来自：A Sportsman's Sketches
-- Look at that -- factory boys!.. -- Well, so how did you hear him? -- asked Fedya. -- Like this. I happened to be there with my brother Avdyushka, and Fyodor Mikheyevsky, and Ivashka the Cross-eyed, and another Ivashka from Red Hills, and Ivashka Sukhorukov too, and there were other boys there; there were about ten of us boys in all -- the whole shift; and we had to spend the night at the rolling mill, that is, not exactly had to, but Nazarov, the overseer, forbade us; he says: "Why," he says, "should you boys trudge home; there's a lot of work tomorrow, so you boys don't go home." So we stayed and all lay down together, and Avdyushka started saying, like, "What if, boys, the house spirit comes?..." And no sooner had he, Avdey, said this, than suddenly someone started walking above our heads; but we were lying below, and he was walking above, by the wheel. We hear him walking, the boards under him creaking and groaning; then he passed over our heads; suddenly the water starts rushing over the wheel, rushing and rushing; the wheel starts knocking, knocking, turning; but the sluice gates at the dam {The "dam" is what we call the place where water runs onto the wheel. (Note by I.S. Turgenev)} were lowered. We're amazed: who raised them to let the water through; but the wheel turned and turned, then stopped. That one went to the door upstairs and started coming down the stairs, and you could tell he wasn't hurrying; the steps under him actually groaning... Well, he came to our door, waited and waited -- the door suddenly flew wide open. We all got frightened, looking -- nothing... Suddenly, look, at one of the vats the mold {The sieve used for scooping paper. (Note by I.S. Turgenev)} started moving, rose up, dipped down, walked and walked through the air, as if someone was rinsing it, and then back in place. Then at another vat a hook came off a nail and back on the nail; then as if someone went to the door and suddenly started coughing, choking, like some sheep, and so loudly... We all fell in a heap, crawling under each other... How frightened we were at that time! -- Look at that! -- said Pavel. -- Why was he coughing? -- I don't know; maybe from the dampness. Everyone fell silent. -- What, -- asked Fedya, -- are the potatoes cooked? Pavlusha felt them. -- No, still raw... Look, it splashed, -- he added, turning his face toward the river, -- must be a pike... And there's a star falling. -- No, let me tell you something, brothers, -- began Kostya in a thin voice, -- listen to what my father told me the other day when I was there. -- Well, we're listening, -- said Fedya with a patronizing air. -- You know Gavrila, the village carpenter? -- Yes, we know him. -- And do you know why he's always so gloomy, always silent, you know? This is why he's so gloomy. He went once, my father said, -- he went, my brothers, to the forest for nuts. So he went to the forest for nuts and got lost; he ended up -- God knows where he ended up. He walked and walked, my brothers -- no! he can't find the road; and it's already night outside. So he sat down under a tree; let me, he says, wait till morning, -- he sat down and dozed off. So he dozed off and suddenly hears someone calling him. He looks -- nobody. He dozed off again -- they call again. He looks again, looks: and before him on a branch a rusalka sits, swaying and calling him to her, and she's dying of laughter, laughing... And the moon is shining strongly, so strongly, clearly the moon is shining -- everything, my brothers, is visible. So she's calling him, and she herself is all bright, white sitting on the branch, like some roach or minnow, -- or there's also carp that are such whitish, silvery... Gavrila the carpenter was petrified, my brothers, and she just keeps laughing and beckoning him with her hand. Gavrila was about to get up, was about to obey the rusalka, my brothers, but, you know, the Lord put sense in his head: he made the sign of the cross over himself... And how hard it was for him to make the cross, my brothers; he says his hand was just like stone, wouldn't move... Ah, that's how it was!.. So when he made the cross, my brothers, the rusalka stopped laughing, and suddenly started crying... She's crying, my brothers, wiping her eyes with her hair, and her hair is green, like hemp. So Gavrila looked and looked at her, and started asking her: "Why are you crying, forest devil?" And the rusalka says to him: "If you hadn't crossed yourself," she says, "mortal, you would have lived with me in merriment