"First Artistic Association" "For all those who survived, those who did not, and those who will come after..." "Mikhail SHOLOKHOV" "THEY FOUGHT FOR THEIR MOTHERLAND" "Honored Artist of the RSFSR Vassily SHUKSHIN" " Pyotr Lopakhin" "People's Artist of the USSR Vyacheslav TIKHONOV" " Nikolai Streltsov" "People's Artist of the USSR Sergey BONDARCHUK" " Ivan Zvyagintsev" "Geogry BURKOV - Alexander Kopytovsky" "People's Artist of the USSR Yuri NIKULIN" " Private Nekrasov" "People's Artist of the RSFSR Ivan LAPIKOV" " Sergeant Poprischenko" "Honored Artist of the RSFSR Nikolai GUBENKO" " Lieutenant Goloschyokov" "Andrei ROSTOTSKY - Lance-corporal Kochetygov" "Nikolai VOLKOV - Private Nikiforov" "Honored Artist of the Ukr." "SSR - Nikolai SHUTKO" " Cook Lisichenko" "Screen Adaptation and Direction by Sergey BONDARCHUK" "Director of Photography Vadim YUSOV" "Production Designer Felix YASYUKEVICH" "Music by Vyacheslav OVCHINNIKOV" "Director Vladimir DOSTAL" "Also starring Yevgeny SAMOILOV, Nonna MORDYUKOVA" "Innokenty SMOKTUNOVSKY" "Angelina STEPANOVA, Irina SKOBTSEVA Tatyana BOZHOK, Lydia FEDOSEYEVA" "July 1942" "Hey, it's time for a halt, isn't it?" "You said it." "Since morning we've marched 25 miles at least." "I'd love a drink of cold spring water." "Half a bucketful for every man here." "Regiment!" "Forward march!" "The war had reached even this remote farm lost in the vast steppes near the river Don." "You drink that water like you read your son's letters." "You read a little bit, then you put it away to read more later." "As for me, I don't like to drag things out." "I just haven't got the patience." "Give me the bucket, or you'll get swollen." "Nikolai, the only letters you get are from your son." "I never saw you with one from your wife." "Are you a widower?" "I've got no wife." "We're separated." "When did it happen?" "About a year ago." "I see..." "Who has the children, you or her?" "You have two, don't you?" "Their mother's got them." "So you've left your wife, Nikolai?" "No." "It was she who walked out on me." "The very first day of the war..." "I got home... after a business trip and found that she had gone." "She left only a note, and that's all." "The bitch." "Had she found herself another guy?" "I don't know." "Chances are she had." "There's just no understanding women." "You're a good-looking man after all." "You had a good income as an agronomist." "What the hell did she want?" "Did she think about the kids?" "Petya, let me have a smoke." "Have you been to the medics?" "I have." " So how is it?" " Nothing doing." " Then why'd you go over?" " Looking for anyone I knew." "There's one pretty little doctor there." "Couldn't you get to her?" " I didn't even try to." " Oh, don't give me that!" "I spotted you shining your shoes and polishing that medal of yours." "But, of course, some of those wounded have snappy medals too." "You nut!" "I told you that wasn't why I went there." "Can't a man be just curious?" "With the crud you cook, nobody's interested in sex." "Boy, I've lost so much weight, I haven't had a wet dream lately." "Me neither." "You're rolling that thick enough to choke a mule, take it easy, eh?" "Half of that will be plenty." "I don't know how to roll 'em any finer when it's your tobacco." " Take some out!" " No, no, it's fine like this." "I'll bet it is, with my tobacco." "I roll 'em a bit finer when it's my own tobacco." "What are you dreaming about, hero?" "My dreams are glum." "Like that crap you feed us." "Petya Lopakhin!" "I hope you slept well last night, dear Mister Streltsov?" "Talk with the cook, my head's gonna split." "I see." "Depressed on account of our retreat, this heat and your headache." "Let's go swimming, Kolia, we'll have to start out soon." "Hi." "So that's you, fop!" "Come on for a swim with us." "We'll get some of that crap off you." "Now that's what I call a tractor, Nikolai!" "It's got real power!" "Did you see that thing it's pulling?" "Well, this engine could pull three combines at once, on my word!" "Go ahead, start 'er up!" "He's gonna be here all day, let's go." "Nekrasov, why aren't you swimming?" "I've got malaria." "You're in a bad mood today, Nikolai." "How come?" "I don't see any good reason to be happy." "You don't see any reason?" "You're alive, aren't you?" "And that's a good reason." "Just take a look at that sunshine." "It's bliss!" "I'm surprised at you: you're an old soldier, been fighting for a year now." "And you still have emotions, like a brand new recruit." "You think just because we caught hell once, it's the end?" "The end of the world?" "The end of the war?" "Lopakhin, you're the kind of optimist that should've been a preacher." "I notice you even went down to the medical station." "You should have come with me." "There's a lady doctor down there, Kolia, she's a lieutenant." "She's the best medicine there is..." "Take my word for it!" "She's got all you could ask for and a little extra." "She's just something!" "She's not a woman, she's a six-tube rocket launcher!" "And probably even more dangerous for us, not to speak about the commanders." "One thing is clear to me:" "this is a catastrophe!" "A catastrophe of the size we don't know anything about." "But it's easy enough to guess." "We've been marching five days." "Toward the Don." "And then Stalingrad." "Our regiment's been walloped good." "And what about the others?" "About the whole army?" "It's "pull back, pull back"." "When do we stop pulling back?" "And you say: "Be happy, you're alive." "The sun's shining, flowers around."" "I'm sick of all your flowers!" "And I see no reason to keep my tail between my legs like a whipped dog." "Sure we've been rumpled up." "Serves us right, we should fight better." "I'll tell you this: if you have to cry, do it someplace else, will you?" " I'm all out of sympathy." " I don't want your consolation." "Nor I