登陆注册
4700900000011

第11章

AT the head of the cavalcade rode Turka, on a hog-backed roan. On his head he wore a shaggy cap, while, with a magnificent horn slung across his shoulders and a knife at his belt, he looked so cruel and inexorable that one would have thought he was going to engage in bloody strife with his fellow men rather than to hunt a small animal. Around the hind legs of his horse the hounds gambolled like a cluster of checkered, restless balls. If one of them wished to stop, it was only with the greatest difficulty that it could do so, since not only had its leash-fellow also to be induced to halt, but at once one of the huntsmen would wheel round, crack his whip, and shout to the delinquent, "Back to the pack, there!"

Arrived at a gate, Papa told us and the huntsmen to continue our way along the road, and then rode off across a cornfield. The harvest was at its height. On the further side of a large, shining, yellow stretch of cornland lay a high purple belt of forest which always figured in my eyes as a distant, mysterious region behind which either the world ended or an uninhabited waste began. This expanse of corn-land was dotted with swathes and reapers, while along the lanes where the sickle had passed could be seen the backs of women as they stooped among the tall, thick grain or lifted armfuls of corn and rested them against the shocks. In one corner a woman was bending over a cradle, and the whole stubble was studded with sheaves and cornflowers. In another direction shirt-sleeved men were standing on waggons, shaking the soil from the stalks of sheaves, and stacking them for carrying. As soon as the foreman (dressed in a blouse and high boots, and carrying a tally-stick) caught sight of Papa, he hastened to take off his lamb's-wool cap and, wiping his red head, told the women to get up. Papa's chestnut horse went trotting along with a prancing gait as it tossed its head and swished its tail to and fro to drive away the gadflies and countless other insects which tormented its flanks, while his two greyhounds--their tails curved like sickles--went springing gracefully over the stubble. Milka was always first, but every now and then she would halt with a shake of her head to await the whipper-in. The chatter of the peasants; the rumbling of horses and waggons; the joyous cries of quails; the hum of insects as they hung suspended in the motionless air; the smell of the soil and grain and steam from our horses; the thousand different lights and shadows which the burning sun cast upon the yellowish-white cornland; the purple forest in the distance; the white gossamer threads which were floating in the air or resting on the soil-all these things I observed and heard and felt to the core.

Arrived at the Kalinovo wood, we found the carriage awaiting us there, with, beside it, a one-horse waggonette driven by the butler--a waggonette in which were a tea-urn, some apparatus for making ices, and many other attractive boxes and bundles, all packed in straw! There was no mistaking these signs, for they meant that we were going to have tea, fruit, and ices in the open air. This afforded us intense delight, since to drink tea in a wood and on the grass and where none else had ever drunk tea before seemed to us a treat beyond expressing.

When Turka arrived at the little clearing where the carriage was halted he took Papa's detailed instructions as to how we were to divide ourselves and where each of us was to go (though, as a matter of fact, he never acted according to such instructions, but always followed his own devices). Then he unleashed the hounds, fastened the leashes to his saddle, whistled to the pack, and disappeared among the young birch trees the liberated hounds jumping about him in high delight, wagging their tails, and sniffing and gambolling with one another as they dispersed themselves in different directions.

"Has anyone a pocket-handkerchief to spare?" asked Papa. I took mine from my pocket and offered it to him.

"Very well, Fasten it to this greyhound here."

"Gizana?" I asked, with the air of a connoisseur.

"Yes. Then run him along the road with you. When you come to a little clearing in the wood stop and look about you, and don't come back to me without a hare."

Accordingly I tied my handkerchief round Gizana's soft neck, and set off running at full speed towards the appointed spot, Papa laughing as he shouted after me, "Hurry up, hurry up or you'll be late! "

同类推荐
  • 皇朝经世文编_4

    皇朝经世文编_4

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 上清洞真元经五籍符

    上清洞真元经五籍符

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 般若波罗蜜多心经注解

    般若波罗蜜多心经注解

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 襄毅文集

    襄毅文集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上元始天尊说消殄虫蝗经

    太上元始天尊说消殄虫蝗经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 请到村里洗桑拿

    请到村里洗桑拿

    入夜,从北京打工回来的合理提着一个包进了村主任家。佛争一炷香,人争一口气。他想在村里建一个桑拿中心。村主任说,合理,你要建洗澡堂子就建洗澡堂子呗,建什么桑拿中心,把我都弄糊涂了。合理说,主任,这桑拿与洗澡不一样。村主任说,一样,不都是洗光屁股?不过是换了个洋说法。你想建就建,不用请示我。村主任爱用请示这个词,显得庄重,气派。村主任是一方的神,大到计划生育宅基地,小到吃喝拉撒睡,人家都有权管哩。主任,不给你请示能行?你得给我找地方呀。我总不能建在半天空里吧。
  • 跟乔爷撒个娇

