Listen to klim why are you driving a horse. Over salted - Anton Chekhov - reads Pavel Besedin

Surveyor Gleb Gavrilovich Smirnov arrived at the Gnilushki station. It still remained to ride thirty or forty versts on horseback to the estate where he had been called for surveying. (If the driver is not drunk and the horses are not naked, then there will be no thirty versts, and if the driver with a fly and the horses are dead, then as many as fifty will be typed.)

“Tell me, please, where can I find post horses here?” the surveyor turned to the station gendarme.

- Which ones? Postal? You won't find a traveling dog here for a hundred miles, let alone a postal dog... But where are you going to go?

- In Devkino, the estate of General Khokhotov.

- Well? yawned the gendarme. - Go outside the station, there are sometimes peasants in the yard, carrying passengers.

The land surveyor sighed and trudged behind the station. There, after a long search, conversations and hesitations, he found a hefty peasant, gloomy, pockmarked, dressed in a torn sermyagka and bast shoes.

— The devil knows what kind of cart you have! the surveyor grimaced as he climbed into the cart. - You can’t tell where her ass is, where her front ...

- What is there to disassemble? Where the horse's tail is, there is the front, and where your grace sits, there is the back ...

The horse was young, but skinny, with splayed legs and bitten ears. When the driver got up and whipped her with a rope whip, she only shook her head, but when he got out and whipped her again, the cart screeched and trembled as if in a fever. After the third blow the cart swayed, but after the fourth it started moving.

- Are we going all the way? the surveyor asked, feeling a strong shaking and marveling at the ability of Russian drivers to combine a quiet, snail-like ride with soul-wrenching shaking.

- Let's go! the driver reassured. - The filly is young, nimble ... Just let her run away, and then you won’t stop ... But-oh-oh, damn ... melting!

It was dusk when the cart left the station. To the right of the surveyor stretched a dark, frozen plain, without end and edge ... If you drive along it, you will probably go to the middle of nowhere. On the horizon, where it disappeared and merged with the sky, a cold autumn dawn burned lazily… To the left of the road, in the darkening air, some hillocks rose, not like last year's haystacks, not like a village. What was ahead, the surveyor did not see, because from this side the entire field of vision was obscured by the wide, clumsy back of the charioteer. It was quiet, but cold, frosty.

“What, however, is the wilderness here! thought the surveyor, trying to cover his ears with the collar of his overcoat. - No stake or yard. Not even an hour - they will attack and rob, so no one will know, even if the cannons fell ... And the driver is unreliable ... Look, what a back! A kind of child of nature touches a finger, so the soul out! And his face is brutal, suspicious.

"Hey, dear," the surveyor asked, "what's your name?"

- Me? Klim.

- What, Klim, how are you doing here? Not dangerous? Do not play pranks?

“Nothing, God bless… Who can be naughty?

“It’s good that they don’t play pranks ... But just in case, I still took three revolvers with me,” the surveyor lied. - And with a revolver, you know, jokes are bad. Ten robbers can be dealt with...

It got dark. The cart suddenly creaked, screeched, trembled, and, as if reluctantly, turned to the left.

“Where did he take me? thought the surveyor. — I was driving straight ahead and suddenly left. What good, the scoundrel will bring you to some slum and ... and ... There are cases after all!

“Listen,” he said to the driver. "So you're saying it's not dangerous here?" It's a pity... I love to fight robbers... I look thin, sickly, but I have strength like a bull... Once three robbers attacked me... So what do you think? I fucked one of them so much that ... that, you know, I gave my soul to God, and the other two went to Siberia because of me. And where my strength comes from, I don’t know ... You take with one hand some big guy like you, and ... and you knock it over.

Klim looked back at the surveyor, blinked his whole face, and lashed the horse.

“Yes, brother…” continued the surveyor. “God forbid you contact me. Not only will the robber be left without arms, without legs, but he will also answer before the court ... I know all the judges and police officers. I am a state-owned person, necessary ... I’m on my way, but the authorities know ... they’re looking so that someone doesn’t do me harm. Everywhere along the road, behind the bushes, police officers and sotskys were poked ... On ... on ... wait! the land surveyor suddenly yelled. — Where did you enter? Where are you taking me?

- Don't you see something? Forest!

“Really, a forest…” thought the land surveyor. - And I was scared! However, there is no need to betray your excitement ... He has already noticed that I am afraid. Why did he start looking at me so often? Probably, he is plotting something ... Previously, he was barely moving, leg by leg, but now you see how he rushes!

“Listen, Klim, why are you driving the horse like that?

