![xEn normalised horizontal distance from top of highwall to beginning of
exclusion zone xEn = xE /H
z depth below ground level or foundation level
ze depth of compacted fill in dynamic compaction, or
depth significantly stressed by applied load
A area of sample
A area of impact in dynamic compaction
Ac area of stone columns
Ar area replacement factor for stone columns Ac = Ar At
At total area of treatment
C coefficient in Hazen’s permeability relationship k = C D10
2
CR relative compaction; percentage ratio of in-situ dry density to
maximum dry density in specified laboratory compaction test
CU coefficient of uniformity CU = D60/D10
Cα coefficient of secondary consolidation Cα = ∆h/(h log[t2/t1])
D constrained modulus
Dsec secant constrained modulus
Dsecn normalised secant constrained modulus
Dtan tangent constrained modulus
D* constant equivalent constrained modulus
Dx particle size such that x% by mass is finer
D depth of burial of highwall
Dn normalised depth of burial of highwall Dn = D/H
Dr damping ratio
E Young’s modulus
E total applied energy in dynamic compaction
Fc fines content; percentage of silt and clay size particles
G shear modulus
Gdyn dynamic shear modulus
H height of fill in embankment
H height of highwall
H height of fall of weight in dynamic compaction
ID density index (relative density)
IL liquidity index IL = wL – wP
IP plasticity index IP = (w – wP)/IL
IS index for strength of rock (also I1 and I2, see section 3.2)
Ko coefficient of earth pressure at rest
L length of wall
M mass of weight used in dynamic compaction
N SPT blow count
N total number of impacts in dynamic compaction
N number of blows in MCV test
P point load
Q quality factor
R principal effective stress ratio R = σ'1/σ'3
Sr degree of saturation of a soil; ratio of volume of water to volume of
pores (%)
V volume
Va air voids (%)
VP compression wave velocity
VR Rayleigh wave velocity
VS shear wave velocity
W weight in dynamic compaction
W width of ground over highwall where tilt is not zero
Wn normalised width of ground over highwall where tilt is not zero
Wn = W/H
WE width of exclusion zone over highwall
WEn normalised width of exclusion zone over highwall WEn = WE/H
x Notation](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/86238-250425204020-7456d18f/85/Building-on-Fill-Geotechnical-Aspects-Second-Edition-J-A-Charles-16-320.jpg)
![Once more I read the thick books of Dumas père, Ponson de
Terraille, Montepaine, Zakonier, Gaboriau, and Bourgobier. I
devoured all these books quickly, one after the other, and I was
happy. I felt myself to be part of a life which was out of the ordinary,
which stirred me sweetly and aroused my courage. Once more I
burned my improvised candle, and read all through the night till the
morning, so that my eyes began to hurt me a little. The old mistress
said to me kindly:
"Take care, bookworm. You will spoil your sight and grow blind!"
However, I soon realized that all these interestingly complicated
books, despite the different incidents, and the various countries and
towns about which they were written, had one common theme:
good people made unhappy and oppressed by bad people, the latter
were always more successful and clever than the good, but in the
end something unexpected always overthrowing the wicked, and the
good winning. The "love," of which both men and women spoke in
the same terms, bored me. In fact, it was not only uninteresting to
me, but it aroused a vague contempt.
Sometimes from the very first chapters I began to wonder who
would win or who would be vanquished, and as soon as the course
of the story became clear, I would set myself to unravel the skein of
events by the aid of my own fancy. When I was not reading I was
thinking of the books I had on hand, as one would think about the
problems in an arithmetic. I became more skilful every day in
guessing which of the characters would enter into the paradise of
happiness and which would be utterly confounded.
But through all this I saw the glimmer of living and, to me,
significant truths, the outlines of another life, other standards. It was
clear to me that in Paris the cabmen, working men, soldiers, and all
"black people"[1] were not at all as they were in Nijni, Kazan, or
Perm. They dared to speak to gentlefolk, and behaved toward them
more simply and independently than our people. Here, for example,
was a soldier quite unlike any I had known, unlike Sidorov, unlike the
Viatskian on the boat, and still more unlike Ermokhin. He was more](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/86238-250425204020-7456d18f/85/Building-on-Fill-Geotechnical-Aspects-Second-Edition-J-A-Charles-32-320.jpg)
![[1] The common people.
With every book that I read this dissimilarity between Russian life
and that of other countries stood out more clearly, causing a
perplexed feeling of irritation within me, strengthening my suspicion
of the veracity of the old, well-read pages with their dirty "dogs'-
ears."
And then there fell into my hands Goncourt's novel, "The Brothers
Zemganno." I read it through in one night, and, surprised at the new
experience, read the simple, pathetic story over again. There was
nothing complicated about it, nothing interesting at first sight. In
fact, the first pages seemed dry, like the lives of the saints. Its
language, so precise and stripped of all adornment, was at first an
unpleasant surprise to me; but the paucity of words, the strongly
constructed phrases, went straight to the heart. It so aptly described
the drama of the acrobat brothers that my hands trembled with the
enjoyment of reading the book. I wept bitterly as I read how the
unfortunate artist, with his legs broken, crept up to the loft where
his brother was secretly engaged in his favorite art.
When I returned this glorious book to the tailor's wife I begged her
to give me another one like it.
"How do you mean like that?" she asked, laughing.
This laugh confused me, and I could not explain what I wanted.
Then she said:
"That is a dull book. Just wait! I will give you another more
interesting."
In the course of a day or two she gave me Greenwood's "The True
History of a little Waif." The title of the book at first turned me
against it, but the first pages called up a smile of joy, and still
smiling, I read it from beginning to end, re-reading some of the
pages two or three times.
So in other countries, also, boys lived hard and harassing lives! After
all, I was not so badly off; I need not complain.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/86238-250425204020-7456d18f/85/Building-on-Fill-Geotechnical-Aspects-Second-Edition-J-A-Charles-34-320.jpg)
![And directly after this I laughed till I cried over the "Weeping
Husband." I remembered especially the words of Béranger:
A happy science of life
Is not hard for the simple.
Béranger aroused me to moods of joyfulness, to a desire to be
saucy, and to say something rude to people,—rude, sharp words. In
a very short time I had become proficient in this art. His verses I
learned by heart, and recited them with pleasure to the orderlies,
running into the kitchen, where they sat for a few minutes at a time.
But I soon had to give this up because the lines,
But such a hat is not becoming
To a young girl of seventeen,
gave rise to an offensive conversation about girls that made me
furiously disgusted, and I hit the soldier Ermokhin over the head
with a saucepan. Sidorov and the other orderlies tore me away from
his clumsy hands, but I made up my mind from that time to go no
more to the officers' kitchen.
I was not allowed to walk about the streets. In fact, there was no
time for it, since the work had so increased. Now, in addition to my
usual duties as housemaid, yardman, and errand-boy, I had to nail
calico to wide boards, fasten the plans thereto, and copy calculations
for my master's architectural work. I also had to verify the
contractor's accounts, for my master worked from morning to night,
like a machine.
