{"id":1800,"date":"2014-03-09T19:35:52","date_gmt":"2014-03-09T19:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/?p=1800"},"modified":"2014-03-09T19:37:12","modified_gmt":"2014-03-09T19:37:12","slug":"the-mare-and-raskolnikov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/the-mare-and-raskolnikov","title":{"rendered":"Animal Portrayals in Literature: The Mare and Raskolnikov’s dream."},"content":{"rendered":"

More on:\u00a0Animal Portrayals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crime and Punishment by\u00a0Fyodor Dostoyevsky. PART 1, CHAPTER 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/etc.usf.edu\/lit2go\/182\/crime-and-punishment\/3396\/part-1-chapter-5\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Raskolnikov had a fearful dream [\u2026] A peculiar circumstance attracted his attention: there seemed to be some kind of festivity going on, there were crowds of gaily dressed townspeople, peasant women, their husbands, and riff-raff of all sorts, all singing and all more or less drunk. Near the entrance of the tavern stood a cart, but a strange cart. It was one of those big carts usually drawn by heavy cart-horses and laden with casks of wine or other heavy goods. He always liked looking at those great cart-horses, with their long manes, thick legs, and slow even pace, drawing along a perfect mountain with no appearance of effort, as though it were easier going with a load than without it. But now, strange to say, in the shafts of such a cart he saw a thin little sorrel beast, one of those peasants\u2019 nags which he had often seen straining their utmost under a heavy load of wood or hay, especially when the wheels were stuck in the mud or in a rut. And the peasants would beat them so cruelly, sometimes even about the nose and eyes, and he felt so sorry, so sorry for them that he almost cried, and his mother always used to take him away from the window. All of a sudden there was a great uproar of shouting, singing and the balala\u00efka, and from the tavern a number of big and very drunken peasants came out, wearing red and blue shirts and coats thrown over their shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet in, get in!\u201d shouted one of them, a young thick-necked peasant with a fleshy face red as a carrot. \u201cI\u2019ll take you all, get in!\u201d<\/p>\n

But at once there was an outbreak of laughter and exclamations in the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake us all with a beast like that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy, Mikolka, are you crazy to put a nag like that in such a cart?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this mare is twenty if she is a day, mates!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGet in, I\u2019ll take you all,\u201d Mikolka shouted again, leaping first into the cart, seizing the reins and standing straight up in front. \u201cThe bay has gone with Matvey,\u201d he shouted from the cart\u2014\u201dand this brute, mates, is just breaking my heart, I feel as if I could kill her. She\u2019s just eating her head off. Get in, I tell you! I\u2019ll make her gallop! She\u2019ll gallop!\u201d and he picked up the whip, preparing himself with relish to flog the little mare.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet in! Come along!\u201d The crowd laughed. \u201cD\u2019you hear, she\u2019ll gallop!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGallop indeed! She has not had a gallop in her for the last ten years!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019ll jog along!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you mind her, mates, bring a whip each of you, get ready!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right! Give it to her!\u201d<\/p>\n

They all clambered into Mikolka\u2019s cart, laughing and making jokes. Six men got in and there was still room for more. They hauled in a fat, rosy-cheeked woman. She was dressed in red cotton, in a pointed, beaded headdress and thick leather shoes; she was cracking nuts and laughing. The crowd round them was laughing too and indeed, how could they help laughing? That wretched nag was to drag all the cartload of them at a gallop! Two young fellows in the cart were just getting whips ready to help Mikolka. With the cry of \u201cnow,\u201d the mare tugged with all her might, but far from galloping, could scarcely move forward; she struggled with her legs, gasping and shrinking from the blows of the three whips which were showered upon her like hail. The laughter in the cart and in the crowd was redoubled, but Mikolka flew into a rage and furiously thrashed the mare, as though he supposed she really could gallop.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me get in, too, mates,\u201d shouted a young man in the crowd whose appetite was aroused.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet in, all get in,\u201d cried Mikolka, \u201cshe will draw you all. I\u2019ll beat her to death!\u201d And he thrashed and thrashed at the mare, beside himself with fury.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather, father,\u201d he cried, \u201cfather, what are they doing? Father, they are beating the poor horse!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome along, come along!\u201d said his father. \u201cThey are drunken and foolish, they are in fun; come away, don\u2019t look!\u201d and he tried to draw him away, but he tore himself away from his hand, and, beside himself with horror, ran to the horse. The poor beast was in a bad way. She was gasping, standing still, then tugging again and almost falling.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeat her to death,\u201d cried Mikolka, \u201cit\u2019s come to that. I\u2019ll do for her!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you about, are you a Christian, you devil?\u201d shouted an old man in the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid anyone ever see the like? A wretched nag like that pulling such a cartload,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll kill her,\u201d shouted the third.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t meddle! It\u2019s my property, I\u2019ll do what I choose. Get in, more of you! Get in, all of you! I will have her go at a gallop!…\u201d<\/p>\n

