{"product_id":"2940014487146","title":"Annouchka","description":"I.\u003cbr\u003eI was then five-and-twenty,--that was a sufficient indication that I\u003cbr\u003ehad\u003cbr\u003ea past, said he, beginning. My own master for some little time, I\u003cbr\u003eresolved to travel,--not to complete my education, as they said at the\u003cbr\u003etime, but to see the world. I was young, light-hearted, in good\u003cbr\u003ehealth,\u003cbr\u003efree from every care, with a well-filled purse; I gave no thought to\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003efuture; I indulged every whim,--in fact, I lived like a flower that\u003cbr\u003eexpands in the sun. The idea that man is but a plant, and that its\u003cbr\u003eflower can only live a short time, had not yet occurred to me.\u003cbr\u003e\"Youth,\"\u003cbr\u003esays a Russian proverb, \"lives upon gilded gingerbread, which it\u003cbr\u003eingenuously takes for bread; then one day even bread fails.\" But of\u003cbr\u003ewhat\u003cbr\u003ePage 1\u003cbr\u003eAnnouchka\u003cbr\u003euse are these digressions?\u003cbr\u003eI travelled from place to place, with no definite plan, stopping where\u003cbr\u003eit suited me, moving at once when I felt the need of seeing new\u003cbr\u003efaces,--nothing more.\u003cbr\u003eThe men alone interested me; I abhorred remarkable monuments,\u003cbr\u003ecelebrated\u003cbr\u003ecollections, and _ciceroni_; the _Galerie Verte_ of Dresden almost\u003cbr\u003edrove\u003cbr\u003eme mad. As to nature, it gave me some very keen impressions, but I did\u003cbr\u003enot care the least in the world for what is commonly called its\u003cbr\u003ebeauties,--mountains, rocks, waterfalls, which strike me with\u003cbr\u003eastonishment; I did not care to have nature impose itself upon my\u003cbr\u003eadmiration or trouble my mind. In return, I could not live without my\u003cbr\u003efellow-creatures; their talk, their laughter, their movements, were\u003cbr\u003efor\u003cbr\u003eme objects of prime necessity. I felt superlatively well in the midst\u003cbr\u003eof\u003cbr\u003ea crowd; I followed gayly the surging of men, shouting when they\u003cbr\u003eshouted, and observing them attentively whilst they abandoned\u003cbr\u003ethemselves\u003cbr\u003eto enthusiasm. Yes, the study of men was, indeed, my delight; and yet\u003cbr\u003eis\u003cbr\u003estudy the word? I contemplated them, enjoying it with an intense\u003cbr\u003ecuriosity.\u003cbr\u003eBut again I digress.\u003cbr\u003eSo, then, about five-and-twenty years ago I was living in the small\u003cbr\u003etown\u003cbr\u003eof Z., upon the banks of the Rhine. I sought isolation: a young widow,\u003cbr\u003ewhose acquaintance I made at a watering-place, had just inflicted upon\u003cbr\u003eme a cruel blow. Pretty and intelligent, she coquetted with every one,\u003cbr\u003eand with me in particular; then, after some encouragement, she jilted\u003cbr\u003eme\u003cbr\u003efor a Bavarian lieutenant with rosy cheeks.\u003cbr\u003eThis blow, to tell the truth, was not very serious, but I found it\u003cbr\u003eadvisable to give myself up for a time to regrets and solitude, and I\u003cbr\u003eestablished myself at Z.\u003cbr\u003eIt was not alone the situation of this small town, at the foot of two\u003cbr\u003elofty mountains, that had impressed me; it had enticed me by its old\u003cbr\u003ewalls, flanked with towers, its venerable lindens, the steep bridge,\u003cbr\u003ewhich crossed its limpid river, and chiefly by its good wine.\u003cbr\u003eAfter sundown (it was then the month of June), charming little German\u003cbr\u003egirls, with yellow hair, came down for a walk in its narrow streets,\u003cbr\u003egreeting the strangers whom they met with a gracious _guten abend_.\u003cbr\u003eSome\u003cbr\u003eof them did not return until the moon had risen from behind the peaked\u003cbr\u003ePage 2\u003cbr\u003eAnnouchka\u003cbr\u003eroofs of the old houses, making the little stones with which the\u003cbr\u003estreets\u003cbr\u003ewere paved scintillate by the clearness of its motionless rays. I\u003cbr\u003eloved\u003cbr\u003ethen to wander in the town of Z.; the moon seemed to regard it\u003cbr\u003esteadfastly from the depths of a clear sky, and the town felt this\u003cbr\u003elook\u003cbr\u003eand remained quiet and on the alert, inundated by the clearness that\u003cbr\u003efilled the soul with a trouble mingled with sweetness. The cock at the\u003cbr\u003etop of the gothic steeple shone with a pale reflection of gold; a\u003cbr\u003esimilar reflection crept in little golden serpents over the dark\u003cbr\u003edepths\u003cbr\u003eof the river; at narrow windows, under slated roofs, shone the\u003cbr\u003esolitary\u003cbr\u003elights. The German is economical! The vine reared its festoons\u003cbr\u003emysteriously over the walls. At times a rustling could be heard in the\u003cbr\u003eobscurity near an old empty well upon the public square of the town;\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003ewatchman replied to it by a prolonged whistle, and a faithful dog\u003cbr\u003euttered a deep growl. Then a breath of air came so softly caressing\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003eface, the lindens exhaled a perfume so sweet, that involuntarily the\u003cbr\u003echest dilated more and more, and the name of Marguerite, half in\u003cbr\u003eexclamation, half in appeal, arose to the lips.\u003cbr\u003eThe town of Z. is about a mile from the Rhine. I often went to admire\u003cbr\u003ethat magnificent river, and I whiled away entire hours at the foot of\u003cbr\u003ea\u003cbr\u003egigantic ash, dwelling, in my reveries, upon many things, among\u003cbr\u003eothers,\u003cbr\u003ebut not without a certain effort, upon the image of my faithless\u003cbr\u003ewidow.\u003cbr\u003eA little madonna, with almost infantine features, whose breast showed\u003cbr\u003ea\u003cbr\u003ered heart, pierced with swords, looked at me in a melancholy way from\u003cbr\u003ethe midst of the branches. Upon the opposite ...","brand":"All classic book warehouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47176543207664,"sku":"2940014487146","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014487146_p0.jpg?v=1763609562","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014487146","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}