Page:Korolenko - Makar's Dream and Other Stories.djvu/297

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
273

minute till I get out of my wagon and find out whether you're going to stand there much longer! What would you think if I gave you a taste of my stick, hey?"

"I'm going in a minute, my good man, only tell me one thing more. What would you think if the devil flew away with your miller here as he flew away with Yankel?"

"What would I think? I wouldn't think anything at all. He'll get him some day, that's certain; he'll surely get him. But you're still standing there, I see. Take care, I'm climbing out of my wagon! Look, I've already raised one leg!"

"All right, all right, go along with you if you're as cross as all that!"

"Are you out of the way?"

"Yes."

"Gee, gee, gee-up!"

The oxen shook their horns, the yoke and axles creaked, the wagon trembled, and Opanas continued his song:

"Oxen, oxen, how you crawl,
Hurry up and trot.
The miller has my coat and wheels,
So now he has the lot."

The wheels bumped down off the dam, and Opanas' song died away behind the hill.

But before it had quite died away another song rang out from across the river. A ringing chorus of