Genre and direction
Vladimir Zheleznikov wrote his famous work “Scarecrow” in the genre of a story, but it also contains everyday prose. It is in it that the whole drama of children's relationships is clearly reflected, how cruel, insensitive and indifferent children can be to the people around them.
The book is based on real events that the author’s niece told about. She witnessed this difficult story. At the very beginning, a story called “Boycott” was created, which became the basis for the new story “Scarecrow”.
The literary orientation of the work is realism, all characters and events are realistic, and the heroes have their own prototypes. The story includes 14 chapters, each of them tells about several days in the life of schoolgirl Lena Bessoltseva.
Brief description of the plot:
- The plot tells the story of Lena's arrival in a new class, her acquaintance with classmates and joint activities. About the beginning of a friendship with the most popular boy in school, Dima Somov.
- The climax begins after the guys decide to skip class, and Dima tells the teacher about the offense. As a result, the class is deprived of the opportunity to go on a long-awaited excursion. Somov is afraid to admit his guilt to his peers, so Bessoltseva takes the blame. After which her classmates begin to bully the girl.
- The denouement tells how the children learn the truth, they repent of their actions, but Lena and her grandfather have already decided to leave the city.
The main conflict of the story is tied to the persecution of the entire class of one girl. About disappointment, because Lena considered Somov a true friend, but he turned out to be a coward and a traitor.
Main characters
The author of the work “Scarecrow” very colorfully described the characters, each with their own character, their own principles and ideals . There are several main characters in the story:
- Lena Bessoltseva is a 12-year-old schoolgirl, new to the class. A girl with a kind and open heart who quickly becomes an object of ridicule and bullying. To save a friend, he takes the blame upon himself, which angers his classmates. Despite the schoolchildren's bitterness, she still sees the good in them.
- Grandfather Nikolai Nikolaevich is a man with a kind and gentle character, passionate about paintings. He spends money exclusively on art, so he cannot buy normal clothes for himself and wears torn clothes. Local residents consider him strange, and children call him a “patcher.” Bessoltsev does not notice the changes that are happening to his granddaughter, since all his thoughts are occupied with the legacy of his ancestor.
- Margarita Ivanovna. The school teacher and class teacher of the main character. She fulfills her main task without emotion - giving children knowledge, but does not delve into the problems of the team. The teacher simply does not notice the internal conflict and unhealthy environment inside the class.
- Dima Somov is the best student, the favorite of his classmates and teachers. The boy tries to create the impression of a correct, honest and noble person. But at the first difficult situation, he tries to escape in order to avoid punishment; the worst traits in him are revealed. He betrays his friend and, together with his comrades, offends her. As a result, Dimka himself becomes an outcast.
- Mironova (iron button) is the leader of the class, a girl with a strong-willed and principled character. He cannot stand lies, betrayal, and believes that these qualities should be seriously punished. She respects Bessoltseva for not being afraid and admitting to what she had done, but she believes that traitors do not deserve forgiveness, so she actively takes part in the persecution of Lenka and is its initiator.
Minor characters
There are also minor characters in the story, but they are no less bright. Among them we can highlight:
- Valka is a deceitful, cruel and rude boy. He is always looking for benefits and only offends those who are weaker and younger than him. He is engaged in catching and selling stray dogs. She takes an active part in bullying her classmate, showing particular cruelty, inventing more and more punishments for Lena.
- Shmakova is the main beauty of the school, a very spoiled girl, who gathers only admirers around her, who serve her, wanting to please.
- Popov is one of Shmakova’s fans. He knows about Bessoltseva’s innocence, but prefers to watch the development of events from the sidelines.
- Vasiliev is Lena's classmate, he is an outcast in the class, and is often ridiculed by students. But despite his unpopularity, he is the only one who comes to her defense, although he knows that he will get into trouble. It is the quiet Vasiliev who encourages the girl to be decisive, fight injustice and identify the real culprit.
The story also involves Tolik and Popov - local hooligans who are not very smart and quick-witted. Most often they act on someone else's prompting; they are cowardly and weak-willed.
Vladimir Zheleznikov
SCARECROW
Chapter first
Lenka rushed through the narrow, bizarrely humpbacked streets of the town, not noticing anything on her way.
Past one-story houses with lace curtains on the windows and high crosses of television antennas - up!..
