The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories
the broken horse-collar aside to be repaired. He intended to perform
some other duties, but it became too dark and he was obliged to leave
them till the next day. He fed the cattle, however, and opened the gate
that Taraska might take his horses to pasture for the night, after
which he closed it again and went into the house for his supper.
By this time he had forgotten all about Gavryl and what his father had
said to him. Yet, just as he touched the door-knob, he heard sounds of
quarrelling proceeding from his neighbor’s house.
“What do I want with that devil?” shouted Gavryl to some one. “He
deserves to be killed!”
Ivan stopped and listened for a moment, when he shook his head
threateningly and entered the room. When he came in, the apartment was
already lighted. His daughter-in-law was working with her loom, while
the old woman was preparing the supper. The eldest son was twining
strings for his _lapti_ (peasant’s shoes made of strips of bark from
the linden-tree). The other son was sitting by the table reading a
book. The room presented a pleasant appearance, everything being in
order and the inmates apparently gay and happy—the only dark shadow
being that cast over the household by Ivan’s trouble with his neighbor.
Ivan came in very cross, and, angrily throwing aside a cat which lay
sleeping on the bench, cursed the women for having misplaced a pail. He
looked very sad and serious, and, seating himself in a corner of the
room, proceeded to repair the horse-collar. He could not forget Gavryl,
however—the threatening words he had used in the court-room and those
which Ivan had just heard.
Presently Taraska came in, and after having his supper, put on his
sheepskin coat, and, taking some bread with him, returned to watch over
his horses for the night. His eldest brother wished to accompany him,
but Ivan himself arose and went with him as far as the porch. The night
was dark and cloudy and a strong wind was blowing, which produced a
peculiar whistling sound that was most unpleasant to the ear. Ivan
helped his son to mount his horse, which, followed by a colt, started
off on a gallop.
Ivan stood for a few moments looking around him and listening to the
clatter of the horse’s hoofs as Taraska rode down the village street.
He heard him meet other boys on horseback, who rode quite as well as
Taraska, and soon all were lost in the darkness.
Ivan remained standing by the gate in a gloomy mood, as he was unable
to banish from his mind the harassing thoughts of Gavryl, which the
latter’s menacing words had inspired: “Something will burn with greater
fierceness in Ivan’s household before long.”
“He is so desperate,” thought Ivan, “that he may set fire to my house
regardless of the danger to his own. At present everything is dry, and
as the wind is so high he may sneak from the back of his own building,
start a fire, and get away unseen by any of us.
“He may burn and steal without being found out, and thus go unpunished.
I wish I could catch him.”
This thought so worried Ivan that he decided not to return to his
house, but went out and stood on the street-corner.
“I guess,” thought Ivan to himself, “I will take a walk around the
premises and examine everything carefully, for who knows what he may be
tempted to do?”
Ivan moved very cautiously round to the back of his buildings, not
making the slightest noise, and scarcely daring to breathe. Just as he
reached a corner of the house he looked toward the fence, and it seemed
to him that he saw something moving, and that it was slowly creeping
toward the corner of the house opposite to where he was standing. He
stepped back quickly and hid himself in the shadow of the building.
Ivan stood and listened, but all was quiet. Not a sound could be heard
but the moaning of the wind through the branches of the trees, and the
rustling of the leaves as it caught them up and whirled them in all
directions. So dense was the darkness that it was at first impossible
for Ivan to see more than a few feet beyond where he stood.
After a time, however, his sight becoming accustomed to the gloom, he
was enabled to see for a considerable distance. The plow and his other
farming implements stood just where he had placed them. He could see
also the opposite corner of the house.
He looked in every direction, but no one was in sight, and he thought
to himself that his imagination must have played him some trick,
leading him to believe that some one was moving when there really was
no one there.
Still, Ivan was not satisfied, and decided to make a further
examination of the premises. As on the previous occasion, he moved so
very cautiously that he could not hear even the sound of his own
footsteps. He had taken the precaution to remove his shoes, that he
might step the more noiselessly. When he reached the corner of the barn
it again seemed to him that he saw something moving, this time near the
plow; but it quickly disappeared. By this time Ivan’s heart was beating
very fast, and he was standing in a listening attitude when a sudden
flash of light illumined the spot, and he could distinctly see the
figure of a man seated on his haunches with his back turned toward him,
and in the act of lighting a bunch of straw which he held in his hand!
Ivan’s heart began to beat yet faster, and he became terribly excited,
walking up and down with rapid strides, but without making a noise.
Ivan said: “Well, now, he cannot get away, for he will be caught in the
very act.”
Ivan had taken a few more steps when suddenly a bright light flamed up,
but not in the same spot in which he had seen the figure of the man
sitting. Gavryl had lighted the straw, and running to the barn held it
under the edge of the roof, which began to burn fiercely; and by the
light of the fire he could distinctly see his neighbor standing.
As an eagle springs at a skylark, so sprang Ivan at Gavryl, saying: “I
will tear you into pieces! You shall not get away from me this time!”
