after the slippery stones of the riverbed. The water squelched in my boots
and sometimes spurted out through the eyelets. The circulation soon returned
to my legs and made them warm but my body felt chilly and shivers chased
each other up my spine.
I climbed on to the thick, moss-patched trunk of the tree and walked
out along it to the very middle of the stream. The deep green water,
splashing gently on the dangling branches, flowed swiftly beneath me. The
branches didn't seem to mind being in the water at all.
The deep green flood streamed past below, murmuring softly. Shadows
swayed on its surface. A bird, oblivious of my presence, alighted on the
branch quite close to me. It was probably a wagtail. At any rate it kept
wagging its long tail as it looked around. Having noticed me, or rather
realising that I was a living creature, it shot away through the beech
leaves.
I lighted a cigarette. Still nothing rose to my bait. I felt that it
was much too nice here to expect good fishing as well. Perhaps I had even
lost interest in trout. I felt that I had had enough of fishing. I lifted my
rod, pulled off the stone, wound the line round the rod and lodged it
between two branches.
It seemed a pity to leave. I pushed my heavy pocket of fish aside and
lay face down on the sun-warmed tree-trunk. It was swaying slightly under
the pressure of the water pulling at its submerged branches. The nearness of
the deep swiftly flowing water increased the sense of peace and immobility.
A winy smell rose from the sun-warmed trunk. The sun's rays felt steamily
hot through my wet trousers. The moss tickled my cheek, the trunk swayed and
I fell into a sweet doze. An ant crawled slowly across my neck.
Through my drowsiness I reflected that it was a long time since I had
known such peace. Perhaps this was something I had never known. Even with a
woman you loved it would not be so peaceful. Perhaps because there was
always the danger that she would start talking and spoil everything. But
even if she didn't, there would always be a fringe of awareness that she
might, and there was no telling how it might end. So you could never
experience such complete bliss as you had here. But here you had it because
a tree could not possibly begin to talk; that was for sure.
Through drowsiness I heard a distant whistle from the other bank. It
seemed to come from another life. Still dozing, I wondered how it could
possibly have carried such a distance. The whistle was repeated several
times and each time I wondered drowsily how I had managed to hear it.
Then I heard a chanting voice but could not make out the words. Then
came more whistling and the chanting voice again. I realised that they both
came from one persistent source, and slowly I became aware that the
whistling and chanting were produced by several people together...
"Lorry-is-here!" I felt the words rather than heard them. A stab of
alarm passed through me. I realised that the lorry that was to pick us up
had arrived and the whole group was waiting for me. I grabbed my rod and ran
down from the trunk.
The sun was quite high by now. It was probably about eleven o'clock. I
had quite forgotten the time and now felt embarrassed to have kept so many
people waiting. Besides, I was afraid they would leave without me. I had no
money to pay for the journey back. And when would I pick up a lift anyway?
Without looking for a ford I charged into the water and crossed the
first stream almost at a run. After running across the island I plunged into
the water again. Here the river was broad and shallow. I ran as fast as I
could, trying not to stumble and bruise my legs. I did stumble several
times, but always managed to save myself with the rod.
When quite near the bank, I felt the water growing much deeper. I could
hardly keep on my feet. "What the devil!" I muttered and halted.
The water was only just above my waist, but the current was so strong
that only the rod kept me from being swept away. I regretted that I had not
gone back downstream where I had quite easily forded the river before. At
the same time it was hard to believe that I should not be able to manage the
last five meters to the bank. I took a step forward, putting all my weight
on the rod. The main thing was not to trust your foot until it had found a
firm new foothold. Some of the stones rolled over and moved away with the
current as soon as I trodded on them. The water rose in a hostile flood
around me. And suddenly I realised I could not take a single step because
all my strength was needed to hold on where I was.
I felt fear surging up and sweeping away consciousness at terrifying
speed. And more afraid of this fear than anything else, I tried to forestall
it by action, by leaning into the current and stepping off quickly. The
flood snatched me at once and dragged me down. My body sank into the icy
murk and I swallowed water.
At last I managed to regain the surface and feel the bottom, but the
current carried me away again while out of sheer obstinacy I went on
clutching the rod. I swallowed more water, but this time let go of the rod
as soon as I surfaced, and struck out with all my strength. I was still
being carried along at terrifying speed and could feel my strength failing.