- I'm not chasing her. She fled herself ... As soon as she fled, you can’t stop her by any means ... And she herself is not happy that her legs are like that.

- You lie, brother! I see that you are lying! But I do not advise you to go so fast. Hold the horse... Do you hear? Hold on!

- Why?

- And then ... then, that four comrades should leave the station for me. It is necessary that they catch up with us ... They promised to catch up with me in this forest ... It will be more fun to ride with them ... The people are healthy, stocky ... each has a pistol ... What is it that you keep looking around and moving like on pins and needles? a? I, brother, that's it ... brother ... There is nothing to look back at me ... there is nothing interesting in me ... Is it just revolvers ... If you like, if you want, I will take them out, I will show them ... If you please ...

The land surveyor pretended to rummage in his pockets, and at that time something happened that he could not have expected, for all his cowardice. Klim suddenly fell out of the cart and ran on all fours to the thicket.

Quick, receding steps were heard, the crackling of brushwood - and everything was silent ... The surveyor, who did not expect such a reprimand, first of all stopped the horse, then sat down more comfortably on the cart and began to think.

“I ran away… I got scared, you fool… Well, what should I do now? You can’t continue the journey yourself, because I don’t know the road, and they might think that I stole his horse from him ... What should I do? — Klim! Klim!

- Klim! .. - the echo answered.

From the thought that he would have to sit all night in a dark forest in the cold and hear only wolves, the echo and snorting of a skinny filly, the surveyor began to warp along his back, like a cold rasp.
- Klimushka! he shouted. — Dove! Where are you, Klimushka?

For two hours the land surveyor shouted, and only after he had become hoarse and reconciled to the idea of ​​spending the night in the forest, did a weak breeze carry someone's groan to him.

— Klim! Is that you, dove? Let's go!

- U ... kill!

- Yes, I was joking, my dear! God bless me, you joked! What kind of revolvers do I have? I lied out of fear! Do me a favor, let's go! I'm freezing!

Klim, realizing, probably, that a real robber would have disappeared long ago with a horse and cart, went out of the forest and hesitantly approached his passenger.

“Well, what the hell are you scared of?” I... I was joking, and you got scared... Sit down!

“God be with you, master,” grumbled Klim, climbing into the cart. - If I had known, I wouldn't have taken it for a hundred rubles. I almost died of fear...

Klim lashed the horse. The cart shook. Klim lashed again, and the cart swayed. After the fourth blow, when the cart started moving, the surveyor covered his ears with a collar and thought. The road and Klim no longer seemed dangerous to him.

Surveyor Gleb Gavrilovich Smirnov arrived at the Gnilushki station. Before the estate, where he was called for land surveying, it was still necessary to ride on horseback thirty or forty versts. (If the driver is not drunk and the horses are not nags, then there will be no thirty miles, and if the driver with a fly and the horses are tired, then as many as fifty will be typed.)

Can you please tell me where I can find post horses here? - the land surveyor turned to the station gendarme.

Which ones? Postal? You won't find a traveling dog here for a hundred miles, let alone a postal dog... Where are you going to go?

In Devkino, the estate of General Khokhotov.

Well? - yawned the gendarme. - Go outside the station, there are sometimes peasants in the yard, carrying passengers.

The surveyor sighed and trudged behind the station. There, after a long search, conversations and hesitation, he found a hefty peasant, gloomy, pockmarked, dressed in a torn sermyagka and bast shoes.

The devil knows what kind of cart you have! - the surveyor grimaced, climbing into the cart. - You can’t make out where her ass is, where her front ...

What is there to disassemble? Where the horse's tail is, there is the front, and where your grace sits, there is the back ...

The horse was young, but skinny, with splayed legs and bitten ears.

When the driver got up and whipped her with a rope whip, she only shook her head, when he got out and whipped her again, the cart squealed and trembled, as if in a fever. After the third blow the cart swayed, but after the fourth it started moving.

So are we going all the way? - the surveyor asked, feeling a strong shaking and marveling at the ability of Russian drivers to combine a quiet, snail-like ride with a soul-twisting shaking.

Let's go! - the driver reassured. - The filly is young, nimble ... Let her just run away, then you won’t stop ... But, oh, damn ... melting! It was dusk when the cart left the station. To the right of the surveyor stretched a dark, frozen plain, without end and edge ... If you go along it, you will probably go to hell in the middle of nowhere. On the horizon, where it disappeared and merged with the sky, a cold autumn dawn was burning lazily... To the left of the road, in the darkening air, some mounds rose up, either last year's haystacks, or a village. What was ahead, the surveyor did not see, because from this side the entire field of vision was obscured by the wide, clumsy back of the charioteer. It was quiet, but cold, frosty.

