hunter notes

Chapter 55 The end of Qiertophanov (3)
"Thief! Perfishka! Perfishka! Thief!" he cried.

The boy Pirfishika came running staggeringly from the storeroom where he slept, wearing only his shirt.

Two masters and servants—two people met in the middle of the yard like drunks, and they circled frantically relative to each other.The master couldn't explain what was going on, and the servant didn't understand the reason for being called.

"Oops! Oops!" Tsartopkhanov babbled. "Oops! Oops!" echoed the boy.

"Bring the lamp and light it! Fire! Fire!" said Tsartopkhanov's paralyzed brain at last.Perfishka flew into the house.

But it was not easy to light a lamp, to get a fire, because yellow phosphorous matches were still rare in Russia at that time, and the last embers in the kitchen had long since been extinguished.The fire knife and flint were easy to find, but they were not easy to use.Tsartopkhanov snatched them from the bewildered Perfishka with gritted teeth, and lit the fire himself, which sent out many sparks.More curses and even moans burst forth.But the tinder sometimes failed to light, and now and again it did, and the four puffed cheeks and protruding lips tried in vain to blow it!Finally it took five minutes--no faster--to light the stub of the candle at the bottom of the broken lamp.Then Tsartopkhanov, accompanied by Perfishka, ran to the stables, held the lamp high on his head, looked around... everything was empty!He jumped into the yard, ran all over the yard, and there was no sign of the horse!The fence around Bontely Yeremych's estate had long been worn out, leaned in many places and fell to the ground... The fence next to the stables, enough for a horse to pass through, completely collapsed.Perfishka showed Tsartopkhanov this place.

"Sir! Look here, it's not like this in the daytime. The stakes are sticking out of the ground. Somebody must have pulled them out."

Tsertopkhanov jumped across with his lamp and looked at the ground... "Horseshoes, horseshoes, horseshoe marks, these marks were made not so long ago!" he muttered quickly, "it It was led from here, here, here!" In an instant he leaped over the fence, shouting "Malek Adel! Malek Ader!" and headed off into the field.Perfishka stood dumbfounded by the fence.Immediately the halo of light disappeared before his eyes, engulfed in a starless, moonless night.Tsertopkhanov gradually died away in a cry of despair...

8
When he came home, Zhaoxia had already appeared.He was hardly a human being, his clothes were all muddy, his face had a savage and terrible look, and his eyes were dark and dull.He drove Perfishika away with a hoarse whisper, and shut himself in the room.He was so tired that he was about to fall down, but instead of lying down on the bed, he sat on the chair by the door and grabbed his head.

"Thief! . . . a thief!" But how ingeniously did the thief steal Malek Adel from the locked stable in the middle of the night?Malek Ajel would not let a stranger approach it during the day, and who could steal it quietly?How could a watchdog not bark?Of course, there are only two watchdogs in total, two puppies, and they are hiding in the ground because of hunger and cold.But it should still be responsive!
"What am I going to do now that Malek Adel is gone?" Tsartopkhanov thought to himself, "I've lost even the last of my joy now—it's time to die. Luckily, I have money." , buy another horse! But where can I get another horse like this?"

"Pontely Yeremitch! Pontely Yeremitch!" came a timid cry from outside the door.

Chertopkhanov stood up quickly. "Who is it?" he asked in an off-key voice. "It's me, your boy, Perfishka." "What's the matter with you? Did you find it? It came home?" "No, Ponteley Yeremitch. It's the Jew." , its seller..." "Huh?"

"Here he is." "Hehehehe!" cried Tsartopkhanov, and opened the door hastily. "Drag him here! Drag him here! Drag him here!"

The Jew, standing behind Perfishka, saw the shaggy, savage figure of his "benefactor" suddenly appearing, and tried to run away; strangled his neck.

"Ah! You're asking for money! You're asking for money!" he said in a hoarse voice, as if it wasn't he who was choking someone else's throat, but someone else was choking him. "Stolen at night and asked for money during the day? Huh? Huh?"

"How could... such a thing happen, big... man." The Jew groaned.

