territory. As it happened, the tiger killed this boar very close to a road. At
the same time, Markov was passing by with his dogs. The dogs ran
toward the tiger, the tiger killed a dog, and, either because he was scared
or because he didn’t know what else to do, Markov shot at the tiger. The
misfortune was that the tiger memorized the smell of that man and
started hunting him. There were many people in the area—soldiers,
loggers, beekeepers—but the tiger moved around them and did not touch
anyone. He was looking for a particular person. When Markov realized
that the tiger was pursuing him, he fled.
“He was afraid to go home then because he knew that he had not killed
the tiger. He ran four miles to Uncle Vanya’s, and stayed there, hoping
the tiger would go away. Uncle Vanya saw that Markov was not himself:
he was constantly deep in thought, and he seemed scared, but Uncle
Vanya did not ask him any questions. Only after several days did Markov
tell him that he had shot at a tiger and injured him. That’s when Uncle
Vanya said, ‘Listen, you have to go to the village or somewhere else; you
have to leave the taiga. The tiger will not let you live.’ And that’s when
he left.
“In the meantime, the tiger had finished off what was left of the boar.
Then, he found Markov’s tracks, found his apiary, and waited there for
him. Tigers are very well insulated so, if a tiger lies down somewhere
overnight, his body heat does not melt the snow completely. It was
obvious that the tiger waited for a long time because the snow had melted
to the ground where he was resting. He waited for a long time; he waited
long enough.”
As Smirnov understood it, Markov had stopped in at Zhorkin’s logging
camp in the hope of getting a ride back to his cabin. However, by the time
he arrived that evening, all the heavy vehicles had been put away for the
night and their radiators drained.* Zhorkin had already driven home, and
there were no other vehicles available. For some reason—very likely his
dogs, who may have run ahead—Markov was unwilling to wait.