LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 89 



Moreover, my young imagination was impressed 

 by his sad history and by his interesting appearance, 

 at that time not unlike a figure of Christ ; his pale 

 face was illumined by the light in his kindly eyes, which 

 at times looked absolutely inspired. My whole heart 

 went out to him, but I was not yet ripe for matrimony 

 and was somewhat thrown off my balance by the 

 unexpectedness of the event. Fearing that I was not 

 up to his level, I used to try beforehand to find 

 worthy subjects of conversation in order that he should 

 not feel bored in my society, but everything I thought 

 of seemed to me so clumsy and stupid that I rejected 

 one subject after another until he came and found me 

 at a loss. He could not understand how deeply I 

 was troubled, and cannot have been satisfied with my 

 attitude, which really was that of a zealous pupil. 



Our marriage took place in February 1875 ; it 

 was a very cold winter and the ground was covered 

 with a thick coating of glistening snow. A few hours 

 before the ceremony my brothers came with a little 

 hand sledge to fetch me for a last ride. " Come quick," 

 they said, " this evening you will be a grown-up lady, 

 and you can't play with us any more ! " I agreed, 

 and we rushed out to the snowy carpet which covered 

 the great yard of our house. In the midst of our 

 mad race my mother appeared at the window ; she 

 had been looking for me everywhere and was much 

 disturbed. " My dear child ! what are you thinking 

 of ? It is late, you have hardly time to dress and 

 to do your hair ! " " One more turn, mother ! It is 

 the last time, think of it ! " Other childish emotions 

 awaited me ; my wedding-dress was the first long 

 dress I had ever worn, and I feared to stumble as I 

 walked. Then, too, I was frightened at the idea of 



