Latest / Classic Drama Audiobooks / Kashtanka - Anton Chekhov

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Kashtanka - Anton Chekhov · Classic Drama Audiobooks

0:00
Speaker 1: Kashtanka a story, Part one misbehavior. A young dog, a
0:05
Speaker 1: reddish mongrel between a doxen and a yard dog, very
0:09
Speaker 1: like a fox in face, was running up and down
0:11
Speaker 1: the pavement, looking uneasily from side to side. From time
0:15
Speaker 1: to time she stopped and whining and lifting first one
0:18
Speaker 1: chilled paw and then another, tried to make up her
0:21
Speaker 1: mind how it could have happened that she was lost.
0:24
Speaker 1: She remembered very well how she had passed the day,
0:27
Speaker 1: and how in the end she had found herself on
0:30
Speaker 1: this unfamiliar pavement. The day had begun by her master,
0:34
Speaker 1: Luca Alexandritch's, putting on his hat, taking something wooden under
0:38
Speaker 1: his arm, wrapped up in a red handkerchief, and calling
0:41
Speaker 1: Kashtanka come along. Hearing her name, the mongrel had come
0:45
Speaker 1: out from under the work table where she slept on
0:48
Speaker 1: the shavings, stretched herself voluptuously and run after her master.
0:52
Speaker 1: The people Luka Alexandritch worked for lived a very long
0:56
Speaker 1: way off, so that before he could get to any
0:58
Speaker 1: one of them, the carpet had several times to step
1:01
Speaker 1: into a tavern to fortify himself. Kashtanka remembered that on
1:06
Speaker 1: the way She had behaved extremely improperly in her delight
1:10
Speaker 1: that she was being taken for a walk. She jumped about, dashed,
1:14
Speaker 1: barking after the trains, ran into yards and chased other dogs.
1:19
Speaker 1: The carpenter was continually losing sight of her, stopping and
1:22
Speaker 1: angrily shouting at her. Once he had, even with an
1:25
Speaker 1: expression of fury in his face, taken her fox like
1:28
Speaker 1: ear in his fist, smacked her and said emphatically, plague,
1:33
Speaker 1: take you, you pest. After having left the work where
1:36
Speaker 1: it had been bespoken, Luca Alexandrich went into his sisters,
1:40
Speaker 1: and there had something to eat and drink. From his sisters.
1:43
Speaker 1: He had gone to see a bookbinder he knew, from
1:46
Speaker 1: the bookbinders to a tavern, from the tavern to another crony's,
1:50
Speaker 1: and so on. In short By the time Kashtanka found
1:54
Speaker 1: herself on the unfamiliar pavement, it was getting dusk, and
1:58
Speaker 1: the carpenter was as drunk as a cob. He was
2:01
Speaker 1: waving his arms and breathing. Heavily muttered in sin, my
2:05
Speaker 1: mother bore me ah sins, sins here. Now we are
2:10
Speaker 1: walking along the street and looking at the street lamps.
2:14
Speaker 1: But when we die we shall burn in a fiery
2:16
Speaker 1: gehina or He fell into a good natured tone, called
2:21
Speaker 1: Kashdanka to him, and said to her, you, Kashtanka, are
2:24
Speaker 1: an insect of a creature and nothing else Beside a man.
2:28
Speaker 1: You are much the same as a joiner beside a
2:30
Speaker 1: cabinet maker. While he talked to her in that way,
2:34
Speaker 1: there was suddenly a burst of music. Kashtanka looked round
2:38
Speaker 1: and saw that a regiment of soldiers was coming straight
2:41
Speaker 1: towards her. Unable to endure the music, which unhinged her nerves,
2:46
Speaker 1: she turned round and round and wailed. To her great surprise,
2:50
Speaker 1: the carpenter, instead of being frightened whining and barking, gave
2:54
Speaker 1: a broad grin, drew himself up to attention, and saluted
2:58
Speaker 1: with all his five fingers. Seeing that her master did
3:02
Speaker 1: not protest, Kashtanka whined louder than ever and dashed across
3:06
Speaker 1: the road to the opposite pavement. When she recovered herself,
3:10
Speaker 1: the band was not playing and the regiment was no
3:13
Speaker 1: longer there. She ran across the road to the spot
3:16
Speaker 1: where she had left her master, but alas the carpenter
3:19
Speaker 1: was no longer there, she dashed forward, then back again,
3:23
Speaker 1: and ran across the road once more, but the carpenter
3:27
Speaker 1: seemed to have vanished into the earth. Kashtanka began sniffing
3:31
Speaker 1: the pavement, hoping to find her master by the scent
3:34
Speaker 1: of his tracks. But some wretch had been that way
3:37
Speaker 1: just before in new rubber galoshes, and now all delicate
3:40
Speaker 1: scents were mixed with an acute stench of India rubber,
3:44
Speaker 1: so that it was impossible to make out anything. Kashtanka
3:48
Speaker 1: ran up and down and did not find her master.
3:51
Speaker 1: And meanwhile it had got dark. The street lamps were
3:55
Speaker 1: lighted on both sides of the road, and lights appeared
3:57
Speaker 1: in the windows. Big fluffies snowflakes were falling and painting
4:01
Speaker 1: white the pavement, the horses backs, and the cabmen's caps.
4:06
Speaker 1: And the darker the evening grew, the whiter were all
4:08
Speaker 1: these objects unknown. Customers kept walking incessantly to and fro
4:14
Speaker 1: obstructing her field of vision and shoving against her with
4:17
Speaker 1: their feet. All mankind. Kashdanka divided into two uneven parts,
4:22
Speaker 1: masters and customers. Between them there was an essential difference.
4:27
Speaker 1: The first had the right to beat her, and the
4:30
Speaker 1: second she had the right to nip by the calves
4:32
Speaker 1: of their legs. These customers were hurrying off somewhere and
4:36
Speaker 1: paid no attention to her. When it got quite dark,
4:40
Speaker 1: Kashdunka was overcome by despair and horror. She huddled up
4:44
Speaker 1: in an entrance and began whining piteously. The long days
4:49
Speaker 1: journeying with Luca, Alexandrich had exhausted her. Her ears and
4:53
Speaker 1: her paws were freezing, and what was more, she was
4:56
Speaker 1: terribly hungry. Only twice in the whole day had she
5:00
Speaker 1: tasted a morsel. She had eaten a little taste at
5:03
Speaker 1: a bookbinder's, and in one of the taverns she had
5:06
Speaker 1: found a sausage skin on the floor near the counter.
5:09
Speaker 1: That was all. If she had been a human being,
5:12
Speaker 1: she would have certainly thought, no, it is impossible to
5:15
Speaker 1: live like this. I must shoot myself Part two A
5:20
Speaker 1: mysterious stranger. But she thought of nothing. She simply whined.
5:25
Speaker 1: When her head and back were entirely plastered over with
5:28
Speaker 1: the soft, feathery snow, and she had sunk into a
5:31
Speaker 1: painful doze of exhaustion. All at once, the door of
5:35
Speaker 1: the entrance clicked, creaked, and struck her on the side
5:39
Speaker 1: she jumped up. A man belonging to the class of
5:42
Speaker 1: customers came out as Kashnunka, whined and got under his feet.
