A BIG CATCH AND NEW PREPARATIONS
One evening, later in the spring, when our rivers were entirely free
from ice, and the banks were covered with green grass and primroses,
Peter came suddenly into our barnyard with: "Quick! Get your spearing
fork! There's fish in the grass."
Without a word, I made several leaps to the barn where my father kept
his fishing implements, snatched a fork, and followed Peter in a race
to the river.
Just before we reached the bank, Peter grabbed hold of my hand. "Be
quiet," he said, softly. "Do you see anything?"
I looked on the slightly waving surface of the river and along the
bank, but could see nothing out of the usual.
Peter let me gaze for a while and then pointing to a small inlet formed
by a curvature of the river, where the water was very shallow and
gradually sloped toward the meadow, whispered: "There!"
My eyes followed the direction of the pointing finger. The grass of
the surrounding meadow was partially under water, only a few inches
projecting above the level. Here something attracted my attention.
It looked like a brown comb moving gently back and forth. "A fin," I
whispered, more to myself than to Peter.
Hardly breathing, we stepped into the water which reached to our knees,
and made our way toward the brown waving comb of the fish. I held the
fork in readiness and tried to keep between the fish and the river.
When we were about three or four steps from the fish, it suddenly threw
itself in our direction, and so swiftly that I had scarcely time
to throw the spear. Then something struck me on the foot and I fell
forward into the water.
"Hurry," screamed Peter. "Help me."
With my face in mud and water, I could not at first understand the
situation. When I arose, however, and had wiped my eyes, I was mad with
excitement and joy. The fish had not reached the stream but was on the
sandy bank, half under water. Peter was pressing his whole body on it,
trying to hold it down. It was a _sazan_, extremely big, weighing at
least fifteen pounds, and it took us more than five minutes to subdue
it and carry it to a dry spot. When this was done I let Peter hold the
fish with his fork while I ran for a sack. In this we carried the fish
home, immensely proud and boastful of our achievement.
When father returned at night, he expressed surprise at the size of
our catch, adding that he had heard that day that the _keta_ were
expected soon. This produced more excitement, for next to bread the
most important food of the Ussuri Cossack is fish, and particularly the
_keta_, a kind of salmon.
When the _keta_ came from the sea at Nikolaievsk, they are very fat but
get thinner as they go up stream, it taking several weeks to make the
journey from the mouth of the river to the source. The Cossacks have to
be very active during the migration, for it lasts only a few days.
But father had still other news for us which brought the excitement to
a climax. He had asked the commander of my brother's garrison to permit
Dimitri to return home to help with the _keta_ fishing!
The day following our big catch, all of the men of our village set
to work patching nets, sharpening their spearing forks, repairing
their boats, while the women cleaned and got ready all the different
necessary vessels from barrels to frying pans. Father had brought as
much salt from the town as possible, but it would only be sufficient
for pickling a part of the fish; the rest would have to be smoked and
dried.
While all the village were thus engaged, two horsemen were seen
approaching. They wore tall fur hats, had swords at their sides, and
guns over their shoulders. Their yellow shoulder straps and the broad
yellow stripes on their wide trousers which were shoved into high
boots, the silver inlaid handles of their _nagaikas_ (Cossack whips),
all indicated that they belonged to one of the active divisions of the
Ussuri Cossacks.
Surprised exclamations of "Mitya!" "Phillip!" "Brother!" "Son!" were
heard. I waved a red handkerchief at them, recognizing Dimitri's
companion as Phillip, a cousin of my chum Peter. When they reached the
village, they leaped lightly from their horses and kissed and embraced
all present, answering as they did so the questions and joshing
remarks hurled at them.
I learned that they had come on a two weeks' leave of absence, and that
even father had not expected them so soon. After the first greeting, he
said reproachfully: "There was no need for you to hurry so fast. You
might have killed the horses. Why, it's only yesterday that I saw you."
"Don't be grouchy, father," said Dimitri. "We walked half of the way.
I am very well aware that a Cossack's first duty is to his horse; his
second to himself." And as if to demonstrate this, he turned to where
I was trying to climb into his saddle and said seriously: "No, Vanka,
don't worry him now. He is too tired. Better loosen his saddle girths,
take off his bridle, and lead him to the stable. Don't forget to put as
much straw as possible under his feet. Don't get on him, or I'll never
let you go near him."
Although discouraged in my expectation of a nice ride, I was
nevertheless proud of my brother and his confidence, and led the horse
to a shed which, as was usual in our village, consisted of three sides
only, the fourth, to the South, being open.
At that moment my mother came running up. She had not seen Dimitri
for more than a year, and she hung herself on his neck, laughing and
weeping with joy.
Then the interrupted work was resumed. Dimitri and Phillip left us to
change their clothes, but soon returned and joined heartily in our
preparations.
Part of the men now waded out into an arm of the river until the water
reached to their breast. Through this arm the fish usually made their
way. Here two fences, separated by a space of about two hundred feet,
were to be built, one to the Russian bank, the opposite one from the
water to an island in the river. First, poles three or four inches
thick, were thrust into the river bottom, about a foot apart, and then
willow twigs interwoven between. The fences were then braced from
behind with posts tied with willow ropes.
When these were finished and the men had come back to shore, a big fire
was kindled. Standing around it, they took off their wet clothes and
hung them on nearby bushes or spread them out in the sun.
Old Skorin then pulled a basket with eatables from under a stone, and
also a bottle containing _vodka_ (brandy), in order, he said, to keep
them from catching cold while standing around naked after their icy
bath. Although their lips were blue and their teeth chattered, they
laughed and joked as they took it. People don't complain of things in
our part of the world.
A decidedly cold wind now began to blow and I was sent to several of
the homes for what clothes I could get. Without, however, waiting for
me to return, they began to spread the fish nets which were lying in
big bundles on the banks.
I soon came back with some dry things for the oldest in the party. For
Skorin, in addition to an old army overcoat, I had a pair of long socks
made of heavy wool by his wife. She had pressed them into my hand at
the last moment, bidding me to be sure to see that her husband put them
on.
Skorin received these with a show of scorn, mingled, however, with a
satisfaction that he could not disguise. "My wife," he said, "is always
worrying about me. If we Cossacks gave in to our wives, we'd all be
very tender-footed." But I saw that he pulled on the socks.
Having performed my commission, I turned to where about four hundred
feet of netting was already hanging on seven foot high poles. Men were
at work on this, tying up broken loops and fixing weights to the lower
parts. Long ropes were fastened to the ends. The work was done with
feverish haste. When my brother and Phillip came running up, another
bundle of nets of about the same size was unrolled, and the two set to
work patching it, putting all the skill that they possessed into the
work. When the call for dinner came at noon, the netting was ready for
use.
Now a difference of opinion arose, some wishing to continue until all
the nets were finished, others contending that after a hearty meal they
could complete the work more quickly. Skorin who despite his age, was
the inspiration of all present, sided with those who wished to remain,
but when some one called his attention to the fact that Dimitri and
Philip had not breakfasted, he surrendered, and we all hurried to our
homes.