“However, what a wilderness it is here!” thought the land surveyor, trying to cover his ears with the collar of his overcoat. unreliable ... Look, what a back! Such a child of nature touches his finger, so the soul is out! And his muzzle is brutal, suspicious. "

Hey, dear, - the surveyor asked, - what is your name?

me? Klim.

What, Klim, how are you doing here? Not dangerous? Do not play pranks?

Nothing, God bless ... Who is to be naughty?

It’s good that they don’t play pranks ... But just in case, I still took three revolvers with me, - the surveyor lied. - And you know, jokes are bad with a revolver. Ten robbers can be dealt with...

It got dark. The cart suddenly creaked, screeched, trembled, and, as if reluctantly, turned to the left.

“Where did he take me?” thought the land surveyor. “He was driving straight ahead and suddenly to the left.

What good, the scoundrel will bring you to some slum and ... and ... There are cases after all!

Listen, - he turned to the driver. - So you say that it's not dangerous here? It's a pity... I love to fight robbers... I look thin, sickly, but I have strength like a bull... Once three robbers attacked me... So what do you think? I fucked one of them so much that ... that, you know, I gave my soul to God, and the other two went to Siberia because of me. And I don’t know where my strength comes from, I don’t know ... You take some big guy like you with one hand, and ... and you knock it over.

Klim looked back at the surveyor, blinked his whole face, and lashed the horse.

Yes, brother ... - the surveyor continued. - God forbid to contact me. Not only will the robber be left without arms, without legs, but he will also answer before the court ... I know all the judges and police officers. I am a state-owned person, necessary ... I’m on my way, but the authorities know ... they’re looking so that someone doesn’t do me harm. Everywhere along the road, behind the bushes, police officers and sotsk were poked... On... on... wait! the land surveyor suddenly yelled.

Where are you taking me?

Don't you see something? Forest!

"Indeed, the forest ... - thought the surveyor. - But I was frightened! However, there is no need to betray my excitement ... He already noticed that I was afraid. Why did he begin to look at me so often? Probably, he is plotting that Someday... I used to drive barely, leg by leg, but now you see how it rushes!"

Listen, Klim, why are you driving the horse like that?

I don't drive her. She fled herself ... As soon as she scatters, you can’t stop her by any means .. And she herself is not happy that her legs are like that.

You lie, brother! I see that you are lying! But I do not advise you to go so fast.

Hold the horse... Do you hear? Hold on!

What for?

And then ... then, that four comrades should leave the station for me. It is necessary that they catch up with us... They promised to catch up with me in this forest... It will be more fun to ride with them... The people are healthy, stocky... everyone has a pistol... What is it that you keep looking around and moving like on needles? a? I, brother, that's it ... brother ... There is nothing to look back at me ... there is nothing interesting in me ... Is it only revolvers ... If you like, if you want, I will take them out, I will show them ... If you please .. .

The land surveyor pretended to rummage in his pockets, and at that time something happened that he could not have expected, for all his cowardice. Klim suddenly fell out of the cart and ran on all fours to the thicket.

Quick, receding steps were heard, the crackling of brushwood - and everything was silent ... The land surveyor, who did not expect such a reprimand, first of all stopped the horse, then sat comfortably on the cart and began to think.

"I ran away... I was frightened, a fool... Well, what should I do now? I can't continue on my own, because I don't know the road, and they might think that I stole his horse... What should I do?" - Klim! Klim!

Klim! .. - answered the echo.

From the thought that he would have to sit all night in a dark forest in the cold and hear only wolves, the echo and snorting of a skinny filly, the surveyor began to warp along his back, like a cold rasp.

Klimushka! he shouted. Where are you, Klimushka?

For two hours the land surveyor shouted, and only after he had become hoarse and reconciled with the idea of ​​spending the night in the forest, did a weak breeze carry someone's moan to him.

Klim! Is that you, dove? Let's go!

U... you will kill!

Yes, I was joking, my dear! God bless me, you joked! What kind of revolvers do I have?

I lied out of fear! Do me a favor, let's go! I'm freezing!

Klim, realizing, probably, that a real robber would have disappeared long ago with a horse and cart, went out of the forest and hesitantly approached his passenger.

Well, what the hell are you scared of? I... I was joking, and you got scared... Sit down!

God be with you, master, - grumbled Klim, climbing into the cart. - If I knew, I wouldn’t have taken it for a hundred rubles. I almost died of fear...

Klim lashed the horse. The cart shook. Klim whipped again, and the cart swayed. After the fourth blow, when the cart started moving, the surveyor covered his ears with a collar and thought. The road and Klim no longer seemed dangerous to him.

