Whither shall he go first? He'll see,

Perchance he will to all the three.

Meantime in matutinal dress

And hat surnamed a "Bolivar"(6)

He hies unto the "Boulevard,"

To loiter there in idleness

Until the sleepless Breguet chime(7)

Announcing to him dinner-time.

[Note 6: A la "Bolivar," from the founder of Bolivian independence.]

[Note 7: M. Breguet, a celebrated Parisian watchmaker - hence a slang term for a watch.]

XIII.

'Tis dark. He seats him in a sleigh,

"Drive on!" the cheerful cry goes forth,

His furs are powdered on the way

By the fine silver of the north.

He bends his course to Talon's, where(8)

He knows Kaverine will repair.(9)

He enters. High the cork arose

And Comet champagne foaming flows.

Before him red roast beef is seen

And truffles, dear to youthful eyes,

Flanked by immortal Strasbourg pies,

The choicest flowers of French cuisine,

And Limburg cheese alive and old

Is seen next pine-apples of gold.

[Note 8: Talon, a famous Saint Petersburg restaurateur.]

[Note 9: Paul Petrovitch Kaverine, a friend for whom Pushkin in his youth appears to have entertained great respect and admiration. He was an officer in the Hussars of the Guard, and a noted "dandy" and man about town. The poet on one occasion addressed the following impromptu to his friend's portrait: "Within him daily see the the fires of punch and war, Upon the fields of Mars a gallant warrior, A faithful friend to friends, of ladies torturer, But ever the Hussar."]

XIV.

Still thirst fresh draughts of wine compels

To cool the cutlets' seething grease,

When the sonorous Breguet tells

Of the commencement of the piece.

A critic of the stage malicious,

A slave of actresses capricious,

Oneguine was a citizen

Of the domains of the side-scene.

To the theatre he repairs