第45章

“Ihadjustbeengoingtoresorttothecarpenters，fortheywouldhavegivenussomebread，Isuppose？LongisitsinceI tastedanything。“ Thesamewordsherepeatedonourapproachingtheex-soldier； muchasthoughhetookapleasureintheirphraseology。 “Yousupposethattheywouldhavegivenusbread？“echoedtheex- soldierasheunfastenedhiswallet。“Notthey！Noloveislostbetweenthemandourselves。“ “Whomdoyoumeanby’ourselves’？“ “Ushere——youandmyself——allRussianfolkwhomayhappentobeintheseparts。Fromthewayinwhichthosefellowskeepsingingaboutpalms，IshouldjudgethemtobesectariansofthesortcalledMennonites。“ “OrMolokans，rather？“theothermansuggestedasheseatedhimselfinfrontofthefire。 “Yes，orMolokans。MolokansorMennonites——they’reallone。ItisaGermanfaithandthoughsuchfellowsloveaTeuton，theydonotexactlywelcomeUS。“ UponthisthemanwiththeCossackforelocktookasliceofbreadwhichtheex-soldiercutfromaloaf，withanonionandapinchofsalt。Then，asheregardeduswithapairofgood-humouredeyes，hesaid，balancinghisfoodonthepalmsofhishands: “ThereisaspotontheSunzha，nearhere，wherethosefellowshaveacolonyoftheirown。Yes，Imyselfhavevisitedit。True，thosefellowsarehardenough，butatthesametimetospeakplainly，NOONEinthesepartshasanyregardforussinceonlytoomanyofthesortofRussianfolkwhocomehereinsearchofworkarenotoverly-desirable。“ “Wheredoyouyourselfcomefrom？“Theex-soldier’stonewassevere。 “FromKursk，wemightsay。“ “FromRussia，then？“ “Yes，Isupposeso。ButIhavenogreatopinionevenofmyself。“ Theex-soldierglanceddistrustfullyatthenewcomer。Thenheremarked: “Whatyousayiscant，sheerJesuitism。ItisfellowslikeTHOSE，rather，thatoughttohaveapooropinionofthemselves。“ Tothistheothermadenoreply——merelyheputapieceofbreadintohismouth。Foramomentortwotheex-soldiereyedhimfrowningly。Thenhecontinued: “YouseemtometobeanativeoftheDoncountry？“ “Yes，IhavelivedontheDonaswell。“ “Andalsoservedinthearmy？“ “No。Iwasanonlyson。“ “Ofamiestchanin？“[Amemberofthesmallcommercialclass。] “No，ofamerchant。“ “Andyourname——？“ “IsVasili。“ Thelastreplycameonlyafterapause，andreluctantly； wherefore，perceivingthattheKurskanhadnoparticulardesiretodiscusshisownaffairs，theex-soldiersaidnomoreonthesubject，butliftedthekettlefromthefire。 TheMolokansalsohadkindledablazebehindthecornerofthebarraque，andnowitsglowwaslickingtheyellowboardsofthestructureuntiltheyseemedalmosttobeliquescent，tobeabouttodissolveandflowoverthegroundinagoldenstream。 Presently，astheirfervourincreased，thecarpenters，invisibleamidtheobscurity，felltosinginghymns——thebassesintoningmonotonously，“Sing，thouHolyAngel！“andvoicesofhigherpitchresponding，coldlyandformally。 “Singye！ SinggloryuntoChrist，thouAngelofHoliness！ Singye！ OursingingwillweadduntoThine，ThouAngelofHoliness！“ Andthoughthechorusfailedaltogethertodullthesplashingoftherivuletandthebabblingoftheby-cutoverabedofstones，itseemedoutofplaceinthisparticularspot；itarousedresentmentagainstmenwhocouldnotthinkofalaymoreatunewiththeparticularliving，breathingobjectsaroundus。 Graduallydarknessenvelopedthedefileuntilonlyoverthemouthofthepass，overthespotwhere，gleamingabrilliantblue，therivuletescapedintoacleftthatwasoverhungwithamistofadeepershade，wastherenotyetsuspendedthecurtainoftheSouthernnight。 