Among aquatic invertebrate animals - inhabitants of the seas, a group of organisms called scyphoids stands out. They have two biological forms - polypoid and medusoid, differing in their anatomy and way of life. This article will study the structure of the jellyfish, and also discuss the features of its life activity.
General characteristics of the scyphoid class
External building. Habitat
Since representatives of scyphoids have two life forms- jellyfish and polyps, consider their anatomy, which has some differences. Let's study first external structure jellyfish. Turning the animal over with the base of the bell down, we find a mouth bordered with tentacles. It performs dual functions: it absorbs parts of food and removes its undigested remains outside. Such organisms are called protostomes. The body of the animal is two-layered, consisting of ectoderm and endoderm. The latter forms the intestinal (gastric) cavity. Hence the name: type coelenterate.
The gap between the layers of the body is filled with a transparent jelly-like mass - mesoglea. Ectodermal cells perform supporting, motor and protective functions. The animal has a skin-muscular sac that allows it to move in water. Anatomical structure jellyfish is quite complex, since the ecto- and endoderm are differentiated into various In addition to the integumentary and muscular, in outer layer is there some more intermediate cells, performing a regenerative function (damaged parts of the animal’s body can be restored from them).
The structure of neurocytes in scyphoids is interesting. They have a star-shaped shape and with their processes intertwine the ectoderm and endoderm, forming clusters - nodes. A nervous system of this type is called diffuse.
Endoderm and its functions
The inner layer of scyphoids forms a gastrovascular system: digestive canals, lined with glandular (secreting digestive juice) and phagocytic cells. These structures are the main cells that break down food particles. The structures of the skin-muscle sac are also involved in digestion. Their membranes form pseudopodia, capturing and drawing in organic particles. Phagocytic cells and pseudopodia carry out two types of digestion: intracellular (as in protists) and cavity, inherent in highly organized multicellular animals.
Stinging cells
Let's continue to study the structure of the scyphoid jellyfish and consider the mechanism by which animals defend themselves and also attack potential prey. Scyphoids also have another systematic name: the class Cnidarians. It turns out that in the ectodermal layer they have special cells - nettle, or stinging cells, also called cnidocytes. They are found around the mouth and on the tentacles of the animal. When exposed to mechanical stimuli, the thread located in the nettle cell capsule is rapidly thrown out and pierces the body of the victim. Scyphoid toxins that penetrate the cnidocoel are lethal to planktonic invertebrates and fish larvae. In humans, they cause symptoms of urticaria and skin hyperthermia.
Sense organs
Along the edges of the bell of the jellyfish, the photo of which is presented below, you can see shortened tentacles called marginal bodies - rhopalia. They contain two sense organs: vision (eyes that react to light) and balance (statocysts that look like calcareous pebbles). With their help, scyphoids learn about an approaching storm: sound waves in the range from 8 to 13 Hz irritate the statocysts, and the animal hastily moves deeper into the sea.
and reproduction
Continuing to study the structure of a jellyfish (the figure is presented below), let us dwell on reproductive system scyphoid. It is represented by gonads formed from the pouches of the gastric cavity, which are of ectodermal origin. Since these animals are dioecious, eggs and sperm are released through the mouth and fertilization occurs in water. The zygote begins to fragment and a single-layer embryo is formed - the blastula, and from it - a larva called the planula.
It floats freely, then attaches to the substrate and turns into a polyp (scyphistoma). It can bud and is also capable of strobilation. A stack of young jellyfish called ethers forms. They are attached to the central trunk. The structure of a jellyfish detached from the strobile is as follows: it has a system of radial canals, a mouth, tentacles, rhopalia and the rudiments of the gonads.
Thus, the structure of the jellyfish differs from the asexual scyphistoma, which has a cone-shaped shape 1-3 mm in size and is attached to the surface with a stalk. The mouth is surrounded by a corolla of tentacles, and the gastric cavity is divided into 4 pouches.
How do scyphoids move?
Jellyfish is capable of She sharply pushes out a portion of water and moves forward. The animal's umbrella contracts up to 100-140 times per minute. While studying the structure of a scyphoid jellyfish, for example, a cornerot or aurelia, we noted such an anatomical formation as a skin-muscular sac. It is located in the ectoderm; efferent fibers of the marginal nerve ring and ganglia approach its cells. The excitation is transmitted to the skin-muscular structures, as a result of which the umbrella contracts, then, expanding, pushes the animal forward.
