hunter notes

Chapter 61
We went on like this... But now we have come to the end of the steppe, there are some groves and cleared fields, and there is a small village nearby with two or three lights - only about 5 versts to the main road up.I am asleep.

I was woken up again.This time it was Feiluofei who woke me up. "Master... Hey, master!" I sat up, the carriage was parked on the flat ground in the middle of the road, Feiluofei was sitting on the driver's seat, her head turned to me, her eyes were wide open (I was surprised, I Didn't expect him to have such big eyes), whispered mysteriously:
"The wheels are ringing! . . . There are wheels ringing!" "What did you say?"

"I said: the wheels are ringing! You bend down and listen carefully, do you hear that?" I stuck my head out of the carriage and held my breath, and sure enough, I heard a faint, intermittent sound far away from us, maybe it was the wheels rolling the sound of.

"Are you there?" Feiluofei asked again. "Well, yes," I answered, "a carriage is coming our way."

"Listen again...listen! Here...the sound of the tambourine...and the whistle...do you hear that? Take off your hat...you can hear it better."

I didn't do what he said, but listened. "Well, yes...it seems to be. But so what?" Feiluofei turned her head back. "A wagon with tin wheels is coming... unloaded," he said, pulling up the reins. "Sir, here are the bad guys. Here, near Tula, there are a lot of highway robbers." ..."

"Impossible! How do you know that this must be a bad person?" "I'm telling the truth. With a tambourine ... and an empty cart ... who else?" "Then how far is it to Tula?" Is it far?"

"There are still 15 versts to go, so we can't stop here." "Then, hurry up, don't delay." Feiluofei swung his whip, and the carriage started to run again.Although I doubted Fei Luo Fei's words, I couldn't sleep anymore.

If so, how to do it?An unpleasant feeling flashed in my heart.I sat up in the carriage--I had been lying down--and began to look around.While I was asleep, a mist rose in the sky.The mist floated very high, and the moon was hidden behind the mist, becoming a white point, as if covered in smoke.Everything was dim and blurred, only the parts near the ground could be seen clearly.All around was flat, desolate places: fields, all fields, with bushes and valleys in some places, but then fields again, and mostly fallow fields with sparse weeds.A desolation... lifeless!Not a sound, just dead silence.

We walked for about half an hour.Feiluofei kept waving his whip and yelling at the horse, but the two of us didn't say anything.Then we came to a hill... Pherofei stopped his horse and said:

"Wheels rattle... wheels rattle--listen, sir!" I put my head out of the cab again, though I could hear it from under the hood.

The distance is still far away, but this time I can already clearly hear the sound of wheels, human whistles, the clanging of tambourines, and the sound of horseshoes. I even seem to hear singing and laughter.Although the wind was blowing from behind, the distance between the strange travelers and us had apparently been shortened by a full verst, perhaps two versts.

Fei Luofei and I looked at each other, but he pulled his hat from the back of his head to his forehead, leaned over the reins and began to beat the horse.The horse galloped up, but couldn't hold on for long, and slowed down again after a while.Fei Luo Fei continued to whip them - must escape!
I don't understand why I didn't share the doubts about Feiluofei at first, but now I suddenly believe that the ones following us are really bad people... I didn't hear any other sounds, it was still the same tambourine sound, the same sound. The same empty carriage, the same whistle, the same vague din...but now I'm sure.What is wrong is right!
Another 20 minutes passed... During these 20 minutes, we heard the sound of another car besides our own carriage... "Stop, Feiluofei," I said, "We can't run anymore !” Feiluofei stopped the carriage in fear.The horse stood still in an instant, and seemed excited to be able to rest.God!The tambourine was blaring almost behind us, the wheels, the whistles, the shouts, the snorting of the horses, the pounding of the hoofs on the ground...they were coming! "It's over!" Feiluofei said in a low voice drawn out, then hesitantly scolded the horses, urging them to move forward.However, suddenly, it seemed as if something had collapsed suddenly. There was a shout and a bang, and a huge, trembling cart pulled by three lean horses rushed over like a whirlwind. We ran a few steps forward, slowed down immediately, and blocked the way.

"Bandits!" Fei Luo Fei whispered.

To be honest, I was terrified... I watched nervously under the misty, dark moonlight.In the wagon ahead of us six men in shirt-sleeves and unbuttoned coats were probably sitting or lying there, two of them hatless, with their heavy booted legs hanging over the rails of the wagon. Shaking, arms going up and down...body shaking...obviously, this is a group of drunks.Some people were talking nonsense there, one was whistling, another was cursing, and a big man in a short coat was sitting on the driver's seat.They walked slowly, as if not noticing us.

Nothing?We have no choice but to follow them slowly... There is nothing we can do.

We covered a quarter of a mile in this way.This is a slow desperation... escape, defense... how can I think of it!There are six of them, and I don't even have anything to defend against!What about turning backwards?They must catch up immediately.Zhukovsky's verse came to my mind (he sang about the murder of Marshal Kaminsky):

dastardly bandit ax...

Otherwise, strangled by the throat with a dirty rope... thrown into a ditch... moaning and writhing there like a rabbit in a noose... Ah, what a curse!But they still walked slowly, not to disturb us.

"Feiluofei!" I whispered to him, "Try it, lean to the right, and pretend to pass by."

Pherofei tried to steer the horses to the right...but they immediately blocked our carriage too...impossible to pass.

Feiluofei tried to turn the horse to the left again...but they pulled it to the left too, and laughed.It seems that they are not letting us go.

