"So I went berserk for we were about to die." "I, Emile Fragonard, the most famous illusionist in Paris, who've just dazzled the Emperor of China," "I tell them to go to hell." "Our boatmen invoke Heaven but forget to row." "They begged me to pay them first." ""You'll get paid when we get there!"" "The sea is choppy, the wind is gusty, we're going to drown." "So I dive into the water and with my arms," "I pull the raft to the opposite ashore." "I set foot in Russia and I'm soaked." "I've lost my costume, though it was made by Vesperini," "Paris' famous tailor." "We didn't know then, but were soon to learn, that upon landing in beautiful Amuria," "I could hear at the same time the sound of a drum." "Young Muktan is getting married." "Tradition dictates that when a men gets married he offer his betrothed a bear's fur." "But the bear, as you can imagine, won't let men get their way." "So the shaman invokes the Spirits for the bear to be generous." "You can't hunt without the Tsar's Cossacks, what with the fax on fur." "So Lt Pechkov and his sons join the Evenk hunters." "The younger one is a nice fellow." "I'll be meeting him very far from here, and I'll tell you how." "Oh Lord!" "I beg you Lord!" "I know that I am not alone on earth." "That you have other things to do." "But can you spare some time for me?" "I beg you!" "I beg you Lord!" "What happened?" "He got scared, didn't he?" "What the hell has that idiot done?" "Where the hell's that yellow-belly?" "What are you laughing at?" "Let this coward stay here!" "Let's go!" "We'll get that goddamn animal!" "And no later than tomorrow!" "And, Oh, will I enjoy eating his balls!" "Move on!" "The father won't take his cowardly son to bear-hunting." ""Let him chop wood?"" "The yellow-belly's name is Dmitri, and his fate will soon be changed by a chain of inevitable events." "Which proves that destiny works in mysterious ways." "Where's that scumbag, Nikolai Pechkov?" "The lieutenant on a mission, Mission, Bouvarine!" "What mission?" "Don't make me laugh." "We saw a bear threatening some men." "It's very dangerous and my father's hunting it!" "I'd like to know how much that shyster gets for his furs." "Enough to fill his mouth with gold teeth, I'll bet!" "My husband in an honest man." "He enforces the laws of the Tsar." "The tax on furs is a great burden for the people here." "He is an honorable man." "Enough with the bull!" "These men have come from the city to buy horses from the Evenks." "I need your husband to negotiate with those scoundrels." "Go find him, and be quick about it!" "He won't be back before nightfall!" "My Dmitri will take your friends." "He speaks the language." "He'll help you handle your transaction." "I'll take you there." "What are they up to?" "Stay out to it!" "His Imperial Majesty wishes, to build a railway that will cross the Empire." "from one end to the other." "A glorious challenge whose completion will add to the magnificence of our Empire and to the happiness of each one of us." "These gentlemen can vouch for me." "The Tsar has entrusted us with the noble task of feeding the thousands of workers, who will be working on the building site." "We will establish traveling kitchens, that will move along with the workers." "Our first plan indicates that we'll need to slaughter fifty horses a day." "Hence the order from on high to use, your little, pretty much good for nothing, horses to serve as meat." "Excuse me, Mister Bouvarine, but you know better than anyone that our Tsar gave them the privilege of breeding horses for riding." "We are all the Tsar's subjects!" "And when His Majesty the Emperor says something, it's always meant as an order!" "How much do we offer for the horses?" "Three sacks of flour for the herd." "He says their horses are not for sale." "Three sacks of flour is our final offer!" "No need to translate!" "We understood." "Bunch of fools!" "Stop!" "This is enough!" "Hey, you what're you doing?" "Leave our horses alone!" ""Why kill our horses?", complains the shaman." "Yes, why?" "To scare these poor people out of rebelling." "The sky suddenly collapses in a downpour of rain and tears, as if in empathy with the unfortunate Evenks." "Murderers!" "Murderers!" "Muktan's