Hunting Worse Than Slavery Page #2

"Hunting Worse Than Slavery" is an essay by Leo Tolstoy that critiques the practice of hunting and its moral implications. In this work, Tolstoy reflects on the brutality of hunting animals for sport, arguing that it devalues life and promotes a culture of violence. He draws parallels between the suffering endured by hunted animals and the suffering experienced by enslaved people, emphasizing the need for compassion and ethical treatment of all living beings. Tolstoy's passionate advocacy for animal rights and his philosophical exploration of humanity's relationship with nature make this essay a thought-provoking read for those interested in ethics, morality, and social justice.

								

pass through the whole woods. Only once did something living stir close
to us and run away again. I thought it was the bear. We walked over to
the place from where the noise had come, and we saw hare tracks. The
young aspens were nibbled down. The hares had been feeding on them.

We came out to the road, tied the snow-shoes behind us, and walked down
the road. It was easy to walk. The snow-shoes rattled and rumbled over
the beaten road; the snow creaked under our boots; the cold hoarfrost
stuck to our faces like down. And the stars seemed to run toward us
along the branches: they would flash, and go out again,--just as though
the sky were walking round and round.

My companion was asleep,--I awoke him. We told him how we had made a
circle around the bear, and told the landlord to collect the drivers for
the morning. We ate our supper and lay down to sleep.

I was so tired that I could have slept until dinner, but my companion
woke me. I jumped up and saw that my companion was all dressed and busy
with his gun.

"Where is Demyán?"

"He has been in the forest for quite awhile. He has investigated the
circle, and has been back to take the drivers out."

I washed myself, put on my clothes, and loaded my guns. We seated
ourselves in the sleigh, and started.

There was a severe frost, the air was calm, and the sun could not be
seen: there was a mist above, and the hoarfrost was settling.

We travelled about three versts by the road, and reached the forest. We
saw a blue smoke in a hollow, and peasants, men and women, were there
with clubs.

We climbed out of the sleigh and went up to the people. The peasants
were sitting and baking potatoes, and joking with the women.

Demyán was with them. The people got up, and Demyán took them away to
place them in our last night's circuit. The men and women stretched
themselves out in single file,--there were thirty of them and they could
be seen only from the belt up,--and went into the woods; then my
companion and I followed their tracks.

Though they had made a path, it was hard to walk; still, we could not
fall, for it was like walking between two walls.

Thus we walked for half a verst. I looked up, and there was Demyán
running to us from the other side on snow-shoes, and waving his hand for
us to come to him.

We went up to him, and he showed us where to stand. I took up my
position and looked around.

To the left of me was a tall pine forest. I could see far through it,
and beyond the trees I saw the black spot of a peasant driver. Opposite
me was a young pine growth, as tall as a man's stature. In this pine
growth the branches were hanging down and stuck together from the snow.
The path through the middle of the pine grove was covered with snow.
This path was leading toward me. To the right of me was a dense pine
forest, and beyond the pine grove there was a clearing. And on this
clearing I saw Demyán place my companion.

I examined my two guns and cocked them, and began to think where to take
up a stand. Behind me, about three steps from me, there was a pine-tree.
"I will stand by that pine, and will lean the other gun against it." I
made my way to that pine, walking knee-deep in snow. I tramped down a
space of about four feet each way, and there took my stand. One gun I
took into my hands, and the other, with hammers raised, I placed against
the tree. I unsheathed my dagger and put it back in the scabbard, to be
sure that in case of need it would come out easily.

I had hardly fixed myself, when Demyán shouted from the woods:

"Start it now, start it!"

And as Demyán shouted this, the peasants in the circuit cried, each with
a different tone of voice: "Come now! OO-oo-oo!" and the women cried, in
their thin voices: "Ai! Eekh!"

The bear was in the circle. Demyán was driving him. In the circuit the
people shouted, and only my companion and I stood still, did not speak
or move, and waited for the bear. I stood, and looked, and listened, and
my heart went pitapat. I was clutching my gun and trembling. Now, now he
will jump out, I thought, and I will aim and shoot, and he will fall--
Suddenly I heard to the left something tumbling through the snow, only
it was far away. I looked into the tall pine forest: about fifty steps
from me, behind the trees, stood something large and black. I aimed and
waited. I thought it might come nearer. I saw it move its ears and turn
around. Now I could see the whole of him from the side. It was a huge
beast. I aimed hastily. Bang! I heard the bullet strike the tree.
Through the smoke I saw the bear make back for the cover and disappear
in the forest. "Well," I thought, "my business is spoiled: he will not
run up to me again; either my companion will have a chance to shoot at
him, or he will go through between the peasants, but never again toward
me." I reloaded the gun, and stood and listened. The peasants were
shouting on all sides, but on the right, not far from my companion, I
heard a woman yell, "Here he is! Here he is! Here he is! This way! This
way! Oi, oi, oi! Ai, ai, ai!"

There was the bear, in full sight. I was no longer expecting the bear
to come toward me, and so looked to the right toward my companion. I saw
Demyán running without the snow-shoes along the path, with a stick in
his hand, and going up to my companion, sitting down near him, and
pointing with the stick at something, as though he were aiming. I saw my
companion raise his gun and aim at where Demyán was pointing. Bang! he
fired it off.

"Well," I thought, "he has killed him." But I saw that my companion was
not running toward the bear. "Evidently he missed him, or did not strike
him right. He will get away," I thought, "but he will not come toward
me."

What was that? Suddenly I heard something in front of me: somebody was
flying like a whirlwind, and scattering the snow near by, and panting. I
looked ahead of me, but he was making headlong toward me along the path
through the dense pine growth. I could see that he was beside himself
with fear. When he was within five steps of me I could see the whole of
him: his chest was black and his head was enormous, and of a reddish
colour. He was flying straight toward me, and scattering the snow in all
directions. I could see by the bear's eyes that he did not see me and in
his fright was rushing headlong. He was making straight for the pine
where I was standing. I raised my gun, and shot, but he came still
nearer. I saw that I had not hit him: the bullet was carried past him.
He heard nothing, plunged onward, and did not see me. I bent down the
gun, almost rested it against his head. Bang! This time I hit him, but
did not kill him.

He raised his head, dropped his ears, showed his teeth,--and straight
toward me. I grasped the other gun; but before I had it in my hand, he
was already on me, knocked me down, and flew over me. "Well," I thought,
								Rate this book:0.0 / 0 votes