The River
7
Now all these are dirty, all are covered with a thick layer of dust, they are torn and ragged, but you can see that they were once beautiful, ornamental, and in themselves signs of wealth.
And that not very long ago.
—It’s the third month!
—We’ve been journeying nine weeks!
—Seven weeks since we left!
The peasants answer weariedly in reply to the question:
—Have you been long on the road?
A whole eternity!
—I can’t make it out—said one of the fugitives to me. He was serving as a soldier, and used even such phrases as "the masses."
—I can’t make it out: either my home was all a dream, or I’ve gone out of my mind now, and God knows when I shall understand. My home burnt, cattle drowned in the river, no little wife, she
