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www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - We are about to relate a story of mingled
fact and fancy. The facts are borrowed from the Russian author,
Petjerski; the fancy is our own. Our task will chiefly be to soften
the outlines of incidents almost too sharp and rugged for literary
use, to supply them with the necessary coloring and sentiment, and to
give a coherent and proportioned shape to the irregular fragments of
an old chronicle. We know something, from other sources, of the
customs described, some-hing of the character of the people from
personal observation, and may therefore the more freely take such
liberties as we choose with the rude, vigorous sketches of the
Russian original. One who happens to have read the work of Villebois
can easily comprehend the existence of a state of society, on the
banks of the Volga, a hundred years ago, which is now impossible, and
will soon become incredible. What is strangest in our narrative has
been declared to be true.
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