5:47
Speaker 1: He could not help noticing her. He bent down to
5:50
Speaker 1: her and asked, doggie, where do you come from? Have
5:53
Speaker 1: I hurt you? Oh? Poor thing, poor thing? Come, don't
5:57
Speaker 1: be cross, don't be cross. I I'm sorry. Kush Danka
6:02
Speaker 1: looked at the stranger through the snow flakes that hung
6:04
Speaker 1: on her eyelashes, and saw before her a short, fat
6:08
Speaker 1: little man with a plump, shaven face, wearing a top
6:11
Speaker 1: hat and a fur coat that swung open. What are
6:14
Speaker 1: you whining for? He went on, knocking the snow off
6:17
Speaker 1: her back with his fingers. Where is your master? I
6:21
Speaker 1: suppose you are lost? Ah, poor doggie, what are we
6:25
Speaker 1: going to do now? Catching in the stranger's voice a warm,
6:29
Speaker 1: cordial note, Kashdanka licked his hand and whined still more pitifully.
6:34
Speaker 1: Oh you nice, funny thing, said the stranger, a regular fox. Well,
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Speaker 1: there's nothing for it. You must come along with me.
6:42
Speaker 1: Perhaps you will be of use for something. Well. He
6:47
Speaker 1: clicked with his lips and made a sign to Kushtanka
6:50
Speaker 1: with his hand, which could only mean one thing, come along,
6:54
Speaker 1: Kashtanka went. Not more than half an hour later, she
6:58
Speaker 1: was sitting on the floor in a big light room,
7:01
Speaker 1: and leaning her head against her side, was looking with
7:03
Speaker 1: tenderness and curiosity at the stranger who was sitting at
7:06
Speaker 1: the table dining. He ate and threw pieces to her.
7:11
Speaker 1: At first he gave her bread and the green rind
7:13
Speaker 1: of cheese, then a piece of meat, half a pie,
7:16
Speaker 1: and chicken bones. While through hunger. She ate so quickly
7:20
Speaker 1: that she had not time to distinguish the taste. And
7:23
Speaker 1: the more she ate, the more acute was the feeling
7:26
Speaker 1: of hunger. Your masters don't feed you properly, said the stranger,
7:30
Speaker 1: seeing with what ferocious greediness she swallowed the morsels without
7:34
Speaker 1: munching them. And how thin you are, nothing but skin
7:38
Speaker 1: and bones. Kashdanka ate a great deal, and yet did
7:42
Speaker 1: not satisfy her hunger, but was simply stupefied with eating.
7:46
Speaker 1: After dinner, she lay down in the middle of the room,
7:49
Speaker 1: stretched her legs, and, conscious of an agreeable weariness all
7:53
Speaker 1: over her body, wagged her tail while her new master,
7:57
Speaker 1: lounging in an easy chair, smoked a cigar. She wagged
8:00
Speaker 1: her tail and considered the question whether it was better
8:03
Speaker 1: at the stranger's or at the carpenter's. The stranger's surroundings
8:08
Speaker 1: were poor and ugly. Besides the easy chairs, the sofa,
8:12
Speaker 1: the lamps, and the rugs, there was nothing, and the
8:14
Speaker 1: room seemed empty. At the carpenter's the whole place was
8:18
Speaker 1: stuffed full of things. He had a table, a bench,
8:21
Speaker 1: a heap of shavings, planes, chisels, saws, a cage with
8:26
Speaker 1: a goldfinch, a basin. The stranger's room smelt of nothing,
8:31
Speaker 1: while there was always a thick fog in the carpenter's
8:34
Speaker 1: room and a glorious smell of glue, varnish and shavings.
8:38
Speaker 1: On the other hand, the stranger had one great superiority.
8:42
Speaker 1: He gave her a great deal to eat and to
8:44
Speaker 1: do him full justice. When Kashtanka sat facing the table
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Speaker 1: and looking wistfully at him, he did not once hit
8:51
Speaker 1: or kick her, and did not once shout go away,
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Speaker 1: damned brute. When he had finished his cigar, her new
8:59
Speaker 1: master went out out, and a minute later came back
9:01
Speaker 1: holding a little mattress in his hands. Hey, you dog,
9:05
Speaker 1: come here, he said, laying the mattress in the corner
9:08
Speaker 1: near the dog. Lie down here, go to sleep. Then
9:12
Speaker 1: he put out the lamp and went away. Kush Dunka
9:16
Speaker 1: lay down on the mattress and shut her eyes. The
9:19
Speaker 1: sound of a bark rose from the street, and she
9:21
Speaker 1: would have liked to answer it, but all at once
9:24
Speaker 1: she was overcome with unexpected melancholy. She thought of Luca Alexandrich,
9:30
Speaker 1: of his son Fadushka, and her snug little place under
9:33
Speaker 1: the bench, she remembered. On the long winter evenings, when
9:37
Speaker 1: the carpenter was planing or reading the paper aloud, Fadyusha
9:41
Speaker 1: usually played with her. He used to pull her from
9:44
Speaker 1: under the bench by her hind legs and play such
9:47
Speaker 1: tricks with her that she saw green before her eyes
9:50
Speaker 1: and ached in every joint. He would make her walk
9:53
Speaker 1: on her hind legs, use her as a bell, that is,
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Speaker 1: shake her violently by the tail so that she squeak
10:00
Speaker 1: and barked, and give her tobacco to sniff. The following
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Speaker 1: trick was particularly agonizing. Fadushka would tie a piece of
10:08
Speaker 1: meat to a thread and give it to Kashtanka, and
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Speaker 1: then when she had swallowed it, he would, with a
10:14
Speaker 1: loud laugh, pull it back again from her. Stomach, and
10:17
Speaker 1: the more lurid were her memories, the more loudly and
10:20
Speaker 1: miserably Kashtanka whined. But soon exhaustion and warmth prevailed over melancholy.
10:27
Speaker 1: She began to fall asleep. Dogs ran by in her imagination,
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Speaker 1: among them a shaggy old poodle whom she had seen
10:35
Speaker 1: that day in the street, with a white patch on
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Speaker 1: his eye and tufts of wool by his nose. Fadushka
10:41
Speaker 1: ran after the poodle with a chisel in his hand.
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Speaker 1: Then all at once he too was covered with shaggy wool,
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Speaker 1: and began merrily barking beside Kashtanka. Kashtanka and he good
10:52
Speaker 1: naturedly sniffed each other's noses and merrily ran down the street.
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Speaker 1: Part three knew and very agreeable acquaintances. When Kashtanka woke up,
11:03
Speaker 1: it was already light, and a sound rose from the street,
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Speaker 1: such as only comes in the daytime. There was not
11:10
Speaker 1: a soul in the room. Kashdanka stretched, yawned, and cross
11:15
Speaker 1: and ill humored walked about the room. She sniffed the
11:19
Speaker 1: corners and the furniture, looked into the passage, and found
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Speaker 1: nothing of interest there besides the door that led into
11:26
Speaker 1: the passage. There was another door. After thinking a little,
11:29
Speaker 1: Kashdanka scratched on it with both paws, opened it, and
11:33
Speaker 1: went into the adjoining room. Here, on the bed covered
11:37
Speaker 1: with a rug, a customer in whom she recognized the
11:40
Speaker 1: stranger of yesterday, lay asleep or she growled, but recollecting
11:46
Speaker 1: yesterday's dinner, wagged her tail and began sniffing. She sniffed
11:50
Speaker 1: the stranger's clothes and boots and thought they smelt of horses.