Features of the ecology of scyphoids
These representatives of the coelenterate class are common both in warm seas and in cold Arctic waters. Aurelia - a scyphoid jellyfish, the body structure of which we studied, lives in Cherny, Seas of Azov. Another representative of this class, Cornerot (rhizostoma), is also widespread there. It has a milky white umbrella with purple or blue edges, and mouth lobes that resemble roots. Tourists vacationing in Crimea know this species well and try to stay away from its representatives while swimming, since the animal’s stinging cells can cause serious “burns” on the body. Ropilema, like Aurelia, lives in the Sea of Japan. The color of its rhopalia is pink or yellow, and they themselves have numerous finger-like outgrowths. The umbrella mesoglea of both species is used in Chinese and Japanese cuisine under the name "crystal meat".
Cyanea is an inhabitant of cold Arctic waters. The length of its tentacles reaches 30-35 m, and the diameter of the umbrella is 2-3.5 m. Lion's mane or hairy cyanea has two subspecies: Japanese and blue. The poison of the stinging cells located along the edges of the umbrella and on the tentacles is very dangerous for humans.
We have studied the structure scyphoid jellyfish, and also got acquainted with the peculiarities of their life.
Since ancient times, people have known strange shapeless sea animals, to which they gave the name “jellyfish” by analogy with the mythological ancient Greek goddess Medusa the Gorgon. The hair of this goddess was a moving tuft of snakes. The ancient Greeks found similarities between the evil goddess and sea jellyfish with poisonous tentacles.
The habitat of jellyfish is all the salty seas of the World Ocean. Only one is known freshwater species these sea creatures. Each species occupies a habitat limited to one body of water and will never be found in another sea or ocean. Jellyfish are either cold-water or heat-loving; deep-sea and those that stay near the surface.
However, such species swim near the surface only at night, and during the day they dive into the depths in search of food. The horizontal movement of jellyfish is passive in nature - they are simply carried by the current, sometimes over long distances. Due to their primitiveness, jellyfish do not contact each other in any way; they are solitary animals. Large concentrations of jellyfish are explained by the fact that the current brings them to places rich in food.
Due to the highly developed colorless mesoglea, the body of the “flower cap” jellyfish (Olindias formosa) looks almost transparent Types of jellyfish
More than 200 species of jellyfish are known in nature. Despite the primitiveness of the structure, they are very diverse. Their sizes range from 1 to 200 cm in diameter. The largest jellyfish is the lion's mane (cyanea). Some of its specimens can weigh up to 1 ton and have tentacles up to 35 m long.
Jellyfish are shaped like a disk, an umbrella, or a dome. Most jellyfish have a transparent body, sometimes with bluish, milky, or yellowish tints. But not all species are so inconspicuous; among them there are truly beautiful ones, bright colors: red, pink, yellow, purple, speckled and striped. There are no green jellyfish in nature.
Species such as Equorea, Pelagia nocturna, and Rathkea can glow in the dark, causing a phenomenon called bioluminescence. Deep-sea jellyfish emit red light, while those floating near the surface emit blue light. There is a special type of jellyfish (staurojellyfish) that hardly move. They are attached to the ground with a long leg.
The structure of jellyfish
The internal structure and physiology of jellyfish are uniform and primitive. They have one main distinguishing feature - the radial symmetry of the organs, the number of which is always a multiple of 4. For example, a jellyfish umbrella can have 8 blades. The body of a jellyfish does not have a skeleton; it consists of 98% water. When thrown ashore, the jellyfish is unable to move and dries up instantly. Its consistency is similar to jelly, which is why the British called it “jelly fish.”
Body tissues have only two layers, which are connected to each other by an adhesive substance and perform different functions. The cells of the outer layer (ectoderm) are “responsible” for movement, reproduction, and are analogues of skin and nerve endings. The cells of the inner layer (endoderm) only digest food.
The outer part of the body of jellyfish is smooth, mostly convex, the inner (lower) shape resembles a bag. The mouth is located at the bottom of the dome. It is located in the middle and is very different in structure from different types jellyfish The umbrella is surrounded by hunting tentacles, which, depending on the species, can be either thick and short or thin, thread-like, and long.
What do jellyfish eat?
