“Yes,” said Polezháev.
“Well, Prince,” the Tsar went on, “I shall give you a specimen of University education; I shall show you what the young men learn there.” Then he turned to Polezháev and added, “Read this manuscript aloud.”
Polezháev’s agitation was such that he could not read it; and he said so.
“Read it at once!”
The loud voice restored his strength to Polezháev, and he opened the manuscript. He said afterwards that he had never seen Sashka so well copied or on such fine paper.
At first he read with difficulty, but by degrees he took courage and read the poem to the end in a loud lively tone. At the most risky passages the Tsar waved his hand to the Minister and the Minister closed his eyes in horror.
“What do you say, Prince?” asked Nicholas, when the reading was over. “I mean to put a stop to this profligacy. These are surviving relics of the old mischief,[[59]] but I shall root them out. What character does he bear?”
[59]. I.e., the Decembrist conspiracy.
Of course the Minister knew nothing about his character; but some humane instinct awoke in him, and he said, “He bears an excellent character, Your Majesty.”
“You may be grateful for that testimony. But you must be punished as an example to others. Do you wish to enter the Army?”