Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Russian Names
- Map
- Introduction
- Death Tramples upon Death
- Private Maxim Kuzhel Has the Floor
- The Blaze Spreads and Rages
- On the River Kuban
- The Black Epaulette
- The Conquerors’ Banquet
- Bitter Hangover
- Etudes
- The Town of Klyukvin
- The Village of Khomutovo
- Might Is Right
- Glossary
The Conquerors’ Banquet
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 February 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Russian Names
- Map
- Introduction
- Death Tramples upon Death
- Private Maxim Kuzhel Has the Floor
- The Blaze Spreads and Rages
- On the River Kuban
- The Black Epaulette
- The Conquerors’ Banquet
- Bitter Hangover
- Etudes
- The Town of Klyukvin
- The Village of Khomutovo
- Might Is Right
- Glossary
Summary
Revolution in Russia –
roaring wrath, a frenzy of flood tides
and raging waters.
Endless talking in the train. Why all the shouts and squabbling?
‘It all comes down to one thing: thrash the bourgeois!’
‘Yes. Thrash the life out of ‘em!’
‘Brothers …’
The land is ours, with everything that's on it.’
‘What about the Whites?’
‘Are we afraid of them Whites? You’ve got your rifle and a good eye.’
‘That's right.’
‘We’re the ones with the power. We’ll crush ‘em all and tear ‘em up.’
A train passes in the opposite direction.
‘Hurrah … aah …’
Hats and rifles waving.
‘Skin them bourgeois alive!’
‘Off with their epaulettes! Down with the cadets!’
‘They’ve pranced and danced all over us. Now it's our turn.’
‘Give it to ‘em, comrades! No pity for capital!’
‘Out with ‘em!’
And shouted curses and laughter and shots in the air lingered long after the trains had passed.
The mountain ranges parted and there like a wall was the sea. On both sides workers’ little houses flashed by, and the train flew into a station in a cloud of steam.
‘Where's the commandant?’ Maxim jumped from the train and accosted a young soldier running past with a bunch of spring onions in his hand.
‘Oh, brother,’ the soldier stopped and wiped his sweaty face with the hem of his coat, ‘Things are looking serious. But the front-line men won't let us down. They’ll see to everything in no time.’
‘Did I ask you about that?’
‘Hold on tight, Your Excellencies! You’ve got it coming!’ The soldier waved his spring onions and ran off.
Maxim watched him go, and guessed he must have come from a mass rally. ‘Must have had the full treatment. No brains left at all.’
A noisy throng was heaving and milling … Maxim made towards the station building.
‘Where's the bloody commandant?’
‘I’m the commandant.’
‘You’re the one I want.’
‘Who might you be and where from?’ the commandant came to life and raised a puffy face from the desk at which he’d been asleep. ‘Travel warrant?’
Maxim turned away to unbutton his trousers and pull out a document from a concealed pocket.
The commandant read it aloud: ‘This com-(yawn) -rade is de-le-gat-ed (yawn) to ob-tain wea-pons (yawn).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Russia Washed in BloodA Novel in Fragments, pp. 129 - 164Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2020