Alho

- After all, I was going to the mountain, I also had work in the mountain, right...
- Did you want to go to the mountain? - as if Gikor got lost. - So how should we do it? - He got lost like that, stayed and suddenly became animated, as if he found the way out: - Take mine, go with mine. You're made of wood, aren't you? it's strong, upload as much as you want. But, it sucks, I'm afraid, Gikor doubted.
- It's a seven-eight-year-old horse, why would it need to be trained, if it's not yesterday's foal? - Andro laughed sadly.
- It's left in the stomach from hunting, it hits its head every now and then, I barked late, - explained the fox Gikor. And because he explained so seriously, Andro was also seriously interested.
- Does it make a difference?
- They say no, but mine was given. On that day, the old woman came down from the mountain and made a mess.
- The saddle is in the hall of the barn, - Andro complained, - he is near the slabs in the valley. Don't worry too much, Gikor, I know your butt well.
Gikor walked slowly and lightly to the barn door like an old man. And as a real horse owner, he cursed Andro. "You cowardly son of a bitch, you know my dick so well, why are you giving it away? Look at this saddle, what is your business with this horse?
Andro thought that he had offended the old man, and because he came out of the barn hall somewhat upset, he wanted to tone down his rude speech.
- I'm kidding, kidding. Gikor! - Andro laughed - don't be afraid if you enter the valley, there is a white buffalo in the water.
- No, no, - Gikor did not believe energetically. - Did you see it?
- I went down to change places...
- You chased, you'll see. - He didn't like the position of the bees, he was at home on a summer day, he didn't like it, the pear was rotting, he was already completely angry. so that there is not a single piece of this pear on it. May your holiday be built, a thousand flies from your hand, you fall asleep during the day.
When he was at the edge of the valley, Andro called out.
- Uncle Gikor!... Are you going to Sarov?
- Let's see.
- If you go to the mountain, tell Ashkeni that he will come to fetch the feather in two days.
- Andranik!
- What is it, ours?
- Who are you giving the horse to?
- Hickory.
- What is he doing?
- "Tell me, what do you need?"
- Yes, really?
- Takes Kazakh!
- Isn't that cattle a sin?
- Will he break his back?
- Ha! Sacrifice to you.
In the valley, among the stones, the river was murmuring, the girls' mother was not dozing with her head on her knees, not being sad on the water and on her white legs, one of the girls was agitated and hugged her knees with her thin back, the other was putting grass in her ear and laughing muffledly, and her sister, with swollen lips, was tossing and turning in her seat, the great man made his soft turns in the sun, and Alcho stood and sulked. And all that was extinguished and in vain, like the water of a non-working mill, a tree rotting on its feet, the sun without a field spread beneath it. The river had to be divided into meadows, the position of the girls' mother was that of a real wool washer, the girls had to collect sorghum, gather pears, collect hay, carry water for the reaper, the giant had to stand under the scythe and bring hay to the stacker, or else... Gikor stood, looked around and, smiling and shaking his head, went to Alkho.
"You are dying of idleness," said Gikorn to Alkho.
Alkho, in his sleep, took the saddle, took the tailpiece, put on the breastband, the bridles, the bridle, a little embarrassed, he took the reins in his mouth, insensibly, he slapped the saddler and swayed old and old among the stones. Underfoot, on the sand, the stone flew away and Alkho hit his belly on the ground.
- Huh... - and there the old ones shook the old hard bones, the soft shiv found a place in the belly without a scar, and Alkho recognized the fox Gikor. It was a burden crushing the ribs, constricting the lungs and the false urge of the sweet tongue.
Alkho trembled and wanted to go with the varg, but the lkams broke his mouth, demanding tension and a slow process. if it ran, the front legs would buckle, the hind legs would stick out from under it, and the lips would be crushed between the teeth and the dry ground.
And Gikor, turning on the saddle, nevertheless said to the girls:
- You are a mature girl, the blackberry smells, what is the blackberry, it is a game, go pick it, you will have jam in the winter. Your husband will be happy, Gikor added.
The giant sighed and turned his belly against the sun, and the girls laughed heartily.
"Sister, I'm telling you," Gikor shook his chin at the elderly woman.
The girls' mother looked down from her knees in a sweltering summer breeze and settled into the huge place. The giant settled in place, and then Gikor realized that no... no, he was a pity, not for stacking hay.
"Are they lirb?" Gikor muttered, looked, didn't understand anything, said to himself that the world has become corrupted and complicated, and looked down at Alkho.
The horses left, entered the road, and the path to Andro's house was cut off from the road. Alkho naively wanted to deceive the fox Gikor, he wanted to show that it was an ordinary day, and he climbed up the slope from the valley, along the road and the path, he is going to their door. Alcho dropped his leg, then turned at once to the path, but there the other branch of the bridle stretched, bent his head, and the reins stiffened on the old scars.
"Look at the fox, the fox," said Gikor and led him along the country road.
Out of the lobut was thrown a thick red blanket, Alkho kicked tiredly and disgustedly and realized that the way was the hot endless of oppressive load and constriction of the lungs, and kicked with disgust and tiredness. And felt that the hoof went into the dog and came out.
"Won't it be possible for you to take your horse to your house?" asked the driver Ruben on the balcony.
- This is the way to my house, keep your eyes closed.
- Someone else's horse is sitting, someone else's dog is killing.
"Run to the village council," said Gikor to Ruben, but he lit Alkho's belly with a stick.
A bite in the throat is always evil, it should be avoided, and that after the bite, his breath would be cut off for a minute and they would talk after the bite, it was understandable, but Alkho did not expect that pinching at all. That is why the world of people seemed endlessly incomprehensible to him. For twenty years he has been carrying people and their burdens, for twenty years he has been thinking about them under their dimes, but he does not understand anything, not because he is a horse, but because they are not stable.
Took the forge door. Alkho was familiar with the sharp smell of burning iron, with the strong and beautiful horse of the old days, which now came forward and did not caress the horse's eyes. Tying a charcoal apron, a cigarette in his mouth, the young man approached, bent his leg, thump, thump, and entered the forge again. Their horseshoes are more or less able to withstand the roads opened by those people, Alkho was thankful for the horseshoe, the roads are hard, but, alas, the nail went crooked, got into the nerves, and the horseshoe of the other leg was pressing. Alkho was badly injured.
"Hey, you hit it crooked," said Gikor, listening to the sounds of the forge.
- It's hot, hot! - they said from inside and laughed. - It's sunny, sunny! Your gift is not gold.
Alkho went limping on a pair of legs and cautious as a patient, his nerves aching.
- Well, don't die, - said the rider, - you will go, it will open.
Alkho forgot the horseman's sneer and his swagger, and the unpleasant red dog, and that it was a road, he was saddled, he had to go. Alkho stood up, but the reins shook his head and the coat wrapped around his belly again: - Ha! - and Alkho realized again that the rider is the fox Gikor, who is so ruthless, so angry and so snarling. "See where it will lead?"
The picket fence opened in front of them and closed behind them, the pooch cut the path with the chicks, "see where it will lead," and Alkho heard the jingle of the chain and saw the black haired dog. It was a mangy and mangy dog, always tied, running under a wire from the barn door to the house door, from the house door to the barn door, from the barn door to the house door, from the house door... He stopped and spattered with saliva, barked, barked, barked... And then Alkho fully realized that he had fallen into the hands of the fox Gikor, he remembered the hot road, the hogs, the disgusting water, the short and slender very insidious snake that crawled and hid around him for an hour, until he forgot his presence for a moment and was bitten. the leg was pierced sharply, then it was as if nothing had happened, and then the leg became hot and numb, the heart was stirring sweetly and the head was also hot and numb. And he, half-deaf in a stupor, was being carried and carried. He didn't want anything. memories and desires melted in the warm sweetness, and it was pleasant; the bors were not there, the cargo was not there, the Gikor was not there and it would be better if they were not there at all, the snake would bite a lost hand, he would live his death in peace. But they understood him.
