Then Grisha tried vainly To sleep; but half dreaming New songs he composed. They grew brighter and stronger.... Our peasants would soon Have been home from their travels If they could have known What was happening to Grisha: 450 With what exaltation His bosom was burning; What beautiful strains In his ears began chiming; How blissfully sang he The wonderful anthem Which tells of the freedom And peace of the people. FOOTNOTES: [1] Many years later, after his mother's death, Nekrassov found this letter among her papers. It was a letter written to her by her own mother after her flight and subsequent marriage. It announced to her her father's curse, and was filled with sad and bitter reproaches: "To whom have you entrusted your fate? For what country have you abandoned Poland, your Motherland? You, whose hand was sought, a priceless gift, by princes, have chosen a savage, ignorant, uncultured.... Forgive me, but my heart is bleeding...." [2] Priest. [3] Landowner. [4] The peasants assert that the cuckoo chokes himself with young ears of corn. [5] A kind of home-brewed cider. [6] _Laput_ is peasants' footgear made of bark of saplings. [7] Priest [8] New huts are built only when the village has been destroyed by fire. [9] The lines of asterisks throughout the poem represent passages that were censored in the original. [10] There is a superstition among the Russian peasants that it is an ill omen to meet the "pope" when going upon an errand. [11] Landowners [12] Dissenters in Russia are subjected to numerous religious restrictions. Therefore they are obliged to bribe the local orthodox pope, in order that he should not denounce them to the police. [13] There is a Russian superstition that a round rainbow is sent as a sign of coming dry weather. [14] _Kasha_ and _stchee_ are two national dishes. [15] The mud and water from the high lands on both sides descend and collect in the villages so situated, which are often nearly transformed into swamps during the rainy season. [16] On feast days the peasants often pawn their clothes for drink. [17] Well-known popular characters in Russia. [18] Each landowner kept his own band of musicians. [19] The halting-place for prisoners on their way to Siberia. [20] The tax collector, the landlord, and the priest. [21] Fire. [22] Popular name for Petrograd. [23] The primitive wooden plough still used by the peasants in Russia. [24] Three pounds. [25] Holy pictures of the saints. [26] The Russian nickname for the bear. [27] Chief of police. [28] An administrative unit consisting of a group of villages. [29] The end of the story is omitted because of the interference of the Censor. [30] A three-horsed carriage. [31] The Pomyeshchick is still bitter because his serfs have been set free by the Government. [32] The Russian warriors of olden times. [33] Russian Easter dishes.