Chapter 5 "Farmer" Five

Fives At around ten o'clock in the evening on the Assumption Day, the girls and boys who were having fun on the meadow under the slope suddenly let out piercing screams and ran towards the village one after another.Those who sat on the edge of the steep slope could not understand for a while what had happened. "It's on fire! It's on fire!" came a hoarse cry from below, "The village is on fire!" Those who sat on the edge of the steep slope looked back, and there was a terrible and unusual sight before them.On the hay roof of a wooden house at the head of the village, a pillar of fire shot up to one foot high, and the tongue of the fire was tumbling, and countless sparks were scattered in all directions, like a fountain spouting water.Immediately the entire roof burst into flames, and the crackling of the fire could be heard.

①A Russian foot is equal to 2.123 meters. The moonlight dimmed, and the whole village was shrouded in a trembling red light. Black shadows moved on the ground, and there was a smell of smoke in the air.The people who ran up from the slope were out of breath, trembling and speechless.They pushed each other, stumbled, and because they were not used to the blinding firelight, they couldn't see anything clearly, and they didn't even recognize each other.It was terrible.What was particularly frightening was that a few pigeons were flying around in the thick smoke above the flames, while in the tavern those who did not know that the village was on fire were still singing and playing the accordion as if nothing had happened.

"Uncle Semyon's house is on fire!" someone shouted roughly. Maria was running around anxiously in front of her house.She was crying, rubbing her hands, her teeth chattering with fright, even though the fire was still far away, on the other side of the village.Nikolay came out of the house in felt boots, and the children ran out in their tights.Near the village policeman's cabin someone knocked on iron plates.The sound of Dangdang resounded through the night sky.The rapid and endless sound of iron plates made people feel a dull pain in their hearts and chills all over their bodies.Some old grandmas were standing holding holy images.All the sheep, calves, and cows were thrown from the yards into the street, and many boxes, sheepskins, and barrels were brought out.A black-haired stallion, which is usually not allowed into the herd because it often kicks and hurts other horses, was also released now.It neighed and beat its hooves. It ran back and forth in the village twice, and suddenly stopped beside a big car, and kicked the car hard with its hind legs.

Bells were also ringing in the church on the other side of the river. The hot people near the burning wooden house are so bright that every grass on the ground can be clearly seen.Some boxes were finally dragged out.Semyon was sitting on one of the boxes. He was a red-bearded peasant with a big nose, a cap pulled down to his ears, and a suit jacket.His wife was lying face down on the ground, unconscious, moaning.There was an old man about eighty years old, short in stature, with a big beard, like a goblin.He was not a local, but he was obviously involved in the fire, walking around without a hat, holding a white bundle in his hand.His bald head shone with fire.Antip Sedelnikov, the mayor of the village, with a tanned face and black hair like a gypsy, went up to the hut with an ax and, for some reason, he cut down all the windows one after another, and then he cut down the steps Come.

①In Western European mythology, an ugly dwarf who guards underground treasures. "Women, get water!" he cried. "Bring up the machine! Be quick, girls!" The peasants who were drinking and having fun in the tavern just now brought the fire engine.They were all drunk, stumbling and stumbling from time to time, with tears in their eyes and a helpless expression. "Girls, get some water!" the village head yelled, he was also drunk, "Be quick, girls!" The women and girls ran to the spring below, filled the buckets and buckets with water and sent them up the mountain, poured them into the fire engines, and ran down again.Olga, Maria, Sasha and Modka went to fetch water.Some women and boys pressed the pump to draw water, and the fire hose would squeak. The village chief held it to the door for a while, and the window for a while, and sometimes blocked the water flow with his finger, which made the squeaking even more harsh .

"Well done, Antip!" Some people praised, "Come on!" Antipe rushed into the burning porch and shouted from inside: "Press the water hard! Orthodox believers, what should we do together for this disaster!" Many farmers stood aside, doing nothing, staring at the fire in a daze.No one knew what to do and couldn't do it, and all around were stacks of grain, hay, sheds, and woodpile.Kiriak and the old man Osip were also standing there, both drunk.As if to excuse his inaction, the old man said to the woman lying on the ground: "Sister-in-law, why are you banging your head against the ground? Your house is insured, so what are you worried about!"

