Chapter 100 Part Two - Thirty Eight

When Nekhludoff arrived at the railway station, the prisoners were already seated in the railed compartments.There were a few people seeing off on the platform, but the escort soldiers did not allow them to approach the carriage.The escort soldiers were particularly worried today.Along the way from the prison to the station, in addition to the two prisoners Nekhludoff saw, three more died of heatstroke: one of them was sent to the nearest police station like the first two, and the other two were Fallen at the station. ① What the escorts were worried about was not that five people who could have survived died under their escort.It's not on their minds at all.What they worry about is only going through the necessary formalities according to the law: sending the dead and their documents and sundries to the place where they should be sent, and removing their names from the list of prisoners escorted to the lower city.It's a hassle to do these things, especially on a hot day like this.

-------- ①In the early 1980s, a group of prisoners were escorted from Budiski Prison to the Lower Town Railway Station, and five prisoners died of heat stroke in one day. — Notes from Tolstoy. The escort was busy with these matters at the moment, so Nekhludoff and the others were not allowed to approach the carriage until these matters were completed.But Nekhludoff was allowed to approach the carriage, because he had given some money to the escorting sergeant.The sergeant let Nekhludoff go, but asked him to talk quickly, and then he regarded it as real as natural things.This is Descartes' dualism, walk away after talking, so as not to be seen by the chief.There were 18 carriages in total, and all the carriages were packed to the brim with prisoners except for the one where the officer sat.Nekhludoff passed the windows of the carriages, listening to what was going on inside.Every car was filled with the sound of chains, bustle, talking, and some meaningless obscenities, but, to Nekhludoff's surprise, there was nowhere about the companions who had died on the road.Mostly they talked about their bags, drinking water and choosing a seat.Nekhludoff, looking in from the window of one of the carriages, saw the escort uncuffing the prisoner in the passage.The prisoners stretched out their hands, and an escort soldier unlocked the handcuffs and took them off.Another escort gathered the handcuffs together.Nekhludoff passed all the men's cars and came to the women's car.A woman's even moan came from the second car: "Oh, oh, oh, my God!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, for God's sake! " Nekhludoff passed this carriage, followed the direction of an escort, and went to the window of the third carriage.As soon as Nekhludoff's head moved closer to the window, a gust of sweaty hot air hit his face, and at the same time a woman's chattering was distinctly heard.On all the benches sat sweating, flushed women in prison robes and jackets, talking loudly.Nekhludoff's face approaching the bars caught their attention.The women by the window stopped talking and leaned towards him.Maslova, wearing only a jacket and no kerchief, was sitting at the opposite window.The fair, smiling Fedosya sat next to her, nearer the window.As soon as she recognized Nekhludoff, she pushed Maslova and pointed her to the window.Maslova got up hastily, wrapped her black hair with a kerchief, and with a lively smile on her rosy, perspiring face, went to the window and grasped the bars with both hands.

"It's so hot!" she said with a cheerful smile. "Have you received anything?" "Got it, thank you." "Do you need anything else?" asked Nekhludoff, feeling as if the heat in the carriage came from a steam room. "I don't need anything, thank you." "It would be better to get some water to drink," said Fedosya. "Yes, you'd better get some water to drink," Maslova added. "Don't you have any water to drink?" "I brought it here and drank it all up." "I'm going right away," said Nekhludoff, "I'll ask the escort for some water.

We're going to meet again downtown. " "Are you going too?" said Maslova, looking at Nekhludoff cheerfully, as if she didn't know about it. "I'll take the next bus." Maslova said nothing, and after a few seconds she sighed deeply, "What happened, sir, is it true that twelve prisoners were tortured to death?" The stern-looking elderly female prisoner spoke in a manly voice. She is Korabreva. "Twelve, I haven't heard of them. I've only seen two," said Nekhludoff. "I heard that there are twelve of them. Are they all right for committing such a crime? They are all devils!"

"Aren't there any women who are sick?" asked Nekhludoff. "The girls are stronger," said another little prisoner, laughing, "but one is about to have a baby. Listen, she's yelling," she said, pointing to the next carriage, where the same groan kept coming. . "You ask us what else we need," said Maslova, trying to suppress a happy smile on her lips, "then, can you keep this woman, or she will suffer too much. Well, you'd better go with me." Say it sir." "Okay, I'll tell." "Well, by the way, can you let her see her husband Taras?" She glanced at the smiling Fedosya, motioning to Nekhludoff. "Her husband is leaving with you."

"Sir, don't talk to them," said one of the escorting sergeants.This was not the sergeant who had let Nekhludoff come. Nekhludoff went to the officer, trying to intercede for the woman in labor and Taras, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't find it, and he couldn't find out where the officer was from the escort.They were all very busy: some were taking the prisoners somewhere, some were running to buy food for themselves, or put their luggage in the compartments, and some were waiting on the wives who were leaving with the escort.They were not happy to answer Nekhludoff's words.

By the time Nekhludoff found the escort, the bell had already rang a second time.The escort officer wiped his mouthless moustache with his short hand, shrugged his shoulders, and scolded the quartermaster for something. "What is your business?" he asked Nekhludoff. " "There's a woman in your car who's having a baby, I think..." "Then let her give birth. We'll talk about it when it's born," said the escort officer, walking to his own compartment, swinging his short arms wildly. At this time, the conductor walked by with a whistle in his hand.Immediately afterwards, the last bell and whistle sounded, and there was a chorus of howling from the crowd seeing off on the platform and from the female prisoner's carriage.Nekhludoff stood side by side with Taras on the platform, and saw the heads of men with shaved hair passing by in front of the bars of the carriages and the windows.Then came the first women's prison car. From the window, you could see the female prisoners inside, some with their hair exposed, and some with headscarves.Then came the second car, from which came the moan of the woman in labor.Behind it was Maslova's carriage.Maslova stood at the window with the other prisoners, looking at Nekhludoff and smiling sadly at him.