All at once laughter broke into a roar and covered everything: the mare, roused by the shower of blows, began feebly kicking. Even the old man could not help smiling. To think of a wretched little beast like that trying to kick!<\/p>\n

Two lads in the crowd snatched up whips and ran to the mare to beat her about the ribs. One ran each side.<\/p>\n

\u201cHit her in the face, in the eyes, in the eyes,\u201d cried Mikolka.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive us a song, mates,\u201d shouted someone in the cart and everyone in the cart joined in a riotous song, jingling a tambourine and whistling. The woman went on cracking nuts and laughing.<\/p>\n

… He ran beside the mare, ran in front of her, saw her being whipped across the eyes, right in the eyes! He was crying, he felt choking, his tears were streaming. One of the men gave him a cut with the whip across the face, he did not feel it. Wringing his hands and screaming, he rushed up to the grey-headed old man with the grey beard, who was shaking his head in disapproval. One woman seized him by the hand and would have taken him away, but he tore himself from her and ran back to the mare. She was almost at the last gasp, but began kicking once more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll teach you to kick,\u201d Mikolka shouted ferociously. He threw down the whip, bent forward and picked up from the bottom of the cart a long, thick shaft, he took hold of one end with both hands and with an effort brandished it over the mare.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll crush her,\u201d was shouted round him. \u201cHe\u2019ll kill her!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my property,\u201d shouted Mikolka and brought the shaft down with a swinging blow. There was a sound of a heavy thud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrash her, thrash her! Why have you stopped?\u201d shouted voices in the crowd.<\/p>\n

And Mikolka swung the shaft a second time and it fell a second time on the spine of the luckless mare. She sank back on her haunches, but lurched forward and tugged forward with all her force, tugged first on one side and then on the other, trying to move the cart. But the six whips were attacking her in all directions, and the shaft was raised again and fell upon her a third time, then a fourth, with heavy measured blows. Mikolka was in a fury that he could not kill her at one blow.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a tough one,\u201d was shouted in the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019ll fall in a minute, mates, there will soon be an end of her,\u201d said an admiring spectator in the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cFetch an axe to her! Finish her off,\u201d shouted a third.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll show you! Stand off,\u201d Mikolka screamed frantically; he threw down the shaft, stooped down in the cart and picked up an iron crowbar. \u201cLook out,\u201d he shouted, and with all his might he dealt a stunning blow at the poor mare. The blow fell; the mare staggered, sank back, tried to pull, but the bar fell again with a swinging blow on her back and she fell on the ground like a log.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinish her off,\u201d shouted Mikolka and he leapt beside himself, out of the cart. Several young men, also flushed with drink, seized anything they could come across\u2014whips, sticks, poles, and ran to the dying mare. Mikolka stood on one side and began dealing random blows with the crowbar. The mare stretched out her head, drew a long breath and died.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou butchered her,\u201d someone shouted in the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t she gallop then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy property!\u201d shouted Mikolka, with bloodshot eyes, brandishing the bar in his hands. He stood as though regretting that he had nothing more to beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo mistake about it, you are not a Christian,\u201d many voices were shouting in the crowd.<\/p>\n

But the poor boy, beside himself, made his way, screaming, through the crowd to the sorrel nag, put his arms round her bleeding dead head and kissed it, kissed the eyes and kissed the lips\u2026. Then he jumped up and flew in a frenzy with his little fists out at Mikolka. At that instant his father, who had been running after him, snatched him up and carried him out of the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome along, come! Let us go home,\u201d he said to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather! Why did they\u2026 kill\u2026 the poor horse!\u201d he sobbed, but his voice broke and the words came in shrieks from his panting chest. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos:<\/p>\n

Image 1:\u00a0Only picture of a live Tarpan, taken in\u00a0Russia: a stallion caught in 1866,\u00a0http:\/\/www.examiner.com\/article\/a-wild-horse-recreated-the-tarpan-aka-heck-horse<\/a><\/p>\n

Image 2:\u00a0Paolo Troubetzkoy<\/a>, A Moscow Cabdriver [and “his” Horse] …<\/p>\n

Crime and Punishment was published 1866.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Links: 9. March 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More on:\u00a0Animal Portrayals. Crime and Punishment by\u00a0Fyodor Dostoyevsky. PART 1, CHAPTER 5 http:\/\/etc.usf.edu\/lit2go\/182\/crime-and-punishment\/3396\/part-1-chapter-5\/ Raskolnikov had a fearful dream [\u2026] A peculiar circumstance attracted his attention: there seemed to be some kind of festivity going on, there were crowds of gaily dressed townspeople, peasant women, their husbands, and riff-raff of all sorts, all singing and all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[117],"tags":[118,30],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1800"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1800"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1804,"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1800\/revisions\/1804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simorgh.de\/niceswine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}