Chapter 14 Taras Bulba - Section 5

Before long, the entire southwestern part of Poland was shrouded in terror.There are rumors everywhere, "The Zaporos!... The Zaporos are coming!..." Those who could escape, all escaped.According to the fashion of that disorganized and utterly disorganized age, everyone was agitated and scattered; when people built neither forts nor castles, but built a hut for a while, because they thought, "Don't I spent a lot of energy and money on the house, anyway, once the stranglers come to attack, they will wipe out the house.” Everyone panicked: some people exchanged oxen and plows for horses and guns, and joined the army; Take the animals, take everything you can, and hide.Sometimes you can meet some people on the road and receive guests with armed hands, but most of them are people who run away when they hear the news.Everyone knows that this group of people known as the Zaporosh army is very difficult to deal with. Although this army is unrestrained and chaotic in peacetime, it maintains strict discipline in order to advance and retreat during wartime.The cavalry advanced without burdening the horses too much or irritating them. The infantry walked steadily behind the baggage wagon. The forest area is moving forward.Scouts and communicators are sent forward to explore and reconnaissance what is ahead, what are the targets, and what is the situation.And often, in places where you would never expect to meet them, they suddenly appear - and then kill everyone.The village was surrounded by fire; those cattle and horses that had not been taken with the army were killed on the spot.It seemed that they ate and drank more than they marched.It is still horrifying to think of the dreadful signs of the semi-barbaric ravages which the Zaporoches left here and there.Babies were slaughtered, women had their breasts mutilated, a man was seized, skinned from heel to knee, and then released, and the Cossacks repaid their debt twice.When the bishop of a monastery heard that the soldiers were approaching, he sent two monks to tell them that they should not behave like this; that there was an agreement between the Zaporos and the government; Duty owed to the king is at the same time a violation of the rights of all citizens.

"Go back and tell your bishop for me and for all the Zaporoches," said the colonel, "that he need not worry. The Cossacks have only just lit a fire and started smoking their pipes." Soon the stately monastery was surrounded by violent flames, and the huge Gothic windows flickered mournfully among the waves of fire.Fleeing flocks of monks, Jews, and women filled at once the towns that could still hope for garrisons and guards.Sometimes the government sent a few small groups of belated reinforcements, either they could not find them, or they were timid, turned back when they first encountered them, and fled on Humvees.Sometimes there will be many commanders of the royal army who have won the previous wars and are determined to unite their forces in order to fight against the Chaporoches.This gave the two young Cossacks a better chance to try their strength. The two brothers, who had always hated robbery, greed, and weak enemies, and were burning with a desire to show their skills in front of their old companions, Go head-to-head with the bold and haughty Poles on their great horses, with the rolled-up sleeves of their wide cloaks fluttering in the wind.Combat training is fun.They seized a great deal of harness, valuable sabers and rifles.In a month the fledglings were grown and transformed, and now they were two men.There was a youthful softness in their features before, but now they were stern and strong.Old Taras was delighted to see his two sons rise to the top.Ostap seems to be destined to take the road of war, and he is born to easily possess the advanced knowledge of command and combat brain.He has never been flustered or embarrassed when he encounters anything casually. With a calm attitude that is almost unnatural for a twenty-two-year-old, he can detect all the dangers of things in a blink of an eye. One can think of a way to avoid this danger immediately, according to the nature and the whole situation, but only to avoid it in order to overcome it with greater certainty later.His actions are now beginning to show a tested conviction, and from this it can be seen that he has a good chance of becoming a famous player in the future.His body is very muscular, and his cavalier nature has acquired the fearless strength of a lion.

