"Michael Ende - Momo" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ende Michael)

As she sang, she clapped her hands and pranced around in time to the refrain.
The tune and the words were so easy to remember that the rest joined in, one after another, until
the entire crew was singing, clapping and cavorting around in time to the music. Nothing could have been
more astonishing than to see the professor himself and that old sea dog, Jim Ironside, singing and
clapping like children in a playground.
And then, lo and behold, the thing they never thought would happen came to pass: the Travelling
Tornado rotated more and more slowly until it came to a stop and began to sink beneath the waves. With
a thunderous roar, the sea closed over it. The storm died away, the rain ceased, the sky became blue and
cloudless, the waves subsided. The Argo lay motionless on the glittering surface as if nothing but peace
and tranquillity had ever reigned there.
"Members of the crew," said Captain Gordon, with an appreciative glance at each in turn, "we
pulled it off!" The captain never wasted words, they all knew, so they were doubly delighted when he
added, "I'm proud of you."
 "I think it must really have been raining," said the girl who had brought her little sister along. "I'm
soaked, that's for sure."
She was right. The real storm had broken and moved on, and no one was more surprised than
she to find that she had completely forgotten to be scared of the thunder and lightning while sailing aboard
the Argo.
The children spent some time discussing their adventurous voyage and swapping personal
experiences. Then they said goodbye and went home to dry off.



The only person slightly dissatisfied with the outcome of the game was the boy who wore glasses.
Before leaving, he said to Momo, "I still think it was a shame to sink the Teetotum elasticum, just like
that. The last surviving specimen of its kind, imagine! I do wish I could have taken a closer look at it."
But on one point they were all agreed: the games they played with Momo were more fun than
any others.


FOUR
Two Special Friends

Even when people have a great many friends, there are always one or two they love best of all,
and Momo was no exception.
She had two very special friends who came to see her every day and shared what little they had
with her. One was young and the other old, and Momo could not have said which of them she loved
more.

The old one's name was Beppo Roadsweeper. Although he must have had a proper surname,
everyone including Beppo himself used the nickname that described his job, which was sweeping roads.
Beppo lived near the amphitheater in a home-made shack built of bricks, corrugated iron and tar
paper. He was not much taller than Momo, being an exceptionally small man and bent-backed into the
bargain. He always kept his head cocked to one side -- it was big, with a single tuft of white hair on top
-- and wore a diminutive pair of steel-rimmed spectacles on his nose.
Beppo was widely believed to be not quite right in the head. This was because, when asked a
question, he would give an amiable smile and say nothing. If, after pondering the question, he felt it
needed no answer, he still said nothing. If it did, he would ponder what answer to give. He could take as
long as a couple of hours to reply, or even a whole day. By this time the person who had asked the
question would have forgotten what it was, so Beppo's answer seemed peculiar in the extreme.