hunter notes

Chapter 3 Hall and Kalinich (2)
A quarter of an hour later, Figga took me to the hayloft with a lantern.I lie on the fragrant hay with the dog huddled at my feet.Figa bade me good night and the door squeaked shut.I have been unable to sleep.A cow came up to the door and snorted loudly twice; a dog barked threateningly at it; a pig kept grunting and walked past the house; somewhere nearby a horse chewed hay and snorted. ...I finally fell asleep.

In the morning, Figa woke me up.This jovial, lively young man seemed to me very dear, and, so far as I could see, old Hall's favorite.The two often talk very intimately.The old man came out to entertain me.I don't know if it was because I spent the night at his house, or for some other reason, Hall was much warmer to me than yesterday.

"The samovar is ready for you," he said to me, smiling. "Let us go to tea."

We sit at the table.A strong peasant woman, one of his daughters-in-law, brought a jug of milk.All his sons came in one by one.

"You are full of descendants!" I said to the old man. "Well," he said, biting off a small piece of candy, "they don't seem to have any complaints about me and my old wife." "Do they all live with you?" "Yes, they all live with me." Together, we will live together." "Are you all married?"

"He's the only one, naughty thing, not married yet," he told me, pointing to Figa, who was still leaning against the door. "Hua Xia, he is still young, so he doesn't need to be busy."

"Why should I get married?" Figga retorted. "I'm fine now. What do I want my wife to do? Come and quarrel with her?"

"Hey, you little one... I know you! You wear silver rings... you just want to hang out with those girls all day... 'Okay, okay, shameless!' (the old man imitating the girls' Said in a tone.) I know you lazy bastard!"

"What's the use of a wife?" "A wife is a laborer," said Hall earnestly. "A wife is our servant."

"What do I want labor for?" "Of course, you like to get something for nothing. We all know what people like you think." "In this case, you should get married as soon as possible. Huh? What's wrong! Why don't you speak?"

"Oh, come on, come on, you naughty bastard. You see, the master is upset by our quarrel. I will marry you, don't worry... Master, please don't be angry. The child is young and doesn't know the rules." Fei Jia shook her head... "Where is Hall?" A familiar voice came from outside the door, and Kalinitch walked in, holding a bunch of wild berries in his hand, which he picked for his friend Hall.The old man greeted him proactively.I looked at Kalinitch in amazement, I never imagined that peasants could have such "warmth".