At that time the public buildings of the Yarmarka[1] were private
property. Rows of shops were built very rapidly, and my master had
the contracts for the reconstruction of old shops and the erection of
new ones. He drew up plans for the rebuilding of vaults, the
throwing out of a dormer-window, and such changes. I took the
plans to an old architect, together with an envelop in which was
hidden paper money to the value of twenty-five rubles. The architect
took the money, and wrote under the plans: "The plans are correct,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/86238-250425204020-7456d18f/85/Building-on-Fill-Geotechnical-Aspects-Second-Edition-J-A-Charles-46-320.jpg)
Building on Fill Geotechnical Aspects Second Edition J. A. Charles
- 1. Building on Fill Geotechnical Aspects Second Edition J. A. Charles download https://ebookultra.com/download/building-on-fill-geotechnical- aspects-second-edition-j-a-charles/ Explore and download more ebooks or textbooks at ebookultra.com
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- 5. Building on Fill Geotechnical Aspects Second Edition J. A. Charles Digital Instant Download Author(s): J. a. Charles ISBN(s): 9781860815096, 186081509X File Details: PDF, 3.61 MB Year: 2010 Language: english
- 7. 2001 Buildingonfill: geotechnicalaspects Second edition J A Charles and K S Watts BRE Centre for Ground Engineering and Remediation BRE Garston, Watford, WD25 9XX constructing the future
- 8. Prices for all available BRE publications can be obtained from: CRC Ltd 151 Rosebery Avenue London, EC1R 4GB Tel: 020 7505 6622 Fax: 020 7505 6606 email: crc@construct.emap.co.uk BR 424 ISBN 1 86081 509 X First published 1993 Second edition 2001 BRE is committed to providing impartial and authoritative information on all aspects of the built environment for clients, designers, contractors, engineers, manufacturers, occupants, etc. We make every effort to ensure the accuracy and quality of information and guidance when it is first published. However, we can take no responsibility for the subsequent use of this information, nor for any errors or omissions it may contain. Published by Construction Research Communications Ltd by permission of Building Research Establishment Ltd Requests to copy any part of this publication should be made to: CRC Ltd PO Box 202 Watford, WD25 9ZW BRE material is also published quarterly on CD Each CD contains BRE material published in the current year, including reports, specialist reports, and the Professional Development publications: Digests, Good Building Guides, Good Repair Guides and Information Papers. The CD collection gives you the opportunity to build a comprehensive library of BRE material at a fraction of the cost of printed copies. As a subscriber you also benefit from a 25% discount on other BRE titles. For more information contact: CRC Customer Services on 020 7505 6622 Construction Research Communications CRC supplies a wide range of building and construction related information products from BRE and other highly respected organisations. Contact: post: CRC Ltd 151 Rosebery Avenue London, EC1R 4GB fax: 020 7505 6606 phone: 020 7505 6622 email: crc@construct.emap.co.uk website: www.constructionplus.co.uk © Copyright BRE 1993, 2001
- 9. iii Foreword to the first edition vi Foreword to the second edition vii Acknowledgements viii Notation ix Abbreviations xii Glossary xiii Part I: Fills in context 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 2 1.1 Historical background 2 1.2 Brownfield sites 3 1.3 Definitions 5 1.4 Scope 5 1.5 Research at BRE 6 Chapter 2 Fill formation and deposits 7 2.1 Opencast mining backfill 7 2.2 Colliery spoil 9 2.3 Pulverised fuel ash 10 2.4 Industrial and chemical wastes 11 2.5 Urban fill 12 2.6 Domestic refuse 12 2.7 Infilled docks, pits and quarries 15 2.8 Hydraulic fill 15 Part II: Engineering behaviour of fills 17 Chapter 3 Properties of fills 19 3.1 Characteristics of fill deposits 20 3.2 Index and classification properties 21 3.3 Compactness 23 3.4 Stiffness and compressibility 25 3.5 Shear strength 30 3.6 Dynamic properties 32 3.7 Permeability 34 (continued) Contents
- 10. Chapter 4 Volume changes in fills 36 4.1 Self-weight of fill 37 4.2 Weight of buildings 39 4.3 Change in ground-water level 42 4.4 Change in moisture content 43 4.5 Decomposition of biodegradable fill 43 4.6 Chemical reactions 45 4.7 Dynamic loading 46 Chapter 5 Collapse compression on wetting 48 5.1 Mechanisms of collapse compression 48 5.2 Laboratory investigations 49 5.3 Field investigations 49 5.4 Magnitude of collapse potential 50 5.5 Time dependency 54 5.6 Identification of collapse potential 54 5.7 Buildings damaged by collapse compression 55 Chapter 6 Boundaries and variable depth 57 6.1 Influence of fill properties 57 6.2 Influence of fill geometry 58 6.3 Vertical highwall 59 6.4 Buried highwall 60 6.5 Long shallow slope 60 6.6 Exclusion zones 61 Part III: Construction on fills 63 Chapter 7 Investigation and monitoring 65 7.1 Historical review 66 7.2 Site reconnaissance 66 7.3 Ground investigation 66 7.4 Laboratory tests 67 7.5 In-situ tests 67 7.6 Load tests 68 7.7 Geophysical tests 69 7.8 Monitoring 70 Chapter 8 Treatment of fills 72 8.1 Dynamic compaction 73 8.2 Vibro techniques 78 8.3 Preloading 84 8.4 Pre-inundation 87 8.5 Other methods 89 Chapter 9 Engineered fill 92 9.1 Types of specification 93 9.2 Site investigation 94 9.3 Fill categories 94 9.4 End product criteria 95 9.5 Site preparation and fill placement 95 9.6 Quality management 97 9.7 Excavation and recompaction 98 Chapter 10 Foundations on fills 100 10.1 Differential movement 100 10.2 Classification of potential movement 102 10.3 Shallow foundations 103 10.4 Deep foundations 104 10.5 Implications of ground chemistry 105 iv
- 11. Part IV: Performance of fills 107 Case histories 107 1 Opencast mining backfill at Corby (A) 108 2 Opencast mining backfill at Corby (B) 109 3 Opencast mining backfill at Corby (C) 114 4 Opencast mining backfill at Horsley, Northumberland 115 5 Opencast mining backfill at Ilkeston 120 6 Opencast mining backfill at Tamworth 122 7 Opencast mining backfill at West Auckland 124 8 Opencast mining backfill near Edinburgh 125 9 Colliery spoil at Coalville (A) 126 10 Colliery spoil at Coalville (B) 128 11 Colliery spoil at Methil 130 12 Lagoon pfa at Peterborough 132 13 Slag bank at Hartlepool 134 14 Urban fill at Greenwich 136 15 Urban fill at Manchester (A) 138 16 Old domestic refuse at Redditch (A) 139 17 Old refuse in the east end of London 142 18 Old domestic refuse at trunk road widening in Hertfordshire 144 19 Old domestic refuse at Redditch (B) 146 20 Old refuse at Liverpool (A) 148 21 Recent domestic refuse landfill at Brogborough 151 22 Recent domestic refuse landfill at Calvert 154 23 Infilled dock at Hull 158 24 Infilled dock at Liverpool (B) 159 25 Clay fill in former gravel pit at Abingdon 161 26 Building wastes at Waterbeach 162 27 Alluvial sand deposit at Manchester (B) 164 28 Urban fill at Bacup 165 Appendices 167 Appendix A Stress distribution below building foundations 167 Appendix B Settlement of foundations calculated using elastic theory 168 Appendix C Delineation of an exclusion zone over a highwall 169 Appendix D Effectiveness of field compaction by impact loading 173 Appendix E Analysis of stone columns under widespread load 175 Appendix F Model specification for engineered fill 178 References 181 v
- 12. One result of the scarcity and cost of good building land is that building development increasingly takes place on sites where there are deep deposits of waste fills. As these fills have considerable economic significance for land values, it may seem surprising that until recently they received relatively little attention from geotechnical engineers. This was not because of an absence of problems; many of the fills are poorly compacted and variable, and their behaviour as foundation materials may be unsatisfactory. However, the heterogeneous nature of many waste fills makes characterisation and analysis difficult, and it is easy to understand why the attention of geotechnical engineers has usually been focused on more promising and better behaved natural soils. Research at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) has attempted to redress the neglect by: ● monitoring field performance at a large number of filled sites with emphasis on long-term observations of settlement; ● characterising fills on the basis of observed field performance, to assist in the selection of appropriate foundation solutions; and ● assessing the effectiveness of various ground-treatment techniques, by field observations at selected sites. This report provides a detailed account of BRE research findings and their significance for appropriate and successful building developments on fill. Part A deals with the engineering behaviour of fills, and Part B examines construction on fills. Brief case histories of field performance are presented in Part C; these mostly describe sites where BRE has made measurements of fill behaviour, but some additional case histories, in which monitoring has been carried out by other parties, are included where necessary to give a more complete picture. (Parts A and B make extensive use of these records.) While the report describes experience with fills in the United Kingdom, it has relevance to similar materials found in many other parts of the world. Field monitoring has shown that in most situations the fill settlement that damages buildings has causes other than the weight of the building. This means that the concept of bearing capacity is not adequate to define the load- carrying characteristics of many fills. Settlements caused by other physical factors, and in some cases by chemical or biological processes, need to be assessed. A particular hazard for poorly compacted partially saturated fills is a reduction in volume which can occur when the fill is first inundated with water. vi Foreword to the first edition
