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That was about all he had to say. “Well, that can be taught them,” and so forth.

But they all accepted their invitations to opera every night, and ballet every second night, Wherever they went, you know, there was a great ballet performance. I remember Don Nelson speaking of the extraordinary sensation of hearing opera sung in the Uzebeckian language when he had gone down into the Uzebeckian area. Opera sung in Uzebeckian! You know, Samarkand. That's the very heart of the Uzebeck area. They're Orientals, you see. Nelson described it as a pattern of what the Russians were doing to spread Russian culture. Nelson thought it was funny, you see. But he was surprised, too, that the Uzebeckians had apparently responded to it, and that they came to the opera and were delighted with it and pleased with it. Everywhere you went, the Russians were trying to press in, into the remote borders of their country, press in standard Russian culture, which seemed to consist of ballet and opera, very largely. At least that was the part that they displayed to our visitors.

Wasn't it Nelson who went up and kissed the ballerina? Something of that sort, in Petrograd. I forget whether he went up on the stage and kissed her or whether she came to the box where he was. Anyhow, it was a pleasant little episode. Everything was all lovely, you see. Beautiful.