I was out hunting that day about 4 hours later than usual.For the next three days, I stayed at Hall's house.I was intrigued by these two new acquaintances.I don't know how I gained their trust, they talk to me freely.I listened to them with relish and looked at them.There was nothing alike between the two friends.Hall was a very practical man, with a business mind, and a very rational man; Kalinitch, on the contrary, belonged to the category of idealists, romantics, fanatics and fantasists.Hall can blend into reality, so he builds a house, earns money, and lives in peace with his master and other powerful people; Kalinich wears straw sandals and scrapes by.Hall was full of descendants; Kalinitch had a wife before, but he was afraid of her, and he had no children.Hall knew Mr. Porudkin as a man; Kalinitch respected his master.Khor loved Kalinitch and always protected him; Kalinitch loved Khor and respected him.Hall is reticent, with a smile on his face and plans in his stomach; Kalinich speaks with enthusiasm, but is not as smooth-talking as the clever factory staff... But Kalinich has many specialties, which is what Huoer Nor can it be denied.For example, he can stop bleeding, suppress convulsions, and heal madness by reciting mantras; he can eliminate maggots; he raises bees that are easy to survive, and his hands are nimble.Hall asked him in my presence to take the new horses to the stables, and Kalinitch followed the old skeptic's orders seriously and solemnly.Kalinich is close to nature, Hall is close to reality.Kalinich does not participate in discussions and trusts everything blindly; Hall is sharp-eyed and even cynical.He is well-informed and I have learned a lot from him.For example, I know from his narration that before the grass is mowed every summer, there must be a strange little carriage that drives to every village.In this carriage was a man in a long coat, selling scythes.If it is cash, you will receive 3 ruble 1 kopecks to 25 rubles per banknote; if it is credit, you will receive 1.5 rubles banknotes and 3 silver ruble.Therefore, all farmers buy sickles from him on credit.Two or three weeks later, the man came back to collect the bill.The farmer was able to pay the bill because he had just harvested the oats; the farmer and the merchant went to the tavern, where they paid the bill.Some landlords wanted to buy the sickles themselves with cash and sell them on credit to the farmers for the same price; but the farmers were very dissatisfied and even listless.Because it turned out that they could flick the sickle with their fingers, listen to the sound, pick it carefully in their hands, and ask the cunning businessman countless times: "Hey, boy, is this sickle not good?" lost that interest.When buying a scythe, it was the same trick, the only difference was that there were women involved at this time, and sometimes the dealer had no choice but to teach them with his fists.But the thing that hurts the women the most is the following: the raw material purchaser of the paper mill finds a special kind of person to buy rags, and this kind of person is called "eagle" in some counties.Such "hawks" received about 1 rubles in notes from merchants and went out in search of goods.But he was not at all like the noble bird he was called, and did not attack openly and daringly; on the contrary, this "hawk" used cunning and cunning.He parked his car in the woods near the village, and walked to the backyard or the back door of someone's house, pretending to be a passerby or an idler.The women instinctively guessed that he was coming, and sneaked out to meet him.The deal was done hastily.For a few copper coins the woman not only sold to the eagle all her useless rags, but also her husband's shirt and her skirt.Now women have found an advantageous way to steal marijuana, especially male hemp, from their homes and sell it in the same way.As a result, the business of "Eagle" has greatly expanded!But the farmers have also learned to be smart. If they are a little suspicious, as soon as they hear the wind of the "hawk" coming, they will immediately take precautions and take precautions.In fact, it's also shameful.Selling marijuana is their thing - and they do sell it - not to the city (you have to do it in person) but to out-of-town peddlers who don't have scales and agree on 200 Calculated as 40 pood - but you all know that the size of a Russian's palm is what a handful is, especially when he is "working hard"! ——Similar to such stories, I, who is not experienced in the world and is not "sophisticated" (as we Orel people say) in rural life, have also heard a lot.But Hall didn't just talk about it himself, he also asked me a lot of things.He knew that I had been abroad before, and his curiosity was aroused... Kalinitch was no worse than he.But Kalinich was most interested in matters like nature, mountains, waterfalls, particular buildings, and metropolises; Hall was interested in questions of administration and the state.He always asks in an orderly manner: "Is it the same here as ours, or is it different?...Hey, please tell me, sir, what is it like?"... "Ah! Oh, God, there is Such a thing!" Kalinitch was so amazed when I described it; Hall kept silent, frowned, and only occasionally said: "It's very good, it can't be done here." I couldn't possibly put him I convey to you all my questions, and it is not necessary, but from our conversation, I have gained a conviction, which probably cannot be imagined by the reader, and this is that Peter the Great was essentially Russian. , from his reforms he is Russian.Russians are so sure of their own strength and perseverance that they can even torture themselves. They seldom dwell on the past, but bravely look forward.As long as it is good, they like it, as long as it is reasonable, they will accept it, no matter where it comes from, they will accept it.Their sound minds liked to laugh at the dry principles of the Germans, but the Germans were, according to Hall, a curious little people, and he was ready to learn a little from them.Relying on his special status and practical independence, Hall told me many things that other peasants could not suppress or squeeze.He really knows his place.When I communicated with Hall, I heard the simple and wise words of Russian peasants for the first time.His knowledge, considering his status, is very profound, but he is illiterate.Kalinich will. "This prodigal son can read and write," Hall said, "He also succeeded in raising bees, and he didn't die." "Did you make all your children literate?" Hall paused for a while, and said, "Fija can read Yes." "What else?" "I don't know anything else." "Why?" The old man changed the subject without answering.However, no matter how clever he is, he also has a lot of stubbornness and prejudice.For example, he looks down on women from the bottom of his heart, mocking and insulting them when he is in a good mood.His wife was a noisy old woman who stayed on the kang all day long, complaining and swearing constantly; the sons ignored her, but she made the daughters-in-law fear her like a god.No wonder the mother-in-law sang this in the Russian ditty: "How you are my son, how you are a family member! You don't beat your wife, you don't beat your bride..." I once wanted to protect my daughters-in-law and tried to arouse Hall's compassion.But he retorted me frankly, saying: "Why do you bother with such... trivial matters—let the women quarrel...it's better not to persuade them, and you don't have to worry about it yourself." Sometimes this vicious old woman stepped off the kang Come, call the watch-dog out of the hall, call it, "Come here, come here, dog!" and beat the lean back of the dog with the poker; Hall said - "swearing".But she was afraid of her husband. If he said a word, she would go back to her kang.But it was particularly interesting to hear the quarrel between Kalinitch and Hall about Mr. Porudkin. "Hmph, Hall, don't discuss him in front of me," said Kalinitch. "Then why doesn't he make you boots?" said the other. "Hey, boots! What do I need boots for? I'm a farmer..." "I'm a farmer too, but you..." At this point, Hall raised his feet and lifted his boots like giant elephant skins. Show Kalinitch the made boots. "Oh, you are not like us!" answered Kalinitch. "Then, at least I must give you the money for the sandals. You went hunting with him. You wear a pair of sandals a day." "He gave me the money for the sandals." "Yes, last year I gave you a ten-kopeck piece of silver." ’” Kalinitch turned his face away angrily, and Khol laughed out loud, when his little eyes disappeared completely.

Kalinitch sang very melodiously, and he played the shamisen.Hall listened to him, turned his head suddenly, and sang sadly after him.His favorite is "My Destiny, Destiny!" "This song.Figga took the opportunity to tease his father, "Old man, why are you sad?" Hall put his hand on his cheek, closed his eyes, and continued to tell his own fate... But usually, no one can match his diligence: he Constantly fumbling--repairing wagons, building fences, checking harnesses.But he doesn't keep it clean, and once I asked about it, he replied, "There should be people in the house."

"You see," I retorted, "the hives in Kalinitch are so clean." "If the hives aren't clean, the bees won't live, sir," he said to me with a sigh. "Excuse me," he asked me once again, "do you have hereditary lands?" "Yes." "How far from here?" "About 100 versts." "Well, sir, do you live in Is there?" "Yes." "Maybe I spend a lot of time playing with guns?" "Yeah." "That's very good, sir, you can shoot grouse, but the village chief has to change frequently."

At sunset on the fourth day, Mr. Porudkin sent for me.Both the old man and I felt unfulfilled.I got into the carriage with Kalinitch. "I'm going, Hall, and I wish you well." I said... "Goodbye, Figa." "Goodbye, sir, goodbye, remember us." We got up.The evening glow began to glow red. "Tomorrow will definitely be fine weather." I looked at the clear sky and said. "No, it's going to rain," Kalinich retorted. "Look at the ducks over there pulling water, and the smell of grass is strong." We drove into the jungle.Kalinitch sat on the driver's platform, shaking his body, singing softly, and constantly looking at the sunset.

The next day I left the house of the hospitable Mr. Porudkin.

(End of this chapter)