Jack of Hearts

(foreign language) - lackey (red suit)

Wed Jack of Hearts although a thief, this does not prevent him from being a charming young man. His manners are excellent, his conversation is fluid...

Saltykov. Collection. Children of Moscow. 3.

Wed Jack of Hearts matured, polished and worked out completely ... a creature languishing under the burden of idleness and drunken melancholy, living from day to day, devoid of any stability for the struggle with life and not recognizing any life tasks, except for the satisfaction of the moment.

There. 1.

Wed All (redemption certificates) were spent in full ... on countless glasses of vodka, at the bottom of which the image of "jack of hearts" with an ace of diamonds on his back.

There. 1.

Wed Jack of Hearts looks at his interlocutor (foreigner) as if he were a fofan. And suddenly - a thought! sell this fofan official government offices. No sooner said than done...

There. 3.

Wed Valet de carrau - jack of diamonds - scoundrel.

Wed Valet ( old) Vaslet - vasselet ( reduce) from vassal ( old apprentice, servant).

Wed Vasall ( German), vassal ( English, French), vassallo ( it.).

Wed Vassalus ( lat.) - subject (vassus, servant).

Cm. ace of diamonds.

Russian thought and speech. Yours and someone else's. Experience of Russian phraseology. Collection of figurative words and parables. T.T. 1-2. Walking and well-aimed words. Collection of Russian and foreign quotations, proverbs, sayings, proverbial expressions and individual words. SPb., type. Ak. Sciences.. M. I. Mikhelson. 1896-1912.

See what the "Jack of Hearts" is in other dictionaries:

- (card) playing card. Jack of Hearts (Carroll) A character in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Jack of Hearts (Stanyukovich) story by K. M. Stanyukovich. Jack of Hearts (Tsvetaeva) drama by M. Tsvetaeva ... Wikipedia

Cm … Synonym dictionary

Jack of Hearts- Obsolete. Rogue, rogue. The Jack of Hearts looks at his interlocutor as if he were a “fofan”. And suddenly a thought! To sell to this "fofan" state offices (Saltykov Shchedrin. Children of Moscow). Lived through, lied about, just about to find themselves in these ... like them ... Phrasebook Russian literary language

Jack of hearts (inosk.) Khaluy (red suit). Wed The Jack of Hearts, although a thief, does not in the least prevent him from being a charming young man. His manners are excellent, his conversation is fluent... Saltykov. Collection. Children of Moscow. 3. Wed… Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

Jack of Hearts Knave of Hearts The King of Hearts and the Queen of Hearts are judging the Jack. Illustration by John Tanniel ... Wikipedia

Jack of Hearts Knave of Hearts ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Jack of Hearts. Jack of Hearts ... Wikipedia

Dictionary Ushakov

1. CHERVONNY1, chervonnaya, chervonnoe (obsolete, region). 1. Red, scarlet. 2. adj., by value. associated with pure gold, which has a reddish tint. Red gold. 2. RED2, red, red. adj. to hearts, belonging to the suit of hearts. ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Jack, jack, husband. (French valet). One of the figures playing cards. Jack of Spades. ❖ Jack of Hearts, see Hearts. Jack of diamonds, see diamond. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Books

• Jack of Hearts, K. M. Stanyukovich. Konstantin Mikhailovich Stanyukovich (1843-1903) entered the literature as the author of works devoted to the Russian fleet. Much less known are his "non-marine" stories and stories in which he ...

CHARACTERS

RED LADY, 20 years old, blond. - Rose.
KING OF HEARTS, old man, gray beard.
KING OF SPADES, 30 years old, black.
jack of spades, 20 years old, black.
Jack of clubs, 40 years old, red.
JACK OF DIAMONDS, 20 years old, black.
Jack of Hearts, boy, blond.

The costumes of the actors are according to the color of the suit, except for the peak suit, which is - all - black. Lady and Kings in large cloaks. Jacks in short - like wings - capes. The lute at the Jack of Hearts and the tip of the peak at Spades - in the form of a heart.

STEP ONE

Throne room. Lady on the throne. Next to her, stretched out to attention, with a lute in her hands, Jack. Opposite - with a huge sword at his belt - sits the King of Hearts.

PHENOMENON FIRST

King of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, Jack of Hearts.

KING OF HEART

Farewell, queen. I'm going on a hike.
Without you, queen, a day is like a year for me.
They dream as soon as I step out of the house,
scary dreams to the seventh king.
Good dreams my love
Guard the king's sleep.

The lady tilts her head.

Do not look through the crack at the carnival,
Don't forget to thread the needle
Red silk, red silk.
Do not walk in the parks in the evenings,
Do not guess at night on the cards ...

Your Majesty! My mind is simple:
Raised - so the drawbridge is raised.

Holy service - strengthen the soul.
Don't sing songs
Don't listen to songs.
Going to church
Don't look to the right
Don't look to the left.
And may the pure maiden keep you,
Queen queen.

The lady descends from the throne and crouches.

KING
(jack)

I respect your youth
And straight eyes
And a mouth that says yes and no.
Yours and your queen and lady
I entrust you
Jack.

Jack bends the knee. The lady sits low. The King kisses the Lady's hand. Pipes. The king leaves.

PHENOMENON TWO

Lady, Jack.

LADY
(sitting on the throne, singing)

Jack, Jack, you are not happy!
I am the throne rose.
Jack, Jack, young Jack,
My jack of hearts.

What are you clinging to, what are you waiting for, if in broad daylight,
Kohl at midnight stormy
Comes out with a black king to me -
Amorous bed.
Hurry, and flatter, and whistle, and take revenge, -
What do I care about this?
Go blow from the royal rooftops
Jack love.
Blow, blow, that I love him.
What is stormy at midnight
Ready for the black king
Amorous bed.

(Jack.)

I'm not talking about myself and about you, -
So, - so as not to cry from the rain,
Yes, do not sit idle on the throne.
Grandma used to sing this song to me
Where everyone sings. - In my land...
I dare not sing in front of the king.
Do you like what I sing?

LADY
(absently)

Today is February, and outside the door - March ...
Boy, give me a deck of cards.

Knave pushes the table, puts two candles, puts down the cards.
(Singing, laying out the cards.)

Your eyes are black, your eyes are sharp,
There is no blacker in the whole world ...
Boy! All four left
I'm six.
It means?

In the heads - the king of hearts,
My husband is yours, your king.
May the Madonna keep him.
And at the feet - a jack of hearts.
It means?

People say - lover. However,
Our master, queen,
Claims - the cards lie.

LADY
(funny)

What cards are on the heart?

(Opens the first one.)

Black at heart is a king.
It means?

LADY
(opening second)

Peak - is it a nine?

Passion.

How strange! - Well, let's see.
Third.

(In a highly outstretched hand - an ace of spades.)

Sorry, queen
This means death.

The sound of a tambourine.

PHENOMENON THREE

Bursts - wind - Jack of Diamonds. Above the head is a tambourine. Having flown to the throne of the Queen, he bows his knee. Then lifting the mask.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Hello, hello queen!
Red March sent me.
I bowed my knee before you
Queen, carnival.

Your king, holy and old,
Thank God, it's far away.
I am a jack, and I am without a pair,
I am a jack and I am at my feet.

I am both a boy and a girl
I bring you tunes
Meetings in the depths of mirrors
Marble fountains pharynx,
Sighs on the right, sighs on the left, -
Queen, queen
Queen, carnival.

Red March.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

King of Diamonds.

LADY
(coy)

I - red - is true.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Ah, child, is it not for this?
bloodthirsty war
By tousled crops
Kings are on their way
To young queens
Take a break from corona?

(Boldly.)

What is the use - such beauty
To be holy and adamant?
And what do you need red
Your king, long worthy
Be prey to worms?

JACK OF HEARTS
(arrogantly)

The worm is dust, the gold piece is gold.
My lady is rich
And Red March will cry.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Hm ... From what Spartan desks
You carry this harmful nonsense,
My young knight is cardboard?

JACK OF HEARTS
(with bow)

Lots of honor. I am red
Their Majesties - jack.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Jack, in love with the queen,
So God commanded, so will I.
But stupid, we swear by the eternal virgin,
Knave in love with the king!

LADY
(laughing)

Don't look through the crack at the carnival...
Red silk, red silk...

JACK OF DIAMONDS
(closer, flattering)

Little Red Riding Hood, listen to the wolf:
Loyalty - on the shelf, loyalty on the shelf ...

(Decidedly.)

Your king is gray-haired, toothless,
You are like a rose has blossomed.
I raise a violent tambourine
For tambourines!

(Hugs, wants to kiss, the Lady clicks on his nose, he runs out laughing and ringing.)

