Бесплатный фрагмент - Saint or Petka bondar

Chapter 1. The Stigma

The year was 1788. Exactly one year ago, the city of Kefe was incorporated into the Taurida province. After the capture of the Turkish residence of Kefe by Russian troops in 1771, three years later it was transferred to the Crimean Khanate and in 1783, together with it, it was annexed to the Russian Empire. But now the issue of the formation of the Taurida province, which included the former Turkish residence, was resolved. The city was quite small, even, one might say, small. It looks more like a village than a city. After the capture of the fortress during the Russian-Turkish War, many locals left their homes. It was only when Kefe was incorporated into the Taurida province that the first brave souls began to appear who decided to move to a new place of residence. Rumors began to spread among the people that Kefe would soon receive its ancient name — Feodosia. And so, in this very Kefir, a free widower named Nikita came to seek his fortune with two underage sons, Peter and Ivan. Two school-age teenagers aged 13 and 14 have already earned an unflattering reputation in their new place. No matter how much their father beat them with a rod, he could not knock the craving for hooliganism out of them.«God will punish you one day if you don’t come to your senses,» their father admonished. — There are diverse people here, and everyone has their own thirteen-year-old Peter and fourteen-year-old Ivan did not want to internalize their father’s warnings. Turks, Greeks, Circassians, Russians, Crimean Tatars and some other ethnic groups inhabited these places in small numbers. And, accordingly, everyone understood the level of punishment for committing certain crimes in their own way. And since the power of the Russian Empire had not yet sufficiently strengthened in these places, the Russians were in no hurry to cut down the local foundations. That’s how Nikita lived with his boys, worked tirelessly, dreamed that he would earn enough money to give his children some kind of education. But Nikita’s dreams did not come true, and trouble came to their house overnight. — Bring them here, we will judge the thieves! The crowd was noisy, shouting, and it was clear that someone was being dragged along the dusty street of their town. Nikita came out of his mud-brick house, and Keffe was actually built from such houses. Only mosques and fortress walls were built of stone. Hearing the screams of the crowd and someone’s sobs, Nikita stopped a Circassian running past. — And who is being dragged, who will be judged? — Yes, your sons are thieves. They’re dragging them,» the Circassian replied and ran on after the crowd. Nikita’s stomach turned cold from these words. He saw an angry crowd of local residents and imagined his sons, very young, in the center of these people, leading them to court. Nikita, abandoning everything, ran after the crowd. My stomach clenched with horror. His bloodlings, his sons, except for whom he has no one left in this world, will now be tried for theft according to local laws. And God only knows how the trial will end. Nikita was running and couldn’t get through the angry crowd of people. There are Tatars, Turks, Russians, Greeks, and Circassians. And what will be the verdict? Nikita even seemed to have turned gray during his run to the court. The elders of the communities will judge, that’s for sure. But the crowd seemed to stop, and Nikita was finally able to get closer.«Please let me through, my children are there, — Nikita begged, making his way through the crowd.«Which ones are the thieves?»«Why don’t you keep an eye on them?» We’ve arrived, so respect your neighbors! The crowd screamed incessantly, but Nikita was able to squeeze into the crowd and saw his two scared, tearful and mud-smeared blockheads. The father’s heart was ready to burst, but what could he do if his sons were caught stealing? Just ask for mercy and leniency. The elders of the communities have also arrived. — What are these youngsters accused of? — the voice of one of the elders was heard.«The sheep have been stolen!» Angry people shouted. — Two sheep were taken away and slaughtered!«They were caught skinning them!«The crowd was shouting angrily, and there was such a hubbub that sometimes it was even difficult to make out what was being shouted. The elder raised his hand and waited for the crowd to quiet down. But the villagers fell silent, and the elder asked everyone a question.: — Are there any proofs or witnesses? — Yes, we are witnesses. — Several bearded Tatars came out, carrying the carcasses of slaughtered sheep. «Here are the carcasses, and here are their knives. — And I am the owner of the sheep. — A Turk came out of the looked at the carcasses thrown on the ground and then turned his gaze to the knives lying on the ground nearby. And the knives are his, personal ones. All the evidence is against his sons.«What should I do? How can I save you?» my father thought, his heart seemed ready to jump out of his chest. But now is not the time for weakness, not the time for tears, or the time to lose consciousness. We need to keep an eye on the court in order to do something in time. But Nikita had no idea what exactly he could do.«Cut off their ears!» — shouted from the crowd. — Pull out the nostrils so that it can be seen from afar!«Put nails in your heels so that you don’t take care of other people’s cattle!» Every sentence made my father’s stomach turn cold. — The knife! The elder demanded. They immediately handed him one of the knives that Peter and Ivan had used to skin the sheep. And someone from the crowd dragged the terrified and screaming teenager to the elder. — no! Nikita shouted and, running out of the crowd, fell on his knees in front of the elders. «Have mercy, please, don’t ruin the children,» the father sobbed, beating his chest. — It’s my fault, I didn’t bring it up, punish me. Nikita was still on his knees and sobbing, fearing a terrible fate for his sons. — Pardon the thieves?» The crowd shouted. «So they can keep stealing?» — It’s too late to repent, they don’t deserve mercy! — it was heard from the crowd. — You should have thought earlier.«For pity’s sake,» Nikita sobbed, «they don’t deserve mercy, they give it.«Wait a minute. — A Russian elder, respected by all, stepped out of the crowd. «These youngsters are guilty of cattle theft, no doubt about it. Besides, the evidence is there. But let’s change the punishment a bit. Instead of cutting off the ears of, in fact, more children, we will put a brand on their forehead in the form of two letters — SV, which means — bestial thief. By these signs, they will be recognized everywhere as cattle thieves. Well, then let them try to earn the forgiveness of others was a deathly silence after these words. Even Nikita stopped crying, and only his moving lips said that he was praying to the Heavenly Father, asking Him for this particular form of punishment.«Brand here and fire!» — the elder ordered. I didn’t have to wait long, they brought an iron stamp with the letters SV and fire. When the brand was already red-hot and the executioner raised it over Ivan, who was being held by two men, Nikita shouted: — Wait, I’ll put a stick in his teeth. Nikita grabbed a stick and ran up to the frightened and doomed offspring. — Son, hold the stick in your teeth and be patient. This is the mildest moved away from his son, letting the executioner pass, and closed his eyes, unable to watch as his son was branded on his forehead, meaning «bestial thief.» Only the smell of burnt skin and the muffled grunting of his son indicated that the sentence had been carried out. Following Ivan, Peter also received his stamp. During the execution of the sentence, Nikita clenched his jaw so that his teeth gritted and gray hair covered his head like snow. So he painfully endured the suffering of his sons.«But it’s still better than cutting off the ears or other options offered by the locals. And burns caused by red-hot iron will heal over time. But no one can erase this stigma now. This sign will accompany them for the rest of their lives. And they haven’t really started living yet,» the grizzled father thought. The burns took a long time, and during that time Nikita’s sons seemed to have been replaced. Their father did not recognize them. On the one hand, as a father, he felt sorry for them, and on the other, he was happy, because he saw how this court affected his offspring. They became lower than grass, quieter than water.«All is not lost yet, — Nikita thought. «You see, they will change and earn the respect of the residents with their hump.«But since then Nikita’s health has been noticeably undermined.

Chapter 2. Father’s Death