Chapter 5 05. Anna on the neck
After finishing the wedding in the church, without even preparing light food and drinks, the newlyweds drank a glass of wine each, then changed their clothes, took a car, and went to the train station. The happy wedding ball and dinner, music and dancing were canceled. Make a pilgrimage two hundred versts away.Many people praised this practice, saying that Modest Alexeitch was already in office and not young, and a lively wedding seemed inappropriate.Besides, a fifty-two-year-old civil servant is married to a girl who has just turned eighteen, and listening to music on such an occasion is not interesting.It was also said that Modest Alexeitch was a man of the rules, and that the idea of his pilgrimage to the monastery was to make his young wife understand that in matters of marriage he put religion and morality first. first.
A group of colleagues and relatives went to the station to see off the newlyweds.They stood with their glasses in their hands, waiting for the train to start, so as to shout "Hurrah!" Peter Leondiitch, the father of the bride, in a tall hat and school uniform, was already drunk, his face was pale, and he held his hand. Drinking her glass, she kept leaning over the window, begging, "Anita! Anya! Anya, listen to me!"
Anya leaned out of the window, and he murmured into her ear.She always felt that the smell of alcohol was so strong that her ears were filled with wind, and she couldn't hear anything clearly.He kept making the sign of the cross on her face, chest, and hands.He was trembling even for breathing, and tears welled up in his eyes.Her two younger brothers, schoolboys Petya and Andryusha, tugged at his coat behind him and whispered embarrassingly: "Papa, it's all right... Papa, don't..."
The train moved, and Anya saw that his father ran a few steps along with the carriage, staggering and spilling the wine in the glass.How pitiful and kind his shameful face was!
"Ulla!" he yelled.
Now the newlyweds are alone together.Modest Alexeitch went into the compartment, looked it over, put the things on the luggage rack, and sat down opposite his young wife, smiling.He was a civil servant of medium height, rather fat, potbellied, and in excellent condition, with long whiskers and no mustache.His clean-shaven, well-defined round chin looked like the heel of a heel.The biggest feature on his face is the absence of mustaches. This newly shaved barren land gradually merged with the two chubby, trembling, jelly-like cheeks.His demeanor was dignified, his movements slow, his manner gentle.
"Now I can't help but think of one thing," he said with a smile. "Five years ago, Kosorotov won a second-class St. Anna medal. When he came to thank you at your lord's house, your lord said this: 'So say , you now have three Annas: one in the buttonhole and two at the neck.' It should be noted here that Kosorotov's wife, Anna, a quarrelsome and light-hearted woman, had just returned to him. I hope that when I receive the Order of Anna, Second Class, there will be no excuse for your lordship to say such things to me."
He narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly.She smiled too; but she panicked at the thought that this man would kiss her with his fleshy, wet lips at any moment, and she had no right to refuse him to do so.Every movement of his paunchy body startled her.She felt both terrible and disgusted.He stood up, unhurriedly took the medal from his neck, took off his tuxedo and waistcoat, and put on a robe.
"It's comfortable," he said, sitting down beside Anna.
She recalled how embarrassing the wedding was, and she always felt that the priest, the guests, and everyone in the church were looking at her sadly, as if asking: Why is such a beautiful and lovely girl like her? Do you have to marry this old, uninteresting gentleman?Why?Though she had been very happy this morning, and thought that all was well arranged; yet at the time of the wedding, and now sitting in the carriage, she had felt that she had been wronged, cheated, and ridiculous.See she's married to a rich man, but she's still broke, and even borrowed money to make her wedding dress.When her father and two younger brothers came to see her off today, she could tell by their expressions that they didn't even have a penny on them.Can they have dinner today?What about tomorrow?It seemed to her somehow that now that her father and brother were sitting at home starving after she was gone, they were as heavy-hearted and unbearably sad as they were on the night after their mother's burial.
"Oh, how unhappy I am!" she thought, "why am I so unhappy?"
