Sevastopol Page 13

  SEVASTOPOL IN AUGUST, 1855.

  I.

  At the end of August, along the rocky highway to Sevastopol, betweenDuvanka and Bakhtchisarai, through the thick, hot dust, at a foot-pace,drove an officer's light cart, that peculiar _telyezhka_, not now tobe met with, which stands about half-way between a Jewish _britchka_,a Russian travelling-carriage, and a basket-wagon. In the front ofthe wagon, holding the reins, squatted the servant, clad in a nankeencoat and an officer's cap, which had become quite limp; seated behind,on bundles and packages covered with a military coat, was an infantryofficer, in a summer cloak.

  As well as could be judged from his sitting position, the officer wasnot tall in stature, but extremely thick, and that not so much fromshoulder to shoulder as from chest to back; he was broad and thick,and his neck and the base of the head were excessively developed andswollen. His waist, so called, a receding strip in the centre of thebody, did not exist in his case; but neither had he any belly; onthe contrary, he was rather thin than otherwise, particularly in theface, which was overspread with an unhealthy yellowish sunburn. Hisface would have been handsome had it not been for a certain bloatedappearance, and the soft, yet not elderly, heavy wrinkles that flowedtogether and enlarged his features, imparting to the whole countenancea general expression of coarseness and of lack of freshness. His eyeswere small, brown, extremely searching, even bold; his moustache wasvery thick, but the ends were kept constantly short by his habit ofgnawing them; and his chin, and his cheek-bones in particular werecovered with a remarkably strong, thick, and black beard, of two days'growth.

  The officer had been wounded on the 10th of May, by a splinter, in thehead, on which he still wore a bandage, and, having now felt perfectlywell for the last week, he had come out of the Simferopol Hospital, torejoin his regiment, which was stationed somewhere in the directionfrom which shots could be heard; but whether that was in Sevastopolitself, on the northern defences, or at Inkermann, he had not so farsucceeded in ascertaining with much accuracy from any one.

  Shots were still audible near at hand, especially at intervals, whenthe hills did not interfere, or when borne on the wind with greatdistinctness and frequency, and apparently near at hand. Then it seemedas though some explosion shook the air, and caused an involuntaryshudder. Then, one after the other, followed less resounding reports inquick succession, like a drum-beat, interrupted at times by a startlingroar. Then, everything mingled in a sort of reverberating crash,resembling peals of thunder, when a thunder-storm is in full force, andthe rain has just begun to pour down in floods, every one said; and itcould be heard that the bombardment was progressing frightfully.

  The officer kept urging on his servant, and seemed desirous ofarriving as speedily as possible. They were met by a long train of theRussian-peasant type, which had carried provisions into Sevastopol, andwas now returning with sick and wounded soldiers in gray coats, sailorsin black paletots, volunteers in red fezes, and bearded militia-men.The officer's light cart had to halt in the thick, immovable cloud ofdust raised by the carts, and the officer, blinking and frowning withthe dust that stuffed his eyes and ears, gazed at the faces of the sickand wounded as they passed.

  "Ah, there's a sick soldier from our company," said the servant,turning to his master, and pointing to the wagon which was just on aline with them, full of wounded, at the moment.

  On the cart, towards the front, a bearded Russian, in a lamb's-woolcap, was seated sidewise, and, holding the stock of his whip underhis elbow, was tying on the lash. Behind him in the cart, about fivesoldiers, in different positions, were shaking about. One, though paleand thin, with his arm in a bandage, and his cloak thrown on over hisshirt, was sitting up bravely in the middle of the cart, and triedto touch his cap on seeing the officer, but immediately afterwards(recollecting, probably, that he was wounded) he pretended that he onlywanted to scratch his head. Another, beside him, was lying flat on thebottom of the wagon; all that was visible was two hands, as they clungto the rails of the wagon, and his knees uplifted limp as mops, as theyswayed about in various directions. A third, with a swollen face and abandaged head, on which was placed his soldier's cap, sat on one side,with his legs dangling over the wheel, and, with his elbows resting onhis knees, seemed immersed in thought. It was to him that the passingofficer addressed himself.

