Men -- Russia -- Fiction; Russia -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
She was tall and shapely, her head was gracefully poised on her white,
smooth shoulders, and her voice, in speech sonorous, was in singing
sweet. Although her own talents for music and poetry were eminently
pleasing to her, it was in physical effort that her intense vitality
found its fullest expression. She longed to crush something against her
bosom, to stamp her foot on the ground, to laugh and sing, and to
contemplate good-looking young men. There were times when, in the blaze
of noon or in the pale moonlight, she felt as if she must suddenly take
off all clothing, rush across the grass, and plunge into the river to
seek some one that with tender accents she longed to allure. Her
presence troubled Yourii. In her company he became more eloquent, his
pulses beat faster, and his brain was more alert. All day long his
thoughts were of her, and in the evening it was she that he sought,
though he never admitted to himself that he did so. He was for ever
analysing his feelings, each sentiment withering as a blossom in the
frost. Whenever he asked himself what it was that attracted him to Sina
Karsavina, the answer was always “the sexual instinct, and nothing
else.” Without knowing why, this explanation provoked intense self-
contempt.
Yet a tacit understanding had been established between them and, like
two mirrors, the emotions of the one were reflected in the other.
Sina Karsavina never troubled to analyse her sentiments which, if they
caused her slight apprehension, yet pleased her vastly. She jealously
hid them from others, being determined to keep them entirely to
herself. It distressed her much that she could not discover what was
really at work in the handsome young fellow’s heart. At times it seemed
to her that there was nothing between them, and then she grieved as if
for the loss of something precious. Nevertheless she was not averse to
receiving the attentions of other men, and her belief that Yourii loved
her gave her the elated manner of a bride-elect, making her doubly
attractive to other admirers. She was powerfully fascinated by the
presence of Sanine, whose broad shoulders, calm eyes, and deliberate
manner won her regard. When Sina became aware of his effect upon her,
she accused herself of want of self-control if not of immodesty;
nevertheless she always continued to observe him with great interest.
On the very evening that Lida had undergone such a terrible ordeal,
Yourii and Sina met at the library. They merely exchanged greetings,
and went about their business, she to choose books, and he to look at
the latest Petersburg newspapers. They happened, however, to leave the
building together and walked along the lonely, moonlit streets side by
side. All was silent as the grave, and one could only hear at intervals
the watchman’s rattle, and the distant bark of a dog.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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