- The snake bit him, Gikor. Your horse wants to die.
- Will he die? We will die, we will be ashamed in front of Andro.
"No," they said, "sweat it, don't let it stop."
Huske made himself master of the tenderness of his belly, the lamb, on the road with a dry and soft whip. To the mountain grass and the cold spring. Start heavy and end light. To the disgust of going to the station and the joy of returning. The shudder of the explosion and the naive arrogance of the exploded. To the basket's longing and the stallion's fear. To the almighty desire of the zombie and the demonic fury of the stallion. Zambik's sickness and indifference to the load, water, going to the station, Gickory and the press-horse. Lord stood over his bones and the days and nights and the roads that have no end, no end, start wide, narrow, thin, hook and widen again, have no end. Called the smug god Alkho's father's father's father's father, said: "Here, Alkho's grandfather, I created you constructive and intelligent, I spread a green meadow for you, I invented a wolf so that you run and remain constructive, and a man guards you, here is a horse, how many years of life do you want?" And the grandfather of Alkho's grandfather thought, and because God considered him intelligent, he thought again and answered thoughtfully: "Twenty years of life, sir." And God liked his answer and gave him twenty years of life. Why, Dad, twenty years, why did you need twenty years, what did I need...
- Why is this horse sad, Gikor?
- Tell me the location of the bags, my dear, where are the bags?
- You are going to Kazakhstan with a sick horse, Gikor.
- He won't die, be good.
- This horse is nailed, Gikor.
- Oh... well, if you understand that much, bring the tongs from the barn hall.
The pain from the hole of the extracted nail seeped out of the nerves as slowly as honey, and it was pleasant to feel the little throbbing pain, the weight of the load bit by bit, the touch of the reins, the hardness of the bridle, the wet bark of the scabby dog.
The road was uphill... the cool breeze whispering in the ears and the endlessly flavored grass... and Alcho went with vigor. Zariver is a matter of an hour, a breath... then the grass of endless taste.
- Do you think... - said Gikor, turned off the road, took him along the garden path. - Master! - he called.
The guard, wearing a t-shirt, was mowing grass under the trees. He came forward, tied the dog, pulled the horse, Gikor went, they talked, the guard seemed displeased, but the load was heavy with pears.
- Don't you have cucumbers... It's good that you're having trouble, you don't have to... What can I bring you from Kazakhstan?
The guard didn't want anything Kazakh, and the cucumber was heavier than the pineapple.
- Ha! You didn't see a dead, dead load... It's a general's horse... You're Andro's horse, again.
He led the way back along the path, led until the barking of the guard dog was no longer heard, then suddenly pulled the right branch of the rein. Alcho turned around, yes, of course, it was the hot field that had reached the right side. The soldiers demanded to go, the voice, low, commanded to go, but the enemy was against it. Alkho was going back and forth, and the guards, the voice, the cheetah all at once pushed them to the field, took them across the field. People are amazing, Alkho thought, one thing cannot be done at one time, the same thing at another time, here it is. He, alone, does not enter the field, because the guard of Mitevani shouts, they take him and lock him in a mud barn for days, he does not want to be locked in a mud barn, and here they beat him for it. If you enter, they beat you, if you don't enter, they beat you. But when Gikor, soundlessly escorting him, crossed the stream, entered the forest, bypassed the mowed clearing, Alkho realized that he was being led into a robbery. They came out of the forest - they were potato crops. He's going to steal a potato, Alkho decided, and stopped.
"You'll live, Andro," surprised the fox Gikor.
There was nothing to graze, and the load was not light, Alkho stood and waited. The trees didn't sway, the stems didn't move, the flowers didn't open, everything under the sun was waiting for its silent waiting, as sleepless as a horse, calm and uncertain. Then among them, under the sun, one moved, and everyone and Alkho saw it. The horse waited with his ears pricked to see what would happen. At the top of the nets, a guard crouched like a dog and stood a guard with a spade under his jaw. After that, the cow remained motionless like that, and the guard, holding half of the shovel, ran softly into the forest. Gikor, clinging to the ground, was pulling out a potato. Alkho looked at the forest, looked at Gikor, waited to see what would happen next.
- Hey, did you see a person? - Gikor, clinging to the ground, turned around. - Can't you stay calm?
Again, right out of the corner of Alkho's eye, a guard came unstuck from the tree, holding the middle of a spade. Alkho knew him, he had taken his daily cart to his house, he was a quiet kid, he didn't hit, he didn't talk, he let him go on his way. Alkho expressed his joy to see him and at that time he put his finger to his mouth - suss - and stood up. Then Gikor threw out a potato stuck to the ground, the fox destroyed the mousetrap, and the horse and Alkho looked incomprehendingly at his back, the only one moving in that silent world, who was surprised and did not feel the gaze of the horse and the horse. He got off the ground when the sack was full to the brim. he stood up, straightened his back, and then he saw the horse. "Ha, ha-ha-ha-ha," and his laugh was very much like a horse's laugh.
"What are you doing?" asked the snake.
- Ha-ha-ha-ha, let me see, will he notice...
- What was the name of my business, so I didn't notice it?
- It's August, Adam will be cutting grass in the fields. Your grass ran out early this winter, didn't it?
- It was not my fault, go tell Sanasar.
- Sanasar's job is not to leave, to reap yours.
- I don't have the language to deal with a dog.
- That is also true. It was going to be difficult alone, - said Gikor, - help us put the tent up.
- Isn't that cattle a sin?
- It's a horse, what's the name of the business?
- Did you go? - the bidzuk looked sadly after them. - Stay, we'll talk for a while.
- I will go to Kazakhstan at night, I will reach the mountain by light. What can I bring you from Kazakhstan?
- Greetings.
Then the mountains breathed lightness and coolness. The mountain wind blew in his ears, thickened his cheeks, got under the saddle and saddle, dried his sweat, played in the rungs and patted the sun-loving bash. In the twilight, on the shoulders of the mountains, the orange herds blazed away, the breeze played with their plumage, and they seemed now very close, now far, far away. Alkho snorted loudly to let them know that he was there, he had not forgotten them and their free ride and his ride with them, and that load has nothing to do with him, it is Gikor's load... Alkho went quickly to get rid of the load as soon as possible, and then that Gikor grinned, - Let's live - and pulled under a stone and found a place for himself among the loads. now go...
On a small plateau in the distance, myrrh was smoking. The road skirted the hills several times, losing sight of the mountain, up and down, up and down, and when it came up again, the mountain was opposite. Quietly and coldly, the shepherds swayed, the herds were dispersed, the dogs found their place around the herds, the lying cows were distressed by satiety, a single foal in the herd neighed indifferently and carelessly, and Alkho, hoarse and straggling, wanted to announce his entrance to the wet mountains of wandering fogs, but Gikor hesitated. the bridle, and the chute remained unfinished.
- Andro? - Someone was smoking in the dark.
- Mesrop?
- Gikor, is that you? The horse was Andro's horse.
- It's Alkho, huh?
- What did you load?
Androi Ashkhen was standing on the path, his hands under his apron and his neck bent. Smart, dumb, clever...
"Uncle Gikor?" he said.
- Hello, Ashken.
- Is that our horse?
- Yes, it's Alkho, Ashkhen.
- Uncle Gikor, Andro was supposed to come, why didn't he?
- He said he will come in two days, Ashkhen.
- This butter smells here, Gikor uncle, why didn't he come today?