need your lectures." "But can you tell me..." " When are we gonna learn how to fight?" " We'll learn right here." "We'll learn it here in the steppes!" "I get so mad I feel like a red-hot coal!" "You could spit on me and you'd see the spit boiling!" "I feel ready to explode!" "Jump in here, or I'll come get you!" "You bowlegged freak, I'll show you how to dive!" "What have you guys got there, in your bundle?" "Crayfish!" "Where'd you find 'em?" "Over by the dam." "The water's like ice there!" " Did you get many?" " Near a hundred, but they're not big." "Too many for just you two!" "Listen, I'll get a bucket and a little salt." "Is it a deal?" "It's a deal!" "Hey!" "Good day and good health to you." "Grandma, have you got a bucket you could lend us?" "And a little salt?" "We caught some crayfish we want to cook." " You want salt?" " Yes." "I wouldn't even give you this manure." "And certainly not salt!" "Good heavens!" "What'd we do to deserve an answer like that?" "You don't know what you've done?" "You should be ashamed to look at me!" "Where are you running to?" "In a hurry to get across the Don?" "And who is going to fight?" "Perhaps you want us old folk to defend you from the Germans?" "You abandon the people without any shame or conscience!" "So you want salt, do you?" "Go beg the Germans for salt!" "I won't give you any!" "Get out of here!" "You can scold just like my mother." "You're not worth even a scolding." "What did you get that medal for, catching crayfish?" "You'd better not touch my medal, Grandma." "It doesn't concern you." "Everything concerns me, my dear soldier." "I've worked like a dog all my life, paid all my taxes." "Did I support the government for me to see you now running like jackrabbits, leaving the country to be destroyed?" " Do you understand it?" " I know all that without you." " But you've got it all wrong." " I'm telling you what I know." "You're too young to teach me." "If your own boy was at the front now, You wouldn't say all that." "If my boy was at the front?" "Go ask around, they'll tell you." "I've got my three boys and a son-in-law out fighting." "And my fourth, youngest, boy was killed defending Sevastopol." "You're a stranger around here, or I wouldn't even bother talking to you." "But if my sons came back here, I wouldn't let them on the place." "I'd greet 'em with a broom handle across the head and tell them right to their faces:" "Are you fighting a war?" "Then do it right, you scoundrels!" "Don't drag the enemy after you across the whole country." "Do not shame your old mother!" "Sorry, grandma." "I'm sorry." "She's made her point." "Hey, soldier!" "Wait." "Be sure you bring back the bucket." "Well, we're not too proud, we might as well take it." "Thank you, grandma." "Thank you." "There was that little old lady up there." "Man, could she talk!" "Her sons are in the army." "When she saw a soldier, she couldn't do enough for me, offered me cream." " And you turned it down?" " What d'ya take me for, a bum?" "Eat the old lady's last food?" " Depends on what she looked like." " Better tell us about your old lady!" " Leave my old lady out of it." " You should've taken it, Lopakhin." "You can take the bucket back." "Then you ask her for the cream." "Oh, that aroma is great!" "I'm so famished I feel like diving in." "What this calls for is beer..." "Nice and cold!" "They should put tarps on those wagons, they're gonna roast in this heat." "Just like being in a restaurant!" "In Rostov, at the hotel Intourist." "The smell of crayfish boiling in herbs." "They're good enough even without beer." "Look, they're cooked fine now." "Why the hell is that convoy rolling in the daytime?" "It's open country." "They're dead ducks if planes catch them out here." "Something must have happened if they're retreating." "And the sappers stopped hammering and digging." "So much for our gourmet feast." "Bloody hell!" "Comrades!" "We've received an order:" "We are to dig in on the ridge up above the farm, near the crossroads." "Our mission is to hold until the reinforcements arrive." "You all got that?" "Our battalions have been badly mauled lately." "But they didn't get our regiment's banner." "We shall keep the regiment's honor too!" "We must hold at all costs." "Going into combat with the banner is one thing, but retreating with it..." "Think we'll be able to hold 'em?" "We must." "That's not the ground, that's murder." "Is it worth all the trouble, Kolia?" "Bet your ass." "You'd need dynamite, not a shovel, to make a hole in this." "I calculate that since I got to this front" "I've dug at least as much earth as a bulldozer could in a season." "Can anyone calculate the salary we'd get paid as civilians?" "Stop wasting your energy talking!" "Zvyagintsev!" "Get to work!" "How do you like it, Kolia?" "Son of a bitch!" "Now we can expect guests." "Kochetygov!" "Dig deeper!" "Make it like Maiboroda's!" "Camouflage it with some brush." "Aim at the side, Makar!" "Here we go now!" "Damn thing's jammed." "Come on!" "Kochetygov!" "Wait till they're closer!" "We stopped the bastards!" "They thought they'd take us straight off, but we stopped them." "Let them come back and we'll smash 'em again." "Split 'em!" "Hurray!" "Charge!" "Forward!" "Hurray!" "Kolia!" "Boys!" "Go get 'em, boys!" "Forward!" "Show those bastards!" "For the Motherland!" "Forward!" "A precious thing." "Well, combine operator?" "Forget it, you won't have enough figures to estimate the damages." "Such good wheat all wasted." "Damn those Kraut bastards!" "Kolia Streltsov, before they evacuated him to the hospital, told me to be your nursemaid." "He said, "Keep an eye on Zvyagintsev, or he'll get killed by his stupidity."" "So I'll be taking care of you." "How about a cracker?" "I'll take one." "Here, take two." "God, what a waste!" "Stop torturing yourself." "Stop mumbling all the time, talk to