英语故事The Serpents Trail.docx

英语故事The Serpents Trail.docx

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英语故事TheSerpentsTrail

英语故事

TheSerpent’sTrail

　　Levonty’stwolads，theonetheSerpentshowedthewaytogold，soonbegantoprosper.Theirfatherdied，butjustthesameeachyearwasbetterthanthelast.Theybuiltahut-notovergrand，justanordinarywellbuilthut.Thentheyboughtacowandahorse，andinwinterthey’dthreesheepundertheroof.Rightgladtheirmotherwastoseealittleeaseandcomfortinheroldage.

　　Allthiscamefromthegoodservicesoftheoldman，Semyonich.Hiswastheheadthatguidedthem.Hetaughttheboyshowtodisposeofthegoldsotheofficewouldn’ttakenoteortheotherprospectorslookatthemwithenvy.Guilewasneededforhandlinggold，amanmusthaveeyesallround.Therewereothersseekingit，thereweremerchantslikevultures，andtheofficewatchingyoutoo.Youhadtobeclever.Howcouldchildrenfindtheirwayaboutinitall？

ButSemyonichtoldthemwhattodo.Taughtthemthewaysofit.

　　Andsoitwenton.Theboysgotbigbuttheystillwashedgoldinthesameplace.Theotherprospectorsstayedroundabouttoo.Theydidn’tgetmuch，butstillitwassomething.Buttheboys，theydidrealwell.Evenstartedtoputabitaway.

　　Butthenthemenontopnoticed-twoorphans，andnotatallbadlyoff.Sooneday-itwasaholidayandtheirmotherwasjusttakingfishpiesoutoftheoven-amessengerappeared.

　　“You’vegottogotothebailiff.Atonce，hesaid.”

　　Theywent，andthebailiffbeganbawlingatthem.

　　“Howlongd’yethinkyou’regoingtoidle？

Justlookatye-tallasflag-polesandneverdoneaday’sworkfortheMasteryet！

Wholetyeoff？

Wanttotrythefitofasoldier’scap？

”

　　Ofcoursetheboysexplained.

　　“Ourfather，Godresthissoul，theMasterhimselffreedbecausehewaspasthiswork.Andsowethought-”

　　“It’snotforyoutothink！

Showmethepaperthatsaysyou’refree！

”

　　Theboyshadn’tanypaper，ofcourse，sotheydidn’tknowwhattosay.Thenthebailifftoldthem：

“BringfivehundredeachandI’llgiveyethepapers.”

　　Hewasprobing，like，toseeiftheladswouldsaythey’dgotmoney.Buttheystoodfirm.

　　’Ifwesoldallwe’vegot，tothelastthread，“saidtheyounger，”itwouldn’tbringthehalf.“

　　“Ifthat’stheway，thenyougotoworktomorrowmorning.Thesupervisor’lltellyewheretogo.Andseeyou’renotlateforgettingyourtask.Ifyouare，ye’llgetthewhiponyourfirstday.”

　　Downinthemouththeywere，thoseboysofours.Andwhentheytoldtheirmothershestartedweepingandlamenting.

　　“Ohmisery！

Howshallwekeepalivenow？

”

　　Theirneighboursandrelationsallcame.SomecounseledwritingtotheMaster，somesaidtheyoughttogototown，totherealbigmenoverthemines，andsomeaddeduphowmuchtheycouldgetiftheysoldeverythingtheyhad.Andothersputfearinthem，saying：

“Whileyou’retalkingandarguinghere，thebailiff’smenwilltakeyebythecollar，flogyeandpushyeintothemines.Putyeinchainstheretoo.Andthenseehowfaryou’llgetinseekingjustice！

”

　　Somesaidthisandsomesaidthat，butnonesomuchasthoughtthatmaybetheboysmighthavefivetimesasmuchasthebailiffsaidbutfeartoshowit.Eventheirmotherknewnaughtofit.WhenSemyonichwasstillamongthelivinghe’dwarnedthemmanyatime：