killers will be tried and punished." "My father promises you!" "Your father has not yet spoken!" "I understand your pain, Isingu, and I respect it." "But these men are not from around here, and you fought them." "Those men came here like demons, in the name of the Tsar." "Be quiet!" "For as long as his killer's blood has not flowed, my son's spirit will never be in peace." "Every night, he will return to demand revenge, and his spirit will never rest." "It's up to me to avenge his death, but I can only do so according to the laws of His Majesty." "You might speak our language, but your heart belongs to those devils." "So stay with those devils, you three!" "His assassins will be tried, as they deserve." "Father, I gave my wife my word, in your name!" "Well, you shouldn't have." "The only allegiance that counts is the one you swore to the Emperor." "Muktan is also my wife's brother." "When I married her, her family became our family." "Let me give some good advice." "There is only one law, but it is not the same for everyone." "The only law that counts is the law of the fittest." "And the fittest is the high-ranked fellow, who decided to requisition these horses for their future railroad." "Without their horses, the Evenks may as die." "Remember that they signed a treaty with our Tsar." "And that's why we Cossacks are here to see that it's upheld." "Think the Tsar's nothing better to do?" "And how would you get there?" "Saint Petersburg is over 6,000 miles away!" "Do you mean to ride Muktan's horse?" "Why not?" "If it's the only way to be heard." "You idiot!" "Your wife is carrying your second son." "And you want to ride off to certain death?" "You look more like your father than your brother does." "How old were you when I was born?" "17." "Although I'm 18 my father still despises me." "Blagoveshchensk." "Baikal." "Irkutsk." "Tomsk." "Omsk." "Perm." "Moscow." "Saint-Petersburg." "It's almost straight on." "As Dimitri's horse is a nag unable to cross the horizon," "Dmitri saddles Muktan's horse at dawn." "Luckily, the horse would love to help Dmitri in his mission." "So goes fate in a fortunate combination of circumstances." "Keep still!" "Look how beautiful it is!" "Let's go this way." "There's a hare." "Go right ahead!" "Stop!" "You horse," "will never know how good this is." "Look, Muktan would call you "my horse."" "What kind of a name is that?" "It's like calling your dog, "dog."" "You've got such a beautiful grey coat, that I'm going to call you "Grey Horse."" ""Serko."" "How rude of you!" "Don't you like your name." "Serko?" "You see." "Serko, the only difference between you and me, is that all the creatures born on this earth look down to the ground, but man is the only one to look up at the sky, and wonder at the moon and the stars." "You're right, we men should be a little more humble!" "What does he want from us?" "We haven't done anything wrong, We're just passing through." "Haven't come to bother the locals." "Hey, Serko?" "We're good guys!" "We're not bad guys." "We don't want to kill or rob anyone!" "Serko, get a hold of yourself I forbid you to be scared." "Fear is for little creatures not for a great horse like you, or a Cossack like me!" "Move on!" "Go right ahead!" "Who are you?" "A traveler." "What're you doing here?" "I mean you no harm, Neither to you nor to anyone else!" "Believe me, I swear to you." "On all of the Saints in holy Russia!" "Then why are you aiming that gun at my heart?" "My horse, he's fallen." "Will you help me?" "No snowflake, ever falls where it shouldn't." "Looks like we came at just the right time!" "You sure are naive, you trust men too much." "How do you know, we won't just drop you down into the void?" "You know that we don't like long-nosed creatures." "Get up, get up, Serko." "Hear me?" "Get up!" "Get up!" "Get up!" "Serko." "Get up!" "Serko." "Get up!" "Serko." "Well done!" "Go ahead, get up!" "Well done!" "I'll get you out of here." "You fell, sweetie pie." "Thank you, old Tunguz." "You've been helpful." "This is for you." "It's made of silver." "It's a talisman." "It will keep evil spirits a way." "Don't thank me, I was glad I could help." "How can I tell of the winds, of the extreme cold making our