- Well, he will know, Ashkhen, why didn't he come?
- Yes! - Ashkhen agreed. - Whatever you loaded.
- What did I load, Ashkhen, two kilos of potatoes, a few apples and grapes?
- Nothing...
Ashken only records. Ashken made his way back to his tent. Ashken is a woman, Andro is the man of the house. Ashken does not interfere in men's affairs. They know their bills themselves. Ashken is a woman, milking cows, milking sheep, waiting for Andro to bring wood... the horse refers to Andro. Andro does not bring wood, Ashkhen will wait with his neck bent, the butter smells here, and the horse is sent to Kazakhstan, Ashkhen will be patient, he is patient.
- How much is a bag of potatoes?
Gikor slightly looked back, Ashken was standing with his arms crossed. Gikor silently scorned. the barker was a leashed dog.
- You fox... You weren't satisfied with a village, you weren't satisfied with a shop, and now you are destroying the people's houses... Did you find Mknabu?... you shameless horse, are you putting someone else's horse under you... Speak, don't enter the hole.
- Keep your head down, - said Gikor, disassembling the luggage, - you are a woman, stick to your womanhood.
- You destroy my house, I won't even open my mouth?
- Oof...- Gikor smiled, - your house is being destroyed because of someone else's anger.
Gikor unloaded the luggage, said something to his old woman, took the luggage inside, and Ashken was still talking, and then Gikor got angry:
- Stupid, don't let it out.
- I think a little about myself, have I become a fool?
At that time, Gikor said not to Ashken, not to the urt, not to his old woman, but to himself, but because the urt is gathering, it was the silence of the night and the membranes are thin, he said to everyone:
- Poor Andro took a wife there from the hand of his tongue, and I say, why would it be a proverb?
His old woman kept her hand on her mouth, stayed, and then asked with false fear, false surprise and the interest of the old days.
- What woman, Gikor?
"I'm going to Kazakhstan, have you packed the luggage?" Gikor shouted. Tie the chickens.
Then there was silence again, the horseman was smoking in the dark, the cows were lowing, the shepherds were murmuring, the shepherds remembered Mariam and remembered that there was really nothing on her, or, who knows the world, maybe there was - and Alkho was resting with one leg folded, and Ashken was quietly cooking in the tent.
In the starlight, the warm baskets were getting wet, the stallion's high head was resting on the tightly pressed hooves, chickens screamed in the dark, then chickens were tied to Alkho's saddle, wet yogurt bags were hanging from Alkho's saddle, "I've known for a week that I'm going to Kazakhstan, the yogurt hasn't been squeezed yet. - Before you get there, it will be squeezed, again, man, why are you divoting?" Then wet cheese bags were hung from Alkho's saddle, whey streamed down his ribs, the chickens pounced on Alkho and, sleepily, shook themselves, then a tarpaulin was spread over the chickens, the baby, the cheese and the old man, and Gikor sat on the tarpaulin.
And in half-sleep the dem rocked the night, and life was well prepared, for Kazakh was waiting for him with his red wheat, and the chickens were clawing and dirtying, the yogurt was straining, the cheese was dripping with brine under the tarpaulin, on Alkho, and his old man's seat would remain dry.
"I brought you some mountain cheese." "I brought you some mountain yogurt." "I brought you a mountain chicken." It is hot in the valley, the people of the valley think that the mountain chicken is the coldness of the mountains. Say: I brought chicken for you - fifty people knock and fight at their doors. Chicken! Gikor knows these things well. It is said in the village that he bribed the pension commission with who knows how many thousand rubles. The old woman knows that too. Both the neighbors and the old woman are stupid. The chairman of the committee was an old resident of Tsakhut, he took yogurt in a bag, he said: "I brought Tsaghkut yogurt for you, the mountains of Tsaghkut and our mountains are one", and the tot sat on the city, in the streets, among the trees, in the porches, in all the holes of the houses, the tot was thoroughly condensed, the fans mixed the burning air. "Tsaghkut and our mountains are one, above, under the clouds. I brought you mountain yogurt."
The spring of Kechut rose in the starlight, they crossed the hill, then the path would split. A chicken chirped in the nearby bushes, then there were the steps of a horse, then it bounced off and calmed down. The trail was crossed by neither the wolf, nor the rabbit, nor the devil. One thousand... nine hundred... nineteen... nineteen, in the fall, Arshak of Neso was found here. Nesso Arshak's crimson zambik had been Kirova seer after five years. Kirovakan was Gharakilisa at that time. The new owner of the horse said: "I bought it from the Kazakh market." And when he was interested again, the horse's new owner said, "Come on."
Reached the branch. That which turned to the left was the path of the mountains, circling the entire plateau, connecting springs and springs, heather and heather, herds and herds, clouded peaks and barren hides. Alkho hung his leg for a minute and, faster than himself, jumped to the left.
- Huh...
Lkam tore his mouth, twisted his neck and bent his head, and Alkho now dragged himself along the path of the mountains. The Lkams planted their heads on their backs, Alkho couldn't see ahead, but they were leading their feet along the path of the mountains.
- Rrrrr... Did the anther go crazy?
The head was pressed to the rider, the breath was blowing to the sky, Alcho was flying under the stars, and the feet did not move on the barren earth. The legs were looking for an abyss on the ground to break those gnarled bones that you don't know why they endure and endure. At this the rider gave him his head for a moment, then pulled only one branch of the bridle. Neck hooked, he spun, spun, spun the horse under him, then whipped and let go of the reins. The horse went down the slope of the untracked slopes, breaking away from those bridles and bridles, swimming out of the packhorse's stiff hide into the unfettered lunge of the lungs, and leaving those roughened lungs behind.
- A fool has become a foal of old age.
Now they stood at the top of the steep hill and the hard ribs caught the lungs in their narrowness, the chickens were resting under the tarpaulin, the yogurt became whey, the cheese gave brine to the new tumors and old sores, and opposite, over the city of the valley, the light mist was silently swaying. It was the old Alkho, the old Orband, the familiar steep and the new pain in the tail.
- You will live.
And when they first loaded a colt, he trembled at the gate of the city, at the end of the bridge, and fell on all fours - Come on, said Alkho, don't be stupid.
The soft and hard asphalt crunched under the feet, the cars roared and roared, sometimes the river roared, which was close to them, but the foal was not lowered into the river, they crossed the river, they pulled and pushed the foal to the abyss. they did not understand that it was an abyss, and the colt, who had trodden in the soft and rugged mountains, saw the abyss, towards which people begged, beat, tricked.
Alcho went near, stopped, recognized his horse and said to the first pack horse.
- It's not an abyss, it's a bridge, they didn't make it so that you can die, come on... It's puffy, but it's solid, you won't die, come on... Even if you die, you won't lose anything, come on...
The first pack horse pressed against him, entered him and crossed the bridge into him. And he was incommunicado with the void below, the cars, the noise, because he was half blind and half deaf and had seven other skins tanned on top of his own skin. At the market-door they separated him from Alkho, who was going down the river, and tied him to the market-door to his disgust and horror, alone, in the noise and dust, in the sun, until they sold the butter gram by gram and bought chit, bought bread, bought sugar, bought tea grass, lost on the price of shoes.
The cars were flying by Alkho, a group of happy cyclists took Gikor by the hand, - Uncle, ride, let's ride. - We are old, boy, you go, - the group of cyclists passed by the horse with a whisper, the one left behind joked cruelly, - Is your bike not working, uncle... Mine is not working either, - but he also passed, the excursion was happy. they threw flowers to Alkho from the bus and laughed, then in the sun, on the asphalt, Alkho was left alone.