- 13. In the eight years since the first edition was published, the term ‘brownfield’ has come into everyday use and the importance of locating building developments on such sites has been widely accepted. A precise definition of brownfield has yet to find universal agreement, but the basic concept of land adversely affected by previous human activity is clear. The sustainability agenda requires the long-term productive re-use of brownfield land. The problem is that previous usage may have left a wide range of physical, chemical and biological hazards. Three systems which may be at risk in brownfield developments can be identified: the human population, the natural environment and the built environment. Physical problems may include buried foundations and settlement of filled ground. The range of problems associated with chemical contamination is vast and can present an immediate or long-term threat to human health, to plants, to amenity, to construction operations and to buildings and services. Biodegradation of organic matter may lead to the generation of gas. The objective is to build safe, durable and economic structures. The site and the building development form an interactive system and it is important to evaluate the risk of adverse interactions during the lifetime of the development. For many years the redevelopment of derelict land and brownfield sites has been dominated by the hazards associated with contamination and the risks posed to human health. The physical problems have received less attention and it is hoped that this book will help to redress the balance. Although brownfield land is a world-wide phenomenon, the issues are particularly acute for Great Britain, a heavily populated island with a long industrial history. The scale of the problem was illustrated by the size of the £1 billion plus package which was announced in 1996 for the regeneration of major coalfields. Some 910 ha of land were to be reclaimed for residential, commercial and retail uses. Many of these sites will involve building on colliery spoil. This example illustrates how the redevelopment of brownfield sites is closely linked to building on fill, the subject of this book. This second edition of Building on fill: geotechnical aspects updates and expands the first edition which was published in 1993. Three new chapters have been added covering, respectively, collapse compression on wetting, problems associated with a variable depth of fill, and engineered fill. Records of BRE field monitoring have been brought up to date. The book has been reorganised into four parts and five appendices have been added. vii Foreword to the second edition
- 14. The preparation of this fully revised version of the book has been carried out under the DETR Sustainability Business Plan. The approach to the specification on engineered fill, described in Chapter 9 and Appendix F, was developed as part of a study carried out by Halcrow for BRE, and the major contribution made by Mr Neil Trenter is gratefully acknowledged. The assistance of a number of colleagues is also gratefully acknowledged: Miss Hilary Skinner made a substantial contribution to the work on boundary effects and variations in depth of fill, described in Chapter 6 and Appendix C. Dr Paul Tedd has commented on the sections involving ground chemistry, contamination and landfill gas. Mr A P Butcher commented on the section on dynamic properties. Mr R M C Driscoll commented on a complete draft of the book. Acknowledgements to the first edition The research described in this report has been carried out at BRE over the last 20 years, and a number of colleagues have been involved. Most of the field measurements of settlement have been made by D Burford and K S Watts. Geophysical measurements of soil properties have been made by Dr C P Abbiss, who also commented on the sections of the report dealing with dynamic properties. J J M Powell commented on the chapter on investigation and monitoring of fills. Dr R J Collins gave some assistance on chemical aspects of fills. R M C Driscoll and Dr A D M Penman made helpful comments on a complete draft of the report. On a number of sites, observations have been made in collaboration with other organisations, and this is acknowledged in the relevant case histories. viii Acknowledgements
- 15. a length of foundation a coefficient in various empirical relationships b width of foundation, footing or load test b diameter of footing or weight b coefficient in various empirical relationships cu undrained shear strength cv coefficient of consolidation d depth of foundation e voids ratio fs shape and rigidity factor fν Poisson’s ratio factor fd depth factor g acceleration due to gravity g = 9.81 m/s h height of sample i hydraulic gradient k coefficient of permeability or hydraulic conductivity k coefficient in various empirical relationships mv coefficient of compressibility mα ratio mα = sα/si n porosity (%) n number of impacts at any point in dynamic compaction p line load q applied pressure q rate of flow qu compressive strength s settlement sn normalised settlement sn = s/sM sM maximum settlement smax maximum settlement si immediate settlement sα logarithmic creep settlement rate sr settlement reduction factor for stone columns εv = sr εvo where εv is vertical compression in treated ground and εvo is vertical compression in untreated ground (sr = 1 indicates that no improvement in stiffness has resulted from ground treatment) su undrained settlement t time v discharge velocity v = (q/A) w moisture content (%) wopt optimum moisture content (%) wP plastic limit (%) wL liquid limit (%) x horizontal distance xE horizontal distance from top of highwall to beginning of exclusion zone ix Notation
- 16. xEn normalised horizontal distance from top of highwall to beginning of exclusion zone xEn = xE /H z depth below ground level or foundation level ze depth of compacted fill in dynamic compaction, or depth significantly stressed by applied load A area of sample A area of impact in dynamic compaction Ac area of stone columns Ar area replacement factor for stone columns Ac = Ar At At total area of treatment C coefficient in Hazen’s permeability relationship k = C D10 2 CR relative compaction; percentage ratio of in-situ dry density to maximum dry density in specified laboratory compaction test CU coefficient of uniformity CU = D60/D10 Cα coefficient of secondary consolidation Cα = ∆h/(h log[t2/t1]) D constrained modulus Dsec secant constrained modulus Dsecn normalised secant constrained modulus Dtan tangent constrained modulus D* constant equivalent constrained modulus Dx particle size such that x% by mass is finer D depth of burial of highwall Dn normalised depth of burial of highwall Dn = D/H Dr damping ratio E Young’s modulus E total applied energy in dynamic compaction Fc fines content; percentage of silt and clay size particles G shear modulus Gdyn dynamic shear modulus H height of fill in embankment H height of highwall H height of fall of weight in dynamic compaction ID density index (relative density) IL liquidity index IL = wL – wP IP plasticity index IP = (w – wP)/IL IS index for strength of rock (also I1 and I2, see section 3.2) Ko coefficient of earth pressure at rest L length of wall M mass of weight used in dynamic compaction N SPT blow count N total number of impacts in dynamic compaction N number of blows in MCV test P point load Q quality factor R principal effective stress ratio R = σ'1/σ'3 Sr degree of saturation of a soil; ratio of volume of water to volume of pores (%) V volume Va air voids (%) VP compression wave velocity VR Rayleigh wave velocity VS shear wave velocity W weight in dynamic compaction W width of ground over highwall where tilt is not zero Wn normalised width of ground over highwall where tilt is not zero Wn = W/H WE width of exclusion zone over highwall WEn normalised width of exclusion zone over highwall WEn = WE/H x Notation
- 17. α tilt α logarithmic creep compression rate parameter αb logarithmic compression rate parameter describing reduction in volume due to biodegradation in biodegradable fill αc logarithmic compression rate parameter describing reduction in volume due to physical creep in biodegradable fill β angle of highwall to horizontal δ angle of friction at fill/pile interface or fill/highwall interface ε strain εv vertical strain εvo vertical strain induced in untreated fill γ limit angle over highwall γ unit weight γd dry unit weight γw unit weight of water ν Poisson’s ratio φ' effective angle of shearing resistance φ'cv constant volume angle of shearing resistance ρ bulk density ρd dry density ρdmax maximum dry density ρdmin minimum dry density ρs particle density ρw density of water ρw = 1.0 Mg/m3 σ stress σv vertical stress σ' effective stress σ'1 major principal effective stress σ'3 minor principal effective stress ∆ relative deflection — maximum vertical displacement relative to the straight line connecting two points Notation xi
- 18. AOD Above Ordnance Datum ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers ASTM American Society for Testing Materials BRE Building Research Establishment BS British Standard BSI British Standards Institution CBR California bearing ratio CIRIA Construction Industry Research and Information Association CPT cone penetration test CSW continuous surface wave method DD Draft for Development DMT flat dilatometer test DP dynamic probing EN European Standard ENV European Pre-standard ICRCL Interdepartmental Committee on the Redevelopment of Contaminated Land MCV moisture condition value MPM Menard pressuremeter NCB National Coal Board (subsequently British Coal) NHBC National House Building Council OD Ordnance Datum pfa pulverised fuel ash PMT pressuremeter SASW spectral analysis of surface waves SBP self-boring pressuremeter SPT standard penetration test TRL Transport Research Laboratory UK United Kingdom USA United States of America xii Abbreviations
