Chapter 21 Taras Bulba - Section XII

The whereabouts of Taras were found.An army of 120,000 Cossacks appeared on the Ukrainian border.This was no longer a small army or detachment setting out to plunder the booty or drive out the Tartars.Nay, a whole nation arose, for the patience of the people had come to an end, and they arose for vengeance, for their rights were bribed, their personhood shamefully degraded, the faiths and sacred customs of their ancestors outraged, their churches desecrated, The tyranny of the foreign lords, the increasing oppression, the annexation of the religions, the heinous dominance of the Jews in the Christian lands, and all the reasons for the deep-rooted hatred of the Cossacks accumulated and aggravated from ancient times.A young but strong-willed commander, Ostranica, led all this mighty and numerous army.Beside him, one of his old and experienced comrade-in-arms and advisor, Gunya, can be seen, with eight regimental captains leading regiments of twelve thousand men each, two chief adjutants and a chief Let the staff officer ① ride behind the commander.The chief ensign holds the main standard; many other ensigns and flags are fluttering in the distance;There were also many other generals: baggage officers, cavalry lieutenants, regiment clerks, and behind them were detachments of infantry and cavalry;

① In the old days, the Cossack commander had a command stick to mark his authority. There was a ponytail tied to the stick. "Chief Commander". Soldiers were recruited as many.Cossacks everywhere are up!From Chigirin, from Pereyaslav, from Baturin, from Glukhov, from the Lower Dnieper region, from the entire upper reaches of the Dnieper and other nearby islands of.Countless horses and countless vehicles are lined up in the field.Among the Cossacks, of these eight regiments, the most elite such regiment was that led by Taras Bulba.Everything gave him an advantage over the others: no one spoke of his advanced age, his ample experience, his commanding skills, or his greater hatred of the enemy than all.His relentless ferocity and cruelty seemed excessive even to the Cossacks.His gray-haired mind could only think of burning and the gallows, and his opinions in military councils could not be separated from the word annihilation.

Here it is not necessary to describe the whole campaign in which the Cossacks achieved their feat, let alone the whole unfolding of the battle: it is all recorded in the pages of the chronicles.You know what a war for faith is like on Russian soil: there is no stronger force than faith.It is formidable and invincible, like a gigantic rock in the turbulent and ever-changing sea.It is an indestructible wall built of a single stone, which rises from the depths of the sea to the sky.It can be seen everywhere, and it keeps looking out at the raging waves rushing past.It would be bad luck if the boat collided!The feeble cables on the ship were scattered, and everything on board was reduced to ashes and sank to the bottom of the sea. The tragic cries of the victims echoed in the shaking air around them.

The chronicles describe in detail how the Polish garrison fled in haste from the liberated cities; how outlaw Jewish land renters were hanged; How impotent was the confrontation; how, beaten and pursued, he drowned a part of his best army in a creek; Driven to no end, he was obliged to take an oath, and the king and the ministers of the government promised to make full compensation for all losses, and to restore all the rights and privileges previously acquired.However, the Cossacks were not such easy-going people: they already knew what the Polish oath was.If it hadn't been for the Russian priests living in the small town to save his life, Potocki would no longer be able to ride on the tall Carpathian horse worth six thousand rubles to show off his power and attract the attention and attention of the ladies. The jealousy of the nobles can no longer entertain the members of the Senate with a big banquet, and show their prominence in the parliament.When all the priests in golden cassocks were holding icons and crosses, and the bishop wearing the crown walked in front, holding a cross in his hand, and came forward together, the Cossacks all bowed their heads. , took off the hat.They respect no one at this time, not even kings, but they dare not oppose their Christian Church, and always pay respect to their priests.The commander-in-chief and regiment captains agreed to release Potocki, and took his oath to guarantee that all Christian churches would exercise their powers freely, forget old and new hatreds, and not insult the Cossack soldiers in any way.Only one regiment captain disagreed with such peace.This man is Taras.cried he, pulling a lock of hair from his head.

