DUNGEONS.
My mind being full of this story, I keep an eye on every gate and trap
that might lead me either up or down into a prisoner's cell. My leave
to roam about the convent-yards is free; and though I am seldom left
alone, except when lodged in my private room, some chance of loitering
round the ramparts falls in my way from time to time. The monks retire
about seven o'clock, and as the sun sets late in the summer months, I
stroll through the woods and round by the Holy Lake, while Father John
is laying our supper of cucumbers and sprats. Sometimes I get a peep
at strange places while the fathers are at mass.
One day, when strolling at my ease, I come into a small court-yard,
which my clerical guides have often passed by. A flutter of wings
attracts me to the spot, and, throwing a few crumbs of biscuit on the
ground, I am instantly surrounded by a thousand beautiful doves. They
are perfectly tame. Here, then, is that colony of doves which the
Archimandrite told his people were not disturbed by the English guns;
and looking at the tall buildings and the narrow yard, I am less
surprised by the miracle than when the story was told me by the monks.
Lifting my eyes to the sills from which these birds come fluttering
down, I see that the windows are barred, that the door is strongly
bound. In short, this well-masked edifice is the convent jail; and it
flashes on me quickly that behind these grated frames, against which
the doves are pecking and cooing, lies the mystery of Solovetsk.
In going next day round the convent-yards and walls, with my two
attending fathers, dropping into the quass-house, the school, the
dyeing-room, the tan-yard, and the Weaver's Tower, I lead the way, as
if by merest chance, into this pigeons' court. Referring to the
Archimandrite's tale of the doves, I ask to have that story told
again. Hundreds of birds are cooing and crying on the window-sills,
just as they may have done on the eventful feast of Our Lady of Kazan.
"How pretty these doves! What a song they sing!"
"Pigeons have a good place in the convent," says the father at my
side. "You see we never touch them; doves being sacred in our eyes on
account of that scene on the Jordan, when the Holy Ghost came down to
our Lord in the form of a dove."
"They seem to build by preference in this court."
"Yes, it is a quiet corner; no one comes into this yard; yon windows
are never opened from within."
"Ah! this is the convent prison?"
"Yes; this is the old monastic prison."
"Are any of the fathers now confined in the place?"
"Not one. We have no criminals at Solovetsk."
"But some of the fathers are in durance, eh? For instance, where is
that monk whom we brought over from Archangel in disgrace? Is he not
here?"
"No; he has been sent to the desert near Striking Hill."
"Is that considered much of a penalty?"
"By men like him, it is. In the desert he will be alone; will see no
women, and get no drink. In twelve months he will come back to the
convent another man."
"Let us go up into this prison and see the empty cells."
"Not now."
"Why not? I am curious about old prisons; especially about church
prisons; and can tell you how the dungeons of Solovetsk would look
beside those of Seville, Antwerp, and Rome."
"We can not enter; it is not allowed."
"Not allowed to see empty cells! Were you not told to show me every
part of the convent? Is there a place into which visitors must not
come?"
The two fathers step aside for a private talk, during which I feed the
pigeons and hum a tune.
"We can not go in there--at least, to-day."
"Good!" I answer, in a careless tone; "get leave, and we will come
this way to-morrow.... Stay! To-morrow we sail to Zaet. Why not go in
at once and finish what we have yet to see down here?"
They feel that time would be gained by going in now; but then, they
have no keys. All keys are kept in the guardroom, under the
lieutenant's eyes. More talk takes place between the monks; and doubt
on doubt arises, as to the limit of their powers. Their visitor hums a
tune, and throws more crumbs of bread among the doves, who frisk and
flutter to his feet, until the windows are left quite bare. A father
passes into a house; is absent some time; returns with an officer in
uniform, carrying keys. While they are mounting steps and opening
doors, the pilgrim goes on feeding doves, as though he did not care
one whit to follow and see the cells. But when the doors roll back on
their rusty hinges, he carelessly follows his guides up the prison
steps.
The first floor consists of a long dark corridor, underground; ten or
twelve vaults arranged in a double row. These cells are dark and
empty. The visitor enters them one by one, pokes the wall with his
stick, and strikes a light in each, to be sure that no one lies there
unobserved; telling the officer and the monks long yarns about
underground vaults and wells in Antwerp, Rome, and Seville. Climbing
the stairs to an upper floor, he finds a sentinel on duty, pacing a
strong anteroom; and feels that here, at least, some prisoner must be
kept under watch and ward. An iron-bound door is now unlocked, and the
visitor passes with his guides into an empty corridor with cells on
either side, corresponding in size and number with the vaults below.
Every door in that corridor save one is open. That one door is closed
and barred.
"Some one in there?"
"No one?" says the father; but in a puzzled tone of voice,
and looking at the officer with inquiring eyes.
"Well, yes; a prisoner," says that personage.
"Let us go in. Open the door."
