第45章

“Ihadjustbeengoingtoresorttothecarpenters，fortheywouldhavegivenussomebread，Isuppose？LongisitsinceI

tastedanything。“

Thesamewordsherepeatedonourapproachingtheex-soldier；

muchasthoughhetookapleasureintheirphraseology。

“Yousupposethattheywouldhavegivenusbread？“echoedtheex-

soldierasheunfastenedhiswallet。“Notthey！Noloveislostbetweenthemandourselves。“

“Whomdoyoumeanby’ourselves’？“

“Ushere——youandmyself——allRussianfolkwhomayhappentobeintheseparts。Fromthewayinwhichthosefellowskeepsingingaboutpalms，IshouldjudgethemtobesectariansofthesortcalledMennonites。“

“OrMolokans，rather？“theothermansuggestedasheseatedhimselfinfrontofthefire。

“Yes，orMolokans。MolokansorMennonites——they’reallone。ItisaGermanfaithandthoughsuchfellowsloveaTeuton，theydonotexactlywelcomeUS。“

UponthisthemanwiththeCossackforelocktookasliceofbreadwhichtheex-soldiercutfromaloaf，withanonionandapinchofsalt。Then，asheregardeduswithapairofgood-humouredeyes，hesaid，balancinghisfoodonthepalmsofhishands:

“ThereisaspotontheSunzha，nearhere，wherethosefellowshaveacolonyoftheirown。Yes，Imyselfhavevisitedit。True，thosefellowsarehardenough，butatthesametimetospeakplainly，NOONEinthesepartshasanyregardforussinceonlytoomanyofthesortofRussianfolkwhocomehereinsearchofworkarenotoverly-desirable。“

“Wheredoyouyourselfcomefrom？“Theex-soldier’stonewassevere。

“FromKursk，wemightsay。“

“FromRussia，then？“

“Yes，Isupposeso。ButIhavenogreatopinionevenofmyself。“

Theex-soldierglanceddistrustfullyatthenewcomer。Thenheremarked:

“Whatyousayiscant，sheerJesuitism。ItisfellowslikeTHOSE，rather，thatoughttohaveapooropinionofthemselves。“

Tothistheothermadenoreply——merelyheputapieceofbreadintohismouth。Foramomentortwotheex-soldiereyedhimfrowningly。Thenhecontinued:

“YouseemtometobeanativeoftheDoncountry？“

“Yes，IhavelivedontheDonaswell。“

“Andalsoservedinthearmy？“

“No。Iwasanonlyson。“

“Ofamiestchanin？“[Amemberofthesmallcommercialclass。]

“No，ofamerchant。“

“Andyourname——？“

“IsVasili。“

Thelastreplycameonlyafterapause，andreluctantly；

wherefore，perceivingthattheKurskanhadnoparticulardesiretodiscusshisownaff

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