Caucasian prisoner read large print. "Prisoner of the Caucasus". Lev Tolstoy. Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich

1

2

End of free trial

Officer Zhilin served in the Caucasus. He received a letter from his mother, and he decided to go home on vacation. But on the way he and another Russian officer Kostylin were captured by the Tatars. This happened due to Kostylin’s fault. He was supposed to cover Zhilin, but he saw the Tatars, got scared and ran away from them. Kostylin turned out to be a traitor. The Tatar who captured the Russian officers sold them to another Tatar. The prisoners were shackled and kept in the same barn.

The Tatars forced the officers to write letters to their relatives demanding a ransom. Kostylin obeyed, and Zhilin specially wrote a different address, because he knew: there was no one to buy him, Zhilin’s old mother lived very poorly. Zhilin and Kostylin sat in the barn for a whole month. The owner's daughter Dina became attached to Zhilin. She secretly brought him cakes and milk, and he made dolls for her. Zhilin began to think about how he and Kostylin could escape from captivity. Soon he began digging in the barn.

One night they ran away. When they entered the forest, Kostylin began to lag behind and whine - his boots had rubbed his feet. Because of Kostylin, they did not go far; they were noticed by a Tatar who was driving through the forest. He told the owners of the hostages, they took the dogs and quickly caught up with the prisoners. The shackles were put on them again and they were not removed even at night. Instead of a barn, the hostages were put in a hole five arshins deep. Zhilin still did not despair. I kept thinking about how he could escape. Dina saved him. At night she brought a long stick, lowered it into the hole, and Zhilin climbed up using it. But Kostylin stayed, didn’t want to run away: he was scared, and he didn’t have the strength.

Zhilin moved away from the village and tried to remove the block, but nothing worked. Dina gave him some flatbread for the journey and cried, saying goodbye to Zhilin. He was kind to the girl, and she became very attached to him. Zhilin went further and further, even though the block was very much in the way. When his strength ran out, he crawled and crawled to the field, beyond which there were already his own Russians. Zhilin was afraid that the Tatars would notice him when he crossed the field. Just thinking about it, look: to the left, on a hillock, two tithes away from it, three Tatars are standing. They saw Zhilin and rushed to him. And so his heart sank. Zhilin waved his hands and shouted at the top of his voice: “Brothers! Help out! Brothers! The Cossacks heard Zilina and rushed to intercept the Tatars. The Tatars got scared, and before reaching Zhilin they began to stop. This is how the Cossacks saved Zhilin. Zhilin told them about his adventures, and then said: “So I went home and got married! No, apparently it’s not my destiny.” Zhilin remained to serve in the Caucasus. And Kostylin was bought out only a month later for five thousand. They brought us barely alive.

Page 1 of 4

Prisoner of the Caucasus (story)

1
One gentleman served as an officer in the Caucasus. His name was Zhilin.
One day he received a letter from home. His old mother writes to him: “I have become old, and I want to see my beloved son before I die. Come say goodbye to me, bury me, and then with God, go back to the service. And I have found a bride for you: she is smart, and good, and has property. If you fall in love, maybe you’ll get married and stay completely.”
Zhilin thought about it: “Indeed, the old woman has become really bad; maybe you won’t have to see it. go; and if the bride is good, you can get married.”
He went to the colonel, straightened out his leave, said goodbye to his comrades, gave his soldiers four buckets of vodka as a farewell, and got ready to leave.
There was a war in the Caucasus at that time. There was no passage on the roads either day or night. As soon as any of the Russians leave or move away from the fortress, the Tatars will either kill them or take them to the mountains. And it was customary that escorted soldiers walked from fortress to fortress twice a week. Soldiers walk in front and behind, and people ride in the middle.
It was summer. At dawn the convoys gathered for the fortress, the accompanying soldiers came out and set off along the road. Zhilin was riding on horseback, and the cart with his things was in the wagon train.
It was twenty-five miles to go. The convoy walked quietly; Then the soldiers will stop, then someone’s wheel will come off in the wagon train, or a horse will stop, and everyone will stand there, waiting.
The sun had already set for half a day, and the convoy had only covered half the road. Dust, heat, the sun is so hot, but there is nowhere to hide. Bare steppe, not a tree or bush along the road.
Zhilin rode forward, stopped and waited for the convoy to arrive. He hears a horn playing behind him, and stands again. Zhilin thought: “Shouldn’t I leave alone, without soldiers? The horse under me is good, even if I attack the Tatars, I will gallop away. Or not to go?..”
He stopped and thought. And another officer, Kostylin, with a gun, rides up to him on a horse and says:
- Let's go, Zhilin, alone. There’s no urine, I’m hungry, and it’s hot. At least squeeze my shirt out. - And Kostylin is an overweight, fat man, all red, and the sweat just pours from him.
Zhilin thought and said:
- Is the gun loaded?
- Charged.
- Well, then let's go. The only agreement is not to leave.
And they drove forward along the road. They drive along the steppe, talk and look around. You can see far all around.
As soon as the steppe ended, the road went between two mountains into a gorge, Zhilin said:
“We need to go out onto the mountain and have a look, otherwise they’ll probably jump out from behind the mountain and you won’t see it.”
And Kostylin says:
- What to watch? Let's go forward.
Zhilin did not listen to him.
“No,” he says, “you wait below, and I’ll just take a look.”
And he turned his horse to the left, up the mountain. The horse near Zhilin was a hunting horse (he paid a hundred rubles for it in the herd as a foal and rode it out himself); how she carried him up the steep slope on wings. As soon as he jumped out, lo and behold, in front of him, on a tithe of space, there were about thirty Tatars standing on horseback.
He saw it and began to turn back; and the Tatars saw him, rushed towards him, and at a gallop they grabbed their guns from their cases. Zhilin set off at full speed and shouted to Kostylin:
- Take out the gun! - and he thinks to his horse: “Mother, take it out, don’t catch your foot, you’ll stumble and you’ll be lost.” If I get to the gun, I won’t give in to them.”
And Kostylin, instead of waiting, as soon as he saw the Tatars, he ran as fast as he could towards the fortress. The horse is fried with a whip, first from one side, then from the other. Only in the dust can you see the horse wagging its tail.
Zhilin sees that things are bad. The gun is gone, you can’t do anything with one checker. He started the horse back to the soldiers - he thought about leaving. He sees six people rolling across him.
Under him the horse is kind, and under those they are even kinder, and they even gallop across. He began to turn around, wanted to turn back, but the horse was already running wild, he couldn’t hold it, he was flying straight at them.
He sees a Tatar on a gray horse approaching him with a red beard. Squeals, teeth bared, gun at the ready.
“Well,” Zhilin thinks, “I know you devils, if they take you alive, put you in a pit, and flog you with a whip. I won’t give in alive.”
And Zhilin, although small in stature, was brave. He grabbed his saber, launched his horse straight at the Red Tatar, and thought: “I’ll either knock him down with the horse or cut him down with the saber.”
Zhilin couldn’t get enough space to get on the horse, they shot at him from behind with guns and hit the horse. The horse hit the ground with all its might and fell on Zilina’s leg.
He wanted to get up, but two stinking Tatars were sitting on him, twisting his arms back. He rushed, threw off the Tatars, and three people jumped off their horses and started beating him on the head with rifle butts. His vision grew dim and he staggered. The Tatars grabbed him, removed the spare girths from the saddles, twisted his arms behind his back, tied him with a Tatar knot, and dragged him to the saddle. They knocked off his hat, pulled off his boots, ransacked everything, took out his money, his watch, and tore up his dress.
Zhilin looked back at his horse. She, my dear, fell on her side and lies there, only kicking her legs, not reaching the ground; there is a hole in my head, and black blood is whistling from the hole - the dust has moistened an arshin all around.
One Tatar approached the horse and began to remove the saddle. She keeps beating,” he took out a dagger and cut her throat. It whistled from the throat, fluttered - and the steam was gone.
The Tatars took off the saddle and harness. The Tatar with a red beard sat on the horse, and the others lifted Zhilin into the saddle; and so as not to fall, they pulled him with a belt to the Tatar and took him to the mountains.
Zhilin sits behind the Tatar, sways, rubs his face into the stinking Tatar back. All he sees in front of him is a hefty Tatar back, a sinewy neck, and the shaved back of his head turning blue under his hat. Zhilin’s head is broken, blood is caked above his eyes. And he can neither recover on horseback nor wipe off the blood. My arms are twisted so tightly that my collarbone ache.
They rode for a long time from mountain to mountain, forded a river, got onto the road and drove through a ravine.
Zhilin wanted to notice the road where he was being taken, but his eyes were smeared with blood, but he couldn’t turn around.
It began to get dark. We crossed another river, began to climb a stone mountain, there was a smell of smoke, and dogs began to bark.
We arrived at the village. The Tatars got off their horses, the Tatar boys gathered, surrounded Zhilin, squealed, rejoiced, and began to shoot stones at him.
The Tatar drove the guys away, took Zhilin off his horse and called to the worker. A Nogai man came with high cheekbones, wearing only a shirt. The shirt is torn, the whole chest is bare. The Tatar ordered something to him.
The worker brought a block: two oak blocks were mounted on iron rings, and in one ring there was a punch and a lock.
They untied Zhilin’s hands, put him in a shoe and led him to the barn; They pushed him there and locked the door. Zhilin fell on the manure. He lay down, felt in the dark, where it was softer, and lay down.