Modest Alexeitch, a dignified man, not used to courting women, touched her waist clumsily, patted her on the shoulder; and she was thinking of money, of her mother, of her death .After the death of his mother, his father, Peter Leondiich, a middle school character and picture teacher, began to drink heavily, and his family became more and more impoverished.The two boys had no boots or galoshes, and the father was sent to the civil judge, and the bailiffs came and searched the furniture... What a disgrace!Anya has to look after her alcoholic father, mend socks for her younger brother, go to the market... Whenever someone praises her for being young, beautiful and elegant, she always feels that the whole world is looking at her cheap hat and leather shoes. A hole plugged with black batter.At night, she wept sadly, unable to get rid of the uneasy thoughts: always worrying that her father would soon be dismissed from the school because of his alcoholism, he would not be able to bear the blow, and he would die like my mother.So some acquaintances got busy trying to find a good man for Anya.It was not long before they found this Modest Alexeitch, who was neither young nor handsome, but rich.He has a deposit of 100,000 in the bank, and a manor left by his ancestors that has been rented out.This man behaved according to the rules, and was well received by the adults.Anya was told that it would be easy to ask for his help, that all he had to do was ask his excellency to write a note to the principal of the secondary school, and even to the superintendent, not to dismiss Pyotr Leondiitch. . . .
She was thinking about these past events when suddenly the sound of music and loud voices came from the window.It turned out that the train had stopped at a small station.In the crowd on the opposite side of the platform, someone was playing an accordion vigorously, and a cheap violin made a harsh sawing sound.From behind a row of tall birches and poplars, from the villa area bathed in moonlight, came the melodious military music: there was obviously a ball in the villa.On the platform, the summer vacationers who live in the villas and the city people who come here take a walk. Whenever the weather is good, they come here to breathe the fresh air.Among them was Artynov, the proprietor of the entire villa complex, a rich man, a tall, fat, dark-haired man with an Armenian face, bulging eyes, and strange clothes.The shirt on his upper body was unbuttoned, with his arms open, a pair of high boots with spurs, and a black cloak that dragged to the ground was draped over his shoulders, like a woman's long back that dragged the floor.Two hounds followed behind him with drooping pointed faces.
Anya still had tears in her eyes, but she no longer thought of her mother, money, or her marriage.She kept shaking hands with high school students and officers she knew, smiling cheerfully and repeating quickly: "Hello! How are you?"
She came out on the little platform outside the carriage, and stood in the light of the moon, so that all could see her in her splendid new dress and pretty hat.
"Why did we stop here?" she asked.
"This is the wrong station," answered someone, "waiting for a mail coach."
Noticing that Altynov was looking at her, she narrowed her eyes coquettishly and spoke French aloud.Asked suddenly, because her voice was so beautiful, because the music was rippling all around, and a bright moon was reflected in the pool, because Artynov, the notoriously romantic and lucky man, was staring at her with fascination and curiosity. She, and Anya couldn't help being ecstatic because everyone was happy.When the train started and the acquaintances saluted her farewell, she was already humming a polka to the military music from behind the woods.When she returned to the private room, she had a feeling in her heart, as if the people at the small station convinced her that no matter what the circumstances were, she would definitely be happy in the future.
The newlyweds returned to the city after spending two days at the convent.They live in a condominium.After Modest Alexeitch went to work, Anya played the piano, or cried for a while, or lay on the soft couch, reading novels, and flipping through fashion magazines.Modest Alexeitch always ate a lot at lunch, and while he ate he talked about politics, news about appointments, transfers, rewards, that one should work, that family life was not a blessing, but a Dutiful, saying that a hundred kopeks is a ruble, saying that he values religion and morality above everything else in the world.Finally, holding the table knife as if he were holding a sword, he said: "Everyone should do his duty!"
