Boys
- Volodya has arrived! - someone shouted in the yard.
- Volodichka, we’ve arrived! - Natalya screamed, running into the dining room. - Oh my god!
The entire Korolev family, who had been waiting for their Volodya from hour to hour, rushed to the windows. There were wide sledges at the entrance, and a thick fog was coming from the three white horses. The sleigh was empty, because Volodya was already standing in the entryway and untying his cap with red, chilled fingers. His school coat, cap, galoshes and hair at the temples were covered with frost, and all of him from head to toe emitted such a delicious frosty smell that, looking at him, you wanted to freeze and say: “Brrr!” His mother and aunt rushed to hug and kiss him, Natalya fell at his feet and began to pull off his felt boots, the sisters started screaming, the doors creaked and slammed, and Volodya’s father, wearing only a vest and holding scissors in his hands, ran into the hallway and shouted in fear:
- And we were waiting for you yesterday! Did you get there well? Safely? Lord my God, let him say hello to his father! That I'm not a father, or what?
- Woof! Woof! - Milord, a huge black dog, roared in a bass voice, banging his tail on the walls and furniture.
Everything mixed into one continuous joyful sound that lasted about two minutes. When the first rush of joy passed, the Queens noticed that besides Volodya, there was another small man in the hallway, wrapped in scarves, shawls and caps and covered with frost; he stood motionless in the corner in the shadow cast by a large fox fur coat.
- Volodichka, who is this? - asked the mother in a whisper.
- Ah! - Volodya caught himself. “This, I have the honor to introduce, is my comrade Chechevitsyn, a second-grade student... I brought him with me to stay with us.”
- Very nice, you are welcome! - the father said joyfully. - Sorry, I’m at home, without a frock coat... You’re welcome! Natalya, help Mr. Cherepitsyn undress! My God, send this dog away! This is punishment!
A little later, Volodya and his friend Chechevitsyn, stunned by the noisy meeting and still pink from the cold, sat at the table and drank tea. The winter sun, penetrating through the snow and patterns on the windows, trembled on the samovar and bathed its pure rays in the rinsing cup. The room was warm, and the boys felt warmth and frost tickling their chilled bodies, not wanting to give in to each other.
- Well, Christmas is coming soon! - the father said in a singsong voice, rolling a cigarette from a dark red tobacco. - How long ago was it summer and your mother cried as she saw you off? And you have arrived... Time, brother, goes quickly! Before you know it, old age will come. Mr. Chibisov, eat, please, don’t be shy! Ours is simple.
Volodya's three sisters, Katya, Sonya and Masha - the eldest of them was eleven years old - sat at the table and did not take their eyes off their new acquaintance. Chechevitsyn was the same age and height as Volodya, but not as plump and white, but thin, dark, and covered with freckles. His hair was bristly, his eyes were narrow, his lips were thick, in general he was very ugly, and if he had not been wearing a school jacket, then in appearance he could have been mistaken for the cook’s son. He was gloomy, silent all the time and never smiled. The girls, looking at him, immediately realized that he must be a very smart and learned man. He was thinking about something all the time and was so busy with his thoughts that when he was asked about something, he shuddered, shook his head and asked to repeat the question.
The girls noticed that Volodya, always cheerful and talkative, this time spoke little, did not smile at all, and did not even seem glad that he had come home. While they were sitting over tea, he addressed the sisters only once, and even then with some strange words. He pointed his finger at the samovar and said:
— And in California they drink gin instead of tea.
He, too, was busy with some thoughts and, judging by the glances that he occasionally exchanged with his friend Chechevitsyn, the boys had common thoughts.
After tea everyone went to the nursery. The father and girls sat down at the table and began work, which was interrupted by the arrival of the boys. They made flowers and fringe for the Christmas tree from multi-colored paper. It was exciting and noisy work. The girls greeted each newly made flower with cries of delight, even cries of horror, as if this flower was falling from the sky; Dad also admired it and occasionally threw the scissors on the floor, angry at them for being stupid. Mother ran into the nursery with a very worried face and asked:
- Who took my scissors? Again, Ivan Nikolaich, did you take my scissors?