Surveyor Gleb Gavrilovich Smirnov arrived at the Gnilushki station. It was still thirty or forty versts left to ride on horseback to the estate where he was called for surveying. (If the driver is not drunk and the horses are not naked, then there will be no thirty versts, and if the driver with a fly and the horses are dead, then as many as fifty will be typed.)

Can you please tell me where I can find post horses here? - the land surveyor turned to the station gendarme.

Which ones? Postal? You won't find a traveling dog here for a hundred miles, let alone a postal dog... But where are you going to go?

In Devkino, the estate of General Khokhotov.

Well? yawned the gendarme. - Go outside the station, there are sometimes men in the yard, carrying passengers.

The land surveyor sighed and trudged behind the station. There, after a long search, conversations and hesitations, he found a hefty peasant, gloomy, pockmarked, dressed in a torn sermyagka and bast shoes.

The devil knows what kind of cart you have! the surveyor grimaced as he climbed into the cart. - You can’t tell where her ass is, where her front ...

What is there to disassemble? Where the horse's tail is, there is the front, and where your grace sits, there is the back ...

The horse was young, but skinny, with splayed legs and bitten ears. When the driver got up and whipped her with a rope whip, she only shook her head, but when he got out and whipped her again, the cart screeched and trembled as if in a fever. After the third blow the cart swayed, but after the fourth it started moving.

So are we going all the way? - the surveyor asked, feeling a strong shaking and marveling at the ability of Russian drivers to combine a quiet, snail-like ride with a soul-twisting shaking.

Let's go! - reassured the driver. - The filly is young, nimble ... Just let her run away, and then you won’t stop ... But-oh, damn ... melting!

It was dusk when the cart left the station. To the right of the surveyor stretched a dark, frozen plain, without end and edge ... If you drive along it, you will probably go to the middle of nowhere. On the horizon, where it disappeared and merged with the sky, a cold autumn dawn burned lazily… To the left of the road, in the darkening air, some hillocks rose, not like last year's haystacks, not like a village. What was ahead, the surveyor did not see, because from this side the entire field of vision was obscured by the wide, clumsy back of the charioteer. It was quiet, but cold, frosty.

“What, however, is the wilderness here! thought the surveyor, trying to cover his ears with the collar of his overcoat. - No stake or yard. Not even an hour - they will attack and rob, so no one will know, even if they fell from the cannons ... And the driver is unreliable ... Look, what a back! A kind of child of nature touches a finger, so the soul out! And his face is brutal, suspicious.

Hey, dear, - asked the surveyor, - what is your name?

me? Klim.

What, Klim, how are you doing here? Not dangerous? Do not play pranks?

Nothing, God bless ... Who is to be naughty?

It’s good that they don’t play pranks ... But just in case, I still took three revolvers with me, - the surveyor lied. - And with a revolver, you know, jokes are bad. Ten robbers can be dealt with...

It got dark. The cart suddenly creaked, screeched, trembled, and, as if reluctantly, turned to the left.

“Where did he take me? thought the surveyor. - I was driving straight ahead and suddenly turned to the left. What good, the scoundrel will bring you to some slum and ... and ... There are cases after all!

Listen, - he turned to the driver. "So you're saying it's not dangerous here?" It's a pity... I love to fight robbers... I look thin, sickly, but I have strength like a bull... Once three robbers attacked me... So what do you think? I fucked one of them so much that ... that, you know, I gave my soul to God, and the other two went to Siberia because of me. And where my strength comes from, I don’t know ... You take with one hand some big guy like you, and ... and you knock it over.

Klim looked back at the surveyor, blinked his whole face, and lashed the horse.

Yes, brother ... - the surveyor continued. - God forbid contact with me. Not only will the robber be left without arms, without legs, but he will also answer before the court ... I know all the judges and police officers. I am a state-owned person, necessary ... I’m on my way, but the authorities know ... they’re looking so that someone doesn’t do me harm. Everywhere along the road, behind the bushes, police officers and sotskys were poked ... On ... on ... wait! the land surveyor suddenly yelled. - Where did you enter? Where are you taking me?

Don't you see something? Forest!

“Indeed, the forest ... - thought the surveyor. - I got scared! However, there is no need to betray your excitement ... He has already noticed that I am afraid. Why did he start looking at me so often? Probably, he is plotting something ... Previously, he was barely moving, leg by leg, but now you see how he rushes!

Listen, Klim, why are you driving the horse like that?

I don't chase her. She fled herself ... As soon as she fled, you can’t stop her by any means ... And she herself is not happy that her legs are like that.