me." "You hear me?" "No mumbling to yourself from now on!" "I forbid you to do those foolish things." " You're not my chief to give orders." " You're wrong, pal." "I've been designated your chief." "And for the time being you must not contradict me, but on the contrary, try to please me in every way." "How come you're now my chief?" "Because I've got a brain, which is more than I can say for you." "Our regiment has been smashed to just shreds." "If we keep on fighting with so much enthusiasm, the regiment will be reduced to exactly three: us and cook Lisichenko." "And since there're only three of us," "I'd end up as commander." "I'll designate you my chief of staff, so you'd better be good to me." "You can't be a commander." "Why not?" "To command a regiment takes a serious and independent man." "So you think I'm a fool?" "You talk too much and you brag." "Have you ever had any trouble at all, Lopakhin?" " I've got lots of trouble now, why?" " You sure don't let it show." "I don't see any point in making a big issue of it." "What kind of troubles do you have?" "Same as everybody else in these times." "My home town must be occupied, and my wife and father are still there." "And Germans have got the mine where I worked since I was a kid." "Then there's all the buddies I've lost forever." "See what I mean?" "You see what kind of a man you are, Lopakhin?" "Here you are with all these troubles and all you do is tell jokes." "Nikolai Streltsov was what I call a really serious man." "He was a man who really respected me." "And it was mutual." "Even his wife left him because he was too serious." "Oh?" "And what are you?" "A miner, with a lump of coal for a soul." "You've got no talent for anything but coal." "And you're a lousy shooter..." "You're a shallow man." "You're fine on the outside, but nothing inside." "Anti-tank gunner, that's a serious job." "Not for a guy with your character, and your character, Petya..." "Hey!" "What's wrong with you?" "Come on, turn around the other way, you warrior!" "I guess I started to doze off, Petya." "Doze off?" "You were out, like an old gelding in harness." "You may be strong as a horse, but you can't fight off sleep." "That's true." "I can go to sleep again while marching on." "If you see my head dropping down like that, do me a favor, hit me on the back, and hit hard, or I won't feel it." "That I'll do with pleasure, a rifle bang right in the butt." "Here, have a smoke." "Nothing like a cigarette to chase the cobwebs." "I can't stand to see you looking so bushed." "Man, you look just like them..." "even worse." "There's only enough for one here." "Take it back, I don't want to rob you." "We're in great shape, scrimping on tobacco like this, eh?" "Don't argue, light up." "Go ahead." "Give it to me." "I'll have a couple of drags." "Smoke, Vanya." "Enjoy it." "Man, what a view I have here!" ""Join the army and see the world!"" "Petya, let me give you a hand." "It's unbecoming for the commander- to be to dig holes in the ground." "Please help me, Vanya, help me." "From here, we can really nail the bastards." "We'll mow 'em down!" "You will see." "I'll blast them to bits!" "You sound very brave now." "And yesterday, when the tanks were coming, you turned as pale as death." "Is that true, Petya?" "I always get pale when things get dangerous." "Sasha, give me a cartridge, give me a cartridge!" "As if I don't know what to do." "He was as nervous as a lady." "Hey, Ivan the terrible!" "You're just scratching the surface, like an old man." "In digging, like in making love, one's got to go as deep as he can." "You've got to get below the surface!" "But you're all surface, Vanya." "That's why your wife doesn't write, she has nothing to remember you by." "Oh, Vanya, Vanya, you fucking jerk..." "My goodness, Petya, what a dirty mouth you've got." "You shouldn't swear so much." "Your ears pricked up like a hound dog." "You smell something?" "Listen, Sasha, stay here and garrison the fort." "I'm gonna take a peek around in that barnyard there." " What for?" " A reconnaissance mission." "In case the sergeant or anybody else asks for me, tell them I had cramps." "Tell them I couldn't wait, I've been having the runs." "I may even have caught dysentery." "Glasha!" "Hey, girls, look at the handsome soldier come to visit." "Glasha!" "Drat it, girl, I'm still waiting for you to bring the mare around!" "Don't worry, Luka Mikhailych, you'll get across the Don in time." "Hi there!" " I'm Pyotr Lopakhin!" " Hello and welcome." "What is this place, a collective farm's stable?" "No, it's our dairy farm." "We're getting ready to retreat..." "If they fight here, they'll blow up everything in sight." "Yeah, looks like your farm is gonna be the center of the action." "But we'll do our best to hold the line." "God help you!" "Say, can you spare any fresh milk, or maybe a little butter?" "You should ask our farm's manager." "She's over there, the freckled one." " What's your job around here?" " I'm a stable-man." "I've been working here 3 years now." "I do all the odd jobs." "They even promised me a bonus this year." "I hear you're a boss here, Glasha." "The prettiest boss I ever saw." "Like cream to a man that's starving." "And with my appetite," "I could eat you right up!" "I give you my word!" "Chew you to pieces and swallow you." "I wouldn't even need mustard." " I'll do I guess..." " Now, now, don't be modest." "You're a pretty thing, Glasha, too bad you're not mine." "Tell me what made you so big and gorgeous?" "Is it all the fresh milk you drink?" "Stop that!" "Grab that pail and come on." "You'll get butter later." "I can come get the butter later?" "When?" "You better watch out." "Or you'll get this." "Oh, that scares me!" "So we'll fight?" "Come here!" "What do you want?" "I'm going to yell!" "Glasha!" "What's keeping you so long?" "Your skirt got caught in the