then bent over the table, wringing herhands, then suddenly leapt up and ran after her husband.... We havedescribed their meeting.
When Akim drove away from her with Yefrem, leaving her alone in thefield, for a long time she remained where she was, weeping. When shehad wept away all her tears she went in the direction of hermistress's house. It was very bitter for her to go into the house,still more bitter to go into the maids' room. All the maids flew tomeet her with sympathy and consideration. Seeing them, Avdotya couldnot restrain her tears; they simply spurted from her red and swolleneyes. She sank, helpless, on the first chair that offered itself.Someone ran to fetch Kirillovna. Kirillovna came, was very friendly toher, but kept her from seeing the mistress just as she had Akim.Avdotya herself did not insist on seeing Lizaveta Prohorovna; she hadcome to her old home simply because she had nowhere else to go.
Kirillovna ordered the samovar to be brought in. For a long whileAvdotya refused to take tea, but yielded at last to the entreaties andpersuasion of all the maids and after the first cup drank anotherfour. When Kirillovna saw that her guest was a little calmer and onlyshuddered and gave a faint sob from time to time, she asked her wherethey meant to move to and what they thought of doing with theirthings. Avdotya began crying again at this question, and protestingthat she wanted nothing but to die; but Kirillovna as a woman with ahead on her shoulders, checked her at once and advised her withoutwasting time to set to work that very day to move their things to thehut in the village which had been Akim's and in which his uncle (theold man who had tried to dissuade him from his marriage) was nowliving; she told her that with their mistress's permission men andhorses should be sent to help them in packing and moving. "And as foryou, my love," added Kirillovna, twisting her cat-like lips into a wrysmile, "there will always be a place for you with us and we shall bedelighted if you stay with us till you are settled in a house of yourown again. The great thing is not to lose heart. The Lord has given,the Lord has taken away and will give again. Lizaveta Prohorovna, ofcourse, had to sell your inn for reasons of her own but she will notforget you and will make up to you for it; she told me to tell AkimSemyonitch so. Where is he now?"
Avdotya answered that when he met her he had been very unkind to herand had driven off to Yefrem's.
"Oh, to that fellow's!" Kirillovna replied significantly. "Of course,I understand that it's hard for him now. I daresay you won't find himto-day; what's to be done? I must make arrangements. Malashka," sheadded, turning to one of the maids, "ask Nikanop Ilyitch to come here:we will talk it over with him."
Nikanop Ilyitch, a feeble-looking man who was bailiff or something ofthe sort, made his appearance at once, listened with servility to allthat Kirillovna said to him, said, "it shall be done," went out andgave orders. Avdotya was given three waggons and three peasants; afourth who said that he was "more competent than they were,"volunteered to join them and she went with them to the inn where shefound her own labourers and the servant Fetinya in a state of greatconfusion and alarm.
Naum's newly hired labourers, three very stalwart young men, had comein the morning and had not left the place since. They were keepingvery zealous guard, as Naum had said they would--so zealous that theiron tyres of a new cart were suddenly found to be missing.
It was a bitter, bitter task for poor Avdotya to pack. In spite of thehelp of the "competent" man, who turned out, however, only capable ofwalking about with a stick in his hand, looking at the others andspitting on the ground, she was not able to get it finished that dayand stayed the night at the inn, begging Fetinya to spend the night inher room. But she only fell into a feverish doze towards morning andthe tears trickled down her cheeks even in her sleep.
Meanwhile Yefrem woke up earlier than usual in his lumber room andbegan knocking and asking to be let out. At first his wife wasunwilling to release him and told him through the door that he had notyet slept long enough; but he aroused her curiosity by promising totell her of the extraordinary thing that had happened to Akim; sheunbolted the door. Yefrem told her what he knew and ended by asking"Is he awake yet, or not?"
"The Lord only knows," answered his wife. "Go and look yourself; hehasn't got down from the stove yet. How drunk you both were yesterday!You should look at your face--you don't look like yourself. You are asblack as a sweep and your hair is full of hay!"