Jellyfish are predators; they consume only animal food (crustaceans, fry, small fish, caviar). They are blind and have no senses. Jellyfish hunt passively, catching with their tentacles the edibles that the current brings. The hunting tentacles kill the prey. This is done different ways.
This is the largest jellyfish in the world - the cyanea, or lion's mane (Cyanea capillata), its long tentacles can reach 35 m in length! Some types of jellyfish inject poison into the prey, others glue the prey to the tentacles, and others have sticky threads in which it becomes entangled. The tentacles push the paralyzed victim towards the mouth, through which undigested remains are then expelled. Interestingly, jellyfish living in the depths attract prey with their bright glow.
How do jellyfish reproduce?
Jellyfish have vegetative (asexual) and sexual reproduction. Externally, males are no different from females. Sperm and eggs are released through the mouth into the water, where fertilization occurs. After this, the larva (planula) develops. The larvae are not able to feed, they settle to the bottom and a polyp is formed from them. This polyp can reproduce by budding. Gradually, the upper parts of the polyp separate and float away; these are actually young jellyfish that will grow and develop.
Some species of jellyfish do not have a polyp stage. Young individuals are immediately formed from the planula. There are also species in which polyps are formed in the gonads, from which small jellyfish are born. Each egg cell in jellyfish produces several individuals.
Vitality of jellyfish
Although jellyfish do not live long - from several months to 2-3 years, their numbers are restored very quickly even after various disasters. Their reproduction rate is very high. Jellyfish quickly restore lost body parts. Even if they are cut in half, two new individuals are formed from the halves.
Interestingly, if such an operation is performed in at different ages jellyfish, then an individual of the corresponding developmental stage grows from the tissues. If you divide the larva, then two larvae will grow, and from the adult parts - jellyfish of the appropriate age.
Jellyfish swimming upside down Jellyfish and people
Some types of jellyfish pose a danger to humans. They can be roughly divided into two groups. Some cause allergies, the poison of others affects nervous system and can cause serious muscle and heart problems and, in some cases, death.
To avoid putting yourself in danger, you should avoid touching jellyfish, both living and dead. In case of a burn, you should wash the injured area with water, or better yet, a vinegar solution. If the pain does not subside and there are complications, you should immediately call a doctor.
Jellyfish are amazing and very extraordinary creatures. Read and watch
Jellyfish are amazing and very extraordinary creatures, evoking a whole range of emotions from delight and admiration to disgust and fear. Jellyfish can be found in every sea, in every ocean, on the surface of the water or at a depth of many kilometers.
Jellyfish are the oldest animals on the planet, their history goes back at least 650 million years. There is an incredible number of different species in nature, but even now the emergence of new ones, previously unknown to mankind, is being recorded.
Jellyfish washed up on the sand of Belmedie beach, Scotland
In fact, jellyfish or the medusoid generation are one of the phases life cycle cnidarians Medusozoa, which are usually divided into three types: hydroid, scyphoid and box jellyfish. Jellyfish reproduce sexually. There are males who produce sperm and females who produce eggs. As a result of their fusion, the so-called planula is formed - a jellyfish larva. The planula settles to the bottom, where over time it turns into a polyp (asexual generation of jellyfish). Having reached full maturity, the polyp begins to bud off a young generation of jellyfish, often completely different from the adults. In scyphoid jellyfish, the newly separated specimen is called ether.
The body of jellyfish is a jelly-like dome, which, through contractions, allows them to move in the water column. Tentacles equipped with stinging cells (cnidocytes) with a burning poison are designed for hunting and capturing prey.
Jellyfish at Shark Bay Manaday Reef Aquarium in Las Vegas, Nevada
The term "jellyfish" was first used by Carl Linnaeus in 1752, as an allusion to the animal's resemblance to the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Becoming popular around 1796, the name began to be used to identify other medusoid species of animals, such as ctenophores.
Jellyfish on display in Long Beach, California
Did you know? 10 interesting facts about jellyfish:
The world's largest jellyfish can reach 2.5 meters in diameter and have tentacles more than 40 meters long.
Jellyfish are capable of reproducing both sexually and by budding and fission.
The Australian wasp jellyfish is the most dangerous poisonous animal in the world's oceans. The venom of a sea wasp is enough to kill 60 people.
Even after the death of a jellyfish, its tentacles can sting for more than two weeks.
Jellyfish do not stop growing throughout their lives.
