340
"We caught him, I warrant,
And gave him a lesson.
He's run to Demyansky,
For there he'll be able
To cross by the ferry."
"Strange people, to beat him
Without any cause!"
"And why? If the commune
Has told us to do it
There must be some reason!" 350
Shouts Klim at the seven.
"D'you think that the people
Of Tiskov are fools?
It isn't long since, mind,
That many were flogged there,
One man in each ten.
Ah, Shutov, you rendered
A dastardly service,
Your duties are evil,
You damnable wretch! 360
And who deserves beating
As richly as Shutov?
Not we alone beat him:
From Tiskov, you know,
Fourteen villages lie
On the banks of the Volga;
I warrant through each
He's been driven with blows."
The seven are silent.
They're longing to get 370
At the root of the matter.
But even the Elder
Is now growing angry.
It's daylight. The women
Are bringing their husbands
Some breakfast, of rye-cakes
And--goose! (For a peasant
Had driven some geese
Through the village to market,
And three were grown weary, 380
And had to be carried.)
"See here, will you sell them?
They'll die ere you get there."
And so, for a trifle,
The geese had been bought.
We've often been told
How the peasant loves drinking;
Not many there are, though,
Who know how he eats.
Pages:
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218