Drochki

Overview

A drochki (also droshky, дрожки) is a light, low, open Russian carriage on four wheels, originally little more than a bench mounted on a plank between two axles. Marie spells it "drochki" in the French manner. The vehicle is distinctively Russian and appears in the diary only during Marie's visits to Russia.

Description

Marie describes two variants:
- Drochki de course — a racing drochki: "une planche placée sur quatre roues" (a plank placed on four wheels), with a small coachman and a rustic lantern
- Drochki à capote — a drochki with a folding top, "attelé d'une troïka insensée" (hitched to a wild troika of three horses)

Social Significance

The drochki marks a shift in the diary's transportation vocabulary from the French/Western European world (calèche, landau, fiacre) to the Russian countryside. Marie describes the departure from the family estate as a procession: "un carrosse à quatre chevaux, une calèche, et un drochki à capote" — a full display of the family's Russian equipage.

References in Diary

- 1876-08-20 (carnet 065): Departure from estate, drochki de course with lantern
- 1876-08-22 (carnet 065): Departure procession including a drochki à capote with troika