Peter, with his peculiar17 blending of political supremacy18 and democratic fancifulness, built for himself a little house on the fortress island, where the furniture made by himself is still preserved by the[Pg 35] side of the miracle-working image of the Redeemer which the despot always carried with him. His spirit soars over this city and this land. What he did not entirely trust to his unscrupulous fist he left in honest bigotry19 to the bones of the holy Alexander Nevski, which he had brought to his capital soon after its establishment. Autocracy20 and popocracy still reign21 in the Russian empire. The Peter-and-Paul fortress, in the subterranean22 vaults23 of which many of the noblest hearts and heads of Russia have found their grave, the Isaac cathedral, with its barbarian24 pomp of gold and precious stones, and the mighty monoliths—these are the symbols of the city of St. Petersburg and of its régime. If there is in Russia, even among the enlightened minds, something like a fanatical hatred25 of civilization and of the West, it is due to the manner in which the half-barbarian Peter imposed Western ideas and civilization on a harmless and good-natured people.
What brutal26 power of will may do in defiance of unfriendly nature has been done on the banks of the Neva. Indeed, its green waters are now hidden by an ice-crust three feet thick, over which the sleighs run a race with the little cars of the electrical railway. Yet even without the restless shimmer27 of the water the view of the river-bank is still very impressive. The golden glitter of the great cupolas of the Isaac cathedral, the long red front of the Winter Palace, the pale yellow columns of the admiralty,[Pg 36] between Renaissance28 structures, stand out from among the rest.
Palaces and palaces stretch along the stream right up to the Field of Mars. The gilded29 spire30 of the Peter-and-Paul cathedral pierces the white-blue sky and greets, with its angel balanced on the extreme spire, the equally grotesque31 high spire of the admiralty. Great stone and iron bridges span the broad stream, its opposite shore almost faded in the light mist of the wintry day. Walking towards the middle of the bridge, whence a splendid view may be obtained, one sees the long row of buildings on the farther islands standing32 out of the mist. One row of columns is followed by another—the Academy of Arts, the Academy of Sciences, the house of Menschikov, which Catherine built for her favorite, come into view. Towards the west the hulls33 of vessels34 stand out from among the docks. Still farther out the mist hides the shoals of the Neva, together with those of the Gulf35 of Finland, in an impenetrable gray. Towards the north stretch the endless lanes with their bare branches which lead to the islands. This is the Bois de Boulogne of St. Petersburg, where the gilded youth race in brightly decorated "troikas," and hasten to squander36 in champagne37, at cards, and in gypsy entertainments, the wages of the starved muzhik. It is a magnificent picture of power, of self-conscious riches, the better part of which is furnished by the mighty stream itself.
[Pg 37]
It is easy now to realize that St. Petersburg was originally planned for a seaport38, and that it therefore presents its glittering front to the sea. The railroads which conduct the traffic to-day could no longer penetrate39 with their stations into the city proper; hence the visitors must first pass through the broad, melancholy40 suburban41 girdle which gives one the impression of a giant village. When access to the city was still by boat from the Gulf of Finland, the landing at the "English quay," with its view of all these colossal structures, golden domes42 and spires43, must have created a powerful impression. Nothing less was contemplated44 by this massing of palaces. The capital and residence city was not intended to facilitate the access of the West but rather to inspire it with awe45.
The splendor46 of the city naturally becomes gradually diminished from the banks of the Neva towards the vast periphery47. The main artery48 of traffic in St. Petersburg, the "Nevski Prospect," and its continuation, the "Bolshaya Morskaya," remain stately and impressive to their very end. A peculiar feature of St. Petersburg is the numerous canals which begin and end at the Neva, and which once served to drain the swampy49 soil of the city. They are now to be filled, for they do not answer the purpose. Nevertheless, they offer meanwhile an opportunity for pretty bridge structures, as, for instance, the one leading over the Fontanka, ornamented50 with the four groups of the horse-tamers by[Pg 38] Baron51 Klodt. A comparison with the lagoon52 city, Venice, would really be a flattering hyperbole, for one does not get the impression here of being on the sea, as in the case of the "Canal-Grande." The city rather reminds one of the models that were nearer to its founder, the canal-furrowed cities of Holland. Still, these canals are a pleasant diversion in the otherwise monotonous53 pictures of the city streets.