PHENOMENON FOUR

Jack of Clubs enters. Forty years. Shaved, stocky, square. On white shoes - black clubs bows. In his hand is a black shamrock. Queen, Jack of Clubs, Jack of Hearts.

JACK OF CLUBS
(squeaky like a lesson learned)

Praise to the empress - prudent, albeit young.
Long live the Empress many more moons!
Yes, they praise the empress - what do you mean? Look, hurry up
hesitated? - strings.

(Handing her a flower.)

And this, madam, means - Fortune.
May the arrows not sting the Empress of the malicious Cupid ...

(Rough.)

And now, Ma'am, let's get down to business.
Time is money, even for young queens.

(Appears.)

Club majesty jack - club.

In English, money
And in our opinion - the treasury.
My king is alone on the throne.
And he needs a wife.

The old woman told him coffee grounds,
So that he would marry the Queen of Hearts,
And with me he sends his betrothed
List of movable and immovable property.

(Pulls out a scroll from his bosom.)

I don't have a knack
In reading. -

(Chervonny.)

Read Valet.

JACK OF CLUBS
(giving Chervonny a scroll)

All: from here to here.

I won't listen for long.

JACK OF CLUBS
(Chervonny)

Get started.

JACK OF HEARTS
(with mock solemnity)

Sands and ores.

How are the sands?

JACK OF CLUBS

Well, yes, sands.

I think I'm dying of boredom
Like an old man's sermon!

JACK OF CLUBS

Continue.

JACK OF HEARTS
(Also)

Sands - and quartzes.

Lord, the sands again!

JACK OF CLUBS

Uruguay.

Whiskey hurts.

JACK OF HEARTS

Colorado. Mines.
Steel, cast iron, iron, sulfur.

JACK OF CLUBS
(enjoying)

My king is rich beyond measure.

JACK OF HEARTS

Argentina. Chile. Peru.

LADY
(Jack of clubs)

Your king has gone mad!

JACK OF HEARTS

El Callao.

I am ill!

JACK OF HEARTS

Mexico. Siam. Canada.
Venezuela.

Worse than hell
Worse than the church!

JACK OF HEARTS

crowds
California.

LADY
(Jack of Hearts)

(Jack of clubs.)

Your king is a fool!

JACK OF CLUBS
(scared)

What do I hear?

LADY
(with rising heat)

Your king is a fool and a liar!
So beauties do not write!
Better with cats on the roof
Than with a footman down the aisle!

JACK OF CLUBS

My lord...

LADY
(interrupting)

They don't write like that!

JACK OF CLUBS
(spreading hands)

Here's an analogy for you!
My lord is full of passion...

I hear. - Out of my sight!

Jack of clubs, pulling his head into his shoulders, instantly and clumsily runs out.

JACK OF HEARTS
(burning a scroll on a candle, laughing)

Is the gold scary to the sun?

Three knocks on the door with iron.

FIFTH PHENOMENON

Silent scene.
The door opens. Jack of spades with a spade. Silently stretches along the wall. At the sight of him, the Jack of Hearts stands up. During the whole scene, he stands at the throne of the Lady with his arms crossed. Behind the Jack of Spades is the King of Spades. At the sight of him, the Lady raises her head and - half-closing her eyes - in a column - like a sleepwalker - goes towards him. Kiss.

A curtain.

ACT TWO

PHENOMENON FIRST

Night. Royal garden. Huge round tree in bloom. To the left, in the corner, is a gazebo. Behind the tree, half-hidden by branches, is the Jack of Clubs. From Tambourine, from a tree, one leg. Enter Jack of Spades.

JACK OF SPADES

Tref - what do you say?

JACK OF CLUBS
(coming out from behind a tree)

What will I say?
They missed the lady!
In love with him like a cat:
They drink together and sleep together.
Ugliness! Debauchery!

JACK OF DIAMONDS

It's just that the baby is growing up.
Everything is as it should be: there is a war,
Here is an unfaithful wife,
There are soldiers and gray hairs,
Here is a fun conversation.
Husband - from the bedroom, into the bedroom - a thief ...

JACK OF CLUBS

Ugliness! - A shame!

JACK OF DIAMONDS

A hilarious picture!
Throne. Insidiousness. Passion. Dagger.
And the cutest of all is the finale:
Who was late for the wedding
Keeps up - on the christening.
The husband is at the gate, the thief is at the window ...

JACK OF SPADES
(irritated)

Shut up, spindle!

(Persistently.)

The black king is an enemy to all of us?

JACK OF CLUBS

JACK OF SPADES

Do we hate him?

JACK OF CLUBS

JACK OF SPADES

The red king, glorious and gray,
They are dishonored.

JACK OF CLUBS

I have no business -
Which one of them - by whom - is dishonored.
Courtage was promised to me for her,
For Mrs., and Mrs.
Suddenly went on a spree - no courtship.

JACK OF DIAMONDS
(jumping up)

The mask is my decoration
The wind is my master
I have one enemy
Damned constancy.

JACK OF SPADES

In every woman - Judas!

JACK OF DIAMONDS

That's it, peak suit!
You look in the evening - a fad,
In the morning - a fatal passion.
For infidelity to the spouse -
Frantic loyalty to a friend
common table and common sleep,
Same rings, same vows
The same stone, damned,
Triumphant law.

JACK OF SPADES

To the point, to the point, to the point, to the point!
Who will plunge a dagger into him?

JACK OF DIAMONDS
(pointing to her clothes)

No! Red on white
I have enough!

JACK OF SPADES
(furious)

Knew!
Barin! Krasnobai-pretender!
A coward of diamonds, a conspirator!
(Tref.)
Clubs, will you support the honor of the jack?

JACK OF CLUBS

Today honor, and tomorrow in part.
Little honor! - Revenge is not this
Revenge is a club suit.
(Lowering voice.)
Our revenge, yes our honor -
Weave golden nets, -
This is more than a sword.
(Almost in a whisper.)
Look around, sideways
Whisper, ringing coin
Yes, on stamped paper -
Our club revenge!
(Loud.)
Kira wins - Croesus.

JACK OF SPADES

Coward of clubs!

JACK OF CLUBS
(modestly)

Club, I'm sober.

JACK OF SPADES
(twitching - almost dance)

Black cloak and black look.
Black from head to toe.
In black veins - poison,
Hell.
This peak is the tip -
My heart is black.

Yes, attack from around the corner
And then laugh heartily -
This passion
This peak suit.

Whose will take? - My took!
Haze.
Evil for evil.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Anger you, that balloon, inflated.
Hey, don't burst!

JACK OF SPADES

JACK OF CLUBS

Hush, sirs!
They're coming!

They run away.

PHENOMENON TWO

To the left - from behind the gazebo. - Lady and Jack of Hearts. The Lady has a huge black necklace and the same wrists. Jack has a lute in his hands. The lady leans lightly on his shoulder.
Lady, Jack of Hearts.

Do you like my new
Lord?

Don't jack
Think about the king.

Well, it's a necklace.
Do you like it? Wrist
Gift of it.

Wear it for happiness.

LADY
(cosy)

Well, let's forget for a moment
Who are we. If you want, we'll just -
Very old friends?
Yes? Agree?

Queen,
I have long forgotten who I am.
Who are you - I remember.

You are stubborn.

jack
(with bow)

I am subdued.

LADY
(eyes half closed, blissfully)

Ah, I remember the first time
He entered - thin and languid ...
I didn't lower my eyes
I got up towards it.
Do you remember?

jack
(stone)

I don't remember anything.

You stood with your arms crossed...
God, how pale you are
What's wrong with you? - White as chalk!

Empress, in science
Passion tender - there is a department:
Death. In it all science is passion.

Fully call out misfortune!
You are whiter than the canvas!

jack
(smiling wryly)

If pallor is boring to you,
Paint my cheeks red.

LADY
(fervently)

And I'll color it!

jack
(bowing)

Your will.

Here's a kiss!

You are cheeky like a boy
Like a monkey!

Like a jack.
(Suddenly, as if taking a breath.)
Jokes aside. - It's not okay
In a palace. Jacks grumble.
CONSPIRACY! - Deception! - Treason!

LADY
(scared)

CONSPIRACY?

On that life,
Who is for you dearer than life.
But the King has been warned.
It's almost midnight. Exactly at midnight
The king will give you a signal.
His black cloak is like a sail,
His black horse is like a whirlwind.
The dawn will find you in paradise, -
Outside the kingdom.

LADY
(scared)

At midnight?

At midnight.

And when
Ask, returning, the king:
"Where is your queen?
And a spouse? -

I will answer:
The black whirlwind carried her away. -
The meeting point is the red bush.

