was expected to do: kiss his young wife.
The dancing, singing and fun went on till dawn. Only then the newlyweds, accompanied by traditional jokes, wishes and sayings, were allowed to leave the dining room, proceed to their bedroom and stay private. There was a huge bed in the room – actually, all the furniture was too big for Agatha. The pillows of all sizes were piled on the bed – from the biggest to the tiniest one. Agatha looked under the bed and saw some amber stones – to drive away evil forces.
Agatha adapted to the new family quite easily. In the evenings she would go up to the streets crossing to meet her husband from work.
Stas bent his arm as a gentleman, she took his elbow and they went unhurriedly, talking about the latest news at work, at home, elsewhere.
– You see, darling. The railway track in Russia is wider than that in Europe. So there is a place at the station where the two tracks of different width meet. The train comes, passengers go out, and the wheels under the carriage are replaced.
– O horror! What if the carriage falls down just where you are standing?
– It is supported by strong mechanisms, it won’t fall.
– Generally speaking, why not travel by horse-driven carriages – it’s much safer and more fun!
– The horses can run away; moreover, no horse can overtake trains.
– A brave man can stop horses! But who will stop a train if it gets crazy?
– That’s just impossible, my sweetheart. The train will only go where it is directed to. If you don’t wander under the wheels you will be safe.
Agatha did not particularly like trains – she was afraid of them, actually. Yet she had never seen one. But she loved horses. She liked unhurried journeys on top of a loaded wagon or just riding a horse. She liked it when horses recognized her: she always remembered to take some sugar to treat it to her favorites. But she also loved being told serious ‘manly’ working problems as if she were equal to her educated husband. His low velvet voice made her thrill – she’d rather the road never came to an end.
One day when Stas was telling his tale of the railroad, Agatha, despite her favorite routine, was not listening, but her thoughts wandered somewhere far away. Stas interrupted his story.
– Is everything OK at home?
Agatha stopped, turned her face to Stas and kept silent for a long time. Then she said the words lots of women used to say to their beloved ones.
– We’re going to have a baby.
And Stas, like lots of other men, felt happy and a bit disturbed.
– A baby? A boy? A boy!
He took his wife in his laps, then raised her and was carrying her for the rest of the way. He was carrying her as if she were a crystal vase full of precious water, and he couldn’t split a drop of it.
One night Stanislav was awakened by his wife’s weeping. He looked at Agatha anxiously: would it be good to ask her something or would it be better not to disturb her. They were waiting for the child to be born.
– Are you OK, sweetheart?
– Well, yes, everything is fine.
– Why are you crying, then?
– Jesus Maria, what a happy thing I am! Good gracious! I won’t live without you!
– Why are you going to live without me? We’ll live long and happily ever after, like king and queen in a fairy tale.
– That’s exactly what the old gypsy told me.
– Maybe she happened to know who we are going to have first: a boy or a girl.
– Well, no… But I’d rather have it pretty as a picture… no matter who it is going to be. I want it to be pretty like you, darling.
– Like you, honey.
Children (even inside the mother’s belly) are said to be overhearing everything said around.
The baby born soon after the events we know about, happened to have heard everything that her parents were saying. It could not stick either to mother or to father. It was a girl with one brown eye, like her mother had, and the other one green, like her father’s.
She was named Drosida as the church calendar demanded. But everybody called her Dina for short. Besides, Dina sounded more nicely.
Stas was hilarious, he couldn’t help gazing at his pretty daughter. But soon afterwards, like all the other men, he began asking his wife:
– Would you mind having a son, say, in a year?
– But what if it will be daughter again?
– Well, you will keep on trying until you are lucky. So, let’s start!
– Start what?
– Training.
Agatha had used to drive Stas away from her room before the girl was born. She had said ‘it’ could harm the baby. But they didn’t have to take cautions! Stas decided that he had been patient for long enough. To say honestly, he was missing his flourishing wife.
After giving birth to her first baby she became a bit plumper, her skin was marble white and looked appealing on her arms, breasts…
Agatha got what her husband was driving at. She threw the smallest pillow at him but couldn’t help laughing.
– Aren’t you ashamed?
– Why should I be ashamed? I want to have a son. That’s all. So when are we going to start?
The two years that the young couple could be staying at the husband’s parents’ home were coming to an end. Stas and Agatha managed to save a little bit of money to buy a house – small, but it would be their own house, with nobody to live next door to them.
One day Stas came home high-spirited.
– Honey, would you mind moving to Warsaw? I was made a proposal to enter High School of Railway Engineers.
Agatha had never left her home town before. It was there that her parents, brothers, sisters lived. Panya and Katya used to come around now and then. They would play with the little niece that began exploring all the rooms crawling backwards. Agatha knew the town as the palm of her hand. And her aunt and her family lived nearby, right across the street; and her grandmother was buried at the town cemetery – she died very young just after giving birth to her baby, and the hills here are so beautiful, and…
– Sure, sweetheart, when are we leaving? That will be great.
Soon afterwards, they were ready to set off. Agatha saw a railway station for the first time in her life. But how much she had heard of it! They were to travel by the “St Petersburg – Warsaw” train. All Agatha’s family came to see her off. First they heard a long rumbling noise as if some pre-historic monster was calling its friend. Then a big black train pulled in. It had begun braking beforehand in order to stop just opposite the station. And then multi-colored carriages rushed past: blue, yellow, and green. The magnificent Russian coat-of-arms was imprinted on the carriage; giving it an air of ominous solemnity.
When the locomotive stopped, all the passengers hurried out on the platform, and the train was being delivered to the spare railway to have its wheels replaced for the ones of European standard[20]. The departure ceremony was repeated once again. Danya was wandering round the station, obviously bored with all those cries and weeping. He longed to rush somewhere far and not to be with the remaining lot.
Stas and his family were to travel in a blue carriage, that is – by the first class. Due to high prices the carriages were half-empty, but it was not the question of money with Stas. He earned quite enough to travel comfortably.
Agatha kissed her Mum and sisters for the last time and cautiously got onto the train. It looked unexpectedly cozy inside: two soft sofas, velvet curtains with fringes, and a carpet. There was a snow-white napkin on the table.
The