The media tells us a lot about some Palestinian Authority that is constantly fighting against Israel. This territory is also shown on maps, usually in a different color than Israel itself. However, most people do not understand what kind of entity this is and whether it can be considered a separate state. To reduce the Palestinian Authority to simply Palestine, as is customary in our country, is not entirely correct, especially when talking with Arabs and people who sympathize with them, since they call the entire territory of Israel Palestine.
The Palestinian Authority consists of two parts that are not equal to each other in any respect. Cisjordan, or the “West Bank” territory, is the eastern part of the Palestinian Authority near the Jordanian border. According to international agreements, the West Bank also includes the eastern part of Jerusalem, including the Old City, but in reality all of Jerusalem is completely subordinate to the Israelis, and the PA begins at the exit of the city. The Gaza Strip is a small area along the Mediterranean Sea near the Egyptian border, in fact the large city of Gaza and its suburbs.
Strictly speaking, the PA is not yet an independent state. Although Arabs talk about how such a state would be a good idea, there are very few signs of Palestinian statehood at the moment: I noticed its own police force and license plates that differed from Israeli ones. Rather, it is more correct to compare the Palestinian Authority with Chechnya: this is precisely an autonomy within Israel, and a very restless one at that.
The external borders of the PA (the Allenby Bridge with Jordan and Rafah with Egypt crossings) are guarded by Israeli border guards and entry there is made with Israeli visas. There are Palestinian diplomatic missions in some countries, but they do not issue visas. There are no civilian airports in PA; everyone flies through Tel Aviv or neighboring countries. Nothing is known about sea communications with Gaza. The state of Israel's internal border with the PA is not the same for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. People enter Gaza from Israel from Ashkelon along highway No. 4. There is a checkpoint where there is a total search, everyone's passports are checked and passport data is entered into the Scary Computer. In the future, every time you enter Israel (at any crossing), border guards will ask why you went to Gaza. However, this is not so important, since, according to my information, for a couple of years now foreigners have only been able to enter Gaza with special passes. In the West Bank everything is much simpler. The fact is that if the Gaza Strip is a continuous, unbroken territory inhabited (after the withdrawal of Jewish settlements) exclusively by Arabs, then the West Bank is something else. There are 5 cities there: Ram Allah (aka Ramallah), Nablus, Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron. These cities, in fact, are the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority works there, there is a Palestinian police force, etc. All roads connecting these cities are controlled by the Israeli authorities. Thus, routes No. 1, No. 60 and No. 90 are entirely Israeli. Small settlements along the highways are inhabited by Arabs, but they can be called Palestinian rather conditionally. There are also so-called illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank. These are not farmsteads with a couple of houses at all, but mini-towns with panel high-rise buildings. There are checkpoints on the border between Israel proper and the West Bank, but they operate only in one direction - for entry into Israel; they do not check cars with Israeli license plates. Cars with Palestinian license plates, including buses, are checked, locals are harassed a bit, foreigners are not touched, and nothing is written into the computer. Israelis often travel in transit through the West Bank, for example, from Jerusalem to Eilat everyone travels along highways No. 1 and 90, bypassing Jericho, and from Jerusalem to Beersheba - along highway No. 60 through Hebron. The roads are good, slightly worse than Israeli ones. Israeli buses do not go to the West Bank; you can get regular buses from Israel by Palestinian buses, which travel from their own bus station at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem. They say there are also buses from Afula to Nablus.
The only useful language in Palestine is Arabic, and all signs and signs are in it. English signs (as well as English-speaking people) appear in tourist areas. By religion, the vast majority of Palestinian Arabs (unlike Israeli ones) are Muslims. The exception is the significant number of Christians in Bethlehem. Shekels are used as money. Prices are slightly lower than Israeli and higher than Jordanian. The entire Gaza Strip is considered ugly in Palestine, and in the West Bank - Ram Allah and Hebron. Bethlehem is the calmest city; there are many pilgrims and tourists there.
