Malva

“ The sea gulls whirled about over their heads uttering hoarse cries. From the distance came the regular and gentle splash of the tiny waves breaking on the sand.
When, at last, they broke from their long embrace, Malva sat up on Vassili's knee. The peasant's face, tanned by wind and sun, was bent close to hers and his great blond beard tickled her neck. The young woman was motionless; only the gradual and regular rise and fall of her bosom showed her to be alive. Vassili's eyes wandered in turn from the sea to this woman by his side. ”

“ As Vassili watched the little black spot grow larger it seemed to him that Malva was not alone in the boat. Could Serejka have come along with her? Vassili moved heavily on the sand, sat up, shaded his eyes with his hands, and with a show of ill humor began to strain his eyes to see who was coming. No, the man rowing was not Serejka. He rows strong but clumsily. If Serejka were rowing Malva would not take the trouble to hold the rudder. ”

“ The setting sun shed on the shore the ruddy reflection of its rays. The delicate willows thrilled with the sea-breeze through every one of their pale green leaves.
Malva sat silent as if listening.
"Why did you not go over there to-day, to the cape?" asked Jakoff "What's that to you?"
Jakoff plucked a leaf and chewed it between his teeth. He watched the girl furtively, not knowing quite how to speak what he wanted to say.
"It's like this; when I am all alone, and it's so nice and quiet, I want either to sing or cry all the time. Only I don't know any good songs, and I am ashamed to cry." ”

“ Little playful waves, born of the breath of the wind, washed softly against the boat. Far away, in the distance, the cape stretched out into the sea. At its extreme end, against the soft blue of the sky could be seen a slender, tall mast, at the top of which fluttered a red rag.
"Yes, my lad," continued Malva, without looking at Jakoff; "I may be tempting, but not for you.... And let me tell you, no one has bought me, I am not the property of your father. I live for myself. So it's no use running after me, because I don't intend to come between you and Vassili.... ”

“ The sea gulls halted in their flight and listened.
"Hallo! Hallo!" came back from the boat. It was Malva's sonorous voice.
"Who's with you?"
A laugh replied to him.
"Jade!" swore Vassili under his breath.
He spat on the ground with vexation.
He was puzzled. While he rolled a cigarette he examined the neck and back of the rower who was rapidly drawing nearer. The sound of the water when the oars struck it resounded in the still air, and the sand crunched under the watchman's bare feet as he stamped about in his impatience. ”

“ Robust, able to read, seen the world—but what a drunkard! Yet good company. One can't feel dull in his company. The women are mad for him; all run after him. Malva's the only one that keeps aloof. No, no sign of her! What a cursed woman! Perhaps she's angry because I beat her."
Thus, thinking of his son, of Serejka, but more often of Malva, Vassili paced up and down the sandy beach, turning every now and then to look anxiously out to sea. But Malva did not come.
This is what had happened.
Iakov rose early, and on going down to the beach as usual to wash himself, he saw Malva. ”

“ Yes, I would beat you."
"Yet I'm not your wife," said Malva, calmly. " You have been accustomed to beat your wife for nothing, and you imagine that you can do the same with me. No, I am free. I belong only to myself, and I am afraid of no one. But you are afraid of your son, and now you dare threaten me."
She shook her head with disdain. Her careless manner cooled Vassili's anger. He had never seen her look so beautiful.
"I have something else to tell you," she went on. "You boasted to Serejka that I could no more get along without you than without bread, and that I cannot live without you. ”

“ You are not like other women."
"Thank God!" sighed Malva.
To their left, behind a chain of sandy hills, the moon rose, flooding them with its silvery light. Large and soft it rose slowly in the blue sky, and the sparkling light of the stars paled, and was lost in its mellow, dreamy light.
"You think too much.... That's what's the matter!" said Sereja in a convinced tone of voice, tossing away his cigarette. "And when one thinks, one becomes disgusted with life.... One must be always moving, always in the midst of people ... who must be made to feel that one is really alive. ”

“ She mends my clothes and so on. Besides it's as easy to escape from death as from a woman when once she's after you."
"What's it to me?" said Iakov. "It's your affair. I'm not your judge."
Malva now returned with the spoons, and they sat down to dinner. They ate without talking, sucking the bones noisily and spitting them out on the sand, near the door. Iakov literally devoured his food, which seemed to please Malva vastly; she watched with tender interest his sunburnt cheeks extend and his thick humid lips moving quickly. Vassili was not hungry. ”

