The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin [antikvár]

Now, it is impossible to say definitely whether it all really did happen or not, because the incident which set the entire aifair in motion (which, until recently, was still in motion) happened in the village of Krasnoye so long ago that there are practically no eyewitnesses left from that time. Those that are tell all kinds of different stories and some can't remember anything at all. Besides, to tell the truth, it was not the kind of incident you'd remember for that long a time. As for me, I've heaped up everything I heard on the subject and added a little something of my own as well, could be I even added more than I heard. But in the end, I was so taken by this story that I decided to set it down in written form. If the story seems uninteresting to you, or boring, or even foolish, then just spit and forget I ever started telling it.It happened just before the start of the war, the end of May, the beginning of June, 1941, somewhere in there.It was an ordinary hot day, typical for that time of year. All the kolkhozniks were at work in the fields, but Nyura Belyashova, who worked in the post office and was not directly associated with the kolkhoz, had that day off and was working in her vegetable garden, mounding potatoes.It was so hot that walking the length of three rows had totally exhausted Nyura. Her dress was drenched in back and under her arms, and as it dried it grew white and stiff from the salt of her sweat. Sweat was running down over her eyes. Nyura stopped to push some loose strands of hair back under her kerchief and to look at the sun to see how long till lunchtime.