- 19. allowable bearing pressure The maximum allowable net loading intensity at the base of the foundation, taking into account the ultimate bearing capacity and required margin against failure, the amount and kind of settlement expected and the ability of the structure to accommodate this settlement. angular distortion The ratio of the differential settlement (δs) between two points and the distance (L) between them, relative to the tilt. backfill Material that has been used to fill an excavation or placed behind a retaining wall. band drain A type of prefabricated vertical drain usually consisting of a plastic core surrounded by a geotextile sleeve; the core provides a flow path along the drain and supports the sleeve which in turn acts as a filter separating the core and its flow channels from the soil. bioconsolidation Reduction in volume of domestic refuse fills due to biodegradation. biodegradation Biological degradation; much of the organic constituents of domestic refuse fills is biodegradable. brownfield land Land that has been previously developed, including derelict land. coarse soils Gravels and sands are coarse soils; the term is applied to soils with more than about 65% of sand and gravel sizes. collapse compression In this phenomenon a partially saturated soil undergoes a reduction in volume that is attributable to an increase in moisture content without there necessarily being any increase in applied stress. colliery spoil Waste from the deep mining of coal. compaction The process of densifying soils by some mechanical means such as rolling, ramming or vibration to reduce the volume of voids. cone penetrometer This in-situ testing device comprises a cone, a friction sleeve, any other sensors and measuring systems, as well as connections to push rods. cone pressuremeter This in-situ testing device consists of a pressuremeter module mounted behind a cone penetrometer. consolidation The process of densifying soils by increasing the effective stress using some form of static loading; consolidation of a saturated clay soil is a time-dependent process which results from the slow expulsion of water from the soil pores. constrained modulus The ratio of vertical stress to vertical strain in confined compression. contaminated land Land that contains substances that, when present in sufficient quantities or concentrations, are likely to cause harm, directly or indirectly, to man, to the natural environment or to the built environment. creep compression Compression which occurs under constant effective stress. cross-hole tomography This common form of seismic velocity tomography is carried out from two boreholes. deflection ratio The maximum vertical displacement (∆) relative to the straight line connecting two points divided by the length between the two points (L). xiii Glossary
- 20. density index The degree of packing in coarse soils, such as sand and gravel, can be described by the density index, ID, which relates the in-situ density of a granular fill to the limiting conditions of maximum density and minimum density; sometimes known as relative density. derelict land Land that has been so damaged by industry, mining and urban development that it can no longer be put to beneficial use without treatment. dynamic compaction A ground treatment method in which deep compaction is effected by repeatedly dropping a heavy weight onto the ground surface from a great height. earthfill Fill composed of natural soil materials such as sand, silt and clay. engineered fill Fill which is selected, placed and compacted to an appropriate specification, so it will exhibit the required engineering behaviour. exclusion zone An area of ground where building development is not permitted because of perceived hazard such as excessive differential settlement. fill Ground that has been formed by material deposited through human activity rather than geological processes; it is sometimes referred to as made ground. fine soils Clays and silts are fine soils; the term is applied to soils with more than about 35% of silt and clay sizes. foundation That part of a structure designed and constructed to be in direct contact with, and transmitting loads to, the ground. foundation fill Fill material that supports a building or other type of structure. geogrid A type of geosynthetic with a planar structure formed by a network of tensile elements with apertures of sufficient size to allow interlocking with the surrounding ground. geosynthetic A generic term for civil engineering materials such as geotextiles, geogrids, geomembranes and geocomposites that are used to modify or improve ground behaviour. ground treatment The controlled alteration of the state, nature or mass behaviour of ground materials in order to achieve an intended satisfactory response to existing or projected environmental and engineering actions. hardcore A limited amount of selected fill put down as infill within the foundations of a building unit or beneath an oversite concrete slab. hazard A situation which in certain circumstances could lead to harm to the human population, the built environment or the natural environment. heave Upward displacement of the ground. highwall A steep excavation slope at the deep end of an opencast mining excavation. hogging The mode of deformation of a foundation or beam undergoing upward bending — the opposite of sagging. kentledge A form of dead-weight loading providing a reaction over a jack or directly loading a plate in a large-scale load test; it may be concrete blocks, scrap metal, containers filled with sand or water, or any other convenient material. landfill This expression is often used specifically to describe domestic refuse. limit angle The angle measured from the horizontal defining the extent of the ground affected by differential settlement over a highwall. It is similar to the angle used to define the subsidence trough caused by tunnelling or mining. liquefaction In this phenomenon a saturated sandy soil loses shear strength due to an increase in pore pressure. low-rise buildings Buildings not more than three storeys in height. made ground See fill. magnet extensometer A device which can be installed in a borehole to monitor settlement at depth; it consists of a series of ring magnets anchored to the borehole wall and connected by plastics tubing; the position of the magnets can be located using a reed switch sensor. xiv Glossary
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- 22. order a good paper, and you can read that." And so in the evenings, from tea-time till supper-time, I read aloud to my employers "The Moscow Gazette," the novels of Bashkov, Rokshnin, Rudinskovski, and other literature, for the nourishment of people who suffered from deadly dullness. I did not like reading aloud, for it hindered me from understanding what I read. But my employers listened attentively, with a sort of reverential eagerness, sighing, amazed at the villainy of the heroes, and saying proudly to one another: "And we live so quietly, so peacefully; we know nothing of such things, thank God!" They mixed up the incidents, ascribed the deeds of the famous brigand Churkin to the post-boy Thoma Kruchin, and mixed the names. When I corrected their mistakes they were surprised. "What a memory he has!" Occasionally the poems of Leonide Grave appeared in "The Moscow Gazette." I was delighted with them. I copied several of them into a note-book, but my employers said of the poet: "He is an old man, you know; so he writes poetry." "A drunkard or an imbecile, it is all the same." I liked the poetry of Strujkin, and the Count Memento Mori, but both the women said the verses were clumsy. "Only the Petrushki or actors talk in verse." It was a hard life for me on winter evenings, under the eyes of my employers, in that close, small room. The dead night lay outside the window, now and again the ice cracked. The others sat at the table in silence, like frozen fish. A snow-storm would rattle the windows and beat against the walls, howl down the chimney, and shake the flue-plate. The children cried in the nursery. I wanted to sit by myself in a dark corner and howl like a wolf.
- 23. At one end of the table sat the women, knitting socks or sewing. At the other sat Victorushka, stooping, copying plans unwillingly, and from time to time calling out: "Don't shake the table! Goats, dogs, mice!" At the side, behind an enormous embroidery-frame, sat the master, sewing a tablecloth in cross-stitch. Under his fingers appeared red lobsters, blue fish, yellow butterflies, and red autumn leaves. He had made the design himself, and had sat at the work for three winters. He had grown very tired of it, and often said to me in the daytime, when I had some spare time: "Come along, Pyeshkov; sit down to the tablecloth and do some of it!" I sat down, and began to work with the thick needle. I was sorry for my master, and always did my best to help him. I had an idea that one day he would give up drawing plans, sewing, and playing at cards, and begin doing something quite different, something interesting, about which he often thought, throwing his work aside and gazing at it with fixed, amazed eyes, as at something unfamiliar to him. His hair fell over his forehead and cheeks; he looked like a laybrother in a monastery. "What are you thinking of?" his wife would ask him. "Nothing in particular," he would reply, returning to his work. I listened in dumb amazement. Fancy asking a man what he was thinking of. It was a question which could not be answered. One's thoughts were always sudden and many, about all that passed before one's eyes, of what one saw yesterday or a year ago. It was all mixed up together, elusive, constantly moving and changing. The serial in "The Moscow Gazette" was not enough to last the evening, and I went on to read the journals which were put away under the bed in the bedroom. The young mistress asked suspiciously: "What do you find to read there? It is all pictures."
