“But admitting the possibility of the supernatural, the possibility of its interference in everyday life, so to speak,”—began Antón Stepánitch:—“then what rôle, after this, must sound sense play?”
None of us found any answer, and, as before, we remained perplexed.
[1] The well-known poet Yákoff Petróvitch Polónsky is the authority for this statement, in his “Recollections of Turgénieff,” printed in the early numbers of the Niva for 1884.—Translator.
[2] The finest of the public parks in Moscow, situated near the famous Sparrow Hills, is called “Neskútchny”—“Not Tiresome,” generally rendered “Sans Souci.” It contains an imperial residence, the Alexander Palace, used as an official summer home by the Governor-General of Moscow.—Translator.
[3] Princes, princesses, counts, and countesses have the title of Siyátelstvo (siyám—to shine, to be radiant); generally translated “Illustrious Highness” or “Serenity.”—Translator.
[4] The custom still prevails in Russia, to a great extent, for all elderly women to wear caps. In the peasant class it is considered as extremely indecorous to go “simple-haired,” as the expression runs—Translator.
[5] The famous gate from the “White town” into the “China town,” in Moscow, where there is a renowned holy picture of the Iberian Virgin, in a chapel. Evidently the lawyers’ quarter was in this vicinity.—Translator.
[6] In Púshkin’s poem, “The Gipsies.”—Translator.
[7] The respectful “s,” which is an abbreviation of “sir” or “madam.”—Translator.