2
Zhilin did not sleep almost all that night. The nights were short. He sees that the crack has begun to glow. Zhilin got up, dug out a larger crack, and began to look.
He can see the road from the crack - it goes downhill, to the right is a Tatar hut, two trees next to it. A black dog lies on the threshold, a goat with kids walks around, their tails twitching. He sees a young Tatar woman coming from under the mountain, wearing a colored shirt, a belt, pants and boots, her head covered with a caftan, and on her head a large tin jug of water. He walks, his back trembles, he bends over, and the Tatar girl leads the shaven man in only a shirt by the hand. The Tatar woman went into the hut with water, the Tatar from yesterday came out with a red beard, wearing a silk beshmet, a silver dagger on his belt, and shoes on his bare feet. On the head is a tall, black, lamb’s hat, folded back. He came out, stretched, and stroked his red beard. He stood there, said something to the worker, and went somewhere.
Then two guys rode on horseback to a watering hole. Horses snore wetly. More boys ran out, shaven, wearing only shirts, without trousers, gathered in a group, went up to the barn, took a twig and stuck it in the crack. Zhilin howled at them: the guys screamed and started running away, only their bare knees shining.
But Zhilin is thirsty, his throat is dry; thinks: “If only they would come and visit.” He hears the barn being unlocked. A red Tatar came, and with him another, smaller, blackish one. The eyes are black, light, ruddy, the beard is small, trimmed; The face is cheerful, everything is laughing. The blackish one is dressed even better: a blue silk beshmet, trimmed with braid. The dagger on the belt is large, silver; The shoes are red, morocco, also trimmed with silver. And on the thin shoes there are other, thick shoes. The hat is tall, white lambskin.
The Red Tatar entered, said something, as if he was swearing, and stood, leaned his elbows on the ceiling, moving his dagger, like a wolf looking sideways at Zhilin. And the blackish one - fast, lively, so he walks all on springs - walked straight up to Zhilin, squatted down, bared his teeth, patted him on the shoulder, began to babble something often, often in his own way, winks with his eyes, clicks his tongue, keeps saying everything. :
- Good Urus! Nice Urus!
Zhilin did not understand anything and said:
- Give me some water to drink!
Black laughs.
“Korosh Urus,” he babbles in his own way.
Zhilin indicated with his lips and hands that they give him a drink.

Prisoner of the Caucasus

Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich

Prisoner of the Caucasus

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Prisoner of the Caucasus

One gentleman served as an officer in the Caucasus. His name was Zhilin.

One day he received a letter from home. His old mother writes to him: “I’ve become old, and I want to see my beloved son before I die. Come say goodbye to me, bury me, and then go back to work with God. And I’ve found you a bride: she’s smart, and good, and “You have a property. Maybe you’ll fall in love and get married and stay completely.”

Zhilin thought about it: “Indeed, the old woman has become really bad, maybe she won’t have to see her. Let’s go; and if the bride is good, then we can get married.”

He went to the colonel, straightened out his leave, said goodbye to his comrades, gave his soldiers four buckets of vodka as a farewell, and got ready to leave.

There was a war in the Caucasus at that time. There was no passage on the roads either day or night. As soon as any of the Russians leave or move away from the fortress, the Tatars [Tatars in those days were the name for the mountaineers of the North Caucasus, who obeyed the laws of the Muslim faith (religion)] will either kill them or take them to the mountains. And it was customary that escorted soldiers walked from fortress to fortress twice a week. There are soldiers in front and behind, and people are riding in the middle.

It was summer. At dawn the convoys gathered for the fortress, the accompanying soldiers came out and set off along the road. Zhilin was riding on horseback, and his cart with things was traveling in a convoy.

It was twenty-five miles to go. The convoy walked quietly: sometimes the soldiers would stop, then someone in the convoy would have a wheel come off or a horse would stop, and everyone would stand and wait.

The sun had already set for half a day, and the convoy had only covered half the road. Dust, heat, the sun is so hot, and there is nowhere to hide. Bare steppe: not a tree or bush along the road.

Zhilin rode forward, stopped and waited for the convoy to approach him. He hears a horn playing behind him - stand again. Zhilin thought: “Shouldn’t I leave alone, without soldiers? The horse under me is good, even if I attack the Tatars, I’ll gallop away. Or not to ride?..”

He stopped and thought. And another officer, Kostylin, with a gun, rides up to him on a horse and says:

- Let's go, Zhilin, alone. There’s no urine, I’m hungry, and it’s hot. At least squeeze my shirt out. - And Kostylin is a heavy, fat man, all red, and the sweat is pouring off him. Zhilin thought and said:

- Is the gun loaded?

- Charged.

- Well, then let's go. The only agreement is not to leave.

And they drove forward along the road. They drive along the steppe, talk and look around. You can see far all around.

As soon as the steppe ended, the road between two mountains entered the gorge. Zhilin says:

“We need to go out to the mountain to have a look, otherwise they’ll probably jump out of the mountain and you won’t see it.”

And Kostylin says:

- What to watch? Let's go forward.

Zhilin did not listen to him.

“No,” he says, “you wait below, and I’ll just take a look.”

And he turned his horse to the left, up the mountain. The horse near Zhilin was a hunting horse (he paid a hundred rubles for it in the herd as a foal and rode it out himself); as if on wings, she carried him up the steep slope. As soon as he jumped out, lo and behold, in front of him, on a tithe [Tithe is a measure of land: a little more than a hectare] of space, the Tatars were standing on horseback. About thirty people. He saw it and began to turn back; and the Tatars saw him, rushed towards him, and at a gallop they grabbed their guns from their cases. Zhilin set off at full speed and shouted to Kostylin:

- Take out your gun! - and he thinks to his horse: “Mother, take it out, don’t get your foot caught; if you stumble, you’re lost. I’ll get to the gun, I won’t give in myself.”

And Kostylin, instead of waiting, as soon as he saw the Tatars, he ran as fast as he could towards the fortress. The horse is fried with a whip, first from one side, then from the other. Only in the dust can you see the horse wagging its tail.

Zhilin sees that things are bad. The gun is gone, you can’t do anything with one checker. He started the horse back towards the soldiers - he thought about leaving. He sees six people rolling across him. Under him the horse is kind, and under those they are even kinder, and they even gallop across. He began to turn around, wanted to turn back, but the horse was already running wild - he couldn’t hold it, he was flying straight at them. He sees a Tatar with a red beard on a gray horse approaching him. Squeals, teeth bared, gun at the ready.

“Well,” Zhilin thinks, “I know you devils: if they take you alive, put you in a pit, and flog you with a whip. I won’t surrender myself alive...”

And Zhilin, although not very tall, was brave. He grabbed his saber, launched his horse straight at the Red Tatar, and thought: “I’ll either knock him down with the horse or cut him down with the saber.”

Zhilin couldn’t get enough space to get on the horse - they shot at him from behind with guns and hit the horse. The horse hit the ground with all its might and fell on Zilina’s leg.

