第28章

Steamhissedandpanted。Atintervalstheengine-roombelljarreduponthecar。Atintervals，also，thetiller-chainsslidtoandfrowithadull，rattlingsound。Yet，owingtothesomnolentstillnesssettledupontheriver，thesesoundsescaped，failedtocatchone’sattention。 Throughthedrynessofthesummerthewaterwaslow。 Periodically，inthesteamer’sbow，adeckhandlikeaking，amanwithalean，，yellow，black-avisedfaceandapairoflanguishingeyes，threwoverboardapolishedlogasintonesofmeltingmelancholyhechanted: “Se-em，se-em，shest！“ [“Seven，seven，six！“(thedepthofwater，reckonedinsazheniorfathoms)] Itwasasthoughhewerewailing: “Seyem，seyem，ayest-NISHEVO“ [Letuseat，letuseat，buttoeatthereis——nothing] Meanwhile，thesteamerkeptturningherstearlet-like[Thestearletisafishofthesalmonspecies]prowdeliberatelyandalternatelytowardseitherbankasthebargeyawedbehindher，andthegreyhawserkepttauteningandquivering，andsendingoutshowersofgoldandsilversparkles。Everandanon，too，thecaptainonthebridgekeptshouting，hoarselythroughaspeaking-trumpet: “About，there！“ Underthestemofthebargeawaveranwhich，dividedintoapairofwhitewings，serpentinedawaytowardseitherbank。 Inthemeadoweddistancepeatseemedtobebeingburnt，andovertheblackforesttherehadgatheredanopalescentcloudofsmokewhichalsosuffusedtheneighbouringmarshes。 Totheright，thebankoftherivertoweredupintolofty，precipitous，clayeyslopesintersectedwithravineswhereinaspensandbirchesfoundshelter。 Everythingashorehadaboutitarestful，sultry，desertedlook。 Eveninthedullblue，torridskytherewasnoughtsaveawhite-hotsun。 Inendlessvistaweremeadowsstuddedwithtrees——treessleepinginlonelyisolation，and，inplaces，surmountedwitheitherthecrossofaruralchurchwhichlookedlikeadaystarorthesailsofawindmill；whilefurtherbackfromthebankslaythetissueclothsofripeningcrops，with，hereandthere，ahumanhabitation。 Throughout，thescenewasindistinct。Everythinginitwascalm，touchinglysimple，intimate，intelligible，gratefultothesoul。 Somuchsothatasonecontemplatedtheslowly-varyingvistaspresentedbytheloftierbank，theimmutablestretchesofmeadowland，andthegreen，timbereddance-ringswheretheforestapproachedtheriver，togazeatitselfinthewaterymirror，andrecedeagainintothepeacefuldistance；asonegazedatallthisonecouldnotbutreflectthatnowhereelsecouldaspotmoresimply，morekindly，morebeautifulbefound，thanthesepeacefulshoresofthegreatriver。 Yetalreadyafewshrubsbytheriver’smarginwerebeginningtodisplayyellowleaves，thoughthelandscapeasawholewassmilingthedoubtful，meditativesmileofayoungbridewho，abouttobearherfirstchild，isfeelingatoncenervousanddelightedattheprospect。 Thehourwaspastnoon，andthethird-classpassengers，languidwithfatigueinducedbytheheat，wereengagedindrinkingeitherteaorbeer。Seatedmostlyonthebulwarksofthesteamer，theysilentlyscannedthebanks，whilethedeckquivered，crockeryclatteredatthebuffet，andthedeckhandinthebowssighedsoporifically: Six！Six！Six-and-a-half！ Fromtheengine-roomagrimystokeremerged。Rollingalong，andscrapinghisbarefeetaudiblyagainstthedeck，heapproachedtheboatswain’scabin，wherethesaidboatswain，afair-haired，fair-beardedmanfromKostromawasstandinginthedoorway。Theseniorofficialcontractedhisruggedeyesquizzically，andinquired: “Whitherinsuchahurry？“ “TopickabonewithMitka。