But “Gavryl the Lame,” hearing footsteps, wrenched himself free from
Ivan’s grasp and ran like a hare past the buildings.
Ivan, now terribly excited, shouted, “You shall not escape me!” and
started in pursuit; but just as he reached him and was about to grasp
the collar of his coat, Gavryl succeeded in jumping to one side, and
Ivan’s coat became entangled in something and he was thrown violently
to the ground. Jumping quickly to his feet he shouted, “_Karaool!
derji!_” (watch! catch!)
While Ivan was regaining his feet Gavryl succeeded in reaching his
house, but Ivan followed so quickly that he caught up with him before
he could enter. Just as he was about to grasp him he was struck on the
head with some hard substance. He had been hit on the temple as with a
stone. The blow was struck by Gavryl, who had picked up an oaken stave,
and with it gave Ivan a terrible blow on the head.
Ivan was stunned, and bright sparks danced before his eyes, while he
swayed from side to side like a drunken man, until finally all became
dark and he sank to the ground unconscious.
When he recovered his senses, Gavryl was nowhere to be seen, but all
around him was as light as day. Strange sounds proceeded from the
direction of his house, and turning his face that way he saw that his
barns were on fire. The rear parts of both were already destroyed, and
the flames were leaping toward the front. Fire, smoke, and bits of
burning straw were being rapidly whirled by the high wind over to where
his house stood, and he expected every moment to see it burst into
flames.
“What is this, brother?” Ivan cried out, as he beat his thighs with his
hands. “I should have stopped to snatch the bunch of burning straw,
and, throwing it on the ground, should have extinguished it with my
feet!”
Ivan tried to cry out and arouse his people, but his lips refused to
utter a word. He next tried to run, but he could not move his feet, and
his legs seemed to twist themselves around each other. After several
attempts he succeeded in taking one or two steps, when he again began
to stagger and gasp for breath. It was some moments before he made
another attempt to move, but after considerable exertion he finally
reached the barn, the rear of which was by this time entirely consumed;
and the corner of his house had already caught fire. Dense volumes of
smoke began to pour out of the room, which made it difficult to
approach.
A crowd of peasants had by this time gathered, but they found it
impossible to save their homes, so they carried everything which they
could to a place of safety. The cattle they drove into neighboring
pastures and left some one to care for them.
The wind carried the sparks from Ivan’s house to Gavryl’s, and it, too,
took fire and was consumed. The wind continued to increase with great
fury, and the flames spread to both sides of the street, until in a
very short time more than half the village was burned.
The members of Ivan’s household had great difficulty in getting out of
the burning building, but the neighbors rescued the old man and carried
him to a place of safety, while the women escaped in only their
night-clothes. Everything was burned, including the cattle and all the
farm implements. The women lost their trunks, which were filled with
quantities of clothing, the accumulation of years. The storehouse and
all the provisions perished in the flames, not even the chickens being
saved.
Gavryl, however, more fortunate than Ivan, saved his cattle and a few
other things.
The village was burning all night.
Ivan stood near his home, gazing sadly at the burning building, and he
kept constantly repeating to himself: “I should have taken away the
bunch of burning straw, and have stamped out the fire with my feet.”
But when he saw his home fall in a smouldering heap, in spite of the
terrible heat he sprang into the midst of it and carried out a charred
log. The women seeing him, and fearing that he would lose his life,
called to him to come back, but he would not pay any attention to them
and went a second time to get a log. Still weak from the terrible blow
which Gavryl had given him, he was overcome by the heat, and fell into
the midst of the burning mass. Fortunately, his eldest son saw him
fall, and rushing into the fire succeeded in getting hold of him and
carrying him out of it. Ivan’s hair, beard, and clothing were burned
entirely off. His hands were also frightfully injured, but he seemed
indifferent to pain.
“Grief drove him crazy,” the people said.
The fire was growing less, but Ivan still stood where he could see it,
and kept repeating to himself, “I should have taken,” etc.
The morning after the fire the _starosta_ (village elder) sent his son
to Ivan to tell him that the old man, his father, was dying, and wanted
to see him to bid him good-bye.
In his grief Ivan had forgotten all about his father, and could not
understand what was being said to him. In a dazed way he asked: “What
father? Whom does he want?”
The elder’s son again repeated his father’s message to Ivan. “Your aged
parent is at our house dying, and he wants to see you and bid you
good-bye. Won’t you go now, uncle Ivan?” the boy said.
Finally Ivan understood, and followed the elder’s son.
When Ivan’s father was carried from the oven, he was slightly injured
by a big bunch of burning straw falling on him just as he reached the
street. To insure his safety he was removed to the elder’s house, which
stood a considerable distance from his late home, and where it was not
likely that the fire would reach it.
When Ivan arrived at the elder’s home he found only the latter’s wife
and children, who were all seated on the brick oven. The old man was
lying on a bench holding a lighted candle in his hand (a Russian custom