Nevertheless I managed to approach the bank and grab a boulder, though I was
sure I hadn't the strength to pull myself out.
But at least I could rest and get my breath back.
At this moment I saw a hand reaching out from above. I clutched it and
the two of us together hauled my body out on to the bank.
It was Lusik. I felt dizzy and sick, but sitting on the pebbly beach I
slowly recovered.
"I shouted to you," Lusik said, "didn't you hear?"
"No," I said. Perhaps he hadn't seen the whole thing. Perhaps he had
just come down to the bank to give me a hand. I didn't want him to know what
predicament I had been in.
"We had breakfast long ago, the lorry's waiting," Lusik reminded me
patiently.
"All right, just a minute," I said, and stood up with an effort.
I still felt sick from exhaustion. I opened the pocket of my jacket,
pulled out the trout and tossed them on the sand. They were still alive.
When the current had swept me away they had become gloatingly still. Or
perhaps I was imagining it all.
It had been a strange feeling when I was carried away. What a devilish
force, I thought, recalling the vicious persistence of the water as it
dragged me down.
I was longing for a smoke. I put my hand in my pocket but the cigarette
was sodden. I pulled everything out of the pockets, undressed, squeezed out
my pants and vest, then dressed again.
Lusik had threaded the trout on to a twig and was waiting patiently. I
was quite indifferent to them now.
We set off. Lusik took the lead. The heavy bunch of fresh trout dangled
from his hand. The red spots on their backs were still bright. By the time
we started climbing I wanted to carry them myself, but I could hardly keep
up with Lusik.
"Hand over," I said when he stopped to wait for me at a bend.
"It's all right, I'll carry them," Lusik replied.
But I took the bunch all the same. I felt that it would be more proper
for me to appear carrying my own catch, although there would have been no
doubt as to where they were.
When we reached the street, everyone was seated in the lorry. Cheerful
pandemonium broke out as soon as they saw us and hands reached down from the
back to help us in. The student who had been out fishing before us looked
disdainfully at the bunch of trout just to show that no one could surprise
him with fish.
"I lost one," I announced, holding out the catch to somebody.
The bunch was handed round. Everyone was impressed, but when it came
back to me someone said that we had four hours' journey ahead of us and they
would go bad by the time we reached town.
"They'd have made a nice soup for lunch," he added.
"Better fried," someone else suggested.
"Not enough to go round if they were fried," said the other, "but you
could make a good fish soup."
I, too, realised that the journey would be too long, specially in the
heat. Not that they would really go bad, but it would be a pity to bring
this fine bunch of trout to town in a miserable state.
As though sensing my hesitation, a long black pig came up to me. It
stood there waiting with feigned patience to see what I was going to do with
my catch.
"Give it to the restaurant," someone suggested.
I glanced round. The door of the restaurant was open and loud voices
could be heard. I shoved the pig out of my way and walked to the restaurant.
It was deserted except for three Svans who were drinking white wine with
tomatoes and suluguni cheese. They seemed to have drunk quite a lot already.
The bartender was engaged in a quarrel with one of them.
I offered him the bunch of trout. Without noticing me, he took my
catch, carried it off into the kitchen and came back, still berating one of
the drinkers. He just didn't notice me at all. I walked out of the
restaurant and climbed into the lorry.
We moved off. The wet clothes made me shiver, so I stripped down to my
shorts. Someone gave me my rucksack, a big chunk of bread and a mess-tin of
stew. I made myself comfortable on the rucksack and ate my breakfast. The
tin was still hot because they had wrapped it in a sleeping bag. I would
take a bite of bread then, holding the mess-tin in both hands, sip from it,
trying to time every sip with the jolting of the lorry so as not to burn
myself or spill the tasty stew of macaroni and beans. When I had emptied the
tin I felt warmer. Someone gave me a cigarette and I lighted up. Now
everyone had plenty of cigarettes.
The lads decided to sing, but their songs all tailed off because they
didn't know the words. They had grown tired of the songs they did know
during the expedition. But it still sounded jolly.
The lorry rushed down the winding road, hooting and braking at the
bends. The mountains slowly unfolded and on our left the river showed
glittering below a steep drop. It kept narrowing and spreading out again,
dividing and flowing together. In the end I grew tired of it.
Suddenly the lorry plunged into the warm, humid air of Kolkhida.