It is very educational to visit the West Bank. A sad sight. A sharp contrast with Israeli cleanliness and Europeanness is provided by the gigantic piles of garbage near and inside populated areas, shabby, unkempt houses, and general scarcity of land. The anger is visible on people's faces. On the plus side, one can note the Middle Eastern atmosphere that is rarely found in Israel, although it is still better to go to Jordan for it.
Bethlehem
A small town in the Palestinian Authority in the low hills 12 km south of Jerusalem. Known as the supposed birthplace of Jesus Christ. In Hebrew - Beth Lechem, "house of bread." In Arabic - Bat-Lakhm, "house of meat." Highway No. 60 Jerusalem - Hebron - Beer Sheva adjoins the city on the side, but you can get there not only along it, there are several small paths from Jerusalem. From Jerusalem, minibuses run from the Arab bus station for 4 shekels, they pass through the entire city and turn around at the bazaar (aka bus station), which is located at the junction of the city street with the highway at the southern end of the city. From there there are buses to Hebron. When returning to Jerusalem, Israeli cops can check your documents. The situation in the city is calm, there are many tourists and pilgrims, especially on both Christmas Eves.
The main attraction of Bethlehem is the Church of the Nativity in the central square of the city. She is Orthodox, although in plan she is similar to Catholic. The church has numerous additions that give it a strange irregular shape, similar to HGG. The entrance to the church is made in the form of a small hole through which you can only go through by bending very hard. The main Catholic shrine is the so-called Milk Grotto near the Church of the Nativity. This is a small cave with icons, above which there is a rather large modern chapel. The city is full of other churches of various denominations. Also interesting are the central streets, where cheerful Arab life is in full swing and all sorts of things are sold.
Economic overview: The terms of economic activity in the West Bank are determined by the Paris Economic Protocol between Israel and the Palestinian Authority of April 1994. GDP per capita decreased by 36.1% between 1992 and 1996. due to the simultaneous decline in total income and rapid population growth. The decline was largely a consequence of Israel's policy of closing its border with the Palestinian Authority following outbreaks of violence, crippling trade and labor movements between Israel and the Palestinian territories. The most serious negative effect of this decline was chronic unemployment: the average unemployment rate in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the 1980s. stayed below the 5% mark; by the mid-1990s. it exceeded 20%. Israel has used total border closures less frequently since 1997 and has adopted new policies since 1998 to reduce the impact of border closures and other security measures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor. These changes in economic conditions contributed to three years of economic expansion in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in 1999. The recovery was interrupted in the last quarter of 2000 by the outbreak of Palestinian terrorism, which forced Israel to close the borders of the Palestinian Authority and dealt a severe blow to Palestinian trade and labor demand.GDP: at purchasing power parity - $3.1 billion (2000 est.).
Real GDP growth rate:-7.5% (1999 est.).
GDP per capita: at purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2000 est.).
Composition of GDP by economic sector: agriculture: 9%; industry: 28%; services: 63% (including Gaza Strip) (1999 est.).
Proportion of population below the poverty line: no data.
Percentage distribution of family income or consumption: for 10% of the least affluent families: no data; for the 10% wealthiest families: no data.
Consumer price inflation rate: 3% (including Gaza Strip) (2000 est.).
Work force: no data.
Employment structure: agriculture 13%, industry 21%, services 66% (1996).
Unemployment rate: 40% (including Gaza Strip) (end 2000).
Budget: revenues: $1.6 billion; expenses: $1.73 billion, including capital investments - no data (including Gaza Strip) (1999 est.).
Spheres of the economy: mostly small family businesses producing cement, textiles, soap, olive wood crafts and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; Israel has established several small modern industries in the industrial center.
Industrial production growth: no data.
Power generation: no data; note - electricity is mainly imported from Israel; The East Jerusalem Electric Company purchases and distributes electricity in East Jerusalem and the West Bank territories; The Israeli Electric Company directly supplies electricity for the majority of Jewish residents and for the military's needs; At the same time, some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Jenin, generate their own electricity in small stations.
Sources of electricity production: Fossil fuel: no data; hydropower: no data; nuclear fuel: no data; others: no data.
Electricity consumption: no data.
Electricity export: no data.
Import of electricity: no data.