Large concentrations of jellyfish are called “swarms” or “blooms.”
Some types of jellyfish are eaten in East Asia, considering them a “delicacy”.
Jellyfish don't have a brain respiratory system, circulatory, nervous and excretory systems.
The rainy season significantly reduces the number of jellyfish living in salt water bodies.
Some female jellyfish can produce up to 45,000 larvae (planulae) per day.
The most incredible and bizarre shapes
Aequorea Victoria or crystal jellyfish
Lilac sting
Elegant dance of jellyfish
Aurelia - “butterflies”
Medusa - crown
Eared aurelia (lat. Aurelia aurita) is a species of scyphoid from the order of disc jellyfish (Semaeostomeae)
glowing ctenophore
Pink jellyfish
The pink jellyfish from the Scyphozoan family was discovered quite recently, just over 10 years ago, in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Some individuals of this species reach 70 cm in diameter. Pink jellyfish can cause serious and painful burns, especially if a swimmer inadvertently ends up among a large concentration of these creatures.
Antarctic Diplulmaris
Antarctic Diplulmaris is one of the species of jellyfish of the family Ulmaridae. This jellyfish was recently discovered in Antarctica, in the waters of the continental shelf. The Antarctic Diplulmaris is only 4 cm in diameter.
Colony of jellyfish
Aurelia aurita or moon jellyfish
Pacific sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens)
Flower cap jellyfish (Olindias formosa)
Flower cap jellyfish (lat. Olindias Formosa) is one of the species of hydroid jellyfish from the order Limnomedusae. Basically, these cute creatures live in south coast Japan. Feature– motionless hovering near the bottom in shallow water. The diameter of the “flower cap” usually does not exceed 7.5 cm. The tentacles of the jellyfish are located not only along the edge of the dome, but also over its entire surface, which is not at all typical for other species.
A flower cap burn is not fatal, but is quite painful and can lead to severe allergic reactions.
Scyphoid jellyfish rhizostoma (Rhizostoma pulmo) or cornet
Incredible bioluminescent jellyfish
Jellyfish - an inhabitant of the coast of the Federated States of Micronesia
Purple-banded jellyfish (Chrysaora colorata)
The purple-striped jellyfish (lat. Chrysaora Colorata) from the class Scyphozoa is found only near the coast of California. This rather large jellyfish reaches 70 cm in diameter, the length of the tentacles is about 5 meters. A characteristic feature is the striped pattern on the dome. In adults it has a bright purple color, in juveniles it is pink. Purple-striped jellyfish usually live alone or in small groups, unlike most other species of jellyfish, which often form huge colonies. The Chrysaora Colorata burn is quite painful, but not fatal to humans.
Pelagia Noctiluca, known in Europe as "lilac sting"
Giant Nomura jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai)
Giant Nomura jellyfish (lat. Nemopilema nomurai) is a species of scyphoid jellyfish from the order Cornerotae. This species predominantly inhabits the East China and Yellow Seas. The size of individuals of this species is truly impressive! They can reach 2 meters in diameter and weigh about 200 kg.
The name of the species was given in honor of Mr. Kan'ichi Nomura, general director fisheries in Fukui Prefecture. In early 1921, Mr. Nomura first collected and studied a previously unknown species of jellyfish.
Currently, the number of Nomura jellyfish in the world is growing. Possible reasons population growth, scientists believe climate change, overexploitation water resources and pollution environment.
In 2009, a 10-ton fishing trawler capsized in Tokyo Bay with three crew members trying to remove nets overflowing with dozens of Nomura jellyfish.
Great red jellyfish (Tiburonia granrojo)
Jellyfish are the oldest Marine life, which appeared hundreds of millions of years ago. These underwater inhabitants got their name due to their resemblance to mythical creature- Medusa Gorgon. The body of these animal representatives sea world more than 90% consists of water. Their favorite habitat is salt waters. Translucent creatures are the object of research by scientists. Call special interest poisonous and largest jellyfish.
10. Irukandji Medusa | 10 centimeters
- one of the most poisonous Pacific jellyfish. The main habitat is Australian waters. The diameter of its dome is about 10 centimeters. Irukandji has four tentacles, the length of which can reach 1 meter. A jellyfish sting is dangerous to humans and can cause a number of unpleasant consequences: pain throughout the body, nausea, vomiting, tachycardia and even pulmonary edema. In rare cases, death may occur. Irukaji's venom has a slow-acting property, so symptoms may appear over several days. Despite its small size, it poses a certain risk for swimmers.