Anya listened, terrified, unable to eat, and often left the table hungry.After lunch her husband lay down to rest, and soon snored loudly, and she returned to her own home.The father and brothers looked at her for a while, with a strange look in their eyes, as if they had just scolded her before she came, saying that she married someone she didn't love, who was boring and annoying, for money.Her creaky dress, hand gong, in short, her whole lady's attire, made them feel restrained and humiliated.They were a little embarrassed in front of her and didn't know what to say to her.But they still loved him as before, and they were not used to eating without her.She sat down with them to drink vegetable soup and porridge, and eat potatoes fried in mutton fat that smelled of candles.Pyotr Leondiitch took the bottle with trembling hands, poured himself a glass, drank it greedily and disgustedly, poured a second, a third... Petya and Ann Delusha, two thin, pale, big-eyed boys snatched the bottle and said in a panic: "Don't drink, papa... that's enough, papa..."
Anya also became disturbed, and begged him to stop drinking, but he flew into a rage and beat the table with his fist.
"I won't allow others to control me!" he yelled, "Bad boy! Bad girl! Watch me kick you out!"
But his voice reveals weakness and kindness, so no one is afraid of him.He usually has to dress up after lunch.He was pale, with a scratch on his chin, stretched out his slender neck, and stood in front of the mirror for half an hour.After combing his hair for a while, twirling his black beard for a while, sprinkling perfume on his body, putting on a bow tie, putting on gloves and a top hat, and then going out of the house to the teacher's hall.If it was a holiday, he stayed at home, sometimes painting watercolours, sometimes playing the organ.The organ creaked and rumbled, and he wanted to force it to play harmonious music, and even played and sang by himself. Sometimes he got angry at the two children: "Bastard! Bad boy! Fuck all the instruments!" broken!"
In the evenings, Anya's husband used to play cards with colleagues who lived in the same apartment.During the game of cards, the wives of civil servants also gathered together.These wives are not pretty, dress poorly, behave rudely, and look like cooks.They gossiped about the room, and their talk was as vulgar and boring as they were.Sometimes Modest Alexeitch took Anya to the theatre.During the intermission, he would not let her move a step, he made her walk up and down the corridor and the lounge together with his arm.Sometimes he bowed to someone, and then whispered to Anya: "A civil servant of the fifth rank... Your Excellency has received him..." Or, "This man is very rich...has a house..." When they passed the commissary, Anya was eager to buy something sweet, she liked chocolate and apple strudel, but she had no money with her and was ashamed to ask her husband.He picked up a pear, squeezed it with his fingers, and asked hesitantly, "How much?"
"Twenty-five kopecks."
"Really?" He said and put the pear back in its place.But he was too embarrassed to walk away without buying anything, so he asked for a bottle of mineral water and drank it all by himself until tears came out of his eyes.Anya hated him then.
Sometimes, he blushed suddenly and said to her hastily, "Bow to that old lady!"
"But I don't know her."
"It's all right. She's the wife of the Commissioner of Revenue! Bow, I tell you!" he kept nagging, "Your head won't come off."
Anya bowed, and her head did not fall off, but she felt a great pain in her heart.She did what her husband asked her to do, and she could only be angry with herself: she should not have been cheated by him like a fool.She had only married him for money, but now she has less money than before marriage.Her father used to give her twenty kopecks, but now she never had a single one.She can't steal money or ask him for something. She is afraid of her husband and trembles when she sees him.She felt that she had a long-standing fear of this man.When she was a child, she always thought that the principal of the middle school was the most majestic and terrifying force. This force was like a dark cloud above her head, like a rushing locomotive trying to crush her to death.Another majestic and terrifying force is the adult who is often mentioned in the family, and everyone is afraid of him for some reason.There were a dozen other lesser horrors, including the clean-shaven, stern-looking, ruthless teachers of the high school.And finally, there was now Modest Alexeitch, a well-behaved man who even had the face of a school principal.In Anya's imagination, all these combined into one force, turned into a terrifying giant white bear, approaching step by step towards some weak and faulty people like her father.She didn't dare to say anything against her, and whenever she was caressed roughly, frightened and defiled by the other's embrace, she could only force a smile and pretend to be happy.
Only once, in order to pay off a very unpleasant debt, did Pyotr Leondyitch venture to borrow fifty rubles from him, and what an embarrassment it was!
