Officer Zhilin served in the Caucasus. He received a letter from his mother, and he decided to go home on vacation. But on the way he and another Russian officer Kostylin were captured by the Tatars. This happened due to Kostylin’s fault. He was supposed to cover Zhilin, but he saw the Tatars, got scared and ran away from them. Kostylin turned out to be a traitor. The Tatar who captured the Russian officers sold them to another Tatar. The prisoners were shackled and kept in the same barn.
The Tatars forced the officers to write letters to their relatives demanding a ransom. Kostylin obeyed, and Zhilin specially wrote a different address, because he knew: there was no one to buy him, Zhilin’s old mother lived very poorly. Zhilin and Kostylin sat in the barn for a whole month. The owner's daughter Dina became attached to Zhilin. She secretly brought him cakes and milk, and he made dolls for her. Zhilin began to think about how he and Kostylin could escape from captivity. Soon he began digging in the barn.
One night they ran away. When they entered the forest, Kostylin began to lag behind and whine - his boots had rubbed his feet. Because of Kostylin, they did not go far; they were noticed by a Tatar who was driving through the forest. He told the owners of the hostages, they took the dogs and quickly caught up with the prisoners. The shackles were put on them again and they were not removed even at night. Instead of a barn, the hostages were put in a hole five arshins deep. Zhilin still did not despair. I kept thinking about how he could escape. Dina saved him. At night she brought a long stick, lowered it into the hole, and Zhilin climbed up using it. But Kostylin stayed, didn’t want to run away: he was scared, and he didn’t have the strength.
Zhilin moved away from the village and tried to remove the block, but nothing worked. Dina gave him some flatbread for the journey and cried, saying goodbye to Zhilin. He was kind to the girl, and she became very attached to him. Zhilin went further and further, even though the block was very much in the way. When his strength ran out, he crawled and crawled to the field, beyond which there were already his own Russians. Zhilin was afraid that the Tatars would notice him when he crossed the field. Just thinking about it, look: to the left, on a hillock, two tithes away from it, three Tatars are standing. They saw Zhilin and rushed to him. And so his heart sank. Zhilin waved his hands and shouted at the top of his voice: “Brothers! Help out! Brothers! The Cossacks heard Zilina and rushed to intercept the Tatars. The Tatars got scared, and before reaching Zhilin they began to stop. This is how the Cossacks saved Zhilin. Zhilin told them about his adventures, and then said: “So I went home and got married! No, apparently it’s not my destiny.” Zhilin remained to serve in the Caucasus. And Kostylin was bought out only a month later for five thousand. They brought him barely alive.
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Served in the Caucasus officer Zhilin. He received a letter from his mother, and he decided to go home on vacation. But on the way he and another Russian officer Kostylina captured by the Tatars. This happened due to Kostylin’s fault. He was supposed to cover Zhilin, but he saw the Tatars, got scared and ran away from them. Kostylin turned out to be a traitor. The Tatar who captured the Russian officers sold them to another Tatar. The prisoners were shackled and kept in the same barn.
The Tatars forced the officers to write letters to their relatives demanding a ransom. Kostylin obeyed, and Zhilin specially wrote a different address, because he knew: there was no one to buy him, Zhilin’s old mother lived very poorly. Zhilin and Kostylin sat in the barn for a whole month. The owner's daughter Dina became attached to Zhilin. She secretly brought him cakes and milk, and he made dolls for her. Zhilin began to think about how he and Kostylin could escape from captivity. Soon he began digging in the barn.
One night they ran away. When they entered the forest, Kostylin began to lag behind and whine - his boots had rubbed his feet. Because of Kostylin, they did not go far; they were noticed by a Tatar who was driving through the forest. He told the owners of the hostages, they took the dogs and quickly caught up with the prisoners. The shackles were put on them again and they were not removed even at night. Instead of a barn, the hostages were put in a hole five arshins deep. Zhilin still did not despair. I kept thinking about how he could escape. Dina saved him. At night she brought a long stick, lowered it into the hole, and Zhilin climbed up using it. But Kostylin stayed, didn’t want to run away: he was scared, and he didn’t have the strength.