9. Medusa Pelagia | 12 centimeters
(Nocturnal jellyfish) is one of the most beautiful disc jellyfish, which is common in the waters of the World and Atlantic Oceans, as well as in the Red and Mediterranean Seas. The body diameter of the jellyfish reaches 12 centimeters. The color of the umbrella is purple-red and has ornate frills around the edges. In addition to stinging cells and tentacles, Pelagia has four oral cavities. The jellyfish begins to glow the moment it comes into contact with any objects. The main living creatures that the Nightlight feeds on are benthos, sometimes fry and crustaceans. The jellyfish poses a certain danger to humans, since its injected poison causes burns and, in some cases, shock.
8. Portuguese Man of War | 25 centimeters
(Physalia) - a jellyfish is a “sailboat”-shaped bubble floating on the surface of the water. The body of the “sailfish” is 25 centimeters, but the tentacles of Physalia can reach 50 meters, which it hides under water. It has a beautiful blue or purple color. The Portuguese man-of-war prefers to feed on fish larvae and small squid. Physalia is one of the most poisonous sea jellyfish. Upon contact with its tentacles, a person receives a severe burn, which is accompanied by acute pain. The injected poison can paralyze all vital organs, so it is difficult for a stung swimmer to stay on the water, and the person drowns. The Portuguese man-of-war is easy to spot from afar, thanks to its bright and beautiful coloring, so you can avoid encountering it while sailing.
7. Aurelia | 40 centimeters
(Eared jellyfish) is one of the most common types of large jellyfish. Aurelia's body is almost transparent and reaches 40 centimeters. Numerous thin tentacles have stinging cells that strike prey. Four oral lobes resemble drooping ears, which is why Aurelia received the name Ushastaya. This species feeds mainly on plankton and crustaceans. The eared jellyfish does not pose a danger to humans, and its bite can only cause a burn. IN Asian countries Aurelia is used to prepare exotic dishes.
6. Australian Sea Wasp | 45 centimeters
- the most poisonous inhabitant of the World Ocean. The main habitat of the species is the coasts of Indonesia and Australia. The dome of the Sea Wasp is 45 centimeters and is equipped with 60 tentacles, which can reach more than 3 meters when hunting prey. The sea animal has 24 eyes. It instantly stings a passing object in several places at once. Death from bites poisonous jellyfish can occur in just a few minutes. A swimmer who is stung receives enough to cause a heart attack and often drowns. It is quite difficult to notice this jellyfish due to its transparency. The Australian wasp feeds on small fish and shrimp.
5. Cornerot | 60 centimeters
- one of largest sea jellyfish, living in Black and Mediterranean seas. The weight of the sea dweller can reach 10 kg, and the diameter of the dome is 60 centimeters. For humans, Cornerot poses no danger and can only cause mild irritation upon contact with the tentacles. The cornerota umbrella is a “haven” for small fish that hide under the dome from danger. This species feeds only on plankton. Jellyfish are actively used in medicine for the preparation of medicines, as well as in cooking. In Japan, Thailand and China, a variety of dishes are prepared from Cornerot.
4. Purple Striped Jellyfish | 70 centimeters
- one of the largest and most graceful jellyfish that lives in the Gulf of Monterey. The dome of the animal reaches 70 centimeters and has a rich color. A Purple Jellyfish sting can cause severe burns to a person. This species has not yet been thoroughly studied by science, so there is very little information about the animal.
3. Medusa Chrysaora | 1 meter
(Sea nettle) – inhabitant Pacific Ocean reveals the three largest jellyfish in the world. The body of an adult Chryasora can reach 1 meter, and its numerous tentacles can reach 4 meters. Tentacles severed from the body can exist separately in sea depths for several weeks and sting. Sea nettle stings leave burns in the form of thin welts. Victims experience sharp pain and burning, but do not pose a danger to human health. Chryasora is one of the most beautiful representatives of its species, so the animal is often kept in oceanariums and aquariums. In the ocean, sea nettle feeds on plankton and small jellyfish.
