Читать книгу Shackles - S. Skitalec - Страница 7

The fall in the village Shackles when burst the first frosts and will be chained as in iron, dirt on the wide rural street, always happened solar, windy, to the flying snare in the transparent sky.

The Volga woods seemed dressed in a crimson dye, gold and purple. After cleaning of bread weddings and wedding feasts were conceived.

Every day then the middle of the wide street, having stood in the row, there were a solemn rank discharged maids in fiery bright dresses, large, portly, vociferous, in short plisovy or velvet dushegreyka with assemblies behind and multi-colored buttons over them. There were they on a hen night and sang lingering wedding songs; the ringing chorus was heard on all village on four versts around.

At the end of the village, on the square about a tavern and shops, all late fall and all winter at first the least children, then teenagers, then adult guys gathered every evening and, clapping mittens, shouted:

– Give – give – yes – va-ah!

It meant the introduction in an ancient entertainment – the Russian fisticuffs.

Children, then guys and when absolutely darkens fought at first – there were men and even old men with gray-haired beards.

In long winter evenings above all village till midnight there was a groan from noise of fisticuffs. Since both ends of the village hundreds of fighters in sheepskin short fur coats, in fighting tawing mittens gathered.

The cult of physical force since ancient times dominated in Shackles. The fighters allocated on a fist fun became known and dear, like actors: did not interfere with it even belonging to “stranny”, landless people.

Fought – one end of the village with other end, the dissenters making a half of the village with Orthodox Christians. On each party there were athletes famous for the almost fantastic physical force. Were such that could pull out on the coast the sunk boat with water, lift on a back a cart with hay, break horseshoes, curtail into a tubule between fingers silver pyatialtynny. The victory of this or that party depended on their duel. Leaders met ahead of all, and behind them, coming, moving back, fight was humming: booming blows, howl and shouts were heard far on the village in frosty, snow night. Rules of fight in order to avoid bloodshed were strictly followed: not to beat “snouts”, not to beat “from a wing”.

Sometimes one of the parties was much stronger – weakness was driven nearly until the end of the village, but fresh forces suddenly were or there was a famous fighter – the issue of the combat sharply changed.

On the wide chetyrekhverstny street of the village all winter lasted on the road which is chopped up by measured blows of hoofs like a lying ladder, the Siberian, Ural and Orenburg wagon trains with frozen fish, furs, cotton and any raw materials. These wagon trains were long, with strong packed rozvalnyam, horses – strong, heavy – went a measured, disputable step.

Sometimes there passed caravans of camels with heavy vyyuka between high humps: through Candala before carrying out the Siberian highway there was an animal-drawn path – the main road.

For Maslenitsa all village in ten thousand inhabitants left to ride sledge. There were so many elegant sledge harnessed by exit horses in the harness rattling bells that horses moved a step, all weight from log huts of the same kind to another, in noisy, cheerful narrowness.

All riding had good horses, at many – trotters or amblers. The harness rumbled with bells and kolokolets, shone copper metal plates, silver set, decorated with silk brushes.

Having reached until the end of the village, long stood a camp, having got off in the dense mass of sledge, horses, people. Songs, sounds of strings were heard, thrown by humourous catchphrases and jokes on a subject about Maslenitsa: its effigy made of sticks, the painted paper and rags was lifted over crowd as a banner or a banner.

Some storyteller-pribautchik from guys of a daring look by a loud voice for a general fun recited:

Hi, my soul,

Wide Maslenitsa!

Your paper little body,

Lips your sugar,

Speech your honey!

Eh you, Maslenitsa,

Red beauty,

Fair-haired braid!

At this time the effigy of Maslenitsa flaunted over the heads of celebrating.

