At a High Cost by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky

Author:Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky [Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

After Solomia’s departure, Ostap felt cut off from the world, from people. The fever was burning him inside; every few moments he wet his hand in the water and cooled his forehead, his eyes, his head. He became tired of looking at the yellow walls of reeds – and he closed his eyes. He was thinking. Recalling his former plans, he wondered why he had come here to the Turkish lands, why he had left his native village and his grandfather. How was his grandfather now? Was he alive and well? Did he recall Ostap? If he could only come and see his grandson – wounded, exhausted, left in the reeds to be eaten by wolves and ravens.

He was delirious, and in his fever he called for his grandfather. His grandfather came. Silently and unnoticed, he climbed out of the reeds and stood before Ostap, his arms folded.

“You’re wounded, my son. Were you fighting with the Polacks?”

“No, grandpa, a Moskal shot me when I was crossing the border.”

“And where are your fellows from the Danube Sich? Why are you lying alone amidst the reeds?”

“Oh, grandpa, do you think the Sich is still there? No, there’s no Sich anymore, grandpa... There was, but it’s gone now. Perhaps you’ve heard – Hladky16 has taken the brotherhood to the Azov steppe. He’s left the Turks...”

“So what are you going to do in this foreign land, my son?”

“If I am alive, I’ll plow the soil, live by fishing... in the end, it’s better in the wild than under the landlord... Some of our people are still there, grandpa, under the Turks...”

So Ostap conversed with his grandfather – and his grandfather cheered him up, gave him advice, told him about the past and spoke about what was happening in the village at present. Whenever Ostap opened his eyes, his grandfather hid in the reeds, but as soon as he closed them, his grandfather would reappear again and listen to Ostap’s adventures or speak about himself.

By the evening, Ostap began to worry: what had happened to Solomia – why hadn’t she come back yet? Why hadn’t she returned? After all, she did know that it was difficult for him even to move, that he couldn’t get out of these wilds on his own.

Or perhaps she had abandoned him?.. “Solomia... Solomia...” moaned the sick man, but his groan was muffled by the noise of the wetlands.

At night he became worse. He was racked with fever. It burnt like a fire and it stabbed at his chest so that only with great effort was he able to scoop water. He wanted to cough but could not do it from the pain. And Solomia still had not returned. Ostap did not sleep and only from time to time fell into a restless slumber for a few minutes. The night dragged on, as endless as death... But Solomia did not appear... Where was she, what had happened to her? Ostap yearned for her.

At daybreak, Ostap felt a living creature near him.

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