  "Dolzhnikoff!" he exclaimed.

  "Here," replied the soldier, opening his eyes, and pulling off his cap,in such a thick and halting bass voice that it seemed as though twentysoldiers had uttered an exclamation at one and the same time.

  "When were you wounded, brother?"

  The leaden and swimming eyes of the soldier grew animated; he evidentlyrecognized his officer.

  "I wish Your Honor health!" he began again, in the same abrupt bass asbefore.

  "Where is the regiment stationed now?"

  "It was stationed in Sevastopol, but they were to move on Wednesday,Your Honor."

  "Where to?"

  "I don't know; it must have been to the Sivernaya, Your Honor! To-day,Your Honor," he added, in a drawling voice, as he put on his cap,"they have begun to fire clear across, mostly with bombs, that even goas far as the bay; they are fighting horribly to-day, so that--"

  It was impossible to hear what the soldier said further; but it wasevident, from the expression of his countenance and from his attitude,that he was uttering discouraging remarks, with the touch of malice ofa man who is suffering.

  The travelling officer, Lieutenant Kozeltzoff, was no common officer.He was not one of those that live so and so and do thus and so becauseothers live and do thus; he did whatever he pleased, and others did thesame, and were convinced that it was well. He was rather richly endowedby nature with small gifts: he sang well, played on the guitar, talkedvery cleverly, and wrote very easily, particularly official documents,in which he had practised his hand in his capacity of adjutant of thebattalion; but the most noticeable trait in his character was hisegotistical energy, which, although chiefly founded on this array ofpetty talents, constituted in itself a sharp and striking trait. Hisegotism was of the sort that is most frequently found developed inmasculine and especially in military circles, and which had become apart of his life to such a degree that he understood no other choicethan to domineer or to humiliate himself; and his egotism was themainspring even of his private impulses; he liked to usurp the firstplace over people with whom he put himself on a level.

  "Well! it's absurd of me to listen to what a Moskva[I] chatters!"muttered the lieutenant, experiencing a certain weight of apathy inhis heart, and a dimness of thought, which the sight of the transportfull of wounded and the words of the soldier, whose significance wasemphasized and confirmed by the sounds of the bombardment, had leftwith him. "_That Moskva is ridiculous!_ Drive on, Nikolaeff! go ahead!Are you asleep?" he added, rather fretfully, to the servant, as here-arranged the skirts of his coat.

  [I] In many regiments the officers call a soldier, half in scorn, halfcaressingly, _Moskva_ (Moscovite), or _prisyaga_ (an oath).

  The reins were tightened, Nikolaeff clacked his lips, and the wagonmoved on at a trot.

  "We will only halt a minute for food, and will proceed at once, thisvery day," said the officer.

  II.

  As he entered the street of the ruined remains of the stone wall,forming the Tatar houses of Duvanka, Lieutenant Kozeltzoff was stoppedby a transport of bombs and grape-shot, which were on their way toSevastopol, and had accumulated on the road. Two infantry soldierswere seated in the dust, on the stones of a ruined garden-wall by theroadside, devouring a watermelon and bread.

  "Have you come far, fellow-countryman?" said one of them, as he chewedhis bread, to the soldier, with a small knapsack on his back, who hadhalted near them.

  "I have come from my government to join my regiment," replied thesoldier, turning his eyes away from the watermelon, and readjusting thesack on his back. "There we were, two weeks ago, at work on the hay,a whole troop of us; but now they have drafted all of us, and we don'tknow
where our regiment is at the present time. They say that our menwent on the Korabelnaya last week. Have you heard anything, gentlemen?"

  "It's stationed in the town, brother," said the second, an old soldierof the reserves, digging away with his clasp-knife at the white, unripemelon. "We have just come from there, this afternoon. It's terrible, mybrother!"

  "How so, gentlemen?"

