In midwinter of 185 - the division of our battery- was doing frontier service in the Great Chechnya. Having learned, on the evening of the 14th of February, that
the platoon, which I was to command in the absence of the officer, was detailed for the following day to cut
timber, and having received and given the proper orders
on that very evening, I repaired earlier than usual to my
tent ; as I did not have the bad habit of warming it up
with burning coal, I lay down in my clothes on my bed,
which was constructed of paling, drew my lambskin cap
down to my eyes, wrapped myself in a fur coat, and fell
into that peculiar, profound, and heavy sleep which one
sleeps in moments of alarm and agitation before an imminent peril. The... (From: Wikisource.org.)
In Russia there are three prevailing types of soldiers,
among which may be classed the soldiers of all the armies :
of the Caucasus, the Ипе, the guards, the infantry, the
cavalry, the artillery, and so forth.
These three types, capable of many subdivisions and
blendings, are the following :
(1) The submissive.
(2) The commanding.
(3) The desperate.
The submissive soldiers may be subdivided into (a)
indifferently submissive and (b) busily submissive.
The commanding may be subdivided into (a) austerely
commanding and (b) sagaciously commanding.
The desperate may be subdivided into (a) desperate
jokers and (b) desperate debauchees.
The commonest type is a gentle, sympathetic type,
which unites... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Besides Velenchiik, five other soldiers of my platoon
were warming themselves at the fire.
In the best place, protected from the wind, on a cask,
sat the gun-sergeant of the platoon, Maksimov, smoking a
pipe. In the pose, the look, and all the motions of
this man could be observed the habit of commanding and
the consciousness of his personal dignity, even inde-
pendently of the cask, on which he was sitting, and
which, at a halt, formed the emblem of authority, and of
the nankeen-covered fur half-coat.
When I came up, he turned his head toward me ; but
his eyes remained fixed upon the fire, and only much
later did they follow the direction of his head, and rest
upon me. Maksimov was a freeman ; he was possessed of ... (From: Wikisource.org.)
" Ah, I have forgotten my pipe. That's bad, brothers,"
repeated Velenchuk.
" You ought to smoke cigars, dear man ! " remarked
Chikin, screwing up his mouth and winking. " I always
smoke cigars at home ; they are sweeter."
Of course, everybody rolled in laughter.
" So you forgot your pipe," interrupted Maksimov, not
paying any attention to the general merriment, and, with
the air of a superior, proudly knocking out the ashes by
striking the pipe against the palm of his left hand.
" What have you been doing there ? Eh, Velenchuk ? "
Velenchuk turned half-aroimd to him, put his hand to
his cap, and then dropped it.
"You evidently did not get enough sleep yesterday,
and so you are now falling asleep standing. You won... (From: Wikisource.org.)
The bright disk of the sun, shining through the milk-
white mist, had risen quite high ; the grayish-violet
horizon was widening all the time, and though it was
farther away, it was also sharply closed in by the decep-
tive white mist wall.
In front of us, beyond the forest which had been cut
down, there was opened up a fairly large clearing. Over
the clearing there spread on all sides the smoke from the
fires, now black, now milk-white, now violet, and the white
layers of the mist were forming themselves into fantastic
shapes. Far in the distance, occasionally appeared groups
of Tartar horsemen, and were heard the infrequent re-
ports of our carbines, and their guns and cannon.
" This was not yet an engagement, bu... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Leaving the soldiers to discuss the flight of the Tar-
tars when they saw the shell, and why they were riding
there, and how many of them still might be in the woods,
I walked away with the commander of the company a
few steps to one side, and seated myself under a tree,
waiting for the warmed forcemeat cutlets which he had
offered me. The commander of the company, Bolkhdv,
was one of those officers who, in the regiment, are called
" bonjours." He had means, had served in the guards,
and spoke French. Yet, notwithstanding this, his com-
rades liked him. He was quite clever, and had enough
tact to wear a St. Petersburg coat, to eat a good dinner,
and to speak French, without unduly offending the society
of his fello... (From: Wikisource.org.)
The enemy had really stationed two guns where the
Tartars had been riding, and every twenty or thirty min-
utes they sent a shot at our wood-cutters. My platoon
was moved out into the clearing, and the order was given
to return the fire. At the edge of the forest appeared a
puff of smoke, there was heard a discharge, a whistling, —
and the ball fell behind or in front of us. The projectiles
of the enemy lodged harmlessly, and we had no losses.