"Hey, Commander-in-Chief and Lieutenant Captains! You can't be as limp as a woman! Don't trust the Poles, those dogs will betray us." When the clerk of the regiment brought out the treaty and the commander stretched out his mighty hand to sign it, he untied from his body a sword of pure steel, a precious Turkish saber of the finest steel, and drew it like a It was folded into two sections, separated far away and thrown on both sides, and said: "Farewell! Friends, just as the two ends of this knife cannot be put together to make a saber, we will never meet again in this life. Remember my parting words. When I said this sentence, he The voice grows, rises higher, and acquires an uncanny force.

Everyone was disturbed by this prophetic word: You will remember me before your death!Do you think you can buy quiet and peace, and you think you will enjoy happiness?What you want to enjoy is another blessing: Commander, they will peel off the skin on your head, fill it with buckwheat chaff, and put your head on the market for a long time!Folks, you can't save your own heads!Even if you were not boiled alive in a pot like sheep, you would die in a dank dungeon surrounded by stone walls! "And you, lads!" He turned to his subordinates. "You died on the back stove and on the women's kang, and you didn't die drunk under the wall of the hotel, but like Cossacks." To die like that, all on the same bed, like a bride and groom? Or maybe you'd rather go back home, convert to a cult, and carry Polish Catholic monks on your backs?"

"Follow you, Lord Captain! Follow you!" The people in the Talas Alliance shouted, and many people from other alliances came running over one after another. "If you want to follow me, follow me!" Taras said, pulled down the hat on his head, glanced fiercely at all the people left behind, straightened his horse, and shouted to his subordinates : "No one can blame us with insulting words! Well, come on, boys, let's go to the Catholics for a few days!" Speaking English, he whipped the horse's buttocks and galloped forward. A hundred baggage carts followed him endlessly, and there were countless Cossack cavalry and infantry beside him. He turned his head frequently and glanced fiercely. The eyes of all those left behind were filled with anger.No one dared to stop them.The regiment drove away ahead of all the sergeants, and Taras kept turning his head for a long time, always looking fiercely.

The commander-in-chief and the regimental captains stood at a loss. Everyone was deep in thought and remained silent for a long time, as if oppressed by some heavy premonition.Taras' prophecy was not without reason: everything really came true as he predicted.Some time after the treachery at the gates of Kanev, the commander's head hung on the pillar, along with the heads of many high officials. How about Taras?Taras led his regiment to roam throughout Poland, burning down eighteen small towns and nearly forty Catholic churches, and had already reached Krakow.He killed many Polish gentlemen of all kinds, and plundered many of the richest and most beautiful castles; All over the floor; tear up and burn all the precious cloths, clothes, and utensils hidden in the storeroom. "Don't spare anything!" Taras just kept repeating.The Cossacks did not respect the dark-browed women, the white-breasted and soft-faced girls; even if they hid by the altar, they would not have survived, because Taras burned them with the altar.From the blazing flames many white hands were lifted up to the sky, and there came out a mournful cry that would shake the icy earth and make the grass of the field bow down in pity.But the cruel Cossacks did not mind, and they picked up their babies with spears in the street, and threw them into the flames to burn them with them. "Heretic Pole, you see, this is the memorial service for Ostap!" Taras just kept saying.So he held such mourning for Ostap in every village, until the Polish government realized that Talas' behavior was beyond the scope of ordinary robbery, and appointed the former Potocki to lead five regiments to make sure that Talas Russ captured.

For six days the Cossacks scrambled the village roads, evading all the pursuit; the horses, barely able to bear this extraordinary gallop, at last rescued the Cossacks from danger.This time, however, Potocki did not fail to live up to his entrustment: he pursued them tirelessly, and overtook them on the banks of the Transnistria, where Bulba occupied an abandoned and collapsed fortress, Resting there. It stands on a cliff on the banks of the Dniester River, revealing the ruins of the collapsed wall and the collapsed wall. The top of the cliff is covered with rubble and rotten bricks, as if it will collapse and fall down at any time of.It was here that the royal commander Potocki surrounded him on two sides adjoining the field.The Cossacks beat back the enemy with bricks and stones, fought and resisted for four days.But the food and strength were exhausted, and Taras decided to fight a bloody road and break out. The Cossacks were about to break out of the siege, and the horse might serve them faithfully again, but suddenly, the running At that moment Taras stopped, and called: "Wait a minute! A pipe with tobacco has fallen; I don't want my pipe to be taken by the cult Poles!" and the old captain stooped , began to look for the pipe full of tobacco in the grass, no matter at sea, on land, on the march, or at home, it was his inseparable companion.However, at this moment, a group of people suddenly rushed up and pressed his strong shoulders.He struggled with all his strength, but the light soldiers who caught him no longer fell to the ground like before. "Oh, old age, old age!" he said, and the fat old regimental captain burst into tears.However, the reason is not old age, the reason is outnumbered.At least thirty people hung him by the hands and feet.

