KATINKA, THE PEASANT MAID.
Katinka was tired, and lonely too. All day long, and for many days together, she had plied her distaff busily, drawing out the thread finer and finer from the great bunches of flax, which she herself had gathered and dried, till the birch-bark basket at her feet was almost filled with firm, well-shaped "twists," and the sticks in the great earthen pipkin, upon which the thread must be wound, grew fewer and fewer.
The tips of her fingers were sore, and it was dull work with no one to speak to except her faithful cat, Dimitri, who was never content when he saw his mistress working, unless he had a ball of thread for himself; and as she looked about her cheerless little room, so lonely now, she thought of the days when a kind mother had been near to lighten every duty; and joyous, merry children had been her companions in all childish sports. She hated the tiresome flax now, but then the happiest days were spent in the great flax-fields, playing at "hide-and-seek" up and down the paths the reapers made. And when the summer showers came pelting down, how she would catch her little sister Lisa, and run home with her on her back, while neighbour Voscovitch's children laughed and shouted after her as she ran. Ah, those were happy days! But now mother and sister were gone! Only she and her father were left in the little home, and she had to work so hard! She did wish that her life was different; that she was not poor lonely Katinka the peasant maid any more. Oh! why could she not be like the rich Lady Feodorovna instead, whose father, Count Vassilivitch, owned nearly all the houses and lands from Tver to Torjok, and had more than three hundred serfs on his estate.
Now Katinka's father, Ivan Rassaloff, was only an istvostchick (a drosky or cab driver), and owned nothing but a rickety old drosky,[[1]] and Todcloff, a sturdy little Cossack pony, and drove travellers here and there for a few kopecks a trip. But he saved money, and Katinka helped him to earn more; and one of these days, when they could sell the beautiful lace flounce on which she had been working during all her odd moments for three years, and which was nearly finished, they would be rich indeed. Besides, the isba (cottage) was not really so bad, and it was all their own; and then there was always Dimitri to talk to, who surely seemed to understand everything she said. So a smile chased away the gathering frown, and this time she looked round the room quite contentedly.
[[1]] Or droitzschka, a four-wheeled pleasure carriage.
Shall I tell you what the isba was like, that you may know how the poor people live in Russia? It was built of balks (great beams or rafters), laid horizontally one above the other, the ends crossing at each corner of the building; and it had a pointed roof, somewhat like that of a Swiss châlet. Inside the chinks were filled with moss and lime, to keep out the cold. It contained only one room; but a great canvas curtain hung from the roof, which by night divided the room in two, but by day was drawn aside.
There was a deal table, holding some earthenware pipkins, jars, and a samorar, or tea-urn—for even the poorest peasants have an urn, and drink tea at least three times a day; a deal settee, on which lay the winter store of flax; Katinka's distaff, and the curious candlestick which the Russian peasants use. This is a tall wooden upright fastened into a sort of trough, or hollowed log of birchwood, to keep it erect. To the top an iron cross-bar is attached (which can be raised or lowered at will), having at the end a small bowl containing oil and a floating wick, which burns brightly for several hours, and is easily lowered and refilled; while the wooden trough below catches the oil which drops.
But the most curious thing in the room was the stove. It was made of sheet-iron, and very large, with a door at one end, into which whole logs of wood could be put at once. It was oblong, and flat on the top, like a great black trunk; and on this flat top, with the fire smouldering away beneath him, Ivan always slept at night in the winter; and sometimes, when it was very cold, Katinka would bring her sheep-skin blanket and sleep there too! Not one Russian isba in fifty contains a bed; when there is a large family, father, mother, and little children all crowd upon the top of the stove in winter, and in summer they roll themselves up in their blankets and sleep outside by the door!
The lamp was lighted and shone brightly on Katinka, who made quite a pretty picture as she rested a while from her work to speak to Dimitri. She wore a white chemise with very full, long sleeves, and over it a sarafane of red linen with a short boddice and shoulder-straps of dark blue. On her head she had tied a gay-coloured kerchief, to keep the dust of the flax from her glossy black hair, which hung in a single heavy braid far down her back. One of these days, if she should marry, she would have to divide it in two braids, and wear a kerchief always.