[1] A verst is two-thirds of a mile.—TRANS.

[2] This muddling of “Emir of Bukhara” is only one example of the ignorant combinations and locutions used by the peasant characters.—TRANS.

[3] A play on words, “tar” in the second sentence meaning “liquor.”—TRANS.

[4] “Matushka” and “batiushka” (literally, “Little Mother” and “Little Father”) are the characteristic Russian formula for addressing elderly strangers, regardless of class distinctions.—TRANS.

[5] A desyatina is a unit of land measurement equalling 2.07 acres.—TRANS.

[6] When a man or woman begins to get on in the world his admiring neighbours signalize their appreciation by adding to the Christian name the patronymic, as if the clever one were of gentle (noble) birth. In this story, Tikhon soon receives the public acknowledgment of success, having begun as plain “Tikhon.” Peasant-fashion, “Nikititch” was transmuted into “Mikititch.”—TRANS.

[7] Sharpers who pretend to be the poverty-stricken descendants of the Tatar Princes who ruled Kazan before it was conquered, during the rein of Ivan the Terrible.—TRANS.

[8] A straight, loose gown, falling from the armpits, worn by unmarried girls.—TRANS.

[9] A heretic. Literally, one who drinks milk (moloko) during the Fasts in defiance to the Orthodox Catholic Church.—TRANS.

[10] Probably a deliberate bit of insolence, as he must have known that the patronymic was “Ilitch,” not “Fomitch.”—TRANS.

[11] All priests and monks in the Orthodox Catholic Church wear the hair and beard long. Tikhon Ilitch refers to the superstition that it portends bad luck to meet an ecclesiastic when one is arranging something or going somewhere.—TRANS.

[12] Polu, meaning “half,” reduces the name to absurdity: something like “the Half-carp.”—TRANS.

[13] Referring to a famous Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow.—TRANS.

[14] The insulting nickname “khokhly” is used. The question mentioned is in the form of a rhyme, intentionally offensive. The reply is also rhymed.—TRANS.

[15] That is, to the heart of the Kremlin, in Moscow.—TRANS.

[16] A sect which denies the divinity of the Holy Spirit. They emigrated from the Caucasus to British Columbia in the ’90’s, with money furnished by Count L. N. Tolstoy, and have had many conflicts with the British authorities.—TRANS.

[17] The Little Russian nickname for the Great Russians.—TRANS.

[18] Yaroslaff the Great, son of Prince Vladimir, 1016-1054.—TRANS.

[19] A Turkish tribe which migrated from Asia to Eastern Europe. They came into collision with the Russians at the end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth.—TRANS.

[20] A Lavra is a first-class Monastery. Here it refers to the famous “Catacombs” Monastery.—TRANS.

[21] Muromtzeff.

[22] A rhyme in the original. The “catskinner” collects hides throughout the countryside, for conversion into “furs.”—TRANS.

[23] About three-quarters of a yard of heavy homespun crash is wrapped over the foot and leg in lieu of a stocking, and confined in place by the stout cord or rope with which the slippers of plaited linden bark are tied on.—TRANS.

[24] Popular form of “Witte,” the famous Minister.—TRANS.

[25] A member of the self-mutilating sect, the Skoptzy.—TRANS.

[26] Parish clergy are always married men in the Orthodox Catholic Church. An Archpriest is usually the head of a staff of clergy at a Cathedral. To a higher post and title no married priest can attain. The Bishops, Archbishops, and higher clergy must be monks.—TRANS.

[27] “Bratushki”—Little Brothers—is a term which originated during the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78, and was applied to the Serbs and Bulgarians.—TRANS.

[28] Easter.—TRANS.

[29] Scarecrow.—TRANS.

[30] 2.70 gallons.—TRANS.

[31] Not Extreme Unction, in the meaning of the Church of Rome. In the Orthodox Catholic Church it is a service of Prayer and Anointment for healing, to be administered and received at any time desired.—TRANS.

[32] Thus manufacturing a family name out of “Mys,” a promontory.—TRANS.

[33] Thirty-six pounds.—TRANS.

[34] The Little Kettle.—TRANS.

[35] The Trebnik contains the Services for events in daily life: Baptism, Marriage, Confession, the Burial Rites, and so forth. What Tikhon Ilitch quotes and reads is from the magnificent Burial Service. See the Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church.—TRANS.

[36] In the marriage service crowns are used for bride and groom, but generally they are held a short distance above the heads, by best men standing behind.—TRANS.