“February 1876 was cold and snowy, two very rare qualities of St. Petersburg winters. A whole row of their own carriages and a long line of cab drivers lined up on the Bolshoi Theater square. Coachmen and drivers stomped around the carriages and sleighs, flapping their mittens and exchanging remarks among themselves about the hellish weather. A really sharp wind was blowing, slanting snow was falling, blinding the eyes and pricking the face as if with sharp needles...”