Zhilin moved away from the village and tried to remove the block, but nothing worked. Dina gave him some flatbread for the journey and cried, saying goodbye to Zhilin. He was kind to the girl, and she became very attached to him. Zhilin went further and further, even though the block was very much in the way. When his strength ran out, he crawled and crawled to the field, beyond which there were already his own Russians. Zhilin was afraid that the Tatars would notice him when he crossed the field. Just thinking about it, look: to the left, on a hillock, two tithes away from it, three Tatars are standing. They saw Zhilin and rushed to him. And so his heart sank. Zhilin waved his hands and shouted at the top of his voice: “Brothers! Help out! Brothers! The Cossacks heard Zilina and rushed to intercept the Tatars. The Tatars got scared, and before reaching Zhilin they began to stop. This is how the Cossacks saved Zhilin. Zhilin told them about his adventures, and then said: “So I went home and got married! No, apparently it’s not my destiny.” Zhilin remained to serve in the Caucasus. And Kostylin was bought out only a month later for five thousand. They brought him barely alive.
/ "Prisoner of the Caucasus"
Chapter 1.
It happened in the Caucasus. A gentleman named Zhilin served there. One day, his mother sent him a letter asking him to come home. She was old and felt that she would soon die. Zhilin begged leave from his superiors and decided to go to his mother and tell her.
There was a war then and you couldn’t just drive on the roads. Twice a week a convoy departed from the camp, which accompanied convoys and people. Zhilin got ready for the road and set off early at dawn along with the convoy. The road was long. It was necessary to walk twenty-five miles.
They walked slowly, heavily: either the convoy would break, or the horse would stop. The scorching summer sun made the trip even more unbearable. During another such hitch, Zhilin decides not to wait for the convoy, but to go forward on his own. Another officer, Kostylin, follows him.
When the officers reached the gorge, Zhilin decided to climb the mountain and see if there were any Tatars there. Climbing the mountain, Zhilin noticed a Tatar detachment of thirty people. The Tatars also noticed the officer. The chase began. Zhilin shouted to Kostylin to prepare his guns, but the latter, seeing the pursuit, turned his horse and galloped into the camp.
The Tatars shot Zhilin's horse, beat and tied up the officer. After that, they loaded him onto a horse and took him to the village. There they chained the Russian officer in wooden stocks and threw him into a barn with manure.
Chapter 2.
The night passed quickly. The next morning two Tatars came to Zhilin’s barn. They looked at him and said something in their own way. Zhilin showed with gestures that he was very thirsty. One Tatar called out to a girl of about thirteen. Her name was Dina. He told her to bring water. When Zhilin drank, Dina brought him bread. After this, the Tatars left.
After a while, a Nogai man came to the barn and told Zhilin to follow him. They approached the house; it was a good house. The Tatars sat on the earthen floor covered with carpets and ate pancakes with cow butter. Zhilin was seated on the ground to the side. After the meal, the Tatars washed their hands and prayed.
Then the translator told Zhilin that Abdul-Murat was now his master. He demands a ransom. Zhilin inquired about the size of the ransom. The translator said - three thousand coins. Zhilin replied that he did not have that kind of money. He can only give five hundred rubles. At first the Tatars did not agree, but Zhilin stood his ground. Abdul-Murat liked the officer’s strength of character and he agreed to five hundred rubles.
After a while, another prisoner was brought into the room. Zhilin recognized him as Kostylin. He told how he was captured. The Tatars told Zhilin that Kostylin was giving a ransom of five thousand coins and that they would feed him better. To this, Zhilin said that he still wouldn’t give more than five hundred rubles, and they could kill him.
Then Abdul-Murat handed Zhilin a piece of paper and ink. Zhilin also said that he had a demand: to keep them together with Kostylin, feed them well, give them clean clothes and remove the stocks. The translator replied that they would be fed and given clothes, but I would not remove the stocks so that they would not run away.
Chapter 3.
The prisoners lived like this for a whole month. Kostylin has already sent another letter home. He counted the days and waited for his letter to reach home. The rest of the time I just slept.
Zhilin knew that his letter had not arrived. His old mother still had no money. Every day he hoped that he would be able to escape. The officers were poorly fed.