11:54
Speaker 1: In the bedroom was another door, also closed. Kashdanka scratched
11:59
Speaker 1: at the door, leaned her chest against it, opened it,
12:02
Speaker 1: and was instantly aware of a strange and very suspicious smell.
12:07
Speaker 1: Foreseeing an unpleasant encounter. Growling and looking about her, Kashdanka
12:12
Speaker 1: walked into a little room with a dirty wall paper
12:15
Speaker 1: and drew back in alarm. She saw something surprising and terrible.
12:21
Speaker 1: A gray gander came straight towards her, hissing, with its
12:25
Speaker 1: neck bowed down to the floor and its wings outspread.
12:28
Speaker 1: Not far from him, on a little mattress lay a
12:31
Speaker 1: white tom cat. Seeing Kashtanka, he jumped up, arched his back,
12:36
Speaker 1: wagged his tail with his hair standing on end, and
12:40
Speaker 1: he too hissed at her. The dog was frightened in earnest,
12:44
Speaker 1: but not caring to betray her alarm, began barking loudly
12:48
Speaker 1: and dashed at the cat. The cat arched his back
12:51
Speaker 1: more than ever, mewed and gave Kashtanka a smack on
12:54
Speaker 1: the head with his paw. Kashtanka jumped back, squatted on
12:59
Speaker 1: all four pause, and craning her nose towards the cat,
13:03
Speaker 1: went off into loud, shrill barks. Meanwhile, the gander came
13:07
Speaker 1: up behind and gave her a painful peck in the back.
13:11
Speaker 1: Kashdanka leaped up and dashed at the gander. What's this?
13:15
Speaker 1: They heard a loud, angry voice, and the stranger came
13:18
Speaker 1: into the room in his dressing gown with a cigar
13:21
Speaker 1: between his teeth. What's the meaning of this? To your places?
13:26
Speaker 1: He went up to the cat, flicked him on his
13:29
Speaker 1: arched back, and said, shielder, timofeyitch, what's the meaning of this?
13:33
Speaker 1: Have you got up a fight? Ah? You old rascal?
13:37
Speaker 1: Lie down, And turning to the gander, he shouted, Ivan ivanitch,
13:42
Speaker 1: go home. The cat obediently lay down on his mattress.
13:45
Speaker 1: And closed his eyes. Judging from the expression of his
13:49
Speaker 1: face and whiskers, he was displeased with himself for having
13:53
Speaker 1: lost his temper and got into a fight. Kashdanka began
13:57
Speaker 1: whining resentfully, while the gander craned his neck and began
14:00
Speaker 1: saying something rapidly, excitedly, distinctly, but quite unintelligibly. All right,
14:07
Speaker 1: all right, said his master, yawning. You must live in
14:11
Speaker 1: peace and friendship. He stroked Kashtanka and went on, and you,
14:16
Speaker 1: red hair, don't be frightened. They are capital company. They
14:21
Speaker 1: won't annoy you. Stay. What are we to call you?
14:25
Speaker 1: You can't go on without a name, My dear. The
14:28
Speaker 1: stranger thought a moment and said, I tell you what
14:32
Speaker 1: you shall be, Auntie. Do you understand auntie, And repeating
14:37
Speaker 1: the word auntie several times, he went out. Kashtanka sat
14:41
Speaker 1: down and began watching. The cat sat motionless on his
14:45
Speaker 1: little mattress and pretended to be asleep. The gander, craning
14:49
Speaker 1: his neck and stamping, went on talking rapidly and excitedly
14:53
Speaker 1: about something. Apparently it was a very clever gander. After
14:57
Speaker 1: every long tirade, he always said back with an air
15:01
Speaker 1: of wonder and made a show of being highly delighted
15:04
Speaker 1: with his own speech. Listening to him and answering rrror,
15:09
Speaker 1: Kashdanka fell to sniffing the corners. In one of the
15:13
Speaker 1: corners she found a little trough in which she saw
15:16
Speaker 1: some soaked peas and a sop of rye crusts. She
15:20
Speaker 1: tried the peas, they were not nice. She tried the
15:24
Speaker 1: sopped red and began eating it. The gander was not
15:28
Speaker 1: at all offended that the strange dog was eating his food,
15:32
Speaker 1: but on the contrary, topped even more excitedly, and to
15:36
Speaker 1: show his confidence, went to the trough and ate a
15:39
Speaker 1: few peas himself, and parts one through three, part four
15:45
Speaker 1: marbles on a hurdle. A little while afterwards, the stranger
15:49
Speaker 1: came in again and brought a strange thing with him,
15:52
Speaker 1: like a hurdle, or like the figure pie on the
15:55
Speaker 1: cross piece. On the top of this roughly made wooden
15:58
Speaker 1: frame hung a bell, and a pistol was also tied
16:01
Speaker 1: to it. There were strings from the tongue of the
16:04
Speaker 1: bell and the trigger of the pistol. The stranger put
16:07
Speaker 1: the frame in the middle of the room, spent a
16:09
Speaker 1: long time tying and untying something, then looked at the
16:12
Speaker 1: gander and said, Ivan Ivanitch, if you please. The gander
16:17
Speaker 1: went up to him and stood in an expectant attitude. Now,
16:21
Speaker 1: then said the stranger, let us begin at the very beginning.
16:24
Speaker 1: First of all, bow and make a curtsey. Look sharp.
16:28
Speaker 1: Ivan Ivanitch craned his neck, nodded in all directions, and
16:32
Speaker 1: scraped with his foot right. Bravo, now die. The gander
16:37
Speaker 1: lay on his back and stuck his legs in the air.
16:40
Speaker 1: After performing a few more similar unimportant tricks, the stranger
16:44
Speaker 1: suddenly clutched at his head, and, assuming an expression of horror, shouted,
16:49
Speaker 1: help fire, we are burning. Ivan Ivanitch ran to the frame,
16:54
Speaker 1: took the string in his beak and set the bell ringing.
16:57
Speaker 1: The stranger was very much pleased. He stroked the gander's
17:00
Speaker 1: neck and said, Bravo, Ivan Ivanitch. Now pretend that you
17:05
Speaker 1: are a jeweler selling gold and diamonds. Imagine now that
17:09
Speaker 1: you go to your shop and find thieves there. What
17:11
Speaker 1: would you do in that case? The gander took the
17:14
Speaker 1: other string in his beak and pulled it, and at
17:16
Speaker 1: once a deafening report was heard. Kashtanka was highly delighted
17:20
Speaker 1: with the bell ringing, and the shot threw her into
17:23
Speaker 1: so much ecstasy that she ran round the frame barking.