Semyon told one person and another the cause of the fire: "It's the little old man with the bundle, the servant of General Zhukov's house... He used to be a cook in the general's house, and may the general's soul go to heaven. Come to my house in the evening and say: 'Leave me here for the night...' Well, Needless to say, the two of us drank just a small cup... The old woman was busy making a samovar, and wanted to invite the old man to drink some tea, but it was unfortunate that she put the samovar on the porch, and the sparks from the chimney shot up to the roof. Lighted the hay, and now something went wrong.We almost got burned.The old man's hat was burned, what a crime. "

The tinkling of iron plates continued, and the church bells on the other side of the river were tolling in unison.Olga's body was reflected in the flames, and panting, she ran down and up, looking in horror at the fiery red sheep and the pink pigeons flying back and forth in the smoke.She felt the sound of the bell stabbing into her heart like a spike, and she felt that the fire would never be extinguished, and Sasha was nowhere to be found... Then there was a bang and the ceiling of the cabin fell, and she thought that the whole village would be destroyed. At this time, she was completely paralyzed, and she could no longer lift the bucket, so she sat on the slope and threw the bucket aside.Beside her and behind her were women crying loudly, like mourning.

At this time, two horse-drawn carts drove up from the landlord's manor on the other side of the river. The landlord's housekeeper and servants were sitting in the cart, and they brought a life-saving machine.A young college student in white navy spectacles with open arms also rode up.There was the sound of the hacking of the axe, and a ladder was put on the frame of the wooden house that was already on fire. Immediately, five people climbed up, the first being the college student.His whole body was illuminated by the fire, and he shouted in a harsh, hoarse voice, as if he was an expert in firefighting.They tore down the cabins, unloaded the logs one by one, dragged away the corrals, fences, and nearby haystacks.

"Don't let them demolish the house," a stern shout came from the crowd, "No!" Kiriak walked towards the wooden house with a determined attitude, as if to prevent someone from demolishing the house.But one of the hirelings turned him back and beat him hard.Everyone laughed, and the hireling punched him again, and Kiriak fell, crawling back into the crowd on all fours. From the other side of the river came two more pretty girls in hats, probably the sisters of college students.They stood watching from a distance.The logs that were removed and hauled away were no longer burning, but were emitting heavy smoke.Now the college students hold the faucet, sometimes rushing at the logs, sometimes at the farmers and women carrying water.

"George!" the two girls called to him reproachfully and uneasily. "George!" The fire went out.Everyone scattered home, only to find that it was almost dawn, and everyone was pale and a little hazel-as it always is when the last stars disappear in the sky in the early morning.On the way home, the peasants laughed and joked constantly about General Zhukov's cook, making fun of him for burning his hat.They were already interested in turning the fire into a joke, and even seemed a little sorry that the fire was quickly extinguished. "You are very good at saving people, sir," said Olga to the student, "you should have been transferred to our Moscow, where there are fires almost every day." "Have you come from Moscow?" asked a young lady. "That's right. My husband works at the Slavic Market. This is my daughter," she said, pointing to Sasha, who was shivering with the cold and clung to her. "She's a Muscovite, miss." The two ladies said a few words in French to the student, and he gave Sasha a twenty-copeck piece.When the old man Osip saw it, a hopeful light flashed on his face. "Thank God, sir, thanks to the lack of wind," he said to the student, "otherwise it would only take an hour to burn it all. Be kind to me, sir," he added, in a low voice, sheepishly: "Good morning Cold? I really want to warm my body... Do me a favor and give me some money for some wine." He got nothing, so he cleared his throat loudly and walked home slowly.Olga had been standing on the edge of the slope, watching the two carts wading across the river, the young master and young lady crossing the meadow, and a carriage waiting for them on the other side of the river. As soon as she got back to the cabin, she said to her husband in surprise: "What a wonderful person! They are also beautiful! The two ladies are angels!" "They're going to die!" Fiokla, who was asleep, said viciously.