Agricultural products: olives, citrus fruits, vegetables; beef, dairy products.
Export:$682 million (including Gaza) (free on board, 1998 est.).
Export items: olives, fruits, vegetables, limestone.
Export partners:
Import:$2.5 billion (including the Gaza Strip) (s.i.f., 1998 est.).
Import items: food, consumer goods, construction materials.
Import partners: Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip.
External debt:$108 million (including Gaza Strip) (1997 est.). Recipient of economic assistance: $121 million (including Gaza Strip) (2000).
Economic aid donor:
Currency: Israeli new shekel, Jordanian dinar.
Currency code: ILS, JOD.
Exchange rate: ILS/USD -4.0810 (Dec 2000), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996), 3.0113 (1995); JOD/USD - fixed rate 0.7090 since 1996
Fiscal year: calendar year (from January 1, 1992).
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Excerpt describing the West Bank
– My friend, what have you done in Moscow? Why did you quarrel with Lelya, mon сher? [my dear?] “You are mistaken,” said Prince Vasily, entering the room. “I found out everything, I can tell you correctly that Helen is innocent before you, like Christ before the Jews.” - Pierre wanted to answer, but he interrupted him. “And why didn’t you address me directly and simply as a friend?” “I know everything, I understand everything,” he said, “you behaved as befits a person who values his honor; It may be too hasty, but we won’t judge that. Just remember the position in which you place her and me in the eyes of the whole society and even the court,” he added, lowering his voice. – She lives in Moscow, you are here. Remember, my dear,” he pulled him down by the hand, “there is one misunderstanding here; I think you feel it yourself. Write a letter with me now, and she will come here, everything will be explained, otherwise I’ll tell you, you can get hurt very easily, my dear.Prince Vasily looked at Pierre impressively. “I know from good sources that the Empress Dowager takes a keen interest in this whole matter.” You know, she is very merciful to Helen.
Several times Pierre was going to speak, but on the one hand, Prince Vasily did not allow him to do so, on the other hand, Pierre himself was afraid to start speaking in that tone of decisive refusal and disagreement in which he firmly decided to answer his father-in-law. In addition, the words of the Masonic charter: “be kind and friendly” came to his mind. He winced, blushed, stood up and fell down, working on himself in the most difficult task in his life - to say something unpleasant to a person’s face, to say something that was not what this person, no matter who he was, expected. He was so accustomed to obeying this tone of Prince Vasily’s careless self-confidence that even now he felt that he would not be able to resist it; but he felt that his entire future fate would depend on what he said now: whether he would follow the old, former road, or along that new one, which was so attractively shown to him by the Masons, and on which he firmly believed that will find rebirth to a new life.
“Well, my dear,” said Prince Vasily jokingly, “tell me: “yes,” and I will write to her on my own behalf, and we will kill the fat calf.” - But Prince Vasily did not have time to finish his joke, when Pierre, with a fury in his face that reminded him of his father, without looking into the eyes of his interlocutor, said in a whisper:
- Prince, I didn’t call you to my place, go, please, go! “He jumped up and opened the door for him.
“Go,” he repeated, not believing himself and rejoicing at the expression of embarrassment and fear that appeared on Prince Vasily’s face.
- What happened to you? You are sick?
- Go! – the trembling voice spoke again. And Prince Vasily had to leave without receiving any explanation.
A week later, Pierre, having said goodbye to his new friends, the Freemasons, and leaving them large sums of alms, left for his estates. His new brothers gave him letters to Kyiv and Odessa, to the Freemasons there, and promised to write to him and guide him in his new activities.