- 24. But under the bed, besides the "Painting Review," lay also "Flames," and so we read "Count Tyatin-Baltiski," by Saliass. The master took a great fancy to the eccentric hero of the story, and laughed mercilessly, till the tears ran down his cheeks, at the melancholy adventures of the hero, crying: "Really, that is most amusing!" "Piffle!" said the mistress to show her independence of mind. The literature under the bed did me a great service. Through it, I had obtained the right to read the papers in the kitchen, and thus made it possible to read at night. To my joy, the old woman went to sleep in the nursery for the nurse had a drunken fit. Victorushka did not interfere with me. As soon as the household was asleep, he dressed himself quietly, and disappeared somewhere till morning. I was not allowed to have a light, for they took the candles into the bedrooms, and I had no money to buy them for myself; so I began to collect the tallow from the candlesticks on the quiet, and put it in a sardine tin, into which I also poured lamp oil, and, making a wick with some thread, was able to make a smoky light. This I put on the stove for the night. When I turned the pages of the great volumes, the bright red tongue of flame quivered agitatedly, the wick was drowned in the burning, evil-smelling fat, and the smoke made my eyes smart. But all this unpleasantness was swallowed up in the enjoyment with which I looked at the illustrations and read the description of them. These illustrations opened up before me a world which increased daily in breadth—a world adorned with towns, just like the towns of story-land. They showed me lofty hills and lovely seashores. Life developed wonderfully for me. The earth became more fascinating, rich in people, abounding in towns and all kinds of things. Now when I gazed into the distance beyond the Volga, I knew that it was not space which lay beyond, but before that, when I had looked, it used to make me feel oddly miserable. The meadows lay flat, bushes grew in clumps, and where the meadows ended, rose the indented
- 25. black wall of the forest. Above the meadows it was dull, cold blue. The earth seemed an empty, solitary place. And my heart also was empty. A gentle sorrow nipped it; all desires had departed, and I thought of nothing. All I wanted was to shut my eyes. This melancholy emptiness promised me nothing, and sucked out of my heart all that there was in it. The description of the illustrations told me in language which I could understand about other countries, other peoples. It spoke of various incidents of the past and present, but there was a lot which I did not understand, and that worried me. Sometimes strange words stuck in my brain, like "metaphysics," "chiliasm," "chartist." They were a source of great anxiety to me, and seemed to grow into monsters obstructing my vision. I thought that I should never understand anything. I did not succeed in finding out the meaning of those words. In fact, they stood like sentries on the threshold of all secret knowledge. Often whole phrases stuck in my memory for a long time, like a splinter in my finger, and hindered me from thinking of anything else. I remembered reading these strange verses: "All clad in steel, through the unpeopled land, Silent and gloomy as the grave, Rides the Czar of the Huns, Attilla. Behind him comes a black mass of warriors, crying, 'Where, then, is Rome; where is Rome the mighty?'" That Rome was a city, I knew; but who on earth were the Huns? I simply had to find that out. Choosing a propitious moment, I asked my master. "The Huns?" he cried in amazement. "The devil knows who they are. Some trash, I expect." And shaking his head disapprovingly, he said: "That head of yours is full of nonsense. That is very bad, Pyeshkov." Bad or good, I wanted to know.
- 26. I had an idea that the regimental chaplain, Soloviev, ought to know who the Huns were, and when I caught him in the yard, I asked him. The pale, sickly, always disagreeable man, with red eyes, no eyebrows, and a yellow beard, pushing his black staff into the earth, said to me: "And what is that to do with you, eh?" Lieutenant Nesterov answered my question by a ferocious: "What-a-t?" Then I concluded that the right person to ask about the Huns was the dispenser at the chemist's. He always looked at me kindly. He had a clever face, and gold glasses on his large nose. "The Huns," said the dispenser, "were a nomad race, like the people of Khirgiz. There are no more of these people now. They are all dead." I felt sad and vexed, not because the Huns were dead, but because the meaning of the word that had worried me for so long was quite simple, and was also of no use to me. But I was grateful to the Huns after my collision with the word ceased to worry me so much, and thanks to Attilla, I made the acquaintance of the dispenser Goldberg. This man knew the literal meaning of all words of wisdom. He had the keys to all knowledge. Setting his glasses straight with two fingers, he looked fixedly into my eyes and said, as if he were driving small nails into my forehead: "Words, my dear boy, are like leaves on a tree. If we want to find out why the leaves take one form instead of another, we must learn how the tree grows. We must study books, my dear boy. Men are like a good garden in which everything grows, both pleasant and profitable." I often had to run to the chemist's for soda-water and magnesia for the adults of the family, who were continually suffering from
- 27. heartburn, and for castor-oil and purgatives for the children. The short instructions which the dispenser gave me instilled into my mind a still deeper regard for books. They gradually became as necessary to me as vodka to the drunkard. They showed me a new life, a life of noble sentiments and strong desires which incite people to deeds of heroism and crimes. I saw that the people about me were fitted for neither heroism nor crime. They lived apart from everything that I read about in books, and it was hard to imagine what they found interesting in their lives. I had no desire to live such a life. I was quite decided on that point. I would not. From the letterpress which accompanied the drawings I had learned that in Prague, London, and Paris there are no open drains in the middle of the city, or dirty gulleys choked with refuse. There were straight, broad streets, and different kinds of houses and churches. There they did not have a six-months-long winter, which shuts people up in their houses, and no great fast, when only fermenting cabbage, pickled mushrooms, oatmeal, and potatoes cooked in disgusting vegetable oil can be eaten. During the great fast books are forbidden, and they took away the "Review of Painting" from me, and that empty, meager life again closed about me. Now that I could compare it with the life pictured in books, it seemed more wretched and ugly than ever. When I could read I felt well and strong; I worked well and quickly, and had an object in life. The sooner I was finished, the more time I should have for reading. Deprived of books, I became lazy, and drowsy, and became a victim to forgetfulness, to which I had been a stranger before. I remember that even during those dull days something mysterious happened. One evening when we had all gone to bed the bell of the cathedral suddenly rang out, arousing every one in the house at once. Half-dressed people rushed to the windows, asking one another: "Is it a fire? Is that the alarm-bell?"