Zhilin was a jack of all trades. At first he made dolls from clay. He even gave one of them to Dina. For this, the girl began to secretly bring him milk and food.
Over time, the rumor that Zhilin was a jack of all trades spread throughout the neighboring villages. For some he will repair watches, for others - weapons.
Not far from the village, under the mountain, lived an old man. One day Zhilin decided to go and see how this old man lived. Near his house there was a small garden, cherries grew there, and there were beehives in the yard. It so happened that the elder noticed Zhilin and got scared. After this incident, the old man came to Abdul-Murat and began to swear. He asked for death for the officers.
Zhilin asked Abdul who this old man was. Abdul replied that he was a very respected man, that he did not like the Russians because they killed seven of his sons and lured the eighth to themselves. The old man surrendered to the Russians, found his son and killed him for treason. From that time on, the elder laid down his arms and did not fight anymore.
Chapter 4.
Another month passed like this. Zhilin walks around the village during the day, fixing various things, and at night, when everyone has calmed down, he digs a tunnel from his barn behind the wall. Soon the tunnel was ready and Zhilin began to think about escape. True, at first I wanted to look around and understand where the Russian soldiers’ camp was located.
Soon Abdul-Murat left the village and Zhilin decided to climb the mountain to see what was happening around the village. Abdul assigned the boy to Zhilin and ordered him not to take his eyes off him. Zhilin went up the mountain, and the boy ran after him, telling him not to go anywhere. Zhilin promised the boy to make a bow and arrows, and they went up the mountain together.
Having climbed the mountain, Zhilin saw that there were other villages on one side, and a plain on the other. Perhaps this is where we need to run, Zhilin decided. He planned his escape for the next night.
In the evening the Tatars returned to the village. They were not cheerful as usual. The Tatars brought their dead comrade. Then there was a funeral. They commemorated the deceased for three days. On the fourth day, the Tatars gathered somewhere and left. Only Abdul remained in the village. Zhilin decided that now was the best time to escape.
Having persuaded Kostylin, the officers decided to flee.
Chapter 5.
Zhilin dug out another passage so that Kostylin could also climb through. We got out of the barn. The clumsy Kostylin caught a stone. The owner's dog, named Ulyashin, heard the noise and barked. Other dogs began to bark behind him. Zhilin had been feeding the owner’s dog for a long time, called him over, stroked him and the dog fell silent.
The officers began to get out of the village. Zhilin almost immediately took off his holey boots and threw them away. Kostylin walked for some time and complained that he had rubbed his feet with his boots. Having thrown them out, he tore up his legs even more. Kostylin walked slowly and ponderously, constantly groaning.
After some time, the officers heard dogs barking. Zhilin climbed the mountain, looked around and realized that they had gone the wrong way. After that, he told Kostylin that he needed to go in the other direction. Kostylin said that he could no longer go, but Zhilin still forced him.
In the forest they heard the sound of hooves. Zhilin went to find out what was there. There was some kind of horse-like animal standing on the road. Zhilin whistled quietly, the animal got scared and ran. It was a deer.
Kostylin was completely exhausted. He couldn't go any further. Zhilin decided to take him on his shoulders. They walked like this for about a mile. Zhilin was no longer glad that he had taken Kostylin with him, but he could not leave his comrade.
The officers decided to take a break near a forest stream, but were spotted by a Tatar who was driving cows to his village. The Tatars grabbed them and took them somewhere. Three miles later Abdul-Murat met them and brought them to an already familiar village.
The boys began beating the officers with sticks and throwing stones. The village elders began to think about what to do with the prisoners. Among them was an old man from under the mountain. He demanded that Russian officers be executed. Abdul objected and said that he was waiting for a ransom for them.
After this, Abdul-Murat brought the officers a paper and ordered them to write letters home, saying that if there was no ransom in two weeks, he would kill everyone. The tied up officers were then thrown into a pit.
Chapter 6.
It became very difficult. The officers were not allowed out of the pit, they were fed worse than dogs, little water was given. Kostylin was constantly moaning or sleeping. Zhilin thought about how to escape. I thought about digging again, but the owner saw it and said that he would kill me if he noticed it again. Then Zhilin remembered about Dina and thought that she could help. I made clay dolls especially for the girl.