"Well, I'll lend you the money," said Modest Alexeitch after some consideration, "but I must warn you: if you don't quit drinking, I won't give you any money in the future. It is disgraceful for a public servant to be tainted with this vice. I am compelled to remind you of a well-known fact: this habit has ruined many able men who, if they had only restrained themselves, would have risen through the ranks , in important positions."
A tirade followed: "On the basis of ...", "In view of what has just been said ...", "It follows from this ...", poor Pyotr Leondiitch, suffering from humiliation, wanted to drink more up.
The two younger brothers sometimes came to Anja's house as guests. They always wore ragged trousers and ripped boots, and they still had to listen to him.
"Everyone must do his duty!" Modest Alexeitch told them.
He does not give money.But he gave Anya a ring, a hand gong, and a brooch, saying that these things would come in handy when times got tough.He often took the key to her chest of drawers to check that they were in good condition.
Winter came in a blink of an eye.Even before Christmas, the local newspaper published the news early: the annual Yule Ball will be held at the Noble Club on December 29th.Every evening after the card game, Modest Alexeitch would talk anxiously to the magistrate for a while, glance at Anya worriedly from time to time, and then walk up and down the room for a long time, thinking What's on your mind.Finally, one night, he stopped before Anya and said: "You have to make a dance dress, do you understand? Just talk to Maria Grigoryevna and Natalia Ku Talk it over with Zminishna."
He gave her a hundred rubles.She accepted the money, but when she ordered the dance clothes, she didn't discuss with anyone, she just mentioned something in front of her father.She tried to imagine how her mother would dress to the ball.Her dead mother, who had always dressed stylishly, took care of Anya, dressed her up like a pretty doll, taught her to speak French, and danced the mazurka—very well (before she was married. Her mother was a governess for five years).Like her mother, Anya would remake old dresses into new ones, wash gloves with gasoline, rent jewelry, and like her mother, she was good at squinting, talking coquettishly, making all kinds of charming gestures, and when necessary You can be beaming with joy, or you can become sad and unpredictable.From her father she inherited dark hair, dark eyes, nervousness, and a constant preoccupation with grooming.
Half an hour before going to the ball, Modest Alexeitch came into her room without a dress, and tried to hang the medal around her neck before her looking-glass.When he saw it, he was fascinated by her beauty and the newly made gorgeous tulle dance dress.He smoothed his whiskers triumphantly, and said: "Look at how beautiful you are...how beautiful! My Anuta!" Suddenly he changed his serious tone and continued: "I have made you happy, today You will make me happy as well. I beseech you to make the acquaintance of your excellency's wife! For God's sake! Through her I shall get the post of master clerk!"
They go to the dance by car.Guards stood at the gate of the noble club.Entering the front hall, I saw a lot of fur coats hung on the hat racks, waiters were wearing them, and the ladies with bare breasts and backs used fans to block the draft.The air smelled of gas lamps and soldiers.Anja took her husband's arm up the stairs, listening to the music, looking at herself in the big mirror illuminated by the brilliant lights, and the joy in her heart was revived, just like that time at the little station under the moonlight. , once again had a premonition that happiness was coming.She walked confidently, feeling for the first time that she was no longer a little girl, but a lady, and could not help imitating the gait and demeanor of her late mother.For the first time in her life, she felt like a rich, free person.Even in the presence of her husband, she does not feel restrained, because the moment she steps on the threshold of the club, she has instinctively realized that the elderly husband around her does not demean herself at all, on the contrary, it adds a layer of seductiveness to her. Mystery, this is what men are most attracted to.There was melodious music in the hall, and the dance had already begun.Coming out of the modest apartment, amidst the splendor of lights, colours, music and noise, deeply moved Anya glanced into the hall and thought to herself: "Oh, that would be wonderful." !” She recognized in the crowd at once all her acquaintances, all those officers, teachers, lawyers, civil servants, landowners, high officials, Artynovs, ladies of high society whom she had met before at parties or pleasures. them.These ladies are all well-dressed, with bare breasts and backs. Some are beautiful and some are ugly.They had taken their places in the cabins and kiosks of the bazaar, holding bazaars for the poor.A burly officer with tasseled epaulets (she had met him in the Old Kyiv Street when she was a high school student, and now does not remember his name) invited her to a waltz as if he had sprung from the ground.She flew away from her husband, and she felt that she was floating in a storm in a small sailboat, while her husband was far away on the shore... She danced with enthusiasm and enthusiasm, waltz, Polka, Quadrille, danced one after another, passed from one partner to another, the music and the noise fascinated her, she talked to him delicately, Russian mixed with French, and couldn't stop laughing , there is neither a husband nor anyone or anything in my mind.She won the hearts of men, that was obvious, and it couldn't have been otherwise.She was breathless with excitement, anxiously pinching the fan in her hand, she felt thirsty.Her father, Peter Leondiitch, in a crumpled petrol-smelling dress, came up to her and handed her a small dish of red ice cream.
