hunter notes

Chapter 45
"No, how come? I won't forget you, but you have to be smart, don't be stupid, and listen to your father... I won't forget you, no—yes." (He deeply Stretching and yawning again.) "Don't forget me, Victor Alexandrech," she continued in a pleading voice, "I love you to the limit, and everything is for you... You said just now that I must obey my father, Victor Alexandrech . . . but I can still obey my father . . . "

"Why?" When he said it, he was raising his head and resting his hands under his head, as if the words came from his heart.

"How could I, Victor Alexandrech, you know..."

She fell silent, and Victor played with the brass chain of his watch. "Akulina, you are not a clumsy girl," he said at last, "so don't say anything useless. I want you, do you understand me? Of course you are not stupid to say, Not quite a country girl; nor was your mother always a country girl. But you are uneducated after all, so you may not understand what is being said to you." "But what a horror it is, Victor Alexander Lucky." "Oh, nonsense, my dear, what's the matter! What are you?"

He moved closer to her and continued, "Is it a flower?"

"It's a flower." Akulina replied in a low voice, "This is the tansy I picked," she continued with a little vigor, "it's good for calves. It's the tansy, which can cure scrofula." Adenoids. Look, what a strange flower, I have never seen such a strange flower in my life. This is glass grass, this is caraway ... and this is what I give you." She said Then, she took out a small bunch of light blue cornflowers tied with fine grass from under the yellow tansy. "Do you want it?"

Victor idly reached out, took the flowers, sniffed them casually, twirled the bouquet with his fingers, and looked up from time to time with brooding arrogance.Akulina looked at him... with tender devotion, reverent obedience, and love in her sad eyes.She was afraid of him, she dared not cry, and at the same time she wanted to say goodbye to him, and at the same time she wanted to show him her love for the last time; and he, lying stretched out like a Turkish emperor, with a magnanimous patience and accommodating The attitude tolerated her adoration.To be honest, I watched his flushed face with anger.In this face, through an expression of mock contemptuous indifference, there was a look of smug and bored self-reproach.Akulina was very lovely at that moment, her whole soul spread out before him trustingly and passionately, trusting him, showing affection to him; and he... he threw the cornflowers on the grass, and from the corner of his coat From the pocket I took a round piece of glass trimmed with copper and fitted it over one eye.But no matter how hard he frowned, lifted his cheeks and even his nose to support it, the glass still fell out and fell into his hands.

"What is this?" Akulina finally asked in amazement.

"Single eyeglass," he replied slyly. "What is it for?" "I can see clearly after wearing it." "Show me."

Victor frowned, but still handed her the glass. "Be careful, don't break it." "Don't worry, it won't break. (She timidly puts it over one eye.) I can't see it at all," she said innocently. "You have to squint that eye," he said in the tone of an unhappy teacher. (She squints the eye on the glass.) "Not this one, not this one, fool! It's that one!" exclaimed Victor, and without asking her to correct her mistake, he put his eyeglass on snatched it back from her.

Akulina blushed, smiled slightly, and turned her face away. "So I'm not worthy," she said.

"Of course!" said the poor girl, after a moment's thought, and sighed deeply. "Oh, Victor Alexandrech, how I should be without you!" she said suddenly.Victor wiped his eyeglasses on the hem of his coat and put them in his pocket.

"Yes, yes," he said at last, "you do grieve at first. (He pats her shoulder understandingly; she gently takes his hand from it and kisses it timidly. Kiss it.) Well, yes, yes, you are a fine girl." He smiled complacently, and went on: "But what can be done? Think for yourself! Master and I can never stay here It's almost winter recently, and winter in the country—you know it—is a nuisance. It's different in Petersburg! It's just wonderful there, and a fool like you can't even dream of it. What a house, what a street, what a society, what a civilization—it's astonishing!..." (Akulina opened her mouth a little like a child, listening to him with greedy attention.) "But," he added Said, tossing and turning on the ground, "Why did I tell you this? You won't understand it anyway."

"Why, Victor Alexandrech? I understand, I understand everything."

"Look at you!" Akulina lowered her head.

"That's not how you used to talk to me, Victor Alexandrech," she said, without looking up.

