Chapter 12 Taras Bulba - Section 3

Taras Bulba had been living in the Setchi with his sons for almost a week.Ostap and Andrey had little military education.The people of Sechi don't like to use military training to trouble themselves and waste their time; when young people come here, they can only rely on experience to educate and train themselves in the fierce battle, so the war is almost never interrupted.The Cossacks find it a nuisance to study military regulations and the like besides target shooting, the occasional horse race, and hunting wild animals in the fields and pastures; it is free spirits to devote all the rest of their time to pleasure. A sign of broad play.The whole setch is a singular phenomenon.It was an unbroken feast, a dance that would never end after a raucous start.Some were in crafts, others in quarry and trade; but the majority wandered from morning to night, if money jingled in the pockets, and the gains had not gone to the hands of the peddlers and innkeepers. .There is something deceptive about this universal feasting.It wasn't some gathering of drunkards who drank their sorrows, but it was a frenzy of joyous drinking.Everyone who comes here forgets and throws away all that he previously felt interested in.He could be said to have spurned all that was past, reveling with the zeal of a fanatical believer in freedom and alliances with people like himself.These people have no relatives, no home, no place to stay but the vast sky and the eternal feast of the soul.This produced such wild joy as could not be produced by any other reason.The stories and gossip told by the lounging crowds assembled together are often so ludicrous that they are almost dramatic, and must have the serenity of the Zaporoches in order to be able to keep their faces immobile, Not even an upturned beard, a distinctive feature that still distinguishes South Russians from other compatriots.It was a drunken, boisterous kind of fun, but nonetheless it wasn't like a gloomy tavern, indulging in melancholy perverted fun, but like a group of intimate classmates gathered together.The only difference is that instead of sitting under the pointer and listening to the teacher's banal arguments, they rode 5,000 horses to attack together!Not to play ball in the meadows, but to the undefended, passable frontier, where the Tatar sticks out his nimble head, and the green-turbaned Turk stares motionlessly.The difference is that now there is no coercive will to gather them in the school, but they themselves have abandoned their father and mother, and ran out from the family of flesh and blood; Spared from pale death, but saw life, life unbridled; who came here, from noble habits, could not keep a penny in their pockets; who came here who once thought a gold coin Wealth, but thanks to the care of the Jewish land renters, they can now turn their pockets without fear of dropping something.Come here are all the students who can't bear the whip of the seminary school, and who haven't learned a letter from the school; but at the same time, there come here those who know what Horace, Cicero, and the Roman Republic are.There are many officers here, who later achieved great fame in the royal army; here are countless educated and experienced guerrilla fighters, who have a noble belief that it is the same wherever war is fought, as long as it is fought, For it is unseemly for a noble man not to fight.There are also many people who come to the Setchi just to show off to others that they have lived in the Setchi and are already well-trained warriors.Seriously, what kind of people don't exist here?This strange republic was the result of the needs of the time.Those who love military life, who love goblets of gold, noble brocades, and foreign gold and silver coins, will find work here at all times.Only those who praise women will find nothing here, because even on the outskirts of the Setch, no woman dares to show her face.

Ostap and Andrei found it very strange that they saw countless people coming to the Setchi, but no one asked them where they came from, who they were, and what their names were. They came here , as if returning to Kaiji’s home which he had just left an hour ago. Newcomers only need to meet the head of the regiment, and he usually says something like this: "Hello! What, do you believe in Christ?" "Letter!" replied the newcomer. "Do you also believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?" "letter!" "Are you going to church too?"

"Go!" "Then cross yourself!" The newcomer made the cross. "All right, very well," replied the captain, "you can go to the camp you know well." The whole ceremony ended like this.The whole setch prayed in one church and was ready to shed the last drop of blood to preserve it, though they would not even hear about fasting and abstinence.Only Jews, Armenians and Tatars who are driven by coercion dare to live in the outskirts of the city and do business there, because the Zaporos never like to bargain, and they will pay as much as they reach into their pockets. money.However, the fate of these greedy peddlers is very tragic.They are like those who lived on Vesuvius

① An active volcano located in southern Italy. Like the people here, for once the Zaporos ran out of money, the bold would destroy their shops, always taking all their goods without paying.The Setch is composed of more than sixty battalions. These teams are like some separate and independent republics, and they are more like schools and seminaries that gather a group of children who are ready to be dispatched at any time.No matter the lawsuit, I don't run anything alone: ​​I don't store things in my own home.Everything is controlled by the battalion captain, so he usually has the title of "father".He had money, clothes, all food, oatmeal, rice porridge, even food; people entrusted him with money for safekeeping.There were frequent quarrels between sub-battalions and sub-battalions.In this case, it immediately developed to the point where it could only be solved by fighting.The battalions assembled in the square, shaking each other's fists in the waist-eyes, until some of them won and finally gained the upper hand, and then the drinking began again.This is the case with Sech, who has great allure for young people.

