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

He clenched his fists.
"You've no right to order me about!" he hissed. "I don't know you.
You're the Devil!"
"Get going! I'll count to three. One!"
The crowd stood still. The Negro was a head shorter than Lapitup and
one-third his weight. But everyone was sure that if there was going to be a
fight, the Negro would win, for he looked so fierce and confident. "Two!"
The strong man pulled his head into his shoulders. "The Devil!" he
hissed. "Three!"
The strong man disappeared. Many people had shut their eyes and waited
for him to deal the Negro a terrible blow. When they opened them, the strong
man was nowhere to be seen. He had disappeared behind the curtain.
"That's how the people will chase the Three Fat Men away!" the Negro
said with a big smile.
The crowd roared. People clapped their hands and threw their caps into
the air.
"Long live the people!" "Hooray! Hooray!"
Doctor Caspar was the only one who was shaking his head. No one could
tell why he was so displeased.
"Who is he? Who is he? Who's the Negro?" people kept asking each other.
"Is he an actor, too?"
"We never saw him before!"
"Who are you?"
"Why did you defend the people?"
"Wait! Wait a minute!" cried a man in tattered clothes who was making
his way through the crowd. It was the very same beggar who had stopped to
speak to the flower girls and coachmen the night before. Doctor Caspar
recognised him.
"Wait a minute!" the beggar shouted excitedly. "Can't you see we've
been fooled? This Negro's just another actor, like Lapitup the Strong Man.
They're all part of the same gang! He got his money from the Three Fat Men,
too."
The Negro clenched his fists.
Now the joy of the crowd changed to anger.
"Sure! One scoundrel chased another away."
"He was afraid we'd beat up his friend, so he thought he'd play a joke
on us."
"Get out of here!"
"Scoundrel!" "Traitor!"
Doctor Caspar wanted to say something, to hold the crowd back, but it
was too late. A dozen men had climbed up on the stage and surrounded the
Negro.
"Hit him!" an old woman screeched.
The Negro held up his hand. He was calm.
"Stop!"
His voice rose over the shouting, the noise, and the cat-call
Everything became suddenly quiet, and in the stillness the Negro words
sounded truthful and simple:
"I'm Tibul the Acrobat."
There was confusion everywhere.