Feodor Dostoievsky (1821 1881)
Dostoievsky was born in 1821. When still a young man he was arrested on a trivial charge and sent to Siberia. Out of his experiences there he wrote a characteristic volume on prison life, in which the spirit of the man, his mysticism and his philosophy, are clearly revealed. Throughout his long novels he strove to show the suffering of his people and preached a philosophy of Christianity which has coloured Russian literature since his day. Many of Dostoievsky`s stories are very long, but The Christmas Tree and the Wedding, one of the finest, comes within the limits of this book.
The Christmas Tree and the Wedding
You about a Christmas tree. The wedding was superb. I liked it immensely. But the other incident was still finer. I don`t know why it is that the sight of the wedding reminded me of the Christmas tree. This is the way it happened:
Exactly five years ago, on New Year`s Eve, I was invited to a children`s ball by a man high up in the business world, who had his connections, his circle of acquaintances, and his intrigues. So it seemed as though the children`s ball was merely a pretext for the parents to come together and discuss matters of interest to themselves, quite innocently and casually.
I was an outsider, and, as I had no special matters to air, I was able to spend the evening independently of the others. There was another gentleman present who like myself had just stumbled upon this affair of domestic bliss. He was the first to attract my attention. His appearance was not that of a man of birth or high family. He was tall, rather thin, very serious, and well dressed. Apparently he had no heart for the family festivities.
The instant he went off into a corner by himself the smile disappeared from his face, and his thick dark brows knitted into a frown. He knew no one except the host and showed every sign of being bored to death, though bravely sustaining the role of thorough enjoyment to the end. Later I learned that he was a provincial, had come to the capital on some important, brain-racking business, had brought a letter of recommendation to our host, and our host had taken him under his protection, not at all con amore. It was merely out of politeness that he had invited him to the children`s ball.
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