17:27
Speaker 1: Anti lie down, cried the stranger be quiet. Ivan Ivanitch's
17:31
Speaker 1: task was not ended with the shooting for a whole
17:34
Speaker 1: hour afterwards. The stranger drove the gander round him on
17:38
Speaker 1: a cord, cracking a whip, and the gander had to
17:41
Speaker 1: jump over barriers and through hoops. He had to rear,
17:44
Speaker 1: that is, sit on his tail and wave his legs
17:47
Speaker 1: in the air. Kashtanka could not take her eyes off
17:50
Speaker 1: ivan Ivanitch, wriggled with delight and several times fell to
17:54
Speaker 1: running after him with shrill barks. After exhausting the gander
17:58
Speaker 1: and himself, the stranger wiped the sweat from his brow
18:01
Speaker 1: and cried, marya, fetch havronya Ivanova here. A minute later
18:06
Speaker 1: there was the sound of grunting. Kashtanka growled, assumed a
18:10
Speaker 1: very valiant air, and to be on the safe side,
18:13
Speaker 1: went nearer to the stranger. The door opened, an old
18:16
Speaker 1: woman looked in and saying something led in a black
18:20
Speaker 1: and very ugly sow, paying no attention to Kashtanka's growls.
18:24
Speaker 1: The sow lifted up her little hoof and grunted good humoredly.
18:28
Speaker 1: Apparently it was very agreeable to her to see her master,
18:31
Speaker 1: the cat and ivan Ivanitch. When she went up to
18:35
Speaker 1: the cat and gave him a light tap on the
18:37
Speaker 1: stomach with her hoof, and then made some remark to
18:40
Speaker 1: the gander, a great deal of good nature was expressed
18:43
Speaker 1: in her movements and the quivering of her tail. Kashtanka
18:47
Speaker 1: realized at once that to growl and bark at such
18:49
Speaker 1: a character was useless. The master took away the frame
18:54
Speaker 1: and cried, Fyodor Timafeyitch, if you please. The cat, stretched
18:58
Speaker 1: lazily and reluctantly, as though performing a duty, went up
19:02
Speaker 1: to the sal Come let us begin with the Egyptian pyramid,
19:06
Speaker 1: began the master. He spent a long time explaining something,
19:10
Speaker 1: then gave the word of command one, two three. At
19:14
Speaker 1: the word three, Ivan Ivanitch flapped his wings and jumped
19:18
Speaker 1: on to the sow's back. When balancing himself with his
19:21
Speaker 1: wings and his neck, he got a firm foothold on
19:23
Speaker 1: the pristly back. Showed her Timofeyitch listlessly and lazily, with
19:28
Speaker 1: manifest disdain and with an air of scorning his act,
19:32
Speaker 1: and not caring a pin for it, climbed on to
19:34
Speaker 1: the sal's back, then reluctantly mounted on to the gander
19:38
Speaker 1: and stood on his hind legs. The result was what
19:42
Speaker 1: the stranger called the Egyptian pyramid. Kashtanka yapped with delight,
19:47
Speaker 1: but at that moment the old cat yawned and, losing
19:50
Speaker 1: his balance, rolled off the gander. Ivan Ivanitch lurched and
19:53
Speaker 1: fell off too. The stranger shouted, waved his hands, and
19:57
Speaker 1: began explaining something again. After spending an hour over the pyramid,
20:02
Speaker 1: their indefatigable master proceeded to teach ivan Ivanitch to ride
20:06
Speaker 1: on the cat, then began to teach the cat to smoke,
20:09
Speaker 1: and so on. The lesson ended in the strangers wiping
20:13
Speaker 1: the spot off his brow and going away. Fyodor Timofeyitch
20:17
Speaker 1: gave a disdainful sniff, lay down on his mattress and
20:20
Speaker 1: closed his eyes. Ivan Ivanitch went to the trough and
20:24
Speaker 1: the pig was taken away by the old woman. Thanks
20:27
Speaker 1: to the number of her new impressions, Kashtanka hardly noticed
20:30
Speaker 1: how the day passed, and in the evening she was
20:33
Speaker 1: installed with her mattress in the room with the dirty
20:36
Speaker 1: wall paper and spent the night in the society of
20:39
Speaker 1: Fyodor Timofeyitch and the Gander Part five Talent Talent. A
20:45
Speaker 1: month passed, Kashtanka had grown used to having a nice
20:49
Speaker 1: dinner every evening and being called Auntie. She had grown
20:52
Speaker 1: used to the stranger too, and to her new companions.
20:56
Speaker 1: Life was comfortable and easy. Every day began in the
21:00
Speaker 1: same way. As a rule. Ivan Ivanitch was the first
21:03
Speaker 1: to wake up and at once went up to Aunty
21:06
Speaker 1: or to the cat, twisting his neck and beginning to
21:09
Speaker 1: talk excitedly and persuasively, but as before, unintelligibly. Sometimes he
21:15
Speaker 1: would crane up his head in the air and utter
21:17
Speaker 1: a long monolog At first, Kashtanka thought he talked so
21:21
Speaker 1: much because he was very clever, but after a little
21:24
Speaker 1: time had passed she lost all her respect for him.
21:27
Speaker 1: When he went up to her with his long speeches,
21:30
Speaker 1: she no longer wagged her tail, but treated him as
21:32
Speaker 1: a tiresome chatterbox who would not let anyone sleep, and
21:37
Speaker 1: without the slightest ceremony, answered him with rurr. Fyodor Timofeyitch
21:42
Speaker 1: was a gentleman of a very different sort. When he
21:45
Speaker 1: woke He did not utter a sound, did not stir,
21:48
Speaker 1: and did not even open his eyes. He would have
21:51
Speaker 1: been glad not to wake, for as was evident, he
21:54
Speaker 1: was not greatly in love with life. Nothing interested him.
21:58
Speaker 1: He showed an apathetic and nonshal want attitude to everything.
22:02
Speaker 1: He disdained everything, and even while eating his delicious dinner,
22:06
Speaker 1: sniffed contemptuously. When she woke, Kashtanka began walking about the
22:11
Speaker 1: room and sniffing the corners. She and the cat were
22:14
Speaker 1: the only ones allowed to go all over the flat.
22:17
Speaker 1: The gander had not the right to cross the threshold
22:19
Speaker 1: of the room with a dirty wall paper. And Havronya
22:22
Speaker 1: Ivanovna lived somewhere in a little outhouse in the yard
22:25
Speaker 1: and made her appearance only during the lessons. Their master
22:29
Speaker 1: got up late and immediately after drinking his tea, began
22:33
Speaker 1: teaching them their tricks. Every day, the frame, the whip
22:36
Speaker 1: and the hoop were brought in, and every day almost
22:40
Speaker 1: the same performance took place. The lesson lasted three or
22:43
Speaker 1: four hours, so that sometimes Fyodor Timofeyitch was so tired
22:48
Speaker 1: that he staggered about like a drunken man, and ivan
22:51
Speaker 1: Ivanitch opened his beak and breathed heavily, while their master
22:55
Speaker 1: became red in the face and could not mop the
22:57
Speaker 1: sweat from his brow fast enough. The lesson and the
23:01
Speaker 1: dinner made the day very interesting, but the evenings were tedious.
23:05
Speaker 1: As a rule. Their master went off somewhere in the
23:08
Speaker 1: evening and took the cat and the gander with him.
