Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow Irina Reyfman (snow like ashes .TXT) 📖

term and always. The one, when it has run its course, terminates its ferocity; the other only begins where the former leaves off and cannot change except perhaps only by the collapse, always dangerous, of its entire internal structure.

But nothing is more damaging than having the objects of slavery always in view. On the one hand, arrogance is born; on the other, timidity. Between them there can be no connection except force. Concentrated within a small sphere, it ponderously exercises its oppressive power everywhere. The champions of slavery are not only those who hold power and a weapon in their hands, its most fanatical advocates can be those imprisoned in chains. It seems that the spirit of freedom becomes so atrophied in slaves that not only do they not wish to see their own suffering end, but they find it unbearable to watch others being free. They have come to love their chains if it is possible for a human being to love his destruction. I believe we see in them the serpent that brought about the fall of the first man.—Examples of power wielding are contagious. We our very selves, we must admit, armed with the cudgel of bravery and of nature to attack the hydra-headed monster that sucks dry the communal nourishment prepared for the sustenance of citizens—we have, perhaps, succumbed to the temptation to act tyrannically, and although our intentions have always been good and directed toward the general welfare, our imperious conduct cannot be justified by its usefulness. And we now implore you thus to pardon our unpremeditated audacity.

But do you know, our dear fellow citizens, how great the destruction is before us, how great the peril in which we find ourselves? All the coarsened sentiments of a slave, which even by a wave of the happy wand of freedom are not moved to action, will only intensify and lead this internal sensation to fulfilment. A stream, blocked in its course, becomes stronger the harder the resistance it finds. Once it breaks through the dam, nothing can oppose its overflow. Such are our brothers held in chains. They await chance and the moment. The bell sounds. And then ferocious destructiveness rapidly overflows. We will see ourselves surrounded by the sword and torch. Death and fire will be recompense for our harshness and inhumanity. And the slower and more stubborn we will have been in the dissolving of their bonds, the swifter they will be in their revenge. Remember for yourself recent history. Enticement incited even slaves to such violence directed at the destruction of their masters! Lured by some rude pretender, they streamed in his wake and want nothing more than to free themselves from the yoke of their overlords; in their ignorance they devised no better means for this than their murder.72 They spared neither sex nor age. They sought more the joy of revenge than the usefulness of the shaking off their shackles.

This is what awaits us, this is what we must expect. Destruction gradually mounts and danger already hovers over our heads. Having already raised its scythe, time waits for the convenient moment, and the first flatterer or lover of mankind, arisen to stir the unfortunate, will hasten his blow. Beware.

But if the horror of destruction and the threat of the forfeiture of property can move the weak among you, can we not be so brave as to suppress our prejudices and combat our greed; can we not free our brethren from the chains of slavery and resurrect the natural equality of all? Understanding the disposition of your hearts, I know that it is more pleasant for them to be reassured by arguments found in the human heart rather than in the enumeration of egotistical reasons and even less still in fear of danger. Go, my dear ones, go into the homes of your brethren, announce to them the change to their fate. Announce it with heartfelt feeling: “Moved to pity by your fate, empathizing with our peers, fathoming your equality with us, and convinced by the common good, we have come to kiss our brethren. We have forsaken the proud distinction that has for so long separated us from you, we have forgotten the inequality that used to exist between us. Now let us rejoice in our victory and this day on which the chains of our fellow dear citizens have crumbled, may this day remain as the most famous in our chronicles. Forget our former crime against you and let us love one another sincerely.”

This will be your speech, this is already audible in the inner chambers of your hearts. Do not tarry, my beloved ones. Time flies, our days pass in inaction. Let us not finish our life having only arrived at a good idea and unable to implement it. May posterity not take the opportunity to remove our laurels and say of us disdainfully: they had their moment.

This is what I read on the mud-spattered paper that I picked up in front of the postal station when I got down from my carriage.

Having entered the station, I asked which travelers had arrived shortly before me. “The last of the travelers passing through,” said the station master, “was a man of about fifty. He was traveling on a post-horse voucher to Petersburg. He left behind here a bundle of papers that I shall now send after him.” I asked the postman to give me these papers to look at and from unbundling them learned that the paper I found belonged to that set. I persuaded him to hand over these papers by giving him a gratuity. On looking through them, I learned that they belonged to my true friend, and for that reason did not consider their acquisition to be theft. As of now, he has not asked them back from me and has left me to do as I wished with them.

Meanwhile as they were harnessing afresh my horses, I grew curious as I examined the papers that I