The affair between Pierre and Dolokhov was hushed up, and, despite the sovereign’s then strictness regarding duels, neither both opponents nor their seconds were harmed. But the story of the duel, confirmed by Pierre’s breakup with his wife, became public in society. Pierre, who was looked upon condescendingly and patronizingly when he was an illegitimate son, who was caressed and glorified when he was the best groom of the Russian Empire, after his marriage, when brides and mothers had nothing to expect from him, lost greatly in the opinion of society, especially that he did not know how and did not want to curry public favor. Now he alone was blamed for what had happened, they said that he was a stupid jealous person, subject to the same fits of bloodthirsty rage as his father. And when, after Pierre’s departure, Helen returned to St. Petersburg, she was not only cordially, but with a touch of respect for her misfortune, received by all her acquaintances. When the conversation turned to her husband, Helen adopted a dignified expression, which she, although not understanding its meaning, with her characteristic tact, adopted for herself. This expression said that she decided to endure her misfortune without complaining, and that her husband was a cross sent to her from God. Prince Vasily expressed his opinion more openly. He shrugged his shoulders when the conversation turned to Pierre, and, pointing to his forehead, said:
– Un cerveau fele – je le disais toujours. [Half-crazy – I always said that.]
“I said in advance,” Anna Pavlovna said about Pierre, “I said then and now, and before everyone else (she insisted on her primacy), that he is a crazy young man, spoiled by the depraved ideas of the century.” I said this back then, when everyone admired him and he had just arrived from abroad, and remember, one evening I thought he was some kind of Marat. How did it end? I didn’t want this wedding then and predicted everything that would happen.
Anna Pavlovna continued to host such evenings on her free days as before, and those that she alone had the gift of arranging, evenings at which she gathered, firstly, la creme de la veritable bonne societe, la fine fleur de l" essence intellectuelle de la societe de Petersbourg, [the cream of real good society, the color of the intellectual essence of St. Petersburg society,] as Anna Pavlovna herself said. In addition to this refined choice of society, Anna Pavlovna’s evenings were also distinguished by the fact that every time at her evening Anna Pavlovna served her some new, interesting face to society, and that nowhere, as at these evenings, was the degree of the political thermometer at which the mood of the court legitimist St. Petersburg society stood so clearly and firmly expressed.
At the end of 1806, when all the sad details had already been received about Napoleon’s destruction of the Prussian army near Jena and Auerstette and about the surrender of most of the Prussian fortresses, when our troops had already entered Prussia, and our second war with Napoleon began, Anna Pavlovna gathered at her place evening. La creme de la veritable bonne societe [The cream of real good society] consisted of the charming and unhappy Helene, abandoned by her husband, from MorteMariet, the charming Prince Hippolyte, who had just arrived from Vienna, two diplomats, an aunt, one young man who enjoyed living room with the name simply d "un homme de beaucoup de merite, [a very worthy person], one newly granted maid of honor with his mother and some other less noticeable persons.
The person with whom Anna Pavlovna treated her guests like a novelty that evening was Boris Drubetskoy, who had just arrived as a courier from the Prussian army and was an aide-de-camp to a very important person.
The temperature of the political thermometer indicated to society this evening was the following: no matter how much all European sovereigns and commanders try to pander to Bonaparte, in order to cause me and us in general these troubles and sorrows, our opinion about Bonaparte cannot change. We will not stop expressing our unfeigned thoughts on this matter, and we can only say to the Prussian king and others: so much the worse for you. Tu l "as voulu, George Dandin, [You wanted this, Georges Dandin,] that's all we can say. That's what the political thermometer indicated at Anna Pavlovna's evening. When Boris, who was supposed to be presented to the guests, entered the living room, Almost the entire company was already assembled, and the conversation, led by Anna Pavlovna, was about our diplomatic relations with Austria and the hope of an alliance with it.
Boris, in a smart adjutant uniform, matured, fresh and ruddy, freely entered the living room and was taken, as it should be, to greet his aunt and again joined the general circle.
Anna Pavlovna gave him her withered hand to kiss, introduced him to some faces unfamiliar to him and identified each one to him in a whisper.
– Le Prince Hyppolite Kouraguine – charmant jeune homme. M r Kroug charge d "affaires de Kopenhague - un esprit profond, and simply: M r Shittoff un homme de beaucoup de merite [Prince Ippolit Kuragin, a dear young man. G. Krug, Copenhagen chargé d'affaires, deep mind. G. Shitov , a very worthy person] about the one who bore this name.
