Happy People: A Year in the Taiga Page #5

Even those people who are kind-hearted

and tend to pity everything.

Why? it's very simple.

A farmer keeps a pig...

but he knows in advance

What he keeps it for.

In order to kill it

and to eat it or sell its meat.

And even the person who is sorry about

all this buys the pork from him.

And the trapper

is the same as that pig farmer...

only he is- how would you say it-

more honest.

Actually, it's not even about honesty.

This man knowingly raises-

I used to raise cattle, and I could

never bring myself to slaughter them.

Because there is, say, a bull.

You raise him for two years.

It comes to you expecting you to show

affection or give it some treat...

and instead he gets a

bullet in the head.

In the taiga, the Wild animal knows that

no good can come from me, from a man.

He tries to escape.

Here, it's about who outsmarts whom.

Hundreds of kilometers away

is Anatoly's hut.

He Is In the middle

of his trapping season.

While we see

that he has no shortage of fish...

it is conspicuous how little

he gives his dog for breakfast.

It all depends on how a man

treats his dog.

Some guys almost eat

from the same bowl with the dog...

and allow it to sleep

with him on the bunk.

But for one think it's wrong.

Don't allow my dog in

even when it's very cold outside.

He has his katukh, his shelter.

Think all he needs is to be fed.

He should eat his fill in the evening,

but not too much in the morning...

so his belly doesn't

drag on the ground.

Trappers make a big mistake when they

beat their dogs for touching the traps.

Of course you have to punish them

and show your displeasure...

but beating alone

won't keep a dog off the traps.

It comes to be afraid of the owner.

It stays clear of the trap

in the presence of the owner...

but when the owner looks away, or at

night, he is sure to steal the bait.

And if it's afraid of the trap,

then it will stay away.

It's easy to train them.

You set up a trap specifically for dogs.

Let it spend some time in the trap...

and realize that it's not

a pleasant experience.

Otherwise, it will be endless trouble

for the hunter...

and he won't get along with his dog.

It will be afraid of

him and sneak out at

night to make the

rounds of the traps...

and waste the hunter's efforts.

In short, you'll have no end of trouble

with your dog.

If you do it right, your dog loves you

and it's afraid of the traps.

What more do you need?

The snowmobile is another one of the few

modern conveniences they employ;...

but, In this terrain, it has its limits.

Continuing his rounds on skis...

he resembles prehistoric man

from a distand' Ice age.

Day In, day out - it is the same routine

of hard work In severe conditions.

But out here,

the trapper is one of the fem.

to witness the beauty of space,

cold' and silence.

Imagine, after being exhausted

at the end of a hard day...

you are coming home to this.

In the little remaining daylight, he

cannot possible return to his main hut

His only recourse is to fix this one.

Because Anatoly spent much of the next

day repairing his outlying nut..

It takes him until nightfall

to find' his way back to his base hut.

It is the last day of December..

and unusually mild'

at 33 degrees below zero.

Anatoly like all the other trappers...

will return to the village

for New Year's E I've.

The voyage is 750 kilometers

along the frozen river...

and we should note that Anatoly's dog

never rides on the snowmobile.

He covers the entire distance

running behind

At night', he is still running.

Finally, the village of Bakhtia

comes into view

And here comes the dog.

The dog must be hungry!

Of course he is.

He hasn't eaten for over a day.

Hey, come here.

For Gennady and all of them,

this is a happy return.

Christmas Is celebrated In Russia

on January 6.

The entire village participates.

The stay for the trappers

will be a short' one.

After a few days and nights...

they will return to the taiga

for the remaining months of winter

This is the life they love.

Well, we're alone again.

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