tochue,
muksun, omul, and _Salmo Lavaretus_.

It was a good living, that of the chase, albeit fraught with grave
dangers; and Ivan, thanks to his exceptional powers with the rod as well
as the rifle, was on the high road to prosperity.

He lived with his mother and two sisters in a pretty house about a koes
from Shiganska, and facing it was a level stretch of reed-grass
terminating in the hemlock-covered banks of the Petchora. A few trees,
chiefly birch and larch, dotted about the reed-grass afforded a
delightful shade from the fierce heat of the short summer sun; and birds
of all sorts, whose singing was a source of the keenest delight to Ivan
and his sisters, made their homes in them.

Unlike any other hunter in Shiganska, Ivan was fond of poetry and
music; moreover, he had a dreamy disposition, and when his day's work
was done he was content--nay, more than content--to watch the changing
colours in the sky, or see in the glowing embers of the charcoal fire
strange scenes and wildly familiar faces.

One morning, in the month of April, Ivan set off to the woods, gun in
hand, accompanied by his old and faithful dog, Dolk, in search of big
game. He paused every now and then to look at the ice on the summits of
the distant mountains. The sunlight falling on it imparted to it many
different hues, and made it sparkle like flaming jewels. He stopped
repeatedly to listen to the croaking of the raven, the cawing of the
crows, and the piping of the bullfinches--sounds of which he was never
weary, and never tired of trying to interpret.

On this occasion, as usual, it was not until long after noon that he
began seriously to think of looking for his quarry, and it was not until
he had searched for some time that he at length came upon the tracks of
a wild reindeer. Loosing Dolk, and tightening the buckles of his
snow-shoes, he set to work to stalk the animal, and eventually sighted
it browsing on a clump of reed-grass that grew on the bank of a mountain
stream. The chase now began in earnest. It was a beautiful animal, and
Ivan strained every effort to get within shooting range by leaping from
rock to rock, and springing over stream after stream. In this manner he
had progressed for more than a koes, when blood from the feet of the
reindeer began to be visible on the fresh frozen snow; from its
faltering pace the poor creature was evidently tired out, and Dolk was
drawing closer and closer to it. In these circumstances Ivan