Royal Mouth Rose
The boy will be rewarded.
Here, take her!
(Reaches for him.)

jack
(pulling away, quietly)

No need…

The lady stretches again.

jack
(pulling away, stony)

He is the king, empress, I am the jack.
You and I, empress, are not happy.

First strike at midnight. Signal.

LADY
(in a fever)

Lord, have mercy, help! I'm coming!
I am a great sinner, I will burn in hell.
He will, he will, he will kiss me!
I will not forget you. I loved you like a mother.
Why are you standing like a pillar? Shout "Vivat"!
I am a great sinner, I have a direct road to hell.
His cape is like a sail. He is a villain, a sorcerer, a ghoul.
And then I will repent, and then I will go to the monastery.
I will pray, pray, pray. No, it's all a game.
This is a dream I'm dreaming.

Empress, it's time for you.

In the distance horse stomp.

It's time! Goodbye! Do you hear the clatter from the black thickets?
(He runs, drops his cloak on the run. Knave, raising it, drops the lute. It breaks.)

jack
(lifting coat)

And a jack for memory, and a cloak for a jack on a shroud.
(Kicks the broken lute away with his foot.)

PHENOMENON THREE

Knave, wrapped in a cloak, sings on the steps, in the arbor.

In the meadows - night dampness,
In the hearts - love smoke.
To everyone who grew up and did not grow up,
Who is loved and not loved.

To everyone who celebrates, who cries,
To everyone who is straight and who is hunchbacked,
To everyone who sleeps and to everyone who jumps -
In this black hour: - Vivat!

Terrible old woman - old age,
Don't touch my lips...
His black cloak is like a sail,
His black horse is like a whirlwind...

These cards were guessed.
Nobody is to blame here.
My life is aeternum vale!
Throne rose - vivat!

(Lies prone.)

PHENOMENON FOUR

Jack of Hearts, Jack of Spades. From the darkness, stealthily - Jack of Spades. In the hands - a peak.

JACK OF SPADES
(whispers)

The bird is on a branch
Children - in the gazebo
Praise the Father.

Here you go, birds, into the net,
So kiss, friends, on the lips!

(Not noticing the Jack of Hearts, he runs up the steps to the pavilion.)
A moment of silence.
(Furious.)

One hundred and forty hell! - The cell is empty!

(Stumbles on the run on Jack's cloak.)

Damn who's here? - A? - You, my friend!
Slave! Informer! Scum! Puppy!
Breathe at black feet!

(Pierces him with a lance.)

Hey, over here! Tambourine! Clubs!

JACK OF HEARTS
(getting up)

Queen of queens...
Lady of the Heart… Rose of Roses…
The black whirlwind took her away!
(Opens his cloak like wings.)

FIFTH PHENOMENON

Silent scene.
Jack of clubs with a lantern. Behind him - from afar - Tambourine in a mask. The jack of clubs tilts the lantern towards the face of Chervonny. Diamonds, stretching his neck, brings his finger to his lips.

"Jack of Hearts"

Georges grew up as a healthy, red-cheeked boy, with lovely blond curls and large, languid, black eyes. Ladies of my acquaintance found Georges a lovely child; often tickled his chin with small fingers and kissed his juicy, ruddy lips loudly, causing a flush of pleasure and shame on the soft, round cheeks of a thirteen-year-old boy. His father's adjutants and subordinates brought sweets and sweet cakes to Georges and often called Georges a smart boy in front of his parents, so Georges very early got used to considering himself a charming and intelligent creature.

The boy was dressed luxuriously, although it happened that they forgot to change linen for a long time, fed him for slaughter, often changed governesses and nannies, and then did not pay any attention to him. Yes, and there was no one. Father Georges, a tall, old, stern general of the memorable Crimean era (44), who took the width of the soldier's soles with official measurements, was busy in the mornings with the service, spent the evenings playing cards and did not differ in special tenderness for children. Official: " good morning, papa, "with a kiss on the hand in the morning, and the same greeting in the evening - that's all the initial intercourse of the child with his father. In addition, the child was afraid of his father. His stern appearance, his gray, protruding cockroach mustache, the cloudy look of tin eyes, quick-tempered shouts: "I love you!" inspired such awe in the boy, especially in the first years of his childhood, that after each visit to a dark, gloomy office with wishes of good morning and good evening the boy's pantaloons were changed (45). So terrible seemed to him the tall, dry figure of the general, which made not only the child, but all the adults in the house tremble. However, this trepidation gradually passed. Although the boy was afraid, he trembled less than his father, knowing how to find in him weak sides, which he exploited quite cleverly for a child of his age.

Mother, a plump, good-natured woman in her forties, loved without memory Georges, this Benjamin of the family (45), with the birth of which the relationship of the spouses took on a completely different character. After the birth of Georges, the general found that his wife was overweight, flabby and old, and stopped visiting her half. The general's wife became distraught and began to suffer more often from flushes of blood and unbridled fits of jealousy. At first, she, foaming at the mouth, in one skirt burst into her husband's office and demanded an explanation. Then there were terrible scenes. At first, the husband restrained himself, silently listening to the stupid vocabulary of curses, but when the mad woman lost all measure, her gray mustache moved somehow quickly and terribly, her face turned pale, her cheekbones moved quickly, and he muffledly said: "Go away!" She, of course, sent curses in response, and he raised his hand furiously ...

Desperate hysterical sobs could be heard from the study; mother tossed about on the floor and finally fainted. Little Georges peeped into these scenes more than once and felt sorry for his mother.

After such scenes, the general's wife seemed to become even more attached to her last child. Putting sweets into his mouth and shedding a hail of tears, she involuntarily poured out her complaints about her father in front of her son and somehow by chance, not understanding herself what she was doing, she let him in on her secrets. The mother spoiled her son, indulged his whims, dressed him up in expensive jackets, shook money with him for sweets, sometimes fiddled with him for a long time, amused himself like a child with a toy, sometimes forgot that she had not seen him for whole days. She went out, received guests, read French novels, and, with a kind of pleasure from outraged female vanity, was engaged in observing love affairs husband. And in this occupation, Georges, little by little, became her good assistant. At first, the mother, under plausible pretexts, sent Georges to his father, with the aim of taking him by surprise, but little by little these sendings began to be repeated without any pretexts, and it finally came to the point that mother and son often quite seriously discussed some new ambush plan in common. , from which Georges could well see how the father kisses and pinches the governess.

Georges' governess changed very often. Either they themselves fled from the persecution of the general, then they left the house due to the jealous nit-picking and insolence of the general's wife. The general did not let them down. He somehow ordered always pretty governesses and was a master at immediately getting on a short footing with them. The same story happened with nannies.

Sanguine by nature, the general's wife quickly surrendered to impressions. Like a child, she surprisingly quickly passed from anger to caress, from tears to laughter. Often, listening to Zhorzhenka's report about how papa in the corridor "hugged and pinched" the new "nanny Dasha", the mother laughed to tears, forcing Zhorzhenka to repeat the story about the adventures of the "old lecher", as she always called her husband behind her back. Georges repeated and sometimes added details that flickered in his imagination ... Thanks to these conversations with his mother, the boy's instincts woke up ahead of time, and Georges already clung to the lips of familiar ladies who kissed the "adorable little one" for a long time, and the color that was at the same time on his round cheeks, was not the color of shame.

Father often slapped Georges in the face, tore at his ears, and sometimes whipped him. But the causes of the punishments were so varied that it was absolutely impossible to understand them and seek out any guiding idea. Sometimes the boy was punished for a torn shirt collar, sometimes the cut forehead of a yard boy passed for nothing. Once he was flogged for lying, another time he was forgiven for stealing some trifle from his aunt. The general especially did not like it when things were broken or damaged, and he always punished for this.

Georges howled not so much from pain as from shame and anger, and was looking for an opportunity to catch his father in his playful adventures. He affectionately begged Karolina Karlovna, his young governess, to go with him after dinner, at six o'clock, for a walk in the big garden at the back of the house, and, having asked to go to the greenhouse, he would leave the governess alone on a bench in the shade of the avenue to read a book and run back to follow his father's arrival. Soon a sharp, hacking cough made it clear that his father was in the garden - he always walked at these hours - and Georges, noticing his father, cautiously ran around to the place where Karolina Karlovna was sitting, hid in the bushes and, holding his breath, waited impatiently for intimate scenes.

The general, noticing a woman's dress shining under the rays of the setting sun, walked towards him like a moth towards a fire. Looking around timidly, he sat down beside him and began some strange, abrupt conversation. The boy strained his acute hearing, and fragmentary phrases reached his ears with the usual sharpness of the barracks, somewhat softened by the closeness of the woman and the process of courtship.

