CHAPTER VI.A TASTE OF THE KNOUT.
Thus were laid and cemented the foundations of a friendship destinedto last for many a long, history-making year. Boris was a man afterPeter's own heart, and from those early Archangel days until the endof their lives the two were rarely parted for long, excepting when theexigencies of public affairs necessitated the departure of one of themfor distant portions of the realm.
The summer in Archangel is a short one, and by the end of August autumnis in full progress, with icy warnings of winter at night-time. Peterthe Tsar had, besides, many important duties which called for hispresence at the capital, Moscow; and towards the end of July it becamenecessary to bring his delightful seaside holiday to an end, and returnto sterner duties at home. Peter decided to travel in a three-horse_tarantass_, a springless carriage slung upon a pole instead ofsprings--comfortable enough on soft country roads, but desperatelyjolting on stony ones.
Boris had begged to be allowed to accompany his beloved patron andfriend, in order that he might instruct the Tsar in the art of"calling" wolves and perhaps lynxes, and thus while away a few of thetedious hours of the long journey. Peter was delighted to acquiesce inthis arrangement; for if there was one thing in the world that thismost energetic of sovereigns could not tolerate, it was to sit idlewith no possibility of finding food for observation for his eyes or newfacts and new ideas for assimilation in his ever active and receptivebrain. So the two posted on in front of the long procession of servantsand luggage, comfortably housed in a covered tarantass, drawn by threehorses abreast, and driven by a notable driver renowned for his skillin persuading that erratic animal, the Russian pony, to move alongfaster than had been its intention when it started. Ivan arrived atthis happy result by a judicious mixture of coaxing and abuse, callingthe ponies every pet name in the Russian vocabulary at one moment, andsounding the very depths and shoals of the language of the slums atthe next. Ivan was never silent for a moment, but spoke to his poniesincessantly; and these latter generously decided as a rule that theymust do their best for such an orator.
Through the tumble-down villages of northern Russia the tarantass flew,while the inhabitants stared round-eyed as it passed, not dreaming fora moment that it was their Tsar who glided by, but taking him for oneof the many traders who posted between the seaport and the capital intarantasses crammed with merchandise of every description. Peter waswell armed with matchlock and pistols, for there was the possibility ofa _rencontre_ with wolves or robbers, and it was well to be preparedfor every contingency.
The two young men frequently stopped at some village _traktir_, orinn, as they passed, to refresh themselves with a meal of peasant fareand a chat with the village people, whose opinions about his augustself Peter loved to learn. Since they had not the slightest idea ofthe identity of their questioner, the Tsar gathered much informationof great value to himself in indicating which way, to use a familiarexpression, "the cat jumped" with regard to popular opinion upon someof the important questions of the day.
Most peasants, Peter found, were convinced that the Tsar was more thanhuman. Exaggerated versions of his intelligence and vigour as childand boy had reached them, and it was a common belief that the youngprince had been specially sent by Providence to right the wrongs of theRussian people, and to make life for the peasantry a sweet dream ofmarrow and fatness and exemption from work.
The priests, on the other hand, had widely different ideas upon thesubject. The young Tsar, they said, mournfully shaking their heads,was a fine young fellow, no doubt, but his character was full ofdanger for Holy Russia. He was too liberal and progressive. Progresswas the enemy of Russia and of the Holy Church. Russia required nowestern civilization imported within her peaceful borders. She wasnot a secular country, but the specially favoured of the church, andforeigners and foreign manners and so-called civilization would be thecurse of the country, and Peter threatened to introduce both. He wasall for progress, and the priests did not believe in progress.
Occasionally discussion waxed warm at the traktirs visited by the twoyoung men, and once or twice blows were exchanged.
Once a party of drunken peasants uproariously declared that the TsarPeter was a mere usurper, and that if he had had his deserts he wouldhave been "put away" long since in some monastery or castle, never moreto be heard of. Peter flushed when he heard this, for the questionof his right to the throne of Russia was always to him a sore point;whereupon Boris, seeing that his master was annoyed, sprang up andknocked the speaker down. The landlord then rushed in, and finding thattwo strangers had set a company of his regular customers by the ears,bade them depart from his house that instant.
Peter laughed good-naturedly, but on the landlord becoming abusive heseized the man by the neck and trousers and pitched him upon the top ofthe stove. Then Boris and the Tsar took the rest of the company, whofought with drunken desperation, and pitched them up, one after theother, to join the landlord, until there were nine men in all huddledtogether on the wide top of the stove, whining and afraid to come downagain.
