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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. *

'Young man, hey, young man,' said a voice suddenly near me: 'is it quite permissible to stare so at unknown young ladies?'

I started, I was struck dumb.... Near me, the other side of the fence, stood a man with close-cropped black hair, looking ironically at me. At the same instant the girl too turned towards me.... I caught sight of big grey eyes in a bright mobile face, and the whole face suddenly quivered and laughed, there was a flash of white teeth, a droll lifting of the eyebrows.... I crimsoned, picked up my gun from the ground, and pursued by a musical but not ill-natured laugh, fled to my own room, flung myself on the bed, and hid my face in my hands. My heart was fairly leaping; I was greatly ashamed and overjoyed; I felt an excitement I had never known before.

After a rest, I brushed my hair, washed, and went downstairs to tea. The image of the young girl floated before me, my heart was no longer leaping, but was full of a sort of sweet oppression.

'What's the matter?' my father asked me all at once: 'have you killed a rook?'

I was on the point of telling him all about it, but I checked myself, and merely smiled to myself. As I was going to bed, I rotated—I don't know why—three times on one leg, pomaded my hair, got into bed, and slept like a top all night. Before morning I woke up for an instant, raised my head, looked round me in ecstasy, and fell asleep again.

III

*

'How can I make their acquaintance?' was my first thought when I waked in the morning. I went out in the garden before morning tea, but I did not go too near the fence, and saw no one. After drinking tea, I walked several times up and down the street before the house, and looked into the windows from a distance.... I fancied her face at a curtain, and I hurried away in alarm.

'I must make her acquaintance, though,' I thought, pacing distractedly about the sandy plain that stretches before Neskutchny park ... 'but how, that is the question.' I recalled the minutest details of our meeting yesterday; I had for some reason or other a particularly vivid recollection of how she had laughed at me.... But while I racked my brains, and made various plans, fate had already provided for me.