Should it be mentioned here that St. Petersburg has its "millionnaya" (millionaire's street)? It is well known that hither and towards Moscow flow the treasures of a country squeezed dry. The great wealth of the one almost presupposes the nameless misery54 of the other. The indifference55 with which the shocking famine conditions of entire provinces and the threatening economic collapse56 of the whole empire are regarded here finds its explanation only in the bearing of these boyar-millionaires, who consider themselves Europeans because their valets are shaved in the English fashion.
The eye of the stranger who wishes to understand, and not merely to gaze, will rather turn to other phenomena57 more characteristic than splendid buildings of the country and its people.
There is, in the first place, the pope (priest), and then the policeman.
The priests and the policemen are the handsomest persons in St. Petersburg. Although the flowing hair of the bearded priest, reaching to his shoulders, is not to be regarded as a characteristic peculiarity,[Pg 39] since every third man in Russia displays long hair or profuse58 locks that would undoubtedly59 draw to their fortunate possessor in our land the attention of the street boys, still they are carefully chosen human material, tall, graceful60 men with handsome heads and proud mien61. Notwithstanding this they are accorded but little reverence62 even among the bigoted63 Russians, for no matter how often and copiously64 these may cross themselves before every sacred image, they quite often experience, behind the priest, a sort of salvation65 which compels them suddenly to empty their mouths in a very demonstrative manner. This may be due to various kinds of superstition66, which regard the meeting with a priest as very undesirable67, but it finds its explanation also in the not always exemplary life of this servant of the Lord. He is especially accredited68 with a decided69 predilection70 for various distilled71 liquors that at times exert a doubtful influence on a man's behavior. One may see in St. Petersburg men wrapped in costly72 sable73 furs make the acquaintance of the street pavements, especially during the "butter-week," yet for spiritual garments the gutter74 is even less a place of legitimate75 rest, and, at any rate, it is difficult to acknowledge as the appointed interpreter of God's will a man whose mouth savors78 of an entirely different spirit than the "spiritus sanctus."
For all this, however, the Russian is filled, outwardly at least, and during divine services, with a[Pg 40] devotion which, to us, is scarcely comprehensible. With fanatical fervor79 he kisses in church the hand of the same priest behind whose back he spat80 at the church door. His body never rests. As with the orthodox Jew and the howling dervish, his praying consists in an almost unceasing bowing, and a not at all inconsiderable application of gymnastics. He is perpetually crossing himself. Particularly fervent81 suppliants82, of the female gender83 especially, can hardly satisfy themselves by kissing again and again the stone flags of the floor, the hem14 of the priest's coat, the sacred images, and the numberless relics84. But how effective and mind-ensnaring is the orthodox church service. The glimmer85 of the innumerable small and large wax candles brought by most of the congregants fills the golden mist of the place with an unearthly light. Rubies86, emeralds, and diamonds shine from the silver and gold crowns on the sacred images. The gigantic priest in his gold-embroidered vestments lets sound his deep, powerful, bass87 voice, and wonderful choirs88 answer him from both sides of the "ikonostas." Clouds of incense89 float through the high nave90. The faithful, ranged one after another, intoxicate91 and carry one another by their devotion—a huge general hypnosis in which education and priestly art are equally concerned. The orthodox cult76 is not to be compared, at least in my opinion, with that of the Roman Catholics in the depth and nobility of the music and in the artistic92 arrangement of the service. But in its archaic[Pg 41] monotony, in its use of the coarsest material stimuli93, it is perhaps even more suggestive for the Eastern masses than is the other for the civilized94 peoples of the West. The quantity of gold, silver, and precious stones offered up, especially in the Isaac cathedral and in the Kazan cathedral—fashioned after that of St. Peter's in Rome—to give the faithful a conception of the just claims of Heaven on treasure and reverence, is beyond the belief of Europeans. The artistically95 excellent silver ornaments96 of the Isaac cathedral weigh not less than eleven thousand kilograms. A single copy of the New Testament97 is bound in twenty kilograms of gold. The sacred image made in commemoration of the catastrophe98 of Borki is almost entirely covered with diamonds. These endowments came, for the most part, from members of the imperial house. The union of church and state is more intimate here than elsewhere, and, apparently99, even more profitable for the guardians100 of the altar. Among all the sacred relics and trophies101 of the St. Petersburg church, one impresses the foreigner above the others. It is a collection of silver gifts from the French, ranged along the wall of the Peter-and-Paul cathedral. By the side of the coffins102 of the Russian emperors and empresses, from Peter the Great to Alexander III., which one cannot pass without a peculiar feeling of historical respect, under innumerable flags and war trophies, there stand, as the greatest triumph that the despotic barbarian state has won[Pg 42] from civilized Europe, the silver crowns and the shields of honor which Félix Faure, Casimir-Périer, the senate, the chamber103, and the Parisian press presented to the Russian ally of France.