"Oh! This guy will make a great team leader in the future!" said old Taras, "Really, he will make a good team leader, and he is such a team leader, even my old man will sigh Why not!" Andrei was completely immersed in the enchanting music of bullets and swords.He does not know how to pre-think, estimate, or measure his own and others' strengths.He experienced crazy joy and intoxication in the battle. When his head was hot, everything was up and down and moving before his eyes, people's heads were flying, and the horse fell to the ground with a thud, he was like a drunk, under the whistling of bullets. In the midst of the flash of the sword and his own passion, he would kill anyone he met without hearing the screams of the slain, and when he was speeding forward, he felt as happy as a festival.Old Taras saw that Andrei, spurred by an urgent impulse, could do things that a calm and rational man would never dare to do, and that only by frantic attacks he could accomplish miracles that old soldiers could not but marvel at, At this time, he expressed his amazement and admiration more than once.Old Taras was amazed and said:

"He's a good fighter too! Let the enemy not catch him! — he's not like Ostap, but he's a good fighter!" The army decided to go straight to the city of Dubno, where it was said that there were a lot of public money and wealthy inhabitants, and after a day and a half the march was over, and the Zaporos appeared just outside the city.The inhabitants resolved to hold out until the last of their strength was exhausted, preferring to die in the squares and streets outside their doors than to allow the enemy to break into their houses.A high wall surrounded the whole city; and on the lower part of the wall rose stone walls, houses that served as batteries, or palisades of oak.The garrison is strong and feels the weight of its responsibilities.The Zaporoches climbed up the city wall desperately, but they were violently fired.The merchants and residents in the city didn't seem to want to be lazy, and they all stood on the city wall in groups.The determination to resist could be seen in their eyes; even the women insisted on helping, so stones, barrels, cans, boiling water, and finally bags of blinding yellow Sand, they all threw them on the Zaporosh people's heads together.The Zaporos do not like to fight fortresses, and siege tactics are not their specialty.The regimental commander ordered the retreat, saying:

"Never mind, brethren, let's retreat, but I'd be a bad Tartar and not a Christian if I let all of them out of the city! I'll starve them dogs!" The army withdrew, surrounded the whole city, and, having nothing to do, went to ruin the suburbs, set fire to the nearby villages and the unharvested wheat fields, and drove the horses into the uncut wheat fields. There, as if for fun, the dense ears of wheat are swaying in the wind, just in time to reward all the peasants with a bountiful harvest.People in the city opened their eyes in horror, seeing how everything they depended on for survival was uprooted.At the same time, the Zaporos surrounded the whole city in two lines with their own vehicles, divided them into many battalions as they did in Sechi, and lived there, smoking short pipes, exchanging the weapons they won, and playing "jumping back". "① and "Even and Odd"②, stared at the castle with murderous calm eyes.

① One person crouches in front of him, and the other jumps over his back.The rest of the people who participated in the game also followed suit, which can be repeated endlessly. ②This is a game of guessing odd and even numbers. At night, a bonfire was lit.The cooks cook porridge in large copper pots in each branch.Sleepless sentries stand by the fires that burn all night.Before long, however, the Zaporoshis began to grow a little weary of the inaction and the peculiarly boring protracted abstinence.The regimental commander ordered that the ration of wine was even doubled, which is sometimes done in the army if there are no difficult offensive tasks and operations.Young people, especially Taras' two sons, did not like such a life.Andrei could tell at a glance that he was feeling lonely.

"Stupid," said Taras to him, "be patient, Cossack—you'll be captain of the regiment one day! He's not a good soldier who doesn't lose his nerve in important events, even if nothing happens. Yu doesn't feel bored, he can endure anything he encounters, no matter what you want him to do, he always insists on his own ideas, this is a good soldier!" However, young and old people who are full of vigor cannot talk to each other.Two people have two different personalities, and they see the same thing with different eyes. At this moment the regiment of Taras, led by Tovkach, arrived; with him were two adjutants, a clerk, and other officers of the regiment; there were more than 4,000 Cossacks in all.Many of them were volunteer soldiers who volunteered to serve as soon as they heard what had happened and did not wait to be called. The adjutant brought the old mother's blessing to Taras' two sons, and each of them had a Kyiv A cypress statue of a god in the Mesigorsky Monastery.The two brothers hung the statue on their bodies, thinking of their old mother, they couldn't help thinking.What does the old mother's blessing prophesy to them, and what does it mean?Is it to bless them with victories over their foes, and to return home joyously laden with spoils and honors, to be enshrined in hymns by polychord players, or is it? ...However, the future is unknowable. It unfolds in front of people like the autumn mist rising above the swamp.The birds flapped their wings and flew violently up and down in the mist, unable to recognize each other, the dove could not see the eagle, the eagle could not see the dove, no one knew how far he had flown from his own death...

