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

official of the Council of the Three Fat Men. The flower girls were
frightened. They pressed their hands to their cheeks as they looked at his
head. It could be seen through the carriage window. The street was brightly
lit. The black-wigged head bobbed up and down. It looked as if a big bird
was inside the carriage.
"Move along! Get moving!" the Guards shouted.
"Where are the carpenters going?" a little flower girl asked the
Captain of the Guards.
"The carpenters are going to build scaffolds! Now do you understand?
The carpenters are going to build ten scaffolds!" he shouted right in her
face and so fiercely that her hair blew in all directions.
"Oh!"
The flower girl dropped her bowl. The water with the floating roses
poured out on the pavement.
"They're going to build scaffolds!" the doctor repeated in terror.
"Yes, scaffolds!" the Guard shouted, turning back and baring his teeth.
Above them were moustaches that looked like boots. "Scaffolds for all the
rebels! They'll all have their heads chopped off! All who dare rise up
against the Three Fat Men!"
The doctor felt dizzy. He thought he might faint.
"It's been too much for one day," he thought. "Besides, I'm awfully
hungry and tired. I'd better hurry back home."
Yes, it was about time the doctor got some rest. He was so overcome by
all that had happened, by all he had seen and heard, that he didn't even
think his flight together with the tower earlier in the day was very
unusual. He was not even bothered by the loss of his hat. cape,
walking-stick, and the heels of his shoes. Worst of all, though, was that he
had lost his spectacles. So he hired a cab and headed for home.



CHAPTER THREE


STAR SQUARE


As the doctor drove along the broad paved streets that were brighter
than parlours, a chain of street lights rushed past the carriage. The lights
were like glass balls filled with bright boiling milk. Clouds of tiny
insects buzzed, fluttered and died round the glass balls. The carnage rolled
along embankments, past high stone walls on which bronze lions holding
shields in their paws stuck out their long tongues. Below the water flowed
sluggishly, black and shiny as tar. The town was reflected upside-down in
the water, it was trying to float away, but it couldn't get loose and
dissolved in soft golden spots instead. He rode over bridges that were
curved like arches. From below or from the opposite bank they looked like
cats arching their iron backs before springing. There were sentries at the
approach to every bridge. They sat around on their drums, smoking their
pipes, playing cards and yawning as they stared at the stars. Doctor Caspar