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Chapter 53 The end of Qiertophanov (1)
1
Two years have passed since I came into contact with Bontely Yeremitch, and he began to suffer from disasters—unimaginable disasters.Before this, he had encountered unsatisfactory, failed and even unfortunate things, but he didn't think about these, and "ruled" everything as before.The first disaster that hit him was the one he found most unacceptable: Masha had left him.

She seems to have been very natural in his house. What made her leave here?No one can tell.Tsertopkhanov, until the last days of his life, was convinced that the reason for Masha's change was due to a neighbor boy, a retired Uhlan captain, nicknamed Yafu.According to Pontely Yeremych, he was able to win Masha's favor only because he often plucked mustaches, smeared oil with all his might, and often uttered meaningful hums.At the same time, it is more likely that the wandering gypsy blood contained in Masha's veins is at work in this regard.Anyway, anyway, one summer evening Masha packed a small parcel of things and left Chertopkhanov's house.

Before that, she sat in the corner of the room for about three days, convulsively leaning against the wall, like a wounded animal, not saying a word to anyone, just rolling her eyes, as if thinking about something, sometimes She straightened her eyebrows, moved her lips to reveal her teeth, and moved her hands slowly, as if to cover herself.She had moments like this, too, but never for long.Tszrtopkhanov knew this, so he took it to heart and ignored her.His hound handler told him one day that the only two cochaya hounds were dead, but when he went to the kennels to see, on his way back he met a maid who reported him nervously, : Marya Akinfievna asked her to greet him and wish him well, but she never came to his house again.Tsertopkhanov turned twice in the same place, let out a feeble growl, and immediately went after the fugitive woman, taking his pistol along the way.

He met her on the county road leading to the town by a birch grove two versts from his house.The sun hung low in the sky, and the surrounding vegetation and the ground were suddenly dyed crimson.

"You are going to that man! To Yafu!" gasped Tchertopkhanov when he saw Masha. "Go to Yafu!" he repeated, approaching her step by step.

Masha stood still and looked at him.She stood with her back to the light, so her whole body was black, as if carved from ebony.Only the whites of the eyes stand out like silver almonds, and the pupils of the eyes are more prominent.

She dropped her pack on the floor and crossed her arms. "You want to go to Yafu, you worthless woman!" Tshertopkhanov went on and on, trying to grab her by the shoulders, but when he met her eyes he became flustered and lost his mind. Standing there in embarrassment. "I'm not going to his house, Bontely Yeremitch," Masha replied calmly, "but I can't live with you anymore." "Why can't I live with you? Why?" What? Did I offend you somewhere?"

Masha shook her head. "It's not like that, Bontely Yeremitch, it's just that I can't stand living in your house. . . I thank you for your kindness in the past, but I can't do it again—never!"

Tsertopkhanov did not expect that he slapped his thigh with both hands and jumped up.

"Why is this? You lived with me and enjoyed a happy life, but now you suddenly have this idea! You want to abandon me! Regardless of March 21, [-], just put on a headscarf and leave. All the treatment you enjoy is no better than Mrs. Bad..."

"That's not what I want," Masha interrupted him. "Want it? From a penniless woman to a wife, and you still say it doesn't matter? Why don't you care, how sad? Can this be believed? You must have cheated secretly, betrayed!"

He grunted again. "Treachery never occurred to me, not at all," said Masha, in her sonorous, sweet voice. "I've told you, I'm bored."

"Masha!" roared Tchertopkhanov, hitting himself on the chest with his fist, "oh, don't do that again, just like this, you've tortured me so much... Oh, I can't stand it! Really! You only have to think about what Tikhon would say, and at least think about him!"

"Say hello to Tikhon Ivanitch for me and tell him..." said Tsartopkhanov excitedly. "No, don't say that, you can't go! That bitch must have waited for you for nothing!" "Mr. She said in a tone of voice, "He is not a good person, he is trying to conspire, and his face is like a monkey!"

Chertopkhanov and Masha talked for at least half an hour.Sometimes he advanced toward her, sometimes backed away, sometimes he stretched out his hand to hit her, sometimes he bowed deeply to her, wept, cursed... "I can't bear it," Masha repeated, "I'm in so much pain... Distraught." A very indifferent, almost lifeless expression gradually appeared on her face, and suddenly Ertopkhanov asked her, did she suspect that someone had given her an anesthetic?