friends go totally numb?" "By telling you that it's such a cold, that you become impervious, to the insidious death slowly welling up inside you." "Inexorably." "But if on the next day, as if by magic, life has overcome death, you were born under a lucky star!" "Prince Mangi," "You fly away on your horse, to the Milky Way," "Everyone admired you." "All except your fiancée, who, on seeing you always together, became jealous." "Why are you always on your horse and never with me?" "Can it be that you love your horse more than me?" "Who are you?" "Semzhid*." "My name is Semzhid." "Stay still." "The bear!" "It's right there!" "You're a great hunter!" "You've been very brave," "Go back to sleep." "This too?" "I'll do it." "This is for you." "You're like my mother!" ", Always worried I'll get ill!" "Cossack, I see you're getting better." "I'm glad, You are at home here." "Is my daughter taking good care of you?" "Yes, Thanks to her, I feel alive again." "My thanks to you all." "You are a great and brave hunter." "You confronted and killed the bear, all alone." "You've earned our respect, Cossack!" "How can I thank you?" "By being my guest for as long as you wish, son!" "Most honorable host, I'm on a mission." "I'm in a hurry, I must leave, I must speak to the Tsar, of the terrible fate that's befallen the horses and men of my area." "Cossack, You can't leave just like that!" "You will offend the whole tribe, and what will my daughter say?" "But I have to leave..." "Cossack, I'll sing so that your horse takes you wherever you want to go!" "You horse is the most beautiful of all," "I've never seen one so beautiful before, he is the color of clouds." "He said it right..." "Your horse is the gentlest," "He sheds tears, when you're sad..." "He is the gentlest no doubt..." "He's so graceful, that he flies over mountains, and gallops away to the clouds, and takes you where no horseman has ever been," "His horse is the most beautiful of all," "I've never seen one so beautiful before, in heaven or on earth, in the stars or on the sun." "He said it right..." "Sorry..." "But my stomach would've torn in half if I hadn't fed it." "61 days of traveling without eating a single hot meal." "Let anyone who has never been hungry take the food from his hands." "61 days I've been riding, without a meal." "So I swallowed whatever I could find." "Grass, like my horse." "Rats sometimes!" "And even my horse's dung once." "I'll find the Tsar." "Even if he's at the other end of the earth," "Or on the other side of the moon." "And what will you say to your Tsar?" "I'll tell him that those men, can't exterminate our fine little horses." "If they disappear from our land, we might disappear as well." "Without our Amursky horses, We can't live there it's too cold." "The Cossacks must obey the Tsar." "I swore to the icons like my father, but the Tsar must obey God, and God created these horses, the best horses ever!" "The Tsar must hear me, I'll let him know." "I'll find the Tsar even, if I must go through Hell." "Why are you always riding your horse instead of being with me?" "Why do you love your horse more than me?" "One night, the betrothed avenged herself by killing the horse, stabbing it with a knife." "Mangi you spent your life caressing your horse, running your hands through his mane." "Softly, slowly, languidly... over and over till the hairs of the mane began to make music..." "We'll need a lot of strength, Serko..." "See that, that's Venus, or Jupiter, I can't remember, but I do know it's over there over there is the Tsar, Sleep well." "Don't be frightened..." "But I'm not afraid." "I am here to serve you..." "Would you like anything before sleeping?" "I just need some sleep." "A good night's sleep to be in shape tomorrow morning, you understand?" "Good night, Semzhid..." "What are you up to?" "Just give in, big bear!" "Eat Serko, eat." "That's all we've got loft." "There you go, eat something." "Who are you?" "Can you hear me?" "Where are you from?" "What have you done to end up like this?" "Can you hear me?" "We're nobody anymore, Nobody..." "Only beasts to the slaughter!" "Get away from us, we're bas luck!" "I'm going to see the Tsar, I'll tell him about you!" "You can't treat men