6 LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 



was his inner life ; not even to his wife did he ever 

 speak of it. As to his children, he petted them when 

 they were small, but as they grew up, their intercourse 

 with him was limited to kissing his hand morning and 

 evening. He was not indifferent to their welfare, 

 but left it entirely to his wife's active solicitude. 

 The children were on very different terms with their 

 mother ; not only did she spoil them, but also always 

 eagerly shared all their childish interests. Owing to 

 that, and to her bright and affectionate disposition, 

 they looked upon her as their intimate friend and 

 confidante. 



'^Masters and servants were on good terms, rela- 

 tiOTis between them were even remarkably human, 

 according to the ideas of the time, and in spite of 

 certain customs inherent to serfdom. For instance, 

 the younger maids were punished by having their 

 faces slapped and their hair puUed. Even the kindly 

 and peaceable Dmitri Ivanovitch would soundly box 

 his valet's ears when he foxmd him drunk. At that 

 time such things were not thought cruel or humiliating, 

 but looked upon as a paternal correction. The 

 peasants had confidence in their "barin" (master) 

 and consulted him or appealed to his generosity when 

 in trouble. 



Ilia Ivanovitch never opposed the free choice of 

 his serfs in matrimony, a rare tolerance at that time. 

 According to custom every betrothed couple came to 

 salute him, the young man in his Sunday clothes and 

 a fine, bright-coloured scarf, the girl wearing an em- 

 broidered bodice and a head-dress of many-coloured 

 ribbons. They knelt before him and bowed three 

 times to the ground, then offered him sacramental 

 loaves, hard and shaped like pine cones, on beautifully 