Looking at the monks, and seeing no sign of opposition on their part,
the soldier turns the key; and as we push the door back on its rusty
hinge, a young man, tall and soldier-like, with long black beard and
curious eyes, springs up from a pallet; and snatching a coverlet,
wraps the loose garment round his all but naked limbs.
"What is your name?" the visitor asks; going in at once, and taking
him by the hand.
"Pushkin," he answers softly; "Adrian Pushkin."
"How long have you been confined at Solovetsk?"
"Three years; about three years."
"For what offense?"
He stares in wonder, with a wandering light in his eye that tells his
secret in a flash.
"Have you been tried by any court?"
The officer interferes; the sentinel on guard is called; and we are
huddled by the soldiers--doing what they are told--from the prisoner's
cell.
"What has he done?" I ask the fathers, when the door is slammed upon
the captive's face.
"We do not know, except in part. He is condemned by the Holy Governing
Synod. He denies our Lord." More than this could not be learned.
"A mad young man," sighs the monk; "he might have gone home long ago;
but he would not send for a pope, and kiss the cross. He is now of
better mind; if one can say he has any mind. A mad young man!"
There is yet another flight of steps. "Let us go up and see the
whole."
We climb the stair, and find a second sentinel in the second anteroom.
More prisoners, then, in this upper ward! The door which leads into
the corridor being opened, the visitor sees that here again the cells
are empty, and the doors ajar--in every case but one. A door is
locked; and in the cell behind that door they say an old man lodges; a
prisoner in the convent for many years.
"How long?"
"One hardly knows," replies the monk: "he was here when most of us
came to Solovetsk. He is an obstinate fellow; quiet in his ways; but
full of talk; he worries you to death; and you can teach him nothing.
More than one of our Archimandrites, having pity on his case, has
striven to lead him into a better path. An evil spirit is in his
soul."
"Who is he?"
"A man of rank; in his youth an officer in the army."
"Then you know his name?"
"We never talk of him; it is against the rules. We pray for him, and
such as he is; and he needs our prayers. A bad Russian, a bad
Christian, he denies our holy Church."
"Does he ever go out?"
"In winter, yes; in summer, no. He might go to mass; but he refuses to
accept the boon. He says we do not worship God aright; he thinks
himself wiser than the Holy Governing Synod--he! But in winter days,
when the pilgrims have gone away, he is allowed to walk on the rampart
wall, attended by a sentinel to prevent his flight."
"Has he ever attempted flight?"
"Attempted! Yes; he got away from the convent; crossed the sea; went
inland, and we lost him. If he could have held his peace, he might
have been free to this very hour; but he could not hold his tongue;
and then he was captured and brought back."
"Where was he taken?"
"No one knows. He came back pale and worn. Since then he has been
guarded with greater care."
Here, then, is the prisoner whom I wish to see; the spectre of the
wall; the figure taken for the prince; the man in whom centre so many
hopes. "Open the door!" My tone compels them either to obey at once or
go for orders to the Archimandrite's house. A parley of the officer
and monks takes place; ending, after much ado, in the door being
unlocked (to save them trouble), and the whole party passing into the
prisoner's cell.
An aged, handsome man, like Kossuth in appearance, starts astonished
from his seat; unused, as it would seem, to such disturbance of his
cell. A small table, a few books, a pallet bed, are the only
furnishings of his room, the window of which is ribbed and crossed
with iron, and the sill bespattered with dirt of doves. A table holds
some scraps of books and journals; the prisoner being allowed, it
seems, to receive such things from the outer world, though he is not
permitted to send out a single line of writing. Pencils and pens are
banished from his cell. Tall, upright, spare; with the bearing of a
soldier and a gentleman; he wraps his cloak round his shoulder, and
comes forward to meet his unexpected guests. The monks present me in
form as a stranger visiting Solovetsk, without mentioning _his_ name
to me. He holds out his hand and smiles; receiving me with the grace
of a gentleman offering the courtesies of his house. A man of noble
presence and courtly bearing: _not_, however, the Grand Duke
Constantine, as fishermen and pilgrims say!
"Your name is--?"
"Ilyin; Nicolas Ilyin."
"You have been here long?"
Shaking his head in a feeble way, he mutters to himself, as it were,
like one who is trying to recall a dream. I put the question again;
this time in German. Then he faintly smiles; a big tear starting in
his eye. "Excuse me, sir," he sighs, "I have forgotten most things;
even the use of speech. Once I spoke French easily. Now I have all but
forgotten my mother tongue."
"You have been here for years?"
"Yes; many. I wait upon the Lord. In His own time my prayer will be
heard, and my deliverance come."
"You must not speak with this prisoner," says the officer on duty; "no
one is allowed to speak with him." The lieutenant is not uncivil; but
he stands in a place of trust; and he has to think of duty to his
colonel before he can dream of courtesy to his guest.
In a moment we are in the pigeons' court. The iron gates are locked;
the birds are fluttering on the sills; and the prisoners are alone
once more.