On the 24th of July, Captain Khlopof in epaulets and cap—a style
of dress in which I had not seen him since my arrival in the
Caucasus—entered the low door of my earth-hut.
"I'm just from the colonel's," he said in reply to my questioning look;
"to-morrow our battalion is to move."
"Where?" I asked.
"To N——. The troops have been ordered to muster at that place."
"And probably some expedition will be made from there?"
"Of course."
"In what direction, think you?"
"I don't think. I tell you all I know. Last night a Tatar from the
general came galloping up,—brought orders for the battalion to march,
taking two days' rations. But whither, why, how long, isn't for them to
ask. Orders are to... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
At four o'clock on the morning of the next day, the captain came riding
up to my door. He had on an old well-worn coat without epaulets, wide
Lesghian trousers, a round white Circassian cap, with drooping lambskin
dyed yellow, and an ugly-looking Asiatic saber across his shoulder. The
little white horse[8] on which he rode came with head down, and mincing
gait, and kept switching his slender tail. In spite of the fact that
the good captain's figure was neither very warlike nor very handsome,
yet there was in it such an expression of good-will toward every one
around him, that it inspired involuntary respect.
I did not keep him waiting a minute, but immediately mounted, and we
rode off together from the gate of the fortress.
T... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Scarcely had the bright sun risen above the mountains, and begun
to shine into the valley where we were riding, when the undulating
clouds of mist scattered, and it grew warm. The soldiers with guns and
knapsacks on their backs marched slowly along the dusty road. In the
ranks were frequently heard Malo-Russian dialogues and laughter. A few
old soldiers in white linen coats—for the most part noncommissioned
officers—marched along the roadside with their pipes, engaged in
earnest conversation. The triple rows of heavily laden wagons advanced
step by step, and raised a thick dust, which hung motionless.
The mounted officers rode in advance; a few jiggited, as they say
in the Caucasus;[13] that is, applying the whip to ... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The sun had traveled half its course, and was pouring down through
the glowing atmosphere its fierce rays upon the parched earth. The
dark blue sky was absolutely clear; only the bases of the snow-capped
mountains began to clothe themselves in pale lilac clouds. The
motionless atmosphere seemed to be full of some impalpable dust; it
became intolerably hot.
When the army came to a small brook that had overflowed half the road,
a halt was called. The soldiers, stacking their arms, plunged into
the stream. The commander of the battalion sat down in the shade,
on a drum, and, showing by his broad countenance the degree of his
rank, made ready, in company with a few officers, to take lunch. The
captain lay on the grass under the com... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
At seven o'clock in the evening, dusty and weary, we entered the wide,
fortified gate of Fort N——. The sun was setting, and shed oblique
rosy rays over the picturesque batteries and lofty-walled gardens
that surrounded the fortress, over the fields yellow for the harvest,
and over the white clouds which, gathering around the snow-capped
mountains, simulated their shapes, and formed a chain no less wonderful
and beauteous. A young half moon, like a translucent cloud, shone above
the horizon. In the native village or aul, situated near the gate,
a Tatar on the roof of a hut was calling the faithful to prayer. The
singers broke out with new zeal and energy.
After resting and making my toilet I set out to call upon an ad... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
At ten o'clock in the evening the troops were ordered to march. At
half-past nine I mounted my horse, and started off to find the general;
but on reflecting that he and his adjutant must be busy, I remained in
the street, and, tying my horse to a fence, sat down on the terrace to
wait until the general should come.
The heat and glare of the day had already vanished in the fresh night
air; and the obscure light of the young moon, which, infolding around
itself a pale gleaming halo against the dark blue of the starry sky,
was beginning to decline. Lights shone in the windows of the houses and
in the chinks of the earth huts. The gracefully proportioned poplars
in the gardens, standing out against the horizon from behind the earth
... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
We had now been marching more than two hours. I began to feel chilly,
and to be overcome with drowsiness. In the darkness the same indistinct
objects dimly appeared: at a little distance, the same black shadow,
the same moving spots. Beside me was the crupper of a white horse,
which switched his tail and swung his hind-legs in wide curves. I could
see a back in a white Circassian shirt, against which was outlined a
carbine in its black case, and the handle of a pistol in an embroidered
holster: the glow of a cigarette casting a gleam on a reddish mustache,
a fur collar, and a hand in a chamois-skin glove.