like this!" "The Tsar will know about it!" "I swear!" "We don't mean anything to him anymore, nor to anyone else." "Not even to Him, up there!" "I can't understand a word you're saying!" "Who are you talking about?" "You idiot!" "The Tsar!" "And God above, who has forsaken us!" "God still exists for me, you bunch of miscreants." "Shut up!" "You mangy mutts." "Hey Cossack, are you the one getting them excited?" "Where did you get that uniform?" "You a deserter?" "Come over here a minute, Let me see your papers." "I'm on a mission, I've come from Amuria." "I am Cossack Dmitri Nikolayevich." "Youngest son of Sotnik Nikolai Pechkov." "I'm under Colonel Korsakoff, the governor of Blagoveshchensk." "I'm on my way to see the Tsar." "Your mission order!" "By Imperial order, Officer." "Under order of secrecy!" "Get the hell out of here, Watch out if I ever see you around again!" "Send a message to my father that I'm alive, and that all is well." "Hey, you, What are you doing?" "That's my horse!" "You've no right to take him." "Yeah, well keep your midget horse." "Is he an albino or what?" "And you just let him get away with it." "Peince, my son is a simpleton." "He has no idea what he's doing!" "I'm just glad he's still alive, as you've told my he was seen far from here." "Sotnik Nikolai Pechkov." "A Cossack who requests an audience with the Tsar, without asking his Governor's permission, is a traitor to his uniform!" "Better be sincere than strong, better be honest than brutal, better be fair than contemptible." "These were your principles." "Prince, that my sons swore to uphold before you!" "I know, I know, Your son made it to Baikal." "He could have gone missing a great many times!" "No one would have mourned his passing." "Yes, mister Bouvarine!" "His mother, She would have died of grief, husband's honor." "Prince, how can that yellow belly have advanced so quickly?" "If the fool goes about saying that in our governor, doesn't do what he's supposed to do to uphold law and order, he'll be advancing even faster!" "I swear upon my wife, my son Boris and my future grandchildren, that he means no harm." "My son's pure-hearted." "Pray God steps him and this fool retraces his steps." "He has no travel documents and our Prince must regard him as a deserter." "I'll have to judge him accordingly." "Don't do that Prince." "He a simple soul." "I beg you." "He put it in his head that his friend was important." "If he keeps acting like an idiot, your family will be in trouble, Nikolai Pechkov." "Prince, how can my son, who never left our village, travel across our Great Empire?" "He'll soon realize he's been foolish and you'll be reassured." "Mister..." "Vladimir Sergueivitch Bouvarine." "Mister Vladimir Sergueivitch Bouvarine, you're a jerk!" "Yes." "Under your orders, Prince." "You're damn right, nothing but a jerk." "And one who will soon make you rich, Prince." "Today we'll take 1,000 steps." "If we don't we'll die, Do you understand me?" "Serko, I'm tired, Totally worn out." "I'll get some rest, OK?" "Shh!" "Smelled anything again?" "Is it an animal?" "Shit!" "Sorry, my friend but you'll hardly need it anymore." "What do you know?" "Who are you?" "Sorry, I didn't think that." "I'm no thief, mister Chinaman?" "I swear, I swear on my horse!" "This is good liquor, I put it back here and I'm off!" "That doesn't tell me who you are." "You speak Russian?" "I'm Sotnik Pechkov's youngest son." "My family lives on the banks of the Amur." "I must speak to the Tsar." "Our little horses are in danger." "I must avenge Muktan's death!" "I'll see the Tsar, I swear!" "I can see that you wouldn't hurt a fly." "I'm like my father, a humble yet honorable Cossack, honorable." "I'd rather be sincere than, strong, and fair than contemptible." "Then you can't leave me like this." "Wolves have begun to eat my feet." "They'll come kill me a second time!" "So you're not dead?" "Alive, dead." "What's the difference?" "But I won't join my wife in the other kingdom in several pieces." "What can I do for you, old Chinaman?" "You're nuts!" "It's cold as hell out there!" "You can't dig a hole in the ground in this season." "I can't bury you, and the lake is frozen." "Good people of Irkutsk, noble