And thou, my Brother the younger, wilt ever regret,
Till thou liest beside me!
‘Hotly thou camest, O death-bearing ball that I spurned,
For thou wast my slave!
And thou, black earth, that battle-steed trampled and churned,
Wilt cover my grave!
‘Cold art Thou, O Death, yet I was thy Lord and thy Master!
My body sinks fast to the earth, my soul to Heaven flies faster.’
Hadji Murád always listened to this song with closed eyes and when it ended on a long gradually dying note he always remarked in Russian –
‘Good song! Wise song!’
After Hadji Murád’s arrival and his intimacy with him and his
On the day of Hadji Murád’s departure the major invited several officers to see him off. They were sitting, some at the table where Márya Dmítrievna was pouring out tea, some at another table on which stood vodka, chikhír, and light refreshments, when Hadji Murád dressed for the journey came limping into the room with soft, rapid footsteps.
They all rose and shook hands with him. The major offered him a seat on the divan, but Hadji Murád thanked him and sat down on a chair by the window.
The silence that followed his entrance did not at all abash him. He looked attentively at all the faces and fixed an indifferent gaze on the tea-table with the samovar and refreshments. Petróvsky, a lively officer who now met Hadji Murád for the first time, asked him through the interpreter whether he liked Tiflis.
‘
‘He says “Yes”,’ translated the interpreter.
‘What did he like there?’
Hadji Murád said something in reply.
‘He liked the theatre best of all.’
‘And how did he like the ball at the house of the commander-in-chief?’
Hadji Murád frowned. ‘Every nation has its own customs! Our women do not dress in such a way,’ said he, glancing at Márya Dmítrievna.
‘Well, didn’t he like it?’
‘We have a proverb,’ said Hadji Murád to the interpreter, ‘ “The dog gave meat to the ass and the ass gave hay to the dog, and both went hungry,” ’ and he smiled. ‘Its own customs seem good to each nation.’
The conversation went no farther. Some of the officers took tea, some other refreshments. Hadji Murád accepted the tumbler of tea offered him and put it down before him.
‘Won’t you have cream and a bun?’ asked Márya Dmítrievna, offering them to him.
Hadji Murád bowed his head.
‘Well, I suppose it is good-bye!’ said Butler, touching his knee. ‘When shall we meet again?’
‘Good-bye, good-bye!’ said Hadji Murád, in Russian, with a smile. ‘
Eldár appeared in the doorway carrying something large and white across his shoulder and a sword in his hand. Hadji Murád beckoned to him and he crossed the room with big strides and handed him a white
‘He says thou hast praised the
‘Oh, why?’ said Márya Dmítrievna blushing.
‘It is necessary. Like Adam,’ said Hadji Murád.
‘Well, thank you,’ said Márya Dmítrievna, taking the
Hadji Murád glanced at Márya Dmítrievna and nodded his head approvingly. Then he took the sword from Eldár and handed it to the major. The major took it and said to the interpreter, ‘Tell him to take my chestnut gelding. I have nothing else to give him.’
Hadji Murád waved his hand in front of his face to show that he did not want anything and would not accept it. Then, pointing first to the mountains and then to his heart, he went out.
All the household followed him as far as the door, while the officers who remained inside the room drew the sword from its scabbard, examined its blade, and decided that it was a real Gurda.26
Butler accompanied Hadji Murád to the porch, and then came a very unexpected incident which might have ended fatally for Hadji Murád had it not been for his quick observation, determination, and agility.