ice box?" "Get up here now!" "And go bring me that mare right away!" "Are you going across the Don or you staying?" "I'm interested just in case." "We're leaving right now, soldier." "Maybe you'll go along too?" "No, our paths go different ways for the time being." "But if we're to meet again, where can I find you, Glasha?" "I don't see why you'd want to come and find me." "But, if you really wanted to see me very badly, look in the forest across the Don." "We won't go far away from the farm." "I gotcha!" "Well, I'll go, Sasha, huh?" " Don't." "The sergeant will be mad." " I wouldn't go." "But I'm doomed to." "Oh, Glasha..." "I could stay with her the rest of my life under a cow's belly, just squeezing the udders." "The cow's or hers?" "It doesn't matter." "Be seeing you." "It'd be a sin not to accept butter." " We must not leave it to the enemy!" " I'll buy that, go get the butter!" "Air raid!" "I'm returning you your portrait," "I'm not asking for your love..." "They got one!" "That one's got a serious stuffing!" "There you go!" "If only those ack-ack devils would shoot like that all the time!" "Gimme a shell!" "Here you go!" "They're coming for us." "Dive bombers, they'll be firing now." "Here they come!" "Three craft, four..." "Fire!" "Gimme a shell!" "Get that bastard!" "Get him!" "Gimme a shell!" "What's the matter, Petya?" "You asleep or something?" "Are you hit?" " Petya!" " Lay off, Sasha!" "That's one shit that won't be bothering us!" "One kraut less." "That's how we'd beat them!" "You got him sure enough, no two ways about it." "All right, at ease." "Lopakhin, the lieutenant wants you!" "Nice going, Lopakhin!" "You see how I got him?" "There he was on his hands and knees, shaking his head and asking," ""Fedya, am I still alive?"" "And his eyes nearly popped out from fright." "And he smelled like a compost heap." "I guess he was so scared that..." "Nekrasov?" "You alive?" "What could happen to me?" "Well, congratulations!" "How'd you shoot him down?" "Here." " Have a drink." " What about you?" "Go ahead, drink." "Thanks a lot." "Was it your first plane?" "First one." "The lieutenant-colonel phoned about who it was that shot that plane down." " You'll probably get a decoration." " Great idea!" "I'm all for it." "You can go now." "We must prepare for a new attack soon." "Tell Borzykh..." "That'll be a hard fight." "They don't know there are so few of us." "They think we're a whole division." "You've got nice belts." "It's gonna be a hot day." "So keep your eyes open!" "We've got to hold this bridgehead till the army has crossed the Don." "Hey, you Siberian!" "Are you immune to bombs?" "I'm not worried, I can only be killed once." "Don't you have your Siberian dumplings to treat me to?" "For that, go to see my wife in Omsk." "What's today?" "It's Sunday." "On Sundays, she always makes dumplings." "Why don't you drop in on her?" "No, that's a long way to go." "I'd better do without dumplings." "Yes..." "A long way to go." "Too long." "Don't just sit there, Lopakhin, give me some tobacco." "Tobacco?" " Already smoked all yours?" " Of course not." "The other guy's tastes sweeter." "Come on, don't be stingy." "There..." "If I'd shot a plane down, I'd be offering tobacco right and left." "The lieutenant said that you'd keep your eyes wide open." "He's a pretty sharp guy." "You know what he thinks?" "That we'll be the first to be hit by the tanks." "They can group behind those hills up there and be out of sight." "They can jump up like ghosts." "Well!" "The lieutenant said, "I'm counting on Borzykh and on you, Lopakhin."" "So we must hold on, Akim." "He's right to think he can count on us." "We're all combat veterans, most of us are Communists, and the lieutenant's okay." "He's a good guy." "We will hold on, but will those boys on our flanks hold?" "There's a lot more of them, they'll hold." "Good luck, Akim." "Same to you." "I thought nothing could surprise me anymore, but I was wrong." "What do you think you're doing?" "I'm not going to tell you!" "I really appreciate your asking, but go to hell now!" "Sorry but I can't stop to chat." "I've got better things to do than waste my breath on a jerk like you." "Though I'm curious to know one thing:" "what knucklehead put you in that hole, and what do you expect to grow there, and where's your kitchen, and what kind of crud are you going to throw at us today?" "No one had put me in here." "I've dug that hole myself, and I'm camping here." "I got bored hanging around my kitchen." "So this is my new address." "He's camping here?" "You think we couldn't hold this place without you?" "Damn right." "You must be a mind reader." "I'm not trusting you, Lopakhin." "I think you'll chicken out seeing the enemy." "That's why I'm here." "Get serious for a minute, and tell me, what kind of crud are you feeding us today?" "Borscht." "What did you say, Petya?" "That's exactly what I said!" "Borscht with fresh mutton and cabbage too." "Want to know how?" "Over by the bridge, a bomb fell on a herd of sheep, I dressed out one." "I couldn't let it go to waste, could I?" "So I cooked the lamb and stole some fresh cabbage from a kitchen garden." "I cooked everything, and now I'm here." "So..." "So..." "I'll fight for a little while, support you youngsters, and then you'll have hot borscht with fresh meat in it, prepared with all my skill." "So everything's all right with me." "Are you pleased with me, hero?" "Where's all your big talk?" "My dear namesake!" "Petya!" "Listen, Petya, instead of patting me, how about giving me a grenade?" "Sure I'll give you a grenade, Petya, you've got one coming." " Here's a grenade for you!" " It just might do a little good here." "It's simple." "Pull this thing out, and bounce it off their heads!" "It's all right!" "Thanks for your kindness!" "Hey, Sasha, pull up your pants and hold on!" "How's your morale