[9] A copeck is a little more than half a cent. 100 copecks make a silver ruble, or 60 cents.
THE CURSE OF FAME
BY IGNATIY NIKOLAIEVITCH POTAPENKO
Potapenko was born in 1856 and received a university education at Odessa and at St. Petersburg. In 1881 he made his first mark as an author with a series of short stories and sketches. Since then he has contributed to Russian literature many romances, novels, tales and plays. Like the Belgian dramatist, Maeterlinck, he seems to select a few insistent notes with masterly judgment, and then strikes these over and over again until the overtones are heard and produce of themselves the full effect of harmony.
The general opinion among critics of Russian literature is that Potapenko, though ranking by no means with the first of Russian writers, has reached in this single instance of “The Curse of Fame” a high-water mark equal to the best.
THE CURSE OF FAME
BY IGNATIY POTAPENKO
Translated by A. Lionel. Copyright, 1896,
by the Current Literature Publishing Co.