23:11
Speaker 1: Left alone, Auntie lay down on her little mattress and
23:14
Speaker 1: began to feel sad. Melancholy crept on her imperceptibly and
23:18
Speaker 1: took possession of her by degrees, as darkness does of
23:22
Speaker 1: a room. It began with the dogs losing every inclination
23:26
Speaker 1: to bark, to eat, to run about the rooms, and
23:29
Speaker 1: even to look at things. Then vague figures, half dogs,
23:33
Speaker 1: half human beings, with countenances attractive, pleasant, but incomprehensible, would
23:39
Speaker 1: appear in her imagination. When they came, Auntie wagged her tail,
23:43
Speaker 1: and it seemed to her that she had somewhere, at
23:46
Speaker 1: some time seen them and loved them. And as she
23:49
Speaker 1: dropped asleep, she always felt that those figures smelt of
23:53
Speaker 1: blue shavings and varnish. When she had grown quite used
23:58
Speaker 1: to her new life, and from a thin long mongrel
24:01
Speaker 1: had changed into a sleek, well groomed dog. Her master
24:05
Speaker 1: looked at her one day before the lesson and said,
24:08
Speaker 1: it's high time, Auntie, to get to business. You have
24:11
Speaker 1: kicked up your heels in idleness long enough. I want
24:15
Speaker 1: to make an artiste of you. Do you want to
24:17
Speaker 1: be an artiste? And he began teaching her various accomplishments.
24:22
Speaker 1: At the first lesson, he taught her how to stand
24:24
Speaker 1: and walk on her hind legs, which she liked extremely.
24:28
Speaker 1: At the second lesson, she had to jump on her
24:30
Speaker 1: hind legs and catch some sugar, which her teacher held
24:34
Speaker 1: high above her head. After that, in the following lessons,
24:38
Speaker 1: she danced, ran, tied to a chord, howled to music,
24:42
Speaker 1: rang the bell, and fired the pistol, and in a
24:45
Speaker 1: month could successfully replace Fyodor Timofeyitch in the Egyptian pyramid.
24:50
Speaker 1: She learned very eagerly and was pleased with her own success.
24:54
Speaker 1: Running with her tongue out on the cord, leaping through
24:57
Speaker 1: the hoop, and riding on old field Timofeyitch gave her
25:01
Speaker 1: the greatest enjoyment. She accompanied every successful trick with a shrill,
25:06
Speaker 1: delighted bark, while her teacher wondered. Was also delighted and
25:10
Speaker 1: rubbed his hands. Its talent. Its talent, he said, unquestionable talent.
25:17
Speaker 1: You will certainly be successful. And Auntie grew so used
25:21
Speaker 1: to the word talent that every time her master pronounced it,
25:24
Speaker 1: she jumped up as if it had been her name.
25:29
Speaker 1: Part six. An uneasy night. Auntie had a doggy dream
25:33
Speaker 1: that a porter ran after her with a broom, and
25:36
Speaker 1: she woke up in a fright. It was quite dark
25:39
Speaker 1: and very stuffy in the room. The fleas were biting.
25:43
Speaker 1: Auntie had never been afraid of darkness before, but now
25:47
Speaker 1: for some reason, she felt frightened and inclined to bark.
25:51
Speaker 1: Her master heaved a loud sigh in the next room.
25:54
Speaker 1: Then soon afterwards the sow grunted in her sty, and
25:58
Speaker 1: then all was still again. When one thinks about eating,
26:02
Speaker 1: one's heart grows lighter. And Aunty began thinking how that
26:06
Speaker 1: day she had stolen the leg of a chicken from
26:09
Speaker 1: Fyodor Timotheyitch, and had hidden it in the drawing room
26:12
Speaker 1: between the cupboard and the wall, where there were a
26:15
Speaker 1: great many spider's webs and a great deal of dust.
26:19
Speaker 1: Would it not be as well to go now and
26:21
Speaker 1: look whether the chicken leg were still there or not.
26:25
Speaker 1: It was very possible that her master had found it
26:27
Speaker 1: and eaten it. But she must not go out of
26:30
Speaker 1: the room before morning. That was the rule. Aunty shut
26:34
Speaker 1: her eyes to go to sleep as quickly as possible,
26:37
Speaker 1: for she knew by experience that the sooner you go
26:40
Speaker 1: to sleep, the sooner the morning comes. But all at
26:43
Speaker 1: once there was a strange scream not far from her,
26:46
Speaker 1: which made her start and jump up on all four legs.
26:50
Speaker 1: It was Ivan, Ivanitch, and his cry was not babbling
26:53
Speaker 1: and persuasive as usual, but a wild, shrill, unnatural scream,
26:58
Speaker 1: like the squeak of a door opening. Unable to distinguish
27:02
Speaker 1: anything in the darkness, and not understanding what was wrong,
27:07
Speaker 1: Auntie felt still more frightened and growled. Or some time
27:13
Speaker 1: passed as long as it takes to beat a good bone.
27:17
Speaker 1: The scream was not repeated. Little by little, Auntie's uneasiness
27:21
Speaker 1: passed off, and she began to doze. She dreamed of
27:25
Speaker 1: two big black dogs with tufts of last year's coat
27:28
Speaker 1: left on their haunches and sides. They were eating out
27:32
Speaker 1: of a big basin some swill, from which there came
27:35
Speaker 1: a white steam and a most appetizing smell. From time
27:39
Speaker 1: to time, they looked round at Auntie, showed their teeth
27:43
Speaker 1: and growled, we are not going to give you any
27:47
Speaker 1: But a peasant in a fur coat ran out of
27:49
Speaker 1: the house and drove them away with a whip. Then
27:52
Speaker 1: Auntie went up to the basin and began eating. But
27:55
Speaker 1: as soon as the peasant went out of the gate,
27:57
Speaker 1: the two black dogs rushed at her groul, and all
28:01
Speaker 1: at once there was again a shrill scream. Tiji kiji gee,
28:07
Speaker 1: cried Ivan Ivanitch. Aunty woke, jumped up, and without leaving
28:11
Speaker 1: her mattress went off into a yelping bark. It seemed
28:15
Speaker 1: to her that it was not Ivanny Vanitch that was screaming,
28:18
Speaker 1: but some one else, And for some reason, the sow
28:22
Speaker 1: again grunted in her sty. Then there was the sound
28:25
Speaker 1: of shuffling slippers, and the master came into the room
28:28
Speaker 1: in his dressing gown with a candle in his hand.
28:31
Speaker 1: The flickering light danced over the dirty wall paper and
28:34
Speaker 1: the ceiling and chased away the darkness. Antie saw that
28:39
Speaker 1: there was no stranger in the room. Ivan Ivanitch was
28:42
Speaker 1: sitting on the floor and was not asleep. His wings
28:46
Speaker 1: were spread out, and his beak was open, and altogether
28:49
Speaker 1: he looked as though he were very tired and thirsty.
28:52
Speaker 1: Old Fyodor Timofeyitch was not asleep either, He too must
28:56
Speaker 1: have been awakened by the scream Ivan Ivanitch, what's the
29:01
Speaker 1: matter with you? The master asked the gander, Why are
29:05
Speaker 1: you screaming? Are you ill? The gander did not answer.