Past long fences and gates, with cats on their eaves and angry dogs at the gates - down!..
The jacket was wide open, there was despair in the eyes, an almost inaudible whisper flew from the lips:
- Grandfather!.. Darling!.. Let's leave! Let's leave! Let's leave!.. - She sobbed as she walked. - Forever!.. From evil people!.. Let them gnaw each other!.. Wolves!.. Jackals!.. Foxes!.. Grandfather!..
- That's crazy! - the people she knocked down shouted after her. - Flies like a motorcycle!
Lenka ran up the street in one breath, as if she was taking a running start to fly into the sky. She really would like to immediately fly over this town - and away from here, away! Somewhere where joy and peace awaited her.
Then she quickly rolled down, as if she wanted to blow her head off. She really was ready for some desperate act, not sparing herself.
Just think what they did to her! And for what?!
Chapter two
Lenkin's grandfather, Nikolai Nikolaevich Bessoltsev, had already lived for several years in his own house in an old Russian town on the banks of the Oka, somewhere between Kaluga and Serpukhov.
It was a town of which there are only a few dozen left on our land. He was over eight hundred years old. Nikolai Nikolaevich knew well, highly valued and loved its history, which rose up before him as if alive when he wandered through its streets, along the steep banks of the river, through picturesque surroundings with ancient mounds overgrown with dense honeysuckle bushes and birch trees.
The town has experienced more than one disaster in its history.
Here, right above the river, on the ruins of an old settlement, there once stood a princely court, and the Russian squad fought to the death with countless hordes of khan’s warriors, armed with bows and crooked sabers, who shouted: “That Rus'! That Rus'!..” - on their short, strong horses they tried to cross from the opposite bank of the river to this one in order to defeat the squad and break through to Moscow.
And the Patriotic War of 1812 touched the town with its acute angle. Kutuzov's army then crossed it with a procession of soldiers and refugees, carts, horses, light and heavy artillery with all kinds of mortars and howitzers, with spare carriages and field forges, turning the already thin local roads into a continuous mess. And then, along these same roads, Russian soldiers with incredible, almost inhuman courage, not sparing their bellies, day and night, without rest, drove the exhausted French back, although it was not at all clear where they got their strength from. After such a long retreat, famine and epidemics.
And the reflection of the conquest of the Caucasus by the Russians touched the town - somewhere here in great sadness lived the captive Shamil and the mountaineers who accompanied him. They wandered along the narrow streets, and their crazy, yearning gaze searched in vain for a range of mountains on the horizon.
And the first imperialist storm carried away all the men from the town and returned them half crippled - armless, legless, but angry and fearless. Freedom was more valuable to them than their own lives. They brought the revolution to this quiet, small town.
Then, many years later, the Nazis came - and a wave of fires, gallows, executions and brutal devastation swept through.
But time passed, the war ended, and the town was reborn again. He stood now, as before, sweepingly and freely on several hills that approached the wide bend of the river with steep cliffs.
On one of these hills stood the house of Nikolai Nikolaevich - old, built of strong logs, completely blackened by time. Its austere, simple mezzanine with rectangular windows was intricately decorated with four balconies facing all directions.
The black house with a spacious terrace open to the winds was completely different from the cheerful, multi-colored houses of its neighbors. He stood out on this street, as if a stern gray-haired raven had fallen into a flock of canaries or bullfinches.
The Bessoltsev house had stood in the town for a long time. Maybe more than a hundred years.
During the hard years they did not burn it.
It was not confiscated during the revolution because it was protected by the name of Doctor Bessoltsev, Nikolai Nikolaevich’s father. He, like almost every doctor from the old Russian town, was a respected person here. Under the Nazis, he set up a hospital for German soldiers in the house, and at that time there were wounded Russians lying in the basement, and the doctor treated them with German medicines. For this, Doctor Bessoltsev was shot.
This time the house was saved by the rapid advance of the Soviet Army.
So the house stood and stood, always crowded with people, although the Bessoltsev men, as expected, went off to various wars and did not always return. Many of them remained lying somewhere in unknown mass graves, which are scattered in sad hills everywhere in Central Russia, and in the Far East, and in Siberia, and in many other places of our land.