Gikor went down to eat at the spring. "Relax," Alkhoi said. A group of cyclists was coming back, they "barked" at Alkho as a group, and the one coming from the end threw Gikor: "Are you oiling?"
Their train on the asphalt was light, light, the ground did not hold them. they were sliding past. everything was kind of well oiled, both the bikes and the athletes. They were very healthy, their shorts were torn from distress, they were going to mow the grass, but here they were playing with toys, and Gikor thought after them: "Come, let me load ten pounds, saw..."
The bread went well with the sheep's cheese, and the source was, nothing, cold good water, and tomorrow that wheat would be at home and Gikor would have a four-year supply like this, "they say that according to China, America told the Soviets...", and Gikor said to Alkho: "Did you rest well?" We went.
Then the path turned white, the forest became a thicket, the bushes were left behind, the river slowed down, widened and became cloudy, the gorge became a valley, the last spring was muddy, hot and tasteless. He turned off the highway, walked under the sun, and went along the fair, deaf and dark road.
Let there be a green valley with a spring in it. Andro would not know the location of that valley. In that green valley, near the spring, rode a red horse. No one would know that the horse was Alcho, but it would be Alcho. While grazing, he wandered in the valley, drank water, chased away a few grains of fly with his tail, bitten, lay in the sun like a dead man in the green valley, the fox would come and purr in the distance, doubting and not doubting his lips, and then Alkho would not snort with wide hooves. fox bile cracks. Alkho would stand briskly in the green meadow, grazing at the edge of the valley with a broad-brimmed crimson sable. Alkho would walk in the green valley, lie in the green fragrance, white clouds floating above, be sad and beautiful. And then the wolves would bite. full and kind Alkho would not suffer them, he would not suffer himself, take them to eat, let them eat.
Towards evening, half an hour from the village, the road came to life. In the mowed fields, the quail bowed with a muffled flight, the red stone of the field became a red dog, it barked and with short jumps was drawn towards the horse and the rider. Their dogs are as evil as their snakes. Gikor got off his horse and flattered the dog. nothing came out, it flew in the face. At that time Gikor whipped with a whip and laughed falsely so that the owner would not be offended if he was nearby. The dog stayed back and, when the horse and Gikor were at peace, silently grabbed the horse's tail. He grabbed the horse's tail and was being dragged from the side, he did not catch the kick. The little ones won't catch. Alkho poked, broke away and left.
Alcho fell off the road, threw himself into the mowed fields, there was no escape. a red spot leaping under his muzzle. It kept popping up under the hood. Their wolves are also shameless. Last winter, the poor cinematographer made a night out of the telegraph head.
Gikor found the baby bag first, then the tarp. The red dog was crouching and crawling somewhere in the ravine, but the horse was not there. An old woman going the opposite way, with a bundle on her back, said that she saw a blue horse while entering the village - Yes, there were chickens on it - but it turned out that she saw it in the morning or last night. Gikor came to take the track from the dog's vicinity, the ground was dry, he did not catch a track. And the dog crawled closer. It was wagging its tail as if it was about to die, it was begging, but it was looking at the snake from its eyes. They were Jahel boys, twenty-three-twenty-six years old, coming to buy wheat from these villages, it was dawn. They said: let's give the horses a rest. They had gone down, they hadn't gone down, Akop screamed. "The snake!" Gikor's leg was still on the horse, and their snakes... Gikor kicked the horse and it was gone. One looked back, the boys had opened their doors. Akop had cheated then. Gikhor was named a rider, then a wedding fox, then, during the war, when he managed not to send the boy to the front, the women named him a fox.
Gikor looked far away from the hilly places, in the distance he was already a young woman. And all the while it seemed to Gickory that a red dog was crawling sideways in a mowed field. Spinning a song like a winch, then making a noise, then spinning a song like a winch, the white plane came, roared, passed in the glare. They say that you can reach Moscow from Yerevan in a couple of hours. In nineteen thirty-nine, he and Levon went back and forth for six days, and, as he remembers today, in the Kremlin, Levon looked at the bell, looked at the shiny domes, "a week ago we were in Tsmakut, Gikor, he said, now here we are in Moscow."
Gikor circled with the plane, then dropped out of sight and wanted to go to see if that rocking thing in the distance was Alcho or a pile of rocks. After the white sky, it was really dark on the fields, Gikor did not go. It would be a pile of rocks, and on the way back, in the dark, Gikor would fall over the red dog.
Gikor decided. he sells one of the cows, sheep, and horse, puts what is in the cash register, thirty-five thousand, gives it to his son Henrik - in a year you build the houses, in a year I move to you, Kirovakan, "spit on the village". Gikor also found the bag of cheese. The cheese was crumbled, well crumbled. And when he found the bag, he wanted to turn back again to see if the rocker was a rock or a horse. And then someone shouted and clapped. Simon was standing in the mowed field and laughing.
"Hey! Hey, hey, I'll tell you to screw me up, he smashed this man." Did you sleep?
- Did the horse come?
- Tomorrow!
- Your door.
- Yes, he came and stood at the door. Once we said whose horse is this, and once again, we saw that it was standing firmly, we remembered that you came with that horse once.
- The landlord scared me, the dog jumped on me, took it from my hand... the cheese is broken. Were the chickens in the tent?
- Yes, there were chickens.
- I brought a mountain chicken for you. I see that your bread has been good this year.
- Yes, we are full.
- I brought you mountain yogurt. So you say he came and stood at the door.
- Is standing still a thing?
- He was obliged, - Gikor laughed. - Carry ten or twelve pieces and let him go, he will go alone to Tsmakut, my door. If loaded by Andro, Andro's door.
During the war, during the first winter, Gikor kept Simon's five children and his wife with potatoes in the barn, and in the basement of another family that has now moved to Yerevan, where, they say, he holds high positions, the girl, they say, is a doctor, a docent. worth dealing with them once.
Over the village, in the dark, the radio was talking and they didn't turn it off. And Gikor saw that Tsmakut was not there and missed Tsmakut. They put Tsmakut on one of those loudspeakers, he spoke and sang for a couple of days, then the boys, being drunk, took a stone to see who would hit first.
Their men know how to mow, but rarely do they mow. They dress cleanly and stand at the door of the club. The president does not shout at them, because shouting is home rule, and this village is too big to be a house.
These do not have the order of the city or the homely abundance of small villages. This is what they lack. something like a factory and a beer stand, or backgammon they play, there are fat men, it means they don't see the face of Gerandvi, and when it starts to rain, backgammon is taken inside. Drizzle, the rain begins with the alarm of rotting grass. Gikor decided. no, he doesn't move to the city - a drunken cobbler with a knife in his hand. at night they sing loudly and curse, and in the morning it is heard that they slaughtered the store guard in the neighboring street. For ten to fifteen years, Gikor will live in Tsmakut, he will be buried in the green cemetery of Tsmakut next to Adam, Moses, grandfather Gikor, Sahak, Lado.
The speaker was still singing. one was finishing, the other was starting.
"You have a very calm people," Gikor said.
- Don't be quiet, what will you do?
- I'm not saying that, - Gikor stopped. - Are you playing backgammon?
There were so many people at the doors of the office, club and shop that it was not clear who would be the important ones, who would be the shepherds. They got dressed and stood.
The speaker was nailed to the ceiling of the office. It was as if they were listening to a song, but they were not listening, or as if they were thinking, these are not thinking people, during the war it is good to try them. they boiled potatoes and ate them, then lay down to sleep. It happened, they boiled it, it didn't happen, they waited for it to happen. And where it would come from was none of their business. God is great, God will give.
"Simon..." said Gikor. "Do you have real bread or are you joking?"
- I have three tons.
- Ayta, who mowed your fields?