- 28. In the other flats one could hear the same bustle going on. Doors slammed; some one ran across the yard with a horse ready saddled. The old mistress shrieked that the cathedral had been robbed, but the master stopped her. "Not so loud, Mamasha! Can't you hear that that is not an alarm- bell?" "Then the archbishop is dead." Victorushka climbed down from the loft, dressed himself, and muttered: "I know what has happened. I know!" The master sent me to the attic to see if the sky was red. I ran up- stairs and climbed to the roof through the dormer-window. There was no red light in the sky. The bell tolled slowly in the quiet frosty air. The town lay sleepily on the earth. In the darkness invisible people ran about, scrunching the snow under their feet. Sledges squealed, and the bell wailed ominously. I returned to the sitting- room. "There is no red light in the sky." "Foo, you! Good gracious!" said the master, who had on his greatcoat and cap. He pulled up his collar and began to put his feet into his goloshes undecidedly. The mistress begged him: "Don't go out! Don't go out!" "Rubbish!" Victorushka, who was also dressed, teased them all. "I know what has happened." When the brothers went out into the street the women, having sent me to get the samovar ready, rushed to the window. But the master rang the street door-bell almost directly, ran up the steps silently, shut the door, and said thickly:
- 29. "The Czar has been murdered!" "How murdered?" exclaimed the old lady. "He has been murdered. An officer told me so. What will happen now?" Victorushka rang, and as he unwillingly took off his coat said angrily: "And I thought it was war!" Then they all sat down to drink tea, and talked together calmly, but in low voices and cautiously. The streets were quiet now, the bells had given up tolling. For two days they whispered together mysteriously, and went to and fro. People also came to see them, and related some event in detail. I tried hard to understand what had happened, but they hid the newspapers from me. When I asked Sidorov why they had killed the Czar he answered, softly: "It is forbidden to speak of it." But all this soon wore away. The old empty life was resumed, and I soon had a very unpleasant experience. On one of those Sundays when the household had gone to early mass I set the samovar ready and turned my attention to tidying the rooms. While I was so occupied the eldest child rushed into the kitchen, removed the tap from the samovar, and set himself under the table to play with it. There was a lot of charcoal in the pipe of the samovar, and when the water had all trickled away from it, it came unsoldered. While I was doing the other rooms, I heard an unusual noise. Going into the kitchen, I saw with horror that the samovar was all blue. It was shaking, as if it wanted to jump from the floor. The broken handle of the tap was drooping miserably, the lid was all on one side, the pewter was melted and running away drop by drop. In fact the purplish blue samovar looked as if it had drunken shivers. I poured water over it. It hissed, and sank sadly in ruins on the floor. The front door-bell rang. I went to open the door. In answer to the old lady's question as to whether the samovar was ready, I replied
- 30. briefly: "Yes; it is ready." These words, spoken, of course, in my confusion and terror, were taken for insolence. My punishment was doubled. They half killed me. The old lady beat me with a bunch of fir-twigs, which did not hurt much, but left under the skin of my back a great many splinters, driven in deeply. Before night my back was swollen like a pillow, and by noon the next day the master was obliged to take me to the hospital. When the doctor, comically tall and thin, examined me, he said in a calm, dull voice: "This is a case of cruelty which will have to be investigated." My master blushed, shuffled his feet, and said something in a low voice to the doctor, who looked over his head and said shortly: "I can't. It is impossible." Then he asked me: "Do you want to make a complaint?" I was in great pain, but I said: "No, make haste and cure me." They took me into another room, laid me on a table, and the doctor pulled out the splinters with pleasantly cold pincers. He said, jestingly: "They have decorated your skin beautifully, my friend; now you will be waterproof." When he had finished his work of pricking me unmercifully, he said: "Forty-two splinters have been taken out, my friend. Remember that. It is something to boast of! Come back at the same time to-morrow to have the dressing replaced. Do they often beat you?" I thought for a moment, then said:
- 31. "Not so often as they used to." The doctor burst into a hoarse laugh. "It is all for the best, my friend, all for the best." When he took me back to my master he said to him: "I hand him over to you; he is repaired. Bring him back to-morrow without fail. I congratulate you. He is a comical fellow you have there." When we were in the cab my master said to me: "They used to beat me too, Pyeshkov. What do you think of that? They did beat me, my lad! And you have me to pity you; but I had no one, no one. People are very hard everywhere; but one gets no pity—no, not from any one. Ekh! Wild fowl!" He grumbled all the way home. I was very sorry for him, and grateful to him for treating me like a man. They welcomed me at the house as if it had been my name-day. The women insisted on hearing in detail how the doctor had treated me and what he had said. They listened and sighed, then kissed me tenderly, wrinkling their brows. This intense interest in illness, pain, and all kinds of unpleasantness always amazed me. I saw that they were pleased with me for not complaining of them, and I took advantage of the moment to ask if I might have some books from the tailor's wife. They did not have the heart to refuse me. Only the old lady cried in surprise: "What a demon he is!" The next day I stood before the tailor's wife, who said to me kindly: "They told me that you were ill, and that you had been taken to hospital. You see what stories get about." I was silent. I was ashamed to tell her the truth. Why should she know of such sad and coarse things? It was nice to think that she was different from other people.
- 32. Once more I read the thick books of Dumas père, Ponson de Terraille, Montepaine, Zakonier, Gaboriau, and Bourgobier. I devoured all these books quickly, one after the other, and I was happy. I felt myself to be part of a life which was out of the ordinary, which stirred me sweetly and aroused my courage. Once more I burned my improvised candle, and read all through the night till the morning, so that my eyes began to hurt me a little. The old mistress said to me kindly: "Take care, bookworm. You will spoil your sight and grow blind!" However, I soon realized that all these interestingly complicated books, despite the different incidents, and the various countries and towns about which they were written, had one common theme: good people made unhappy and oppressed by bad people, the latter were always more successful and clever than the good, but in the end something unexpected always overthrowing the wicked, and the good winning. The "love," of which both men and women spoke in the same terms, bored me. In fact, it was not only uninteresting to me, but it aroused a vague contempt. Sometimes from the very first chapters I began to wonder who would win or who would be vanquished, and as soon as the course of the story became clear, I would set myself to unravel the skein of events by the aid of my own fancy. When I was not reading I was thinking of the books I had on hand, as one would think about the problems in an arithmetic. I became more skilful every day in guessing which of the characters would enter into the paradise of happiness and which would be utterly confounded. But through all this I saw the glimmer of living and, to me, significant truths, the outlines of another life, other standards. It was clear to me that in Paris the cabmen, working men, soldiers, and all "black people"[1] were not at all as they were in Nijni, Kazan, or Perm. They dared to speak to gentlefolk, and behaved toward them more simply and independently than our people. Here, for example, was a soldier quite unlike any I had known, unlike Sidorov, unlike the Viatskian on the boat, and still more unlike Ermokhin. He was more
- 33. human than any of these. He had something of Smouri about him, but he was not so savage and coarse. Here was a shopkeeper, but he was much better than any of the shopkeepers I had known. And the priests in books were not like the priests I knew. They had more feeling, and seemed to enter more into the lives of their flocks. And in general it seemed to me that life abroad, as it appeared in books, was more interesting, easier, better than the life I knew. Abroad, people did not behave so brutally. They never jeered at other human creatures as cruelly as the Viatskian soldier had been jeered at, nor prayed to God as importunately as the old mistress did. What I noticed particularly was that, when villains, misers, and low characters were depicted in books, they did not show that incomprehensible cruelty, that inclination to jeer at humanity, with which I was acquainted, and which was often brought to my notice. There was method in the cruelty of these bookish villains. One could almost always understand why they were cruel; but the cruelty which I witnessed was aimless, senseless, an amusement from which no one expected to gain any advantage.
- 34. [1] The common people. With every book that I read this dissimilarity between Russian life and that of other countries stood out more clearly, causing a perplexed feeling of irritation within me, strengthening my suspicion of the veracity of the old, well-read pages with their dirty "dogs'- ears." And then there fell into my hands Goncourt's novel, "The Brothers Zemganno." I read it through in one night, and, surprised at the new experience, read the simple, pathetic story over again. There was nothing complicated about it, nothing interesting at first sight. In fact, the first pages seemed dry, like the lives of the saints. Its language, so precise and stripped of all adornment, was at first an unpleasant surprise to me; but the paucity of words, the strongly constructed phrases, went straight to the heart. It so aptly described the drama of the acrobat brothers that my hands trembled with the enjoyment of reading the book. I wept bitterly as I read how the unfortunate artist, with his legs broken, crept up to the loft where his brother was secretly engaged in his favorite art. When I returned this glorious book to the tailor's wife I begged her to give me another one like it. "How do you mean like that?" she asked, laughing. This laugh confused me, and I could not explain what I wanted. Then she said: "That is a dull book. Just wait! I will give you another more interesting." In the course of a day or two she gave me Greenwood's "The True History of a little Waif." The title of the book at first turned me against it, but the first pages called up a smile of joy, and still smiling, I read it from beginning to end, re-reading some of the pages two or three times. So in other countries, also, boys lived hard and harassing lives! After all, I was not so badly off; I need not complain.
