Chapter 6 six

Another nightmare has come. One evening not long after, after tea, my grandfather and I sat down to read poetry, while my grandmother was washing the dishes and bowls, Uncle Yakov burst in.His messy hair was the same as usual, but his face was not quite right.He neither greeted nor looked at anyone, but threw off his hat, and shouted, waving his hands: Dad, Mihiga is crazy!When he ate at my place, he probably drank two cups too much, hit the table and bowl, tore a piece of dyed wool into strips, and smashed down the window, endlessly. Challenge me and Gregory!Now he has come here and said he wants to kill you!you have to be careful

After hearing his words, the grandfather slowly propped himself up with his hands, his whole face was wrinkled up to the nose, like an axe, his eyes almost popped out: Do you hear me, old woman?He roared, okay, the father who killed him is here, his own son!It's time, it's time!The children he yelled alone. He walked up and down the room with his shoulders shrugged, and suddenly he closed the door with his hand, put on the heavy hook, and turned to Yakov: Aren't you reconciled if you don't get Volvoa's dowry?Yes or no?take it! He showed his thumb between his forefinger and middle finger, under the tip of Yakov's nose. That's a sign of contempt!Yakov put on an aggrieved look.

Dad, it's none of my business! It's none of your business, you know best, what! Grandma didn't say anything, she was busy putting the teacups into the cabinet. I, I'm here to protect you OK, protect me!Great, thank you, son!Old woman, give this fox a weapon, Yakov.Vasilyev, when your brother rushed in, you hit him on the head! Uncle hid in a corner: Since you don't believe me, I will I believe you?Grandfather stomped his feet and roared, telling you, no matter what chickens, cats, dogs and rabbits I believe, but you, I have to wait and see!I know, you got him drunk, you made him do it!Very good, you can do it, hit him or me!

My grandmother whispered to me: Quick, run to the little window above, and come down and tell us as soon as your uncle Mikhail appears! I am very proud of this responsibility.I watched the street meticulously.On the dusty streets, the cobblestones looked like swollen blisters. The nearby swollen blisters were larger, and the farther they got smaller, they extended to the Ostrozhnaya Square on the other side of the valley. The square was covered with clay and clay. There is a prison.The prison is gray, with a watchtower at each of the four corners, imposing and melancholy.There was also Sinaia Square, with the yellow prison and the leaden fire watchtower at one end of the square.A firefighter on duty, like a dog on a chain, kept walking back and forth.There is also a stinking puddle called Jiukov over there, which is what my grandmother told me about one winter.The puddle my uncles used to throw my father in.Looking back, there is an alley facing the window, and at the end of the alley is the low Church of the Three Saints.A large area of ​​low roofs washed by the autumn rain has long been covered with thick dust, crowded together, like beggars at the door of a church, all the windows are staring, probably like me, waiting what's about to happen.

There were not many pedestrians on the street, moving like cockroaches.A strong smell rushed up, which made me feel very melancholy. It was the smell of steamed buns with green onions and carrots.I felt a sense of oppression that I had never felt before, the roof was coming down, the walls were pushing me!And there seems to be something in the body that is pushing outward, trying to break the ribs and chest! It is he, Uncle Mikhail!He appeared at the entrance of the alley looking around, the hat covered his ears and covered most of his face.He was wearing a tan coat and knee-length boots, with one hand in his trouser pocket and the other stroking his beard.Look at his posture, murderous!

I should run down to report right away, but I can't move no matter what!I saw him tiptoeing towards the tavern, creaking, he was opening the door of the tavern!I ran down like flying and knocked on my grandfather's door. who? I! What are you doing?He's in the tavern?Well, there you go! i'm scared there All right, stay there for a while! I had to go up again, lying on the window.When it got dark, the windows opened their pale yellow eyes. No one knew who was playing the piano, and bursts of melodious and melancholy music came out.The people in the tavern were singing, and when the doors opened the weary and hoarse voices spilled out into the street.It was the one-eyed beggar Nikutushga, a bearded old man with a red right eye and a left that could never be opened.As soon as the door was closed, his singing stopped abruptly as if it had been cut off.

Grandmother envied this one-eyed beggar very much. When she heard him sing, she sighed: Can sing, so happy! Sometimes, watching him sitting on the steps singing and talking, she would walk over and sit beside him: Let me ask you, is there a Virgin in Ryazan? The beggar replied in a low voice: Every province has it, everywhere I often have a feeling of exhaustion like a dream, and I hope that there is someone by my side, preferably a grandmother, or a grandfather!Also, who the hell is my father?Why did grandfather and uncles dislike him so much?And grandmother, Gregory, and Yevgonia all miss him so much?

Where is my mother?I thought of my mother more and more, and gradually saw her as the protagonist in the fairy tales my grandmother told.My mother is not at home and has run away, which makes her even more legendary to me. I think she has now become a green forest hero, living in the forest by the roadside, killing the rich and helping the poor.Perhaps she is traveling the world like the Duchess Angaretchaeva or the Virgin.Our Lady would say to my mother as she did to the Duchess: greedy slave, Pick up no more gold and silver from the ground. O insatiable soul, any treasure, I can't cover your naked body

Mother also responded with this verse: Forgive me, Holy Mother of God! Forgive my sinful soul. I search for treasure, just for my lonely son Then, the Holy Mother, as kind as her grandmother, forgave her: O offspring of the Tartars, Unworthy offspring of Christ! go your way Don't blame others when you fall down! Go after the Moldavas in the forest, To capture the Kalmyks in the steppe, don't mess with the russians Recalling these fairy tales, it seems like a dream! The roaring and chaotic footsteps below woke me up.I hurriedly looked under the window, and my grandfather, Yakov, and the tavern waiter Merion were pulling Mikhail out.Mikhail grabbed the door frame and refused to leave.People beat him, kicked him, smashed him and finally threw him on the street.The tavern was locked with a clatter, and the crumpled hat was thrown through the wall.Everything returned to calm again.

