Studio: international art (76.1919)

Peasant Life in Central Russia

boots are all from his own . sheep—his wife has like live indoors in this same room. Every cot-
spun the wool for the gloves and his little tage boasts a samovar, cups and saucers, a few
daughter has knitted them. His sheepskins glasses, and some metal teaspoons; but no
have been fashioned in the town into, the full- plates—the meals are served in a tin basin, into
skirted coat, the felt boots have been made which each dips with his wooden spoon. All the
up in the next village. His wife and children patient efforts of the district doctor for years
have winter clothing similar to his own, except past to induce them to eat off separate plates
that the women cover theii heads with thick have been in vain. They spit freely on the
woollen kerchiefs instead of caps. When earth floor, empty on it the dregs of their
Vania drives four or five hours to the market teacups and soup-spoons, and of course it can
town in his low sleigh, through a fierce blizzard never be washed. They have no washing-
perhaps, he puts on a rough frieze coat over his basins. A favourite way to wash the face
sheepskin, and often a bashlik, or woohen hood, is to take some water into the mouth, eject
over his fur cap. He has little to do in winter it into one's hands, and smear these over the
besides feeding the cattle and driving to market, countenance. Children are born in the cot-
but his womenfolk are very busy all the cold tages, there is no privacy for the mother,
weather, spinning and weav-

ing. And the heavy linen
shirts .must be washed,
though a hole has to be
chopped in the ice of the
ponds for rinsing them.

The children go to school
from late in September till
about the end of April.
They are too useful to their
parents as herds to be
spared from the pastures all
the summer, so the schools
close for nearly five months.

The peasants show remark-
able capacity for learning ;
they can learn, will learn.
But their home life is devoid
of any comfort whatsoever,
more because they don't
know how to live better
than because of poverty. In
our district they were not in
the least necessitous, had
plenty to eat and good
clothes to wear, and yet this
Orel Government is con-
sidered a very poor one. j| i

Their one-roomed cottages
are inhabited by several
generations of the family at
once. There may be two or
three daughters-in-law living
with all their children in their
husbands' parental home. All

through the winter the calves,

young pigs, chickens, and the "a village bolshevik" charcoal sketch by winifred cooper

22