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Beauty and The Beast-Part6_Bayard Taylor(1825-1878)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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Saint John the Hunter must have been on guard over Russia that day.

The great bear was tracked, and after a long and exciting chase,



fell by the hand of Prince Alexis himself. Halt was made in an

open space in the forest, logs were piled together and kindled on



the snow, and just at the right moment (which no one knew better

than Sasha) the cask of vodki rolled into its place. When the



serfs saw the Prince mount astride of it, with his ladle in his

hand, they burst into shouts of extravagant joy. "Slava Bogu!"



(Glory be to God!) came fervently from the bearded lips of those

hard, rough, obedient children. They tumbled headlong over each



other, in their efforts to drink first from the ladle, to clasp the

knees or kiss the hands of the restored Prince. And the dawn was



glimmering against the eastern stars, as they took the way to the

castle, making the ghostly fir-woods ring with shout and choric



song.

Nevertheless, Prince Alexis was no longer the same man; his giant



strength and furiousappetite were broken. He was ever ready, as

formerly, for the chase and the drinking-bout; but his jovial mood



no longer grew into a crisis which only utter physical exhaustion

or the stupidity of drunkenness could overcome. Frequently,



while astride the cask, his shouts of laughter would suddenly

cease, the ladle would drop from his hand, and he would sit



motionless, staring into vacancy for five minutes at a time. Then

the serfs, too, became silent, and stood still, awaiting a change.



The gloomy mood passed away as suddenly. He would start, look

about him, and say, in a melancholy voice,--



"Have I frightened you, my children? It seems to me that I am

getting old. Ah, yes, we must all die, one day. But we need not



think about it, until the time comes. The Devil take me for

putting it into my head! Why, how now? can't you sing, children?"



Then he would strike up some ditty which they all knew: a hundred

voices joined in the strain, and the hills once more rang with



revelry.

Since the day when the Princess Martha was buried, the Prince had



not again spoken of marriage. No one, of course, dared to mention

the name of Boris in his presence.



IX.

The young Prince had, in reality, become the happy husband of



Helena. His love for her had grown to be a shaping and organizing

influence, without which his nature would have fallen into its



former confusion. If a thought of a less honorable relation had

ever entered his mind, it was presently banished by the respect



which a nearer intimacy inspired; and thus Helena, magnetically

drawing to the surface only his best qualities, loved,



unconsciously to herself, her own work in him. Ere long, she saw

that she might balance the advantages he had conferred upon her in



their marriage by the support and encouragement which she was able

to impart to him; and this knowledge, removing all painful sense of



obligation, made her both happy and secure in her new position.

The Princess Martha, under some presentiment of her approaching



death, had intrusted one of the ladies in attendance upon her with

the secret of her son's marriage, in addition to a tender maternal



message, and such presents of money and jewelry as she was able to

procure without her husband's knowledge. These presents reached



Boris very opportunely; for, although Helena developed a wonderful

skill in regulating his expenses, the spring was approaching, and



even the limitedcircle of society in which they had moved during

the gay season had made heavy demands upon his purse. He became



restless and abstracted, until his wife, who by this time clearly

comprehended the nature of his trouble, had secretlydecided how it



must be met.

The slender hoard of the old music-master, with a few thousand



rubles from Prince Boris, sufficed for his modest maintenance.

Being now free from the charge of his daughter, he determined to



visit Germany, and, if circumstances were propitious, to secure a

refuge for his old age in his favorite Leipsic. Summer was at



hand, and the court had already removed to Oranienbaum. In a few




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