With all the enthusiasm of their youth, Ostap and Andrey threw themselves into this sea of ​​debauchery, and for a moment forgot their old home, the seminary, and everything that had excited their souls before, and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to their new life.Everything interested them: the setch's dissolute habits, the simple and clear rules, and laws that they felt sometimes seemed too strict for such a republic of arbitrary actions.If a Cossack commits the crime of larceny and steals a little thing, it is considered a disgrace to all Cossacks, and the dishonorable fellow is tied to a public post with a stick by his side, and each Passers-by had to beat him with this stick until he was beaten to death.A man who does not pay his debts is chained to the cannon, and he must sit there until no friend promises to redeem him and pay his debts.But what impressed Andrei most was the terrible punishment for the murderer.Dig a hole in front of him, push the murderer into the hole alive, put the coffin containing the body of the person he killed on it, and then bury both of them with soil. After a while, he always thought of The terrible procedure of the punishment, always before his eyes the buried person and the terrible coffin.

The two young Cossacks soon won praise among the Cossacks.Often with other comrades in the same battalion, sometimes even with whole detachments and neighboring detachments, they set out into the fields to shoot an innumerable variety of prairie birds, deer, and prairie birds. The goats, or set out to the lakes, rivers, and tributaries allotted to each battalion by lot, cast drag and cast nets, and catch fresh fish in great abundance, to feed the whole of their own battalion.Although they still lacked the training that a Cossack is tested on, their indomitable valor and success in all fields had long since stood out among his youth.Dexterous and accurate shots on target, and swimming up the Dnieper against the current, the newcomer was solemnly accepted into the Cossack circle. "

However, old Bulba had prepared another activity for them.A life of idleness was not to his liking—he longed for a real career.He was always thinking about how to cheer up Xieqi and do a big and vigorous deed, so that a knight can have a good time to indulge.Finally one day, he ran up to the head of the regiment and said directly to him: "How about it, Commander, should the Zaporos go outside for a stroll now?" "There's no place for you to stroll," replied the captain, taking a short pipe from his mouth, and spitting aside. "Why is there no place? You can go to the Turks or the Tartars."

"Neither to the Turks nor to the Tartars," replied the captain, putting his pipe to his mouth coldly again. "Why not?" "The thing is, we made peace with the Sultan." "But he's a Mohammedan: God and the Holy Book command us to fight a Mohammedan." "We have no right. If we hadn't sworn our faith, then, perhaps; but not now." "Why not? Why do you say we have no rights? I have two sons, both young men. Neither of them has ever fought a war, yet you say we have no rights; you say Zaporosh People don't need to go out and venture into the world."

"Anyway, it shouldn't be done." "Then should the Cossack's energies be wasted, that a man who does nothing good should die like a dog, that the Fatherland and all Christianity will gain nothing from him? Well, what are we to live for?" What is it? What is it for? You explain it to me. You are a smart person, people did not choose you to be the head of the regiment for no reason. You explain it to me, what are we living for?" The head of the delegation did not answer the question.This is a stubborn Cossack.He was silent for a while, then said: "Whatever you say, you shouldn't be fighting."

"So, it's not decided?" Taras asked again. "Not sure!" "Is there no need to think about it anymore?" "Don't worry about it." "Just wait, old ghost," Bulba said to himself, "you will know how good I am!" He immediately made up his mind to take revenge on the captain. After conferring with some people, he invited them all to a feast, and a few drunken Cossacks went straight to the square, where there were some drums attached to pillars, which were usually played when meetings were called.They couldn't find the few drumsticks that were always kept with the drummer, so everyone grabbed the firewood and beat it wildly.At the sound of the drums, the drummer came running first, a tall man with only one eye, but even this one was sleepy.