All crowd sbiratsya closely to those sledge from where usually ringing, young voice of an invisible rayeshnik was carried:

After the competitions in jokes, jokes and humourous catchphrases turned back. All continuous mass of festive sledge filled the crowded street, the rumble stood from a sled scratch, clanking of a harness, shouts, songs, laughter. Singing was heard:

Since half of the night sledge began to creak,

Kolokoltsa, bells rang out…

Its last day, visited Maslenitsa Shrove Sunday the companies to each other, apologizing in free and involuntary offenses, on ancient custom bowing down zemno and three times kissing. The youth of both sexes used this custom: each guy this day could kiss with the girl in public.

Towards evening the same day took out for the effigy of Maslenitsa sat down and there solemnly burned.

In total in this village – broad-shouldered, large figures of men in cloth caftans and undergarments, solid log huts with a high porch, with carved roosters on gate, stone houses of rich men, fat maids, full horses, a strong harness, fisticuffs and festive revelry – said about prosperity and satiety of this rough, but strong hammered together semi-rustic, semi-kulak life of trade Volga villages.

The reason of this exclusive wealth of the state peasants of Middle Volga existed from olden days and consisted only in long-term rent of huge spaces of the state earth.

These peasants were as if small landowners-tenants or farmers as to their services there was a boundless number of the agricultural workers flowing in the summer to Middle Volga from land-poor provinces.

Left that peasants of rich villages, owing to historical accident, operated work of alien, poor peasants, having formed the populous kulak villages doing grain business.

The village of Candala was one of such numerous villages. From a distance from Volga this huge settlement with several stone houses and two tserkva was visible: old – stocky, and near it new – under construction on the reduced scale of the known temple in Moscow.

In Shackles almost each peasant conducted big economy on the rented state earth: the male middling person who was not considered to the rich had up to ten working horses and who is richer – on sixteen and twenty. For departure not a rarity the male-kandalintsa had a trotter or an ambler. Units were one-horselovers, and absolutely poor, horseless, was almost not. On the contrary, from among the most enterprising, in time to occupy large sites of the rent earth and repeating it another, the new type of peasants – the speculators and businessmen moving the capitals in tens of thousands and living in stone houses on a merchant harmony grew: the layer of the rustic bourgeoisie moved forward. Across Volga there was a gold wave much of the developing capital.

Except prosperous fists, in the village there were real rich men, large industrialists, hlebotorgovets, drovyanik, millers who were living in a merchant way and not considering themselves men, they kept it is inaccessible, looked to the city. Such is there was a merchant Zavyalov who had a steam mill, one thousand tithes of the rent earth, owning Dubrova about the village of Zaymishche and the towing steamship on Volga. He did big grain business, in Dubrov lived arrivals, it is more in summer, as at the dacha. In Shackles had the two-storeyed stone house of urban style, with the extensive yard and services enclosed as the fortress or prison, the put-off height a brick wall.

Zavyalov and several others, to him similar, more small, ordinary predators, an okhulka on a hand of not putting, climbed the capitals and kulak tenor of life so highly that did not take any part in village life. Almost none of the country population saw them, dealt with them. The rough, ignorant, grown fat men, they put on airs from kupetsky arrogance.

But there were also new natives of men representing yet not defined layer of prosperous people of the village with a bias to “education”: such is there was a son of the kandalinsky head who passed from split into Orthodoxy Alexey Oferov who after the death of the father, having built the tent house with an iron roof and having put on a city jacket, began to subscribe to the “progressive” capital newspaper and the thick magazine, did not go to church and read underground brochures, at the same time continuing fatherly business of speculation in the state earth. He was on friendly terms with brothers Listratov from Zaymishcha. The senior from them is Pavel – grew rich from land lease, still the father taken, but apprehended all lines of the educated liberal probably from the younger brother Kirill who, having terminated a gymnasium, assumed to enter the university. All of them in a talk among themselves openly played the liberal, wishing moderate revolution or at least to the constitution. Nevertheless Pavel and Alexey united in business firm in the same land speculation, having accepted “in a share” the miller Amos Chelyak who was pleasant to them, the fist fighter, the inventor and the homebrew philosopher who and was ruined soon from unsuccessful crops.

