Vlas Mikhaĭlovich Doroshevich

“ The Holm people came before any of the others, they have been longer on the road and are more upset than all the rest.
Their peasant women are quarrelsome, they look about them ill-naturedly, and for every little nothing they raise hysterical cries.
It’s evident that they’re upset in the very depths of their souls.
Their nerves are all unstrung.
See, approaching slowly, in their reddish sheepskin coats with fringes of wool hanging from the cuffs of their sleeves, come the people from the province of Grodno.
You can recognize the Grodno people by their carts. ”

“ At the sides of the carts the peasants have slung their kitchen utensils, as gipsies do.
It cuts one to the heart to see these remains of what was lately—only yesterday—opulence and sufficiency.
One often sees enamelled ware
Enamelled kettles, frying-pans, basins.
Suddenly comes a cart with a watering-pot fastened at the side.
Just one watering-pot remains from the whole garden and vegetable plot!
Sewing machines stick out from the sides of the carts. ”

“ No harness of any kind, only a horse-collar.
And that lonely horse in the shafts has the air of an orphan, and imparts that air to the whole conveyance.
By the side of the horse walks the peasant or his wife, turn by turn.
They only go on foot in the mornings.
—To get warm.
In the mornings there are five degrees of frost in the fields.
But they all are travelling in their carts.
All of them have sore feet and many are lame.
Inside the carts, under feather beds, under old clothes and rags, sit or lie five or seven human beings.
The carts are crowded with people. ”