childhood, on earth, my university

Chapter 21 My University (5)
When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying on the edge of the ravine. Romas squatted in front of me and asked worriedly:

"How, how?"

I stood up, and there was a sharp pain in my left foot, so I had to lie down again, and said:
"I sprained my ankle."

Romas touched my foot and jerked it—a sharp pain.After a few minutes, I was able to limp and move things.

Romas looked at me with his pipe in his mouth and said happily:

"When the oil barrel exploded and the kerosene was sprayed on the roof, I thought, you must have been burned to death." Nia says:

"Sit here, watch over, don't be stolen again, I'm going to fight the fire..."

White pieces of paper were flying in the smoke of the valley.

"Oh!" Romas sighed, "What a pity the book!"I have so many precious books..."

The day happened to be sunny and sunny, and the flames spread unhurriedly to the left and right.Men and women scurry about in disorder, each concerned with the things in his home, howling incessantly:

"Water, water!"

The source of water is far away, the Volga River below the mountain.Romas quickly gathered the farmers together and divided them into two groups: one to tear down fences, the other to fight fires.

My emotions were high and I felt a greater strength in me than I had ever felt before.At the end of the street, I saw some rich peasants standing and watching.The men who cut the fence recoiled from the sparks and soot that fell.Romas and I cut down the thick hedges one by one.Then, when I got to the top of the fence, Romas grabbed my foot and dragged me back so hard that the whole fence finally came down.The peasants then stepped forward and pulled the fence into the street with a concerted effort.The spread of the fire on the right was finally under control.

Romas rushed to the left with most of the people.When passing by the group of rich peasants, I heard a vicious voice:

"He set the fire himself!"

"Go to his bathhouse and have a look!"

I worked my ass off in the smoke until I was exhausted.Romans touched my head and said with concern:

"Take a rest, it's enough for you."

Kukushkin and Barinov helped me to the edge of the valley. Before I could lie down, I saw dozens of rich peasants walking towards our bathhouse.The head of the village was the headman, and the two village policemen behind him held Romas' arms.Romas bit his pipe with a grim and terrifying expression on his face.Veteran Kostin brandished it as a crutch, screaming wildly:

"Throw this cultist into the fire!"

"Open the bathroom door..."

I jumped up, grabbed a stick, and rushed in front of Romas. The two village policemen backed away in terror.

"Calm down!" Romas said to me. "They thought I hid the goods in the bathhouse, and then set fire to the shop themselves." "

"The two of them did it!" they yelled.

"Let's stand back to back, watch out for them to attack from behind." Romas said in a low voice.

Immediately I handed the stick to Romas and picked up another one.The lock of the bathhouse was broken, and people rushed in and came out with a "wow":

"Nothing..."

"Hmph, now you all see that I haven't hidden anything." Romas said loudly, "What do you want to do? It's all burned up, and the rest is here. Have you seen it?"

"They want to form a cooperative! Throw them into the fire!" Several voices shouted roughly.

"Yes, we have endured enough, why do we still watch them do?" Some people echoed, but no one acted.

"They seem timid," said Romas softly.

Then a little lame farmer screamed frantically:

"Smash it with a brick from a distance! I'll take the lead!"

He literally picked up half a brick and hit me in the stomach all at once.But before I could fight back, Kukushkin jumped on him, wrestled with him, and rolled down the ravine.More than a dozen people including Pankov, Barinov, and the blacksmith ran down.At this time, Kuzmin, the leader of the rich peasants, came over and said pretendingly:

"Mikhailo? Antonov, you are a wise man. You know that the fire has driven the peasants mad..."

"Let's go!" Romas said to me, ignoring him, "to the little restaurant by the river." "

We walked to the river, washed up, and drank tea in silence in the small restaurant.Pankov came, and he looked at Romas thoughtfully:
"I'll think it over."

"You should get out of here."

"Let's see it."

"I have an idea. Let's go outside and talk," said Pankov.

They are out.I also walked out of the small restaurant, went to the bank, lay down under the bushes, and looked at the river.After a while, I fell asleep.

"Hey, hello!" I felt someone shaking me in my sleep, and when I opened my eyes, the purple moon had already risen, and Barinov squatted in front of me and shook me:
"Go quickly, Antonov is looking for you, he's dying of anxiety!"

I followed Barinov through the bushes to Romas.He scolded me severely:

"What are you still hanging around? Do you still want to be beaten?"