gentlemen, beautiful women, and sweet young ladies, rejoice for tonight you will at last put all your troubles behind you." "the great, the very great." "The immense Fragonard of Paris, the Tsar of the Grand Boulevards," "Two years ago, I was in America." "New York, Chicago, San Francisco." "The great and the small, were captivated by my mastery of shadow and light." "Even the Ottawas from America's Great Lakes, made an idol of me." "Last year I was in China, prisoner of the adoration of the Mandarin people, and of the Mandarin women." "As pretty as pictures these Mandarin women!" "In a single bound I cross the sea, and find myself in the land of the Rising Sun." "Japan, the Fuji Yama," "Tokyo, where the Emperor commands a celebration in my honor." "A celebration, what am I saying?" "A month of delights whose climax was the private royal performance," "I gave for the Son of Heaven." "But let us gloss over my triumphs, since you're chomping at the bit." "So here I am, packing up my crew, bidding farewell to Fuji Yama, and flying off to Eternal Russia!" "Rivers, mountains, the steppe, nothing can stop us, Nothing?" "Nothing!" "Move on!" "You damn animal!" "Can't you walk straight?" "You only think about eating!" "I'm hungry too!" "I'm tired too!" "I want meat!" "Or else I'll die!" "You get me?" "Sorry, Serko, Sorry, old friend." "I'm so tired, I'm hungry." "I'm hungry." "I'm so tired." "I don't know where to go." "I can't take it anymore!" "Shh!" "What is it now?" "How great it is." "Let's go." "How hard can it be to catch a nag?" " How hard can it be to catch a nag?" " Let's go old man, it's not the first one we've seen!" " Let's go." " Go ahead, Easy now." " Come on, Look!" " Move on!" "You damn animal!" "Can't you walk straight?" "Move on!" "You're just a horse." "Go ahead." "Move on!" "Look at that!" "Fragonard." "Look what the Great Fragonard has done for you:" " baby Jesus in person!" " Hey, soldier!" " We could use your help!" " Help!" "Sir!" "Help us!" "Hey!" "Come on!" " Come on girls!" "Sing, shout, bark!" " Oh, such cold, leave me alone." "A single Cossack would've been enough" "Sing Song." "Shit up!" "Come on!" "Hey, soldier!" "We could use your help!" "Come on!" "Come on, Come on!" "Hey!" "Come on!" "Emile Fragonard," "Paris's Ambassador of Wonders, Serving your dreams and illusions." "My name's Rossignol because I speak his language, and also Mandarin, Japanese and even Italian, and I sing like a finch." "And my sister's name is Pivoine because, she blushes at the drop of a hat!" "Where are you from?" "From over there!" "Where's you going?" "On my way to meet the Tsar!" "He's on his way to meet the Tsar." " The Tsar?" " Da!" "Is that right?" "What's baby Jesus talking about?" "Come with us?" "He fell off?" " Farewell my friend!" " The great of the world love heroic frats." "The Tsar will appreciate." "Make it quick, please!" "The crowd is expecting us in Omsk." "I'm an old man who knows a great deal, but if he insists on leaving tomorrow, he'll be dead in no time!" "He needs treatment as soon as possible." "If your friend takes no medicine, he'll be stiff as a corpse in on time." "I'm telling you this boy is in danger!" "He isn't dead yet!" "This Cossack won't die!" "Nobody wants him to live in this pad?" "Fragonard, give us some money." "We'll pay it back a hundred fold!" "We'll pay it back a hundred fold!" "Fragonard." "I'm telling you this boy is in danger!" "He isn't dead yet!" "This Cossack won't die!" "He isn't dead yet!" "This Cossack won't die!" "Nobody wants him to live in this pad?" "Fragonard, give us some money." "We'll pay it back a hundred fold!" "For each rouble, we'll give you back 100 roubles!" "It's not the hundredfold, I'm worried about." "It's giving you the money at all." "I haven't got a kopeck lift!" "I'm telling you this boy is in danger!" "Come on!" "He isn't dead yet!" "his Cossack won't die!" "I'm hungry." "I don't know where to go." "I can't take it anymore!" "Shh!" "What is it now?" "How great it is." "Let's go." "Let's go." "Come on!" "Look at that!" "Come on!" "We too are weak, and suddenly very hungry!" "Young ladies and gentlemen, let the feast begin?" "I will forgo the list of my triumphs, as I see you're