It is useless to describe all the battles in which the Cossacks distinguished15 themselves, or the gradual courses of the campaign. All this is set down in the chronicles. It is well known what an army raised on Russian soil, for the orthodox faith, is like. There is no power stronger than faith. It is threatening and invincible16 like a rock, and rising amidst the stormy, ever-changing sea. From the very bottom of the sea it rears to heaven its jagged sides of firm, impenetrable stone. It is visible from everywhere, and looks the waves straight in the face as they roll past. And woe17 to the ship which is dashed against it! Its frame flies into splinters, everything in it is split and crushed, and the startled air re-echoes the piteous cries of the drowning.
In the pages of the chronicles there is a minute description of how the Polish garrisons18 fled from the freed cities; how the unscrupulous Jewish tavern-keepers were hung; how powerless was the royal hetman, Nikolai Pototzky, with his numerous army, against this invincible force; how, routed and pursued, he lost the best of his troops by drowning in a small stream; how the fierce Cossack regiments19 besieged20 him in the little town of Polon; and how, reduced to extremities21, he promised, under oath, on the part of the king and the government, its full satisfaction to all, and the restoration of all their rights and privileges. But the Cossacks were not men to give way for this. They already knew well what a Polish oath was worth. And Pototzky would never more have pranced22 on his six-thousand ducat horse from the Kabardei, attracting the glances of distinguished ladies and the envy of the nobility; he would never more have made a figure in the Diet, by giving costly23 feasts to the senators — if the Russian priests who were in the little town had not saved him. When all the popes, in their brilliant gold vestments, went out to meet the Cossacks, bearing the holy pictures and the cross, with the bishop24 himself at their head, crosier in hand and mitre on his head, the Cossacks all bowed their heads and took off their caps. To no one lower than the king himself would they have shown respect at such an hour; but their daring fell before the Church of Christ, and they honoured their priesthood. The hetman and leaders agreed to release Pototzky, after having extracted from him a solemn oath to leave all the Christian churches unmolested, to forswear the ancient enmity, and to do no harm to the Cossack forces. One leader alone would not consent to such a peace. It was Taras. He tore a handful of hair from his head, and cried:
“Hetman and leaders! Commit no such womanish deed. Trust not the Lyakhs; slay25 the dogs!”
When the secretary presented the agreement, and the hetman put his hand to it, Taras drew a genuine Damascene blade, a costly Turkish sabre of the finest steel, broke it in twain like a reed, and threw the two pieces far away on each side, saying, “Farewell! As the two pieces of this sword will never reunite and form one sword again, so we, comrades, shall nevermore behold26 each other in this world. Remember my parting words.” As he spoke27 his voice grew stronger, rose higher, and acquired a hitherto unknown power; and his prophetic utterances troubled them all. “Before the death hour you will remember me! Do you think that you have purchased peace and quiet? do you think that you will make a great show? You will make a great show, but after another fashion. They will flay28 the skin from your head, hetman, they will stuff it with bran, and long will it be exhibited at fairs. Neither will you retain your heads, gentles. You will be thrown into damp dungeons29, walled about with stone, if they do not boil you alive in cauldrons like sheep. And you, men,” he continued, turning to his followers30, “which of you wants to die his true death? not through sorrows and the ale-house; but an honourable4 Cossack death, all in one bed, like bride and groom31? But, perhaps, you would like to return home, and turn infidels, and carry Polish priests on your backs?”
“We will follow you, noble leader, we will follow you!” shouted all his band, and many others joined them.
“If it is to be so, then follow me,” said Taras, pulling his cap farther over his brows. Looking menacingly at the others, he went to his horse, and cried to his men, “Let no one reproach us with any insulting speeches. Now, hey there, men! we’ll call on the Catholics.” And then he struck his horse, and there followed him a camp of a hundred waggons32, and with them many Cossack cavalry and infantry; and, turning, he threatened with a glance all who remained behind, and wrath33 was in his eye. The band departed in full view of all the army, and Taras continued long to turn and glower34.
The hetman and leaders were uneasy; all became thoughtful, and remained silent, as though oppressed by some heavy foreboding. Not in vain had Taras prophesied35: all came to pass as he had foretold36. A little later, after the treacherous37 attack at Kaneva, the hetman’s head was mounted on a stake, together with those of many of his officers.
And what of Taras? Taras made raids all over Poland with his band, burned eighteen towns and nearly forty churches, and reached Cracow. He killed many nobles, and plundered38 some of the richest and finest castles. The Cossacks emptied on the ground the century-old mead39 and wine, carefully hoarded40 up in lordly cellars; they cut and burned the rich garments and equipments which they found in the wardrobes. “Spare nothing,” was the order of Taras. The Cossacks spared not the black-browed gentlewomen, the brilliant, white-bosomed maidens41: these could not save themselves even at the altar, for Taras burned them with the altar itself. Snowy hands were raised to heaven from amid fiery42 flames, with piteous shrieks43 which would have moved the damp earth itself to pity and caused the steppe-grass to bend with compassion44 at their fate. But the cruel Cossacks paid no heed45; and, raising the children in the streets upon the points of their lances, they cast them also into the flames.
“This is a mass for the soul of Ostap, you heathen Lyakhs,” was all that Taras said. And such masses for Ostap he had sung in every village, until the Polish Government perceived that Taras’s raids were more than ordinary expeditions for plunder; and Pototzky was given five regiments, and ordered to capture him without fail.
Six days did the Cossacks retreat along the by-roads before their pursuers; their horses were almost equal to this unchecked flight, and nearly saved them. But this time Pototzky was also equal to the task intrusted to him; unweariedly he followed them, and overtook them on the bank of the Dniester, where Taras had taken possession of an abandoned and ruined castle for the purpose of resting.
