MAXIM GORKY

H I S L I F E AN D W R IT IN G S

E .
J . D I L L ON

LON D ON
I SBI STER AN D C O M PA NY L I MIT ED
1 5 6°
1 6 TAV I S TO CK S TR EE T C OV E N T GARD EN

19 0 2
 V L AD I M I R

C O N S T AN T I N E DILLO N
T H E FO L L O W I N G P AGE S

AFFE C TI O N ATE LY

DED IC ATED
 C O N TE N TS

C H AP .

I . H Is UP -
B RI I N G NG

GO R KY I N TH E D E P TH S
GO R KY E ME RG E S

S O ME E X T R I N S I C C AU E S O F H s POPU L AR I T
S I Y

GO R S E TT L E S D OW N
KY

TH B AR E OO T B R I GAD E
E F

T H O VE R T R AM
E -
P

VI I I . H E AR T A HE -
C

T H E C R E AT R E S W H O ON C E W E R E
U

L OVE OF LI B E RT Y

G o R KY’ s ART

R SS I ON I S M
I MP E -

XI I I . HIS E TH S IC

BI I OG RA H I C AL
BL P
 C H APT E R I
H IS U P B R IN G IN G
-

I have co m e fro m b el o w , fro m the

netherm ost gro un d o f li fe , where i s
n ou g g
h t b u t slu d e an d m urk I
am the t ruthfu l vo i ce o f life , th e harsh
c ry o f tho se w h o stil l bi d e
a d o wn
the re , an d w ho have l e t m e co m e up

to bear witn ess to the ir sufferin g .

”

G OR K Y .

RI C H though R ussia has been in men O f

obscure birth w ho slowly and painfully worked
their way upwards into the higher regions Of
art literature science and diplomacy none
, , , ,

has ever yet so rapidly attained such W ide

spread fame as the writer who calls himself
Maxim Gorky TO many Of his critics the
.

rocket like swiftness o f his ascent still seems

-

mysterio u s the vogue of his productions being

,

so strikingly disproportionate t o the intrinsic

worth O f his achievements but it can hardly

b e doubte d that his popularity as a writer as ,
 M AX I M G O R KY
well as his artistic power and weakness and ,

even the trend O f his philosophic teaching are ,

largely due to the romance Of his life t o his ,

early u p bringing his nomadic habits and the

-

, ,

desperate w a r which from his tender years

onwards he was forced t o wage with cold and
hunger neglect and misery
,
.

Viewed from a certain angle O f vision his ,

life is as entertaining though by no means as

,

poetical as a fairy story the ups and downs

,

of his desperate struggle for mere existence ,

as contrasted W ith the pe rfect ease with which ,

o n emerging from the subterranean depths he ,

swept everything before him winning world ,

wide fame and taking the commanding

,

heights O f literature by storm have in truth , , ,

more o f bewildering mystery and o f palpitating

interest than the vicissitudes undergone by the
most heroic figure in the long procession o f
strong willed vagrants whom he has caused t o
-

de fi le before our eyes .

Probably in no country but R ussia is a

’
career like Gorky s conceivable Certainly .

nowhere else are the barriers of social life so

pliant and yielding to the pressure o f rugged ,

unpolished talent from below To the pariah .

who knocks in the na m e of art or science

the door is Opened W ide ; he w ho asks in the
2
 H I S U P B R I NGI NG
-

l anguage o f letters receives prompt admission ,

and almost everything in the nature Of litera

ture that gleams o r glitters in the slums o r
o n the steppes is assumed t o be genuine gold .

This humane trait springs from that feeling O f

fellowship and pity fo r the unfortunate and
down trodden which constitutes the woof of
-

the R ussian character N O sacrifices are .

grudged in order to smooth the road fo r the

beggar the outcast the criminal ; and if the
, ,

Gospel parables had originated in the country

O f D o st O I e ffs ky and Tu rgh e n ie ff Lazarus ,

’
himself when in Abraham s bosom would not
, ,

only have dipped the tip O f his fin ger in water

and cooled the tongue o f the tortured Dives ,

but would have dragged him bodily out o f the

abyss or else exchanged places with him for
a little W hile I n the popular imagination ,

misery and suffering whether they be the o u t

,

come Of misfortune o r misdoing are enwrapped ,

in a semi religious halo which entitles them to

-

some o f the pity an d a w e that are invariably

lavished upon the weak witted: Thus a -

pushing lad w ho in the intervals O f cattle

,

jobbing learned t o read and write and co m

,

posed plaintive songs which re fl e c t the soul

,

sadness Of the nati ve peasant w a s hailed with ,

j y
o by the greatest R ussian poets and raised ,
 M A X I M G O R KY
by his critics to the level O f a genius the so n
O f an illiterate cabman w ho b y dint O f hard
,

work w o n his academic degrees and took his

,

we ll merited place among the scholars of his

countr y received enthusiastic ovations from
,

all classes of his fellow citizens I n a word .

,

the greater the di ffi culties surmounted the

more cordial is the welcome extended and the ,

more flattering is the estimate O f the results

achieved . The question of the relation
between intrinsic merits and public rewards is
put Off to a later period and referred t o a dif
fe r e n t tribunal . N or is this touching tender
ness fo r the bruised reed and the smoking flax
exhibited only by the aspirant s fellow workers
’

in the domain O f letters S ociety itself dis

.

plays an amiable weakness fo r struggling

genius indulgently relaxing its strictest rules
,

and forgetting its secular prejudices in favour

of the rising m a n .

R egarded from this point o f view no ,

writer known t o R ussian literature not e x ,

c e t in h hardy fi sh e rm an s son Lomo’

p g t e ,

no ss o ff had stronger claims upon the con

,

sideration o f his countrymen than Ale x ei

Ma x im o v it ch Pe shko ff the ill starred child
,
-

Of an eccentric upholsterer O f the city O f

N is hn y N ovgorod H e w as ushered into
.
 HIS U P -
B R I NGI NG
the l ight O f day o n M arch 2 6 1 8 69 the year , ,

in which Le o Tolstoy gave to the worl d his

ce l ebrated novel “
Al
”
War and Peace
, .

though his parents were fairly well off at the

time o f his birth sorrow and suffering were
,

n one the l ess his portion l ong before he had

come t o the use o f reason What gifts and .

defects o f mind and heart he inherited from

his father and mother as a set Off to the bitter -

fate t o which forcedly o r voluntari l y they

, ,

earl y abandoned him it is impossible now t o

,

determine . T enderness or pity was ap

pare ntly n o part O f his equipment or O f theirs , .

The child s paternal grandfather had been

’

an Offi cer in the army but was degraded to ,

the ranks by Tsar N icholas I fo r crue l ty t o .

the soldiers under him deemed wanton in an ,

age which was n o t particularly squeamish in

t he matter O f harshness and he wou l d seem
later o n t o have continued to exercise in his
fami l y the odious quality for which he had no
l onger any scope among the troops Certain .

it is that his son finding life unbearable in

,

his company made five several attempts to

,

run away from home between his tenth and

seventeenth years Of the two ensuing efforts
.

the seventh better planned and more reso

,

l ut e ly carried o u t than the foregoing richly ,

 M A X I M G O RKY
deserved the success with which it was
crowned for the lad trudged o n foot from
,

T obolsk in Asia t o N ish n y N ovgorod in

E urope where after an Odyssey o f hardship
,

and adventures which would have damped

the spirit o r quenched the life O f the
average R ussian he found a haven Of rest
,

in the house O f an upholsterer who took ,

him into his service By dint o f hard work .

,

patience and dash he gradually bettered his ,

position until h e was appointed t o the post Of

manager o f a Navigation Company s o ffice ’

in Astrakhan where he died of the cholera

,

caught from his o w n son Gorky in 1 8 7 3 .

K ashirin the boy s grandfather o n his

’

,
’
mother s side equally quick witted and far
,
-

more lucky began life as a b u r /wk o r hauler

o n the Volga—one O f those human beasts O f
,

burden w ho like the Chinese coolies spend

, ,

all their strength in dragging heavy barges

up the river to the accompaniment of m elan
ch o l
y songs eating drinking sleeping and
, , ,

dying with almost as little enjoyment o f the

pleasures o f e x istence as an ox o r a horse .

But endowed with a strong will and a robust

,

body he worked his w a y up to better things

,
,

saved money bought several houses in the

,

city and finally became an unsuccessful

,

6
 H IS U P -
B R I NG I NG
candidate fo r the Presidency O f the Guild after ,

which he threw up all his other o ffices in dis

g u st H is pride in later life was equal to the
.

ambition o f his youth and when his daughter ,

’

Barbara s hand was sought in marriage by

the O bscure upholsterer Pe shko ff the o ld , ,

man gru ffl y refused to hear o f the project ,

whereupon the lovers taking the matter in ,

their o w n hands were united without his co n

,

sent A bigot a despot an oddity and a

.
, ,

s k in fl in t this curious type o f the self made

,
-

man w ho may have served his grandson as

,

a model for more than o n e o f his eccentric

heroes lost his reason at the age o f ninety
,

one and his life in the following year

,

The hard hearted o ld miser whom o n e

-

thinks o f as a sort o f Ma ya kin w as the

child s first and only guardian
’
Gorky .

w as but four years o ld when he lost his father

and his mother w ho soon afterwards married

,

again would fain shift the irksome burden t o

,

stronger shoulders than her o w n T he only .

relative of the family able and willing to take

charge of the infant being her o w n father the ,

guardianship was entrusted to him We .

know little of the li fe the boy led while

under the care o f this R ussian S crooge but it ,

”
On e o f the c hi ef ch aracters in Fo m a Gord yeeff .
 M AX I M G O RK Y

seems hardly too much t o assume that

house for the first time was
S he d on b rie f fl o wer o f yo u th
th e
The withe rin g k n o w le d ge o f t he grave .

R eligious to the extreme degree of bigotry ,

he taught the child to spell and read in the

psalter ; later on however he sent him to , ,

school But ill luck dogged young Pesh

.

koff s footsteps throughout the first twenty

’
?

five years o f his life and every scheme ,

devised during that time for his training o r

his well being w as thwarted by accident or
-

baffled by fate I t w as thus that at the age

.

of four he fell ill of the cholera which he ,

communicated to his father thereby l osing ,

his o n e mainstay in life Again in his .

,
’
grandfather s house after five months of
indifferent schooling he w a s l aid up with ,

the small po x and the tuition thus inter

-

ru p t e d w as never beg u n again Then his .

mothe r whose sensibility t o the ties o f blood

,

must have been deadened by se l f l ove or -

atrophied by nat u re died somewhat suddenly ,

of a galloping consumption Perhaps a .

greater misfortune befell him when his grand

father K ashirin w as soon afterwards literally
, ,

beggared and therefore n o longer able even ,

8
 HI S U P -
B R I NGI NG
had he been W i l ling t o take a helpful interest
,

in the welfare o f his wretched ward There .

was n o w only o n e among all his re l atives left

w ho entertained any feeling akin to affection

fo r the lonely child This w a s his grand

.

mother w ho is described as a kind hearted

,
-

selfless and truly religious o ld lady memories

, ,

o f whom may have floated throu h his brain

g
when he w as drawing the portrait o f
in whose caress there w as something n e w
t o him and w h o copiously fed his imagination
,

with O ld fairy tales H arshness o r indiffe r

.

ence marked the relations o f all the other

members o f the family t o the s uperfluous -

boy and distrust or dislike characterised his

,

a ttitude towards them .

They t o o therefore like his mother made

, , ,

haste t o get rid of the troublesome burden

and sent him at the tender age o f nine u n
, ,

tutored and illiterate t o earn his livelihood

,

b ehind the counter o f a boot store U n .

promising as this humble employment looked ,

he was n o t allowed to settle down even here .

I n the eighth week o f his service he severely

scalded his hands in boiling cabbage soup -

and was discharged by his master as useless ,

’
whereupon he went back to his grandfather s
Mayakin
'

A sist er of in Fo m a Go rd ye efi .

9
 M A X I M G O RK Y

house for treatment On his recovery a dis

.

tant relative a mechanical draughtsman

, ,

accepted the boy as apprentice but the ,

demon o f unrest had already taken posses

sion o f his soul and before a twelvemonth
,

had elapsed he ran away from the house ,

se v ering for good the slender ties that had

bound him to kith and kin H is next ex .

p e r ie n ce o f l ife w as acquired in the workshop

’

O f a painter o f images o r i con s w hich are

, ,

hung up in R ussian churches and in the bed

room Of every member o f the Orthodox com
munion throughout the E mpire But this .

work proved distasteful and his employer

uncongenial to the young vagabond who
prized his liberty above all things and after ,

a short and unsatisfactory probation he ran

away again Free once more a n d fearless
.
,

h e now had the wide world before him and ,

might strive t o shape his fortunes in accord

ance with his o w n c rude ideals And these .

were woven o f the wild and airy romance

which still captivates the nursery and
delights the lower classroom But Pesh
.

koff though crassly ignorant w as not

, ,

illiterate ; he had at first eagerly read

during his leisure moments such books as
were within his reach and it w a s his m isfo r
,

I O
 M A X I M G O R KY
of his father s life which was being kept
’

hidden from him I am a merchant re

.
“
,
’
marked I gnat severely but after a moment s ,

reflection he smiled good naturedly adding -

An d you are a little fool

”
“
.

H umdrum life w as henceforth an a b o m i

natio n t o him the tameness of everyday
men and women provoked his disgust love
of money of comfort o f aught but the phan
, ,

t a s t ic and the chimerical had no place in his

heart H e yearned fo r the sublime as it w as

.

reflected from the na i ve stories o f his favourite

authors in his undeveloped mind which w as ,

irremediably warped from the healthy bias o f

nature . H enceforth everything was made
subservient to this u nwholesome appetite for
the uncommon which gradually us u rped as
, ,

a standard the place o f the ordinary et hical

,

and ae sthetical criteria H uman happiness .

w as merged in freedom that freedom alike ,

from physical restraints and moral limitations

which the tiger enjoys in the j ungle a nd the
eagle among the clouds manhood in its
central perfection as it fi x ed itself in his
,
’
child s fancy then and appeared in his poet s
,
’

presentment in after years w as made up o f ,

massive muscularity supple strength his , ,

t r io n ic pose and keen readiness to be ro u sed

,

12
 —
H I S U P B R I NGI NG

to violent action whether t o champion the

highest instincts o f humanity o r t o down
tread them .

Meanwhile however body and soul had

, ,

to be somehow kept together and seeking , ,

after the ways and means the lad found a ,

conge nial employer in the person o f a retired

no n commissioned O fficer named S m oo r
y w ho
-

w as then serving as cook o n board o ne o f the

river steamers Personally sympathetic—

. for
he w as a giant in stature a S ampson in ,

strength and a Thersites in manners

,

S m o o ry w a s uncommonly well read for a -

man o f his humble position H is library .

consisted o f a trunk of the O dds and ends o f

poetry history fiction and theology jumbled
, ,

together without system o r idea This curious .

type of lettered cook conceiving a strong,

liking for his youthful turnspit took a keen ,

delight in spreading o u t before him these

intellectual treasures and in guiding him
,

through this labyrinthine literature N 0 o n e .

’
who has carefully read Gorky s own writings
would hesitate t o assume—what we know
from his autobiographical notes —that among
the books which made a lasting impress o n
the tender mind o f the b o y at that turni n g
point in his career were the works Of the
,

I 3
 M AX I M G O R KY

great Russian humorist Gogol too l itt l e ,

known in E ngland and o f the clever painter

,

of scenes of rustic life Gleb U spe n sky For

,
.

much o f what in his sketches is obvious l y due

to outward influences may be traced back to
the deep impressions made by those two
disparate authors .

Practical gardening constituted his next

occupation and his most signal fai l ure H is .

was in truth a nature that loved flowers and

fruits with something o f a sensuou s passion ,

and fe l t a warm poetic joy in all the creations

o f the prolific earth But o f the painstaking
.

patience and plodding industry indispensable

to o n e w ho would cultivate flowers plants and ,

trees there w as not a trace in his composi

,

tion This important fact having speedi l y

.

engraved itself o n his mind he shook the ,

garden mould o ff his feet and reso l ved to gird

his loins for a much nobler and more ambi
tious task The powerful impressions l eft by
.

his miscellaneous reading o n board the Vol ga

steamer stil l vibrating in his memory thre w
, ,

him into a curious and receptive mood of

mind in which that painful thirst for know
,

ledge that wistful yearning for beauty are so

,

O ften generated which mark a critical period

in the lives o f most young artists Whether .

14
 H IS U P B R I NGI NG
-

a lad of his strong individuality and impa

t ie nc e of restraints would o r could have yielded
t o the discipline o f school or university with ,

its indirectness o f aims and seemingly round

about methods is Open t o doubt I t is much
, .

more probable that a youth o f his rebellious

temper restless disposition and trenchant
,

manner would have yielded without a

struggle t o the ever present temptation there
-

t o raise the standard of revolt against the

authorities and assume towards the periodic

,

movements which inva riably end in the loss

o f liberty and the blasting of a promising

career the attitude o f a true crusader .

Anyhow Gorky having caught from the

,

cook s cabin o n the Volga steamer a glimpse

’

of the Promised Land w as filled with a con ,

su m in g desire to enter in H is thirst fo r

.

knowledge n o w maddening drove him away

, ,

from the sordid cares and the ever recurring -

failures which had hitherto wasted his

energies and damped his buoyancy to the ,

source of all learning whereat he might slake

’
it to his heart s content I t is characteristic .

o f the na i ve simplicity of the boy that at the

age o f fifteen he set o u t for t he u n iv e rsit y city

o f K azan — where L e o Tolstoy had frittered
away his time some thirty years before—in
I S
 M AX I M G O R KY

the comforting belief that know l edge like

salvation is gratuitously bestowed upon all
who sincerely desire to receive it On his .

arrival at K a zan however he was cruel l y

, ,

undeceived finding t o his disgust that like

, , , ,

all other boons of civilisation science is the ,

birthright O f a class and caviare to the general.

This w as perhaps o n e o f the most poignant
disillusions o f a life familiar with blasted
hopes and shattered ideals and must have ,

largely contributed t o implant in his breast

that hatred fo r the entire cultured class which
subsequent friendship with its most genial
representatives never wholly quenched .

Thrust back therefore into the dismal

, ,

depths from which he would emerge a cracknel ,

bakery in lieu o f a university w as the ne x t

stage in Gorky s life jou rney an d the expe ri
’
-

ence he there garnered in left a deep furrow

in his memory and a festering wound in his
T his he declares in his a u t o b io
”
heart.
,

“
graphical ske t ch w a s the hardest kind of
,

labour to which I have ever set my hands .

”

I n his sketch entitled T wenty six and -

l“
One ”
he lets the light of day shine into the
Cimmerian gloom of the stifling hole in which
h uma n b e ings are sweated to death fo r
Written in 18 99 .

16
 H IS U P -
B R I NG I NG
the enrichment o f their heartless fellows An .

impressive passage from the story just m e n

t io n e d will give an idea of the life led there

by the once enthusiastic youth whose pre

dominant passion w as light— physical and
mental
We were twenty six men —twenty s ix
.

-
-

living machines cooped up in a damp cellar ,

where from morning until evening we were

kneading dough and making cracknels and
biscuits T he windows of our cellar looked
.

o u t upon a pit dug in face o f them and lined ,

with bricks grown green from the damp ; the

sashes were railed round on the outside with
an iron net and the l ight o f the sun could n o t
,

filter in t o us through the panes of glass which

were coated with flour dust .

Our employer had barred up the windows

with iron grating in order t o put it o u t o f o u r
power to bestow a piece o f his bread upon
beggars o r upon those comrades o f o u r o w n
,

who when thrown o u t o f work might be

, ,

famishing Our employer usually addressed

.

us as rogues and set before us at the midday

,

meal putrescent tripe by way o f meat .

“
We were stifled and crushed living in this
stone b o x under the l o w heavy ceiling which , ,

was sta ined w ith smoke black and coated with

1 7 B
 M AX I M GO R KY

cobwebs We were weary and heart sick

.
-

within the thick walls which were dyed with

blotches O f dirt and mildew .We were
’
wont to rise at five o clock in the morning ,

’
before we had had a night s sleep and at six ,

we sat down stupid and listless at the table to

shape cracknels of the dough prepared for us
,

by o u r mates who had toiled while we were

sleeping And thus the livelong day from
.

early morning until ten at night we kept it up ,

some o f us seated at the table rolling o u t with

,

our hands the yielding dough and giving our

,

selves a shake from time to time lest numb

ness should come over us while others kneaded
,

the flour mixed with water And dismally

and dishearteningly through the hours of the
weary day bubbled the boiling water in the
kettle where the cracknels were being cooked
, ,
’
and the baker s shovel scraped shrilly across
the nether part of the oven as he threw the
slippery pieces o f boiled dough o n to the
heated bricks .

From dawn to dusk the firewood kept on

burning in a corner of the oven the red ,

glimmer o f its flickering flame dancing the

while o n the wall of the bakehouse as if silently
making fun o f us Like the misshapen head
.

o f a monster o f fairyland t h e h u ge oven stood

18
 M AX I M GO R KY

even the occasions o n which w e thus fel l fou l

o f each other were rare for o f what misdeed
can a man be guilty w h o is already half dead
—
,

w ho is turned ,
as it were t o stone
, whose
feelings are all crushed o u t of him by the
overwhelming weight o f wo rk S il en ce ,

however is terrible and harrowing only for

,

those w ho have already uttered all they had

t o say and have nothing left unexpressed ;

fo r people w ho have no t begun t o speak it is

simple and easy But from time to time w e
'

sang and this is h o w o u r chaunt began : in the

,

heat o f the work one of the men would heave

a sigh profound as that o f a jaded horse and ,

would then intone o n e o f those drawling

songs the air o f which plaintively caressi n g
, ,

somehow always lightens the load that lies

o n the soul o f the singer T hus o ne among
.

us would take to singing and the others would

,

listen at first in silence t o his solitary chaunt

which died gradually away stifled at last by
,

the massive roof o f the subterranean vault

like the taperi n g flame o f a little camp fire o n
the steppe o n a damp autumnal night when
the grey sk y hangs o v er the earth like a dome
o f lead . T hen another voice leaps forth to
mingle with that of the singer and the two ,

float softly and sadly in the stifling air o f our

20
 H I S U P B R I NG I NG -

narrow pen All at once several voices bear

.

aloft the melody which n o w sweeps onward

,

like a wave gain ing strength as it goes

, ,

l ouder still and even louder till it seems t o ,

burst asunder the dank dense walls o f o u r ,

stone prison .

Day after day in flour dust in dirt , ,

carried in by o u r feet from the yard in the ,

dense evi l smelling stifling vapours we kept

,
-

, ,

rolling out dough and making cracknels ,

moistening them with our sweat We loathed .

the very sight o f o u r handiwork turning ,

from it with nausea nor would w e ever eat ,

o f anything that left our han d s preferring t o ,

the cracknels coarse black bread .

Fo r this species of drudgery and humilia

tion the pay w a s just three roubles at that ,

time about five shillings a month N o won

der the iron entered into his soul causing a ,

festering wound which even the flight O f

,

years has been powerless t o cicatrise Those .

terrible experiences and the almost equ ally

,

horrib l e sufferings he endured at the salt

works should be generously taken into
,

account by critics and put in the balance

,
’
over against Gorky s rash diatribes against
society and its conventional morality .

2 1
 M AX I M GO R KY

True there is n o j ustification fo r a gospel

,

of class hatred more especially when the

-

class thus put under t he ban is co extensive -

with the great bulk of the human race But .

the ceaseless round of wearisome toil for

others gain the gradual crushing o f living
’

souls to dust in damp and stench and plague

polluted gloom the slow stifling o f healthy
,

desire the paralysis of all striving and the

,

final flickering o u t of human life which ,

awakened n o pity and attracted as little

attention as the wasti n g o f the guttering
candle in its socket were indeed calculated ,

to clothe the soul o f a living and thinking

but morally undisciplined man with the u n
quenchable fire o f hate That the writer .
,

therefore should give forth flame and smoke

,

instead of a steady glow o f heat if not a ,

welcome fact is at least capable of being

,

satisfactorily e x plained .

While Gorky w as thus toiling like a R oman

galley slave and under conditions not unlike
-

those which prevailed in pre Christian days -

which in the case of several o f his comrades

brought o n madness o r death another wilful , ,

energetic lad his junior by five years w as

, ,

learning the trade of cobbler in the same

city o f K azan Both were s te p children o f
.
-
 H IS U P -
B R I NGI NG
fortune units o f the grey masses whose
, ,

living and striving is thus summed up by o n e

o f Gorky s heroes Makar C hu d ra :
’

, T hey
are ever toiling F o r what ? N O o n e can
.

say Watch a man tilling the soil and the

.

thought must come t o you : there he is

crushing o u t his life forces with every drop ,

o f his sweat upon the earth And then he .

wil l lie down and sink into that same earth ,

and rot in it N ought will remain after him

.
,

he will reap nothing from his field and he

dies as he was born —
,

a fool The cobbler s

’
.

help w as named S halyapin and although his ,

life w as in many respects as chequere d as

that of the future novelist the tw o were no t ,

thrown together in K azan Five years later .

they were once more in one and the same

city this time Tifl is and many were the
, ,

changes which they had passed through in

that short span Gorky had become an arti
.

san in the railway workshop and employed ,

his rare leisure hours to j o t down materials

fo r his secretly cherished plan of writing
sketches and thus working his way into the
republic o f letters S ha lyap in had given up
.

shoemaking and was an obscure singer in

the orchestra o f the theatre H ere too .
, ,

their paths never intersected each oth e r .

2
3
 M AX I M G O R KY

When chance finally bro ught them together

a couple o f years later Gorky w a s being ,

acclaimed as the greatest living master of

Russian fiction while thousands of pleasure
,

seeking men and women were flocking to

the I mperial Theatre of Moscow t o hear the
prince O f R ussian singers and the K ean of
R ussian actors in the person o f the ex
cobbler S ha lyap in S ince then the t w o self
, .

made men both idols of the R ussian people

, ,

have become fast friends .

I t w as during this purgatory which he

endured in K azan that Gorky first came in
contact with the creatures w ho once were
“

”
men curious diseased natures most of them
, ,

out of whose cries o f pain and deeds of

despair he has since sought to weave a life
philosophy raising their longing fo r freedom
,

which at bottom often means only impunity

, ,

for past and licence fo r future misdeeds t o ,

the level o f an ideal fo r the W hole human race .

The types o f people with whom he now spent

his days sharing their hardships and dangers
, ,

may indeed awaken a pathetic interest but ,

will assuredly n o t arouse in the reader any

of that unstinted admiration which Gorky
displays for them in his powerful sketches
K o n o va lo ff and Creatures that once were
“

2
4
 H IS U P -
B R I NGI NG
Men . And yet even those outcasts are
sometimes idealised beyond measure their ,

l awl essness softened by touches which jar

with the keynote o f their individua l character ,

their vehement sentiments humanised by the

subt l e suggestion of generous impu l ses to
noble ends which reveal the impress of the
’
autho r s o w n temper and personality And .

’
yet Gorky s knowl edge o f these human
wrecks was both intimate and extensive ,

and the portraits which he draws o f them

when respecting the limitations o f l iterary
“
art as in the sketch entitled
, I n the
”
S teppe or
“
The Comrades
, are among ,

the best specimens o f his most finished

workmanship H o w extensive his acquaint
.

ance was with those lost sou l s may be in

ferred from the fact that he lived and suf
fe re d in their midst fo r n o t less than fifteen
year s .

The drudgery o f a baker s assistant was but

’

one of the many kinds o f slavery which he

experienced in K azan for he promptl y aban,

d one d that as soon as he had found work to do

in the E stuary loading and unloading barges
, ,

carrying burdens chopping o r sawing wood

, ,

and generally making himself useful And .

his chief pleasure consisted in reading the

2
5
 M AX I M GO R KY

books which chance acquaintance and well

intentioned benefactors bestowed u pon him .

The spiritual food which he took in this hap

hazard way was not O ften nutritive n o r always
harmless and Gorky still su ffers at times
,

from its pernicious after e ffects .

And thus while the fiercest passions were

burning in his breast he w as slowly qualify
,

ing t o become the voice of those forlorn slaves

whose lot was more pitiable than that o f the
beasts o f the field With n o human heart to
.

love o r be loved by n o home n o friends no

, , ,

goal and hardl y a dim hope he endured in

, ,

silence n o t indeed with the l istlessness of his

,

comrades w h o mouldered away in life but ,

with the stoutness of heart which with the ,

exception o f o ne moment o f utter despair ,

enabled him t o fight bravely to the bitter

end.

2 6
 M AX I M G O R KY

in a circus a coachman in a private ho u Se a

, ,

labourer and wanderer o n the sh ores of the

Caspian S e a but he has no enduring interest
,

among men no goal o n earth n o aim in life

, , ,

no hope beyond it When a fit o f sadness

comes over him he is ready to enter the
ever open door o f death and indeed does at
-

last thus cross unbidden t he myste rious

, ,

threshold to seek surcease o f sorrow S uch is .

the poignancy of this maddening melancholy ,

recurring at intervals that when it takes ,

possession o f him he shudders at the thought

of existence and tur n s instinctively to
suicide .

I feel it is utterly impossible fo r me t o go

o n l iving I t is as if I were the only man in
.

the wide world and besides me there were no

,

other living being And everything is loath

some to me then—everything that is An d l
.

am a burden t o myself and all people are ,

insupportable t o me I f they were all t o drop

.

’
down dead I shouldn t heave a sigh I t must
, .

be an illness I have ! I t w as that which

first made me tak e t o drink—I never drank
”
before .

T his creature w ho had once been a man

gives Alexis Pe shko ff many a curious glimpse
of the subterranean world and its ways .

2 8
 G O R KY IN THE D EP TH S

Y oung Alexis who is his assistant working

, ,

for five shillings a month talks to him frankly , ,

listens to his reminiscences reads to him dis , ,

cusses with him H aving put the dough into

.

the oven a greasy Old boo k is brought o u t

,

into the painful twili ght composed o f the ,

blended grey streaks of sunlight which stray

through the half choked windows and the red
-

fl ickering glare of the baker s fire

’
Gorky .

reads aloud to the eagerly listening man with

the great blue eyes reluctantly stopping now ,

and again t o pull o u t the baked cracknels

before they burn The next pause is given up
.

t o d iscu ss io n of the themes nearest their hearts

. .

’
K o n o v alo ff s views o n his o w n living and work
ing are peculiar fo r unlike those of most o f his
,

ilk they are free from the gall and bitterness

,

with which nearly all the utterances o f Gorky s ’

vagrants are abundantly flavoured H e avows .

that he is merely a private in the barefoot

brigade a drunkard a half crazy fellow w ho
, ,
-

s ighs and yearns fo r he knows n o t what H is .

sottish habits he attributes t o himself t o his ,

o w n diseased will and freely confesses that

,

he and his fellows are a race apart fo r whom

special legislation is a necessity very severe ,

la ws to root us out o f life altogether

On feast days—and the R ussian calendar
-
.

29
 M AX I M G O R KY

abounds in such—young Pe shko ff and his

chief would sally forth in the early morning ,

cross the river and saunter along towards the

green fields taking with them a bottle of
,

vodka bread perhaps some meat and at least

, ,

the inevitable book They would halt from

.

time t o time to watch the fl ight o f the bi rds ,

to sniff the scent o f the meadows and blossoms ,

to rest among vagrant shad o ws t o bathe in ,

the refreshing stillness T heir destination was

.

a high dilapidated building which w as nick

, ,
” “
named the glass factory For some reason
.

o r other this name was given t o an edifice

which stood in a field at some little distance

from the city I t w a s a stone house three
.
,

storeys high with a curved in roof shattered

,
-

sashes in the windows and cellars overflowing

,

throughout the summer with liquid evil ,

smelling filth G re e n ish gre y half ruined and

.
~
,

shrunk together as it were it stared from the

, ,

field at the city from o u t the dark orbits o f its

disfigured windows like a mutilated invalid ,

harshly dealt with by fate and flung beyond ,

the precincts o f the city woebegone and ,

dying Y ear after year when the river was

.

swollen this house w a s flooded with water but ,

although covered from roof t o foundations

with a green coating of mildew it stood there ,

30
 GO R KY IN TH E D E PT H S

unshaken protected by sluggish poo l s from

,

frequent visits o f the p ol ice I tse l f devoid of

.

a roof it stil l gave shelter t o various shady

,

and house l ess peopl e .

There w ere always numbers o f them

there : tattered hal f famished shrinking from
, ,

the l ight of day they lived in these ruins like

,

ow l s and K o n o va lo ff and myself were ever

,

welcome guests among them because each ,

o f us when setting o u t from the bakery took

a loaf of white bread and on the way bought

,

a measure of vodka and a whole trayful o f

’
hot liver l ights heart and tripe Fo r t w o
, , .

o r three roubles we prepared a very abundant

meal for the glass people as K o n o v aloff

‘
,
’

call ed them .

“
They repaid o u r hospitality with narra
t iv e s wherein tr u th—but horrible soul searing
—
-

truth was fantastically intermingl ed with

the most nai ve lying E ach story was u n .

folded before u s like a piece o f l ace in which

b l ack threads predominated—they constituted
the truth ; other threads there al so were o f
brighter co l ours—these were the lies This .

species o f lace swathed the brain and the

heart painfully compressing and strangling
,

both with their rude gallingly mott l ed de ,

sign.

3I
 M AX I M GO R KY

Pe shko ff s heart went o u t to those social

’

outcasts and rebels and he now fo r the first

,

time came under their full influence They .

were his mates his friends and su ffering w as

, ,

the link that bound them U se wont and .

, ,

solidarity o f interests quickened his sense of

sympathy with them and sharpened his power
o f understanding their semi articulate ques -

t io n in gs unutterable longings and ru d im e n

, ,

tary philosophies To him w ho had indeed

.

seen somewhat o f the seamy side of the world ,

but nothing yet o f the best it has t o give us ,

these were the only genuine realities o f the

race To their i nfluence he freely yielded
.

himself up contenting himself with correcting

,

their errors o f detail by his o w n poor standard ,

illumining with the stronger rays of his intel

lect the Chiaroscuro into which their feeble
light broke when striking obj ects that lay
beyond the circumference O f their narrow
circle . Their short pregnant remarks and
,

pithy proverbial sayings often little more ,

than cries o f dumb souls in pai n were fused ,

in the fire of his heart with his o w n broodings ,

and gradually crystallised into world wisdom

o f a kind which seemed t o him higher and

truer than all scientific philosophies The .

deliberate effort t o prove them to be this t oo

32
 G O R KY I N TH E D EPTH S

often tempts him to impart to their traits

the impress o f his o w n personality .

”
E very man he tells us w ho having
“
, ,

wrestled with life is overcome by it and ,

languishes in the ruthless captivity o f its mire ,

is more of a philosopher than S chopenhauer

himself because mere abstract speculation can
,

never be moulded into such finished and

plastic form as that wherein thought is shaped
’
which is pressed o u t o f a man s brain by suf
fe ring
. The knowledge of life possessed by
those people who had been flung overboard
struck me with its depth and I avidly drank ,

in their stories . I n sober truth Gorky

was reading into the vague words o f abnormal
men the thoughts o f his o w n seething brain .

Balm and solace he often sought and

always found under the vast sunlit o r star
studded sky . F o r he was endowed in a
rare degree with the delightful gift o f
being profoundly and almost physically
moved by the contemplation of beautiful
objects But his impressions like his capacity
.
,

for appreciation and enjoyment were marked ,

by depth rather than breadth and marred by

morbid idiosyncrasy The range of his
.

a st he t ic sense is uncommonly narrow and t o

some extent warped from its healthy bias .

33 C
 M AX I M G O R KY

Thus he feels attracted by vastness by sub ,

limity much more than by genuine beauty in

,

nature and by gigantic build and Titanic

,

strength rather than by just proportion in

men F o r moral beauty his appreciation is
.

at best lukewarm H ence the sea the

.
,

heavens and the st eppe are the three leading

,

motives of his landscapes ; huge dimensions

and supple strength o f mus cle the unvarying
traits o f his portraits o f heroic men Y e t a .

dainty sense of the aesthetic moved him even

in those days of want to correct complete , ,

t he scheme o f gree n blue and grey formed , ,

by the shrubs the fields the lakes and the

, , ,

sky by kindling a great blazing fire in the

, ,

freakish glare o f which he and his companion

would lie lazily for hours o n end reading and ,

disputing together S ometimes K o n o v alo ff

.

would exclaim : Maximus ! let us gaze up

”
at the sky !
Thereupon w e would lie o n the b road
of Ou r backs and l ook up at the light bl u e -

bottomless abyss above us At first we heard .

the rustling o f the foli age around us and the

pl ashing of the water in the lake we felt the ,

earth underneath u s and all the obj ects which

,

on every side were scattered about at t he

mo m ent T hen the azure heaven d rawi ng
.
,

34
 M AX I M G O R KY

of view o f the authorities suspicious

”
persons .

Distasteful as such adventures must have

been t hey were pleasant as compared with
,

t h e descent from the cheerful light of day into

the dank dingy fetid hole in which like the
, , ,

ancient R oman galley slaves he and his com -

rades worked w h ile thews and sine w s stood

the strain I t w as there that the shadow of
.

despair fell upon the soul of Pe shko ff and ,

death seemed the well earned rest from life

.
-

w hich if not speedily vouchsafed as a favour

might be taken as a right .

For the ferment produced by this powerful

contrast between the cheerful and the dismal
in nature was soon heightened by the more
painful d i fference between the intellectual
atmosphere of drunken bakers o r criminal
an d that
glass men of the enthusiastic
-

students into whose circles of self culture -

Pe s hko ff had n o w gained admission If .

R ussians as a people are idealists to whom ,

sentiment means infinitely more than mere

self interest Russian students as a class are
-

selfless young men boiling over with generous

impulses al most any o n e o f who m S chiller
,

might have chosen as a model for his Marquis

of Posa E nthusias m fo r libert y equality
.
, ,

36
 G O R KY IN TH E D EPT H S
justice and all the other abstract nouns wor
,

shipped by the contemporaries and country

men o f Cam ille Desmoulins thrive among
~

them as a matter of course and with it that ,

eager re adiness to o ffer up all that is n ear

and dear t o t h em on the altar o f pity and
altruism which since the days o f the Puritans
,

and o f the French R evolution has become

b u t a memory in Western E urope .

The contact of a crushed yet u n surre n

derin g spirit such as Gork y s with the ’

buoyancy generosity and hopefulness of the

,

academical y ouths t o whom all thi ngs seemed

,

possible and easy produced an effect like

,

that of flashes of d azzling l ightning in blackest

night it intensified the gloom that followed .

Thenceforward the abyss that sundered his

doing from his striving yawned larger than
before the hopes awakened by delightsome
symposia with enthusiasts w ho set traditio n s
and conventio n s at naught and judged people
,

and things o n their own merits were suc ,

cee d e d by periods of maddening despair .

After having demeaned himself like a king

w h o cares nought for badges n ames o r sym ,

bols but lives wholly from within with a co n

,

sc io u s n e s s o f endless potentiality and n eedin g ,

infinite space in which t o realise his schemes

-
,

37
 M AX I M G O R KY

he had to slink back to his dismal hole and

reco m mence work li ke a beast o f bu r den his ,

horizon bounde d by mildewed wal l s And .

moral torture was aggravated by physical

pain by hunger thirst hardship of every
, , ,

kind The fo ll owing sketc h entitl ed

. It,
“

”
H appened once in Autumn yie lds so many ,

autobiographical facts and gives such a

realistic picture o f the soul state o f the lad
-

at this critical conjuncture and fo r many a

year thereafter that n o apo l ogy is needed fo r
,

translating it as it stands .

IT H APPE N E D O N C E IN A UTUMN .

I t happened once in Autumn t hat I found

myself in a most unpleasant an d awk w ard
position in the town into w hich I had only
just come and where I was no t acquainted
,

with a single human bei n g I was bereft of

,

my last coin and had n o nook o r corner

w herein to lay my head .

“
During the first days of my soj ourn I
sold every screed of my costume which I
could possibly d o without ; then I left the
city and betook myself to one of the outskirts
ca lled the estuary studded over with l anding
,

pl aces for steamers and where during the

navigation season the cauldron of busy life
38
 GO RKY IN TH E D E P T H S

b u bbl e s and boils At this partic ular time

.
,

however the place was silent and deserted

, ,

fo r the year w as on the wane October

already drawing to its close .

“
S pl a shing about with my feet in the wet
,

sand and eagerly scrutinising it in t he hope

o f discovering any remn a nts whatsoever o f

eatables I erred hither and thither amid

,

the empty bui l dings and trades people s stalls-

’

musing o n the happiness o f satiety .

I n the present state o f culture it is much

easier t o satisfy hunger of t he soul than that
of the body Y o u wander abou t the streets
. ,

are shut in by houses w hich look attractive

enough from outside and—you may say with
—
out fear of error are well appointed within .

That spectacl e may well star t a trai n of com

forting reflections in your mind about archi
tecture hygiene and much else that is sublime
,

and suggestive Y o u meet passers y w ell b —

and warmly clad people—w ho are extremely
-
.

polite always move aside to let you pass

, ,

and wit h e xquisite tact endeavour to ignore

t he melancholy fact o f your existence God .

is my witness the soul of a hungry man is

,

—
alway s better and more wholesomely fed than
that of the citizen who has had his fi ll there
in truth is a p roposition from which o n emi ght
39
 M AX I M G O RK Y

ingeniously dra w a conclusion favourable to

the well fed -
.

Day was wearing to eveni ng the rain ,

w as falling and a fi t fu l biting wind w as blow

,

ing from the north I t whistled in the empty

.

stalls and booths smote the boards with ,

which the windows of the hotels were nailed

up and the waves of the river l ashe d i nto
, ,

foam by its wild whiffs pl ashed noisily on the ,

sands o f the bank tossed their white crests

,

o n high and swept on one after the other in

the vague distance bounding headlong over ,

’
each others backs as they rushed onwards .

I t was as if the river feeling the oncoming ,

o f winter were fleeing in terror it knew not

,

whither from the shackles of ice which the

,

north wind might that very night throw over

it H eavy and gloomy were the skies from
.

which the rain its particles scarc ely visible

,

to the eye came down unceasingly in fine

,

spray and the mournfulness of nature s elegy

,
’

w as intensified around me by two uprooted

w hite willows torn and hideous an d an u

p ,

turned boat lying at their roots .

“
A boat upside down with shattered
bottom and trees wretched and ancient trees
, , ,

despoiled by the icy wind R ound about .

all was desolate deserted a n d dead and

,
,

40
 l

GOR K Y I N THE D E PT H S
from above the heavens shed endless tear s .

E mptiness and gloom on eve ry side ; it

seemed as if death were creeping over all
things soon to l eave me the sole survivor ;
and I felt that for me too he lay in wait ,

masked in h unger s form ’

.

“
And at that time I w as just e ighteen
ye ars old a promising period of life !
,

H ithe r and thither I wandered over the

chilling wet sand my chattering teeth per
,

forming tri l ls in honour of co l d and hunger ,

as I v ain l y sought to ferret out the where

withal to still my appetite All at once as I .

moved behind one o f the stall s I suddenly ,

espied a hudd l ed u p figure on the earth I t

-
.

was enve l oped in a woman s fro ck which w as ’

,

dripping with rain and clinging cl ose to the

shrugged shoulders S tanding over her I
.
,

observed intently what she was engaged in .

S he seemed to be digging a pit in the sand

with her hands undermining one of the stalls
, .

What are you doing that fo r ? I asked ’

squa ttin g down beside her .

U ttering a soft cry she sprang to her feet .

Now as she stood erect and l ooked straight

into my face with her grey eyes di l ated with
fear I could see that she was a girl of my
,

own y ears with a very comely countenance

, ,

41
 M A X I M GO R KY

discoloure d u nfortun a tely by the hue o f

, ,

three l ivid bruises By these it was marre d

.
,

although they were distributed over her

features with a remarkable sense of propor
tio n two of the same size were under her
,

eyes and the third somewhat larger on her

, , ,

foreh e ad exactly o n a line wit h the bridge of

,

her nose S ymmetry like t h is bewrayed the

.

hand of an artist who h a d given himself

infinite pa ins to become a master in the work
of spoiling the human physiognomy .

The lass looked fixedly on me and fear ,

gradually faded from her e y es Then .

s he shook the sand from Off her hands ad ,

justed the calico ke rchief on her head ,

shrugged herself together and said ,

Y o u t o o I dare say want to eat ?

,
Bur ,

ro w then if you do my hands are tired

Over there —
.
, ,

and she jerked her head to

’
indicate the stall there s sure to be bread
That s a
’
or at any rate sausage
, , .

