heavenly height.
“Do you hear cries, my lads?Someone’s calling us for help!” said Master Danilo, turning to his oarsmen.
“We hear the cries, and they seem to come from that direction,” the lads said together, pointing to the cemetery.
But all grew still.The boat swung and began to round the jutting bank.Suddenly the oarsmen lowered their oars and stared fixedly.Master Danilo also stopped: fear and chill cut into their Cossack fibers.
The cross on one tomb swayed and out of it quietly rose a withered dead man.Beard down to his waist; claws on his fingers, long, longer than the fingers themselves.Quietly he raised his arms.His whole face twisted and trembled.He obviously suffered terrible torment.“I can’t breathe!I can’t breathe!” he moaned in a wild, inhuman voice.Like a knife blade his voice scraped at the heart, and the dead man suddenly sank under the ground.Another cross swayed, and again a dead man came out, still taller, still more terrible than the first; all overgrown, beard down to his knees, and still longer, bony nails.Still more wildly he cried: “I can’t breathe!” and sank under the ground.A third cross swayed, a third dead manrose.It seemed as if nothing but bones rose high over the ground.Beard down to his very heels; fingers with long claws stuck into the ground.Terribly he stretched his arms upwards, as if trying to reach the moon, and cried out as if someone were sawing at his yellow bones …
The baby asleep in Katerina’s arms gave a cry and woke up.The mistress herself gave a cry.The oarsmen dropped their hats into the Dnieper.The master himself shook.
Suddenly it all disappeared as if it had never been; nevertheless, the lads did not take up their oars for a long time.
Anxiously did Burulbash look at his young wife, who fearfully rocked the crying baby in her arms; he pressed her to his heart and kissed her on the brow.
“Don’t be afraid, Katerina!Look, there’s nothing!” he said, pointing all around.“It’s the sorcerer trying to frighten people, so that no one gets into his unclean nest.He’ll only frighten women with that!Give my son here!” With these words, Master Danilo raised his son to his lips.“What, Ivan, you’re not afraid of sorcerers?No, papa, he says, I’m a Cossack.Enough, then, stop crying!We’ll go home!we’ll go home—mother will feed you porridge, put you to bed in your cradle, and sing:
Lullay, lullay, lullay ,
Lullay, little son, lullay ,
Grow up, grow up wise ,
Win glory in the Cossacks’ eyes
And punish their enemies.
Listen, Katerina, it seems to me your father doesn’t want to live in accord with us.He arrived sullen, stern, as if he’s angry … Well, if you’re displeased, then why come?He didn’t want to drink to Cossack freedom, he didn’t rock the baby in his arms!First I wanted to confide everything in my heart to him, but it didn’t come out, and my speech stumbled.No, his is not a Cossack’s heart!Cossack hearts, when they meet, never fail to go out to each other!What, my sweet lads, it’s soon the shore?Well, I’ll give you new hats.To you, Stetsko, I’ll give a velvet one with gold.I took it from a Tartar,along with his head.I got all his gear; only his soul I let go free.Well, tie up!Here, Ivan, we’ve come home and you keep on crying!Take him, Katerina!”
They all got out.A thatched roof showed from behind the hill: the ancestral mansion of Master Danilo.Beyond it another hill, then a field, and then you could walk for a hundred miles and not find even one Cossack.
III
Master Danilo’s farmstead lies between two hills, in a narrow valley that runs down to the Dnieper.His mansion is not tall: a cottage by the looks, like those of simple Cossacks, and only one room in it; but there is enough space inside for him, and his wife, and the old serving woman, and ten choice youths.There are oak shelves up on the walls all around.They are laden with bowls and pots for eating.There are silver goblets among
“Do you hear cries, my lads?Someone’s calling us for help!” said Master Danilo, turning to his oarsmen.
“We hear the cries, and they seem to come from that direction,” the lads said together, pointing to the cemetery.
But all grew still.The boat swung and began to round the jutting bank.Suddenly the oarsmen lowered their oars and stared fixedly.Master Danilo also stopped: fear and chill cut into their Cossack fibers.
The cross on one tomb swayed and out of it quietly rose a withered dead man.Beard down to his waist; claws on his fingers, long, longer than the fingers themselves.Quietly he raised his arms.His whole face twisted and trembled.He obviously suffered terrible torment.“I can’t breathe!I can’t breathe!” he moaned in a wild, inhuman voice.Like a knife blade his voice scraped at the heart, and the dead man suddenly sank under the ground.Another cross swayed, and again a dead man came out, still taller, still more terrible than the first; all overgrown, beard down to his knees, and still longer, bony nails.Still more wildly he cried: “I can’t breathe!” and sank under the ground.A third cross swayed, a third dead manrose.It seemed as if nothing but bones rose high over the ground.Beard down to his very heels; fingers with long claws stuck into the ground.Terribly he stretched his arms upwards, as if trying to reach the moon, and cried out as if someone were sawing at his yellow bones …
The baby asleep in Katerina’s arms gave a cry and woke up.The mistress herself gave a cry.The oarsmen dropped their hats into the Dnieper.The master himself shook.
Suddenly it all disappeared as if it had never been; nevertheless, the lads did not take up their oars for a long time.
Anxiously did Burulbash look at his young wife, who fearfully rocked the crying baby in her arms; he pressed her to his heart and kissed her on the brow.
“Don’t be afraid, Katerina!Look, there’s nothing!” he said, pointing all around.“It’s the sorcerer trying to frighten people, so that no one gets into his unclean nest.He’ll only frighten women with that!Give my son here!” With these words, Master Danilo raised his son to his lips.“What, Ivan, you’re not afraid of sorcerers?No, papa, he says, I’m a Cossack.Enough, then, stop crying!We’ll go home!we’ll go home—mother will feed you porridge, put you to bed in your cradle, and sing:
Lullay, lullay, lullay ,
Lullay, little son, lullay ,
Grow up, grow up wise ,
Win glory in the Cossacks’ eyes
And punish their enemies.
Listen, Katerina, it seems to me your father doesn’t want to live in accord with us.He arrived sullen, stern, as if he’s angry … Well, if you’re displeased, then why come?He didn’t want to drink to Cossack freedom, he didn’t rock the baby in his arms!First I wanted to confide everything in my heart to him, but it didn’t come out, and my speech stumbled.No, his is not a Cossack’s heart!Cossack hearts, when they meet, never fail to go out to each other!What, my sweet lads, it’s soon the shore?Well, I’ll give you new hats.To you, Stetsko, I’ll give a velvet one with gold.I took it from a Tartar,along with his head.I got all his gear; only his soul I let go free.Well, tie up!Here, Ivan, we’ve come home and you keep on crying!Take him, Katerina!”
They all got out.A thatched roof showed from behind the hill: the ancestral mansion of Master Danilo.Beyond it another hill, then a field, and then you could walk for a hundred miles and not find even one Cossack.
III
Master Danilo’s farmstead lies between two hills, in a narrow valley that runs down to the Dnieper.His mansion is not tall: a cottage by the looks, like those of simple Cossacks, and only one room in it; but there is enough space inside for him, and his wife, and the old serving woman, and ten choice youths.There are oak shelves up on the walls all around.They are laden with bowls and pots for eating.There are silver goblets among
Similar Books