till the end of your days; but I'm crying, grieving because you crossed yourself; but I won't be the only one grieving: grieve you too till the end of your days." Then she, my brothers, disappeared, and Gavrila immediately understood how to get out of the forest. But since then he's always gloomy. -- Well! -- said Fedya after a short silence, -- but how can such forest evil harm a Christian soul -- he didn't obey her? -- But there you go! -- said Kostya. -- And Gavrila said that her voice, he says, was so thin, pitiful, like a toad's. -- Your father told this himself? -- continued Fedya. -- Himself. I was lying on the sleeping bench, heard everything. -- A strange thing! Why should he be gloomy?... Well, she must have liked him, since she called him. -- Yes, liked! -- picked up Ilyusha. -- Of course! She wanted to tickle him to death, that's what she wanted. That's their business, these rusalkas. -- And there must be rusalkas here too, -- remarked Fedya. -- No, -- answered Kostya, -- this is a clean place, open. Only -- the river is near. Everyone fell silent. Suddenly, somewhere in the distance, a long, ringing, almost moaning sound rang out, one of those incomprehensible night sounds that sometimes arise in deep silence, rise up, hang in the air, and slowly spread out at last, as if dying away. You listen -- and it's as if there's nothing, but it rings. It seemed as if someone cried out for a long, long time under the very horizon, someone else seemed to answer him in the forest with thin, sharp laughter, and a weak, hissing whistle rushed along the river. The boys looked at each other, shuddered... -- The cross be with us! -- whispered Ilya. -- Oh, you crows! -- shouted Pavel. -- What are you frightened of? Look, the potatoes are cooked. (Everyone moved closer to the pot and began eating the steaming potatoes; only Vanya didn't stir.) Well? -- said Pavel. But he didn't come out from under his mat. The pot was soon completely empty. -- Have you heard, boys, -- began Ilyusha, -- what happened at our Varnavitsy the other day? -- At the dam? -- asked Fedya. -- Yes, yes, at the dam, at the broken one. That's an unclean place, so unclean, and so desolate. All around are ravines, gullies, and in the gullies all snakes {In Oryol dialect: snakes. (Note by I.S. Turgenev)} live. -- Well, what happened? Tell us... -- Here's what happened. Maybe you don't know, Fedya, but there's a drowned man buried there; and he drowned long, long ago, when the pond was still deep; but his grave is still visible, though barely visible: just a little mound... So the other day, the steward calls the dog-keeper Ermil; he says: "Go," he says, "Ermil, to the post office." Ermil always goes to the post office for us; he's killed all his dogs -- they don't live with him for some reason, never have lived, but he's a good dog-keeper, knows his business. So Ermil went for the mail and lingered in town, and was riding back already drunk. And it's night, and a bright night: the moon is shining... So Ermil rides across the dam: that's the way his road went. So he's riding like this, the dog-keeper Ermil, and sees: at the drowned man's grave a little lamb, white, curly, pretty, is walking. So Ermil thinks: "I'll take him, -- why should he go to waste," and got down and took him in his arms... But the lamb -- nothing. So Ermil goes to the horse, but the horse shies away from him, snorts, shakes its head; however, he calmed it down, got on it with the lamb and rode on again: holding the lamb in front of him. He looks at it, and the lamb looks him right in the eyes. Ermil the dog-keeper got scared: what, he says, I don't remember sheep looking people in the eyes like this; however, nothing; he started stroking its wool, saying: "Baa-baa!" And the ram suddenly bares its teeth and says to him too: "Baa-baa!..." No sooner had the storyteller uttered this last word than both dogs suddenly jumped up at once, rushed away from the fire with convulsive barking and disappeared into the darkness. All the boys were frightened. Vanya jumped out from under his mat. Pavlusha rushed after the dogs with a shout. Their barking quickly receded... The anxious running of the alarmed herd could be heard. Pavlusha shouted loudly: "Gray! Zhuchka!..." In a few moments the barking stopped; Pavel's voice came from far away already... A little more time passed; the boys looked at each other in bewilderment, as if waiting to see what would happen... Suddenly there was the clatter of a galloping horse; it stopped sharply right at the