’
stall that s doing bus iness still .
’

S o I began to burrow After having .

waited and watched me a while she squatted ,

beside me and set to work to h elp me

“
We laboured o n in silence I cannot .

now s ay whether at that moment I w as con

scious of t he criminal code of morality of , ,

42
 MA X I M GO R KY

i nstance visit them

,
I have a lways
.

known ho w to appreciate clever notions nor ,

have I ever faile d for lack of trying to avail

, ,

myself of them to the fullest possible extent .

H aving found the lock therefore I gave , ,

it a violent jerk wrenchi ng it o u t of the door

,

together with the rings from which it hung .

M y accomplice curled herse l f up and

snake like wriggled in through the open
-

square aperture of the stall A moment .

later a voice resounded approvingly ,

’
‘
Bravo !
“
Now the least touch of praise from a
woman is cl earer to me than a complete pane
gyric coming from a man even tho u gh his ,

eloquence should outshine in brilliancy that

of all the orators of olden and modern times
combined But it fell out that I w a s just then
.

less amiably attu ned than at present so t hat , ,

paying n o heed to the compliment of my

female friend I asked her curtly and with
,

trepidation I s there anything there

“
I n an even tone of voice she began to
enumerate all her discoveries There s a .
‘ ’

basket with bottles E mpty sacks

.
.

An umbrell a An iron bucket

.
.
’

N one of these articles was eatable an d I ,

felt that my hopes were oozing away when ,

44
 GO R KY IN TH E D E P T H S

s uddenly she cried out in a lively tone

‘
H ello ! here it is What ? B read ‘ ’ ‘
.

A round loaf Only it s sodden .

’
.

Take it !
’

“
At my feet rolled a round loaf of bread ,

and after it ca m e my valorous female frien d .

I had already broken o ff a piece stu ffed it ,

into my mou th and w as n o w chewing away .

H ere let me have some Y e s and

, ,

we must make ourselves scarce here too .

But where are w e to go S he looked out

through the darkness towards each o f the
four cardinal points I t was gloomy w e t .
, ,

stormy .

’
“
S ee here s an upturned boat over
,
’
yonder shall we go there ?
. Yes ‘
,
’
come And we went breaking our booty on
.
,

the way and filling o u r mouths with t he

,

fragments Th e rai n was meanwhile

.

coming down harder than ever ; the river w as

roaring ; from some w here in the distance
floated the protracted mocking sound of a
whistle as if o n e of the great ones w ho fear
,

no man were hissing all earthly arrangements

this dismal evening and us its two heroes .

A gnawing pain racked the heart at this

w histle And yet I ate ravenously for all
.

that nor did the girl w ho was Walking o n

, ,

45
 M AX I M G O R KY

my left side allow me to outdo her in that

,

respect.

What s your name ? I asked her I can

’ ’

’
n o t say why N atasha she replied shortly
.
, ,

m u nching sonorously .

I looked upon her and my heart t w i nged

,

with pain I peered into the darkness before

.

me a nd I fancied I could d escry the ironical

,

phiz of my fate leering at me coldly and

mysteriously .

“
The pelting rain pattered against the
planks o f the boat unceasingly the even ,

sameness of its rattle filling my soul with

dismal thoughts ; the wind too whistled as , ,

it rushed in and out of the shattered bottom

through a C hink wherein a little shaving kept
whirling and spinning round and round with
a click th at w as restless and plaintive The .

waves of the river as they das hed against

the banks monotonously hopelessly seemed , ,

to be telling some wearisome tale o f w oe ,

w hich sickened t hem till they loathed it ,

misdeeds mayhap from the memory of whic h

, ,

they would fain have hurrie d ly b u rst away ,

were they not doomed to go o n narrating .

The patter of the raindrops blended with .

their plash and o v er the upset boat there w as

wafted something like a sigh —
,

a long dra w n -

46
 GO R KY IN TH E D E P T H S

heavy never endi ng sigh o f the earth chafed

,
-

and irked by these perpetual chan ges fro m

the brightn e ss and warmth of sum m er to the
col d murk and damp o f autumn And the
,
.

wind kept e v er sweeping over the desolate

shore and the foaming river sweeping and ,

singing mournfu l chaunts .

“
The accommodation under the boat w as
devoid of anything like comfort ; it w as
cramped and clammy and through the chin ks
,

and holes in the shivere d bottom the rain

came down as through a sieve in fine cold
spray nor w as there any effectual barrier to
,

the inr us h of the wind which made itself felt

,

in gusts and whirl blasts .

We sat in silence and shivered with the

cold I remember for my part that I felt
.

drowsy and would have gladly gone to s l eep .

Natasha was leaning against the side of the

boat curl ed up in a litt l e bundle E mbracing
, .

her knees with her a rms and supporting her

chin upon her hands she gazed with widely
,

dilated eyes o n the ri v er as if her attention

were drawn thither and held fast by t he
power of some magic spell on the patch
of whiteness formed by her face her eyes
me rged into the livid br u ises below them ,

growing l arge and weird S he continued to .

47
 M AX I M GO R KY

sit thus still and motionless as a stone and ,

this silence and immobility g radually filled

m y fancy with vague fears o f my neighbour
I felt a craving for speech for conver ,

sation with her but how to begin I knew

,

not
I t was she w ho at last broke the silence .

‘
Oh what a cursed life ! she e x claimed ,

and the sharpness and distinctness with which

the words were articulated were further
intensified by the fulness of conviction which
went with them And yet th is was no t a
.

complaint I ndeed there was too much

.

un concern about the way in which she spoke

to allow o f her words being taken as a wail
or a lamentation I t w as simply the ejacula
.

tion of a human being w ho had pondered as

well as she was able pondered and thought ,
-

things out to a concl u sio n which she n o w ,

uttered aloud and which it w as not in my

po w er to call in question without contradict
ing myself Therefore I held my peace
. .

S he however as it seemed unheeding my

, ,

presence continued to sit lifeless as before

, .

I f only death would come the death of

‘
,
’
a brute anything
, Natasha again pu t
her thoughts in w ords but this time softl y ,

a nd pensively as though musing aloud

, And .

48
 GO R KY IN TH E D E P T H S

the note of complaint w as still absent I t .

was m a nifest that here w as an individual

who having reflected upon life having
, ,

contemplated her o w n part in it had come ,

to see that to save herself from its affronts

,

and mockery there was nothing left for her

,

but just to die the death o f a brute .

S ick at heart and seared in soul to a

degree beyond the expressiveness of words
at the workings of her mind thus laid bare
before me in all their simplicity I kne w
, ,

that my feelings if further sealed u p by ,

silence would find a vent in tears

, And
this in the presence of a female would have
, ,

been degrading all the more indeed that she ,

herself was dry eyed A ccordingly I reso l ved

-
.
,

to speak with her .

“
Who has been beating you ? I inquired
‘ ’

not having hit upon a more fitting and

delicate form of putting the question .

“
Oh it s al w ays that Pashka
‘
,
’
she
answered in a sonorous and even tone of
voice .

And w ho is he ?
‘ ’

My lover a baker
Does he often beat you ? ’

Whenever he drinks he does

ofl e n !
’

49
 M AX I M GO R KY

And then suddenly turning round to me ,

she began to tell me about herself and

Pashka and the rel ations in which they stood
to each other S he was one of those girls of
.

venal virtue whose avocations call for no

,

further description and he w as a bake r with ,

reddish moustaches w ho could deftly draw ,

most soothing o r inspiriting strains from the

accordion H e w as wont to visit her in a
.

house and he caught her fancy because he

,
’

seemed light hearted and dressed neatly

-
.

Thus he possessed a long coat reachi ng to

*
his heels w h ich h ad cost fifteen roubles and ,

t o p boots with decorative folds Those .

were the attractions by which he had captured

her affections an d induced her to give him
her favours o n credit But once admitted to .

this privi l ege he further wheedled her out of

,

the money which her other guests gave her

for sweets ; and getting drunk on the pro
c e e d s he took to maltreating her this latter
habit indeed she would not have minded so
much but far worse than that he used to
, ,

‘
carry on with other girls to her face , .

‘
Do you think that does not gall me ?
Am I worse than the o t hers The truth
is he sco ffs at me the blackguard W hy t he
, , .
,

Ab o u t thir ty shil l in gs .

50
 M AX I M G O R KY

What contemptible hounds all you men

are ! I could trample you all into the d u st ,

mangle you ! I f any Of y o u b u rst I wou ld

spit in his phiz and feel no pity Vile .

masks ! Y o u pule and whine and b e g

, , ,

and wag your tails like abject curs and when ,

a silly girl gives in the trick is done ! The

,

next moment you are capable of trampli ng

her under foot Y o u scabby hou n ds
“
S he continued her fulminations var ying ,

them largely a s she went on but he r abuse ,

lacked real force it was devoid of the note

o f malice of hatred for the scabby hounds
‘ ’
.
,

At least I could distinguish none I ndeed .

the tone of her speech generally w as calm out

of all proportion to the meani ng it conve yed ,

and her voice was sorrowfully poor in

notes.

“
And yet all this wrought u pon me an
e ffect more thrilling far than that of the most
eloquent and suasive books and speeches of
a pessimistic drift of which I had heard or
read a fair proportion before and do still hear
,

and read m any to this day And the reason

.

is simple ; it is because the agony of a dy ing

fellow creature is always immeasurably more
natural a n d more im p ressive than the m ost
e x act and artistic descriptions o f de a th I .

52
 G O R KY IN TH E D E PT H S

w as fee l ing miserable —more no doubt from , ,

t he cold than in consequence of the soliloquy

of my fellow lodger I sighed softly and my

.

chattering teeth produced a screaking so u nd .

“
And almost at the same moment I w as
aware o f t w o little hands in contact with m y
self one o f them was laid lightly on my neck
, ,

the other rested upon my face and simultane

o u sly a fear born
-

, gentle caressing question

,

reached my ears
’
What s wrong with you ?
I would fain have believed that the query
w as that of some other person than N atasha ,

w ho had but a moment before declared that

all men were scoundrels whose ruin w as the
,

desire that lay nearest her heart But she .

went o n speaking rapidly and hurriedly

’
What s the matter with yo u
‘
Eh ?
Are yo u cold ? Freezing ? What a fello w
you are H e sits as if tongue tied for all the
-

,
’
world like a barn owl -
Why ever didn t you
tel l me long ago that you were frozen
J ust yo u lie down o n the ground stretch
’
yourself out at full length and I ll lie
down see N ow put your arms round
me tighter . N o w you ought to
feel a bit warmer . Afterwards we can
l ie back to back We must do our best
53
 M AX I M G O R KY

to while away the hours of the night

Tell me about yourself . Y o u got drunk
too I dare say And they sent you ab out
, .

your business gave y o u the sack eh ? I t

, ,

’
doesn t matter .

“
S he w as giving me the cordial o f com
doing her best to cheer me u p .

May I be thrice accursed ! With what

an atmosphere of irony that fact encirc l ed
me ! J ust fancy ! At that very time I was
seriously busied with t he destinies o f the
human race meditating on the need of build
,

ing up ane w the whole social fabri c drea ming

,

of political revo l utions read ing devilish l y

,

wise books wherein tho ughts w ere uttered

,

so deep that the authors the m selves had no

—
p l umb line wherewith to fathom them That .

too was the time when I was doing every

thing in m y power t o qualify m yse l f for
becoming a great and active social power
‘
.
’

I t even seemed to me I had al ready fu l fil l ed

in part the task which I had set myself ;
anyhow at that period in my mental mirror
wherein my traits were reflected I appeared
,

to myself invested with such an exc l usive

right to existence as may be l ong to a com
manding unit in d ispensable to the worl d and
in every way fitted to play a great historic
54
 G O R KY IN TH E D E P T H S

par t in it And in the meanwhile I was ,

being warmed by the body of a venal girl a ,

wretched mal t r eated hounded down creature

, ,
-

fo r whom as a thing o f no pri ce life had no

, ,

p l ace and to wh o se assistanc e I had had no

,

thought o f coming until she had held o ut a

he l pi n g hand to me And even if I had fel t
.

moved to succour her I shou l d have been at ,

a l oss t o know ho w to do it .

Truly I was ready to fancy that a ll this

had happe n ed to me in a fr eakish depressing ,

dream .

But al as ! I could not s hut out the

r eality of the scene for the cold raindrops
,

kept drizzling down u pon me while close to ,

my breast was the warm bosom o f a woman ,

her breath hot upon my cheeks though ,

s l ight l y flavoured with the aroma of vodka

b u t none the l ess quickening N o w the .

wind sighed and moaned the r ain beat down ,

upon the boat the waves skipped and plas hed

, ,

and we two pressing each other in a close

,

emb race continued t o shiver with the co l d

,
.

A ll this was ind e ed instinct with reality and ,

I feel s u re that no one has had a dream so

gri m and so disma l as w ere these s u bstantia l
facts
.

N atas ha meanwhile continued t o chatte r

55
 M AX I M G O R KY

on about one thing a n d another so soothingly

and with such a warm interest as on l y women
can feel and infuse into their speech H er .

words nai ve and caressing enkindled in my

, ,

soul a sort of spiritual fire in the warmth of

which something round my heart gradually
thawed away .

“
And then a torrent o f tears flowed from
my eyes sweeping away from my heart
,

much o f the bitterness the gnawing pain , ,

the folly and the grime whic h had acc u m u

lated the re before this n ight Natasha .

solaced me suasively Don t take o n like

° ‘ ’

that darling ! Don t cry ! That ll do !

,
’ ’

’
With God s help everything will right itself
’
and you ll get some work t o do again ’

and many e x hortations of a like kind .

And all the time she impressed kisses o n

my lips many without number fiery
, , ,

kisses .

“
T hose were the first woman s kisses
’

which life brought me and they were also ,

the best for all that followed them later on

,

cost me terribly cl ear and gave me nothing

whate ver in return .

’
N ow don t go on sobbing like that y o u ,

silly fellow ! TO morrow I ll look after you

-
’

if y o u h ave no p lace to go to as if in a ’

56
 GO R KY IN TH E D E P T H S

d ream the words came to my ears in a soft ,

impr essive whisper .

U nti l the fi rst grey streaks o f dawn rent

the depths o f the gloom we two l ay locked
,
’
in each others arms .

“
And when the broad light of day was
flooding the sky w e crep t from under the
boat and wended towards the city .

Then we bade each other farewel l as friends

are wont and never again d id w e m eet
, ,

although for more than half a year I sought

I n al l the s l ums for my Natasha with whom I

had spent that night in the manner described

once upon a time in autumn .

I f she be already dead ho w wel l it is for

,

her ! I n peace may she rest ! B ut if she be

living still may her soul find r epose ! An d
,

may she never awaken to the consciousn ess

of her fal l for that know l e d ge wo uld be
but a source of su ffering O f needless fruitless
, ,

su ffering t o he r soul .

After this the g l oom of his l ife gre w denser ;

the rifts in the thick veil through which
streaks of the end l ess b l ue had theretofore
been visib l e at times were now wholly shut
,

out by darkness as of n ight and at last , ,

“
in the madness of despair Gorky resolve d,

57
 M AX I M G O R KY

to seek refuge in death B ut the bu ll et

.

touch ing no vita l part th e attempt at suicide

,

was unsuccessfu l The wound inflicted w as

.

“
serious and having been l aid up in co nse
,

q u e n ce
, he remarks as l ong
, as w as proper ,

I was restored t o health in o r de r to embark

in the apple trade .

But he was i ncapable of sustained effort in

any o f the prosaic callings of humdrum men .

E ven had he been appointed to a luc rative

post in the gift of the Government he would ,

have thrown it up as speedily as he abandoned

a pple selling
-
A spirit o f unrest possessed
.

h im which no settled occupation could

exorcise .
 M AX I M G O R KY

calling in which skill as distinguished from

brute labour play s a predominant p art no r ,

w as his ed u cation sufficient despite the ,

varnish he had received from his protector

the literary cook and more recently still in
,

the circles of sel f culture to fit him for purely

-

classical work The result of his endeavours

.
,

therefore w as that after having wandered

,

about from pillar to post he was hired as a ,

railway watchman o n a miserable pittance

, .

H ow long he would have held o u t here had

the matter been left to his o w n discretion it ,

is n o t di fficult to divine ; death w as always

within his reach but the decisi o n w as taken
o u t of his hands by the Govern m ent summo n s

which reached him shortly after w ards calling ,

on him to appear before the M ilita r y Com

m it te e o f the cit y of his birth in order t hat
his fitness for military service might be tested .

To fulfil the law t herefore he w as compelled

, ,

to retrace his footsteps to N ishn y N ovgorod ,

whence he had run away several years before .

T his n e w ordeal proved in tr u th l ittle m ore

than a mere formality The R ussian Army
.

R egulations are indeed much less exigent in

the matter of the stature and stre ngth o f
recrui ts than t h ose of Great B ritain ; but
even in Muscovy men prematurely worn and
60
 GO R KY E M E R G ES
w asted as was Alexei Pe sh ko ff are not the
, ,

stu ff of which soldiers are made ; or a s he ,

puts it in his own so m ewhat fl ippant account

“
of the incident they do not take men riddled
,
”
with holes to fight for their country and
their Tsar Dispensed accordingly from this
.

duty he cast around him once more for a

,

means of earning his livelihood but hit upon ,

nothing more promising than the vending of

a non alcoholic beverage called éw ss which
-

is largely consumed by the lower classes and

sold for small copper coins The circumstance .

that in a great m art of trade and industry

like N is hn y where hundreds of millions of
,

roubles were changing hands every summe r

at the Fair and where the levelling tendencies
,

of commerce had razed many of the barriers

which were still erect in the rest of R ussia
against the unprivileged m asses a man with ,

Gorky s talents should find no more suitable

’

employment than selling éw ss was calculated ,

to make him despair o f the future and loathe

the lip virtues and the s m ooth conventions
extolled by mankind Y e t many o f the .

students with whom Pe shko ff had consorted

in K azan were not muc h better o ff materially
than himsel f S ons of peasants or of needy
.

o ffi cials some of them were as hard pressed

, ,

61
 M AX I M G O R KY

as badly cla d as continually harassed by the

,

hardships and meannesses of a life of want

as D o st o ie ffs ky s Ra s sko l n iko ff himsel f On
’
.

the other hand to the opaque clouds which

,

hung over and around them there was some

silver lining T hey at least were so far
.

in itiated into the m y steries of culture as to be

”
eligible as tutors in families as coaches to ,

backward children in grammar schools as ,

occasional correctors for the press as C opyists , .

By means of such occasional windfalls they

might manage to tide over the worst seasons
of misery and the work if not precisely con
, ,

genial was light Wit h Gorky however it

, .
, ,

w as very different on the one hand he ,

dreamt his day d reams and wove his social

-

webs in the company of those more o r less

refined representatives of learning while on ,

the other it w as only as the wielder of brawny

arms and brute stren gth as the mate of ,

wastrels and vagrants and at drudgery which

,

e x hausted his physical vigour and left him

unfit for mental exerti o n that he could earn a
,

pittance barely su fficient to sustain life .

A wholly new era dawned for him there ,

fore o n the day when havi n g made the

, ,

acquaintance of a broad minded kin d hearted

-

,
-

lawyer named L an in he w a s employed by

,

62
 G O R KY E M E R G ES
him as clerk and treated as a pupil and a
,

friend L a n in was a R ussian C he e ru b l e a

.
,

man of quick sympathies and generous i m

pulses w ho o u hearing the story o f the heart
,

“
stricken youth who had been through fire
and water and survived the ordeals evinced ,

a kindly interest in his well being and a -

genuine desire to give him a helping hand .

I n his office which w as frequented by the

,

notabilities o f the city Pe shko ff copied or

,

indited legal documents fo r a number of hours

every day and was then effectu ally a ssisted
,

to fill up the many blanks in his schooling .

Books were recommended and lent t o him ,

subjects o f study suggested and innumerable,

other services rendered by the advocate and

accepted by the late vagabo n d with a sim
l icit y and hea rti n ess which did credit to
p
them both .The subject is not per ha ps
specially suited t o autobiography but ,

Pe shko ff who is hampered with no false

,

pride and practises no shame faced reticence ,

proclaims in his brief memoirs that L an in

exercised an immea surably great i n fluence
“

o n his education .

I ntellect u al activity in R ussia whatever its

,

immediate object if it look to the public for

,

reward o r approb ation is almost invariably

63
 MAX I M G O R KY

coloured with the views and aspirations

which are supposed to be cha racteristic o f
Liberalism in politics This worship of K i ng
.

De m os o r rather this renounci n g of the works

,

and pomps of the legally constituted powers is ,

one of the signs of progress the hall mark o f ,

-

genuine culture ; and he who would venture

to dispense with the privileges it commands
must be endo w ed with the mind of a gen ius
or the courage of a marty r Literature itself .

has to become tinged with the crimson o f

Liberal ism if it seeks t o work as a force fo r
good i n the country and even the n ames of
,

D ost o ie ffsky Tu rghe n ie ff and Tolstoy were

,

powerless to obtain fo r their i l l ustrio us

be arers freedom from this irksome and
humiliating cor vée Pe s hkoff
. therefore , ,

could not if he would have constituted an

, ,

exception But his o w n experien ce o f l ife

.

had made him more ra dical than the most ,

and the further he advanced in se l f cu l ture -

the more enthusiastic a worshipper he became

at the shrine of the true political faith As .

formerly in K azan so n o w in N ishny he w as

, ,
“ ”
drawn into circles in which a ll the “ burn
”
ing prob l ems of the d ay were set forth and
solved b y unripe youths w ho cheerfully gave
up all they had— the chance of lea r ning how
64
 GO R KY E M E R G ES
little they really knew—in order to redeem
and reform the world Pe shko ff w a s the .
“

living soul and brain of these dreamers we ,

are told who were delighted with the sharp

,

ness O f his strictu res and the audacity of his

schemes For he felt no tenderness for
.

existing institutions n o slavish respect for

,

the past an d would have built up if at all

, , ,

only on the ruins o f the old .

I t w as w h ile thus deploying his activity in

one of the circles o f N ishny N ovgorod
“

that Pe shkoff made the acquaintance o f a

writer o f verses named F e o d o ro ff who seems ,

to have stimulated his literary ambition and ,

although at the time nothing came of the

’
impulse F e o d o ro ff s talent fo u nd a ready
,

and we are assured discern ing admirer in

Pe shko ff whose critical acumen an d artistic
,

perception were lauded in turn by his new

“ ”
friend I n a word
. Gorky after having
, ,

been for long years isolate d shunned as a ,

social leper trodden on as a crawli n g worm

, ,

found him self at last in congenial surro u nd

ings welcomed as a long lost brother even
,
-

hailed as a rising st a r To a man w h o .

,

from his childhood o n ha d been buffeted by

,

fate and maltreated by his fellows the change ,

m u st one woul d thin k have been as welcome

, ,

65 E
 M AX I M G O R KY

as w as to J oseph — after his captivity and im

prisonment— his sudden rise to be the first
minister of the Phara oh of E gypt .

But the fever o f unrest having taken

possession of his soul he pined in the close
,

drawing rooms of the city for the genial

-

grand air o f the steppes and the u n co n v e n

,

t io n al it y o f t ramps Life is a troublesome

.

game fo r an uncultivat ed man to play

manners and forms are formidable to him ,

the network of restraints irksome H e trips .

up every moment over proprieties and con

v e n t io n s which he hates and is ashamed of
,

his lack o f ease and good breeding ; he is

obliged to shut out part of his own perso nal
atmosphere to hide away a large portion of
,

himself and to appear constantly at a d isa d

vanta ge R eserve combined with ease can
.

be acquired only b y long practice and was

u n known to this child of nature S ociety
no doubt —
.
,

the society in which Pe shko ff

lived—was wil l ing to pardon much for the
'

sake of his frankn ess and simp l icity and

enthusi a sm But to a man of his temper i t
.

must have been galling to stand thus in need

of indulgence S O at least he felt it and
.
,

havin g chafed for some tim e against the

chains o f etiquette he burst them with a
,

66
 M AX I M G O R KY

must be slowly spelled out in the acrostics o f

some o f the later Psalms We learn that on .

leaving N ishn y N ovgorod he went down the

Volga t o Tsaritsin trudged on foot over the
,

extensive Don district throughout Little ,

R ussia taking in B ess a rabia on the way

,
He .

ne x t wandered along the southern coast o f

t h e Crimea coming in contact with Tartars
, ,

Gipsies Moldavians mi ngling with them on

, ,

terms of equality observing t h eir ma n ners

,

and customs listening to their stories and

,

legends and generally ga rn ering in the

,

materials which he afterwards utilised fo r

”
sketches s u ch as Makar Chu d ra From the
“
.

Crimea where his se n se of the beauties o f

,

Nature w as quickened and developed he ,

shaped his course towards the K uban d istrict ,

in the Caucasus the country o f Cossacks o f

, ,

sturd y Dissenters and Mohammeda n s of ,

forests steppes and mountains and thence

, ,

wen d ed his w a y in a sout h westerly direction -

to the coast of the Black S e a .

I n ord er to understand the manner of life

h e led duri n g those weary wanderings the ,

da n gers he courted a n d the hardships he ,

endure d t he jo y of his quick stirri n g senses

,
-

at the be a uties of external n ature and the ,

men w ho influenced him a nd whom he i nfl u

68
 G O R KY E M E R G ES
e n ce d ,
one should re a d the sketches which
have those reminiscences for their th e me .

U nfortunately inter w oven with many of them

,

are episodes which pass the line of demarca

tion which the taste refined o r fastidious o f , ,

the British reader draws between indecency

and art and for this reason some of them
,

will perhaps remain fo r ever untra n slated .

Foremost among those against which n o such

objection can be urge d is the following sketch ,

which enshrines a more realistic picture of

Gorky the tramp and two ty pes o f his com ,

rades than the most painstaking biographer

,

cou l d I t is entitled I n the S teppe .

IN TH E S TE PPE .

I t was in the worst possible h u mour that

w e turned our backs upon Pe re kOp Thungry ,

a s wolves and savage at the whole human

race For t w elve hours we had been vainly

.

using all o ur wits and putting forth o u r efforts

to steal or beg something and it w as only ,

It sho u ld n o t, ho w ever , b e fo r gotte n that Go rky

puts thi s stor i n the m o u th y o f a th ird perso n At t he
.

sam e tim e the sty l e o f t he narrative i n dicates c l e arl y

en o u gh that this was m erely a n afte r -
g
th o u h t .

l A to w n o f
' ‘
so m e b
4 0 0 0 in ha itan ts i n th e Go ve rn m e n t
of Tavrid a ,
b etw een the Gu l f of S ivash in th e S ea of

Az o fi
‘

an d t he Gu l f o f P ereko p i n t he B l ac k S ea .

69
 M AX I M GO R KY

when at last the truth was borne in upon us

that neither method was likely to be success
fu l that w e resolved to move o n further B ut
,
.

whither ? Further generally .

That w as a resolution put b y each to all

and carr ied unanimo u sly but over and above
this w e were likewise prepared to go further
in all respects in the direction of the life path
,
-

o n which we had bee n journeying so long ,

and that resolution w a s also formed by e a ch

o f us but in silence and alt hough not uttered
, ,

alo u d it peered through the cheerless lustre

,

o f our hungry eyes .

“
There were three o f us all told and our , ,

acq u aintance w as of recent date it w a s struck

up when we were thrown together in a little
tavern on t he bank o f t he river Dnieper
One o f o u r trio—a muscular red haired
.

—
“ -

fellow with cold grey eyes had been a

,

soldier with the railway battalion and then

—if his o w n story was t o be believed—a
,

station ma s ter o n o n e o f the Vistula lines

-

H e could speak German and w as remarkably ,

well verse d in the ins and outs o f prison li fe .

People of o u r ilk are not given to talking

about their p ast havi n g always grounds for
,

this coy nes s which are more or less solid for

this reason w e are all prone t o take every
,

70
 GO R K Y E M E R GE S
’
m an s word o n trust at least outward l y ; in
,

the depths of o u r consciousness however , ,

eac h of us had his doubts even about

himself
When therefore our second chum—a hard
.

featured diminutive specimen o f the human

,

kind with very thin lips always sceptically

pursed u p—gave himself out for an ex student
,

of the Mosco w U niversity the soldier and I ,

received the statement as a genuine fact At .

bottom w e did not care a fig whether he had

been a student a detective o r a thief ; the main
, ,

point was that at the moment when w e made

his acquaintance he w a s o u r equal being jus t ,

as hungry as ourselves as much an object o f

,

watchfulness to the police in cities and of sus

p icio n to the peasants in vill ages hating the ,

one an d the other with the hate of the power

less the hounded down h u ngry wild beast
,
-

, ,

and as eager for unive rsal vengeance on o n e

and all ; in a word his standing among the
,

lords of nature and masters of life as well as ,

his o w n d isposition made him a bird o f the

,

same feather as ourselves .

N ow there is no cement like misfortune

for joining firmly together t w o or more
natures—even though they be diametrically
opposed to each ot h er— and w e were all
7 1
 M AX I M G O R KY

convinced of the j ustice of o u r clai m to con

si d e r ou r selves miserable .

I w as the third M odesty ingrained in

. ,

my nature from my earl iest days forbids me ,

to dwell upon my own merits and a dislike ,

to be taken for a greenhorn impels me t o be

silent as to my defects S till by way of . ,

supplying materials for classifying me I ,

don t mind saying that I have always looked

’

upon myself as better th an other people ,

and I continue cheerfu l ly to do so to this

d ay
Well as I was saying we had tu r ned
, ,

ou r backs to Perekop and were moving fo r .

ward intending in the course o f the day to

,

come up with the shepherds o f whom one ,

can always beg a piece of bread fo r they ,

seldom say nay to a req u est o f that natu re

m ade by passers b y -
.

I was trudging along by the sid e of the

soldier the student jogging o n behind us
,
.

On his shoulders hung something suggestive

of a morning coat his head sharp ang ular , , ,

and close l y cropped was encircled by the

,

remnant o f a broad bri m med hat ; grey -

trousers mottled with patches o f many hues

draped his legs an d to the sole s o f his feet
,

he had fastened a pair of bootlegs picked up

7 2
 GO R KY E M E R G ES
on the road with t w ine which he had him
,

self manufactured using the lining o f his ,

costume as strains ; this arrangement he

called sandals H e plodd ed on in silence . ,

raising clouds o f dust and his little green ,

eyes kept twinkling as he moved .

“
The soldier was dressed in a blouse o f
red fustian of which according to his own ,

account he had become possessed b y his

,
‘

’
own hands in K herson ; over t h is blouse
he w ore a warm wadded vest his h e ad gear -

consisted of a soldier s kepi of doubtful colour ’

donned according to military usage o n the

side of his head ; around his legs fluttered
loose trousers o f red fustian H is feet were .

bare .

I too w as dressed and barefoot

, , .

And in this plight we trudged on an d the ,

steppe outspread around u s in gigantic

,

stretches overarched by the deep blue sultry

,

vault o f the cloudless summer sky looked like ,

a huge platter round and black The grey , .

d u sty road like a broad stripe cut it in two

, ,

and burned our feet H ere and there w e .

passe d through patches o f re aped corn

curiously re s embling the c he c ks of the soldi e r ,

which no razor had touched for many a d a y .

“
The warrior marched sin ging in a some
73
 M AX I M G O R K Y

what h oarse voice And T hy holy Re " ‘

’
surrection do we chaunt and praise When .

serving in the army he had discharged the

“

duties o f chanter in the church o f the

battalion learning by heart countless h y mns
,

and eulogies ; and this k n owl e dge he w as

no w wont to abuse whenever conversation
flagge d .

I n front o f us o n the horizon certain, ,

shapes caught o u r e ye shapes of soft shadowy ,

outline a n d mello w hues fro m lilac to a ,

tender rose .

’
I t s clear that those are the Crimean
’
mountains remarked the student in a
,
‘

,
’

grating voice .

Mountains ? exclaimed the soldier ; it s

’ ‘ ’

a bit t o o s oon for you to see them yet my ,

lad. Clouds mere clouds, S e e how they .

look for all the world like huckleberr y j elly _

smothered I n milk .

H ere I chimed in with the remark that

it woul d b e very comforting if the clouds
were indeed made of j elly This comment
at once aroused o u r appetite —the sore point
.

of our lives for the moment .

Oh the devil take it ! cried the sol d ier ’

e asing h is fe elings in a fl o w o f bad la n guage ,

a n d spittin not a living soul will come

g out ,

74
 M AX I M GO R KY

came over the cavity of the mouth and throat ,

the brain w as seized with dizziness and dark

spots floate d and twittered before the eyes .

S ometimes these blurs would take the form

of pieces of smoking meat or loaves o f bread ;
fancy supplied those visions of the past those
‘
,

silent d reams with their own appropriate

’

odours and then it seemed as if a knife were

,

being turned in the stomach .

“
N one the less we still kept pushing for
wards describing to each other our sensations
, ,

keeping a sharp look out the while on every

-

side in the hope of descry ing somewhere a

flock of sheep and pricking up our ears for
,

the shrill screak of the tilted cart o f a Tartar

carrying fruit to the Armeni a n bazaar .

But the steppe w as deserted and silent .

On t he eve of this dreary day we three

had eaten among us four pou nds of rye b read

—
and five water m elons but then we had
,

co v ered about sixteen miles an outlay of

forces o u t of all propo rtion to the in come
and having fallen asleep in the market place -

of Perekop we woke up with hunger .

The student had wisely advised us not

‘

to go to sleep at all but to devote the night

’
hours to lab o ur
‘
but in decent society
i t is not correct t o talk aloud about sc hemes
76
 G O R KY E M E R G ES
fo r infringing the rights o f prope r ty where ,

fore I shall be silent on this matter I merely .

wish to be just and it is not t o my interest to

be rude I kno w t hat in our days of high
.

cu l ture people wax milder and gent l er in

,

soul and even when engaged in clutching

,

their neighbour by the throat for the manifest ,

purpose of strangli n g him they endeavour to

,

accomp l ish this in the most loving kind -

man n er conceivable and wi th the st rictest

observance of all the proprieties befitting the
occasion The ex perience o f my own throat
.
,

indeed compels me to note this progress of

,

moral s and I a ffirm with the agreeable fee l ing

,

of certitude that all things are progressi ng

,

a nd growing more perfect in this world of

ours I n particular this remarkab l e p rocess

.

is strikingly confirmed by the yearl y gr o w t h

of prisons taverns and lupanars
, .

And thus swallowing our hunger spittle -

and striving by means of friend l y tatt l e to

stifle the pangs in our stomachs we m ar ched ,

on through the silent and tenantless steppe ,

in the rose tinted ray s of sunset fil l ed with

-

vague hopes of we knew not what B efore .

us the sun was dipping downwards gently ,

sinking in the fl ee cy clouds which were rich l y

,

dyed wit h his glories ; behind and on e ach

77
 M AX I M GO R KY

side of us a light bl u e haze floating up from ,

earth to heaven kept n a rrowing the sullen

,

horizo ns which environed us .

B rothers get togeth er stuff for the camp

,

fire exclaimed the soldier picking u p from

,
’

the ground somet h ing like a lo g We s hall .

have to spen d the nigh t in the steppe

dew . Dry d u n g tw igs everything you can
, ,

lay y our hands on !

We went apart to di fferent sides of the
road a nd began t o gather dry steppe grass and
,
-

everything capable of burning E ach time .

that w e had to stoop d own to the eart h a pas

s io n a t e desire seized us to fall down upon it ,

to lie there without budging and to eat it t hat ,

black greasy earth to gorge ourselves with it

, ,

to feed o n it till we collapsed an d then to ,

sleep Aye even though it were the sleep

.
,

th a t is breathless an d everlasting it mattered ,

not so that w e could but eat chew and feel

, , ,

the warm thick mess slipping d own slowlyfrom

the mouth through t he parche d gullet into the
h ungering s h runken stomach whic h w as
, ,

burning with a longing to take in an y kind of

food .

I f we could even lig ht upon some roots

‘

sighed the soldi e r Th ere are suc h eatable

.
‘

roots
78
 G O R KY E M E R G ES
But there were n o s uch roots t o be had
in the black ploughed soil And meanwhile
, .

the veil of southern n ight w as falling quickly

hardly had the last ray of sunlight faded from
the west when the stars began to twi n kle
tre m ulously in the deep blue vault of heaven ,

an d the gloomy shadows around us com

mingled and gre w denser narrowing the ,

boundless dead level of the all embracing -

steppe .

exclaimed the student in ‘ ’

a whisper there on the left see there s a

,
‘

, , ,
’

man lying !
A man
‘
whispered the soldier doubt
fully . What would he be lying there for ?
‘ ’

Y ou d better go and ask him Anyhow

’
.
,

he is s u re to have bread if he has planted ,

himself in the steppe reasoned the

T he
’
‘
student soldier looked fixedly
.

towards the spot where the man w as l y ing ,

an d having spit out in token of his deter ,

mination exclaimed : ,
Let us make for ‘

’
him !
“
N one but the keen green eyes of the
student could have recognised the form o f
’

a human being in the dark heap that bulged

out o f the earth some hundred y a rds or more
to the left of the road We shaped our course .

79
 M AX I M GO R KY

towa rds him striding swiftly O ve r gre at c l ods

,

of ploughed land feeli ng as we neared him,

how the new born hope o f food within us

-

sharpened the pains o f hu nger We were .

already quite close to him but the man l ay ,

motionless .

Perhaps it isn t a man at al l moodily ’

,
’

observed the soldier giving utterance to the ,

thought shared by all o f us B ut at tha t .

same instant our dou bts were dispe ll e d the ,

bund l e o n the earth suddenly sti rred waxed ,

la rger and we could n o w see for ou rse l ves

,

that it was a real l ive m an in kneeling

posture stretchin g out his arm towards us
, .

“
Then he broke silence speaking in a ,

muffle d tremulous voice

,
’ ’ ’
Don t advance or I ll fire !
A d r y short click was wafted to our ears
through the hazy air .

“
We pulled up as if in obedienc e to a
word Of command and for a fe w s econds ,

held our bre ath dumfounded by this u n

,

friend l y reception .

There s a scoundrel for you ! murmu red

’ ’

the soldier expressively .

Ye e s replied the student pensively ‘ ’

-
.

Carries a revolver too it s clear he is a .

’

fi sh with hard roe .

80
 GO R KY E M E RG ES
Ho !
’
ej acu l ated the soldier who had ,

evident l y made up his mind t o do some

thing .

The man without changing his position

“

continued to keep silence .

H e ll o ! there we don t want to touch

,
’

’
you on l y l et s have some b read to
eat will yo u ? Give it brothe r fo r Christ s
, , ,
’

s ake ! may you be accursed y o u hell ,

hound ! The l ast words were mutt ered by

the soldie r in an aside .

The man spoke n o word .

Do you hear ? the soldie r began anew ,

quivering with bitterness and despair .

’
A l l right said the man laconically
‘
, .

N ow it was open to him to address us as

’
my dea r b rethren and even if he had done
,

so infusing into those three Christian words

,

all the holiest and purest sentiments they ,

wo u l d not have thrilled and h umanised us in

anything l ike the same degree as those two
’
muffled monosyl l ables all right ! ‘

Y o u n eed not be afraid o f us my good

‘
,

man the so l dier recommenced with a soft

,
’

sweet smile on his face a l though the good ,

‘

man cou l d not pe r ceive this smile being at

’
,

least t w enty paces distant from us .

“
W e are peaceable men
‘

8 1
 M AX I M GO R K Y

w ay from to the K uban District

w e and our money go t parted on the way ,

w e ate the very clot h es o ff our backs

and no w this is the second day we have been
fastin g .

H ere ! cried the good man with a

’

sweep of his arm in the air S omething .

black fl e w aloft and fell on the plo u gh

land hard by The student darted up .
’

to it .

H ere s another ! And another ! I ve

’ ’

got no more !
’
As soon as the student had gathered ‘

up this curious alms it turned o u t that w e ,

had about four pounds weight of stale wheat

bread I t had been rubbed into the earth
.

and was very stale But we paid no heed to .

the former drawback while w e were delighted ,

at the latter S tale bread is more filling than

.

soft contains less moisture

,
.

Tak e this yo u
‘
you take this ,

and you this s a id the soldier intently ,

bent on doling out our shares S top ! .

‘

’
that s not fair ! H ere you scholar ! yo u , ,

must let another piece be nipped o ff yo ur

C u rio u sly g R u ssia
e n ou h, “
is o ft en d istin gu ished
i n t h is w ay by the n at ive s fro m L it tl e R u ssia, fro m the
Govern m e n t of K h erso n an d fro m S i b eria .

82
 M A X I M G O R KY

of my hand the last crumbs of bread there I ,

w as overcome by a torturing desire to eat

The hell —
.

‘
hound has got suet there still ,

or some kind o f meat muttered the ,

soldier squatting on the earth beside me and

, ,

rubbing his stomach with his hands .

Of course he has the bread he gave us

‘

had the smell of meat about it Aye he .

,

ha s more bread left too you m ay be sure , , ,

’
remarked the student adding in a ‘
,

whispe r I f it were not for h is revolver .

Who is he anyhow ? E h ?
,

Y o u can see he is o n e of our breth ren ,

’
H e s a dog the soldier declare d in a
’

tone of conviction .

We were sitting in a close gro u p and

.

looking obliquely towards the place where our

benefactor with his revolver was seated Not .

a word re a ched us from there no fai n t sign ,

of life or movement .

“
N ight ha d gathered ro u nd us her wealth
of gloom The silence o f the grave hung
.

over the steppe w e could hear only each

,
’
other s breathing N ow an d again the.

melancholy squeak of the marmot s wh istle ’

was wafted to o u r ears The stars .

,

84
 G O R KY E M E R G ES
’
heaven s living flowers glistened over o u r ,

heads We were dying to eat

I say it with pride—I w as neither worse
. .

nor better than my mates during this some

what strange night And it was I w ho put .

it to them that we ought to rise up and make

for the man there We need not hurt him I .
,

pointed o u t but we might devour every scrap

,

of food we should find in his possession H e .

might of course fire on us Well let him

, ,
.
, .

Of the three of us he wo u ld at worst hit one ,

if he hit at all and if his aim did take e ffect

, ,

well a revolver bullet would har dly inflict a

,

deadly wound .

‘
Y e s let s go
, exclaimed t he soldier
’

,
’

starting to his feet T he student rose up .

’

more s l owly than b e And we went forward

“

.
,

ru shed indeed would be more correct The .

‘
student lagged be hind us
’
.

cried the soldier in a tone of

reproach to him We were conscious on .

our w ay o f a faint murmur and then of

the sharp click of a creaking pistol cock -

All at once fire flashed and w as almost

instantaneously followed by an explosive
sound .

M issed ! shouted the soldier gleefully

’
,

re aching the man with o n e bound Now .

,

85
 M AX I M G O R KY
’
The student
’
you devil I ll pummel you ! ,
’ ‘

flung himself upon the wallet .

But the devil w h o w as on his knees fell , ,

backwards upon his spine and throwing out

his arms w as already choking as if with the
,

rattle of death
What sort of a devil is he ? wondered ’

the soldier who had already raised his foot

,

to administer a kick to the man Can it be .

that he has really put some lead into himself

’
D ye hear ? H ave you shot yourself eh ?
’
,

There s meat here and some kind of

’

un l eavened cakes and bread quite a

l ot brothers ! the student announced with
,
’ ‘
’

j u bi lation .

Well then devil take y o u burst !

‘
, ,

Let us eat friends ! cried the soldier Mean

, .

while I took the revolver out of the hand of

,

the man who had by this time ceased snort

,

ing and lay motionless I n the drum there

,
.

was but one more cartridge .

“
And we began to eat again in silence .

The man too lay still not sti r ring a limb

, , , .

S o we paid no hee d to h im whatever .

I s it possible dear brothers that you , ,

have done all this onl y for t he s ake of bread ?

a hoarse quivering voice asked o u t of the
,

darkness .

86
 G O R KY E M E R G ES
We shuddered at the sound all three of ,

us I ndeed the stu d ent well nigh choked

.
,
‘ ’
-

himself and bending down to the ground w as ,

seized with a violent fit of coughing .

“
The soldier having chewed his mouthful
,
!

to pulp became abusive

, .

‘
Ah you soul o f a hound may you split
, ,

asunder like a dry stump Do you think it s ’

your skin that w e want to peel off your body ?

What good would it be to us Y our muzzle
is that of a fool you heathen ! N oth ing will
,

s atisfy h im but he must arm hi m self with a

revolver and shoot at people ! Y o u hell
hou nd yo u
,

“
And he wen t on pouring out invectiv e s
and eating ; wherefore his abuse lost all its
expression and force .

’
Y o u j u st wait a bit until we ve finished
’
eating and we ll settle our accounts with you ,
’

’
promised the student with malice
‘

“
And then the silence o f the night w as
broken wit h a woeful whining that terrified
us
B rothers how d id I kno w ? I
fired because I w as afra id I am on .

”“
my way from N e w Athos to the

The na m e o f a m o n as ter y .