Blood pounded the little spy's temples. He caught snatches of phrases and waited impatiently for the usual transition from words to deeds.

Where is the boy? Runs?

In the greenhouse...

A nasty, triumphant smile crossed the face of the "pretty boy" at these words. He stretched his neck tighter.

Again came the sharp whisper, irritating Georges' excited nerves.

Will you come today?

She... Follows... Me... I don't know...

Honey... come on!

Leave... As possible... They will notice...

The general embraced Karolina Karlovna and silently, like an animal, kissed her. She quietly broke free, whispering some obscure words ... He did not listen to her babble and, without dropping a word, silently continued tickling her chin, kissing her face, neck ...

Amid the silence of the garden, mysteriously enticing sounds, increased breathing, some kind of muffled fuss reached the boy. He saw everything and at the same time saw nothing. Some kind of mist clouded his eyes, the blood rushed to his head, and he, pouring water from inner excitement, again strained his eyesight, devouring the foggy picture with his eyes. He admired, trembled and was angry. He was ready to rush to his father and at the same time froze with fear at the thought that he would be noticed. He closed his eyes for a second, only to open them again to enjoy the sight more fully. So the drunkard leaves the wine for a while in order to find a new charm in it.

Cautiously, holding his breath, like a mouse in the close neighborhood of a cat, carefully parting the branches of the bushes, he crawled back, got up, took a breath, ran around two alleys and, with the look of a playful, innocent boy, flew along the side path with all his legs to the bench and stopped , as if rooted to the spot, as if frightened by the presence of his father.

The general quickly pulled his hand away from the governess's waist, somehow ingratiatingly, with the air of a freshly whipped schoolboy, looked at Georges and immediately lowered his eyes. With a deft movement of her hand, straightening her hair, the governess cast a sidelong affectionately timid glance at the boy. Her cheeks burned, her eyes seemed to run inward. Those terrible seconds of an unbearable situation have come when everyone understands that the other has seen and understood what has happened, but at the same time everyone pretends that he has not seen anything and knows nothing.

Where did you run? - sharply asked the father.

In the greenhouse, daddy. What are the pineapples! exclaimed the boy with mock delight. - Fedor says that they will be in time by Sunday.

Big ones, Georges? asked the governess, in her turn, to ask something.

Huge ... that's what, Karolina Karlovna! said Georges animatedly, looking joyfully at Karolina Karlovna's embarrassed face.

Remind me of them, Georges... remind me! Yes! .. - Then the general took a breath, as if his throat choked. - Yes... You kept asking for the circus! Here you go, go to the circus, boy, go! - once quickly said the father, taking out a brand new silver ruble from a beaded purse and disgustedly giving it to Georges.

With these words, the general got up, started to walk along the alley, but, having taken a few hesitant steps, returned, touched Georges on the elbow and said:

You can go to the circus tomorrow. You can!.. There are horses... horses... They ride them... well...

He uttered these words unnaturally, bewildered, and suddenly lowering his voice, as if casually, without looking at Georges, let out in a hollow voice, moving away from his son:

Don't talk... Don't talk nonsense to your mother!...

And with quick, argumentative soldierly steps, soles clinking on the sand, the general retired and soon disappeared into a side alley.

Georges looked lovingly at the silver ruble gleaming in his palm and vaguely felt some kind of disgust in his soul. Of course, he will go to the circus tomorrow - it is very fun to be in the circus - he will take with him the lackey Fedka, his favorite, and buy goodies, but still this silver coin as if it burned his palm, and he wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible, to exchange her, or something, so as not to see her. And this bewildered look of his father did not give him the expected satisfaction, but, on the contrary, stabbed him in the heart, it really stabbed. Despite his fear, he still loved his father and loves him now, but somehow it’s not like that, as if there was a hole in love, because of which his father’s schoolboy-like eyes looked out, and this shiny, nasty ruble, and these deaf words: do not chat!"

"Oh, why did I see everything!"

A complex process of thought and feeling took place in the boy. A feeling of repentance, pain for his father, a feeling of shame embraced his childish heart with warmth. He somehow stooped, threw a ruble away from him and, quietly turning around, wandered thoughtfully to the bench. When he raised his eyes and saw before him the beautiful Karolina Karlovna, flooded with the crimson light of the setting rays, he rushed to her and sobbed nervously into her chest, as if seeking excuses. She warmed him, caressing his silky curls, and the boy sobbed softly, lulled by the even breathing of his chest and the gentle tickling of female fingers.

You, Georges, my dear, do not talk. Don't tell mommy. I will love you.

No... no... I won't... I didn't see anything! answered the boy, sobbing nervously.

And it flashed through my head: "Why is she asking ... oh, why? She is good and her father is good ... I'm bad ... I'm alone!"

But Karolina Karlovna hardly understood what was happening to the boy. In response to his words, she remarked with vivacity:

And there was nothing to see. Dad just came up and asked where are you?

The boy jumped up.

"Why is she lying? Why?"

He looked up at her with stern, angry eyes. She met them with a laughing affectionate glance and began to kiss his eyes. George covered them, as if allowing them to continue, then drew back, trembled like a shot bird, impetuously brought his lips closer and began to cover Karolina Karlovna's face, neck, chest with hot kisses. She did not resist, did not recoil in horror from the boy, but laughed out loud with an inciting laugh.

When they returned home, Georges remembered the abandoned ruble and did not say a word to his mother about the scene in the garden.

The fourteen-year-old boy, along with his sixty-year-old father, shared the favor of Carolina.

By some silent agreement between them, the secret was kept carefully by the boy, and the father was indebted to his son for the fact that at that time there were no scenes of jealousy on the part of the mother. Did the old man understand this, or was it Caroline's business, but only the father began to treat his son somehow softer and looked through his fingers at his tricks, for which he had previously punished.

And George's mother fell silent for a while, deceived by her pet. To her inquiries, she received from Georges more or less satisfactory answers, and kept waiting for her husband to put marital anger at mercy.

Georges' studies went on as usual. Teachers came to him and were pleased with his progress; Carolina taught to chat in French and English; the ladies he knew still caressed him, but now, with the depravity of a depraved boy, he sometimes looked into their eyes so that they blushed under the gaze of the "charming little one."

Often in the living room, where the boy was shown to the guests and the hypocrisy of which was already familiar to Georges - under him, neither father nor mother hesitated to scold those who were then especially affectionately received in the living room - Georges would run away through the yard into the servants' room and often spent hours watching the game. in three leaves (51) and mariage, and listening with the air of an experienced barchuk to the ambiguous greasiness of coachmen and lackeys. He himself often began to talk about the merits of Fiona in front of Dasha, and once he said such an expression that the people burst into loud laughter. Only the old coachman, Pavel, somehow sternly, in surprise, looked at Georges with his serious gray eyes and, shaking his gray head pityingly, remarked:

Ay-ay, barchuk, and you are not ashamed?

Georges looked embarrassed under the serious eyes of the coachman, but the fear of appearing ridiculous in front of other persons who were in the servants' room made him smile insolently and, with affected insolence, answer:

And you, old man, what's the matter? Your job is to look after the horses, not me.

Pavel merely shook his head despondently and did not say another word. The lackeys giggled approvingly that the young barchuk had notably shaved off the eternally gloomy Pavel.

Georges was forgotten in the house, and only at dinner time did one of the maids run into the servants' room and hurriedly call Georges home.

Come on, barchuk, they sit down at the table right now. Hurry, barchuk, hurry! the sharp-eyed maid hurried him.

Georges somewhat broke down in front of her, wanting to show that he was not afraid if he was late, and deliberately lazily got up from the dubious coachman's bed, on which he lay in his velvet jacket and valenciennes (51).

Come on, Yegor Nikolaevich, there's nothing to be gentle... Let's go, otherwise I'll get it because of you.

They grabbed hands and ran, with a cheerful laugh, ran across the yard.

Georges was brushed, his hair was combed, and he entered the dining room with Caroline, who was decorously leading a clean, sweet, well-bred boy by the hand. At dinner there were always guests and relatives. The general lived openly and ate well. If he was in good spirits, there was a cheerful conversation, they talked about new appointments on the occasion of the expected Eastern war (52), passed on gossip, told ambiguous stories about local ladies. George's older brother, a married, handsome colonel, not embarrassed by the presence of his wife and sisters, briskly recounted his adventures in the Caucasus, evoking some details of merry laughter and a smile on the general's lips. Caroline lowered her eyes in shame. Georges, with a naive look of a child who does not understand, listened to the assessment of the merits of the Circassian women. Dinner passed pleasantly: there was a soporific heaviness from delicious dishes and wine. Nothing angered the general, and, contrary to custom, not one of the lackeys expected after dinner the general's own reprisal for malfunctions, and therefore all the lackeys were as cheerful as the gentlemen.