- 35. Greenwood gave me a lot of courage, and soon after that I was given a "real" book, "Eugénie Grandet." Old Grandet reminded me vividly of grandfather. I was annoyed that the book was so small, and surprised at the amount of truth it contained. Truths which were familiar and boring to me in life were shown to me in a different light in this book, without malice and quite calmly. All the books which I had read before Greenwood's, condemned people as severely and noisily as my employers did, often arousing my sympathy for the villain and a feeling of irritation with the good people. I was always sorry to see that despite enormous expenditure of intelligence and willpower, a man still failed to obtain his desires. The good characters stood awaiting events from first to last page, as immovable as stone pillars, and although all kinds of evil plots were formed against these stone pillars, stones do not arouse sympathy. No matter how beautiful and strong a wall may be, one does not love it if one wants to get the apple on the tree on the other side of it. It always seemed to me that all that was most worth having, and vigorous was hidden behind the "good" people. In Goncourt, Greenwood, and Balzac there were no villains, but just simple people, wonderfully alive. One could not doubt that, whatever they were alleged to have said and done, they really did say and do, and they could not have said and done anything else. In this fashion I learned to understand what a great treat a "good and proper" book can be. But how to find it? The tailor's wife could not help me in this. "Here is a good book," she said, laying before me Arsène Huissier's "Hands full of Roses, Gold, and Blood." She also gave me the novels of Beyle, Paul de Kock and Paul Féval, and I read them all with relish. She liked the novels of Mariette and Vernier, which to me appeared dull. I did not care for Spielhagen, but I was much taken with the stories of Auerbach. Sue and Huga, also, I did not like, preferring Walter Scott. I wanted books which excited me, and made me feel happy, like wonderful Balzac.
- 36. I did not care for the porcelain woman as much as I had done at first. When I went to see her, I put on a clean shirt, brushed my hair, and tried to appear good-looking. In this I was hardly successful. I always hoped that, seeing my good looks, she would speak to me in a simple and friendly manner, without that hsh-like smile on her frivolous face. But all she did was to smile and ask me in her sweet, tired voice: "Have you read it? Did you like it?" "No." Slightly raising her eyebrows, she looked at me, and, drawing in her breath, spoke through her nose. "But why?" "I have read about all that before." "Above what?" "About love." Her eyes twinkled, as she burst out into her honeyed laugh. "Ach, but you see all books are written about love!" Sitting in a big arm-chair, she swung her small feet, incased in fur slippers, to and fro, yawned, wrapped her blue dressing-gown around her, and drummed with her pink fingers on the cover of the book on her knee. I wanted to say to her: "Why don't you leave this flat? The officers write letters to you, and laugh at you." But I had not the audacity to say this, and went away, bearing with me a thick book on "Love," a sad sense of disenchantment in my heart. They talked about this woman in the yard more evilly, derisively, and spitefully than ever. It offended me to hear these foul and, no doubt, lying stories. When I was away from her, I pitied the woman, and suffered for her; but when I was with her, and saw her small, sharp
- 37. eyes, the cat-like flexibility of her small body, and that always frivolous face, pity and fear disappeared, vanished like smoke. In the spring she suddenly went away, and in a few days her husband moved to new quarters. While the rooms stood empty, awaiting a new tenant, I went to look at the bare walls, with their square patches where pictures had hung, bent nails, and wounds made by nails. Strewn about the stained floor were pieces of different-colored cloth, balls of paper, broken boxes from the chemist, empty scent-bottles. A large brass pin gleamed in one spot. All at once I felt sad and wished that I could see the tailor's little wife once more to tell her how grateful I was to her. CHAPTER X Before the departure of the tailor's wife there had come to live under the flat occupied by my employers a black-eyed young lady, with her little girl and her mother, a gray-haired old woman, everlastingly smoking cigarettes in an amber mouthpiece. The young lady was very beautiful, imperious, and proud. She spoke in a pleasant, deep voice. She looked at every one with head held high and unblinking eyes, as if they were all far away from her, and she could hardly see them. Nearly every day her black soldier-servant, Tuphyaev, brought a thin-legged, brown horse to the steps of her flat. The lady came out in a long, steel-colored, velvet dress, wearing white gauntleted gloves and tan boots. Holding the train of her skirt and a whip with a lilac-colored stone in its handle in one hand, with the other little hand she lovingly stroked the horse's muzzle. He fixed his great eyes upon her, trembling all over, and softly trampled the soaked ground under his hoofs.
- 38. "Robaire, Robaire," she said in a low voice, and patted the beautiful, arched neck of the steed with a firm hand. Then setting her foot on the knee of Tuphyaev, she sprang lightly into the saddle, and the horse, prancing proudly, went through the gateway. She sat in the saddle as easily as if she were part of it. She was beautiful with that rare kind of beauty which always seems new and wonderful, and always fills the heart with an intoxicating joy. When I looked at her I thought that Diana of Poitiers, Queen Margot, the maiden La Vallière, and other beauties, heroines of historical novels, were like her. She was constantly surrounded by the officers of the division which was stationed in the town, and in the evenings they used to visit her, and play the piano, violin, guitar, and dance and sing. The most frequent of her visitors was Major Olessov, who revolved about her on his short legs, stout, red-faced, gray-haired, and as greasy as an engineer on a steamboat. He played the guitar well, and bore himself as the humble, devoted servant of the lady. As radiantly beautiful as her mother was the little five-year-old, curly-haired, chubby girl. Her great, dark-blue eyes looked about her gravely, calmly expectant, and there was an air of thoughtfulness about her which was not at all childish. Her grandmother was occupied with housekeeping from morning to night, with the help of Tuphyaev, a morose, taciturn man, and a fat, cross-eyed housemaid. There was no nursemaid, and the little girl lived almost without any notice being taken of her, playing about all day on the front steps or on a heap of planks near them. I often went out to play with her in the evenings, for I was very fond of her. She soon became used to me, and would fall asleep in my arms while I was telling her a story. When this happened, I used to carry her to bed. Before long it came about that she would not go to sleep, when she was put to bed, unless I went to say good night to her. When I went to her, she would hold out her plump hand with a grand air and say:
- 39. "Good-by till to-morrow. Grandmother, how ought I to say it?" "God preserve you!" said the grandmother, blowing a cloud of dark- blue smoke from her mouth and thin nose. "God preserve you till to-morrow! And now I am going to sleep," said the little girl, rolling herself up in the bedclothes, which were trimmed with lace. The grandmother corrected her. "Not till to-morrow, but for always." "But does n't to-morrow mean for always?" She loved the word "to-morrow," and whatever pleased her specially she carried forward into the future. She would stick into the ground flowers that had been plucked or branches that had been broken by the wind, and say: "To-morrow this will be a garden." "To-morrow, some time, I shall buy myself a horse, and ride on horseback like mother." She was a clever child, but not very lively, and would often break off in the midst of a merry game to become thoughtful, or ask unexpectedly: "Why do priests have hair like women?" If she stung herself with nettles, she would shake her finger at them, saying: "You wait! I shall pray God to do something vewy bady to you. God can do bad things to every one; He can even punish mama." Sometimes a soft, serious melancholy descended upon her. She would press close to me, gazing up at the sky with her blue, expectant eyes, and say: "Sometimes grandmother is cross, but mama never; she on'y laughs. Every one loves her, because she never has any time. People are
- 40. always coming to see her and to look at her because she is so beautiful. She is 'ovely, mama is. 'Oseph says so—'ovely!" I loved to listen to her, for she spoke of a world of which I knew nothing. She spoke willingly and often about her mother, and a new life gradually opened out before me. I was again reminded of Queen Margot, which deepened my faith in books and also my interest in life. One day when I was sitting on the steps waiting for my people, who had gone for a walk, and the little girl had dozed off in my arms, her mother rode up on horseback, sprang lightly to the ground, and, throwing back her head, asked: "What, is she asleep?" "Yes." "That's right." The soldier Tuphyaev came running to her and took the horse. She stuck her whip into her belt and, holding out her arms, said: "Give her to me!" "I'll carry her in myself." "Come on!" cried the lady, as if I had been a horse, and she stamped her foot on the step. The little girl woke up, blinking, and, seeing her mother, held out her arms to her. They went away. I was used to being shouted at, but I did not like this lady to shout at me. She had only to give an order quietly, and every one obeyed her. In a few minutes the cross-eyed maid came out for me. The little girl was naughty, and would not go to sleep without saying good night. It was not without pride in my bearing toward the mother that I entered the drawing-room, where the little girl was sitting on the knees of her mother, who was deftly undressing her. "Here he is," she said. "He has come—this monster."