The complete antithesis to all of them was presented by absolutely conservative person Trophîme Neoulybov, the recent poor serving as the salesman in grain business of the famous then millionaire merchant Shekhobalov on which whim it was the land tenant who grew rich on grain trade. It was the person of patriarchal way, he dealt the in an ancient way, on conscience, on the word of honor, without bills and receipts, helping those from poor people who could still, like it, get on feet, in certain cases absolutely remitted small debts with anybody he had not legal proceedings.

Trophîme was by nature goodhearted and in the real predators on the character it was no good. Small капиталишко, for nothing fallen down to it in hands, as if waited only for a case to disperse on hands or to get into more tenacious paws.

Thus, prosperous kandalinets though belonged to various dissenting rumors and sects or were “pious” in an orthodox way, at the same time were the richest, avaricious, hard-fisted, resourceful fists.

Orthodox Christians were in soul dissenters, differing from them only in bigger softness, dissoluteness and smaller jealousy of religion.

Their all life, customs, concepts, intellectual interests, beliefs, raskolnichestvo and sectarianism – everything rotated about religion, followed from it, was imbued primitive, ceremonial religiousness which was not disturbing their aspiration to a profit at all. Inclination of some of them to education, the secular book and freethinking proceeded from questions religious too. It had the historical roots in the past when to Volga the Old Believers and sectarians driven by the government moved.

After a pagan and Pancake week gluttony and alcoholism – on pure Monday – from a belltower of old church densely and nourishingly lingering and sad sighs of the wordly bell calling for a prayer rushed; the village like penitential mood: all began to fast and fast, that is daily during one of weeks of a great forty-day post to go to the temple to all Lent services.

In early winter morning when in the dark sky stars still blinked, the people down the street reached for matins, then for a mass, in twilight – for vespers.

The old zakoptely church with потускневшею gilding of a low iconostasis, ancient icons of the strict letter, copper banners and “Saviour” in a dome was filled praying in the tanned short fur coats covered by dark blue cloth, with the hair cut in a curve piece and is plentiful – time for all the time of fasting – saturated with cow oil.

Devoutly and long, in silence dawning on itself under the charter a sign of the cross, they bit the dust when to an ambon there was an archpriest not in the embroidered brocade cope, and in a simple cassock and a stole – low, dense, with a long gray-haired tolstovolosy beard, with large lines of a stern face, with an imperious, commanding look from under gray-haired beetling brows.

In artistic – sad tone he humbly pronounced fine words, stretching prone on a carpet against an imperial gate:

– Spirit of despondency, lyubonachaliya and hostility not даждь ми! Grant spirit of chastity, humility and Lyubov ми, to your slave!

In dark church long in silence widely flashing hands of the dark people creating unclear to them a sign moved and again all gray мужичья weight bit the dust before icons together with the priest, having never thought to what these humble words approached furious character of the severe archpriest a little.

Svyashchenstvoval it in Shackles more than thirty years, several generations grew under his imperious look, and ever nobody heard from it the tender word. From the first day of the service he enjoined to call himself “tyatenky”, thinking to be “a father of the people”. All were afraid of it and obeyed as small children, and the tyatenka had an abrupt temper, the hand is heavy: he considered the village and all volost the ancestral lands, himself – unlimited her lord, and rural public affairs – the personal record.

Nobody in Shackles remembered and understood other attitude of the priest towards parishioners as imperious intervention in life of society, a family and the personality.

Teaching the Scripture at school, it painfully whipped pupils on cheeks the short, but weighty right hand. In certain cases it beat and adults, and all found it is in the order of things, nobody was surprised to it and in behavior of the priest was indignant with nothing.