You lie, brother! I see that you are lying! But I do not advise you to go so fast. Hold the horse... Do you hear? Hold on!

And then ... then, that four comrades should leave the station for me. It is necessary that they catch up with us ... They promised to catch up with me in this forest ... It will be more fun to ride with them ... The people are healthy, stocky ... each has a pistol ... What is it that you keep looking around and moving like on pins and needles? a? I, brother, that's it ... brother ... There is nothing to look back at me ... there is nothing interesting in me ... Is it just revolvers ... If you like, if you want, I will take them out, I will show them ... If you please ...

The land surveyor pretended to rummage in his pockets, and at that time something happened that he could not have expected, for all his cowardice. Klim suddenly fell out of the cart and ran on all fours to the thicket.

Quick, receding steps were heard, the crackling of brushwood - and everything was silent ... The land surveyor, who did not expect such a reprimand, first of all stopped the horse, then sat comfortably on the cart and began to think.

“I ran away… I got scared, you fool… Well, what should I do now? You can’t continue the journey yourself, because I don’t know the road, and they might think that I stole his horse from him ... What should I do? - Klim! Klim!

Klim! .. - answered the echo.

From the thought that he would have to sit all night in a dark forest in the cold and hear only wolves, the echo and snorting of a skinny filly, the surveyor began to warp along his back, like a cold rasp.

Klimushka! he shouted. - Dove! Where are you, Klimushka?

For two hours the land surveyor shouted, and only after he had become hoarse and reconciled to the idea of ​​spending the night in the forest, did a weak breeze carry someone's groan to him.

Klim! Is that you, dove? Let's go!

U... you will kill!

Yes, I was joking, my dear! God bless me, you joked! What kind of revolvers do I have? I lied out of fear! Do me a favor, let's go! I'm freezing!

Klim, realizing, probably, that a real robber would have disappeared long ago with a horse and cart, went out of the forest and hesitantly approached his passenger.

Well, what the hell are you scared of? I... I was joking, and you got scared... Sit down!

God be with you, master, - grumbled Klim, climbing into the cart. - If I had known, I wouldn't have taken it for a hundred rubles. I almost died of fear...

Klim lashed the horse. The cart shook. Klim lashed again, and the cart swayed. After the fourth blow, when the cart started moving, the surveyor covered his ears with a collar and thought. The road and Klim no longer seemed dangerous to him.

The plot of Chekhov's story Peresalil

Surveyor Gleb Smirnov, summoned to one of the estates for land surveying, arrived at the Gnilushki station. It was still thirty versts to go to the estate, it was only necessary to find something on which to get there. Smirnov asked the local gendarme where to find the horses? He was surprised by such a question, because here you can’t find a dog, not like a horse. The gendarme advised me to go to the station, assuring me that only there you could find a cab. After a tedious search, a healthy man dressed in rags was found. They barely rode on his skinny horse. Expensive shook so that the soul turned out. But the driver assured that this was only acceleration, then the horse would run so that it could not be stopped.

On the way, the surveyor froze in horror at the wilderness that opened before him. Thoughts were born in his mind that in such a wilderness he would be attacked, robbed and no one would help. He began to ask the driver Klim whether he had chosen a dangerous road. The land surveyor decided to secure his life and began to compose that, allegedly, in case of an attack, he took three revolvers with him.

When it got dark, the cart turned left. The land surveyor, immediately terrified, began to think why they were driving straight, and now suddenly to the left. Most likely, Klim wants to take him somewhere and rob him. He again began to exhibit his imaginary courage and tell how he really loves to fight, despite the fact that he is thin, has a lot of strength, even once dealt with three villains. In addition, I am familiar with all the judges. The authorities value him so much that they make sure that nothing happens. In the meantime, they turned into the woods, the driver, out of fear, often looked back at the surveyor, who, in turn, began to think that he was plotting something evil, since he looked back.

The surveyor ordered to hold the horse and not to drive so fast. Allegedly, four comrades with pistols left the station in their direction. Klim was more frightened than ever, and looked around more and more often. And the land surveyor will not understand why he is looking back and decided to let more fear in, offered to look at his revolvers and reached into his pocket. At this time, Klim jumped out of the wagon and, shouting, the guards ran into the thicket. The land surveyor, not expecting such a turn, thought about how to go now without knowing the road. He began to call Klim to return and confessed to him that he had been lying all this time because of fear. The driver also admitted that listening to the surveyor all the way, he almost died of fear. Then they went on their way without fear of each other.