“Oh my God, they don’t even give you scissors!” - Ivan Nikolaich answered in a tearful voice and, leaning back in his chair, assumed the pose of an insulted man, but a minute later he admired him again.
On his previous visits, Volodya was also busy with preparations for the Christmas tree or ran into the yard to see how the coachman and shepherd were making a snow mountain, but now he and Chechevitsyn did not pay any attention to the multi-colored paper and never even visited the stables, but sat by the window and they began to whisper about something; Then they both opened the geographic atlas together and began to look at some kind of map.
- First to Perm... - Chechevitsyn said quietly... - from there to Tyumen... then Tomsk... then... then... to Kamchatka... From here the Samoyeds will be transported on boats across the Bering Strait... So much for America... There are a lot of fur-bearing animals here.
- And California? - Volodya asked.
— California is lower... Just to get to America, and California is just around the corner. You can get food for yourself by hunting and robbery.
Chechevitsyn avoided the girls all day and looked at them from under his brows. After evening tea it happened that he was left alone with the girls for about five minutes. It was awkward to remain silent. He coughed sternly, rubbed his left arm with his right palm, looked gloomily at Katya and asked:
—Have you read Main-Read?
- No, I haven’t read it... Listen, do you know how to skate?
Lost in his thoughts, Chechevitsyn did not answer this question, but only puffed out his cheeks and sighed as if he was very hot. He once again raised his eyes to Katya and said:
— When a herd of bison runs through the pampas, the earth trembles, and at this time the mustangs, frightened, kick and neigh.
Chechevitsyn smiled sadly and added:
“And Indians also attack trains.” But the worst thing is mosquitoes and termites.
- And what is it?
- These are like ants, only with wings. They bite very hard. Do you know who I am?
- Mr. Chechevitsyn.
- No. I am Montigomo, Hawk Claw, chief of the invincible.
Masha, the smallest girl, looked at him, then at the window, outside which evening was already setting in, and said thoughtfully:
— We cooked lentils yesterday.
Chechevitsyn’s completely incomprehensible words and the fact that he was constantly whispering with Volodya, and the fact that Volodya was not playing, but was still thinking about something - all this was mysterious and strange. And both older girls, Katya and Sonya, began to keep a watchful eye on the boys. In the evening, when the boys were going to bed, the girls crept up to the door and overheard their conversation. Oh, what they learned! The boys were planning to run somewhere to America to mine gold; They already had everything ready for the road: a pistol, two knives, crackers, a magnifying glass for making fire, a compass and four rubles of money. They learned that the boys would have to walk several thousand miles, and along the way fight tigers and savages, then mine gold and ivory, kill enemies, become sea robbers, drink gin, and eventually marry beauties and cultivate plantations. Volodya and Chechevitsyn talked and interrupted each other in enthusiasm. Chechevitsyn called himself: “Montigomo Hawk Claw,” and Volodya was “my pale-faced brother.”
“Make sure you don’t tell mom,” Katya said to Sonya, going to bed with her. “Volodya will bring us gold and ivory from America, but if you tell your mother, they won’t let him in.”
On the eve of Christmas Eve, Chechevitsyn spent the whole day looking at a map of Asia and writing something down, and Volodya, languid, plump, as if stung by a bee, walked gloomily around the rooms and did not eat anything. And once, even in the nursery, he stopped in front of the icon, crossed himself and said:
- Lord, forgive me, a sinner! Lord save my poor, unfortunate mother!
By evening he burst into tears. Going to bed, he hugged his father, mother and sisters for a long time. Katya and Sonya understood what was going on here, but the youngest, Masha, understood nothing, absolutely nothing, and only when looking at Chechevitsyn did she think and say with a sigh:
— When fasting, the nanny says, you need to eat peas and lentils.
