But when the Chevalier de Grieux, who had lain two
days near the corpse of his dear Manon, finally began to dig a
grave with the stump of his sword--Liubka burst into sobbing so
that Soloviev became scared and dashed after water. But even
having calmed down a little, she still sobbed for a long time with
her trembling, swollen lips and babbled:
"Ah! Their life was so miserable! What a bitter lot that was! And
is it possible that it's always like that, darling Soloviev; that
just as soon as a man and a woman fall in love with each other, in
just the way they did, then God is sure to punish them? Dearie,
but why is that? Why?"
CHAPTER XVII.
But if the Georgian and the kind-souled Soloviev served as a
palliating beginning against the sharp thorns of great worldly
wisdom, in the curious education of the mind and soul of Liubka;
and if Liubka forgave the pedantism of Lichonin for the sake of a
first sincere and limitless love for him, and forgave just as
willingly as she would have forgiven curses, beatings, or a heavy
crime--the lessons of Simanovsky, on the other hand, were a
downright torture and a constant, prolonged burden for her.
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