87
 MAX I M G O R KY

Government of S molensk Oh good

"! . ,

Lord ! This fever harasses me to death

after sundown comes my tort u re ! I t
was the fever that drove me from Athos .

’
I was a carpenter there t hat s my
trade .At home I have a wife a nd

t w o little girls Three y ears have gone this.

,

is the fourth since I last saw them .

Brothers eat up every morsel

“
We ll take very good care we do so
‘
,
’
don t you be begging for any broke in the ,
’

student .
’

O Lord G o d ! if I had only known that

,

you were peaceful good fellows Do , .

’
o u think I d have fired on you ? B ut here
y
in the steppe brothers in the dead of the , ,

night a m I to blame ? Eh ?
’
.

H e wept as he spoke o r rather uttered a ,

sort of tremulous fearsome howl ,

.

There h e s whining ! exclaimed the

‘ ’ ’
,

soldier contemptuously .

’
H e s certain t o have money on him ,
’

remarked the student ‘

.
’

“
The sol d ier blinked his eyes turned them ,

on the student and grinned

‘
Y o u are a ,
’

.
‘

Gove rn m en t is in R ussia w hat a S tate is in North

Am e ri ca, an d a p rovi nce i n o th er l ar e c o untries g .

88
 GO R KY E M E R G ES
cute one But look here let us up and
.
,

make a fire and turn in fo r the night .

“
And what about him ? inquired the
‘ ’

’
‘
st u dent .

“
Oh the devil take him ! Y o u don t
‘
,
’

w an t us to roast him do you ,

“ ’
Well it wouldn t be m ore than his
‘
,
’
deserts re p lied the student w ith a shake
,
‘
,
’

of his angular head .

We started o ff accordingly to fetch the

materials we had gathered We had flung .

them down o n the spot where the carpenter

had arrested o u r progress with his threaten
ing cry and no w we got them together and
,

were soon seated ro u nd the camp fi re I t -

.

burned gently in the breathless night lighting ,

u
p the narrow space occupied by ourselves .

A feeling o f drowsiness w as stealing over us

although we were still ready to begin our
su pper over again .

’
Brothers the carpenter called out
,

to us H e was stretched out o n the ground

.

three paces from us and at t im e s l fancied ,

that he w as whispering something .

Well ? exclaimed the soldier

‘ ’
.

M ay I come to y o u t o the fire ?

Death is creeping over me All the bones .

in my body are racked with pain Oh

89
 M AX I M G O R KY

Lord ! I see no w I shall never reach home

again .

’
Crawl up here
‘
sai d the student ‘

patronisingly .

“
S lowly as if he feare d to lose a hand or
,

a foot the carpenter dragged himself along

,

the earth to the camp fi r e H e was a tall -

.
,

terribl y emaciated man ; every screed of

clothi n g hu n g loosel y and fluttered about him ,

a n d his large glazed e y es told t h e story of

the pain that w as gnawing him H is face .

,

wrenched out of shape was long and h is , ,

complexion even in the red glare of the camp

,

fire w as o f a yellowish earthy corpse like

, , ,
-

hue H e w a s tre m bling all over and the sight

.
,

of hi m aroused a feeling o f contemptuous pity .

S tretching out h is long skinny hands to w ard s

,

the blazing fire he rubbed his bony fingers ,

whereat the joints bent slowly lifelessly I n , .

truth it w a s sickening to look upon him .

H o w did yo u come to be in that plight

and trudging along on foot ? Y ou re tight ’

fi st e d eh ? asked the soldier s u llenly

’

, .

That w as the advice they gav e me

’
don t make the jour n ey they said by water , ,

but take t he Crimean route the air

is wholesome t he y said And here .

I am unable to move I shall die ,

90
 M AX I M G O R KY

self o u t at full length on the earth I too .

lay do w n The terrified carpenter rolled him

.

self u p in a heap and having crept nearer to

,

the fire began to gaze into it fixedly and in

,

silence I w as ly I n g on his right and could

.

’
hear his teeth chatter T h e st u dent was .
‘

couc hed on his left and drawing himself , ,

together in a bundle had seemingly fallen fast ,

asleep at once The soldier putting his

.
,

arms under his head for a pillow lay o n the ,

broad of his back and stare d at the sky .

‘
What a night ! eh ? N O end of stars
lukewar m air I t w as he who
.

ad d resse d those word s to me after the lapse

’
of a little time What a sky ! I t s a
.

blanket and not a sky it is ! I do love t his ,

’
roving life my boy ! I t s cold and hungry
,

t o be sure but free enough in all conscience

, .

A fellow has no superiors over him .

Y o u are mast e r of your o w n existence You .

may if you want to bite o ff y our own head

, , ,

and no one dares haul y o u over the coals

for it Glorious !
. I did have a hu ngry
time of it those last fe w d ays and I felt cross
about it but here I m lying now looking ’

up at the heavens The stars are wink

.

ing down at me just as if they were

sayi n g : N ever mi n d Lako o ty in tra m p , ,

92
 G O R KY E M E R G ES
about the ea rth and knuckle down to no
man . Y e s ! A nd my heart feels light .

And you h o w do you feel about

it ? H allo there ! you carpenter Y o u mustn t .
’

feel angry with me and don t y o u fear any ,

’

thing either ! We ve eaten your bread ’

—but that s nothing ; you had bread and w e

’

had none so we ate it up

, But you .
,

like a savage let fly a bullet at us

, Can t .
’

you see that yo u m ay hurt a fellow with a

bullet ? M y ! I was in a towering rage with
’
you the n and if y o u hadn t flopped dow n as
,

you did I d have given you a sound dr u bbing

,
’

for your impudence B ut as for the bread .

’
you ll get into Perekop to morrow and yo u
can buy some there—you have cash about
-

you that I kno w H ave you had .

that fever long ?

“
F o r a considerable time after this the
bass voice of the soldier and the quivering
tones of the sick carpenter continued to hu m
in my ears The night dark almost black
.
, , ,

descended lo w er and lower upon t he ea rth

and the fresh sapp y air was flowing in sooth
ing waves into my breast .

T he camp fi re gave forth an even light

-

an d quicke n ing warmth M y e y es were .

gl u ed together and floating before them , ,

93
 M AX I M G O R KY

athwart my dreams ho v ered I know not

,

what that calmed a n d purified them .

Be alive ! Let s be off !

’
Get up
With a feeling o f dread I opened my e yes
and jumped quickly to my feet the soldier ,

lending me a helping hand by seizing my

arm and j erking me violently from the eart h .

’
Make h aste March !
Gloom and dismay were written in his
face I looked all aro u nd me The sun had .

risen and the roseate hues of its be ams suf

,

fused the face Of the carpenter motionless ,

and livid H is mouth w a s gaping wide his

.
,

eyes b u lging far out of their sockets and fixe d

in a glass y stare of horror The c l othes on .

his chest were all torn into shreds and he l ay ,

there in a post u re that w as cramped and u n

natural There was no student
.
‘
.
’

Well have you made y our survey ?

‘
,

Come on I tell y ou ! exclaimed the soldier

,
’

aut horitativel y dragging me by the arm

, .

I s he dead I asked shivering with the ,

freshness of the morning .

’
Of course he s dead And you d be dead
.
’

too if you had been strangled in his place

, ,
’

he expl a ined .

H e w as Th e studen t
ejac u lated .

94
 M AX I M G O R KY

roubles . T here s a bullet in it too

’

,
.

Phew ! Wouldn t I have sent that same bullet’

straight i n to the ear of o u r dear comrade !

H ow much money did the ho u nd scoop up I ,

wonder Eh The cursed dog

I t s hard o n the carpenter s poor l ittle
’ ’

daughters I observed .

Daughters ? Whose Oh the d aughters ,

’
of this Oh t hey ll grow up and get ,

married not to o n e of us though

, Oh .
,
’
they re all ri ght But let us clear o u t of
.

this mate as quickly as we ca n

, , Where .

are w e to go to ? ’

’ ’
I haven t an idea I t doesn t matter . .
’

An d I don t know either and I m aware

’ ’

,
’
that it doesn t signify Let us turn to the
right—the sea ought to be over there
-
.

’
.

And to the right we went .

I turned ro u nd Far from us away in .

the steppe a dark mound stood out against

the horizon and overhead beamed the sun
, .

Y ou re looking to see whether he will

’

rise again eh ? Don t be uneas y he won t

,
’

,
’

get up to give us chase The scholar .

,

you can see is an adroit customer he did the

, ,

work with thoroughness And he s a .

’

choice comrade to boot ! H e let us in for a

,

soft thin g A h brother ! People are getti ng

,

96
 GO R KY E M E R G ES
worse year after year worse and worse re , ,

e a t e d the soldier in sorrowful tones

p .

The steppe silent and ten a ntless flooded ,

wit h the dazzling light o f the morning sun ,

spread itself out before us mingling at the ,

horizon with the sky ; and so pure w as the

light so caressing and so abundant that no
, ,

dark unjust deed seemed possible in the

,

limitless space of that unbroken plane over

arched by the azure vault O f h e aven .

’
“
I m dying fo r something to munch
‘
,

brother " exclaimed my mate rolling a

.
,

cigarette of the coarsest tobacco .

‘
Wh a t shall we eat to day and where ,

and ho w .

’
A puzzle .

And here the n arrator—m y neighbo u r

in the hospital —brought his tale to an e n d ,

adding
That s all That soldier and I became
’

great friends and w e j ourneyed on together

as far as the District of K ars H e w as a .

good natured fello w w ho had seen a great

-

deal of the world and was a typical barefoot,

tramp I held him in esteem R ight up to

. .

Asia M inor w e kept together and there w e ,

got parted from each other .

97
 M AX I M GO R KY

And do you ever think of the carpente r ?

’

I inquired
As you see —
.

“ ‘
or rather as you have
.

heard .

And It doesn t trouble you

’

H e began to laugh .

‘
Why how ought I to feel about the
,

matter ? I am n o t to blame for what befel l

him just as you are not answerable for what
h appened to me And n obody is to
.

blame for anything because one and all we

, , ,
’
are brutes .

Duri ng al l those years the a rtistic instincts

’
of Pe shkoff s nature still slumbered H is .

keen sense of the richness and beauty of the

ever changing panorama its impressive con ,

t rast s o f wood and waste sea and mountain , ,

procured for him a warm j oy which consoled

him for the dismal dreams that never ceased
to haunt him Like Foma G o rd ye e ff
.
,

K o no val o ff and most o f his o w n creations he ,

w as ever hungering for eternity and l acking ,

the wherewithal to slake his equally painful

—
thirst for rapid change in time H is idea .

of try ing his hand i n literature and velleities

of this kind occasionally fl it t e d across his
brain since his acquaintance with F e o d oro ff
98
 MAX I M G O R KY

’
Oh that s y our name is it ?
,
’
N o it is , ,

not but it will do very well for a signature

,
.

I don t want my real name to appear S uch

’
.

was the first introduction in t o the worl d of

l iterature o f the vagrant w ho was henceforth
”
to be known as Max im Gorky .

With all its faults and they are many and

,

serious the sk e tch w a s admired by the

,

read e rs o f the K a t/km a n d a ppreciated by

the editor but for the time being its success
,

led to no t hing further On the writer .

himself however its appe a rance in print

, ,

made a profound impression raising his ,

hopes stre ngth e n ing his self c o nfi d e nce and

,
-

shaping the course of his life What he had .

n o w accomplished he co u ld achieve again ;

his materials being ine x haustible it was ,

merely a question of leis u re effort and ,

practice And R ussia proper w as the place

.

for these not the ancient ca pital of Georgia

, ,

where his compatriots were out numbered -

by Armenians Georgians an d a host of

, ,

other Orientals to whom R ussian litera

ture w as a sealed book S haki ng the dust .

of the Cau casus from h is feet therefore , ,

Gorky set out for h is beloved Vol ga and ,

abandoning manual for intellectual labour ,

set himself to contribute short stories to the

1 00
 G O R KY E M E R G ES
Voé
ga M esseng er
a newspaper o f K azan
, .

They were duly published and read with

interest but owi ng t o the limited circulation
,

of the journal attracted little attention beyon d

the narrow circle of readers in the Tartar
city I t w as then that he sent his story
.

entitled E m e l ya n Pilyai to the e d itor of

the principal Liberal paper in R ussia the ,

R u ssé za Vea om osfy of Moscow where it was

'
’
,

p u blished in 1 8 9 3 .

But he wrote comp aratively little in the

b e ginning o n e story a year on a n average
, ,

and a fe w slight sketches for the provincial

press To the monthly reviews he first bega n
.

to contribute after he had made the acq u aint

ance of the gifted writer Vladimir K orolen k o
, ,

one of the very few R ussian men of letters

w h o set art above politics and the changi n g

interests of the hour N othi n g that Gorky

.

had hitherto produced w as calc ulated to

establish his name in literature or to raise him
above the level of those obsc u re writers w hose
work seldom outli ves the periodicals in which
it appears Considerable merits indeed were
.

manifest in his sketches e v en then a n d p ro ,

minent amo n g t hem t he supreme quality of

sincerity but their salient d efects bewrayed
,

the artist not yet initiated in the mysteries of

10 1
 M AX I M GO R KY

technique and therefore incapab l e of maste r

,

ing his subj ect of cont rolling his style and

, ,

o f casti ng the impressions received from with

out in the mould o f an inner ideal To point .

out these blemishes and to suggest the lines

on which they might be avoi ded w as one of ,

the many services rendered by K orolenko to

t he poet of the barefoot brigade There was .

a close arti stic s y mpathy between the two

men which the influence of the elder upon
the younger rendered a force for good Gorky .

proclaims this with his usu a l outspokenness

as foll ows I n t he y ear 1 8 9 3 —
° “
9 4 w h en in ,

N is hn y N ovgorod I made the acquai nta n ce

,

of V G K orolenko to whom I a m be holden

. .
,

for having enabled me to ma k e my w ay into

the sphere o f greater l ite rat u re fi “ H e did
very much for me gave me numerous hints ,
”
taught me many t hings I n a pri vate letter .

to a friend he exhorts him to write about

this do n o t fail to say : K orolenko taught
,

Gorky ho w to write and if Gorky profited ,

but l ittle by his teaching Gorky is to blame ,

for this : Gork y s first teac h er was S m oory

’

the soldier cook the secon d w a s the lawyer

Lan in the third A M K al o o sh n —
-

, ,

,
y a m an
. .

as repre se n te d by the m on thly reviews .

1 02
 M AX I M GO R KY

S am ar a some of those fresh daring and ,

alarmingl y realistic works which have since

come to be most closely associ a ted with his
”
name and fame “
T h e Old Woman I z e rgil ,

”
“
Th e S ong of t h e Falco n On a Raft ,
“
,
”
To While awa y the T ime I t H appened
,

once in Autumn With a firm foothold in

.

”
the dom ain of Greater Literature Gorky
“
,

gradually gave a loose rein to his instincts

an d emotions a llowing the bittern ess of his
,

soul to well up behind the creations of his

fa n c y blurring thereby a picture which could
,

have little lasting value e x cept as a work of art .

I n 1 8 9 5 he covenanted with the editor o f the

Gaz ette of S a m a r a to furnish him with a d aily
“
chatt y article of the kind called f ea zl /etons
’

“
and consisti ng of comments o n the burnin g
”
topics of the day and in the following year
,
”
World S orrow K o n oval o ff
, and ,

Mal v a made their appeara nce there The .

flattering reception accorded to all these

revelatio n s from the abyss and the e xag
gerated praise lavished by a numb e r of
emotional critics on the rising man whose
advent was hailed as t hat o f some literary
Messiah tempte d G orky to ever higher
,

fli ghts for w hic h he lacke d the s trength of

,

wing The first of his more ambitious e fforts

.

104
 G O R KY E M E R G ES
which his admirers dignified with the n ame
of novel appeared a fe w years later under
,

the title Foma G o rd ye e ff a cross between ,

”

a novel and a s k etch deficient in the ,

rounde d simplicity of the one and lacking the

architectonic unity of the other I t is made .

up of a number of scenes some o f which , ,

powerful and realistic attest the hand of the

,

artist while others abound in vehement

,

journalistic diatribes and the whole is

,

cemented by an avowed feeling o f hatred for

everything which the man of culture is wont
to revere The warm welcome accorded to
.

this wor k which was published in the pages

,

of a no w extinct review spurred its author on

,

to n e w ventures in the same direction and

the result o f his labours w as the med i ocre
story entitled “ T he Peasants which came ,

out as a serial in the pages o f the same

periodical while Gorky w as engaged in
,

writing a ne w novel describing the lower

classes of traders in the provinces .

1 8 99.

10 5
 C H A PT E R IV
S OME E X TR I NS C I CAU S E S OF H IS
P OP U L AR I TY

MAX I M Go v ’
ame w as filed o n the bead
s n

roll o f fame long before his scattered writings

had been collected a n d given to the world in
the form of a book People pai d high prices
.

for t he back numbers o f the obscure country

papers and voluminous reviews in whic h they
were first brought out S tudents zealously .

copied those which w ere difficult O f access ,

ha d them lithographe d circulated and read in

pri v ate circles T he new talent —
, ,

many spoke
devoutl y of the immort al genius—w as the
.

t h eme of eager con v ersation from S t Peters .

burg to Od e ss a H is creations were w armly

.

d iscusse d his art classed with that of Tolstoy

,

and D o s to ie ffs ky his influence welcomed as

,

a purify ing breath moving over the face of

t he stagnant waters and givi n g shape colour
, ,

and beaut y to chaos Ova t ions were offered

.

106
 MAX I M G O R KY

which literature w as but very slightly in

t e re st e d if at all
,
I t was the prophet w h o
.

announced the d estruction o f the old order

of things and the establish m ent o f a n e w
w h o was chiefly acclaimed Political parties .
,

or the writers w h o form the nuclei of such ,

quarrelled with each other for t he possession

of him The N ationalists claimed him as
.

their o w n while the Marxists quoted long

,

passages from his sketches to prove that his

ardent sympathies were with them E ven .

“
the Conservatives the cream of the aris,
”
tocracy went out of their way to laud the
,

you ng p a r ven u to the skies as the i n t el le c

tual leader of the new era And o ne and all .

they proclaimed him warmly nay hysteric , ,

all y to be the most genial writer o f the

,

present generation I t is only fa ir to add .

that the o stensible grounds o f these e xag

gerated eulogies were calculated to do credit
to Gork y and his admirers W h ether how .
,

ever t he qualities whic h the latter fancied

,

they had d iscovered in their hero are any

where e x pressed o r implied in his writings is ,

a matter on which opin ions will differ Hatred .

of societ y of the moneyed culture d and honest

, , ,

work ing classes being the bond o f union which

,

’
links all Gorky s heroes together the Western ,

1 08
 C A U S ES O F H I S P O P U L AR I TY

reader is surprised and amused to note that

the tender graces o f humanity constitute the
quality in his literary creations whic h endears
him to a large section o f his followers !
I n Prince Me sht s he rsky s Conservative
’

organ the Ci tiz en a R ussian Count expresses

himself as follows of this standard—
, ,

bearer of
revolt against society and apostle of class
hatred “
M Gorky is the onl y artist in
.

Ru ssia in whom w e are co n fronted b y a h itherto

u nrecognised apostle of the love o f mankind ,

and doubtless sooner or later this exalted mis

sion of his will redound to the h onour of this
grand promoter of R ussian spiritual v ision
an d health . F o r such a literary athlete
as M Gorky w e lack a worthy sculptor critic
.
-

w ho having crowned his bro w with laurels

, ,

could in the face of the whole nation set him

upon a fitting pedestal raising during his life
,

time a worthy mon u ment to the mighty and

brilliant R ussian worker in polite literature .

In phrases such as these the Conservative

and aristocratic party av erse from all R adical
,

and Democratic tendencies e x plains the ,

worship which it pays to the rising star !

The Nation a lists who are said to have
,

been the first to discover the new light were ,

stirred by a d ifferent order of motives They .

I og
 M AX I M G O R KY

pointed conclusively to the welter of misery ,

vice and cri m e in which thousands o f crea

tures w ho once were men are n o w hope
lessly plunged and they clamoured for the
,

condemnation of capitalism which in their

opinion is alone resp o n sible for thus turning
God s fair world into a v eritable pa nde
’
~

m o n iu m H ere they argue are hum an

.
, ,

beings not worse rather better indeed than

, , ,

the a v erage of the rank and file of organised

society but w ho cut off from contact with the
, ,

life giving soil ro t and die an abo m ination

-

and a d a nger t o t h eir fe llows H ad the se .

men been allo w ed to live and thrive like

their fathers ploughing their lan d reari ng
, ,

th e ir families h a nding down to their offs pring

,

the glorious traditions of their ancestors they ,

would have indeed worked to some purpose

and left their country and the world better
th a n they found t h em But n o w thanks .
,

to the legalised robbery perpetrated by

cap italism t h e y are but dead branches lopped
,

off the living trunk and fit only to be cast

into the fire .

And w h ile those t w o p a rties were th u s

waging w ar on each other for the honour of
possessing the n e w lea d er of the intellect “

”
of R ussia the third and youngest political
,

1 10
 M AX I M G O R KY

that assays gold and the result if all the

, ,

masses were to undergo it would b e well ,

wort h the pains I nstead o f a listless lazy

. , ,

obsequious peasantry bereft of intelligence

,

or wil l vegetating like the plants as at

,

pre sent an army o f free workers would arise

, ,

un t rammelle d by superstition or prejudice ,

not tied to t h e glebe devoid of fear and

,

conscious of their force .

I n this manner and for some such extrinsic

reasons as these w a s Gorky apotheosised .

”
H e w as invited everywhere an d lionised “
,

his portraits were sold by the ten thousand ,

circulated almost w o rshipped his picturesque

, ,

phrases and chance expressions were re l igi

o usl y interpreted a n d unctuously preached as

part of a n e w and savi n g re v elation to men .

E very part y in t he S tate found in his moral

and social tendencies the reflex o f its o w n
favourite doctrines and lauded him accord
,

i n gly as its prophet A misc h ievous warp

.

w a s th u s given to genuine talents which

with care and culture m ight have borne

good a n d a bundant fruit The impetuous .

y oung man can h ard ly be blamed fo r imagin

ing t hat o n e li ke himself untrammelled by
,

conventions in u red to hards hips an ardent

lover of liberty in all her moods—whose
, ,

1 12
 C AU SES O F H I S P O P U L AR I TY

fidelity to her had borne the severest tes ts

might be fitted to give direction and force to a
move ment which could flourish only under a
flag not its o w n . F o r a s in the M i d dle
Age s philosophy and e ven art owe d their
very existence to t heir intim ate alliance with ,

and outward s ubservie n ce to the theology

,

and liturgy of the one true Churc h so in t he

,

Russia of to day all social and political forces

-

must of nece ssity merge their mo d est aims in

those of a religious b od y a scientific corpora
,

tion o r a s ch o ol of a r t
,
.

The p at r o nage t hus liberal l y bestowed

u pon Gorky b y the spokesmen of the various

political group s has be e n w ithout doubt the

m o st t e lli n g amo ng the e x trinsic factors o f
his unparallele d success N o o t her literary
.

star in the annals of the E mpire w a s ever

yet a favourite o f all the sections o f political
thought .

Do ubtless the causes o f his rise are many ,

but it is obvious t hat they do not all spring

sole ly from those consideratio ns which a lone
s hould tell in appreciations of litera r y talent .

I n Russi a where freedo m of t he press is to a

,

con siderable extent still a p i a m d esia er i a m’

,

every literary man is regarded b y the pu b lic

as the Ty rtae us of its p o litical struggles t he ,

1 13 H
 M AX I M GOR KY

prophet of its hopes the champion o f its ,

ri ghts H is l iterar y work is expected to

.

include aims and obj ects wh o lly foreign to

his art Who else in d ee d is there to further
.

the m to point t h em o u t ? And the man of

,

letters w ho woul d systematically ignore those

supererogatory d uties and still m ore he w ho ,

would strive to swim against the stream is ,

b o y cotted decried or sev e rely let alone

, .

L e s ko ff at one time one of the m o st promisi ng

,

and powerful writers of the latter half of the

nineteenth century proved almost a failure,

mainl y because his political opinio n s were his

o w n and he refused t o don the Li b eral livery .

T u rghe n ie ff w ho had lo n g been an idol fell

, ,

into disrepute as soon as in Fathers an d “

S ons he ma d e h o l d to blame the n e w gener

a tion T olstoy w ho for y ears w as relished
‘

.
, ,

read a n d lo v ed but without pas sion becam e

, ,

a demigo d onl y when his criticism o f Church

and S ta te w a s seen t o be us e ful as a weapon
a gainst political and social institutio n s in
R ussia and w h en he hi m self consented to
,

wield them fo r th at purpose I t is in the glare .

of t h is politico lite rar y light that Gorky s

-
’

fi gu re h as a s sumed such gigan tic dime n si o n s .

T h e obj e c t s of the popul a r party in t he

E m pire of t h e Ts a r may be such as would
1 14
 M AX I M G O R KY

he must not forget the earth but gird ing up , ,

his loins must sally forth to d is co m fi t the

,

Amalekites Art is deeply honoured i n the

.

land of Puschkin L e rm o n t o ff and Tolstoy ;

,

but n o t until it has freely given unto Caesa r

’
the t h ings th at are not C aesar s Gorky it .
,

is true has made no deliberate compromise

,

with an y section or party personal in d e pe n ,

dence being still more precious to him than

the realisatio n o f any political programme ;
moreover he envisages all parties as integral
,

portions of the blood sucking classes which -

he detests N one the less however has

.
, ,

each faction found in his sketches data cal eu

lated to strengthen o r confirm its o w n peculi ar
conte n tions a n d t hey have all made in con
,

s e quence a high bid for his sympathy and

s u pport . H e however generally but u n
, , ,

fortunately n o t always taking his stand on a ,

level raised above their prosaic plane has ,

kept on good terms with t h e m all while givi ng

his work if not his whole heart to the
, ,

M a rxists .

T he moment of h is appearance too w as , ,

unco m monly favourable to the rise of a talent

like G ork y s which a couple of decades before
’

w o u ld have caused no sti r and very little

com m e n t T ime will d oubtlessly cause this

.

1 16
 C A U SES O F H I S P O P U L A R I TY

fever to subside cal m deliberation correcting

,

the effects of haste I ts quieting power

.

has often been similarly felt before and many

”
a genius budding and full blown having
“
, ,

played his temporary part o n the stage of

political literature has been quickly forgotten
,

Russian intelligence is always wistfully o n

the l o ok— out for n ew ways and means o f

—
freeing itself from the network of burea u cracy
ever striking o u t an independent course of
its own and many are the pan a ceas for social
evils which it has hai l ed with confidence
and then turned from again in disgust For .

over a quarter O f a century for instan ce

Antae us —
, ,

like it sought fo r strength and health

in cont act with mot her earth faith in whose
,

all healing virtues w as regarded as a mark o f

-

the elect Fo r more than a generation this

.

childlike belief in the soil and its patient

tillers w as eloquently preached by the most
influential leaders of thought The peasantry
.

w as regarded as a class which in some u n e x

plained w a y was still the source of all the

grand and noble qualities latent in the race ,

a church o f which the individual members

might be ignorant and sin ful while the cor ,

p or at e body which included them all was the

receptacle and reservoir o f divine grace .

1 17
 M AX I M GO R KY
H ence the most zealous among the apostles
of this strange t eaching abandoning all they ,

possess e d went to live among the people

, ,

a s the phrase r a n in search o f regeneratio n

,
.

Professors teachers students men of letters

, , , ,

stripping themselves of all their distin ctive

badges and titles cut the ties that bou nd
,

them to their class and dwelt in smoky huts

, ,

shari ng the joys and the sorrows of the

m oos/i iés in the hope o f receiving that life
givi n g grace which they with their superior
intelligence would know ho w t o employ for
the weal of all The movement like all such
.
,

strivin gs in R ussia w as earnest sincere and

, , ,

mystical withal and until it s p ent itself a

,

few y ears ago the half savage boor w as the -

idol of the enlightene d portion o f t he natio n .

To doubt of the wonder worki n g influence -

that went out from him w a s the inexpi able

sin I t w as only at the end of wasted lives
.

that some of those enthusi a sts beh e l d their

c h eri shed ideal in the dry light in which
disillusioned Brutus fancied he discovered
v irtue. S o long as t h is peasant worship
pre v ailed there w a s no room in R ussian
,

literature for a prophet with a message like

that of Maxim Gorky .

But regeneration like the Christian m i ll en

,

1 18
 M AX I M GO R KY

conscience W hy in a word do the

, ,

pea s ants come into the world l ike insects

a n d die like s u m m er Because o f
t heir supineness .

S imul t a n eo u sl y with t h e ebb o f this faith

in the life a n d light givi n g force of the
-

p e asant came a vast soci al ch a n ge over the

R u ssi a n E m pire whic h although by the ,

people themselves its full signific a n ce w as

scarcely d ivine d r e acted and still continues
,

to react none the less powerfully upon

litera ture .

M asses a n d classes still formally sundered

,

as of o l d were drawing ever closer to each

,

other Ca p italis m was becomi ng a factor in

.

the development of the resources o f t he

country— a n d a factor more influential be
cau s e its representatives were more united
a n d s elf conscious than the ti llers o f the soil
-

A vast network of railway s w as being con

str u cted making far o ff cities n e ighbours and
,
-

ra z ing t he invisible wal ls t hat had shut out

the wave of culture from the vil lages ; rail
w a y fares were cut down till the y outdid in

che a pness t hose of Pr u ssia o r S ax ony ,

metallurg ic a l works sprang up like mush

rooms after rain mining indu s tries absorbed
,

S ign s of the Tim es by M S al t ko fi

’

, y.
.

I 20
 C AU S ES O F H I S P OPU L AR I TY

large numbers of agricultural labourers ,

foreign trade progressed by leaps and bounds .

Tens of thousan d s of petty farmers w ho

either had too little l and t o till o r were l u red
by the bribe o f higher w ages and greater
independence or w ho owing to less creditable
,

reasons could no longer lead the quiet life of

,

rustics like their fathers were pouring into ,

t he cities in ever swelling streams

-
S ome of
these found employment as hewers o f wood
and drawers o f water others by dint o f ,

shrewdness endurance and enterprise pushed

,

their way slowly upwards to a competency or

a fortune Very many there also were w ho
.
,

cut o ff from the soil and their c u stomary

occupation and freed from irksome but
,

wholesome re straints were demoralised by the

,

ease with which t h ey no w earned th e ir living ,

and together with the morally or physically

weak were jostled aside in the scramble for
gain These last constit u ted the stragglers
.

w ho having dropped O
,
u t of the ranks were ,

no lo nger fitted for town o r country life .

Others there were w ho worked for a short

season a nd then with t he proceeds o f their
, ,

labour tramped on foot throughout t he

,

country in the uninterrupted enjoyment of

p erfect freedom re l y ing,
upon their individual
t ax
 M AX I M G O R KY

strengt h in the form of toil or violence to

supply their wants When tie d to the glebe
.

the y had felt th e msel v es as units of a who le ,

li n ks of a chain b o u n d to help t heir fellow

,

peasants ent itl e d in t u rn to a ssistance from

,

t hese N o w they were free from every

.

species of pressure e x cept suc h as hu nge r

,

an d thirs t c o uld pu t fort h .

But th e ir n e w life brough t its o w n d isad

vantages : as the y tru d ged about the v a st
tracts o f fl at country in Ce n tral R ussia ,

exposed to win d a n d rain to the extremes of ,

cold and h eat t o the pinch of hu nger and t he

, ,

perpetual danger of coming into collision with

the police a feeling of hatre d for a l l re pre
,

s e n t at iv e s o f organised society enter e d into

them T heir love of liberty degenerated into

.

a passion for licence ; their meekness and

resign a tion gave pl ace to self reliance co n -

t e mpt o f husban d men merc hants officials , , ,

priests and soldiers

, An imp assable gulf
.

alrea dy divid e d these men fro m the peasa n ts

o f w ho m S a l t y k o ff h a d written : Th e com
mon R ussian m a n n o t only s u ffers but his ,

conscio u sness o f his su ffe ring is greatly

bl u n te d a n d dead e n e d H e looks up o n it as
.

a ki n d of o r igin a l s in wi th whic h there is no

’

gra ppling an d which it behoves him to bea r

12 2
 M AX I M G O R KY

vices might with pruning training and careful

, , ,

cultivation have won for th e m a high place in

the social hierarchy I n a certain sense they
.

might even be classed as idealists They .

despised and ab andoned the pleasures the ,

comforts an d the prizes o f civilised life fo r the

,

sake of absolute liberty un fettered by the ,

criminal code o f the S tate or the tables o f the

M osaic la w They would march along fo r
.

days in Arctic col d or tropical heat half naked ,

and hungry cowering o n rainy nights in u p

,

turned boats under walls or in stables or

, , ,

working or ro b bing fo r a frugal meal .

Whether they begged or robbed indee d w a s , ,

a matter of indi fference to them which they left

Fate by the arrangement o f conditions to de
, ,

This is what I want to ask you

’
termine .
,

exclaims the tramp E m e lyan Pil ya i to Gorky ,

a s t h ey w e re marching off to the S al t Works

to look for emplo y ment S u ppose n o w w e

.
, ,

were to come across a man wit h money—with

a lot of money ,
’
—
he sai d this wit h emphasis ,

furtivel y gla n cing sideway s under my spe c ta

cles would yo u brain him so to say for the , ,

sake o f getting the wants o f y our carcase

satisfied I shuddered N o of course .
,
’
not I a n swere d
, Nobody has the right to
.
‘

p urchase his happiness at the cost of another

124
 CAU S ES OF HIS P O P UL AR I TY

Tu t tut !
’ ’
man s l ife . Y es ! I n books ,

that is properly written but only for co n ,

’
science sake I n reality of course the very
.
, ,

gent w ho was the first to trot out those w ords ,

in case he himself should ever get into a t ight

p l ace woul d when occasion served as sure as
, , ,
’
fate snuff out somebody else s life in order to
,

keep his own body and soul together R ights .

indeed ! These are the rights And .

’

cl ose to my nose w a s held E m el yan s impres ’

sive sinewy fist And every man only in .

,

different way s is guided always by this ,

right . Rights indeed ! And yet like ,

Chelkash these would b e robbers and mur

,
-

d e re rs are ready to give up hundreds of

roub l es to fling them with loathi ng in the face
,

of the craven hearted pe asant comrade w ho -

has made money his god .

I t is around this central ideal of personal

l iberty exuberant strength and fierce rebel
, ,

l ion as embodied in types like these that

, ,
’
the entire cycle of Gorky s sketches revolves .

On the savage champions o f this lost ca u se ,

with w hom he does not s h rink from identify

ing himself he lavishes his sympathies ; for
,

them he bespeaks t h e admiration of h is

readers : H e loves those beings w ho once
were men not merely despite their vices but
, ,

12 5
 M AX I M G O R KY

because of the qualities from which those vices

emanate They are almost denuded of the
.

instincts and principles with which w e are

accustomed to identify moral ity they ignore
conventional ity scorn eve r y species of fi g leaf
,
-

but although aware of their nakedness are ,

wholly unashamed They pride themselves

.

on being earth men rugged realities products

-

, ,

o f N ature endowed with more o f her sin

,

c e r it y than the sleek citizen w ho m asquerades

in the garb of morality and sucks the life

blood o f his fellows S trong willed iron
.
-

thewed yet highly sensitive to the beauties of

,

sea and sky and steppe and wood they long ,

for a n opp o rtunity to put forth the almost

creative force which thrills thei r bei n g delight ,

not only in the tepid breath of southern nights ,

the warm wooi n gs o f sunny days b u t also in ,

the howl of the hurricane and the very boom

o f the th u nder w hich may prove to be t he
,

blast of the tr u mpet calling them to de ath and

j udgment .

I n those men whose existence Gorky raised

from the subconsciousness of society stamp ,

ing them with the impress of artistic reality ,

each p a rty found a li v in g proof of its m a i n

co n tentio n s To t he Conserva tives t hey
.

offered a striking ill u stration o f the bank

12 6
 C H A PT E R V
G ORK Y S E TTL E S D OW N

success —va lued in current coin at

L I T E R AR Y
some three thous and po u n ds a y e a r —con
geni al companions h ip and the sore ly m i ss e d
,

aim in life for which he had long been y e arn

ing in vain cau se d Gorky s late n t soci al
,
’

instincts to fall gra duall y into focus H is .

passion for tramping y ielded in conseque n ce

t o a sense of d u ty quic kened o r creat e d b y
,

his ne w position but he still held o n with a

,

courage which recoiled from no dan gers no t ,

even t hat of logical inco n sistency to his sum ,

mary judgment o n a n d condemn a tion of all

h u ma n society as at pre s e n t organised Th u s .

he gave a col d assent to custom to the ,

h abits and preferences of those with w hom

h e had settl e d d own to live without pre ,

te n di ng to acquie s ce in the p r inciples of

moral a ction o f w h ich those conventions are
t h e faint reflex I n d eed his protests against
.
,

12 8
 G O R KY S ETT LES D OW N

all such maxims—protests which were uttered

in the name of no complete an d roun d e d
V iew of life — rew louder an d more emp h atic
g
than at the very height of the period of storm
and stress .

Taking his own place in society and largely

identifying himself with the a rdours and
aspirations of its most p r ogressive elements ,

he S till remained faithful in theory to his

former self proclaiming to all w ho care d to
,

listen that for men o f generous thoughts of ,

trenchant intell ect of high resolves there is

, ,

n o p l ace in the realm o f ord er and law O ne .

an d all they are doomed to pine a n d die in

its atmosphere The only people who fare

.

well there are they w ho have been m e t am o r

pho se d into a great mass of bones co v ered
“
,
”
wit h flesh and a thick skin whose hearts ,

are steeped in servility and cowardice and

whose mind s are paralysed wit h S piritual
sloth
But Gorky s case—the su nd e ring o f practice
.

from th e ory— presents no psychological

symptoms which are n o t alread y com m on
enou gh Many of those fiery spirits w h o
. ,

dwelling in society proclaim by their re ad i

,

ness to respect its O bservances that it is well

with them there still hold in theory by the
,

12 9 1
 M AX I M GO R K Y

r eve l ations which came to them at a p eriod

in t heir lives w h en they would have cheerfully
sappe d its foundations The antipathy too,
. ,

which Gorky felt and professed fo r all social

ties d id not long surv i v e as a norm of cond uct
t h e nomadic stage of e x istence whence it d rew

its force—a force which at one time seemed

insuperable H is receptive powers generally
.
,

which m a y have appeared at first to have

been absorbed to saturation with the e xpe ri
e n ce s of his chequered youth expan d ed ,

gra d ually in his ne w en v ironment H e sealed .

t h is conversion if conversion it may be called

, ,

by marriage and the fulness of happiness

,

which this n e w tie is said to have bestowed

upon him must have also further contribute d
,

to modify his attitude o f mind and insen sibly ,

prepared him for still larger concessions to

t hat worn out social organism which h e wo uld
-

fain have annihi lated in his unregenerate

years The other hostages which he has
.

given to society consist to d a y of a pretty

-

little boy of t h ree a nd a half and a baby

girl of one year .

H is w ay through life since the n tho ugh it ,

h a s l e d him several times into close proximity

to t he prison a n d once to a cell in the gaol
,

o f N is h n y has been comparatively smooth in

,

13 0
 M AX I M GO R KY

empire n o tably in S t Petersburg assumed

,
.
,

u nwonted proportions and culminated in the

s hedding of bloo d he too w as overshadowed

,

b y a cl o ud of suspicion arrested and deprived

, ,

of liberty for a time and is now under the

,

permanent surveillance of t he police .

M ost movements in R ussia which partake

of a revolutionar y c haracter a re strongly
marke d by a tendency which may with su ffi
cient a ccuracy be termed socialistic And .

with socialism as such Gorky s ideals like ’

t h ose of Count Tolstoy possess little affinity

But the starting —
.
,

point of all forms o f public

p rotest whether t he proscribed institution
,

be society as a whole o r any O f its o ffi cial

representatives is the same ; and not the
,

starting point only H ence the curious spec

-
.

tacle that ofte n confronts one in R u ssia of

mutually hostile elements co alescing for a
time and worki ng amicably side by side in
order to reach a distant poi n t at w h ich co
operation must be changed for hostilities .

Duri ng the student riots o f 1 9 0 1 and t he

subseq u ent confi n ement of Gork y it w as ,

r u m o ured that the late tramp would be de

ported to N orthern R u ssia or even to E ast
S iberia not so much in consequence of what
,

he had actually done that matter being open

,

13 2
 G O R KY S ETT L ES D OW N

to doubt as in anticipation o f what he could

,

and possibly would d o for his influence o n ,

the masses is in truth far reachi n g But

,
,
-
.

the authorities w ho have more than once

,

shown t heir consideration for h igh literary

gifts were maligned by these pre mature
,

reports Pe shko f W hose health had been

for some time declining—
. f
,

symptoms su gge s
tive o f incipient consumption are sai d to
have been observed—w as set free by the
police a n d his requ e st that he might be
,

allowed to spend the winter in the enjoyment

of the warm golden weather of the Crimea
was co n d itionally com p lied with I n N is hn y .

Novgo r o d his n ative tow n a banquet w as

, ,

Offered to him on his rele a se from priso n ,

at which eloquent speeches were mad e ,

addresses read toasts proposed and other

, ,

ceremonies observed such as are us u al ly

reserved fo r the great dignitaries of the
E mpire E ven the prison inmates were
.

pre sent in S pirit as was attested by their

,

w ritten greetings and especially by a picture

whic h t hey had sent to him of the cell in
their prison whic h he himself had hallowed
b f “
with his memories several mont s h e o efi
r

And w hen he and his family finally took

S u m m er, 1 9 0 1.
 M AX I M G O R KY

their places in the train at N is h ny N ovgorod ,

which w as to convey them to Mosc o w on

their w a y to the S outh t housands o f well ,

wishers thronged the railway platfor m and ,

t hunderou s applause bore witness t o the

irrepressible enthusiasm o f the people for a
man in whom they recognised the prophet of
a n e w order of things .

Meanwhile in Moscow elaborat e prepara

tions were being m ade t o arrange a series of .

gran d iose ovations for the successor of “

Tolstoy . A public demonstration u n paral

leled in splendour w as in speedy process of
organisation Pe shk o ff w a s t o enter the
.

golden domed city in tri u mph his carria ge

-

drawn by the impul s ive students w ho would

hail him as the c hampion of free t hought and
untrammelled speech B u t it w as not for .

t h is that t h e authorities had allowed him to

trave l They too had been busy maturing
.

their plans And at the little station w here

.

the train halted fo r the last time before

re aching the ancient capital two ge ndarmes ,

e n tered t h e compar tm e nt in wh ich Gorky

sat w it h h is fa mil y a nd cried o u t the name ,

”
Pe s hko ff . H ere replied Gorky
,
Are .
“

e sh ko ff
”
P ? they asked I myself
“ ”
o u
y .
,

answered the w riter

“
Then yo u must get
.

I
34
 M AX I M GO R KY

time has p l oughed in his brow and the bend ,

in his broad firm shoulders for which the

weight of mere years—thirty three all told -

cannot satisfac torily account H is grey .

,

lustrous eyes ever restless reflect every

moo d and soul —
, ,

state of the man with the

fidelity o f psychic p hotography H e takes a .

childlike pleasure in warm appreciation of his

work to which he has become quite acc u s
,

t o m e d o f late his features becoming trans

,

fi gu re d and his eagerness to take his pen

,

an d do better than he has yet achieved

bordering on real impatience H is smile .
,

however is still that o f the old days of storm

,

a n d stress sickly and sad his laugh rare and

half—
, ,

hearted and his voice though neither

, ,

weak nor shrill is somewhat harsh a n d often

,

hoarse H y persensitive to approval and

.

encouragement and slow to winnow the

husks of form—the source of so much that is
pleasant in the spoken Opinion of others
from the corn of contents undiluted praise ,

raises his self conscious n ess to its highest

-

power begetti n g in him t hat feeling o f

intoxication —as though the words had been
,

steeped in has h ish—for whic h H orace found

the happy formula : S ublimi feriam side ra
1
36
 GOR KY S ETT L ES D OW N
vertice. I t is thus that he has been l ed on
from the description of tramp life in which -

he has no rival to the painting of men and

,
.

women whom he has but studied in books ,

from the short sto ry in which he exce l s to the

novel wherein he is but a tyro and from ,

imp ressive prose narrative to medioc r e poet ry

and u nsuccessful dramas .