Once the only representative of science in Shackles – the young local paramedic awarded to be on a visit at the archpriest, something successfully objected to his remark on too long and dense curls of the young man. It was enough that the paramedic appeared in disgrace. As disgrace threatened eventually with serious consequences for the paramedic deprived of vicarial blessing, the last, without having sustained a penance, used forgiven in the afternoon for Maslenitsa and was to the priest for reconciliation. But the spirit of humility, forgiveness and love was not свойствен to a tyatenka. While the lost sheep was spread at the pastor’s legs, the Holy Father, having seized both hands in unpleasant for him its curling vlasa, long privately carried the victim alone on a room floor, dragged out along the corridor on a porch and dumped during snow.

The archpriest did not believe in God and never spoke in church of sermons. Childless, in gloomy loneliness he lived in a small old popovsky lodge with a front garden together with aged protopopitsy, thin, small, pathetic and intimidated, having cruel hard drinking.

The secret of the despotic power of the archpriest over freedom-loving kandalinets consisted not only in his iron will, but it is rather in close savoir vivre of the parishioners: it did not pursue sectarians and dissenters, did not send to them denunciations to the higher authorities, and was already highly appreciated for one it by them. Traveling around collecting, graciously came also to them, accepting also from broken away from church generous donations that served as pledge of the peace relations and in the future.

Ten thousand kind parishioners helped the archpriest to save the fair capital in thirty years of priesthood: a tyatenka it was not humiliated before extortion for occasional offices and on collecting – plentiful and rich alms money and products flew also without it in a deep popovsky pocket.

But the main thing for what kandalinets obediently suffered both requisitions, and the despotic address is his ability to advocate their interests, though not without own benefit, before the higher civil authorities, always hated to kandalinets. The archpriest did not wish to share the valid, actual influence on the kandalinsky people with the highest government, and to kandalinets spodruchny was to deal with the priest who was perfectly knowing their life, than from nothing understanding and therefore the heartless and cruel visiting provincial administration.

But “inside” the lord in a cassock treated them as little east despot, forcing to tremble before him. It was the feudal lord who was autocratically ruling all territory of the kandalinsky volost, on space and wealth surpassing any medieval European duchy.

The archpriest as a certain patriarch of the primitive tribe called by “kandalinets” provided to the citizens freedom of worship, non-interference of the far and hated administration to their life – and the kandalinsky oasis in the boundless ocean of old regime lawlessness in own way happily prospered under an absolute power of a tyatenka on infinitely obsolete, patriarchal and vassal beginnings.

* * *

Such is there was an external and internal image of the village when Elizar, having returned from exile and not having settled in the city, returned on the old, involuntarily left by it native ashes. Removed the being empty public and church log hut after the sexton who died of alcoholism, arrived the icon painter and a zolotilshchik on the coming to an end construction of new church.

Carpenters and joiners tesat logs and planed bars about church, having created the whole tier of spill and shavings which were not forbidden to be dragged to the next hostesses and children on a kindling.

The church finished an iconostasis, finished a dome list, zolotilshchik gilded a carving of columns, doors and icons, carefully taking a peacock feather thin leaves of gold and polishing it on carving curls.

Every morning in old church called to a mass. The angular lodge with a front garden left the stocky archpriest in a kalimavkion and slowly went on a footpath to church, leaning on a long staff with a silver knob.

Elizar thought more of children now, than of himself: sons grew up – Vukol reached age school limit.

In one of windy, frosty and juicy autumn days he led the nine-year-old son in kandalinsky ministerial school.

The area against churches was decorated by institutions: volost board which in an ancient way still many called the order, and the big wooden stocky schoolhouse with the apartment of the teacher in an attic. About a porch of school on a column under a special roof like a mushroom quite impressive copper bell which rang, as hung on a veche, announcing the beginning of the doctrine.

Before the occupations about school pupils – the little peasants dressed in short fur coats and undergarments ran and fought. Suddenly frequent cheerful blows in a bell on a column sounded, and school students a crowd directed in classes. From an attic the teacher went down. The door of school slammed, and from there lingering singing of the children’s voices singing a morning prayer deafly rushed.