  "Don't you hear how they are firing all around to-day, so that thereis not a whole spot anywhere? It is impossible to say how many of ourbrethren have been killed." And the speaker waved his hand and adjustedhis cap.

  The passing soldier shook his head thoughtfully, gave a clack with histongue, then pulled his pipe from his boot-leg, and, without fillingit, stirred up the half-burned tobacco, lit a bit of tinder from thesoldier who was smoking, and raised his cap.

  "There is no one like God, gentlemen! Good-bye," said he, and, with ashake of the sack on his back, he went his way.

  "Hey, there! you'd better wait," said the man who was digging out thewatermelon, with an air of conviction.

  "It makes no difference!" muttered the traveller, threading his wayamong the wheels of the assembled transports.

  III.

  The posting-station was full of people when Kozeltzoff drove up to it.The first person whom he encountered, on the porch itself, was a thinand very young man, the superintendent, who continued his altercationwith two officers, who had followed him out.

  "It's not three days only, but ten that you will have to wait. Evengenerals wait, my good sirs!" said the superintendent, with a desire toadminister a prick to the travellers; "and I am not going to harness upfor you."

  "Then don't give anybody horses, if there are none! But why furnishthem to some lackey or other with baggage?" shouted the elder of thetwo officers, with a glass of tea in his hand, and plainly avoiding theuse of pronouns,[J] but giving it to be understood that he might veryeasily address the superintendent as "_thou_."

  [J] This effect cannot be reproduced in English.

  "Judge for yourself, now, Mr. Superintendent," said the youngerofficer, with some hesitation. "We don't want to go for our ownpleasure. We must certainly be needed, since we have been called for.And I certainly shall report to the general. But this, of course,--youknow that you are not paying proper respect to the military profession."

  "You are always spoiling things," the elder man interrupted, withvexation. "You only hinder me; you must know how to talk to them. Here,now, he has lost his respect. Horses this very instant, I say!"

  "I should be glad to give them to you, _batiushka_,[K] but where am Ito get them?"

  [K] "My good sir," a familiarly respectful mode of address.

  After a brief silence, the superintendent began to grow irritated, andto talk, flourishing his hands the while.

  "I understand, _batiushka_. And I know all about it myself. But whatare you going to do? Only give me"--here a ray of hope gleamed acrossthe faces of the officers--"only give me a chance to live until the endof the month, and you won't see me here any longer. I'd rather go onthe Malakhoff tower, by Heavens! than stay here. Let them do what theyplease about it! There's not a single sound team in the station thisday, and the horses haven't seen a wisp of hay these three days." Andthe superintendent disappeared behind the gate.

  Kozeltzoff entered the room in company with the officers.

  "Well," said the elder officer, quite calmly, to the younger one,although but a second before he had appeared to be greatly irritated,"we have been travelling these three weeks, and we will wait a littlelonger. There's no harm done. We shall get there at last."

  The dirty, smoky apartment was so filled with officers and trunks thatit was with difficulty that Kozeltzoff found a place near the window,where he seated himself; he began to roll himself a cigarette, as heglanced at the faces and lent an ear to the conversations.

  To the right of the door, near a crippled and greasy table, upon whichstood two samovars, whose copper had turned green in spots, here andthere, and where sugar was portioned out in various papers, sat theprincipal group. A young officer, without moustache, in a new, short,wadded summer coat, was pouring water into the teapot.

  Four such young officers were there, in different corners of the room.One of them had placed a cloak under his head, and was fast asleep onthe sofa. Another, standing by the table, was cutting up some roastmutton for an officer without an arm, who was seated at the table.

  Two officers, one in an adjutant's cloak, the other in an infantrycloak, a thin one however, and with a satchel strapped over hisshoulder, were sitting near the oven bench, and it was evident, fromthe very way in which they stared at the rest, and from the manner inwhich the one with the satchel smoked his cigar, that they were notline officers on duty at the front, and that they were delighted at it.

