Chapter 8 Becheneg

Becheneg Ivan Abramych Zhimkhin was a retired Cossack officer who had served in the Caucasus and now lived on his farm.He had been young, healthy, and strong, but now he was old, wizened, a little stooped, with shaggy eyebrows and greenish-white mustaches.One day, it was a hot summer day, he went back to his farm from the city. He fasted in the city, wrote his will at the notary (he suffered a small stroke about two weeks ago), and now sits in a railway car, talking about his approaching death, about the emptiness of the world, about everything on earth. The melancholy and serious thoughts of the moment never left him along the way.At Provarie station (there is such a station on the Donetsk railway), a fat, middle-aged blond gentleman with an old leather bag in his hand got into his compartment and sat down opposite him.The two of them started talking.

"Yes," said Ivan Abramitch, looking out of the window dumbly. "It's never too late to get married. I got married when I was forty-eight. People say it's too late, but it's not too late, but it's better not to get married at all. My wife will soon It's annoying, but not everyone is willing to tell the truth, because, you know, people always feel that unhappy family life is something to be ashamed of and not to tell. Some people keep yelling 'Mania, Mania' beside their wives, but if he acts according to his heart, he will put this Mania in a bag and throw it into the water.It's no fun living with a wife, it's just stupid.Besides, I dare to assure you, the children are not necessarily better.I have two of these rascals.Here on the steppe, they had nowhere to go to school, and they had to be sent to Novocherkassk to study, but they had no money, so they had to live here like two wolf cubs.You see, they'll kill people on the highway. "

Mr. Blonde listened attentively, and answered the questions in a low voice and briefly. It seemed that this person was gentle and modest.He claimed to be a lawyer, and said he was now on business in the village of Djuevka. "Oh, you know, that place is nine versts from my house, my God!" said Zhimushin, and from his tone it sounded like someone was quarreling with him. "But, I'm sorry, you won't be able to find a carriage when you get to the station. It seems to me that you'd better go to my house, you understand, and spend the night with me, and take my carriage the next morning." Just go."

The lawyer thought about it and agreed. When they arrived at the train station, the sun was already low over the prairie.On the way from the station to the Grange they did not speak, the jolting of the carriage prevented them from chatting.The wagon bounced and squeaked, and seemed to weep, as though it were inflicting great pain on itself by this bouncing.The lawyer sat uncomfortably, looking ahead morosely, longing to see the farm.They drove for eight versts before they saw a small house and a courtyard in the distance, surrounded by a wall made of black stone slabs.The roof of that house was green, the plaster on the walls was peeling off, and the windows were small and narrow, like narrowed eyes.The farm was built in the sun, with no water or trees around.Neighboring landowners and farmers called it "Becheneg Grange".Many years ago a passing land surveyor stayed on the farm, talked to Ivan Abramych all night, was very dissatisfied, and said to him sternly as he left in the morning: "You, my sir, From Becheneg!" From then on the name "Grange Becheneg" spread, and when the children of Zhimuxing grew up and began to plunder the neighboring orchards and melon fields, the nickname became more and more unbreakable.People also call Ivan Abramech "You understand" because he usually talks a lot and uses this "You understand" a lot.

Standing next to the pile in the yard were Rimuxing's sons, one was nineteen years old and the other was a half-grown child, both barefoot and without hats.Just as the carriage drove into the yard, the younger son threw a hen high into the air, and the hen cooed, flew up, and drew an arc in the air; The hen was beaten to death and fell to the ground. "This is my child learning to shoot birds," Ri Muxing said. A woman greeted the visitor in the hall.She was thin, pale, young, and beautiful.Judging from the clothes she was wearing, she might be regarded as a servant. "Let me introduce," Ri Muxing said, "she is the mother of my little ones.

Now, Lyubov Osipovna," he said, turning to her, "come on, mother, and cook for the guests.Have dinner!quick! " The house was divided into two halves: the "living room" and the bedroom of the old man Zhimuxing who adjoined it, and these rooms were hot and stuffy, with low ceilings, full of flies and wasps; Laundry was done, meals were served to the servants, there were geese and chickens hatching under the benches, and there were Lyubov Osipovna and her two sons' beds.The furniture in the living room was unpainted and had evidently been made by a carpenter so sloppily.Guns, hunting-bags, and whips hung on the walls, old junk long since rusted and gray with grime.There were not a single picture, but there was a wooden board in the corner, which was originally used for placing holy images.