“ One must knock life about, or it will become mouldy. Move about in life, here and there, as long as you are able, and then you won't be bored." Malva grew gay.
"It's perhaps true what you say. Sometimes I think that if one set fire one night to one of the huts ... that might make things lively!" "That's a capital idea!" cried the other one, tapping her on the shoulder. "Do you know what I would advise you ... we might have some fun together if you would like?"
"What is it?" asked Malva, interested.
"Have you warmed up Jakoff well?" ”

“ Ten a penny, that's what he's worth!"
"That's all you know!" cried Malva, mockingly. "That's what you are worth!... But he, he has been everywhere, he has wandered all round the world, and he fears no one."
"And I, who do I fear?" said Jakoff, blusteringly. She did not answer him; she followed with her eyes the play of the waves, as they swung the heavy boat backwards and forwards. The mast inclined sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left, and the bows rose, and then fell, striking the water. ”

“ Over there near the barrels he saw Sereja and Jakoff, and their faces were turned in his direction.
"Get along with you; or I shall do for you!..."
He stopped and breathed curses into her face. His eyes were bloodshot, his beard trembled, and his hands were stretched involuntarily towards Malva's hair, which appeared above her shawl.
Her green eyes were fixed on him.
"You deserve to be killed!... But wait a bit. Some one will break your head one of these days!" ”

“ Vassili, as he drank his tea from a white china cup, questioned his son about the country, and exchanged recollections. Malva, without taking part in the conversation, listened to their slowly-uttered questions and answers.
"The peasants are still able then to make a living?"
"Yes, they get along somehow," answered Jakoff.
"We don't want much, we peasants. A house, enough bread, and on feast-days a glass of vodka.... Yes, but we don't even get that ... Should I have gone away if I could have lived at home? In the village I am my own master, the equal of any one, but here I am a servant." ”

“ When she accompanied him to the end of the village she had said quickly, blinking her eyes:
"In Christ's name, Iakov say to him: 'Father, mother is alone yonder. Five years have gone by and she is always alone. She is getting old.' Tell him that, Iakov, my little Iakov, for the love of God. Mother will soon be an old woman. She's always alone, always at work. In Christ's name, tell him that."
And she had wept silently, hiding her face in her apron.
Iakov had not pitied her then, but he did now. And his face took on a hard expression before Malva, as if he were about to abuse her. ”

“ Malva laughed and twisted her hair to get the water out.
The day was growing. The fishermen, after their night of heavy slumber, were emerging from their huts, one by one. From the distance all looked alike. One began to strike blows on an empty barrel at regular intervals. Two women were heard quarrelling. Dogs barked.
"They are getting up," said Iakov. "And I wanted to start to town early. I've lost time with you."
"One does nothing good in my company," she said, half in jest, half seriously.
"What a habit you have of scaring people," replied Iakov. ”

“ On the latter's lips hovered that cunning smile Vassili knew so well. Malva turned her green eyes from the father to the son and munched melon seeds between her small white teeth. Iakov smiled and for a few seconds, which were painful to Vassili, all three were silent.
"I'll come back in a moment," said Vassili suddenly going towards the cabin. "Don't stay there in the sun, I'm going to fetch some water. We'll make some soup. I'll give you some fish soup, Iakov."
He seized a saucepan that was lying on the ground and disappeared behind the fishing nets. ”

“ Iakov understood her relations towards his father perfectly well and that prevented him from expressing himself freely. He was not surprised. It would have been difficult for a man like his father to have been long without a companion.
"The soup is ready," announced Vassili, at the threshold of the cabin. "Get the spoons, Malva." ”

“ The joyful and caressing music of the waves was accompanied by the ferocious and victorious cries of the seagulls. The heat seemed to be growing less, and from time to time a breath of fresh air impregnated with the pure smell of the sea, seemed to reach the hut.
After having eaten the excellent fish-soup, and drunk several glasses of vodka, Jakoff became sleepy. He began by smiling stupidly, and yawning, looking at Malva all the time in such a way that Vassili thought it better to say to him—
"Lie down here, Jakoff, till tea-time ... then we will call you." ”