29:09
Speaker 1: The Master touched him on the neck, stroked his back,
29:12
Speaker 1: and said, you are a queer chap. You don't sleep yourself,
29:16
Speaker 1: and you don't let other people. When the Master went out,
29:21
Speaker 1: carrying the candle with him, there was darkness again. Auntie
29:25
Speaker 1: felt frightened. The gander did not scream, but again she
29:29
Speaker 1: fancied that there was some stranger in the room. What
29:33
Speaker 1: was most dreadful was that this stranger could not be bitten,
29:37
Speaker 1: as he was unseen and had no shape. And for
29:40
Speaker 1: some reason she thought that something very bad would certainly
29:44
Speaker 1: happen that night. Fyodor Timofayitch was uneasy too. Auntie could
29:50
Speaker 1: hear him shifting on his mattress, yawning and shaking his head.
29:54
Speaker 1: Somewhere in the street, there was a knocking at the gate,
29:57
Speaker 1: and the sow grunted in her sty. Aunty began to whine,
30:02
Speaker 1: stretched out her front paws, and laid her head down
30:05
Speaker 1: upon them. She fancied that in the knocking at the gate,
30:08
Speaker 1: in the grunting of the sow, who was for some
30:11
Speaker 1: reason awake, in the darkness and the stillness, there was
30:16
Speaker 1: something as miserable and dreadful as in Ivan Ivanitch's scream.
30:20
Speaker 1: Everything was in agitation and anxiety. But why who was
30:25
Speaker 1: the stranger who could not be seen? Then two dim
30:29
Speaker 1: flashes of green gleamed for a minute near Aunty. It
30:33
Speaker 1: was Fyodor Timavyitch, for the first time of their whole acquaintance,
30:37
Speaker 1: coming up to her. What did he want? Aunty licked
30:40
Speaker 1: his paw, and, not asking why he had come, howled
30:44
Speaker 1: softly and on various notes. Kiji cried Ivan Ivanitch, Kuiji.
30:53
Speaker 1: The door opened again, and the master came in with
30:55
Speaker 1: a candle. The gander was sitting in the same attitude
30:58
Speaker 1: as before, with his beak open and his wings spread out.
31:03
Speaker 1: His eyes were closed. Ivan Ivanitch, his master called him.
31:08
Speaker 1: The gander did not stir. His master sat down before
31:12
Speaker 1: him on the floor, looked at him in silence for
31:14
Speaker 1: a minute, and said Ivan Ivanitch, what is it? Are
31:18
Speaker 1: you dying? Oh? I remember now, I remember, he cried
31:23
Speaker 1: out and clutched at his head. I know why it is.
31:27
Speaker 1: It's because the horse stepped on you to day. My god,
31:31
Speaker 1: my god. Anty did not understand what her master was saying,
31:36
Speaker 1: but she saw from his face that he too was
31:39
Speaker 1: expecting something dreadful. She stretched out her head towards the
31:43
Speaker 1: dark window, where it seemed to her some stranger was
31:46
Speaker 1: looking in, and howled. He is dying, Aunty, said her master,
31:51
Speaker 1: and wrung his hands. Yes, yes, he is dying. Death
31:56
Speaker 1: has come into your room. What are we to do?
32:01
Speaker 1: Pale and agitated, the Master went back into his room,
32:04
Speaker 1: sighing and shaking his head. Aunty was afraid to remain
32:08
Speaker 1: in the darkness and followed her master into his bedroom.
32:12
Speaker 1: He sat down on the bed and repeated several times,
32:16
Speaker 1: my god, what's to be done? Aunty walked about round
32:20
Speaker 1: his feet, and, not understanding why she was wretched and
32:23
Speaker 1: why they were all so uneasy, and trying to understand,
32:28
Speaker 1: watched every movement he made. Fyodor Timofeyitch, who rarely left
32:33
Speaker 1: his little mattress, came into the master's bedroom too, and
32:37
Speaker 1: began rubbing himself against his feet. He shook his head
32:40
Speaker 1: as though he wanted to shake painful thoughts out of it,
32:44
Speaker 1: and kept peeping suspiciously under the bed. The Master took
32:48
Speaker 1: a saucer, poured some water from his washstand into it,
32:52
Speaker 1: and went to the gander again. Drink ivan Ivanitch, he said, tenderly,
32:56
Speaker 1: setting the saucer before him. Drink, darling, But ivan Ivanitch
33:01
Speaker 1: did not stir and did not open his eyes. His
33:05
Speaker 1: master bent his head down to the saucer and dipped
33:08
Speaker 1: his beak into the water, but the gander did not drink.
33:11
Speaker 1: He spread his wings wider than ever, and his head
33:14
Speaker 1: remained lying in the saucer. No, there's nothing to be
33:18
Speaker 1: done now, sighed his master. It's all over. Ivan Ivanitch
33:23
Speaker 1: is gone, and shining drops such as one sees on
33:28
Speaker 1: the window pane when it rains, trickled down his cheeks.
33:32
Speaker 1: Not understanding what was the matter. Aunty and Fyodor Timofeyitch
33:36
Speaker 1: snuggled up to him and looked with horror at the gander.
33:40
Speaker 1: Poor ivan Ivanitch, said the master, sighing mournfully. And I
33:45
Speaker 1: was dreaming I would take you in the spring into
33:47
Speaker 1: the country and would walk with you on the green grass.
33:51
Speaker 1: Dear creature, my good comrade, you are no more? How
33:56
Speaker 1: shall I do without you? Now? It's it seemed to
34:00
Speaker 1: Auntie that the same thing would happen to her, That is,
34:04
Speaker 1: that she too, there was no knowing why would close
34:08
Speaker 1: her eyes, stretch out her paws, open her mouth, and
34:12
Speaker 1: everyone would look at her with horror. Apparently the same
34:17
Speaker 1: reflections were passing through the brain of Fyodor Timofeyitch. Never
34:21
Speaker 1: before had the old cat been so morose and gloomy.
34:26
Speaker 1: It began to get light, and the unseen stranger who
34:30
Speaker 1: had so frightened Auntie was no longer in the room.
34:33
Speaker 1: When it was quite daylight, the porter came in, took
34:37
Speaker 1: the gander and carried him away, and soon afterwards the
34:41
Speaker 1: old woman came in and took away the troth. Auntie
34:44
Speaker 1: went into the drawing room and looked behind the cupboard.
34:48
Speaker 1: Her master had not eaten the chicken bone. It was
34:51
Speaker 1: lying in its place among the dust and spider's webs.
34:55
Speaker 1: But Auntie felt sad and dreary and wanted to cry.
34:59
Speaker 1: She did not even sniff at the bone, but went
35:02
Speaker 1: under the sofa, sat down there and began softly whining
35:06
Speaker 1: in a thin voice, end of parts four through six,
35:12
Speaker 1: an unsuccessful debut. One fine evening, the master came into
35:16
Speaker 1: the room with a dirty wall paper and rubbing his hands.
35:20
Speaker 1: Said well. He meant to say something more, but went
35:24
Speaker 1: away without saying it. Aunty, who during her lessons had
35:28
Speaker 1: thoroughly studied his face and intonations, divined that he was agitated, anxious,
35:33
Speaker 1: and she fancied angry. Soon afterwards he came back and said,
35:38
Speaker 1: to day, I shall take with me Aunty and kyode
35:41
Speaker 1: her Timofeyitch. To day, Aunty, you will take the place
35:44
Speaker 1: of poor ivan Ivanitch in the Egyptian pyramid. Goodness knows
35:49
Speaker 1: how it will be. Nothing is ready, nothing has been
35:52
Speaker 1: thoroughly studied. There have been few rehearsals. We shall be disgraced.
