The little tramp Petiga walked around the market, distressed and sad. He was hungry and panicked, but he had no money to buy food and eat.
He found a chubby woman selling quiches in the corner, which were brown, crunchy, and steaming. He crept over, took an omelet, quickly stuffed it into his pocket, and turned away as if nothing had happened.
The fat woman who sold the quiche hurriedly chased after her, grabbed Petiga by the shoulder and shouted, "You steal, give me back the quiche!" Petiga was about to make his own arguments when a large crowd surrounded him, threw him to the ground, and beat him with a stinking beating.
Petiga was dragged to the police station and handed him over to the chief, who was too busy to ask too much questions, so he ordered him to be put in custody first.
In the detention center, Petiga sat on a shabby bench and stared at the lattice window, thinking sadly: If it's for a big thing, it's fine, but it's just for an egg cake, what the hell!
Suddenly, Petiga heard a man's hoarse voice: "Help me! With a strong smell of wine, a hand reached through the crack in the wall of the slab, and in his hand lay a gold watch. The red-nosed drunk begged bitterly: "Comrade Director, please let me out, I will give you this watch!" ”
Petiga grabbed his watch and ran to the window in the corner, his heart beating violently at the unexpected luck. The drunkard stretched out his arms and shouted, "Help me! Then he stamped his feet and shouted, "O robber! Bandits! ”
Pitiga walked back and forth, undecided. He finally pulled off the bracelet with the pendant and tucked it into the crack: "Where, take it!" The drunken man had lost his memory, and only took back the bracelet and muttered, "Thank you, thank you!" ”
Ha, good luck! Petiga ran to the window, opened his fist, the gold watch was shining in his hand, and he thought: I would give fifty roubles to any thrift store for such a thing. So he had all kinds of dreams: first he bought a white bread, then a pack of sausages, and fine cigarettes...
There was a sound of unlocking outside the door, and Petiga hurriedly stuffed the gold watch into his trouser pocket, and when he looked back, there was a policeman standing in the doorway. The policeman said to him: "Hey, come out, you little prodigal son, go to the chief!" ”
Petiga came to the director's office. The director looked at the documents and asked, "When were you born?" "I don't know, but I'm eleven years old. The director asked, "It's the seventh time you've come to us as a guest, right?" Petiga didn't want to argue with the director, and he replied, "That's probably it, you know it better than I do." ”
The director tapped his hand on the document and said, "Considering that you are young and poor, the sentence is that you will be immediately admitted to the juvenile ***, do you understand?" The Director's words were like a brick slammed on his head, something he hadn't expected, and he felt unsteady on his feet.
The matter is not over, and something worse is coming. The chief summoned a police officer, Tekai and Co, and ordered him to search Petiga from head to toe. Petiga's legs trembled, his heart almost stopped beating, and he thought, "Parting forever, my precious gold watch!" ”
The policeman looked at Petiga and said, "Comrade Director, as soon as you touch this homeless man, it makes people sick, what can be found from him?" A flea on the left, a lice on the right... Petiga smiled pitifully and looked at the policeman, as if to say, "Yes, yes." ”
Thankfully, the director agreed not to search again. The policeman stuffed the document into his purse and said, "Let's go!" Petiga lifted his pants and strode away.
They walked towards the market, passing through the crowds. The market, as usual, harassed and noisy, but Petiga could not hear anything, he had only one thought: "Run, you must run!" ”
Petiga ran in front like a puppy, the policeman panting and following him, the market was far behind, and Petiga couldn't escape. He was dazed and slowed down.
The policeman finally took a breath and asked, "You wild child, why do you keep running?" I have kidney disease and can't run. To be honest, you just wanted to slip away, right? Petiga smiled and said, "You are mistaken, even if you force me to go, I will not go." ”
As they walked on, there was a tea room called "Milan" in front of them, with a large colorful sign hanging on the door. The cop pleaded, "I'm all dry, let's go in and drink some soda!" Petiga said, "Go ahead, but not for too long, I won't go to the restaurant." ”
The policeman hesitated and asked, "You're not running either?" Petiga was furious: "If you think so, you should send me to *** right away, understand?" The police immediately advised him not to get angry, saying they believed he would not run.