Surveyor Gleb Gavrilovich Smirnov arrived at the Gnilushki station. It still remained to ride thirty or forty versts on horseback to the estate where he was called for surveying. (If the driver is not drunk and the horses are not naked, then there will be no thirty versts, and if the driver with a fly and the horses are dead, then as many as fifty will be typed.)

Can you please tell me where I can find post horses here? - the land surveyor turned to the station gendarme.

Which ones? Postal? You won't find a traveling dog here for a hundred miles, let alone a postal dog... But where are you going to go?

In Devkino, the estate of General Khokhotov.

Well? yawned the gendarme. - Go outside the station, there are sometimes men in the yard, carrying passengers.

The land surveyor sighed and trudged behind the station. There, after a long search, conversations and hesitations, he found a hefty peasant, gloomy, pockmarked, dressed in a torn sermyagka and bast shoes.

The devil knows what kind of cart you have! the surveyor grimaced as he climbed into the cart. - You can’t tell where her ass is, where her front ...

What is there to disassemble? Where the horse's tail is, there is the front, and where your grace sits, there is the back ...

The horse was young, but skinny, with splayed legs and bitten ears. When the driver got up and whipped her with a rope whip, she only shook her head, but when he got out and whipped her again, the cart screeched and trembled as if in a fever. After the third blow the cart swayed, but after the fourth it started moving.

So are we going all the way? - the surveyor asked, feeling a strong shaking and marveling at the ability of Russian drivers to combine a quiet, snail-like ride with a soul-twisting shaking.

Let's go! - reassured the driver. - The filly is young, nimble ... Just let her run away, and then you won’t stop ... But-oh, damn ... melting!

It was dusk when the cart left the station. To the right of the surveyor stretched a dark, frozen plain, without end and edge ... If you drive along it, you will probably go to the middle of nowhere. On the horizon, where it disappeared and merged with the sky, a cold autumn dawn burned lazily… To the left of the road, in the darkening air, some hillocks rose, not like last year's haystacks, not like a village. What was ahead, the surveyor did not see, because from this side the entire field of vision was obscured by the wide, clumsy back of the charioteer. It was quiet, but cold, frosty.

“What, however, is the wilderness here! thought the surveyor, trying to cover his ears with the collar of his overcoat. - No stake or yard. Not even an hour - they will attack and rob, so no one will know, even if they fell from the cannons ... And the driver is unreliable ... Look, what a back! A kind of child of nature touches a finger, so the soul out! And his face is brutal, suspicious.

Hey, dear, - asked the surveyor, - what is your name?

me? Klim.

What, Klim, how are you doing here? Not dangerous? Do not play pranks?

Nothing, God bless ... Who is to be naughty?

It’s good that they don’t play pranks ... But just in case, I still took three revolvers with me, - the surveyor lied. - And with a revolver, you know, jokes are bad. Ten robbers can be dealt with...

It got dark. The cart suddenly creaked, screeched, trembled, and, as if reluctantly, turned to the left.

“Where did he take me? thought the surveyor. - I was driving straight ahead and suddenly turned to the left. What good, the scoundrel will bring you to some slum and ... and ... There are cases after all!

Listen, - he turned to the driver. "So you're saying it's not dangerous here?" It's a pity... I love to fight robbers... I look thin, sickly, but I have strength like a bull... Once three robbers attacked me... So what do you think? I fucked one of them so much that ... that, you know, I gave my soul to God, and the other two went to Siberia because of me. And where my strength comes from, I don’t know ... You take with one hand some big guy like you, and .... and you will screw up.

Klim looked back at the surveyor, blinked his whole face, and lashed the horse.

Yes, brother ... - the surveyor continued. - God forbid contact with me. Not only will the robber be left without arms, without legs, but he will also answer before the court ... I know all the judges and police officers. I am a state-owned person, necessary ... I’m on my way, but the authorities know ... they’re looking so that someone doesn’t do me harm. Everywhere along the road, behind the bushes, police officers and sotskys were poked ... By ... by ... wait! the land surveyor suddenly yelled. - Where did you enter? Where are you taking me?

Don't you see something? Forest!

“Indeed, the forest ... - thought the surveyor. - I got scared! However, there is no need to betray your excitement ... He has already noticed that I am afraid. Why did he start looking at me so often? Probably, he is plotting something ... Previously, he was barely moving, leg by leg, but now you see how he rushes!

Listen, Klim, why are you driving the horse like that?

I don't chase her. She fled herself ... As soon as she fled, you can’t stop her by any means ... And she herself is not happy that her legs are like that.

You lie, brother! I see that you are lying! But I do not advise you to go so fast. Hold the horse... Do you hear? Hold on!