Ostap was already busy with his own affairs, and had already returned to the detachment.Andrei, not knowing why, felt an unspeakable pain in his heart.The Cossacks had finished their supper, the evening was passing away; the wonderful July night was hanging over him; but he did not return to the detachment, did not lie down to sleep, but involuntarily gazed at the scene that opened before him.Countless stars twinkled in the sky, emitting elegant and sharp brilliance.In the distance, many baggage carts were parked around in the wilderness. On the carts were hung oil stalks filled with asphalt, carrying all kinds of property and food seized from the enemy.Beside the wagon, under the wagon, and a little farther away from the wagon, you can see Zaporos lying on the grass everywhere.They all fell asleep in a vivid and picturesque posture: some rested their heads on a straw bag, some on their hats, and some simply rested their heads on the waist-eye of their companions.Almost everyone had sabers, arquebuses, and short-stemmed pipes inlaid with copper plates and tied with iron chisels and flints on their belts.A herd of heavy gray cattle lay cross-legged on the ground. Looking from a distance, it looks suspiciously like many gray stones scattered on the slopes of the wilderness. The heavy snores of sleeping soldiers sounded from the grass in all directions. On the other side of the wilderness, a group of grazing horses who were furious because their legs were bound responded to it with loud neighing.At this moment, something majestic and severe was added to the beauty of the July night.This is the red light of the burning suburbs in the distance.In one place, the flames spread out peacefully and magnificently into the sky; in another place, the flames encountered something flammable, and suddenly burst out like a whirlwind, screaming, and flew straight up to the height of the stars. In the distance, the scattered sparks went out in the far horizon.Here, a charred monastery stood formidable like a grim Chartreuse monk, revealing its shadowy majesty every time the flames lit up.Over there, the gardens of the monastery are burning.It seems that the trees are surrounded by thick smoke, and they can hear the crackling sound.When the fire rises, it suddenly lights up a cluster of ripe plums with a phosphorous lavender light, or stains here and there a yellowing pear red-gold.At the same time, in the middle of these things, there can be seen the swaying shadows of the corpses of poor Jews or monks hanging from the walls of houses or from the branches of trees, and they have perished with the buildings in a fire.Birds flew high above the flames, and it looked like a cluster of dim little crosses dotted the flame-spreading field.The besieged city seemed to be asleep.Minarets, roofs, palisades, walls, all glinted quietly by the reflection of the distant fire.Andrei inspected the Cossack ranks.The bonfire with the sentries sitting next to it was about to go out, and the sentries obviously fell asleep after opening the Cossack's belly and chewing hard.Seeing this carefree look, he was a little surprised, and thought: "Fortunately, there are no strong enemies nearby, so there is nothing to worry about." At last, he himself went to a delivery cart, climbed on it, Putting his folded hands behind his head, he lay down on his back: but he could not sleep, and gazed at the sky for a long time.It lay wide open before his eyes; the air was pure and transparent.The dense cluster of stars that make up the Milky Way crosses the sky like a diagonal belt, completely bathed in brilliance.Andrei often seemed to be in a daze, and a kind of misty sleep covered the sky in front of him for a moment, but then the sky cleared up again, and he could see clearly again.

At this time, he felt a strange thing like a human face shaking in front of him.He thought it was just a phantom in a dream, and it was about to dissipate. He opened his eyes even harder, but saw that there was indeed a haggard, withered face bent towards him, looking straight into his eyes. , uncombed, unkempt, coal-black long hair protruding from under the black veil that draped over his head, strange eyes, sharp-edged, lifeless, brunette face, making people It's easy to think it's a ghost.He seized the matchlock involuntarily, and said in an almost convulsive voice: "Who are you? If you're a devil, get out of here. If you're a living person, then this is not your time to joke. I'll kill you with a single shot."

In answer, the ghost pressed its fingers to its lips, as if begging him to be silent.He lowered his hands and began to peer more closely at the monster.He recognized a woman from the long hair, the neck, and the half-naked brunette breast.But she is not native.The whole face was dark, emaciated by disease; the broad cheekbones protruded above the sunken cheeks; the narrow eyes hung upward like two curved slits.The more he looked at her face, the more familiar features there were.Finally, he couldn't bear it any longer: "Tell me, who are you? I feel as though I know you, or have seen you somewhere?"