He wanted to get up, but two stinking Tatars were sitting on him, twisting his arms back. He rushed, threw off the Tatars, and three people jumped off their horses and started beating him on the head with rifle butts. His vision grew dim and he staggered. The Tatars grabbed him, removed the spare girths from the saddles, twisted his arms behind his back, tied him with a Tatar knot, and dragged him to the saddle. They knocked off his hat, pulled off his boots, ransacked everything - money, took out his watch, tore everything into his dress. Zhilin looked back at his horse. She, my dear, fell on her side and lies there, only kicking her legs - she doesn’t reach the ground; there is a hole in the head, and black blood is whistling from the hole - the dust has moistened an arshin all around. One Tatar approached the horse and began to take off the saddle; it kept beating; he took out a dagger and cut her throat. It whistled from the throat, fluttered - and out of the air.

The Tatars took off the saddle and harness. The Tatar with a red beard sat on the horse, and the others lifted Zhilin onto his saddle, and so as not to fall, they pulled him with a belt to the Tatar and took him to the mountains.

Zhilin sits behind the Tatar, sways, rubs his face into the stinking Tatar back. All he sees in front of him is a hefty Tatar back, a sinewy neck, and the shaved back of his head turning blue under his hat. Zhilin’s head is broken, blood is caked above his eyes. And he can neither recover on horseback nor wipe off the blood. My arms are twisted so tightly that my collarbone ache.

They drove up the mountain for a long time, forded a river, got onto the road and drove through a ravine.

Zhilin wanted to notice the road where he was being taken, but his eyes were smeared with blood, but he couldn’t turn around.

It began to get dark: we crossed another river, began to climb a stone mountain, there was a smell of smoke, and dogs began to bark. We arrived in the aul [Aul is a Tatar village. (Note by L.N. Tolstoy)]. The Tatars got off their horses, the Tatar boys gathered, surrounded Zhilin, squealed, rejoiced, and began to shoot stones at him.

The Tatar drove the guys away, took Zhilin off his horse and called to the worker. A Nogai [Nogaets is a mountaineer, a resident of Dagestan] came, with high cheekbones, wearing only a shirt. The shirt is torn, the whole chest is bare. The Tatar ordered him something. The worker brought a block: two oak blocks were mounted on iron rings, and in one ring there was a punch and a lock.

They untied Zhilin’s hands, put him in a shoe and led him to the barn; They pushed him there and locked the door. Zhilin fell on the manure. He lay down, felt in the dark, where it was softer, and lay down.

Zhilin did not sleep almost all that night. The nights were short. He sees that the crack has begun to glow. Zhilin got up, dug out a larger crack, and began to look.

He can see the road from the crack - it goes downhill, to the right is a Tatar saklya [Saklya, the dwelling of the Caucasian highlanders], two trees next to it. A black dog lies on the threshold, a goat with kids walks around, their tails twitching. He sees a young Tatar woman coming from under the mountain, wearing a colored shirt, a belt, pants and boots, her head covered with a caftan, and on her head a large tin jug of water. He walks, his back trembles, he bends over, and the Tatar girl leads the shaven man in only a shirt by the hand. The Tatar woman went into the hut with water, yesterday’s Tatar came out with a red beard, wearing a silk beshmet [Beshmet - outerwear], a silver dagger on his belt, and shoes on his bare feet. On the head is a tall, black, lamb’s hat, folded back. He came out, stretched, and stroked his red beard. He stood there, told the worker something, and went somewhere.

Then two guys rode on horseback to a watering hole. Horses snore [Snoring here: the lower part of the horse's muzzle] is wet. More boys ran out, shaved, wearing only shirts, without trousers, gathered in a group, went up to the barn, took a twig and stuck it in the crack. Zhilin howled at them: the guys screamed and started running away - only their bare knees were shining.

But Zhilin is thirsty, his throat is dry. He thinks: “If only they would come and visit.” He hears the barn being unlocked. A red Tatar came, and with him another, smaller, blackish one. The eyes are black, light, ruddy, the beard is small, trimmed; The face is cheerful, everything is laughing. The blackish one is dressed even better: a blue silk beshmet, trimmed with braid [Galunchik, galloon - braid, gold or silver stripe]. The dagger on the belt is large, silver; The shoes are red, morocco, also trimmed with silver. And on the thin shoes there are other, thick shoes. The hat is tall, white lambskin.

The Red Tatar entered, said something, as if he was swearing, and stood, leaned his elbows on the ceiling, moving his dagger, like a wolf looking sideways at Zhilin. And the blackish one is fast, lively, so he’s all on springs and walks right up to Zhilin, squatted down, bared his teeth, patted him on the shoulder, began to babble something often, often in his own way, winking with his eyes, clicking his tongue. Everything says:

- Good Urus! ok Urus!

Zhilin did not understand anything and said:

- Give me something to drink, give me some water.

Black laughs.

“Korosh Urus,” he babbles in his own way.

Zhilin indicated with his lips and hands that they give him a drink.

Black understood, laughed, looked out the door, called someone:

A girl came running, thin, skinny, about thirteen years old, and her face looked like a black one. Apparently it's a daughter. Her eyes are also black, light and her face is beautiful. Dressed in a long, blue shirt, with wide sleeves and without a belt. There is red trim on the hem, chest and sleeves. On his feet are pants and shoes, and on the shoes are others, with high heels, on his neck is a monisto [a monisto necklace made of beads, coins or colored stones], all made from Russian fifty dollars. The head is bare, the braid is black, and there is a ribbon in the braid, and on the ribbon are hung plaques and a silver ruble.

1

One gentleman served as an officer in the Caucasus. His name was Zhilin.

One day he received a letter from home. His old mother writes to him: “I have become old, and I want to see my beloved son before I die. Come say goodbye to me, bury me, and then with God, go back to the service. And I have found a bride for you: she is smart, and good, and has property. If you fall in love, maybe you’ll get married and stay completely.”

Zhilin thought about it: “And indeed: the old woman has become really bad; maybe you won't have to see it. go; and if the bride is good, you can get married.”

He went to the colonel, straightened out his leave, said goodbye to his comrades, gave his soldiers four buckets of vodka as a farewell, and got ready to leave.

There was a war in the Caucasus at that time. There was no passage on the roads either day or night. As soon as any of the Russians leave or move away from the fortress, the Tatars will either kill them or take them to the mountains. And it was customary that escorted soldiers walked from fortress to fortress twice a week. Soldiers walk in front and behind, and people ride in the middle.

It was summer. At dawn the convoys gathered for the fortress, the accompanying soldiers came out and set off along the road. Zhilin was riding on horseback, and the cart with his things was in the wagon train.

It was 25 miles to go. The convoy walked quietly; Then the soldiers will stop, then someone’s wheel will come off in the wagon train, or a horse will stop, and everyone will stand there, waiting.

The sun had already set for half a day, and the convoy had only covered half the road. Dust, heat, the sun is so hot, but there is nowhere to hide. Bare steppe, not a tree or bush along the road.

Zhilin rode forward, stopped and waited for the convoy to arrive. He hears a horn playing behind him, and stands again. Zhilin thought: “Shouldn’t I leave alone, without soldiers? The horse under me is good, even if I attack the Tatars, I will gallop away. Or not to go?..”

He stopped and thought. And another officer, Kostylin, with a gun, rides up to him on a horse and says:

Let's go, Zhilin, alone. There’s no urine, I’m hungry, and it’s hot. At least squeeze my shirt out. - And Kostylin is a heavy, fat man, all red, and the sweat just pours from him. Zhilin thought and said:

Is the gun loaded?

Charged.

Well, let's go then. The only agreement is not to leave.

And they drove forward along the road. They drive along the steppe, talk and look around. You can see far all around.

As soon as the steppe ended, the road went between two mountains into a gorge, Zhilin said:

You need to go up the mountain and have a look, otherwise they’ll probably jump out from behind the mountain and you won’t see it.

And Kostylin says:

What to watch? let's go ahead.

Zhilin did not listen to him.

No,” he says, “you wait below, and I’ll just take a look.”

