In the fall, I wandered around the fields with a gun. Shallow and cold rain made me seek refuge. From an ancient old man who was guarding a pea field, I recognized the road to the nearest village. Finally, I reached a large village with a stone church. I headed for the biggest hut, assuming that it was the headman’s dwelling, but found an office there. A man of about 50 years old came to me, fat, short, with a bull neck, bulging eyes and very round cheeks. For a fee, the fat man agreed to shelter me and led me into the next room. I learned from him that this is the estate of Elena Nikolaevna Losnyakova.
Soon the office clerk brought me tea. He said that the fat man is the chief clerk. In addition to him, another 6 people work in the office. The estate has a bermistra and a headman from the Germans, but the lady runs everything. The office writes orders and orders for the bermistra and headman, which is signed only by Losnyakova.
I fell asleep. After about 2 hours I woke up and heard voices in the office behind the partition. The chief clerk, Nikolai Yeremeich, was bargaining with some merchant. From the conversation I realized that before making a deal with the lady, the merchants pay a bribe to the chief clerk. Nikolai Yeremeich also took a “quitrent” from the peasants, and for this sent them to good jobs. Thinking that I was sleeping, they secretly discussed their affairs.
A noise was heard on the porch and a short man entered the office with an unusually long nose, large fixed eyes and a proud posture. He carried a bundle of firewood, yard people crowded around him. From their screams, I learned that the man was called Cupri. He used to be a tailor with a lady. She released Cupru on free bread, but because of unhappy love, he returned and became a stoker, for which the entire nobility mocked him.
Nikolai Yeremeich was called to the lady. Suddenly a loud voice was heard and a tall, angry man came in, neatly dressed, with a wrong but expressive and bold face named Pavel. He was looking for the chief clerk. When Nikolai Yeremeich returned, Paul demanded that he leave alone his bride Tatyana. The chief clerk slandered the girl, she was transferred to dishwashers and forbidden to marry. Pavel was a medical assistant, and Nikolai took revenge on him due to unsuccessful treatment. He was also at enmity with Paul’s father.
Yeremeich said that the lady would have to choose one of them. Pavel rushed at Eremeich with his fists. A week later, I found out that Losnyakova kept both Pavel and Nikolai, and exiled Tatyana.