today?" "All right?" "Well, that's good." "You have to keep your sense of humor in this kind of business." "Gimme a shell!" "Wow!" "That's real shooting!" "Take a look at that, Sasha!" "Who taught them to shoot?" "Whoever taught them deserves a kiss." "Watch, Sasha!" "At this rate they won't need us." "Sasha?" "Did you see that, Sasha?" "What's wrong with you?" "You look all gray." "This kind of life will make anyone look gray." "There he is!" "Get the bastard!" "Gimme a shell!" "Kochetygov!" "Gimme a shell!" "You stupid bastard!" "Are you fighting or what?" "Why didn't you shoot?" " Me?" " You!" "You've got a kraut there, so shoot!" "I want him dead, not taken prisoner." "Shoot him!" "Before he raises his hands up!" "I want to be up to my knees, to my neck in his stinking blood!" "END OF FILM ONE" "Mikhail SHOLOKHOV" "THEY FOUGHT FOR THEIR MOTHERLAND" "Film Two" "O God, have mercy!" "Don't let me die!" "Please!" "What they have reduced me to, bastards!" "Of course I am not in the party, so religion isn't strictly forbidden for me." "But still I didn't do so good." "It didn't look too nice." "But when you're hard pressed, you may pull any kind of antics." "Death is no joke, everyone is equally afraid of the damn thing." "It doesn't matter if you're a party member or not, or just an ordinary man." "Just you wait..." "That son of a bitch is drunk!" "I'll ground you now." "You will have your last drink on the ground." "Come on!" "Hurray!" "Exhausted by their unsuccessful attempts to take the ford, the Germans broke off their attack and took up positions on the heights." "That evening, the Russian rearguard received orders to pull back across the Don River." "Our life is worth just a heap of hardware!" "It was Kochetygov who did it." "And now he's dead." "I pity his mother." "How's the poor woman gonna make it?" "When I see boys like him, only eighteen or nineteen years old, get killed before my eyes, it makes me want to howl." "It doesn't matter if I'm killed," "I've lived long enough, I've tried life from every angle, but kids like him..." "Stop it!" "Stop whimpering!" "So the boy's been killed." "But so have a lot of people." "You can't bemoan everyone." "Come on, let's get going." "All the boys are gone already, and we're way behind them." "I wish I had a smoke." "You can do without." "Just be patient." "Be patient!" "Be patient!" "If there's one thing the Russian soldier has it's patience." "I've got enough patience, but I'm not made of iron." "I've lived through so much today that my patience has more holes in it than my boots." "What about Ivan Zvyagintsev?" "Is he dead too?" "How the hell should I know?" " You saw him fall, didn't you?" " Yeah, I saw him." "But I don't know if he was killed or just wounded." "Maybe it wasn't him?" "Maybe it wasn't him who fell?" "You could have made a mistake in the confusion." "No, it was him alright, Zvyagintsev." "I saw him clear enough." "A mine went off right behind him, and I saw him fall." "But whether he's dead or not, who knows?" "Nurse... dear." "Where'd you come from?" "Give me a little more a little of your vodka, nurse." "You've had enough." "You can't have any more, dear." "You've come to, that's good." "They're firing like hell!" "I hope we can make it to the medics." "Listen, where am I hit?" "All over your body, from head to toes." "My legs..." "Do I have my legs?" "Or are they gone?" "They're both still there, dear." "Only they're riddled with shrapnel." "Now don't worry and don't talk anymore." "We'll get to the aid station, they'll put bandages, they'll take care of you and send you for treatment at the rear." "And everything will be in order." "War likes order." "So I'm full of holes?" "That's nice to know..." "What kind of..." "order is it?" "Hang on, dear!" "Hang on, dear, please!" "We'll go on now, it's not far!" "Do you hear me?" "You know what, girl." "Leave me here, don't torture yourself." "I'll do it myself..." "I'll do it..." "Just let me rest a bit and I'll try to do it." "My arms are all right, I'll make it somehow." "Stop talking so stupid!" "All you men want to be heroes, but in fact you're downright foolish." "What can you do?" "Nothing!" "I'm just a bit tired." "I only need a rest, and I'll get you out of here." "You're not the heaviest one I've pulled by myself!" "And some were hurt even more seriously!" "I only look little and fragile, but I can handle you easily!" "Where the hell you going, infantry?" "That's all mined there!" "Why isn't it marked then?" "What do you mean not marked?" "We've got pickets out and landmarks all over the place." "Keep to the right!" "And who's that?" "Is he wounded?" "Our lieutenant." "Poor bastard!" "This path will bounce him around like a ping-pong ball." "Did you hear him, Lopakhin?" "That's the way they work." "Fill the whole place with mines and put tiny landmarks around them." "What is it, an experimental field?" "We might as well slam into a telephone pole before we know it's there." "If we get across that damn river, then we may be safe." "It's just great:" "we got away from the Krauts, and now we're in danger of stepping on our own mines." "And that kind of thing happens a lot." "A man has just reached his goal, and everything goes to hell!" "I remember a case like this..." "Oh, to hell with your cases!" "You're a case..." "They could use your head for a pile driver!" "Is that what they call a path?" "Hit the dirt!" "That was close." "Listen, Lopakhin, where does the sergeant lead us?" "To the Don." "I know that." "But I mean, towards the bridge or what?" "More to the left of it." "And how are we going to cross it?" "We'll jump." "That's very funny." "What makes you so grouchy all the time?" "You're not the only one who is in trouble." "I get grouchy listening to your stupid griping all night." "What did I say that's so stupid?" "Don't you know the enemy's