During this time of his service, Boris, thanks to the concerns of Anna Mikhailovna, his own tastes and the properties of his restrained character, managed to put himself in the most advantageous position in his service. He was an adjutant to a very important person, had a very important mission to Prussia, and had just returned from there by courier. He had fully assimilated that unwritten subordination that he liked in Olmutz, according to which an ensign could stand without comparison above a general, and according to which, for success in the service, what was needed was not effort in the service, not labor, not courage, not constancy, but it was necessary only the ability to deal with those who reward service - and he himself was often surprised at his rapid successes and how others could not understand this. As a result of this discovery, his entire way of life, all his relationships with former acquaintances, all his plans for the future - completely changed. He was not rich, but he used the last of his money to be better dressed than others; he would rather deprive himself of many pleasures than allow himself to ride in a bad carriage or appear in an old uniform on the streets of St. Petersburg. He became close and sought acquaintance only with people who were higher than him and therefore could be useful to him. He loved St. Petersburg and despised Moscow. The memory of the Rostovs’ house and his childhood love for Natasha was unpleasant for him, and since leaving for the army he had never been to the Rostovs. In Anna Pavlovna's living room, in which he considered his presence to be an important promotion, he now immediately understood his role and allowed Anna Pavlovna to take advantage of the interest that lay in him, carefully observing each face and assessing the benefits and possibilities of rapprochement with each of them . He sat down in the place indicated to him near the beautiful Helen, and listened to the general conversation.
– Vienne trouve les bases du traite propose tellement hors d"atteinte, qu"on ne saurait y parvenir meme par une continuite de succes les plus brillants, et elle met en doute les moyens qui pourraient nous les procurer. “C”est la phrase authenticique du cabinet de Vienne,” said the Danish charge d”affaires. [Vienna finds the foundations of the proposed treaty so impossible that they cannot be achieved even with the most brilliant successes: and it doubts the means that can deliver them to us. This is a genuine phrase from the Vienna cabinet,” said the Danish charge d’affaires.]
“C"est le doute qui est flatteur!" said l"homme a l"esprit profond, with a subtle smile. [Doubt is flattering! - said a deep mind,]
“Il faut distinguer entre le cabinet de Vienne et l"Empereur d"Autriche,” said MorteMariet. - L"Empereur d"Autriche n"a jamais pu penser a une chose pareille, ce n"est que le cabinet qui le dit. [It is necessary to distinguish between the Viennese cabinet and the Austrian emperor. The Austrian Emperor could never think this, only the cabinet speaks.]
“Eh, mon cher vicomte,” Anna Pavlovna intervened, “l"Urope (for some reason she pronounced l"Urope, as a special subtlety of the French language that she could afford when speaking with a Frenchman) l"Urope ne sera jamais notre alliee sincere [Ah, my dear Viscount, Europe will never be our sincere ally.]
Following this, Anna Pavlovna brought the conversation to the courage and firmness of the Prussian king in order to introduce Boris into the matter.
Boris listened attentively to whoever was speaking, waiting for his turn, but at the same time he managed to look back several times at his neighbor, the beautiful Helen, who with a smile met her eyes several times with the handsome young adjutant.
Quite naturally, speaking about the situation in Prussia, Anna Pavlovna asked Boris to tell his journey to Glogau and the situation in which he found the Prussian army. Boris, slowly, in pure and correct French, told a lot of interesting details about the troops, about the court, throughout his story carefully avoiding stating his opinion about the facts that he conveyed. For some time, Boris captured everyone's attention, and Anna Pavlovna felt that her treat with a new product was received with pleasure by all the guests. Helen showed the most attention to Boris's story. She asked him several times about certain details of his trip and seemed quite interested in the situation of the Prussian army. As soon as he finished, she turned to him with her usual smile:
“Il faut absolument que vous veniez me voir, [It is necessary that you come to see me," she told him in such a tone, as if for some reasons that he could not know, this was absolutely necessary.
– Mariedi entre les 8 et 9 heures. Vous me ferez grand plaisir. [Tuesday, between 8 and 9 o'clock. You will do me great pleasure.] - Boris promised to fulfill her wish and wanted to enter into a conversation with her when Anna Pavlovna called him away under the pretext of her aunt, who wanted to hear him.
