9.05.13. Sarapul.
It's a pity you didn't get my letter in the autumn, Kostya: we could have texted then because I missed you so much in the village without letters. Now I'm back in Sarapul, the exams are over early, and it's been a week since I've been wandering around, except for the painting I was doing, by the way, in the village.
In the autumn I was going to the course in St. Petersburg. So far, I decided to enroll in the Bestuzhevskie department of mathematics. And then, maybe, I will go to the architectural, that is, the last one I just want. But I'm afraid of wasting my time because I don't know anything about architectural courses. I'm guessing a lot for the future, is it destined to be done?
The purpose of your mug is very nice to me. I wish I could be a member! I wrote to you that I wanted to found a club here, but I failed. The main obstacle was the domestic circumstances. Dad and I have very different views. I was also very distrustful in the gymnasium. (Here the gymnasts are extremely underdeveloped.) And when I gained their trust, it was too late. Then I decided to devote this year to draw. It's a pity that I have to learn it in small pieces. I think I have abilities and a love of art in general. What kind of art do you prefer?
I do not regret the time I spent in the countryside: I have gained experience and knowledge of the countryside, though not much. I didn't have the slightest idea about it before.
I read fairly, although the selection of books was bad, or rather, it wasn't there, because the city was far away and the books were hard to get. Still, we managed to get "Notes of the revolutionary" Kropotkin, "Portrait of Dorian Gray" by Wilde and Amphitheatrov, who, in my opinion, interestingly analyzed the situation of the ancient slave. Have you read it? If - yes, write to me with your conclusion.
25.08.1913. Kazan Railway.
Well, Kostya, I must confess that you have not only surprised me, you have amazed me. After all, reading your rare, restrained, not to say - cold, letters, I was wondering - where did that kind, talkative student who danced with me all evening and tried to guess my every wish go? When you showed me the galley where Catherine the Second traveled along the Volga River, I thought she would be jealous of the reception you gave me in Kazan. It's a joke, Kostya, but frankly, I was deeply moved when it turned out that you canceled all the lessons and university and gave me a wonderful day from morning to night.
I remember Zilante's monastery when we climbed the hill. You told me that one of the caves is said to have been home to Zilante's winged snake, and you made me laugh so funny that I almost fell to the ground. And this silver bucket in the cathedral with the inscription that you declared your life program: "We will have fun and love and enjoy ourselves forever and forever will not be deprived of it", - you see, I remember it by heart!
I liked your friend Lavrov very much, I even imagined that one could fall in love with such a person. Does he judge you so strictly? In his jokes, I thought he was serious.
In short, thank you, thank you, dear Kostik! As soon as I arrive in St. Petersburg, I will write to you about my impressions, how I got settled, that on the courses and everything in general, and will look forward to hearing from you. I cared about your friendship before, and now it's even more expensive. It seems to me that in my life there was no more beautiful day.
Lisa.
Kazan. 1913
The day that Lisa spent in Kazan was imbued with the feeling of the end of one life, a boarding school, a gymnasium, and the beginning of another, independent, which was still ahead of her.
Lisa had been on dates before. She sneaked out of the boarding house on Kama's promenade, where a gymnast waited for her in the evenings, whom she thought she was in love with. In Sarapul, she was cared for by a lieutenant, who brought her letters and money from her father, who served in the infantry regiment, who stood in the Wotkin factory. But coming to Kazan was not just a date, but an event, which she had been waiting for a long time and looking forward to. The event was also the secret of the date: none of the relatives knew that on the way to St. Petersburg she was going to stay in Kazan.
At the wharf Lisa did not immediately recognize Karnovsky: after the ball, she had another impression of him, and in the photo, which he sent in the winter - some third. Now everything is defined.
He was blond, higher than the average height, perhaps that and beautiful in his new hobo and ironed satin shirt. He wore a light blue eyeglasses, as Lisa thought, because it was fashionable to wear eyeglasses. He had changed in two years, in Perm he was some kind of white and rouge - "like an angel on a Christmas tree", remembering him, thought Lisa. But in the turn of wide shoulders, in beautiful white teeth, in the firm man's confidence, with which he bowed and spoke smiling, there was nothing angelic, and there was something that made us think about him constantly and look forward to his letters.
This did not mean (as Lisa thought) that she was in love. They had interesting and serious correspondence, they were friends, and the feeling that she had a friend, a math student, smart, well-read, and apparently cherished by their relationship, raised her in her own eyes.
The continuation should be...