Chapter 66 part two - four

Nekhludoff went out of the gate and met a peasant girl.Wearing a brightly colored apron with pom-poms hanging from her ears, she ran swiftly on her thick bare feet along a well-trodden path through pastures overgrown with plantains and leeweeds.She swung her left arm back and forth in front of her chest desperately, her right arm tightly hugged a red-feathered rooster, and pressed it to her stomach, and she was about to go home.The rooster shook its blood-red comb, as if it was very calm, it only rolled its eyes, sometimes stretched out a black leg, sometimes retracted, and its claws grabbed the girl's apron from time to time.The girl approached the master and slowed down her pace.She walked up to him, stopped, raised her head back, and bowed to him.She didn't move forward holding the cock until he had passed.Nekhludoff went downhill to the well, and met a stooped old woman in a dirty sackcloth, carrying a heavy bucket full of water.The old woman carefully put down the two buckets, and like a girl, she raised her head back and bowed to him.

Beyond the well is the village.It was sunny and hot, and it was very sweltering by ten o'clock in the morning, with clouds in the sky only occasionally covering the sun.The whole street is filled with a strong but not unpleasant smell of animal dung, some of which come from the flat and solid road that the carts pass up the mountain, but mainly come from the piles of animal dung raked in the yards of each house. of.Nekhludoff happened to be walking through the open yards of the houses.A few farmers were barefoot, their trousers and shirts were splashed with manure, and they were driving carts uphill.From time to time, they looked back at the burly gentleman, and saw that he was wearing a gray top hat with a satin hoop shining in the sun, and he was holding a shiny silver-tipped walking stick in his hand, which he would take every two steps. A little on the ground, walk uphill towards the village.Peasants returning from the fields with their empty wagons, bouncing on the driver's seat, took off their hats to see such a distinctive man walking down the street.Peasant women went outside the gate, or stood on the steps, pointing at him and watching him pass.

Nekhludoff reached the gate of the fourth house, stopped, and let a creaking cart drive out of the yard.The cart was loaded with manure, piled high and firmly beaten, and covered with a straw mat for people to sit on.A five or six-year-old boy followed the cart, happily waiting for the ride.A young farmer in bark sandals strode the horse out of the gate.A long-legged blue-grey colt sprang out of the gate, and when it saw Nekhludoff it was startled, and, clinging to the cart, its legs brushing against the wheels, ran up in front of the mare.The mare had just pulled the cart outside, neighing in a low voice, and seemed restless.There is another horse behind, led by a hale and hearty old man.The old man was also barefoot, wearing striped trousers and a dirty long blouse, with pointed shoulder blades.

When the horses were on the road, which was strewn with what seemed to be burnt grayish-yellow dung, the old man returned to the gate and bowed to Nekhludoff. "Are you the nephew of our two young ladies?" "Yes, I am their nephew." "Welcome. Are you coming to see us?" the old man said enthusiastically. "Yes, yes. So, how are you doing?" Nekhludoff answered, not knowing what to say. "What a life we've had! It couldn't be worse," drawled the gossip old man hastily. "How could it be so bad?" asked Nekhludoff, going through the gate.

"What kind of day is this? It couldn't be worse," said the old man, and he followed Nekhludoff into the yard to the place where the dung had been scooped up under the shed. Nekhludoff also came under the shed. "You see, there are twelve people in my family," the old man continued, pointing to two women with forks in their hands and headscarves slipping off. The hem of the skirt was tucked in at the waist, revealing half of the calf splashed with feces. "I have to buy six poods of grain every month, but where does the money come from?" "Isn't what I beat enough to eat?"

"Did you hit it yourself?!" The old man sneered. "My land can only feed three people, and I can't eat Christmas yet." "Then what are you going to do?" "That's how we do it: send a child out to do long-term work, and borrow some money from the family. It will be used up before Lent, but the tax has not been paid yet!" "How much tax do you have to pay?" "We have seventeen rubles every four months. Oh, God, I don't know what to do with myself these days!" "May I have a look inside your house?" said Nekhludoff, walking across the yard from where the manure had been removed to the reddish-brown manure that had been turned over with a fork and that gave off a strong smell.

"Of course, please," said the old man.Quickly moving his bare feet, with feces sticking out between the toes, he ran up to Nekhludoff and opened the door of the hut for him. The two peasant women straightened their headscarves, lowered their skirts, and looked curiously and terrified at the entry of the neat gentleman with gold buttons on his cuffs. Two little girls, dressed in coarse cloth, ran out of the hut.Nekhludoff stooped, took off his hat, and went out into the porch, and then into the dirty hut, which smelled of sour food.There are two looms in the hut.Standing by the stove was an old woman, her sleeves rolled up, revealing two dark, thin arms with blue veins.

"Look, my master saw us coming," said the old man. "Oh, that's delightful," said the old woman kindly, letting down her rolled-up sleeves. "I want to see how you are doing," said Nekhludoff. "You can see how our life is going. This little house is about to collapse, maybe it will crush people to death one day. But the old man still said that this house is pretty good. You see, this is our world," boldly The old woman shook her head nervously and said, "Dinner will be served soon. I have to feed the workers." "What are you eating?

"What to eat? Our food is very good. The first course is bread with kvass, and the second course is bread with kvass," said the old woman with a smile, showing her half-rotted teeth. -------- ① Homemade beverages. "No, don't be kidding, let me see what you eat today." "What to eat?" the old man said with a smile. "Our food is not particular. Show him, old woman." The old woman shook her head. "Would you like to see our peasants' meals? Sir, I think you are too careful. You want to know everything. As I said, kvass under the bread, and vegetable soup, and yesterday the women brought some fish .Here, this is vegetable soup, and after eating the soup, it will be potatoes."

"Nothing else?" "What else can there be, at most a little milk in the soup," said the old woman with a smile, and raised her eyes to the door. The door was open, and the hallway was full of people.Boys, girls, and women with babies in their arms crowded at the door, looking at the strange gentleman who inspected the peasants' meals.The old woman was obviously very proud of being able to deal with the master. "Yes, sir, we're having a very, very bad time," said the old man. "What are you doing here!" he shouted to those who stood by the door.

"Well, good-bye," said Nekhludoff, embarrassed and ashamed, though he himself did not know why. "Thank you for coming to see us," said the old man. The people in the porch squeezed each other to make way for Nekhludoff.Nekhludoff came out into the street and walked up the slope.Two barefoot boys followed him out of the porch: one older, in a grimy white shirt; the other in a narrow, faded pink shirt.Nekhludoff looked back at them. "Where are you going now?" the boy in the white shirt asked. "Go to Matrona," he said. "Do you know her?" The little boy in the pink shirt laughed out of nowhere, but the older one asked solemnly: "Which Matrona? The very old one?" "By the way, she is very old." "Oh-oh," he drawled. "That's Shemenikha, she lives at the end of the village. We'll take you there. Come, Fejika, we'll take him." "Then what about the horse?" "That's okay!" Fejika agreed.The three of them walked up the slope together along the street.