“Tellnoneofthegoldputby，andespeciallytellnowoman.Mother，wife，sweetheart-saynowordtoany.Yeneverknowwhatcanhappen.Theguardsfromtheminecancome，makeasearch，threatenthisandthat.Awomanmighthaveaclosemouthintheordinaryway，butshe’llbeafraidforhersonorherhusbandandshowtheplacewhereit’shid.Andthat’sjustwhattheguardswant.They’lltakethegoldandgetridoftheman.Andthewoman，she’lljustthrowherselfinthewaterorputaroperoundherneck.I’veknownithappen.Sobecautious！

Whenyegrowupandwed，bearitwillinmind.Asforyourmother，notahintofittoher.Shecanneverholdhertongue，shelikestoboastofherchildren.”

　　TheboystookgoodheedofSemyonich’scounselandsaidnowordtoanyoftheirhoard.Theothersprospectorsguessed，ofcourse，thattheboysmusthavesomethingputaway，buthowmuchandwhere，noneknew.

　　Sotheneighbourstalkedthematteroverthiswayandthat，theyfeltforthetwo，buttheendofitallwas，theywouldhavetogotoworknextmorning.

　　“Nowayoutofit.”

　　Assoonasallweregone，theyoungerladsaid：

“Come，Brother，let’sgotothegold-fields.Takealasttookatourplace.....”

　　Theotherguessedwhatwasinhismind.

　　“Whynot，let’sgo，”hesaid.“Thefreshairwillmebbemakeusfeeleasier.”

　　TheirmotherputsomethingtogetherfromtheSundaymealforthemtoeatontheway，andslippedinapickleortwo.Theytookabottleaswell，ofcourse，andsetofffortheRyabinovka.

　　Theywalkedagoodwhilewithnowordspoken.Whenthepathturnedintothewoods，theelderbrothersaid：

“We’llhidehereabit.”

　　Theyturnedsharpoffthepathandlaydownbehindsomebriars.Theydrankaglassfuleach，thenlayquietandlistened.Someonewascoming.TheypeeredoutandsawVankaSochenploddingalongthepathwithhispanandtools.Likeasifhewasoffrealearlytothefields.Gotasuddencravingforwork，couldn’tevenwaittofinishhisbottle.NowthatSochen，hewasanofficecur，iftheysmeltaratanywheretheysenthimsniffinground.Folkshadknownthatalongtime.He’dbeenbeatenmorethanonce，buthestillkepton.Arealpest.TheMistressoftheCopperMountainherselfgavehimhisquittancelateron，andinsuchwisethathelayunderthesod.Aye，butthat’snomatterhere……Well，alongcamethatSochenandthebrotherswinkedateachother.Thentheforemanpassedonhorseback.Theywaitedabitmore，andPimenovhimselfrolledpast，drivinghisYorshik.He’dgotrodsfastenedtohislightcart，asifhewasgoingfishing.

　　PimenovwasthemostdaringofthosethatboughtgoldsecretlythosedaysinPolevaya.AndeveryoneknewYorshik.Aracerfromthesteppes，hewas.Notsoverybig，buthe’dleaveanythree-spanbehind.WherecouldPimenovhavegotholdofhim？

Folksusedtosayhe’dgottwoheartsandtwopairsoflungs.He’dgallopfiftyverstsandbefreshattheendofit.Trytocatchahorselikethat！

Arealthief’shorse.There’salotoftalestoldabouthim.Andhismasterwasastout，lustyfellow，notthekindyou’dwanttostartafightwith.Notlikethoseheirsofhisthatliveinthatbigtwo-storeyhouseoverthere.

　　Whenthetwoladssawthatfishermantheyhadtolaugh.Thentheyoungeronestoodupbehindthebriarsandcalledhim-nottooloud，though，abitcareful.