And in this manner the knight errant of -

the R ussian barefoot brigade has gradually

accustomed himself to the more comfo r table
and somewhat less irregular habits of the .

citizen w h o follows the profession of lette r s

losing much—though hardly the best part—
,

of

his forme r self in the l a rger stream of life on

which he is now fairly launched E xcepting .

the period o f his short imprisonment at N ishny

Novgorod in the sum m er o f 1 9 0 1 there has ,

been litt l e in the way o f outward events worth

record ing since then the stages of his life
,

work one can hardly say progre ss being

, ,

marked mainly by new stories new poems , ,

new dramas and ever more and more

,

ambitious plans H is popularity which has

.
,

overshadowed that o f all R ussian men o f

l etters living and dead received on March 6
, ,

1 9 0 2 the hall mark of official recognition by

,
-

I 37
 M AX I M GO R KY

his election to a fauteuil in the I m perial

Academy o f S ciences — the h ig hest honour
to which a Russian writer can aspire A .

curious light is thrown upon the strong cross

currents which clas h and whirl beneath the
smoot h surface o f Russi a n society by the
circumstance that the supreme areop agus of
judges of literary art s hould have raised to
this eminence the ex tra m p who lives u nder
-

the strictest supervision of the po l ice an d is

a sharp thorn in the side o f the Government
of the T sar This election was however
.
, ,

promptly quashed by the Government on the

gro u nd that the members of the Acade my
knew no t w hat they did—were in fact u n , ,

aware that Gorky was at the ti m e under

police supervision .

The ex tra mp has from time t o time turned

-

—
aside for a moment from the pursuit of his
o w n ideals ideals which his best friends find
it impossi b le to realise and di ffi cu l t to grasp
in order to lend a hand in accomplishing tas ks
more feasible if less glorious the uprooting ,

of certain pop u lar customs for instance , ,

Th e I m perial Acad e m y of S ciences has a section

for R u ss ia lang uag e and lit e tu re
n I t is of th is section
ra .

t hat Go r ky was ele cte d by se c e t scruti ny an hon orary

, r
,

m em be r.

1 8
3
 M AX I M GO R KY
‘

TH E PR OC E S S I O N OF S H AME .

I t is a strange procession that is now

w ending along the village street between two

rows o f white plastered mud huts to the

accompaniment of a long dra w n unearth l y -

howl .

“
A crowd of peas ants is marching fo rwards ,

a dense throng movi ng like a huge wave and ,

in t h e forefront ambles a sorr y little horse ,

comically rugged its head ha nging dow n

,

dismally W henever it lifts one of its fore

.

feet it shakes its h ead at the s a me time in a

most strange w ay as if endeavouring to thrust
,

its shaggy muzzle into the dust of the road and ,

when it displaces its hind foot the hip haunch ,

and thigh sink down towards the earth and

s e e m on the v e ry p o in t of falling
'

“
Bound with a thong to the fr ont of the
c art is a woman sm all and almost wholly
,

naked a woman who might yet be taken for

,

a mere girl S he is limpi n g along in odd

.

fashion sideways her head covered with

, ,

den s e tresses o f dis h evelled c he s tn u t coloured -

hair held aloft and t h rust a little backwards ,

her eyes starting out of their sockets an d ,

fixed as it were on s ome invisible point in the

distance with a dull insensate gaze wherei n
, ,

1 40
 G O R KY S ETT L ES D OW N

is no u ght of the human being H er .

whole body is one continuous tissue of dark

blue and purple spots oval or rou nd the left
, ,

breast plastic and virginal is slashed open

, ,

and welling blood is trickling down it .

T he gore forms a dark purple streak along

the belly an d further down along the left leg
,

as far as the kn ee where it loses itself in the

,

brown coating of dust From the bo d y of

.

this wo m an there seemi ngl y has be e n torn a

long narrow strip of the skin a nd he r abdomen
,

looks as if it had been beaten for a consider

able time with a log of wood it has swollen
to monstrous dimensions and its hue is uni
,

formly horribly livid .

“
The legs o f this female well turned and
,

small move forwards with di ffi culty through

,

the thick lay er o f dust ; her entire body is

fearfully twisted and totters as s he walks ,

and one wonders ho w she still succeeds in

keeping on those legs which like her body
, , ,

are one mass o f livid br uises : o n e wonders

ho w it happens that S he does not drop down
upon the earth and hanging o n by he r pinioned
hands is not dragged by the cart along the
dusty warm ground .

“
On the cart stands a tall peasant in a
white blo u se a n d a bl a ck s heepski n cap from ,

14 1
 M AX I M GO RKY

under which bisecti ng his forehead h angs a

tuft o f red h a ir I n o n e hand he ho l ds the
.

reins in the other his whip and methodical ly

, ,

he administers a cut with it n o w a cross the

back of h is horse and now across the body of
the small sized woman w ho is already d is,

abled and disfigured o u t of all likeness to the

human image The eyes of the red haired
.
-

peasant are blood shot and gliste n with

malignan t triumph H is hair brings out as a
.

foi l their green hue T he sleeves of his

blouse turned up to the s h ou l ders lay bare
, ,

his strong sinewy arms thickly covered wi th

reddish hair his mouth is open showi ng two ,

rows of sharp white teeth and now and again ,

he shouts in hoarse accents

Well no w hag ! H a ! ha ! That s
‘
,
’

’
one ! ha ! I sn t that right brothers ? ,
’

Behind the cart and the woman tied to it

the dense thro n g sweeps on sho u ting howl ,

ing whistling crying ta lly ho ! egging on

, , .

Little street boys r u sh about .

S ometimes one of them runs ahead of the

’
rest and yells indecent words into the woman s
ears Then a peal of laughter drowns all
.

other sounds and with them the fine whiz of

the w hip in the a ir .Women too march , ,

with the procession women with fl ushed ,

142
 M AX I M GORK Y

I have written this sketch not as an

a ll egorical account of the persecution and
scourging of a prophet w h o found no recog
n it io n in the country of his birth —no I am ,

sorr y to say I t IS not to be construed t hus

This is called an ‘
I t is thus that
husbands chastise their wives for miscond uct .

Th e above is a picture of popular ma n ners ,

of a custom I witnessed it myself in the

.

year 1 8 9 1 o n J u l y 1 5 in t he vill age of K andy

”
b o v ka Government o f K he rson .

Vyvo d .

144
 C H AP TE R VI
TH E B ARE FOO T BR I GAD E
TH E ground colour o f Gorky s paintings is ’

grey as all music distinctly R ussian is in a

,

m inor ke y a n d a l l Muscovite philosophy pessi

,

mistic I n t hat respect therefore his work

.
, ,

bears a certain famil y rese m blance to Tur

ghe n ie ff S Tolstoy s and that o f several other
’ ’

, ,

R ussian masters l e s s known in the West .

Where it di ffers from the wor k of all others

is in his choice of subjects H e depicts t he .

li fe with which he is best acquainted a n d

most in sympathy chooses his heroes from
,

among the damned souls of civilisation a n d ,

havi ng thus descended into hell discovers ,

s t reaks of light even in that dismal gloom ,

and endeavours to aw a ken in the b reasts of his

read e rs some hu m an interest for the souls that
dwell there with the divine im age and super
scription defaced And this to a considerable
.

extent he succe e ds in doing fo r his heroes are ,

14 5 x
 M AX I M G O R KY

but i d ealised projectio n s of himsel f H ence .

he has no need to st u dy types but si m pl y to ,

recall his impressions to reflect his o w n ,

t h o ughts to embody his feeli ngs to utter his

, ,

aspirations a n d i n his o w n portrait they recog

,

nise themselves .

Those waifs do n o t constitu te a class apar t ,

although Gorky would fain have them recog

n ise d a s such De void of orga nisation and
.

lacking common ai m s they are recruited from ,

all social l ayers from every profession and

, ,

may be likened to hedgehogs w ho drawing , ,

close together for warmth yet keep each other ,

at a distan ce by means of their bristl ing spines .

But there are certain traits commo n to them all ,

and marking them off from the rest of mankind ,

such as their utter lack of social instincts ,

their i n capacity for appreciati ng the good that

flows from these and their consequent u nfi t
,

ness for the o rganised life o f men Those .

characteristics constitute so to say t he brand , ,

of Cain which sets them erri n g over the face

,

of the earth flying fro m be fore t heir fellows

, .

T his sin in so m e sort original taints their

, ,

wills renders them unable to subor d inate

,

themselves t o others for the common good ,

u n fi t s them for co opera tion and makes them

-

shrin k from ti e s a nd chafe at restraints I t .

1 46
 M AX I M GOR KY

word the flotsam and j etsam of the ocean of

life—washed upon the beach and left there to
,

rot in the rain and the suns h ine And on .

the other we are confronted with the born

rebels who relish nought that life can o ffer
or promise who are seeking no t
,
the , _ _ _

the unknown and unknowable w h o hurry ,

from thought to thou ght from impulse to ,

imp ulse fro m place to place as if lashed by

, ,

unseen furies for forgotten sins and find no ,

haven of rest except such end as may come

to the beasts of the forest or else deliberate ,

suicide .

E ach of these groups of abnormal hu m an

beings contains numerous types which have
never before been painted in such fresh
n atural tints and the relentless persecution
,

of fate or of man operates o n their wills

like a chemical reagent bringing out the ,

inherent qualities of individual character .

’
Manhood s stamp may have been defaced
or rubbed out of the souls o f these sa n s
eu l ottes but they are still at least a portion of
,

n ature w hich unlike society keeps a place

, ,

for all Moreover among the wastage o f

.
,

the community one finds every blend of

h u man nature every germ of good and evil
, ,

148
 TH E B AR E F O O T B R I G AD E
every extreme of su ffering every degree of ,

endurance malignity and despair ; but in

, ,

addition to these specialising traits each in ,

dividual as he passes onwards is seen to

bear the mark of reprobation common to
them all writ large u pon his brow I n this .

army of malcontents w e note the quiet shy ,

but restless creatures who honestly confess

their shortcomings a nd almost uncomplain
ingl y put up wit h their hard lot reckoning it ,

as co n dign punishment ; the whi n ing s u fferers

who shriek o r moan at every wriggle of the

worm that gnaws their diseased hearts ; the
terror stricken w ho wildly seek an answer to
-

the S phinx question which they cannot hope

to so l ve and the demoniacal rebels writhing
, ,

with superh u man energy strength and , ,

malice who crave for a chance of crushing to

,

dust the society which has shaken them o ff

with loathing S ocial outcasts moral lepers
.
, ,

evil things hitherto hidden away from the

,

eyes of the self respecting order loving men -

,
-

until the dark grave s ho u ld open a n d close

upon them they are here portrayed at various
,

stages of their downward journey n o t always

sad querulou s or disputing but often care
, , ,

l ess defiant o r even gay like the citizens of

, ,

o l d Florence who da nced drank an d m ade

, , ,

1 49
 M AX I M G O R KY

merry w hi l e the plague germs were floating

o n the air or coursi n g through their veins .

We get glimpses of these pariahs wal

lowing in mire on the road to the s h oreless
se a
,
n o w banqueting o n a musty chu n k of

black bread n o w planning robbery or

,

murd er to day renderi n g love l oathsome in

,
-

fetid squalor while S h i v ering with cold and

soaked with rain and to morrow pausi n g
,
-

in t he wild wastes of grey steppe to b ask in

t he warmth of the s u n to yield themselves ,

u
p t o the caress of the breeze or to listen with ,

sensuo u s de l ight to the m u sic o f flowing

wa ter or the rustling of tender leave s For .

they h ave n o w no friend but nat u re no ,

enemy but man no hope b u t death ! /Vith

, .

the community their ties are sun d ered and ,

h ate is the only relation that still subsists

between it a n d them T hey look upon the .

civilised mortal him w ho accepts and m a kes

,

t he best of l i fe be he prince or husbandman

, ,

as a bloodsucker a coward an enemy a n d

, , ,

are considered by him in turn as vermin to

be put speedily out of sight N or is it only .

b y the community that they are cursed and

ba n ne d Among themselves th e re is but
.

l ittle of that fellow feeling which the sight

o r presentiment o f com mon da n er in fuses
g
1 50
 M AXI M GO R KY

To portray such men to paint s u ch scenes ,

w as an act of daring ; to suffuse them with

t he breath of poetry to breathe upon t hem ,

t he warmth of sympathy needed such courage

as only one of themselves could deploy And .

G orky their born spokesman and poet dis

, ,

played it freely For his heart warms to

.

t hese wastrels his life long comrades and like

,
-

, ,

them he abhors the smug sleek la w bound

, , ,
-

gaol fearing men and women w hether the y

-

form part o f the social hammer o r the an v il .

H e has lived their life share d their interests , ,

exposed himself to the same dangers possibly ,

has like them eaten rats in Odess a sn ails in ,

Ro st o ff and roots in the ploughlands of the

,

S teppe H e has lived as he himself puts it

.
, ,

in a state of chronic S iege and it is n atural if , ,

not praiseworthy that he should harbo u r

,

strong and u n Christian feelings towards the

-

besiegers .

The ethical traits common to all this bane

fu l crowd whether w e contem plate the hag
gard schoolmaster—a victim o f drink—
, .

the
craz y millionaire ; t he unfrocked clergyman ,

or t h e case hardened criminal fi n d an e n t hu si

ast le apologist in him—many o f these qualities
-

indeed displayed themselves in his own

chequere d career—the men in whom t hey are
152
 THE BARE FO O T B R IG AD E

embodied are a l l alike impatient of civil obliga

tio n s and moral duties an d all w e ighed down ,

by the pecu l iar curse which lies on the w ander

ing J ew R estlessness is the keynote of t h eir
.

t emperament wilfulness the groundwork of

,

their character sudden im pul s e the main

,

spring o f their action They yearn fo r the .

liberty which we term licence and glory in ,

the deeds o f danger which society punishes

as crimes And in pursuit of these aims they
.

are u tter l y reckless o f consequences mani ,

festing a degree o f daring endurance an d for ,

tude which in a better cause woul d rank as

heroism H ence the ease with which the
.

artist m akes the transition from the l oathsome

miasm s of misery and vice to the romantic
h aze which hangs over great failures and lost
causes .M isfortune weakness o f will in
, ,

j ustice are by no means the only origins of the

never ending wanderings of t hese unwashed
-

vagabonds Many o f the m ar e living the

.

life they prefer and have no l o ngi ng for the

,

e x i s te n ce which they have left The comforts .

o f civilisation they despise and the rude enjoy ,

ments of which they are still capable would

be i n sipid w it hout the flavour suppl ied by
the grand air of freedom from o rder and
la w .

I 53
 MA X I M G O RKY

A man must be born in civili sed society ,

writes Gorky speak ing for himse l f in or d er

, ,

to l ay up within him t h e fund of p atience

nee ded t o spen d his e n tire e x iste n ce therei n ,

w ith n ever a wis h to sta rt away somewhit her ,

be y ond the S phere of all those leaden co n v e n

t io n al it ie s of tho se petty veno m ous lies con
,

s e c ra t e d by custom away out of the domain ,

of morbid se lf love far from the sectar ia n ism

-

of ideas from all man n er of insincerities in a

, ,

word beyond t he pal e of the v anit y o f vanities

,

whic h chills emotion and warps t he under

standing I w as born and bre d outside t hat
.

societ y a n d fo r th at reason which is grate ful to

, ,

me I a m incapable o f swallowi ng its culture i n

,

big d o ses without feeling after the lapse of a

certain time the imperious need of S haking o ff
its shackles a nd refreshing myself somewhat
away from the extreme complexity and mor
bid subti lity o f this mode o f li fe .

To live in t h e country is a lmost as u n

b earabl y n a u seating a n d depressi n g as in the
s o ciety of the intel lig e nt I t is best o f all to .

withdr aw t o the slu m s of cities where ,

although wall o wing i n filt h everything is ,

simp l e a n d si n cere o r else start o ff roaming

,

over the fields a n d alo n g the roads o f o ur

native lan d where curious sights may be
,

1 54
 M AX I M GO R K Y

universal nature which is nowhere l ighted

,

u
p for them by an E ternal presence .

What those nomads really seek is not a

cal m recess a quiet refuge fro m the storms
,

of the world nor even the betterment of

,

their material lot The moving force within

.

them is not as Gorky fondly believes the

, ,

e m otional ardour of a spiri ng spirits vainly

striving to achieve in tim e the task of eternity ,

but the fi d ge t y unrest of neurotic subj ects

freed from external restraints and even fro m
inner moral checks an d pursuing a course of
,

brigandage kept within certain broad limits

by fear of t heir arch enemy the police -

,
.

T his morbid unsettledness inborn or ac ,

quire d countera cts the softening and cohesive

,

influence even o f material well being of -

sensual pleasure and of the fruition of such

worldly goods as would satisfy their fellows ,

a n d deprives them of the attractive force to

b r ing b a ck t ho se fugitives to a life o f usefulness ,

’
to disgust them with the w anderer s wallet and
staff to arrest their d ownru sh to ruin
, .

T his psychic flaw in their n at u re offers the

only satisfactory explanation o f the abnormal
con d uct of types like K uzma * a blithesome , ,

frank workman in a mill who cannot with ,

I n the ske tch l

e n t i t ed W o rl d -
so rro w
(To ska! .

I 56
 TH E B AR E F OOT B R I GAD E
stand the temptation t o go tramping with the
barefoot brigade H is lot would seem more
.

than tolerable to many o f his fellows ; it might

indeed well appear enviable H is work is .

light his wages are fair they will be raised

, ,

i f he consents to remain at his post he is ,

liked by his employer and over and above ,

a l l this he has near him the girl wh o m he

loves and who loves him so ardently so pas ,

s io n at e l y that s he will cheerfully make any

,

sacrifice to induce him to stay on But .

K uz m a answers her wit h a mixture of heart

less cynicism and rude tenderness which has ,

its roots in a set of conditions more interesting

to the psychiater than to the psychologist .

“
Don t ask me I tell you ! I t isn t in my
’

,
’

power to abide here ; I will go to K uban

I won t barter my freedom for any wife or
’

any huts Let me tell you that I w as born

.

under a hedge and mean to die u nder one .

That s my destiny R ight down to the ti m e

’
.

when my hair turns grey I shall tra mp about

I t bores me to remai n in one place .

H is answer to his employer who also seeks ,

to persuade him to give up his whi m is ,

“
couched in similar phraseology : N o sa y ,

what you will I will go I m u st take to the

steppe —there I can have my fli ng
.
,

I to o
I S7
 M AX I M GO R KY

shal l feel sorry for you—l was used to you .

’
But go I will because t h ere s something
,

drawing me ! N o man should fi ght against

his o w n sel f I f a person withstands himsel f
.

’
he s a lost man .

K o n o v al o ff anot h er o f Gorky s most

’

finis h ed portraits narrates an episode o f his

,

life ill u strating this s ame achi ng for freedo m

, ,

this loathing for ties H e once fell in l ove .

with a wealt h y woman W ho loved him in t urn , .

With her he could have passe d his life in e ase

and plenty in comfort and enjoyment The
, .

circumstance that she w as married and living

with her husband in their o w n ho u s e w here ,

she had had h im e n gaged as co achman n e it her ,

marred n o r heightened h is enjoyment I t w as .

w holly devoi d of significance for a m a n

situated bey ond the realm of go o d and
evil H appy therefore he was for a ti m e
. ,

but the instinct of the Wandering Je w

w as strong upon him H e w as drawn so .

fo rcibly so irresistibly b y the d e sire of change

, ,

the longing fo r action the passion for free ,

dom that despite his love and hers he threw

,

e v ery t h in g and h astened to rejoi n the

u
p
”
arm y of tramps S h e w as a su perb w oma n
.
,

and
“
h e afterwards a ss ured his friend Gorky ,

I am sorry for her to this very day Had it .

15 8
 M AX I M G O R KY

Makar C hu d ra tersely form u lates it as fo l

,

lows “
W ander and look about y o u and ,

when you have seen enough lie down and

die There it is in a nutshell ! N ever
abide lon g in o ne spot ; what good can you
ever get from it ? J ust as day and night fly
everlastingly chasing each other round the
,

earth so s hould you fl e e all thoughts about

,
”
life lest you cease to love it
,
.

This inborn spirit of unrest raised to the ,

force of a passion for roaming at large with

’
never a roof to one s head unencumbered ,

by wife or child unhindered by the laws ,

of the Tsar or even t he commandments of

God has from time immemorial been a
,

mighty force for good and for evil in the

political social and religious history of
, ,

Muscovy Climatic conditio n s do not wholly

.

e x plain it ; ind e ed the polar cold o f Central

,

R ussi a the worse than wintry storms that

,

howl thro u gh the dark denuded forests or ,

drive the snow into heaps a n d hillocks on

t h e boun d less s teppe the scorching heat o f ,

s ummer and the torrential rains o f aut u mn

, ,

render campi ng out and marching one of the

most try i n g and d angerous modes of life one
could a d o pt I t is much more likely that the
.

miserable e x istence indoors semi starvation ,

-

1 60
 TH E B A R E FO O T B R I G AD E

in smoky hut s with no scope wh ateve r for

,

physica l o r spiritual activity w hich is the only

,

alternative lies at the root of this curious

,

taste which othe r causes may intensify to a

,

mania . The horrors of serfdom likewise

helped fOr generations to supply the ranks of
the runaway s with numberless recruits .

Anothe r attra ction lies in the a rdent love ,

touching in its tenderness pathetic in its ,

abnormal warmt h which the R ussian cherishes

,

towards the forest,wherein he fancies he hears

divine voices an d sees superhuman forms
inviting him to quit all and fo l low them .

“
When yo u behold the forest outspread
'

before your eyes dark an d voice l ess wholly

, ,

plunged in mysterious quiet and each tree ,

seems to be listeni ng to somethi ng you fancy ,

it is fi l l ed with a livi n g form which has been

hiding for a time And you wait expecting
.
,

every moment to see something suddenly

emerge from it something mighty and beyond
,

the understanding of man which on coming ,

forth wil l a nnounce in tones of thunder the

”
a w fu l secrets of creative n ature .

I n the history of R us sian colonisation the

vagrancy cause d by such soci al and psychica l
conditions played a preponderant and most
The C om rad es
”
.

1 61
 M AX I M GO R KY

u seful r éle I t w a s those rough re a dy and

. ,

rebellious individuals in its ranks who bore

the brunt of the battles whereby ancient
M u scovy held her old possessions and won
her new colonies U nable or unwil l ing to
.

settle down in city or country these hordes of ,

ne o n o m ad s fleei n g all conventional restraints

, ,

wandered from place to place l oose l y bound ,

by an unwritten l aw embodying the honour

which thieves and pirates take a pride in
observing seeking and finding in the utmost
,

confines o f the n ascent kingdom a welcome

out l et for the love of adventure which w as
eating at their heart stri n gs Their deeds -
.

a re enshrined in the story o f the Z ap or o shsky

Cossacks * i n t he south in the thrilling ,

history o f the conq u est o f S iberia in the

east S irko Y ermak Bogdan K hm e lnitsky
.
, , ,

M azeppa and a select band of adventurous

,

E mpire builders unconscious of what they

-

are doing incarnate their virtues and their

,

vices The Tarta rs Turks Caucasian tribes

.
, ,

and the Poles gave them never ending -

opportunities for feats o f prowess and deeds

of cruelty and the love of independence
,

innate in the Co s sack breast d isplayed itself

I n Turk ish the w o d C o ssack wh ich is not of
r
,

S lavon ic origin m ea s o b b er, n r .

1 62
 M AX I M G O R KY

more regular and sober life than the ordi nary

workman With the hel p of those fugitives
. ,

isolated farms still thrive and exten d whole ,

hamlets and settlements have spr ung up and ,

their gratuito u s labour has come to be relied

upon by the colonists as a constant economic
resource E very village in S iberia near the
.

S tate works has similar hiding places for -

those useful criminals w ho so far repay this

,

interested hospitality as to refrain from

robbing or killing their benefactors .

The dense forests of Russia have for

ce n turies offered the safest refuge to all kinds
o f vagabonds w h o had grounds for holding

aloof from the companionship of their fellows .

S ectarians suffering for conscience sake

’

criminals fleeing from j u stice highwaymen ,

reeking w ith blood and laden with spoil mere ,

oddities smitten with misanthropy and serfs

escaping fro m their inhuman masters were all ,

sure of finding a breathi n g space from pursuit

in the eter nal twilight of the vast woods of
pine of oak of birc h H ere the y liv e d more
, , .

like animals than men And even at the .

present day the curious Russian trave l ler

sometimes meets with solitary cenobites
scattered over the voiceless forests of Central
and N orthern R ussia whose long unkempt
,

1 64
 T H E B A R E F OOT B R I G A D E

hair wide wandering eyes ha ggard unwashed

, ,

fa ces tattered filthy an d evil smelling rags

, ,
-

suggest the figures of I ndian asc et e s doing

penance for their sins or E gyptian anchorets
who mortifying and sometimes literally killing
,

t heir bodies fancied t hey were purify ing

,

their souls A powerful short sketch of the

.

deat h of one o f these R ussian ceno b ites o c

curs in the commencement o f one of the latest ,

longest and most powerful stories by Maxim

Gorky .

Passports which appertain as much to the

,

essence of the ordinary Russian as a body or

a soul these men rej e cted as fetters t hus
, ,

rendering themselves liable to severe pains

a nd penalties even though they had offended
,

in no other particular Marri age too which .

, ,

men o f their nomadic habits must n ee d s

eschew in practice they condemned in theory,

as wel l And when their mania assume d as

.
,

it so O ften d id a rel igious form a nd they

,

grouped themselves into a sect their funda ,

mental dogmas turn e d precisely on t hat line

of cleavage between themselves a n d the
organised community insistence on which ,

w a s indispensable to the maintenance of the

liberty the y cheri she d P a ssports were co n.

,

form a bly to these views anathematised as ,

1 65
 M AX I M G O R KY

marked with the imp re s s o f Antichrist ; in

like manner matrimon y w a s held in abomi n a
tion as a much wors e sin than h a rlot r y and
all t he political authorities which prescribed
both were cursed and banned as followers o f
the E vil O n e E ven the settl e d popu lation
.

whic h li v ed the un iform prosaic life of their

”
fathers obe y ing the be hests of Antichrist
,
“

and h is ministers were shunned as serv ants

of the devil .

T he members of this strange whose

passion for roaming w as largely an instinct
inherited fro m t heir nomadic forefat hers ,

often wandered for weeks from place to

place heedless whither they erred and those
, ,

w ho dropped from exhaust ion or perished of

cold d ied with the comforti n g conviction

t hat they were martyrs t o the true faith .

Other members wiser in th e ir generation

, ,

o rganise d the community a n d had secret

refuges prepared in cities towns and villages
, ,

in t h e dwellings of sympathisers w hose faith ,

t h ough sal utary enough as a theory had not ,

y e t br a ced them up to the point of taking

the wallet an d t he staff The road running
.

t h roug h the v ast stretch of territory b e tween

S i b eria an d Y aroslav w as dotted ov e r with
They a k o w as Fugi tive s o r B e o o nee
re n n
’

g , .

1 66
 M AX I M G O R KY

ground corridors leadi ng to other such hiding

places for the use of the true vagrants Thus .

the hills on the banks of the river K e e in

the Government o f Tomsk in S iberia we r e
literally honeycombed with secret cells for
these curious followers of Christ They .

lived on alms where almsgivi ng was in

vogue and in times o f dearth they so ught
,

and obtained work in the go ld fi e ld s When .

their associate settlers the asylum keepers , ,

come to die they are taken out to the woods

,

or at l east to a strange house where they

expire as genuine wanderers in the odour ,

o f sectarian sanctity .

Astrakhan where the police supervision

,

was always necessarily lax was a favourite ,

resort of these fanatics an d indee d of all , ,

kinds o f vagabonds and tramps B ut the .

cradle of the sect a n d the centre whence it

was spread over the E mpire was the Govern
ment of Y aroslav in a town of which the
,
’
Wanderers S upreme Council had and pro ,

bably still has its seat N is h ny N ovgorod

, .
,
’
Gorky s birthplace is another noted nest of
,

tra mps of all categories ; here the nets hooks , ,

and all other requisites for the fishing ia

d us try are made and sent downward along
the Volga to th e ir vario u s desti n ations large ,

1 68
 TH E B AR E F OO T B R I GAD E
cargoes going down to Astrakhan in spri ng .

H ence the enormous infl u x of wanderers

into N ishny during the F a ir From Astra .

khan they repa ir to the shores of the Caspia n ,

to Transcaucas ia and to Persia preachi n g ,

their tenets and m aki ng proselytes on the

way As in S iberia so in the Volga and
.
,

C aspian districts those passportless tramps

,

are ever sure o f te m porary e m ployment ,

catching fish chopping wood and doing all

, ,

manner of hard work for w hich they receive

from their m asters bread other necessaries , ,

a n d a refuge from the po l ice I n summer .

they abide in the woods .

When w e com e to sp eak of the morals of

these peripatetics we cannot me asure t hem by
any common gauge For they are on a dif
.

fe re n t plane from that of the rest of ma n kind .

Marriage for instance as we have see n is a

, , ,

greater sin than harlotry inasmuch as in clud , ,

ing this it rend e rs lewdnes s easy because

,

lawful in the eyes o f men For this reason .

the daughters o f fanatica l refuge keepers -

seldom marry but they are very rare l y known

,

to lead c l ean lives Their children they often

.

expose to die or actually kill and yet stra nge , ,

to say it does no t always fol l ow that even

,

those wanderers whose dissolute m ann ers

,

1 69
 M AX I M G O R KY

would disgrace the paganism o f imperial

Rome or the e ffete ci v ilisation o f Chin a are ,

incapable of maki ng a supreme sacrifice for

their religious convictions w hen the n eed for
it arises The human heart i s a refuge for
.

contradictions which o u ght in the light o f pure

,

logic to anni h ilate each other One of the

,
.

w orst members of this curious com m u n ity ,

for i n stance a man n amed D e m e n t y Petroff

, ,

whose sensuality and crimes had scandalised

even his o w n brethren —one o f whom he
actually killed— when arrested girded his ,

loins manfully upheld the fa ith before his

,

j u d ges and putting away all food died slowly

, ,

of hunger in priso n .

I n forest tracks and industrial centres all

these abnormal t ypes of m e n abound And .

Y aroslav is the cradle of the moveme n t for

reasons which are not very recondite Almost .

the entire male population of that government

quit their homes leave agricult u ral work to
,

t he women fo l k settle for months o r y ears in

-

tow n s an d lead unsettled lives T he custom .

is b y no m e ans confined to that district ;

it is onl y more nearly uni v ersal there t han
elsewhere .I n other parts o f R u ssia the
males in like manner sal ly fort h on beggin g
tours whic h last fo r man y mont hs taking ,

17 0
 M AX I M G O R KY

things and a y earning fo r the impossible are

,

traits common to all Whether q u es t ions

.

about the origin of life the line of cleavage

,

between good and evil or the di fference

between right and wrong also torture their ,

minds and unstring their nerves as Gorky ,

would have us believe is m u ch more open ,

to doubt Many drown all thoughts and mis

.

givings in drin k others in deeds of violence

, ,

a few end them for good by suicide The .

remain d e r linger on till their souls have pre

ceded their bodies ln death .

Maxim Gorky was not the first to describe

the ways of living and thinking or to paint
the personal ities of the vagrant population of
Max im o ff L e v it ofl and others had
'

Russia .
,

foresta lled him years before each after the ,

manner peculiar to himsel f The latter .

writer whose own l ot was also cast among

,

tramps and outcasts is natural l y the nearest

,

o f kin to Pe shko ff Y e t the chasm that

.

sunders them is immeasurable L e v ito ff s .

sketches are fancifully romantic sickly senti ,

mental hopeless l y pessimistic and who l ly

,

devoid of healthy realism Gorky s poetic .

’

gifts and t he fresh natural co l ours of his

word pa inting raise h im high above all his
-

predece ssors a mong whom he ca me as a

,

17 2
 C H A PT E R V I I

TH E OVE R -
TR AMP
C H E LK AS H , MA K AR C H U D RA ,
D AN K O

’
G o RK v Barefoot B rigade a survival of an
s ,

exti n ct order o f things whic h n e w social

conditions still in flux have considerably
modified but not yet abolis hed falls naturally ,

into two categories stragglers from t he

benighted masses whose powe rful but morbid
will is very insufficie n tly lighte d by their
intelligence and w ho wo u ld be set down as
,

vulgar tramps in Western E urope and the

U nited S tates a nd deserters from the ranks
of the upper classes w h o ca nnot o r will n o t
continue th eir pilgrimage in the company of
their fellows The souls of both a re over
.

flowing with bitterness against the settled

elements of order a n d l aw but the part played
,

by civilisation i n blasting th e ir hopes and

wrecking their lives—a most weighty co n
sideration w h ere it is a q u estion of winning
174
 M AX I M G O R KY

of his fathers and wander an o u tcast on the

eart h H e simply gathers together criminals
.

hiding from the police victims o f disease , ,

slaves o f alcohol and fanatic freedom wor -

shippers asks u s to regard the m as a class

,

and to bestow upo n them our sympathies .

N ay he sins by commission not less than

,

omission and prompts his creations to ignore

,

all t hose essential di fferences and to ascribe

the woeful chance that has befallen them not
to any shortcomings of their own but either to
“ ”
fate their planet or else to thei r splendid
, ,

inherited instincts their wild grandeur of

,

soul The gifted writer seems to forget that

.

this explanation completely undermines his

own theory and takes the sting out of his
’
heroes complaints by acquitting the com ,

munity of complicity in the wrongs alleged

to have been perpetrated against them .

Doubtless to the idealisation of this motley

throng as a makeweight against their sordid
,

v ices and meaningless lives some s u ch ,

infusion of romance may have reasonably

appeared needful But its excess mars the
.

general artistic e ffect .

T he type which has spr u ng from this

compromise between fancy and fact is no ne w
revelation E ven in Russian literature it
.

176
 TH E O V E R -
TRAM P
has been a fa m iliar theme of legendary story
and historical narrative the well known figures
,
-

of Vassily B uss laie ff in legend and S tenka

Razin in history being amongst its most
cherished representatives A passion for .

freedom at a ny price is the keynote of this

character which is tarnished i n deed by crime
,

but redeemed by strong and fiery passions .

The hero stands aloof from the vulgar

crowd he d ged round wit h the majesty of
,

kingship by the grac e of n ature I ntense

scorn for all things and m e n a scorn em ,

bodied in deeds w hich has seldom need of

,

words serves to mark t he consciousness o f

,

his o w n greatness and the dista nce that

separates h i m fro m the m e n moulded of
common clay Without a regret almost
.
,

without a thought he sq u anders or leaves

,

unexercised gigantic po w ers whic h in olden

times would have sufficed to make a hero
of a m an To o great for t he petty laws
.

which restrain the crowd he feels himse l f in ,

the spirit u al w orld as free as in the ph y sical ,

his progress checked by no barriers his ,

ju d gment bewildered by no subtle d is t inc

tions H e is beyond the S phere of right or
.

wrong The petty mean nesses of the world

.

on which he has turned his back have no

17 7 M
 MA X I M G O R KY

place in his composition : l ik e a king he

can besto w riches extend pardon deal o u t
, ,

death or protection ; but kindl iness d uty an , ,

abstract love of right are never among his

motives ; he is spurred o n rather by the
desire to display the roy a l independence of
his will to rise to heigh ts unatta inable t o
,

the b ulk of baser mortals An act of sub .

l ime heroism an d a heinous crime have the

same sort of fascination for him ; i n neithe r
case does he need or use deli b eration ; in
truth he is capable of none for his eve ry
, ,

act and word spring from su d den and

irresistible imp ulse .

Of this group o f idealised ru ffi ans Chelkash

is probably t he most finished type The .

sketch which bears h i s n ame has been

describ e d by a fellow country man of the
a u thor as one o f the most precious pearls of
R ussian lit e rature by reason of its poetic
charms dram atic interest and depth of
,

Th at judgment however is , ,

not final To the unbiased reader Chelkash

.

is a wolf e m bodied in human shape wit h

some qualities of the lion ad d ed to his new
incarnation .

S kab ichevsky , S t . P e te b u g
rs r , 1 89 9 .

17 8
 M AX I M G O R KY
were not of iron but were sensitive to the ,

pangs of hunger These people we r e tattered . ,

sweating stupe fi e d with fatigue din an d heat

, , ,

and the machines they had created were

glistening in the sun with satiety an d tra n
—
quillity the machines which afte r al l were
driven not by ste am but by t he musc l es and
, ,

blood o f their makers I n this contrast .

there was a who l e poe m o f crue l and cold

”
irony .

At the dinne r hour when al l these d ru d ges-

,

had knocked o ff work and were scattered

“
,

about in l itt l e groups over the port here b u y ,

ing edibles there munching their bread in

,

the shade Grishka Chelkash appeared in

,

their midst prow l ing like a l ion seeking whom

,

he might devour H is was a form familiar .

to the slaving popul ation o f the harbour well ,

k nown to them as a confirmed drunkard and

a clever daring robber H ook nosed like a
, .
-

vulture bareheaded and barefoot he w as

, ,

attired in old threadbare cotton breeches and ,

a dirty calico shir t with a torn collar which ,

revealed his dry angular bones covered with

brown skin H e had j ust awaked from
.

sleep a straw was still sticking in one of his

,

moustaches from behind his e ar pro truded

,

the twig of a lime tree Chelkash having .

,

180
 TH E O V E R TR A MP-

planned a scheme of n ight robbery which

promised heavy returns—it w as a question of
,

some bales o f silk to be stolen and smuggled

ashore—was troubled in mind by a mishap
that had just befallen M ishk a his mate who , ,

had broken his leg and thus disq u alifying ,

himself for his part in the expeditio n e n ,

dangered the success of the venture He .

now set himself to find a substitute and ,

chanced upon a primitive representative of

the peasant class G avrila by name who had
, ,

temporarily d rifted away from the country in

his search for bread Gavrila was a typical .

rustic for whom the soil was the holy of

,

b e l ie s the cement of all human ties the worthy

, ,

object of universal worship H e dimly felt .

that all men and institutions exist for the b e

hoof of the land which is the o n e fixed point
,

in an ever shifting scheme of transitory things

-

the source of all strength of all hopes Proud , .

of belon ging to the privileged priesthood of

the glebe Gavrila looked down wit h pity and
,

contempt upon the lone lost loafer homeless , ,

friendless useless H imself an integral part

,
.

of a great whole tethered to a passionless

,

region of peace sheltered from the storms of

,

t e outer world he thi n ks scorn of the grey

,

eyed wild creature beside him

,
H e is a
18 1
 MA X I M G O R KY

perfect type of t he cl a ss which but a dozen

y ears ago was looke d up to by the intel l igent
classes of R ussian society with feelin gs similar
to those whic h the chosen people entertained
for the tribe of J udah .

I n such surroun d ings the representatives

of the old system and the ne w meet face to
face : the type of the peas a ntry the idol of ,

yester d a y w hom it once had been heresy

,
l

not to bow down and worship and the law “

less tur b ulent outcast the hero o f the future

, , ,

to sympathise with whom w as lately apostasy

'

and treason Chelkash tempts the pea sant

.

t o become his assistant in the art of theft .

T he former is keenly conscious of his own

worth o f his quick sense of the b e auty of
,

outer thi n gs of the in n er fire by which if a

, ,

fitting chance should offer he would flame ,

himsel f away and o f the s p ring of Titanic

,

stre ngth welling up from the depths of his

nature and capable o f he a ring him to t he very
portals of heave n despite gulfs and thunders
, ,

men and go d s H e is a livi ng M emnon wait

.

ing in gloomy sile nce for the rays of the genial

sun But the tragic element of the situation
.

lies in t h e fact t hat t h e li v ing synt hesis o f all

t h ese latent potential ities is at the same ti m e
painfu lly awa re of the truth un d erl y ing the
18 2
 MA X I M G O R KY

apart from all men severed from the shades ,

and calms of the placi d village o f his chi l d

hood and youth estranged from the very ,

kindred whose blood still flows through his

veins ye t not united in loving or striving in
, ,

fellowshi p or aims with any other class of

human beings .

Weighed down with such melancholy

thoughts he moves o n with Gavrila in thei r
,

litt l e bark to the scene of their intended

crime .

Gavri la on the other hand is a crass se r

, , ,

vi l e mistrustful peasant w ho can no more

,

live without a stern master than a sunflowe r

without l ight Craven hearted and weak
.
-

wi l led he thrills with joy at the mention of

,

money the mere thought of which stifles the

,

few germs o f principle that lie buried in his

soul H e is indeed willing to do work for
.

Chelkas h without inquiring t o o closely into

its nature but he shrinks with horror fro m
,

the prospect of danger or the suggestion of

crime The scrappy conversation carried o n
.

in whispers between him and the untamed

tatterdemalion by his side as th e ir boat glides ,

in and out among revenue cutters and other

craft on t he point every minute of being
, , ,

discovered and seized is one of the most ,

184
 TH E O V E R TR AM P -

characteristic passages in the story Once .

he cries aloud in fear nearly betray ing him ,

self and his employer and when the danger ,

is past C helkash rem arks very compos e dly :

,
'
“
Well brother you re in luck ! I f those
, ,

devils here had chased us you would h ave

’
been done for Do you see ? I d have jerked
.

you overboard in a j i ffy to the fishes ! W ild

terror now overpowers Gavrila ; H ear me !
he w hines Let me go ! I beg of you for
.
“

Christ s sake to set me free ! Put me o u t

’

somewhere ! Oh oh o h ! I am lo ost
, ,
-

entirely . Think of God and let me go !

Wh at good am I to you ? I can t do t h is ’

thing . I was never mixed up in such a

’
business I t s the first time
. O Lord ! .

I am ruined
Next morning after the silk had been su c
ce ss fully stolen and profitably sold and the

money received Gavrila speaks in a di fferent

,

key H e now stammers out excuses for his

.

cowardice of the night before j udge for

“
.

yourself ; it was the first time I ever came out

on such a business And I might have blasted .

my so u l for ever ! Well and how if y ou ,

h
were to be asked out anot er time ? Eh ?
“
Another time ? Y e s well that ,

would h o w shall I put i t ? To

18 5
 MA X I M G O R KY

ea r n how much T hat s t h e point ! S up ’

pose it were a co u ple of hundred roub l es

Tw o hundred roubles is it ? All right I ,

wou l d come H al t A n d how about the

”
.

blasting of your soul ? W ell you know “

, ,

as to that it might not be b l asted

afte r all replied Gavrila sm il i ng
,
”
And if .

it were not rui n ed I should become a man,

”
for the remainder of my days Chelkash .

laughed right heartily .

S hort l y after w ards the money loving

peasant asks him how much he has netted
by the hau l of silk Chelkash promptl y t e .

plies w ith the frankness that knows no fear ,

fi ve hun d red and fort y roubles and dangles ,

the notes before the greedy eyes of his com

”
panion I shan t forget you brother he
’

, ,
’
adds . Y o u shall have your share I ll .

give you forty Will that d o ? I f y o u l ike

.

'
I ll give them no w ? I f it s no offence to ’

you give them I ll take them T re m b

.
’
.

ling all over Gavrila took the money Che l

, .

kas h amused at the writhings and grimaces

,

with whic h Gavri la possessed by the go ld ,

demon w as putting away t he precious papers

,

in his bosom w a tche d him with good nature

, ,
”
m ingled with contempt Y o u are greedy ! .
“

That s bad
’
he exclaimed . S till wh at .
,

186
 MA X I M G O R KY

that he would have given him even more of

his o w n free will and for the sake of the
chords he had touched duri n g their conver
sation the evening before This lawless .

r u ffi a n n o w feels soothed by the conscious

ness o f having done what n one of the race
of begga rs a n d hungry devils as he terms ,

them have it in them t o accomplish Gavrila

,
.
,

meanwhile mingles the outpourings of his

,

slav ish gratitude with ejaculations annou ncing

that he is n o w a rich man and finally like ,

most of his countrymen in a fit of senti ,

mentality unburdens his heart confessing ,

that when they were returning in the boat ,

after he had feasted his eyes o n the hundred

rouble notes he had harboured the scheme
,

’
of knocking out his comrade s brains with one
of t he oars seizing the money a nd hurling
,

Chelkash into the se a F o r w ho wi ll heed

.

it ? H e is not ( I said t o myself! a m a n

about w h om people will kick u p a row .

H e is not needed on earth Who will take .

u
p the cudgels for him Give back the
money shout e d Chelkas h seizing Gavrila
, ,

by the throat as he spoke H e knocked .

h im to the gro u n d taunted him for a moment

, ,

and then having repossessed himself of the

,

mone y walked slowly away G avrila sprang

, .
,

18 8
 TH E O V E R TR AM P -

cat l ike upon a lo g of wood hur l ed a stone

-

, ,
’
at his comrade s head Chelkash fel l sense .

less to t he ground and Gavrila quivering ,

with terro r ran away , .

But the would b e murderer was driven -

back by stings of conscience Back to the .

rigid body lying motionless in the sand

,

w hile the rain came pattering down on the

go ry head The sight o f his victim intensi

.

fi e d his remorse and he strove to bring him

back to consciousness C helkash awoke and .

pushi ng away the peas ant told h im to leave ,

him But re pentance like confession is a

.

national trait Forgive me b rother

, ,
”
it was the devil who egged me on and he ,

—
’
kissed C he lkash s hand But the fierce soul .

of the over tramp loathes self humiliation

-

a nd sp u rns weakness in crime as in heroism .

