“...I remember many merry Christmastides in my youth; I still remember the old village Christmastide, with the “bear and the goat”, with the “horners” and the gypsy sorceress; with a frenzied ride in troikas through snowdrifts, with the accompaniment of bells, bells, harmonies, balalaikas, and at an hour, gun shots, meeting the wolves accompanying our train from the forest, dozens of their jumping, brightly glowing eyes. Those were Christmastide!..”