Before the arrival of Nikolai Nikolaevich, a lonely old woman lived in the house, one of the Bessoltsevs, whose relatives visited less and less often - no matter how offensive it was, the Bessoltsev family partially scattered throughout Russia, and partially died in the struggle for freedom. But still, the house continued to live its own life, until one day all its doors opened at once and several men silently, slowly and awkwardly carried out the coffin with the body of a wizened old woman in their arms and carried it to the local cemetery. After this, the neighbors boarded up the doors and windows of the Bessoltsev house, blocked the vents so that the house would not get damp in winter, nailed two boards on the gate with a cross and left.
For the first time, the house became deaf and blind.
This is where Nikolai Nikolaevich appeared, who had not been in the town for more than thirty years.
He had only recently buried his wife and after that he himself became seriously ill.
Nikolai Nikolaevich was not afraid of death and treated it naturally and simply, but he definitely wanted to get to his home. And this passionate desire helped him overcome the illness, get back on his feet and hit the road. Nikolai Nikolaevich dreamed of being surrounded by old walls, where on long sleepless nights strings of long-forgotten and eternally memorable faces would flash before him.
But was it worth coming back for this, to see and hear it all for a moment, and then lose it forever?
"How else?" - he thought and went to his native land.
In the terrible hours of his last illness, in this loneliness, and also in those days when he was literally dying from war wounds, when he had no strength to move his tongue, and a temporary zone of alienation appeared between him and people, Nikolai Nikolaevich’s head worked clearly and purposefully. He somehow especially acutely felt how important it was for him not to break the thin thread connecting him with the past, that is, with eternity...
For a whole year before his arrival, the house stood boarded up. It was rained on, there was snow on the roof, and no one cleared it off, so the roof, which had not been painted for a long time, was leaky and rusty in many places. And the steps of the main porch are completely rotten.
When Nikolai Nikolaevich saw his street and his house, his heart began to beat so hard that he was afraid that he would not make it. He stood for a few minutes, caught his breath, crossed the street with a firm military step, resolutely tore the cross from the gate, entered the yard, found an ax in the barn and began to use it to tear off the boards from the boarded up windows.
Furiously working with an axe, forgetting for the first time about his aching heart, he thought: the main thing is to chop off the boards, open the doors, open the windows, so that the house can live its own permanent life.
Nikolai Nikolaevich finished his work, looked around and saw that behind him, with their hands mournfully folded on their chests, stood several women discussing him, wondering which of the Bessoltsevs it could be. But they were all still so young that they could not know Nikolai Nikolaevich. Catching his gaze, the women began to smile, burning with curiosity and a desire to talk to him, but he silently nodded to everyone, took the suitcase and disappeared through the door.
Problem and meaning
The author wrote “Scarecrow” with the goal of showing the cruelty and heartlessness of children towards a peer who is unlike them. Zheleznikov tries to assess the motives of each teenager. The same Red, because of his own problems with his father, takes out his anger and hopelessness on Lena.
The question also arises about the teacher, who, due to preparations for the wedding, forgets about her official duty. She doesn’t want to fill her thoughts with other people’s problems, so she doesn’t delve into the situation . Margarita Ivanovna does not pay attention to Lena who came to ask for help.
The author presented the theme of family in his essay in a very interesting way. Grandfather also does not notice anything around him, he is completely captivated by the paintings. But later he realizes his mistakes, repents, sells his ancestor’s creative heritage and leaves with his granddaughter.
After analyzing, you can understand that Zheleznikov’s work teaches you to be kinder, more compassionate and sacrificial, as Lena Bessoltseva does . The author points out that under no circumstances should you succumb to someone else’s opinion or make hasty conclusions without understanding the situation. Otherwise, you will have to seriously repent in the future. This is the main idea and moral of the story “Scarecrow”.
In 1983, the film “Scarecrow” was made based on the book of the same name; it became a real revelation for many Soviet viewers. This was the first feature film in which schoolchildren appeared in the role of antiheroes. The full list of actors can be found on Wikipedia.
Scarecrow
Chapter Four
Meanwhile, the cheerful sixth-grader Valka was rushing along the river bank, not counting on the fact that in the evening he would be given the shameful nickname Flayer. He was dressed for a holiday: in a clean shirt and tie. He was twirling a dog leash with a collar in his hand, and with the toe of his boot he was constantly knocking down empty cans that had been scattered here and there by impudent tourists since the summer. He tried to hit birds and chickens quietly wandering in the bushes, or cats peacefully catching the last rays of the autumn sun. And if he managed to hit any target, then his own dexterity caused a surge of violent joy in him.