Peter was perfectly good-humoured throughout, and enjoyed the fun;but the landlord was naturally furious, and when his two tall guests,having paid their reckoning, left the house, he took the opportunity ofscrambling down from his prison and going for the village policeman,whom he despatched at full speed after the travellers. The policeman,being well mounted, overtook the tarantass, and explained his mission,when Peter immediately gave orders to the driver to turn the horses'heads and return to the village.
There the pair, to their great amusement and delight, were placedin the village lock-up, pending inquiries by the village council ofpeasants; and there they still were when, with bells jingling, andhorses galloping, and dust flying, and with much shouting and pomp, theTsar's retinue drove into the place, and pulled up at the traktir.
It so happened that the whole of Peter's late antagonists, including,of course, the landlord, were still present, having all by this timeclimbed down from the stove. They were discussing, in the highestgood-humour and with much self-satisfaction, the promptitude with whichthe landlord had avenged the insult to his customers, and discussingalso what punishment would be suitable for the delinquents now confinedin the village lock-up. The arrival of the Tsar's retinue broke up thedeliberations, however, and the peasants retired to the far end ofthe room in order to make way for the crowd of kaftaned and uniformedservants of the Tsar, who quickly monopolized all the tables andchairs, and settled themselves for a quarter of an hour's rest andrefreshment.
The visitors were noisy, and took to ill-using the peasants andchaffing the irate landlord. One of them threw a glass of vodka in hisface, and asked him if that was the only sort of stuff he had to offerto gentlemen of quality? The landlord sputtered and raged, and, in thepride of his late successful capture of two travellers, threatened.His threats largely increased the merriment of his guests, who thumpedhim on the back and roared with laughter. One seized him by the nosein order to cause his mouth to open wide, when he dashed down histhroat the contents of a huge tumblerful of _kvass_, a kind of beervery nauseous to any palate save that of a Russian peasant. The poorlandlord choked and sputtered and abused, but succeeded in escapingout of the room, returning, however, in a few minutes armed withauthority in the shape of the _ooriadnik_, or village policeman, whomhe requested instantly to "arrest these men."
The little policeman glanced at the uproarious company in a bewilderedway. He was not a coward, and he relied much upon the power of thelaw--of which he was the embodiment--to overawe the minds of allgood Russians. Besides, had he not, a few minutes since, successfullyarrested and locked up two giants, in comparison with whom these noisypeople were mere puppets? He therefore pulled himself together, andtentatively laid his hand upon the arm of one who seemed to be quieterthan the rest of the party; he was smaller, anyhow, and would thereforedo very well to practise upon first. But the man shook him off andwarned him.
"Don't be a fool," he said; "get out of this and let us alone.
Don'tyou see we could strangle you and the whole villageful of peasants ifwe pleased? Go home while you can walk on two legs, and let us alone!"
But the plucky little ooriadnik was not so easily discouraged.
"You may threaten as much as you please," he said, "but you will findI am not afraid of a party of tipsy cowards like you. Why, it isn'thalf-an-hour since I arrested, all by myself, a couple of fellows threetimes your size. Didn't they fight, too!"
The Tsar's servants interchanged glances.
"Where are the two men you speak of?" some one asked.--"What were theydriving in, and where were they coming from?" said another.
"They're in the village lock-up at this moment," said the ooriadnik;"and that's where you'll be in another minute or two."
Some of the party looked serious, some burst into roars of laughter,others started up excitedly.
"You must show us this lock-up first," said the small person whosearrest was half accomplished; "we can't submit to be huddled into alittle hole of a place incapable of holding more than the two you havethere already!"
"Oh, there's plenty of room for you, never fear!" said the braveooriadnik. "Come along, by all means, and see for yourself!"
The policeman foresaw an easy way to effect the arrest of at least oneor two of those present, and they would serve as hostages for the rest.He would push them in as they stood at the door of the lock-up, andfasten the bolt upon them!
So the whole party adjourned to the lock-up. The door was opened, andthere, to the horror of his frightened servants, sat the Tsar of allthe Russias, unconcernedly playing cards with Boris the Bear-Hunter.
One official instantly seized the ooriadnik by the throat and pinnedhim to the wall; another performed the same service on the landlord.Others threw themselves upon the floor at Peter's feet and whined outincoherent reproaches that their beloved sovereign should have trustedhimself to travel so far in advance of his faithful servants andguards, and thus lay himself open to outrage of this description.