H e asks whether Gavrila has taken the notes .

No brother I have not touched th em

, , .

’ ’
I don t want them there s misfortune in
them .Chelkash pulled out the notes and ,

keeping one fo r himself threw the others to ,

Take them a n d be o ff he
”
the peasant .
,

sa id .
“
I cannot take them brother I , .

”
can n ot ! Forgive me ! But the strong
Then I l l
’
m an i n sists Forgive me . .

take them Chelkash ho w ever thrusts , ,

189
 MA X I M G O R KY

them in his face Take them ! Take them !

“

’
Y o u h a ve not worked for nothing Don t .

be afraid take them ! Don t be a sham e d

,
’

that you n e arly killed a man ! For such

fellows as myself nobody will call you to
account They ll even thank y o u when they
.
’

hear of it H ere take them ! N obody wil l

.
,
’
ever know an y thing about what you ve done
and it deserves a reward H ere !
S eei n g that Chelkash was smili ng G
.

avrila ,

breathed more freely H e clutched the .

money tightly in his han d B ut y ou for .

give me brother eh ? Y o u won t ? E h ?

, ,
’ ”

he pleaded tearfull y Friend an s wered .

“
,
”

Chelkash in the same tone rising to his feet ,

and reeling a s he moved for what ? There s ,

’

nothing to forgive you for To day you do .

-

for me to morrow I make an end of you

,
-
.

”
Forgive me brother cried Gavrila , ,

once more as the wounded m a n moved slowly

,

away .
“
I t s all right ’
coldl y answered ,
”

C helka sh and limped languidly along the

,

shore Gavrila watched hi m for lo n g as the

.
,

figure grew less and less ; then making the

sign o f the cross he gazed on the rouble ,

note s crumpled u p in his hand heaved a sigh , ,

hid them carefully in his bosom and walked ,

off in the opposite direction “ On the .

19 0
 MA X I M G O R KY

grey petty v ul gar slave bereft of individu

, , ,

ality w ho is but a grain of sand on the beach

, ,

a drop of w a ter in the ocean And it is only .

when w e have come to the last page and ,

collected and winnowed our thoughts that ,

we awake to the fact that what w e have just

been reading is a highly coloured e u logy o f -

anarchism and crime a prose pae an more

,

rugged indeed but not always less eloquent

’
than Card u cci s m e llifl uo u s ode to the honour
and glory of S atan .

Another of these over tramps this time -

one w ho embodies not so much a real man

of flesh and blood as Maxim Gorky s notion ’

of what the ideal man of his anarchical Utopia

should be is introduced to us in the strange
story o f a gipsy—
,

in truth the least free t he

most fettere d o f mortals—entitled Makar
,

C h ud ra .

Makar C hu d ra is essentially a work of

colour the crude fl a shy col our in which boys
,

an d girls in the class room and v ill agers

-

whose untutored tastes hardly d i ffer from

those of children take a delight The two
, .

principal figure s of this bloody drama drawn ,

and p ainted no d oubt while the fantastic

impressions left by the aut h or s early reading ’

in the day s w h en his heroes were giants

19 2
 TH E O V E R TR AM P

—
-

an d pirates were resetting themselves i n

his mind breathe an atmosphere so utterly
,

unreal that o n e feel s tempted to ask for

whose delectation the story was origin ally
written Gorky it should be remembered
.
, ,

w as then for the first ti m e testing his literary

powers hitherto barely suspected and w as

, ,

mani festly still under the stimulus of that

r u dimentary se n se of pleasure in the mon
strous t h e over natural w hich common to
-

, ,

all pr i mitive peoples and u ntutored indi

v i d u al s leaves cultured men unmoved I n
,
.

vain do w e seek in the dialogue the incident , ,

the psychological anal y sis or even the ele

mentary probabilities for a single touch o f
reality .

M AK AR C H U D RA
.

The narrator is Makar C hu d ra an ancient ,

gipsy a man of m assive buil d and b ronzed

, ,

hairy chest which is neglige ntly bared to the

cold winds of heaven S q u atti ng down on
.

the sea shore before a blazing camp fi r e -

watching the horses o f his tabor he tells in ,

poetic language the story of the u n su ng

deeds o f a heroic son and daughter of his
despised race the handsome brave young
, ,

Loiko Z obar and the beautiful maiden Radd a .

N
19 3
 MA X I M G O R KY

As in the fa iry tales of childhoo d the go ds ,

have showered upon this happy pair al l the

gifts of mind and graces of body which
they keep in reserve for their e a rth born -

favourites Ra d d a s charms cannot be de

.
’

scribed perhaps not even imagined by those

,

to whom it has not been vouchsafed actu ally to

contemplate them As for her this R ad d a
.
, ,

you could say just nothing in words about her .

Perhaps yo u m ight p u t her beauty into the

sounds of a violin but only if the instrument
,
”
w ere as familiar to you as your own soul .

And o f this E astern Venus her admirer , ,

Loiko Z obar w as worthy to become the

,

mate . H is moustaches hu ng upon his

shoulders mi ngling with the curls whose ,

gloss was o f burnished steel his eyes glit ,

t e re d like twinkling stars and his smile w as ,

as t h e entire sun God is my w itness ! Y o u

,

might fancy him hammered and forged out

of a single piece of iron himself and his ,

steed E rect he would stand in the red

.

glare of the camp fi re as in blood his -

, ,

laughter revealing t he gleam of his white

teet h O h may I be accursed if I did not
.
,

love the lad li k e m y o w n self aye and before , ,

he h ad opened his lips to me or was even

aware that I too w as living in the sunlit
19 4
 MA X I M GO R KY

shaping their action for the purpose or whim

o f the wors h ip per of freedom I have seen .

” “
many a brave fellow she tells him but , ,
‘

o u outdo the m all in daring and are fairer

y ,

far in soul and face Among them all there.

is not o n e w h o at a wink from me wo u ld

, ,

not shave o ff his moustaches They would .

throw themselves at m y feet if I but w illed

it But of what av ail is it al l ? They are
.

not over venturesome and I wo u ld put them

-

all under my slipper I have never ye t

.

loved any one Loiko but you I do love

, .

S till I love liberty over and above

,
Nay .
,

freedom Loiko I love more dearly t han I

, ,

love yoursel f Y e t without you I cannot

.

live just as you cannot e x ist without me

, .

S o I want y o u to be mine body an d soul , .

Do you hea r ? H e s m iled : Y e s I hear

’ ‘
, ,

your words are cordial to my soul But go .

on "

Well then Loiko this is what I have

, ,

still to say : do w hat you wil l I mean to ,

m aster you to m a ke yo u mine S o don t ’

waste your time—m y kisses and caresses

, .

await y ou in the future passionate

kisses I will lavish on yo u Loiko ! u nder .

my caresses y o u shall forget the dash and

S pirit of your former life and your so n gs ,

196
 TH E O V E R TR A MP -

your l ife giving songs—

-
the joy of young
gipsies shall never more reso u nd in the
,

steppes y o u shall chaunt son gs o f love ,

tender songs to me y our Radda So, .

’
don t waste y our time I have spoken . .

To morrow therefore you shall m a ke

-

, ,

yo ur submission to me as a y outh to an
elder comrade Y o u shall bow down before
.

me b o w to the groun d in the presence of

, ,

the whole ca mp ; you s hall also kiss my

right hand— and then I will be y our wife ! ’

Loiko spra ng aside and shouted with a

voice that filled the steppe as if he had been ,

wounded in the breast .

The next day all the gipsies assembled to

witness the unwonted sight of a young hero
offeri n g u p his liberty his independence his , ,

passion for deeds of prowess o n the altar o f

love The pair met and gazed steadfastly in
.

’
each other s eyes Loiko himself quietly
.

recapitulated the conditions laid down by his

intended in a voice which foreboded nothing
sinister The hearers shuddered at the
.

thought that in another minute a degrading

spectacle would be unfolde d to their eyes . .

“
“
Well ? cries Radda to Loiko
”
Wait a .

’
“
bit he replies with a smile
,
”
don t h urry ,
.

You l l have enough of it yet And his voi ce

’
.

I 97
 MA X I M GO R KY

ra ng out like the clinking o f steel Be .

fore we had even an inkl ing of what Zobar

w a s minded to do the narrator adds Radda
, ,

lay stretched on the gro und and from her

’
breast protruded t he hilt o f Z o b ar s curved
knife. R adda plucked o u t the dagger ,

flu n g it aside and pressing a tress of her jet

,

black hair to the wound exclaimed in tones ,

that were loud and clear smiling as she ,

spoke ° ‘
Farewel l Loiko ! I knew you
,

would do it " and so she died One of .

the gipsies called on t he rest to bind the

murderer but no o n e would no one could , ,
'

lift a hand to hurt him The maiden s father .

,

meanwhile picked up the bloody knife con

, ,

t e m pla t e d it with fascination mutterin g ih ,

distinct sounds t h e while and then moving ,

up to Z ob ar he plunged the still reeking

,

dagger into the ba ck of the murd erer just

”
opposite his heart .

T he ra w colours of this romantic story its ,

nai ve straining after the grandiose effects its ,

ludicrous path o s and high fl o w n phraseology -

placed i n the mouths of ignorant gipsies like ,

gold rings in t he ears of pachyderms fit it ,

to serve as the sequel to the child s hornbook ’

rather than for t he collected works of “ the

first writer of R ussian fiction of to day -

19 8
 MA X I M G O R KY

will so ardent the fire that burned in his

,

bre ast that the multitud e rose up and followed

,

him But their ardour and hope were soon

.

damped by the di fficulty of forcing a w ay

through the sunless forest tangle They
‘

soon lost courage and loud were their m u r

murs a ga inst the e nterprisi n g lead er Like .

wild beasts t h ey gat h ere d round him and

were o n the point of putting hi m to death for
his rash un m editated inter ference
,
There .

”
a t his heart bur n e d with r age at their black
ingratitude but pity fo r the people quenched
,

the fire H e loved those people and thought

.

within himself that perhaps without him they

would perish And so his heart flamed forth
.

with a blazing fire of desire t o save them

and to lead them along a smooth path and ,

his eyes forth w ith gli ste n ed with the ray s of

”
t hat consuming flam e And all at
.

once he tore open his breast wi th his h ands ,

plucked o u t his heart and raised it aloft over

his head .

I t burned brightly like the sun brighter ,

far than the sun and all the forest w as hushed

,

thereat ; illumined b v this torch o f love for

men darkness fl e d from its light far into the
,

denseness of t h e wood and shud dering fell

”
into a quagmire T he people curious and
.
,
 TH E O V E R T R A M P -

spellbound followed him once more and

, ,

very soon they descried in front of the m

the broad steppe su ffused with t he brilliant
light o f the sun reflected by the sparkling
river . S oftly whispered the wondering
trees n o w left behind and the grass moistened ,

b y B anko s blood answered them back

’

, .

The proud dying h ero Danko gl anced at , ,

the breadth of the steppe outspread before

him surveyed joyfully the free earth and
, ,

proudly smiled Th en he fell and d ied . .

I f Makar C hu d ra an d T he Old Woman

“ “

’
Iz e rgil were typical specimens of all Gorky s
writi ngs as they incontestably are o f many
, ,

it would be a waste o f time to pass any of

them in revie w .

Cf , fo r in stance , “
Ab o u t t he D evil ,
” “
Once m ore
ab ou t th e D evi l
” “
, The R ea d e r, &c &c. .

_ 2 Oi l
 C H AP T E R V I I I
H EART -
AC H E
’
THE R E is one element in Gorky s conception
“ ”
o f the creatur e s who once were men
which whether common to them all a s he
,

seems to fancy or merely an affliction of the

,

fe w as most critics will be disposed to

,

believe consigns its possessors to that pitiable

,

class of morbid manhood whose melancholy

condition it is beyond the power of the social
reformer to relieve To this m ysterious
.

ailment he gives the expressive R ussi an

name of toséa fo r whic h seeing that it
, ,

denotes the defect o f a quality of which

the healthy freshness o f the A nglo— S axon
character is almost w holly devoid there is ,

n o nearer equivalent in o u f langua e than

g
the word heart ache o r World S orrow
-

S prung fro m the ill assorted union of brood

-

ing t hought a n d neurotic emotion it first ,

makes itself felt as a loss of healthy interest

2 02
 MA X I M GO R KY

exclusion of every thing else culminates in ,

madness as in Foma G o rd ye e ff and Mark

K rav t so ff .

With this modified form o f world sorrow -

springing from many sources from a pro ,

found religious spirit ingrai n ed fatalism a

, ,

saddening sense of the nothingness of m an ,

dwarfed to a mere worm by t he vast

imm e asurable stretches o f steppe and sea
’
and sky the l argest group of Gorky s heroes
,

are afflicted bey o nd hope o f recovery I n .

overpowering v istas suc h as those where the

bounds of time seem to vanish like the limits
o f space these homeless pe asants and hope
,

less wrecks o f civilisation with cl o uded

thou ghts and confu sed moral notions find
t hemselves fa ce to face wit h metaphysical
probl ems which to t he average mortal must ,

to be reali s e d be suggested by b o oks The

, .

origin o f evil the meaning o f life the j ustice

, ,

of God the whence the how the w hy of all

, , ,

t h ings confront them like the S phinx riddle ,

an d their tempers are not trained to accept

wit h resignation the awful answers that

suggest themselves in those dre ary surround
i ngs or the still more gr u esome silence i n
which t h eir ques t ioni n gs are engulfed Wit h .

t h e ir s e nse o f duty atrophie d the i r capacity

,

20
4
 H E ART -
AC H E
fo r co ope ration paralysed in consequence
-

their fear of l aw turned to h atred their ,

sentiment of self reverence b l otted out their

-

souls swing t o an d fro betwee n the extremes

o f maniacal rapture and suicidal dejection .

“ ”
Down to this very moment cries the ,

l
'

dr unken cobbler O fl r, o
“
I l o ng to dis
,

t ingu ish myse l f in some way I would crush .

’
the whole universe to d ust or I d gather
together a gang o f comrades and cut the
j ews to pieces
’
every mother s son of
’
them Or I d do anything else whereby I
.

shou l d ris e above all men in order from my

eminence to spit down upon them and
to say to the m Y o u reptiles ! why are
‘
*

you alive ? H ow do you live Yo u are a

band of hypocr itical rogues and nothing
An d then kicking up my heels hur l
’
else !
myself down from the height and dash
’
myse l f to pieces ! I t s sickening the who l e ,

of it : cities and villages people of various ,

types fie ! Can it be possible that

nothing better than all that could have been
invented ? Al l making o n slaughts upon all

—
I would strangle every one of them
Anothe r time in a mood this time o f

“
The C ou pl e Orlo ff .

20 5
 MA X I M G O R KY

altruism— this same Orlo ff would glad ly lay

'

do w n his life for others : Do you under

stand he cries I would throw myself on
.

a thousand knives let it only be with

bene fi t if I could but make life easier
for people .

Fits of temporary m adness o f the approach ,

of which such utterances as thos e may be

fairly taken as a genuine symptom be fall ,

most of the wan d erers among the l ower

orders Malva a girl o f rare grace a nd
.
,

beau ty but unbridled passions self seeking

, ,
-

cynic al with a touc h of that purely malignant

,

spirit whic h is happily seldo m embodied in

human nature says to the man whose mistress
,

she has been and whose jealousy she has now

studiously fostered against his own son To
m e it s al l o n e w h o is here I f it be S ergius
’
.
,
’
I ll consort with him ; i f y our son I ll live
’

with him . And better still if not one

of you all is here I am sick of you
. .

S ometimes I feel that I should like t o seat

myself in a boat and drift out into the sea !
Far far away ne v er to lay my eyes on any
, ,

one again ! And there are moments when I

would p u t a spell on every man and make
him run after me like a w olf And I would .

look u pon them and laugh At times I pity .

2 06
 M AX I M G O R KY

says to
,
be transformed into d u st and
scattered o n all sides by the winds of heaven .

I desire d to become a warm stream flo w i ng ,

through the steppe pouri n g myself in t o the

,

sea and exhaling heavenwards an opal tinted

,
-

mist I yearned to fi ll with myself al l this

.

enchantingly melancholy evening and

that is w h y I w as sad 3“ .
”

This entire group of moonstruck peasants ,

as well as that other which is composed of

unc lasse d men of education taken to the high
'

road are finely characterised by o n e of the

,

latter Pro m t o ff w h o says of himself : I take

, ,
“

it I am a man for whom life is too narrow

,
.

Life is narro w a n d I am broad There is in .

the world a kind of people apart people de ,

scended one must suppose fro m the Wander

, ,

ing j e w Their distinctive mark is this they

.
,

are a lways unable to find their place on earth

and to take root there Within a n itching .

desire continually irks them the desire of ,

something new Th e insignificant amo ng

.

them are never capable of c hoosing a pair of

trousers to t h eir taste and are d i s contented ,

and miserable accordin gly while nothing ,

whatever satisfies the more prominent neither ,

it
The o l d Wo m an I z ergil , p . 1 14 .

208
 H E AR T -
AC H E
mo n ey nor women nor honours
, I n life , .

such men are not favourites being overbear ,

ing and hard t o get on with .

This heart ache in its unnumbered and often

-

socially dangerous forms—from the vulgar

boredom whic h seeks a distraction from its
o w n dreary sameness heedless whether it be ,

in ro u g h horseplay or refined cruelty to the ,

fu ll fl e d ge d N ihilis m which would like to

-

abolish religion society a nd m ankind at o n e

fell blow—
,

is the blight o f thinking R ussia .

E nterprise energy an d the faith from which

,

they gain their suste nance wither under its

baneful influence like life forms under the -

shadow of the U pas tree I t w a s this that .

sharpened the inventio n of phlegmatic S ibe

rians to devise o n e of the most ingenious
games of c a rds * ever known a curious mix ,

ture o f chance and skill at which men sit for

twenty four hours o n end heedless of duties
-

, ,

forgetful o f S leep until an outburst o f pas sion

,

or drowsy coma put an end to the e x citement .

K no w n as vint , or sc re w . B ased on th e gam e

o f w hi st it is u su a lly playe d by tw o part n ers a ain st two g
ad ve rsaries, an d so g
hi h d o the sco re s run that w h en the

su m y
p la ed fo r is a pe n n , y se ve ra l p ou n d s m ay chan e g
o wn e rs i n l ess than an hou r . This ga m e i s o n e o f th e

g
scour es o f c o n te m p o rar y Ru ssian so cie t y .

2 09
 MA X I M G O R KY

I t has al ready spread to monks in mon asteries ,

to boys and girls in schools almost to chi l dren ,

in nurseries I t is the same heart ache in its

.
-

aspect of gloomy brooding over the destiny

of man and the endless chain of cause and
effect that drives men—pious God fea ring
but unenlightened men —to a l one l y cel l in
-

the forest or to suicide for the love o f Christ .

And t he same psychic poison is answerabl e

fo r much o f the d runkenness which is so often
in Russia found co nj oined with and d estruc ,

tive of u ncommon gifts of mind or heart

, .

N 0 student of R u ssian literature is ignorant

o f the large part whic h this sco u r e pl ay s in
g
begetting the failures and misfortunes of
known figures o f fiction and personages of
history The spiritual atmosphere in which
the heroes of Gogol D o st o ie ffsky S htshe d rin
, , ,

Tu rghe nie ff and T olstoy live and move is

,

saturated with t h is paralysing element In .

Tu rghe n ie ff s sketch
’ ”
The Desperado
, ,

M ichael Po lt ye fi questioned as to the cause

’

o f his periodic bouts of drinking and foolhardy

ventures invariably gives the same answer

,

heart ache
-
.

But why heart ache -

Nothing more simple just think ! A

fel l ow comes to his senses feels himself agai n , ,

2 10
 MA X I M GO R KY

justification Why do I live on the earth and

. ,

who wants me ? I live and am tortured

with heart ac h e -
For what ? . No
one can say I t is as if my mother had
.

brought me forth with somethi n g lacki n g to

me somet hing whic h all other men possess
, ,

somethi n g which constitutes the first essential

of every human bei ng I have no internal .

dire ction D o you understand ?

. How
am I to put it ? There s a spark wanting to ’

the soul or a force I n a word .

,
’
there s some piece absent and t hat s what s
’

,
’

wrong with me Well and here I am livi ng

.
, ,

a n d se e king that missing piece and sorrowing

for it—yet what it is I am un able to say .

”

This screw of his psychic mechanism he never

foun d so he hange d himsel f in a garret
, .

But all the ardent desires o f these abnormal

creatures to put o ff t he o l d Adam if they ,

could only fi n d t he wherewithal to embody

the new is but specious ta l k behind which
,

lurks an illusion They have no taste for the

.

p rosaic useful work the patient perseveri ng

, ,

labour of obscure zoophytes building up the

co ral islands which serve as t he foundations
of civilisation and culture They clamour for .

a nobler task a more importan t 7 07 3 They

, .

look upon themselves as individuals of a

2 12
 H E A RT -
AC H E
highe r order than their fellows qualified to ,

play so m e such glorious part as that of Danko ,

who tore out his heart to use it as a torch to

light his un grateful people o u t of the murk y ,

dense forest And here t o o Gorky freel y

.
, ,

bestows upo n them his sympathies S peak .

ing of hi m self and these his creations a re but

,

the projection of his o w n personality he tells ,

us with the quiet conviction of a S chopen

,

hauer to whom modesty is but one o f the

,

many facets of falsehoo d t ha t I h ave al w a ys ,

“

looked u pon myself as better than other

people and I continue cheerfully to do so to
,

this d ay Naturally H o w otherwise could

.

’
they j ustify their drone s life of idleness and
indulgence at the expense o f the mode s t ,

silent self respecting workers ?

,
-

A slightly d ifferent combination of the se

same elements— heart ache idleness drunken
-

, ,

ness and a spasmodic striving after the

impossible—make up the story of the Couple “

’
Orloff and indeed of many other of Gork y s
,
”
, ,

stories w hose sameness in matter an d too

,

often in form palls upon the E uropean

reader I n this sketch however w e are
. , ,

supplied with a touchstone by which to try

the reality of the oft repeated resolve to t ake
-

the right path when it reveals itself to the

2 13
 MA X I M GO R KY

anxious seeker for to the hero Or l o ff unlike

, , ,

K o no val o ff the revelation finally comes and

, ,

having hailed it with j oy and indeed pro

found gratitude he turns almost immediately
,

to his vodka his maud lin self pity and his

,
-

windy declamations again Orloff is a .

cobbler w ho lives with his w ife in surround

ings which are neither worse nor better tha n
those of other members o f his g u ild H e .

can make both ends meet o n a S aturday

night and indul ge in copious drau ghts of
vo d ka over and above and if he is still on
o ne of the lower rungs of the ladd er of
prosperity his own sluggishness born of
, ,

hea rt ache is the sole cause But he broods

-

, .

over t h e eternal significance of things with a

tragical earnestness inconceivable in other
countries and not very common amo ng
cobblers even in R ussia neglecting his daily,

work in consequence H is wife loves him .

and he is fond of her but as compared wit h

,

the vast probl e ms which exercise his mind

and harro w his soul those short lived joys
,
-

are but as dust in the b a lance Why do men .

live What is the true meaning of human

?
existence And as no one can read him
t he riddle he d rowns his sorrow in tumblers
,

o f vodka thrashes his wife till S he is black

,

2 14
 MA X I M G O RKY

and women smitten w ith the cholera when ,

nobody lifts a finger t o assuage the far more

exquisite su fferings o f thousands of wretches
w ho are outside t he hospital ?
“
While you
are living o n earth there is not a devil w ho
,

will take the trouble even of spitti n g on you .

But presume to set about dying and they not

only won t let you but t h ey will incur an actual
’

loss to keep you alive H ospitals

.
,

This new
”
wine half a dozen bottles !
enigma renders the whole problem of human
existence more puzzling than before ; heart
ache becomes more acute than ever and ,

Orloff takes once more to vodka and j oins ,

”
the barefoot brigade All this is not life
.
,

he expl a ins to his wife before he leaves her

,
’
for ever it is mere convulsions
,
“
I sn t .

that maddening ? I c an see clearly enough

’
all the time only it s hard for me to say it
, ,

that I cannot live on as I am living H ow .

then S hould I live I don t know ! Those ’

people yonder are tended cu red treated with

, ,

’
every care and here am I healthy it s ,

true but if my soul be sick am I o f less value

than they ? J ust think—
,

m y case is far worse

t han that of a m a n taken ill with cholera
I h ave con v ulsive spasms in my heart
’
that s where the ac he is !
2 16
 H E A RT -
AC H E
I n other words life is too narrow for him ,

too or rather he is t o o great for life That

, .

is the ever recurring refrain of t he m otley

-

crowd of sa nscu l oztes as Maxim G orky has ‘

,

depicted them Their ego is the centre o f

.

their thoughts the a x is of the world ; their

,

wants mu s t be satisfie d eve n though the ,

entire race should perish E m e lya n Pil ya i .

,

anot her member of the fraternity speaking ,

of t he R us sian peasant whom he loathes ,

“ ”
exclaims I d do for t he tight b e llie d d evil !
’

Y o u are ferocious a nd no mistake ,

remarks his comrade But j ust look at .

“

him an d you will find that he is starving the ,

”
peasant .

“
What ? H e is starving is he ? Good ! ,

Well that s just as it o ught t o be

,
’
And am '

I not starving ? From t he very day of my

birth old man I have bee n starving and that
, , ,

is not i ncluded among the written la w s .

As De ! uincey once remarked o f Coleridge ,

the tramp wants better bread than can be

“

”
made of w heat and for his o w n particular ,

consumption H is ideal of life is not that of

.

healthy co operative actio n nor even of logical

-

thought built upon fact or applied to the

possible but of mere sensation and sensation
, ,

dise ased at its very source H e has lost .

2 17
 MA X I M G O R KY

much of his normal sensibility and even his ,

will no longer answers to the motives whic h

set the mechanism of ordinary natures in
motion with the necessity which characterises
the law o f cause and effect H is desires are as
.

fantastic as that o f the moth for the star his ,

thoughts as disconnected as the quickly shift

1n
g alternations of a troubled dream The .

’
idea fostered by many of Gorky s admirers
, ,

that social reform would supply an infallible

panacea for his ills a solution to his problems
,

and a goal for his life if indeed it be not an

,

ingenious way of getting a convenient handle

for a sharp criticism o f existing social con
d it io n s is one o f those extraordinary illusions
,

from which man at his best would seem

, ,

never to be wholly free I ndeed no more

.
,

striking proof could be given than is afforded

by the usel e ss dangerous lives o f th ese ruined
,

men t hat it is no t different measures of social

,

or political rights nor even di fferent stages

o f mental development which keep t hese de

gra ded beings lagging behind their fellows

in the race towards the goals of human effort ,

but the ravages o f a dire d isease whic h ,

though its causes may vary li ke its m a n ifes

t a t io n s renders them all equally unfit to kee p
,

in line with the bulk of their fellow pilgrims .

2 18
 MA X I M GO R KY

“
approach t o great ach ievement which nearl y
all Gorky s heroes are lo nging to accomplish
’
.

Cruelty characterises his in ventiveness but ,

m e n of his stamp neve r strain at the g o at s

o f sentimentality T hus o n one occasion he
.

glues the hair of a sleeping boy to the wall

and as soon as it has thorough ly dri e d wakes
him up The lonely lad j umps upon his feet
.
,

puts his little wasted hands upon his head ,

an d with a cry of pain falls upon the floor .

The prisoners spli t their sid e s with laughter ,

a n d Z a z u b r in a is a hero But in him as in al l

.
,
’
Gorky s types action is the outcome less of
,

motive than of impulse the conflicting currents ,

o f mood carrying them n o w in one d irectio n ,

n o w in another A little l a ter t herefore this

.
, ,

same Z az u b rina is seen fondling the b o y ,

w ho had left a considerable tuft of his hair

”
o n the wall A cat attracting the attention
.

of the convicts and usurping the r éé of

Z az u b r in a beco m es his dangerous rival .

Thenceforth the m a n sits gloomy and broods ,

turni n g over vario u s p l ans of vengeance in

his mind At l ast he plu nges the cat i n to a
.

tub o f green paint and whe n the wretched ,

animal seems dying he is ne arly kicked to

deat h b y the ru ffi an s for whose short l ived -

approval he had tortured his four footed rival -

.

2 20
 H E A RT -
AC HE
The criminal s are not sensitive be ings tende r ,

ness forms no part of their emotion al equip

ment ; but they are at least less hopelessly
malignant than the semi cu l tu red pariahs of
-

other sketches an d they fee l sor r y for t he cat

,

which had contributed to their amuse m ent .

E ssential ly the s ame is t he theme o f the

u n savoury sketch To Whi l e Away the
”
Time the actors in which consist of a group
,

of railway ser vants l iving at a lone l y station

in the midd l e o f the steppe These vic t i m s .

of en n u i by w ay of amusing themselves and

,

urging o n the wheels o f time l ocked up in a ,

cellar a pointsman who had paid a c landestine

v isit to a lean u gly woman whose slavish
,

atta chment to him w as the one gleam of pale

—
light in the squalor and misery of his existence ,

for his l ife might be likened to that a man in

hell on whom an occasional d ro p of water was
allowed to fall But the company wanted
.

distraction and the cruel jokes they crac ked

, ,

the hea r tless taunts they hurled at the

humiliating pair drove them to despair The
,
.

miserable man threw the blame on the still

more wretched woman who found nothing ,

left but to co m mit suicide Y e t this little .

community at the station is composed of

semi educated men —
- one o f them is full o f
22 1
 MA X I M GO R KY

quotations fro m S chopenhauer and thei r —

thin coating of cultural varnis h d oes b ut
intensify the brutality of their cha racter .

The educated like the moneyed c l asses are

, ,

the reprobates in this topsy turvy w orl d -

wherein virtue flourishes i n the soi l of vice ,

l ike a delicate flower on a dunghill and ,

S atan sits upon the throne of God N one of .

these human beings expresses o r fee l s a pang

of regret a qualm o f conscience for the death
, ,

which was the price of half an hour s ente r ’

”
t ainm e n t .

222
 M AX I M GO R KY

l ife have afforded deeper insight into the so ul

of thi ngs tha n the mo st abstract specu l ations
can supply An irreclaimable drunk a rd and
.

a hardened cynic a vein of optimism sti ll

,

frequently gives a tou ch of we l come co l our to

his sombre V iew of men and things H ence .

he is a favourite among the r uffi ans who make

his shelter their home and some of whom he
,

has helped in his rough w ay to cheer in their

moments of utter despondency .

N ext to K o o v al d a in influence among the

human birds of prey who come to this night
refuge to roost is a former school master ,

whose conscio u s n ess of his fall sti ll keen and ,

ever present int e nsifies his misery a hundred

,

fold For t h is wretched creature who makes

.
,

a livel ihoo d by occasionally wo r king no w as

a reporter now a so rt of domestic attorney
,

for the lower c l asses being we ll versed in

,

criminal l aw this disgusting d e n with its

, ,

moral a t m osphere of despair and hatred

harmonising with the fumes and smoke that
constitute its ph y sical a ir is obviously the
,

last stage of his e a rthl y pilgrimage He .

might indeed still work h is way back into

t he haunts of civilise d men at least there is ,

not h ing in his past career as there is in that

,

of K o o v ald a to render this goal unatta inabl e

,
,

2 24
 C RE A TU R E S W H O O NC E W E R E ME N
but he l acks the energy to make the needful
effort H is so u l is consumed b y weariness
.
,

his will crumbled away by incessant impa ct

against that of other men and his faith in ,

himself has finally deserted him .

Those are the two figures which occupy the

fore ground o f this hideous picture composed
of the haggard grim visaged offsco u ri ngs of
,
-

R ussian society w h o retaini n g the character

, ,

ist ics of the individual are bereft of some of

,

the essentials of the race N ot only do they .

feel t hemselves s u ndered from all human aims

and instincts but they are devoid of any
,

common to themselves and even life itself ,

has but an instinctive hold upon them which

in their sober moments they are impatient to
”
shake off .
“
We are living all of us ex , ,

“
claims K o o v al d a their spokesman without
, ,

”
any su ffi cient justification H atred of those .

who are better o ff than themsel ves would

seem to be the only tie that keeps them
together K o o v ald a makes this clear enough
.

when he exhorts the members o f his congrega

tion t o blot o u t of their hearts a n d minds all
feel ings and t houghts proper to the li fe they
have left . We need som ething different ,

other views of life and other sentiments ,

something wholl y other S ti ll more emphatic

.
”

p
22 5
 MA X I M G O R KY

ally does he express his feelings when he in

forms them that As for me it would give
, ,

me pleas u re if the earth were riven by an ex

plosion and b u rned up or blown t o fragments .

Al w ays provided that I were the last to

perish after having first contemplated the
,

others. T heir foul mouthed conversations

-

and lawless deeds reveal unimagined depths

of human degradation : undisguised lust the ,

frenzy of filth y passions the hatred that

,

grinds its teeth at the marked human victims

which it is y et po w erless to tear in pi e ces ,

a n d the mad revolt against o r der law religion

, ,

whic h at times culminat es in N eronic fury ,

fill the soul o f the observer with loathing and

disgust .

An idea of the feelings which animate

those wastrels may be formed from the
remark uttered by their philosopher and
sp o kesman Aristides K o o v ald a when the
, ,

newspaper broug h t in every evening by the

,

e x schoolmaster
-
and present reporter is ,

being read aloud The company listens

.

attentively for as y e t only one bottle of

,

vodka has been consumed After the leadi ng

.

article the items of local interest are read

,

and then come s the criminal chronicle I f in .

these annals of crime and p u n ishment a

2 26
 MA X I M GO R KY

t u rned their entire l ife into one bitte r ab

surdity But this enemy being unknown
.

can never be seized And on his appearance .

they would fall fou l o f each other striking ,

out lustily beating each man his neighbou r

,

cruelly with the cruelty o f a wild beast ; and

,

then making pea ce again they would resume

their carouse drinking till they had dis
,

possessed themselves o f ev ery article which

the unexacting Va v ilo ff w as willing to accept
in pledge Thus in blunted hate in aching
. ,

which wru n g their hearts in gl oom which ,

hid from them the issue leading out of this

infamous life they dragged through days of
,

autumn awaiting the still more dreary days

,

of winter .Once in a while a reckless ,

fierce manifestatio n of sudden jo y woul d

r esound th rough the tavern : they wou l d then
drink sing dance scream with laughter
, , , ,

and fo r the S pace of some hours demean

themselves like people struck with the mad 1
-

ness of bedlam And then slinki ng

.

back once more into depths of dull listless ,

despair they would take their places at the

,

table of the tavern i n an atmosphere thi ck ,

wit h the qualms of the smoky l amp and

tob a cco smok e sullen ragg e d lazily talking
, , ,

t o eac h ot h er or l istenin
g to the j ubilant
2 28
 C RE ATU R E S W H O O NC E W E R E ME N
b ow l of the wind and pondering in their
minds the while over the ways a n d m eans of
stilli ng their thirst for vodka o f gulping it to ,

the point of senselessness A nd all were .

loathsome to each while every o n e hid within

,

himself his irrational hatred o f all the rest .

I t should not however be forgotten that

, ,

Gorky may claim to have descried even here

some living spark of Promethean fire among
t he embers and ashes of those seared souls

which once were as bright as those of their

betters . Athwart the seemingly h opeless
chaos in whi c h his barefoot brigade wallows
and sinks one discerns faintly the workings
,

of an invisible form akin t o that Fate which

in the Greece o f S ophocles made its play
things of heroes sweeping them hither and
,

thither like crisp leaves of autumn before the

hurricane . Congruously with such loss o f
liberty as this weaken ing o f the individual
will implies their moral responsibility is con
,

s id e ra b l
y less than that of the normal human
being I ndeed Gorky s army o f the living
.
,
’

dam n ed is almost wholly outside the domain

of law and would probably be found if the
, ,

whole truth w e re known to be also beyond ,

the pale of reward a n d pu nishment That .

their acts should be wilful wild criminal is , , ,

2 29
 M AX I M GO R KY

natural unavoidable seeing that current

, ,

human motives have no longer any power

over their wills But with all the greater
.

brilliancy by contrast flash forth momentary

gleams of true nobility never wholly e xt in
gu is he d the value of which is not lessened by
,

hopes of present benefits or future compensa

tion I t is t hus that a hardened criminal like
.

Chelkash makes a sacrifice of which an

average member of self complacent society is -

generally incapable and he thi n ks no more of

,

it than he would of stealing a purse cutting ,

a throat or plucking a flower in the meadow

,
.

I t is spontaneous a simple man ifestation of

,

that within him which no suffering has wholly

crushed out no bitterness has utterly spoiled
,
.

Among the sketches whose heroes display

such fi t fu l tokens o f their half fo rgo t te n kin n

ship with the body o f humanity from which they

”
are for ever departed E m e lya n Pilyai which
,
“
,

has n o t y et been done into E nglish deserves ,

to occupy a prominent place Moreover in .

,

this story as in d eed in several others the

, ,

author s undisguised fondness for self por

’
-

t ra it u re breaks at times thro u gh his d e s cr ip

tion of his comrades—a n ai ve desire t o com

pl e t e in fiction t he crude autobiography which
he once began as a history of his career and ,

2 30
 MA X I M G O R KY

whereupon the brine drenched him almost to

his shoulders H e relishe d t h at ; it attuned
.

him to a l azy melancholy mood ,

.

I cast a look at the port A dense forest .

of m asts towered aloft enwrapped in clouds ,

of heav y dark blue smoke and over the face ,

o f the waters hovered a harsh dull sound of

anch o r chains the whistle of engines which

,

were b r 1n g1ng up the cargo and the lively ,

voices of the work m en loading vessels .

N othin g that I there espied w as o f a nature to

enkindle anew o u r extinguished hope o f
turning a penny so getti n g upon my feet I, ,

sai d t o E m e l ya n : Well let s be o ff to the ‘

,
’

salt works .
’

All right go
‘
b u t shall you manage
,

it ? he drawled interrogatively without looking

’

in my direction .

That we shall see

’
.

Well let us start then repeated E mel

, ,
’

yan w ithout budging an inch

, By all .

means .
’

N ow that s business
‘

, l et us be
’

moving ! ’

And as for t his c u rsed Odessa may the ,

d e v il swallow it w h ole I t m ay stay where .

it is A cit y port indee d ! Oh that the

.

groun d woul d op en a n d g ulp it up

2 32
 C R E A TU R E S W H O O NC E W E RE ME N
R ight
Get up and let us be marching ;
.

’
cursing won t mend matters .
’

“
Where are we going to ? To the salt
works is it ? ,
’

Well n o w see here brother nothing

‘
, , ,

wi ll come of the salt works either if we do

J

go .

Why yo u said yourself that there w a s

,

nothing else for us to turn to .

’

T hat s true I did say so and I won t go

‘ ’ ’

, ,

back o n my o w n words only it will lead to

nothing T hat s just as tr u e
.
’
.
’

Why not ?
‘

Why not Then do you imagine that ,

they are waiting for us with a Please ,

Messrs E m e lyan and Maximus do us t he

.
,

favour to grind your bones to powder and

take o u r coppers in return N o no that , ,

is not the w ay the thing is worked ! This is

how it is done at present yo u and I are full
masters of our skins .

That ll d o E nough Come along !

’
. .

Wait a moment ! We have got to hunt

u p the gent who manages those same salt

works a n d to say to him with d eep respect

,

E steeme d S ir honoured harpy and blood ,

sucker here are w e come to o ffer to your

, ,

2 33
 MA X I M GORK Y

greed these our skins here ; wou l d yo u

vo u chsafe to tear them o ff for thirteen pence
”
a day ? And then will follow .

N ow look here you j ust stand up and

, ,

let us move By sundown we shall get as

.

’
far as the fisheries and we ll help the fishers
,

to haul o ut their nets perhaps they will give ,

us a feed by way of supper .

’

S upper ! That is fair They will feed .

us F isher folk are good sort Let us go

. .

then ; l et us be o ff but all the same ,

—
brother nothing will come o f it for you or
, ,

for me ; because ill luck clings to us from

S unday to S aturday
’
.

“
H e rose up, wet from head to foot ,

stretched himself buried his hands in his

,
’
breec hes pockets which he had sewn out of
,

two flour sacks and having fumbled there

,

awhile took them o u t again inspected his ,

empty palms with a humorous twinkle and ,

then raised the m to his face E mptiness ! ‘

T his is the fourth day of my quest—

.

and
emptiness is all that I have to show for it .

A cheerful prospect old boy ! ,

We tramped along the shore exchanging ,

a few remarks from time to time O ur feet .

san k in the w e t sand which w a s mi x ed with

,

s hell S herds melodiously brustling from the

-

2 34
 MA X I M G O R KY

T he instant I wanted to imbibe from the

source of cheerfulness and pleasure I would
give you an order : Open the tap Max ! “
,

and bool bool bool down my

throat Gulp E m e lya n ! A glorious pro
.

spect The devil choke me ! And the

.

peasan t here the black loam lord Oh by ,

-
.
,

j upiter ! grab h im skin him !

turn him inside out H e would come to .

drink himself sober and would whine ,

E m e ly an Pa vl o v itc h let me have a glass ,

”
on tick ! “
E h ? What ? On tick ? I
will give you nothing o n tick E m e l ya n
Pav l o v itc h be merciful ! ,Well I will ; ,

but bring your cart over here and then you ,

”
shall have a small tumblerful H a ! ha ! .

’
ha ! I d do for the tight bell ied devil -

Y o u are ferocious and no mistake But .

just look at him and you will find that he is

’
star v ing the peasant , .

‘
What ? H e is starving is he ? Good ! ,

j ust as it ought to be ! And am I not s tarv

ing ? From the very day o f my birth o ld ,

man I have been starving and that is not

, ,

included among the written laws Y e s ! H e .

is starving Why ? A bad harvest ?

.

Doub t ful T he bad harvest is in his head

.

first a n d then in t he field That is how it is !

, .

2 36
 C RE A TU RE S W H O O NC E W E R E ME N
Why is there no bad harvest in all the other
empires ? Because there the people h ave ,

heads fixed on their shoulders not for the sole

pu rpose of scratchi n g their occiputs ; they
think too you see There old chum the y
, , .
, ,
’
can put off the rain t ill to morrow if it isn t -

ne eded to day and they can shift the sun to

-

the background if it is S i ngeing them too

m u ch But we what sort of measures have
.
,

we to fall back upon N 0 measure s at all ,

’
old boy No no there s nothing in that ;
.
, ,

mere fi d dl esticks I But if the thousand

roubles and the tavern were to come by ,

j e m ini would not that be business !

,

He relapsed into silence and by sheer dint ,

of habit his hand made a plunge for his

tobacco pouch drew it forth and turned it
-

inside out H e gl anced at it and then

.
,

spitting out viciously hurled it into the sea , .

“
A wave caught up the dirty little bag ,

tossed it away from the S hore but having ,

looked at it angrily cast it back again upon

,
’
the beach Y o u won t take it
.
‘
Y o u lie ,

you shall take it and snatching the sodden

pouch E m e lya n dropped a stone into it and
, ,

with a sweeping movement threw it far into

the sea .

I began to laugh .

2 37
 MAX I M GO RK Y
What are you showing your teeth for ?
and they cal l t h ese fello w s people ! he
cons boo ks and even carries them about with

him and he can t understand a man ! The

,
’

’
fou r eyed bogey !
-

“
T hat shaft was aimed at me and from the
fact that E m e l yan had called me a four eyed -

b ogey I gathered that the degree o f his wrath

against me was very high it w as only when
seized with acute paroxysms of malice and
hatred towards all thi n gs existi ng that he
“

allowed himself to sneer at my S pectacles .

O n the whole indeed this unintended embel

, ,

l ish m e n t gave me weight and importance in

his eyes so muc h so that for the first fe w day s
,

after w e had str u ck up an acquaintanceship

’
he could not address me otherwise than yo u ‘

’
inst ead o f thou and in a tone vibrating
‘
,

w ith respect although w e were then working

,

s ide by side loading a R o u manian steamer

w ith coal and I just like him w as all tattered

, , , ,

s cratched and as b lack as the devil himself

, .

I offered him an apology and anxious to ,

q u iet him somew hat began to tell him ab ou t

t he foreign e m pires try in g to make it
‘ ’

c lear to him that his information about their

m anaging the clouds and the sun belonged

t o the domai n of myths .

2 38
 MA X I M G O R KY

keep his o w n body a nd soul together R ights

indeed ! T h ese are the rights —
.

a n d close
’
to my nose was held E m e l yan s impressive ,

sinewy fist .And every man onl y in dif

‘
,

fe re nt wa y s is guided always by this right

,
.

R ights indeed !
E m e ly a n frowned burying his eyes deep ,

under his long and faded brows .

