ime in his comfortable arm-chair.

The daily life of this worthy couple is singularly regular and
monotonous, varying only with the changing seasons. In summer Ivan
Ivan'itch gets up about seven o'clock, and puts on, with the assistance
of his valet de chambre, a simple costume, consisting chiefly of a
faded, plentifully stained dressing-gown. Having nothing particular
to do, he sits down at the open window and looks into the yard. As the
servants pass he stops and questions them, and then gives them orders,
or scolds them, as circumstances demand. Towards nine o'clock tea is
announced, and he goes into the dining-room--a long, narrow apartment
with bare wooden floor and no furniture but a table and chairs, all in a
more or less rickety condition. Here he finds his wife with the tea-urn
before her. In a few minutes the grandchildren come in, kiss their
grandpapa's hand, and take their places round the table. As this morning
meal consists merely of bread and tea, it does not last long; and all
disperse to their several occupations. The head of the house begins the
labours of the day by resuming his seat at the open window. When he has
smoked some cigarettes and indulged in a proportionate amount of silent
contemplation, he goes out with the intention of visiting the stables
and farmyard, but generally before he has crossed the court he finds the
heat unbearable, and returns to his former position by the open window.
Here he sits tranquilly till the sun has so far moved round that the
verandah at the back of the house is completely in the shade, when he
has his arm-chair removed thither, and sits there till dinner-time.

Maria Petrovna spends her morning in a more active way. As soon as the
breakfast table has been cleared she goes to the larder, takes stock
of the provisions, arranges the menu du jour, and gives to the cook the
necessary materials, with detailed instructions as to how they are to
be prepared. The rest of the morning she devotes to her other household
duties.

Towards one o'clock dinner is announced, and Ivan Ivan'itch prepares his
appetite by swallowing at a gulp a wineglassful of home-made bitters.
Dinner is the great event of the day. The food is abundant and of good
quality, but mushrooms, onions, and fat play a rather too important part
in the repast, and the whole is prepared with very little attention
to the recognised principles of culinary hygiene. Many of the dishes,
indeed, would make a Briti