Early on Christmas Eve morning, Katya and Sonya quietly got out of bed and went to see how the boys would flee to America. We crept up to the door.
- So you won’t go? - Chechevitsyn asked angrily. - Say: won’t you go?
- God! - Volodya cried quietly. - How will I go? I feel sorry for my mother.
“My pale-faced brother, I beg you, let’s go!” You assured me that you would go, you lured me in, but when you decided to go, you chickened out.
“I... I didn’t chicken out, but I... I feel sorry for my mother.”
“Tell me: are you going or not?”
“I’ll go, just... just wait.” I want to live at home.
“In that case, I’ll go myself!” - Chechevitsyn decided. - I can do without you. And I also wanted to hunt tigers and fight! When that happens, give me my caps!
Volodya cried so bitterly that the sisters could not stand it and also began to cry quietly. There was silence.
- So you won’t go? - Chechevitsyn asked again.
- I’ll... go.
- Dress like that!
And Chechevitsyn, in order to persuade Volodya, praised America, growled like a tiger, imitated a steamship, cursed, promised to give Volodya all the ivory and all the lion and tiger skins.
And this thin, dark boy with bristly hair and freckles seemed extraordinary and wonderful to the girls. He was a hero, a decisive, undaunted man, and he roared so loudly that, standing outside the doors, one could actually think that he was a tiger or a lion.
When the girls returned to their place and got dressed, Katya, with eyes full of tears, said:
- Oh, I'm so scared!
Until two o'clock, when they sat down to dinner, everything was quiet, but at dinner it suddenly turned out that the boys were not at home. They were sent to the servants' quarters, to the stables, to the clerk's outbuilding - they were not there. They sent me to the village and didn’t find him there. And then they also drank tea without the boys, and when they sat down to dinner, mother was very worried, even cried. And at night we went to the village again, searched, and went to the river with lanterns. God, what a commotion there was!
The next day a policeman came and they wrote some paper in the dining room. Mom was crying.
But then the sledge stopped at the porch, and steam was pouring out from the three white horses.
- Volodya has arrived! - someone shouted in the yard.
- Volodichka, we’ve arrived! - Natalya screamed, running into the dining room.
And Milord barked in a deep voice: “Woof! woof! It turned out that the boys were detained in the city, in Gostiny Dvor (they went there and kept asking where gunpowder was sold). Volodya burst into tears as soon as he entered the hall and threw himself on his mother’s neck. The girls, trembling, thought with horror about what would happen now, heard how dad took Volodya and Chechevitsyn to his office and talked to them for a long time; and mother also spoke and cried.
- Is this possible? - Dad convinced. - God forbid, they find out at the gymnasium and you will be expelled. Shame on you, Mr. Chechevitsyn! Not good, sir! You are the instigator and hopefully you will be punished by your parents. Is this possible? Where did you spend the night?
- At the station! - Chechevitsyn answered proudly.
Volodya then lay down and a towel soaked in vinegar was applied to his head. They sent a telegram somewhere and the next day a lady, Chechevitsyn’s mother, arrived and took her son away.
When Chechevitsyn left, his face was stern, arrogant, and, saying goodbye to the girls, he did not say a single word; I just took Katya’s notebook and wrote as a sign of memory:
"Montigomo Hawkclaw."
Anton Chekhov - Boys
1
Boys
- Volodya has arrived! – someone shouted in the yard.
- Volodichka, we’ve arrived! – Natalya screamed, running into the dining room. - Oh my god!
The entire Korolev family, who had been waiting for their Volodya from hour to hour, rushed to the windows. There were wide sledges at the entrance, and a thick fog was coming from the three white horses. The sleigh was empty, because Volodya was already standing in the entryway and untying his cap with red, chilled fingers. His school coat, cap, galoshes and hair at the temples were covered with frost, and all of him from head to toe emitted such a delicious frosty smell that, looking at him, you wanted to freeze and say: “Brrr!” His mother and aunt rushed to hug and kiss him, Natalya fell at his feet and began to pull off his felt boots, the sisters started screaming, the doors creaked and slammed, and Volodya’s father, wearing only a vest and holding scissors in his hands, ran into the hallway and shouted in fear:
– And we were waiting for you yesterday! Did you get there well? Safely? Lord my God, let him say hello to his father! What, I'm not a father, or what?