And he turned his horse to the left, up the mountain. The horse near Zhilin was a hunting horse (he paid a hundred rubles for it in the herd as a foal and rode it out himself); how she carried him up the steep slope on wings. As soon as he jumped out, lo and behold, in front of him, on a tithe of space, there were about thirty Tatars standing on horseback. He saw it and began to turn back; and the Tatars saw him, rushed towards him, and at a gallop they grabbed their guns from their cases. Zhilin set off at full speed and shouted to Kostylin:

Take out your gun! - and he thinks to his horse: “Mother, take it out, don’t catch your foot, you’ll stumble and you’re lost.” If I get to the gun, I won’t give in to them.”

And Kostylin, instead of waiting, as soon as he saw the Tatars, he ran as fast as he could towards the fortress. The horse is fried with a whip, first from one side, then from the other. Only in the dust can you see the horse wagging its tail.

Zhilin sees that things are bad. The gun is gone, you can’t do anything with one checker. He started the horse back to the soldiers - he thought about leaving. He sees six people rolling across him. Under him the horse is kind, and under those they are even kinder, and they even gallop across. He began to turn around, wanted to turn back, but the horse was already running wild, he couldn’t hold it, he was flying straight at them. He sees a Tatar on a gray horse approaching him with a red beard. Squeals, teeth bared, gun at the ready.

“Well,” Zhilin thinks, “I know you devils, if they take you alive, put you in a pit, and flog you with a whip. I won’t give in alive.”

And Zhilin, although small in stature, was brave. He grabbed his saber, launched his horse straight at the Red Tatar, and thought: “I’ll either knock him down with the horse or cut him down with the saber.”

Zhilin couldn’t get enough space to get on his horse, they shot at him from behind with guns and hit the horse. The horse hit the ground with all its might and fell on Zilina’s leg.

He wanted to get up, but two stinking Tatars were sitting on him, twisting his arms back. He rushed, threw off the Tatars, and three people jumped off their horses and started beating him on the head with rifle butts. His vision grew dim and he staggered. The Tatars grabbed him, removed the spare girths from the saddles, twisted his arms behind his back, tied him with a Tatar knot, and dragged him to the saddle. They knocked off his hat, pulled off his boots, ransacked everything, took out his money, his watch, and tore up his dress. Zhilin looked back at his horse. She, my dear, fell on her side and lies there, only kicking her legs, not reaching the ground; There’s a hole in my head, and black blood is whistling out of the hole; the dust has moistened an arshin all around.

One Tatar approached the horse and began to remove the saddle. She keeps beating,” he took out a dagger and cut her throat. It whistled from the throat, fluttered, and the steam was gone.

The Tatars took off the saddle and harness. The Tatar with a red beard sat on the horse, and the others lifted Zhilin into the saddle; and so as not to fall, they pulled him with a belt to the Tatar and took him to the mountains.

Zhilin sits behind the Tatar, sways, rubs his face into the stinking Tatar back. All he sees in front of him is a hefty Tatar back, a sinewy neck, and the shaved back of his head turning blue under his hat. Zhilin’s head is broken, blood is caked above his eyes. And he can neither recover on horseback nor wipe off the blood. My arms are twisted so tightly that my collarbone ache.

They rode for a long time from mountain to mountain, forded a river, got onto the road and drove through a ravine.

Zhilin wanted to notice the road where he was being taken, but his eyes were smeared with blood, but he couldn’t turn around.

It began to get dark. We crossed another river, began to climb a stone mountain, there was a smell of smoke, and dogs began to bark.

We arrived at village 1. The Tatars got off their horses, the Tatar boys gathered, surrounded Zhilin, squealed, rejoiced, and began to shoot stones at him.

The Tatar drove the guys away, took Zhilin off his horse and called to the worker. A Nogai with high cheekbones came, wearing only a shirt. The shirt is torn, the whole chest is bare. The Tatar ordered something to him. The worker brought a block: two oak blocks were mounted on iron rings, and in one ring there was a punch and a lock.

They untied Zhilin’s hands, put him in a shoe and led him into the barn: they pushed him there and locked the door. Zhilin fell on the manure. He lay down, felt in the dark, where it was softer, and lay down.

2

Zhilin did not sleep almost all that night. The nights were short. He sees that the crack has begun to glow. Zhilin got up, dug out a larger crack, and began to look.

He can see the road from the crack - it goes downhill, to the right is a Tatar hut, two trees next to it. A black dog lies on the threshold, a goat with kids walks around, their tails twitching. He sees a young Tatar woman coming from under the mountain, wearing a colored shirt, a belt, pants and boots, her head covered with a caftan, and on her head a large tin jug of water. He walks, his back trembles, he bends over,

1 Aul is a Tatar village. (Note by L.N. Tolstoy.)

and the Tatar girl leads the shaven man in only a shirt by the hand. The Tatar woman went into the hut with water, the Tatar from yesterday came out with a red beard, wearing a silk beshmet, a silver dagger on his belt, and shoes on his bare feet. On the head is a tall, black, lamb’s hat, folded back. He came out, stretched, and stroked his red beard. He stood there, said something to the worker, and went somewhere.

Then two guys rode on horseback to a watering hole. Horses snore wetly. More boys ran out, shaved, wearing only shirts, without trousers, gathered in a group, went up to the barn, took a twig and stuck it in the crack. Zhilin howled at them: the guys screamed and started running away, only their bare knees shining.

But Zhilin is thirsty, his throat is dry; He thinks that they should at least come and visit. He hears the barn being unlocked. A red Tatar came, and with him another, smaller, blackish one. The eyes are black, light, ruddy, the beard is small, trimmed; The face is cheerful, everyone is laughing. The blackish one is dressed even better: a blue silk beshmet, trimmed with braid. The dagger on the belt is large, silver; The shoes are red, morocco, also trimmed with silver. And on thin shoes there are other thick shoes. The hat is tall, white lambskin.

The Red Tatar entered, said something as if he was swearing, and stood up; leaning on the ceiling, moving his dagger, like a wolf looking sideways at Zhilin. And the blackish one - fast, lively, and walks all on springs - came straight up to Zhilin, squatted down, bared his teeth, patted him on the shoulder, began to babble something often, often in his own way, winked with his eyes, clicked his tongue, keeps saying: “Koroshourus!” koroshowrus!”

Zhilin did not understand anything and said: “Drink, give me water to drink!”

Black laughs. “Korosh Urus,” everyone babbles in his own way.

Zhilin indicated with his lips and hands that they give him a drink.

Black understood, laughed, looked out the door, called someone: “Dina!”

A girl came running - thin, skinny, about thirteen years old and her face looked like a black one. Apparently it's a daughter. Also, her eyes are black, light and her face is beautiful. Dressed in a long, blue shirt, with wide sleeves and without a belt. On the floors, on the chest and on the sleeves there is a delay of red.

On his feet are trousers and shoes, and on his shoes are others with high heels; Monisto on the neck, all made from Russian fifty dollars. The head is bare, the braid is black, and there is a ribbon in the braid, and on the ribbon are hung plaques and a silver ruble.

Her father told her something. She ran away and came again, bringing a tin jug. She handed over the water, squatted down, and bent her whole body so that her shoulders went below her knees. She sits with her eyes open, looking at Zhilin as he drinks, as if at some kind of animal.

Zhilin handed her back the jug. How she will jump away like a wild goat. Even my father laughed. Sent her somewhere else. She took the jug, ran, brought unleavened bread on a round board and sat down again, bent over, and kept her eyes on it - looking.

The Tatars left and locked the door again.

After a while, a Nogai comes to Zhilin and says:

Come on, master, come on!

He doesn't speak Russian either. Zhilin just realized that he was telling him to go somewhere.

Zhilin came with a block, he was limping, he couldn’t step, and he turned his leg to the side. Zhilin went out to get the Nogai. He sees a Tatar village, ten houses, and their church, with a turret. There are three horses in saddles near one house. The boys are holding on. A blackish Tatar jumped out of this house and waved his hand so that Zhilin would come to him. He laughs, says something in his own way, and walks out the door. Zhilin came to the house. The room is good, the walls are smoothly smeared with clay. Colorful down jackets are stacked against the front wall, expensive carpets hang on the sides; on the carpets there are guns, pistols, checkers - everything is in silver. In one wall there is a small stove level with the floor. The floor is earthen, clean as a current, and the entire front corner is covered with felts; there are felt carpets and down pillows on the carpets. And on the carpets, wearing only shoes, sit the Tatars: black, red and three guests. Behind everyone's backs there are feather pillows, and in front of them on a round board there are millet pancakes and cow's butter dissolved in a cup, and Tatar beer - buza, in a jug. They eat with their hands, and their hands are all covered in oil.