“ That is for Malva to—"
"Keep quiet, that's all. You are not the dog that will eat the lamb. If you get the bones you may be thankful."
Iakov looked at Malva. Her green eyes laughed in a humiliating way at him and she fondled Serejka so that Iakov felt himself grow hot and cold.
Then they went away side by side and both burst out laughing. Iakov dug his foot deep in the sand and remained glued to the spot, his body stretched forward, his face red, his heart beating wildly.
In the distance, on the dead waves of sand, was a small dark human figure moving slowly away ”

“ A woman laughs and cries; some one plays on a broken accordion; everywhere there is the sparkle of fish-scales.
At noon Jakoff found a sheltered place between the piles of empty barrels, lay down there and slept till the evening. When he woke up he wandered about without any fixed plan, though he seemed vaguely attracted by something unknown.
After two hours' walking about, he found Malva some way from the fishery, under the shade of some young willow trees. She was lying on her side, and held in her hand a well-thumbed book; with a smile she watched Jakoff approach. ”

“ He realized by the frank laughter of Sereja that the lad was sincere, and that he was not himself running after Malva. But he said—
"If she were a virtuous girl one might pity her. But as it is ... it seems rather queer, doesn't it?" The other man did not answer; he watched the boat making a circle, and turning its bows towards land. Sereja's ruddy face wore an open, good, and simple expression.
As he watched him, Vassili's feelings grew softer.
"You are right, she is a good woman ... she is only light-hearted; I shall have something to say to Jakoff, the young dog!" ”

“ Malva smiled as she examined the tatterdemalion.
"Damn it all I give them to me! I will marry you for twenty kopecks, if you like?"
"You scarecrow! Are you a pope?"
"Fool! At Ouglitch I was servant to a pope.... Give me twenty kopecks."
"I don't want to get married," said Jakoff. "Never mind; give all the same. I won't tell your father that you are running after his girl," continued Sereja, licking his dry, cracked lips.
"Do you think, that he'd believe you?"
"When I take the trouble to talk, I am generally believed," asserted Sereja. ”

“ Why, Iakov, what a fine fellow you've grown!"
Again he disappeared.
Malva went on munching her melon seeds. She stared familiarly at Iakov. He tried not to meet her eyes, although he would have liked to, and he thought to himself:
"Life must come easy here. People seem to eat as much as they want to. How strong she is and father, too!"
Then intimidated by the silence, he said aloud:
"I forgot my bag in the boat. I'll go and get it."
Iakov rose leisurely and went out. Vassili appeared a moment later. ”

“ Vassili shall know of this."
"Go to the devil, all of you!" cried Malva. And she left them, disappearing among the boats.
Iakov stood facing Serejka, and looked him square in the face. Serejka boldly returned the stare and so they remained for a minute or two, like two rams ready to charge on each other. Then without a word each turned away and went off in a different direction.
The sea was calm and crimson with the rays of the setting sun. A confused sound hovered over the fishing ground. The voice of a drunken woman sang hysterically words devoid of sense. ”

“ Should he embrace his father as Malva had done or shake his hand like Serejka? And Vassili felt hurt at this hesitation, which was visible in his son's attitude.
"Remember your mother," said Vassili, finally.
"Yes, yes," replied Iakov, cordially. "Don't worry. I know."
"That's all. Be happy. God protect you. Don't think badly of me. The kettle, Serejka, is buried in the sand near the bow of the green boat."
"What does he want with the kettle? " asked Iakov.
"He has taken my place yonder on the headland," explained Vassili.
Iakov looked enviously at Serejka, then at Malva. ”

“ Tired out at last, and drenched with salt water, they scrambled on to the shore, and sat down in the sun to rest.
"Ouf!" cried Jakoff, making a face. "That water is horrible! And what a lot there is of it!
"There is always plenty of what is bad ... boys, for example ... there are plenty of them!"
Malva was laughing and wringing out her hair, from which the water was dripping; her hair was dark and curly, but not very long.
"That's why you have chosen an old man!" hinted Jakoff, nudging her with his elbow.
"Some of the old fellows are worth more than the young ones." ”