Russian Silhouettes

Synopsis

Stories of childhood: The boys. Grisha. A trifle from real life. The cook's wedding. Shrove Tuesday. In passion week. An incident. A matter of classics. The tutor. Out of sorts -- Stories of youth: A joke. After the theatre. Volodia. A naughty boy. Bliss. Two beautiful girls -- Light and shadow: The chorus girl. The father of a family. The orator. Ionitch. At Christmas time. In the coach house. Lady N----'s story. A journey by cart. The privy councillor. Rothschild's fiddle. A horsey name. The Petcheneg. The bishop.

The whole family ran to the window, for they had been expecting their Volodia for hours. At the front porch stood a wide posting sleigh with its troika of white horses wreathed in dense clouds of steam. The sleigh was empty because Volodia was already standing in the front entry untying his hood with red, frostbitten fingers. His schoolboy’s uniform, his overcoat, his cap, his goloshes, and the hair on his temples were all silvery with frost, and from his head to his feet he exhaled such a wholesome atmosphere of cold that one shivered to be near him. 

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