The black man jumped up, ordered Zhilin to be seated aside, not on the carpet, but on the bare floor, climbed back onto the carpet, and treated the guests to pancakes and buza. The worker put Zhilin in his place, took off his upper shoes himself, placed them by the door in a row where the other shoes stood, and sat down on the felt closer to the owners; watches them eat, wipes away their drool.

The Tatars ate pancakes, a Tatar woman came wearing a shirt the same as the girl’s and pants; the head is covered with a scarf. She took away the butter and pancakes, and gave her a good tub and a jug with a narrow nose. The Tatars began to wash their hands, then folded their hands, sat on their knees, blew in all directions and read prayers. We talked in our own way. Then one of the Tatar guests turned to Zhilin and began speaking in Russian.

“Kazi-Mugamed took you,” he says, “he points to the red Tatar,” and gave you to Abdul-Murat,” he points to the blackish one. “Abdul-Murat is now your master.” - Zhilin is silent.

Abdul-Murat spoke, and kept pointing at Zhilin, and laughed, and said: “Urus soldier, good Urus.”

The translator says: “He tells you to write a letter home so that they send a ransom for you. As soon as the money is sent, he will let you in.”

Zhilin thought and said: “How much ransom does he want?”

The Tatars talked, the translator said:

Three thousand coins.

No,” says Zhilin, “I can’t pay for this.”

Abdul jumped up, started waving his arms, saying something to Zhilin, and kept thinking that he would understand. The translator translated and said: “How much will you give?”

Zhilin thought and said: “Five hundred rubles.”

Here the Tatars started talking often, all of a sudden. Abdul began to shout at the red one, babbling so much that drool was spraying out of his mouth. And the red one just squints and clicks his tongue.

They fell silent; the translator says:

Five hundred rubles is not enough ransom for the owner. He himself paid two hundred rubles for you. Kazi-Mugamed owed him. He took you for a debt. Three thousand rubles, you can’t spend less. If you don’t write, they’ll put you in a hole and punish you with a whip.

“Eh,” Zhilin thinks, “it’s worse to be timid with them.” He jumped to his feet and said:

And you tell him, the dog, that if he wants to scare me, I won’t give a penny, and I won’t write. I wasn’t afraid, and I won’t be afraid of you dogs!

The translator retold the story, and suddenly everyone started talking again.

They chattered for a long time, the black one jumped up and approached Zhilin.

Urus, he says, horseman, horseman Urus!

In their language, Dzhigit means “well done.” And he laughs;

said something to the translator, and the translator said:

Give me a thousand rubles.

Zhilin stood his ground: “I won’t give you more than five hundred rubles. But if you kill, you won’t take anything.”

The Tatars talked, sent a worker somewhere, and they themselves looked at Zhilin, then at the door. A worker came, and a fat man, barefoot and ragged, followed him; there is also a block on the foot.

So Zhilin gasped, - he recognized Kostylin. And he was caught. They sat them down next to each other; They began to tell each other, but the Tatars remained silent and watched. Zhilin told how it happened with him; Kostylin said that the horse stopped under him and the gun stopped working, and that this same Abdul caught up with him and took him.

Abdul jumped up, pointed at Kostylin, and said something.

The translator translated that they are now both of the same owner, and whoever gives the ransom first will be released first.

“Here,” says Zhilin, “you are still angry, but your comrade is calm; he wrote a letter home, five thousand coins will be sent. So they will feed him well and will not offend him.

Zhilin says:

Comrade, as he wishes; He may be rich, but I am not rich. “I,” he says, “as I said, so it will be.” If you want to kill, it won’t do you any good, and I won’t write more than five hundred rubles.

We were silent. Suddenly Abdul jumped up, took out a chest, took out a pen, a piece of paper and ink, gave it to Zhilina, patted him on the shoulder, indicating: “write.” I agreed to 500 rubles.

“Wait a little longer,” Zhilin says to the translator, “tell him to feed us well, dress and shoe us properly, to keep us together, it will be more fun for us, and to take off the stocks.” - He looks at the owner and laughs. The owner laughs too. He listened and said:

I’ll dress the best ladies: a Circassian coat, and boots, even if I’m getting married. I will feed you like princes. And if they want to live together, let them live in a barn. But you can’t remove the block - they’ll leave. I'll only take it off at night. - He jumped up and patted him on the shoulder. - Yours is good, mine is good!

Zhilin wrote a letter, but on the letter he wrote it wrong so that it wouldn’t get through. He thinks: “I’ll leave.”

They took Zhilin and Kostylin to the barn, brought them corn straw, water in a jug, bread, two old Circassian coats and worn-out soldiers’ boots. Apparently they stole it from dead soldiers. At night they took off their stocks and locked them in a barn.

3

Zhilin and his friend lived like this for a whole month. The owner keeps laughing. “Yours, Ivan, is good, mine, Abdul, is good.” And he fed me poorly, all he gave was unleavened bread made from millet flour, baked into flatbreads, or even unbaked dough.

Kostylin wrote home again, still waiting for the money to be sent, and was bored. He sits in the barn all day long and counts the days until the letter arrives, or sleeps. But Zhilin knew that his letter would not arrive, but he did not write another.

“Where,” he thinks, “can my mother get so much money and pay for me?” And then she lived the more that I sent her. If she collects five hundred rubles, she must go completely broke. God willing, I’ll get out myself.”

And he himself is looking out for everything, trying to figure out how to escape. Walks around the village, whistling; and then he sits, doing some handicraft, or sculpting dolls from clay, or weaving braids from twigs. And Zhilin was a master of all kinds of needlework.

He once molded a doll, with a nose, arms, legs and a Tatar shirt, and placed the doll on the roof.

The Tatars went for water. The owner's daughter Dinka saw the doll and called the Tatar women. They stacked the jugs, looked, and laughed. Zhilin took off the doll and gave it to them. They laugh, but don’t dare take it. He left the doll, went into the barn and looked to see what would happen?

Dina ran up, looked around, grabbed the doll and ran away.

The next morning, at dawn, Dina came out onto the threshold with a doll. And she has already removed the doll with red rags and rocks it like a child, she lulls it to sleep in her own way. An old woman came out, scolded her, snatched the doll, broke it, and sent Dina off to work somewhere.

Zhilin made another doll, even better, and gave it to Dina. Once Dina brought a jug, put it down, sat down and looked at it, she laughed and pointed at the jug.

“Why is she happy?” - thinks Zhilin. He took the jug and began to drink. He thinks it’s water, but there’s milk. He drank the milk, “good,” he said. How Dina will rejoice!

Okay, Ivan, okay! - and jumped up, clapped her hands, snatched the jug and ran away.

And from then on she began to steal milk for him every day. Otherwise, the Tatars make cheese cakes from goat’s milk and dry them on the roofs - so she secretly brought these cakes to him. And once the owner was cutting a lamb, she brought him a piece of lamb in her sleeve. He will throw it and run away.

There was once a severe thunderstorm, and the rain poured down like buckets for an hour. And all the rivers where there was a ford became muddy, the water went three arshins deep, turning over stones. Streams are flowing everywhere, there is a roar in the mountains. This is how the thunderstorm passed, streams were running everywhere in the village. Zhilin asked the owner for a knife, cut out a roller, planks, feathered a wheel, and attached dolls to the wheel at both ends.

The girls brought him some scraps, and he dressed the dolls: one was a man, the other was a woman; approved them, placed the wheel on the stream. The wheel spins and the dolls jump.

The whole village gathered: boys, girls, women; and the Tatars came, clicking their tongues:

Ay, Urus! ah, Ivan!

Abdul had a broken Russian watch. He called Zhilin, pointed, clicked his tongue. Zhilin says:

Come on, I'll fix it.

He took it, took it apart with a knife, and laid it out; again he dealt with it and gave it away. The clock is ticking.

The owner was delighted, brought him his old beshmet, all in rags, and gave it to him. There’s nothing to do, I took it, and it’s good to cover myself at night.