- The combine.
Gikor went, went and smiled.
- Long live combine, long live!
A motorcycle whizzed by with a group of important and dark guys on the saddle, three or four of them.
- Life has become easier, - said Gikor, - ten bushels of wheat used to be ten bushels of wheat. you could not give it, nor would you take it if it was given. But... - Gikor muttered - that there is no place for bread in our place and your bread is also bread... No other bread is eaten after your bread.
A teenage girl was coming, serious, urbane and smooth, putting a man to shame with a tarp under his arm and still a bag. The boy's motorcycle arrived, the back passenger hung on the saddle as he passed, slapped the girl's chin, and the dog girl did not get mad, and the puppy dog ​​did not blush. It's a village as big as a city, they don't know who's daughter is whose son, and they're not ashamed of each other.
- Hey, - said Gikor, - Simon, the number of people who don't work is increasing, as if the bread should be less, but living is getting easier, aren't you surprised?
Simon's house had a second floor with two rooms. Outside, steps led up to a balcony with a painted railing.
"Look, look, look," Gikor muttered.
It was dark at the barn. Alkho stood in the dark. He was not eating, there was something like grass in front of him. He looked sad, he seemed to be thinking. Simon's last son, thirteen years old, stood by the barn, flicking his flashlight on and off. The speaker was singing and no one was turning it off. A motorcycle drove by. The dog must have bit Alkho.
"What do you do?" Gikor asked Simon.
- Well, what's happening? Mechanizer.
- Tractor driver?
- So, tractor driver, combine driver...
- No, no...
Simon shrugged. And the boy was turning on and off the lantern near the barn.
- Do you have a cow?
- What do you need?
- Of course... It's unnecessary to worry. "What kind of brain is the cow?" Oil, cheese?
- Well, it works, again.
- Yeah, well, it turns out... "Punti dog boy".
Why do they ruin so many potatoes on you that even now, tractor driver, combine driver, "who needs what?" During the war, they were called "tractor driver, combine driver". Is the tsmakuti zarriv in your mind?
"Boy, don't spoil that light," said Gikor.
The child looked indifferently for a moment, then looked away and turned the flashlight on and off again.
"Did you beat him, did he riot?" Gikor asked.
- I didn't beat him, didn't I?
- It's like a riot.
- No, it's a habit. So we went out for ourselves.
"It's not good," Gikor said.
- Ah, they don't want bread from me.
- They don't want to?
- Well, they want to, but they know their jobs.
The dog had bitten Alkho's neck and asked him to boil water.
Son Henrik is with other women in town. He knows when it started. when he started smoking, they were already there at that time. Yes, of course. It's eight hours, it's five hours, he works as if he's good with the bosses, he drinks with the bosses, and what does he do the rest of the time? And where did the habit of dressing so politely come from? A tie is a tie, but it happens that they tie, but it doesn't fit. straight necked rancher. There is another woman's hand. And he is coming to the village... he doesn't know, he doesn't know. Welcome, then you start yawning. He goes to the village, he comes - goodbye. Where? I went. Where, boy? I'm at work. He needs potatoes, he needs cabbage, he needs oil, he needs cheese, he needs fruit - tons and a car. He doesn't mind, he needs all of them, but please, he's not the one to take them. "There will be a car coming, will you send it?" The servant will send. He will bend the driver's neck, fight with the old woman for the lost sacks, bang his head on the pantry door, hee-hee-hee, he will laugh at the driver, "boy, be patient, the cabbage, the cabbage is left." he will bring the sacks of cabbage, put the sacks of pears, oil, cheese, potatoes and be happy, be happy that everything ended so well. Then with every letter and with every visitor, he will ask to send the bags, to send the empty bags back! And they won't listen, they have no information. He's doing a great job, he's careful.
When the water should have already boiled, it turned out that he did not ask for water, he asked again, and then Simon said:
- Ah, well, it's a horse, again.
And he realized that the only close one there is Alkho. And he sneered at the right of what he kept them during the war.
- Of course, it's a horse, not a tractor. - And he explained so that he wouldn't suspect that he was mocking him: - The horse is someone else's horse, Simon, I'm afraid the dog was mad.
- It will be, will it be? - said that tractor driver. He is a fifty-five-year-old man, he is not shy, he got oily, mixed with puppies. And he ignored his mockery.
- Bring it, bring it... - What kind of man is it to bring it, with the child standing next to it, with the flashlight in hand, of course he will go.
The horse shivered and sweated as he thrust the cotton into the wound, clinging to Gickory. And Gikor thought for a moment that he would take that pack horse from Andro himself, at the price Andro wanted, and keep it in his hands until the end of both his and his life. Then he took off the saddle, wiped it, "how are we going to get out of that valley, horse?", he rubbed the places of the ties, "I'm old, you're old", he cursed Andro for being so weak and what a heartless dog as if he doesn't give the best pack horse in the village, he wiped the saddles with a tarpaulin and wanted to take him to water.
- The child will take, - said Simon. - Macbeth.
Sandzer gave the child's hand, - Yes, of course, he knows the place of the spring better than us, - he laughed, but he did not like the boy's cold blue eyes. And that lantern, the lantern that flashed and went through the gate of the fence, flashed and went up the lighted street. They were just climbing the ladder when the motorcycle stalled and died.
- Macbeth, let's ride.
They sat down to tea, their red bread had the strength and aroma of the sun like before, there was fig jam, the red bread with mountain cheese was very tasty, they promised to give as much as the horse would carry, "well, it's an old horse, it's a long journey", Gikor said that he also brought money, and laughed, a dozen, they laughed too, "We got three tons, what do we need, two and seven hundred?" "Tsmakut is good with everything, potatoes, potatoes - I wanted to bring it, I knew you would miss it, but it's too far - only Tsmakut bread is missing. State? The state, well, it is true, it is wheat, it is flour, but what about me, it is wheat, it is flour? the old woman is fine too, the building is completely old, she wanted to send them butter, but there was no whipping, and then hot road!, asphalt! - and all that time Gikor's mind was outside.
- The letter did not arrive.
- No, it's not a perishable fruit, - reassured Simon.
- Does he study well at school?
- Yes, it's good, but the idea is about the tractor.
"It kind of appeared to my eyes," Gikor laughed.
- You're right, you're right... They set up a phone for the exam, they tipped each other over the phone.
- Long live, long live.
They didn't beat Alkho. They took him to water, they were surprised that he was drinking so much, his stomach was distended after drinking, they asked each other whether drinking so much would hurt or not, they decided that it would hurt, they pulled back, then one of them said that the horse was drinking water with his mouth closed, lips stuck together, they tried it, it was so, in the light of the flashlight it was clearly seen that he was drinking with his lips firmly pressed - So that the sand does not go with the water - then they took him out of the village, took him to a flat road in the field...
Accusing each other of illiteracy, they wrested the reins from each other's hands. Alkho was throwing his head up and down because he didn't understand what they wanted. Then they pulled under the embankment, the two left the motorcycle, rode Alkho with Simon's son. Alkho went on a hard run. It's okay. But then the motorcycle arrived. And no matter how much Alkho ran away, no matter how broken, the motorcycle did not come off him. It was pounding in the ears, stuck between the legs, coming from the side, passing forward, falling back - and there was no release, there was no release. And then Alkho stopped and waited for the beating. The beating was familiar, not to be feared, but he was not beaten.
- Okay, he is tired, let him rest.
The two got off, tied the motorcycle and sped off towards the edge of the dark field. Simon's son sat on the alcove, he sat down, then with his legs hanging on one side, turning the lantern on and off like that.
"Macbeth... the gas is out, bring it," they called from the other end of the field.
