Librería Samer Atenea
Kálamo Books
Librería Elías (Asturias)
Librería Kolima (Madrid)
Librería Proteo (Málaga)
MASLOVA MAKES NEW FRIENDS.The gang of prisoners to which Maslova belonged had walked about threethousand three hundred miles. She and the other prisoners condemnedfor criminal offences had travelled by rail and by steamboats as far as thetown of Perm. It was only here that Nekhludoff succeeded in obtaining apermission for her to continue the journey with the political prisoners, asVera Doukhova, who was among the latter, advised him to do. The journeyup to Perm had been very trying to Maslova both morally and physically.Physically, because of the overcrowding, the dirt, and the disgusting vermin,which gave her no peace; morally, because of the equally disgusting men.The men, like the vermin, though they changed at each halting-place, wereeverywhere alike importunate; they swarmed round her, giving her no rest.Among the women prisoners and the men prisoners, the jailers and the con-voy soldiers, the habit of a kind of cynical debauch was so firmly establishedthat unless a female prisoner was willing to utilise her position as a womanshe had to be constantly on the watch. To be continually in a state of fearand strife was very trying. And Maslova was specially exposed to attacks, herappearance being attractive and her past known to every one. The decided3 LEO TOLSTOY, GRAFresistance with which she now met the importunity of all the men seemedoffensive to them, and awakened another feeling, that of ill-will towardsher. But her position was made a little easier by her intimacy with Theo-dosia, and Theodosia’s husband, who, having heard of the molestations hiswife was subject to, had in Nijni been arrested at his own desire in order tobe able to protect her, and was now travelling with the gang as a prisoner.Maslova’s position became much more bearable when she was allowed tojoin the political prisoners, who were provided with better accomodations,better food, and were treated less rudely, but besides all this Maslova’s con-dition was much improved because among the political prisoners she wasno longer molested by the men, and could live without being reminded ofthat past which she was so anxious to forget. But the chief advantage of thechange lay in the fact that she made the acquaintance of several persons whoexercised a decided and most beneficial influence on her character. Maslovawas allowed to stop with the political prisoners at all the halting-places, butbeing a strong and healthy woman she was obliged to march with the crim-inal convicts. In this way she walked all the way from Tomsk. Two politicalprisoners also marched with the gang, Mary Pavlovna Schetinina, the girlwith the hazel eyes who had attracted Nekhludoff’s attention when he hadbeen to visit Doukhova in prison, and one Simonson, who was on his wayto the Takoutsk district, the dishevelled dark young fellow with deep-lyingeyes, whom Nekhludoff had also noticed during that visit. Mary Pavlovnawas walking because she had given her place on the cart to one of the crim-inals, a woman expecting to be confined, and Simonson because he did notdare to avail himself of a class privilege.These three always started early in the morning before the rest of the politicalprisoners, who followed later on in the carts.They were ready to start in this way just outside a large town, where a newconvoy officer had taken charge of the gang.It was early on a dull September morning. It kept raining and snowing alter-nately, and the cold wind blew in sudden gusts. The whole
