Page:Taras Bulba. A Tale of the Cossacks. 1916.djvu/47

Rh let anybody meddle with me now; just let any Tatar gang come along now and they'll learn what a kazák's sword is like."

"Good, my son, by God, good! And when it comes to that, I'll go with you; by God, I will! Why the devil should I tarry here? To become a sower of buckwheat and a housekeeper, to tend sheep and swine, and fondle my wife? Devil take them! I'm a kazák; I'll have none of them! I'll go with you to Zaporozhe to carouse, by God, I will!" And Bulba gradually grew warmer and warmer, and at last rose from the table, and in a thorough rage, striking a majestic pose, he stamped his foot. "We'll go to-morrow! Why tarry? What enemy can we besiege here? What's this cottage to us? What do we want of all this? What are pots to us?" So saying, he began to smash the pots and flasks, and hurl them about.

The poor old woman, well used to such behaviour on the part of her husband, looked sadly on from her seat on the wall-bench. She did not dare to say anything; but when she heard the decision which was so terrible for her, she could not refrain from tears. She looked at her children, from whom so speedy a separation was threatened, and it is impossible to describe the