We continued our descent and all the time I was conscious of the
nearness of the sea, although it was a long time before it actually became
visible.
and sometimes spurted out through the eyelets. The circulation soon returned
to my legs and made them warm but my body felt chilly and shivers chased
each other up my spine.
I climbed on to the thick, moss-patched trunk of the tree and walked
out along it to the very middle of the stream. The deep green water,
splashing gently on the dangling branches, flowed swiftly beneath me. The
branches didn't seem to mind being in the water at all.
The deep green flood streamed past below, murmuring softly. Shadows
swayed on its surface. A bird, oblivious of my presence, alighted on the
branch quite close to me. It was probably a wagtail. At any rate it kept
wagging its long tail as it looked around. Having noticed me, or rather
realising that I was a living creature, it shot away through the beech
leaves.
I lighted a cigarette. Still nothing rose to my bait. I felt that it
was much too nice here to expect good fishing as well. Perhaps I had even
lost interest in trout. I felt that I had had enough of fishing. I lifted my
rod, pulled off the stone, wound the line round the rod and lodged it
between two branches.
It seemed a pity to leave. I pushed my heavy pocket of fish aside and
lay face down on the sun-warmed tree-trunk. It was swaying slightly under
the pressure of the water pulling at its submerged branches. The nearness of
the deep swiftly flowing water increased the sense of peace and immobility.
A winy smell rose from the sun-warmed trunk. The sun's rays felt steamily
hot through my wet trousers. The moss tickled my cheek, the trunk swayed and
I fell into a sweet doze. An ant crawled slowly across my neck.
Through my drowsiness I reflected that it was a long time since I had
known such peace. Perhaps this was something I had never known. Even with a
woman you loved it would not be so peaceful. Perhaps because there was
always the danger that she would start talking and spoil everything. But
even if she didn't, there would always be a fringe of awareness that she
might, and there was no telling how it might end. So you could never
experience such complete bliss as you had here. But here you had it because
a tree could not possibly begin to talk; that was for sure.
Through drowsiness I heard a distant whistle from the other bank. It
seemed to come from another life. Still dozing, I wondered how it could
possibly have carried such a distance. The whistle was repeated several
times and each time I wondered drowsily how I had managed to hear it.
Then I heard a chanting voice but could not make out the words. Then
came more whistling and the chanting voice again. I realised that they both
came from one persistent source, and slowly I became aware that the
whistling and chanting were produced by several people together...
"Lorry-is-here!" I felt the words rather than heard them. A stab of
alarm passed through me. I realised that the lorry that was to pick us up
had arrived and the whole group was waiting for me. I grabbed my rod and ran
down from the trunk.
The sun was quite high by now. It was probably about eleven o'clock. I
had quite forgotten the time and now felt embarrassed to have kept so many
people waiting. Besides, I was afraid they would leave without me. I had no
money to pay for the journey back. And when would I pick up a lift anyway?
Without looking for a ford I charged into the water and crossed the
first stream almost at a run. After running across the island I plunged into
the water again. Here the river was broad and shallow. I ran as fast as I
could, trying not to stumble and bruise my legs. I did stumble several
times, but always managed to save myself with the rod.
When quite near the bank, I felt the water growing much deeper. I could
hardly keep on my feet. "What the devil!" I muttered and halted.
The water was only just above my waist, but the current was so strong
that only the rod kept me from being swept away. I regretted that I had not
gone back downstream where I had quite easily forded the river before. At
the same time it was hard to believe that I should not be able to manage the
last five meters to the bank. I took a step forward, putting all my weight
on the rod. The main thing was not to trust your foot until it had found a
firm new foothold. Some of the stones rolled over and moved away with the
current as soon as I trodded on them. The water rose in a hostile flood
around me. And suddenly I realised I could not take a single step because
all my strength was needed to hold on where I was.
I felt fear surging up and sweeping away consciousness at terrifying
speed. And more afraid of this fear than anything else, I tried to forestall
it by action, by leaning into the current and stepping off quickly. The
flood snatched me at once and dragged me down. My body sank into the icy
murk and I swallowed water.
At last I managed to regain the surface and feel the bottom, but the
current carried me away again while out of sheer obstinacy I went on
clutching the rod. I swallowed more water, but this time let go of the rod
as soon as I surfaced, and struck out with all my strength. I was still
being carried along at terrifying speed and could feel my strength failing.
Nevertheless I managed to approach the bank and grab a boulder, though I was
sure I hadn't the strength to pull myself out.
