Читать книгу The story of Baba Yaga and Koschei the Immortal, their birth and life. You haven’t heard this story yet - - Страница 5

A week later, Katerina settled in her new cabin, met the other kitchen workers on the merchant ship, and made sure that Yegor was traveling with her. She was happy and began to make new plans for this man.

The ship set sail, and Katerina began to spend more time with Yegor under various pretexts. Sometimes she would complain about being afraid, and he would comfort her with kind words and advice, and then she would subtly engage him in conversation. Other times, she would complain about her health, and he would search for herbs at nearby docks. Then she asked for a tour at the next stop, and he politely agreed to show her around the city, the markets, and even bought her gifts out of pity to make her smile. There were many attempts to get Yegor to talk or spend time with her. She was successful in doing so. She easily manipulated him, and he felt sorry for her.

Over time, he got used to talking to her, spending time with her, and even started taking the initiative. He started inviting her to his cabin for dinner when he was feeling particularly sad. He noticed that spending time with her made him feel less lonely and sad. She took advantage of this.

One evening, when he invited her for dinner again, she brought a herbal tea that she had purchased from the market. The seller said that a bottle of this tincture would be enough to put an elephant to sleep, and a drop would be enough to make even the most severe insomnia go away.

The evening went on as usual, with them eating, drinking wine, and chatting about various topics.

“Oh, do you have a needle? I think I’ve gotten a splinter, and I need to remove it before my finger swells up.” Katerina asked Yegor.

“Yes, I think I have one somewhere, I’ll find it.”

While he was looking for a needle in his drawers, with his back to Katerina, she quickly took the bottle out of her pocket and poured half of it into his glass.

“Oh, I already got it, so don’t look for it anymore,” Katerina said, laughing.

– Okay, then let’s continue to have dinner.

– Let’s drink to the dregs to you, a kind and noble gentleman who saved my life, so to speak. Katerina said, raising her mug above her head.

– Well, don’t exaggerate. To the bottom!

And they drained their mugs. After a couple of minutes, Egor felt very weak and dizzy. He stood up and immediately fell. His legs were not holding and his thoughts were confused. Katerina ran up to him, helped him up, and led him to the bed.

– You need to lie down, you’re tired.

– No, – Egor muttered, – Yes. I don’t understand what’s wrong with me? Olya, is that you?

– Yes, it’s me, and I love you, dear.

Katerina realized that he wasn’t paying attention, so she decided to take advantage of the situation and get pregnant with his child. She figured that if he was calling for Olya, he would be more receptive to her advances. As she tried to undress him, he fell asleep. She couldn’t wake him up. He was completely unconscious, snoring loudly in the cabin. So she decided to create a scene.

She completely undressed him, undressed herself, scattered her and his clothes on the floor, and climbed into his bed under the covers. Lying in bed, she began to shout his name and words of love for him, hoping that someone outside the walls would hear it. Then, satisfied, she threw his arm over herself and fell asleep in his embrace.

In the morning, Egor was the first to wake up and was horrified when he saw that it was not his wife who was sleeping next to him, and their belongings were scattered on the floor.

He tried to remember what had happened during the night, but all he could remember was drinking a lot of alcohol and hearing the words of love from the woman lying next to him. After that, there was a blank spot in his memory and darkness. He was overcome with panic. He began to think about what he would say to his wife when he returned, how he would keep her quiet about what had happened, and how he would hide the fact that she was no longer innocent because of him.

“First of all, I’m giving up drinking. Alcohol is the devil in flesh…” Egor said in a hoarse voice.

“What did you say, my love?” Katerina purred, having woken up from his movements but pretending to be asleep, waiting for his reaction.

“Have we already switched to ‘you’?”

– We not only switched to “you”, but also to something else. Katerina replied and giggled coquettishly. – and I dreamed that I was expecting a baby from you after tonight.

Egor slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand and lowered his head in disappointment.

– This can’t be happening! No need to compose! And address me as “you”. I’m still your boss. And it won’t happen again like yesterday. Is that clear? – shouted angrily Egor, getting up from the bed and turning an angry look at her.

– But what about me? And if I’m pregnant? And if I’m not taken to marry now such a spoiled? What should I do now? It’s your, oh, your fault! – responded on the emotions Katerina and covered herself with a blanket up to the chin offended.

– I am ready to compensate for this misunderstanding. I will find you a groom. I will reveal this secret to him, and he will cherish you as his wife and take care of you despite this bothersome situation. He will keep this secret just like you and I. As payment, I will give him one of my trading ships, and he will be able to profit from goods just like me. You and he will live in wealth and abundance. And if you give birth to my child, I will give the child a ship when they reach the age of majority. But all of this is in exchange for your silence!

– I will try to remain silent, but I cannot promise…

– And why is that, may I ask? – asked Egor sarcastically, restraining all his angry emotions and gritting his teeth.

“I love you and I want to live with you and our child…”

“There is no child and there is no us! Is that clear?” Yegor shouted at her, waving his arms and spitting with anger.

“But I…” Before Katerina could finish, Yegor threw her dress at her, which he had picked up from the floor.

“If you don’t keep quiet, I will insist that it wasn’t me. Who will people believe? Me or some servant from a tavern?” You can lose everything. And your husband will give you up. Think about whether you want wealth or shame on your head. – Egor said in a calm and authoritative tone.

– I agree, I agree. But I give you a month, otherwise how will you explain that the child was born prematurely, counting from the day of the wedding? The wedding needs to be played urgently. What if I’m pregnant?

– Okay, we’ll find one, – Egor replied. – We’ll play the wedding tomorrow. There’s a candidate. His name is Mitka. I’ll introduce you to him tonight.