Page:The Novels of Ivan Turgenev (volume X).djvu/320

Rh 'What,' I faltered in reply, 'what is it thou art thinking upon? But are not we, men, thy favourite children?'

The woman frowned slightly. 'All creatures are my children,' she pronounced, 'and I care for them alike, and all alike I destroy.'

'But right. .. reason. .. justice. . .' I faltered again.

'Those are men's words,' I heard the iron voice saying. 'I know not right nor wrong. . .. Reason is no law for me—and what is justice?—I have given thee life, I shall take it away and give to others, worms or men. .. I care not. . .. Do thou mean while look out for thyself, and hinder me not!'

I would have retorted. .. but the earth uttered a hollow groan and shuddered, and I awoke.

August 1879.

'It happened in 1803,' began my old acquaintance, 'not long before Austerlitz. The regiment in which I was an officer was quartered in Moravia.

'We had strict orders not to molest or annoy the inhabitants; as it was, they regarded us