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

frightened and stumble backwards. The crowd scattered. Children began to
cry, pigeons flew up flapping their wings loudly, and the brown dogs began
to howl.
The cannon boomed again and again. Then the crowd began to push towards
the gates, shouting:
"Prospero! Prospero!"
"Down with the Three Fat Men!"
Doctor Caspar didn't know what to do. He was well known, and now many
people recognised him. Some rushed towards him, as if he could protect them.
But the doctor himself was close to tears.
"What's going on there? How can we find out? Maybe the people are
winning, but then again, maybe they've all been killed?"
A dozen people ran towards the corner of the square where three narrow
streets met. An old house with a high tower stood there. The doctor decided
to climb the tower, too. The ground floor was occupied by a laundry. It was
as dark as a cellar inside. A winding staircase led up to the tower. Some
light came through the tiny windows, but it was hardly enough to see by.
Everyone climbed slowly and with difficulty, because the stairs were rickety
and there was no railing. Imagine how hard it was for Doctor Caspar to reach
the top! When he had climbed only twenty steps the others heard him shout in
the darkness:
"Help! My heart's bursting! And I've lost the heel of my shoe!"
As for his cape, the good doctor had lost it back on the square, after
the cannon had boomed for the tenth time.
There was a platform at the top of the tower with a stone railing all
around it. Here one could see for at least thirty miles away. But there was
no time to admire the view, though it was really pretty. Everyone was
looking towards the scene of battle.
"I have a pair of binoculars. I always take along a pair of binoculars
with eight lenses," Doctor Caspar said. "Here, have a look," he added and
unhooked the strap.
The binoculars were passed round.
Doctor Caspar saw a great many people in the fields. They were running
towards the town. They were fleeing. From afar they looked like coloured
flags. Palace Guards on horseback were chasing them.
The doctor thought it all looked like a picture in a magic lantern. The
sun was shining brightly, the grass glittered, cannon balls burst like puffs
of cotton. The powder flames shot up just as if someone were catching
sun-beams in a mirror. The horses pranced, reared up and spun around. A
white smoke veiled the park and the Palace of the Three Fat Men.
"They're running away!"
"They're running away! The people have been beaten!"
The running men were getting closer and closer. Many of them fell on
the way. From the top of the tower they looked like coloured rags falling on
the grass.
A cannon ball whizzed over the square.
Someone dropped the binoculars.
The cannon ball burst, and everyone standing on the platform at the top
of the tower rushed back down the stairs.
The locksmith caught his leather apron on a hook. He turned round, saw