Page:Taras Bulba. A Tale of the Cossacks. 1916.djvu/89

Rh the Koshevói. "Enter whichever barrack you like." This comprised the entire ceremony. And the entire Syech prayed in one church, and were willing to defend it to the last drop of their blood, although they would not hear to fasting or abstinence. Only Jews, Armenians and Tatárs, inspired by strong greed, took the liberty of living and trading in the suburbs; for the Zaporozhtzi never cared to haggle, and paid whatever money their hand chanced to grasp in their pockets. Moreover, the lot of these gain-loving traders was pitiable in the extreme. They resembled people who had settled at the foot of Vesuvius; for when the Zaporozhtzi lacked money, the bold adventurers broke down their booths, and seized everything gratis. The Syech consisted of over sixty kuréns, which greatly resembled separate, independent republics, but still more a boys' school or a college, living care-free, with all their expenses paid. No one provided himself with anything; no one retained anything for himself. Everything was in the hands of the atamán of the barrack, who, on that account, generally went by the name of Bátko. In his hands were deposited the money, clothes, all the provisions, dried oatmeal, buckwheat groats, even the firewood. They