from our Tsarskoe Selo in 1910 site:
The fountain represents Peretta from La Fontaine's fable "the Milk-maid", or, "the Pitcher of milk".
Here is a translation of the fable by Kachovsky:
On the left side of the road a small brook' runs from' the grove under a bridge on the right, another small island rises from the lake. The brook springs from' the celebrated fountain "the Milkmaid". Pushkin dedicates pretty verses to it: "The maiden dropped the urn against a rock and smashed it, the maiden sits sadly, holding the useless remains.
Behold a miracle! the water, which is, pouring from the broken vase, does not stop,, and the maiden for ever sad, sits over the everlasting stream." The fountain was erected in 1810 by Betancourt, the figure is the work of P. P. Sokolov. The fountain represents Peretta from La Fontaine's fable "the Milk-maid", or, "the Pitcher of milk".
"Comfortably and lightly dressed, placing the pitcher of milk on her head, in short skirts and barefoot, Peretta hastened to town to the market. Giving the wing to daydreams as she went, this young milk-girl decided, that if her customer was liberal with his money, she would buy eggs and raise chickens at home and feed them and guard them so well, and defy master fox; for she would arrange everything so cleverly and wisely. She would sell the chickens, and of course, buy a sucking pig; in order to raise a pig no great expenses would be entailed. She would like to know, what might hinder her from buying in the town a cow, and a little bull; it would be sufficient reward for her for the trouble she took with them, to look after them, jumping among the herd. At that she jumped herself so high that she dropped the pitcher and spilt the milk, and with it lost her cows, pigs, and chickens! In despair she sat and looked at the remains, and at the pool of spilt milk, afraid to go home and face the anger there."
"Who 'has thought about his daily-bread, without building air-castles. There are multitudes of dreamers, everywhere, some through foolishness and some through excess of brain. All talk nonsense, we like to dream; the delightful illusion carries us to the skies. Our dreams have no end, no limit; 1, when alone, dream like everybody. I send a challenge to the bravest; I am a king, beloved by my people, I am invincible, I take new crowns, till life's pitiless hand wakes me and brings me to my senses."
In 1877 the water in the fountain began to fail; and since there were no drawings in existence, the engineer Cherniavsky, the manager at that time of the Taitsky water-works, was commissioned to trace out the causes of the water failing. It turned out, that the water was conducted through wooden pipes from an underground spring in a stratum of sandstone, under the black earth of the lawn, in front of the terrace. The engineer Cherniavsky mended the pipes, and the water runs as plentifully as ever.
According to an analysis conducted by the Dr. Gutovsky in 1910, it seems, that this water is not so pure as that of the Orlovsky springs, which now supply the Tsarskoe Selo waterworks.
