[1] Lit., word and deed.

[2] The original painting (by Constantine Flavitski) hangs in the famous private gallery of M. Tretiakoff.

[3] The Bulgarian language is similar to the Russian, being a Sclavonic dialect.

[4] The Russians have no “Mr.,” “Mrs.” or “Miss” before names. They use the patronymic, which consists in adding vitch, for the masculine, and vna, for the feminine, to the name of the father, with sometimes a contraction.

[5] Little mother,—a caressing term.

[6] Pavel the son of Efstaffi (see note on page 8).

[7] Pet name for Irena.

[8] The man who cries the hour for prayer from one of the mosque towers.

[9] The banks on either side of the Volga.

[10] A Persian garment worn by Russian men.

[11] A Polish garment.

[12] Seven days after the accession to the throne of Ekaterina II. her husband, Peter III., died, it is supposed, a violent death. Some time after a simple Cossack, named Pougachoff, an escaped convict from the mines of Siberia (whose torn nostrils showed that his crime had been murder), succeeded in raising the whole of the Urals (such was the credulity of Russians at that time) by giving himself out as Peter III.

[13] Lit. “mistress-woman,” i.e., a clever manager, one quite capable of conducting her affairs.

[14] The PÂnins were, and are, a celebrated noble family holding various court appointments.

[15] Dimitri Tzarevitch was the son of Ivan the Terrible, the last of the house of Ruric, and was said to have been killed at the age of nine at Ouglitch. He of whom the Princess speaks was a pretender, a runaway novice, so it is said. But historians differ as to this. Some say that when Boris Godounoff (the Russian Oliver Cromwell) planned to kill Dimitri, some faithful friends hid the Tzarevitch, and sent him to the Polish Court, where he was brought up, and that afterwards he came into Russia with many adherents and an army of several thousands, the majority of whom were Poles. He reigned less than a year, being killed during an insurrection, 1595-96.

[16] Steps before a house.

[17] “Tarakanova” and “Tarakanovka” have the same meaning, and apply equally to persons and property, but the latter, being the more playful term, is used for a child. “Tmoutarakanova,” or “Tmoutarakanovka,” was a pet name. It is the name of a town opposite Kertch, and of a Prince whose capital it was. Tarakan means “cockroach.”

[18] Aloshki was a native of Oukraine, but was brought thence to sing in the choir of the Imperial chapel. His splendid voice first attracted the attention of the Empress Elizabeth Petrowna. His handsome figure and beautiful face did the rest.

[19] The title given to the chief over all the Cossacks in Little Russia.

[20] A pet name. Nearly all family names admit of this suffix. The Russians have any number of pet names and diminutives. “Aloshki” (p. 44), for instance, is the diminutive for Alexis.

[21] The Russian version of this nursery tale is rather different to the English.

[22] To this day this breed remains unrivalled, and it is called, after the Count, “Orlovski Rissak.”

[23] A sheepskin coat with the wool inside. The hide is embroidered with gaily-coloured silks, and being peculiarly tanned, is very expensive.

[24] Chic.—A diminutive expressive of endearment.

[25] A species of dove, remarkably short-beaked and short-winged. In flying they turn over and over.

[26] There are a hundred different ways of saying Russian names.

[27] i.e. “If you play me false, you forfeit your head.”

[28] Generally miswritten in English “Leghorn.”

[29] That, namely, which placed Ekaterina on the throne.

[30] i.e. “What an impatient, impulsive, hot-headed fellow!” Compare the English idiom, “What a brick!”

[31] A small Italian coin.

[32] Members of the higher society in Russia are accustomed to interlard their conversation with foreign,—especially French,—phrases. This is not astonishing when we consider what splendid linguists they are.

[33] An anachronism of the author.

[34] An Asiatic dagger.

[35] His hands and feet were chopped off, and he was then hanged. He himself had executed hundreds thus.

[36] German.—“Leave of Absence.”

[37] i.e. “A good-for-nothing hussey.”

[38] Ekaterina is here referring to a letter of Orloff’s.

[39] A street in St. Petersburg.

[40] The gÉnÉral procureur is the highest authority in legal matters.

[41] A service in honour of our Lord and the Virgin Mary.

[42] “DocifÉ” is supposed to have been another daughter of Elizabeth Petrowna. It is known that she died in the nunnery referred to.

[43] A Persian coat.

[44] A fine black silk net as worn in England about the time of George II. and George III.

[45] Entresol, a suite of apartments between ground and first floor.

[46] 663 miles.

[47] A wife, in Russia, always takes her husband’s title, adding only a feminine suffix.

[48] In Russia the roofs of all Government buildings and of substantial houses are made of iron sheets painted dark red or bright green.

[49] These are always used instead of picks, as the ground here is sometimes frozen more than a yard deep.

[50] See Frontispiece.

[51] The heir-apparent, son of Ekaterina, afterwards ascended the throne as Pavel I.

[52] A hooded sledge, lined with furs, and with large fur curtains and panes of glass let in. It is used for long winter journeys.

[53] A school in St. Petersburg for the daughters of the nobility, endowed by Ekaterina II.

[54] That is, the high road from Kieff.