Uncle Mikhail lay down for a while, then slowly got up.The clothes on his body were torn into strips, and his hair was disheveled like a chicken coop.He grabbed a cobblestone and slammed it at the door of the tavern. After a dull sound, the street returned to the state of silence just now. Grandmother sat on a box by the threshold, bent over, motionless.I walked over and stroked her warm, soft, wet face.She seemed unaware of my presence, and muttered sullenly: God, give my children some wisdom!God forgive us Grandfather lived in this house for a total of one year: from one spring to the second spring.We were so famous, though, that every week a bunch of kids would come running to the door, cheering:

The Casale family is fighting again! Usually, as soon as it got dark, Uncle Mikhail would come to the vicinity of the house, waiting for the opportunity to strike, and everyone was worried.He sometimes finds a few accomplices, either drunks or hooligans.They uprooted plants and trees in the garden, smashed the bathroom, smashed the shelves, benches, water pots in the sauna, and even the doors and windows. Grandfather stood at the window, listening sullenly to the destruction of his property.Grandmother ran up and down in the yard, yelling incessantly: Misha, Misha, what are you doing? She was answered with unbearable Russian expletives. It was impossible for me to run around the yard with my grandmother, because that would be too dangerous, but I was afraid, so I had to go downstairs to my grandfather's room. Go away, bastard!He roared furiously. I fled back to the top floor as if flying, and stared at my grandmother from the window.I'm afraid she will be killed!I yelled at her to come back, but she didn't want to come into the room.Mikhail heard my voice and started yelling at my mother. Once, on such a disturbing night, my grandfather was sick, lying on the bed with a handkerchief wrapped around his head, turning over and over on the bed, crying out: I have worked hard all my life, saved money and saved my whole life, and finally ended up like this!If you weren't ashamed, you would have called the police a long time ago!Alas, what a disgrace, call the police to take care of your own children, incompetent parents! He stood up suddenly, staggered to the window.Grandmother stopped him: Where are you going, where are you going? Light up!The grandfather was out of breath, breathing heavily, and ordered. Grandmother lit a candle.He held the candlestick like a gun, and yelled at the window: Mihiga, thief, mangy dog! Before the words were finished, a brick broke through the window with a bang! Didn't hit!Grandfather laughed out loud, which sounded like crying.Grandmother hugged him back to the bed as if she was hugging me, and said in a panic: God help, don't!You're going to send him to Siberia for exile, he's just being confused. Grandfather kicked his legs and howled dryly: Let him kill me! There was a roar outside the window.I grabbed the brick and rushed to the window.Grandmother grabbed me, pushed me into a corner, and said angrily: You bastard, what are you doing! Once, Uncle Mikhail was standing on the steps under the porch with a large wooden stick, knocking on the door.Inside the door, the grandfather, the two lodgers, and the tall tavernkeeper's wife, all armed, were waiting for him to rush in.Grandmother begged from behind: Let me go out and meet him and talk to him Grandfather stretched out one leg in front of the blood, like a hunter holding a fork in "Bear Hunting Picture"; when grandma went to beg him, he silently elbowed her and kicked her.The four stood there murderously, getting ready.There was a lantern on the wall, dimly shining on their faces, and I watched from above, really wanting to pull my grandmother up. Uncle's attack on the door was very effective, and the door was already crumbling.The battle is about to begin.Grandfather suddenly said to his comrades in arms: don't hit your head, hit your arms and legs There was a small window on the wall next to the door, and my uncle had already smashed the glass on the window, like an eye whose eyeball had been gouged out.The grandmother rushed up desperately, stretched out an arm, waved it outside, and shouted: Misha, for God's sake, let's go!They want to maim you, run! Uncle was outside, hitting her arm with a stick, and grandma fell to the ground all of a sudden, chanting: rice, sand, fast, run What's the matter, old lady?Grandfather yelled. The door opened with a bang, and my uncle rushed in. Several people moved together, and he was thrown out again in a flash.The wife of the owner of the tavern escorted the grandmother back to the grandfather's house, and the grandfather followed behind. Have you broken a bone? Oops, it's probably broken!Grandma closed her eyes and said, oh, what happened to him, what happened? . Be quiet!Grandfather gave a stern drink, tied him up, and was lying in the shed.I poured water all over him Hey, what a murderer!Who do you think he looks like? Grandmother began to moan in pain. Bear with it a little bit, I have already sent someone to find the bone-setting woman!Old woman, they want us to die now!As the grandfather said, he sat close to her on the bed. give them all your property What about Volvoa? They talked for a long time.Grandmother's voice became deeper and weaker, but grandfather was always making noise and being angry. After a while, a little old woman came.Her big mouth is open like a fish.She couldn't see her eyes; she felt the way with a cane, and with a rattling bundle in her hand, she moved forward step by step. I thought it was time for my grandmother to die, so I jumped in front of the old woman: Get out!I yelled too. My grandfather picked me up roughly and threw me up to the top floor.