Land surveyor Gleb Gavrilovich Smirnov came to the station Gnilushki. He was summoned to General Khokhotov’s estate for surveying. Smirnov was about thirty miles from the place of destination. At his request for postal horses, the station gendarme only spread his hands: “You can not find a track dog for a hundred miles, but not something like postal ones…”. However, he advised the surveyor to approach the peasants, who sometimes took passengers. And indeed, he found “the most hefty peasant, sullen, pock-marked, clad in tattered sermago and bast shoes.” From the fourth blow only the peasant managed to touch his horse from the spot.
When the cart pulled out of the yard, it was dusk. The surveyor could only see the frozen plain from one side and the dark hillocks – either haystack or village – from the other. Everything else from Hleb Gavrilovich’s sharp-sighted eye was hidden by an uncommon peasant’s back.
Dark.
Chilly. And it became scary for the surveyor. “And the driver is unreliable”. And he began to talk with the peasant. As if by accident, I asked if there were any attacks of robbers in this area. Clim, the driver’s name, was not a word. This further frightened off the surveyor. He began to inculcate that he had a revolver in his bosom and that, God forbid, whoever attacked him would be so sorry.
Here the cart turned to the left, and Smirnov finally became scared. He began to shamelessly argue and say that his honey does not feed – let the fight with the robbers. In life, he said, there was a case that three robbers attacked him. So he immediately dealt with them: one immediately gave his soul to the soul, and two others went to penal servitude. Clim looked timidly at Smirnov and spurred on the horse. The road went into the forest. Clim’s uneasy look and dark forest thickets completely intimidated the surveyor: “Where are you taking me?” “Yes you can not see? The forest.” And the farther into the forest, the more suspicious everything seemed: the fact that Clim began
to look so often, and the fact that the horse was running so fast and that it was so dark and deserted. Smirnov came up with the idea that four comrades were still behind him, and that they should catch up with them in this forest, while he rummaged in his pockets, promising to show Clim his revolver… And at that time something happened that the surveyor could not expect for all his cowardice. “Clim suddenly fell out of the cart and on all fours he ran to more often.” he shouted. – Sentry! Take, damned, and the horse, and the cart, only do not ruin your soul! “The surveyor stopped the horse and began to think about how to be.” As Smirnov called Clim, he did not respond. For two hours a surveyor was shouting, then the breeze brought a faint moan to him: the climber of Klim was questioned for him to return, and they continued on their way. “God be with you, sir,” growled Klim. If I knew, and for a hundred rubles would not be lucky. I nearly died of fear! .. “The cart moved, the surveyor sat thinking, the road and Clim did not seem dangerous anymore. which the surveyor could not expect for all his cowardice. “Clim suddenly fell out of the cart and on all fours he ran to more often.” he shouted. – Sentry! Take, damned, and the horse, and the cart, only do not ruin your soul! “The surveyor stopped the horse and began to think about how to be.” As Smirnov called Clim, he did not respond. For two hours a surveyor was shouting, then the breeze brought a faint moan to him: the climber of Klim was questioned for him to return, and they continued on their way. “God be with you, sir,” growled Klim. If I knew, and for a hundred rubles would not be lucky. I nearly died of fear! .. “The cart moved, the surveyor sat thinking, the road and Clim did not seem dangerous anymore. which the surveyor could not expect for all his cowardice. “Clim suddenly fell out of the cart and on all fours he ran to more often.” he shouted. – Sentry! Take, damned, and the horse, and the cart, only do not ruin your soul! “The surveyor stopped the horse and began to think about how to be.” As Smirnov called Clim, he did not respond. For two hours a surveyor was shouting, then the breeze brought a faint moan to him: the climber of Klim was questioned for him to return, and they continued on their way. “God be with you, sir,” growled Klim. If I knew, and for a hundred rubles would not be lucky. I nearly died of fear! .. “The cart moved, the surveyor sat thinking, the road and Clim did not seem dangerous anymore. – Sentry! Take, damned, and the horse, and the cart, only do not ruin your soul! “The surveyor stopped the horse and began to think about how to be.” As Smirnov called Clim, he did not respond. For two hours a surveyor was shouting, then the breeze brought a faint moan to him: the climber of Klim was questioned for him to return, and they went on their way. “God be with you, sir,” growled Klim. If I knew, and for a hundred rubles would not be lucky. I nearly died of fear! .. “The cart moved, the surveyor sat thinking, the road and Clim did not seem dangerous anymore. – Sentry! Take, damned, and the horse, and the cart, only do not ruin your soul! “The surveyor stopped the horse and began to think about how to be.” As Smirnov called Clim, he did not respond. For two hours a surveyor was shouting, then the breeze brought a faint moan to him: the climber of Klim was questioned for him to return, and they continued on their way. “God be with you, sir,” growled Klim. If I knew, and for a hundred rubles would not be lucky. I nearly died of fear! .. “The cart moved, the surveyor sat thinking, the road and Clim did not seem dangerous anymore. The land surveyor of Klima was questioned for him to return, and they continued their journey. “God be with you, sir,” growled Clim, “if I had known, I would not have taken a hundred rubles for a hundred rubles.” I nearly died of fear! .. “The cart started. The surveyor sat thinking. The road and Clim did not seem dangerous to him anymore. The land surveyor of Klima was questioned for him to return, and they continued their journey. “God be with you, sir,” growled Clim, “if I had known, I would not have taken a hundred rubles for a hundred rubles.” I nearly died of fear! .. “The cart started. The surveyor sat thinking. The road and Clim did not seem dangerous to him anymore.