On the very brink46 of the Dniester it stood, with its shattered ramparts and the ruined remnants of its walls. The summit of the cliff was strewn with ragged47 stones and broken bricks, ready at any moment to detach themselves. The royal hetman, Pototzky, surrounded it on the two sides which faced the plain. Four days did the Cossacks fight, tearing down bricks and stones for missiles. But their stones and their strength were at length exhausted48, and Taras resolved to cut his way through the beleaguering49 forces. And the Cossacks would have cut their way through, and their swift steeds might again have served them faithfully, had not Taras halted suddenly in the very midst of their flight, and shouted, “Halt! my pipe has dropped with its tobacco: I won’t let those heathen Lyakhs have my pipe!” And the old hetman stooped down, and felt in the grass for his pipe full of tobacco, his inseparable companion on all his expeditions by sea and land and at home.
But in the meantime a band of Lyakhs suddenly rushed up, and seized him by the shoulders. He struggled with all might; but he could not scatter50 on the earth, as he had been wont51 to do, the heydukes who had seized him. “Oh, old age, old age!” he exclaimed: and the stout52 old Cossack wept. But his age was not to blame: nearly thirty men were clinging to his arms and legs.
“The raven53 is caught!” yelled the Lyakhs. “We must think how we can show him the most honour, the dog!” They decided54, with the permission of the hetman, to burn him alive in the sight of all. There stood hard by a leafless tree, the summit of which had been struck by lightning. They fastened him with iron chains and nails driven through his hands high up on the trunk of the tree, so that he might be seen from all sides; and began at once to place fagots at its foot. But Taras did not look at the wood, nor did he think of the fire with which they were preparing to roast him: he gazed anxiously in the direction whence his Cossacks were firing. From his high point of observation he could see everything as in the palm of his hand.
“Take possession, men,” he shouted, “of the hillock behind the wood: they cannot climb it!” But the wind did not carry his words to them. “They are lost, lost!” he said in despair, and glanced down to where the water of the Dniester glittered. Joy gleamed in his eyes. He saw the sterns of four boats peeping out from behind some bushes; exerted all the power of his lungs, and shouted in a ringing tone, “To the bank, to the bank, men! descend55 the path to the left, under the cliff. There are boats on the bank; take all, that they may not catch you.”
This time the breeze blew from the other side, and his words were audible to the Cossacks. But for this counsel he received a blow on the head with the back of an axe56, which made everything dance before his eyes.
The Cossacks descended57 the cliff path at full speed, but their pursuers were at their heels. They looked: the path wound and twisted, and made many detours58 to one side. “Comrades, we are trapped!” said they. All halted for an instant, raised their whips, whistled, and their Tatar horses rose from the ground, clove59 the air like serpents, flew over the precipice60, and plunged61 straight into the Dniester. Two only did not alight in the river, but thundered down from the height upon the stones, and perished there with their horses without uttering a cry. But the Cossacks had already swum shoreward from their horses, and unfastened the boats, when the Lyakhs halted on the brink of the precipice, astounded62 by this wonderful feat63, and thinking, “Shall we jump down to them, or not?”
One young colonel, a lively, hot-blooded soldier, own brother to the beautiful Pole who had seduced64 poor Andrii, did not reflect long, but leaped with his horse after the Cossacks. He made three turns in the air with his steed, and fell heavily on the rocks. The sharp stones tore him in pieces; and his brains, mingled65 with blood, bespattered the shrubs66 growing on the uneven67 walls of the precipice.
When Taras Bulba recovered from the blow, and glanced towards the Dniester, the Cossacks were already in the skiffs and rowing away. Balls were showered upon them from above but did not reach them. And the old hetman’s eyes sparkled with joy.
“Farewell, comrades!” he shouted to them from above; “remember me, and come hither again next spring and make merry in the same fashion! What! cursed Lyakhs, have ye caught me? Think ye there is anything in the world that a Cossack fears? Wait; the time will come when ye shall learn what the orthodox Russian faith is! Already the people scent68 it far and near. A czar shall arise from Russian soil, and there shall not be a power in the world which shall not submit to him!” But fire had already risen from the fagots; it lapped his feet, and the flame spread to the tree. . . . But can any fire, flames, or power be found on earth which are capable of overpowering Russian strength?
Broad is the river Dniester, and in it are many deep pools, dense69 reed-beds, clear shallows and little bays; its watery70 mirror gleams, filled with the melodious71 plaint of the swan, the proud wild goose glides72 swiftly over it; and snipe, red-throated ruffs, and other birds are to be found among the reeds and along the banks. The Cossacks rowed swiftly on in the narrow double-ruddered boats — rowed stoutly73, carefully shunning74 the sand bars, and cleaving75 the ranks of the birds, which took wing — rowed, and talked of their hetman.
The End
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1
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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11
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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utterances
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| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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15
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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garrisons
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| 守备部队，卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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pranced
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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26
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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28
flay
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| vt.剥皮；痛骂 | |
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dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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waggons
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| 四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 )； 铁路货车； 小手推车 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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glower
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| v.怒目而视 | |
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prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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hoarded
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| v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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46
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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48
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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49
beleaguering
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| v.围攻( beleaguer的现在分词 )；困扰；骚扰 | |
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50
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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51
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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53
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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54
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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55
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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56
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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57
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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58
detours
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| 绕行的路( detour的名词复数 )； 绕道，兜圈子 | |
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59
clove
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| n.丁香味 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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61
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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62
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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63
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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64
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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65
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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66
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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67
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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68
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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69
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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70
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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71
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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72
glides
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| n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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73
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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74
shunning
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的现在分词 ) | |
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75
cleaving
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| v.劈开，剁开，割开( cleave的现在分词 ) | |
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