Valka stopped near an old oak tree - two boyish heads were sticking out of its hollow.
- What are you doing there, you miserable little fry? - Valka asked sternly.
“We’re okay,” they answered fearfully. - We're playing firemen.
- Well, get out! — Valka emphatically slapped the leash on the top of his rubber boot, like some American planter from the nineteenth century, although, by the way, he knew nothing about them, because he had little understanding of the science called history. - Collect leaves! Stick them in the hollow! Alive!! Get moving!..
The boys, not understanding anything, collected leaves in an armful and stuffed them into the hollow. But then they filled it to the top, Valka struck a match and... threw it into the hollow on the leaves - they immediately burst into flames.
- What are you doing?! — the boys rebelled and rushed to the tree.
But Valka intercepted them and did not let go until the flames flared up, although they fought in his hands and roared. Then, shouting: “Forward!.. To the fire!.. Firemen!..” - he released and left.
So he walked along the ground, emitting cries of delight, leaving behind him the cries of indignant victims.
Valka was in a hurry to meet with his friends to go to Dimka Somov’s birthday party. He saw them from afar: Shaggy and Red - they were sitting on a bench by the river pier - he jumped up to them, plopped down next to them and asked:
- Well, troublemakers, do you want to eat? - He burst into small laughter and added: - Me too!.. When I think about Somov’s pies, my mouth waters.
“And I made honey and milk,” answered Shaggy and dreamily added: “The linden blossomed for a long time this year—the honey is delicious.”
“But grandma didn’t give me anything...” Valka sighed. - Why, he says, transfer the product, since you are going to visit.
“You have a cunning grandmother,” said Shaggy.
“She’s cunning, but she’s ruined her life,” Valka answered. - No stake, no yard. That's good for Somov. Born in a shirt. And the parents make a lot of money, and the guy is handsome, and his head works like an A... I just want to clean his face.
“You’re jealous, Valka,” said Shaggy.
“And you don’t?...” Valka grinned. - What is it... All people are bursting with envy. Only some people talk about it, while others lie that they are not envious.
- What do I have to envy? - Shaggy was surprised. “We have a good time in the forestry.” Will. And in general, I’ll bend anyone you want to the ram’s horn.
- So what? “Valka spat contemptuously. - Power is not money. You can't buy butter with it.
Shaggy suddenly grabbed Valka by the neck with one hand and squeezed tightly.
- Let go! - Valka screamed.
- Red, what is the main thing in a person? - Shaggy asked.
- Force! - Red perked up, coming out of deep thought.
“But Valka doesn’t respect her,” said Shaggy. — He says that the main thing in a person is envy.
- Let go! - Valka yelled. - I respect strength!.. I respect it! Let go! You'll strangle!..
The shaggy man unclenched his hand and freed Valka. He ran to the side just in case.
- I've had my fill of honey! — Valka rubbed his neck. - Strength like a tractor. Not like my father... - He wanted to add something more in anger, but changed his mind.
“Don’t touch my father,” Shaggy replied gloomily. “I have him all riddled and beaten and killed by all sorts of scum.”
- Look! Shmakova is coming! - said Red. - Well, he’s performing!
Shaggy and Valka looked around and were stunned.
Shmakova was not alone, she was accompanied by Popov, but everyone was looking at her. She did not walk, but carried herself, one might say, she floated through the air. Popov next to her was unsightly and awkward, because Shmakova had dressed up in a new white dress, new white shoes and tied her hair with a white ribbon. Not according to the weather, of course, but it shone in all its splendor.
- Well, Shmakova, you give it! - Valka groaned. - You have to be carried in your arms in these shoes.
“Variety artist,” said Shaggy.
“Somov will fall,” stated Ryzhiy.
“But I don’t give a damn about Somov,” Shmakova sang, very pleased with herself.
“Something is unnoticeable,” said Shaggy.
- Hee-hee-hee! - Valka put in.
- Ha-ha-ha! - Red joined them.
Popov looked at Shmakova, his round, snub-nosed face acquired a plaintive expression.
- Guys, no need, huh? - asked Popov. - Better go to Somov.