When singing came to an end, Elizar with the son were included into school; pupils sat at long not colored pine school desks. Against them the teacher sat at department. Plaster of walls of the extensive room below fell off long ago, finding strips of shingles.

Pupils sat, without taking off undergarments and short fur coats, and at an entrance of strangers got up, then mudflows again, having turned the heads towards entered, with curiosity considering them. Vukol was close-cut, on him there were gray trousers навыпуск and a jacket with a belt – a suit of city school students, and he very much was surprised, having seen full school of the children with the long hair cut on-raskolnichyi in a curve piece dressed in a country way. Country children ironically examined city. The teacher, the tall solid person with a gold beard, in a stiff collar and a jacket suit, left because of department, gave a hand to Elizar speaking about the son. Vukol was so absorbed by impression of the pupils watching at it with obvious hostility that he did not hear the father’s conversation with the teacher.

The teacher took the opened book from the forward pupil and Vukolu told, having stroked him on the cut head:

– You are able to read?

– I am able.

– Well, read this aloud yes more loudly!

Also pointed a finger in the book.

– To read he reads long ago! – Elizar told – and here about the letter … – and, обратясь to the son, added, friendly lowering a voice: – Not робь!

Vukol did not quail: at the first view of the title specified by the teacher he saw chitanny to them and slyshanny in the recitation of actors in city theater the poem “Coachman’s Wife” of Nikitin more than once.

It was the favourite poem of Elizar which and Elizar liked to read in a circle of the family in the evenings.

Vukol quickly, imitating actors and the father, with full compliance with intonations, taught still by the grandmother storyteller to represent characters, began reading. At school there came the unusual silence. Vukol read with ardent feeling, intending to strike listeners with the art: probably also did not dream rural school students that they are addressed by the person who visited the real stage in the real theater.

Having reached the place where the fright of the wife who guessed the death of the husband it was represented it is loud, with pathos screamed, raising the voice as the father did it it:

– And my husband?! – exclaimed

Coachman wife,

Also snow are more white

It became.

Here unexpectedly burst an amicable laughter of little listeners. The reader reddened to ears, wounded up to the soul depth, but read up up to the end.

– Well done! – the teacher told and, having turned back to the class shutting itself mouths from laughter strictly told: – I ask not to laugh: he read perfectly: here and it is necessary to read good verses, and I taught you: but you still consider a model of good reading reading our sexton in church! It is advisable to laugh at you, but not to you at it!

Pupils became silent, but Vukolu seemed that they did not believe the teacher.

Vukol was accepted in the second class at once though Elizar, leaving, warned the teacher that he taught the son itself – and only to reading, and did not teach the letter. The teacher, smiling, objected:

– Nothing, we will learn.

When there occurred change and the teacher left upward, pupils, running out from school on the square, imitated Vukol:

– And mine му-?

And again laughed at the beginner: over his short-haired head and a city suit, imitated his gait, manners. Vukolu remembered far times of Tatorki, is inexplicable the hating Vukol.

It was considered how a ridiculous wonder. Big pupils – too in undergarments and with hair to a curve piece came from the senior class.

– Shay Kaká of a debt, as at Ali’s goose at an ugly duckling!.

– And holds the head on one side!

– Correct for it!

At new explosions of laughter pokes, clicks in the head, pinches began, and one big speckled guy of years of seventeen caught it the head “to correct”.

The beginner suddenly lost patience, again reddened to ears as during reading, his lips flinched, eyes began to sparkle. Vukol grabbed the ruler sprained under a hand and stuck with it into a face of the torturer. The blow incidentally had directly in the laughing teeth, having scratched gums: at the guy blood seemed. He unexpectedly was embarrassed and departed away.

Too began to laugh at the big pupil:

– Eka communicated!

– Beginner! give it looking for!