fire, and, clutching the mane, Pavlusha nimbly jumped off. Both dogs also jumped into the circle of light and immediately sat down, tongues hanging out. -- What was it? What happened? -- asked the boys. -- Nothing, -- answered Pavel, waving his hand at the horse, -- just something the dogs scented. I thought it was a wolf, -- he added in an indifferent voice, breathing rapidly with his whole chest. I involuntarily admired Pavlusha. He was very fine at that moment. His homely face, animated by the quick ride, glowed with bold daring and firm resolve. Without even a switch in his hand, at night, he had galloped alone after a wolf without the slightest hesitation... "What a splendid boy!" -- I thought, looking at him. -- Did you see them, the wolves? -- asked the coward Kostya. -- There are always lots of them here, -- answered Pavel, -- but they're only troublesome in winter. He settled down again by the fire. Sitting down on the ground, he accidentally put his hand on the shaggy neck of one of the dogs, and for a long time the delighted animal didn't turn its head, looking sideways at Pavlusha with grateful pride. Vanya burrowed under his mat again. -- What terrible things you were telling us, Ilyusha, -- began Fedya, who, as the son of a wealthy peasant, had to be the leader (though he himself spoke little, as if afraid of lowering his dignity). -- And the devil made the dogs bark there... But it's true, I've heard that place of yours is unclean. -- Varnavitsy?... Of course it is! And how unclean! They say they've seen the old master there many times -- the late master. They say he walks around in a long caftan and keeps groaning like this, searching for something on the ground. Once grandfather Trofimych met him: "What," he says, "sir, Ivan Ivanych, are you looking for on the ground?" -- He asked him that? -- interrupted the amazed Fedya. -- Yes, he asked. -- Well, Trofimych is brave after that... Well, and what did he say? -- "Looking for break-grass," he says. -- And so hollowly he speaks, hollowly: -- "Break-grass." -- "And what do you need break-grass for, sir Ivan Ivanych?" -- "The grave," he says, "is pressing, Trofimych: I want out, out..." -- Look at that! -- remarked Fedya, -- he must not have lived enough. -- What a marvel! -- said Kostya. -- I thought you could only see the dead on Commemoration Saturday. -- You can see the dead any time, -- Ilyusha picked up confidently, who, as far as I could tell, knew all the village superstitions better than the others... -- But on Commemoration Saturday you can see a living person too, one whose turn it is to die that year. You just have to sit on the church porch at night and keep looking at the road. Those will walk past you on the road who are to die that year. Last year our woman Ulyana went to the porch. -- Well, and did she see anyone? -- asked Kostya with curiosity. -- Of course. First she sat for a long, long time, didn't see or hear anyone... only it seemed like a little dog was barking somewhere... Suddenly she looks: a boy is walking along the path in just a shirt. She looked closer -- Ivashka Fedoseyev is walking... -- The one who died in spring? -- interrupted Fedya. -- The very one. Walking and not raising his head... And Ulyana recognized him... But then she looks: a woman is walking. She peers and peers -- oh, Lord! -- she herself is walking along the road, Ulyana herself. -- Really herself? -- asked Fedya. -- By God, herself. -- Well what, she hasn't died yet, has she? -- But the year hasn't passed. And look at her: barely alive. Everyone fell silent again. Pavel threw a handful of dry twigs on the fire. They turned sharply black against the suddenly flaring flame, crackled, smoked, and began to curl, raising their burnt ends. The reflection of light struck out, trembling fitfully in all directions, especially upward. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a white dove -- flew right into this reflection, whirled timidly in one spot, bathed all over in the hot glow, and disappeared, wings ringing. -- Must have lost its way from home, -- remarked Pavel. -- Now it will fly until it bumps into something, and where it bumps, there it will spend the night till dawn. -- What, Pavlusha, -- said Kostya, -- wasn't that a righteous soul flying to heaven, eh? Pavel threw another handful of twigs on the fire. -- Maybe, -- he said at last. -- Tell me, please, Pavlusha, -- began Fedya, -- did you also see the heavenly vision at Shalamovo? {This is what peasants call a solar eclipse. (Note by I.S. Turgenev)} -- When the