The police really let Petiga stay at the door and walk into the tea room alone. Petiga looked at his back, smiled, and ran. Petiga ran like wings, houses, telephone poles, goats flashed, the wind whistled in his ears.
Near a church, Petiga stood still, and when he came to his senses, he immediately remembered his watch. He touched his trouser pocket, but the watch was gone, not even the bag, there was nothing on the ground, and no matter how much he shook his legs, there was nothing.
Petiga felt so desperate that he almost cried. However he did not cry, he knew that tears belonged to women, and a decent little tramp could not cry. The watch was gone, so I went back and looked for it.
Petiga ran back, and he couldn't remember which way he had come. Suddenly, in an alley, he saw a hole in the wall, and he clearly remembered that he had walked through this place. He slowed down and searched carefully, but there was nothing.
Finally found the "Milan" tea room, and he sat on the steps with his head down, not wanting to live anymore. Suddenly, what is that? He couldn't believe his eyes, and the bag containing the watch was lying in front of the steps.
Petiga picked up the bag with a trembling hand, and as soon as he got his hand, the policeman came out of the tea room, and he took out a piece of snack from the bag and gave it to Petiga, saying, "Take it." It's great that you're waiting, and I'll reward you with ten kopecks for it. ”
They're back on the road. The police walked very fast, and Petiga was also in good spirits, he thought: "Now I can't slip away, it's okay, wait until *** and then run." ”
Soon they came to the *** door, which was a house with green tiles, with covered windows and closed doors, which made Petiga feel terrible sorrow: this *** is like a prison, and who can escape from here!
The door opened, and the policeman straightened his posture and walked upright, and Petiga followed him and looked around, some rooms with windows open, and the children inside looked at Petiga with curious eyes.
They arrived at the dean's office on the third floor, where the dean, Fettor Ivanovich, was short, bald, and wore glasses. After asking the dean for the receipt of the verdict, the policeman said to Petiga, "Goodbye, stay here, child!" And he went out.
The dean sat down at the table, looked Petiga up and down, and said, "You stole something, it's not good, you're still young, you have to be a useful person." Now it's time to tidy up your appearance. Then he called Mironov and told him to take Petiga to the health department.
The black boy Mironov took Petiga to the health department, where he was confronted by a chubby German in a white blouse, and the German said: "A new arrival? Let's go into the bathroom, the water is just hot. ”
In the bathroom, Petiga hesitantly took off his tattered clothes, and the German said nonchalantly: "We're going to throw these dirty clothes into the stove and burn them." Pitiga was taken aback, he clutched his pants tightly and asked, "Why burn it?" The Germans told him not to worry and that they would give him a set of clean clothes.
Petiga sat naked, his trousers clutched in his hands, and he didn't know what to do, but fortunately the German had left the bathroom for the time being, and he didn't have time to think about it, so he took out his gold watch and stuffed it into his mouth.
When the Germans came in again, Petiga had already climbed into the tub, and in a moment the water was muddy. He felt so comfortable that he even wanted to stay in the tub forever.
The German was a man of many words, and when he washed Petiga with soap, his mouth never stopped. He was interested in everything, and asked endless questions, and Petiga had a hard time saying because he had a watch in his mouth.
Petiga's silence made the Germans very unhappy, and he changed the dirty water, turned on the two faucets, and sat down in his chair to read the newspaper.
The water poured out of the faucet like a tide, getting hotter and hotter, and it was almost boiling, forcing Petiga to move around, but there was no sound. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he plunged into the water and spit out his watch, and then he screamed with all his might: "It's hot! ”
The German threw away the newspaper, jumped up, grabbed Petiga by the shoulders and pulled him out, reached into the tub and drank, "Why didn't you say earlier, this water almost cooks a chicken." ”
The Germans put a lot of cold water in the tub and washed Petiga's back with soap. At this moment, Petiga touched the bottom of the tub with his hand, touched a slippery round object with his fingers, and immediately picked it up and stuffed it into his mouth.
