The Enchanted Wanderer and Other Stories

“What’s this?” she says. “What’s this you’re telling me? Don’t I know how many wonderworking icons you’ve got, and weren’t you telling me yourself how much they send you for wax and oil from all over Russia? No, I don’t want to listen. I must have the money right now, otherwise my husband will go to the governor today and tell him all about how you pray and seduce people, and it’ll be bad for you.” Poor Pimen nearly fell off the porch; he came home as I told you, and just kept repeating the one word “Nothing,” and he himself was all red, like from the steambaths, pacing up and down and blowing his nose. Well, Luka Kirilovich finally got a little something out of him, only the man, naturally, didn’t reveal everything to him, but just gave away the most insignificant part of the essence, like saying: “This lady demands of me that I get you to lend her five thousand.” Well, hearing that, Luka, naturally, flies into a temper: “Ah, you spielman, you,” he says, “you just had to go dealing with them and then bring them here! What, are we so rich, are we, that we can raise that kind of money? And why should we give it to them? And where is it, anyway? … Since you dealt yourself into it, you can deal yourself out of it—we can’t get five thousand anywhere.” With that, Luka Kirilovich went on his way to work and arrived, as I told you, pale as a condemned man, because, going by the night’s events, he anticipated trouble for us; and Pimen himself went the other way. We had all seen him emerge from the bulrushes in a little boat and cross over to town, and now, once Mikhailitsa had told me everything in order, how he’d dunned them for the five thousand, I figured he was probably in a rush to sweeten up the lady. In such reflections, I was standing by Mikhailitsa, thinking whether something harmful for us might come of it, and whether measures ought to be taken against this possibly occurring evil, when I suddenly saw it was too late for the whole undertaking, because a big boat had come to shore, and just behind my back I heard the noise of many voices, and, turning, I saw a number of different officials, in various corresponding uniforms, and with them no small number of policemen and soldiers. And, my dear sirs, before Mikhailitsa and I had time to blink, they all poured past us straight to Luka’s room, and at the door they placed two sentries with drawn sabers. Mikhailitsa started throwing herself at these sentries, not so much to be allowed in as to endure suffering. They, naturally, pushed her away, but she threw herself at them still more fiercely, and their combat went so far that one of the gendarmes finally hurt her badly, so that she went rolling head over heels off the porch. I rushed to the bridge to fetch Luka, but I saw Luka himself already running towards me, and our whole crew after him, they had all risen up, and with whatever they had in their hands, one a crowbar, another a mallet, came running to save our holy icons … Those who didn’t catch a boat and had no way of reaching the shore dove off the bridge into the water, in all their clothes, as they had been at work, and swam one after another through the cold waves … It was terrible even to think how it would end. About twenty guardsmen came there, and they were all in various bold attire, but ours numbered more than fifty, and all of them animated by lofty, ardent faith, and they all swam through the water like sea dogs, and though they might be bashed on the head with mallets, they reached the bank where their holy icons were, and suddenly, all soaking wet, marched forward like your living and indestructible stones.

VIII