Turning the flashlight on and off made the horse ride this like riding a bicycle. There they argued whether a motorcycle or a horse is better. The motorcycle is running out of gas, but the horse is also going slowly. Then the motorcycle disappeared from sight, they played with the tail, then one of them pulled the reins, the three rode, - Horse! - He went, but the tail did not come. The tail came off, didn't come off, came, didn't come. They used flashlights to light the way. Then they stopped, lowered their heads and tied the lighted lantern to their foreheads. One was pulling the reins, the other was holding the motorcycle upright, and the three were riding the bike on the Alkho. The rider of the motorcycle got tired, - he said, the horse is tired, get off. - They did not object, got off, disconnected the motorcycle from the tail, the tail became lighter, turned from the road to the field, they said.
- Now do it.
- Graze, - they stretched the head, stuck it to the grass, - eat grass, eat grass.
One of them found a flower and put it against his nose.
- It's a flower, eat it.
- He doesn't understand.
- It's dark, he can't see.
The lanterns were released from the forehead, they kept the light on the flower.
- Look, it's a flower, eat it.
- He is sick.
- Do horses get sick?
"Do you have a fever?" they told Alkho.
One held the reins, the others followed.
- Will you kick?
- We measure your temperature, don't kick.
They took out the lantern, lit it, put it back in lit. The tail covered the light of the lantern, they bent the tail, wrapped it around the leg and tied it like that. Again it interfered, but the tail was not cut off. They looked from afar, up close, nothing, it was convenient.
The big silent sphere of the moon was sifting the milky light, the stars were twinkling, half of the stars are stars, half are planets like the earth. There are probably people on the planets. The people of the planets were now looking at the earth with strong binoculars, they saw the earth, the mowed field, the children, the horse, the light of the lantern.
When Gikor and Simon came, the milky light was fluttering between the sky and the earth, all the stars and planets were murmuring quietly, the falling stars were falling silently to ashes, on the mown fields, low and low, the crickets were singing the song of the falling stars, the silent shadows of the children and the horse were swaying in the milky light. And the lantern under the horse's tail gave off a cruel, a wise, sad and funny light mixed with the song of crickets. Simon's son was on his knees and, his eyes on the horse, slowly stroking the milk. The others looked at him, looked at the horse, looked at him with the gleam of puffy eyes, looked at the horse that stood before them with the fading glow of a statue.
- We are bewitching.
Gikor didn't beat them because they weren't Tsmakuti, Simon didn't get angry because they didn't run away, so they didn't do it maliciously. Gikor quickly took out the flashlight and put it in his pocket. either he will give it to Andro or, what's the matter, he will keep it in his hand, but that lantern will definitely go to Tsmakut, because they won't dare to take it back.
They tied three sacks. Their barn was full and they still had more in stock, they could not weigh the sacks. But Gikor knew gram for gram that it was not a grain less than twelve pounds. The two sacks hacked, stretched the horse's breeches all the way, turned with Simon to pick up the hacks, and then felt the horse shudder. He felt the horse tremble, and saw that he too was afraid.
- Haha!
Maybe he won't put on that wonderful midriff, eh... He should close his eyes and not put it on, hell, no one on the face of the earth has died of hunger. The horse accepted the load and started. Just arrived. It disappeared later, long after the hacker's connections had been confirmed. That combine, that Simon, stood with his hands in his pockets and didn't understand anything about horses and loads, he was born in a professor's house, he doesn't say two sacks are enough, the road is long. or does not want to appear stingy? The harvester reaped, why should he be stingy? He took hold of the foreskin and remembered his son's soft lips and was heartbroken.
- Wow, it happens a lot.
The middle skin was put on, the horse remained incommunicado. they put it directly on the stone. And from that Gikor felt bad anxiety. the anther will be broken at once. Where?
- Alho?
The rope was passing under his stomach, he wanted it to collapse now, on him. At least the dead body will be a drag.
"Alho!"
And he heard that secret moaning, which is not the lungs, but the crushing of the bone. it is the grunting of the oxen, the foundation stone of the house, and the bicycle that engineers and peasants hear.
- It's electric, it will take...
The burden was one body with the horse. That horse was born with that saddle, that load, that head and that color. The ropes were tight and tight and tied that old bone with tendons to that twelve and a half rottilla. Briefly, the bridle tied the saddle, turned back to take the jacket and the whip, - Well, stay well, ita... Well, you stay, ita... I found someone coming, I will send butter... Stay you, ita, a man is a man... - and heard the horse's careful step. The horse got out of the gate of the fence, turned right, went, turned left, took the road leading out of the village. The fences were left behind, the road was silent, the horse scraped against the load and life with a muffled grunt. Why would Arshak of Nesso have been killed? He was a harmless person, going his own way. Why were they killed? They said that there was a couple of kopecks of money nearby, he had sold butter, he was coming back from Dilijan.
Will the dog crawl? It might already be dead. "It's electric, it will drive." Who is an electrician? Why an electrician? yes, the flashlight was inserted... Ishi foal! What kind of bread is your thing, or what kind of bread is wheat? Gikor mentally crossed the road, crossed the highway, crossed the city, crossed the bridge, reached the river.
- How are we going to do it, Alho?
And he realized that he is old and that way will break him too. And felt that his bones were beaten and muttered by the hard saddle. And he heard the moaning of his old feet and remembered the happy morning bus, heard their happy laughter and cursed:
- I am your light-hearted...
The bus passed by quickly, like laughter on the wind, and Andro stood firm and sullen by the cart.
- Palas, there will be a prisoner...
And remembered Androi Ashkhen, but did not curse. It seemed to him that Ashken was protecting him from Gikor. And he remembered his son's red lips with disgust. And he saw himself on the riverbank, Alkho in the sun, and the girls growing among the stones, and he cursed the giant who was turning his numb back. And Henrik saw his son lying naked with the colossus on the sand, and Henrik the son was thin and delicate, and he did not like it very much, because the colossus would seize his white nose and take his breath away. "Don't smoke, you colt!" And he remembered the smoke in the office of the regional committee when he was removed from the party and from the post of president, and he remembered that even then, with the horses under him, the car under him, so many people under his command, he was a pack horse, because his mind was with the drying grass, the growing potatoes, and the scythe that drew water in the bureau, even though that potato was not his and neither was that scythe. And he remembered the grain of the granary and the field on the way to the mountain and realized that he, like that Alkhon that sheep, is stuck on the road of Gazakh, the anxiety of all the coming rains is in him and all the coming droughts and locusts. And cursed the baker Vagho, as if he doesn't bake bread well and that's why he takes this path. But it was unfair, and he made himself think that he was selling the cows, building houses in the city, building a fence, and sitting under a tree with his hands in his pockets. And he smiled, but he couldn't keep his hands in his pockets, his heart was just bursting. and for the first time noticed the ring on Henrik son's finger and Henrik son's hand on the soft lips. It was a photo of Henrik's son. "What's it worth?" - "I don't know, they gave it as a gift" - "They did a good job, they gave it as a gift, what will it cost?" - "One and a half" - "Fifteen hundred?" - "So much?" And the mind again fell against the slope, and the old president wanted to know how much would be from the bottom of the valley to the spur of the plateau; decided on three kilometers, from one end of Tsmakut to the other, and complained because it was not a matter of size; it was a worn bone, a burden and a lack of air.
- Alho?... Alho...