“You know her husband, don’t you?” - said Anna Pavlovna, closing her eyes and pointing at Helen with a sad gesture. - Oh, this is such an unfortunate and lovely woman! Don't talk about him in front of her, please don't talk about him. It's too hard for her!
When Boris and Anna Pavlovna returned to the general circle, Prince Ippolit took over the conversation.
He moved forward in his chair and said: Le Roi de Prusse! [The Prussian king!] and having said this, he laughed. Everyone turned to him: Le Roi de Prusse? - asked Ippolit, laughed again and again calmly and seriously sat down in the depths of his chair. Anna Pavlovna waited for him a little, but since Hippolyte decidedly did not seem to want to talk anymore, she began a speech about how the godless Bonaparte stole the sword of Frederick the Great in Potsdam.
“C"est l"epee de Frederic le Grand, que je... [This is the sword of Frederick the Great, which I...] - she began, but Hippolytus interrupted her with the words:
“Le Roi de Prusse...” and again, as soon as he was addressed, he apologized and fell silent. Anna Pavlovna winced. MorteMariet, a friend of Hippolyte, turned decisively to him:
– Voyons a qui en avez vous avec votre Roi de Prusse? [So what about the Prussian king?]
Hippolytus laughed, as if he was ashamed of his laughter.
- Non, ce n "est rien, je voulais dire seulement... [No, nothing, I just wanted to say...] (He intended to repeat the joke that he heard in Vienna, and which he had been planning to put all evening.) Je voulais dire seulement, que nous avons tort de faire la guerre pour le roi de Prusse. [I just wanted to say that we are fighting in vain pour le roi de Prusse. (Untranslatable play on words meaning: “over trifles.”)]
Boris smiled cautiously, so that his smile could be classified as mockery or approval of the joke, depending on how it was received. Everyone laughed.
“Il est tres mauvais, votre jeu de mot, tres spirituel, mais injuste,” said Anna Pavlovna, shaking her wrinkled finger. – Nous ne faisons pas la guerre pour le Roi de Prusse, mais pour les bons principes. Ah, le mechant, ce prince Hippolytel [Your play on words is not good, very clever, but unfair; we are not fighting pour le roi de Prusse (i.e. over trifles), but for good beginnings. Oh, how evil he is, this Prince Hippolyte!],” she said.
The conversation continued throughout the evening, focusing mainly on political news. At the end of the evening, he became especially animated when it came to the awards bestowed by the sovereign.
“After all, last year NN received a snuff box with a portrait,” said l “homme a l” esprit profond, [a man of deep intelligence,] “why can’t SS receive the same award?”
“Je vous demande pardon, une tabatiere avec le portrait de l"Empereur est une recompense, mais point une distinction,” said the diplomat, un cadeau plutot. [Sorry, a snuff box with a portrait of the Emperor is a reward, not a distinction; rather a gift.]
– Il y eu plutot des antecedents, je vous citerai Schwarzenberg. [There were examples - Schwarzenberg.]
“C"est impossible, [This is impossible," the other objected.
- Pari. Le grand cordon, c"est different... [The tape is a different matter...]
When everyone got up to leave, Helen, who had said very little all evening, again turned to Boris with a request and a gentle, significant order that he should be with her on Tuesday.
“I really need this,” she said with a smile, looking back at Anna Pavlovna, and Anna Pavlovna, with the sad smile that accompanied her words when speaking about her high patroness, confirmed Helen’s desire. It seemed that that evening, from some words spoken by Boris about the Prussian army, Helen suddenly discovered the need to see him. She seemed to promise him that when he arrived on Tuesday, she would explain this need to him.
Arriving on Tuesday evening at Helen's magnificent salon, Boris did not receive a clear explanation of why he needed to come. There were other guests, the countess spoke little to him, and only saying goodbye, when he kissed her hand, she, with a strange lack of a smile, unexpectedly, in a whisper, said to him: Venez demain diner... le soir. Il faut que vous veniez… Venez. [Come for dinner tomorrow... in the evening. I need you to come... Come.]