  Not that there was any scorn apparent in their manner, but there was acertain self-satisfied tranquillity, founded partly on money and partlyon their close intimacy with generals, a certain consciousness ofsuperiority which even extended to a desire to hide it.

  A thick-lipped young doctor and an officer of artillery, with a Germancast of countenance, were seated almost on the feet of the youngofficer who was sleeping on the sofa, and counting over their money.

  There were four officers' servants, some dozing and others busy withthe trunks and packages near the door.

  Among all these faces, Kozeltzoff did not find a single familiarone; but he began to listen with curiosity to the conversation. Theyoung officers, who, as he decided from their looks alone, had butjust come out of the military academy, pleased him, and, what was theprincipal point, they reminded him that his brother had also come fromthe academy, and should have joined recently one of the batteries ofSevastopol.

  But the officer with the satchel, whose face he had seen beforesomewhere, seemed bold and repulsive to him. He even left the window,and, going to the stove-bench, seated himself on it, with the thoughtthat he would put the fellow down if he took it into his head to sayanything. In general, purely as a brave "line" officer, he did not like"the staff," such as he had recognized these two officers to be at thefirst glance.

  IV.

  "But this is dreadfully annoying," said one of the young officers, "tobe so near, and yet not be able to get there. Perhaps there will be anaction this very day, and we shall not be there."

  In the sharp voice and the mottled freshness of the color that sweptacross the youthful face of this officer as he spoke there was apparentthe sweet young timidity of the man who is constantly afraid lest hisevery word shall not turn out exactly right.

  The one-armed officer glanced at him with a smile.

  "You will get there soon enough, I assure you," he said.

  The young officer looked with respect at the haggard face of thearmless officer, so unexpectedly illuminated by a smile, held his peacefor a while, and busied himself once more with his tea. In fact, theone-armed officer's face, his attitude, and, most of all, the emptysleeve of his coat, expressed much of that tranquil indifference thatmay be explained in this way--that he looked upon every conversation andevery occurrence as though saying, "That is all very fine; I know allabout that, and I can do a little of that myself, if I only choose."

  "What is our decision to be?" said the young officer again to hiscompanion in the short coat. "Shall we pass the night here, or shall weproceed with our own horses?"

  His comrade declined to proceed.

  "Just imagine, captain," said the one who was pouring the tea, turningto the one-armed man, and picking up the knife that the latter haddropped, "they told us that horses were frightfully dear in Sevastopol,so we bought a horse in partnership at Simferopol."

  "They made you pay pretty high for it, I fancy."

  "Really, I do not know, captain; we paid ninety rubles for it and theteam. Is that very dear?" he added, turning to all the company, and toKozeltzoff, who was staring at him.

  "It was not dear, if the horse is young," said Kozeltzoff.

&
nbsp; "Really! but they told us that it was dear. Only, she limps a little,but that will pass off. They told us that she was very strong."

  "What academy are you from?" asked Kozeltzoff, who wished to inquirefor his brother.

  "We are just from the academy of the nobility; there are six of us, andwe are on our way to Sevastopol at our own desire," said the talkativeyoung officer. "But we do not know where our battery is; some say thatit is in Sevastopol, others that it is at Odessa."

  "Was it not possible to find out at Simferopol?" asked Kozeltzoff.

  "They do not know there. Just imagine, one of our comrades went tothe headquarters there, and they were impertinent to him. You canimagine how disagreeable that was! Would you like to have me make youa cigarette," he said at that moment to the one-armed officer, who wasjust pulling out his cigarette-machine.

  He waited on the latter with a sort of servile enthusiasm.

  "And are you from Sevastopol also?" he went on. "Oh, good Heavens,how wonderful that is! How much we did think of you, and of all ourheroes, in Petersburg," he said, turning to Kozeltzoff with respect andgood-natured flattery.

  "And now, perhaps, you may have to go back?" inquired the lieutenant.

  "That is just what we are afraid of. You can imagine that, after havingbought the horse, and provided ourselves with all the necessaries,--acoffee-pot with a spirit-lamp, and other indispensable trifles,--wehave no money left," he said, in a low voice, as he glanced at hiscompanions; "so that, if we do have to go back, we don't know what isto be done."