Since then, the fame of Zhilin has spread that he is a master. They began to come to him from distant villages: some would bring a lock on a gun or a pistol to repair, some would bring a watch. The owner brought him some gear; and tweezers, and gimlets, and filers.

Once a Tatar fell ill, they came to Zhilin: “Go and get treatment.” Zhilin doesn’t know anything about how to treat. He went and looked and thought: “Maybe he’ll get better on his own.” He went into the barn, took water and sand, and stirred it up. In front of the Tatars, he whispered to the water and gave it to him to drink. Luckily for him, the Tatar recovered. Zhilin began to understand a little of their language. And the Tatars who are accustomed to him, when necessary, call out: “Ivan, Ivan!” - and they all look sideways, as if looking at an animal.

The Red Tatar did not like Zhilin. When he sees you, he will frown and turn away or curse you. They also had an old man. He did not live in the village, but came from under the mountain. Zhilin saw him only when he came to the mosque to pray to God. He was small in stature, had a white towel wrapped around his hat, his beard and mustache were trimmed, white as down; and his face is wrinkled as red as a brick. The nose is hooked, like a hawk, and the eyes are gray, angry and there are no teeth - only two fangs. He used to walk in his turban, prop himself up with his crutch, like a wolf, looking around. As soon as he sees Zilina, he will snore and turn away.

Zhilin once went downhill to see where the old man lived. He walked down the path and saw a garden with a stone fence; from behind the fence there are cherry trees, sears and a hut with a flat roof. He came closer; he sees the hives standing, woven from straw, and the bees are flying and buzzing. And the old man is on his knees, fussing about something near the hive. Zhilin rose higher to take a look, and rattled the block. The old man looked around - he squealed; He grabbed a pistol from his belt and fired it at Zhilin. He barely managed to duck behind a stone.

An old man came to the owner to complain. The owner called Zhilin, he laughed and asked:

Why did you go to the old man?

“I,” he says, “didn’t do him any harm.” I wanted to see how he lives.

The owner gave it. And the old man gets angry, hisses, babbles something, sticks out his fangs, waves his hands at Zhilin.

Zhilin did not understand everything; but I realized that the old man was telling the owner to kill the Russians, and not keep them in the village. The old man left.

Zhilin began to ask the owner: who is this old man? The owner says:

This is a big man! He was the first horseman, he beat a lot of Russians, he was rich. He had three wives and eight sons. Everyone lived in the same village. The Russians came, ravaged the village and killed seven sons. One son remained and was handed over to the Russians. The old man went and handed himself over to the Russians. He lived with them for three months, found his son there, killed him himself and fled. Since then, he gave up fighting and went to Mecca to pray to God. This is why he has a turban. Anyone who has been to Mecca is called a haji and wears a turban. He doesn't love your brother. He orders you to be killed; Yes, I can’t kill you, I paid money for you; Yes, I loved you, Ivan; Not only would I kill you, I wouldn’t even let you out if I hadn’t given my word. - He laughs and says in Russian: “yours, Ivan, is good, mine, Abdul, is good!”

4

Zhilin lived like this for a month. During the day he walks around the village or does handicrafts, and when night comes and the village becomes quiet, he digs in his barn. It was difficult to dig because of the stones, but he rubbed the stones with a file, and he dug a hole under the wall just big enough to crawl through. “If only,” he thinks, “it’s a good place for me to know which way to go.” Let no Tatars say anything.”

So he chose the time when the owner left; After lunch I went behind the village to the mountain - I wanted to see the place from there. And when the owner was leaving, he ordered the little one to follow Zhilin and not let him out of his sight. The guy runs after Zhilin and shouts:

Do not go! Father didn't order. Now I’ll call the people!

Zhilin began to persuade him.

“I won’t go far,” he says, “I’ll just climb that mountain: I need to find grass to heal your people.” Come with me; I won't run away with the block. Tomorrow I’ll make you a bow and arrows.

I persuaded the little guy, let's go. Looking at the mountain is not far, but it’s difficult with a block; walked, walked, climbed with difficulty. Zhilin sat down and began to look around the place. At midday, behind the mountain, there is a hollow, a herd is walking, and another village is visible in the low place. From the village there is another mountain - even steeper, and behind that mountain there is another mountain. Between the mountains the forest turns blue, and there the mountains rise higher and higher. And above all, mountains white as sugar stand under the snow. And one snowy mountain stands taller than the others. At sunrise and sunset - all the same mountains; in some places villages smoke in the gorges. “Well,” he thinks, “this is all their side.” He began to look in the Russian direction: there was a river under his feet, his own village, kindergartens all around. You can see women sitting on the river like little dolls, rinsing. Behind the village, lower down, there is a mountain, and through it there are two more mountains, along them there is a forest; and between the two mountains there is a blue level place, and on the level place, far, far away, as if smoke is spreading. Zhilin began to remember when he lived in the fortress at home, where the sun rose and where it set. He sees: that’s right, our fortress should be in this valley. There, between these two mountains, we must run.

The sun began to set. The snowy mountains turned from white to scarlet; it became dark in the black mountains; steam rose from the hollows, and the very valley where our fortress should be, as if on fire, caught fire from the sunset. Zhilin began to peer, and something was looming in the valley, like smoke from chimneys. And he thinks that this is the Russian fortress.

It's getting late. You can hear the mullah shout. The herd is being driven - the cows are roaring. The guy keeps calling: “Let’s go,” but Zhilin doesn’t want to leave.

They returned home. “Well,” Zhilin thinks, “now I know the place; I have to run." He wanted to escape that same night. The nights were dark - the damage of the month. Unfortunately, the Tatars returned in the evening. It used to be that they would come, take their cattle with them, and come cheerful. And this time they didn’t bring anything, but brought their dead Tatar, the red-haired brother, on the saddle. They arrived angry and gathered to bury everything. Zhilin went out and looked. They wrapped the dead man in linen, without a coffin, carried him out under the plane trees outside the village, and laid him on the grass. The mullah arrived, the old people gathered, tied their hats with towels, took off their shoes, and sat down on their heels in a row in front of the dead man.

In front is a mullah, behind are three old men in turbans, in a row, and behind them are more Tatars. They sat down, looked down and were silent. They were silent for a long time. The mullah raised his head and said:

Allah! (means god) - He said this one word, and again they looked down and were silent for a long time; sitting, not moving. The mullah raised his head again:

Allah! - and everyone said: “Alla” - and fell silent again. The dead man lies on the grass, does not move, and they sit as if dead. Not a single one moves. You can just hear the leaves on the plane tree turning in the breeze. Then the mullah read a prayer, everyone stood up, picked up the dead man in their arms, and carried him away. They brought me to the pit. The hole was not just dug, but dug underground, like a basement. They took the dead man under the armpits and under the waist, bent him over, lowered him a little, slipped him sitting under the ground, and tucked his hands over his stomach.

The Nogai brought green reeds, filled the hole with reeds, quickly covered them with earth, leveled them, and placed a stone upright at the dead man’s head. They trampled the ground and sat down again in a row in front of the grave. They were silent for a long time.

Allah! Allah! Allah! - They sighed and stood up.

The red-haired man handed out money to the old people, then stood up and took

whip, hit himself three times on the forehead and went home.

The next morning he sees Zhilin - he is leading a red mare outside the village, and three Tatars are following him. They went out of the village, took off the red beshmet, rolled up his sleeves - his hands were healthy - he took out a dagger and sharpened it on a block. The Tatars lifted the mare's head up, the redhead came up, cut the throat, knocked the mare down and began to skin him - tearing up the skin with his fists. Women and girls came and began to wash the intestines and insides. Then they chopped up the mare and dragged her into the hut. And the whole village gathered at the redhead’s to commemorate the deceased.

For three days they ate the mare, drank buza, and commemorated the deceased. All the Tatars were at home. On the fourth day, Zhilin sees, they are going somewhere for lunch. They brought the horses, cleaned up and about 10 people rode off, and the red one rode off: only Abdul remained at home. The moon had just begun, the nights were still dark.

“Well,” Zhilin thinks, “now we have to run,” and says to Kostylin. And Kostylin became shy.

How can you escape? We don't even know the road.

I know the way.