sun disappeared? Yes, we did. -- I suppose you were frightened too? -- Not just us. Our master, though he explained to us beforehand that there would be a vision, but when it got dark, they say he got so scared himself, goodness me. And in the servants' cottage the cook woman, so she, as soon as it got dark, you hear, took the poker and smashed all the pots in the stove: "Who needs to eat now," she says, "the end of the world has come." So the cabbage soup just poured out. And in our village such rumors were going around, brother, that white wolves would run across the earth, eating people, a bird of prey would fly, or they'd even see Trishka himself {The belief about "Trishka" probably echoes the legend of the Antichrist. (Note by I.S. Turgenev)} -- What's this Trishka? -- asked Kostya. -- You don't know? -- Ilyusha picked up eagerly. -- Well, brother, where are you from, that you don't know Trishka? Stay-at-homes you have in your village, real stay-at-homes! Trishka -- he'll be such a marvelous man who will come; and he'll come when the last times arrive. And he'll be such a marvelous man that you won't be able to catch him, and you won't be able to do anything to him: he'll be such a marvelous man. The peasants will want, for example, to catch him; they'll come out against him with clubs, surround him, but he'll deceive their eyes -- deceive their eyes so that they'll beat each other instead. They'll put him in prison, for example -- he'll ask for water to drink in a dipper: they'll bring him a dipper, and he'll dive into it and vanish without a trace. They'll put chains on him, and he'll just clap his hands -- and they'll fall right off him. Well, and this Trishka will go around the villages and towns; and this Trishka, a cunning man, will tempt the Christian people... well, but you won't be able to do anything to him... He'll be such a marvelous, cunning man. -- Well yes, -- Pavel continued in his unhurried voice, -- such a one. So that's who they were expecting. The old people said that as soon as the heavenly vision begins, Trishka will come. So the vision began. All the people poured out into the street, into the field, waiting for what would happen. And you know our place is open, spacious. They look -- suddenly from the settlement, from the hill, some person is coming, such a strange one, with such a marvelous head... Everyone screamed: "Oh, Trishka's coming! Oh, Trishka's coming!" -- and scattered in all directions! Our headman crawled into a ditch; the headman's wife got stuck in the gateway, screaming bloody murder, frightened her own yard dog so much that it broke its chain, over the fence, and into the forest; and Kuzka's father, Dorofeich, jumped into the oats, crouched down, and started crying like a quail: "Maybe," he says, "the enemy, the soul-destroyer, will at least spare a bird." Everyone got so frightened!.. But the person was our cooper, Vavila: he'd bought himself a new tub and put the empty tub on his head. All the boys laughed and fell silent again for a moment, as often happens with people conversing in the open air. I looked around: the night stood solemn and majestic; the damp freshness of late evening had been replaced by midnight's dry warmth, and it would lie like a soft canopy over the sleeping fields for a long time yet; much time remained before the first babbling, before the first rustlings and whispers of morning, before the first dewdrops of dawn. There was no moon in the sky: it rose late at that time. Countless golden stars seemed to flow quietly, all twinkling in rivalry, in the direction of the Milky Way, and truly, looking at them, you seemed vaguely to feel yourself the impetuous, ceaseless rush of the earth... A strange, harsh, painful cry rang out suddenly twice in succession over the river and, after a few moments, was repeated farther away... Kostya shuddered. "What's that?" -- It's a heron crying, -- Pavel answered calmly. -- A heron, -- Kostya repeated... -- But what was it, Pavlusha, that I heard yesterday evening, -- he added after a short silence, -- you might know... -- What did you hear? -- This is what I heard. I was walking from Stone Ridge to Shashkino; and I walked first all through our hazel grove, then through the meadow -- you know, where it comes out in a sharp bend {A sharp bend -- a steep turn in a ravine. (Note by I.S. Turgenev)}, -- there's a deep pit there {A deep pit -- a deep hole with spring water left after the flood, which doesn't dry up even in summer. (Note by I.S. Turgenev)}; you know, it's all