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Chapter 42 Peter Petrovich Karataev (2)
"Of course, it is conceivable. I couldn't help it, and I said: 'Come on, good mother, what are you talking about? What are you talking about getting married now? I just want to ask you if you can take your horse Give me Miss Terina.' The old woman sighed. 'Ah, he upsets me! Oh, see off the guests! Ah!...' The relative ran over and shouted at me. The old woman was still there. He murmured: "Why did I encounter such unlucky things?... In this way, I can no longer make decisions in my own family? Ah, ah!' I grabbed my hat and rushed out of the room like crazy."

"Perhaps," said the speaker without stopping, "you blame me for pouring out all my love on a low-class woman. And I don't want to defend myself... Anyway, that's the truth!... Do you believe it? I have trouble sleeping and eating day and night...I am in great pain! I think, why did I let this poor girl suffer misfortune! When I think of her chasing geese in coarse clothes, being scolded and abused by her master, the village Peasant in tarred boots—I was sweating coldly when I scolded her for no reason. At last I couldn't help it, and when I found out where she was being sent, I rode over there. The second They didn't arrive until evening. They obviously didn't expect my unexpected behavior, so they didn't issue an order to deal with my behavior. I went all the way to the village chief, pretending to be someone from a neighboring village, and went into the yard Take a look: Matriina was sitting on the steps, with her head lightly supported by her palms. She shouted, and I quickly signaled her to stop, pointing to the field beyond the back yard. I entered the house as if nothing had happened, and chatted with the village chief Say a few words to him, and when you find a chance, slip out of the house and go up to Materina. The poor fellow holds me tightly. He is pale and thin, my dear girl."

So, I comforted her and said: "It's okay, Matriina, it's okay, don't be sad." But I couldn't control my tears... Later I felt embarrassed, so I said to her: "Matriina, don't be sad." , Tears will not solve the problem. We must act decisively, you must flee here with me, it must be done."

——Matt Liana was stunned... "How can that be done! I'm going to die, they're going to kill me!"

"You fool, who knows where you are?" "You can find it, you will find it. Thank you, Pyotr Petrovich, I will remember you all my life, but now please leave me and give me up. It seems This is what I deserve." "Oh, Matriona, Matriina, I always thought you were a woman of integrity."

Indeed, she has backbone...she has a heart, a noble heart! "So what if you stay! It's the same anyway, it won't be worse. Tell me, have you tried the fist of the village chief, huh?" Materina's face flushed, her lips trembling.

"For me, people in my family can't survive." "Will people in your family... be exiled?" "Yes, they will exile my brother." "Where's father?"

"Father isn't that bad, he's a good tailor with us." "That's all right. As for your brother, he's never going to die over it." Believe it or not, I finally convinced her.She also remembered that it was you who would be implicated in this matter in the future.

...I said: "It has nothing to do with you." ... I finally escaped with her ... not this time, but another night, I took her away in a carriage.

"Take it away?" "Take it away... So, she stayed at my house. My house is not big, and there are not many servants. I can tell you honestly, my servants respect me very much, they absolutely I will not betray me for profit. I started to live a happy life. After the lovely Matt Liana rested and recovered her health, I will live with her... This girl is very good! I don’t know how I learned it , she can sing, she can dance, she can play the violin... I don't let her go out to see the neighbors, lest they talk too much! But I have a friend, a bosom friend, named Gornostaev Bontel I—did you know him? He was madly in love with her, kissed her hand like a lady, really. I tell you, Gornostaev was not like me, he was well educated, he read All of Pushkin's books, sometimes when he talks to Materina and I, we are all fascinated."

"He taught her to write, and what a queer man he is! How shall I dress her?—no worse than the little Mrs. I sewed her a coat of crimson velvet trimmed with fur . . . she wore this How fitting the coat is! This coat is made in the fashionable style of Toyizika, a Moscow fashion store, and it has pleats. But this Materina is so strange! She is sometimes lost in thought and does not move for hours, her eyes staring at her. I sat on the floor without moving my eyebrows. So I also sat and watched her forever, as if I had never seen her before... When she smiled, my heart trembled with excitement, as if someone was scratching her. My tickle. Sometimes she suddenly laughs, tells jokes, dances, and hugs me so passionately and deeply that it makes me dizzy. I just think about it from morning to night: what can win her heart? You know, I give her something just to see her—my baby—happy, flushed with joy, enjoying my gift, coming to kiss me in a new dress. I don’t know where , his father, Kulik, found out about it. The old man came to see us, and he wept! . . . Weeping for joy, you know? We got Kulik over. She— My darling—then I handed him a five-ruble note myself. He fell on his knees with a plop—what a strange fellow! We lived like this for five months or so, and how I wished to live like this forever , but my fate is terrible!"

Pyotr Petrovitch said no more. "What happened next?" I asked him sympathetically.He waved his hand.It's all over.Or I ended up killing her.My Materina likes carriages best, and she often drives herself.She wore a thick coat and embroidered gloves made in Torzhok, and she kept yelling all the way.We always go out in the evening, and you know why, so that no one can see us.Once a good day was picked, cold and clear with no wind... off we went.Matt Liana tugged at the reins.I watched to see where she was going.Was it going to Kukuyevka, to the village of the mistress she had escaped from?It was indeed going to Kukuyevka.I said to her, "Silly girl, where are you going?"

She looked back at me and smiled.She said, "Let me go play a little fool." "Oh!" I thought, "Take a chance! . . . " Is it fun to pass by the owner's house?Think about it, is it fun?We'll drive over.My galloping horse was running like a cloud, and the pair of horses, you know, were galloping like a whirlwind—and in a moment the Kukuyevka chapel was in sight.Suddenly, I saw an old green car slowly crawling on the road, and a servant stood upright on the pedals behind the car... This is the mistress, the mistress' car!I was a little nervous, but Materina galloped desperately towards the car!The coachman, you can imagine, saw our car galloping toward them, and tried to get out of the way, and he turned so hard that the car fell into the snow.The window pane was broken - and the hostess cried out, "Ah, ah, ah! Aw, ah, ah!" The maid screamed, "Stop, stop!"

But we have already escaped.As we raced along, I nervously murmured, "Oh no, I shouldn't have let her drive to Kukuyevka." Guess what?The hostess recognized Materina and me too, old fellow!She accused me that her fugitive maid was living in the nobleman Karatayev's house.She also heavily bribed the police.Sure enough, the chief of police came to the door.The chief of police, whom I knew by the name of Stepon Sergeyitch Kuzovkin, was a good man, but to me he was a bad man.He came, explained the reason in this way, and said: "Pyotr Petrovich, how could you do this? .

I said to him: "Okay, of course we want to talk about this matter, but you are tired from the journey, would you like something to eat?"

He agreed to eat, but said: "It's a matter of business, Pyotr Petrovich, you must think about it."

(End of this chapter)