knows, perhaps whole planetary worlds?

Something resembling this incomprehensible fatality swept over the
Yamaskya Borough as well, bringing it to a rapid and scandalous
destruction. Now in place of the boisterous Yamkas is left a peaceful,
humdrum outskirt, in which live truck-farmers, cat's-meat men, Tartars,
swineherds and butchers from the near-by slaughterhouses. At the
petition of these worthy people even the designation of Yamaskya
Borough itself, as disgracing the inhabitants with its past, has been
named over into Golubovka, in honour of the merchant Golubov, owner of
a shop dealing in groceries and delicacies, and warden of the local
church.

The first subterranean shocks of this catastrophe began in the heat of
summer, at the time of the annual summer fair, which this year was
unbelievably brilliant. Many circumstances contributed to its
extraordinary success, multitudes, and the stupendousness of the deals
concluded during it: the building in the vicinity of three new sugar
refineries, and the unusually abundant crop of wheat, and, in
particular, of sugar beets; the commencement of work in the laying of
an electric trolley and of canalization; the building of a new road to
the distance of 750 versts; but mainly, the fever of building which
seized the whole town, all the banks and financial institutions, and
all the houseowners. Factories for making brick sprang up on the
outskirts of the town like mushrooms. A grandiose agricultural
exposition opened. Two new steamer lines came into being, and they,
together with the previously established ones, frenziedly competed with
each other, transporting freight and pilgrims. In competition they
reached such a state, that they lowered their passenger rates for the
third class from seventy-five kopecks to five, three, two, and even one
kopeck. In the end, ready to fall from exhaustion in the unequal
struggle, one of the steamship companies offered a free passage to all
the third-class passengers. Then its competitor at once added to the
free passage half a loaf of white bread as well. But the biggest and
most significant enterprise of this city was the engineering of the
extensive river port, which had attracted to it hundreds of thousands
of labourers and which cost God knows what money.

It must also be added, that the city was at this time celebrating the
millennial anniversary of its famous abbey, the most honoured and the
richest among all the monasteries of