bombarding the bridge?" "Sure, I know." "You know it, but you still want to cross the bridge." "Lay off with your stupid questions!" "It's bad enough as it is." "And quit walking all over my heels!" "Why don't you put taillights on them?" "Then I wouldn't be stepping on your dainty heels." "I'd rather put my dainty fist in your ugly face." " Stay at a distance!" " I am staying at a distance." "I don't call that a distance when you keep tromping on my heels." " Why are you rubbing up against me?" " What the hell do I need you for?" "But you are!" " Are you afraid of getting lost?" " There you go sounding off again!" "I'm not afraid of getting lost, but I'm a little nervous about crossing that river." "It's all right for you, you can swim, but I can't swim one stroke." "Will you shut up for at least a minute?" "No, I won't!" "I may be dead in an hour or two, as soon as we're there." "So I want to get things off my chest!" "There's even a law that says you have a right to, before you die." "Stop moaning, you'll get across all right." "How can I get across?" "Are you deaf?" "I keep telling you I can't swim." "How am I going to get across?" "Even if I could swim, I'd sink with this load I'm carrying." "You've put about 60 extra pounds of cartridges in my pack!" "No, I'm gonna drown, that's all there is to it!" "And why should I lug all this stuff right up to the last second?" "What's the point of torturing myself before I die?" "When we get to the Don, I'll dump it all," "I'll take my pants off and drown stark naked." " To be drowned naked is more natural." " You won't drown, turds float." "That's exactly the case." "So you'll be the first to get across, and I'll go to the bottom." "I've run into some strange ones, but you take the cake." "When we come to the Don, I'll give you my razor." "I'm not a scrooge like you are." "And when you shave, think of the drowned Alexander Kopytovsky." " Gimme the razor, there's a raft!" " I'm gonna need it myself now." "I'm alive again!" "The moment I saw that raft, I was born all over again." "I'm returning your portrait" "I'm not asking for your love" "I send you no reproach nor regret" "With you forever I am in love." "That's it..." "The lieutenant's dead." "Comrade soldiers!" "My sons!" "My sons, look at the mist all around us." "Black misfortune looms above us, just like the mist." "Even at night our misfortune keeps us from sleeping" "and in the day it blurs the light of the sun." "You and I can never forget it for one moment." "Not now when we're burying our comrade," "the last officer in our regiment." "Not later when we may have a light moment during a break, with an accordion playing for us." "We will remember it." "We were retreating, my sons, but everyone knows how hard we resisted and at how high a cost." "Count our fallen brothers here." "We have nothing to be ashamed of when we look our people in the eye." "Unashamed, though it will be hard!" "I'm an old man who has fought again and again." "I've seen combat in four wars!" "I have faith:" "the new support forces are coming and we shall retrace the path we have come, only going towards the setting sun." "The rumble of our steps will be like drums, like drums in the death march," "and it'll make the solid earth shake!" "I hope you too, Comrade Lieutenant, will hear that relentless step and rejoice." "That's the trucks with fuel and ammo going up." "There goes what's left of our supplies." "They might split up our regiment now, right?" "Yeah, that means we'll have to part." "You hear, Sasha?" "To part with whom?" "You and me." "What are you talking about?" "I won't even listen to it." "Gonna split our antitank popgun up into two pieces?" "You stay and I stay too!" "Oh, oh, you lunkhead!" "Without me around to yell at, you'd die of boredom." "Who else would humor you like me?" "I have the patience for it." "Well, I need some rest." "I'm not made out of iron like Lopakhin." "I've even got some foreign fleas and they've gone nuts." "I used to think you were a Russian, Nekrasov, but you're just shit." "What do you mean?" "Where're you from?" "Someplace around Kursk?" "Yes, Kursk." "The village of Lebedyany." "Come on, tell us about your secret disease." "What's so funny?" "There's nothing funny about it." "For your information, I've got a trench disease." "What kind of disease is that?" "Tell us, Nekrasov." "Is it something weird?" "It's not what you're thinking with your filthy minds." "It's not a bodily ailment, but a mental one." "Mental one?" "You can't have it, for you've got no brains!" "It has nowhere to take root!" "There's no ground for it, Nekrasov!" "I just went to see the commander of the 34th regiment." "Our orders are to go at once to Talovsky Farm." "The command post of our division's there." "I dared to ask him what would happen to us." ""Don't worry, old man," he said." ""Since your boys have saved the regiment's sacred banner, you'll be kept together."" "We'll be getting reinforcements and new commanding officers, and soon we'll be at the front." "In the middle of a crucial sector." "The most crucial!" "Everything understood?" "At least my lungs are okay, that's something." "But more important..." "What about my legs?" "Are the bones smashed or not?" "Shall I walk or be an invalid?" "Cut the pants, if you need to." "Not the boots though, do you hear?" " Nobody's asking for your advice." " They are my boots!" "So what?" "They used to be yours." "I can't pull them off or I'd pull your leg off." "Listen, funny man, pull them," "pull them gently," "I can stand it." "I'm afraid this is going to hurt a lot, son." "Oh, my God!" "Why are you staring at me, comrade lady doctor?" "Haven't you seen a naked man before?" "There's nothing special about me." "This is not an all-union exhibition." "And I'm not a breeding bull from that exhibition." "I wasn't admiring your manly