The principal entrance to the house stood by no means in the centre, notwithstanding the good intents of the architect, because the owner of it had ordered one of the side columns to be removed and thus the principal entrance did not display as originally intended four columns, but only three. The whole of the court-yard was enclosed by a strong and unusually thick wooden wall. The proprietor seemed to have been particularly concerned about everything being of the greatest possible durability.
Upon the construction of his stables, penthouse and kitchen, he had employed full grown and heavy logs calculated to last an eternity. The houses of his peasants in the village were also of a wonderfully strong and lasting construction, they nowhere displayed any of the common gingerbread ornaments, but every one of them was a solid mass of logs of wood. Even the wall was enclosed by such large stems of fir as would only be employed as sleepers for a railway, or in the construction of ships. In a word, upon whatever kind of building Tchichikoff happened to cast a glance, his sight met with a pièce de résistance, unmistakeable, presenting a durable but clumsy appearance.
END OF VOL. I.
HOME LIFE IN RUSSIA. Vol. 1.
[PREFACE.]
| [I.] | [XII.] |
| [II.] | [XIII.] |
| [III.] | [XIV.] |
| [IV.] | [XV.] |
| [V.] | [XVI.] |
| [VI.] | [XVI.] |
| [VII.] | [XVIII.] |
| [VIII.] | [XIX.] |
| [IX.] | [XX.] |
| [X.] | [XXI.] |
| [XI.] | [XXII.] |