– I do not fight! – gloomy, as the badgered small animal, Vukol answered.

– You do not fight, and gave a smack in the teeth?

– Well, according to Lyubov with somebody, with more exactly!

It was faced by the robust fellow fellow – hair as rye, blue eyes, a high breast. Its exterior something was even pleasant to Vukol. Not to fight, and to make friends with such. The boy growth was higher than Vukol and addition athletic.

It threw off an undergarment, having appeared in a red shirt and plisovy wide trousers.

– Let’s fight! – and strong squeezed to it forearms, as if investigating muscles.

– Throw! – having flashed, Vukol told and very much squeezed the opponent’s hands.

That with surprise receded.

– Stand, robyata!

Vukol was pushed out in a circle. Some encouraged:

– Fight, at us without fight it is impossible!

– Surely it is necessary to visit fight!

The opponent pushed it in a breast with the left outstretched arm, bringing right above and above.

Vukol turned pale. The audience surrounded them with a ring, encouraging both. The beginner extended the left hand too as a board, and both of them came around, choosing a moment for blow. The opponent came, Vukol departed, changing a position. Suddenly blue-eyed struck to Vukol the first short blow with a poke, but Vukol reflected it the left hand.

On both sides the short blows which were not achieving the objectives fell down.

Vukol quickly adopted methods of fight, new to it: here did not swing the arm widely, fought pokes, striking blow shortly and quickly. The martial art was in that the left hand to reflect blow: the hand of one was linked under an elbow to a hand of another. Blows of the opponent poured immediately on Vukol, but he quickly adapted not to allow them to itself (himself).

Sometimes both, сцепясь, as if not in forces were to be uncoupled and then, having jumped aside, again went around as the fighting cockerels.

From crowd remarks poured: all wanted that “the” fighter knocked down “beginner”, but Vukol, by sight thin less than the opponent, did not give in.

– Add to it, Vanka!

– Pour to the dolgoushy Tatar!

– To Gololoby!

– Give not to the peasant! To Strannem!

Strannimi in the village called strangers to peasants, visitors, landless, the poor people, farm laborers and handicraftsmen working on hiring. Each of small kandalinets got used, imitating seniors, to despise “strange”.

Having uncoupled, they were again linked. Vukol was more flexible, managed to jerk unexpectedly Vanka on himself why that suddenly fell on knees, and, falling, unintentionally hit the opponent with an elbow in a face. Furious Vukol crushed the athlete under himself.

They were separated. Hubbub began. Shouted that Vukol incorrectly struck. But at it under an eye bruise was blown up: was considered to beat “snouts” unlawful too.

Then Vanka zavorotit a sleeve of a shirt and showed bruise on a hand – a trace of “handshake” of a hand of Vukol.

It immediately changed a general view to the beginner.

– Here it is what! Only once zhamknut – and printed all hand!

– Silence! – Vanka cried, shaking off and putting on an undergarment – fight was in a draw! – And suddenly, having friendly smiled, gave a hand to Vukol: – Do not become angry! We have a custom – beginners in fight to test! I am Ivan Chelyak, the son of the miller Amos! Still nobody from legs knocked down me: I love such though you and stranniya! How call?

– Vukol! – the beginner answered, accepting the given hand.

Explosion of the general laughter sounded.

– Vukol! in a corner! knocked!

Rang out in a bell. All rushed in places. Vukola covered with chalk a black eye.

The teacher entered. In a class there came the silence. The teacher attentively looked round pupils and suddenly approached the beginner.

– It that at you under an eye? Plaid pranks?

Vukol flashed and got up.

– Plaid pranks! – he confessed.

– Perhaps, struck who?

– No! – firmly, but Vukol said in low tones – hurt!

– About a door! – someone prompted.

– Yes, about a door! – the beginner confirmed.

The teacher passed to department, developed the book and, having stroke-oared white the golden beard, told lingeringly and loudly:

– On – ачнем – those!