charms." "I'm doing my job." "Now lie still and stop talking." "Listen... comrade doctor," "I can't see your rank with that smock you got on, couldn't you give me a bit of alcohol on the inside?" "Patience, patience, soldier, you'll be better off without it." "Or a painkiller or something." "Don't you have anything?" "Or you have to skimp on drugs?" "What?" "Does it really hurt all that much?" "You can take it, can't you?" "I warned you that it was going to hurt quite a bit." "So what's the matter?" "Or it's just because you got a nasty disposition?" "But why are you, comrade doctor, messing up with my live body as if it were your own pocket?" "Excuse me, but it can make a man not only curse, but howl like a dog." " Is the pain very bad?" " No." "There's no pain, it just tickles." "And I never could stand to be tickled." "That's why I'm crying." "Let me out of here!" "I don't want to stay here!" "Go to hell!" "I can't take it anymore!" "Send me anywhere but not here!" "Send me back to the front!" "I don't want to stay here!" "Where are my boots?" "Bring 'em here!" "I'll put 'em under my head!" "That way they'll be safe!" "There're too many thieves around here!" "If you want boots, you gotta earn 'em." "You have to wear 'em when the tanks are coming!" "Any moron can cut someone else's boots!" "Oh, my God!" "How it hurts!" "Lopakhin!" "The pain's too much!" "All right, we'll spend the night here." "It's too early to stop for the night." "Let's have a smoke, and by sundown we can be at division headquarters." "How about it, Sarge?" "We haven't eaten all day!" "We could make it to division for supper." "Knock off the bellyaching and discussions!" "I can't report to the colonel with a bunch of starving footsloggers." "We're staying here." "And get this: by tonight you've got to be neat and polished." "Get the holes in your uniforms patched up, sew on buttons." "Those with boots falling off your feet, fix them up somehow." "And, of course, get your weapons as shiny as mirrors." "Patch that hole in your pants." "You're as naked as a cherub." "Nobody wants to look at your tail." "If I was a cherub I'd be up in heaven now." "And I wouldn't see you there." "Comrade Chairman, you're a war veteran." "So you're supposed to understand our situation." "But you're behaving, excuse me, like a foolish woman." "As I said, I can't help you." "I'm not asking for much, Comrade Chairman!" "I can't, Comrade Sergeant!" "Doesn't look like sarge is getting anywhere." "Hey, Lopakhin, go see what you can do." "Just make out a bill, you'll get paid." "I keep telling you that our warehouse is empty!" "But you won't believe me." "It's no use patting on my leg, I'm not a girl, and my leg can't feel anything, it's made of wood." "Come on!" "There's only about three kilos here, and maybe even less." "The boys are ready to drop from hunger." "And I'm not able to do anything about it at all." "Don't you worry, just let me take over that department." "I'll get everything organized." "What's on your mind?" "Some crazy scheme again?" "It'll all be legal, I give you my word of honor." "It'll be only me who'll suffer." "Of course, I'll have to break my code of morality." "But since it's been already undermined I'm willing to make a sacrifice." "Stop pulling the wool over my ears, tell me about this." "See for yourself." "Comrade Chairman, you got a minute?" "Listen, you've been in the same boat, so I'll be honest with you:" "We've gotta get some food somewhere." " Right?" " Right." "You can't help us with food, but you can help in another way." "What's that?" "Have you got a well-to-do widow or the wife of a soldier on your farm?" "Well yes, there's plenty around." "You arrange to billet us with one of them." "Only not too ugly, I mean a woman that wouldn't give a man a stomachache." "And somebody that's not over 70?" "If possible, a younger one would be better." "Got you." " May I go into action?" " Do it." "But I have a feeling that you're going to let us down!" "Me letting you down?" "Of course you will." "She's not gonna feed twenty-seven men unless you really please her." "You'll have to work very hard, miner!" "I'll put my heart into it!" "My other boot is even worse." "Let's sew a half-belt on your underpants, Sasha, and burn your britches." "Hey, guys!" "Here's the boss lady!" "Just look at that!" "Of all the dirty tricks!" "Take a look at her!" "Everything's lost!" "I'm gonna go and clip that chairman a couple right on the button." " Why are you so upset?" " Why?" "Are you blind or what?" "She's not a woman, she's a human monument!" "Just a regular woman in a skirt, complete with all the attractions you could want." " My type exactly!" " She scares me just to look at her!" "I saw one like that at an exhibition before the war." "A woman made of stone, standing at the entrance." "Just like this one!" "So what?" "You're not exactly up to her size, you know." "How can you have lived so long and still be so ignorant about what every woman knows?" "What is it I'm so ignorant about?" "That the smaller the bug is, the harder it stings." " Did you ever study ancient history?" " No, I never did." "In my trade as a carpenter, I never needed to." "Why?" "There was a great conqueror, Alexander of Macedonia." "He and another Roman warrior who came after him, Julius Caesar, had a motto:" "I came..." "I saw..." "I conquered!" "That's my motto, too, and that woman's size doesn't scare me away." "Can I have a go at her?" "I guess you can give it a try." "I don't mind because we just can't be worse off." "Only I still think you're not going to die of natural causes, miner." "Everything will be all right!" "Do they really need this much compost?" "Hello, Natalya Stepanovna!" "Comrade Sergeant, you've picked yourself a good observation point." "Pipe down, you jerk!" "He's out there trying to help us all, and you kid around." "Pyotr