“ “Good！“ Withawaveofhisblackhandthestokerresumedhisway，whiletheboatswain，yawning，felltocastinghiseyesabouthim。Onalockernearthecompanionoftheengine-roomasmallmaninabuffpea-jacket，anewcap，andapairofbootsonwhichtherewereclotsofdriedmud，wasseated。 Throughlackofdiversiontheboatswainbegantofeelinclinedtohectorsomebody，socriedsternlytothemaninquestion: “Hithere，chawbacon！“ Themanonthelockerturnedabout——turnednervously，andmuchasabullockturns。Thatistosay，heturnedwithhiswholebody。 “WhyhaveyougoneandputyourselfTHERE？“inquiredtheboatswain。“ThoughthereisanoticetotellyouNOTtositthere，itistherethatyoumustgoandsit！Can’tyouread？“ Rising，thepassengerinspectednotthenotice，butthelocker。 Thenhereplied: “Read？Yes，ICANread。“ “Thenwhysittherewhereyououghtn’tto？“ “Icannotseeanynotice。“ “Well，it’shotthereanyway，andthesmellofoilcomesupfromtheengines……Whencehaveyoucome？“ “FromKashira。“ “Longfromhome？“ “Threeweeks，about。“ “Anyrainatyourplace？“ “No。Butwhy？“ “Howcomeyourbootsaresomuddy？“ Thepassengerloweredhishead，extendedcautiouslyfirstonefoot，andthentheother，scrutinisedthemboth，andreplied: “Yousee，theyarenotmyboots。“ Witharoaroflaughterthatcausedhisbrilliantbeardtoprojectfromhischin，theboatswainretorted: “Ithinkyoumustdrinkabit。“ Thepassengersaidnothingmore，butretreatedquietly，andwithshortstrides，tothestem。Fromthefactthatthesleevesofhispea-jacketreachedfarbelowhiswrists，itwasclearthatthegarmenthadoriginatedfromtheshouldersofanotherman。 Asfortheboatswain，onnotingthecircumspectionanddiffidencewithwhichthepassengerwalked，hefrowned，suckedathisbeard，approachedasailorwhowasengagedinvigorouslyscrubbingthebrassonthedoorofthecaptain’scabinwithanakedpalm，andsaidinanundertone: “Didyouhappentonoticethegaitofthatlittlemanthereinthelightpea-jacketanddirtyboots？“ “Idid。“ “Thenseehere。Dokeepaneyeuponhim。“ “Butwhy？Isheabadlot？“ “Somethinglikeit，Ithink。“ “Iwillthen。“ Atatablenearthehatchwayofthefirst-classcabin，afatmaningreywasdrinkingbeer。Alreadyhehadreachedastateofmoderatefuddlement，forhiseyeswereprotrudingsightlesslyandstaringunwinkinglyattheoppositewall。Meanwhile，anumberofflieswereswarminginthestickypuddlesonthetable，orelsecrawlingoverhisgreyishbeardandthebrick-redskinofhismotionlessfeatures。 Theboatswainwinkedinhisdirection，andremarked: “Half-seasover，HEis。“ “’Tishisway，“apockmarked，eyebrow-lesssailorresponded。 Herethedrunkenmansneezed:withtheresultthatacloudofflieswereblownoverthetable。Lookingatthem，andsighingashiscompanionhaddone，theboatswainthoughtfullyobserved: “Why，heregularlysneezesflies，eh？“ Theresting-placewhichImyselfhadselectedwasastackoffirewoodoverthestokeholeshoot；andasIlayuponitIcouldseethehillsgraduallydarkeningthewaterwithamourningveilascalmlytheyadvancedtomeetthesteamer；whileinthemeadows，alastlingeringglowofthesunset’sradiancewasreddeningthestemsofthebirches，andmakingthenewlymendedroofofahutlookasthoughitwerecasedinredfustian—— communicatingtoeverythingelseinthevicinityasemblanceoffloatingamidfire——andeffacingalloutline，andcausingthesceneasawholetodissolveintostreaksofredandorangeandblue，savewhere，onahillabovethehut，ablackgroveoffirsstoodthrownintotense，keen，andclear-cutrelief。