"Once upon a time?...Once upon a time! Hey!...Once upon a time!" he said, seeming angry.

Both of them fell silent. "I should go." Victor said, already supporting himself on his elbows... "Wait a little longer." Akulina said in a begging voice. "What are you waiting for?...I have already said goodbye to you."

"Wait a while," repeated Akulina.

Victor lay down again and whistled.Akulina never took her eyes off him.I could see that she was long agitated, her lips twitched, her pale cheeks flushed slightly.

"Victor Alexandrech," she began in a broken voice at last, "you are too cruel... You are so cruel, Victor Alexandrech, really!"

"What's so cruel." He frowned and asked, raising his head to turn to her. "You're so cruel, Victor Alexandrech. You must have said something nice to me at the time of parting! Say something nice, but to me, a lonely wretch..."

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"I don't know, you know that very well, Viktor Alexandrech. You're going away, and if you say a word... why should I be so troubled?"

"You are a strange man! What can I do?"

"It's good to say a word..."

"See, that's the way it's always been said," he said ruefully, rising to his feet. "Don't be angry, Victor Alexandrech," she said hastily, fighting back tears. "I'm not really angry, it's just that you're too stupid... What do you want? I'm sure I can't marry you, I can't marry you, understand? Then, what else do you want from me? What do you want?" He asked Protruding his face, as if waiting for an answer, he spread his fingers apart.

"I don't ask for anything... I don't ask for anything," she replied with difficulty, and she barely had the courage to stretch out a pair of shaking hands to him, "It's fine to say a good word, when we are apart..."

Her tears flowed down like a fountain. "Ah, you're crying again," Victor said indifferently, pulling his hat over his eyes. "I don't ask for anything," she continued, sobbing, covering her face with her hands, "but what should I do at home? What should I do? What will happen to me? What will happen to me, a short-lived person? What? They will marry me, a lonely and helpless person, to someone I don't like... Oh, what a wretched life I am!"

"Nag, chatter!" Victor stood there on another foot, whispering hesitantly.

"You can say a word, just a word... Just say, 'Akulina, I...'"

The sudden burst of sad crying prevented her from finishing the sentence, she fell down, put her face on the grass, and cried bitterly... Her whole body was convulsively heaving, the back of her neck was rising and falling... Long The grief that had been suppressed in my heart for a long time finally burst out.Victor stood in front of her for a while, stood for a while, shrugged, turned around, and strode away.

After a while, she calmed down, raised her head, jumped up, looked back, and clapped her hands in surprise; she wanted to catch up, but her legs were weak, and she knelt on the ground... I couldn't help it, so I turned to her but as soon as she saw me, she got some strength from somewhere, immediately gave a soft cry, stood up, and disappeared behind the trees, leaving the scattered flowers on the ground.

I stood for a while, picked up the bunch of cornflowers, and walked out of the wood into the field.The sun hung low in the clear sky, and its light seemed dim and cold.They have no brilliance, but a calm, almost watery glow.It was only half an hour away from dusk, but the sunset glow was very rare.Gusts of wind were blowing swiftly toward me through the yellow, dry stumps of grain; the little curled leaves whirled up in front of the stumps, passed them, crossed the road, and fluttered along the treetops. The woods are facing the luxuriant side of the field, all trembling, giving off tiny flashes, clear but not dazzling; on the bright red grass, on the grass stalks, on the wheat stalks, there are countless autumn spiders everywhere. The threads shone up and down.I stood still... I felt sad, and through the withered natural scenery, through the fresh but unhappy smile, it seemed that the bleak fear of the coming winter was quietly approaching.A cautious old crow pierced the air heavily and fiercely with its wings and flew high above my head, then turned its head and gave me a sideways glance, then flew upwards, croaked intermittently and disappeared behind the woods; A large flock of pigeons flew swiftly from the threshing floor, suddenly coiled into a column, and scattered in the field-this is the characteristic of autumn!Someone was driving a cart behind the bare knoll, there was a loud sound of an empty cart... I went home.But the image of poor Akulina has not left my mind for a long time; her cornflowers, long withered, are still with me...

(End of this chapter)