第2章 BELA(1)

THE HEART OF A RUSSIAN

CHAPTER I

I was travelling post from Tiflis.

All the luggage I had in my cart consisted of one small portmanteau half filled with travelling-notes on Georgia;of these the greater part has been lost,fortunately for you;but the port-manteau itself and the rest of its contents have remained intact,fortunately for me.

As I entered the Koishaur Valley the sun was disappearing behind the snow-clad ridge of the mountains.In order to accomplish the ascent of Mount Koishaur by nightfall,my driver,an Ossete,urged on the horses indefatigably,singing zealously the while at the top of his voice.

What a glorious place that valley is!On every hand are inaccessible mountains,steep,yellow slopes scored by water-channels,and reddish rocks draped with green ivy and crowned with clusters of plane-trees.Yonder,at an immense height,is the golden fringe of the snow.Down below rolls the River Aragva,which,after bursting noisily forth from the dark and misty depths of the gorge,with an unnamed stream clasped in its embrace,stretches out like a thread of silver,its waters glistening like a snake with flashing scales.

Arrived at the foot of Mount Koishaur,we stopped at a dukhan.About a score of Georgians and mountaineers were gathered there in a noisy crowd,and,close by,a caravan of camels had halted for the night.I was obliged to hire oxen to drag my cart up that accursed mountain,as it was now autumn and the roads were slippery with ice.Besides,the mountain is about two versts in length.

A retail shop and tavern combined.

A verst is a measure of length,about 3500English feet.

There was no help for it,so I hired six oxen and a few Ossetes.One of the latter shouldered my portmanteau,and the rest,shouting almost with one voice,proceeded to help the oxen.

Following mine there came another cart,which I was surprised to see four oxen pulling with the greatest ease,notwithstanding that it was loaded to the top.Behind it walked the owner,smoking a little,silver-mounted Kabardian pipe.He was wearing a shaggy Circassian cap and an officer's overcoat without epaulettes,and he seemed to be about fifty years of age.The swarthiness of his complexion showed that his face had long been acquainted with Transcaucasian suns,and the premature greyness of his moustache was out of keeping with his firm gait and robust appearance.I went up to him and saluted.He silently returned my greeting and emitted an immense cloud of smoke.

"We are fellow-travellers,it appears."

Again he bowed silently.

"I suppose you are going to Stavropol?"

"Yes,sir,exactly --with Government things.""Can you tell me how it is that that heavily-laden cart of yours is being drawn without any difficulty by four oxen,whilst six cattle are scarcely able to move mine,empty though it is,and with all those Ossetes helping?"He smiled slyly and threw me a meaning glance.

"You have not been in the Caucasus long,Ishould say?"

"About a year,"I answered.

He smiled a second time.

"Well?"

"Just so,sir,"he answered."They're terrible beasts,these Asiatics!You think that all that shouting means that they are helping the oxen?

Why,the devil alone can make out what it is they do shout.The oxen understand,though;and if you were to yoke as many as twenty they still wouldn't budge so long as the Ossetes shouted in that way of theirs....Awful scoundrels!But what can you make of them?

They love extorting money from people who happen to be travelling through here.The rogues have been spoiled!You wait and see:

they will get a tip out of you as well as their hire.

I know them of old,they can't get round me!""You have been serving here a long time?""Yes,I was here under Aleksei Petrovich,"he answered,assuming an air of dignity."I was a sub-lieutenant when he came to the Line;and I was promoted twice,during his command,on account of actions against the mountaineers."Ermolov,i.e.General Ermolov.Russians have three names --Christian name,patronymic and surname.They are addressed by the first two only.The surname of Maksim Maksimych (colloquial for Maksimovich)is not mentioned.

"And now --?"

"Now I'm in the third battalion of the Line.

And you yourself?"

I told him.

With this the conversation ended,and we con-tinued to walk in silence,side by side.On the summit of the mountain we found snow.The sun set,and --as usually is the case in the south --night followed upon the day without any interval of twilight.Thanks,however,to the sheen of the snow,we were able easily to dis-tinguish the road,which still went up the moun-tain-side,though not so steeply as before.Iordered the Ossetes to put my portmanteau into the cart,and to replace the oxen by horses.Then for the last time I gazed down upon the valley;but the thick mist which had gushed in billows from the gorges veiled it completely,and not a single sound now floated up to our ears from below.The Ossetes surrounded me clamor-ously and demanded tips;but the staff-captain shouted so menacingly at them that they dis-persed in a moment.

"What a people they are!"he said."They don't even know the Russian for 'bread,'but they have mastered the phrase 'Officer,give us a tip!'

In my opinion,the very Tartars are better,they are no drunkards,anyhow."...