When the Germans came back, they found Petiga sitting in an empty bathtub, and he asked strangely, "Why did you put the water away?" Petiga had no idea what was going on.
Petiga put on his brand new clothes, and the German looked at him and suddenly asked in surprise: "What do you have in your mouth?" Pitiga was startled, and he turned his face away, shrugged his shoulders, and replied.
The German did not let up, and tried to dig into Petilga's mouth, but Petiga helplessly opened his mouth, and with the tip of his tongue, he spit the watch into the German's hand, but it was not the watch, but the white copper stopper in the bathtub.
The Germans thought Petiga was crazy and asked suspiciously: "Tell me, child, why did you put the copper stopper in your mouth?" Petiga didn't know what to answer, he lied and said, "I'm hungry!" As he spoke, he peeked at the tub, which was empty, except for a wet bath towel, which must have been under the watch.
The German threw the plug into the tub and bent down to get the towel, which was terrible, and Petiga fell straight to the floor, crying out, "Bah, sigh".
The Germans rushed out of the door in a panic, and Petiga quickly got up, uncovered the bath towel, and sure enough, the watch lay underneath, and he took the gold watch, dried it, looked at it with ecstasy, and excitedly stuffed it into his brand new trouser pocket.
Petiga arranged her watch, put on her boots, tied her belt, and combed her hair, and looked very beautiful. There was indescribable joy in his heart.
The dinner bell rang, and the children screamed and jumped and ran under the porch, nearly knocking Petiga over. He was at a loss when the black kid who had brought him to the health department spotted him, smiled at him and said, "Come here, let's go together." ”
It is not surprising that a large group of children were already sitting on either side of the long table in the cafeteria, and the dishes on the plates were steaming hot and giving off a tempting fragrance, and Petiga devoured nothing left, and at the end he licked the plates, which was not surprising, and for two days he had not lost anything but a piece of snack that the police had given him.
The children sitting next to him, looking at Petiga's greedy appearance, laughed the loudest, and the loudest laugh was a one-eyed dragon with a bandage on his forehead, and he laughed and said, "What a rice bucket!" Even an elephant can't eat so much. ”
Enraged by this malicious mockery, Petiga could not bear it any longer, licked the spoon clean, looked into the hateful eye of the one-eyed dragon, threw it at it, and struck it right on the forehead of the one-eyed dragon, and the one-eyed dragon howled and cried.
When the dean heard this, he rushed to take Petiga into the corridor and said, "We are not allowed to beat people here, understand?" I'll punish you for standing here right now until everyone has finished lunch. ”
Petiga stood with his back to the wall, and the children who had finished their lunch ran in front of him, and the black child came up and invited him to swim in the river with them. Petiga made up his mind, and as soon as he reached the river, he ran away without a trace.
The Black Child and Petiga came to a large hall where a large group of children had gathered, neatly arranged in two rows, and Petiga was also standing in it, moving to the right.
The dean came over and took the roll call, and found Petiga and the one-eyed dragon, so he decided: Petiga had just arrived, and should rest, not go; Pytakov was not allowed to go because of his bad behavior today. Pittakov cried and quit the group, and Petiga withdrew, but did not cry.
The children who didn't swim went to the middle garden to play games, and Petiga also came to the middle garden, and instead of participating in the games, he sat alone on a pile of rocks and pondered: "You must run away!" However, it is dangerous to always keep the strap with you, so it is better to hide it for the time being. ”
Petiga picked up the small stones under the fence, dug a hole, wrapped the watch in a cloth, and put it in the hole. Then cover it with dirt and pile the stones on top of it. In order to make it easier to find, a wooden stick was inserted into the crack of the stone.
Night fell, the sky was full of stars, the bells rang, and the children poured into their dormitories.
It was a spacious room filled with rows of beds, like a hospital ward. The black child pointed to a bed next to him and said, "This is your bed, you sleep next to me." Petiga looked at the snow-white sheets and pillows on the bed, and he was almost stunned: "Can I really sleep on this?" ”
Petiga slept in his bed, and he thought, "I must run away in the middle of the night." However, he did not run away, and as soon as he lay down, he fell asleep soundly.