"Daredevil caught!" cried the Pole, "Now we must think about what kind of highest respect to show this old dog." As a result, with the approval of the commander in chief, he decided to burn him alive in public.Here stood a bare tree whose top had been struck by lightning.Someone chained him to the trunk of the tree, nailed his hands, hung him high, so that the Cossack could be seen everywhere, and immediately piled firewood under the tree.However, Taras did not look at the pyre, nor did he think that he was going to be set on fire; he, a man of complete sincerity, looked at the end where the Cossacks were covering fire: he was condescending and knew everything. .

"Quickly, boys," he cried, "take that hill behind the wood: they won't take it!" However, the wind did not convey his words. "They're gone, gone, gone!" he said in despair, looking down at the glowing Transnistria.There was a gleam of joy in his eyes, and he saw the sterns of four boats poking out of the bushes, and with great luck he opened his voice and cried out: "Go to the shore! Boys, go to the shore! Go down the path at the foot of the mountain on the right. There are sampan boats docked by the shore. Row all the boats away, and don't let the pursuers catch up!" This time Feng was blowing from the other side, and his words were heard by the Cossacks.However, for this advice, he immediately received a blow on the head from the back of the knife, causing stars to pop out of his eyes. The Cossacks ran quickly down the path at the foot of the mountain; but the pursuers were already approaching.Looking forward, I can see that the mountain path is winding and winding, with many bends on one side. "Ah, comrades: let's fight!" said the men, pausing for a moment, and then, with a flick of their whips, their Tartar horses were lifted from the ground like snakes. Floating in the sky, flew over the precipices, and plummeted straight down into the Transnistria.Only two men did not fall into the river, fell from a great height on the rocks, and did not even cry out, and they were destroyed there forever, man and horse.But the Cossacks were already floating in the river with their horses, untiing the sampans.The Poles stopped on the precipice, marveling at the unheard-of behavior of Ke, and wondering: should they also make a leap?A fresh-blooded young regimental captain, the brother of the pretty Polish girl who had captivated poor Andrei, rode without thinking long, and with all his might jumped down with the Cossacks: he rode On the horse, he turned three somersaults in the air and fell straight on the sharp cliff.The sharp rocks tore him into pieces as he fell in the middle of the cliff, and his brains mixed with blood splashed on the bushes that grew between the potholed face-block walls. When Taras Bulba regained consciousness after being knocked out, and looked at the Transnistria, the Cossacks were already sitting in the boat and paddling: bullets were raining down on it, but all Can't hit their side.The old league captain's happy eyes sparkled. "Farewell, fellows!" he called to them from above. "Remember me, come up here again next spring, and have a good time! Pole, what have you got? Scared the Cossacks? Just wait and see, one day, one day, you will know what Russian Orthodoxy is! People near and far are feeling now that the Emperor will rise from the land of Russia, and the world will Not a single power would dare not submit to him! . . . " At this time, a raging fire had risen from the firewood, engulfing his feet, and the flames enveloped the tree... But, can such a fire, pain, and such a power be found in the world? , can defeat Russian power? Transnistria is not a small river, there are many estuaries, thick reeds, shallows and bottomless chasms; the mirror-clear surface of the river is lit up, and echoes with the sonorous cry of swans, a proud White-cheeked mallards flitted swiftly across the river, and many geese, red-breasted fringed geese, and various other birds roosted in the reeds and along the bank.The Cossacks quickly steered their narrow twin-rudder sampans, paddled their oars in unison, carefully rounded the shallows, and inevitably startled some flying birds, talking about their regiment captains.