Fedotovich, fetch me the buckets." "I'm returning your portrait..." "Natalya Stepanovna, shall I go feed the lambs?" "I might as well..." "Still starving, spongers?" "What's he so happy about?" "He's a real hero." "He's little, but that doesn't count..." "It's always the little bugs that bite the worst." "He goes in to win battles, like the fighters of ancient times." "Did you ever study ancient history?" "I don't know history at all." "Too bad, you missed a lot." "For example, there used to be a great warrior," "Alexander..." "Alexander..." "Oh, what's his name..." " Alexander..." " Suvorov?" "No, no, it wasn't Suvorov!" "Alexander Macedonskov." "That was a strange name, bloody strange!" "He followed a rule that guided his actions against the enemy:" "I came..." "I saw..." "I plundered." "He plundered them so much that the enemy couldn't get over it for a hundred years." "What nationality was he?" " Nationality?" " Yes." "Alexander, you mean?" "Yeah..." "He was a citizen of his own country." "What country?" "His own country, and that's that!" "Camouflage and silence - those are the two main things." "If you're too hungry to sleep, pretend to anyway." "What good is camouflage when even those out in the street can hear my stomach rumbling." "Those damn hoarders!" "They won't feed their own soldiers!" "They're all counterrevolutionaries in this collective farm." "Lopakhin, are you sleeping?" "No." " Don't doze off." " No, I'm wide awake." "You'd be in better condition if you had a couple of shots of vodka." "But there's not a chance to get it from those cheap bastards." "I can handle the job without it." "So you're going?" "Why waste time?" "Good luck, Lopakhin." "Alexander Macedonskov, our regimental flea!" "I'm going to see the chairman of the collective farm." "We're not leaving here without breakfast." "You guys keep quiet." "I'll be back soon." "No, he's not a flea." "He's Alexander of Macedonia!" "The great conqueror." "The man no woman can resist." "If we depend on a conqueror like that, we'll starve to death!" "Good morning to you, Natalya Stepanovna!" "Good morning." "I apologize for what I did, Pyotr Fedotovich." "I shouldn't have hit you." "Your eye's swollen." "And your friends must have heard it all last night?" "I don't care." "Shiners make a man's face look more distinguished." "Though you should've been more careful with your fists." "But it can't be helped now." "Getting slugged, that's a lover's fate." "That's the problem that you all want to be lovers." "You think that if a woman's husband is in the army, she's a cheap whore?" "No, no, I didn't mean it that way." "So it took a punch in the eye to teach you better." "Sasha..." "He's my number two man." " This one?" " That's right." "I don't mean to be nosy, but I'd very much like to know, what kind of guy is your husband, how tall is he?" "About your size, I'd say, only a little stouter than you." "He must've suffered with your hot temper." "No!" "We always got along just fine." "He's a quiet, hardworking man." "He's in the hospital now, he was shot." "Who knows, maybe he'll come home on furlough?" "He will." "He sure will!" "What is the occasion for all this food laid out that's enough for our whole gang?" "I don't understand." "It's simple enough." "Last night your commander, that redhead old man, came to see our chairman and told him the whole story," "how fiercely you resisted." "So I see, around dawn our chairman come running to my house." ""We've been completely wrong, Natalya." "A big mistake!" "These boys aren't cowards, they're heroes!"" " We're not heroes." " We're willing to help..." "With anything at all!" "Just keep those Germans away from us." "To be frank, you can't keep retreating like this." "You must stop and fight!" "I'm sorry to talk to you like this, but you have no reason to be proud." "I guess we picked the wrong approach to you." "You certainly did." "Ah, well." "That's the way it goes." "The case of "I'm returning your portrait."" "I'm losing my magic touch with women." "A brand-new division." "You see those guys?" "All spit and polish." "Yeah, real elegant." "They'd be fine in a parade." "Of course, one can fight like this." "But had they got into a mess like we've been in yesterday, they wouldn't look so smart, those dandies." "Nikolai!" "Nikolai Streltsov!" "Where the hell did you come from?" "How'd you get here, pal?" "Here I am screaming and you don't answer!" "Petya!" "I'm so glad... to see ya..." "How aaare... you?" "Let's sit down." "Petya..." "It's hard to talk to me." "After that bomb fell... now I don't hear." "You're deaf, aren't you, Kolia?" "So..." "Why'd you run away from the hospital?" "Oh, I didn't run away." "Just left." "Holy hell, man, what for?" "You should be..." "Oh, Kolia, Kolia!" "You stupid jerk, you need treatment." "What the hell for?" "You need treatment!" "What do you mean, what for?" "See, my ears... don't bleed anymore." "So why... should I stay in bed?" "The regiment got in a very difficult situation." "You need every man." "And then, I just couldn't stay there." "You see?" "I couldn't stay away." "So..." "I came down here." "To fight beside my comrades." "Even a man that can't hear can fight." "Isn't that true, Petya?" "That's true!" "Oh, holy shit!" "My dear deaf man..." "It's so good... to be here... with you." "There they go to Stalingrad." "Unfurl the colors!" "Soldiers!" "I salute you!" "Our motherland will never forget your great efforts and your suffering!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "The victory will be ours!" "We'll take the banner of the great liberator-army to Berlin." "Did you hear?" "And while we keep the love for our country in our hearts, and will keep it as long as our hearts go on beating," "it's at the bayonet points that we'll always carry the hatred for our enemies." "Mikhail Sholokhov" "THE END"