"Two years ago in Kyiv." "Two years ago...in Kyiv..." Andrei repeated, trying to reflect on all the things that remained in his memory from his former seminary life.He looked at her carefully again, and suddenly opened his voice and called out: "You are that Tartar woman! Lady Governor's maid! . . . " "Hush!" said the Tatar woman, clasping her hands imploringly, trembling all over, and turning her head to see if anyone had been awakened by Andrey's cry. "Tell me, tell me, why did you come here, how did you get here?" Andrei said in an almost breathless whisper that was interrupted every minute by inner excitement. "Miss. Where is she? Is she still alive?" "Here she is, in town." "In the city?" he said, on the verge of screaming again, and felt the blood rushing to his heart suddenly. "Why is she in the city?" "Because my lord is in town too. He's been governor of Dubno for two years." "Well, is she married? Tell me, what a strange person you are! How is she? . . . " "She hasn't eaten anything for two days." "what happened?……" "All the residents in the city have long since lost even a piece of bread, and everyone is already eating the dirt." Andre was stunned. "Miss saw you from the city wall with the Zaporos. She said to me: Go and tell the knight: If he remembers me, please come to me; Ask him to give you a piece of bread, and bring it back to my old mother, because I don't want to see my mother die before my eyes. It's better to let me die first, and then she dies. You go and beg him, hold him knees and legs. He has an old mother, too—let him give him a piece of bread for her sake!" Many different emotions awoke and flourished in the young Cossack's breast. "But how did you come here? How did you get here?" "I came from the underground." "Is there really an underground tunnel?" "Have." "Where?" "Won't you spill it, knight?" "I swear by the Holy Cross!" "Walk down the ravine and across a stream, where the reeds grow." "Will that allow me to go into town?" "All the way to the monastery in the city." "Let's go, immediately!" "But, for the sake of Christ and Santa Maria, give me a piece of bread!" "Well, there'll be bread. You'll stand here by the cart, or you'd better lie down on it: no one will see you, and everybody's asleep; I'll be back in a minute." So he went to the carts that carried all the provisions of their battalion.His heart beat violently.Everything from the past that had been buried and repressed by the camping and harsh life of the Cossacks of the present day rose to the surface, and in turn drowned out all the present.A proud woman, as if leaping from the abyss of the dark sea, appeared before his eyes again.The soft hands, the eyes, the smiling lips, the thick dun hair that curled over his chest, the springy, well-developed limbs of a virgin, flashed again in his memory.No, these things did not die, did not disappear in his breast, they were set aside only temporarily to give room for other strong impulses to develop; but the sweet dreams of the young Cossack were often disturbed by them, After he woke up, he lay on the bed for a long time and couldn't fall asleep. He couldn't tell the reason. He walked forward, his heart beating faster and harder at the thought of seeing her again, and his strong knees were shaking.He went up to the baggage cart, completely forgetting what he had come for: he raised one hand to his forehead and rubbed it for a long time, trying to remember what he had to do.At last he shivered, completely overwhelmed by terror: it occurred to him that she was dying of starvation.He rushed to the baggage cart, grabbed a few large pieces of black bread and put them under his armpits, but immediately thought that this kind of food, which is suitable for the strong but not fussy Zaporos, might be too rough, and might not be suitable for her weakness physique.Then, he remembered yesterday that the head of the regiment had reprimanded the cooks for not cooking all the buckwheat flour into porridge in one meal, but in fact, the buckwheat flour was enough to cook in three meals.Convinced that there would be a good deal of gruel in the pot, he took out his father's marching pot, and took it with him to the cook of their battalion, who slept in a bed of two and could hold only ten barrels. Next to the big pot of porridge, there are still embers under the pot.He looked into the pot and saw that both pots were empty, and he was stunned in amazement.There must be superhuman strength to be able to eat up so much food, not to mention that it is generally believed that the number of people in their camp is smaller than that of other camps. He went to see the pots of other camps, and they were empty everywhere. of.He couldn't help but think of a common saying: "The Zaporos are like children. They eat up everything, and there is not much left. What should we do?" However, he remembered that there