One day Dina brought him some flatbread. Zhilin asked her for a long stick, but the girl refused to help him. Once, when it began to get dark, Zhilin heard that the Tatars began to talk noisily. He realized that the Russian soldiers were close and the Tatars were afraid that they would not enter the village. Then the Tatars mounted their horses and rode away.
At dusk, Zhilin noticed that a long stick was being lowered into the hole towards them. It was Dina. Kostylin refused to go. Zhilin somehow got out of the hole, said goodbye to Dina and went towards the forest. It was difficult to walk; the block was in the way. Zhilin never managed to remove it.
At dawn Zhilin came out onto the plain. I saw a camp in the distance. These were Russian soldiers. Zhilin was delighted, but also thought that it would be easier to notice him on the plain, and that if he met the Tatars, he would definitely die. As luck would have it, the Tatars noticed him. Zhilin, with all his strength, rushed to run towards the camp of Russian soldiers and scream loudly. The soldiers heard him and rushed to the rescue. Seeing the Russian detachment, the Tatars retreated.
The soldiers recognized their comrade in Zilina, warmed him and fed him. Since that time, Zhilin continued to serve in the Caucasus. Kostylin was able to be redeemed only a month later.
Officer Zhilin served in the Caucasus. He received a letter from his mother, and he decided to go home on vacation. But on the way, he and another Russian officer Kostalin were captured by the Tatars. This happened due to Kostalin’s fault. He was supposed to cover Zhilin, but he saw the Tatars, got scared and ran away from them. Kostylin turned out to be a traitor. The Tatar who captured the Russian officers sold them to another Tatar. The prisoners were shackled and kept in one barn.
The Tatars forced the officers to write letters to their relatives demanding a ransom. Kostylin obeyed, and Zhilin specially wrote a different address, because he knew: there was no one to buy it, Zhilin’s old mother lived very poorly. Zhilin and Kostalin sat in the barn for a whole month. The owner's daughter Dina became attached to Zhilin. She secretly brought him cakes and milk, and he made dolls for her. Zhilin began to think about how he and Kostalin could escape from captivity. Soon he began digging in the barn.
One night they ran away. When we entered the forest, Kostylin began to lag behind and whine - his boots had rubbed his feet. Because of Kostalin, they did not go far; they were noticed by a Tatar who was driving through the forest. He told the owners of the hostages, they took the dogs and quickly caught up with the captives. The shackles were put on them again and they were not removed even at night. Instead of a barn, the hostages were put in a hole five arshins deep. Zhilin still did not despair. I kept thinking about how he could escape. Dina saved him. At night she brought a long stick, lowered it into the hole, and Zhilin climbed up using it. But Kostylin stayed, didn’t want to run away: he was scared, and he didn’t have the strength.
Zhilin moved away from the village and tried to remove the block, but he was unsuccessful. Dina gave him some flatbread for the journey and began to cry as she said goodbye to Zhilin. He was kind to the girl, and she became very attached to him. Zhilin went further and further, even though the block was very much in the way. When his strength ran out, he crawled and crawled to the field, beyond which there were already his own Russians. Zhilin was afraid that the Tatars would notice him when he crossed the field. Just thinking about it, lo and behold: to the left, on a hillock, two acres away from it, three Tatars were standing. They saw Zhilin and rushed to him. And so his heart sank. Zhilin waved his hands and shouted at the top of his voice: “Brothers! Help out! Brothers! The Cossacks heard Zilina and rushed to cut across the Tatars. The Tatars were frightened, and before reaching Zhilin they began to stay. This is how the Cossacks saved Zhilin. Zhilin told them about his adventures, and then said: “So I went home and got married! No, apparently it’s not my destiny.” Zhilin remained to serve in the Caucasus. And Kostalin was bought back only a month later for five thousand. They brought him barely alive.
Russian officer Zhilin served in the Caucasus. One day he received a letter from his old mother, in which she asked her son to come home to see her, perhaps in last time. And she found him a bride. Zhilin thought that his mother had really become bad. And I decided to take a vacation. Moreover, it’s high time to get married.