overgrown with reeds; so I was walking past this pit, my brothers, and suddenly from that pit someone starts moaning, and so pitifully, pitifully: oo-oo... oo-oo... oo-oo! Such fear took hold of me, my brothers: it was late, and the voice was so sickly. I felt like I'd cry myself... What could that have been? Eh? -- In that pit two years ago thieves drowned Akim the forester, -- remarked Pavel, -- so maybe it's his soul complaining. -- Well, that could be it, my brothers, -- answered Kostya, widening his already enormous eyes... -- I didn't know that Akim was drowned in that pit: I would have been even more frightened. -- But they say there are such tiny frogs, -- Pavel continued, -- that cry so pitifully. -- Frogs? Well, no, that wasn't frogs... what kind of... (The heron cried again over the river.) There it goes! -- Kostya involuntarily uttered, -- like a wood goblin crying. -- A wood goblin doesn't cry, he's mute, -- Ilyusha picked up, -- he only claps his hands and rattles... -- Have you seen him, the wood goblin? -- Fedya interrupted him mockingly. -- No, I haven't seen him, and God save me from seeing him; but others have seen him. Just the other day he led one of our peasants astray: led him, led him through the forest, all around one clearing... He barely made it home by dawn. -- Well, and did he see him? -- He saw him. Says he stands there big, big, dark, wrapped up, like behind a tree, you can't make him out clearly, like hiding from the moon, and looks, looks with his big eyes, blinks them, blinks... -- Oh! -- exclaimed Fedya, shuddering slightly and shrugging his shoulders, -- ugh!.. -- And why has this filth bred in the world? -- remarked Pavel. -- I really don't understand! -- Don't curse, watch out, he'll hear, -- remarked Ilya. Silence fell again. -- Look, look, boys, -- Vanya's childish voice suddenly rang out, -- look at God's little stars -- like bees swarming! He stuck his fresh little face out from under the mat, propped himself on his fist, and slowly raised his big quiet eyes upward. All the boys' eyes rose to the sky and didn't lower for a long time. -- What, Vanya, -- Fedya began affectionately, -- is your sister Anyutka well? -- Well, -- answered Vanya with a slight lisp. -- Tell her -- why doesn't she come to us?.. -- I don't know. -- You tell her she should come. -- I'll tell her. -- You tell her I'll give her a treat. -- And will you give me one? -- I'll give you one too. Vanya sighed. -- Well, no, I don't need one. Give it to her instead: she's so kind. And Vanya laid his head on the ground again. Pavel stood up and took the empty pot in his hand. -- Where are you going? -- Fedya asked him. -- To the river, to get some water: I want a drink. The dogs got up and followed him. -- Watch you don't fall in the river! -- Ilyusha called after him. -- Why would he fall in? -- said Fedya, -- he'll be careful. -- Yes, he'll be careful. Anything can happen: he'll bend down, start scooping water, and the water spirit will grab him by the hand and drag him down. Then they'll say: the boy fell, they say, into the water... What fell?.. Over there, he's climbed into the reeds, -- he added, listening. The reeds indeed were "rustling," as we say, parting. -- Is it true, -- asked Kostya, -- that Akulina the fool has been mad since she was in the water? -- Since then... What she's like now! But they say she used to be a beauty. The water spirit ruined her. Must not have expected they'd pull her out so soon. So he ruined her there, at his place on the bottom. (I myself met this Akulina more than once. Covered in rags, terribly thin, with a face black as coal, a clouded gaze and eternally bared teeth, she tramples for hours in one spot, somewhere on the road, pressing her bony hands tightly to her chest and slowly shifting from foot to foot, like a wild beast in a cage. She understands nothing, whatever anyone says to her, and only occasionally laughs convulsively.) -- But they say, -- Kostya continued, -- that Akulina threw herself in the river because her lover deceived her. -- That's why. -- And do you remember Vasya? -- Kostya added sadly. -- What Vasya? -- asked Fedya. -- The one who drowned, -- answered Kostya, -- in this very river. Oh, what a boy he was! i-i, what a boy! His mother, Feklista, how she loved him, her Vasya! And it was as if she sensed, Feklista did, that death would come to him from water. When Vasya would go with us, with the boys, in summer to swim in the river, -- she'd be all aflutter. Other women don't care, they walk by with their