chomping at the bit." "so here I am, packing up my crew, bidding farewell to Fuji Yama, bidding farewell to Fuji Yama and flying off to you, people of beautiful and eternal Russia." "Mountains, rivers, the steppe, nothing can stop up," "not ever the Amur, the river that is!" "Nothing!" "Except for a damn crevasse." "And no one came to rescue us." "Here we are." "Instead of Jesus Dimitri Nicolat Pechkov, the bravest, most handsome Cossack of Holy Russia appears before our eyes." "the young man has been relentlessly riding night and day for over 100 days." "from the distant shores of the Amur." "The Tsar, indeed!" "He wants to beg him to dispense justice for his friend Muktan." "Yes that's it, justice." "What's she saying?" "Hurry, keep track!" "We're telling Dimitri's story." "She's talking about the horse slaughter." "These horses are not for sale, says Dimitri Pechkov." "Since you won't steel them, you'd better watch, stupid." "The gang leader loads his rifle, and shoots at the herd." "Fifty yards away one horse collapses, then another." ""Still not for sale"?" ""Never, Niet"" "The man angrily kills two more horses." ""Well?" "Rater die!"" "Suddenly Muktan, the Evenk friend, whom Dimitri regards as a brother," "appears on his horse." "The man shoots again." "Muktan is hit and collapses." ""Never again" says Dimitri." ""Never again."" "Where are you from?" "From over there!" "And you?" "From over there!" "Where are you going?" "That way." "And you?" "That way." "And you?" "Serko!" "Today we'll work more miracles!" "We'll ride through this forest before sundown!" "I don't know how long it'll take us, but we'll ride through it all the same!" "You'll have the easy task since I'm defending you!" "Even if it seems hard, I know you can do it." "You're a horse and you're good at what you do." "Now it's all about steadiness." "And as for steadiness you're an ace!" "Hey little champ, if I keep indulging you, you'll get proud!" "You haven't got wings yet!" "Good boy." "Stop it, Serko, stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Shit!" "Sorry!" "Sorry Serdo, I'm not happy either." "Fuck!" "Then facing the beast, trembling with fear," "the young Cossack has no choice:" "kill or be killed." "He closes his eyes, asks God's mercy," "and with his knife blade, aims for the beast's heart." "Wounded and howling with rage, the beast still doesn't relent." "when Serko sees his master about to be torn apart by the beast, he makes for the bear," "and kicks his ass!" "Girls!" "Girls, there's money to be had!" "I've told of Chinese torture and of wonderful caravanserais, but I've never told of a nice fellow's adventures as they take place." "I'm not only a talented shadow puppeteer, but a storyteller." "Crowds ask for more:" "I'm a rich man." "Now where's my little fellow?" "I have no idea." "Hey, Deserter?" "You a deserter?" "Hey, you hear me?" "Know of a hotel or an inn, please, my friend?" "My horse and I are dead tired, and we need some shelter right away." "On your right, Cossack." "You won't regret it!" "Thank you!" "On your right, Cossack." "You won't regret it!" "What race is your dog?" "Hey, wait!" "But our admirers want to know more." "The whole, uncensored story." "But I need to find out about the story first." "To do so, I need to find my dear Dimitri very soon." "But where is he?" "What's he up to?" "Did you come a long way, Sir?" "All the way from the Amur!" "How far are you going?" "On my way to pay my respects to the Tsar." "You're a good horse, Serko." "You may be little, but you're the best." "Enjoy, you've deserved it!" "I'll sleep right here." "Oh no Sir!" "A gentle man about to visit the Tsar is entitled to our best room!" "Reassure me, Bouvarine!" "Hey, Hey!" "NO!" "Do tell me that there's no way he can reach Saint Petersburg." "The fool has all the luck." "He's followed by a Frenchman, who is telling his story to everyone." "Stop them!" "We must stop them, overpower them!" "Have them arrested!" "Have him shot!" "Have them arrested!" "Have him shot!" "Prince, Cossack Dimitri Pechkov is in jail!" "Thank you, Lord!" "Thank you, Lord!" "Do you realize how lucky you are that," "I've come all this way here?" "He's worse than a kourma!" "Kourma?" "What