No. 1. Katrinka:– Affectionate diminutive of Ekaterina (Katharine).
No. 2. Mamusia.– Little Mother.
No. 3. Samovar:– The large copper vessel heated by charcoal, in which the Russians boil water for tea.
No. 4. Matuska:– Childish name for Mother. Matusia and Matushka are variations of this name.
No. 5. The Little Man Behind the Chimney:– Among the Russian peasants a little man is supposed to live behind the chimneys. For his comfort the fire in the stove is always kept burning, both winter and summer.
No. 6. Cossacks:– This word came from the Tartar word, kazak, meaning robber. The original Cossacks were a mixed race of Russians, Poles, Tartars, and other wild adventurers. They lived in the territory south of Russia and Poland, and finally all of them became a part of the Russian Empire. They are handsome, daring, and have no fear of death. They are always ready to fight, and the Czar of Russia considers them the most valuable of all his troops. The Czar's bodyguard is made up of Cossacks who wear the original savage dress of their tribe, consisting of a high fur hat, a red or brown coat with sash, and a cartridge belt across the chest.
No. 7. Basket.– The Russian peasant-mother rocks her baby to sleep in a willow basket hung from the ceiling by a stout string.
No. 8. Izba.– A Russian village house.
No. 9. Betrothal Mourning.– The betrothed girl wears mourning because with marriage comes the end of girlhood. The color of the betrothal mourning is blue.
No. 10. The Fast Before Easter.– They give up all animal food, abstaining from meat, and from butter and eggs. In place of butter they use the oil from sunflower seeds during the fasting periods, of which there are several during the year,– seven weeks in Lent, three in June, from the beginning of November until Christmas, and on all Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year.
No. 11. Bazaar– A market or shopping place.
No. 12. Tsarskoe Seloe.– More often spelled Tzarskoe Selo, means royal village. As in the case of many other Russian words it is spelled in a variety of ways.
No. 13. Rouble:– A coin worth about fifty cents.
No. 14. Kopeck:– A copper coin worth less than a cent.
No.15. Troika– A team of three horses abreast.
No. 16. Tarantas.– A two-seated carriage without springs.
No. 17. Kiosk.– An open summer-house or pavilion.
No. 18. Hussars.– Hussars are horse-soldiers, cavalrymen, who dress in fantastic style. Their uniforms are brilliant in coloring, elaborately braided. The word Hussar is from the Hungarian huszar, meaning twentieth. The original Hussars were Hungarians, one man being chosen out of twenty in each village, to make up the corps. In Russia there are two regiments of Hussars, one red and one green.
No. 19. Moscow:– This city takes its name from the river Moskoa on which it is built. It was formerly the capital of Russia, and is still the most dearly beloved city in the Empire. The people call it the Heart of Russia. Years ago when the French army under Napoleon marched upon it, the citizens, having removed all the relics and household goods possible, set it on fire in eleven places rather than have it fall into the hands of the enemy. As all apparatus for extinguishing the fires had been removed, it burned for three days and three nights, and finally Napoleon and his army were forced to leave it. Its greatest building is the Kremlin, the palace in which the Czars formerly lived. Nobody knows the meaning of the word. This great building stands in the middle of the city and is most imposing.
No. 20. The Mother of Peter the Great was Natalia:– She was the second wife of his father, the Emperor Alexis. Before the reign of Natalia the women of Russia were not allowed to take part in the daily lives and conversation of the men. But Natalia had been brought up by an uncle who had married a Scotch woman, and she had seen her aunt treated with about the same respect as men were accorded. This seemed right and proper to Natalia, who immediately after her marriage astonished Moscow by driving through the streets with the curtains of her litter undrawn, allowing her face to be seen. She also took part in a series of little plays taken from Scripture, and scandalized the Court by taking an active part in the conversation at formal dinners. It was from his mother that Peter inherited his progressive tendencies.
No. 21. Two Marks.– About fifty cents.
No. 22. Ikon:– A sacred image.
No. 23. Zakuska:– This word means a taste–a little meal. The Russian zakuska consists of highly seasoned food served on the daintiest china the house affords, and eaten standing before the regular meal begins. It is supposed to give one a fine appetite for the heavier food that follows. It consists of raw fish or young pig, very well peppered and cut into small cubes; radishes, olives, pickles, cheese, smoked goose, caviar (smoked or fresh), onions, etc. In poor families the zakuska is simple, consisting usually of pickled suckling pig or fish.
No. 24. Villikens and his Dinah– Miss Eager, who lived in the Czar's family for six years, frequently sang this song to the children.
No. 25. 8000 roubles:– $4000.00.
No. 26. The Czardas or Csardas.– It is danced with arms folded, the elbows raised to the level of the shoulders. It begins with a sort of heel and toe movement, then follows a glide to right and then to left bringing the feet together after each slide with a snap and at once changing the weight and extending one leg. During the latter hops and slides one hand is at the waist, the other curved diagonally upward. As the dance progresses the stamping of the feet becomes very snappy, and the dancers whirl and turn, always keeping their faces to the front, and striking their heels sharply together, hopping first to one side and then to another, covering as much distance as possible at each hop. Meantime the music is played more and more rapidly. The dance has military dash and precision.
No. 27. The Komarinskaia.– This dance is composed of an unlimited number of steps from which the dancer chooses what he can. The steps call for great strength and agility and usually only men can do them all, although some of the famous Russian dancers who have attended the Imperial Ballet school seem to accomplish them with great ease. In this dance there is even more stamping of the feet than in the Czardas, the knees are frequently bent and the dancer sits almost on his heels, extending one foot and then the other, springing straight up from the heels to a wide, striding position, in which the entire weight of the body falls on the heels. In the dance they slide and stamp, whirl and shout, until the lookers-on shout their bravoes.
No. 28. The Polonaise:– A Russian dance (it originated in Poland) consisting mainly of a march of the dancers in procession. It is stately and slow and is in great favor at Imperial balls.
No. 20. Caftans.– Coats worn by Russian coachmen.
No. 30. Revolutionist.– A political term signifying one who is dissatisfied with the government of his country and wishes to overthrow it. George Washington and the leaders of our War for Independence were revolutionists. They were dissatisfied with the way King George III ruled his American Colonies, and they arose in revolt against England and established the Republic of the United States of America. In Russia the revolutionists wish to overthrow the despotic government of the Czar.
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