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

grow up mean, cruel and hard-hearted, hating all people. When the three pigs
finally die, the cruel wolf will take their place.' "
"Why didn't you stop them?" the State Councillor shouted, shaking the
tutor's shoulder angrily. "Couldn't you see they were traitors who had gone
over to the side of the people?"
The tutor was now trembling like a leaf. He babbled:
"Yes, I guessed it, but I was afraid of them. They were terribly angry.
And I had no weapon at all. They had their hands on their swords and were
ready to use them. 'Look,' one of them said, 'look at this stuffed dummy.
The wolf-cub is playing with a doll. They don't let any live children near
him. They gave him a stuffed toy, a doll with a spring inside, to be his
playmate.' Then another said: 'My wife and son are back home in our village.
One day my boy was out with his pea-shooter and hit a pear on a tree in a
landlord's orchard. The landlord ordered my boy to be flogged for insulting
the power of the rich, and his servants made my wife pay a big fine.' Then
the Guards all started shouting together and crowded still closer round
Tutti the Heir. The one who had just told them about his son pulled out his
sword and stuck it into the doll. Then the others did, too." (At this Tutti
the Heir sobbed louder than ever.) " 'Here, take this, wolf-cub!' they said.
'We'll get to your fat pigs next.' "
"Where are the traitors?" the Three Fat Men thundered.
"They dropped the doll and ran off into the park. They were shouting
'Long live Prospero the Gunsmith! Long live Tibul the Acrobat! Down with the
Three Fat Men!' "
"Why didn't the Palace Guards shoot them?" everyone wanted to know.
It was then that the tutor told them the most frightening news.
"The Palace Guards were waving their hats at them. I was watching from
behind the iron fence, and I saw the Guards saying good-bye to them. The
Palace Guards said: 'Comrades, go to the people and tell them that the whole
army will soon go over to their side.' "
That is what happened in the park.
The alarm was sounded. The loyal Palace Guards were stationed in the
Palace, at all the park entrances and exits, at all the bridges and along
the road leading to town.
A meeting of the State Council was called. All the guests left. The
Three Fat Men were weighed by the chief Palace doctor.
Despite all the excitement, they had not lost a single bit of fat. The
chief Palace doctor was then arrested and given nothing to eat but bread and
water.
Palace servants found the doll that belonged to Tutti the Heir lying in
the tall grass. It had not seen the eclipse of the sun. It was broken beyond
repair.
Tutti the Heir could not stop crying. He hugged the broken doll and
sobbed. The doll looked just like a little girl. It was as big as Tutti.
This was a very expensive, beautifully made doll. Now her dress was all
torn, and there were big black holes in her chest from the soldiers' swords.
An hour before she could sit and stand, smile and dance, but now it was only
a scarecrow, a heap of rags. Somewhere in the neck and chest, under the pink
silk, a broken spring creaked, just as an old wall clock creaks before
striking the hour.