The Russian language affords many different forms of names, and each style takes on various qualities depending on the suffix attached. In this case, taking “Arkady” and changing it to “Arkasha” softens the name and makes it more endearing, much in the same way that “Daniel” can become “Danny.” This also provides further evidence for the closeness of the relationship between father and son.

There are several different makes and styles of carriages throughout this story. The tarantass is one of the more common ones that the characters use. This is a four-wheeled Russian traveling-carriage that has a long flexible wooden chassis positioned on top of the wheels without springs.

While at the end of the preceding paragraph Hogarth included the pronoun "we," here he chose to omit it from the original. Turgenev's use of these inclusive pronouns add to a particular style of storytelling; it's as if the narrator were directly sharing these events to us over a meal or around a fire. The original line here says "Our Nikolai Petrovich started musing" (Замечтался наш Николай Петрович). This not only pulls us deeper into the story, but it ascribes a caring quality to this character and endears him to us even more.

This expression means that Arkady followed the same path as his father. So, we learn that not only did Arkady go to the same university as his father, but he also took up the same studies. This further reinforces the closeness between father and son prior to their meeting in the current time.

We see here at Nikolai Petrovich not only stayed in St. Petersburg to educate himself but also spent the majority of his time in the company of his son and his son’s friends. This shows the closeness between father and son, and it also sets up the tension between them since his son is returning from his last year in the capital—which he didn’t spend with his father. They haven’t seen each other in quite some time and much may have changed.

Referring to this as “Industrial Reform” is not a completely accurate translation. The original Russian says that Nikolai busied himself with economic reforms (занялся хозяйственными преобразованиями). Recall that this story is set a few years before Tsar Alexander II emancipated the serfs. These reforms then refer to the progressive agenda of redesigning work on Russian estates, business, and the economy in general. So, Nikolai Petrovich is actually portrayed as being far more forward thinking than readers might have initially assumed because he has implemented many of these changes.

While Hogarth's translation maintains the essence of this passage, the original Russian directly translates to "Ten years passed like a dream" (Десять лет прошло как сон). This information is important for understanding Nikolai Petrovich's, and even Arkady's, attachment to their estate in the country. Note too that Hogarth uses the word "idyllic," which has romantic connotations country life. The overall effect is to paint an image of a kind of a unique, almost timeless, place in the country, removed from the concerns of the world. When Arkady arrives at Marino, pay attention to the description of the estate and see how it compares with this initial image.

Hogarth (and Garnett in her translation) used “villa” as a translation for the Russian word “dacha” (дача), or a small country house used during the summer. The word "dacha" has since entered many English dictionaries, including the OED, and is often left untranslated due to the culturally specific meanings it contains.

Hogarth’s translation here had to get a little creative since the verb Turgenev chose (блаженствовал/blashenstvoval) translates to something like “to luxuriate” or “to be blissfully happy.” It’s often used with recently married couples, and so the choice of “embarked on connubial felicity” applies: the adjective “connubial” describes something as relating to a marriage—in this case “felicity,” or “happiness.”

The adjective "comely" (миловидный/milovidniy in Russian) means that someone is pleasant to look at. Turgenev also tells us that Nikolai's wife is "advanced," using the Russian word развитой (razvitoy) which directly translates to "developed" and means something like "educated."

These famous gardens (Таврический сад), now known as the Tauride Gardens in English, were created and named after a successful campaign to conquer Crimea, which is known as Tauris in ancient Greek. The gardens have many walking paths and are located on the grounds of a palace by the same name.

When the Russian Tsar Peter the Great built St. Petersburg, he modelled much of the city on London, and many of the foreigners that settled in St. Petersburg in the 18th century were English. On March 1, 1770, Francis Gardner opened the English club. Initially, the club was open only to Englishmen, but shortly thereafter Russian aristocrats were able to join.

The original Russian says that their father sent them large sheets of grey paper (присылал сыновьям большие четвертушки серой бумаги). So, in this context, a “foolscap” is a large folio of writing paper.

A “tchinovnik” (чиновник) is a general term for any government official in the Russian Empire who acted as a kind of civil servant, minor functionary, or clerk.

Calling this place the "University of St. Petersburg" is misleading because that is not the actual name of the institution. The original Russian simply says that Nikolai was sent to St. Petersburg to go to the university. This can only refer to the Saint Petersburg State University, which was established in 1724 and is one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia.