With the arrival of the chief commander in the city of S. (52), the general's house perked up even more. On the eve of the great drama, no one seemed to foresee future ruins. Staff officers and adjutants coming from St. Petersburg brought with them that charm of unsaid words, smiles, gestures, which especially pleased the married sisters of Georges and other ladies. The general himself seemed to soften: he became more cheerful, more attentive, less rude and harsh, and was delighted with the visits of important persons. The general's wife laughed to tears as she listened to the most obscene anecdotes and read fresh French novels brought by the St. Petersburg guests. The Georges sisters dressed up and flirted; Petersburg adjutants condescendingly courted for entertainment. In the large, dense garden, amidst the fragrance of flowers and greenery, tea was often drunk in the evenings, and in the dark twilight of the warm southern night there was heard merry laughter, women's unspoken slips, half-phrases, gentle allusions and boastful exclamations: "We will shower them with hats!"

On Georges, this atmosphere had a kind of bewitching effect. He was especially struck by the visiting young adjutant with his manners, dashing posture, grace of forms, movements, words ... He already imitated him, looked into his eyes with the faith of a neophyte (53) and was jealous of Caroline for him. Sitting at some distance from the tea table, Georges listened to the adjutant exchanging bons-mots with a young woman, and at the same time watched Caroline jealously. He became interested in the adjutant, looked around and did not find the governess. He got up imperceptibly and went into the depths of the garden... In the darkness a white dress flashed by the very grate...

* sharp words (French).

Is that you, Carolina?

ME: What do you want, Georges?

What are you doing here?

Nothing... You see, I'm looking at the street. Tired there.

He became around. Cheerful conversation and laughter came from the house. Down the street, treading measuredly and clinking chains, the prisoners were returning from work to the blocks. They passed, the chains jingled more quietly, quite quietly, and everything was silent. Only in the stillness of the night did the long hails of sentries rang out from the bay: "Listen!" and then the same answer: "Listen! .."

And it's time for you to sleep, Georges... it's almost ten o'clock! - noticed, wiping her tears, Caroline.

What are you crying about, Carolina? What are you talking about?

So, Georges... Well, it's time!

Not yet... You tell me what!

Well, I'll tell... I'll tell... Let's go...

Will you come for me? the boy whispered.

She covered his mouth with a wet hand and ordered him to be silent.

Will you come?

Be smart, I'll come! Carolina laughed.

And you won't talk to the adjutant without me?

Again ... also jealous? .. - Caroline laughed.

Don't laugh, don't laugh, look! George threatened.

So I'm afraid of you!

Of course you are! - Georges answered confidently and went along with Caroline to the guests.

Come quickly! he whispered after parting with his parents and guests. - Tell me what you were crying about! - Georges added in the tone of a capricious tyrant, going to bed.

And in the garden for a long time there was laughter and a confident saying that "we will shower them with hats."

A few days later the general had a big dinner. Many generals, admirals and other officers arrived. Georges was dressed in a new black velvet jacket and ordered to repeat the poem "Borodino" well. We dined with music and drank a lot. Georges paid special attention to the most honored guest, a tall, thin general, with an intelligent face and short hair. He ate little, smiled sarcastically, and when he spoke in a low voice, everyone listened. Georges noticed that everyone was afraid of the "old man", and the general especially respectfully courted him. When after dinner they went out onto the balcony, the general took Georges by the hand and introduced him to the old man.

The old man smiled kindly, patted Georges on the cheek with dry, long fingers, and said:

Well done... studying?

How, your grace! - answered the father.

Courageous boy! another general remarked.

Georges stood in the middle of the balcony and did not know what to do. The "old man" screwed up his eyes, sipping from a cup of coffee, and seemed in no mood to talk to Georges. However, seeing the awkward position of the boy and some kind of tense expectation in the face of the general, he said:

Well done... well done. In the military?

Certainly, prince. I will be military! George answered proudly.

He loves poetry more than military ones, Your Grace! - picked up the father. - If you will, the boy will honor ...

The old man nodded his head graciously and - it seemed to Georges - grimaced. But there was nothing to be done. Father was already nodding his head, and Georges, clearing his throat, began in a valiant tone:

Tell me, uncle, is it not for nothing that Moscow, burnt by fire, was given to the Frenchman?

When he had finished, the old man patted him on the cheek again, again calling him "well done," and Georges left the balcony, accompanied by the general approval of the guests, feeling incomparably superior and better because the "old man" himself praised him. Georges noticed that his father, shedding tears of emotion, looked at the boy as if he had accomplished some feat. Georges seriously felt like a hero, and in the eyes of his mother, sisters and Carolina, he really acquired something heroic from reading Borodino in front of the "old man" himself.

However, the nightly visits to the Caroline's room did not leave their mark on Georges' health. He turned pale, grew thin, and finally, one evening, he felt such pain and an ache all over his body that they put him to bed. Three days later he was in a nervous fever. He tossed and screamed and raved about women. Carolina, in a fright, so that the boy would not let slip in delirium, she looked after him herself.

When the crisis passed and the boy began to recover, Karolina was no longer in the house. Her mother scolded her in front of Georges, calling her nasty. Georges blushed and did not say a word.

The military storm was moving closer and closer (55). Cannons were carried along the streets, soldiers and sailors moved. Everyone's faces became more serious, more concentrated, quieter. It was no longer audible that "we will throw our hats"; preparing for something serious; the general, as the servants used to say, was "an ass." He became softer with the soldiers, as if he was imitating them. The general's family was in a hurry to leave, and Georges was going to be sent to St. Petersburg, to a government institution. Georges was overjoyed. He had already forgotten about Karolina, and before leaving for Petersburg, he molested the coachman's fat-breasted wife so intrusively, catching her in the garden, that she, finally escaping, gave him a resounding slap in the face, adding a strong word, to the cheerful laughter of the prisoners working in the garden.

Georges rushed after her, but the coachman's wife showed him such a healthy fist that Georges sobbed in impotent anger and swore, when he was an officer, to flog this "bastard".

He just said "to flog", not expecting that by that time Pelageya would already be "temporarily liable."

Turn around?! Well done, well done brother! Used to? A brawl was set, huh? - said the old uncle senator cheerfully, raising his golden glasses on his big, bald forehead and chuckling good-naturedly, when Georges on the very first Saturday evening came from the institution on vacation, in a new embroidered uniform.

He wrote to his father, well done?

Wrote, uncle!

Good... good... Do you want to eat?..

Thanks, uncle. Do not want.

As you want. When I was a cadet (56), I always wanted to eat! .. Okay, okay. Go now to your aunt, go, my friend! said the old senator. He affectionately patted Georges on the cheek and, lowering his glasses from his forehead, continued his studies behind a large military map.

Georges came out of his uncle's large study, passed a large hall, and stopped at the threshold of the living room, dimly lit by the dull light of a lamp.

At a large round table, on a sofa, sat at work a beautiful, plump brunette of about thirty, in an elegant gray silk dress. She raised her eyes and smiled kindly. Georges quickly walked across the carpet and kissed the well-groomed white hand extended to him, shining with rings, with pink, beautifully honed nails.

Hello Georges. Well, are we used to it?

Nothing, auntie, I'm used to it! - Georges said somewhat timidly, turning his helmet in all directions.

Don't call me aunty, Georges, but simply: ma tante. Why are you fiddling around with your helmet? No need to turn, my dear! Do not be angry, but I will take you in my hands and from such a handsome man as you, I will make an exemplary young man. Want? said the aunt, smiling sternly with her big blue eyes.

I want ma tante...

And fine... And now show us your paws?

Georges, embarrassed, held out his hands.

Our hands are lovely, but they need to be occupied, my dear. Firstly, wash them more often, and secondly, clean your nails. You can't, my friend, walk around with dirty hands ... you're not a man! Go to my room, wash them and then come back.

Georges, blushing with shame and annoyance, went into his aunt's room, washed his hands, cut his nails, carefully cleaning them, and, returning to the drawing room, showed his clean hands.

Now our lovely paws are in order. Is your curly tuft corrected? She carefully smoothed the tuft. - Here we are, well done! Now sit down and tell me how you spent your first week.

The memory of that week had tormented Georges since morning. It's been a terrible week. He was beaten twice there, ridiculed, teased with the "Crimean ram", and when he tried to fight, he was given such a shock that, at the memory of it, Georges was seized by a feeling of anger and grief.