"Say, where is my horse? Where did you hide it? Who did you sell it to? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

The Jew fell silent.Not even the expression of horror had disappeared from his blue face.His arms hung straight down, and his whole body was shaken violently by Tshertophanov, throwing himself backwards and forwards like a reed.

"I'll pay you every penny," cried Tsartopkhanov, "but if you don't tell me right away, I'll strangle you like a skinny chicken." ..."

"He's been strangled, sir," Pilfishika the boy told him cautiously.

Only then did Tsartopkhanov wake up.His hand released the Jew's neck, and the Jew fell to the ground with a thud.Tsartopkhanov helped him up, put him on a stool, poured a glass of schnapps down his throat, woke him up, and talked to him when he regained consciousness.

The Jew knew nothing about the theft of Malek Adel.Why did he buy the horse for "the most respected Pontely Yeremitch" and then steal it himself?
Then Chertopkhanov led him to the stables.The two of them inspected the trough, the manger, the lock on the door, turned over the hay and the straw, and went out into the yard.Tsartopkhanov showed the Jew the marks of horseshoes by the fence, and slapped himself sharply on the thigh.

"Wait!" he cried. "Where did you get your horse?" "From the Verhoshinsk horse market in the Malakhangelsk district," answered the Jew. "Who sold it to you?" "A Cossack."

"Wait a minute! Is this Cossack young or old?" "It's a middle-aged man, and he looks very well-behaved."

"How is the person? What does he look like? A cunning liar, I'm afraid?"

"Perhaps a liar, my lord." "What did the liar tell you, did he keep this horse long?"

"I remember he said he has been raising it for a long time." "Well, that must be the horse he stole! Think about it, hey, you came here... what's your name?" Liuliu looked at Tsartopkhanov with his little eyes. "Are you asking for my name?" "Well, yes, what's your name?" "Mochel Leiba."

"Well, Leybal, my good friend, you are very clever. Just think, who could have caught Malek Adel but the old master! He also saddled him, put a bit on him, and took off his horse. Where are the coats! Look, the horse clothes are thrown in the haystack! . , alarmed the whole village! Don’t you think so?”

"That's right, that's right, my lord..." "Then, in this way, we must first find the Cossack!"

"But how can I find him, my lord? I have only seen him once; where is he now? And what is his name? Oh, oh!" said the Jew, shaking his temples sadly. long hair.

"Leiba!" Tsertopkhanov cried suddenly, "Leiba, look at me! I'm confused, I'm not myself anymore! . . . If you do something for me, I will Killed himself!" "But how can I..." "Come with me and find that thief!" "Where are we going?" "To the market, to the road, to the lane, to the horse thief , to the city, to the country, to the farm--everywhere! As for the money, you can rest easy. I got an inheritance, boy! Even if I spend all my money, I'll find my good friend! The one Cossack, we will find that scoundrel! Wherever he goes, we go too! He goes underground, and we go underground! He goes to the devil, and we go to the devil!"

"Why go to the devil," said the Jew, "you don't have to go there."

"Leibal!" Tsertopkhanov went on, "Leibal, although you are a Jew and your religion is base, you have a better soul than some Christians! Help me! I can't go alone, I can't do it alone. I'm a hothead, but you have brains, precious brains! It's the nature of your race to know much without much knowledge! You may wonder, I thought to myself: Does he really have money? Let's go into the room and I'll show you all the money. Please take the money, please take the cross on my neck - just you Help me get Malek Ajel back, back, back!"

Chertopkhanov was shivering with a fever, and the sweat mingled with his tears disappeared into his mustache.He grabbed Leiba's hands, he begged him, he almost kissed him... he was just mad.The Jews tried to reject him at first, telling him that he must never leave here, that he had something to do...but it didn't work!Tsertopkhanov would not listen at all.There was no other way, Leiba had no choice but to agree.

The next day Chertopkhanov and Leiba set off from the village of Bessonov in a peasant carriage.The Jew’s expression was a little embarrassed, he was holding on to the railing with one hand, his whole weakened body was bouncing and shaking on the bumpy seat, he put the other hand in his bosom—there was a stack of Banknotes wrapped in newspaper.Tsertopkhanov sat motionless, only rolled his eyes, breathed deeply, with a dagger stuck in his side.

