Crusoes in Siberia. the Fairest Judgment by Tivadar Soros

Author:Tivadar Soros [Soros, Tivadar]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mondial
Published: 2016-08-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER VI

The Crossing

In which the reader will learn about efforts so great

that they might move mountains.

Four o’clock the following morning was the appointed wake-up time. The only earlier riser was the sun. The trees were heavy with rain: if you touched them, the leaves released a minor torrent. The ground was sodden, saturated with water.

We set to work energetically on our difficult assignment, and soon the silence of the virgin taiga was shattered by the sound of our saws and axes. Some of the group had never really experienced physical labor, but they made up in enthusiasm and ambition what they lacked in skill. With any physical task of this kind the tools should be entrusted to those with the necessary experience; the job goes more easily that way and you get double the success with half the effort. I must confess that some of us knew nothing of such principles of economy, and the skilled members of the group smiled disdainfully as they watched our idealistic lawyer wield his ax. In fact there was no shortage of derogatory comments all round.

With what was truly a superhuman effort we succeeded in carrying the trees that we had felled, each 45 feet in length, to the river’s edge. Although some thirteen or fourteen people carried each tree, we often felt as though our shoulders would break under the weight. We attached three long beams to one another, giving us the required length.

We were acutely aware of the lack of proper technical equipment. We were short of metal nails, for example, and so we used drills and wooden dowels. After three days, working twelve hours a day, we were finally able to admire our collective handiwork: the framework for the bridge lay ready on the bank.

During this tiring work, we paid little attention to the weather. It was nothing if not varied – one minute bright blue sky and brilliant sun, and the next heavy downpours. The weather was like some grand lady changing her clothes ten times a day.

But such things went unheeded: we were interested only in the bridge. If our plan succeeds, and if the bridge is sturdy enough and long enough, our first major obstacle will be overcome... And a first success will bring others...

A great deal of careful preparation was required when it came time to push the bridge into the water. Everyone was mobilized for the occasion. The commander of the partisans came in person to visit us and provided twenty Cossacks to assist. Our plan was to slide the framework into the water by means of a slipway of smooth logs.

Our agricultural expert, the author of the plan, gave the orders.

“Use stones and ropes to anchor the front part of the bridge! Hold this cable.”

“Why aren’t you working?”

“I’m working, but the Cossacks aren’t.”

“The rope’s going to break!”

“Three people, over here!”

Commands and counter-commands could be heard on all sides, and we held our breaths to see how the current would carry the bridge to the other side.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.