washtubs, waddling, but Feklista would put her tub on the ground and start calling him: "Come back," she'd say, "come back, my light! oh, come back, my falcon!" And how he drowned, the Lord knows. He was playing on the bank, and his mother was right there, raking hay; suddenly she hears something like bubbles on the water, -- looks, and only Vasya's little cap is floating on the water. Well, since then Feklista hasn't been in her right mind: she'll come and lie down on the spot where he drowned; she'll lie down, my brothers, and start up a song, -- remember, Vasya always sang such a song, -- so she starts up that very song, and cries herself, cries, complains bitterly to God... -- Here comes Pavlusha, -- said Fedya. Pavel approached the fire with the full pot in his hand. -- What, boys, -- he began after a pause, -- something's not right. -- What? -- Kostya asked hastily. -- I heard Vasya's voice. Everyone shuddered. -- What are you saying, what? -- Kostya stammered. -- By God. I just bent down to the water, suddenly I hear someone calling me in Vasya's voice and as if from under the water: "Pavlusha, oh Pavlusha!" I listen; and he calls again: "Pavlusha, come here." I moved away. But I got the water. -- Oh Lord! Oh Lord! -- the boys said, crossing themselves. -- That was the water spirit calling you, Pavel, -- Fedya added... -- And we were just talking about him, about Vasya. -- Oh, that's a bad omen, -- Ilyusha said deliberately. -- Well, never mind, let it be! -- Pavel pronounced decisively and sat down again, -- you can't escape your fate. The boys quieted down. It was clear that Pavel's words had made a deep impression on them. They began to settle down before the fire, as if preparing to sleep. -- What's that? -- Kostya suddenly asked, raising his head. Pavel listened. -- Those are sandpipers flying, whistling. -- Where are they flying to? -- To where, they say, there's no winter. -- Is there really such a land? -- There is. -- Far away? -- Far, far away, beyond the warm seas. Kostya sighed and closed his eyes. More than three hours had passed since I had joined the boys. The moon had finally risen; I didn't notice it at first: it was so small and narrow. This moonless night seemed just as magnificent as before... But already many stars that had recently stood high in the sky had inclined toward the dark edge of the earth; everything had completely quieted all around, as everything usually quiets only toward morning: everything slept a deep, motionless, pre-dawn sleep. The air no longer smelled as strongly -- dampness seemed to spread through it again... Short are the summer nights!.. The boys' conversation died down along with the fires... The dogs were even dozing; the horses, as far as I could make out in the faintly glimmering, weakly flowing starlight, were also lying down with lowered heads... Sweet oblivion came over me; it turned into drowsiness. A fresh stream ran across my face. I opened my eyes: morning was beginning. The dawn wasn't blushing anywhere yet, but the east was already whitening. Everything became visible, though dimly visible, all around. The pale gray sky was brightening, growing cold, turning blue; the stars either blinked with weak light or disappeared; the earth grew damp, leaves became covered with dew, here and there living sounds, voices began to sound, and a thin, early breeze had already started wandering and fluttering over the earth. My body answered it with a light, cheerful shiver. I quickly got up and approached the boys. They were all sleeping like the dead around the smoldering fire; only Pavel half-raised himself and looked intently at me. I nodded to him and went on my way along the smoking river. I hadn't walked two versts when already pouring all around me, over the wide wet meadow, and ahead over the greening hills from forest to forest, and behind over the long dusty road, over the sparkling, crimsoned bushes, and over the river shyly turning blue from under the thinning mist -- poured first scarlet, then red, golden streams of young, hot light... Everything stirred, awoke, began singing, rustling, talking. Everywhere large drops of dew flashed like radiant diamonds; toward me, pure and clear, as if also washed by the morning coolness, came the sounds of a bell, and suddenly past me, driven by the familiar boys, rushed the rested herd... I must, unfortunately, add that Pavel died that same year. He didn't drown: he was killed, falling from a horse. A pity, he was a splendid lad!
Biryuk
(From the cycle "Sketches from a Hunter's Album")