I leaned over my horse's neck, closed my eyes, and lost myself for a
few minutes: then suddenly the regular hoof-beat[19] and... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The guide pointed out the ford; and the vanguard of cavalry, with
the general and his suite immediately in its rear, began to cross
the river. The water, which reached the horses' breasts, rushed with
extraordinary violence among the white boulders which in some places
came to the top, and formed foaming, gurgling whirlpools around the
horses' legs. The horses were frightened at the roar of the water,
lifted their heads, pricked up their ears, but slowly and carefully
picked their way against the stream along the uneven bottom. The
riders held up their legs and fire-arms. The foot-soldiers, literally
in their shirts alone, lifting above the water their muskets to which
were fastened their bundles of clothing, struggled against the... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The aul was already in the possession of our men, and not a soul of the
enemy remained in it when the general with his suite, to which I had
joined myself, entered it.
The long neat huts or saklí, with their flat earthen roofs and red
chimneys, were situated on rough, rocky hills, between which ran a
small river. On one side were seen the green gardens, shining in the
clear sun-light, with monstrous pear-trees, and the plum-trees, called
luitcha. The other side bristled with strange shadows, where stood
the high perpendicular stones of a cemetery, and the tall wooden poles
adorned at the ends with balls and variegated banners. These were the
tombs of jigits.
The army stood drawn up within the gates.
After a moment t... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The general had gone on ahead with the cavalry.
The battalion with which I had come from Fort N—— remained in
the rear-guard. The companies under command of Captain Khlopof and
Lieutenant Rosenkranz were retreating together.
The captain's prediction was fully justified: as soon as we had
reached the narrow forest of which he had spoken, from both sides
the mountaineers, mounted and on foot, began to show themselves
incessantly, and so near that I could very distinctly see many
crouching down, with muskets in their hands, and running from tree to
tree.
The captain took off his hat, and piously made the sign of the cross;
a few old soldiers did the same. In the forest were heard shouts, the
words, "iáï... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Four soldiers bore the ensign on a litter; behind them followed a
soldier from the suburb, leading a lean, foundered horse laden with
two green chests in which were the surgeon's implements. They were
expecting the doctor. The officers hurried up to the litter, and tried
to encourage and comfort the wounded lad.
"Well, brother Alánin, it'll be some time before you dance and make
merry again," said Lieutenant Rosenkranz coming up with a smile.
He probably intended these words to sustain the handsome ensign's
courage; but as could be easily seen from the coldly mournful
expression in the eyes of the latter, these words did not produce the
wished-for effect.
The captain also came up. He gazed earnestly at the wounded yo... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
It was late when the expedition, deploying in a broad column, entered
the fortress with songs. The sun had set behind the snow-covered
mountain crest, and was throwing its last rosy rays on the long
delicate clouds which stretched across the bright pellucid western sky.
The snow-capped mountains began to clothe themselves in purple mist;
only their upper outlines were marked with extraordinary distinctness
against the violet light of the sunset. The clear moon, which had long
been up, began to shed its light through the dark blue sky. The green
of the grass and of the trees changed to black, and grew wet with
dew. The dark masses of the army, with gradually increasing tumult,
advanced across the field; from different sides were he... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
It was already dark night, and the camp was lighted only by the
flickering bonfires, when I rejoined my soldiers, after giving my
orders. A great smoldering log was lying on the coals. Around it
were sitting only three of the men,—Antónof, who had set his kettle
on the fire to boil his ryábko, or hard-tack and tallow; Zhdánof,
thoughtfully poking the ashes with a stick; and Chikin, with his pipe,
which was forever in his mouth. The rest had already turned in, some
under gun carriages, others in the hay, some around the fires. By the
faint light of the coals I recognized the backs, the legs, and the
heads of those whom I knew. Among the latter was the recruit, who,
curling up close to the fire, was alread... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
At seven o'clock in the evening, having taken my tea, I started from a
station, the name of which I have quite forgotten, though I remember
that it was somewhere in the region of the Don Cossacks, not far from
Novocherkask. It was already dark when I took my seat in the sledge
next to Alyoshka, and wrapped myself in my fur coat and the robes.
Back of the station-house it seemed warm and calm. Though it was not
snowing, not a single star was to be seen overhead, and the sky it
seemed remarkably low and black, in contrast with the clear snowy
expanse stretching out before us.
We had scarcely passed by the black forms of the windmills, one of
which was awkwardly waving its huge wings, and had left the station
behind us, when I per... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
At this moment we heard behind us the bells of a troïka which was
rapidly overtaking us.
"A courier's bell," said my driver. "There's one such for every
station."
And, in fact, the bell of the courier's troïka, the sound of which
now came clearly to me on the wind, was peculiarly beautiful,—clear,
sonorous, deep, and jangling a little. As I then knew, this was a
huntsman's team; three bells,—one large one in the center, with the
crimson tone, as it is called, and two small ones tuned in thirds.
The sound of this triad and the tinkling fifth, ringing through the
air, was extraordinarily effective and strangely pleasant in this dark
desert steppe.