The artillerists conducted themselves well, as they
always did, loaded expeditiously, carefully aimed at the
puffs of smoke, and quietly joked each other. The flank-
ing infantry detachment lay near us, in silent inaction,
waiting for their turn. The wood-cutters did thei... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Every one who has been in an action has no doubt
experienced that strange and strong, though not at all
logical, feeling of disgust with the place where one has
been killed or wounded. In the first moment my sol-
diers were obviously experiencing this feeling, when it
was necessary to lift up Velenchiik and carry him to the
vehicle which had just come up. Zhdanov angrily went
up to the wounded man, in spite of his increasing shrieks
took him under his arms, and raised him. " Don't stand
around ! Take hold of him ! " he shouted, and imme-
diately some ten men, even superfluous helpers, surrounded
him. But the moment he was moved away, Velenchiik
began to cry terribly and to struggle.
" Don't yell like a rabbit ! " s... (From: Wikisource.org.)
" Where are you going ? Come back ! Where are
you going ? " I cried to the recruit, who, having put his
reserve hnstock under his arm, and with a stick in his
hand, was coolly following the vehicle in which the
wounded soldier was lying.
But the recruit only looked lazily at me, muttered
something, and went ahead, so that I had to send a
soldier after him. He doffed his red cap, and, smiling
stupidly, gazed at me.
" Where are you going ? " I asked.
" To the camp."
" What for ? "
" Why, Velenchuk is wounded," he said, smiling again.
" What have you to do with that ? You must remain
here."
He looked at me in surprise, then coolly wheeled around,
put on his cap, and went back to his place.
The engagement was f... (From: Wikisource.org.)
While we, of the artillery, were still busy about the
ordnance, and placing the limbers and caissons, and picketing the horses, the infantry had stacked their arms,
built camp-fires, constructed booths of boughs and corn-
stalks, and were boiling their buckwheat grits.
It was growing dark. Pale blue clouds scudded over
the sky. The fog, changed into a drizzly, damp mist, wet
the earth and the overcoats of the soldiers ; the horizon
grew narrower, and the surroundings were overcast with
gloomy shadows. The dampness, which I felt through
my boots and behind my neck, the motion and conversation, in which I took no part, the viscous mud, in which
my feet sHpped, and my empty stomach, put me in a very
heavy and disagreeable... (From: Wikisource.org.)
Just then the voice of the commander of the battalion
was heard outside the tent : " With whom are you there,
Nikolay Fedorovich ? "
Bolkhov gave him my name, and thereupon three
officers entered the booth : Major Kirsanov, the adjutant
of his battalion, and the captain, Trosenko.
Kirsanov was a short, plump man, with a black mous-
tache, ruddy cheeks, and sparkling eyes. His small eyes
were the most prominent feature of his face. Whenever
he laughed, all there was left of them were two moist
little stars, and these stars, together with his stretched
lips and craning neck, assumed a very strange expression
of blankness. Kirsanov conducted himself in the army
better than anybody else ; his inferiors did not speak il... (From: Wikisource.org.)
My supposition was soon confirmed. Captain Kraft
asked for some brandy, calling it by its popular name,
and clearing his throat terribly, and throwing back his
head, drained the wine-glass.
"Well, gentlemen, we have crisscrossed to-day over
the plains of the Chechnya," he began, but, upon noticing
the officer of the day, he grew silent, so as to give the
major a chance to give his orders.
" Well, have you inspected the cordon ? "
" I have, sir."
" Have the ambushes been sent out ? "
" They have been, sir."
" Then communicate the order to the commanders of
the companies to be as cautious as possible ! "
" Yes, sir."
The major closed his eyes and became thoughtful.
" Tell the people that they may now cook their... (From: Wikisource.org.)
It was dark night, and the fires dimly illuminated the
camp, when I, having put everything away, walked up to
my soldiers. A large stump was ghmmering on the coals.
Three soldiers only were sitting around it : Ant6nov, who
was turning around on the fire a httle kettle in which
hardtack soaked in lard was cooking, Zhdanov, who was
thoughtfully poking the ashes with a stick, and Chikin,
with his eternally unhghted pipe. The others had already
retired for their rest, some under the caissons, others in
the hay, and others again around the fires. In the faint
light of coals I could distinguish the famihar backs, legs,
and heads ; among the latter was also the recruit, who
was lying close to the fire and was apparently asl... (From: Wikisource.org.)