"A group of robbers." Feiluofei turned her head and whispered to me. "But what are they waiting for?" I also whispered. "Here, there's a bridge over the creek in the hollow ahead... They're going to finish us there! That's what they usually do... By the bridge, sir, that's how it is!" he went on, sighing. "We can't go back alive, because they're mostly silencers. I'm only sorry, sir: I've lost three horses, and my two brothers won't have them."

At this point I should be surprised: Fei Luo Fei can still worry about his horse at this time.However, I couldn't take care of myself... "Are they really going to kill us?" I thought repeatedly. "Why? I'll just give them all my money."

The bridge was getting closer and closer and could be seen clearly.Suddenly there was a sharp shout, and the carriage in front of us galloped like a gallop. It ran to the bridge, stopped instantly, and stood motionless at the side of the road.My heart sank.

"Oh, brother Feiluofei," I said, "we're done. I hurt you, please forgive me."

"How could it be your fault, sir! It's my own life! Hey, rough-haired horse, my faithful horse," Feiluofei said to the shaft horse, "good brother, go forward! We're done. The last stretch of the way!—anyway, the same...God bless!"

He let his three horses trot forward.We approached the bridge, approaching the immobile, terrible cart... Everything in this cart fell silent, as if on purpose.quietly!Like barracudas, snipe eagles, and all beasts of prey with composure waiting for the approach of their prey.We came to the big car... Suddenly the big man in the short leather jacket jumped out of the car and walked straight towards us!
He didn't speak to Feiluofei, but Feiluofei immediately reined in the reins...the carriage stopped.

The big man put his hands on the door, stretched his shaggy head forward, smiled, and said in a calm and workman's tone:

"Dear sir, we've just been to a decent banquet, a wedding... A good friend of ours got married, we've got him settled, we're young brave brothers - drank a lot, but There is nothing to sober up. Would you please do us a favor and give us a little money so that the brethren can drink half a bottle of schnapps each to sober up? We will drink to your health, thank you good sir. If you If it's inconvenient, please don't take offense!"

"What's going on here?" Maybe... "Are you kidding? . . . sarcasm?"

The big man lowered his head and continued to stand.Just then the moon emerged from the mist, and showed me his face.It was a smug face and a smile—a smile in the eyes and on the lips.There was no menacing look on this face...just the whole face seemed alert...the teeth were white and large..."I'm very lucky...please take it..." I said hastily, taking my wallet from my pocket and Take out two silver rubles from here—silver coins were still valid in Russia at that time. "Here, if it's not too little."

"Thank you!" cried the big man like a soldier, and with his thick fingers quickly took my—not the purse, but the two silver rubles. "Thank you!" He shook his hair and ran to the cart.

"Brothers!" he shouted, "the passing gentleman gave us two silver rubles!" Suddenly everyone burst into laughter... The big man climbed into the driver's seat... "Happy to you!" Soon they just left!The horses galloped forward in unison, the cart rumbled up the hillside, flashed once more on the top of the hillside, turned over the hillside, and disappeared.

Then the wheels, the shouts, the tambourines ceased to be heard... and there was silence.

Feiluofei and I did not recover immediately. "Oh, it's a joke!" he said at last, taking off his hat, and crossing himself. "What a joke," he repeated, turning to me excitedly, "this mustn't be a bandit, really. Ho-ho-ho, boys! Go! You're alive! We're all alive! That's the man He's riding a horse in our way. What a fun chap! Ho-ho-ho-ho! Let's go!"

I was silent, but my heart was also very happy. "We survived!" I repeated to myself, lying down on the hay. "Easy to solve!"

I actually felt a little ashamed: why did I think of Zhukovsky's poems.

Suddenly I thought of one thing: "Fei Luo Fei!"

"What?" "Are you married?" "Married." "Have any children?" "Yes."

"Why didn't you think of them just now? You pity your horse, but why don't you pity your wife and your children?"

"They won't fall into the hands of robbers, why should I be pitiful. Of course, I have always thought of them in my heart, and now...really." Feiluofei paused for a while, "Maybe...God is looking at them. , to forgive us."

"Maybe these people aren't robbers?" "How do you know? Can you look into the eyes of others? It's said that you know the face but don't know the heart. But it's always good to believe in God. No... I've been Thinking of my family... ho-ho-ho, boys, let's go!"

It was almost daylight when we approached Tula.I was lying half asleep..."Master," Feiluofei said to me suddenly, "Look, they are in the hotel...this car belongs to them."

I looked up and saw...it was their carriage.Suddenly that familiar big man in a short leather jacket appeared on the threshold.

"Sir!" he shouted, waving his hat, "we're drinking with your reward! Hey, coachman," he said, nodding to Philofei, "you must have been startled just now?"

"This man is really funny." Feiluofei said after we left the hotel about 20 miles away.

We ended up in Tula, where I bought shotgun, tea and wine, and a horse from a horse dealer.At noon we set off for home.Feiluofei became a talkative person because he drank some wine there (he even told me stories), when we passed by the place where we heard the sound of wheels behind us last time, Feiluofei Fei actually laughed. "Sir, do you remember that I kept telling you 'the wheels . . . the wheels?We returned to his village that evening.

I told Yermolai what happened to us.He was sober at the time, and said nothing of sympathy, but a grunt—approval or reproach, I guess he didn't even know.But two days later, he told me cheerfully: On the night when Feiluofei and I went to Tula, on that road, a merchant met robbers and was killed.I didn't believe the news at first, but then I did: a police officer who rode past here and was investigating the matter proved the truth of the news.Could the hero we met refer to this "wedding"?Could it be this businessman that the "good friend" that the funny big man said was "settled down"?I stayed in Feiluofei's village for about five more days.Every time I see him, I say to him, "Well, do the wheels ring?"

"This man is so funny." He replied to me every day, and then smiled.

(End of this chapter)