I sai d nothing experience having taught

,

me that it would be useless to run counter to

him when he was o u t of sorts .

H e jerked into the sea a pie ce o f wood

that had got under his foot and heaving a ,
’
sigh e x claimed
,
I d like to smoke n o w .

Glancing to the right towards t he steppe

I sa w t w o shepherds l y ing o n the ground
and looking at us H ealth to y o u lads !
.
‘
,
’

cried o u t E m e lyan Do y o u happen to .

‘

have any tobacco about you One o f the

shepherds turned his head to the other spat ,

from his mouth a chewed blade of grass and

drawled out lazily They are asking fo r ‘

tobacco M ichael ! eh ?
,
’

“
M ichael lo oked up to heaven obviously ,

soliciting its permission to talk with us and ,

then turned ro u nd and faced us .

G oo d d ay he exclaimed
’
‘
, Where are .

you going to ?
2 40
 C RE AT U R E S W H O O NC E W E R E ME N
To O cha ko ff
’
for salt .

Oh Why have they asked you

, to

come
“
We answered nothing seati n g ourselves ,

down on the ground beside them .

Now N ikita take up the bag o r the

, , ,
’
dogs will peck it .

N ikita smi l ed in his sleeve and took up

t he bag .

E m elyan gnashed his teeth .

S o you want tobacco ?

’
I t s a long while since we smoked I
’
,

remarked t aken somewhat aback by this

,

reception and not vent u ring to speak o u t

plainly .

’
How s that Y o u ought to smoke
’
.

Get out yo u devils of little R ussians !

,
’
Sh .

Give if you are going to give and none

, ,

of your sneering Y o u mongrel ! H ave you

lost your soul shambling over the steppe ?
I will whack you on the noddle there and you
’ ’
won t budge much croaked E m e lyan rolling , ,

the whites o f his eyes .

“
The shepherds shuddered and jumped
up cl u tching their long staves and standing
,

shoulder to shoulder .

Ha brothers ! S o that s t he way you

‘
,
’

241 !
 MA X I M G O R KY

beg is it
, All right then you may
.
,

your w ay !
“
The de v ils of little R ussians were S h (
ing fight o f that I had not the faintest d 01
E m e l yan judging by his tightened fists 2
,

his eyes afl am e with a wild gleam was a ,

game for a s h indy B u t I had neither ‘

strength nor t h e wish to take part in a b ai

royal so I tried t o make peace between :
would—
,

b e belligerents H alt lads ! l.

‘
,

pal here has flared up a bit but there is

great harm in that N ow look you he .
,

y o u give us some of the weed if y o u d c ,

gru d ge it and we ll toddle o ff on our way

,
’
.

“
M ichael looked at N ikita N ikita ,

M ichael and both leere d That s h ‘ ’

.
, .

you ought to have spoken at fi rst ! Th

’

’
M ichael s hand dived into the pocket of Z
tunic drew forth a bulky pouch and II !
,

it o u t towards me : H ere take 5 01 ‘

,

tobacco ! ’

N ikita put his hand into the bag a

then pro ffered me a big chunk of bread a
a lump of suet lavishly encrusted with S t
I took it M ichael smiled and handed 1
.

some more tobacco and turning grunted 01

,

Good b y e
I muttered my thanks .

2 42
 MA X I M G O R KY
’
haul you o ff you little Russians
,
And hav .

ing evidently d one wit h the little R ussians ,

E m e l ya n heave d a sigh o f relief .

‘
S hall w e push on fu rther or spend the ,

night h ere ? ’

’
“
I felt too lazy to continue o u r march Let s .

’
pass t h e night where w e are I decided ,
.

‘
Well then be it so
, , and he stretched
himse l f out at full length upon the earth ’

scanning the heavens the while .

S ilence reigned E m e l ya n smoked away

.

and spat out at inte r vals whilst I kept look ,

ing round and silently drinking in the beauties

o f the evening scene M elodious over the
.

steppe rolled the monotonous plash of billows

breaking o n the beach .

S a y what you will but t o knock a ,

mone y e d man on the crown is a j oy more ,

especially if the thing is deftly done sud ,

’

d e n ly e x claimed E m e ly an .

’
Don t go on jabbering like that I broke ,
’

in testily.

? That job
’

j
“
abbering ! Who s jabbering
will be carrie d out you may rely on my con
,

science for it I am forty seven years of age -

and for twenty of t h em I have been breaking

my head o v er that same operation What sort .

O f a li fe has man ? A dog s Aye worse ’

.
,

2 44
 C RE ATU RE S W H O O NC E W E R E ME N
’
than a dog s fo r I have not a coop or crust
,

of bread Do you mean to say I a m a man ?

.

No pal I am no m a n I am worse than the

, , ,

worm and the beast ! Who can understand

m e ? N o o ne can ! But if I know that people
’
can live well why shou l dn t I live ? E h ?
,
’
S atan take you devils !
“
All at once he turned round facing me
st raight and went on hurr iedly : Do you ‘

know that I was once very nearly almost

just the merest trifle c aused a hitch .

Curse me fool that I was I fe l t pity Do

, . .

’
you care to hea r ?
“
I signified my assent and E m el yan re , ,

commencing to smoke began : I t happened ,

‘
,

mate in Poltava
, eight y ears ago I .

was then a salesman in the service of a m e r

c hant who dealt ln timbe r I had lived a .

twelvemonth without mishap smoothly then ,

I swilled deep and drank 600 roubles o f my

’
employer s money I was tried for it and .
,
’
p lastere d up in the criminals brigade for
three months and al l the rest of it according
to l aw I came out again having done my
.
,

time Where was I to go to now ? The

.

affair w as known in the city To move to .

another place I had not the wh erewithal I .

sought out an acquaintance therefo re a shady , ,

24 5
 MA X I M GO R KY

individ ual ; he kept a tavern and ca rr ied on

a thief s business screenin g various promising
’
,

youths and their doings H e was a good .

hearted fe l low most honourable an d w ith a

, ,

clever head o n his shoulders An ardent .

bookman too he was read ing heaps of

, , ,

things and he had a great notion of life

,
.

Well to him I went and : H a Pave l

, ,
”
Petroff come to my rescue
,
Why not ?
“
he answered it can be done One fe l low
, .

ought t o give a lift to another if they are both

of the same colour Live here d r ink eat .
, ,

and look about y o u ! A shrewd pate w as

Pavel Pe tro ff s I can tell you pal I had a
’

, , .

deep r egard for him and he was very fond of ,

me too H e w ou ld sit duri ng the day behind

.

the bar and read a book about French high

waymen H e had every book that was
.

written ab o ut highwaymen I l istened and .

—
listened .S plendid lads they were ;
glorious feats they achieved and a l ways
when they fell it was with a crash Y ou d ’

say that they had a head and ha n ds too with ,

a vengeance and yet at the end of the book

,

s u ddenly there they were on trial Poof ! .

And everything is crushe d to powder

I reside t h ere wit h Pavel Pe t ro fl a month
'
‘
,

it might be two mo n t h s listening to his read ,

2 46
 MA X I M G O R KY

and grabbin g t w o pence ? N ever Take a .

fellow like me no w whose mind is in co n tact

, ,

with E uropean civilisation would I sell myself ,

”
for a hundre d roubles ? And thereupon he
set himself to u n fold to me by means of ,

e x amples ho w a man w ho understood his own

,

worth should go to work and w e went on ,

chatting like that fo r a considerable w h ile .

“
‘
At last I said to him F o r a lo ng time
past Pavel Petroff I have had it in my mind
, ,

to try my luck in that same c a reer and as ,

you are a man of e x perie n ce in life I wan t ,

y o u to help me with advice about the way s

” “
and means . H m he answers I have no
” “
, ,

objection But don t you think you might

.
’

just scheme out some little job at your o w n

risk and o ff your own bat without help ? ,

For instance O b o y n o ff in the S ingular ,

number is returning home from his ti m ber

,

yard across the R iver Vorskla drawn by a ,

pair of racers and as you are aware he always

,

carries money about with him ; besides he ,

pockets the earnings of his salesman I t is .

’
a matter of a week s takings and in a single ,

d ay they sell 3 0 0 roubles worth if not more

’
.
,

H o w would that s u it you ?

”
I thoug ht it
over ; O b o y n o ff was the very merchant under
whom I myself had served as salesman The .

2 48
 C RE ATU R E S W H O O NC E W E R E ME N
job was doubly tempting : revenge for his
dealings wit h me and the chance of snatchi n g
“
a savoury morsel over an d above I must .

”
chew the cud of my thoughts over it I ,

replied.
“
That goes witho u t saying ,

answered Pavel Petroff .

H ere he paused awhile and slowly twirl ed

his cigarette .

“
The sunset splendours were nearly all
blotted out only one little rosy ribbon grow
, ,

ing paler every second still slightl y tinged ,

the corner of a downy cloud which had b e ,

come motio n less as if fallen into lassitude it

, ,

had got frozen and fixed in the darkening

heavens T he steppe was wrapped in S ilence
.

and sadness and the soothing plash of the

,

waves rolling restlessly in from the sea with

a monotonous soft sighi ng intensified the
sadness and si l ence On every side started
.

up great weird shadows and glided towards

us along the smooth steppe w hich lay languid ,

from the sultry h e at o f the day and seemed ,

to have sunk to slumber And above the .

sea the stars one after another burst gleaming

into sight so pure so new as if they had been
, , ,

create d but yesterday to bespangle the d e ep

,

velvety heaven of the south .

Ye s pal I turne d these things over a n d

, ,

2 49
 MA X I M GO R KY

over in in my head and I lay down that n ight

,

among the shrubs on the banks of the Vorskla ,

armed with an iron pole bolt weighing fully -

twelve pounds I t was in October towards

. ,

the end I remember T he night was as suit .

able as I could wish it to be it was as dark

as the soul of man The place . .

Well I could no t desire a better H ard by

,
.

was the bridge and just w here it joins the

,

gro u nd some o f the planks had been knocked

away That meant that he must go at slow
.

pace and so I lay there and waited There .

was bitterness e n ough stored up within me

to s u ffice fo r ten merchants And I figured .

t his thing out t o myself very simply more -

simple in fact it could n o t be A thud and

, , .

all w ould be over .

’

E m e lya n stood up .

“‘
Y e s ! And so I lay with everything
ready A twinkling and the money would
.

be mine One second and all would be

.

finishe d and done

Y o u think perhaps that a man is free
w ithin himself ? F id d l e s t i c ks pal Will you , .

just tell me what you w ill do to morrow ? -

T ras h ! Y o u cannot even say whether you

wil l turn to the right or to the left t o morro w -

S o it is ! Well I lay there and waited ,

2 50
 MA X I M G O R KY
’
“
whelmed me I thought to myself I ll u p
. ,

a n d run away A n d just at that moment

.

the moon broke thro u gh a cloud and hu n g

so clear so brilli a nt that it made my heart
, ,

thrill wit h fear I raised myself up on my .

elbow and looked at her And the n .

,

pal all my sc h emes were scattered like dust

,

and flew to t he very devil my heart ached ,

to look upon her : a ti i n y girl a mere chil d - -

, ,

with p ale complexion curls hanging down ,

over her little cheeks her big eyes looking

so —
,

and her shoulders trembling trembling ,

convulsively and great heavy teardrops

chasing one another down her face .

Pity crept over me brother S o I took to , .

S he screamed o u t
’
coughing . W ho s
there S h e w as startled I could see ; and
then I at once eh got o n my
feet and “
W ho are you ? S he asks ”

and her eyes swelled in her head—h e r whole

,

body quivering like jelly and Who are , ,

“

you she asks .

’

“
H e began to laugh And w ho am I eh ? .
‘
,

—
F irst o f all young lady you mustn t be afraid
, ,
’

of m e I will do y o u no ill I am not much .

of a fellow one of the barefoot brigade s o to

, ,
”
speak . Y e s I lied to her , Well I could .
,

not say to her Y o u oddity I w as lying in

,
“
,

2 52
 C RE ATU R E S W H O O NC E W E RE ME N
wait to kill a merchant And she rep l ied ,
’
I t s all one to me for I have come here to ,
”
drown myself And the way she said that
.

gave me the shivers I am no t joki n g old .

,

boy What was to be done ? With a con

.
’

trite l ook E m e lyan wrung his hands and

glanced at me his face relaxing into a b r oad
, ,

good natured smile

-
.

“
And all at once old chu rn I began t o
‘
, ,
’
talk What I ta lked a bout I don t know but
.
,

I held forth in such a w ay that I charmed

myself I t w as mostly to the e ffect that she
.

was yo un g and very pretty And she was a .

beauty that s downright true and a rar e beauty

’

at that Ah ! old boy it s no use talking !

. ,
’

Lizzie was her name Well as I was say ing .

, ,

I began to hold forth but who knows about ,

what ? I t was my heart that spoke Ye s ! .

And she kept l ooking the whole time seriously

and fi xed l y and then all at once her fe atu res
,

softened into a smile ! yelled E m e lyan tears ’

in his voice which resounded through the

,

steppe and tears in his eyes while he branded

, ,

his c l enched fi sts in the air as he spoke .

And as she smiled I flopped down on my ,

”
marrow bones before her Y oung l ady said
-
.
,

I Think Y ou n g lady
.
“
,
And all was
inc l uded in that ! And she brothe r took , ,

2 53
 M AX I M GO R KY

my head in her hands gazed into my face an d ,

smiled j ust as in a picture ; her lips moved

,

and she wan ted to utter something but then ,

mastering hersel f she said Y o u my dear '

, ,

al so are wretched like me ! Ye s ? Tel l me ,

Y e s my friend that s what i t came

’
darling .
”
, ,

to and t h at s not all either S he kiss ed me

,
’
.

here on the forehead brother she really did

, , ,
.

Do y o u grasp it ? God s my witness Ah .

,

m y dove ! D o you know nothing better eve r

once happened to me during al l the forty
seven years of my l ife ! E h ? That is so .

’
And why did I go ? Alas ! life l ife , .

“
H e w as si l ent hiding his face in his
,

hands S taggered by the strangeness o f t he

.

story I t o o held my peace and looked upon

, , ,

the sea whic h pal pitated wondrously li ke

,
’
somebody s mighty breast breathing rhythm ic ,

al l y in profound slumbe r .

And with that she rose up and s ai d to ,

me S e e me home We started As I . .

we nt I could n o t feel my feet under me and ,

she kept tel ling me the why and the where

fore Do you comprehend it ? S he was the
.

only d aughter of her parents they were also

merchants and of course she was a spoiled
,

child Then a student came upon t he scene

.
,

a n d b e gan to g ive her lessons and t he p a i r ,

2 54
 MA X I M GO R KY

disappeared
S he I sat down on the .

wooden bench by the gates I felt sad at .

heart The n ight watchman came a lo ng

.
- .

“ ”
What are you up to here he cries is it to , ,

fi lc h you have come eh ? Oh these words

, ,

clutched and tested the cords of my heart .

‘
I gave him a rap o n the snout : o n e !
shouts w h istles
,
march to the police
stati 0n ! Well what o f it ? to the station
,

then let it be ; whithersoever they like it

, ,

w a s all one to me I had a dab at him again !

.

S itting down o n the bench I refused to run

for it I passed the n ight in quad I n the
. .

morning they set me free I went to Pavel

Where have you been—o n t he
.

“
Petroff .

”
spree ? he asks with a laugh I looked
at him—
.

he w as the same man he had been

the day before : but somehow I saw some

thing n e w in him Of course I told him
.

everything from beginn ing to end He .

listened to me with a solemn look and when I

had finished said , Y o u E m e lya n N ikit ich
“
, ,

are a ninny and a fool ; and would yo u be

good enough to take yourself away o u t of
this Well there was not h ing for it ! And
,
’
wasn t he right ? I made m y self scarce and
there w as an end o f it That w as a business .
,

brother !
2 56
 He fell silent and stretched himsel f ou t on
,

t he ground laying hi s arms u nder his h ead

, ,

and gazing at the heavens velvety and star

,

studded And everyt hing w as hushed round

.

a bou t
. The roll o f the Su rf g rew softer s till

a ge nt l e sigh
 C H A PT E R X

L OVE OF L I B E R TY

AH how ofte n exclaims Werther when

, , ,
“

the crane would wing its way above my head

have I y earned on the shore of the boundless
sea to quaff from the foaming goblet of the
”
I nfinite the overflowing ecstasy of life ! A
similar cravi n g—Maxim Gorky would have
us bel ieve when he lapses from the narrative
into the didactic style o f writing —
,

is the lead
ing motive which un d erlies the cond u ct an d
shapes the career of most o f his heroic
wanderers H ence the wild energy fearful
.

of no dan ger the N ietzschean egotism that

,

knows no tenderness for others the unbridled

,

lust the mad revolt aga inst human laws and

,

divine commandments in a word the ,

semblance of the T ita n superin d uced on the

sordid forms o f squ alid outcasts cowering in
,

a barn o r huddle d in a heap on the Russian

steppe which confront us in the prod u ctio n s of
2 58
 MA X I M G O R KY

pre acher Maxim Gorky treats life in t he

,

spirit of true art recording with v isual

,

exactness his sense o f the actual realities the ,

members of his motley crowd of outcast s

defile before us a long procession o f wasted
,

or misshapen bodies hiding minds that are

,

stunted or diseased A nd considered in this

.

hard light o f fact all their vapid talk of

,

freedom their puerile attemp ts to solve

,

metaphysical enigmas their heart searchings,

-

and self scrutiny appear as what they really

-

are and affect us as w ould a flush o f fragrant

,

flowers decorating a human victim on his

w ay to t he sacrificial shrine We listen with .

’
a smile o f incredulity when a dru nken baker s
assistant holds forth to young Gorky on the
s w eets o f freedom in such picturesque phrase
ology as this : Y o u are wholly wrong Maxim
“
, ,

to knock about in cities as you do What is it .

that attracts y o u t o them ? Li fe there is

decayed and narrow N either light nor
.

breadth nothing in fact that is essential to

,

man . As for me brother I m resolved

, ,
’

to wander over the earth t o all the four

corners — that is best of all Y o u ramble on .

and are ever beholding things fresh .

And y o u take no tho u ght o f anything The .

breeze blows in your face winnowing as it ,

2 00
 L O VE O F L I B E R TY

were from your soul every particle of dust

, .

Y o u gro w light hearted and

-
free N0
l imitations are set y o u by any o n e Are you .

moved to eat ? Y o u halt and work for a

shilling I s there no work ? Y o u beg for
.

bread and receive it I n that way y o u will

.

at least see a large part of the earth ; an d

every kind o f beauty
There is an equally hollo w ring about the
m e ll ifl u o u s d iscourse addressed by the monas
tic pilgrim t o F o m a G o rd ye e ff in praise o f a
”
peripatetic life. Go forth the semi illiterate
,
-

wanderer says into the highways t he fields

, , ,

on the steppes throug h the valleys and over

,

the hills go forth and look upon the world

from the point o f view of freedom from afar : ,

virgin forests w ill rustle around you whisper

ing in soothing tones of the wisdom of the
Lord the birds of God will warble to you o f
H is blessed glory and the steppe grasses will
,
-

send forth fragrance as of incense to the

Most H oly Virgin Mother o f the Almighty .

Resting so m ewhere in the shadow of a

bush you will gaze up at the heavens above
,

and they will descend by degrees as if to

fo l d yo u in their embraces A sense of
.

warmth wil l come over your soul a fee l ing ,

”
K o n oval off .

2 61
 MAX I M GO R K Y

of calm and o f bliss no desires will cling to

,

your heart no envy

,
And it will see m
.

as if throughout the wide earth there dwells

”
none but you and God .

Truly it is hard not to sympathise with

this delicately intuitive appreciation o f the
beauties of N ature as they m irror them
selves in the minds of meditati ve men with ,

this e x quisite sensibility to the gentle in fl u

e nce s di ffused by hill and dale sky stream , ,

and forest interwoven in the calm glow of

,

fancy by the individu al w h o has free d his

soul from the petty cares o f life with the ,

leading motives o f supernatural religio n .

U nluckily however we have only to look

, ,

steadily at the mighty forms of the Russian

tramps and the noble figures in order to ,
”
cause them like the tender p e rso n d Lamia
“ ’

pierced by the philosop h er s gaze to melt ’

,
“

into a shade I ndeed the character o f those

.

s w eet to ngued interpreters of the glories of

-

nature an d the sublimity o f h u man purpose

as Gorky himself unfolds it —reve als i n stead ,

o f living and tangible men the person of the

,

poet Maxim Gorky who has created them

, .

F o r the gifted Apostle o f Anarchism like ,

Count Le o Tolstoy and many ot her of his

Fo m a Gord yeeff .

2 62
 MA X I M GO RKY
is narro w and I am broad I n the life o f
.

a tramp there is somet h ing which draws you

towards it S ucks you in swallows yo u up I t
, ,
.

is sweet to feel yourself free from obligations ,

from the numerous li t tle ties which link your

being with that of others from all kinds
of pettiness whi ch stick to and encase life to
such an extent that it ceases to be a pleasure .

I ndeed if the trut h must be told all

, ,

those s o lemnly stupid relations which have

come to be establis hed among decent people
in cities are a tiresome comedy Aye and a .
,

vile comedy t o o .

This over man whose soul is thus plagued

by a craving fo r the eternal in time whose ,

natu re is too large for this narrow world is ,

we find on turning to his biograp hy an indi

, ,

vidual of the criminal class w ho in west

E uropean countries would h ave had to ex
change the high road fo r the prison cell As .

a lad he used to carry love letters from his

mother a woman with a kind heart and hot
,
”
blood to her paramo u r H e h imself w as ex
, .

p e ll e d from sc hool for immorality Later on .

h e was banished b y the police from a large city ,

married a woman in a little town to while away

the time deserted her allowed hi m self to b e
, ,

supported b y a no t her woman o f light character ,

2 64
 LOVE OF L I B E RTY

then gained a livelihood by roguery and fi nally ,

became a spy to the ruin of many N o w this .

’
man s lov e of liberty one may affi rm without
,

fear o f error is but hatre d of those restraints

,

which stand between him and the gratification

o f his brutal pas sions
”
Do you know he .
,

asks, what an ideal is Ha ha I t is ,

simply a crutch invented at the time when

man became a sorry be ast a n d took to moving
o n his hind legs H aving lifted up his head
.

from the grey earth he beheld the blue ,

heavens above him and was dazzled with ,

their sple ndour Then in his stupidity he

.

exclaimed I will ascend to them ! And

,
’

ever since then he shambles about the earth

with this crutch keeping himself with its help
,
”
o n his hind le s to this day
g .

I n truth those self doomed outcasts whose -

lot we are asked t o commiserate and whose ,

strivings we are expected to admire have ,

been dissociated from their fellows at their

o w n demand They hate society and would
.
,

an n ihilate it E ven K o n o val o ff the meekest

.
,

o f the motley crowd the o ne member o f the,

straggle r s who bl a mes no one for his l o t when ,

envy ing the life of R obinson Crusoe o n his

island remarks
,
There was a savage there ,

however N o w I wou l d have ki ll ed him

. , .

2 65
 MAX I M GO R K Y

What the devil should I want him for ?

l

For what indeed ? E gotism raised to its

infinite power must fill the universe by its o w n
expan s ion as Gorky would fain have filled
,

the steppe and a ir and sea Liberty for

s u ch people connotes unbridled licence —
.
, ,

the
removal of et h ical as well as social a n d geo
graphical boundaries And society refusing .

to be abolished they leave it in dis gust and

,

rage much as crimi n als i n S outhern I taly

were wont to retire from the s cene o f their
misdeeds and to take t o a life of brigandage
, ,

hiding in caves an d inaccessible fastnesses .

T o credit such malefactors corru pt as they ,

are to the inmost core with the p u rsu it o f any

,

social aims o r even with the capacity for

,

accepting any workable conditions of com

munity life is to mistake a fell disease fo r a
,

social ideal .

I n trut h egotism o f the cra ssest kind is the

,

w oof o f their character in its least morbid

state turning often to fie n dish malignity as
,

the influence o f their lawless course grows

upon them Thus t hey refu se t o submit to
.

any limitations imposed upon themselves by

societ y or G o d as degrading to self respecting
,
-

m e n while their scruples speedily vanish when

,

it is a question of enthralli n g ot her p e o p l e fo r

2 66
 MA X I M GO RKY
unbending death alone can end the struggl e
,

between them .

The battle t o the strongest is the formu l a

u nderlying the acts of these u nhappy
creatures robbery and murder its extreme
,

practical consequence which is too often ,

drawn .
“
Clever people grab what they want ,

the more stupid get nothing at all explains ,

the venerable o ld gipsy whose plea for indi ,

vidual liberty is impassioned and poetical .

S o also is that of the soldier in the story

”
entitled I n the S teppe w ho lying stretched ,

upon the grou nd before the camp fi re at night -

delivers a panegyric on the roaming life of a

tramp in the touching one might say almost ,

religious tones of an apostle :

,
“
Glorious !
’
here I m lying now looking up at the
heavens . The stars are winking down at
me just as if they were saying N ever ,

mind L ako o tyi n tramp about the earth and

, ,
’
knuckle down t o no m an Y e s and my .
,
”
heart too fe e ls light !
, , 5 0 light and com
forted indeed did the heart of this e nrap
, ,

t u re d wanderer feel that turning towards the ,

su fferin g carpenter he asks pardo n for having

,

reviled him a short time previously And .

yet a fe w hours later t h is same enthusiast is

burning to murder regrets he did not seize ,

2 68
 L O V E O F L I B E RTY

the opportunity he already had o f murdering

his chum the student and this not because
, , ,

the latter had in the meantime strangled and

robbed the carpenter but because by his ,

secret flight he had compromised the liberty

of his t w o surviving comrades .

I t is no t therefore only fo r the r epresent a

,

t iv e s of the society from which they have cut

themselves apart that those men rese rve their

,

ranco u r and violence I t is a war o f each.

against all that is being waged by these self

worshippe r s a war which is carried on with
,

savage ru thle ssness nay with fi endish delight

, ,

whenever oppo r tunity serves Fo r at bottom .

they loathe one another scarce l y less than the

community they have quitted and as Gorky , ,

tells us se l f interest const rains them to con

,
-

ceal their sentiments or mode rate their

violence fo r a time B ut periodically the vast
.

reservoir o f pent u p hatred bursts its bo u nds

-

breaking forth in fury and seeking an outlet ,

in murde r Thus the members of the com

.

munity presided over by Aristides K o o v al d a

i n the noisome night shelter o n the outskirts
o f the city who here real ised the nearest
,

approach to concord of which such incarna

tions of egotism and bitterness are capable ,

frequent l y fought in the midd l e of a drunken

2 69
 MA X I M G O R KY

debauch and tore each other like wild beasts

,
.

Their hatred must vent itself from time to

time T hus Orloff is continually maltreating
.

his wife or else explaining to her that his

,

br utalit y is less the result of his will than the

execution of a decre e of Fate the influen ce ,

of his star S he in turn takes ill usage as a

.

commonplace o f existence when she d oes not

actually welcome or seek it and the nearest ,

approach she makes to a protest is her request

that her lord and master m ay some day cease
to use his boots and confine himself to his
fists S a v e l ly the
. likewise seeks
relief from his stormy emotions by br u ising
his wife until o n e afternoon abandoni ng
, ,

himself wholly to his passion he fells his ,

lighthearted mate t o the ground where with ,

battered head in t he blood stained sno w she -

utters the semitones of death Unsavoury .

though the subj ect is it is psychologically

,

interesting to read the d iscussion which took

place o ne night in the hive of impenitent
thieves and irreclaimable vagabonds kept by
Aristides K o o v ald a on wife beating within
,
-

the limits permissible from their point of V ie w .

T h e e x schoolmaster lecturing one of his

-

I n th e ov e l
n A T io Go ky s lo gest and best
“
r , r
’
n

2
70
 MA X I M G O R KY

social re o rganisation as the poetical reformer ,

with generous faith seems to think feasible

,
.

But the di spassionate reader will see th at to

set about recasting human society in accord
ance with the cravings or capacities of
criminal wastrels like those is as hopeful a
,

task as it would be to twist ropes of sand .

T he veritable tramps offer still fewer

materials with which a class o r a community
might be built u p I n them all social in
.

s t in ct s are atrophied They are unable to

.

abide in any one place ; they are incapable

o f pursui n g any intelligible a i m ; they are

unwilli ng to content themselves with any

attainable position . As work m en they
cannot turn their hands for long t o any kind
of labour because engagements and stipula
,

tions have no binding force in their eyes .

And n o t only do they quit their employers

’
at a moment s notice and at a time when
,

they are getting permanently beyond the

reach o f want but they forsake each other
,

a fter months or years of close companionship

with the suddenness and indi fference of cha nce

passengers in a railway carriage N o truer .

characteristic can be given o f those hapless

people tha n that whic h w as uttered by o ne
of themselve s who afterwards d rawing the
,

2 72
 L O VE OF L I B E R TY

practical consequence o f his convic t io n ,

“
hanged We are people apart
we are not inc l uded in any order .

There ought to be a special reckoning for us

special laws very severe laws in ,

order t o root us o u t of existence We are .

o f n o use yet we take up a place in life and

,

stand in the way of others Who is t o .

bl ame We are guilty in o u r o w n eyes and

guilty in the eyes of life ! F o r w e have no
taste fo r life and we possess no feelings for
”
our own selves T .

To inflict pain upon others nay even to ,

suffer it the m selves fills the hearts of these

,

men and women with a certain ind e fi nab le

morbid enjoyment which the heal thy imagi
nation o f Western peoples lacks the faculty
of conceiving One o f the psychic peculiari
—
.

ties o f the S lav race a line o f cleavage it

may be between their emotional nature and
that o f their more cultured neighbours
which has never yet received the attention it
deserves would seem to lie in this mysterious
,

mingling o f pleasure and pai n t D o st o ie ffsky .

,

K o no val off .

T K onoval off, p
”
. 2 2, R ussian e d itio n .

I The w ell kno w n R ussian wri te r,

-
N Mikhailovsky
.
,

g
to who se in e n io u s an al sis lad l y I g y acknowledge m y
S
2 73
 MA X I M GO R K Y

th e novelist whose gloomy imagin atio n w as

fascinate d b y curious p syc h o log1cal problems
such as this w a s wont to maintai n and in
, ,

several of his most finished productions

endeavoured to show t ha t m an in certain ,

moods actuall y loves suffering instead of

shunning it that he is always a despot by
,

nature and d e ligh ts keenly in playing the

p art o f a to rturer Those propo sitions would
.

seem to have been running in Gork y s mind ’

also at the time when he w a s drawi n g t he

portra its o f several o f his men an d women
tramps and in especial M alva whose strange
, ,

and yet pl au sible nature seems i n truth to , ,

bridge t h e chasm between pleasure and pain .

Malva s paramour Vassily e n raged at her

’

coq u etting with his grown —

, ,

u p s o n beats the ,

girl unmercifully Withou t uttering a .

“

groan voiceless and calm she fell upon her

, ,

bac k dishevelled red and yet beautiful

, ,

withal From underneath her eyelashes her

.

green eyes looke d out burn ing wit h terrible

hatred H e h owever puffed up by excite
.
, ,

ment and pleasantly eased by t he w ay in

w hich he had vented his rage failed to note ,

i n d eb te d n ess, has d eal t w ith th i s qu est ion i n a ver sug y

g estiva artic l e w h ich app eare d in o n e o f the R ussian

revi e w s in 1898 .

2 74
 MAX I M GOR KY

Orlo ff a l so has herself to b l ame fo r those

b r utal onslaughts of her husband which
undermine her h ealth and even endange r her
life And her object is the same But in
. .

reality she blames no one for that which is in

truth her own desire H er thirst of l ife is .

such that it can be stilled on l y by satisfying

her craving for pleasure edged with pain .

“
Thumps and blows enraged her but from ,

rage itse l f th ere flowed a great delight ,

el evating her whole soul That IS why she .

let her husband kick her ribs and stomach ,

and b l acken her eyes instead of appeasing

him in a moment by answering his reason
ab l e questions as she could have done to his
entire satisfaction That too is why she
.
, ,

studiously feeds his rage wit h stinging words ,

the effect the wished for effect o f which is

,
-

to spu r him o n to incre a se the force o f his

blows The fit once over and his passion
.

sated the cobbler now repentant wou ld

, , ,

endeavour to worm from his wife the reason

w hy she had fanned his wrath and intensified
her own sufferings B ut she never gave .

away her secret which w a s that all a l ong

,

“ ”
she knew Gorky assures us
,
“
that after ,

she had been bruised and humiliated he r ,

’
husband s tender caresses were assu red to he r ,

2
76
 L O V E O F L I B E RTY

the passionate tende r caresses that were w ont

t o go along with reconciliation And for these .

she was quite ready t o pay daily with aches

i n her bruised sides I ndeed she wept w ith
.

j oy at the bare anticipation an d before her

husband had even come into contact with
her.

K o no valo ff too had a story to tell o ne ,

incident in which occupies a prominent place

a mong the body o f e v idence in favour of this

interweaving o f pleasure and pain which

Gorky writing here at a ny rate from carefu l
,

observation has put together in his sketches

, .

When this abnormal individ ual the most ,

humane in the long gallery of Ru ssian

,

tramps is bidding farewell t o his paramour ,

’
the wealthy merchant s lady they tenderly ,

embraced and then S he bared my arm

,
“

right up t o the elbow and sudden l y fastened ,

on it with her teeth sinking them into the

,

flesh ! I al most yelled And she well nigh .

bit out a large piece For t h ree weeks

.

my a rm was b ad S e e the mark is still

.
,
”
p l ain .

To pursue this matter further would lead

us t o o far into a hazy and unexplored region ,

where as yet there are no high ways and

hardly any paths though materials for con
,

2 77
 MA X I M GO R KY

st ru ct n i g
the m are not wanting Whether .

this strange faculty fo r enj oying pleasure

flavoured with pain is in truth a line of ,

demarcation in the psychology o f whole

peoples or an indication of some such
abnormal interlacing o f the psychic and the
phy siological as lends t o mysticism m u ch of
its force and charm o r is at once the outcome
,

and the symptom of individual disease may ,

be profitably left to specialists to d etermine .

The central fact is that in the hearts of

those women and men there is not often pity
fo r the pain of ot hers and n o t always even,

for their own Athirst fo r the pleasures of

.

life their desire outruns their capacity for

,

enj oy m ent And the liberty for which they

.

long is that o f crushing out the liberty o f

’

others and imposing each o ne his o w n will

o n his neighbour And even the anarchy
.

they would fain bring about is but chaotic

lawlessness leadi ng to the unlimited despotism
of one This yearning fo r triumph for power
for greatness—were it only greatness by
.
, ,

contrast with the degradatio n of other s (a

sentiment common to most members of the
ragged brigade ! — is fin e ly illustrated in an
episode of the cobbler O rl o ff s daily life One ’
.

day during a pause between the blows and

,

2
78
 M AX I M GO R KY

life and limb and with sicken ing results,

.

R egarded a s adjuncts rather than fello w

creatures the females are cast aside when
,

no l on ger necessary or helpful without a ,

pa ng of regret or a twinge of conscience this ,

bei n g a necessary consequence of the scheme

”
of things wherein libe rty prevails K o o z ya “
.

K osyak bids farewell to his young sweet

heart in j ust such unceremonious fashion .

H e is turning his back for ever upon civilisa

tion for the ways of a tramp and he has told ,

her so . Well but how about me K o o z ya ?

, ,

Think how I shall be without yo u For I .

love yo u my falcon ; I love yo u my wanderer

, , .

“
Well Mo t r ya many others have loved me
, ,

besides yourself I parted with them all and

nothing much happened to them —
, ,

they found
husbands and turned sour in work S ome .

times I come across o n e of them and stare ,

at her unwi l ling to believe my o w n eyes

, .

I ask myself can it be that these are the

same girls that I used to kiss and caress .

Well ! well ! One is more haglike than

another N o Mo tr ya it was n o t written at
.
, ,

my birth that I was to take a wife ; no you ,

’
silly thing not I I w on t ex e/zang e my
, .

’
fi eea om f or a ny w i fe or any lzn ts Vassily ’
f
.

Lego st yo ff a married man with five childre n

, ,

280
 L O V E O F L I B E R TY

l eaves his v illage and his fami ly withou t a

pang and l eads a loose easy if l onely life , ,

by the sea with Malva his young mistress , ,

while his spouse at home is sacrificing

strength and heal th in the unequal struggle
to bring up the b o y and keep hunger from
the door S he l oses her horse and her three
.

sheep and at l ast has not co m enough to

,

feed he r l itt l e fami l y and in despair she sends ,

the eldest boy to his father in the hope of

Tell him all Y asha
“ ”
touching his heart .
, ,

she says “
for he is your father tell him al l ,
’
fo r Christ s s ake S ay y our mother is
.

al l alone five years have gone by and al l

,
-

that ti m e she has been alone ! S ay she s ‘ ’

getting o ld Y asha for the l ove of God te l l

,
’

, ,

’
him that ! S he ll soon be an old woman and ,

she s by herself a ll by he rself ! Working

’

B ut
’
har d ; fo r Christ s sake tell him , .

the fathe r r eceives the message with a co l d

”
“
N o w is that so ? and feasts his lustful
,

eyes on the graceful form of the sensual

Mal va .

For al l those ragged r u ffi ans egotism u n re ,

strained by con science is the one principle of

conduct and violence unchecked by fear of
, ,

punishmen t the approved and efficient means

,

o f i m posing their will But the social fabric .

,

28 1
 MA X I M GO R KY
as such however pernicious its de fects may
,

be especially in R ussia cannot be held t e

, ,

sponsible for the miserable lot of those K ono

v al o ffs O r l o ffs Pro m t o ffs and other s w h o o f
, , , ,

their o w n free will have cut their moorings

from society an d slunk away to wal low in the
,

coarse pleasures o f which alone their dulled

senses are still capable Their far soundin g
.
-

phrases are man ifestly hollow their e n thu ,

s ias m fo r liberty unmistakably insincere a nd ,

their lives at variance with their professions .

Th e picture of those fretful heartless wild

, ,

natures stu n g by want and smitten by dis

,

ease rushing frantically about and raving in

,

the intervals o f two fits of drunken delirium

for the sabbatical calm o f a he av e nly mi l lenium ,

is too grotesque fo r serious contemplation .

28 2
 MA X I M G O R KY

freedom a craving fo r the new a longi n g

, ,

t o span the infinite and it will be found that

,

the remaining traits which make up as it ,

were the roots of individuality are consider

,

ably less distinctive than the physical d iffer

e n ce s in the features o f a Chinese crowd .

Like the e ffigy and superscription o n metallic

coins essentially the same in each and all
, ,

’
Gorky s characters di fferi ng herein from
,

those of D o sto ie ffsky and Tolstoy are not ,

true types in the artistic meaning of the

,

word but only copies with slight variations

,

of one and the same .

E ven such individualising peculiarities as

spring from great crises in thei r early lives
the modifications wrought by the past and
subsisting in the present—are uniformly sup
pressed so that w e have no sure means of
,

traci ng back the threads of the sombre tissue

wov e n by nature environment and disease
, .

T he author introduces us to beings whose

past is completely hidden he S hows us the ,

worki n gs of their will but without v o u chsafi ng

us a glimpse —so needful to the attainment of
his o w n didactic and even aesthetic obj ect
of the directive influence o f former circu m
stance upon the mechanism o f their mi n ds
an d e motions H is portraits image the outer
.

2 84
 GO RK Y S AR T
'

m a n, framing it in the natural beauty of its

surroundings they even set forth the ravages
,

inflicted by his mysterious ailment o r v ulgar

vice side by side with the traces of his former
comeliness but what we sorely miss in them
,

all is the light of the past on the present and ,

what we would gladly forego is the su b stit u

tion of those fantastic motives to which the
imaginative author is himsel f keenly sensible ,

fo r the crazy whims and irresistible impulses

that usurp in the real tramps of flesh and
blood the functions o f deliberation Th e .

first and decisive conflicts of character and

circumstance far reaching in their effects are
,
-

already over and the great issue decided

,

before these actors enter o n the scene E ach .

o f Gorky s soul seared vagabonds makes his

’
-

appeara nce suddenly with his psychical ,

equipment complete like Athene issuing ,

forth full grown and armed from the head

of her divine parent .

And yet o ne would be rash to affirm that

the fretful feverish free d o m lo v ing tramp
, ,
a

with whom Gorky s sketches have familiar ’

ised us is wholly a creature of fancy .

H istory indeed wou l d hasten to the rescue

, ,

o f fiction and triumphantly point to the army

o f pilgrims sectarians outcasts runaways

, , , ,

2 85
 MA X I M GO R K Y

misanthropes and asc e t e s who still flit

across the steppes or people the forests of
R ussia and in whom w e recognise the st uff
,

out o f which Gorky formed his heroes On .

the other hand it will be ad m itted that real

,

life teems wit h inex haustible wealth o f indi

vidual variety while the gallery of portraits
,

chiselled by the ex tramp contains b u t o ne

-

complete type a n d many slig ht variations of

it U nder v arious names and in shifting
.

enviro nment w e keep meeti ng the same man

,

o r woman w ho has undergone no consider

able change since last we met I ndeed we .

,

occasionally r u b our eyes and ask ourselves

whether there was any need o r justification
for the change o f name .

Thus Ignat G or d y e e ff the father of the

,
’
hero of Gor ky s first novel not only resembles, ,

but in truth may be said to be identical

with the M iller in H eart ache and the
latter sketch —
-

, ,

one of the most finished and

ro u nded in the five volumes— is at bottom
but an episode in the life of Ignat G o rd ye eff ,

a lthough the hero is called T ikhon Pav l o v it ch .

B etween the wives of the t w o men there is

also the close likeness of twins I n many .

other sketches too the delineations of

, ,

character are not only esse n tially the same ,

2 86
 MA X I M G O R KY

Bu t instead of yie l ding himse l f to the in fl u

en ce o f his intuitive sense and giving us ,

artistic interpretations of such men as those ,

he allowed his con centrated attention to fix

itself upon the few endowed w ith those strik
ing and rare qualities of mind and body with
which he was in love in his own person ,

gathering every accident and circumstance

into this embodiment o f himse l f and pass ,

ing over such di fferences as seemed cal eu

lated to mar the portrait Danko Larrafi“ .
,

Loiko Z oba r and a considerable group of

-

over tramps are unquestio n ab l y less real even

-

than that they are creations mou l ded w holly

out of abstract qualities and though valuable
,

’
as affording a clue to the author s own ideals
here embodied without any of the limita
tions o f realistic art—are devoid of living
outline and co l our and help us very little as
,

presentments of existing types of men .

But even the other figures who are in co n

t e st ab ly to a l arge extent rugged realities

mostly prosaic starvelings whom he lived and

worked with during his weary wanderings
h e observed and depicted mainly in so far as
t hey were in dynamic contact with himself ,

I d e al hero es d escribe d in th e sketch entitled The ,

Ol d Wo m an I zergil
”
.

2 88
 GO R KY S ART
’

eliminating some o f those individual traits

which di fferentiate concrete men from mere
allegories and adding other feat u res which
,

seemed ca l cu l ated to make them resemble

his own ideal H e n ce the fami l y likeness
.

running through them all and the monotonous ,

recurrence of motive and accompaniment which

palls upon the most patient reader For they .

are nearl y all portraits of Maxim Gorky in

di fferent poses hating like him the lies and
,

hypocrisies of society bursting through the,

fine network of convention which hampers the

development o f individuality an d c l amouring ,

for the unattainable T hey ar e one no t indeed

.
,
’
in Gorky s sense as a socia l c la ss with inde
, ,

feasible rights imperious needs and common

, ,

aims and interests but in vi rtue of the wild

,

and crue l worship which they o ffer up t o

liberty —
a worship S prung from the reaction

of centuries o f enthralment and stolid r e sig

—
nation o n minds now grown conscious of their
dignity and power and yet incapab l e like the
,

tribe o f primitive men whom he describes as ,

dying who l esal e in the dark forest o f thread~ —

ing their way to the light and freedom of the
steppe without a leader like D anko to go
,

before and guide them I t is the savage .

phasis o f this curious cu l t which most other ,

2 89 r
 MA X I M GO R KY
people have long since outgrown that Go rky ,

here sets himself to interpret to his country

men T he object of this frenzied semi reli
.
-

g io u s wo r ship a n d the emotio n al character of

,
’
his compatriots stimulate the writer s romantic
,

temper and devoid of the restraining eleme n t

of positive intellect ual ideas he is tempted ,

into extravagances w hich still relished by ,

a minor ity of Russians are relegated by ,

other peoples to the wonderland of a forgotten

pas t I n to the T itanic bodies of those tramps
.

w e ca n hardly say with truth that Gorky has

breathed the breath of artistic life but rather ,

that he has removed their hearts and brains ,

poured into the empty cavities the spices of

h is own poetic fancy and embalmed them for
,

a few generations to come .

