Oh, poor guy!
Yesterday, the gelding he used to haul milk to the district died. And then, a month ago, Zhelka died, the faithful dog who once saved Simeon from a bear. Zhelka died, succumbing to old age...
Simeon was a strange man, with a name not quite Russian, and a face as black as a gypsy, with black eyes that blazed like fire, and an earring in his ear — a real thief! And he mourned the dog, just as he mourned his wife, Katerina. She had been dead for nine years now, and he beat her severely, often even when sober. He beat her for everything; he didn't trust her, so he beat her. And whoever knew that the agronomist had visited Katerina kept quiet. And how did Simeon even find out? A premonition – that's what the women say... They even wanted to put him on trial for assault, but the collective farm chairman stood up for him, and Katerina herself said: "You can do whatever you want, but I won't report my husband – he never hit me, that's all."
That was the end of it, and from then on Simeon beat Katerina even more: since she covered up his outrage, he said, it means she feels guilty, and who knows whose meat! She would have been beaten to this day, and would have endured his fierce temper, but she fell ill, took to her bed, and died childless. Simeon buried his wife, stopped drinking, and stopped being rowdy. But whenever he looks at the old women with that terrifying gaze, they scatter in all directions. He lives alone, a bachelor, just Zhelka and the gelding – the whole family. And now, like a complete orphan, he's a complete widower. The chairman tried to get him a ticket to the district rest home — let the man rest his soul and breathe freely. But no, Simeon refused, and not politely, but with a smirk and a frown, and said, "No need."
No need, and that's all there is to it, even talking is pointless, be you chairman or even two. Simeon can say that, but oh, he's a bachelor, in a word. A poor bastard and a silent type. And he always wears the same boots, the same sheepskin coat. And in the summer, he wears the checkered shirt the Board gave him for May 9th. He might be too young for the front, but when it came to congratulations, the veterans are few and far between, even though they've returned from two hundred households—they're all there, in plain sight. And Simeon, as a persistent worker and thrifty owner, was given a sort of bonus – a shirt. And he spent his entire life in these clothes; he'd even bought a few new ones, but no, he says, "We don't need them." And who knows where he spends his money – he doesn't drink, after all! He lives like a normal person... The boys once ransacked his barn – looking for treasure, the mischievous rascals, but what kind of treasure is there in our area? You can't find treasure even in the region! He probably puts it in his savings account, but where else would he put such huge sums? Nowhere... that's just it.
©1999 Mikhail Dmitrienko, Alma-Ata |