On this visit to St. Petersburg, Boris became a close person in the house of Countess Bezukhova.
The war was flaring up, and its theater was approaching the Russian borders. Curses against the enemy of the human race, Bonaparte, were heard everywhere; Warriors and recruits gathered in the villages, and contradictory news came from the theater of war, false as always and therefore interpreted differently.
The life of old Prince Bolkonsky, Prince Andrei and Princess Marya has changed in many ways since 1805.
In 1806, the old prince was appointed one of the eight commanders-in-chief of the militia, then appointed throughout Russia. The old prince, despite his senile weakness, which became especially noticeable during the period of time when he considered his son killed, did not consider himself entitled to refuse the position to which he had been appointed by the sovereign himself, and this newly discovered activity excited and strengthened him. He was constantly traveling around the three provinces entrusted to him; He was pedantic in his duties, strict to the point of cruelty with his subordinates, and he himself went down to the smallest details of the matter. Princess Marya had already stopped taking mathematical lessons from her father, and only in the mornings, accompanied by her nurse, with little Prince Nikolai (as his grandfather called him), entered her father’s study when he was at home. Baby Prince Nikolai lived with his wet nurse and nanny Savishna in the half of the late princess, and Princess Marya spent most of the day in the nursery, replacing, as best she could, a mother to her little nephew. M lle Bourienne, too, seemed to be passionately in love with the boy, and Princess Marya, often depriving herself, yielded to her friend the pleasure of nursing the little angel (as she called her nephew) and playing with him.
At the altar of the Lysogorsk church there was a chapel over the grave of the little princess, and in the chapel a marble monument brought from Italy was erected, depicting an angel spreading his wings and preparing to ascend to heaven. The angel's upper lip was slightly raised, as if he was about to smile, and one day Prince Andrei and Princess Marya, leaving the chapel, admitted to each other that it was strange, the face of this angel reminded them of the face of a deceased woman. But what was even stranger, and what Prince Andrei did not tell his sister, was that in the expression that the artist accidentally gave to the face of the angel, Prince Andrei read the same words of meek reproach that he then read on the face of his dead wife: “Oh, why did you do this to me?..."
Soon after the return of Prince Andrei, the old prince separated his son and gave him Bogucharovo, a large estate located 40 miles from Bald Mountains. Partly because of the difficult memories associated with Bald Mountains, partly because Prince Andrei did not always feel able to bear his father’s character, and partly because he needed solitude, Prince Andrei took advantage of Bogucharov, built there and spent most of his time there. time.
Prince Andrei, after the Austerlitz campaign, firmly decided never to serve in military service again; and when the war began, and everyone had to serve, he, in order to get rid of active service, accepted a position under his father in collecting the militia. The old prince and his son seemed to change roles after the 1805 campaign. The old prince, excited by the activity, expected all the best from the real campaign; Prince Andrey, on the contrary, not participating in the war and secretly regretting it in his soul, saw only one bad thing.
On February 26, 1807, the old prince left for the district. Prince Andrei, as for the most part during his father’s absences, remained in Bald Mountains. Little Nikolushka had been unwell for the 4th day. The coachmen who drove the old prince returned from the city and brought papers and letters to Prince Andrei.
The valet with letters, not finding the young prince in his office, went to Princess Marya’s half; but he wasn’t there either. The valet was told that the prince had gone to the nursery.
“Please, your Excellency, Petrusha has come with the papers,” said one of the nanny’s girls, turning to Prince Andrei, who was sitting on a small children’s chair and with trembling hands, frowning, dripping medicine from a glass into a glass half filled with water.
- What's happened? - he said angrily, and carelessly shaking his hand, he poured an extra amount of drops from the glass into the glass. He threw the medicine out of the glass onto the floor and asked for water again. The girl handed it to him.
In the room there was a crib, two chests, two armchairs, a table and a children's table and chair, the one on which Prince Andrei was sitting. The windows were curtained, and one candle was burning on the table, covered with a bound book of music, so that the light would not fall on the crib.
