COLONISTS AND EXILES IN SIBERIA. 523 



times by the payment of an exorbitantly high fee; but the angry 

 parents are not so easily reconciled. The mother curses her daughter, 

 the father his son; both swear by all the saints never to see their 

 depraved children again. 



"And Heaven, full of kindness, 

 Is patient with man's blindness." 



But it is not from above that the reconciliation comes; that is 

 brought about by a magic power beyond compare, known as 

 schnaps among the races who inhabit German territory, as vodki 

 among those living on the sacred soil of Russia. As soon as the 

 father-in-law drinks, the young bridegroom has gained the day; 

 for the mother-in-law drinks too, and the luscious nectar softens 

 her inflexible heart also. If some friends arrive, as if by chance, to 

 assist at the reconciliation festival, they are not denied admittance, 

 for the cost of entertaining them is much less than if the whole 

 village had assembled, and, drinking fervently, had called down the 

 blessing of Heaven upon the newly-united pair. Who can deny 

 after this that love, pure, holy love, makes even a peasant youth of 

 the Altai inventive? 



The bride of the Altai receives no dowry; her mother, on the other 

 hand, expects a gift from the bridegroom, and sometimes demands 

 it with much storming, weeping and howling, after the manner of 

 women. Only under special circumstances, as, for instance, when, 

 on the morning after the wedding, the nuptial linen does not fulfil 

 the expectations of the assembled guests, the contrary takes place. 

 The intelligent and experienced father-in-law makes use of the 

 magic means already mentioned, produces an inspiriting number 

 of bottles thoughtfully laid in beforehand, promises the indignant, 

 or at any rate downcast son-in-law a foal, an ox, a sucking-pig, and 

 the like; the minds of all are made easy again, and the reconciliation 

 is effected. 



And why should the bridegroom be angry for ever? Others 

 have fared no better, and the future will equalize much. Paternal 

 joys often blossom even under irregular circumstances, and they 

 are paternal joys all the same. For even the poorest couple have 



