should be sown, or at what price it is sold."

Raisky trembled. His guardian's lecture affected his nerves.

Like Vassyvkov, the music master began to bend his fingers. If Raisky
had not been ashamed before his guardian he would not have endured the
torture. As it was he succeeded in a few months, after much trouble, in
completing the first stages of his instruction. Very soon he surpassed
and surprised the local young ladies by the strength and boldness of his
playing. His master saw his abilities were remarkable, his indolence
still more remarkable.

That, he thought, was no misfortune. Indolence and negligence are native
to artists. He had been told too that a man who has talent should not
work too hard. Hard work is only for those with moderate abilities.




CHAPTER II


Raisky entered the University, and spent the summer vacation with his
aunt, Tatiana Markovna Berezhkov.

His aunt lived in a family estate which Boris had inherited from his
mother--a piece of land on the Volga, close by a little town, with fifty
souls and two residences, one built of stone and now neglected, the
other a wooden building built by Boris's father. In this newer house
Tatiana Markovna lived with two orphan girls of six and five years old