"Bored." She repeated. "I'll shoot, then, okay?" he exclaimed suddenly, taking the pistol from his pocket.

Masha smiled, and her face came to life. "Well, shoot me, Bontely Yeremitch, as you please, I'm not going back anyway." "Are you sure?" Chertopkhanov pulled the trigger of his pistol. "Yes, my dear. I will never go back in my life. My word is firm."

Chertopkhanov suddenly thrust the pistol into her hand. "It's better for you to kill me! Without you, I can't live. If you don't want me, I don't care about everything in the world." Masha squatted down, picked up her luggage, put the pistol on the grass, He turned his back on Chertopkhanov and sat down close to him. "Oh, dear, you don't need it? Should you know the temper of our gypsy women? We have always been like this. As long as the alienator 'tired' is born, the soul will be called to other places, and it is impossible to stay Come down? Please remember your Masha, you will never find another lover like that; I will always remember you—my dear. After all, our life together is over!"

"I have always loved you, Masha," whispered Tchertopkhanov, his mouth between his fingers, in agony.

"I love you too, my love, Bontely Yeremich!" "I have always loved you, and I cannot live without you. I am in a trance. I guess you have abandoned me so well and without reason. I don't know." Where do I go, I feel that if I am not a poor person, you probably will not abandon me!"

Masha did not answer immediately after hearing these words.

"You used to say that I was a woman who was not greedy for money!" she said, raising her hand and tapping Chertopkhanov on the shoulder.He jumped up. "Then at least let me give you some money. How can you be penniless? I think you'd better kill me! I tell you, you shoot me right away!"

Masha shook her head again. "Why? My dear, why should I be exiled to Siberia?"

Chertopkhanov was startled. "I understand, for fear of being sentenced to hard labor..." He fell on the grass again.Masha stood beside him for a moment in silence. "I sympathize with you, Bontely Yeremitch," she went on, "you are a good man. . . . There is nothing I can do. Good-bye!"

She turned her head and took two steps.Night is coming, and dark shadows are everywhere.Tsartopkhanov quickly stood up and grabbed Masha's hand from behind.

"Just go away, you heartless? Go to Alfo!" "Good-bye!" Masha repeated expressively and helplessly, and broke away from his hand.Tschertopkhanov looked at her for a while, then ran to the place where the pistol was, picked it up, took aim, and fired... but before he pulled the trigger, he changed direction, so that the bullet came from Ma. Xia whizzed past her head.She didn't stop, turned her head to look at him, and then continued to move forward, still swaying her body, as if demonstrating to him.

He covered his face with his hands, and hurried away... But he had not gone very far when he stood still.

A familiar, all too familiar voice flew towards him.Masha was singing.Masha sang: "The beautiful age of youth..." All the breaths were floating in the evening air, sad and warm.Chertopkhanov admired it.The singing gradually faded away, flickering and indistinct, but still hot... "She's harassing me," thought Chertopkhanov, but immediately he felt pain again: "Oh, no, she is saying goodbye to me." His tears could not stop streaming down.

The next day he came to Mr. Yafu's house.Mr. Yafu is a real communicator, he does not approve of the lonely life in the country, but lives in the county town, where, as he said, he can be "closer to the ladies".Tsertopkhanov did not meet Yafu.According to his valet, he had been in Moscow the day before.

"That's right!" cried Tszrtopkhanov irritatedly. "They had an appointment a long time ago, and she ran away with him... But wait!"

Regardless of the servant's stop, he broke into Yafu's study.On top of the couch in the study hung an oil portrait of the master in the uniform of the Lancers. "Hey, you damn thing, you monkey without a tail!" Tsartopkhanov was very angry, jumped onto the sofa, and punched the flat canvas with his fist, poking a big hole.

"Tell your wretched master," he said to the servant, "that the nobleman Chertopkhanov destroyed his portrait because his disgusting face is not here. If he wants me to return it, He knows where the nobleman Tsertopkhanov lives! Otherwise, I would have come to him myself! No matter where I go, I will find this shameless thing!"

Having said these words, Chertopkhanov jumped off the sofa and came slamming the door.

After that, the cavalry captain Yafu never asked him for any compensation—he never met him anywhere—and Ertopkhanov didn't want to look for his enemies, and he didn't want to think about the past.Masha herself was never heard from again.Tshertopkhanov was addicted to wine at first, but later on he did not mind it.However, at this time he suffered a second disaster.