  "Have you received no money for travelling expenses?" inquiredKozeltzoff.

  "No," replied he, in a whisper; "they only promised to give it to ushere."

  "Have you the certificate?"

  "I know that--the principal thing--is the certificate; but a senator inMoscow,--he's my uncle,--when I was at his house, said that they wouldgive it to us here; otherwise, he would have given me some himself. Sothey will give it to us here?"

  "Most certainly they will."

  "I too think that they will," he said, in a tone which showedthat, after having made the same identical inquiry in thirtyposting-stations, and having everywhere received different answers, heno longer believed any one implicitly.

  V.

  "Who ordered beet-soup?" called out the slatternly mistress of thehouse, a fat woman of forty, as she entered the room with a bowl ofsoup.

  The conversation ceased at once, and all who were in the room fixedtheir eyes on the woman.

  "Ah, it was Kozeltzoff who ordered it," said the young officer. "Hemust be waked. Get up for your dinner," he said, approaching thesleeper on the sofa, and jogging his elbow.

  A young lad of seventeen, with merry black eyes and red cheeks, sprangenergetically from the sofa, and stood in the middle of the room,rubbing his eyes.

  "Ah, excuse me, please," he said to the doctor, whom he had touched inrising.

  Lieutenant Kozeltzoff recognized his brother immediately, and steppedup to him.

  "Don't you know me?" he said with a smile.

  "A-a-a-!" exclaimed the younger brother; "this is astonishing!" And hebegan to kiss his brother.

  They kissed twice, but stopped at the third repetition as though thethought had occurred to both of them:--

  "Why is it necessary to do it exactly three times?"

  "Well, how delighted I am!" said the elder, looking at his brother."Let us go out on the porch; we can have a talk."

  "Come, come, I don't want any soup. You eat it, Federsohn!" he said tohis comrade.

  "But you wanted something to eat."

  "I don't want anything."

  When they emerged on the porch, the younger kept asking his brother:"Well, how are you; tell me all about it." And still he kept on sayinghow glad he was to see him, but he told nothing himself.

  When five minutes had elapsed, during which time they had succeeded inbecoming somewhat silent, the elder brother inquired why the youngerhad not gone into the guards, as they had all expected him to do.

  He wanted to get to Sevastopol as speedily as possible, he said; forif things turned out favorably there, he could get advancement morerapidly there than in the guards. There it takes ten years to reachthe grade of colonel, while here Todleben had risen in two years fromlieutenant-colonel to general. Well, and if one did get killed, therewas nothing to be done.

  "What a fellow you are!" said his brother, smiling.

  "But the principal thing, do you know, brother," said the younger,smiling and blushing as though he were preparing to say somethingvery disgraceful, "all this is nonsense, and the principal reason whyI asked it was that I was ashamed to live in Petersburg when men aredying for their country here. Yes, and I wanted to be with you," headded, with still greater shamefacedness.

  "How absurd you are!" said the elder brother, pulling out hiscigarette-machine, and not even glancing at him. "It's a pity, though,that we can't be together."

  "Now, honestly, is it so terrible in the bastions?" inquired theyounger man, abruptly.

  "It is terrible at first, but you get used to it afterwards. It'snothing. You will see for yourself."

  "And tell me still another thing. What do you think?--will Sevastopol betaken? I think that it will not."

  "God knows!"

  "But one thing is annoying. Just imagine what bad luck! A whole bundlewas stolen from us on the road, and it had my shako in it, so thatnow I am in a dreadful predicament; and I don't know how I am to showmyself."

