...
Oh, Djomushka will not
Feel happy within it,
He cannot sleep well....
'Begone!'--I cried harshly
On seeing Savyeli;
He stood near the coffin
And read from the book 360
In his hand, through his glasses.
I cursed old Savyeli,
Cried--'Branded one! Convict!
Begone! 'Twas you killed him!
You murdered my, Djoma,
Begone from my sight!'
"He stood without moving;
He crossed himself thrice
And continued his reading.
But when I grew calmer 370
Savyeli approached me,
And said to me gently,
'In winter, Matrona,
I told you my story,
But yet there was more.
Our forests were endless,
Our lakes wild and lonely,
Our people were savage;
By cruelty lived we:
By snaring the wood-grouse, 380
By slaying the bears:--
You must kill or you perish!
I've told you of Barin
Shalashnikov, also
Of how we were robbed
By the villainous German,
And then of the prison,
The exile, the mines.
My heart was like stone,
I grew wild and ferocious. 390
My winter had lasted
A century, Grandchild,
But your little Djoma
Had melted its frosts.
One day as I rocked him
He smiled of a sudden,
And I smiled in answer....
A strange thing befell me
Some days after that:
As I prowled in the forest 400
I aimed at a squirrel;
But suddenly noticed
How happy and playful
It was, in the branches:
Its bright little face
With its paw it sat washing.
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