The interpreter translated, and again they all began to talk at once.

They jabbered for a long time, and then the dark man jumped up, came to Zhílin, and said: “ Dzhigit Russ, dzhigit Russ! ” ( Dzhigit in their language means “brave.”) And he laughed, and said something to the interpreter, who translated: “One thousand roubles will satisfy him.”

Zhílin stuck to it: “I will not give more than five hundred. And if you kill me you’ll get nothing at all.”

The Tartars talked awhile, then sent the servant out to fetch something, and kept looking, now at Zhílin, now at the door. The servant returned, followed by a stout, barefooted, tattered man, who also had his leg shackled.