EARLY DAYS
CHAPTER I
THE OLD HORSE
WE had an old, old man, Pimen Timofeïtch. He was ninety years of age. He lived at his grandson's house, but did no work. His back was bent; he walked with a stick, and found it hard to drag one leg after the other. All of his teeth were gone; his face was wrinkled; his lower lip trembled. When he walked and when he talked, he had no control over his lips, so that it was impossible to make out what he was saying.
There were four brothers of us, and we all liked to ride horseback; but we had no gentle horses fit for us to ride. We were permitted to ride only on one old horse whose name was Voronok.[1]
One time mother gave us permission to have a ride, and we all ran with our tutor to the stables. The coachman saddled Voronok for us, and the first to ride was our eldest brother.
He took a long ride; he rode over to the threshing-floor and around the park, and when he came back, we shouted:—
"Now start him up!"
Our eldest brother began to kick Voronok, and to strike him with his whip, and Voronok galloped past us.
After our eldest brother had ridden, the next oldest took his turn. He also had a long ride, and whipped Voronok till he galloped down the hill. He wanted to ride even longer, but the third brother begged him to give him a chance as soon as possible.
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- ↑ Blackie.