And we won’t get there at night.

If we don’t get there, we’ll spend the night in the forest. I picked up some flatbreads. Why are you going to sit? Well, they’ll send money, otherwise they won’t collect it. And the Tatars are now angry - because the Russians killed them. They say they want to kill us.

Kostylin thought and thought.

Well, let's go.

5

Zhilin climbed into the hole, dug wider so that Kostylin could get through, and they sat there, waiting for the village to quiet down.

As soon as the people in the village quieted down, Zhilin climbed under the wall and got out. Whispers to Kostylin: “Climb.” Kostylin also climbed up, but caught a stone with his foot and made it rattle. And the owner had a guard - a motley dog, and an angry, despicable one; her name was Ulyashin. Zhilin had already fed her in advance. Ulyashin heard it, wandered in and rushed, followed by other dogs. Zhilin whistled a little, threw a piece of flatbread, Ulyashin recognized it, waved his tail and stopped babbling.

The owner heard it and shouted from the saklya: “Get out!” Screw it! Ulyashin!

And Zhilin scratches Ulyashin behind the ears. The dog is silent, rubs against his legs, wags its tail.

They sat around the corner. Everything became quiet; You can only hear a sheep fluttering in the nook and below the water making noise on the pebbles. Dark; the stars stand high in the sky; Above the mountain the young moon has turned red and is moving upward with its horns. In the hollows the fog turns white like milk.

Zhilin stood up and said to his comrade: “Well, brother, let’s go!”

We set off; As soon as they walked away, they heard the mullah on the roof singing: “Alla! Besmilla! Ilrahman! This means that people will go to the mosque. They sat down again, hiding under the wall. We sat for a long time, waiting for the people to pass. It became quiet again.

Well, with God! - We crossed ourselves, let's go. We walked through the yard under the steep slope to the river, crossed the river, and walked through the ravine. The fog is thick and low, but the stars are visible overhead. Zhilin notes from the stars which direction to go. It’s fresh in the fog, it’s easy to walk, only the boots are awkward - they’ve worn out. Zhilin took off his, threw them away, and walked barefoot. Jumps from pebble to pebble and looks at the stars. Kostylin began to lag behind.

“Hush,” he says, “go: the damned boots, they’ve worn out all your feet.”

Yes, take it off, it will be easier.

Kostylin went barefoot - even worse: he cut all his feet on the stones and kept falling behind. Zhilin tells him:

If you peel your legs, they will heal, but if they catch up, they will kill you - worse.

Kostylin says nothing, walks on, grunts. They walked downhill for a long time. They hear dogs wandering to the right. Zhilin stopped, looked around, climbed the mountain, and felt with his hands.

Eh,” he says, “we made a mistake, we took it to the right.” This village is foreign, I saw it from the mountain; you have to go back and go left up the hill. There must be a forest here.

And Kostylin says:

Wait a little, let me breathe, my legs are all bleeding.

Eh, brother, they will heal; you jump easier. That's how!

And Zhilin ran back, to the left, up the mountain, into the forest. Kostylin keeps falling behind and groans. Zhilin hisses and hisses at him, but he keeps walking.

We climbed the mountain. That's right - a forest. They entered the forest and tore the last dress along the thorns. They attacked a path in the forest. They're coming.

Stop! - It stomped its hooves along the road. They stopped and listened. It stomped like a horse and stopped.

They set off - it flooded again. They will stop - and it will stop. Zhilin crawled up, looked at the light along the road - there was something standing. The horse is not a horse, and there is something wonderful on the horse that doesn’t look like a person. He snorted - he heard. “What a miracle!” Zhilin whistled slowly, as he shuffled off the road into the forest and crackled through the forest, as if a storm was flying and breaking branches.

Kostylin fell down in fear. And Zhilin laughs and says:

This is a deer. Do you hear how the forest breaks with its horns? We are afraid of him, and he is afraid of us.

Let's move on. The high temperatures have already begun to descend, and morning is not far away. Whether they are going there or not, they don’t know. It seems to Zhilin that they were taking him along this very road and that it would still be about ten miles to their own; but there is no true sign, and you can’t make out the night. We went out into the clearing. Kostylin sat down and said:

Whatever you want, I won’t get there - my legs won’t move.

Zhilin began to persuade him.

No, he says, I won’t get there, I can’t.

Zhilin got angry, spat and cursed him.

So I’ll leave alone, goodbye!

Kostylin jumped up and walked away. They walked about four miles. The fog in the forest had settled even thicker, you couldn’t see anything in front of you, and the stars were barely visible.

Suddenly they hear a horse stomping ahead. You can hear it clinging to stones with horseshoes. Zhilin lay down on his belly and began to listen on the ground.

That’s right - here, the horseman is coming to us.

They ran away from the road, sat in the bushes and waited. Zhilin

crawled to the road, looked - a Tatar on horseback was riding, chasing a cow, purring something under his breath. A Tatar passed by. Zhilin returned to Kostylin.

Well, God said, “get up, let’s go.”

Kostylin began to get up and fell.

I can’t, by God I can’t; I have no strength.

The man is heavy, plump, sweating; Yes, how he was enveloped in a cold fog in the forest, and his legs were skinned - he became unsalted. Zhilin began to lift him by force. As Kostylin shouts:

Oh, it hurts! Zhilin froze.

Why are you shouting? After all, the Tatar is close - he will hear. - And he himself thinks: “He is really relaxed; what should I do with it? It’s not good to abandon your comrade.”

Well,” he says, “get up, sit on your backs in the snow, if you can’t walk.”

He lifted Kostylin onto himself, grabbed him under the thighs with his hands, went out onto the road, and dragged him.

Just,” he says, “don’t crush me by the throat with your hands, for Christ’s sake.” Hold on to your shoulders.

It’s hard for Zhilin - his legs are also bloody and exhausted. He bends down, corrects him, throws him up so that Kostylin sits higher on him, drags him along the road.

Apparently the Tatar heard Kostylin scream. Zhilin hears, someone is driving behind, calling in his own way. Zhilin rushed into the bushes. The Tatar pulled out a gun, fired, missed, screamed in his own way and galloped away along the road.

Well,” says Zhilin, “they’re gone, brother!” He, the dog, will now gather the Tatars in pursuit of us. If we don’t go three miles away, we’re lost. - And he himself thinks to Kostylin: “And the devil pulled me to take this deck with me. If I were alone, I would have left long ago.”

Kostylin says: “Go alone, why should you disappear because of me?”

No, I won’t go, it’s not good to leave a comrade. He picked him up again on his shoulders and hit him. He walked like this with

mile. The whole forest goes on and there is no way out in sight. And the fog had already begun to disperse, and as if the clouds had begun to set, the stars were no longer visible. Zhilin was exhausted.

I came, there was a fontanel by the road, lined with stones. He stopped and unseated Kostylin.

“Let me rest, I’ll get drunk,” he says. Let's eat some flatbread. It must be close.

As soon as he lay down to drink, he heard stomping behind him. Again they rushed to the right, into the bushes, under the steep slope, and lay down.

They hear Tatar voices; The Tatars stopped at the very place where they turned off the road. We talked, then got into a groove, like baiting dogs. They hear something crackling in the bushes, and someone else’s dog is walking right towards them. She stopped and wandered around.

The Tatars are also coming in; they are also strangers; They grabbed them, tied them up, put them on horses, and drove them away.

They drove about three miles, and Abdul the owner met them with two Tatars. I talked something with the Tatars, they put me on their horses, and took me back to the village.

Abdul no longer laughs or speaks a word to them.

They brought him to the village at dawn and sat him down on the street. The guys came running. They beat them with stones and whips and scream.

The Tatars gathered in a circle, and an old man came from under the mountain. They started talking. Zhilin hears that they are being judged, what to do with them. Some say: we need to send them further to the mountains, but the old man says: “we need to kill them.” Abdul argues and says: “I gave money for them, I’ll take a ransom for them.” And the old man says: “They won’t pay anything, they’ll only cause trouble. And it’s a sin to feed the Russians. Kill him and it’s over.”

We separated. The owner approached Zhilin and began to say to him:

“If,” he says, “they don’t send me a ransom for you, I’ll screw you up in two weeks.” And if you decide to run away again, I’ll kill you like a dog. Write a letter, write well!

