THE EQUINOX
On the second day after his arrival in the village where
Ljubov lived, he noticed the child and her marvellous beauty.
For hours, having retired to the house belonging to a rich
lady whose guest he was, he drivelled, with before him the
enrapturing vision of Ljubov’s priceless jewels. He proceeded
carefully; made friends with all the children; and, the seventh
day having come, he met her outside the village, by chance—
so she thought—and made her a present of a few trifling
ornaments. Then he placed over his own eyes two empty
shells of walnut, and pretended to play some childish game of
hide-and-seek.
After a few minutes, it was her turn to don the blinding
apparel. But they were different from his, the empty shells
he fixed under her eyebrows!
Ljubov felt no pain, rather an exquisite sensation of
physical dcen-étve, of wondrous languor. Ay, but a few
minutes later, the sun and moon and stars had lost their
beauty for her. There were two large cavities under her eye-
lids. The force within the nutshells had drawn the eyes out
of them.
The Man ran away, carrying a treasured little box, and no
more was ever heard of him in those parts.
IV
“What boots it to tell of the long, awful days of darkness
through which poor little Ljubov lived before she grew
accustomed to her blindness? I am not a medical philosopher;
I like home and comfort far too much. If I journey, I must
needs travel in state, and my staff includes both a medical
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