Everyone shouted joyfully that it was time to go to Somov, but Shaggy interrupted them and said that they had to wait for Mironov.
“We don’t give a damn about Mironova,” Valka became brave. - Who is she - Mironova?... Button.
“Iron,” Red added instructively.
- Who has been told - let's wait for Mironov! - Shaggy repeated menacingly.
“Of course, we’ll wait,” Valka agreed fearfully. - Yes, and Vasilyev is not there yet.
And then Vasiliev appeared - a thin boy with glasses.
“You don’t have to wait for me,” said Vasiliev. - I won’t go to Somov.
- Why? - someone's voice rang out.
Everyone looked around and saw Mironova. She was, as always, neatly combed and dressed modestly. Under her jacket she was wearing an ordinary brown uniform dress.
“Hello, Mironova,” said Shaggy.
“Great, Iron Button,” Valka interjected obsequiously.
Mironova did not answer them. She slowly walked forward and stood in front of Vasilyev.
- So why don’t you, Vasilyev, go to Somov? she asked.
“Abandoned to work on the farm,” Vasiliev answered hesitantly and raised the string bag of groceries above his head.
- And to be honest?
Vasiliev was silent; The thick lenses of his glasses made his eyes large and round.
- Why are you silent? - Mironova did not lag behind him.
- I don’t feel like going to Somov. — Vasiliev looked defiantly at the Iron Button. - I'm tired of him.
- Tired of it, you say? — Mironova looked expressively at Shaggy.
He moved forward, followed by the others. They surrounded Vasiliev.
— Do you know what you get for betraying your ideals? - Mironova asked sternly.
- What? — Vasiliev looked at her with round eyes.
- That's what! “Shaggy turned around and hit Vasiliev.
The blow was strong - Vasiliev fell to one side, and his glasses flew off to the other. He dropped the string bag and spilled the food.
Everyone was waiting to see what would happen next.
Vasiliev got down on all fours and began to fumble with his hand in search of his glasses. It was difficult for him, but no one helped him - he was despised for betraying his ideals. And Valka stepped on his glasses with a heavy boot, and one glass cracked.
Vasiliev heard this crunch, crawled to Valka’s leg, pushed her away, picked up his glasses, stood up, put them on and looked at the guys: now one of his eyes was round and large under the glass, and the other sparkled with a small helpless blue dot.
- You've gone berserk! - Vasiliev shouted with unexpected force.
“Go away!” Shaggy pushed him. - Otherwise you’ll get a supplement!
Vasiliev was stuffing scattered food into a string bag.
- Savages! - he did not let up. - This will not bring you any good!
Shaggy could not stand it and rushed after Vasiliev, and he gave in to everyone’s happy laughter.
“Our regiment has thinned out...” said Red.
“But we are united,” Mironova interrupted sharply.
- Let's gobble up Somov pies together, like pioneers! - Valka laughed.
“You’re still kidding,” Mironova interrupted him. - But we’re talking about something serious.
They were already leaving in a loud, colorfully dressed flock, when big-eyed Shmakova saw Margarita Ivanovna, their class teacher.
“Margarita,” she said.
“Wearing jeans,” Valka noted. - I tore it off in Moscow. Probably a gift for a wedding.
- Shall we wave over the fence? - suggested Red. - Otherwise he’ll start educating... He’ll ruin the holiday.
“I won’t jump anywhere,” Mironova said. - You need to respect yourself.
“We’d better hide and scare her,” Valka chuckled.
“This is already interesting,” Shmakova picked up.
They ran away in all directions.
The last one, without haste, stood behind Mironov’s tree.
And Margarita Ivanovna, not noticing anyone, crossed the square with a cheerful gait and leaned towards the ticket office window of the river shipping company.
Valka came out of hiding, silently ran up to the teacher and shouted loudly:
- Hello, Margarita Ivanovna!
Margarita Ivanovna shuddered in surprise and looked around:
- Ah-ah-ah, it’s you... What is your way of sneaking up?
-Are you scared? - asked Valka. “They were scared, they were scared... Guys, Margarita Ivanovna was scared,” he clowned.
“I’m just thinking,” Margarita Ivanovna answered and blushed awkwardly, either from resentment at Valkina’s impudence, or because she was really scared, but did not want to admit it.
The guys surrounded her, greeting her.
- How smart you all are! “Margarita Ivanovna examined them. — And Shmakova is just an adult young lady.
