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

mouse out of a mousetrap. The night before the very same mouse had eaten a
pound of Turkish delight. And the night before that it had knocked over a
glass with carnations. The glass had broken and for some strange reason the
carnations had begun to smell like catnip. The mouse got caught that
terrible night.
The next morning Auntie Ganimed awoke very early. She picked up the
mousetrap. The mouse was sitting inside the little cage looking quite at
home, as if it didn't mind being there at all. It was a very sly mouse.
"Next time, you won't eat Turkish delight that doesn't belong to you!"
Auntie Ganimed said, putting the cage with the mouse where she could keep an
eye on it.
When she had dressed, Auntie Gammed went downstairs to Doctor Caspar's
workshop. She wanted to tell him the good news. The morning before he had
said it was really a shame that so much tasty candy had disappeared.
"Mice like Turkish delight, because it contains a lot of acids," he had
explained.
This had made Auntie Ganimed feel better.
"So the mouse likes my acids. Well, we'll see how it likes my
mousetrap."
Auntie Ganimed stood by the door of the workshop with the mousetrap in
her hand.
It was very early in the morning. Through the open window she could see
the dew glistening on the grass. The wind that carried off the balloon man
that day didn't begin until later.
There were sounds coming from behind the door.
"Poor man," Auntie Ganimed thought. "Didn't he go to bed at all?"
She knocked.
The doctor said something, but she couldn't make out the words.
The door opened.
Doctor Caspar stood on the threshold. There was a smell of burnt cork
in the room. The small flame of a spirit lamp was burning in the corner.
Doctor Caspar had probably been doing some kind of scientific experiments.
"Good morning!" the doctor said cheerfully.
Auntie Ganimed held up the mousetrap for him to see. The mouse was
sniffing, and its nose wiggled as it sniffed.
"I've caught the mouse!"
"Ah!" the doctor sounded very pleased. "Let's see it!"
Auntie Ganimed hurried to the window.
"Here it is!"
She held the mousetrap out towards him. And suddenly she saw a Negro.
There, sitting near the window on a box marked "HANDLE WITH CARE", was a
very handsome Negro.
The Negro had nothing on but a pair of red shorts.
The Negro was black, purple and brown and his skin shone. He was
smoking a pipe.
Auntie Ganimed shrieked so loudly she nearly burst. She spun around and
flapped her arms wildly, like a scarecrow. In all the commotion she somehow
unhooked the mousetrap. The cage popped open, the mouse jumped out and
disappeared.
That's how frightened Auntie Ganimed was.