Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen

He waited and waited, and finally at the quietest moment of the night, those voices sounded again.Cincinnatus laughed alone in the dark.I would gladly admit that they were hoaxes too, but at the moment I'm convinced that they're true. The voice is firmer and clearer than the night before, no longer digging blindly, how can you suspect that their actions are constantly approaching and making progress?How modest they are!How wise!How skillful their calculations, and how persistent their actions!Whether they were using an ordinary pickaxe, or a strange tool forged from some useless thing and the will of an omnipotent being—but whatever it was, he knew someone was somehow Dig a passage.

It was cold at night, and the slippery gray moonlight was divided into many squares and reflected on the inner wall in the window recess.The interior of the entire fortress seemed to be filled with darkness, while the exterior seemed to be glazed by moonlight. Broken shadows slid down the rocky slope and quietly fell into the moat.Yes, the night is indifferent—but in the darkness, in its depths and blackness, there is something alien to the nature and order of the night digging, weakening the power of the night.Or is it all just old-fashioned romantic nonsense, Cincinnatus? He raised the obedient chair and slammed it down, first on the ground and then on the wall a few times, at least using rhythm as a means, trying to make his impact convey some meaning.In fact, the man who was digging the tunnel in the dark first stopped, as if to judge whether the responding thuds were friendly, and then suddenly resumed work. The sound of digging is cheerful and full of life. Tess understood in his heart, and his response had been understood by the other party.

Satisfied at this moment that he was the one to be found and saved, he continued to hit some of the more sensitive parts of the stone, repeating his words more fully, more complexly, and more captivatingly in different registers and tones. A simple rhythm created by myself. He had already begun to think about how to create a system of symbols when he suddenly noticed that the night was fading, not because of the moonlight, but because of another uninvited light, which he had barely noticed when the sound of digging stopped. to this change.After a while, there was a sound of cracking, but the sound gradually returned to silence.It is inconceivable that just now the stillness of the night was disturbed by eager and persistent activity, by a creature who wheezed, with a flattened muzzle, and dug frantically again, like a hound Dig the underground passage to find a badger.

In his drowsy state, he saw Rodion come in.It was already noon when he fully woke up.As usual, he thought that today was not the end, and of course it could be today, just as it could be tomorrow, but tomorrow was still far away. He listened to the buzzing in his ears all day long, and kept kneading his hands, as if silently shaking hands with his ego.He walked around the table where the unsent letter lay.Or it was the look in the eyes of that guest yesterday, which was fleeting and creepy, and there was a gap in this life.Or just hallucinating and listening carefully to the rustling sounds of Amy's activities.By the way, why not drink this porridge of hope, this thick and sweet paste... My hope is still alive... At least now, at least here, where solitude is so highly respected, I think It can only be divided into two, you and me, instead of many as in the past - noisy, numerous, ridiculous, so that I can't get close to you, and your terrible father almost broke me with his crutches Legs...that's why I'm writing--this is my last effort to explain the situation to you, Marth...Please do your best to understand, if you have to see through the fog, if you use only one of your minds corner, but do understand the situation, Marth, understand that they are going to kill me--is it that difficult--I don't ask you to grieve long as a widow, or offer lilies in mourning, but I beg you, I need your understanding badly--today, at this moment--be afraid like a child, they are going to kill me, this vile business can make you sick, so you in the middle of the night Scream horribly and hear the nurse approaching, "Shh, shhh, be quiet," and you're still screaming, and that's the way you're supposed to show fear.Even though you hardly love me, Marthe, you should understand, if only for a moment, and then you forget again.How can I get you excited?Oh, our life together sucks, it sucks, but I can't get you excited with that stuff, I tried hard at first, but you know, we're not in the same rhythm, and I'm out of it pretty quickly.Tell me, how many hands have touched the plump flesh around your hard, bitter little core?Yes, I remember your original betrayal again like a ghost, and I walk through the memory, roaring and clinking the shackles.I peeked at you kissing.Your kiss with him is very much like a feeding of some kind, hungry, disorganized, full of noise.Once, with your eyes closed, you swallowed a peach that squirted juice, and you finished it, but you swallowed it, your mouth was still full, you cannibal, with your glassy eyes wandering, your Fingers spread, how smooth your fiery lips, your quivering chin, covered here and there with drops of cloudy juice, dripping gradually onto your bare breast, when suddenly the puri that has nourished you Arpus let out a violent curse and turned his hunched back towards me, as if I had timed my entry into the room at the wrong time.