- Margarita Ivanovna, do you like my dress? - Shmakova pestered her.
“I like it,” answered Margarita Ivanovna. -Who sewed it for you?
- We know who! - Popov intervened with delight in the conversation. - My mother.
“Under my leadership,” said Shmakova and whispered angrily to Popov: “Who pulled your tongue?... Or maybe they brought it to me from Moscow, from the Model House.” "My mother... My mother..."
- Why are you, Mironova, lagging behind everyone else? - asked Margarita Ivanovna.
- Me?... I can’t stand rags. — Mironova looked at her friends with arrogance. - Sorry, Margarita Ivanovna, we are late.
-Where are you going? “Margarita Ivanovna was somewhat taken aback by Mironova’s harshness.
“To Somov,” Red answered for everyone. - We are walking on the occasion of withering.
- Say hi to him. Tell him what I wish for him... - Margarita Ivanovna thought. — Somov is an extraordinary person, he does not stop there. Most importantly, he is brave, straightforward, and a reliable comrade...
“To the point, Margarita Ivanovna,” Shmakova said soulfully.
- So, I wish him...
—Are you leaving somewhere again? - Red interrupted Margarita Ivanovna.
— I want to show my husband Polenovo. He's never been here before. And he has little time: he has to return to Moscow. - Margarita Ivanovna looked at her watch. - Oh!.. I’m running away. Yes, I almost forgot about Somov... - And already on the move she shouted: - Wish him to remain the way he is now!.. All his life...
And she disappeared.
“But with us there’s no way he’ll get to Polenov...” Mironova began, but the last words died on her lips because she saw Lenka Bessoltseva.
Lenka stopped dead in her tracks. And the guys froze in delight.
- Before us is a historical exhibit - Bessoltsev! — For the first time, Mironova’s lips stretched into a restrained smile, and her voice rang: “She came for a ticket!.. She’s leaving!”
Lenka abruptly turned her back to everyone and walked up to the river shipping company's ticket office.
- Exactly! - Shaggy shouted. - She is leaving!
- Strength has won! - Red cheerfully supported him.
- Do you know what we will advise her? - Mironova was filled with inspiration: - So that she remembers our lesson for the rest of her life.
Valka, grimacing, arching his back, ran up to Lenka on tiptoe and rapped her back with his knuckles:
- Bessoltseva, did you remember our lesson?
Lenka did not answer. She stood motionless.
“He doesn’t answer,” Valka said disappointedly. - It turns out I didn’t remember.
- Maybe she's deaf? - Shmakova squeaked. - So you... shake her.
Valka raised his fist to hit Lenka on her thin, thin back.
“But this is no longer necessary,” Mironova stopped him, “after all, she is leaving.” So we won. That's enough for us.
- Let her go where she came from! - Red shouted.
And others also shouted:
- We don’t need those!
- Sneaky!
- Chu-che-lo-o-o! “Valka grabbed Lenka by the hand and dragged him into the circle of guys.
They jumped around Lenka, danced, clownished and had fun, and each tried to outdo the other:
- Chu-che-lo-o-o!
- Chu-che-lo-o-o!
- Ogo-ro-d!
- Mouth to ear!
- At least sew on some strings!
A multi-colored circle was spinning, and Lenka was rushing around inside it.
At this time Nikolai Nikolaevich appeared, saw Lenka and the guys jumping around her, and shouted:
- Why are you pestering her? Here I am!..
- Patchworker! - Red yelled. - Atas!
They rushed in different directions.
Only Mironova remained in place, didn’t even move, didn’t raise an eyebrow. Her words were full of contempt for everyone else:
- Are you chickening out?
This decisive shout stopped the guys.
- What are you - six against one! - Nikolai Nikolaevich’s voice sounded almost tragic. - Aren’t you ashamed?
- Why should we be ashamed! - Valka blathered impudently. - We didn't steal anything. Everything is legal.
- You better shame your granddaughter! - Mironova said.
- Lena? - Nikolai Nikolaevich asked in surprise. - For what?
Lenka turned sharply to her grandfather, and he saw her face: distorted, as if she had been hit hard. He already wanted to shout to these children to shut up, to quickly leave and leave them alone.