"Who dares to play the drums?" he shouted. "Shut up! Take your drumsticks, tell you to hit, and hit!" replied the chiefs of the drunks. The drummer, well aware of the outcome of such matters, immediately took out of his pocket the drumsticks which he carried with him.As soon as the jiegu thumped, a large crowd of Zaporoshites immediately gathered in the square like wild bees.Everyone formed a circle, and after the three-way drum, several leaders finally appeared: the head of the regiment held a mace in his hand—the symbol of his official position, the judge held a military seal, the secretary carried an ink pot, the adjutant held a Take the lead.The head of the regiment and the leaders took off their hats and saluted the surrounding Cossacks standing tall with their hands on their waists. "What's the meaning of this meeting? What do you want, old Donna?" said the head of the group.Scolding and yelling kept him from talking. "Put down the mace, put down the mace now, you bastard! We don't want you!" shouted the Cossacks from the crowd. A few people who were not drunk seemed to object; but both drunk and sober, violence was thrown.Shouting and uproar ensued. The head of the regiment originally wanted to speak, but he knew that if this group of unrestrained people got angry, they would beat him to death for this. When all the candidates heard their names mentioned, they immediately stepped out of the crowd, so that no one would have any reason to think that they were also echoing it and encouraging others to elect themselves. "Kirdjaga! Kirdjaga!" This cry was louder than the others. "Boroda pushes!" The matter had to be settled by force, and it turned out that Kiljaga was victorious. "Get Kirdjaga!" the people shouted. At once a dozen Cossacks came out from the crowd; some of them, who could barely stand, were so drunk that they went straight to Kildyaga and told him about the election. Kildyaga, an old but wise Cossack, had sat for a long time in his hut, as if he knew nothing of what was going on outside. "What's the matter, folks? What's your business?" he asked. "Go, people have elected you as the head of the regiment!..." "Come on, folks!" said Kirdjaga, "how can I deserve this honor! How can I be a commander? Besides, my knowledge is not enough for this important task. Could it be that in Could there be a better man in the army?" "Let's go, seriously!" shouted the Zaporos.Two of them grabbed his hands, and even though his legs were dead on the ground, He moved forward, but he was dragged to the square. He was scolded along the way, and he was punched and kicked in the back, and he had to be reprimanded in this way. In similar situations, this is almost a common thing, so he lowered his He gave a low salute, put down the mace, and hid in the crowd. "Do you also order us to hand over the badges of rank? Say the judges, clerks, and adjutants, ready to lay down the inkpots, seals, and badges at once. "No, you stay!" shouted someone from the crowd, "we just need to get rid of the captain, because he's an old woman, and we need a man to be the captain!" "Who should we choose as the head of the regiment now?" said the leaders. "Elect Kukubenko!" some shouted. "We don't want Kukubianko!" Another part of the people shouted, he had already become the head of the regiment, and the smell of milk hadn't dried yet! " "Let Shiloh be chief!" some shouted, "Elect Shiloh as captain!" "Go away, Shilo!" cried the crowd, "he looks like a Cossack and steals like a Tartar, son of a dog! Put that drunken Shilo in your pocket and throw it to the devil!" "Bo Luo Datui, elect Bo Luo Da Tui to be the head of the regiment!" "We don't want Borodati! Borodati go to the devil's mother!" "You mention Kirdjaga!" Taras Bulba whispered to several people. "Kirdjaga! Kirdyaja!" cried the crowd, "Borodati! Borodati! Kildya! Kildya! Hilo! Shilo go to hell! Kildya!" !" "Don't waste your time, you bastard! You're being honored, so take it, old dog!" Thus Kildyaga was led into the Cossack crowd. "How about it, fellow villagers!" Several people who led him announced to the crowd, "This person should be our head, do you agree?" "Everyone agrees!" The crowd shouted loudly, and the whole field was shaken by this shout for a long time. One of the chiefs picked up the mace and handed it to the newly elected head of the regiment.As is customary, Kirdjaga immediately resigned.The leader handed it to him again.Kirdjaga declined again, and then, on the third occasion, he accepted the mace.Cheers rose from the crowd, and the whole field was shaken by the shouts of the Cossacks, and the endless reverberation was transmitted to the distance.At this time, four of the oldest Cossacks with white beard and white hair came out from the crowd (there are no very old people in Seqili, because no Zaporosh has died of old age), and each of them squeezed a hand because of a recent beard. The rain turned into muddy soil and placed it on his head.The wet dirt trickled down from his head, onto his beard and cheeks, and stained his whole face.But Kildyaga stood motionless, thanking the Cossacks for their honor. Thus ended the tumultuous election, and it is not clear whether anyone else was as happy about this election as Bulba, first because he had avenged his predecessor, and second because Kirdjaga was a His old partner had participated in the same land and sea expeditions with him several times, and shared the hardships and hardships of war life.Immediately the crowd dispersed, held a party, celebrated the election, and so began a feast that Ostap and Andrey had never seen before.All the taverns were wrecked; the mead, liquor, and beer were simply removed for nothing;The whole night passed amid shouts and songs praising martial arts.The rising moon looked down for a long time on the groups of musicians carrying multi-stringed zithers, katydrums and round three-stringed lutes passing through the streets, and the people who were left behind by Chichi to sing hymns for the church and praise the chaporosh The chorus singers of human exploits.At last drunkenness and fatigue began to overwhelm these sturdy men.Slowly, wherever you go, you can see a Cossack rolling to the ground.One partner hugged the other partner, sighing relative to each other, and even both of them cried, and then, both of them rolled to the ground.A whole bunch of people were lying together in all sorts of stragglers; one of them turned his body as if to make himself more comfortable, but fell asleep on a piece of wood, and the last one, who was the strongest, was still uttering incoherent drunken words: But the wine overcame even him, and he fell down too. And so the whole setch fell asleep.