And then ... then, that four comrades should leave the station for me. It is necessary that they catch up with us ... They promised to catch up with me in this forest ... It will be more fun to ride with them ... The people are healthy, stocky ... each has a pistol ... What is it that you keep looking around and moving like on pins and needles? a? I, brother, that's it ... brother ... There is nothing to look back at me ... there is nothing interesting in me ... Is it just revolvers ... If you like, if you want, I will take them out, I will show them ... If you please ...

The land surveyor pretended to rummage in his pockets, and at that time something happened that he could not have expected, for all his cowardice. Klim suddenly fell out of the cart and ran on all fours to the thicket.

Quick, receding steps were heard, the crackling of brushwood - and everything was silent ... The land surveyor, who did not expect such a reprimand, first of all stopped the horse, then sat comfortably on the cart and began to think.

“I ran away… I got scared, you fool… Well, what should I do now? You can’t continue the journey yourself, because I don’t know the road, and they might think that I stole his horse from him ... What should I do? - Klim! Klim!

Klim! .. - answered the echo.

From the thought that he would have to sit all night in a dark forest in the cold and hear only wolves, the echo and snorting of a skinny filly, the surveyor began to warp along his back, like a cold rasp.

Klimushka! he shouted. - Dove! Where are you, Klimushka?

For two hours the land surveyor shouted, and only after he had become hoarse and reconciled to the idea of ​​spending the night in the forest, did a weak breeze carry someone's groan to him.

Klim! Is that you, dove? Let's go!

U... you will kill!

Yes, I was joking, my dear! God bless me, you joked! What kind of revolvers do I have? I lied out of fear! Do me a favor, let's go! I'm freezing!

Klim, realizing, probably, that a real robber would have disappeared long ago with a horse and cart, went out of the forest and hesitantly approached his passenger.

Well, what the hell are you scared of? I... I was joking, and you got scared... Sit down!

God be with you, master, - grumbled Klim, climbing into the cart. - If I had known, I wouldn't have taken it for a hundred rubles. I almost died of fear...

Klim lashed the horse. The cart shook. Klim lashed again, and the cart swayed. After the fourth blow, when the cart started moving, the surveyor covered his ears with a collar and thought. The road and Klim no longer seemed dangerous to him.

Surveyor Gleb Gavrilovich Smirnov arrived at the Gnilushki station. It still remained to ride thirty or forty versts on horseback to the estate where he had been called for surveying. (If the driver is not drunk and the horses are not naked, then there will be no thirty versts, and if the driver with a fly and the horses are dead, then as many as fifty will be typed.)

“Tell me, please, where can I find post horses here?” the surveyor turned to the station gendarme.

- Which ones? Postal? You won't find a traveling dog here for a hundred versts, let alone a postal dog... But where do you want to go?

- In Devkino, the estate of General Khokhotov.

- Well? yawned the gendarme. - Go outside the station, there are sometimes peasants in the yard, carrying passengers.

The land surveyor sighed and trudged behind the station. There, after a long search, conversations and hesitations, he found a hefty peasant, gloomy, pockmarked, dressed in a torn sermyagka and bast shoes.

— The devil knows what kind of cart you have! the surveyor grimaced as he climbed into the cart. - You can’t tell where her ass is, where her front ...

- What is there to disassemble? Where the horse's tail is, there is the front, and where your grace sits, there is the back ...

The horse was young, but skinny, with splayed legs and bitten ears. When the driver got up and whipped her with a rope whip, she only shook her head, but when he got out and whipped her again, the cart screeched and trembled as if in a fever. After the third blow the cart swayed, but after the fourth it started moving.

- Are we going all the way? the surveyor asked, feeling a strong shaking and marveling at the ability of Russian drivers to combine a quiet, snail-like ride with soul-wrenching shaking.

- Let's go! the driver reassured. - The filly is young, nimble ... Just let her run away, and then you won’t stop ... But, oh, damn ... melting!

It was dusk when the cart left the station. To the right of the surveyor stretched a dark, frozen plain, without end and edge ... If you drive along it, you will probably go to the middle of nowhere. On the horizon, where it disappeared and merged with the sky, a cold autumn dawn was burning lazily... To the left of the road, in the darkening air, some mounds rose up, either last year's haystacks, or a village. What was ahead, the surveyor did not see, because from this side the entire field of vision was obscured by the wide, clumsy back of the charioteer. It was quiet, but cold, frosty.

“What, however, is the wilderness here! thought the surveyor, trying to cover his ears with the collar of his overcoat. - No stake or yard. Not even an hour - they will attack and rob, so no one will know, even if the cannons fell ... And the driver is unreliable ... Look, what a back! A kind of child of nature touches a finger, so the soul out! And his face is brutal, suspicious.

