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Contents ( 148)
  1. THE TORRENTS OF SPRING
  2. * * *
  3. IVAN TURGENEV
  4. CONSTANCE GARNETT
  5. *
  6. Contents
  7. *
  8. The Torrents of Spring
  9. *
  10. I
  11. *
  12. II
  13. *
  14. III
  15. *
  16. IV
  17. *
  18. V
  19. *
  20. VI
  21. *
  22. VII
  23. *
  24. VIII
  25. *
  26. IX
  27. *
  28. X
  29. *
  30. XI
  31. *
  32. XII
  33. *
  34. XIII
  35. *
  36. XIV
  37. *
  38. XV
  39. *
  40. XVI
  41. *
  42. XVII
  43. *
  44. XVIII
  45. *
  46. XIX
  47. *
  48. XX
  49. *
  50. XXI
  51. *
  52. XXII
  53. *
  54. XXIII
  55. *
  56. XXIV
  57. *
  58. XXV
  59. *
  60. XXVI
  61. *
  62. XXVII
  63. *
  64. XXVIII
  65. *
  66. XXIX
  67. *
  68. XXX
  69. *
  70. XXXI
  71. *
  72. XXXII
  73. *
  74. XXXIII
  75. *
  76. XXXIV
  77. *
  78. XXXV
  79. *
  80. XXXVI
  81. *
  82. XXXVII
  83. *
  84. XXXVIII
  85. *
  86. XXXIX
  87. *
  88. XL
  89. *
  90. XLI
  91. *
  92. XLII
  93. *
  94. XLIII
  95. *
  96. XLIV
  97. *
  98. First Love
  99. *
  100. I
  101. *
  102. II
  103. *
  104. III
  105. *
  106. IV
  107. *
  108. V
  109. *
  110. VI
  111. *
  112. VII
  113. *
  114. VIII
  115. *
  116. IX
  117. *
  118. X
  119. *
  120. XI
  121. *
  122. XII
  123. *
  124. XIII
  125. *
  126. XIV
  127. *
  128. XV
  129. *
  130. XVI
  131. *
  132. XVII
  133. *
  134. XVIII
  135. *
  136. XIX
  137. *
  138. XX
  139. *
  140. XXI
  141. *
  142. XXII
  143. *
  144. Mumu
  145. *
  146. * * *
  147. Endnotes
  148. *

They had to make arrangements about dinner. Herr Klüber proposed that the dinner should be served in a summer-house closed in on all sides—'im Gartensalon'; but at this point Gemma rebelled and declared that she would have dinner in the open air, in the garden, at one of the little tables set before the tavern; that she was tired of being all the while with the same faces, and she wanted to see fresh ones. At some of the little tables, groups of visitors were already sitting.

While Herr Klüber, yielding condescendingly to 'the caprice of his betrothed,' went off to interview the head waiter, Gemma stood immovable, biting her lips and looking on the ground; she was conscious that Sanin was persistently and, as it were, inquiringly looking at her—it seemed to enrage her. At last Herr Klüber returned, announced that dinner would be ready in half an hour, and proposed their employing the interval in a game of skittles, adding that this was very good for the appetite, he, he, he! Skittles he played in masterly fashion; as he threw the ball, he put himself into amazingly heroic postures, with artistic play of the muscles, with artistic flourish and shake of the leg. In his own way he was an athlete—and was superbly built! His hands, too, were so white and handsome, and he wiped them on such a sumptuous, gold-striped, Indian bandana!

The moment of dinner arrived, and the whole party seated themselves at the table.

XVI

*

Who does not know what a German dinner is like? Watery soup with knobby dumplings and pieces of cinnamon, boiled beef dry as cork, with white fat attached, slimy potatoes, soft beetroot and mashed horseradish, a bluish eel with French capers and vinegar, a roast joint with jam, and the inevitable 'Mehlspeise,' something of the nature of a pudding with sourish red sauce; but to make up, the beer and wine first-rate! With just such a dinner the tavernkeeper at Soden regaled his customers. The dinner, itself, however, went off satisfactorily. No special liveliness was perceptible, certainly; not even when Herr Klüber proposed the toast 'What we like!' (Was wir lieben!) But at least everything was decorous and seemly. After dinner, coffee was served, thin, reddish, typically German coffee. Herr Klüber, with true gallantry, asked Gemma's permission to smoke a cigar.... But at this point suddenly something occurred, unexpected, and decidedly unpleasant, and even unseemly!