Before it was full daylight, someone came to Rapitiga's feet, and he opened his sleepy eyes, and in front of him stood the dean, who had a solemn face, and the dean said to him, "Get up, someone is looking for you at the police station." ”
A young policeman took Petiga away, and he had no idea what it was for. He plucked up his courage and asked, "I'm sorry! Why did you take me to the police station again? The policeman replied coldly, "You know this yourself."
When he came to the director's office, there was an old man with a red nose standing next to the director, Petiga looked at the old man's face, as if he had seen it somewhere, and he remembered that this was the drunkard with a watch!
The chief asked, "Did you steal the watch of the citizen Kuduyer?" Petiga seemed to have been electrocuted, but he made up his mind not to show his flaws, looked at the old man, shook his head, and said, "I have not seen him." ”
The director was threatening: "Don't play tricks, take out the watch quickly!" Petiga also got angry: "What shall I bring out?" I don't know what the table is, I don't have a table. ”
The chief called a police officer and ordered him to search Petiga from head to toe. When the policeman saw that it was Petiga, he couldn't help but scream: "Aha, it's him, I just sent him to *** yesterday I dare to say that he is really very well-behaved, since you ordered me to search, then I will search." ”
The police were about to make a move, and Petiga was secretly amused, but he pretended to be nervous, grabbed the bag tightly and shouted: "I won't search you, you don't have this right!" ”
The chief jumped up and grabbed Petiga's arm, and the police searched his pockets and felt inside his shirt, but there was no watch. So he said: "I said a long time ago that he is a good vagabond, and I can vouch for it with my head." ”
The director was completely confused, and he suspected that Kutiyel had lied, and Kutiyel almost cried and said, "I swear that I have a gold watch with a silver chain stolen." Petriga exclaimed, "He has no watch at all, he is lying." ”
The case was finally closed, and Kutiyel walked out of the chief's office crying, and Petiga was brought back by his old acquaintance, the policeman Tekai and Ke
They came to the market, and the policeman said to Petiga: "Now go back by yourself, you will not go wrong." Today is my woman's birthday, and I'm going home. ”
Petiga walked away without looking back. What happened today made him feel ridiculous and happy, his sorrows and troubles were swept away, and his feet were not walking, but jumping.
When he was almost ***, many wagons carrying firewood rumbled past him, and the coachmen beat the horses with whips, shouting and cursing.
When Petiga entered the middle garden, his eyes immediately widened in amazement: there were piles of wood all over the middle garden, and the children were building up the wood under the command of the director. In a corner, he lay down on a wood and cried: "My watch, my watch..."
That night, Petiga had a dream: he was sitting at the stall of Fikla's old mother in the market, eating pork and egg cakes, and drinking milk, and he thought to himself: "I am afraid that this is not a small amount!" ”
Fikra told Petiga that he had eaten something for three rubles, and Petiga stood up and said: "I have no money, not a cent." But Fikra said, "What about your watch?" Take out the gold watch! ”
Suddenly there was a policeman, Petiga was frightened and immediately ran away, he stumbled on the corner and fell into the gutter - he woke up.
The moonlight shone in through the window, and Petiga couldn't sleep anymore. There were three bells in the distance, and he thought of his watch again. He quietly got dressed, walked gently to the window, and opened it.
Petiga slid down the water pipe by the window and found the location of the buried meter. The ground is full of wood, and it is not easy to take out the watch.
He moved the trunk one by one, to the twentieth root, and he was out of breath. He grabbed another heavy piece of wood, and because his hands were weak, the wood fell, and with a thud, the other pieces of wood fell with it.
Petiga panicked and climbed up to the third floor to find his bed. He slammed into his shoes and slipped his boots from his hands onto the floor. The black child was awakened by the sound and asked him to go to **, and he stammered, "Go to the toilet." ”
Petiga is sick and lying in the hospital room of ***. The black kid came to visit him and asked him about the night before he got sick, where did he go? Pitiga was taken aback and asked, "Why are you asking this?" ”
The Black Child told Petiga that someone had made a mess of the wood that night, and that he was suspected of having done it because the One-Eyed had stolen it, and that he was sent to a penitentiary for the incident. Finally, the black child said with a grim expression, "I know who did it." ”
Petiga blushed, he didn't have the courage to deny it. The black boy persuaded him to admit that he had stolen the wood, and Petiga pleaded: "I didn't steal it, but I moved the wood a little." The black boy said, "Then you should go to the dean and make it clear, so that Pytarkov will be saved." ”
After the black child left, Petiga thought about it and hesitated. Later he thought, "As annoying as Bitakov is, I can't betray a partner." He decided to go to the dean the next day.
