"Yuri Olesha. The three fat men (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

"It's splendid!"
They came closer.
"I wonder what's inside this funny thing?" one of them said and gave
the balloon man a sharp nick on the forehead.
"Probably candy."
"Or champagne."
"How interesting! How very interesting!"
"Let's cut the head off first and see what's inside."
"Help!"
The poor balloon man could stand it no longer and croaked "Help!"
opening his eyes as he did. Just then a child's voice was heard shouting:
"My doll! My doll!"
Everyone stopped talking and listened. The Three Fat Men and the State
Councillor looked very worried.
The shouting changed to crying. A boy who was very unhappy was crying
somewhere in the large hall.
"Why, that's Tutti the Heir crying!" the First Fat Man said.
"It's Tutti the Heir crying!" the other two Fat Men repeated.
All three of them turned pale. They were very frightened.
The State Councillor, several ministers and servants rushed towards one
of the doors.
"What's the matter? What's wrong?" people in the hall began to whisper.
A boy ran into the hall. He pushed aside the ministers and the
servants. He ran up to the Three Fat Men. His curls shook and his
patent-leather shoes shone. He was sobbing. No one could understand what he
was shouting through his sobs.
"The brat will notice me!" the balloon man thought and trembled. "This
awful frosting which doesn't let me breathe properly or move a finger will
certainly look tasty to him. And they don't want him to cry, so they'll cut
him a slice of cake together with my head."
But the boy didn't even look at the cake. He didn't even look at the
magnificent balloons that hung above the balloon man's round head.
He was crying bitterly.
"What's the matter?" the First Fat Man asked.
"Why is Tutti the Heir crying?" asked the Second.
The Third puffed out his cheeks.
Tutti the Heir was twelve years old. He was being brought up in the
Palace of the Three Fat Men. He was treated like a little prince. The Three
Fat Men wanted an heir. They had no children. And so all their riches and
the country they ruled were one day to be Tutti's.
Tutti's tears frightened the Three Fat Men even more than the words
spoken by Prospero the Gunsmith.
The boy was clenching his fists, waving his arms, and stamping his
feet.
He was really having a tantrum.
And no one knew why.
His tutors peeped out from behind the columns, too frightened to come
into the hall. These teachers, dressed all in black with black wigs on their
heads, looked like the soot-covered chimneys of oil lamps.
After a while, when the boy had calmed down a bit, he told them what