"You are so charming today!" he said, looking at her with great joy. "I have never regretted it so much. You shouldn't have married in a hurry...for what? I know, you did it for us, but ..." He took out a small wad of banknotes with trembling hands, and said, "I received my salary from the teacher's house today, and I can pay off the money owed to your husband."
She stuffed the small dish into his hand, and was immediately hugged around the waist, and was taken away from a distance.Glancing briefly over her partner's shoulder, she saw her father gliding briskly on the parquet floor, whirling around the hall with a lady in his arms.
"How cute he is when he's not drunk!" she said.
She still danced the mazurka with the burly officer.He danced haughtily and heavily, like an animal that has been slaughtered and put on a military uniform. He shrugged his shoulders from time to time, straightened his chest, and stepped on his heels reluctantly-a look that he did not want to dance.But she flew around him like a butterfly, teasing him with her beauty and her bare neck.Her eyes burned like fire, her movements were full of passion, while he, with growing indifference, held out his hand to her like a king's favor.
"Wow, wow!" Someone in the crowd cheered.
But gradually, even the burly officer couldn't resist, he became active, agitated, already intoxicated by her strength, became extremely fanatical, and now his movements became brisk and full of vitality, while she just swayed shoulder, looking slyly at him: she was a queen, he a slave.At this moment, she felt that the whole hall was watching them, and all these people were stunned and jealous of them.The burly officer had just thanked her, when the crowd suddenly stepped aside, the men straightened up strangely for some reason, with their hands stuck to the seam of their trousers... It turned out that the adult wearing two stars on his dress was facing she comes.Yes, the lord came here for her, because his eyes were fixed on her, his face was smiling, and his mouth was moving as if he was eating - he always did this when he saw a beautiful woman.
"I'm glad, glad..." he began, "I'm ordering your husband's confinement, because he's been keeping such a treasure from us."
"I came to you by order of my wife," he went on, holding out his hand to her, "you must help us... well, yes... you should be given a beauty bonus... just like the United States So...well, yes...the Americans...my wife is anxiously waiting for you."
He led her into a cabin to meet an elderly lady.The lower half of the lady's face was disproportionately large, as if she had a large rock in her mouth.
"Come and help us," she said nasally, "all the beautiful women are working at the bazaar, and you're just having fun for some reason, why don't you want to help us?"
She went away, and Anya took her place, guarding a silver teapot and some cups.Business here immediately boomed.Anya charged at least one ruble for a cup of tea, and the burly officer forced her to drink three cups.Altynov came too.The rich man had bulging eyes and asthma. He was no longer wearing the strange clothes that Anya had seen in the summer, but the same tuxedo as everyone else.He stared at Anya without blinking, drank a glass of champagne, paid a hundred rubles, drank another glass, and paid another hundred—all the while without saying a word, because of his asthmatic attack... Anya recruited customers and took their money, and she was convinced by this moment that her smile and eyes brought great pleasure to these people.Only then did she realize that she was born just to enjoy this lively, luxurious, and happy life with music, dance, and admirers.She could not help laughing at the thought of the power that threatened her, that wanted to crush her, which she had long feared.Now she is not afraid of anyone.She only regrets that her mother is dead, otherwise she would see her success at this moment and be happy with her.