A young Ukrainian woman set the table and brought ham, followed by red beet soup.The guests refused to drink and ate only bread and pickles. "How about some ham?" Ri Muxing asked. "Thank you, I won't eat it," replied the guest. "I've never eaten meat." "Why is that?" "I'm a vegetarian. Killing animals is against my beliefs." Ri Muxing thought for a while, then sighed, and said slowly: "Yes. . . . That's right. I also met a person in the city who didn't eat meat. Now this kind of belief is fashionable. Well, that's good. You can't keep killing animals and shooting birds, you know, and sooner or later you have to wash your hands and let the animals live in peace. Killing is a sin, it's a sin, it goes without saying Yes. Sometimes I shoot a rabbit and hurt its leg, and it barks like a baby. It can be seen that it also feels pain!"

"Of course it hurts. Animals know pain as well as people do." "That's true," agreed Rimushing, "I understand all this," he continued, thinking, "but, to be honest, there is one thing I don't understand: for example, you understand, if When everyone stops eating meat, what will happen to poultry, such as chickens and geese?" "The chickens and geese will live in freedom, like the wild birds." "Now I understand. Yes, the crows and jackdaws are alive, and they can live well without us. That's right...the chickens, geese, rabbits, and sheep will live freely and happily , you understand, praise God, they will never be afraid of us again. There will be peace and tranquility in the world. But, you understand, there is one thing I still don't understand," Zhi Muxing said, looking at Ham, " What will happen to the pigs? What to do with them?"

"Pigs are like other animals, that is to say, they are free." "Yes. Yes. But, I'm sorry, but then again, if you don't kill them, they will multiply, and you know, then the pastures and gardens will be destroyed. You know, pigs, if they are randomly They're free, leave them alone, and within a day they'll spoil everything. A pig is always a pig, and it's not for nothing that it's called a pig. . . . " They finished their supper.Ri Muxing left the dining table and walked around the room for a long time, talking and talking. ... He likes to talk about some important and serious things, and likes to meditate. Moreover, he is eager to find some kind of faith in old age that can give his soul some sustenance, and death will not seem so terrible.He wanted to be soft-tempered, even-tempered, and trusting of himself, like this guest who ate pickles and bread and thought he was perfected by it.The guest sat on a box, healthy, chubby, silent, enduring his boredom.If anyone looked at him from the vestibule in the dim twilight, he would look like a huge rock that no one could lift.

People have sustenance in life, and they feel at ease in their hearts. Ri Muxing walked through the front hall and walked under the porch outside the door. One could hear him sighing unceasingly, and muttering to himself in meditation: "Yes,...that's it." up the stars.There was no light in the room yet.Someone came quietly into the hall, and stood like a shadow by the door.It turned out that this was Rimushin's wife, Lyubov Osipovna. "Are you from the city?" she asked timidly, not looking at her visitor. "Yes, I live in the city." "Perhaps you are a scholar, sir, so please take the trouble to enlighten us. We must submit a paper."

