Loud don

“Rare in the ash dawn sky, stars were erased. The wind pulled from under the clouds. A fog went over the Don on the hips and, planning along the slopes of the Cretaceous Mountain, crawled into Yara with a gray, headless viper. Sands, yendovs, reed -shaped impassable, forest in dew - blazed with an ejected cold glow. Behind the line, not going in, the sun was languishing. ” (Mikhail Sholokhov. "Quiet Don.")

• And what are you, whitish, in such an instruction? - was heard invisible from the canopy. - I would give the guest a rest from the road. With Rostov, tea, six hours on the road. He himself, Yurok, was hung, and he gave the guest.

• So persuaded, Elena Matveevna, to go to Zubov Zvevetllo. And then look for Kalinin later in the fields, - came in response to the Suproplit baritone of the district chieftain Yuri Ilyich Kartashov. And a second later, the chieftain of the Verkhnedonsky district flew into the kitchen, where I had a dull. The summer four -color camouflage sat like a glorious muscular figure. A blue cap with a red shell by an unimaginable miracle sat on the crown. The black wavy forelock pulled out to the side, in a slightly oblique slot - funny hot chocolate eyes, sharp boots of the cheekbones are covered with dry tanned skin and the ink mustache will go on.

• We spent a lot, Mr. Ataman! - I greeted Kartashov.

• God bless! - the chieftain answered with a machine gun, but amazement flashed in his eyes. Where would Moskal, nonresident, but knows how they greet here. I was pleased, because about 20 minutes ago, while the mistress of Kuren and I, the charming old woman Elena Matveevna, were cups, she, laughing with the eyes of a faded sky, began to instruct me.

• If you want, dear, respect the Cossack - Hacking with him in Kazakh. Until 12 days, they say “we'll spent the night”, after 12 - “Great Day”. But if there is no hours and you don’t know the time, say “great”. And so it will do.

I came to Elena Matveevna due to the complete absence of free places in the only Vyoshenskaya hotel in the village. When, at the 12th hour, we got from Rostov to Vyoshenskaya on the exhausted “seven” of the regional district chieftain, it turned out that all places were occupied by the workers of Grozny Post. The Chechens came to the Cossacks for experience. And for this week everything has been ordered - they will come to celebrate the centenary of Sholokhov. They are even waiting for Putin.

Read the full version of the material in the journal Russian Newsweek (May 23-29, 2005) No. 18 (48)