T his predominance of the subjective

ele m ent this keenness o f scent for the dra
,

matic in life and the subsequent eagerness to

,

intensify the effect by piling up sensation al

incidents constitute the main blemishes in the
,

writings of the ex tramp One of the res u lts

-
.

o f this su b jective attitude is that o u r attention

is divided between the author and his work ,

i s fixed upon the line o f demarcation between

legitimate fancy and probable fact ; and w e
stop to ask o u rselves from time to time
2 90
 MAX I M GO R KY
that name as the teller o f the story N ow a .

gipsy in S outhern R ussia is perhaps one of

the most crassly ignorant uneducated m e n in
,

the empire And although he may and does

.

generally express himself in R ussian the ,

la n guage he uses is as hopelessly u ngra m m a

tical an d broken as pidgin E nglish I t might .

perhaps be poss ible to tell a story in it if the ,

hearer were exceptionally gifted in guessing

the thoughts of ot hers but it would not bear
,

repetition in a book And yet it is a man of

.

this class w ho thinks n o w after the manner

,

o f Byron now o f Chateaubriand and usually

, ,

speaks like a member of the I mperial Academy

of S t Petersburg
. .

This illiterate gipsy is made to describe

’
t he e ffect of Z o b ar s magic touch on the

violin as follows When he played may ,

the thunder sla y me if in the world there was

another w ho co u l d play like Zobar ! H e
would dra w his b o w over the strings and a ,

shudder caused your heart to quiver ; he

would draw it again and yo u r heart would
melt away within you drinking in the sounds
,

whi l e he went on playing and s m iling And .

you felt in a mood to weep and to laugh at

the same moment listening to his songs For
, .

now it was as if some one were groaning under

2
92
 G O R KY S AR T
’

the b o w g roaning and imploring he l p the

, ,

cry cutting your bosom like a knife And .

now the steppe is telling fairy tales to the

heavens l ow toned melancholy fairy t ales
,
-

, .

Or a young girl weeps seeing o ff her gal lant

S wain o r e l se the dauntless love r ca l ls to the
,

maiden to meet him in the steppe And .

all at once hey ! like the boom o f thunde r

,

a quick free song is str u ck up and to the ,

strains the very sun begins to dance in the

sky That is how it was my falcon !
.
,

The same bohemian de l ivers an impas

sio ne d discourse on the vanity o f school
l ear ning and culture genera lly and utters a ,

wa r m eu l ogy of freedom such freedom as ,

he the gipsy has enj oy ed during al l the fi fty

, ,

eight years of his life ! And not on l y are his

utterances l ucid logical and grammatical l y
,

ph rased but his ideas are such as could have

,

been acquired only by revelation o r intuition ,

fo r as a gipsy he is strictly bound to his tribe

and tabor and enjoys considerably l ess
“
,

personal liberty than a R ussian peasant !

Gorky is indeed conscious of this grievous
fau l t which Russian critics pointed out to
him from the very first excusi n g him on the ,

grounds of his youth and his warm generous

tempe r But instead of seeking t o avoid it,
.

2
93
 MA X I M GO R KY

he endeavours to justify himself by assu ring

his readers that men of the commonest clay ,

w ho have been worsted in the struggle with

life and circumstance are indeed philosop hers ,

in virtue of their very defeat that they are ,

not merel y retailers o f worldly wisdom in the

form o f popul a r proverbs but genuine sages ,

w ho see deeper into the soul o f things than

S chopenhauer himself and clothe thei r ,

thoughts in l u cid lang uage and fanciful

im agery The theory if true wou ld be vastly
.

comforting Glimpses o f this mysterious

.

light would afford a ce rtain measure of co m

’

pe nsat io n for t he wrecking o f one s hopes if ,

they indeed fo llowed thus upon irretrievable

failure like an effect up o n its cause But the .

plea is childis h and the fault which it w a s put

,

for w ard to j u stify entirely s poi l s the e ffect of

’
some of Gorky s best efforts A striki ng .

instance i s to be found in the talk of another

’

unhappy ne e r do -

w ho had t ried his

luc k at watch making si nging oiling the
-

, ,

wheels of trains selling articles o f horn, ,

de a li ng in timber before he w as drawn one ,

day while in a fit o f drun k enness into a

, ,

machine and his arms were torn o ff O ne .

,

MIkhail An to n ytch is one o f t he ch aracte rs o f the

sketch H eart -
ache .
”

2 94
 M AX I M GO R KY

What is decided l y unintelligible is the

method o f reasoning by which Gorky per
su ad e d himself that such incongruities as
that would be al l owed to pass as art even by
favourably biased critics among his own com
patriots I n the lower layers o f R ussian life
.

such l anguage is never hear d and would be

wholly unintelligible Fal se note s like these
.

jar with the harmony of his very best work

and destroy the wholeness of impression .

” ”
K o no val o ff Makar C hu d ra
, H eart ,

” ”
ache,
Foma G o rd ye e ff and most of ,
’
Gorky s sketches are spoiled by this itching
desire of the autho r not only to lend his o w n
traits to the figures he is limning but to make
them use language which they could not u n
d e rstand to express thoughts of which they
,

were probably never clearly conscious .

This c a pital defect which mars many of

Gorky s sketches springs p artly no doubt
’

from his own impatience of limitations even ,

o f tho se imposed by the art in which he

works For he consciously and deliberately

.

strives after aims which may indeed be quite

noble in themse l ves but can most easily be
,

reached through the ordi nary channels o f the

press the pulpit the university ch a ir or the
, ,

hustings To this didactic purpose he makes

.

2
96
 G O R KY S A R T ’

his work subse r vient and strives to pro ve

, ,

fo r instance that life not abstract thought

, , ,

makes the true thinker and th a t those w ho ,

have battled with existence and been worsted

are greater philosophers than S chopenhauer .

The high fal u t ing language of many of his

tramps is meant it may be to bring this fact
, ,

home t o us But it is destructive of all

.

illusion Who for instance can believe that

.
, ,

the spirit o f E cclesiastes is embodied in that

same unwashed gipsy Makar C hu d ra who , ,

glibly reasons as follows

Peop l e are funny beings they crowd ,

together in a heap and crush each other

despite the fact that o n the earth there is room
—see how m uch ! and with a wide sweep of
his arm he pointed to the steppe And they .

are all toiling For what fo r whom N o one

.
,

knows Y o u see ho w a fellow ploughs and

.

you think to yourself there now he is drain ,

i ng away his strength in sweat drop by drop ,

u pon the earth then he will lie and rot in it

,
.

Nothi n g will remain after him he sees ,

n ought from his field and he e x pires as he

,

w as born a fool
,
Did he then come into the
.

world to scratch the soil and to die without

having succeeded in scra tc h ing up a grave
for hims e lf ? D oes such a man kno w fre e
297
 MA X I M
'

GO R KY

dom ? H as he graspe d the bre adth o f the

steppe ? Does the murm u r of the ocea n
wave gladden his heart ? Bosh ! H e is a
slave w as a slave when he was born and has
, ,

That s the long

’
been a slave all his l ife .

and the s hort o f it W hat can he d o with

.

himself ? Only strangle hims e lf as soon as

he grows a bit wiser .

F o r gipsies who think and talk like this

wit hout having b e en touched by the cloven
to ngues of t he S pirit at Pentecost a much ,

higher mission is reserved in the world than

tinkering and horse stealing
-
.

But then all Gorky s heroes are philo so

’

p he rs and their discoveries in the region of

,

metaphysics or ethics are as wo n derful as

those o f S chopenhauer and N ietzsche Ignat .

G o rd y e e ff in his lucid intervals L y u ba when

,

ever her father is away Mayakin at all times

, ,

reason like E cclesiastes or H artmann and ,

the language in w h ich their philosophy when ,

it ceases to be proverbial is couche d is t hat

, ,

of the leading article o f the daily newspaper

or the sermons of the revi v alist H ence .

the d r a m a fl s p er sond o f the subterranean

realm w h ich Gorky undertakes t o portray are
too ofte n degraded to the male of puppets .

The fact is t hat he lacks that obj ectivity

29 8
 MA X I M G O R KY

their l anguage becomes fl uent e l egant and ,

rich in imagery when touched with the magic

wand wielded by their late associate .

An u neducated old M oldavian woma n the ,

”
heroine of another tale named Iz e rgil who ,

employs Russi an as a foreign ton gue speak s ,

in the following flowery phrases one evening

after the day s hard work is done : Once
’ “

upon a time the tempest burst over the

forest and the trees whispered in tones that
were m u fll e d an d weird and it grew d ark ,

in the wood so dark that it seemed as if

,

all the n ights had crowded together at once ,

all the nights that have ever been in the

world since the time when the forest first w as
”
born .

I t is hard to believe that the ex tramp -

heard such speeches as that from the lips of

the lo w est ran k s of the illiterate masses or ,

such philosophical views as he a ssigns to

K o no va lo ff Foma G o rd y e e ff M ikh a il A h ~
, ,

t o n y t c h a n d others and one cannot b u t see

, ,

that the opinions are his own the well turned ,

-

phrases are his o w n and many of the charac

,

t e r ist ic traits are also his I n short it is his

.
,

o w n features that he chisels thus for a bust

which w as meant to represent another man .

I t would be ra sh t h ere fore to assume as ,

3 00
 GO R K Y S AR T ’

many have done that Gorky s tramps and

,
’

over tramps are real men and wo men or to

-

consider them as finished artistic types .

An d even when he succeeds in keeping

wit hin the bou n daries of Art proper Gorky s ,
’

impatience for rapid and powerful e ffe ct b e

trays him into gross e x aggeratio n which ,

sometimes turns a truly dramatic situation

into an incident of melodramatic senti
mentality I n this manner he has spoiled
.

in partic u lar a picture which treated with ,

artistic reserve would have deserved to

,

tak e rank among h is most finished produc

tions The story is entitled Grandfather
.
“

”
Archippus and Lenka An old man and
.

his little grandson a boy of ten are driven

, ,

by famine from their village i n R ussia proper

to the K uban district where they roam about
,

the steppes as if in a strange country begging ,

their bread The o ld man whose vital forces

.
,

are ebbing quickly away is haunted by the ,

dread of what may beti d e his young ward when

left alone t o elbow his way through a world
which ranks poverty wit h v ice Of death for .

himself he has no fear all its horrors being

,

focused in his anticipations of the miserable

’
portion w h ich will fall to the boy s l o t
when alon e in the world and confronted with
30 1
 MAX I M GOR K Y

s tar vation To save the lad fro m his fate

.

Archippus is ready to s u ffer any pain to ,

i n flict an y wro ng .

Wha t I ask you e x cl a ims the o ld man

, , ,

will you do face to face wi th the world ?

,

Y o u are a fra il chi ld and the world is a wild

beast And it will devour you at once N o w
. .

th a t s w hat I don t want For I love you

’ ’
.
,

c h ild . Y o u are all that s left m e and I

’

am all yo u have H ow then can I affo rd

.

’
to die I t s impossible that I should die a nd
leave you To whom ? . Lord ! Why hast
Thou ce ased to love Thy servant I can
not live longer and neither can I die because ,

the child I must care fo r him

. .

S even years have I fo n dled him in my

”
old arms Lord help me !
.
,

The miserable o l d man has already p u t by

some fi fteen roubles ; if he could bequeath
his grandso n a hundred he would leave this
worl d without a regret B u t wh ere can he .

scrape together such a large sum ? Chance

favou ring him he might perhaps steal wh at
,

he cannot beg Lenk a w ho has less sym

.
,

pathy with himself than his grand father

displays is disgu sted at his guard ian s dis
,
’

interested greed And when one day he .

r ecognised among some stolen things a

3<
. 2
 MA X I M GO R KY

will be no pardon in the next worl d for

that !
AS it stands t he situation is tragic enough
*

to allow of its being developed without t he

”
help o f extraneous motives B ut Maxim .

Gorky in love with the gigantic in all aspects

,

of a rt and nature piles Pelion upon Ossa ,

.

H e drags in the elements unleashes the ,

winds brings down pelting rain hurls o ak

, ,

cleavi ng thunderbolts and lightn ing and ,

makes them wage w ar upon each other by

way of accompanime n t to the voices of the
two human actors .

S uddenly the whole steppe throbbed and ,

o v e rs w e p t by a wave o f dazz l ing blue li gh t ,

expanded wide The hazy film that had

swathed it curled up and faded—for a
.

moment . The thunder roared and

rumbled rolling above the steppe causing
, ,

the very earth to quiver and the welkin to ,

shudder over which a dense mass of black

cloud w as no w drifting drown ing in its ,

depths the moon .

The sam e th e m e has be en treated sin ce then in an

e p iso d e o f th e n o ve l A Trio , ” w here Tere nce , the l
u nc e

of th e hero , ro b s his re lative ,

a d iny g o ld m an , ho ard s up

the m o ne y , an d afte rward s gives it to h is d is gu sted

n e phe w , w h o at fi rst r efuse d t o to uch it .

39 4
 GO R KY S A R T ’

Thicker grew the darkness Far away .

,

in the distance noiseles s but awesome , ,

gleamed t he lightning fol lowed a moment ,

later by the deadened boom of thunder .

And then stillness fell upon every

thing a stillness to w hich there seemed to
,

be no e n d .

Lenka made the sign o f the cross H is .

grandfather sat motionless voiceless as if he , ,

had become part of the tree trunk against

which he w as resting his back .

‘
G randfather ! whispered Lenka in ’

frenzied horror expecting a fresh clap of

,
’
thunder . Let s go back to the vill age
‘ ’
.

“
And the wel kin shuddered again flashed ,

once more with a light blue gleam an d hurled

to the earth a mighty sound of clanking
met al I t was as though m y ri ads of sheets
.

o f iron were d ashed to the ground battering ,

each other in their fall .

Oh ! grandfather screamed Lenk a .

B ut his cry drowned in the reverbera tions

,

o f the thunder tinkled like the j a ngle of a

,

little cracked bell .

What ails you my boy are you

afraid eh ? asked the old man hoarsely
’

without moving .

B itter n ess pain an d mockery min gled in

,

30 5 U
 M AX I M GO R K Y
’
his tones which reached Lenka s ears as it
,

uttered by a stranger .

H eavy drops o f rain began to fall and ,

their patter rattled mysteriously as if fore

boding something evil Away in the .

d istance it grew to a broad loud c l atter

suggestive of the rubbing of a huge brush
alo ng the d ry earth w hile here where grand , ,

father and grandson lay crouching together ,

each drop falling upon the ground gave forth

a short fi t ful sound which died echo l ess
, ,

away The peals of thunder drew ever

.

nearer an d more often flashed the lightning

,

in the sky .

I won t go back to the vi llage ! Let the

’

rai n drown me here old dog and thief that I ,

am . Let the lightning sear me ! said ’

the grandfather panting for bre ath as he ,

spoke I wo n t go Go you alone There

.
’
.
,
.

’
it is the vill age Go I don t want
o ff—o — o
.
,

u to sit here Be
y o g g
u
.

“
H is voice w as a hoarse and mu ffled
scream .

Grandfather !
‘
forgive me
p l ored Lenka moving up closer to him , .

“ ’
N o I w o n t go
‘
I won t forgive I ’

fondled you for seven y ears —I l iv e d

.
, .

for
yo u . I s it fo r my s e l f that I want any
3 06
 MA X I M G O R KY

The lightni ng harrowed heavens shivere d

-
,

and the steppe shuddered likewise now in ,

the sheen of light blue flame now coweri ng ,

back into cold dense suffocatin g darkness

, ,

which in some curious wise n arrowed it .

At times the lightni n g illumine d the distant

spaces . And the distance seemed to flee
precipitously from t h e noise and roar .

Th e ra in poured a nd its drops gliste n ing ,

like steel in the glea m of the lightning hid ,

the fires of the village which were warmly

twinkling .

“
The heart of Le n ka grew faint with terror ,

with the cold and with an indescribable harrow

i ng consciousness of guilt aroused by the cry of
,

his gra ndfather H e stared straight before

.

him his eyes starti ng o u t o f their orbits and

, ,

he feared to wink them even when they were

wet w ith the water drops ro l ling d own his
rain drenched head he kept listening atten
-

t iv e l y for the voice of his grandfa ther which

w a s engu l fed in a sea of m ighty sounds .

“
Len k a divined that his grandfather w as
sitting motionless but he felt as if the old
,

man must s o mehow vanish go o ff some ,

whither leaving him here alone Unknown

, .

to h imself he had grad ually drawn closer to

,

his grandfather and w hen at l ast his elbow

,

3 08
 GO R KY S A R T
’

came in contact with him he shiv e red ,

anticipating something horrib l e .

Cleaving the w elkin the lightning flashed

,

down upon the pair of shrunke n forms cower

ing side by side washed with torrents of rain
,

streaming from the boughs of the trees .

“
Th e grandfather waved his hand in the
air and kept muttering something now fagged ,

out and gasping for breath .

Gazing up at his face Lenka screamed ,

in horror . I n t he d ark blue gle am o f

the lightning it see m ed dead and the beady ,

eyes that rol l ed there were blank .

’
G randfather !
‘
Let s go ! he
’
whined pressing his head in his grandfather s
,

l ap
H is grandfather bent down over him ,

e m bracing him with his two thin bony arms ,

and hugging him close and squeezing him

tight he uttered a loud piercing howl such as
,

a wo l f might send forth when caught in a

trap .

H orror stricken by this wail almost to

-

the point o f madness Lenka tore himself

,

free sprang t o his feet and like an arrow

, ,

r ushed straight forwards with dilated eyes

dazz l ed by the lightning falling as he went , ,

and risi ng aga in and plunging ev e r de e per

3 09
 M AX I M GOR KY

and deeper into the gloom w hic h now y ie lded

to the flashes of blue light n o w closed in upon
,

the boy who was fra ntic with terror

,
.

The thunder boomed the lightnin gs ,

flashed quicker oftener more portentously

, , .

And the rain descending sounded coldly ,

monotonously dismally
,
and at last it
seemed as if in the steppe there was nought
and never had been a n y thing but t he noise
’
o f the falli n g rain the lightning s sheen an d
,

the a n gry clangour of the thunder .

I n the morning o f the following day the

Cossack childre n w ho had wande red beyond
,

t he boundary ,
t u rned back hurriedly and
caused a hubbub in the v illage by the
announcement that they had seen under a
poplar tree the beggar o f y esterday and that ,

he must have been stabbed because there

w a s a d agger l y ing beside him .

But w hen adult Cossacks went out to se e

whether this was so they found t hat it was
,

n ot
. T he old m an w as still alive When .

they d rew near him he made an effort t o rise

from the ground but was unable H is tongue .

w as paral y sed they found but no n e the less

, ,

he put a question to all of them about some

thing from o u t his tearful eyes and he kept ,

se a rchi ng with his gaze fo r somethi ng among

3 10
 C H A PTE R X II

IMP R E S S I ONI S M
FOMA GOR D YE E F F . A TR 10

TH E deftness and grace with w hich Gorky

p ers o n ifi es nature an d blends e l emental forces
with human beings in a harmonious picture ,

intermingl ing sound with co l ou r and frag

rance with fo r m is unrivall ed in Russian
,

literature H is men and women nay the

. ,

r eaders themse l ves become as the lotus

,

eaters whose sou l s are delighted with visions

o f glory a nd b l iss . For the Ove r tramp is a
-

c l ever imp r essionist Like the representa

.

t iv e s o f the l at e st school of pictoria l art he

paints what seems rathe r than what is
, ,

utilising the fact that upon the cultured men

o f this ne rvo u s age—their perception of
the real having become highly sensitised
i mpressions react mor e quickly and are
more faithfully m irr ored than in the m inds o f
their fathe r s I nste ad therefo r e of taki ng an
.

3 13
 MA XI M GO RKY

i mpression by its e lf a n d letting it unfold and

,

gro w gradually from germ to flower he at ,

once throws it into space scattering its ele ,

ments broadcast a mong the objects that lie

around aware that all the light rays they
,
-

reflect will again converge in the inner eye

of the beholder A complex soul state is
.
-

thus made to shimmer in many facets and the ,

reader glancing simul taneously at these re

—
ce ive s the impress of a picture which is one

and indivisible For in truth our sense nerves

.

intercommunicate and react one upon the

other for the pro d uction of a many sided -

impression musical strains evoking the sen

,

sation of colour flowery scents suggesting

,

flavours I n similar wise natural obj ect s work

.

upon the psychic centre generating moods , ,

no w of sadness n o w o f lo nging here of

, ,

inspiration there o f delight which move us

, ,

into closest t o u ch w ith the sensuous world .

Light and shadow sea an d sky rain an d , ,

wind the gloom and sq u alor o f a hovel the

, ,

grey breadth of the cheerles s steppe play on ,

the souls o f the susceptible read er as on a

cho rded instru m ent accompanyi ng the wo rds
,

and actions of the d r a m a t zs p easane and

'

/
,

creating a tone of sentiment congruous with

the tale Ma xim Gorky rel y ing l arge ly
.
,

3 14
 MA X I M GO RK Y

lope of the sand y cape This sound and

—
S .

the sun s splendour shot back a tho u sand

’

fold from the wrinkles on the face o f the sea

— blended harmoniously i n one continuous
movement fraught with living j o y Glad .

some was the sun that he beamed fort h light

and the ocean that it flashed back its e xultant
radiance .

The W in d s caressing breath smoothed

“ ’

the mighty silken bosom o f the ocean which

the sun with burning beams warmed up and ,

the sea sighing drowsily under the powerful

,

spell of these tender blandishments saturated ,

t he ho t air wit h the sultry aroma of its vapours .

The greenish waves rolling up on t he yellow

sand tossed thereon the white foam o f their
swe lling crests and t he foam melted away
,

with subdued hissing murmur at the touch of

the hot sand which it moistened
,

“
The strip of land narrow and long was
, ,

as a stupendous tower which had toppled

over from the beach into the sea Burying .

its tapering spire in the boundless wast e of

waters which wanton in the sun it had lost ,

its base away in the distance where a nebulous ,

sultry haze curtained o ff the land .

Th us he b l ends his tints wit h harmonio u s

e ffect and sounds
, scents colours flow in
, , ,

3 16
 I MP R E S S I O N I S M
upon ou r souls in soothin g or stimu l ating
streams calli n g forth impressions i nducing
, ,

moods which can be uttered only in the

di vin e la n guag e o f Beethoven or Chopin .

T he co n summate art with which he thu s

draws upon nature working her sombre hues
,

into the cold greys o f his mel a ncholy men

and women is calc ul ated to thrill the h e arts
,

of his sensitive countrymen And yet he is .

attracted much less by the beautiful in

nature than by the sublime H e makes the .

bound l ess monotonous steppe and the rest

,

l ess waste of waters the backgro u nd of most

of his mournful pictures an d they spread ,

them selves out before the gaze of the beholder

in forms and colours and combinations which
the inartistic eye had never before suspecte d .

Th e wild wrath of the wind ploughed sea -

howl in g as it hollo w s the woode d heights and

mockingl y scatters flowers of fo am on t he
wreck o f herbs a n d grass which will never
thrive again the min gli ng of liquid emerald
,

and airy sapphire fused in the golden beams

,
’ ’
of a glad summer s day is Nature s acco m ,

a n im e n t to the coarse or sorrowful songs o f

p
reckless men and women as wild and w ay ,

ward as the wind that winnows foliage foam , ,

and cloud s At other t imes we see the seeds

.

3 17
 MA X I M GO R K Y

that s e emed killed by the frost and buried by

the snow quicken and swell w it h the sap of
spring,while the pulse of N ature beats within
us ; or we behold the lowering skies from
which the l ight has go ne o u t the slanting ,

lines of pattering rain making dreariness

visible and tangible to the cowering wretches
w h o sit on half sunk r afts or squat in sodden

boats dimly feeling that their lives ebb and

,

fl o w as aimlessly as the black and briny water

that rolls there at thei r feet and that their ,

w ills and deeds are barren a s the b rown

s ands o f the beach .

I t is in the just perception of this mystic

closeness o f touch between men and nature

t hat Gorky has outdone all his predecessors .

T he subtle action and reaction of such dispa

ra te objects acquire u n der his treatment a soft
consciou sness which only poetic pantheism
can bestow Animals trees the water the
.
, , ,

mo u ld darkne ss and light are fused by his

, ,

’
fiery fancy into o n e universal s o ul the will o ,
-

the wisp of intellect being quenched for ever

-
.

From time t o time foretastes of a blissful

N irvana are vo u chsafe d to the disinherited
poor the w anderers who have left everything
,

th at t h ey had or might have won in order to

, ,

do battle for fre edom These step children of

.

3 18
 MA X I M G O RKY
'

two or three human figures as d mam a tzs pey

son n and the picture is complete H is force
lies in showing —
.
,

unconsciously it may b e
that however begrimed the human soul can
,

never wholly shed the fragrance o f the para

dise from whic h it has bee n expelled se l fi sh
ness baseness cruelty murder itself m ay
, , ,

blacken and d isfi gu re it but beneath the ugly

,

crust of crime the spirit of the Godhe a d is still

alive though imprisoned and may even be ,

conjured up by those w ho utter the m agic

word whether or not they k now its virtue
, .

I t was a real ton r de f or ce thus to thro w t he

glamour o f poetry o n the loathsomenes s o f
latter day lepers
-
To paint the idylls of
.

squalid beggars and hardened criminals from

w hom almost every trace o f the human spirit
has seemingly vanished and to allo w them to
,

gat her a certain quality of nobility fro m the

b ac kground of the va st steppe the boundless ,

ocean w as an u n dertaki ng worthy of a poet

,

a n d h ad he thus broken through our br u tal

classification of men a n d widen e d the ran ge

,

of human sympathy by purely artistic m e tho d s ,

the praise lavished u pon h is achievement

woul d have been well deserved But instead .

o f approachi n g Art in the humble spirit of

se lf surrender and helping others to a p l e asu r

-

320
 I M P RE S S I O N I S M
able apprehensio n of li fe by presenting it as
it appeared—not indeed to the wil l whic h
feels a ttracted or repel led but to the passion ,

less aesthetic sense Gorky deli b erately

strove to touch his readers sensibilities o n ’

behalf not only o f his wayward men and

women but also of their subversive prin
,

cipl e s .

Of this deadly S in against Art we have se e n

the disastrous effects in his shorter S k e tches ,

many of wh ic h a wise selection would have

excluded from his collected writings ; but it
o ffends us still more in his ambitious flights ,

his attempts at novel wr iting l acking , ,

as he does that architect u ral conception

,

which sees and realises unity in plurality har ,

mony in discord I n Foma G o rd ye e ff for

.
,

example he has merely set s i d e by side a

,

number of figures so m e of them palpitating

,

with life after the nai ve manner of those early

,

I talian masters who juxtaposed several scenes

on one and the same canvas with no co ,

ordination o f parts no growth of design n o

, ,

organic completeness but each i n dependent,

of the others lik e Russia n tramps in real

,

life.

’
“
F o m a G o rd ye e ff t he first of Gorky s
,

novels is a story o f R ussian comm e rci al

,

x
32 1
 MA X I M G O R KY

life in the Volga provinces where the mer ,

chants form a class apart a caste indeed one , , ,

m ight say so entirely are the y separated from

,

all other sections of the community by tradi

tions customs moral training life philosophy
, , , ,

and even dress They possess their o w n

moral code which is often that of the human
,

shark and their own rel igion which makes a

, ,

very suitable fra me for it They m arry .

w ithin their exclusive circle and safeguard ,

their progeny from contact with the wave o f

E uropean culture— which has wa shed away
many of the narrow idiosyncrasies of the
upper social layers —as though death were in
its touch The clergy be fore the time of
.

Tsar Peter were hardly more of a c a ste than

were the genuine R ussian merchants of
fi fteen years ago * .

Training heredity experience have shar

, ,

pened all their faculties changi n g th em ,

into weapons serviceable in the struggle for

gold They drive a bargain as cunningly
.

as M ephistopheles and press it home with ,

the ruthless n ess of S hylock The dire ne ce s .

sities or the simple trust of others co nstitute

They have b ee n grad ually chan gin g sin ce then an d ,

in a o th er gen e a tio n w ill b e as extin c t as th e lan d

n r

ow e s d p icte d by L eo To l stoy an d Tu
n r e
gh e ieff r n .

322
 M AX I M GO R KY

their goal unable to puzzle themselves about

the choice of means T his is n ot a matter .

of w ill b u t they kno w no other law

,
.

S ometimes indee d they ta lk with dread

, ,

about their conscience and on occasion they ,

even torture them s elves in struggli ng with

it ; but conscience is a force u nconquerable
only for the weak in spirit the strong over
master it quickly enou gh and yoke it to their
desires for they instinctively feel that if they
,

were to al low it scope an d free d om it would

”
smash up thei r lives .

’
I n Ig nat s ever present brutality there is
such a minimum of huma n ity as there is of
truth in a l ie to give it cohesion H imself a .

pitiless grinder o f men in a physical as well

a s an economic sen s e bru te fo r ce in all i t s,

forms is the de l igh t of his soul Thus he .

watches with ecsta sies of joy the utter

destruction of one o f his o w n barges by the
movi ng ice which crushes it into fragments
,

against the river bank and he grieves that ,

it w a s not vouchsafed to him to witness the

fire that burned a nother of his vessels to
ashes The wealth which he has heaped u p
.

by sweating the poor and cheating the well

t o do he occasionally scatters in drinking
-

and debauch but is unable to spend to any

,

324
 I M P RE S S I O N I S M
good purpose N ow a nd again he rush es
.

o ff
“
on the spree staggers through every
,

stage o f drunkenness and temporary madness ,

glories in humiliati ng the w a ifs of society

whom he meets and then returni ng home
,

fasts with gusto prays with unctio n ph ilo so

, ,

p hise s at random and beats his wife because

,

she has not borne him a son his o ne u n fu l ,

filled d esire being to have an heir to whom

he may hand over his wealth a nd business ,

and whom he m ay t rain up to walk in his

footsteps On the death of his patient help
.

mate who failed to realise this hope I gnat

, ,

m a rries a dre amy sectaria n w ho gazes into ,

space broods in silence speaks little an d

, , ,

cares for nothing H er only 7 07 2 in the story

.

is to present her husband with the wished for -

s o n after which she dies in childbed

, .

The portrait of I gnat G o rd y ee ff is in co n

t e st a b ly a work of art—one of the most per
fe ct specimens of Gorky a t his best which ,

los e s considerably by being placed u nder a

m ass of orga n ically d i scon n ected episodes
misnamed a n ovel—an d turned into the
c a ryatides of the whole crazy structure .

Ign a t s boy who is christened Foma is

’

, ,

the hero of the story H is earliest y e a rs are

.

passed in t he family of his godfather May

325
 MA X I M G O R KY

a kin a mong a group of bigote d narrow

, ,

minde d gloomy souled w omen whose life i s

,
-

filled by the exter nals of religion fasts feasts , , ,

a n d church visits N o soon er has his reason

.

u nfol d ed itself su ffi ciently to take in and

assimilate impressions t han he is removed to
the paternal h ome w here a real human being
, ,

in the shape of an aunt protects him from ,

his father s drunken caresses and fills his

’

tender mind with the contents of the cornu

copia of Russi a n fairy tales and legends while ,

the teachers of an elementary school e ngra ft

u pon it the crude notions of men and things

w hich form the stock in trade o f R ussia n - -

rudimentary education H e is then taken .

by his father on one of his barges along the

Vo lga where new horizo n s sprea d them
,

selves out before him and experience of the ,

seamy side of men reacting upon the inborn

character complete his mental and moral
equipment The theories and comments
.

which form a fitting accompaniment to the

sights an d scenes around him are s u pplied at
’
first by his father and after Ignat s death by
, , ,

his god father May akin who hopes to have ,

him as his son in law and to join the wealth

- -

of the two houses in one .

After his father s death this O ver M e r

’
-

326
 MA X I M G O R KY

and with them their wretched wives and

children were plunged in grief and tortured
,

by wan t merel y to give point to the joke of

this human wol f H e regarded his fellows
.

as a heap of worms crawling about in search

of food and forsooth felt disgusted at the
, , ,

unseemly sight H e kept aloof from his

.

o w n class in particular whom he despised

,

fo r their l ove of money and their selfishness .

I grow malicious he e x cl aims I d like ’

’
to beat everybody ! People don t please me !
What are they ?
Tw o other instances will s u ffi ce to give a
fairl y adequ a te idea of the portraits of the
actors painted by Maxim Gorky for the
scenes in Foma G o rd ye e ff One of them.

is a weal thy sk infl in t n amed S htshuroff ,

who is s u spected of having first harboured

a convict in his ho u se then compe l led him to
make counterfeit coin and l astly of having, ,

burned him alive ; an d is known to have

seduced the wife of his own son whereupon ,

the son took to drink through grief This .

paragon o f virtue counsels Foma to pray ,

calls the l ate I gnat an impeniten t sinner ,

and having been foiled in an attempt to

,

“ ”
sque e ze the young m erc hant begins to ,

“
ch unt prayers to the blessed b ir thgive r of
a

328
 I M PRE S S I O N I S M
God .
Another choice youth the pre ,

m aturely worn out j ournalist Y e sho ff con

-

, ,

t i n u all
y inveighs against the upper classes
in mad outbursts like this I w ould collect
together the remnants o f my tortured soul ,

and along with my heart s blood I would ’

spit them in the faces of our edu d u ca te d - -

people de devil take it ! I would say t o

,
-

them : Y o u insignificant insects yo u are ,

the best sap of my country Oh you .

,

nits ! H ow clear you have cost your cou n try

What do yo u do it fo r ? Another of the
’
hero s boon compan ions after having eaten ,

and drunk at his expense elegantly describes ,

his host to his face as follows : Y o u are

the rotten illness o f yo u r father who although , ,

he w a s a thief was a w orthy man n e v e rt he

,

l ess in comparison with you !

S uch then was Foma a clumsy loon with ,

no culture not even the thin veneer which

,

his o w n class might have bestowed u pon him ,

a huge s ensual body with hardly the glimmer

, ,

of a soul buried somewhere within a complex ,

of an imal forces operati ng for the basest of

selfish sometimes o f mal ignant ends without
, , ,

an ethic al principle or a religious reg u lative

to g u ide their action or h inder their abuse ,

a boor a dunce a sot a satyr The figure

, , , .

329
 MA X I M G O R KY

is t ruly repu l sive and worthy of the ki nd

,

of artist to whom the Greeks gave the

name of rhyparo graphs ; but at an y rate it , ,

is conceivable a nd may well stand for an

,

individual who l ived and wrought evil on

the ban ks of the Volga What runs ho w .
,

ever utterly counter to reality and is

, ,

equally u ntrue to Art is the woof of this ,

monster s characte r which the author has

’

woven of sle nder threads of ideali s m and

philosophic criticism That this crass brutish
.
,

dullard whose intellect is too feeble to enable

,

him to pick his way along the smooth road

traversed by h is fellows should be philo ,

S ophical enough to spend his luci d interval s

in formulating profound questions in ethics ,

metaphysics religion an d sociology an d

, , ,

”
honest enough to feel indign a tion at the
i m m oral con d uct of men who however bad , ,

were immeasurably better than himself is a ,

fiction so improbable on the face of it that

the least critical read e r is certa in t o reject it as
an insult to his ju d gm ent The author seems .

to be laughing in his sleeve w h en he pre

sents this quintessence of brutality vice and , ,

d ulness excl aimi n g

,
Me n like cockroaches , ,

are altogeth er s u perfluous on the earth

M y soul a c hes ! And it aches because it is
3 3°
 MA X I M G O R KY

these by decking them out in the tawdry tinsel

of anarchistic philosophy .

“
A Trio is the life story of t hree childre n
”
-
,

w h o left to themselves grow up in an atmo

, ,

sphere o f vice and misery an d reacting upon ,

outer circumstance gradually display their

inherited instincts and inborn qualities The .

central figure is I lya L o o n ye ff a boy whose ,

grandfather an unbending S ectarian had

, ,

spent the last eight years of his life in a

narrow cell built in a dense forest mortifying ,

his flesh and implori ng mercy for his o w n

sins and the wickedness of the world E arly .

transported to one of the slums of a pop u lous

’
city I lya s first impressions of l ife like those
, ,

of other lonely children consist for the most ,

part of curiously woven fancies suggested ,

rather than caused by outward objects in ,

his case by the wholesome conversation of

his God fearing grandfather—a mere rag
-

picker whose word s and deeds were the out

come of all embracing charity—
,

b y the songs
o f a drunken cobbler the chatter o f blithesome
,

children the brightness o f the summer sun

, ,

and the gloom of t he clammy fetid rooms of

the crazy house in which he spent the first
half of h is monotonous li fe The series of .

pictures here drawn with marvellous exact

332
 I M PRE S S I O N I S M
ness pro found psych o logical insight and
, ,

intense artistic power of the gradual growth ,

o f the chi l d s mind

’
the sudden gleams of
,

spirit ual light which occasionally dispel l ed

the dense gl oom that enveloped it and the ,

fi rst stirrings of his will reacting upon men

and th ings reveal the artistic touch of the
,

—
master .

The influence o f desultory reading such

as Gorky himself had undergone—the eage r
porin g over rom antic tales o f histo ry and
fiction and the n ai v e comments thereon of his
two companio n s strengthen the subj ective
,

medium through which I lya views the wo rld

and its ways and supply the boy with plente
,

ous materials for the building of that inward

sch e m e of things into which he gathered and
c l assed a l l e x ternal impressions making a ,

l ittle cosmos of his own D o y o u stil l read

.

”
books ? asked one of his companions after ,

an absence o f some weeks I should think .

’
” “
I did w as the reply
,
Why it s the only.
,

pl eas u re I have While I m reading it is as

.
’

if I were living in another city and w hen I ,

have come to the end as if I were falling ,

from the belfry T hus h olding up a spotless

.

mirro r as it seemed to nature and man he

, , ,

fancies that he sees all thi n gs clearl y where ,

333
 MA X I M G O R KY

fore he scornfully ignores the s o mbre qu e s

t io n in gs of his pensi v e comrade Y asha about
‘

the ultimate go al of things .

Gradually Lo o n ye ff become s conscious of a

growing taste fo r p hysic al cleanliness for a ,

certain unde fi ned grace in p ersons and order

in things and later o n congruous with this
, , ,

of a passion for simple cruel tr u th which ,

causes his first vio lent encounter with his

neighbours and shapes his o w n ideals later o n
,
.

And thus he grows up like a flower o n a ,

d u nghill untainted indeed by the filth and

,

the poison that environ him but also de void of ,

that delicate sense o f ethical comeliness which

m ay be taken to correspon d to fragrance in a
flower H e w as deficient from the first in
.

that fellow feeling for others that spon ,

t a ne o u s pity for the weak and the sorrow

stricken w h ich inherent in character if it

, , ,

exists at all is the basis of all true morality

, .

T hus amo ng the early impressions whic h

struck into his soul for all time was a murder
in the yar d of the house committed by a bl a ck
s m ith who felled his wife to the ground b u t
, ,

it w as recorded in I lya s memory without any ’

accompanying note of censure .

I mpressive too is the sto ry of his gradual

, ,

i n sight into the sorro w of thi ngs w hich seems

3 34
 MA X I M GO R KY

should say Puritan—forebears men who had ,

stubborn l y followed the promptings of their

o w n soul and dared la w and violence to do

their worst I t w as natu ral for him there

.
,
’
fore to refuse to give to other men s ide as
,

and feeli ngs any weight in his own counsels ,

and to wrestle with wrong wherever he :

might be confronted wi t h it And y e t he .

'

w a s resolved to enter upon the struggle not ,

in the name of any noble idea o r in obe d i ,

ence to a higher law but solely for his o w n

,

comfort .Without any religious faith or

social ideal stro ng enough to impart cohe
rence to his wistfu l yearnings he seeks to ,

shape his course with the help of the dim

light flickering w ithin him and t hat reveal s
,

his own self as the centre of all things his ,

personal happiness as the ultimate goal an d

for happiness as he u nderstood it his thirst
was fierce and insatiable One feels that .

whe n a nature unbridled u ndau nted li ke that

,

of I lya Lo o n ye ff is confronted with deceit or

injustice incarnate in an odiou s man a catas
, ,

t ro p he will follo w with t he n e e ces s it of

y
Fate .

Manhood c a me somewhat late to I lya and

with it tem ptations now self sought now -

thrust upon him by chance which were ,

3 36
 I MP RE S S I O N I S M
shunned o r y ielded to without p revious
struggle o r subseque n t pai n or with at m ost
,

some such involunta r y recoi l as a fastidious

taste for physical purity and its extension to
things spiritual may have generated On al l
occasions I lya shra n k from the unclean —
.

so

trim and neat w as his dress when he haw ked

his wares about the city that he w as t a ken for
a clerk in a ba n k—and this physica l squeam
ishn e ss r e fining itself at ti m es i n to a quas i
moral feeli ng caused h im m any a pang in
,

a fter years. T hese su fferings were especially

acute when h is thoughts wandering to the
girl w hom he loved and w ho w as become a
,

pillar of l ight t o him on his pilgrimage he ,

pictured her to h imself in the power of an

unclean sat yr to whom she had b artered
away the hol iest possession of woman fo r so
many hundred roubles a month .

Fo r gradually a strong affection had s p rung

’
up in Lo o n ye ff s heart for a girl named Olym
piad a a courtes a n w hose soul despite a
, ,

course o f conduct for which society knows

n o expi ation ,
w as in some m ysterious way

p r eserved from the imp u rities presupposed

by those tha t d e fi le d her body I t w as he r
—
.

unhall owed sentiment fo r him vi hereby she

l ooked after h im with the protective fo nd
3 37 Y
 MA X I M G O R KY

n ess as of o ne older an d more experienced

than he which first raised I lya from the
,

depths of despair to a position w here he

could breathe freely and weave hopefully ,

his dreams of realise d ideals And the .

fu ture as he conceived it w as simple and

, ,

prosaic enough a clean a n d neat little shop

in a quiet street t he fruits of peaceful in
,

d u st ry spread out in ab u ndance arou nd him ,

cheerful su rroundings unbroken tranq u illity

, ,

a n d the esteem and respect of his fellow men .

This was the pictu r e of himself and his

career which he n o w saw dimly as throu gh
the gold dust o f a summer haze his life path ,

lying smooth and pleasant before him up to

this point but losing itself here in the vague
,

chaos of mist .

This Olym piada was however no common , ,

courtes an but a well meaning sweet tem

,
-

pered girl fitted by admirable gi fts of mind

,

and also certain qualities of heart to have

played a useful perhaps too a brilliant par t
, , ,

as the helpmate of an ambitious and honour

able man in the society which preferred to ruin
her But those innate gifts stood her in as
.

little stead as their sweet notes help t he

song birds which I talians snare an d kill every
-

year for the flavour of their flesh A gir l of .

338
 MA X I M G O R KY

One evening I l ya following the impulse ,

’
of his o w n k i n dly he a rt calls at O l ym piada s
,

lodgings on an errand of mercy ; he intends

to e n list her sympathies on behalf of a for
saken little girl brought up alo ng with him
,

self who se life is no w bei n g slowly crushed

,

out H e d esires to save t hat creat u re at

.

least from the ruin that seems almost uni

versal But the door is opened by the
.

dissol u te old Po lu e khto ff himself I l ya d is .

,

arrayed inv e nts a lam e excuse for his visit

,

he is come to collect a bill the mon e y changer -

receives it with sco ffi ng disbelief an d finally

ushers the young hawker into the street On .

the following m orning Lo o ny e ff whose soul ,

has since then been s e ized by some super

natura l being o r overwhelmi ng force sau nters ,
’
up to the banker s S hop w ith n o more
defin ite certainly no more conscious aim in
,

V iew than to look once more upon his

wizened blear eyed rival S harp prickly
,
-
.

snow crystals like splinters o f gl ass were

blown into his face stinging h is flesh as he
, ,

approached the shop H e O pened the d oor.

,

entered and finding Po l u e khto ff alone o ffered

, , ,

to sell him some old silver coi n s A few .

remarks are made on their val ue after which ,

the m oney changer opening a drawer of his

-
,

3 40
 I M P RE S S I O N I S M
desk rummaged it carefully seeking for some
, ,

article and heedless of his customer .

Rage that burned like frozen iron took

possession O f I lya S wiftly swinging his arm .
,

his tightly clenched fist smote the old man on

the temple The money changer was d a shed
.
-

over to the wall his head striking it with great ,

force but he immediately fl u ng h imself chest

,

forwards on the desk and clutching it with ,

both hands stretched o u t his thin neck towards

,

I lya Lo o n y e ff noted ho w in the small sallow

.

fa ce the eyes glistene d the lips q u ivere d and , ,

he heard the l o w hoarse w hisper

Darling my darling
‘
Ah you scound rel said I l y a softly and
, ,

with loathing b e grasped t he o ld man s neck ’

.

