Although I did not agree with Praskóvya, I went back to the house. And the mad dog was shot on the following day by a soldier from the garrison. And it must have been that that was the end appointed by Fate to the dog, for the soldier fired a gun for the first time in his life, although he had a medal for service in the year ’12. So that is the supernatural occurrence which happened to me. THE narrator ceased speaking and began to fill his pipe. But we all exchanged glances of surprise. “But perhaps you lead a very upright life,”--began Mr. Finopléntoff,--“and so by way of reward....” But at that word he faltered, for he saw that Porfíry Kapítonitch’s cheeks were beginning to swell out and turn red, and his eyes too were beginning to pucker up--evidently the man was on the point of breaking out.... “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. FOOTNOTES: [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. [8] A square in Moscow.--TRANSLATOR. [9] A great plain situated on the outskirts of the town. So called because (says tradition) it was here that annually were assembled the young girls who were sent, in addition to the money tribute, to the Khan, during the Tatár period, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.--TRANSLATOR. [10] Afanásy Afanásievitch Shénshin (1820-1892) always wrote under this name.--TRANSLATOR. [11] A verst is two thirds of a mile.--TRANSLATOR.