  The younger Kozeltzoff, Vladimir, greatly resembled his brotherMikhail, but he resembled him as a budding rose-bush resembles onethat is out of flower. His hair was chestnut also, but it was thickand lay in curls on his temples. On the soft white back of his neckthere was a blond lock; a sign of good luck, so the nurses say. Thefull-blooded crimson of youth did not stand fixed on the soft, whitehue of his face, but flashed up and betrayed all the movements of hismind. He had the same eyes as his brother, but they were more widelyopened, and clearer, which appeared the more peculiar because they wereveiled frequently by a slight moisture. A golden down was sproutingon his cheeks, and over his ruddy lips, which were often folded intoa shy smile, displaying teeth of dazzling whiteness. He was a wellformed and broad-shouldered fellow, in unbuttoned coat, from beneathwhich was visible a red shirt with collar turned back. As he stoodbefore his brother, leaning his elbows on the railing of the porch,with cigarette in hand and innocent joy in his face and gesture, he wasso agreeable and comely a youth that any one would have gazed at himwith delight. He was extremely pleased with his brother, he looked athim with respect and pride, fancying him his hero; but in some ways, sofar as judgments on worldly culture, ability to talk French, behaviorin the society of distinguished people, dancing, and so on, he wassomewhat ashamed of him, looked down on him, and even cherished a hopeof improving him if such a thing were possible.

  All his impressions, so far, were from Petersburg, at the house ofa lady who was fond of good-looking young fellows, and who had hadhim spend his holidays with her, and from Moscow, at the house of asenator, where he had once danced at a great ball.

  VI.

  Having nearly talked their fill and having arrived at the feeling thatyou frequently experience, that there is little in common between you,though you love one another, the brothers were silent for a few moments.

  "Pick up your things and we will set out at once," said the elder.

  The younger suddenly blushed, stammered, and became confused.

  "Are we to go straight to Sevastopol?" he inquired, after a momentarypause.

  "Why, yes. You can't have many things, and we can manage to carry them,I think."

  "Very good! we will start at once," said the younger, with a sigh, andhe went inside.

  But he paused in the vestibule without opening the door, dropped hishead gloomily, and began to reflect.

  "Straight to Sevastopol, on the instant, within range of thebombs--frightful! It's no matter, however; it must have come sometime.Now, at all e
vents, with my brother--"

  The fact was that it was only now, at the thought that, once seatedin the cart, he should enter Sevastopol without dismounting from it,and that no chance occurrence could any longer detain him, that thedanger which he was seeking clearly presented itself to him, and he wastroubled at the very thought of its nearness. He managed to controlhimself in some way, and entered the room; but a quarter of an hourelapsed, and still he had not rejoined his brother, so that the latteropened the door at last, in order to call him. The younger Kozeltzoff,in the attitude of a naughty school-boy, was saying something to anofficer named P. When his brother opened the door, he became utterlyconfused.

  "Immediately. I'll come out in a minute!" he cried, waving his hand athis brother. "Wait for me there, please."

  A moment later he emerged, in fact, and approached his brother, with adeep sigh.

  "Just imagine! I cannot go with you, brother," he said.

  "What? What nonsense is this?"

  "I will tell you the whole truth, Misha! Not one of us has any money,and we are all in debt to that staff-captain whom you saw there. It ishorribly mortifying!"

  The elder brother frowned, and did not break the silence for a longwhile.

  "Do you owe much?" he asked, glancing askance at his brother.

  "A great deal--no, not a great deal; but I am dreadfully ashamed of it.He has paid for me for three stages, and all his sugar is gone, so thatI do not know--yes, and we played at preference. I am a little in hisdebt there, too."

  "This is bad, Volodya! Now, what would you have done if you had not metme?" said the elder, sternly, without looking at his brother.

  "Why, I was thinking, brother, that I should get that travelling-moneyat Sevastopol, and that I would give him that. Surely, that can bedone; and it will be better for me to go with him to-morrow."

  The elder brother pulled out his purse, and, with fingers that shook alittle, he took out two ten-ruble notes and one for three rubles.

  "This is all the money I have," said he. "How much do you owe?"

  Kozeltzoff did not speak the exact truth when he said that this was allthe money he had. He had, besides, four gold pieces sewn into his cuff,in case of an emergency; but he had taken a vow not to touch them.

  It