He was about to start a story, but suddenly a spasm squeezed his throat and tears came to his eyes. Despite his strong desire not to burst into tears in front of a brilliant aunt, in this elegant living room, he could not hold back his tears and quickly wiped them away with a handkerchief, trying to drown out convulsive sobs.

What happened to you? What are you, sweet boy? - the aunt asked in a soft but indifferent voice, raising her eyes from her embroidery to Georges. - Come to me!

Georges approached cautiously.

Tell me about your grief ... tell your aunt! she went on, holding out her hand to Georges with a cautious movement, as if afraid to let him get closer, lest he wrinkle and drip tears into her elegant dress. - It's a pity maman!.. You were her darling, weren't you? Don't cry, my dear! I'll replace you maman, do you want? - she asked the question in a confident tone, which made the boy quite happy with the offer to replace maman.

I want... ma tante!

Well, there's nothing to cry about... You can't sit in your C after all... Such a big young man is crying!... It's a shame... Your eyes will turn red... Wipe your tears... like this! Is that your government rag? - disgustedly she touched George's handkerchief with her little fingernail.

Treasury...

Bad scarves! I'll make you a dozen cambric when you come to us, take them, but for now take mine and dry your pretty eyes. Your maman has been writing to me about them for a long time... Well, stop it... You are so nervous... Look at me! Well? Can we smile? - said the aunt, lightly stroking Georges on the cheek.

But Georges, although he wiped away his tears, did not smile.

Well, now sit down ... You can't, my dear, be such a whiner!

Georges was angry at the address of this "proud aunt," as he mentally christened her, and he decided not to betray his grief and not talk about his misfortunes of the past week. He wanted to prove to her as soon as possible that he was not at all the unfortunate boy with dirty hands, which she thinks he was, but an adult, sensible young man who, for that matter, will be able to hide his suffering and can carry on such a conversation as that adjutant, who so struck him at home.

“And what, in fact, does she imagine? Does she think that she is beautiful and that there are diamonds on her hands, and she puts on airs? decent manners!"

So thought Georges, not without an evil twinkle in his dark eyes, glancing from under his brows at the aunt's thin fingers, with which she quickly sorted through the silks.

What are we thinking about ... about maman?

No, ma tante ... I just remembered Nesvetov, - as if preparing for battle, with nervous sharpness in his voice, Georges answered.

What kind of Nesvetov is this ... an adjutant and a handsome man? ..

Yes, ma tante, adjutant. We were very friendly! - Georges suddenly lied, wanting to impress his aunt. He is a very decent person...

Did he visit you often? - remarked the aunt, peering at Georges with a smile.

Almost every day.

Here's how? Whom did he take care of? Which of your sisters, Anette or Barbe?

It seems that Varya flirted with him more, ma tante! Georges laughed.

Do you understand how they flirt? - the aunt chuckled curiously, starting to listen to her nephew with great interest. - What, is she good, your Varia? ..

Everyone found that she was very, and that she looked like you, ma tante! But ... but you are better, - Georges said quietly, blushing slightly.

A satisfied smile instantly slipped into her aunt's blue stern eyes. Georges noticed this perfectly and understood the impression of his words, although the aunt put on a serious face and, straightening her hair with a graceful movement of her hand, said sternly:

Have we already learned to talk nonsense?

Does telling the truth mean talking nonsense, ma tante? Georges asked in the tone of a naive child.

She looked even more sternly at Georges, but he did not lower his large black eyes under this stern look. Smiling at them, he looked her straight in the face with naive boldness. So a few seconds passed. Georges saw how at first her ears turned red, like a bright blush, breaking through the thin, white skin cheeks, approached the very eyes. She turned away her eyes angrily, as if in amazement that a stupid boy could make her blush, with a sharp movement grabbed a skein of silk from the table and, giving it to Georges, without looking into his eyes, said:

Better help me unravel the silk, you ugly boy!

Although these words were uttered in the same stern tone, Georges caught their meaning very well and understood that she did not consider him now "an ugly boy", and triumphed that he had shown himself to "this proud woman" on such a good side.

At ten o'clock the guests gathered: three ladies and several young men. Sitting at a distance in an armchair, Georges eagerly caught the charm of French chatter, the inimitable piquancy of secular gossip, and, devouring with his eyes cheerful, resourceful ladies and handsome, dexterous, graceful young people who reminded him of a brilliant adjutant, who spoke so freely and witty about dancers, trotters and princesses , he felt a kind of blissful pride that he could feel the charm of this semi-dark drawing room, these fragrant ladies and gentlemen, this elusive aroma of the room that tickled his nerves.

The senator's uncle came into the living room, adjusting his glasses, kind word and, somehow grimacing sourly, apologized that the classes interfere with the pleasure of being with the guests longer. Georges noticed that at the entrance of his uncle, everyone seemed to calm down, pulled themselves up, began to speak more quietly ... The conversation turned to war ... Shaking his head sadly, the uncle told one adjutant about the last battle.

And our soldiers, soldiers! said the short old man with a kind of proud reverence, adjusting his glasses with one hand and pulling the adjutant's button with the other. - If it wasn't for them... shame... one shame... And everywhere... everywhere... Yes, - he lowered his voice, - and there are impossible things for heroes, especially when...

He began to say something quietly to the same adjutant who had just been telling the ladies the most recent anecdote about Mila before the old man's arrival.

Poor people! concluded with a sigh, the senator.

He praised the ladies for not sitting idle, but nibbling lint (60) (all of them had small breasts), and, noticing Georges in the corner, went up to him.

And you, well done, are you still awake? It's time, boy, to sleep, it's time! Faith! - he turned to his wife, - it's time for the boy to sleep, what should he do here?

And when Georges got up from his chair, his uncle crossed him and kissed him on the forehead, quickly withdrawing his hand when Georges leaned in for a kiss.

Sleep with God, my friend! Pray to God! the old man said affectionately, and, looking around with the same sour smile, went out of the drawing room, making a general bow to everyone.

Georges, not without sadness, left the drawing room and fell asleep with a dream of a black horse, on which he makes a review of the troops. The "proud aunt" looks admiring him from the balcony and is angry that he does not pay any attention to her. The provocative cadet haircut, by whose grace he received the butt, bowed to Georges and saluted him humbly. But Georges generously gives him his hand and says: "Nothing, nothing ... I'm not angry, I forgot everything!"

The next morning, Georges was especially attentive to the toilet. He certainly wanted to show his aunt that he knew how to behave without her, as a decent young man should. He did not want to lose face in the dirt and for a long time smoothed his hair and worked on his nails in front of the mirror. Having finished the toilet, Georges still stood in front of the mirror, took several poses that he liked so much in the adjutant, tried several facial expressions - he terribly wanted it to be serious, and, regretting that he still did not have a mustache, he nevertheless smoothed his lips with his hand, as if straightening his mustache, and went into the dining room.

When a slender, handsome, fresh young man bravely entered the dining room and, slightly blushing from shy excitement, went up to his aunt's hand and kissed his uncle - both uncle and aunt did not seem to recognize in this slender, graceful, ruddy young man yesterday's, still timid boy. Both of them could not hide the pleasant impression of that beautiful, healthy freshness that Georges brought to the dining room, and involuntarily admired it.

Well done, well done. Brave boy! the senator said cheerfully. - He, Vera, reminds me of his father! ..

In my opinion, rather a mother! .. What do you want, Georges: tea or coffee?

Coffee, ma tante!

He pushed back his chair so deftly, sat down so decently, and drank his coffee with such grace that Vera Alekseevna could not but agree that Georges was a very decent boy who would become a man. He briskly answered his uncle's questions, so that his uncle sat at the table for an extra five minutes, amused by his brisk chatter about military affairs. Rising, he said that he would "take the boy to church," and added again that Georges was "well done."

Vera Alekseevna, in her white hood, with wide sleeves, from under which white bare hands could be seen far away, with loose strands of hair intercepted by a crimson ribbon, today seemed to Georges and younger and not as proud as yesterday. She chatted merrily with Georges, asked who he liked from yesterday's guests, joked if he had fallen in love with "Cousin Lina", and suddenly frowned, blushed and tugged at her sleeve, catching an intently curious look fixed on her bare arm.

Caught off guard, Georges blushed to the ears and involuntarily lowered his eyes ... Aunt looked at him, smiled and thought that the boy was even more charming when he blushed.

Soon she got up and did not speak to Georges for almost a whole day. Only in the evening, dressing for the ball, when Georges came to say goodbye to her, she cheerfully asked him, turning in front of him in a beautiful ball gown:

Okay dress?

Pretty, ma tante! answered Georges, freely admiring the dress, her bare arms, her back, her neck, at which she was no longer angry, but somehow strangely smiled, screwing up her eyes and as if admiring the charm of the boy.