35:57
Speaker 1: We shall come to grief. Then he went out again,
36:01
Speaker 1: and a minute later came back in his fur coat
36:03
Speaker 1: and top hat. Going up to the cat, he took
36:06
Speaker 1: him by the fore paws and put him inside the
36:08
Speaker 1: front of his coat, while Fyodor Timafeyitch appeared completely unconcerned
36:13
Speaker 1: and did not even trouble to open his eyes to him,
36:16
Speaker 1: It was apparently a matter of absolute indifference whether he
36:20
Speaker 1: remained lying down or were lifted up by his paws,
36:24
Speaker 1: whether he rested on his mattress or under his master's
36:27
Speaker 1: fur coat. Come along, Andy, said her master, wagging her
36:32
Speaker 1: tail and understanding nothing. Antie followed him. A minute later
36:36
Speaker 1: she was sitting in a sledge by her master's feet,
36:39
Speaker 1: and heard him, shrinking with cold and anxiety, mutter to himself,
36:44
Speaker 1: we shall be disgraced, We shall come to grief. The
36:48
Speaker 1: sledge stopped at a big, strange looking house, like a
36:51
Speaker 1: soup ladle turned upside down. The long entrance to this house,
36:55
Speaker 1: with its three glass doors, was lighted up with a
36:58
Speaker 1: dozen brilliant lams. The doors opened with a resounding noise,
37:03
Speaker 1: and like jaws, swallowed up the people who were moving
37:06
Speaker 1: to and fro at the entrance. There were a great
37:09
Speaker 1: many people. Horses too often ran up to the entrance,
37:13
Speaker 1: but no dogs were to be seen. The master took
37:17
Speaker 1: Auntie in his arms and thrust her in his coat,
37:20
Speaker 1: where Fyodor Timafeyitch already was. It was dark and stuffy there,
37:24
Speaker 1: but warm. For an instant, two green sparks flashed at her.
37:29
Speaker 1: It was the cat who opened his eyes, on being
37:32
Speaker 1: disturbed by his neighbour's cold, rough paws. Auntie licked his ears, and,
37:37
Speaker 1: trying to settle herself as comfortably as possible, moved uneasily,
37:41
Speaker 1: crushed him under her cold paws, and casually poked her
37:45
Speaker 1: head out from under the coat, but at once growled
37:48
Speaker 1: angrily and tucked it in again. It seemed to her
37:51
Speaker 1: that she had seen a huge, badly lighted room full
37:54
Speaker 1: of monsters. From behind screens and gratings which stretched on
37:59
Speaker 1: both sides of the room, horrible faces looked out, faces
38:03
Speaker 1: of horses with horns, with long ears, and one fat,
38:07
Speaker 1: huge countenance with a tail instead of a nose, and
38:11
Speaker 1: two long, gnawed bones sticking out of his mouth. The
38:15
Speaker 1: cat mewed huskily under Auntie's paws, but at that moment
38:18
Speaker 1: the coat was flung open. The master said, hop and
38:22
Speaker 1: Fyodor Timafeyitch, and Auntie jumped to the floor. They were
38:26
Speaker 1: now in a little room with gray plank walls. There
38:29
Speaker 1: was no other furniture in it, but a little table
38:32
Speaker 1: with a looking glass on it, a stool and some
38:35
Speaker 1: rags hung about the corners, and instead of a lamp
38:39
Speaker 1: or candles, there was a bright ban shaped light attached
38:42
Speaker 1: to a little pipe fixed in the wall. Yoda Timafeyitch,
38:46
Speaker 1: licked his coat, which had been ruffled by Auntie, went
38:49
Speaker 1: under the stool and lay down. Their master, still agitated
38:53
Speaker 1: and rubbing his hands, began undressing. He undressed as he
38:57
Speaker 1: usually did at home when he was preparing to get
39:00
Speaker 1: under the rug, that is, took off everything but his
39:03
Speaker 1: under linen. Then he sat down on the stool, and
39:06
Speaker 1: looking in the looking glass, began playing the most surprising
39:10
Speaker 1: tricks with himself. First of all, he put on his
39:13
Speaker 1: head a wig with a parting and with two tufts
39:16
Speaker 1: of hair standing up like horns. Then he smeared his
39:20
Speaker 1: face thickly with something white, and over the white color
39:24
Speaker 1: painted his eyebrows, his mustaches, and red on his cheeks.
39:28
Speaker 1: His antics did not end with that. After smearing his
39:32
Speaker 1: face and neck, he began putting himself into an extraordinary
39:35
Speaker 1: and incongruous costume such as Auntie had never seen before,
39:40
Speaker 1: either in houses or in the street. Imagined very full
39:43
Speaker 1: trousers made of chintz covered with big flowers, such as
39:47
Speaker 1: is used in working class houses for curtains and covering furniture.
39:52
Speaker 1: Trousers which buttoned up just under his arm pits, one
39:56
Speaker 1: trouser leg was made of brown chintz, the other of
39:59
Speaker 1: bright yellow, almost lost in these. He then put on
40:02
Speaker 1: a short chintz jacket with a big scalloped collar and
40:06
Speaker 1: a gold star on the back, stoppings of different colors,
40:09
Speaker 1: and green slippers. Everything seemed going round before Auntie's eyes
40:15
Speaker 1: and in her soul. The white faced, sack like figure
40:19
Speaker 1: smelt like her master. Its voice, too, was the familiar
40:22
Speaker 1: master's voice. But there were moments when Auntie was tortured
40:26
Speaker 1: by doubts, and then she was ready to run away
40:29
Speaker 1: from the parti colored figure and to bark the new place,
40:33
Speaker 1: the fan shaped light, the smell, the transformation that had
40:37
Speaker 1: taken place in her master. All this aroused in her
40:40
Speaker 1: a vague dread and a foreboding that she would certainly
40:43
Speaker 1: meet with some horror, such as the big face with
40:46
Speaker 1: the tail instead of a nose. And then somewhere through
40:51
Speaker 1: the wall, some hateful band was playing, and from time
40:54
Speaker 1: to time she heard an incomprehensible roar. Only one thing
40:59
Speaker 1: reassured her. That was the imperturbability of Fyodor Timofeyitch. He
41:04
Speaker 1: dozed with the utmost tranquility under the stool and did
41:08
Speaker 1: not open his eyes even when it was moved, a
41:12
Speaker 1: man in a dress coat and a white waistcoat peeped
41:14
Speaker 1: into the little room and said, miss Arabella has just
41:18
Speaker 1: gone on after her. You Their master made no answer.
41:22
Speaker 1: He drew a small box from under the table, sat
41:25
Speaker 1: down and waited. From his lips and his hands. It
41:28
Speaker 1: could be seen that he was agitated, and Auntie could
41:32
Speaker 1: hear how his breathing came in gasps. Mister George, come on,
41:37
Speaker 1: someone shouted behind the door. Their master got up and
41:40
Speaker 1: crossed himself three times, then took the cat from under
41:44
Speaker 1: the stool and put him in the box. Come, Auntie,
41:47
Speaker 1: he said softly. Auntie, who could make nothing out of it,
41:51
Speaker 1: went up to his hands. He kissed her on the
41:54
Speaker 1: head and put her beside Fyodor Timofeyitch then followed darkness
42:00
Speaker 1: et He trampled on the cat, scratched at the walls
42:02
Speaker 1: of the box, and was so frightened that she could
42:05
Speaker 1: not utter a sound. While the box swayed and quivered
42:09
Speaker 1: as though it were on the waves. Here we are again,
42:12
Speaker 1: her master shouted aloud, here we are again, And he
42:17
Speaker 1: felt that after that shout the box struck against something
42:20
Speaker 1: hard and left off swaying. There was a loud, deep roar.