Taking leave, Zhilin went home. In those years there was a war in the Caucasus. One was not allowed to leave the fortress. The Tatars could be captured or killed. Therefore, twice a week a guarded convoy went from fortress to fortress. The hero went with one of these convoys. But the convoy moved slowly: sometimes the soldiers stopped to rest, sometimes the wheel would fall off. The entire convoy then stops and waits. Zilina is fed up. The fortress is only twenty-five miles away, and in half a day’s journey we haven’t even covered half of it.
He decided to go alone. His horse was good. He raised him himself, buying him as a foal for a hundred rubles. Then another officer approached him. His name was Kostylin. He had a loaded gun. So the two of them rode ahead of the others without security. Zhilin warned Kostylin that they should stay together and not disperse. While driving across the steppe, visibility was good. But the road went between two mountains. Here you could run into Tatars. Zhilin suggested driving up the mountain to look around. Kostylin began to object. But Zhilin still went, ordering Kostylina to stand below the mountain.
I just climbed the mountain, looked, and there were about thirty Tatars standing there. Zhilin quickly turned his horse and galloped down. Kostylinu shouts to him to take out the gun. But the officer saw that the Tatars were chasing Zhilin, turned his horse around and began to run away from them. Then the hero had only one hope left - for his good horse. But the Tatars have even better horses. Zhilin realized that he could not escape. Then I decided to sell my life at a higher price - to kill at least one with a saber. And he galloped towards the Tatar with a red beard.
But the Tatars shot and wounded the horse near Zilino. He fell and crushed the hero's leg. Zhilin cannot get out. And then the Tatars attacked him. They started beating him with rifle butts. They tied him up, put a Tatar with a red beard on a horse behind him and took him to his village. Zhilin wanted to see the road where he was being taken, but blood filled his eyes. But he can’t wipe it off: his hands are tied.
We arrived at the village. They took the officer off his horse. The Tatar children came running and began throwing stones at him. The adults drove them away, and they put a shoe on Zilina’s foot so that he couldn’t escape. They took him to the barn and locked him in it. The hero could not sleep all night. As soon as it was dawn, he crept up to the wall, picked out a crack and began to look at what was happening around him. And I really want to drink. He hears the castle rattle. So they unlock it. Two Tatars came. Yesterday's one, with a red beard, and the other one, blackish. They started talking about something. But Zhilin did not understand anything.
He began to show with gestures that he was thirsty. We understood him. The Black Tatar shouted something. A girl of about thirteen came to the barn. It was Dina, the daughter of a black Tatar. Zilina gave him the red one for his debts. Dina brought water, squatted down opposite Zhilin and began to watch him drink. Then she brought unleavened bread and watched Zhilin again.
Soon they took the hero to the hut to the Tatars. The guests have arrived there. One knew Russian. He said that the black Tatar’s name was Abdul-Murat, that he paid money for the hero and now wants Zhilin to write a letter home asking him to ransom him. They asked Zhilin for three thousand rubles. But he flatly refused to write a letter because they asked for a lot of money. They began to scare him that if he didn’t write a letter, they would kill him. But Zhilin was a brave man. He got angry and said that he would not give more than five hundred rubles. And if they kill him, they will get nothing.
Abdul-Murat was delighted with the bravery of the Russian prisoner. But then they brought in another Russian. Zhilin recognized him as Kostylin, who was also captured by the Tatars. They demanded five thousand from Kostylin for his release. They wrote letters. But Zhilin indicated the address incorrectly. He knew that there was no way his mother could raise that kind of money. And he firmly decided to escape from captivity at any cost. And Zhilin also set a condition for the Tatars before writing a letter home. He demanded that he and Kostylin be kept together, that the stocks be removed from them, and that they be fed well. Their owner agreed, but said that their pads would only be removed at night.
A month of captivity passed. They were fed poorly. During this time, Kostylin wrote another letter home, asking for money. He sat in the barn all the time: either counting the days until the letter arrived, or sleeping. But Zhilin did not hope for a ransom. He began to take a closer look at life in the village, he walked around the village “asking how to escape.” Or he’s sitting doing some handicrafts, making dolls out of clay.