- Woof! Woof! - Milord, a huge black dog, roared in a bass voice, banging his tail on the walls and furniture.
Everything mixed into one continuous joyful sound that lasted about two minutes. When the first rush of joy passed, the Queens noticed that besides Volodya, there was another small man in the hallway, wrapped in scarves, shawls and caps and covered with frost; he stood motionless in the corner in the shadow cast by a large fox fur coat.
- Volodichka, who is this? – the mother asked in a whisper.
- Ah! – Volodya caught himself. – This, I have the honor to introduce, is my comrade Chechevitsyn, a second-grade student... I brought him with me to stay with us.
– Very nice, you are welcome! - the father said joyfully. - Sorry, I’m at home, without a frock coat... You’re welcome! Natalya, help Mr. Cherepitsyn undress! My God, send this dog away! This is punishment!
A little later, Volodya and his friend Chechevitsyn, stunned by the noisy meeting and still pink from the cold, sat at the table and drank tea. The winter sun, penetrating through the snow and patterns on the windows, trembled on the samovar and bathed its pure rays in the rinsing cup. The room was warm, and the boys felt warmth and frost tickling their chilled bodies, not wanting to give in to each other.
- Well, Christmas is coming soon! - the father said in a singsong voice, rolling a cigarette from a dark red tobacco. - How long ago was it summer and your mother cried as she saw you off? And you have arrived... Time, brother, goes quickly! Before you know it, old age will come. Mr. Chibisov, eat, please, don’t be shy! Ours is simple.
Volodya's three sisters, Katya, Sonya and Masha - the eldest of them was eleven years old - sat at the table and did not take their eyes off their new acquaintance. Chechevitsyn was the same age and height as Volodya, but not as plump and white, but thin, dark, and covered with freckles. His hair was bristly, his eyes were narrow, his lips were thick, in general he was very ugly, and if he had not been wearing a school jacket, then in appearance he could have been mistaken for the cook’s son. He was gloomy, silent all the time and never smiled. The girls, looking at him, immediately realized that he must be a very smart and learned man. He was thinking about something all the time and was so preoccupied with his thoughts that when he was asked about something, he shuddered, shook his head and asked to repeat the question.
The girls noticed that Volodya, always cheerful and talkative, this time spoke little, did not smile at all, and did not even seem glad that he had come home. While they were sitting over tea, he addressed the sisters only once, and even then with some strange words. He pointed his finger at the samovar and said:
“And in California they drink gin instead of tea.”
He, too, was busy with some thoughts, and, judging by the looks that he occasionally exchanged with his friend Chechevitsyn, the boys had common thoughts.
After tea everyone went to the nursery. The father and girls sat down at the table and began work, which was interrupted by the arrival of the boys. They made flowers and fringe for the Christmas tree from multi-colored paper. It was exciting and noisy work. The girls greeted each newly made flower with cries of delight, even cries of horror, as if this flower was falling from the sky; Dad also admired it and occasionally threw the scissors on the floor, angry at them for being stupid. Mother ran into the nursery with a very worried face and asked:
-Who took my scissors? Again, Ivan Nikolaich, did you take my scissors?
“Oh my God, they don’t even give you scissors!” - Ivan Nikolaich answered in a tearful voice and, leaning back in his chair, assumed the pose of an insulted man, but a minute later he admired him again.
On his previous visits, Volodya was also busy with preparations for the Christmas tree or ran into the yard to see how the coachman and shepherd were making a snow mountain, but now he and Chechevitsyn did not pay any attention to the multi-colored paper and never even visited the stables, but sat by the window and they began to whisper about something; Then they both opened the geographic atlas together and began to look at some kind of map.