"What is the matter?" asked Peter; "what's all the disturbance about?Let those men go. Get up, all you fools there, and stop whining;there's no harm done.--Listen, Mr. Landlord. You have had me arrested;very well, here I am. I am the Tsar; but what of that? If I have donewrong, I desire to be treated just as any other delinquent would betreated. Call your village council together, and let's have the inquiryover as quickly as possible. We must push on!"
The landlord, followed by the ooriadnik, both in tears and with loudlamentations, threw themselves at Peter's feet, asking his pardon andpleading ignorance of his identity with their beloved Tsar. But Peterinsisted upon being treated exactly as any other offender, and the_moujiks_ of the community were convened as quickly as possible to thevillage court. All these, including the persons whose upheaval uponthe stove had been the original cause of all the disturbance, came interror for their lives--most of them loudly weeping--for there was notone but made sure that the lives of every moujik in the village must ofnecessity be forfeit, since so terrible an outrage and insult had beeninflicted upon the Tsar.
Peter bade the landlord state his case, and instructed the starost,or elder of the community, to question both accuser and accusedaccording to the usual procedure of the village court. But it appearedthat both landlord and starost were far too frightened to find theirtongues. Then the Tsar took upon himself to state the case. He andhis body-servant, he explained, had violently assaulted the landlordof the inn, together with certain of his customers. There had beenprovocation, but nevertheless the assault was undoubtedly committed.What was the penalty for assault?
The starost, to whom the Tsar addressed this remark, burst into tearsand knelt with his forehead tapping the floor at Peter's feet. All themoujiks followed suit, and for some minutes there was naught to beheard save groanings and whinings and bits of the litany in use in theRusso-Greek Church. But neither the starost nor any of his peers ofthe community offered a reply.
"Speak up, man!" said the Tsar angrily, and then immediately burstinginto one of his loud guffaws. "What's the penalty for assault? Speak! Iam determined to be told, and by yourself."
Once more the entire company of peasants made as though they wouldthrow themselves upon the ground and whine and pray as they had donebefore; but when Peter angrily stamped upon the floor, they all, withone accord, renounced the intention and stood quaking in their places.
"Come, come," said Peter impatiently; "don't be a fool, man. You arehere to state the law, and you shall state it! What is the penalty forassault?"
The wretched starost strove to speak, but his lips would not open. Heessayed once again, and this time succeeded in whispering,--
"Your High Mercifulness--pardon--it is ten cuts of the knout."
Then his legs failed him once more, and he fell, together with hismoujiks, upon the floor, weeping and wailing, and calling upon the Tsarand upon Heaven for mercy. When the hubbub had in part subsided, Peterspoke again.
"Very well," he said. "Ooriadnik, do your duty. Don't be afraid; Iprefer to see duty fearlessly done. Take your knout and lay on!"
The unfortunate ooriadnik was sufficiently master of himself tocomprehend that it was useless to resist when the Tsar's will had oncebeen expressed. He took his knout in his nerveless hand, and with whiteface and haggard expression tapped the Tsar's back the necessary numberof times, inflicting strokes which would hardly have caused a fly, hadone of these insects happened to settle upon Peter's broad back, toraise its head and inquire what the matter was. Then he threw down hisknout and grovelled at the Tsar's feet, begging forgiveness.
"Nonsense, man," said Peter, but kindly; "finish your work first, andthen we can talk of other matters.--Now, Boris, your turn.--Lay on,ooriadnik, and put a little more muscle into it; this fellow's skin isas hard as leather!"
The ooriadnik, intensely relieved by the Tsar's evident good-humour,laid on with some vigour, and flogged poor Boris in a manner notentirely agreeable to the hunter's feelings, who, nevertheless, did notflinch, though he felt that the young Tsar's manner of amusing himselfwas somewhat expensive to his friends. Boris lived to learn that thiswas so indeed. Nothing ever pleased Peter more than to enjoy a heartylaugh at the expense of his familiar companions.
But the ooriadnik's duties were not yet concluded. The Tsar pattedhim kindly on the back. "Bravo, ooriadnik!" he cried; "you areimproving.--Now, then, you gentlemen who threw vodka and kvass at thelandlord of the traktir, step out.--Lay on again, ooriadnik, and teachthese persons not to waste good vodka!"
Then those servants found that they had committed an error in havingassaulted the landlord; for the ooriadnik, having warmed to his work,and remembering the laughter and contempt with which his authorityhad been treated by these men at the inn, laid on his blows with suchgood will that the unfortunate culprits howled for mercy, to the hugedelight of the Tsar.
After which object-lesson upon the impartiality of true justice, andthe duty of respect towards the powers that be, Peter and his retinueresumed their journey.