- 41. "He is not a monster, but my boy." "Really? Very good. Well, you would like to give something to your boy, would n't you?" "Yes, I should." "A good idea! I will see to it, and you will go to bed." "Good-by till to-morrow," said the little girl, holding out her hand to me. "God preserve you till to-morrow!" The lady exclaimed in surprise: "Who taught you to say that? Grandmother?" "Ye-es." When the child had left the room the lady beckoned to me. "What shall we give you?" I told her that I did not want anything; but could she let me have a book to read? She lifted my chin with her warm, scented fingers, and asked, with a pleasant smile: "So you are fond of reading? Yes; what books have you read?" When she smiled she looked more beautiful than ever. I confusedly told her the names of several books. "What did you find to like in them?" she asked, laying her hand on the table and moving her fingers slightly. A strong, sweet smell of some sort of flowers came from her, mixed with the odor of horse-sweat. She looked at me through her long eyelashes, thoughtfully grave. No one had ever looked at me like that before. The room was packed as tightly as a bird's nest with beautiful, soft furniture. The windows were covered with thick green curtains; the snowy white tiles of the stove gleamed in the half-light; beside the stove shone the glossy surface of a black piano; and from the walls,
- 42. in dull-gold frames, looked dark writings in large Russian characters. Under each writing hung a large dark seal by a cord. Everything about her looked at that woman as humbly and timidly as I did. I explained to her as well as I could that my life was hard and uninteresting and that reading helped me to forget it. "Yes; so that's what it is," she said, standing up. "It is not a bad idea, and, in fact, it is quite right. Well, what shall we do? I will get some books for you, but just now I have none. But wait! You can have this one." She took a tattered book with a yellow cover from the couch. "When you have read this I will give you the second volume; there are four." I went away with the "Secrets of Peterburg," by Prince Meshtcheski, and began to read the book with great attention. But before I had read many pages I saw that the Peterburgian "secrets" were considerably less interesting than those of Madrid, London, or Paris. The only part which took my fancy was the fable of Svoboda (Liberty) and Palka (stick). "I am your superior," said Svoboda, "because I am cleverer." But Palka answered her: "No, it is I who am your superior, because I am stronger than you." They disputed and disputed and fought about it. Palka beat Svoboda, and, if I remember rightly, Svoboda died in the hospital as the result of her injuries. There was some talk of nihilists in this book. I remember that, according to Prince Meshtcheski, a nihilist was such a poisonous person that his very glance would kill a fowl. What he wrote about nihilists struck me as being offensive and rude, but I understood nothing else, and fell into a state of melancholy. It was evident that I could not appreciate good books; for I was convinced that it was a
- 43. good book. Such a great and beautiful lady could never read bad books. "Well, did you like it?" she asked me when I took back the yellow novel by Meshtcheski. I found it very hard to answer no; I thought it would make her angry. But she only laughed, and going behind the portière which led into her sleeping-chamber, brought back a little volume in a binding of dark-blue morocco leather. "You will like this one, only take care not to soil it." This was a volume of Pushkin's poems. I read all of them at once, seizing upon them with a feeling of greed such as I experienced whenever I happened to visit a beautiful place that I had never seen before. I always tried to run all over it at once. It was like roaming over mossy hillocks in a marshy wood, and suddenly seeing spread before one a dry plain covered with flowers and bathed in sun-rays. For a second one gazes upon it enchanted, and then one begins to race about happily, and each contact of one's feet with the soft growth of the fertile earth sends a thrill of joy through one. Pushkin had so surprised me with the simplicity and music of poetry that for a long time prose seemed unnatural to me, and it did not come easy to read it. The prologue to "Ruslan" reminded me of grandmother's best stories, all wonderfully compressed into one, and several lines amazed me by their striking truth. There, by ways which few observe, Are the trails of invisible wild creatures. I repeated these wonderful words in my mind, and I could see those footpaths so familiar to me, yet hardly visible to the average being. I saw the mysterious footprints which had pressed down the grass, which had not had time to shake off the drops of dew, as heavy as mercury. The full, sounding lines of poetry were easily remembered. They adorned everything of which they spoke as if for a festival. They made me happy, my life easy and pleasant. The verses rang
- 44. out like bells heralding me into a new life. What happiness it was to be educated! The magnificent stories of Pushkin touched me more closely, and were more intelligible to me than anything I had read. When I had read them a few times I knew them by heart, and when I went to bed I whispered the verses to myself, with my eyes closed, until I fell asleep. Very often I told these stories to the orderlies, who listened and laughed, and abused me jokingly. Sidorov stroked my head and said softly: "That's fine, is n't it? O Lord—" The awakening which had come to me was noticed by my employers. The old lady scolded me. "You read too much, and you have not cleaned the samovar for four days, you young monkey! I shall have to take the rolling-pin to you —" What did I care for the rolling-pin? I took refuge in verses. Loving black evil with all thy heart, O old witch that thou art! The lady rose still higher in my esteem. See what books she read! She was not like the tailor's porcelain wife. When I took back the book, and handed it to her with regret, she said in a tone which invited confidence: "Did you like it? Had you heard of Pushkin before?" I had read something about the poet in one of the newspapers, but I wanted her to tell me about him, so I said that I had never heard of him. Then she briefly told me the life and death of Pushkin, and asked, smiling like a spring day: "Do you see how dangerous it is to love women?"
- 45. All the books I had read had shown me it was really dangerous, but also pleasant, so I said: "It is dangerous, yet every one falls in love. And women suffer for love, too." She looked at me, as she looked at every one, through her lashes, and said gravely: "You think so? You understand that? Then the best thing I can wish you is that you may not forget it." And then she asked me what verses I liked best. I began to repeat some from memory, with gesticulations. She listened silently and gravely, then rose, and, walking up and down the room, said thoughtfully: "We shall have to have you taught, my little wild animal. I must think about it. Your employers—are they relatives of yours?" When I answered in the affirmative she exclaimed: "Oh!" as if she blamed me for it. She gave me "The Songs of Béranger," a special edition with engravings, gilt edges, and a red leather binding. These songs made me feel giddy, with their strange mixture of bitter grief and boisterous happiness. With a cold chill at my heart I read the bitter words of "The Old Beggar." Homeless worm, have I disturbed you? Crush me under your feet! Why be pitiful? Crush me quickly! Why is it that you have never taught me, Nor given me an outlet for my energy? From the grub an ant might have come. I might have died in the love of my fellows. But dying as an old tramp, I shall be avenged on the world!
- 46. And directly after this I laughed till I cried over the "Weeping Husband." I remembered especially the words of Béranger: A happy science of life Is not hard for the simple. Béranger aroused me to moods of joyfulness, to a desire to be saucy, and to say something rude to people,—rude, sharp words. In a very short time I had become proficient in this art. His verses I learned by heart, and recited them with pleasure to the orderlies, running into the kitchen, where they sat for a few minutes at a time. But I soon had to give this up because the lines, But such a hat is not becoming To a young girl of seventeen, gave rise to an offensive conversation about girls that made me furiously disgusted, and I hit the soldier Ermokhin over the head with a saucepan. Sidorov and the other orderlies tore me away from his clumsy hands, but I made up my mind from that time to go no more to the officers' kitchen. I was not allowed to walk about the streets. In fact, there was no time for it, since the work had so increased. Now, in addition to my usual duties as housemaid, yardman, and errand-boy, I had to nail calico to wide boards, fasten the plans thereto, and copy calculations for my master's architectural work. I also had to verify the contractor's accounts, for my master worked from morning to night, like a machine. At that time the public buildings of the Yarmarka[1] were private property. Rows of shops were built very rapidly, and my master had the contracts for the reconstruction of old shops and the erection of new ones. He drew up plans for the rebuilding of vaults, the throwing out of a dormer-window, and such changes. I took the plans to an old architect, together with an envelop in which was hidden paper money to the value of twenty-five rubles. The architect took the money, and wrote under the plans: "The plans are correct,
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