"Where are you going?" asked the guest. "We have two boys, good sir, who should have been sent to school a long time ago, but we have no one here to look after them, and we can't find anyone to consult them. I don't know anything myself. If they don't go to school, they will go to school." To be drafted into the army like ordinary Cossacks. That would be bad, sir! They are illiterate, worse than peasants, and even Ivan Abramych himself despises them and won't let them into the room. But can it be their fault? Really, it would be nice to send the little one to school, or else it would be so heart-wrenching!" she said slowly, her voice trembling; such a thin, young woman already had As a grown child, it seemed unbelievable. "Oh, what a pain!" "You, mother of the child, don't understand anything, it's none of your business," Ri Muxing appeared at the door and said. "Don't pester the guests with your nonsense. Go away, mother!" Lyubov Osipovna went out and said again in her thin voice in the hall: "Oh, what a pain!" They made up the guest's quilt on a couch in the living room, and lighted an ever-burning lamp to keep him from getting too dark.Ri Muxing went to bed and went to sleep in his bedroom.He lay there thinking about his soul, about old age, about the stroke not so long ago that had frightened him so much that he thought he was going to die.He liked to be alone and meditate in silence, and at such times he fancied himself a very serious and profound man, in whom only great problems in this world interested him.Now he is constantly thinking, he wants to grasp a different and outstanding idea, make it a guide for life, and deliberately think of a principle for himself, so that his life can become like himself So serious and deep.For example, it was good for an old man like him to abstain from meat and all kinds of delicacies.The time when human beings will no longer kill each other and animals will come sooner or later, it is impossible not to come, so he fantasizes about that time, and clearly imagines himself living in harmony with all animals, but suddenly he The thought of those pigs confused all the trains of thought in his head. "Strange thing, God have mercy," he murmured, gasping for breath. "Are you asleep?" he asked. "No." Ri Muxing got up from the bed and stopped at the door, wearing only his underwear, showing his two veined, shriveled, stick-like legs in front of the guests. "You understand," he began, "in this day and age, with all the telegraphs, telephones, and all kinds of miracles in a word, and yet people are not getting any better. It is said that in our time Thirty or forty years ago, people were brutal and cruel; but isn't it still the same now? Indeed, in my time, people were not very polite. I still remember that once in the Caucasus, we camped by a small river for a whole Four months without any work, when I was still a sergeant. There was a trouble, which is like a novel. On the other side of the river where our Cossack cavalry company was stationed, you know, there is a poor prince buried, He was killed by us not long ago. Every night, you know, the widowed princess goes to the grave and weeps. Weeping and moaning, she makes us feel uncomfortable. , couldn't sleep. We couldn't sleep the first night, and the second night; well, that's what annoyed us. It's common sense to not sleep for such a goddamn reason, that's not okay— —Pardon me for saying this. We took the Duchess and whipped her and she stopped crying. That's all. Now, of course, there are no such people, and You don't need to be whipped, everyone lives a lot better and learns a lot more, but, you know, the soul of man remains the same and hasn't changed much. Well, to tell you the truth, we live here Landlord. He runs mines, you understand. He works with all kinds of bums without passports, with nowhere to go. They have to be paid on Saturdays, but he doesn't want to, you understand. He couldn't bear the money, so he found a billing man, also a bum, but he managed to wear a hat on his head. The landlord said, "Don't give them money, not a penny; they'll beat you, ’ he said, ‘then let them fight, you bear it, and I will give you ten rubles every Saturday. 'Well, on Saturday evening, when the workers came to collect their wages as a rule, the accountant said to them: "No!" . . . Everyone beat him together, fisted and kicked, you know, these people are very hungry.They beat the man to nothing, and then separated.The boss ordered water to be splashed on the accountant's face, and then he handed him a ten-rouble note, which the man took and was quite happy with, because in fact ten rubles was three rubles. He would also agree to get in the noose.yes. ... and on Monday another group of workers came.They had to come, there was nowhere to go. . . . and it was the same thing again on Saturday. ..." The guest turned over, facing the back of the couch, and mumbled something in his mouth. "Here, there is another example," Ri Muxing went on. "One year, you know, there was a plague called anthrax here. The animals, I tell you, were dying like flies. The veterinarian came here and gave stern orders to get the dead animals out. Go far away, bury it deep in the ground, pour lime, etc., you know, it's all based on scientific principles. My horse died too. I buried it with all precautions , ten poods of lime was poured on him alone. Guess what? My two boys, you know, my darling son, dug up the horse in the night, stripped the skin off it, and sold it I paid three rubles. You see. Man has not changed for the better, no matter how much you feed the wolf, the wolf always looks into the woods. That's what it is. Such a thing to think about! Isn't it? You think How about it?" Suddenly, on one side of the room, a flash of lightning flashed through the crack in the shutter.Before the storm, the weather was always sweltering and the mosquitoes kept biting people. Ri Muxing lay in his room meditating, sighing, moaning and muttering to himself: "By the way,...that's how it is". Can't sleep.A rumble of thunder sounded far, far away. "Are you asleep?" "No," replied the guest. Ri Muxing got up, walked through the living room and front hall, pattering his bare feet, and went to the kitchen to drink water. "The worst thing in the world, you know, is stupidity," he said after a while, coming back with a ladle. "My Lyubov Osipovna is kneeling there praying to God. She prays every night, you know, she kowtows, and the first thing she does is pray that God will send her child to school, She was afraid that the children would go to the army like ordinary Cossacks, and when they got there, they would be stabbed in the back with sabers. However, to go to