Goes? .. - she turned in front of him, as if wanting to prolong his charm.

Still would! In it, ma tante, you will be the queen of the ball! George whispered.

You flatter, you bad boy! Well, goodbye until Saturday!

And Vera Alekseevna suddenly took on the tone of a mother, somehow solemnly crossed Georges and, kissing him, remarked instructively:

Look, Georges, behave yourself, study hard, be a good boy and do not upset your aunt!

Georges promised to be a good boy, and several times, with particular tenderness, covered his warm little aunt's hand with kisses. She was in no hurry to pull it away, correcting it with her other hand. White flower in her hair, and then, as if recollecting herself, took her hand away and again advised Georges to be a "good boy."

When the "good boy" rode in his uncle's carriage to the "institution", the neck and shoulders of a beautiful aunt flashed before his eyes for a long time, and for a long time he breathed in the fragrant aroma of her boudoir.

Georges soon got used to the "institution", fell in love with him and got along with his comrades. He studied well, soon became the first on the front, and for some reason enjoyed the special disposition of the company commander.

A year later, Georges had already owed a hundred rubles to a shoemaker, a tailor, reckless drivers, and had already managed to get acquainted with one little actress from the French theater, about which he proudly told his comrades. From his father, he received ten rubles a month "for rolls", and his uncle, the senator, gave him the same amount, but, of course, this money was not enough. There were many rich young people in the establishment who freely swindled money and incurred debts, and Georges was ashamed not to swindle money and not incur debts, ashamed in front of his comrades, ashamed in front of himself.

In letters to his mother, he described his position, spoke of the "shame of the Rastegay-Sapozhkov family" and asked for money. “After all, mother, I cannot lag behind others, because I can’t go in official uniform to Princess Tarakanova, who has aristocrats and the most illustrious Obolduev himself.”

Mother fully sympathized with Georges, sent as much as she could, and asked her father to increase the monthly salary, exposing the name of Rastegai-Sapozhkov, but the general shouted and ordered his mother to write that he would ask young Rastegai-Sapozhkov to be whipped for being "fooling ".

Georges was angry with his "old man", who, in his opinion, "has lost his mind and does not understand the requirements of life." He made debts by borrowing from the porter, from the watchmen, and even made acquaintance with the usurer, who lent him money for crazy interest.

At the age of fifteen, Georges already knew how to squint his eyes contemptuously, peering at the passers-by, and, wrapping himself in a beaver collar, roll along the Nevsky from the Anichkov Bridge on a trotter, similar to "his own horse." He deftly put his hand to his helmet, freely drank a bottle of champagne, sang French chansonettes, lightly grated, impudently bullied a certain sort of ladies and knew how to look at women with that bright, impudent, laughing look of lovely black eyes, which often caused an involuntary blush on their cheeks. Thanks to the location of his superiors, tact and ability to show himself, he was always in sight, went to the orderlies and dreamed of putting on the long-desired uniform in two years, although he doubted that his father would hardly agree to give such maintenance so that Georges could wear this uniform with honor and don't be shy about paying in restaurants. He knew that his father had a Ryazan estate, therefore there must be money, in addition to salary; but how great a fortune, how much income this estate brings, he did not exactly know and only fully realized that he needed money, that it was really impossible for him, young, elegant Georges Rastegay-Sapozhkov, to be without money. Why will he visit society, the opera, restaurants, French women? And is it really proper for him to ride cabs when his comrades, who are far from being as smart, handsome and dexterous as he is, ride in their carriages and already have kept women? He must have all this and all this must come from somewhere: either from the Ryazan estate, or somehow it will be settled ... And he told everyone that his father was a rich man, and the "Ryazan estate" was presented in his stories some kind of Eldorado (64), from which gold flowed in an abundant source. Speaking of this to his comrades, he himself believed what he said, and, hoping for something, borrowed money for reckless drivers, for restaurants, for merry picnics, in full confidence that all these debts would be paid off. And the debts grew rapidly, so that he himself was frightened when the usurer demanded payment of five hundred rubles.

Georges continued to court his aunt respectfully and often took money from her, while Vera Alekseevna continued to flirt with that skillful manner of women in their thirties, which drive young boys crazy. At first she played the part of the "second maman," but when the "boy's" mustache began to break through and he, shuddering, glanced at her neck, she blushed, got angry, pulled his ears, laughing, when he passionately kissed her hands, and stood up with him on the foot of his "older friend". She loved to ask who he knew, advised him not to get acquainted with "these ladies", then demanded that he tell "everything ... everything ...", then she suddenly became angry when Georges described to her the beauty of Suzette, with whom she had dinner , capriciously pursed her lips and, as if by chance, lowered her kerchief from her shoulders, showing Georges her neck and panting chest. When Georges, smiling slyly, said that he was an "innocent boy," she again fell into the tone of the "second maman", instructed him on the path of truth, advising him not to be a spoiled and ugly boy, and squeezed Georges' impudent smile with her wet palm. She watched him jealously when the ladies she knew were especially kind to Georges, and sulked at him if he often left the house "to his comrades."

Vera Alekseevna considered herself a woman of strict virtue, and not a single cloud overshadowed her marital happiness. She valued her reputation, considered her husband a "good old man" and avoided the dangers of infatuation; but this tempting game with the “chick”, a game that could not be the subject of gossip, beckoned her. She desired only knightly adoration, she did not allow the thought of anything else, and at the same time, to her amazement, she felt that her heart was beating like a bird in a cage when she felt the closeness of the young man's hot breath. She liked to play with Georges, now causing a flush of excitement on his cheeks, now pouring cold water strict morality. She herself did not notice how little by little she was carried away by this young man with the curiosity of an unsatisfied wife and with the calculation of an experienced secular woman, confident that this passion would not disturb the tranquility of life. Why, after all, it is so piquant to always see such a fresh, unspoiled boy by your side! He is still an innocent boy, and is it not up to her, a thirty-three-year-old woman, to always keep him on that border of respectful adoration, which does not go beyond the color of excitement and timid kisses? She's not a young girl, after all!

So, deceiving herself, driving away from herself with a contemptuous smile any thought that Georges had somehow become dangerously close to her, she often kept him at home in the evenings and, saying she was ill, put on a hood, let her hair down and, lying on the couch, forced Georges to read French novels aloud to her.

At first, these "readings" went on rather calmly, interrupted by filial kisses and motherly kisses, but once, when Vera Alekseevna, putting out her little foot, in a tiny shoe, played too briskly with her toe and looked too expressively with her beautiful blue eyes, "reading "it ended so unexpectedly that when the next morning Georges, as if nothing had happened, respectfully approached the "ma tante" handle, Vera Alekseevna lowered her eyes shyly, for a long time could not raise them to the dear boy and did not let him in front of her. whole Sunday.

However, on the very first evening, when Georges came from the establishment, she again invited him to read, although she warned, chuckling slyly and lightly pinching his ear so that he would not be an ugly boy.

The senator, as usual, sat in his office behind books and maps and was sincerely glad that his wife had recently become a homebody and was in a good mood.

Debts entangled the young man in a thick net. They demanded payments, threatened to complain to the authorities. Georges wrote to his mother, but the money sent was a drop in the ocean. He made up his mind to tell his aunt about his debts; she was amazed at the figure of the debt, jealously interrogated with the captiousness of her mistress where the "boy" had spent so much money, and paid his debts, making the debt herself and taking from him a solemn oath that he would never dine with "these creatures." And in order to reward him and to know for herself the charm of dinner in a restaurant, she once went with Georges to a restaurant in a hired carriage and admired Georges' surprise that "ma tante" was even more charming after drinking a bottle of champagne together. They drank like good comrades, she with the curiosity of unknown pleasure, he with the triumph of a happy lover. They had fun, besides, both were tipsy and, parting, agreed to try to have dinner together again.

Although Vera Alekseevna often paid Georges' debts, in the end the debts accumulated to a respectable amount of a thousand rubles. Georges counted on his aunt and did not particularly care about what was ahead. A few more months and he will be an officer, and there everything will go like clockwork.

It was about two months before release. Wealthy comrades were going to arrange a wonderful revelry with dessert in the form of a famous Frenchwoman who agreed to lie on the table au naturel. It was decided to arrange a feast on the coming Sunday. Of course, Rastegay-Sapozhkov must be there by all means, it was about some fifty rubles. Unfortunately, they were not there, there was nowhere to take: the aunt, as if on purpose, left for Moscow in a few days. To ask his comrades, to admit that he finds it difficult in such a trifle, because it is ... shame, such shame that there is nothing to think about it ... He asked the porter, the soldiers, the captain, he was ready to give a receipt for fifty rubles for five hundred, but he did not get the money: they did not give him, despite the most ingratiating requests.

