The sun., 1892-01-31
THE STORY OF A PEASANT.
FROM THE CRADLE TO 7HE DEATHBED
BEHIND THE OTEN.

BEHIND THE OpEN
Housshoia AGsirs In . Russian village
Sketchea-GImpses OF the Characters,
I.asors, and Frisstiou.-Life Too l.oae
So1etimes TOR the Comfort rr Osh-~-,
From Noroye v,,rya
Grandpa Ivan is dead. He was lying be-
hind the oven. dressed r a rough linen shirt
and covered with his sheepskin cloak. 1t was
quite dark In the corner: tho smoky. flicker
ing light Of the pine link which lighted the
room did not reach there. The cracking OF
tho burning pine and the voice OF cricket in
the wall were the only sounds In the room.
BY the burning pine link sat Axenia. lvan's
daughter.ln.law. and her daughter Froshkn
sewing long white shirt. At the other end
OF the room hung a cradle. In which Fedya
Froshkn's boy. slept. When the child moved.
the young mother rocked him BY means Of n
board which. In the form OF a lever. was at
tached to the cradle. With one end under her
foot. like treadle. she could rock her boy
without being disturbed In her work.
The heavy sighs or hoarso groans which
Ivan had uttered were caused merely by the
mechanical action OF his dissolving frame. As
to himself. II he were conscious at all. he felt
quite comfortable. He did not feel anything
and did not think :oi anything. Scenes of his
past. dimy conceived. swayed before his
his life. They were. indeed. the makeup Of
his whole. uneventful. laborous. aud patient
living on earth.
Seventy-1ve years ago young woman,
Ma'anya Boobnikha. was moving rye in the
field on n hot day in July. She had bcenNin
well In the morning. but her mother-in-law
had chased her out to work. At noontime
Malanyn could no longer swing the scythe:
her head was dizzy. rings OF red fire played
around her eyes. she had keen pain in her
bones She dropped her scythe and crept
away to look for some water. Old Iarvara. y
nciChbor. met her.
What ails thee. Boobnikha2" she asked.
"Thy face looks not like thine own"
II am broken down. Farvara."
Thou shouldst not have gone to work.
Come. / will assist thee"
Malanya made no rejoinder: she could not
speak The old woman led her to the villnge.
But she could not walk far and lay down Mt
the roadside to draw breath. Hall an hour
later she gave birth to Il strong. healthy boy.
Her husband camc with cart and took her
home. On the Sunday following the newborn
boy was christencd Ivan. Six days later Ma
lanya was at work in the fields again. with her
child in basket tied to her shoulders.
The first five years Of VANS life left no traces
in his memory. He had a deformed Leg and
the people in tho village said that his father.
coming home drunk. had thrown him out of
the cradle and broken his leg. But Ivan never
troubled hims elf about his deformity. II any
thing. tho crooked limb was a favor to him. for
1t saved him from military service. He had
strong arms. and he could work like any other
peasant. For the rest he did not care.
At the age Of Ivan was sent to the Diakon
to learn his letters. He got more blows than
learning from tho teacher. but ho learned to
read and write. When lie was IL years old his
father decided that he ought to eat bread no
longer in idleness and he was hired out us u
boriood. His. master fed and clothed him and
hHa ,G s r ns three roabss II cnsh 9nd
low was Happy the warm seasons s .,e ot ,H' ,he
year he could enjov himself to his hearts con-
tent in the meadows and the woods. in which
were plenty OF berries.- mushrooms, nuts.
does 4 peasant boy want? That happi ness;
only three years. His older brother. MikolkG.
was as s; sent m, to tho army and he was taken home
From that time the real life OF peasant be-
gan for Ivan. His father was drunkard. his
younger brother was sickly. the care of the Gu
dawn OF the morning he went to work: at din
ner time he nte frugal meal Of broad soaked
and then he went to work again until late in
the evening; There was neither rest nor rccre-
a,iHn for him % even on the holidays. for his
had to do what the peasants call the light work
around the houseI,chop wood. repair, the cart
ney. repair the leakage in the roof. and so On.
he had to work hard all tho time; out OF neces.
sty bnd out Of n fear his father WHO had
dsposition aud used his fist and his whip OH
the slightest provocation.
cided that it was time for him to marry. They
selected s.i,Is fer him girl from the neiGhborng
n SDcckled Il laff
She also had a bad reputation. because She
was was too too c9nIdescending t9 the y9upg fellows q
his parents that he would not marry her: but
his father insisted in his own ugly way. Ma
The summer was near at land. when a strong
snrd wofRlnG * t woman might he Of great as:
10 I aars Hi the girl
father reasoned about the " match @ "a and i" gave
effect to his reasoning with many hard blows.
Ali tho peasants of both Iyan's and Matre-
mas villages took part in the marriage cele-
bration. There was plenty Of brandy at the
his life. and gave, his bride good beating
then and there. There was nothing unusual |
duct. because he manifested the authority OF
\ ,i husband on the very day, of his wedding.
Rer ies s nex aat dance not
the marriage the young, couple had vacation
Ot three days. the customary honeymoon OF |
the peasants. and then they went to work as |
usual in the Held and about tho little farm OF |
lvan's father. Ivan had the notion that IL |
peasant must beat his wife and get drunk on |
= holiday. Ho followed the example OF his |
father. whose companion he was ut the bar |
room. He and his father got drunk on the |
holidays and beat their wives when they came |
home: The two women cried when they were |
ehastised. but everything was forgotten the |
Tho Summer VIZ hardly over When VANS
older brother. Mikolkn, came home. having
been dismissed from the army for some ron
son unknown. The unexpected increase In |
the family was too great tax on the means OF |
livelihood on hand. 1t was. therefore. resolved |
hat one Of tho three brothers should hire ont |
70 work. Which should 1t beY Mikoika. as
the eldest son. had the right To take his |
Iathers place at the family hearth The
youngest son. Stepka. was not strong. and
could not do well as n hired laborer Bya
majority Of voices in the family council 1t Was
decided that Ivan must leave the house. And
!van won't away, far. far to the coast OF " Little
Mother Holga' to work as "boorluk." d
barge puler.
The life Of a boor.ak Is we'll known: he is
litched to the line of the barge. which he pulls
from carly mornn. until late in the evening
Many. many times did Ivan walk up and down
by the shore OF the Volga. with the line on Ills
shoulder. pulling the huge bnrce. together
with twenty other boorlaEs. In the heat OF
he summer and IN the chills Of the spring ana
he autumn. ankle deep In the dry sand or
I la