cruel; that she made her twenty-five hundred souls suffer more than they would suffer in hell, and that she was abetted in this task by a woman, who, like herself, had remained unmarried, and who, by her redoubtable activity, appeared a hundred times more ferocious than her noble mistress. However, our friend wished to see and to judge for himself, and so he presented himself, was duly received, paid his court, pleased the lady, became enamoured of her somewhat vigorous charms, made his offer, and was accepted. Then a day was fixed for the wedding.

There was great joy among the gentlewoman’s serfs, on hearing that a man would soon become their master, and they imagined that this master was an angel from heaven, a saviour, who had been sent to them by Providence. O hope! what gulfs of misery and sorrow dost thou now and again embellish with a fleeting ray! Meanwhile the lady’s relatives, who had been invited to the wedding, arrived from all directions. One of them, alas! came from the very town whence Tchitchikoff had come, and this man privately told his cousin of all that he knew, or thought he knew, respecting our hero; and this occurred on the very eve of the day appointed for the nuptials. Appolina having heard that Tchitchikoff had begged mercy from the governor-general for his crimes, in the name of his wife and children, knew all she cared to know of the monster. She awaited him, surrounded by all her guests, who, not having been forewarned, had assumed looks of delight and pleasure; and at the moment when Tchitchikoff entered the room, and hastened forward to kiss her hand, that same hand suddenly showered down upon his rosy cheeks a perfect hailstorm of blows. And in the meanwhile this infuriated spinster poured forth a torrent of frightful language, and ordered her lackeys to hound this fine gentleman to his calash, which was all harnessed and packed ready for the road.

Our hero, who had fancied that he had finally reached the goal of his labours, the innocent and laudable object of his expeditions, who had seemed to be upon the point of marrying, of acquiring some fine domains, of enriching his vassals, of devoting himself to a country life, in the bosom of an amiable family, and of conquering, by dint of sagacity, order, and prudence, the respect and esteem of the whole world, then once more had to pass through the hands of perverse men. The first of these was a petty squire, the personal enemy of General Betrishtcheff, to whom he was so unfortunate as to mention that general. This mad and fantastic gentleman, who, as the result of numerous excesses, had reached the highest pitch of lunacy, dragged our hero off to his house, and constrained him to take part in one of those excessive orgies which seem likely to be followed either by madness or death. This man indeed compelled Tchitchikoff, under penalty of death, to drink more spirituous liquors in the space of two hours than he had drunk in the whole preceding thirty years; and then he had him kissed by fifty men, and immediately afterwards by fifty women, who obeyed his commands.

After this trial, the most terrible which he had so far endured, our hero escaped from the dangerous freaks of this tyrant of the steppes; and a few days later he fell in with a great nobleman, an Anglomaniac prince, who was perfectly infatuated with his stud and with sport, and who made him play a ridiculous part, by forcing him to adopt a horsey mania, which was quite out of consonance with his personal appearance. Nevertheless, on the advice of this nobleman, he betook himself to a neighbouring locality to inspect an estate which was for sale there.

In the house there, a young fellow who was in the diplomatic service, had just arrived from Petersburg, for the purpose of dividing the inheritance of a deceased uncle with his sister. This rustic damsel—a young girl of nineteen—like a genuine, pure-blooded inhabitant of the steppes, was still more terrible and ferocious than the Appolina of whom we have spoken. So our hero fled from the house, where the most violent scenes were of constant occurrence between this Amazon, who always had her whip in her hand, and her brother, whom she drove to extremities. It seemed as if it would all result in some unfortunate affair, of which Tchitchikoff did not care to be a witness. With regard to the dispute, he had recognised the fact that both the diplomat and his sister had set their minds on the same thing: the former was resolved to obtain, by ruse or knavery, the larger part of the property; and she, on her side, was no less determined to obtain fully two-thirds of the inheritance, but by means of strife, ill-usage, scandal, and transports of rage.