2. Bell of Nomura | 2 meters
(Lion's mane) - one of the largest species of jellyfish living in the seas Far East. Nomura measures 2 meters in size and can weigh up to 200 kg. Marine animals cause harm to the fishing industry. A giant hairy ball gets caught in the net, tangling it. When the fishermen try to free the net, Nomura sharply stings the man. In case of an allergic reaction to the poison, death from a Lion's mane bite is possible. From time to time, large accumulations of Nomura are observed off the coast of the Sea of Japan.
1. Hairy Cyanea | 2.3 meters
- ranks first among the giant jellyfish in the world. The body of individual individuals of Cyanea can reach 2.3 meters, and the length of the tentacles is 37 meters. The main habitat of this species is seas and oceans. These jellyfish rarely approach the shores and prefer to exist at depths of 20 meters. Giant Cyanea does not pose a serious danger to humans. Its bite can only cause a burn. Large individuals feed on plankton and other jellyfish.
(Cubozoa). The body of jellyfish largely consists of water-logged connective tissue - mesoglea- and is shaped like a bell or an umbrella. This structure provides the ability for reactive movement by contracting the muscles of the bell wall. The body of a jellyfish is 98% water. Even the largest jellyfish, whose linear dimensions exceed a meter and whose mass reaches several centners, are not able to withstand sea currents, and therefore are considered part of plankton.
In trachylids and pelagia, the alternation of generations is lost; the jellyfish develops from an egg.
Typically, jellyfish are formed as a result of the budding of polyps and reproduce sexually, giving rise to free-swimming larvae - planulas. Some hydroid jellyfish are capable of asexual reproduction(by budding or transverse division). Jellyfish use zooplankton as a food source, including the eggs and larvae of some fish species. In turn, the jellyfish themselves become victims of adult pelagic fish.
Structure
Jellyfish that differ in structure different classes Cnidarians got their own names:
The last two terms are also used to refer to all stages of the life cycle of representatives of the corresponding classes, since they are best known precisely by the jellyfish stage.
Structure using the example of Eared Aurelia
An example of a scyphojellyfish is the long-eared aurelia (Aurelia aurita).
Medusa breathes with her whole body. The jellyfish's gelatinous and transparent body has as many as 24 eyes. Protruding along the perimeter of the body sensitive bodies(ropalia), which perceive various environmental impulses, such as light. The mouth opening serves the jellyfish both for eating food and for removing its remains. Remains of food that are not completely digested are excreted through the same hole. Near the mouth opening there are 4 oral lobes equipped with stinging cells; they also contain a “burning” substance that serves for defense and for obtaining food. Due to the fact that the jellyfish consists mainly of water, its life on land is impossible. When a jellyfish washes ashore, it dies by drying out in the sun.
Life cycle
Jellyfish reproduce sexually. Males produce sperm, females produce eggs; after fusion, a larva is formed - a planula, which settles at the bottom. A polyp grows from the planula (asexual generation). When the polyp reaches full maturity, young jellyfish detach from it by budding. In scyphoids, the newly separated jellyfish is very different from the mature form and is called ether .
Stinging cells
To hunt prey and protect against enemies, the tentacles of jellyfish are equipped with special stinging cells, or cnidocytes. Cnidocytes come in different types:
- penetrants- pointed threads are stuck into the victim’s body, injecting a burning substance;
- glutinants- long threads covered with a sticky substance immobilize the victim, covering it with many such cnidocytes; also participate in the passive movement of the polyp, clinging to a moving object;
- Volvents- short threads that entangle the victim.
Drawings by Ernst Haeckel
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Notes
Links
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
- Jellyfish- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
Excerpt characterizing Medusa
-What do you order, your excellency? - asked the protodeacon's bass, hoarse from raking, and two black shining eyes glanced from under their brows at the silent master. “What, or won’t you be able to stand it?” as if those two eyes said.- Nice day, huh? And the chase and the gallop, eh? - Nikolai said, scratching Milka’s ears.
Danilo did not answer and blinked his eyes.
“I sent Uvarka to listen at dawn,” his bass voice said after a moment of silence, “he said, he transferred it to the Otradnensky order, they were howling there.” (Translated meant that the she-wolf, about whom they both knew, moved with the children to the Otradnensky forest, which was two miles from the house and which was a small place.)
- But you have to go? - said Nikolai. - Come to me with Uvarka.
- As you order!
- So wait a minute to feed.
– I’m listening.