"Fruit of all varieties is good for Marth," you say, with a sweet, sticky wetness in your throat, and it all ends up in a wet, lovely, damnable little crease— —if I recall all this, the purpose is to expel it from my life, the purpose is to purify myself—and also to make you understand, to make you understand... what?I might have mistook you for someone else, after all I think you'd still understand me, see me as a lunatic, and mistake visiting loved ones for galaxies, logarithms, dwarf hyenas - but some are lunatics - and They are invulnerable - they see themselves as crazy - and the cycle is over.Marthe, you and I are all revolving in such a cycle - oh, if only you could escape from this cycle for a moment! - and then you can go back into the cycle again, I mean what I say... I don't ask much of you, just get out of it for a split second and understand that they're going to kill me, understand that we're surrounded by dummies , you yourself are a dummy.I don't know why I am tormented by your betrayal, or rather, I know why, but I don't know what words to choose so that you can understand why I am tormented so much.This kind of writing is not the kind of small print that is suitable for your daily needs.But I'm going to try again: "They're going to kill me!"—yes, at the same time: "They're going to kill me!"—and repeat: "Kill!"... I'm going to keep writing these words Written to make you cover your ears, cover your membrane-like monkey-like ear hidden under the strands of beautiful female hair-but your cold little ear I know, I have seen it, I have kneaded it, I use it Fingering them until they warm up a bit, bringing them back to life, turning them into human ears, forcing them to listen to me.Marthe, I hope you will try to come and see me again, of course alone, alone!For me, the so-called life is over, before me there is only the polished iron station, and the prison guards have driven me to this field, so that the words I write-see-like the handwriting of a drunkard- —but that's all right, Marthe, I'm still strong enough to have a conversation with you like never before, and that's why you absolutely must do it again.Don't think this letter is a forgery—it's me, Cincinnatus, who's writing this letter, and it's me, Cincinnatus, who's crying right now.I was actually walking around the table when Rodion brought the supper, and I said to him:

"This letter. This letter I want to ask you... Here is the address..." "You've learned to weave better than anyone," grumbled Rodion. "You could knit me a pair of knee pads. Writer, for what it's worth! You saw your wife just now, didn't you?" "Anyway, I want to ask you," said Cincinnatus, "is there any other prisoner here besides Pierre and I?" Rodion blushed, but said nothing. "Has the executioner not come yet?" asked Cincinnatus. Rodion was annoyed and was about to slam the creaking door shut when, like the day before, the man walked in again, morocco slippers creaking awkwardly, jelly in a striped prison uniform His body was trembling, holding a set of chess, playing cards, and a set of cups and balls in both hands...

"I pay my most humble tribute to my friend Rodion," shrieked Monsieur Pierre, entering the cell with restless, trembling crunches. "I see," he said, sitting down, "that lovely chap took a letter. Must be the one that was on this table yesterday, right? To your wife? No, no, It's just a simple inference, I don't read other people's letters, although it does lie in the obvious, and we were playing brakes. How about chess today?" He spread out the wool chessboard with his chubby hands, raised his little fingers, and laid out the pieces.The pieces were made of bread according to an old prisoner's recipe, and were so hard that stones might be jealous.

