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

had happened.
"My doll, my wonderful doll is broken! They spoiled my doll! The Guards
stuck their swords into my doll!"
And he began to sob again.
He rubbed his eyes with his fists and smeared the tears all over his
face.
"What?!" the Fat Men roared.
"What?!"
"The Guards?!"
"They stuck their swords?"
"Into the doll that belongs to Tutti the Heir?"
And everyone in the hall said softly, as if heaving a sigh all together
:
"That's impossible!"
The State Councillor groaned. The nervous miller fainted again, but
came back to his senses in a flash as the Fat Men shouted.
"Stop the party! Postpone all business! Summon the Council! All the
officials! All the judges! All the ministers! All the executioners! Today's
executions are postponed! There are traitors in the Palace!"
There was a great commotion. A minute later Palace messengers were
galloping away in all directions. Five minutes later judges, councillors and
executioners were galloping towards the Palace from all sides. The crowd
that was waiting for the executions to begin on Court Square had to go back
to their homes. Town-criers announced that the executions were being put off
till the next day, because of a very important event.
The cake with the balloon man in the middle was taken back to the
kitchen. The gluttons were all sober now. They crowded around Tutti the Heir
and listened to his story.
"I was sitting on the grass in the park, and the doll was sitting next
to me. We were hoping there'd be an eclipse of the sun. It's very
interesting, you know. I read about it in a book yesterday. When there's an
eclipse, you can see the stars in the day-time.
The boy was sobbing so much he could hardly talk. And so one of his
tutors told them the whole story of what had happened, However, the tutor
was having quite a bit of trouble speaking himself, as he was trembling with
fright.
"I was near Tutti the Heir and his doll. I was sitting in the sun with
my face turned up. I have a wart on my nose and I thought the sun would make
it go away. Suddenly, some Guards appeared. There were twelve of them. They
were arguing about something. When they came up to us they stopped. They
looked very fierce. One of them pointed to Tutti the Heir and said, 'Look at
the wolf-cub. Three fat pigs are bringing up a wolf-cub.' Alas! I knew what
they meant."
"Who are the three fat pigs?" the First Fat Man asked. The other two
blushed. Then the First Fat Man got red in the face, too. The three of them
were huffing and puffing so hard that a glass door leading to the balcony
swung open and shut.
"They crowded round Tutti the Heir," the tutor continued, "and they
said: 'The three pigs are bringing up a wolf-cub of iron. Tutti,' they said,
'which side is your heart on? They have taken out your heart. You have to