Five minutes later, Danilo and Uvarka stood in Nikolai’s large office. Despite the fact that Danilo was not very tall, seeing him in the room produced an impression similar to when you see a horse or a bear on the floor between the furniture and the conditions of human life. Danilo himself felt this and, as usual, stood at the very door, trying to speak more quietly, not to move, so as not to somehow damage the master’s chambers, and trying to quickly express everything and go out into the open space, from under the ceiling to the sky.
Having finished the questions and having elicited Danila’s consciousness that the dogs were okay (Danila himself wanted to go), Nikolai ordered them to saddle up. But just as Danila wanted to leave, Natasha entered the room with quick steps, not yet combed or dressed, wearing a large nanny’s scarf. Petya ran in with her.
- You are going? - said Natasha, - I knew it! Sonya said that you won’t go. I knew that today was such a day that it was impossible not to go.
“We’re going,” Nikolai answered reluctantly, who today, since he intended to undertake a serious hunt, did not want to take Natasha and Petya. “We’re going, but only after the wolves: you’ll be bored.”
“You know that this is my greatest pleasure,” Natasha said.
“This is bad,” he rode himself, ordered him to saddle, but didn’t tell us anything.
– All obstacles to the Russians are in vain, let’s go! – Petya shouted.
“But you’re not allowed to: Mama said you’re not allowed to,” said Nikolai, turning to Natasha.
“No, I’ll go, I’ll definitely go,” Natasha said decisively. “Danila, tell us to saddle up, and for Mikhail to ride out with my pack,” she turned to the hunter.
And so it seemed indecent and difficult for Danila to be in the room, but to have anything to do with the young lady seemed impossible to him. He lowered his eyes and hurried out, as if it had nothing to do with him, trying not to accidentally harm the young lady.
The old count, who had always kept a huge hunt, but now had transferred the entire hunt to the jurisdiction of his son, on this day, September 15th, having fun, got ready to leave too.
An hour later the whole hunt was at the porch. Nikolai, with a stern and serious look, showing that there was no time to deal with trifles now, walked past Natasha and Petya, who were telling him something. He inspected all parts of the hunt, sent the pack and hunters ahead to the race, sat down on his red bottom and, whistling the dogs of his pack, set off through the threshing floor into the field leading to the Otradnensky order. The old count's horse, a game-colored mering called Bethlyanka, was led by the count's stirrup; he himself had to go straight in the droshky to the hole left for him.
Of all the hounds, 54 dogs were bred, under which 6 people went out as handlers and catchers. In addition to the masters, there were 8 greyhound hunters, who were followed by more than 40 greyhounds, so that with the master's packs about 130 dogs and 20 horse hunters went out into the field.
Each dog knew its owner and name. Each hunter knew his business, place and purpose. As soon as they left the fence, everyone, without noise or conversation, stretched out evenly and calmly along the road and field leading to the Otradnensky forest.
The horses walked across the field as if walking on a fur carpet, occasionally splashing through puddles as they crossed the roads. The foggy sky continued to descend imperceptibly and evenly to the ground; the air was quiet, warm, soundless. Occasionally one could hear the whistling of a hunter, the snoring of a horse, the blow of an arapnik, or the yelp of a dog that was not moving in its place.
Having ridden about a mile away, five more horsemen with dogs appeared from the fog to meet the Rostov hunt. A fresh, handsome old man with a large gray mustache rode ahead.
“Hello, uncle,” Nikolai said when the old man drove up to him.
“It’s a real march!... I knew it,” said the uncle (he was a distant relative, a poor neighbor of the Rostovs), “I knew that you couldn’t stand it, and it’s good that you’re going.” Pure march! (This was my uncle’s favorite saying.) - Take the order now, otherwise my Girchik reported that the Ilagins are standing in Korniki with pleasure; You have them - pure march! - they will take the brood under your nose.
- That's where I'm going. What, to bring down the flocks? - Nikolai asked, - get out...
The hounds were united into one pack, and uncle and Nikolai rode side by side. Natasha, wrapped in scarves, from under which a lively face with sparkling eyes could be seen, galloped up to them, accompanied by Petya and Mikhaila, the hunter who was not far behind her, and the guard who was assigned as her nanny. Petya laughed at something and beat and pulled his horse. Natasha deftly and confidently sat on her black Arab and with a faithful hand, without effort, reined him in.