S queezing it ti ghtly he began to shake it to ,

and fro while the old m a n planted his arms

,
’
aga inst I lya s chest and sno r ted H is ey es .

were growing re d waxi ng bigger overflowi ng , ,

with tears his ton gue hung down from his

,

livid mouth and wag ged as if in mockery of

’
t he murderer Wa r m S pittle beslavere d I lya s
.

’
hands and in the mone y c hanger s throat
,
-

there was a gurgling and a whistling noise .

The cold hook like fingers were in touch w ith

,
-

Lo o n ye ff s neck w h ereat I ly a grinding his

’

, ,

teeth flung back his he a d and j o gged more

, ,

34 1
 M A X I M GO R KY

v iolently the light body of the old m an which ,

he n o w held lifted above the floor A nd if a t .

this moment a n attack had been m ade upon

I lya from be hind he would not have loosened
,

the grasp of his hands on the neck of the old

m an which w a s crunching under his fin gers
,
.

With burning hate and with gruesome horror

,

in his heart he watched the eyes of Po lu e kh

,

to ff swelling still more mo nstrously yet he ,

kept tightenin g his grasp round the neck ,

and as the weight of t he O ld man s body grew ’

’
he avier and heavier the load on I lya s heart
,

seemed as it were t o be melti ng into not h ing

ness At last he hurled the money changer
.
-

from him a n d the body fell softly in a heap

,

o n the bench .

Then L o o n ye ff looked about him ; the

shop w a s silent and empty and on the other ,

side of the door out in the street the snow

, ,

w a s falling in thick flakes On the floor at .

’
I lya s feet la y two cak es of soap a purse and , ,

a skein of tape H e w a s aw are that those

.

articles had dropped from his own pack so he ,

picked them up and put them back in their

places Then bending over t he counter he
.

looked d own at the old man he was squ atti ng

in t he narrow sp a ce bet w een the co u n t er an d
the wall his head h a nging down upon his
,

342
 M AX I M G O R KY

he was unable to drop down the eyelids over

them and the breat h in his body vanished
,

from fear At len gth he succeeded in closing

.

his eyes with jo y he bathed them in the balm

of darkness which suddenly lapped him
,

round and round and t hus beholding nothing

, , ,

he stood rooted to the spot breathi n g in the ,

air in deep breaths S omebody hustled

him H e darted a rapid glance round—a t all
.

man in a fur coat had just passed him I lya .

l ooked after him unti l he w as lost to si ght

in the dense mass of white snowflakes Then .

a djusting h is cap with his hand Lo o n ye ff ,

stro de alo n g the footwalk feeling pain in his ,

eyes and heaviness in his head H is sho u lders .

twinged convulsively the fingers of his hands,

involuntarily contracted and in his heart a ,

st u bborn aweless s e ntiment sprang up which

,
”
d r ove out fear .

Thus all his thoughts after the murder are

semi conscious all his acts mechanical And
-

, .

when he at last a w a kes from his stupor it is

not to t he stings of conscience that he is
aroused b u t S imply to a clear O bjective per
,

ce p t io n O f what he has done What the first .

streak o f the hard cold light of reflection

reveals to him is the fact that despite his ,

strenuous en d eavours to keep hi m s e lf u h

3 44
 I M P RE S S I O N I S M
su l lied by the filthy waters of life he is now ,

begrimed all over and can never again be ,

washed clean And when the woman for

.

whose sake he has perpetrated the crime seeks

to c o nsole him he answers A l l my life I
,
‘

am poking my nose into s l ough What .

I hate what I l oathe into that I am thrust

, , .

I have never y e t set eyes upon any o ne man

whom I cou l d l ook upon with pleasure .

Can it be then that there is n o cleanliness what

ever in l ife ? There now I have strangled ,

that your What w as he to me ?

.

I have only smudged myself stained my ,

heart . I took his money I ought .

’
not to have taken it .

’
Don t grieve Olympiada comforted
’
him . D on t re gret him
‘
he had no
’
heart .

’
I don t regret him w ant to
justify myself E very one j ustifies himself
. ,

because w e have to live somehow I .

will discuss it again said Lo o n ye ff acknow ,

’

le d ging no such guilt in what he had done as

wo u ld deprive him o f the right o f looking
’
straight into men s faces .

A nd the r emainder o f his life is in harmony

wi th this curious attitude Conscience never
sits in j udgment on the crime indeed its ,

345
 MA X I M G O R KY

functions seem to consist in trying and con

d e m n in g L o o n y e ff s victim for w as it not the
’

ellow ble r eyed l d money cha n ger w ho

y a o
- -

ha d begrimed him with the foulness w h ich it

was his one aim in life to avoid ?
On the proceeds of his robbery I lya realises
the drea m of his you t h —a neat littl e shop in
a quiet street—and he still clings to the hope
of a pure spotless li fe of peace This aspira .

tion is strengthene d receives in some sort a

,

promise of fulfilment w h en he contemplates ,

the tranquil life of love led b y the youthful

couple of who m he has rented his dwellin g .

But n o sooner has he drawn nearer to them

th an this fondly cheris hed illusion is also dis
p e l le d
. That li fe of theirs w hic h he admired ,

envied desired to imit ate is made up of

, ,

sordid interests the stilling o f hunger the

, ,

gratification o f va n ity the glutting of coarse ,

passions The young wife o f his landlord

.
,

pretty si m ple truthful leading an even yet

, , ,

full and richl y tinte d l ife of calm jo ys as it ,

seemed turned out on closer acq u aintance to

,

be the perfect incar nation of uncleanness an d

hypocris y H o rr ifi e d at first b y her c ynical
.

indelicacy I lya s oon y iel d s to her tempti ng

, ,

again wallows in the mire and at times re ,

members with regret hi s former mis tress ,

3 46
 MA X I M G O R KY

sco u ndrels The scene that ensued among

.

the horrified guests in the d ining room is -

worthy of the brush of H ell Br ueghel I lya -

.

leaves the room is followed and arrested but

, ,

baffles his captors and ends his quest for

purity upon earth by throwing himself down
from a height to the stone pavement below .

E vidently Maxim Gork y is gifted with a

marvello u s power o f seeing life especially ,

those morbid phases o f it with w hich he

himself came mostly in contact and of re ,

pro d uci ng his sense o f those in a series of

re alistic pictures which burn themselves on
the reader s mind throwing him into t he
’

swiftly changing moods o f the actors o f the

drama For Gorky s character penetrates his
.
’

producti o n his o w n heart and soul animate his

,

creations his t houghts and feelings are theirs

, ,

nor is he wont to keep t he smal l est portion

of himself in reserve as it were for any, ,

sudden emergency H e cannot wholly d e tach

.

himself from his work his ae sthetic intuition

, ,

the inn e r mirror which he holds up to natu re

,

and to men is but imperfectly shielded from

the sullying breath of the individual w ill .

I mp assioned and impetuous he is incapable ,

of leaving a certain S pace between himself

and t h e t ypes which he calls into being .

3 48
 I M P RE S S I O N I S M
H ence he too like them is bu ffeted and
, , ,

torn by wild storms of emotio n for his ,

entire being is on t he surface of the wind

lashed water instead of partly re posing like
, ,

a mighty iceberg in t he calm dept hs below

, .

I t is impossible not to feel when re ading the

life story of Ig n at the father of Foma Gord
-

y e e ff and still more that of I lya L o o ny e ff which

, ,

occasio nally tur n s the microscope upon the

nauseous worki n gs of gross temptations tha t
if he sho u ld ever find the secret—a nd he
,

seems to be movi ng u p close to it of late

of eliminating th a t banefu l su b j e c t 1v e ele
ment wholly al ien from art which so O ften
, ,

i n trudes upon and mars his best work ,

Ru ssia may indeed find in him the l egitimate

“
successor to the illustrious au thor of Anna
”
K are ny ina .

3 49
 C H AP T E R XIII

H IS E TH IC S

TH E province of Art is admittedly no t co

term inou s with the domain of E thics a nd ,

nowadays even E nglish spe a ki ng readers on

-

bot h sides of the Atlantic despite a u stere

,

views of life and duty which have come

,

down to them from the days of Puritan

earnestness can understand and e v en app re
,

ciate that kind of art which has not m a pt ly

—
been termed amoral . Ma n y m asters of
fiction claim a right and unless they deal
with the drama have their claim allowed—to
take up such an attitude of indifference to
good and evil as t he su n may be fancied to
assume in d istri b uting his heat and the clouds
in wateri ng sand and mould But Max i m
.

Gorky advances a much more comprehensive

claim than this H e insists on our co m
.

ple t e l y bl otting o u t the bo u ndary line th at

d ivides right a n d wrong and agreeing to
 MA X I M G O R KY

able which it never is it wo u ld a ffect us at

, ,

most as a crude specimen of the g rotesqu e .

I lya Lo o ny e ff does it is true talk and long

, ,

for clean living a nd a peaceful pure life but ,

when the various elements that compose his

drea m stir move ro u nd the axis of crystal
,

for m a n d settle into shape w e find but a dai n ty

,

little shop well stocked with wares and I lya ,

himself attired in scrup u lously neat garments ,

the object o f esteem an d admiration And .

w ith the exception of this book and a few

isolated sketches there are but a fe w scattered

,

traces o f a moral purpose anywhere N or .

can w e discover any relief from the b arren

m o to no n y of se l fishne s s which his works u n
roll before our eyes any such foil to moral
,

weakness or perversity as w e are wo n t

to look for either in fi t ful glimpses of the
higher nature of the fallen man himself or else ,

embodied in the person of one of his fellow

actors on the st age of life H ence the result
.

appeals to us like a pan e gyric of vice or an

apotheosis of the devil I n mere sketches
.
,

intended to paint but certain aspects of human

action o r to set forth a psy chological analysis
,

w ith no speci a l refere nce to conduct this ,

serious defect mi ght perhaps escape notice

but in dramatic pictures—and Gorky is quick
,

352
 H I S E TH I C S

to seize on the dramatic eleme n t in life and to

delineate that—where inci d ent is of necessity
cast in the mould of a moral standard it mars ,

ae sthetic beauty which is never wholly inde ‘

pendent of goodness and truth .

This deliberate though fortunately only

,

partial elimination o f the mora l element

,

accounts fo r another defect which may best ,

be defined as the l a ck of historic develop

ment in the life story of the Over Tra mps
- -
.

With the exception o f I lya L o o ny e ff there is ,

no slo w unfolding of character no manifold ,

manifestations of will no gradu a l gro w th

,

an d sublimation of ideals such as mark the

struggles of re a l men and women and b ring ,

about the c hanging vicissitudes which precede ,

and for long conceal the final issue The hero

, .

enters the a rena armed from the outset for

the combat with circumstance or fate and ,

there is not cannot be any re a s onable doubt

, ,

’
as to the upshot Man s character is no
doubt born into the world with the child and ,

can h a rdly be said to un d ergo a n y essential

ch a nge from the cradle to the tomb but the ,

variety of form s oftentimes seemingl y con

,

t ra d ict o r y in wh ic h it e x hibits itself as the

,

motives are percei v e d n o w dimly now more

, ,

clearly t h rough the changing medium of the

,

3 53 Z
 MA X I M GO R KY

intelligence is generally so striking as to give

,

outsiders the impression of a growth N ow .

Gorky s clients mo s tly men of no training or

’

education are deprived o f the benefit of even

,

this modified form of evolution Motives .

reach their w ill through a medium invariably

blurred H is tra mps therefore are seldom
. , ,

m asters of their a ctio n s they are too often

slaves o f po w erful pass i on victims of irre ,

d e e m ab le vices automata moved by instincts

, ,

the contractions and dilations o f whose psy

chical being are almost as indepe n de nt o f
menta l a n d moral regulatives a s the systole
and d iastole of the heart Thus in few o f .

Gorky s stories is there an instance of the

’

triumph o f a pote n t will over vicious instinct ,

selfish passio n sud d en impulse The hero

‘

, .
,

with his stereotyped qualities is brusquely ,

exposed to the play of outer circu mstance and ,

t he action that follows is S O necessary that it

can almost be foreseen There is l ittle scope .

for the byplay of hidden m otive in asmuch ,

as the members o f Gorky s strolling company ’

”
are so free an d self centred that non e o f
“ -

them exhibits any of that subjection to his

own reaso n or of that selfless fellow fee l ing
,

with others which form the woof and w e b o f

,

all grandiose human dramas .

3 54
 MA X I M GO R KY

fatal effect b y an arm moved by greed or

’
malignity H ence K o o v al da s night shelter
.

for the creatures w h o once were men is little

better than a pandemonium The host him .

self is a sot w ho takes a delight in making

his lo d gers drink themselves senseless ;
Ty a pa the rag picker is a typical gaol bird
,
- -

Vav ilo a receiver of stolen goods ; the

u n frocked fo u l mout hed deacon a heartless
,
-

w ife beater ; S i m t s o ff lived on the mone y he

-

extorted fro m common courtesans an d Mar ,

t y a n o ff is minde d to murder some o n e any ,

one in order to get sent t o S iberia E m e l ya n

,
.

”
Pil ya i Chelkas h the
,
S tu d ent
, Larra a nd , ,

others are n o whit better than those and ,

would kill a m a n or wo m an with the s ame

unconcern that they would quaff a glass of
vo d ka .

And yet it is not wholly nor indeed mainly

on account of what these men say and d o
that M axim Gorky has been ce n sure d No r .

is it his fault that a picture of pandemonium

is not a panorama of E lysium And even if .

there be limits to an artist s choice of subj ect

’

it is not always easy to mark th e m off by a

sharp line of demarcation wherefore the ,

writer is entitl e d to the benefit of the doubt .

M oreov e r the depths as well as the heights

,

3 56
 H I S E TH I C S

of human life lie well w ithin his province a n d ,

the a ffinities of large bodies o f men and

women with brutes or devils may as part o f ,

the many sidedness o f human character be

-

delineated as legitimately as y earnings and

stri vings after those higher and nobler ideals
o f perfect ma n hood which lie equally far b e

y ond average humanity o n the opposite side .

Furthermore t he br u talities of tramp life

,

would have lost much of their loathsomeness ,

confined within the Walhalla o f the S teppe ,

if Gorky had not wantonly destroyed the

illusion o f Art and bro ught us b ack to a sense
,

o f the nauseous re a lity with a sudden and

painful jerk by intruding h imself among his

,

actors applaudi ng their speeches encouraging

, ,

their follies an d announcing that he t o o is

,

read y to go and d o like w ise .

This is all the m o re surprising that

the moral perversit y o f his outcasts is so
o b viously t he outcome of a dise ased nature ,

with which Gorky at his best namely when , ,

free from didactic purpose has nothing in ,

com m on T hus in his semi conscious and

.
-

therefore highest work he revels in givi n g

,

poetic expression to his d elight in t he beauties

o f nature a n d his sympathy wit h human joys

and sorrows where ver fe lt— and it is im po s

3 57
 MA X I M GO R KY

sible w ho ll y to get rid of the bel ief that t he

genuine artist and typical R ussian is animated
by the humane spirit of the Gospel which the
whilom tramp and sansculotte would fain root
o u t o f the hearts of m e n For the person .

ality o f Maxim Gorky is divi d ed into two ,

one o f whom is busy ba ffli n g the efforts Of

the other .

The crudeness of the tramp s code of ethics

’

h h N x ’
to w ic h
ie t sc e s teachin gs merely gave
’ ‘
z

point an d polish is very cle arly and very ,

appropriately exhibited in a story told by a

man whose reason is unsettled i n o n e of
Gork y s most admired but least impressive
’

sk e tc h es ]
L
S auntering through the street of
his village one day he s aw a young calf t he ,

property of one of the peasants fall into a ,

gully breaking its t w o forelegs

, All the .

villagers hurried o u t of their huts to gaze

upon it And the wre tched animal lay help
.

l e s sly lo w i ng and mooing looking upo n the

~

bystanders from out its large moist eye s and ,

Go rk y
, w h o sp eaks o f S chopen hauer, n e ve r m en tions
Niet z sche in an y o f his w ritin gs , no r by any m eans
i s it
ce r tain that h e has re ad th e writin gs o f t he ge n ial
Germ an .

1
“
Cyril I vanovitch Yaroslavtseff ,
in the tale entit ed l
A Mi stake .
”

358
 MA X I M G O R KY

responsibility o f his utterances were it not ,

certain that their drift is identical with that

o f many of the speeches o f other tramps in

which Gorky e x pressly concurs force is the

”
basis of morality Clever people says ,

Makar C hu d ra grab what they want the

,

“
more stupid get nothing at all R ights
indeed cries E m e lya n Pilyai These are .

the rights ! as he held his clenched fist close

’
“
u
p t o Gorky s n ose Conscience Gorky
.
,

himself tells us is a force unconquerable

,
“

only for t he weak in spirit the strong over

master it quic kly enough and y oke it to their
desires for they instinctively feel that if they
,

were to allow it scope and freedom it would

The man who wants
”
smash up their live s .
“

”
to live to some purpose has no fear of sin ,

Maya kin tells us before his deat h as the sum ,

of his o w n experience of life I n man the .

stomach is t he main thing declares E m e l ya n ,

Pilya i. W hen the st o mach is quiet the

soul is alive E very handiwork of man pro
.

”
ce e d s from his stomach T he upshot of all
.

this is that there is no divi d ing line b ut ,

merely fanciful superstition between man and ,

t he wild beast And eve n this dismal con

.

c lu s io n is not left to be inferre d it has been ,

e x presse d wit h all desirable emphasis by the

3 60
 H I S E TH I C S

m a n w ho tells his adventure I n the S teppe

N obody is to blame for anything because ,

one and all we are brutes .

”

And foolis h twaddle like this some of it ,

put appropr iatel y eno u gh in the mou th s o f

real madmen has been chee r fully endorsed
,

by M axim Gorky the tramp w ho should not , ,

however be identified with M ax im Gorky

,

the artist H e tells us himself o f a curious

.

adventu r e that befell him in one o f his

wanderings and which h ad the e ffect of test
in g the sincerity o f these his anti Christian -

convic t io n s H e o n e day came across a

.

Georgian prince strolling aimlessly a bout ,

l i ke h imself a lazy sensual selfish ru ffi an

, , ,

w ho t hrusting his company upon Gorky

, ,

liv e d upon him like a parasite demandi n g ,

sustenance as a right And far from feeling .

indignant at the impuden ce o f this noble

vam pire Go r ky professes a sincere admira
,

“
tion for h i m because he knew how to be
,

tr u e to hims e lf And that aroused my

.

respect fo r him H e enslaved me an d

.

I y ielded myself u p to h im I often think .

o f h im with a kindl y feeling H e t aught .

me muc h .But w hat he o bviously failed t o

teach the writer w as why if it be so very ,

wicked and contemptible t o enslave men in

3 61
 MA X I M G O R KY

civilised life it is right an d chivalrou s to do

,

s o in the S teppe .

And running through many o f his stories ,

like a white and red thread in a sombre

tissue are t he t w o systems o f ethics w hich
,

Gork y sets over against each other : that o f

Christianity for a dmiration a n d its opposite
fo r contemp t The representative of the
.

sp irit o f j esus is invariably a sickly weak ,

willed pitiable manniki n while the ne w

, ,

“
ethics are incarnated in a perfect human
body endo w ed with strength and beauty and
ignora n t o f fe a r : thus the cringing greedy , ,

degenerate Gavrila is confronted with the

bold gene rous handsome Chelkash a n d the
, , ,

God fearing consumptive te acher w ith the

-

manly cy n ic K o o z m a K osyak But nowhere

, .

is the contra st so stro n gly m arked as in the

realistic story entitled O n a Raft “
.

The hero is a perfect Titan despite his

fi fty t w o years a n d the scene of his exploits
-

is the drowsy Volga which with it s S hores ,

blotted out by darkness spreads itself aro u nd

,

like the se a On the foremost part of a raft

.

in motion stands this strong m an S ila n , ,

attired in a gaudy red shirt the collar o f ,

which is Open wi d e revealing his powerful

,
“

”
n eck and hairy breast solid as an anvil , .

3 62
 MA X I M G O R KY

but none the less he is miserable for he is ,

not on the right side the side of brute force , ,

nor is he enamoured of the l icence miscalled

l iberty S ilan is the hero and therefore he
.
,
”
is happy “
Y our father is a hero exclaims
.
,

j ust thin k he is
“
the red h a ired workman
-
.
,

fi ft y t w o years o f age y e t see what a queen

-

Turning to Mit ya again

”
he caresses !
’
he remarks : I s any one a man who can t
stand up fo r himself ? Y o u should use your
te e th and claws brother ! E verybo d y will be
,
”
d own on you And you can t defend yourself
’
. .

’
S ilan meanwhile encircling M asha s waist
,

with o ne han d while the other holds the oar

, ,

keeps up her spirits w ith the cordial of the

new m oral philosophy They notice it do .
,

they ? Well then let them notice it Let

, , .

eve ry one see it I spit upon them all I . .

’
am sinning that s true I know it Well
, . .
,

and what of it ? I s it not a sin before

God I t is a sin ! I am aware of all that .

And I have brok en through every law B e .

cause— it s worth d oing ! We live only once

’
,

and may die any d ay S ilan Petroff S poke

calmly resolutely a n d his energetic face re
, ,

fl e c t e d the resisting power of iron it was as

if he were about to stand up against some one
”
for h is ri g ht t o love .

3 64
 H I S E TH I C S

S ilan then goes on to tell his rosy faced -

paramour that h is son lately had implored

him to bethink himself a n d to lead a cleanly
l ife
. And this he added w as his reply
, ,

Get out my dear son if y o u w ant to li v e

, ,
’
E lse I ll tear you into shre d s like a rotten
.

rag N othing will then remain o f your

.

virt u e H e trembled Father he “

,
”
says , am I to blame ? Y o u are y o u ,

buzzing gnat to blame for y o u are a stumb

, ,

l ing stone o u my path Y o u are to blame .

because you cannot stand up for yourself .

Y o u carcase you putrid carrion

,

I t is h a rdly worth our while descending

deeper into those abysses where there are no
barriers against evil no sti m ulus to good ;
,

w here there is neither fear nor hope nor ,

sympathy nor sorrow in order to bring up,

s uch dismal teachings as those .

And lest that gospel of brute force scat

t e re d t hus abundantly throughout h is
numerous sketches should not attract forcibl y
enough the attention of the reader Max i m ,

Gork y enshrined it in a poe m in prose which ,

has been decl a i m ed from t he footlights o f

R ussian theatres to r a pturous thousands and
lauded to the s k ies by frien d l y cri t ics as one
of the most hopeful and most significant signs
3 65
 MA X I M G O RK Y

of the times S ignificant it c ertainl y is of

.

much but before com m enting upon its ten

,

d e ncy it ma y be advisable to give the reader

,

an opportunity o f forming his own j udgment .

TH E S O N G OF TH E F ALCO N .

S unk in slumber is the sea H ere sigh .

ing lazily on the beach there in the distance ,

the mighty o n e already lies quiescent having ,

dropped Off to sleep tinted with the light

,

blue shimmer o f the moon S oft velvety and .

,

black it has blended there w 1t h the dark

,

blue southern sky and sou nd ly sleeps mirror ,

ing in itself the translucent woof of feathery

clouds which becalme d shroud not with
, ,

their forms the golden arabesques o f the

stars The heavens seem bendi n g down
.

nearer to the sea as if to overhear the

,

whispers o f the weltering waves creeping ,

sleepily on to the shore .

“
T he mountains covered with trees
,

twisted into fantastic figures by the N ort he rn

S ea wind hoist their peaks in sheer scarps
,

into the wi lderness of blue overhead and ,

their rugged outlines a re rounded and so ft

ened as they bathe in the tepi d car ess ing
haze of southern night .

3 66
 M AX I M GO R KY

the side that fronts the hill and shadows flit

over the venerable old r o ck wrinkled into a ,

network of clefts I t seems endowed with.

thought and feeling .

Rahi m a n d I are boiling fish soup from

the b y t schki * and w e are both in that ex
,

c ept io n a l mood wherein all things expand to

spectral thinness become etherealised allow

, ,

us to interpenetrate them the mood w herein ,

the heart is pure and buoyant and free from

all desires but that o f yieldi n g itself up to
contemplatio n .

S till the sea fondles the shore and the ,

waves sough with caressing sadness as if

craving for the warmth of our fire Now .

and again high above the harm ony of the

,

unisonant plash an elevated and frolic some

,

yet sly note withal reac h es the ear ; it is o n e

o f the billows saucier than the rest creepi ng

up nearer to us Rahim h as already likene d

.

the waves to women and given utterance to

his suspicion that they are y earni n g to hug
and kiss us .

H e is sprawling at full lengt h his chest ,

upon the sand his head turned s e award s

,
.

Lean ing upon his el b ows with his chin resting

A B lack S ea fi sh Gob ius (b athracocephalu s and
,

o ther kin d s! .

3 68
 H I S E TH I C S

on the pa l ms of his ha n ds he gazes wistfully,

into the h azy distance H is shaggy S heep

.

s kin cap has slipped down over the back of

his head and his high forehead creased all ,

over with fi ne furro w s is being cooled by the

,

briny freshness wafted from the sea H e .

is philosophising heedless whether I am

,

liste n ing indeed as unmindful of my presence

,

as if he were ho l ding con verse with the

ocean
“ ‘
Th e man who is true to God enters into
Paradise And he who serves not God nor
.

the prophet P erhaps he is there no w in

that foam . H e may be those silvery
patches on the water W ho can say ?
.
"

The darkling mighty ocean throbs visibly

now that l ambent flakes of light fal l here and
there as if scattered negligentl y by the moon .

For she has alre ady floate d out from behind

the jagged mountain tops and n o w pours
pensively forth her liquid light u pon the se a ,

sighing softly as by w ay of welcome s he

, ,

meets it .

‘
R ahim ! tell me a sto ry .

e xclaim t o the old man .

’
What for ? asks R ahim without even ,

turning his head towards me .

O h just bec au se I m fon d of your tales

’ ’
‘
.
,

6
3 9 2 A
 MA X I M G O RK Y

already told you them all I .

more . T hat means that he

be coaxed I coax him acco rd
.

Well would yo u like me to te l l you a

,

so ng ? assents R ahim
’
.

“
I a m wishful to hear a n ancien t chant ,

whereupon he narrates the following in a

mel anchol y r ecitative striving to keep to the
,

wild so n g melody of the steppe and woeful ly

-

,
' ‘

man gling the Russian words .

Far up into the pinnacles of the hills

crawled a snake and lay there in a dank
crev ice coiled in a knot and l ooking o u t
,

upon the sea .

“
H igh in the heavens beamed the sun
and the breathing o f the mountain s sultry ’

heat rose up towards the sky whi l e the billows ,

below dashed themselves against the crag .

“
A nd adown the cleft in gloom and in
spray the torrent rushed onward to meet
the sea bounding over stones as it rolled
, .

Lashed into foam grey and strong it rent the

, ,

mounta in and tumbled into the sea roaring ,

angrily .

I n to the crevice wh erein the snake lay

37°
 MA X I M G O R KY

But al l at once the dauntl ess fal con

fluttered his wings raised himself up a littl e
,

and surveyed the crevice with a glance .

Water oozed athwart the grey stone the ,

air of the murky cleft was stifling and the ,

sme l l was noisome with rottenness .

“
And the falcon having gathered al l his
strength cried out with aching heart and
exquisite pain
Oh were it vouchsafed me to soar up
,

to heaven but fo r o n e last time ! My

foe I would clasp to the wounds of my
breast and
,
he would be choked with
my blood ! O the bliss o f battle !
,

N o w the snake thought to itself : It

must in truth be good to dwel l in heaven
, , ,
’
since he groans thus a hungering for it ! -

And so he spake to the free bird : Drag ‘

thyself forward to the edge o f the gorge and

fling thyself down ! Thy wings mayhap will
bear thee up and thou mayest l ive a brief
’
while yet in thy native el ement .

“
And the falcon quivered and uttering a ,

faint c ry mov ed t o the precipice slipping

, ,

with his claws along the slime o f the stone .

“
And onwards he went spread h is wings ,

abroad heavily sighed from his full breast

, ,

flashed fire from his eyes and ro ll ed dow n

372
 H I S E TH I C S

wards And swiftly he fe ll l ike unto a stone

.
,

s l ipping from rock to rock breaking his pinions

,

and l osing his plumage .

The bil l ows o f the torrent caught him

up and washing away the stains o f b l ood
, ,

shrouded him in foam and swept onwards

to the ocean .

But the waves o f the sea with woeful

wail dashed themselves against the rock .

And the life l ess body o f the bird w a s

seen no more in the waste of waters .

Lying in the c l eft the snake pondered

long over the death o f the bird and its ,

passionate yearning for heaven .

“
And behold he peered out into the dis
tance which ever caresses the eyes with a
dream of bliss .

“‘
N o w what could he have espied the ,

dead falcon in this wilderness void of ground

,

a nd bounds ? Wherefore do such as b e ,

when breathing out their life bewilder the ,

sou l with their love fo r soaring heaven

wards ? What light is shed upon them
there ? All this I might learn if I myself
37 3
 M AX I M G OR KY

fle w up to heaven were it but fo r $ 011

,

fleeting moments
“
S aid and—done H aving coiled hin
.

S elf in a circl e he sprang into the air an

like a narrow thon g glistened in the sun
What is born to creep—shall never fly
.

U n mindful o f this truth he fell u po

the stones yet hurt himself n o t unto d e at l
,

but laughed aloud .

That then is the charm o f soaring u

‘

, ,

t o heaven ! I t lies in the fall ! Rid icu lo u

birds ! K nowing n o t the earth fr e tt in ,

while there they aspire to high heave r

,

see king life in a sultry waste N ought b u .

emptiness there ! Light indeed there is i

profusion but food is lacking n o r is ther
, ,

any firm footing fo r a living body Whenc e .

then that pride ? Why those taunts ? Ar

,
i

they n o t merely masks wherewith t o dis

guise the madness o f those strivings and t h i

aspirants u n fi t n e ss fo r the business of life

’

R idiculous birds ! But their phrases w il

never again take me in I have fathomed i .

all myself ! I have beheld the heavens

I have soared up t o them I have gauge< ,

them I have known the sensation o f fallin g

,

yet w as I not dashed to pieces but only mover

to firmer faith in mysel f Let those w ht .

374
 MA X I M G O R KY

proud cynosure in the w ay to freedom an

to light
'

We sing a chaunt of praise to the m ac

ness o f t he brave !

H ushed is the sea in the opal tinte -

distance with melancho l y wail the wav e

,

dash themse l ves to foam on the sands and ,

breathe no word as I gaze upon Rahim w h

has finished singing his song o f the fal con t
the sea . M ore thickly studded grow th
silver flakes showered down by the moor .

S lowly our little kettle begins to boil o v e

the fire .

Playfully o n e of the waves sweeps alon g

the beach and aggressive l y plashing com e
’
creeping up towards R ah im s head .

Where are you bounding to ? B egone

Rahim cries brandishing his arm against l!
and back I t rolls pliant l y into the s ee
N either l aughable t o me nor yet t e rrib l
’
seems this sal ly o f Rahim s w ho thus p e r
,

s o n i fi e s the breakers . E verything aroun~

us looks curiously alive mellow caressing
, ,

The sea is so impressi v ely calm that in t h

fresh ness it breathes out upon the mounta in :
376 .
 H I S E TH I C S

which have not yet coo l ed down after the

sultry heat o f noon o n e divines the hidden ,

presence o f an overwhelming force held we ll

in check On the deep b l ue fi rm am e n t in
.

the golden runes o f the stars is writ some

thing solemn that bewitches the soul and
captivates the mind with its de l icious promise
o f some r eve l ation .

E verything slumbers but s l umbers with ,

the semi wakefulness born o f strong tension

-

and it seems as if in another second all

things wi ll suddenly start up loud sounding -

in the tunefu l harmony o f unutterably du l cet

strains Those sounds wi ll te ll the story of
.

the secret o f the universe will unfold them ,

t o the mind and will then quench it fo r ever

,

as a will o the wisp drawing the soul up with

-
’
- -
,

themselves high into the deep blue abyss

whence the trembling figures O f the stars will
intone the sou l melting music o f a reve -

l ation
.

I n plain langu age we are asked to admire ,

the reckless courage o f a falcon wounded in

fi ght with a powerful enemy But the reader .

who is o n the look o u t not merely for pretty ,

symbols but a l so for the ideas which they

,

37 7
 M AX I M G O R KY
‘

shadow forth will ask as some R uss ian

, ,

critics have already asked what was the ,

purpose o f the struggle ? Was it a vulga r

squabble fo r daily bread ? This hypothesis ,

which would seem t o be the most pro bable

considering the instincts and habits o f the
bird is calculated to damp very considerably
,
’
the enthusiasm of the falcon s would b e -

admirers But the fundamental idea what

.
,

ever may be said o f the side issues is con ,

t a in e d in the words We sing glory to the

reckless daring of the brave ! The madness
o f the brave —
”
is the wisdom o f life ! That
is t o say to bravery whatever idea o r wh im
, ,

may have called it into being recklessness , ,

nay madness should be superadded A

, ,
.

principle in favour o f w h ich little can b e

said from whatever point o f view w e con
sider it .

Like Gorky s unfeathered type s o f o ld

’

world morality the snake is as stupid as it is

,

ugly stirred by the idea o f flying aloft like

the falcon and forgetting that what is born
,
“

”
to creep shall never fly it flops down in a ,

coil upon the st o n es hugging the delusio n

.
,

that this abrupt descent is what is mean t by

soaring into the heavens and that it has now ,

g ga u ed and fathomed the interstellar space !

2 7 8
 MA X I M G O R KY
him a fulness o f the power clearly to perc
and impressively to reproduce the tragic e x
and sordid situations inherent in R ussian
in some o f its least known aspects . J

during those moments o f true inspirat io r

living creatures and inorganic nature apl
to him as a finely woven network o f kin c
forces pervaded by a single all e m b rac -

”
soul ; class distinction fist rights sto rr
, ,

worship hatred and all the other o d

, ,

elements of his artificial system o f s ocial e t

losing themselves in the golden cloud
frames his vision H is work is then tou c
.

with that intense creative power w ]

conjures up before our eyes a series o f th ril
scenes projected with such scrupulous fi d e
to his inward presentations that absorbe,

contemplation of the picture w e are w h

,

u nconscious of the artist w h o painted it . 1

in like manner his innate cleanliness o f feel

his warm sympathy with his su ffering fell <
his vigorous grasp upon the realities o f
and the delicacy and force with whic h
reflects them in all their breadth and 1a
ness give us suc h a di fferent measure o f
,

e x cellence o f moral sentiment that we

ourselves in surprise Can it be that the cyr
,

38o
 H I S E T H IC S

tramp and the humane artist are indeed o n e

and the same .

T hus in the sketches A M istake ,

T wenty six M en and a Girl “ K o n o v a l o ff

-

,
”
,

A Trio we have specimens o f art which

”
, ,

whateve r flaws a sharp eyed critic may detect -

therein are at least in perfect harmony with

,

that tone o f dignified feeling and that touch

o f Christian se l fl e ss n e s s which make for social

health and happiness and constitute the sal t ,

o f civilisation .

When r eading works like those we find

ourselves in presence o f a sou l and not of a
m ere windbag—
,

a Christian sou l of manifold

sympathies o f powerful emotions which trans

,

cend al l merely personal interests and even ,

o f socia l affections vigorous enough t o with ,

sta nd the ons l aught o f selfish appetites .

Moreover scattered throughout his sketches

,

are certain fragments and touches casual ,

remarks o f his o ld chums o r chance acqu a in

tances little acts o f k indness done to K ono
,

v al o ff al l forgiving pity shown to the ru ffi an

-

S ha kro from which a charming portrait o f

,

the real Gorky sympathetic tender helpful , , , ,

self forgetting puts itself together fo r the

-

attentive reader And thus beneath the .

38 1
 MA X I M G O R KY
surface o f cheap Byronism and political
N ihilism w e discern a well o f human pity
which w as but deepened by the sufferings of
years of wandering during which he got many
,

a glimpse into the aching heart o f things .

I f Maxim Gorky yield himself to the

promptings o f his o w n better nature and , ,

apprehending as the true scope of art the

quickening o f o ur torpid susceptibilities by
holding up the mirror t o human life with all
its complexities o f tho u ghts feeli ngs and
, ,

motives he may yet change promise into

,

achievement H is efforts t o make fiction a

.

channel fo r the dissemination o f political

theories have turned o u t dismal failures .

And to recommence the experiment would be

suicidal A writer like him w ho without
.

education o r trained taste exhibits ev e n ,

though spasmodically such breadth o f sym

,

pathy such delicate sensitiveness to human

,

sorrow and such a rare gift o f interpreting

,

those almost unutterable so ul states which

-

e xquisite pain and blank despair induce ,

can well afford to abandon the hustings to

professional demago gues I n his latest and
.

most powe r ful work * he has made great

 B I B L I O GRA P H I C A L
I n this list ar e no t in c l u d e d t h e sh ort l
ar ti c es w hi c h
for a l o n g ti m e G o r k y w as w on t to w ri te a l m ost e ve r y
day on curren t topics of m o re orl ess local i n terest i n a
pro vi n ci al new sp aper , th e G azette of S amara, un d er th e
t i tle “ Am on g O th er Thi n gs, ” in asm u ch as th e y are

w h o lly de void o f li te r ar y v al u e .

I .
—I ST O L F GOR K YS WR I TINGS .

Makar C hu dra (Appeared . i n t he n ew spaper K a vka z .

!
O ct . 1 89 2 .

Th e L in y g S erin an d the Veraciou s Wo odpecker .

1 89 2 .

(Appeared in t he R ussian Kyedo

”
E m e l yan Pilyai .

1 8 93 .

Gran dfather Archippus an d Lenka .

C hel kash .
”
1 8 94 -
1895 .

Th e Ol d W o m an I ze rgil .
”
(Appeared in the Ga zette of
S a mar a , 1 89 5 .

T I t H app en ed Once in
“
Au tu m n .

A Mistake 1 8 9 5
”
. .

i
“
I n the S al t Wo rks .
(Ap peared in the Gazette f
o Sa
mara .
! 1895 .

i
“ A Fairy Tale .
(Appeare d in th e Gazette f S a m ar a !
o .

1895 .

Transla ted i n this w o r , p ag e 2 3 1 k .

1 Translated i n thi s w or p age 3 8 k . .

1: N o t publ ish e d i n th e C o ll ec ted or W k s.

385 2 13
 M AX I M G O R KY
Th e Little Fair y an d th e Youn g S hepherd .
(Appeared
in the Ga zette o f S a ma r a , No s 9 8, . 1 00 , 105 ,

189
5 .

Po e m e n tit e d l “
On the B lack S e a .
(Appeared in the
Gazette o f S am ar a , N0 . 1 89
5 .

My Fellow Traveller 89 6 .
”
1 .

The Affair with th e C lasps 1 89 6 . .

The S o n g o f the Fal c o n 1 8 96 .

”
.

On a Raft (App eared in th e Ga zette of S a ma ra

”
.
, 1 89

1896 .

B o l ess . 189 6 .

H eart -
ac he . 189 6 .

K o n o val o ff . 189 6 .

The Kh an an d his S on . 18 96 .

l
'‘ “
ThePro cessio n o f S ham e 1 8 9 6 . .

The C oupl e Orl off 189 7 .

”
.

C reatures that Once w e e Men r .

Th e De sperad o .
”
189 7 .

”
Varenka Ol yosso va . 18
97 .

C om rad es 1 8 9 7
”
.

“
i I n the S teppe .

Mal va .
”
1 89 7 .

The Fair in Gol tva . 1 89 7 .

“
The Green K i (
”
tte n . Z azo o b rin a . 1 89 7 .

To W hil e Away the Tim e .

”
(App eared in the Ga zette
f
o S a ma r a , 1897.

Cain an d A tem r .
”
1 89 8 .

C hu m s 8 98 .
”
1
“ ”
Th e S harpe r .

The R ead e r .

Tr an sl a te d i n th i s w o r k , pa ge 3 66 .

1 R ussi an Vy vod Trans l ated i n th i s w ork, .

p age 140 .

I Tr ansl ate d i n th i s w or k p age 69 , .

3 86
 M AX I M GO R KY

M akar C hu d ra ”
app eare d in the Monthly R evzew for
D ec . 190 1.

C he lkash appeared in t he For tnigktly R evi ew , t rans

lated fro m the Fren ch .

S on g of the Falco n appeare d in th e Contemp or a ry

R evi ew , March 1 90 2 , tran slat ed by E I Dill on . . .

I II .
—I OG B R AP H I CAL S K E TC HE S of Maxim Gorky
have appeare d in

The M an ta/y R eview fo r D ec . 1 9 0 1, by R Nisbet .

B ain .

“
Co up le Malva by D Mon
'
”
The Orl ofl an d ,
. B .

t e fi ore .

Th e Con temp or a i R eview fo r D ec . 1 90 1 , by C o unt

S . C . d e S oissons .

The Contemp ora ry R evi ew for Feb . 1 90 2 , by Dr . E .

J Dillon
. .

IV —
. R U SS IA N ARTIC LE S ON GORK Y .

Con su l ted by the A u tlw r f

o tlzis Wor k .

A S kab i tsheffsky
. . Maxim Gorky . S ke tches and

Tal es .
”
1 89 8 .

N . M ikhaylovsky . Maxim Go rky an d hi s H eroes .

18
98 .

V . Po sse t . The S inger of Protestin g World S orrow -

.

189 8 .

N . Min sky . The Philo sophy of H eart ache and Thirst -

”
of Freed om . 1 89 8 .

T. Ignatoff .
“
The Phil o so phy o f S ansculottism 8 98 . 1 .

A. B . Maxim Go rky s P ict ure s of t he World o f Raga

’

”
'

m u fi in s . 1 898.

388
 B I B L I O G R AP H I CA L

A . S kab itshefl sky

'

. N ew Traits i n the Talen t of Maxim

Gorky .
”
1 899 .

B uren in Ar tic l e s P ubl ish ed

.
i n th e M voy e Vr ema .

N o 8 0 7 5 in 1 8 9 8
.
N O 8 8 0 5 in 1 9 00 . . .

A B arsar
.
ghi n
“
A H ear tsi ck Talen t
”
App eared i n the
.
.

M skovsky a Kyed omosti , Nov 1 8 9 8 . .

V G .
A Note, in N ovoy e Vr ema No 8 5 5 0, in
.
”
. .

1899 .

R . S e m ent kovsky . Appeared in the Literary S uppl e

m ents to t he pe rio d ical, M va N0 1 1
. 1 8 99 . . .

A . B . A Tale n t Gro w n V ig o ro u s . 18 99 .

N . H ekker .
(App ear e d i n th e Odessa N ew s No 49 3 3
. .

4 9 3 8,
‘
Tw e n ty six -
Me n an d a Girl ,

narrate d by Maxim Gorky .

”
1 900 . The P easant
’

On ce More . 1 9 00 .

V B o tsyan ovsky
. . In ! uest o f th e M eaning of Life .

1 9 00

y—
.

L . E O bolensky
. Tw en t s x en an d a Girl A .
*
i M .
”

P oem by Maxim Gorky 1 9 00

, . .

L . E Ob ol en sky
. M axim Gorky and the I d eas of his,
* “ -

N ew H eroes . 1 9 00 .

L E O
. . bol en sky .
*
Maxim G orky s Tal en t ’
.

M Menshikofl Cynicism B ea u t ifu l

”
' "

. .
1 1 9 00 . .

V F B o ts
. . . Maxi m G orky A Critico B io graphical .
-

(P etersburg !
”
S ke tch .
9 . 1 0 1.

An d re ye vitch . F ee d o m s Lan d rP u blished in the ’

.
”

revi ew L ifi N o s 4 , 6, 8
. . . 1 900 .

Prin ce V . V A Co m parison betwee n

. B aryatin sky .

Maxim Go rky a d Lo m o no sso ff (Appeared in the n .

”

tVor t/zer u Cour i e Apri l r,

Appea red i n th e S outhern Couri er, 1 9 00 N o s 1 96, 19 8 . . .

App eared in th e B oo s of th e Week 1 9 00 N0 9 k . . . .

3 89
 MA X I M GO R K Y

S hestako fl
'

. An Article (Appeared. in the Literary Sup

pl em en t to th e Commer ci a l a nd I nd ustri a l Gazette .

No . 1 9 00 .

A . V in itskaya. I n th e Vestn ik E u ropy . No .

5 , May
1 9 00 .

K V . . Nazaryeva Appeared in the Liter ary E ven ings of

.

Me ! Veal Wor ld No 5
. 1 00
9 . . .

E . A . Lyat sk y .
“
Maxim Gorky and his Tales .
(Ap
peat ed i n the R eview, Vestn ik E u ro py , Novem ber
7

Al ex An d rovsky
. . Maxim Go rky an d his Writings .

1 90 1 .

An onym ou s Article in the Revi ew, God

’
s Wor ld , on A
Trio .
”
Janu ary 1 9 0 2 .