And what did Henrik son do that time? He had taken sheep and goats, the daughter-in-law called the place of business, - Henrik, father has come. And he said, put the sheep in basturma. He had drawn the argal four times, it was a pure blue argal. They came with their colleagues and a secretary with long bare legs, ate, smashed, laughed, sang and left. He used to barbecue outside and put skewers inside with his daughter-in-law. he came and saw that they had eaten, they were full, they were hiccups. - We didn't wait for you, they said, you should eat the barbecue hot, they said, I'm sorry, father, they said. drink our toast, they said. He was stupidly happy. he wanted to say that he was Gikor, that the boy Henrik was his son, that he went to Moscow in 1939 and that he understood them, on the way back there was a Russian or Armenian actress in the same compartment, the Black Sea... But they didn't listen to him. A bald benefactor suddenly wanted to drink the toast of the secretary with bare feet, and he wanted so suddenly that he didn't have time to fill his glass for himself, took it from Gikor's hand... and didn't even say sorry, and didn't even notice that he was taking it from a man's hand. And what was Henrik's son doing? he told his wife to make coffee, bring water, he told his wife to give a new cup to the secretary with bare feet. Henrik the son rolled his eyes at his wife and was ashamed, he was ashamed of his itchy skin for his wife and for his father. And he saw in the kitchen that the bride's neck was swelling from secret annoyance.
And the other time. they crowded into soft cars, took meat and drinks, smashed the state cars and came to eat and drink under Tsmakut. They have to drink water from the blue spring, there is neither eating nor drinking in their town. Look at the shameless, the shameless... They ate and drank under the village and went back. The postman was bloated with leftovers, the postman sent a greeting to the father: - Tell him not to think about us, we are fine.
I don't want you to be the one, boy... but after all, this state is also a sin, isn't it? on four sides: you don't work and you eat. And you are bleeding. Here, the reaper pulls a girder on the head of the spring. women are stacking grass under the spring - did it happen? have you come to sit in them, tushi-tushi? The postman told. the benevolent bald man ran away laughing, Henrik's son ran and caught him, the secretary with her bare feet crushed cheese on the bald man's head.
At dawn they crossed the city. There was only one old woman sweeping the market doors, the night guard militiaman looked at the horse and Gikor yawning from a half-dream and distant village memories, and their cargo and train was like what his grandfather had told. from one important-important place to another ran the stray city dogs: the anguish of a wolf lost in the canned herds, the sense of the shepherd's death, the instinct of an earthquake on that thick asphalt, and the pride of a herdsman. They stopped and barked a couple of mouths at the pack horse, then went about their business. And they were silly and funny.
- Alho...
- No, I didn't say anything. Now that you're standing, let's straighten your midsection.
They crossed the bridge, the river was cold and tired. that year, Yesayu had driven. They wondered how that thin water drowned that strong man. Maybe he was tired, he was ready to fight. He was bringing his son's wedding wine from Shulaver, Georgia. had crossed the bitter plain of Borchalu, climbed the mountains of Arjesh, descended the valley of Debed, turned, turned, climbed the mountains of Sanahin; up and down, up and down, up and down to Hard Mountain and beyond for one night.
They also crossed the wooden bridge, the smell of Tsmakut came from the path. The fog, the ascents of the mountains, the battle of Ashken, a bear in a big forest and the roar of that bear through the forest. In the well-kept alleys of the sanatoriums, a cricket croaked. A wave of mountains hit Alkho and Gikor, went to get lost at the doors of the market, around the cleaner. Warmth and softness came from the dark windows of the sanatoriums. It is said that there they are fed five times a day and put to sleep for ten hours. Gikor wanted to sleep, he remembered the green cemetery of Tsmakut, he wanted to die and sleep for a long, long time... A fat man in a hat was smoking in an open window. Gikor wanted to sleep, to sleep... And when he yawned and his eyes opened, it was light, the daisies turned white on the green meadow at the edge of the forest, a bumblebee was sitting high up on a honey flower, and the flower was swaying, the horse stood and looked, from the front, on the path, calmly, a woman was coming with her head held high and as if in a hurry, a jacket hanging from her hand, a man, a little behind, a cigarette kindling. In the blue forest, the black grouse chirped, the sardines patterned the silence in ten ways, and the woodpecker drummed his bellows. The woman was a neighbor's wife, she was a daughter-in-law, - Gikor wanted to say hello to the relative carelessly, the woman was a complete stranger. The woman stood in front of Alkho, on the path, and showing the tip of her tongue, said to Alkho: "Boo!" and gave way to Alkho and hit him with a jacket. And Gikor saw that his daughter-in-law, Henrik's wife, was very peasant and inflexible. A nightingale began to sing in the thickets of the sanatoriums, they passed by Gikor and the horse, that peasant on his horse entered the Middle Ages in their minds, and they went in Gikor's mind and became entangled in strange dreams.
Step into the forest. in the forest, with the drumming of a woodpecker, the stumps swayed, they hid like a bear or a forester, approached, became a stump and a shadow, stayed behind. Nineteen twenty-one and nineteen twenty-nine decided to move to the city. Kirovakan was not a city at that time, he decided to move to Tiflis or Leninakan, what prevented him? See if the secretary with bare feet belongs to Henrik or the bald one. Gikor smiled. during the war, a cow died in the mountain winter quarters. he was shouting at the milkmaid and she was laughing. Then she got pregnant and laughed again and threatened with laughter, in the dialect of their Marts village: - Piril dem... Piril dem and asil dem, that I got rid of you, remove you from the party... - Stupid-stupid, joke-joke, he almost embarrassed the bastard. Now, from her husband, she has the last child, eleven years old, and laughingly tells Gikor: - If I had grown up then, he would be a fifteen-year-old man now. They would remove you from the party sooner, it would be a great benefit to the people.
His daughter-in-law, Henrik's wife, was supposed to be inflexible and peasant. she gave birth to three children. there is not a crooked place on his children. his house is polished. submissive, even if he is not loved, he loves meekly. she is a housewife, and spies are of a special kind.
From the forest, the white space ahead flashed with a thousand eyes. Who should open the source? cold, tired, tired...
Yes, sixty years ago, not in conversation or by hearing, exactly fifty-five years ago, on the path, the bride of Klyas stood so straight, her head held high, her mouth so obstinate, with her shawl hanging from her hand. the child Gikor was on a horse, his father was walking forward, his daughter-in-law was standing on the path opposite his father, with a shawl hanging from her hand and looking stubbornly at his father. the horse went, put his head on his father's shoulder, and the father said: - What is it, Zare? - and the daughter-in-law was watching with her mouth closed. It is true. he was sitting on the horse, his father was going in front, his daughter-in-law was standing on the path facing each other. the father stood up. the bride was looking with full lips. the horse arrived. put his head on his father's shoulder. - What is it, Zare, - his father mumbled. Then? Where did they come from? It was under the myrtle, so they came from the village. The father said: "What is it, Zare?" But then? "Tiflis has become a servant of the house." no, this is already audible. Her husband brought a new wife from Shamut, it's old Klyas, but what happened that day when Zare stood on the path, among the flowers, facing away?
"Fear, my dear, fear," Gikor sighed and yawned. the ears opened with a whisper, the gaze was revealed: they had gone out into the clearing, smoke was rising in the clearing, someone was sitting near the fire, a large group of citizens were laughing and washing their torches around the spring. The tent was pitched on the edge of the path, the place where the path breaks. from there the zariv was jumping up, and he didn't say anything to them. A jackal man in a sweater was standing by the tent, looking at Gikor and the horse with dark glasses, and the load said nothing to him. They were washing in the water of the spring, they were laughing, one of them was holding his head under the water and a girl was circling around them, chirping: - A handful drowned in the water!, A handful drowned in the water! - one was fixing the ball under his feet for a long time, the watch was in his hand, one was counting how many seconds his nose was in the water, then the ball flew and flew out of his hand, the watch, the radio receiver in the open space he would catch and release a song, another song, Arabic, piano, Turkish anthem, speech, song, silence, noise of the sea, that's what they wanted... And a person's heart was bursting with envy and the ease and joy of the world.