"Hey, dear," the surveyor asked, "what's your name?"

- Me? Klim.

- What, Klim, how are you doing here? Not dangerous? Do not play pranks?

"Nothing, God bless you... Who's going to be naughty?"

“It’s good that they don’t play pranks ... But just in case, I still took three revolvers with me,” the surveyor lied. - And with a revolver, you know, jokes are bad. Ten robbers can be dealt with...

It got dark. The cart suddenly creaked, screeched, trembled, and, as if reluctantly, turned to the left.

“Where did he take me? thought the surveyor. — I was driving straight ahead and suddenly left. What good, the scoundrel will bring you to some slum and ... and ... There are cases, after all!

“Listen,” he said to the driver. "So you're saying it's not dangerous here?" It's a pity... I love to fight robbers... I look thin, sickly, but I have strength like a bull... Once three robbers attacked me... So what do you think? I fucked one of them so much that ... that, you know, I gave my soul to God, and the other two went to Siberia because of me. And where my strength comes from, I don’t know ... You take with one hand some big guy like you, and ... and you knock it over.

Klim looked back at the surveyor, blinked his whole face, and lashed the horse.

“Yes, brother…” continued the surveyor. “God forbid you contact me. Not only will the robber be left without arms, without legs, but he will also answer before the court ... I know all the judges and police officers. I am a state-owned person, necessary ... I'm on my way, but the authorities know ... they look so that someone does not harm me. Everywhere along the road, behind the bushes, police officers and sotsk were poked... On... on... wait! the land surveyor suddenly yelled. — Where did you enter? Where are you taking me?

- Don't you see something? Forest!

“Indeed, a forest ...” thought the surveyor. - And I was scared! However, there is no need to betray your excitement ... He has already noticed that I am afraid. Why did he start looking at me so often? Probably, he is plotting something ... Previously, he was barely moving, leg by leg, but now you see how he rushes!

“Listen, Klim, why are you driving the horse like that?

- I'm not chasing her. She fled herself ... As soon as she fled, you can’t stop her by any means ... And she herself is not happy that her legs are like that.

- You lie, brother! I see that you are lying! But I do not advise you to go so fast. Hold the horse... Do you hear? Hold on!

- And then ... then, that four comrades should leave the station for me. It is necessary that they catch up with us... They promised to catch up with me in this forest... It will be more fun to ride with them... The people are healthy, stocky... everyone has a pistol... What is it that you keep looking around and moving like on needles? a? I, brother, that's it ... brother ... There is nothing to look back at me ... there is nothing interesting in me ... Is it only revolvers ... If you like, if you want, I will take them out, I will show them ... If you please .. .

The land surveyor pretended to rummage in his pockets, and at that time something happened that he could not have expected, for all his cowardice. Klim suddenly fell out of the cart and ran on all fours to the thicket.

Quick, receding steps were heard, the crackling of brushwood - and everything was silent ... The land surveyor, who did not expect such a reprimand, first of all stopped the horse, then sat down more comfortably on the cart and began to think.

“I ran away... got scared, fool... Well, what should I do now? You can’t continue the journey yourself, because I don’t know the road, and they might think that I stole his horse from him ... What should I do? — Klim! Klim!

- Klim! .. - the echo answered.

From the thought that he would have to sit all night in a dark forest in the cold and hear only wolves, the echo and snorting of a skinny filly, the surveyor began to warp along his back, like a cold rasp.

- Klimushka! he shouted. — Dove! Where are you, Klimushka?

For two hours the land surveyor shouted, and only after he had become hoarse and reconciled to the idea of ​​spending the night in the forest, did a weak breeze carry someone's groan to him.

— Klim! Is that you, dove? Let's go!

"U... you'll kill me!"

- Yes, I was joking, my dear! God bless me, you joked! What kind of revolvers do I have? I lied out of fear! Do me a favor, let's go! I'm freezing!

Klim, realizing, probably, that a real robber would have disappeared long ago with a horse and cart, went out of the forest and hesitantly approached his passenger.

“Well, what the hell are you scared of?” I... I was joking, and you got scared... Sit down!

“God be with you, master,” grumbled Klim, climbing into the cart. - If I had known, I wouldn't have taken it for a hundred rubles. I almost died of fear...

Klim lashed the horse. The cart shook. Klim lashed again, and the cart swayed. After the fourth blow, when the cart started moving, the surveyor covered his ears with a collar and thought. The road and Klim no longer seemed dangerous to him.