Presently，thegloomcausedoneoftherocksinourvicinitytoassumetheguiseofamonkwho，kneelinginprayer，hadhisheadadornedwithapointedskull-cap，andhisfaceburiedinhishands。Similarly，thestemsofthetreesstirredinthefirelightuntiltheydevelopedthesemblanceofafileoffriarsentering，forearlyMass，theporchoftheirchapel-of-ease。 Tomymindtherethenrecurredacertainoccasionwhen，onjustsuchadarkandsultrynightasthis，Ihadbeenseatedtale- tellingundertheboundary-wallofarowofmonasticcellsintheDoncountry。SuddenlyIhadheardawindowabovemyheadopen，andsomeoneexclaiminakindly，youthfulvoice: “TheMotherofGodbeblessedforallthisgoodlyworldofours！“ AndthoughthewindowhadclosedagainbeforeIhadhadtimetodiscernthespeaker，Ihadknownthattherewasresidentinthemonasteryafriarwhohadlargeeyes，andalimp，andjustsuchafaceashadVasilihere；wherefore，inallprobabilityithadbeenhewhohadbreathedthebenedictionuponmankindatlarge，forthereasonthatmomentstherearewhenallhumanityseemstobeone’sownbody，andinoneselfthereseemstobeattheheartofallhumanity…… Vasiliconsumedhisfooddeliberatelyas，breakingoffmorselsfromhisslice，andneatlypartinghismoustache，heplacedthemorselsinhismouthwithacuriousstirringoftwoglobuleswhichunderlaytheskinneartheears。 Theex-soldier，however，merelynibbledathisfood——heatebutlittle，andthatlazily。Thenheextractedapipefromhisbreastpocket，filleditwithtobacco，lititwithafaggottakenfromthefire，andsaidashesethimselftolistentothesingingoftheMolokans: “Theyarefilledfull，andhavestartedbleating。AlwaysfolklikethemseektobeontherightsideoftheAlmighty。“ “Doesthathurtyouinanyway？“Vasiliaskedwithasmile。 “No，butIdonotrespectthem——theyarelesssaintsthanhumbugs，thanprevaricatorswhosefirstwordisGod，andsecondwordrouble。“ “Howdoyouknowthat？“criedVasiliamusedly。“AndeveniftheirfirstwordISGod，andtheirsecondwordrouble，wehadbestnotbetooharduponthem，sinceiftheychosetobeharduponUS，whereshouldWEbe？Yes，wehaveonlytoopenourmouthstospeakawordortwoforourselves，andweshouldfindeveryfistatourteeth。“ “Quiteso，“theex-soldieragreedas，takingupasquareofscantling，heexamineditattentively。 “WhomDOyourespect？“Vasilicontinuedafterapause。 “Irespect，“theex-soldiersaidwithsomeemphasis，“onlytheRussianpeople，thetrueRussianpeople，thefolkwholabouronlandwhereonlabourishard。YetwhoarethefolkwhomyoufindHERE？Inthispartoftheworldthebusinessoflivingisaneasyone。Muchofeverysortofnaturalproduceistobehad，andthesoilisgenerousandlight——youneedbuttoscratchitforittobear，andforyourselftoreap。Yes，itisindulgenttoafault。 Rather，itislikeamaiden。Dobuttouchher，andachildwillarrive。“ “Agreed，“wasVasili’sremarkashedrankteafromatinmug。 “YettothisverypartoftheworldisitthatIshouldliketotransporteverysoulinRussia。“ “Andwhy？“ “Becauseheretheycouldearnaliving。“ “ThenisnotthatpossibleinRussia？“ “Well，whyareyouyourselfhere？“ “BecauseIamamanlackingties。“ “Andwhyareyoulackingties？“ “Becauseithasbeensoordered——itis，sotospeak，mylot。“ “ThenhadyounotbetterconsiderWHYitisyourlot？“ Theex-soldiertookhispipefromhismouth，letfallthehandwhichheldit，andsmoothedhisplainfeaturesinsilentamazement。Thenheexclaimedinuncouth，queruloustones: