"Lazar Lagin. The Old Genie Hottabych (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

"I would have changed her into a chopping block on which butchers chop
up mutton," the old man said fiercely (and Volka was really frightened for
his teacher's fate), "if I hadn't seen that she had such great respect for
you and took you to the door of your classroom and then practically down the
stairs. I realized then that she had fully appreciated your answers. Peace
be with her!"
"Sure, peace be with her!" Volka added hastily, feeling that a load had
fallen from his shoulders.
During the several thousand years of Hottabych's life, he had often had
to do with people feeling sad and gloomy, and he knew how to cheer them up.
At any rate, he was convinced he knew how to do so. All that was needed was
to give a person that which he had always longed for. But what kind of a
present should he give Volka? The answer came to him quite by chance when
Volka asked a passer-by:
"Would you please tell me what time it is?"
The man looked at his watch and said, "Five to two."
"Thank you," Volka said and continued on in silence.
Hottabych was the first to speak.
"Tell me, 0 Volka, how was the man able to tell the time of day so
accurately?"
"Didn't you see him look at his watch?" The old man raised his eyebrows
in surprise.
"His watch?!" "Sure, his watch," Volka explained. "He had a watch on
his
wrist. The round chrome-plated thing."
"Why don't you have such a watch, 0 most noble of all Genie-saviours?"
"I'm too young to have such a watch," Volka answered humbly.
"May I be permitted, 0 honourable passer-by, to inquire as to the time
of day?" Hottabych said, stopping the first person he saw and staring at his
watch.
"Two minutes to two," the man answered, somewhat surprised at the
flowery language.
Thanking him in the most elaborate oriental manner, Hottabych said with
a sly grin:
"May I be permitted, 0 loveliest of all Volkas, to inquire as to the
time of day?"
And there was a watch shining on Volka's left wrist, exactly like the
one the man they had stopped had, but instead of being chrome-plated, it was
of the purest gold.
"May it be worthy of your hand and your kind heart," Hottabych said in
a touched voice, basking in Volka's happiness and surprise.
Then Volka did something that any other boy or girl would have done in
his place, having found themselves the proud possessors of their first
watch. He raised his arm to his ear to hear it tick.
"O-o-o-o," he drawled. "It's not wound. I'll have to wind it." To his
great disappointment, he found he could not move the winding button. Then he
got out his pen-knife to open the watch case. However, try as he would, he
could not find a trace of a slit in which to insert the knife.
"It's made of solid gold," the old man boasted and winked. "I'm not one
of those people who give presents made of hollow gold."