is it?" "It's a skunk that stinks even more." "But money has no smell." "or do you want me to handle it?" "Tell him to consider our expenses." "He stinks." "Tell him to consider our expenses." "6,000." "Christ!" "6,000 for someone who stinks?" "I don't stink." "Yes you do!" "You do!" "Take it or leave it!" "2,000." "Not one kopeck more!" "3." "Let's leave." "Let's leave the stinking Cossack with him." "You'll be remembered as the man, that left to rot in prison Russia's greatest hero." "2,500!" "2,097!" "Well then my dear, if you give me a better price, say 1,000, the portrait I'd make of you in my show will be even more striking." "My show was getting more valuable than a gold mine everyday." "They come in droved to listen to my romanticizing, of Serko and Dimitri's adventures." "Well, a stinking hero is no hero." "So I offer him a bath." "I follow him because I watch, and I protect my small investment like a son." "But as with any thriving investment," "Some worry it may thrive at their expense." "These people are no other, than Bouvarine, Muktan's murderer." "Dimitri Nikolayevich Pechkov!" "Dimitri Nikolayevich Pechkov!" "Dimitri Nikolayevich Pechkov!" "Dimitri." "Murder!" "Help!" "Thank you, my friends!" "But I'll never be able to repay you!" "Buy why repay me?" "I bet you that those people from last night will tell your story." "To one guy, and to another one, and to another one." "And there'll soon be thousands." "Million begging to know what happens next." "Take my word for it." "So, enjoy your meal, Cossack, go right ahead!" "I'd like to propose a toast to Holy Russia." "Look!" "There's our hero!" "Dimitri Pechkov!" "Thank you three for getting me out of jail." "Thank you for rescuing me from bandits." "Providence, providence!" "And thank Serko of course for taking me here!" "Thank you." "You have to be something to stab a 1,200-pound bear!" "Well done, Cossack!" "Why do you cheat?" "You ride your house." "But that's lying!" "Well, you'll be the only one thinking this way!" "He's dying!" "What did you give him?" "Nothing." "The usual." "He's been poisoned!" "Got any paraffin?" "No." "Go ask someone!" "We must pump his stomach!" "Don't worry, Serko, everything will be fine." "Hold on, just a little more." "Dimitri could not." "Dimitri could not hold back his tears." "On may 3rd, 1890, a silent crowd attended the blessing of Serko, the strongest horse ever born in holy Russia." "Remember this day, ladies and gentlemen, the day when Serko was blessed by Moscow's Archbishop, in the church of Saint Basil the Blessed." "Our show is a triumph everywhere." "Along the way, we tell of new events, and in Moscow we have an ovation." "But the more we're acclaimed, the greater the danger." "Our triumphs trigger the wrath of Korsakov who'll play with fire to destroy us." "For God's sake!" "Pivoine!" "Pivoine!" "Pivoine!" "Pivoine!" "Pivoine!" "Pivoine!" "Farewell, Pivoine, you worked the shadows of life like a goddess." "Farewell, I won't forget you smile." " Dimitri arrives in St Petersburg." " He has no time to visit." "Pardon me, where can I find the Tsar?" "He rushes to the Palace." "The Tsar will welcome him, all the better as his guardian angel has been so devoted that all Russians know of his feats." "To the great displeasure of corrupt Korsakov, who arrived in time to supposedly celebrate our Dimitri's feat." "To think that his father called him a yellow-belly!" "Now his name's associated with the Russian Empire." "Dimitri, I had to see you in person." "Dimitri Nikolayevich Pechkov," "I must confess I admire your feat." "If you forget what happened," "You will be generously rewarded." "Suddenly Dimitri realizes he has stopped shaking." "He remembers the bear he was unable to shoot." "He recalls his friend Muktan, the slaughtered horses and the Evenks' disarray." "He's going to tell him straight out:" ""Governor you need to save your honor now!" "You wonted to make a fortune and showed no respect for other people's wealth." "You've gained nothing but my deep contempt."" "The Tsar will be informed that you are a thief and murderer, Governor." "Dimitri wished he could say more." "is worth all the money in the world." "His head is full of arguments." "But