　　“IvanVasilyevich，haveyouyourscaleswithye？

”

　　Themerchantsawtheladwaslaughingandgavebackjestforjest.

　　“HardifIcouldn’tfindanyinthewoodshere！

Iftherewassomethingtoweighon‘em.”

　　ThenhereinedYorshikin.“Ifyou’veaughtforme，getin，I’llsetyeonyourway.”

　　Thatwashowhealwaysdidit-boughtgoldwiththehorseready.HeknewwhatYorshikcoulddo.He’donlytosay：

“Yorshik-you’llgetthewhip！

”andnextminutethere’dbenaughtbutaspatterofmudoracloudofdust.

　　“Wehaven’titwithus，”theladssaid，andthenasked：

“Where’llwefindyetomorrowmorningearly，IvanVasilyevich？

”

　　“Whathaveyegot-somethingworthwhile，orjustapinch？

”themerchantasked.

　　“Asifyoudidn’tknow....”

　　“Oh，Iknowallright，butIdon’tknowall.Idon’tknowifyoubothwanttobuyyourselvesfree.Oronlyonetostartwith.”

　　Hewaitedaminute，andthenhewenton-sortofwarningthem.

　　“Takecare，lads，they’rewatchingye.DidyouseeSochen？

”

　　“Aye，wesawhim.”

　　“Andtheforeman？

”

　　“Wesawhimtoo.”

　　“They’vemaybesentothers.Andtheremightbesomesmellingroundontheirownaccount.Theyallknowyouneedtogetmoneybythemorn，sothey’respying.Icamespeciallytowarnye.”

　　“Andthankyekindly，butwe’vegotourowneyesopentoo.”

　　“Aye，Icanseeyou’vegotheadsonyourshoulders，butallthesame-takecare.”

　　“Areyouafraidit’llslipawayfromye？

”

　　“Nay，I’venaughttofretabout.There’snoneotherwouldbuyit，they’dbeafraid.”

　　“What’llyoupay？

”

　　Pimenovpushedthepricedown，ofcourse.Ahawk，afterall.Thatsortdon’tletgotheirprey.

　　“That’sallI’llgive，”hesaid，“theremaybetrouble.”

　　Sothebargainwasstruck.Pimenovwhispered：

“AtdawnI’lldrivebythedykeandpickyeup.”Heshookthereins.“Geton，Yorshik，catchtheforeman！

”Thenheaskedthelads：

“D’yewantmoneyforbothorforone？

”

　　“Wedon’tknowhowmuchwe’llbeabletoscrapeup，”saidtheyounger.“Bringplenty，anyway.”

　　Themerchantdroveaway.

　　Theladswerequietawhile，thentheyoungeronesaid：

“Pimenovspokegoodsense，Brother.We’dbetternotshowtoomuchmoneyallatonce.Itmightendbadly.They’djusttakeitandthat’sall.”

　　“Aye，that’sright.Butwhat’llwedo，then？

”

　　“Mebbethisway.We’llgotothebailiffagain，we’llbeghimhumblytotakeabitless.Thenwe’llsaywecan’tgetmorethanfourhundredevenifwesellallwe’vegot.He’llletoneofusgoforfourhundred，you’llsee，andfolks’llthinkwe’vegivenourlast.”

　　“That‘udbeallright，”saidtheelder，“butwho’stostayaserf？

Lookslikewe’llhavetodrawlots.”

　　Thentheyoungeronestartedtocajolehisbrother.

　　“Aye，drawlots，that‘udbethebestway，ofcourse.Thennonecancomplain.Notwowordsaboutit....Though-there’sonething.You’vegotaninjury.Oneeye’snogood....Ifyougotintheirillbookstheydidnevermakeasoldierofye，butwhat‘udsaveme？

Thefirstthingandthey’dsendmeoff.Andgoodbyetofreedomthen.Butifyoucouldstanditabit，I’dsoonbuyyefree.Beforea