But no one was going to tell him anything; it was not in their rules: to let adults in on their affairs. Only Mironova said firmly and cheerfully as she walked:
- You'll find out from her. She will tell you everything in vivid colors.
They disappeared. Only for some time in the quiet and transparent autumn air could their cries be heard:
- Well done Iron Button!
- I wasn’t afraid of the Patcher!
- Strength has won!
And then the voices disappeared, dissolving into the distance.
And Lenka, poor Lenka, buried her face in Nikolai Nikolaevich’s chest in order to hide, at least for a while, from the troubles that befell her, and became silent.
His granddaughter was teased with Scarecrow and they finished her off so much that she decided to leave, thought Nikolai Nikolaevich and felt how her misfortune hit him painfully in the heart: he always had a hard time bearing other people’s misfortunes. It was difficult for life, but he did not want to give up this habit, did not give up the heavy but expensive burden. And this was his life and salvation. This is what Nikolai Nikolaevich thought at that moment, and said out loud to calm Lenka:
- Well, what are you... - He stroked her soft, tender head. - Do not pay attention to them. - Nikolai Nikolaevich’s voice trembled, betraying excitement. - Learn from me. I'm always calm. I do my job and I’m calm. “He almost shouted defiantly: “Did you hear they teased me with the Patchmaker?” Unhappy!.. They don’t understand what they are doing. — And suddenly he asked quietly and hesitantly: “What did you do?” Why are they doing this to you?
Lenka pulled away from his hands and turned away.
“There was no need to ask her anything, there was no need,” thought Nikolai Nikolaevich, but these words rolled out of his mouth by themselves. Well, what did she do that was so terrible that they pushed her away from them, despised her and chased her away like a hare?...
- Fine, fine! - said Nikolai Nikolaevich. - Sorry... You decided to leave - that means you need it. I lived alone... And I will continue to live alone. “He paused because the meaning of these words was unpleasant to him. - Used to you? I'll get out of the habit...
Here, according to his old habit, he ruffled his feathers like a bird in the rain and pulled the visor of his cap over his eyes.
“All this is unexpected for me,” continued Nikolai Nikolaevich. “We lived nearby, but I didn’t really understand anything about you.” It didn’t penetrate your soul - that’s what’s offensive.
He reached into his pocket, took out a worn wallet and rummaged through it for a long time, waiting for Lenka to say something, for example, that she had changed her mind, that she would not go anywhere and that he could hide his wallet back in his pocket. He was stalling for time, sighing heavily, but this did not help him - Lenka was silent.
“Here,” said Nikolai Nikolaevich, handing Lenka the money. — Buy two tickets for tomorrow. I will accompany you to Moscow, to the plane.
- And that’s what I wanted for today! - Lenka sighed sadly. - For today! Not now!
“But this is madness,” Nikolai Nikolaevich resisted. - Look what things you took. Where are your textbooks? What about the coat? It’s been snowing there for a long time, you’ll immediately get a sore throat!
He talked and talked, she interrupted him: “For today, for now!” - and he urged her to stay, although he himself perfectly understood that all his arguments were complete nonsense, and the main thing was that he really didn’t want Lenka to leave. And so he stopped his speech mid-sentence, leaned towards her and confessed in a pleading whisper:
- Well, I can’t do it right away!.. Well, let’s do it tomorrow.
Lenka snatched the money from Nikolai Nikolaevich’s hands.
- Did you hear? “I agree for tomorrow,” he asked for the last time.
Nikolai Nikolaevich puzzled Lenka - is it her grandfather who is talking?
She looked up and saw his calm, motionless face. Only a thin flagellum of scar running from his temple to the corner of his hard, dry, old man’s lips turned treacherously white, and his lost eyes, hidden under the visor of his cap, betrayed his strong excitement.
“And the patch on your sleeve has come off,” Lenka suddenly noticed.
- We need to sew it on. - Nikolai Nikolaevich felt the patch.
Lenka saw that the scar on her grandfather’s face had become barely noticeable again, and said:
— You should buy yourself a new coat.
“I don’t have money for this,” he replied.
“They say about you that you are a greedy person.” - Lenka bit her tongue, but the offensive word had already popped out, now you can’t catch it.
- Greedy? - Nikolai Nikolaevich laughed loudly. - Funny. “He began to look at his coat with great attention. - Do you think it’s completely indecent to walk around in it?... You know, I love this coat. There is something mysterious about old things... In the morning I put on my coat and remember how your grandmother and I bought it many years ago. She was the one who chose it... And you say - buy a new one!..
