The impressions received through the channels of sound outweighed all
others in their influence over the life of the blind boy; his ideas
shaped themselves according to sounds, his sense of hearing became the
centre of his mental activity. The enchanting melodies of the songs
he heard conveyed to him a true sense of the words, coloring them
with sadness or joy according to the lights and shades of the melody.
With still closer attention he listened to the voices of Nature; and
by uniting these confused impressions with the familiar melodies, he
sometimes produced a free improvisation, in which it was difficult to
distinguish just where the national and familiar air ended and the work
of the composer began. He himself was unable to distinguish these two
elements in his songs, so inseparably were the two united within him.
He quickly learned all his mother taught him on the piano, and yet he
still loved Joachim’s pipe. The tones of the piano were richer, deeper,
and more brilliant; but the instrument was stationary, whereas the pipe
he could carry with him into the fields; and its modulations were so
indistinguishably blended with the gentle sighs of the steppe, that at
times Petrùsya could not tell whether those vague fancies were wafted on
the wind, or whether it was he himself who drew them from his pipe.
Petrùsya’s enthusiasm for music became the centre of his mental growth;
it absorbed his mind, and lent variety to his quiet life. Maxim availed
himself of it to make the boy acquainted with the history of his native
land; and like a vast network of sounds, the procession filed before the
imagination of the blind boy. Touched by the song, he learned to know
the heroes of whom it sung, and to feel a concern for their fate and
for the destiny of his country. This was the beginning of his interest
in literature; and when he was nine years old, Maxim began his first
lessons. He had been studying the methods used in the instruction of the
blind, and the boy showed great delight in the lessons. They introduced
into his nature the new elements of precision and clearness, which served
to counterbalance the undefined sensations excited by music.
Thus the boy’s day was filled; he could not complain of the lack of new
impressions. He seemed to be living as full a life as any child could
possibly live; in fact he really seemed unconscious of his blindness.
Nevertheless, a certain premature sadness was still perceptible in his
character, which Maxim ascribed to the fact that he had never mingled
with other children, and endeavored to atone for this omission.
The village boys who were invited to the mansion were timid and
constrained. Not only the unusual surroundings, but the blindness of the
little Pan intimidated them. They would glance timidly at him, and then
crowding together would whisper to one another. When the children were
left alone, either in the garden or in the field, they grew bolder and
began to play games; but somehow it always ended in the blind boy being
left out, listening sadly to the merry shouts of his playmates. Now and
then Joachim would gather the children about him and repeat comical old
proverbs and tell them fairy tales. The village children, perfectly
familiar with the somewhat stupid Hohòl devil and the roguish witches,
supplemented Joachim’s tales from the stores of their own knowledge; and
the conversations ensuing were generally quite lively. The blind boy
listened to them with great interest and attention, but rarely laughed.
He seemed incapable of comprehending the humor in the speeches and
stories he heard; and this was not surprising, since he could neither see
the merry twinkle in the eyes of the speakers, nor the comical wrinkles,
nor the twitching of the long mustaches.