seemed to be a scene in the baggage car of his father's regiment. The sack of white bread, which he had found during the robbing of the monastery bakery, went straight to his father's baggage car, but the cloth sack was no longer there: Ostap took it and put it under his head, lying straight On the ground nearby, the sound of snoring shook the whole field. Andrei grabbed the bag with one hand and pulled it out suddenly. Ostap's head hit the ground with a thud, and he crawled half asleep. Get up, sit with eyes open, and scream, "Get him, get the Pole, get that horse, get that horse!" ""Shut up, I'm going to kill you!" Andrei waving his pocket at him, shouting in alarm. But he didn't need to do it, Ostap stopped talking, fell silent, and snored so loudly that even the grass he was pressing Trembling slightly with his breathing, Andrei looked around timidly to see if any other Cossacks had been awakened by Ostap's twitching in his dream. Sure enough, there was a man with money in the nearby detachment. Fafa raised his head a little, glanced at it briefly, and soon fell to the ground again. After waiting for about two minutes, he finally took up his burden and walked forward. The Tatar woman lay there, even I dare not breathe. "Get up, let's go! Everyone is asleep, don't be afraid! If I can't carry so many things, can you carry me a piece of bread?" Having said this, he hoisted his sack on his back, carried another sack of corn as he passed a baggage cart, and even took into his hands the few pieces of bread which he intended for the Tartar woman to carry, Bent slightly under the weight, he boldly walked through the ranks of the sleeping Zaporos. "Andrei!" said old Bulba as he passed. His heart seemed to stop beating.He stood still, trembling all over, and asked softly, "What?" "There's a bitch with you! Seriously, when I get up, I'm going to skin you from top to bottom! A bitch won't do you any good!" With that, he rested his head on his arm, He began to look closely at the Tatar woman covered in a veil. Andrei stood there half dead with fright, not having the courage to look into his father's face.Later, when he raised his eyes to look at him again, he saw that old Bulba was asleep with his head buried in his hands. He made the cross.Suddenly the fear dissipated faster than when it struck.When he turned his head to look at the Tatar woman, she stood in front of him like a statue of black granite, completely covered by a veil, and the reflection of the fire in the distance flickered, only illuminating She saw her dead, motionless eyes.He took her by the sleeve, and the two kept looking back, walking forward together, and finally walked along the slope into a depression - almost a ravine, which is called a canyon in some places - in the At the bottom of the valley, there is a stream with overgrown cattails and dotted with grass mounds flowing slowly.They entered the depression and disappeared completely from the whole field occupied by Zaporosh's army.At least, when Andrei looked around, he saw behind him a steep wall rising higher than a man.Some weed stalks were swinging at the top of the slope, and above the stalks the moon rose in the sky like a slanting sickle of shining gold.The breeze blowing from the grassland tells people that there is not much time left before dawn.However, the distant crowing of roosters could not be heard anywhere, because no matter whether in the city or in the deserted suburbs, there was not even a single chicken left.They crossed the stream squatting on a small plank, and the opposite bank rose, and seemed to be higher than the bank behind them, completely like a cliff.This place seemed to be the strongest and most reliable part of the keep; here, at least, the earthen walls were lower, and there were no garrisons peeping behind them.However, further away, the strong and thick walls of the monastery towered.The steep river bank was overgrown with weeds, and in that small depression, between the river bank and the stream, reeds almost a man's height grew.On the top of the cliff the remnants of a fence can be seen, proving that there had once been a vegetable garden here.In front of it, the broad leaves beside the cows can be seen; behind the cows rise the lilies, the wild prickly thistles, and the sunflowers that lift their heads above everything else.At this point, the Tatar woman took off her shoes, lifted her clothes carefully, and walked on barefoot, for the place was muddy and full of water.They slipped through the reeds and stood before a mountain of dead branches and firewood.Pushing aside dead branches, they found a dirt arch and a hole not much larger than the mouth of a baking oven.The Tatar woman bowed her head and went in first; Andrey followed her, stooping as much as possible so that he could pass with his sack on his back, and soon they were both lost in total darkness.