"You see here the greatest misfortune that has befallen us in this century," said my companion, an orthodox Russian of nothing less than radical104 views. "Until then, until this alliance, with all our boastfulness we still felt some shame before Europe for our barbarous and shameful105 rule. But since the most distinguished106 men and corporations of the most enlightened republic have begun prostrating107 themselves before us, the knout despotism has received the consecration108 of Europe and has thrown all shame to the winds."
"But the French have lent you eight milliards for it," I replied.
"A part of which has gone into Heaven knows whose pockets; the other supports our police against us, and the remainder was sunk in a worthless railroad, while we, in order to provide the interest, must take the horse from our peasant's plough and the cow from its stable, until even that shall come to an end, for nothing else will be left for the executor."
"A Jesuit trick," I said. "You owe the alliance to the diplomacy109 of Rampolla."
"The sword and the holy-water sprinkler," answered the Russian, as he pointed77 his hand in a circle from the war trophies to the "ikonostas," "they[Pg 43] go everywhere hand-in-hand and enslave and plunder110 the nations."
The leaden, snowy skies looked down on us oppressively as with a deep shudder111 at the prison gratings of the Peter-and-Paul fortress we hastened back to the city. I heard in my mind the notes of the "Marseillaise," and before my eyes there stood the gifts of honor from the French nation brought to the despot of the fortress. They are very near each other, cathedral and prison. In the still of the night the watchman of the French offerings may often hear the groans112 and the despairing cries of the poor souls who had dreamed of freedom and brotherhood113 and had paid for their dreams behind the heavy iron bars, deep under the mirror-like surface of the Neva, in the dungeons114 of the Peter-and-Paul fortress.
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1
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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equestrian
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| adj.骑马的；n.马术 | |
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9
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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10
ascends
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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malarial
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| 患疟疾的，毒气的 | |
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14
hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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15
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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17
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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18
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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19
bigotry
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| n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等 | |
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20
autocracy
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| n.独裁政治，独裁政府 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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22
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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25
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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26
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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shimmer
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| v./n.发微光，发闪光；微光 | |
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renaissance
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| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
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gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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30
spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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33
hulls
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| 船体( hull的名词复数 )； 船身； 外壳； 豆荚 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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squander
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| v.浪费，挥霍 | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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42
domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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43
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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45
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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47
periphery
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| n.(圆体的)外面；周围 | |
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48
artery
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| n.干线，要道；动脉 | |
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49
swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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50
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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52
lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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53
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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54
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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55
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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56
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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57
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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58
profuse
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| adj.很多的，大量的，极其丰富的 | |
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59
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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60
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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61
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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62
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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63
bigoted
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| adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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copiously
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| adv.丰富地，充裕地 | |
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65
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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67
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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68
accredited
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| adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于 | |
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69
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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70
predilection
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| n.偏好 | |
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71
distilled
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| adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华 | |
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72
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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73
sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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74
gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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75
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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76
cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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77
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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78
savors
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| v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的第三人称单数 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝 | |
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79
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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80
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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81
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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82
suppliants
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| n.恳求者，哀求者( suppliant的名词复数 ) | |
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83
gender
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| n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性 | |
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84
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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85
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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86
rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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87
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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88
choirs
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| n.教堂的唱诗班( choir的名词复数 )；唱诗队；公开表演的合唱团；（教堂）唱经楼 | |
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89
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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90
nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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91
intoxicate
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| vt.使喝醉，使陶醉，使欣喜若狂 | |
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92
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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93
stimuli
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| n.刺激（物） | |
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94
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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95
artistically
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| adv.艺术性地 | |
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96
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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97
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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98
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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99
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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100
guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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101
trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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102
coffins
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| n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物 | |
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103
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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104
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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105
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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106
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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107
prostrating
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的现在分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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108
consecration
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| n.供献，奉献，献祭仪式 | |
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109
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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110
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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111
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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112
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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113
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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114
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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