The Last Summer by Ricarda Huch

Author:Ricarda Huch [Huch, Ricarda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781908670342
Publisher: Peirene Press
Published: 2016-02-23T23:00:00+00:00

LYU TO KONSTANTIN

Kremskoye, 17th June

Dear Konstantin,

It was highly advantageous that I convinced Madame Tatyana to accompany me back to Kremskoye. The influence I wield over her has made an impression on the governor and his family, because they admire greatly this relative of theirs, who plays a significant role in society. She is a beautiful woman and has sufficient presence of mind to know just how much a lady ought to let this show. She has a good, if not educated brain. She likes those intellectual pleasures one can enjoy without too much effort, which is why she prefers the company of knowledgeable, thinking people who are able to clothe her own contemplations in an inspiring form. Her open-mindedness would be more estimable if she were risking anything with such a stance, but this wholly apolitical woman has the freedom to colour her social drabness with naive candour.

Her son, Peter, who has been in love with Katya since childhood and persists with his feelings, unperturbed by the fact that she fails to reciprocate his affection, has, on the surface, something about him of the good-natured giant from fairy tales. With a sort of childish humanity and simplistic sense of justice, he counts himself as a member of the revolutionary party. Although he is envious, because his cousin prefers me to him, he welcomed me, if not with total warmth, then at least with a fair degree of tolerance. Together with some other students, who like him have substantial means at their disposal, he has arranged private courses to allow them to continue their medical studies. Naturally, this is also a protest against the government restrictions. Katya wishes to participate in these courses, which will begin in the near future. The governor knew nothing about this till now; he is deeply shocked that such an initiative should have come from his nephew, and even more so that Katya should wish to take part. As he finds it difficult to be strict with Katya, he began by reproaching his sister, Tatyana, for not preventing her son from undertaking such bothersome, quixotic activities. Smiling like a child, she said her son was now grown up; she could not keep him tied to her apron strings for ever. In any case, Yegor should not bother her with political matters, from which, after all, women were excluded. Why should she form a judgement, the implications of which she could not put into practice? Particularly in society, discussions of political affairs ought to be forbidden, for they immediately turned even the cleverest man into a narrow-minded, bristly ass. Besides, she added, she regarded it absolutely permissible for a young man to take all necessary steps for obtaining the education for his profession if the state deprived him of the means of doing so. After all, a man must have an occupation at some point.

Katya chimed in, insisting how outrageous it was to close the colleges. What was the government thinking of? The universities were independent bodies;

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