"I'm a bachelor myself, but of course I understand... Go away. I'm going soon... A good chess player doesn't have to think long. Go away. Your wife I just glanced at - a very provocative Little beauty, my eyes can't be wrong - she has such a beautiful neck, just the kind I like... Hey, wait a minute, I lost my sight again, please allow me to take a step back. That's it, this one is better .I'm a womanizer.They love rascals like me.You can't believe it.You write to your wife and say she has beautiful eyes and lips.Not long ago,you know,I...my soldier Why can't you eat it? Oh, I get it, tall, tall. Well, I retreat. Not long ago, I had sex with a very healthy and very attractive woman. It was amazing, and there was a big black… ...What's going on here? Your move is really bad. You should warn your opponent that it won't work. Well, let me change the way I made the previous move. That's it. Yes, it's a fascinating, All kinds of women - and you know, I'm not a coward myself, I have such energy - wow! In general, there are many seductions in the world, I intend to do it in a joking way, but in fact it is Gradually bring up sexual temptations most seriously for you to consider... No, you wait, I haven't decided whether to take this step. Yes, let's go. What do you mean, Chess mate? Why is it, Chess Friends? I can't go here, I can't go there, I can't go anywhere. Wait a minute, where was it just now? No, take another step. Ah, the situation is completely different now. It's all due to negligence .OK, I'll go here. By the way, she has a red rose in her teeth, and black net stockings here, and nothing else - that's wonderful, that's called incomparable... Now it's better , the cold stone, the rusty shackles replaced the blissful love, and the front - I don't need to say, what is the front, you understand. I missed this step. What if I change the way? Yes, It's better this way. Anyway, I've won this game - you've made one mistake after another. So what if she's been unfaithful to you, why don't you still hug her? Whenever I'm asked what to do, I always Say to them: 'Gentlemen, get a little creative. For example, surround yourself with mirrors, and watch the whole process of a good thing. It's more enjoyable than anything else!' Hey! That's not a good step. Honorable Mention, I thought I walked into this square, not that one. That way you can't... please step back. I like to smoke a cigar and talk about trivial matters, and at the same time I like her to talk— —I can’t help it, I have a certain degree of perversion... Yes, it’s hard, terrible, and painful to say goodbye to all this—and then think of others, as young and energetic as us, who will still Keep working...ah! I don't know about you, but when it comes to caresses, I especially like what we French wrestlers call 'macarons': you slap her neck suddenly and the muscles instantly get stronger... ...First, I can eat your knight, and then, just move the king away.Well - that's it.No, stop, stop, I have to think again.How did you take the last step?Send it back, I'll think about it again, nonsense, there are no chess players here.You man, I think—if you don't mind me saying this—is cheating: the pawn was here, or here, but never there, I'm absolutely sure.Quick, put it back, put it back..."

He seemed to knock down a few pieces by accident, and then he couldn't control himself, and with a snort, he disturbed the rest of the pieces.Cincinnatus sat at the table, leaning on one elbow.He fiddled with a distressed knight apprehensively, which didn't seem to resent the return to the disadvantaged position from which it had sprung earlier. "Let's play a different game, you can't play chess," cried Monsieur Pierre complainingly, opening a variegated board for "goose".He rolled the dice, and in no time climbed from three to twenty-seven—but he fell helplessly, while Cincinnatus went from twenty-one to forty-six.This game went on for a long time.Monsieur Pierre, turning purple, stomping his feet, getting angry, crawled under the table to pick up the dice, and when he came out, the dice were in his palm, and he swore that that was the way the dice lay on the floor.

"Why do you have such a smell?" Cincinnatus asked with a sigh.A smile was forced on Monsieur Pierre's fat face. "It's a family tradition," he explained with some dignity. "The feet are a bit sweaty. I've tried alum and it doesn't work at all. I have to say that even though I've had it since I was a kid, and though any pain is usually respected by others, there's no one who offends people like you ..." "I couldn't breathe," Cincinnatus said.