“My friend,” Princess Marya said, turning to her brother from the crib where she stood, “it’s better to wait... after...
“Oh, do me a favor, you keep talking nonsense, you’ve been waiting for everything - so you’ve waited,” said Prince Andrei in an embittered whisper, apparently wanting to prick his sister.
“My friend, it’s better not to wake him up, he fell asleep,” the princess said in a pleading voice.
Prince Andrei stood up and, on tiptoe, approached the crib with a glass.
– Or definitely not to wake you up? – he said hesitantly.
“As you wish, that’s right... I think... as you wish,” said Princess Marya, apparently timid and ashamed that her opinion had triumphed. She pointed out to her brother the girl who was calling him in a whisper.
It was the second night that they both did not sleep, caring for the boy who was burning in the heat. All these days, not trusting their home doctor and waiting for the one for whom they had been sent to the city, they took this or that remedy. Exhausted by insomnia and anxious, they dumped their grief on each other, reproached each other and quarreled.
“Petrusha with papers from daddy,” the girl whispered. - Prince Andrei came out.
- Well, what is there! - he said angrily, and after listening to verbal orders from his father and taking the envelopes and his father’s letter, he returned to the nursery.
- Well? - asked Prince Andrei.
– Everything is the same, wait for God’s sake. “Karl Ivanovich always says that sleep is the most precious thing,” Princess Marya whispered with a sigh. “Prince Andrei approached the child and touched him. He was burning.
- Get out with your Karl Ivanovich! “He took the glass with the drops dripped into it and approached again.
– Andre, don’t! - said Princess Marya.
But he frowned angrily and at the same time painfully at her and leaned over the child with a glass. “Well, I want it,” he said. - Well, I beg you, give it to him.
Princess Marya shrugged her shoulders, but obediently took the glass and, calling the nanny, began to give the medicine. The child screamed and wheezed. Prince Andrei, wincing, holding his head, left the room and sat down on the sofa next door.
The letters were all in his hand. He mechanically opened them and began to read. The old prince, on blue paper, wrote the following in his large, oblong handwriting, using titles here and there.
Hiking statistics by month and region
Statistics of the number of trips by month
I sampled 2,500 hikes from 20 hiking clubs. It turned out that...
Summer accounts for 66% of hikes for the entire year. It’s no surprise that summer is the best time to vacation with a backpack. Firstly, warm and dry; secondly, there is the opportunity to take a vacation to travel.
in autumn There are few hikes, because school, study, work begin, and the weather gets worse.
in winter ski tours or accommodation at recreation centers, combined with radial excursions without heavy backpacks and equipment, predominate. Winter accounts for 6% of all trips.
in spring I can’t bear to sit at home, so I get my equipment and plan trips. The weather in Crimea, Cyprus and the Caucasus is already above zero, which allows you to make simple treks without fear of freezing at night in your sleeping bag. March is 5% of the total statistics.
In April– sudden pause (3%), as tourists save time and money for the May holidays. The end of April is a sharp start to the season of hiking in the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Sayan Mountains, and Altai with the capture of the May Day holidays. Those who want warmth go along the Turkish Lycian Way or trek through the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus. Also at the end of April there are many offers where you can go with children. Everyone is looking forward to the end of April - both adults and children. Life is gaining momentum.
May is distinguished by a fourfold increase in the number of trekking and hikes - 13% of the total statistics. Campsites are opening, and tourist centers are ready to accommodate tourists. The May hikes are supplemented by hikes starting in late April to cover the holidays.
The top five most visited regions look like this:
– First place. Caucasus – 29%. Elbrus and Kazbek attract hikers with their beauty.
– Second place. Crimea – 15%. The proximity of the sea and the mild climate make this peninsula unique and as if created for week-long excursions.
– Third place. North-West – 11%. Residents of the Leningrad region and Karelia are lucky with nature: there are more rivers and lakes here than in the Central District. In the Moscow region there is nowhere to go.
– Fourth and fifth places. Altai, Baikal and Siberia – 7% each. It’s expensive to get there from Moscow and St. Petersburg, but it’s worth it. Beautiful nature, but not as many tourists as in other places.