Early the next morning, Petiga plucked up the courage to come to the dean's office. A man in the room with a large wallet was talking to the dean, only to hear him say: "I came from the juvenile reformatory and last night Pytakov escaped from the reformatory school. ”
The unexpected news of Pytakov's escape made Petiga hesitate again: to tell it or not to tell it? The dean saw off the guests and turned back to Petiga, "What's the matter with you?" Petiga hesitated and said, "I'm coming to you... I want to borrow a few books to read. ”
The dean opened a bookcase and said, "Look for it yourself, and if you need it, take 68." Petiga picked out a large pile of books from the bookcase, but he finally didn't tell his mistakes.
Saturday is *** Visiting Day, and many parents come to visit their children with a variety of food items. Petiga had no relatives, so naturally no one came to see him.
One Saturday, the student on duty informed Petiga that someone had come to see him, and Petiga was joking with him, and when he learned that someone had come to see him, he jumped for joy and ran out.
A large crowd was talking and laughing in the hall, and Petiga stood in the doorway, craned his neck and looked in, when the old man with the red nose, Kuduyer, staggered towards him.
Petiga's face turned blue, and he lowered his voice and asked, "What's the matter with you?" Kuduyel replied, "I have come to see you, and I have brought you balls of cheese candy." ”
Petiga pushed Kutiyer's hand away and said, "I don't want it!" Please go away! Kutyel cried out, "What, tell me to go? Ladies, help! This rascal robbed me of my watch! ”
Pitiga ran out of the hall and bumped into the dean, who asked what was wrong? Petiga said, "He was my uncle, who came out of the madhouse. Kuduyel was still shouting and was dragged out by everyone.
Petiga remembered the watch again. He often went to the middle garden, and there was still a lot of wood, and he couldn't get near the place where the surface was buried, and he felt very sad.
The weather is getting colder, one day there was a heavy snowfall, the snow in the middle garden is very deep, the children of ** are clapping and shouting: "Winter is coming!" Winter is here! ”
During the meal, the dean went into the cafeteria and proposed to everyone: in order to avoid the loss of wood, he proposed to organize a voluntary labor and move the wood into the shack. The children all applauded in agreement, and Petiga clapped his hands the loudest.
As soon as he had finished eating, Petiga called out to his companions: "Do it, carry the log!" The children shouted and ran to the middle garden.
Everyone started to move the wood, and the three of them carried one, and Petiga ran around and commanded: "Line up and pass it in, and it will be fast." The children lined up in a long line to pass in, shouting the labor trumpet, and Petiga excitedly shouted: "Come on! ”
It didn't take long for the hut to be filled with wood. The dean walked over and gently touched Petiga's head and said, "Okay, thank you for your efforts." Petiga was not happy, and there were still two cubic meters of wood to be moved, and he turned his face sadly.
In the evening, all the students of the college met to elect the economic committee. The black kid nominated Petiga, who said: "Petiga is positive and competent, and his work is going well today because he is well organized. "Petiga was elected.
Wearing a white apron, carrying a key, and hanging a pencil with a rope tied to it, Petiga walked around with a child behind him: "Petiga, take the bread!" "Petiga, get the soap!" ”
Petiga was a shrewd and capable economic commissar, but he did not save wood and would prefer more firewood. It's never been so warm in it, and there's a fire everywhere.
March is the day to commemorate the Paris Commune. The red sun of winter shines brightly, on this day, the children of ** lined up to go to the city park to sweep the martyrs' tombs, the team was full of happy laughter, everyone sang: "Comrades to the light to freedom..."