Their glances met again - no, they didn’t meet, but they collided, because each of them was thinking about leaving.
“Okay,” said Lenka, “I’ll go tomorrow.” — And I bought two tickets.
They went home, accompanied by rain that came from nowhere, washing the dry pre-winter land - they did not even notice how it began.
When they entered the room, music and children’s screams flew in through the open window.
- They're hanging out at the Somovs'. - Nikolai Nikolaevich realized that he had said the wrong thing and, as if by chance, closed the window.
But the music and screams were so loud that even the closed window did not help.
Then Nikolai Nikolaevich sat down at the piano, which he did extremely rarely, and pointedly opened the lid.
- Why are you looking at me like that? — he asked Lenka, catching her gaze. — For some reason I was drawn to music. And there is no need to hypnotize me.
Nikolai Nikolaevich began to play loudly and cockily. Then he suddenly stopped playing and silently, with silent reproach, looked at Lenka.
- Do not look at me so! - Lenka couldn’t stand it and shouted: “Well, what are you going to do here alone?... Take the paintings with you, and we’ll go together!”
- What are you... Come to your senses! - Nikolai Nikolaevich began to look at the paintings in excitement, - This is impossible. They were born here... On this land... In this city... By this river... Here they will live forever... Once during the war, I was in the hospital, and I had a dream that I was standing among these paintings as a boy, and sunbeams were running across them. Then I decided: if I stay alive, I will return to my home forever... I didn’t succeed right away, but I finally got there. And now it seems to me that I never left, that I’ve always been here... Well, you know, always, always... - He smiled somehow guiltily and defenselessly. - For many hundreds of years... That my life is a continuation of someone else's... Or many others... I'm telling you honestly. Sometimes it even seems to me that it was not my great-great-grandfather who painted all these pictures, but me... That it was not my grandfather who was a paramedic and built the first hospital in the city, but me too... You are the only one I can admit to this. Others will not understand, but you will understand how it should be... And when you came here, I, an old fool, began to daydream and decided: you too will grow back to your native place and live here for a long series of years among these paintings. Let your parents rush around the world, and you will live in your own home... Always the same. It didn't work out.
Nikolai Nikolaevich suddenly approached Lenka and said decisively:
- Listen, let's finish this matter. “He tried to speak in a cheerful voice. - Go back to school and that's it.
Lenka flew away from Nikolai Nikolaevich like a bullet, grabbed her unfortunate briefcase and rushed to the door. Nikolai Nikolaevich blocked her path.
- Move away! “Nikolai Nikolaevich had never seen such frenzy in her face: her lips and face turned chalk white. “You better move away!.. Who are they talking to!” And she threw her briefcase at him - it whistled past his ear and slammed against the wall.
Nikolai Nikolaevich looked at Lenka with great surprise, walked away from the door and sat down on the sofa.
Lenka stood there a little indecisively, shrank all over, lowered her head guiltily and timidly sat down next to him.
- Don’t be angry with me... Okay? - she asked. - Do not be angry. I'm just kind of crazy. I always do something wrong. - Lenka looked into Nikolai Nikolaevich’s eyes. - Have you forgiven me? Forgiven?...
“I haven’t forgiven anything,” Nikolai Nikolaevich answered angrily.
- No, I forgive you, I forgive you! “I can see it in my eyes,” she rejoiced. - I... got carried away...
“Wow, I got carried away,” answered Nikolai Nikolaevich. “I almost blew my grandfather’s head off.”
“But that’s not true,” said Lenka.
Her face suddenly changed so unusually that Nikolai Nikolaevich also smiled. It became open and joyful, the mouth stretched to the ears, the cheeks were rounded.
- I threw it past!
And suddenly her face changed again, became somehow desperate.
- Just don't interrupt me. OK? Otherwise I’ll lose my temper and won’t be able to tell you. And so I will tell you everything, everything, the whole truth, without cunning.
“Okay,” Nikolai Nikolaevich was delighted. - Calm down and tell me... slowly, in detail, it’s easier.
“If you interrupt again, I’ll leave!” - Lenka’s lips tightened and her eyes narrowed. “I’m not the same now as before.” I am determined. - And she began to tell.