"That doesn't matter," answered Yefrem, and, passing his hand over hishead, he went into the room. Akim was no longer asleep; he was sittingon the stove with his legs hanging down; he, too, looked strange andunkempt. His face showed the effects the more as he was not used todrinking much.
"Well, how have you slept, Akim Semyonitch?" Yefrem began.
Akim looked at him with lustreless eyes.
"Well, brother Yefrem," he said huskily, "could we have some again?"
Yefrem took a swift glance at Akim.... He felt a slight tremor at thatmoment; it was a tremor such as is felt by a sportsman when he hearsthe yap of his dog at the edge of the wood from which he had fanciedall the game had been driven.
"What, more?" he asked at last.
"Yes, more."
"My wife will see," thought Yefrem, "she won't let me out, mostlikely.
"All right," he pronounced aloud, "have a little patience."
He went out and, thanks to skilfully taken precautions, succeeded inbringing in unseen a big bottle under his coat.
Akim took the bottle. But Yefrem did not sit down with him as he hadthe day before--he was afraid of his wife--and informing Akim that hewould go and have a look at what was going on at the inn and would seethat his belongings were being packed and not stolen--at once set off,riding his little horse which he had neglected to feed--but judgingfrom the bulging front of his coat he had not forgotten his own needs.
Soon after he had gone, Akim was on the stove again, sleeping like thedead.... He did not wake up, or at least gave no sign of waking whenYefrem returned four hours later and began shaking him and trying torouse him and muttering over him some very muddled phrases such asthat "everything was moved and gone, and the ikons have been taken outand driven away and that everything was over, and that everyone waslooking for him but that he, Yefrem, had given orders and not allowedthem, ..." and so on. But his mutterings did not last long. His wifecarried him off to the lumber room again and, very indignant both withher husband and with the visitor, owing to whom her husband had beendrinking, lay down herself in the room on the shelf under theceiling.... But when she woke up early, as her habit was, and glancedat the stove, Akim was not there. The second cock had not crowed andthe night was still so dark that the sky hardly showed grey overheadand at the horizon melted into the darkness when Akim walked out ofthe gate of the sacristan's house. His face was pale but he lookedkeenly around him and his step was not that of a drunken man.... Hewalked in the direction of his former dwelling, the inn, which had nowcompletely passed into the possession of its new owner--Naum.
Naum, too, was awake when Akim stole out of Yefrem's house. He was notasleep; he was lying on a bench with his sheepskin coat under him. Itwas not that his conscience was troubling him--no! he had with amazingcoolness been present all day at the packing and moving of all Akim'spossessions and had more than once addressed Avdotya, who was sodowncast that she did not even reproach him ... his conscience was atrest but he was disturbed by various conjectures and calculations. Hedid not know whether he would be lucky in his new career; he had neverbefore kept an inn, nor had a home of his own at all; he could notsleep. "The thing has begun well," he thought, "how will it goon?" ... Towards evening, after seeing off the last cart with Akim'sbelongings (Avdotya walked behind it, weeping), he looked all over theyard, the cellars, sheds, and barns, clambered up into the loft, morethan once instructed his labourers to keep a very, very sharp look-outand when he was left alone after supper could not go to sleep. It sohappened that day that no visitor stayed at the inn for the night;this was a great relief to him. "I must certainly buy a dog from themiller to-morrow, as fierce a one as I can get; they've taken the
irsaway," he said to himself, as he tossed from side to side, and all atonce he raised his head quickly ... he fancied that someone had passedby the window ... he listened ... there was nothing. Only a cricketfrom time to time gave a cautious churr, and a mouse was scratchingsomewhere; he could hear his own breathing. Everything was still inthe empty room dimly lighted by the little glass lamp which he hadmanaged to hang up and light before the ikon in the corner.... He lethis head sink; again he thought he heard the gate creak ... then afaint snapping sound from the fence.... He could not refrain fromjumping up; he opened the door of the room and in a low voice called,"Fyodor! Fyodor!" No one answered.... He went out into the passage andalmost fell over Fyodor, who was
Knock, Knock, Knock and Other Stories Page 12