Chapter 97 Part Two - Thirty Five

The line was very long, and the people in front had already gone out of sight, and the carts loaded with luggage, old, weak, sick and disabled in the back had just started.When the wagon started to move, Nekhludoff got into the carriage and told the coachman to catch up with the procession, to see if there were any acquaintances among the male prisoners, and to find Maslova among the female prisoners, and asked her if she had received the delivery. s things.The weather was getting hotter, there was no wind in the air, and the dust raised by thousands of feet was always floating on the heads of the prisoners walking in the middle of the street.The prisoners moved quickly, and Nekhludoff's carriage, which was not a fast horse, had a hard time getting to the head of the procession.Row after row of grotesque and hideous creatures moved a thousand feet in the same shoes and stockings, and waved their empty hands in time with their steps, as if to cheer themselves up.There were so many of them, their appearance was so monotonous, and they were placed in such strange and special conditions that it seemed to Nekhludoff that they were not human beings, but some terrible and peculiar creatures.It was not until he recognized the murderer Fedorov among the convicts, Ohotin the funnyman among the exiles, and a vagabond who begged him for help that he changed this impression.Almost all the prisoners turned their heads and squinted at the buggy that was passing them, and at the gentleman in it who kept looking at them.Fedorov nodded his head to show that he knew Nekhludoff.Ohotin winked.Neither of them nodded, though, thinking it was forbidden.Nekhludoff went up to the prisoner and recognized Maslova at once.She was in the second row of female prisoners.On the edge of this row was a female prisoner with a red face, black eyes, short legs, and an ugly appearance, with the front of her prison robe tucked in her waist.Next to her was a pregnant woman, barely dragging her legs.The third is Maslova.Maslova had a bag on her shoulders, her eyes were looking ahead, her face was calm and resolute.The fourth person in this row was a young and beautiful woman in a tunic and a kerchief like a peasant woman, and she walked briskly. She was Fedosya.Nekhludoff got out of the carriage and went to the line of female prisoners, wanting to ask Maslova if she had received anything and how she was doing, but an escort sergeant who was walking along the line, seeing someone approaching the line, immediately Come here.

"No, sir, you are not allowed to approach the procession," he cried, coming up. The sergeant approached, recognized Nekhludoff (everyone knew Nekhludoff in prison), saluted him with his hand on the brim of his hat, stopped beside Nekhludoff, and said: "Not now. Just go to the train station, it's not allowed here. Don't fall behind, go!" he yelled at the prisoners.Then regardless of the hot weather, he cheered up and walked on his feet wearing beautiful new leather boots. Yan Yuan (1635-1704) was a philosopher and educator in Qing Dynasty.The word Yi Zhi, and the word, quickly ran to the original seat.

Nekhludoff returned to the pavement, ordered the driver to follow him in the carriage, and walked abreast of the procession.No matter where the procession went, it attracted people's attention, and everyone saw it with sympathy and fear.Passers-by stuck their heads out of the windows and watched the prisoners until they were out of sight.Passers-by stopped, and looked at the terrible sight in horror and horror.Some people stepped forward and gave a little money.The escort took the money.Some people seemed to be hypnotized and followed the team, but stopped after walking for a while, shook their heads, and followed the team with only their eyes.People ran out of the house, greeted each other, and some leaned out of the windows.They all stared blankly at the formidable procession, and were silent.At an intersection, the team blocked a luxurious carriage.On the driver's seat sat a greasy-faced, fat-humped coachman, wearing a livery with two rows of buttons on the back.In the back seat of the carriage sat a married couple: the wife was thin and pale, wearing a light-colored hat and a brightly colored parasol; the husband wore a top hat and an elegant light-colored overcoat.In the front seat, facing them sat two children: the girl was beautifully dressed, as delicate as a little flower, with light-colored hair and a brightly colored parasol; the eight-year-old boy had a slender neck, Protruding collarbone, wearing a sailor hat, holding two long ribbons.The father reproached the coachman angrily for not crossing the road ahead of the procession in time; dust.Hearing the master's unfair reprimand, the big-ass coachman frowned with a sullen expression on his face, because it happened to be the master's order to go this way.He struggled to rein in the black horses, which were glistening with sweat under their bridles and on their necks, as they rushed forward.

The policeman was bent on serving the owner of the luxurious carriage, and wanted to stop the prisoner and let the carriage pass, but he found a gloomy and solemn atmosphere in this procession, which could not be broken, even for such a rich gentleman.He just raised his hand to the brim of his hat to show his respect for wealth, and then looked at the prisoner sternly, as if determined to protect the distinguished guests in the car from the prisoners.Therefore, this luxurious carriage also had to wait for the entire procession to finish, and did not continue on its way until the last cart loaded with luggage and the female prisoner sitting on it passed.There was a hysterical woman in the wagon, who had just been quieted down, and then screamed and wailed again at the sight of the luxurious carriage.Only then did the coachman shake the reins lightly, and the black-maned horses took a step on the road, pulled the slightly shaking rubber-wheeled carriage, and ran towards the villa with a sound of hooves, taking the husband and wife , daughter, and boy with a slender neck and a protruding collarbone were sent there for summer fun.

Neither father nor mother explained to girls or boys what they saw.So the two children had to answer the question themselves. The girl looked at the faces of her parents and answered the question in this way: These people are completely different from her parents, relatives and friends. They are all bad people, so they should be treated like this.For this reason, the girl only felt afraid, and she didn't feel relieved until those people were no longer visible. But the long-necked boy kept his eyes on the line of prisoners without blinking.He sees the issue differently.He had received a direct revelation from God and firmly believed that they were human beings, like himself, like all human beings, and therefore someone must have bullied them and done something wrong to them.He pities them.He was afraid of these men in chains and shaved heads, and at the same time he was afraid of those who insisted that they be chained and shaved.It was for this reason that the boy's lips were pursed higher and higher, and he could hardly hold back the tears, for he considered it disgraceful to cry on such occasions.