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

apartment.

THE STRANGE VESSEL


Well, the truck finally choked exhaustedly and stopped at the
attractive entrance of Volka's new house. The movers quickly carried
everything upstairs and soon were gone.
Volka's father opened a few crates and said, "We'll do the rest in the
evening." Then he left for the factory.
Mother and Grandma began unpacking the pots and pans, while Volka
decided to run down to the river nearby. His father had warned him not to go
swimming without him, because the river was very deep, but Volka soon found
an excuse: "I have to go in for a dip to clear my head. How can I take an
exam with a fuzzy brain!"
It's wonderful, the way Volka was always able to think of an excuse
when he was about to do something he was not allowed to do.
How convenient it is to have a river near your house! Volka told his
mother he'd go sit on the bank and study his geography.
And he really and truly intended to spend about ten minutes leafing
through the text-book. However, he got undressed and jumped into the water
the minute he reached the river. It was still early, and there was not a
soul on the bank. This had its good and bad points. It was nice, because no
one could stop him from swimming as much as he liked. It was bad, because
there was no one to admire what a good swimmer and especially what an
extraordinary diver he was.
Volka swam and dived until he became blue. Finally, he realized he had
had enough. He was ready to climb out when he suddenly changed his mind and
decided to dive into the clear water one last time.
As he was about to come up for air, his hand hit a long hard object on
the bottom. He grabbed it and surfaced near the shore, holding a
strange-looking slippery, moss-covered clay vessel. It resembled an ancient
type of Greek vase called an amphora. The neck was sealed tightly with a
green substance and what looked like a seal was imprinted on top.
Volka weighed the vessel in his hand. It was very heavy. He caught his
breath.
A treasure! An ancient treasure of great scientific value! How
wonderful!
He dressed quickly and dashed home to open it in the privacy of his
room.
As he ran along, he could visualize the notice which would certainly
appear in all the papers the next morning. He even thought of a heading: "A
Pioneer Aids Science."
"Yesterday, a pioneer named Vladimir Kostylkov came to his district
militia station and handed the officer on duty a treasure consisting of
antique gold objects which he found on the bottom of the river, in a very
deep place. The treasure has been handed over to the Historical Museum.
According to reliable sources, Vladimir Kostylkov is an excellent diver."
Volka slipped by the kitchen, where his mother was cooking dinner. He
dashed into his room, nearly breaking his leg as he stumbled on a chandelier