CHAPTER XII 



BORISOGLEBSK 



Borisoglebsk Churches, Priests and Ikons Russian Baths Rheumatism 

 Russian Food Coffee and Chicory Kind Reception Criticism without 

 Experience. 



BORISOGLEBSK though not much bigger is a far 

 more busy place than Kirsanof. It has a large export 

 trade in meat, which is of fairly good quality and which costs 

 only from a penny to two pence a pound. There are several 

 factories and of course the inevitable church (Fig. 37). 

 Russian churches are very Oriental in appearance and greatly 

 reminded me of Indian and Egyptian mosques, except that 

 ikons (sacred pictures) are an important feature in the Greek 

 ceremonial. No representation of created beings even on 

 coins is allowed by followers of the prophet. Russians 

 believe that their ikons are sentient, are capable of perform- 

 ing miracles, and like ladies are rendered happy by the 

 wearing of jewels. Catholics are somewhat of the same 

 way of thinking with respect to their holy images, if I may 

 judge by the story told of the Spanish Madonna who had 

 a famous shrine, and who wore a great number of valuable 

 diamonds and other precious stones. On one occasion there 

 appeared at this shrine a pilgrim who distinguished himself 

 from all the other worshippers by the fervency of his prayers 

 and by the frequency and profundity of his prostrations. Not 

 long after his arrival, the priests of the shrine found to their 



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