Pyotr Leondiitch, already pale, but still on his feet, came to the cabin and ordered a glass of brandy.Anya blushed, waiting for something inappropriate from him (she was already ashamed of having such a poor and ordinary father), but he finished his drink, threw ten rubles from a wad of bills, and said He walked away arrogantly without saying a word.Presently she saw him dancing the roulette with his partner, who was already staggering and shouting, much to the embarrassment of his partner.From this Anya recalled that at a ball three years ago he had been staggering and yelling in the same way—the police chief had sent him home to sleep, and the next day the principal had threatened to dismiss him.What an unpleasant memory!
The samovars in the kiosks were all extinguished, and the exhausted female philanthropists handed over their proceeds to the elderly lady with a stone in her mouth.At this moment Artynov took Anya by the arm and led her into the dining room, where a feast had been prepared for all the bazaar.No more than twenty people attended the dinner, and it was very lively.The adults toasted: "In this luxurious restaurant, we should drink to the purpose of this charity sale - to the prosperity of cheap charity canteens." A brigadier general suggested that everyone "give thanks to the power of the cannon" Cheers, so the men leaned over and clinked glasses with the ladies one after another.Everyone is very, very happy!
It was broad daylight when Anya was escorted home, and the cooks were at the market.Excited, drunk, full of fresh impressions, and exhausted at the same time, she undressed, threw herself on the bed, and immediately fell asleep...
The maid woke her up at one o'clock in the afternoon to report that Mr. Artynov was calling.She dressed quickly and went to the living room.Not long after Altynov left, the adults personally came to thank her for participating in the bazaar.He looked at her lewdly, moved his mouth, kissed her little hand, and asked her to allow him to visit again in the future, and then drove away.She stood in the middle of the living room, surprised and excited, unable to believe that her life had changed so dramatically so quickly.At that very moment her husband, Modest Alexeitch, came in. . . He stood before her with that flattering, respectful servile air which she was used to; This is always the case with powerful people.She expected that he could do nothing with her whatever she said, so she bit down every word happily, angrily, and contemptuously and said, "Get out, idiot!"
Since then, Anja has never had a day of idle time, because she sometimes participates in picnics, sometimes outings, and sometimes participates in performances.She came home only early in the morning and often slept on the living room floor. Afterwards, she told others touchingly how she slept under the flowers.She needed a lot of money, but she was no longer afraid of Modest Alexeitch, and she spent his money as if she were her own.She would send him the bill without asking or asking for it, or write a note: "Two hundred rubles here," or "Pay a hundred rubles quickly."
Modest Alexeitch was awarded the Order of Anna, Second Class, on Easter Sunday.When he went to say thanks, His Excellency put the newspaper aside and made himself more comfortable in the armchair.
"So you have three Annas now," he said, examining his white hands and pink nails, "one in the buttonhole and two at the neck."
Modest Alexeitch carefully put out two fingers and pressed his mouth to keep from laughing.He said: "Now little Vladimir is born. I venture to ask your excellency to be his godfather."
He was alluding to the Order of Vladimir IV, and was already secretly imagining that he would go around preaching his witty, bold, double-entended quip.He was about to say something similar, but His Excellency went back to the newspaper and gave him a nod...
Anya still drove in the troika, went hunting with Artynov, performed one-act plays, dined out, and seldom came home to see her father and brother.They eat by themselves.Pyotr Leondiitch was getting more and more addicted to alcohol and had no money, and the organ had been sold to pay off the debt.Now the two boys don't let him go to the street alone, they always follow him for fear that he will fall.Sometimes they met Anya on the Old Kyiv Street, driving in a hansom with a haggard horse beside it, and Artynov himself drove the coachman's seat.At this moment Pyotr Leondiitch took off his top hat and was about to call out to her, but Petya and Andryusha each pulled him by the arm and begged him: "Don't do that, papa . . . well, papa." ..."
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