Taras Bulba Page #3

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I'm not afraid of anything, my daughter.

I'm just worried about you.

But believe me, we will disband them.

And punish them severely.

They are coming !

Attack !

Be ready !

More wood.

Be ready !

They're so many.

At my command !

Be ready !

Darling, you have to go.

We will have to fight.

This is no place for you.

Go.

Attaque !

Obey !

Fire !

Fire at will !

Fire !

Pistol !

Aida...

...in the storm !!

Almost there !

Your hand !

Andriy, Andriy, hold on !

Sound retreat !

No use in wasting our forces.

This is nothing, brothers,

we are beating a retreat,

but let me turn into a barbarian

and not a good Christian,

if we allow a single one

to stay alive in that city !

Let them starve to death, those dogs !

We will besiege the city

and not even a mouse will pass through !

Help me undress then you may dispose.

All right, mistress.

- Good night.

- Good night.

What's going on, mistress ?

Nothing, I dropped my comb.

Did you see me ?

Yes.

Nobody has ever seen me like this.

Go away !

Tell me, who are you ?

I think I saw you before.

Yes, in Kiev.

In Kiev ?

You're a Tatar ! You're the servant...

- to the Voyvod's daughter ! ()

() Duke

Hush !

So tell me, how is she ?

Is she still alive ?

She's here, in the city.

In the city ?

And why is she in this city ?

Because the old master is here too.

He's Voyvod of the city of Dubna.

Is she married ?

Well, answer me !

She has eaten nothing all day.

Why ?

There's no bread anymore.

People are eating dust.

She said ! go ask the knight,

if he remembers me, to come see me,

and if not, to give bread for my mother.

He too has a mother.

He might be willing to help us.

The Polacks killed my mother.

But how did you manage to come here ?

How did you do ?

The underground passage.

There is a passage ?

Yes.

Come with me.

For God's sake, bread...

Now.

Stay here, close to the cart.

No, sit down. Everyone sleeps.

Nobody will see you.

I'm going, now.

Keep your sodding...

Let's go.

Andriy !

You're with a woman !

It's much better that way.

Women waiting at home, it's no good.

It's no good.

Come on.

Hurry, hurry up.

Because of the famine, we have eaten

everything :
horses, dogs, cats.

You wouldn't even find a mouse.

How do they intend to defend the city ?

The Voyvod was ready to surrender,

but we heard yesterday morning

that a colonel is arriving from Warsaw,

with reinforcements.

May God reward you.

Me, I'm just a weak woman.

Easy, don't eat too fast.

You haven't eaten for so long

that bread would be like poison to you !

Princess...

What do you want ?

What do you need ?

Your wish is my command.

Ask me what you want, even if it's the most

impossible thing in the world, and I'll do it.

Command me to do what

no man can do, and I'll do it.

Why are you so sad ?

Why are you so sad ?

Fate is so cruel. My life was but

excess and abundance,

and all this for what ?

Dying a death that not even

the poorest in the kingdom will suffer ?

And never knowing the love that

I've always been dreaming of ?

Holy Virgin, forgive my sins.

You will not.

You won't die,

you won't die.

On my family, I swear it.

You will not die.

And if it comes that neither force

nor prayer can prevent our death,

then we shall die together.

But I'll die first.

For being without you is being dead already.

Do not lie, knight.

Not to yourself, no to me.

I know that you may not love me.

You talk of fathers, comrades, motherland...

And to you, we are the enemy.

And what is a father ?

Comrades ?

Motherland ?

Nobody dictates what I should believe.

Nobody. Nobody !

Who said that Ukraine is my motherland ?

Who offered it to me as a motherland ?

Motherland is what our soul is longing for,

what's most precious in the world to it.

Here is my motherland.

You are my motherland.

And I shall hold this

motherland in my heart.

I shall hold it as long as I live.

And nobody, even a Cossack,

will ever take it away from me.

For such a motherland,

I'd give everything,

I'd sell everything,

I'd break everything.

Did you see Andriy ?

No.

- Maybe he's been captures.

- No, not Andriy.

But he's not among the dead.

Have another look at all of them !

See, brothers, what happened last night !

All these dead drunk morons !

Not surprising that half are dead,

and the other half captured !

What a shame in front of our enemy !

Allow me, chief ?

Your reproaches are not truly justified.

Cossacks would be to blame

and would deserve death

should they be drunk while

marching, fighting or working.

But we were sitting idle,

taking walks here and

there in front of the city.

Did we not behave as Christians

through fast and abstinence ?

But if we don't have anything to do,

why couldn't we be drinking ?

Bulba's eldest son has spoken well !

And this is not a sin !

And we are going to show them now

what it means to attack

defenseless people.

They have been hitting hard before, but we'll

hurt them so deeply that they won't get over it.

Master !

Colonel !

Master colonel !

I've been in the city.

Did the enemy take you there ?

When I heard the noise, when

the Cossacks started to shoot,

I ran toward the city gate, just when

the Polish troops were coming in.

A the head of the troops

was Lieutenant Galyandowicz.

He's been owing me one

hundred crowns for three years.

I followed him to get my money back,

and I entered in the city.

What, you ? Entered in the city ?

And you wanted to get back your debt ?

And he didn't hang you as a dog ?!

Yes ! He wanted to !

He put a rope around my

neck, but I begged him,

and I promised I'd lend him more money.

And since the Lieutenant doesn't have

a single penny in his pocket,

he can't sit at the Diet ().

() Polish parliament.

And what have you been doing in the city ?

Did you see our men ?

Of course !

Itska, and Samuel, and Rafael...

To hell with them !

I'm talking about Cossacks !

Uh-uh, Cossacks...

I saw...

master Andriy.

You saw him ?

Andriy ?

But how ?

And where did you see him ?

In a basement ?

In a pit ?

Dishonoured ?

Chained ?

No, who would dare chain master Andriy ?

This majestic...

knight ?

God knows I hadn't recognized him...

with his golden epaulets,

his golden cuffs,

his golden hat...as a matter of

fact, everything was golden.

And a golden belt,

gold everywhere.

And the Voyvod gave him a horse.

A horse worth two hundred crowns alone.

That's it.

But why would he wear such a disguise ?

He passed over.

Passed where ?

He's passed over to their side.

He's one of them now.

You're lying, bastard !

And why would I lie to you ?

I know a Jew can get hanged from a tree

like a dog, should he lie to a master.

Then, if it was him, you think,

did he deny his motherland, his faith ?

No, no, no, I never said he did !

I only said that he

passed over to their side.

You lie, damn Jew !

Such a thing is unthinkable

in a Christian country !

You lie, dog !

Let grass not grow on my threshold,

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