The coffin was carried from the house, where a religious service had
already taken place, to the church across the street, and there a new
service was begun. The church was so quickly filled that hundreds had to
remain outside. But I was advised by my companion to go to the cemetery;
for the funeral proper takes place only there, and it is of importance
to secure a good place. We attended to various matters in the city, and
reached, after more than a half-hour's ride in the sleigh, the cemetery
where rest the city's celebrities. Names are again mentioned to me with
respect and reverence. What an unsubstantial thing is fame, after all.
The few sounds that fill one with awe fall on the unheeding ear of
another. Another sphere, and nothing remains of the words that are
esteemed in the first.
We stamp through the snow along the narrow paths between the
gravestones towards the spot where the deceased is to find his last
resting-place. A densely packed multitude is already pushing towards the
newly dug grave. Near-by a mausoleum, with open portico, is already
entirely occupied by women. We attempt to find a place there. We are met
by hostile glances. Then one of the ladies approaches me and says
something in Russian, which, of course, I do not understand. I express
my regrets in German and French. She now excuses herself, declaring that
she had made a mistake. A word from my companion, and the excitement is
at once allayed.
"It was nothing," he explained to me. "They did not know whether you
were a spy or a foreigner. They know it now, and are no longer uneasy.
People know one another in this circle. But you are an entirely new
person that must first be classified." Evidently my companion played a
prominent part in this society without statutes, for a place was made
for me with the greatest readiness; so that I found myself among none
but celebrities, whose names were mentioned by the young ladies standing
near in respectful whispers. They were mostly writers, scholars, and
professors; among them was also the author of a work on Siberia, which I
had read with horror years ago. He had already spent twelve years of his
life in exile, and now he was again exposing himself to oppression by
the authorities. Although the police were still out of sight, it would
have hardly been advisable for a spy to appear here. Among the thousands
of men, women, and girls who were already densely crowded about the
grave, there was not a single person that was not acquainted with at
least a part of those present. Suddenly there was a commotion in the
crowd. A name is mentioned and repeated resentfully. Suvorin. Who is
Suvorin? The editor of the _Novoye Vremya_. He was supposedly seen by
some one. What impudence! Where is he? He shall at once leave the
cemetery! But it was only a false alarm. Suvorin would not dare to come
here; and why not? I inquire about the nature of his paper. Is it a
_Libre Parole_ or _Intransigeant_? Is it nationalistic or clerical? An
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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