school, you must have money, but where can you find money? Still no money. Second, she prayed because, you know, any woman thinks there is no one in the world less unfortunate than she is. I'm straight, and I don't want to keep anything from you. She came from a poor family, a priest's Daughter, the so-called monk class. I married her when she was seventeen.Her family married her to me mostly because the family had no food and was poor and miserable. As for me, you can see that after all, I have land and a family business. Well, after all, I am an officer at any rate; you I understand, she will be regarded as a high climber if she marries me.She cried on the first day of our marriage, and she cried for twenty years afterwards, as the saying goes, the tears never dry.She sat there all the time, thinking and thinking and thinking.Excuse me, what can I think of?What can women think? There is nothing to think about.To be honest, I don't think of women as human beings. " The lawyer sat up abruptly. "Sorry, I'm feeling a little stuffy," he said. "I want to go out." While continuing to talk about women, Ri Muxing walked into the front hall, opened the door latch, and the two went outside.It just so happened that a bright moon was floating in the sky above the yard, and the house and the stacked house looked whiter than in the daytime under the moonlight.On the grass, among the black shadows, spread a few bright streaks of moonlight, also white.From here you can see a prairie in the distance to the right, with stars shining peacefully above it.Everything is mysterious, infinitely far away, and people seem to be looking into the abyss.On the left, over the grasslands, heavy black clouds brewing a thunderstorm, black as soot.The edges of the clouds were illuminated by the moon, and it seemed that there were some peaks covered with snow, and dark woods and seas.Lightning flashed, and there was a slight thunder, as if a war was going on on the mountain. ... Near the Grange a little owl hooted monotonously, "Sleep! Sleep!" "What time is it?" asked the visitor. "It's past one." "It's still early before dawn, really!" They went back to the house and lay down again.He should be asleep. Before it rains, people usually sleep very soundly, but this old man likes to think about some important and serious things.He doesn't just think, but ponders over and over again.He pondered that death was approaching, and in order to save his soul, it was best not to idle around like this, letting time be wasted day after day, year after year unconsciously, without leaving any traces.He'd better think of something big for himself, like walking somewhere far, far away, or abstaining from meat like this young man.He also imagined the era when humans would no longer kill animals, and he imagined it so vividly and vividly, as if he was experiencing that era himself.But suddenly, his mind was in a mess again, and everything was unclear. The thunderstorm had passed, but there was still a fringe of dark clouds left, and the rain was still falling, patting lightly on the roof.Ri Muxing got up, stretched himself, moaned because of his old age, and looked at the hall.Seeing that his visitor was not asleep, he said: "In the Caucasus, you know, we had a colonel there who was also a vegetarian. He didn't eat meat, he never hunted, and he didn't allow his men to go fishing. Of course, I understand All animals should live freely and enjoy life; but I don't understand: how can pigs walk around casually, no one cares about them..." The guest got up and sat down.There was trouble and weariness on his pale, drawn face; he was plainly worn out, but his meek, soft heart would not allow him to express his annoyance in words. "It's daylight," he said mildly. "Excuse me, tell them to prepare the horses." "Why? Wait a minute, the rain will stop." "No, I beg you," pleaded the visitor, in a tone of horror. "I must go at once." He started to dress in a hurry. By the time the carriage was ready, the sun had risen.The rain had just stopped, and the clouds were running fast, and some blue gaps in the sky became larger and larger.The first sunlight shyly reflected in the small puddle below.The lawyer picked up his leather bag and went through the hall to get into the carriage. At this moment Rimuxing's wife, paler than yesterday, was stained with tears, and looked at him intently, without blinking her eyes. She had the simplicity of a girl, and her mournful countenance showed her envy of his freedom: oh, how glad she would be if she could get away from here herself!It can also be seen that she has something to say to him, probably to ask him to give some advice for her child.How poor she is!This person was not a wife, nor a mistress, nor even a maid, but rather a poor eater, a relative whom no one wanted, an insignificant person. ... Her husband was in a hurry, talking non-stop, and taking the lead to see the guests out.She, for her part, huddled against the wall in terror and guilt, had been waiting for a convenient opportunity to speak. "Welcome to come again next time!" The old man repeated without stopping for a moment. "You understand that we will do everything in our power to entertain you!" The visitor hurried into the carriage, evidently enjoying himself, as if fearing that he might be detained at this moment.The carriage skipped and squeaked as it had done yesterday, and slammed violently against a bucket hitched to the rear of the cart.The lawyer turned his head and glanced at Muxing with a special expression, as if, like the land surveyor of old, he wanted to call him a Becheneg or something, but his gentle nature prevailed. , he held back and said nothing.But when he got to the gate, he couldn't help it suddenly, stood up, and shouted loudly and angrily: "I hate you!" Then, the carriage drove out the door and disappeared. Rimuxing's sons were standing by the pile: the elder son was holding a gun, and the younger son was holding a gray rooster with a bright and beautiful crown on its head.The younger son threw the rooster up with all his strength, and the rooster flew high above the roof, turning over in the air like a dove.The eldest son fired a shot, and the rooster fell like a rock. The old man was flustered and did not know how to explain this strange and unexpected cry from his visitor.He walked slowly back to the house.He sat down at the table in the house, pondered for a long time, thought of the current trend of thought, of the general immorality, of the telegraph, of the telephone, of the bicycle, of how unnecessary it all was, gradually calmed down, then calmed down. After eating quickly and drinking five large cups of tea, he lay down to sleep.