asiatic origin are commanded to leave the province within twenty-four hours.”
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1
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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2
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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3
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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4
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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5
tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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6
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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7
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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8
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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9
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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10
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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11
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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12
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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13
curds
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| n.凝乳( curd的名词复数 ) | |
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14
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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15
sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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16
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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17
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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18
dispersing
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| adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式 | |
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19
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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20
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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21
authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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22
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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23
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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24
disturbances
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| n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍 | |
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25
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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26
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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27
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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28
retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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29
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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30
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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31
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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32
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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33
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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34
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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35
interrogate
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| vt.讯问，审问，盘问 | |
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36
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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37
epithet
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| n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语 | |
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38
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
dreading
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| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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40
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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41
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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42
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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43
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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44
lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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45
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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46
embark
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| vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机 | |
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47
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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48
functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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49
dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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50
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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51
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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52
wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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53
haranguing
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| v.高谈阔论( harangue的现在分词 ) | |
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54
pumpkins
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| n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊 | |
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55
portray
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| v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等) | |
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56
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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57
credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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58
comedians
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| n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 ) | |
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59
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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60
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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61
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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62
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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63
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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64
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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65
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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66
optimist
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| n.乐观的人，乐观主义者 | |
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jotted
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| v.匆忙记下( jot的过去式和过去分词 )；草草记下，匆匆记下 | |
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68
memoranda
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| n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式 | |
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69
withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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70
flayed
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| v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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71
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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72
contraction
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| n.缩略词，缩写式，害病 | |
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73
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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74
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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75
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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76
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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77
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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78
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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79
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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80
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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