"The posht is coming," said my driver when the foremost ... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
My driver, without waiting for the last troïka to pass, began awkwardly
to turn around; and the thills hit the horses attached behind. One of
the troïka teams shied, tore away the reins, and galloped off.
"Hey there, you squint-eyed devil! Don't you see where you are turning?
Running people down, you devil!" in a hoarse, discordant voice scolded
one of the drivers, a short, little old man, as I judged by his voice
and expression. He sprang hastily out of the hindmost sledge where he
had been sitting, and started to run after the horses, still continuing
roughly and violently to vilify my yamshchík.
But the horses did not come back. The driver ran after them, and in one
instant both horses and driver were lost ... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
The storm became more and more violent, and the snow fell dry and fine;
it seemed as if we were in danger of freezing. My nose and cheeks began
to tingle; more frequently the draft of cold air insinuated itself
under my furs, and it became necessary to bundle up warmer. Sometimes
the sledges bumped on the bare, icy crust from which the snow had been
blown away. As I had already gone six hundred versts without sleeping
under roof, and though I felt great interest in the outcome of our
wanderings, my eyes closed in spite of me, and I drowsed. Once when I
opened my eyes, I was struck, as it seemed to me at the first moment,
by a bright light, gleaming over the white plain: the horizon widened
considerably, the lowering black sky sudd... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
It was already about midnight, I judge, when the little old man and
Vasíli, who had gone in search of the runaway horses, rejoined us. They
had caught the horses, and had now overtaken us; but how in the world
they had accomplished this in the thick, blinding snowstorm, in the
midst of the bare steppe, was more than I could comprehend. The little
old man, with his elbows and legs flying, came trotting up on the
shaft-horse (the two other horses he had caught by the collars; it was
impossible to lead them in the snowstorm). When they had caught up with
me, he began to scold at my driver.
"You see, you cross-eyed devil! you"—
"O Uncle Mitritch,"[10] cried the talkative fellow in the second
sledge, "you alive? Come ... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Things remembered and things conceived mixed and mingled with wonderful
quickness in my imagination.
"The mentor who is always shouting from the second sledge, what kind of
a man must he be? Probably red-haired, thick-set, with short legs, a
man somewhat like Feódor Filíppuitch our old butler," is what I say to
myself.
And here I see the staircase of our great house, and five of the
house-servants who with towels, with heavy steps, carry the pianoforte
from the L; I see Feódor Filíppuitch with the sleeves of his nankeen
coat tucked up, carrying one of the pedals, and going in advance,
unbolting the door, taking hold of the door-knob here, there pushing a
little, now crawling under the legs; he is h... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
"If you please: all ready!" shouted Alyoshka from the front sledge.
The storm was so violent that only by violent exertion, leaning far
forward and holding down the folds of my cloak with both hands, was I
able to make my way through the whirling snow, drifting before the wind
under my very feet, over the short distance between me and the sledge.
My former driver was still on his knees in the middle of the empty
sledge; but when he saw me going he took off his big cap, the wind
angrily tossing up his hair, and asked me for a fee. Apparently he did
not expect me to give it to him, because my refusal did not affront him
in the least. He even thanked me, waved his cap, and said, "Well, good
luck to you, sir!"[17] and picking up the... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
"Can it be that I am going to freeze to death?" I asked myself, as I
dropped off. "Death, they say, always begins with drowsiness. It's much
better to drown than freeze to death, then they would pull me out of
the net. However, it makes no difference whether one drowns or freezes
to death. If only this stake did not stick into my back so, I might
forget myself."
For a second I lost consciousness.
"How will all this end?" I suddenly ask myself in thought, for a moment
opening my eyes, and gazing at the white expanse,—"how will it end?
If we don't find some hayricks, and the horses get winded, as it seems
likely they will be very soon, we shall all freeze to death."
I confess, that, though I was afraid, I had a desire f... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
I sleep sound. But all the time I can hear the chords of the bells,
and in my dream I can see a dog barking and jumping after me; then the
organ, one stop of which I seem to draw out; then the French poem which
I am composing. Then it seems to me that this triad is some instrument
of torture with which my right foot is constantly compressed. This was
so severe that I woke up, and opening my eyes I rubbed my leg. It was
beginning to grow numb with cold.
The night was, as before, light, melancholy, white. The sledge and its
passengers were still shaken by the same motion; there was Ignashka
sitting on one side and stamping his feet. There was the off-horse as
before, straining her neck, lifting her feet, as she trotted over the
d... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
I sunk into a sound sleep. When Alyoshka awoke me by punching me in
the leg, and I opened my eyes, it was morning. It seemed even colder
than it had been during the night. There was nothing to be seen but
snow; but a strong dry wind still swept the powdery snow across the
field, and especially under the hoofs of the horses, and the runners of
the sledge. The sky on the right toward the east was of a deep purple
color, but the bright reddish-orange rays of the sunrise kept growing
more and more clearly defined in it; above our heads, between the
hurrying white clouds, scarcely tinged as yet, gleamed the sickly blue
of the sky; in the west the clouds were bright, light, and fluctuating.