- First to Perm... - Chechevitsyn said quietly... - from there to Tyumen... then Tomsk... then... then... to Kamchatka... From here the Samoyeds will be transported on boats across the Bering Strait... So much for America... There are a lot of fur-bearing animals here.
- And California? – Volodya asked.
– California is lower... Just to get to America, and California is just around the corner. You can get food for yourself by hunting and robbery.
Chechevitsyn avoided the girls all day and looked at them from under his brows. After evening tea it happened that he was left alone with the girls for about five minutes. It was awkward to remain silent. He coughed sternly, rubbed his left arm with his right palm, looked gloomily at Katya and asked:
– Have you read Mine Read?
- No, I haven’t read it... Listen, do you know how to skate?
Lost in his thoughts, Chechevitsyn did not answer this question, but only puffed out his cheeks and sighed as if he was very hot. He once again raised his eyes to Katya and said:
– When a herd of bison runs through the pampas, the earth trembles, and at this time the mustangs, frightened, kick and neigh.
Chechevitsyn smiled sadly and added:
– And also Indians attack trains. But the worst thing is mosquitoes and termites.
- And what is it?
- These are like ants, only with wings. They bite very hard. Do you know who I am?
- Mr. Chechevitsyn.
- No. I am Montigomo Hawkclaw, Chief of the Invincible.
Masha, the smallest girl, looked at him, then at the window, outside which evening was already setting in, and said thoughtfully:
– We cooked lentils yesterday.
Chechevitsyn’s completely incomprehensible words and the fact that he was constantly whispering with Volodya, and the fact that Volodya was not playing, but was still thinking about something - all this was mysterious and strange. And both older girls, Katya and Sonya, began to keep a watchful eye on the boys. In the evening, when the boys were going to bed, the girls crept up to the door and overheard their conversation. Oh, what they learned! The boys were planning to run somewhere to America to mine gold; They already had everything ready for the road: a pistol, two knives, crackers, a magnifying glass for making fire, a compass and four rubles of money. They learned that the boys would have to walk several thousand miles, and along the way fight tigers and savages, then mine gold and ivory, kill enemies, become sea robbers, drink gin, and eventually marry beauties and cultivate plantations. Volodya and Chechevitsyn talked and interrupted each other in enthusiasm. At the same time, Chechevitsyn called himself: “Montigomo Hawk Claw,” and Volodya – “my pale-faced brother.”
“Make sure you don’t tell mom,” Katya said to Sonya, going to bed with her. “Volodya will bring us gold and ivory from America, but if you tell your mother, they won’t let him in.”
On the eve of Christmas Eve, Chechevitsyn spent the whole day looking at a map of Asia and writing something down, and Volodya, languid, plump, as if stung by a bee, walked gloomily around the rooms and did not eat anything. And once, even in the nursery, he stopped in front of the icon, crossed himself and said:
- Lord, forgive me, a sinner! Lord save my poor, unfortunate mother!
By evening he burst into tears. Going to bed, he hugged his father, mother and sisters for a long time. Katya and Sonya understood what was going on here, but the youngest, Masha, understood nothing, absolutely nothing, and only when looking at Chechevitsyn did she think and say with a sigh:
- When fasting, the nanny says, you need to eat peas and lentils.
Early on Christmas Eve morning, Katya and Sonya quietly got out of bed and went to see how the boys would flee to America. We crept up to the door.
- So you won’t go? – Chechevitsyn asked angrily. - Say: won’t you go?
- God! – Volodya cried quietly. - How will I go? I feel sorry for my mother.
“My pale-faced brother, I beg you, let’s go!” You assured me that you would go, you lured me in, but when you decided to go, you chickened out.
“I... I didn’t chicken out, but I... I feel sorry for my mother.”
“Tell me: are you going or not?”
– I’ll go, just... just wait. I want to live at home.
1
