My new acquaintance was called Alexander Davidovitch Fustov. He lived
with his mother, a rather wealthy woman, the widow of a privy
councillor, but he occupied a little lodge apart and lived quite
independently, just as I did at my aunt's. He had a post in the
department of Court affairs. I became genuinely attached to him. I had
never in my life met a young man more 'sympathetic.' Everything about
him was charming and attractive: his graceful figure, his bearing, his
voice, and especially his small, delicate face with the golden-blue
eyes, the elegant, as it were coquettishly moulded little nose, the
unchanging amiable smile on the crimson lips, the light curls of soft
hair over the rather narrow, snow-white brow. Fustov's character was
remarkable for exceptional serenity, and a sort of amiable, restrained
affability; he was never pre-occupied, and was always satisfied with
everything; but on the other hand he was never ecstatic over anything.
Every excess, even in a good feeling, jarred upon him; 'that's savage,
savage,' he would say with a faint shrug, half closing his golden eyes.
Marvellous were those eyes of Fustov's! They invariably expressed
sympathy, good-will, even devotion. It was only at a later period that I
noticed that the expression of his eyes resulted solely from their
setting, that it never changed, even when he was sipping his soup or
smoking a cigar. His preciseness became a byword between us. His
grandmother, indeed, had been a German. Nature had endowed him with all
sorts of talents. He danced capitally, was a dashing horseman, and a
first-rate swimmer; did carpentering, carving and joinery, bound books
and cut out silhouettes, painted in watercolours nosegays of flowers or
Napoleon in profile in a blue uniform; played the zither with feeling;
knew a number of tricks, with cards and without; and had a fair
knowledge of mechanics, physics, and chemistry; but everything only up
to a certain point. Only for languages he had no great facility: even
French he spoke rather badly. He spoke in general little, and his share
in our students' discussions was mostly limited to the bright sympathy
of his glance and smile. To the fair sex Fustov was attractive,
undoubtedly, but on this subject, of such importance among young people,
he did not care to enlarge, and fully deserved the nickname given him by
his comrades, 'the discreet Don Juan.' I was not dazzled by Fustov;
there was nothing in him to dazzle, but I prized his affection, though
in reality it was only manifested by his never refusing to see me when I
called. To my mind Fustov was the happiest man in the world. His life
ran so very smoothly. His mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles
all adored him, he was on exceptionally good terms with all of them, and
enjoyed the reputation of a paragon in his family.