When they were approaching the park, a drunkard came across from him and sang in a strange voice in a hoarse voice: "Comrades recognize him as Kutiyel to Bright Pitiga."
The children shoved the drunk around and hit him in the face with snowballs. Pitiga suddenly felt sympathy for the drunkard, and he jumped out of the line and shouted: "Stop!
Kutiyel recognized Petiga and staggered forward, saying, "I beg you, give me back the watch, my child is starving... Petiga was anguishing as the party progressed, and shame was on him for stealing the drunkard's watch.
Time passed quickly, the snow melted, and the piles of wood in the middle garden gradually decreased as the snow melted. Petiga thought, "It's almost over, the watch can be dug up." ”
The black boy received three roubles from his aunt, and he asked Petty to go out shopping. On Sunday, they were allowed by the dean to go to the Easter market.
The weather was warm, the market was bustling with sweets everywhere, and Black Kid and Petiga were wandering the drumming streets.
At night, the lights came on, the merry-go-round stopped, and people crowded over for seats, and the Black Child and Petiga sat down in the empty seats opposite the two girls.
* The sound sounded, and the Trojan began to spin, and it turned faster and faster, and the street lights and the crowd were spinning. The Black Kid and Petiga were elated, they took off their hats and waved, grimacing at the girl opposite.
The merry-go-round stopped, and the two girls jumped down, and they jumped too, and the black child caught up with the red-haired girl and asked like an adult, "Can you meet the young ladies?" "The red-haired girl said, "Please! ”
They walked forward, with the black child and the redhead walking in front, and Petiga and the blonde girl following behind. The black child bought sunflower seeds and distributed them to everyone, and his mouth kept talking, but Petiga did not speak, and the blonde did not speak.
Petiga finally spoke, and he asked what was the name of the blonde hair? The blonde said, "Notasha." Petiga introduced himself: "My name is Peter. ”
As they ate and walked, Petiga said, "My parents are gone, what about you?" Notasha replied, "I have a father... After that, his face was swollen and red. What's going on? Petiga was amazed.
Late at night, the black boy and Petiga broke up with the two girls, and when they returned to *** Petiga found that the wood in the middle garden had been emptied.
Early in the morning, Petiga came to the middle garden. The small wooden stick that was the symbol was missing, but he still remembered the location of the buried watch clearly. He looked around, crouched down and quickly dug a hole, and his hand touched a slippery bag, and quickly pulled it out.
He sat on a windowsill in the chamber, calmed down, and opened the cloth bag. After all this time, the gold watch was still rusty and sparkling in his hands. He tucked the watch into his bag and felt that it was suddenly much heavier.
Petiga didn't run away, he didn't want to, and now he thought the same thing. He had a watch in his pocket, and he kept thinking: What to do? It would be a pity to simply throw it away, and give it back to Kuduyel, right? But what about going to ** to find him?
When summer came, the roof of ** needed to be painted, and the dean sent Petiga to Lenin Avenue to buy some green paint.
Petiga walked through the market, past the rows of stalls selling omelettes and herring, surrounded by noise and noise, but he was not at all happy. The watch in his pocket made him more and more distressed.
Suddenly Pitiga saw a blonde girl standing in the middle of the two stalls, holding something in her hand, selling it to a man with glasses. He recognized it, it was Notasha.
Petiga stepped forward: "Notasha, what are you selling here?" Notasha raised her head, taken aback, and hurriedly put Dong ** into her pocket.
Petiga felt strange and asked, "Why don't you show me, it's a stolen thing?" Notasha almost cried and said, "It's not stolen, Dad sent me a letter asking me to sell it, you see." ”
Notasha stretched out his hand, a silver watch chain with a pendant rattling. He took the bracelet and looked intently: this was the bracelet of Kuduyel. The bracelet became heavier and heavier in his hand, and he suddenly felt the world spinning, and he almost fell.
Petiga didn't have time to think about it, so he took out the watch from his bag, hurriedly hung it on the bracelet and handed it to Notasha, saying, "Oh, take it!" ”
Notasha took the watch and cried out in surprise, Petiga turned and ran, he bought the green paint from the paint store, and without looking back, he kept running towards ***.