"Hmph, you hateful alien, you have to be careful this time!" he muttered as the car entered the main road.

He put Pilfishika, a boy, and a cook, a deaf old woman whom he had adopted out of sympathy, as housekeepers.

"I'll come back to you on Malek Ajel," he said aloud to them as he left, "or I'll never come back!"

"Let me marry you!" Perfishika pushed the cook's body with his elbow, joking with her, "Anyway, the master won't come back, otherwise he will die of loneliness!"

9
A year passed... a whole year, and there was no news of Pontely Yeremitch.The cook was dead; Perfischka was already planning to leave the house and go to the town, and his cousin, who was apprenticed to a barber in the city, let him go.Suddenly news came that the master was coming back!The parish deacon had received a letter from Bontely Yeremitch himself, informing him that he was going back to the village of Bessonnovo, and that he should tell the servants to make proper preparations for the reception. he.Perfishka thought that these words meant that he was just asking him to sweep the dust, and he was a little doubtful about the veracity of the news; but at last he was convinced that the deacon's words were true, because after a few days, Bontelie Yele Mech himself rode Malek Ajel back to the yard of his manor.

Perfishka ran to his master, took hold of the stirrups, and tried to help him dismount; but the master jumped down himself, glanced triumphantly around, and shouted: "I say I'm going to find Malek Adel." I have found it, and the enemy and fate have yielded to me at last!" Perfishka came up and kissed his hand, but Chertopkhanov was not very interested in his servant's zeal.He took the rein and strode Malek Ajel to the stable.Perfishka looked intently at his master, and felt timid: "Oh, how old, how old, how old he is, and his face has become so serious and terrible!" It seemed that Remych should be happy, because he had finally achieved his goal, and he was indeed happy... But Perfishka was always a little worried, even afraid.Tsartopkhanov put the horse in its former stable, patted it on the rump, and said to it: "Well, you're home again! Be careful in the future!  … ’ That same day he hired a reliable caretaker from among the lonely poor peasants who had no tax obligation.He lives in his own house again, and lives as usual...but not exactly the same as before...but more on that later.

On the second day after returning home, Pontely Yeremych called Perfishka, and since no one spoke to him, he told the story of how he had found Malek Adel. He listened—of course he didn't give up his arrogance, and said in a deep voice.While speaking, Tsartopkhanov sat facing the window, smoking through a long pipe.Perfishka stood on the threshold, with his hands behind his back, looked respectfully at the back of his master's head, and listened to his description: how, after many futile and busy trips, Ponteley Yeremych finally came to Roma He was alone at the horse market in the city at this time, the Jew Leibal had left him, and because of his cowardice, he couldn't bear it, so he fled; but on the fifth day, he planned to run away, When passing by rows of carriages for the last time, he suddenly saw a horse tied to a bait bag among three other horses, and it turned out to be Malek Adel!He recognized it at once, and Malek Ajel recognized him, and he called out, moved, and began to dig the earth with his horse's hooves.

"It's not with the Cossacks," Tsartopkhanov went on, without turning his head.Still in a low voice, "it was at a gypsy horse dealer. I decided without hesitation that it was my own horse, and wanted to take it back by force. But the cunning gypsy man cried out as if he was scalded. He swears to God that he bought this horse from another gypsy man and plans to find someone to testify for him... I don't care and pay him, what the hell The most important thing for me is that I found my good friend and settled down mentally. There is also such a thing: I listened to the words of the Jew Leiba in Kalachev County, and misunderstood a Cossack, thinking that He was the thief I was going to catch, and I slapped him; I didn't know that the Cossack was the priest's son, and he insisted on paying me 120 rubles for the loss of reputation. It doesn't matter, the money will be spent and there will be more , the main thing is that Malek Adel is still mine! I am happy now and can live a good life. But, Perfishka, I say this: in case you see that Cossack in the neighborhood , don’t say anything, just run back and give me the gun, I have my own way to deal with it!”

Ponteley Yeremitch said this to Perfishka, he said it, but he was not as secure as he said he was.

Alas!In the back of his mind, he wasn't entirely convinced that the horse he had brought was the real Malek Ajel!
(End of this chapter)