Everywhere around, as far as the eye could see... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
His features were not dark, dry, and regular, as I had reason to expect
from his hair and build. His face was round, jolly, with a snub nose
and a big mouth, and clear-shining eyes, blue and round. His cheeks and
neck were like well-worn cloth. His eyebrows, his long eyelashes, and
the beard which evenly covered the lower part of his face, were crusted
thick with snow, and perfectly white.
The distance to the station was all of a half-verst, and we stopped.
"Only be quick about it," I said.
"Just a minute," replied Ignashka, springing down from his seat, and
going up to Filipp.
"Let us have it, brother," said he, taking the glass in his right hand;
and throwing his mitten and whip down on the snow, tipping back his
head,... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
"As you may please to order, madame. But it would be too bad to send
any of the Dutlofs. They are all, without exception, good boys; but if
you don't take one of the house-servants[1] you will have to send one
of them without fail," said the overseer; "and now all point to them.
However, as you wish."
And he placed his right hand on his left, holding them both over his
stomach, tipped his head on one side, sucked in his thin lips, almost
smacking them, turned away his eyes, and held his peace, with the
evident intention of holding it long, and of listening* without reply
to all the nonsense which the mistress might say to him in this regard.
The overseer had formerly been one of the household servants, and now,
this autumn e... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Polikéï, as a man of no consequence, and inclined to be disreputable,
and moreover as being from another village, had no one to look out for
his interests, neither the housekeeper nor the butler, neither the
overseer nor the housemaid. And his corner, where he lived with his
wife and five children, was as wretched as it could be. The corners
had been arranged by the late lamented bárin as follows: The hut was
about twenty feet long, and built of stone; in the middle stood the
great Russian stove; around it ran a corridor, as the servants called
it; and in each corner a room was partitioned off by boards. Of course
there was not much room, especially in Polikéï's corner which was
next the door. The nu... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
On that very evening, while the elders had come together at the office
to settle upon a recruit, and while their voices were heard amid the
chill darkness of the October night, Polikéï was sitting upon the
edge of his bed at the table, and was triturating in a bottle some
veterinary medicament, the nature of which he himself knew not. It was
a mixture of corrosive sublimate, sulfur, Glauber's salts, and grass,
which he was compounding, under some impression that this grass was
good for broken wind and other ailments.
The children were already abed; two on the stove, two on the couch,
one in the cradle, beside which sat Akulína with her spinning. The
candle-end, which remained from some of his mistress's that h... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
A half-hour passed by. The baby began to cry. Akulína took him, and
gave him the breast. She was no longer weeping; but resting her thin,
tear-stained face on her hand, she fixed her eyes on the flickering
candle, and asked herself why she had got married, and why so many
soldiers were needed, and, still more, how she might pay back the
joiner's wife.
Her husband's steps were heard; she wiped away the traces of the tears,
and got up to light his way. Polikéï came in with an air of triumph,
threw his hat on the bed, drew a long breath, and began to take off his
clothes.
"Well, what was it? why did she call you?"
"Hmm! a good reason! Polikushka is the lowest of men; but, when there is
something needed, who... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
Meantime the office was buzzing with the voices of the muzhíks. It was
no laughing matter. Almost all the muzhíks were in the meeting; and
while Yégor Mikháïlovitch was conferring with her ladyship, the men
put on their hats, more voices began to be heard above the general
conversation, and the voices became louder.
The murmur of many voices, occasionally interrupted by some eager,
heated discourse, filled the air; and this murmur, like the sound of
the roaring sea, came to the ears of the lady of the house, who felt at
hearing it a nervous unrest analogous to the feeling excited by a heavy
thunder-shower. It was neither terrible nor yet unpleasant to her. It
seemed to her that the voices kept gr... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
In fact, Yégor Mikhaïlovitch at this moment came out of the house. The
peasants one after another removed their hats, and, as the overseer
advanced, there were exposed one after another heads in various stages
of baldness, and shocks of white, gray, black, red, or blond hair;
and little by little, little by little, the voices were hushed, and
finally there was perfect silence. The overseer stood on the step, and
made it evident that he had something to say.
Yégor Mikhaïlovitch, in his long frock coat, with his hands negligently
thrust into his pockets, with his factory-made uniform cap pushed well
forward, and standing firmly, with his legs set wide apart, on a height
looking down upon all these faces lif... (From: Gutenberg.org.)
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