Worn by many women in the 18th and 19th centuries, mobcaps are a large soft hat that has a frill around its edges and typically covers all of the hair. For Agathoklea Kuzminishna’s to have been “pompous” means that they likely had lace or more intricate designs.

The Russian word гувернер (guverner) shares a phonetic similarity to the English word “governor.” However, for many English speakers, this word most readily carries political connotations. A more accurate translation would be “tutor.” Additionally, the original Russian word "дешевые" which Hogarth has translated as "hard-up" also means "cheap" or "inexpensive." So, Nikolai Kirsanov was educated by “cheap tutors.”

While Paul hasn’t come into the story yet, it’s important to note that this translator, Charles Hogarth, has anglicized the Russian name. In Turgenev’s original, Nikolai’s brother is named Pavel Petrovitch Kirsanov (Павл Петрович Кирсанов). It is unclear why a name like “Pavel” has been transliterated to “Paul” when a name like “Nikolai” has not; however, we can speculate that this name was more accessible to English readers at the time of translation.

In 1812, the French General Napoleon invaded Russia. This invasion is known in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (Отечественная война 1812 года [Otechestvennaya Voyna 1812 Goda]). The Russian General Kutuzov met the French forces several times on the battlefield, only to retreat and draw the French deeper into Russian territory. Eventually, due to a lack of preparation for the Russian winter, Napoleon’s forces became overextended and were forced to retreat back to France.

Another unit of measurement formally used in the Russian Empire, the desyatin is a Russian superficial measure of 2400 sq. sazhens, in which one sagene (sazhen) equals seven English feet. So, Nikolai Petrovitch has about 2.86 acres to his name. It’s possible that Turgenev has him say "two thousand" because it sounds more impressive.

A “verst” (верста) is a Russian unit for measuring length. It is equal to approximately 3500 feet, or about two-thirds of an English mile, and was in common usage until the communist revolution.

A quick note on Russian names: What we call a “middle name” in English, the Russians call a “patronymic.” This name is derived from the name of the man or woman’s father. In this case, Nikolai’s father’s name is Пётр (Pyotr) and so his patronymic is “Petrovitch.” Additionally, last names slightly change their spelling depending on the person's gender, with Russian last names typically taking an additional "-a" to indicate femininity.

Turgenev, as the narrator, inserts his own voice into this passage. This creates a less formal, almost storytelling aspect to the tale by showing readers that important information will be given at appropriate times to maintain interest and fully flesh out characters.

The way the servant looks down the road reveals part of his character. The original Russian word is снисходительно (sniskhoditel’no) which translates to “condescendingly.” The adjective “supercilious” is synonymous in meaning, so we learn that this servant considers himself superior to the task at hand, and he won’t make more effort than is necessary.

“Down” refers to the soft feathers from birds that is often used to stuff pillows, coats, or other materials. The original Russian word in this passage is пух (puxh), which is similar but also means something akin to “fuzz.” In English, we sometimes refer to the beard of a young man as “peach fuzz” to indicate youth. Turgenev is doing the same thing with this character.

Turgenev published Fathers and Sons in 1862, a year after Tsar Alexander II instituted the emancipation reform which liberated the Russian serfs. By situating his story several years prior, Turgenev explores the attitudes related to class and social position in the wake of the various reforms that led to the eventual emancipation. This tension between the classes further plays into the social differences the older and younger generations are experiencing.

This is a translation of постоялый двор (postal’niy dvor). Since industrialization was slow to start in the Russian Empire compared to Western Europe, transportation by horse and carriage remained popular into the 20th century. Posting-houses served as a kind of inn where travelers could get fresh horses, food, and shelter.

Many translations consider “barin” a synonym for “gentleman” or a “squire”; however, this term also has an association with the Russian aristocracy, the landowners who controlled the lives of the serfs. To call someone барин (barin) is to also call them “lord” or “master.” This distinction is important throughout the story as it acknowledges landowning, privileged, or politically influential citizens.

While many translations, such as Garnett’s, tend to keep the orthographic spelling of the original Russian names, Hogarth’s translation instead anglicized a few names that have English counterparts. For instance, this Russian name is spelled Пётр (Pyotr).