MARINA TSVETAEVA
199
And while we wander along the paths, we read the inscrjptions,
entrust the grave to the caretaker, and select our own future death,
taking advantage of its absence....
Thus do former owners, hearing that newcomers have moved
into their country house, come and stand awhile, wander around
and about. ...
•
•
•
And so, the house awoke. Since it so obviously awoke, it
became clear that it had been asleep: the house, along with the
grandmother, the uncle, the aunt, the boy's mother, the father and
mother of the little girl, the girl herself, the boy himself, all its in–
habitants, had been sleeping as if spellbound for three weeks.
In the way the house came to life, it became clear: she was
dead.
"Mama, I'll write to Mademoiselle now."
The Letter
Chere Mademoiselle,
C'est en vain que nous vous attendons depuis longtemps. Cha–
que lundi et mercredi, jeudi et samedi nous vous attendons et vous
ne venez jamais. Mes lec;ons sont ecrites et apprises, celles d'Olegue
aussi. Avez-vous oublie notre invitation pour l'arbre de Noel? Je
crois que oui, parce que vous n'etes pas venue chez nous l'avant–
dernier jeudi quand nous avons notre tete. J'ai recu beaucoup de
livres: Poemes de Ronsard, Oeuvre de Marot, Faliaux, Le Roman
du Renard, Ie Roman de la Rose, et surtout la Chanson de Roland.
Deux cadeaux vous attendent, d'Olegue et de moi. Ecrivez-nous
chere Mademoiselle, quand vous pourrez venir chez nous. Nous
vous embrassons.
Ariane.
* * *
"That evening she was so tired, so exhausted. I kept wanting to
say to her, 'Why did you do all this?' And those dances on top of it
all .... Let us all go home, you sit down in the armchair near the
fire, get warm and rest.' But she simply wouldn't let us go without
the dances, the picture books, refreshments, dances - to complete
the evening. And those ladies in the fur coats, dragging in bit by bit
for who knows what reason, making her whole apartment cold - and
it was so cold already. You can't imagine how cold it was. It's cold
here, but the-e-re. I couldn't get warm all evening."