what could one tell a man, who betrayed the ideal he embodied?" "Nothing!" "Some words kill faster than bullets." "But Dimitri has no time for emotion." "He risked his life a thousand times to have an interview with the Tsar so that he would condescend to hear his prayer." "Tsar, o my gentle Tsar, hear the prayers of the innocent," "Siberia's begging you and Muktan's people are throwing themselves at your feet." "Come on!" "Congratulations!" "You've been a wonderful audience!" "An audience worthy of Paris, the city shining with light and beauty." "It is up to me, mister Fragonard, to applaud you or not." "I would've enjoyed your show immensely, had you not added that inappropriate scene:" "the tragic death of our Governor." "You should know, Sir, that no subject, even in the farthest reaches of Holy Russia, ignores the wrath of His majesty." "Consequently, we've never heard of a Governor unworthy of his office." "Let me inform you that I am the Great Ataman of all Cossacks." "As such, I alone decide to reward them, or listen to their grievances." "Well then, will His Majesty deign to listen to this brave Cossack?" "He's among us and has traveled 6,000 miles to see you." "You Majesty!" "Here's the Cossack, who traveled 6,000 miles through Russia!" "That's him!" "Here's our hero!" ""For as long as Russian land gives birth to men so valiant, so determined, we can rest assured of the strength of the Russian soul."" "These are my father's words to you, Sir." "His imperial Majesty, our beloved Tsar Alexander III, my father." "Your Majesty, I..." "I beg you Majesty's forgiveness, our hero is very intimidated by your Majesty." "Your Majesty." "Muktan was murdered in cold blood." "His only crime was being Evenk." "Which no doubt explains why his assassins are still at large, and why nobody bothered to inform you." "You are insolent, young lady!" "But you're a smooth talker." "Where's the little horse?" "Your Majesty, allow us to offer him to you." "No!" "This is out of the question!" "Pray tell Dimitri Nikolayevich Pechkov that he can now return home, and consider that his little horses, are under my personal protection." "Once upon a time, there was a little horse called Serko." "The little horse loved his freedom, but in the end, chose the golden magnificence of the Imperial palace, and gained the affection of a kid, who was also a kind little Tsar." "Will you stay until I've made improvements?" "Well, your Majesty, we are expected in Paris." "Besides I have a hunch that crowds, will come in droves to cheer you and your little horse." "I am proud of you!" "I knew you'd do it." "I knew you'd go far!" "Is this your wife?" "She doesn't look stupid!" "Our hero of all Russians couldn't forget beautiful Semzhid." "So he returned to Amuria with her, for a beautiful story cannot end without love!" "Father, there's something wrong with her!" "I had to kill bear to marry her!" "So what?" "Everyone can live the way they like!" "Muktan!" "You can rest in peace." "Muktan, your friend is back." "He's brought us peace." "Serko, you who live in golden palaces, who spend nights with graceful fillies, we thank you for standing up for our brave Amursdy horses, and for defending their survival." "Don't leave Ladies and Gentlemen!" "Do stay!" "I'm not done with our traveler," "I haven't described how he rode across the kingdom of Khitan over which only princesses could rule." "Men were their servants." "They had a harem and chose their lovers, there were plenty of them." "Wait, there's also their startling story, of how our weakened hero gashed." "Serko's flesh and drank his blood his life was saved." "And that very day his horse, Ladies and Gentleman, his amazing Serko moved slowly, so as not to make things worse for his already exhausted rider." "I'll also show you the wide mouths of the river Volga, with their poplars quivering in the cool wind like crystal bells." "Hey, wait!" "One more word!" "Serko's just had offspring, so tells me our little Tsar." "Telegrams are helpful." "There were some 10 horses but they fled the imperial stables to join Muktan's people in Amuria." "Don't you want to hear about these horses' return to their homeland?" "Believe me, this isn't nonsense."