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Such was the sudden departure of his good friend Tikhon Ivanitch Nedobyskin.He was not in good health two years before his death: he suffered from asthma, was always lacking energy, and when he woke up, his mind was not clear immediately.The county doctor said his illness was a "mini-stroke".Three days before Masha's departure, that is, three days after she "began to get impatient," Nedobyskin was lying at home in the village of Beseringyevka with a severe cold.Masha's actions made it even more unexpected that she had hit him.This incident affected him almost more than it affected Chertopkhanov.Submissive and fearful by nature, he showed nothing but the most tender pity for his friend and undue misgivings for himself... But he was discouraged and helpless. "She dug out my heart." He sat on his beloved oilcloth sofa, fiddling with his fingers, whispering to himself softly.Even after Chertopkhanov returned to his former self, Nedobyskin did not recover, and he still felt "empty in his heart." "Here, right here." He pointed to the place where the center of the chest is higher than the stomach as an example.He finally waited until winter.During the coldest period at the beginning, his asthma got better, but what followed was no longer a "mini-stroke", but a real stroke.He didn't lose consciousness at once, he still knew about Chertopkhanov; his good friend muttered in despair: "Why, Tikhon, you shouldn't abandon me without my permission, like Masha? At this time, he could still answer with his uncontrollable tongue: "I, Bang... Le Ye... Qi, will always listen to... you...." In this way, he finally couldn't wait for the doctor in the county to come out. Died on this very day.Seeing his freshly cold body, the doctor had no choice but to ask for some "shochu and dried sturgeon" with a feeling of regret.At the same time, Tikhon Ivanitch bequeathed all his money to his most admired benefactor and generous protector, "Panteley Yeremitch Chertopkhanov".Unexpectedly, this property did not bring much benefit to his most admired benefactor, because it was later auctioned-the rest of the money was used to pay for the construction of the tombstone-a statue-which was once Vortopkhanov (who clearly showed his father's traits!) advocated based on the remains of his friend.He had luckily brought the statue from Moscow, and it was supposed to represent a God in prayer; but the agent who had introduced him, knowing that there was little knowledge of sculpture in the provinces, did not give him the angel, A statue of Flora, which adorned a deserted, Catherine-era garden near Moscow, was given to him—and the dealer did not pay for it, but it was beautiful, rococo, with round Fat arms and fluffy curly hair, a bare chest with a bunch of rose petals, and a great figure.Until now, the mythical goddess had gracefully stretched out one foot and stood on Tikhon Ivanitch's tomb, gazing with true Pompadour coquettishness at the calves strolling around her. And sheep—these are the regular guests of the country cemetery.

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Chertopkhanov, having lost his faithful friend, was more addicted to wine than ever.His situation has completely declined.He used up all the money, and the servants scattered.Pontely Yeremitch was completely alone, he had no one to talk to, let alone to express his grievances.The only thing that hasn't changed is his pride.Conversely, the worse his situation is, the more arrogant he is, the more defiant he is, and the more difficult he is to be approached by others.As a result, his temperament became completely rough.He had one consolation, one joy left, and that was a wonderful ride-horse, a gray Don, which he named Malek Adel, and it was a wonderful animal. explain.This is how he got the horse: once Tsartopkhanov was riding through a neighboring village, and there were noises from some peasants near the hotel.In the center of the group, several strong arms rose and fell in the same place constantly.

"What's the matter?" he asked an old woman standing in front of his house in his characteristic officer's tone.

The old woman leaned against the door as if dozing off, occasionally looking across the hotel.A light-haired boy in a calico shirt, with a cypress cross hanging on his bare chest, with his little feet spread apart and his little fists clenched, sits between her two straw sandals; a chick is nearby To peck at a crust of rye bread as hard as wood.

"I don't know, sir," answered the old woman, and leaning forward, laid her dark, wrinkled hand on the boy's head, "I hear our boys beat a Jew."

"Jews? What Jews?"

"Who knows, sir. We've got a Jew here, I don't know where it came from! Varcia, come to mother, sir . . . hush, hush, beast!"

The old woman shooed the chick away, and Huasia grabbed her by the skirt. "They're beating him, my lord."

"Hit him? Why hit him?"

"I don't know, sir. There must be a reason. Why can't you hit him? Sir, he nailed Jesus to the cross!"

(End of this chapter)