Vsevolod Mikhailovich Garshin

“ They met again and discussed the same topics.
"Ah, friend, if it were not for men we should not be poking in these huts," said Vasily, on one occasion.
"And what if we are poking in these huts? It's not so bad. You can live in them."
"Live in them, indeed! Bah, you . . . You have lived long and learned little, looked at much and seen little. ”

“ One beautiful June day—it was beautiful because it was twenty-eight degrees Réaumur—one beautiful June day it was warm everywhere, but it was even warmer in the clearing in the garden, where stood some ricks of newly mown hay, because the place was protected from the wind by a thick, impenetrable, cherry grove. Nearly everything was asleep: people had had their fill and were devoting themselves to post-prandial lateral occupations; the birds were silent; and even many insects had sought shelter from the heat. ”

“ What sort of life is there for a poor man in a hut here or there? The cannibals are devouring you. They are sucking up all your life-blood, and when you become old, they will throw you out just as they do husks to feed the pigs on. What pay do you get?"
"Not much, Vasily Stepanych—twelve rubles."
"And I, thirteen and a half rubles. Why? By the regulations the company should give us fifteen rubles a month with firing and lighting. Who decides that you should have twelve rubles, or I thirteen and a half? Ask yourself! And you say a man can live on that? ”

“ It is too late. See! He struck me in the face, drew blood. So long as I live I will not forget. I will not leave it like this!"
Semyon took his hand. "Give it up, Stepanych. I am giving you good advice. You will not better things. . . ."
"Better things! I know myself I shan't better things. You were right about Fate. It would be better for me not to do it, but one must stand up for the right."
"But tell me, how did it happen?"
"How? He examined everything, got down from the trolley, looked into the hut. ”

“ A poor man, no matter where he lives, in a railway watch-house or in any other place, what sort of a life is his? Those fleecers are eating your life away, squeeze all your juice out, and when you have grown old they throw you out like some swill, for the pigs to feed on. How much wages do you get?"
"Well, not much, Vasili Stepanich, twelve rubles" (about seven dollars and a half) . ”

“ Semen began to form acquaintance with his nearest neighbors—trackmen like himself. One was already a very old man, whom the railway authorities had long intended to replace; he could hardly move from his watch-house, and his wife attended to his duties. The other trackman, who lived nearer to the station, was still a young man, thin and sinewy. Semen met him for the first time on the railroad-bed half-way between their watch-houses, while they were making their rounds; Semen took off his cap and bowed. "Good health to you, neighbor," he said. ”

“ Semyon's wife passed the time of day with her neighbour, but neither did she say much.
On one occasion Semyon said to her: "Young woman, your husband is not very talkative."
The woman said nothing at first, then replied: "But what is there for him to talk about? Every one has his own business. Go your way, and God be with you."
However, after another month or so they became acquainted. Semyon would go with Vasily along the line, sit on the edge of a pipe, smoke, and talk of life. ”

“ She asked : ' What is the world?' and you are talking about your dung ball. Why, that is not even decent. The world is, in my opinion, a very good thing, if for nothing else, because we find in it juicy grass, the sun, and the breeze. And it is so big! Living under these trees, you can't have the slightest con- ception how big it is. When I am in the field, I sometimes jump up as high as I can, and I assure you I reach an enor- mous height. I see from way up there that there is no end to the world." " That 's right," thoughtfully assented the Bay. ”

“ He stayed at the station, helped in the kitchen, cut firewood, kept the yard clean, and swept the platform. In a fortnight's time his wife arrived, and Semyon went on a hand-trolley to his hut. The hut was a new one and warm, with as much wood as he wanted. There was a little vegetable garden, the legacy of former track-walkers, and there was about half a dessiatin of ploughed land on either side of the railway embankment. Semyon was rejoiced. He began to think of doing some farming, of purchasing a cow and a horse. ”

“ He starved and froze, and baked in the hot sun, and marched from forty to fifty versts in the frost or in the burning heat. It also happened that he was often under fire, but, thank God, no bullet ever touched him. ”

“ He occupied a whole private car by himself—on the station he alighted and stood on the platform, looking—no, I will not stay here long; I shall go where my eyes will lead me."
"But where will you go, Stepanich? Let well alone, you will not find it much better anywhere. You have a home here, warmth, arid a bit of land. Your wife is an able workwoman—"
"Land! You ought to see the land I have—why, there isn't a stick on it. This spring I planted some cabbages. Well, one day the track-master passed: 'What is this?' he says. ”

“ All the same, there is nothing crueller than man. If it were not for his wickedness and greed, it would be possible to live. Everybody tries to sting you to the quick, to bite and eat you up."
Semyon pondered a bit. ”

“ And then there is Nikoldevsk, — that 's a town, twenty-eight versts from here, — there the hay is better, and I get oats there; but I do not like to go to Nikoldevsk : our master generally drives there, and he tells the coachman to drive fast, and the coachman lays the whip on us dreadfully. And there are also Aleksindrovka, Byel6zerka, Kh6rson, — that 's a town too But how can you grasp that all! That is the world ; I must say, not the whole world, but yet a consider- able part of it." The Bay grew silent, but his lower lip was quivering as if whispering something. ”

“ Semen looked after him till he was lost from sight at the turn of the road, then he returned home and said to his wife: "Well, Arina, what a venomous man that neighbor of ours is!"
Nevertheless they were not angry with each other; and when they met again they spoke as if nothing had happened and on the very same topic.
"Ei, brother, if not for the people—we would not sit here in these watch-houses," spoke Vasili.
"Well, what if we do live in a watch-house? It is not so bad to live in one, after all."
"Not so bad to live, not so bad— Ech, you! You lived long, but gained little ”

“ The woman at the neighbouring hut turned her old man out to weed. Semyon worked for a whole week. He put everything in order, mended his kaftan, cleaned and polished his brass plate until it fairly shone. Vasily also worked hard. The Chief arrived on a trolley, four men working the handles and the levers making the six wheels hum. The trolley travelled at twenty versts an hour, but the wheels squeaked. It reached Semyon's hut, and he ran out and reported in soldierly fashion. ”

“ Once the master of the division came to make a preliminary inspection of the road. In three days' time very important gentlemen were expected from St. Petersburg to make an inspection of the road: everything had to be made ship-shape; some new gravel was ordered before their arrival, added, leveled, and smoothed out, the sleepers were examined, the nuts tightened, the verst-posts newly painted, and the order was given that some fine yellow sand be strewn over the crossings. ”

“ But the bloody flag did not fall to the ground: some one's hand caught it and raised it aloft in front of the oncoming train. The engineer saw him and brought the engine to a stop.
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The people came rushing from the train; soon they gathered into a crowd; before them lay a man, unconscious, covered with blood; another man stood beside him with a bloody rag tied to a stick.
Vasili surveyed the crowd and lowered his head.
Bind me," he said; "it was I who cut the rail."
↑ A copeck is a little more than half a cent. 100 copecks make a silver ruble, or 60 cents. ”