Page:Tolstoy - Tales from Tolstoi.djvu/180

Tales from Toltoi "Who has been clipping them down here? Speak, or I'll flog the whole lot of you!"

They began inquiring among themselves within whose portion of work the lindens fell. They pointed out Sidor. The overseer struck Sidor till his whole face was covered with blood. He also flicked Vasily with his Tatar whip because his piece of work was bad, and so went home.

In the evening the muzhiks met together again and Vasily began to speak:

"Ugh! a nice lot of people ye are! Ye are not men, but sparrows! 'We'll be ready! we'll be ready!' ye cry; the moment comes, and whew! ye are all safely beneath the thatch! Thus do the sparrows band together against the hawk. 'Don't give in! don't give in! be ready! be ready!' The hawk comes flying, and they are all behind the thistles in a twinkling, and the hawk takes what he will and is off with it. The sparrows all flit off: 'Chee-week! chee-week!' not one of them remains. 'Tis just like you. 'We won't give in! we won't give in!' Why, while he was rounding on Sidor you might have brought him to the ground and finished him: 'We won't give in! we won't give in! we'll stand firm! we'll stand firm!' He comes flying up, and immediately you are off among the bushes!"

Then they fell a-talking more and more, and the muzhiks agreed at last to put the overseer out of the way. On Good Friday the overseer ordered the muzhiks to get the land ploughed up ready for the oat-sowing by Easter Day. This seemed an abominable thing to the muzhiks, and they assembled 130