|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 27
At this very moment, when I hold the pen in my hand, I am ready to lay
it down, so great is the poverty of my observations.
My parents will soon leave. The princess palatiness has honored me with
a visit; she remarked that my carriage was much improved. My masters are
all satisfied with the closeness of my application. Madame is especially
kind to me, and my companions are polite and friendly.... But is all
this worth the trouble of writing?
I sometimes fancy that I am not really in Warsaw, so ignorant am I with
regard to all political events. I have seen neither the king nor the
royal family. At Maleszow we at least hear the news, and occasionally
see Borne distinguished men.
The Duke of Courland is absent, and will not return for some time.
Sunday, _June 9th_
If I were to live forever in this school, I should give up writing in my
journal, and it really serves one very valuable purpose; for I find I am
in great danger of forgetting Polish. With the exception of the letters
I write to my parents, and the few words I say to my maid, I always
write and speak French.
I progress in all my studies, and if I am sometimes melancholy, at least
my time is not lost.
The princess palatiness has again been to see me. A month had passed
since her last visit; she found me considerably taller, and was kind
enough to praise my manners and bearing.
I am the tallest of all our boarders, and it really pleases me
exceedingly to find that my waist is not quite a half yard round.
Summer has come, the fine weather has returned, but I cannot go out--a
privation which is really quite vexatious. Ah! how I wish I were a
little bird! I would fly away, far away--and then I would return to my
cage.
But my days and my nights must all be spent in this dull house and in
this ugly street; I believe that Cooper street (ulika Bednarska) is the
darkest, dingiest, and dirtiest street in Warsaw. God willing, next year
I shall be no longer here.
Friday, _July 28th_.
Labor has at least the good quality of making the time pass more
rapidly; our days vanish one by one, without distractions or news from
without.
I just now felt a desire to write in my journal, and when I consulted
the almanac to find out the day of the month, I was quite surprised to
find that seven whole weeks had passed since I had written a single word
in my poor diary.
This day certainly deserves to be noted down, for never since I was born
did such a thing happen to me as I experienced this morning. I received
a letter by the mail, and the world is no longer ignorant that the
Countess Frances Krasinska is now living in Warsaw! I danced with joy
when I saw my letter, my own letter! It came from her ladyship, the
Starostine Swidzinska; I shall keep it as a precious and delightful
remembrance. My sister writes to me that she is quite well, and happy
beyond all I can imagine; she was kind enough to send me four gold
ducats, which she has saved from her own private purse.
For the first time in my life I have money to spend as I will, which
gives me great pleasure. With the money came the desire to spend, and a
variety of projects; it seemed to me as if I could buy the whole city.
Thanks to my parents, I need nothing, and I will buy nothing for myself;
but I would have liked to leave a pretty remembrance to each of my
companions, a gold ring, for example; but madame quite distressed me by
telling me that my four ducats would only buy four rings-a real
affliction to me, who had hope to purchase, besides the rings, a blonde
mantle for Madame Strumle herself.... All my projects are overturned; I
have learned that the mantle will cost at least a hundred ducats, and
have thence determined to give one ducat to the parish church, to have a
mass said in the chapel of Jesus to draw the blessing of Heaven upon the
affairs now occupying my parents, and for the continuation of the
happiness of her ladyship the starostine. I will have another ducat
changed into small coin, to be distributed among all the servants in the
house; there will still remain two ducats, which will buy a charming
collation for my companions on Sunday next. We will have coffee, an
excellent beverage, which we never see here, cakes, and fruit. Madame
Strumle willingly consented to this last project.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|