He placed one such doll in Tatar clothes on the roof of the barn. Dina saw her and called other Tatar women. They look at the doll, laugh, but don’t dare take it. Then Zhilin put the doll down, went into the barn himself and began to watch the girls. Dina ran up, grabbed the toy and ran away with it. And in the morning Zhilin saw that the girl’s doll was already dressed in different rags and she was rocking it like a child. But the old Tatar woman took the toy and broke it.
Then Zhilin made another one, even better than the first one, and gave it to Dina. In gratitude, the girl brought him milk instead of plain water. Then she started bringing me cheese cakes sometimes. And one day she brought him a piece of lamb in her sleeve. Another month passed like this. The Tatars respected Zilina, bringing him either a watch or a gun bolt to repair. They took him for a doctor. And at this time he kept listening and looking closely, even climbed a mountain, examined the surroundings, and dug a hole in the barn. He was waiting for an opportunity to escape.
One day the Tatars came to the village angry. One of them was carrying in front of him the body of a Tatar killed in a skirmish with the Russians. A cry rose in the village. The men argued about what to do with the Russian prisoners. Some suggested killing them. But Abdul-Murat did not agree. He was still waiting for the ransom. Zhilin decided that it was time to escape. After the Tatars celebrated a wake for the murdered man and dispersed, Zhilin and Kostylin ran away.
Kostylin was fat and heavyset. Zhilin made the laz bigger on purpose. But it still touched the stone and made a noise. The dogs in the village became alarmed. But Zhilin tamed the master’s dog in advance. He calmed down, and the prisoners went to their own. It was hard to walk. The boots they were given were already worn out. My feet were bleeding. Zhilin, without thinking twice, took them off and walked barefoot. And Kostylin keeps falling behind and falling behind. Zhilin advised him to take off his boots too. But that didn't help. Kostylin cut his legs on the stones until they bled.
He began to lag even further behind. Zhilina asks him to rest. Then he generally suggested that one should save himself and leave him. But Zhilin was not the type to abandon his comrade. He carried Kostylin on himself. It's hard, but it's going. They met a Tatar. They hid behind the stones. When they began to rise, Kostylin could not stand the pain and screamed. The Tatar heard them and called for help. They caught the fugitives, beat them with whips and put them in a pit. Now the food has become even worse. The pads were not removed at all and were not released from the pit. Kostylin became completely ill. He lay there all day, moaning or sleeping.
And Zhilin kept thinking about how he could get out of the hole and run to his own people. He tried to dig here too. But there was nowhere to put the land. Abdul-Murat saw this and threatened to kill the prisoners. Once Zhilin was sitting in thought, when suddenly a flat cake fell onto his lap and cherries fell down. He raised his head and saw Dina. She laughed and immediately ran away. Zhilin again made toys from clay. But Dina didn't come. But the prisoner heard the voices of the Tatar men. By that time he already understood a little Tatar. The men demanded to kill the Russian prisoners, because a detachment of Cossacks was located not far from the village. If prisoners are found in the village, residents may suffer.
Soon after this, Dina appeared. She told Zhilin that they wanted to kill them. He began to ask the girl to help him escape. But Dina did not agree and went home. In the evening, the hero was busy with gloomy thoughts when earth fell on his head. He saw a pole being lowered into the hole. It was Dina who came to help her friend. Kostylin refused to run. He was completely swollen. And Zhilin decided that he would not leave with him. He climbed out of the hole. I tried to knock off the block. Dina helped him. But they didn’t succeed. Then Zhilin went straight to the block: he had little time.
He walked all night. Dawn was already approaching. He managed to hide from the Tatars. Zhilin's forces were running out. But then the forest ended. And Zhilin sees that smoke is spreading under the mountain. The Cossacks were sitting there. But the Tatars also saw him. Three stood on the mountain. And he's on open place, visible in the palm of your hand. The Tatars galloped towards him. And the prisoner ran with all his strength to the Cossacks. He himself shouts to them to help. The Cossacks heard him. About fifteen people jumped onto their horses and galloped towards him. The Tatars saw this and turned back. And Zilina was surrounded by soldiers. He told them what happened to him, his comrades found out. Delivered to the fortress. And Kostylin was bought out only a month later for five thousand. He was barely alive by that time.