    跟乔爷撒个娇

    京城出了大新闻:乔爷守了十二年的小媳妇跑了,跑了!连儿子都不要了!一时间流言四起:听说是乔爷腹黑又高冷、婚后生活不和谐;听说是小媳妇和别人好上了;听说是儿子太丑。某天,小奶娃找到了叶佳期,委屈巴巴:“七七,爸爸说我是宠物店买的。”“宠物店怎么能买到这么漂亮的儿子。”叶佳期呵呵笑,“明明是……摸奖中的。”小奶娃望天:“……”二十岁前,他把她宠上天;二十岁后,他把她和小包子宠上天。从此,京城乔爷,眉间心上,唯独一人。
  • 当休伯利安撞上佛拉克西纳斯

    当休伯利安撞上佛拉克西纳斯

    我,jingjingyeye,作为一个长着狐狸耳朵打着吼姆结隐着身知晓世界本质会空中劈叉兼职甲板清洁工是个好人的怪盗团魔法小精灵见习义警挂名舰长,终于在那一天想起了被崩坏和空间震所支配的双重恐惧。
  • 别让借口害了你

    别让借口害了你

    有人说,一个借口就是一个缺口,这个借口足以毁了一件事、一个人。但也有人说,一个借口能补一个缺口,这个借口能让你摆脱尴尬,避免伤害他人。的确,借口具有正反两方面的作用。工作不能完成是因为“难度太大了,事情太多了,自己太忙了……”;人生没有成功是因为“没有人帮忙,缺乏资金……”最无厘头的借口是“命运不太好”。借口是可怕的敌人,是成功人生的窃贼。它会损坏人的性格,消磨人的意志,从而让人变得变得慵懒,让人最终一事无成。在很多人的眼里,借口是一种推辞,更多是对责任的推脱。很少有人意识到借口的作用是多元化的,因为不是所有的借口只会给人产生消极的暗示,有些借口的使用也会给我带来便利。
  • 魔帝

    魔帝

    这是一个仙神消逝的年代。剑仙逍遥于天地,武者拳碎虚空,修道者踏日月而来,更有魔道逆天而行……一个宗派中的天才少年,因为遭妒被陷害,九转生死之下踏入了魔道一途。从此,他征战天下,血与火、情与义,洗炼魔帝无极!
  • 史记

    史记

    《史记精编图文版》有着丰厚的思想和文化内涵,值得后人去发现和体会,并且考虑到青少年朋友常常是只闻其名而未见其详,对这本年代久远而文字生涩的作品抱有敬而远之的态度,特此将其白话本选编为书,以期方便阅读。在内容上,我们从《史记》的本纪、世家、列传中选取了,我们认为更具有代表性、启发性的故事和篇章,并配以相关图片来丰富和延伸阅读体验。希望通过这本书激发青少年朋友阅读《史记》全文的兴趣,因为相对其他文言文,这部著作不仅志趣尤高,而且语言平简。
  • 隐身侍卫

    隐身侍卫

    新书《首富小村医》,桃子卖没了精心研制二十年,火爆出炉了,QQ阅读首发,铁杆杆们,你们在哪里?
  • 辩伪录

    辩伪录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 鲲溟诗集

    鲲溟诗集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 祸水萌妻:错拐腹黑良人

    祸水萌妻:错拐腹黑良人

    说到倒霉,没人比她洛思寒更倒霉,好端端的被个迷糊死神拘错了魂,错过还阳时机肉身被毁,只能听从他的建议借尸还魂。回到古代她认了,不受宠她认了,逼婚她也认了,可是总得让她吃饱吧!一个礼拜的稀饭加咸菜终于让洛思寒决定丰衣足食,谁想现代的堂堂钓鱼高手来到这异世却成了废材,肚兜、绣花鞋钓了一堆。听说未来相公上门,她更是使出浑身解数让他退婚,谁想他眼都不眨说亲就亲。妈呀……有着香肠嘴不说,她可还吃了有足足半斤大蒜啊!