They brought them papers and they wrote letters. They put stocks on them and took them behind the mosque. There was a hole there about five arshins, and they lowered them into this hole.

6

Life became completely bad for them. The pads were not removed or released into the open world. They threw unbaked dough there, like dogs, and drained water in a jug. The stench in the pit, stuffiness, phlegm. Kostylin became completely ill, swollen, and there was aching all over his body; and everyone moans or sleeps. And Zhilin became depressed and saw that things were bad. And he doesn't know how to get out.

He began to dig up, but there was nowhere to throw the earth; The owner saw him and threatened to kill him.

He once squats in a hole, thinks about living freely, and is bored. Suddenly a flat cake fell right on his knees, then another, and the cherries fell down. I looked up, and there was Dina. She looked at him, laughed and ran away. Zhilin thinks: “Won’t Dina help?”

He cleared a place in the hole, picked up clay, and began to sculpt dolls. I made people, horses, dogs, and thinks: “When Dina comes, I’ll throw it to her.”

Only the next day Dina is not there. And Zhilin hears - horses trampled, some people drove by, and Tatars gathered at the mosque, arguing, shouting and remembering the Russians. And he hears the old man's voice. He didn’t make it out well, but he guessed that the Russians had come close, and the Tatars were afraid that they might enter the village, and they didn’t know what to do with the prisoners.

We talked and left. Suddenly he hears something rustling upstairs. He sees: Dina squatted down, her knees sticking out above her head, hanging down, the monists hanging, dangling over the pit. The little eyes sparkle like stars; She took two cheese cakes out of her sleeve and threw them to him. Zhilin took it and said:

Haven't been there for a long time? And I made you some toys. Here you go! - He began to throw one at her. But she shakes her head and doesn’t look.

No need, he says. She paused, sat and said: “Ivan!” they want to kill you. - She points to her neck with her hand.

Who wants to kill?

Father, the old people tell him to. And I feel sorry for you.

Zhilin says:

And if you feel sorry for me, then bring me a long stick.

She shakes her head, saying “it’s impossible.” He folds his hands and prays to her:

Dina please! Dinushka, bring it!

“You can’t,” she said, “they’ll see, everyone’s at home,” and she left.

Here Zhilin sits in the evening and thinks: “what will happen?” All

looks up. The stars are visible, but the month has not yet risen. Mulla shouted, everything fell silent. Zhilin had already begun to doze off, thinking: “The girl will be afraid.”

Suddenly clay fell on his head; I looked up - a long pole was poking into that edge of the hole. He stumbled, began to descend, and crawled into the hole. Zhilin was delighted, grabbed it with his hand and lowered it - the pole was healthy. He had seen this pole on the owner's roof before.

I looked up - the stars were shining high in the sky; and just above the pit, like a cat’s, Dina’s eyes glow in the dark. She bent her face to the edge of the pit and whispered: “Ivan, Ivan!” - and she keeps waving her hands in front of her face, saying, “be quiet, they say.”

What? - says Zhilin.

Everyone left, only two were at home.

Zhilin says:

Well, Kostylin, let's go and try one last time; I'll give you a ride.

Kostylin doesn’t even want to listen.

“No,” he says, “it’s obvious that I can’t get out of here. Where will I go when I don’t have the strength to turn around?”

Well, farewell, don’t remember it badly. - Kissed Kostylin.

He grabbed the pole, told Dina to hold it, and climbed. It broke off twice—the block was in the way. Kostylin supported him and somehow got to the top. Dina pulls him by the shirt with her little hands, with all her might, laughing herself.

Zhilin took the pole and said:

Take it to your place, Dina, otherwise they will miss you and kill you.

She dragged the pole, and Zhilin went downhill. He climbed down the slope, took a sharp stone, and began to unscrew the lock from the block. But the lock is strong - it won’t knock down, and it’s awkward. He hears someone running from the mountain, jumping lightly. He thinks: “that’s right, Dina again.” Dina came running, took the stone and said:

She sat down on her knees and began to twist. Yes, the little hands are as thin as twigs - there is no strength whatsoever. She threw a stone and cried. Zhilin began to work on the lock again, and Dina squatted down next to him, holding his shoulder. Zhilin looked around and saw that to the left behind the mountain a red glow had lit up, the moon was rising. “Well,” he thinks, “we have to cross the ravine before the month and get to the forest.” He got up and threw a stone. Even if it’s in the block, you have to go.

“Goodbye,” says Dinushka. I will remember you forever.

Dina grabbed onto it: she rummaged through it with her hands, looking for somewhere to put the cakes. He took the cakes.

“Thank you,” he says, “you’re smart.” Who will make dolls for you without me? - And stroked her on the head.

As Dina began to cry, she covered herself with her hands and ran up the mountain, like a goat jumping. Only in the dark can you hear the monists in braids rattling their backs.

Zhilin crossed himself, grabbed the lock on the block with his hand so that it wouldn’t rattle, walked along the road, dragging his leg, and he kept looking at the glow, where the moon rose. He recognized the way. Go straight for about eight miles. If only I could get to the forest before the month is over. He crossed the river, and the light behind the mountain had already turned white. He walked through the ravine, walked, and looked for himself: he wouldn’t see him for another month. The glow has already brightened and on one side of the ravine it is becoming lighter and lighter. A shadow is creeping down the mountain, everything is approaching him.

Zhilin is walking, keeping all the shadows. He is in a hurry, and the month is getting closer; the tops of their heads began to glow to the right. He began to approach the forest, a month emerged from behind the mountains - white, as light as day. All leaves are visible on the trees. Quiet, light in the mountains, how everything died out. You can only hear the river gurgling below.

I reached the forest - no one got caught. Zhilin chose a darker place in the forest and sat down to rest.

I rested and ate a flatbread. He found a stone and began to knock down the block again. He beat all hands, but did not knock them down. He got up and walked along the road. I walked a mile, exhausted, my legs ached. He takes ten steps and stops. “There’s nothing to do,” he thinks, “I’ll drag along as long as I have the strength.” And if I sit down, I won’t get up. I won’t reach the fortress, but when it dawns, I’ll lie down in the forest, out front, and go again at night.”

I walked all night. Only two Tatars came across on horseback, but Zhilin heard them from afar and hid behind a tree.

The month had already begun to turn pale, the dew had fallen, close to the light, but Zhilin did not reach the edge of the forest. “Well,” he thinks, “I’ll walk another thirty steps, turn into the forest and sit down.” He walked thirty steps and saw that the forest ended. He went out to the edge - it was completely light, like the steppe and the fortress in the palm of his hand, and to the left, close under the mountain, the lights were burning, going out, smoke spreading and people around the fires.

He looked closely and saw: guns shining, Cossacks, soldiers.

Zhilin was delighted, gathered his last strength, and went downhill. And he himself thinks: “God forbid, here, in an open field, a Tatar on horseback will see; even close, but you won’t leave.”

I just thought - look: to the left, on a hillock, there are three Tatars, two tithes worth. They saw him and went towards him. And so his heart sank. He waved his arms and shouted at the top of his voice:

Brothers! help out! brothers!

When our people heard it, the Cossacks on horseback jumped out. They set off towards him - in opposition to the Tatars.

The Cossacks are far away, but the Tatars are close. Yes, and Zhilin gathered his last strength, grabbed the block with his hand, ran to the Cossacks, but he didn’t remember himself, crossed himself and shouted:

Brothers! brothers! brothers!

There were about fifteen Cossacks.

The Tatars got scared, and before they could get there, they began to stop. And Zhilin ran up to the Cossacks.

The Cossacks surrounded him and asked: “Who is he, what kind of person is he, where is he from?” But Zhilin doesn’t remember himself, he cries and says:

Brothers! Brothers!

The soldiers ran out and surrounded Zhilin; some give him bread, some porridge, some vodka, some cover him with an overcoat, some break the block.

The officers recognized him and took him to the fortress. The soldiers rejoiced, their comrades gathered to see Zhilin.

Zhilin told how the whole thing happened to him and said:

So I went home and got married! No, apparently this is not my destiny.

And he remained to serve in the Caucasus. And Kostylin was bought out only a month later for five thousand. They brought us barely alive.