42:24
Speaker 1: Someone was being slapped, and that someone, probably the monster
42:28
Speaker 1: with the tail instead of a nose, roared and laughed
42:31
Speaker 1: so loud that the locks of the box trembled. In
42:35
Speaker 1: response to the roar, there came a shrill, squeaky laugh
42:39
Speaker 1: from her master, such as he never laughed at home. Ha,
42:43
Speaker 1: he shouted, trying to shout above the roar, honored friends,
42:47
Speaker 1: I have only just come from the station. My grannies
42:51
Speaker 1: kicked the bucket and left me a fortune. There is
42:53
Speaker 1: something very heavy in the box. It must be gold. Haha.
42:58
Speaker 1: I bet there's a million here. We'll open it and look.
43:03
Speaker 1: The lock of the box clicked. The bright light dazzled
43:06
Speaker 1: Auntie's eyes. She jumped out of the box, and, deafened
43:09
Speaker 1: by the roar, ran quickly round her master and broke
43:12
Speaker 1: into a shrill bark. Ha exclaimed her master, Uncle Kyodo Timofeyitch,
43:19
Speaker 1: beloved aunt dear relations the devil take you. He fell
43:24
Speaker 1: on his stomach on the sand, seized the cat and Auntie,
43:28
Speaker 1: and fell to embracing them. While he held Auntie tight
43:32
Speaker 1: in his arms. She glanced round into the world into
43:35
Speaker 1: which fate had brought her and impressed by its immensity,
43:39
Speaker 1: was for a minute dumbfounded with amazement and delight. Then
43:43
Speaker 1: jumped out of her master's arms, and, to express the
43:46
Speaker 1: intensity of her emotions, whirled round and round on one
43:49
Speaker 1: spot like a top. This new world was big and
43:53
Speaker 1: full of bright light. Wherever she looked, on all sides,
43:57
Speaker 1: from floor to ceiling, there were faces, faces, faces, and
44:01
Speaker 1: nothing else. Auntie, I beg you to sit down, shouted
44:06
Speaker 1: her master. Remembering what that meant, Auntie jumped on to
44:10
Speaker 1: a chair and sat down. She looked at her master.
44:13
Speaker 1: His eyes looked at her gravely and kindly as always,
44:17
Speaker 1: but his face, especially his mouth and teeth, were made
44:20
Speaker 1: grotesque by a broad, immovable grin. He laughed, skipped about,
44:25
Speaker 1: twitched his shoulders, and made a show of being very
44:28
Speaker 1: merry in the presence of the thousands of faces. Auntie
44:32
Speaker 1: believed in his merriment all at once, felt all over
44:36
Speaker 1: her that those thousands of faces were looking at her.
44:39
Speaker 1: Lifted up her fox like head and howled joyously. You
44:44
Speaker 1: sit there, Auntie, her master said to her, while Uncle
44:47
Speaker 1: and I will dance the Kamarinsky. Jyodor Timofeyitch stood looking
44:52
Speaker 1: about him indifferently, waiting to be made to do something silly.
44:57
Speaker 1: He danced listlessly, carelessly, sullenly, and one could see from
45:02
Speaker 1: his movements, his tail, and his ears that he had
45:05
Speaker 1: a profound contempt for the crowd, the bright light, his master,
45:09
Speaker 1: and himself. When he had performed his allotted task, he
45:12
Speaker 1: gave a yawn and sat down. Now, Auntie said her master,
45:17
Speaker 1: we'll have first a song and then a dance, shall we.
45:21
Speaker 1: He took a pipe out of his pocket and began playing. Auntie,
45:25
Speaker 1: who could not endure music, began moving uneasily in her
45:28
Speaker 1: chair and howled. A roar of applause rose from all sides.
45:33
Speaker 1: Her master bowed, and, when all was still again, went
45:36
Speaker 1: on playing. Just as he took one very high note,
45:41
Speaker 1: someone high up among the audience uttered a loud exclamation.
45:45
Speaker 1: Auntie cried, a child's voice. Why it's kashdanka, kashtanka, it
45:50
Speaker 1: is declared, a cracked, drunken tenor kushdanka, strike me dead, fidushka,
45:56
Speaker 1: it is kashdanka, kashdanka. Here, someone in the gallery gave
46:00
Speaker 1: a whistle, and two voices, one a boy's and one
46:04
Speaker 1: a man's, called loudly, kashdanka. Kashdanka. Auntie started and looked
46:10
Speaker 1: where the shouting came from. Two faces, one hairy, drunken
46:14
Speaker 1: and grinning, the other chubby, rosy, cheeked and frightened, looking
46:19
Speaker 1: dazed her eyes as the bright light had dazed them before,
46:22
Speaker 1: she remembered, fell off the chair, struggled on the sand,
46:26
Speaker 1: then jumped up and with a delighted yap, dashed towards
46:30
Speaker 1: those faces. There was a deafening roar, interspersed with whistles
46:35
Speaker 1: and a shrill, childish shout. Kashdanka, Kashdanka Aunty leaped over
46:41
Speaker 1: the barrier, then across someone's shoulders. She found herself in
46:45
Speaker 1: a box. To get into the next tier, she had
46:48
Speaker 1: to leap over a high wall. Auntie jumped, but did
46:51
Speaker 1: not jump high enough and slipped back down the wall.
46:55
Speaker 1: Then she was passed from hand to hand, licked hands
46:59
Speaker 1: and faces, kept mounting higher and higher, and at last
47:03
Speaker 1: got into the gallery. Half an hour afterwards, Kashdanka was
47:08
Speaker 1: in the street, following the people who smelt of glue
47:10
Speaker 1: and varnish. Luka Alexandrich staggered and instinctively, taught by experience,
47:16
Speaker 1: tried to keep as far from the gutter as possible
47:20
Speaker 1: in sin. My mother bore me, he muttered, And you, Kashdanka,
47:24
Speaker 1: are a thing of little understanding. Beside a man, you
47:28
Speaker 1: are like a joiner, beside a cabinet maker. Vidyushka walked
47:33
Speaker 1: beside him, wearing his father's cap. Kashdanka looked at their backs,
47:38
Speaker 1: and it seemed to her that she had been following
47:40
Speaker 1: them for ages, and was glad that there had not
47:44
Speaker 1: been a break for a minute in her life. She
47:47
Speaker 1: remembered the little room with dirty wallpaper, the gander Fyodor, Timofeyitch,
47:53
Speaker 1: the delicious dinners, the lessons, the circus, But all that
47:57
Speaker 1: seemed to her now like a long, tan angled, oppressive dream.
48:03
Speaker 1: End of Part seven. End of Kashtanka by Anton Chekhov,
48:06
Speaker 1: translated by Constance Garnett,