- Uncle, uncle, uncle, - as if he lit the fire near the smoke. knife in hand, he was running towards Gikor. - Slaughter the sheep for a minute, we have been waiting for you for a day.
He looked like Henrik son for a minute, and Gikor wanted to say that he comes from afar, he comes all night, he is tired, he is tired, it has been sixty years and he wants to have a good sleep.
- What's good, uncle, should we grill or cook? - and secretly suggested: - say: cook, this is not barbecue meat.
"Well," Gikor said, "you don't know how to slaughter, so if I wasn't there, how would you slaughter?"
- We ate without slaughtering, dear uncle...
Gikor looked at him out of the corner of his eye.
- Are you from Yerevan or Kirovakan?
- From Yerevan.
Gikor said:
- We are Kirovans. - And breaking the sheep's neck, he looked at it with pride. He looked at him, a girl in tight pants was kneeling next to him and was looking at the splashing blood. Zaren. That day or another, she was milking a sheep, looking at Gikor's father and her husband, and silently thought of running away from there. "Tiflis became a servant of the house." Gikor closed his eyes tightly, opened them and completely woke up. - Henrik. Sahakyan: He is a practicing engineer. Yerevan is coming soon...
As the load slid back a bit and the bras dug into the flesh, Alkho knew the contraction had begun. Alkho held his breath and left. "We will curse the land of these braves now", we must take a breath on the edge of another plateau. every next step would have brought out the captain, but the air in the lungs melted, crossed, and the load still dragged down. Alkho realized that a great rush had begun, Alkho took a fresh breath and went on with a new breath, but this time the air was soon exhausted, and the trail was still crawling up, up. Alkho took a fresh breath and realized that nothing will come out of it. Alkho stood, waited to see what would happen, tearing the skin off and pulling the load down, and his face was planted by the zariver, blunt, merciless and uncommunicative to the constriction of his lungs. And Alkho decided to deceive Zariver. Alkho bent down, took a breath, went to the grass, turned, came, took a breath. it turned, it went down the slope, it turned, it came, it took a breath. turned, went down the slope, turned, came, took a breath. thirty-five times Alcho carried the saddle and two hundred kilos of wheat and twenty years of life, turned it, brought it up the hillside, folded the sheaves, put it under his feet, and for a moment stood on the edge of his plateau, on the path, at the bottom of which old Gickory had threaded and pulled and pulled upwards, to his wheat and Alcho, that, triumphant, he stood for a moment on the edge of his plateau, and then went through the cools, through the longings of the herds and herds, to the source of his Kechut, the fear of the stallion, the short refuge. "The burden is mine, I am under it" - Alkho did not wait for the fox Gikor. he drank water, filled his lungs and spine with coldness and left.
- Put a tarpaulin on those sacks so they don't get wet, Gikor said to the woman. Drive those pigs away, I'm sleeping. "Cut off the snow from your bowl," Gikor shouted. "Your yogurt will stick to your head. I come from Kazakhstan, you were going to wash your feet, warm water..." Gikor said in his sleep. "Cover it."
Then, a layer of cloud was spreading over the lower waters, the wind was blowing fiercely, the driver Levon and the horseman Mesrop fought for a minute and made peace, the sheep came for milk and it flowed like an hourglass between the milking women and ended, the dogs were gassed with hunger and almost killed the Turks' bull, it got stuck by the wind in a far field and ran away. the orange herd, Gikor's wife slaughtered a chicken, and Alkho lay down to take a nap.
The herds of sheep moved, the herds of lambs were brought down to the valleys, the fed dogs were eager to go after the shepherd, the Turkish bull turned black on the top of the hill and roared hugely, on the lower platform the three-year-old bull broke away from the herd and stood in the way of the bull, in the far field the team of horses again got stuck, the dogs gave a line and bound the hills. on the hills, the slopes on the hills, far away on the hillside the fox howled, and Alcho rested standing.
Gikor got out of the tent, sat at the door of the tent, yawned and remained sullen. Ashkhen came and said to Gikor, "How much did you carry?" Gikor said, "Take a head, the priest below beat and drove the Turk's bull back, the fox appeared twenty times near the muzzle of the dogs and twenty times disappeared behind the hills with the dogs, Gikor went down to the valley to urinate, in the far wilderness he spied the herd again, seven hills then the dogs had piled on each other and were strangling the fox, but the fox was huddled on the top of the hill near the urn and laughingly watched how the dogs were strangling him, the driver Levon was chopping wood for the farm, Mesrop went to the herd, and Alkho had started to graze. No one in that mountain knows how to graze properly, Alkho was peeling the ground.
- Graze, - said Gikor.
Then there was a dispute in the urt that the issue of borders with the Turk's urt was not well decided, their guard wanted to drive their herd away from a valley, the belonging of which is not well determined, then they calmed down, the herds returned with the girls, the shepherds shone, with tropes and playing! wanted to deliver the President of the Presidium of the Supreme Council to Moscow - Kremlin and on that occasion he and Levon had a little fight, Gikor pulled the wheat in, and Alkho was grazing.
"You who are Alkho, do it," Gikor said.
"Are you still grazing?" he said in the morning. "You are doing well." do
A sliver of cloud was disappearing over the lower waters, the sheep came to be milked, it flowed slowly among the women, the orange herd was blown away by the wind in the far field and fled, and Alkho raised his head and looked at the herd. Alkho strode toward the herd, where the zombies smelled of heat and flowers. Alkho growled headlong into the herd, the wide-jawed zombies smelling of bloodlust and fatigue there. Alkho grunted and went, threw himself out of the herd, looked for a moment and the stallion came tearing him to pieces. He came with a wide chest, came with a roar like a demon, threw Alkho with his chest and went back with a grunt. He looked close to the herd, where was the crouch that was grunting?
Alkho sat, stood, shook, looked at the herd, the zombies smelled blood rage and depth. Alkho neighed, and then the stallion circled the herd, gathered the herd, circled the gathering herd, spun and fell out of the circle. Wicked as a snake, light as the wind and heavy as a bull, he came wearing a suit, struck Alkho to pieces and went back shaking his head.
A small cloud floated in the sky, the lark sang, the full herd was grazing, the hungry dogs did not know what to bark, for the stallion Alkho had been a century ago, Alkho got up, trembled on his legs, settled on his legs, raised his head, the broad-leaved zambias smelled of heat and flowers. Alcho grunted and pushed into the herd, the stallion breaking away.
- Gikor... he eats that poor horse, Gikor...
- Gikor... don't be stupid, Gikor, he will trample you, he will kill you.
Gikor stood on his trampling line with Yegan in hand.
- I'll rip your belly, damn your lazy husband...
Hickory was saved by dogs. surrounded by dogs, the stallion bowed past Gikor and Alkho, went in a wide circle and entered the herd. And Alkho was pushing and pushing towards the orange zombies and didn't see Gikor, he passed by crushing Gikor.
At that time, the stallion jumped out of the herd, came with the ring of dogs, left the dogs behind, came dressed, hit, spread, bit and trampled all at once. And the copper bash fluttering in the sun in that green world, went to the herd. And looking back from there, Alkho was out again, going after Gikor to the urt, where the loads were and the beginning of the road leading to the station through the village and village.
- As soon as you live, they told Andro, when Gikor had tied the horse in the valley and brought the saddle to Andro's door, - as soon as you live, the baby has arrived, he is at the station... He has been at the station for two days, as soon as you live...
"Andranik!" called the old woman.
- What happened to you, my dear?
- The poor child is at the station, Andranik.
- Is it the horse's fault that he is at the station, oh our...
- Really...