But at least I could rest and get my breath back.
At this moment I saw a hand reaching out from above. I clutched it and
the two of us together hauled my body out on to the bank.
It was Lusik. I felt dizzy and sick, but sitting on the pebbly beach I
slowly recovered.
"I shouted to you," Lusik said, "didn't you hear?"
"No," I said. Perhaps he hadn't seen the whole thing. Perhaps he had
just come down to the bank to give me a hand. I didn't want him to know what
predicament I had been in.
"We had breakfast long ago, the lorry's waiting," Lusik reminded me
patiently.
"All right, just a minute," I said, and stood up with an effort.
I still felt sick from exhaustion. I opened the pocket of my jacket,
pulled out the trout and tossed them on the sand. They were still alive.
When the current had swept me away they had become gloatingly still. Or
perhaps I was imagining it all.
It had been a strange feeling when I was carried away. What a devilish
force, I thought, recalling the vicious persistence of the water as it
dragged me down.
I was longing for a smoke. I put my hand in my pocket but the cigarette
was sodden. I pulled everything out of the pockets, undressed, squeezed out
my pants and vest, then dressed again.
Lusik had threaded the trout on to a twig and was waiting patiently. I
was quite indifferent to them now.
We set off. Lusik took the lead. The heavy bunch of fresh trout dangled
from his hand. The red spots on their backs were still bright. By the time
we started climbing I wanted to carry them myself, but I could hardly keep
up with Lusik.
"Hand over," I said when he stopped to wait for me at a bend.
"It's all right, I'll carry them," Lusik replied.
But I took the bunch all the same. I felt that it would be more proper
for me to appear carrying my own catch, although there would have been no
doubt as to where they were.
When we reached the street, everyone was seated in the lorry. Cheerful
pandemonium broke out as soon as they saw us and hands reached down from the
back to help us in. The student who had been out fishing before us looked
disdainfully at the bunch of trout just to show that no one could surprise
him with fish.
"I lost one," I announced, holding out the catch to somebody.
The bunch was handed round. Everyone was impressed, but when it came
back to me someone said that we had four hours' journey ahead of us and they
would go bad by the time we reached town.
"They'd have made a nice soup for lunch," he added.
"Better fried," someone else suggested.
"Not enough to go round if they were fried," said the other, "but you
could make a good fish soup."
I, too, realised that the journey would be too long, specially in the
heat. Not that they would really go bad, but it would be a pity to bring
this fine bunch of trout to town in a miserable state.
As though sensing my hesitation, a long black pig came up to me. It
stood there waiting with feigned patience to see what I was going to do with
my catch.
"Give it to the restaurant," someone suggested.
I glanced round. The door of the restaurant was open and loud voices
could be heard. I shoved the pig out of my way and walked to the restaurant.
It was deserted except for three Svans who were drinking white wine with
tomatoes and suluguni cheese. They seemed to have drunk quite a lot already.
The bartender was engaged in a quarrel with one of them.
I offered him the bunch of trout. Without noticing me, he took my
catch, carried it off into the kitchen and came back, still berating one of
the drinkers. He just didn't notice me at all. I walked out of the
restaurant and climbed into the lorry.
We moved off. The wet clothes made me shiver, so I stripped down to my
shorts. Someone gave me my rucksack, a big chunk of bread and a mess-tin of
stew. I made myself comfortable on the rucksack and ate my breakfast. The
tin was still hot because they had wrapped it in a sleeping bag. I would
take a bite of bread then, holding the mess-tin in both hands, sip from it,
trying to time every sip with the jolting of the lorry so as not to burn
myself or spill the tasty stew of macaroni and beans. When I had emptied the
tin I felt warmer. Someone gave me a cigarette and I lighted up. Now
everyone had plenty of cigarettes.
The lads decided to sing, but their songs all tailed off because they
didn't know the words. They had grown tired of the songs they did know
during the expedition. But it still sounded jolly.
The lorry rushed down the winding road, hooting and braking at the
bends. The mountains slowly unfolded and on our left the river showed
glittering below a steep drop. It kept narrowing and spreading out again,
dividing and flowing together. In the end I grew tired of it.
Suddenly the lorry plunged into the warm, humid air of Kolkhida.
We continued our descent and all the time I was conscious of the
nearness of the sea, although it was a long time before it actually became
visible.