text:  For the amusement of his comrades also he wrote a number of ludicrous and humorous pieces which derived their chief merit from the circumstances which suggested them; and were calculated rather to excite a moment's laughter in the merry circle of schoolfellows than to be cited as specimens of the author's comic powers particularly when we reflect that the broadly humorous was never Pushkin's favourite or even successful manner of writing: in the delicate subdued Cervantes tone of humour however he was destined to become perhaps the most distinguished writer of his country--but let us not anticipate