r's side he is descended from an old Cossack family, and by his
mother he is related to Polish nobility. This double origin, so to
speak, is shown very clearly in his works, which are filled with the
melancholy and dreamy poetry of the Little Russians, and also with
the perennial hope so common among the Poles.

His father was a judge and enjoyed a reputation for strict
integrity. It was, in fact, often hard for him to ward off those who
wanted to thank him for his services. One day he had to accept a
gift. A merchant, whose case he had won, sent him a cart filled with
various objects, among which was a beautiful large doll. The little
daughter of the judge saw it, and at once took possession of it. The
judge, when he found out what had happened, ordered the gifts to be
returned immediately; but, because of the grief of the little girl,
they had to give up all thoughts of returning the doll.

The judge, who was a man of firm principles, maintained a severe
discipline in his family. He made a special study of medicine and
hygiene, and put his knowledge into practice by treating the sick of
the neighborhood. His children, although always well dressed, had to
go around barefoot. Their father was convinced that this was the
best way to toughen them. Besides, they were compelled, every
morning, summer and winter, to take a cold plunge bath. The children
did not like this way of doing things. Early in the morning they
used to run to the stable in their shirts, and there, cowering in a
corner, trembling with cold, they would wait for their father to
leave the house.

Korolenko remembers well this Spartan-like education, which inured
him to the severity of the seasons. Without this training he
certainly would have perished in savage and freezing Siberia, where
he lived in exile for several years.

At the death of the father, the family with its six children was
left without resources. The mother, a very good and kind woman,
opened a boys' boarding-school, and Vladimir, then fifteen years of
age, helped her as well as he could, and also earned money by giving
lessons outside.

In 1870, after having finished his studies in his native town,
Korolenko entered the Technological Institute at St. Petersburg,
where he spent two years in extreme poverty. He had to earn his
living as well as he could, by giving lessons or doing copying. His
mother could not help him at all, as she herself had to struggle
against adversity. The fol