After a while, Barinov left.He added:

"Pankov advises you to stay with him. He still wants to open a shop. I advise you not to stay. I sold all the rest of the goods to him and am going to Vyatka. I will write again later. You go, okay?"

"I have to think about it."

"Think about it!
After a while of silence, he asked:
"Are you still mad at those peasants? Don't be mad at them, they're just stupid, and hatred is a stupid thing."

However, his words could not comfort me.I thought, I will not and cannot live among these people.

After Romas left the village of Krasnovydovo, I was in deep sorrow all day long.I thought of his persuasion to me before he left: we should look at everything calmly.Everything will pass and everything will be fine.Don't jump to conclusions.

I traveled here and there with Barinov, working for rich peasants, threshing millet, digging potatoes, and tidying orchards.However, people here don't like us.Barinov was also worried.One rainy night, he asked me:
"Let's go to the sea tomorrow, and we will start tomorrow, how about it?"

The next day, we actually set off.

5
Sailing along the Volga River at night in autumn is wonderful.The boundless water flowed quietly like a ribbon, and there were dark clouds rolling over the river, and only the night was slowly moving around, sweeping across the banks, and the whole land seemed to melt into the darkness.

I sat at the helm in the stern.At the helm was a tall man in a ragged sheepskin coat and a furry sheepskin cap.I asked him:

"What's your name?"

"Why do you inquire about this?" he replied sullenly.

At sunset, the boat left Kazan.

Barinov and I had no money to take the passenger ship, and others took pity on us and took us on this barge.Everyone on the barge regarded us as beggars, though we were on deck "watching!" like sailors.

"You always talk about the people," Barinov said to me reproachfully. "It's the simplest thing here: whoever is strong, rides on the head of others..."

The night was dark, and I was assigned by the sailor to be on duty "before the helm".But the melancholy silence of the helmsman made me uncomfortable.He watched the movement of the lights and gently reminded me when turning:
"Hey, hold on."

I stood up hastily and went to turn the rudder bar.

"Okay," he said.

I sat down on the deck again.What is he thinking?I am very confused.

The frail, gray, sunless dawn struggled to part the clouds, and struggled to reveal its face, staining the water leaden.Yellow bushes, rusty pine trees, rows of farmhouses and stone-sculpted peasant figures emerge from the shore.River gulls flew around the top of the boat, their curved wings snapping.

Both me and the helmsman have changed shifts.I crawled under the canvas and soon fell asleep.Suddenly, footsteps and shouts woke me up.I poked my head out from under the canvas, and saw three sailors surrounding the helmsman, and saying to him:
"Give it up! Petruha!"

"Forget it!"

The helmsman stood with his arms crossed and shoulders, with his feet on a bundle, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Please, don't make me commit a crime!"

"You will drown," said the sailors.

"No! Just let me go. Otherwise, I will kill him when we get to Simbirsk." The helmsman said firmly.

"Come on, Petruha!"

"Let me go, brothers..." The helmsman knelt slowly.

The sailors stepped out of the way.The helmsman rose lumberingly, seized his bundle, and said:
"Thank you."

Then he went to the side of the boat and jumped down quickly.I threw myself over the side of the boat and saw him swim across the current to the sandy shore.

The sailors breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"He finally defeated himself!"

"What's the matter with him? Is he crazy?" I asked.

A red-cheeked sailor told me quite cheerfully:

"He had an uncle who lived in Simbirsk. His uncle was cruel to him and ruined his life. He wanted to kill his uncle, but he didn't want to commit a crime. The man looked like a beast, but he had a kind heart. "

In a few moments the good-natured man climbed ashore, walked along the sandy path, and disappeared into the bushes.

The sailors are good lads, real Volga people.By evening, I felt like I was one of them.But the next day, I found them looking at me sullenly and distrustingly again.I guessed right away that it must be Barinov's long tongue.Sure enough, when pressed by me, Barinov admitted that, to amuse himself, he made up a story that ended with Romas and I hacking down a large group of peasants with axes like pirates.

When the ship arrived in Simbirsk, the sailors kicked me and Barinov off the ship very unkindly.They took us to the pier by boat.We landed with only 37 kopecks in our pockets.

We went to drink tea in the bistro.

"What do we do next?" I said.

"What should I do? Keep going," Barinov said.

Our fare evasion passengers turn to Samara.Worked as a hired hand on a ship for a few days.Seven days later, we made it safely to the Caspian coast and found work at a small fishing cooperative on a fishing farm.

212
(End of this chapter)