Georges was in despair, in real despair. Not to be at a feast, to be absent, to be told that the poor fellow has no money - is it possible to endure such a shame, a shame! No matter how much Georges was afraid of his uncle, he decided to turn to him and for this purpose went to the senator on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, my uncle was not at home. He was told that he left in the morning. He paced the hall in agitation, looking at his watch. Already the first hour. It's annoying. He began to walk again, now listening to the sound of carriages, now going to the window. He moved into his uncle's big study - from there you will soon see your uncle's carriage! The hour has struck. He came in again, cursing the senator for his long drive. And he had to leave! I would sit at my desk, reading my stupid books. Mechanically, he glanced at the large table - books everywhere, only books, but below, under one of the books, he noticed a case. What is this? Star of the White Eagle (67). Right, they forgot to hide it in the chest of drawers? These things are always in the dresser. However, my uncle is so distracted... He once hid the diamond star of Alexander Nevsky (67) somewhere so that when it was necessary to put it on, the star could not be found anywhere, and only after several hours of general searches was it found in a Chinese box, where there were chess. And this beautiful star of the White Eagle! Georges put it to his chest. Goes, nothing! However, it struck half past one. The devil knows why this "bald devil" does not go! He turned the star in his hands, and suddenly a thought, like lightning, flashed in his head. "Take? .." After all, no one dares to think? The mere thought that they might think of him made him indignant. "Bad, vile!" - whispered something inside, and the blood pounded strongly in the temples. "I'll pawn, buy it and put it in its place! the question is in a day, in two. Until that time they won't miss it, but they'll miss it - they won't dare to think about it" ... Lord! It's already the third hour. He quickly pulled out the case, put a star in it, put it in his pocket, turned around and - on the threshold of the office he saw the senator's uncle.

From his eyes, he realized that the old man had seen everything. However, perhaps he did. He decided to look again. Stern eyes looked at him from under the glasses with such contempt that Georges froze with fear.

There was a deadly silence for a few moments.

If you weren't my brother's son, I would...

The old man could not continue. He took a deep breath and only muttered:

Go away!

Georges threw himself at his feet and tried to grab his knees with the plaintive howl of a captured puppy.

The old man moved away in disgust, as if there was a reptile under his feet, and, shaking his head dejectedly, whispered:

And this is the future servant of the fatherland!? This is Rastegay-Sapozhkov... Get up! Keep your feet up and listen! No one will ever know about it! Poor brother! whispered the old man, wiping a tear from his mustache. - Correct yourself if you can, but so that I don’t have your leg, do you hear !? Yes, send a list of debts, I'll pay!

Georges put the case on the table and left the office. Shame and anger crushed him with an unbearable weight.

The old man locked himself in his office and did not come out to have dinner.

When the aunt arrived and asked about Georges, the old man did not say his name. Vera Alekseevna went cold with fear and that same evening she went to the establishment. When she found out what was the matter, she took pity on the "boy" and broke up with him, shedding tears. She saw her nephew several times in secret, and for a long time afterwards she was sad, remembering the hot kisses and the youthful ardor of passion of her first and last lover.

It was a merry time when Georges put on a smart officer's uniform, although not in the color he dreamed of. Father did not even order to think about him and, sending money for the first equipment, promised to send a hundred rubles a month. Then, congratulating him, he ordered him to be "an honest officer and behave in such a way that elders love, equals respect, and juniors honor." Regarding the future, the general advised "George" not to count on anything. After death, he will receive ten thousand, "and there is nothing to hope for in the estate, since you are many, but the estate is one."

Despite such warnings, Georges' life went on in an ordinary, cheerful wave. In the morning, teaching, friendly breakfasts, several visits, a race of trotters on the Nevsky, expensive, thin, tasty dinners, theaters, evenings, balls, nights with women ... The next day the same thing, the third day again the same ... Such Life sucks in like a sponge absorbs water. Fun, empty, pleasant... The ladies admired him, and even cocottes believed in his duty. So he was sweet, witty, handsome and well-fed. He merrily burned through life, merrily flew along the Nevsky, made visits, sat in the ballet, gave expensive bouquets, signed bills, counting on something and hoping for something. From childhood he was used to eating four courses and a cake, all this was always there, day after day, and it just seemed wild to him not to eat a four-course dinner and not drink it down with wine. It was equally funny for him not to sit in the front rows. Everyone knows him, everyone nods their heads so affectionately to him when, slightly jingling his spurs and holding his saber, he walks with a confident gallant gait to his chair in the front row, where he, shaking hands with his friends, feels at home. Yes, it would be better for him not to go to the theater at all than to hide in the ninth row.

Looking at Georges, shiny, ruddy, round, well-fed, always showing up at the first performances, being in society, nodding playfully to the cocottes, looking at his gray trotter, at his elegant little apartment, at his German valet, everyone considered him a rich man . Creditors still believed in the "Ryazan estate", and George courted, dined, had fun and signed bills.

Georges was also stretching on the bed when one day a German handed him a letter. The mother informed about the serious illness of the father and called him to come immediately. Georges left the same day and found the general on the table, and his mother in tears. It turned out that the "Ryazan estate" in the division between brothers and sisters is such a trifle, which is not even worth talking about. Georges got only fifteen thousand and part of the estate of nine thousand. He was furious. For some reason, he expected a large fortune - and suddenly some fifteen thousand! He scolded the "old man" and reproached his mother. Mother was crying and still gorging herself on sweets. Coldly saying goodbye to his mother, Georges arrived in St. Petersburg. The bills were already waiting for him ... They threatened to file for collection. In three years as an officer, he made fifty thousand debts. There was nothing to pay. Lenders finally filed for recovery.

Georges was forced to retire and escape from the debt department.

Putting on a civil dress, Georges almost wept with annoyance, looking at himself in the mirror. Of course, he is good in civilian clothes, he quickly managed to learn the "civilian landing" and dressed with a good tailor, but what's the matter with a uniform?

The mother gave her favorite the last crumbs left by the general, and called him to her, to a secluded corner in the south, where they could live modestly, but Georges only snorted, reading these lines. Is he, the brilliant Rastegay-Sapozhkov, supposed to wallow in some province, eat lazy cabbage soup, drink sour mead for twenty kopecks and marry some stupid girl?

No! He still believed in his star and kept waiting, waiting for some extraordinary event that would give him the opportunity to show himself in all his splendor. Until then, life went on as before. The situation did not change, the trotter had not yet been sold, although every morning I had to have unbearable conversations with creditors. He persuaded, threatened, lied about the state of his mother, pointed, chuckling impudently, at his beautiful torso and again copied and signed the bill of exchange with a wide, sweeping stroke, quite sure that his star had not “faded” and there was nothing for him to ruin his youth. After all, he is good, incomparably good, as they said about him in society, he is not stupid ... is it really possible for him to give up life and enter the service on fifty rubles salary? The thought even made him laugh. He was registered in some office, where, of course, he never looked in, he still rode a trotter, but somehow he carefully peered into the faces of rich elderly widows, who with such curiosity look around handsome, broad-shouldered young people with languid eyes.

And the star rose again over the young man...

It was in the theatre. Georges was sitting with his friends in a box and noticed that from the next box he was looking at him so intently, like a hawker of a stately stallion, a dry, elderly, ugly woman of an oriental type, that even Georges blushed and turned away. However " Eastern woman She glanced at Georges three times and, pointing to him, whispered something to the man who was in her box. It turned out to be very stupid. Georges laughed and left the theater in a bad mood.

A few days later, Georges was visited by Pilson, who was either a Jew or a Dane, a usurer and broker who sold pianos. Small, black, neat and clean, he was a faithful companion of every brilliant young man, got money, sold cigars on occasion and arranged dates. He made money and received insults; the former he respected, the latter treated with contempt; more than a dozen "young men" passed through his hands, whom he arranged or put into debt. He was neat, polite, patient and knew all languages. No one knew how old he was, he could have been forty or thirty; he could be considered a Spaniard, and a Frenchman, and a German. He called himself a Dane, but was a baptized Jew. Georges had long been acquainted with Mr. Pilson and frowned at the sight of him.

Again? After all, you won’t even give a rest, Pilson. After all, what the hell is that!

But Pilson, smiling, announced that he was on a different matter.

Excuse me, Yegor Nikolaevich, a lady is very interested in you.

Hmm ... You can’t say that very much, but it’s rich.

Be quiet. That's right, offer some dirty trick again?

God save me... Why?

Well, to hell with her!

Get to know her, Yegor Nikolayevich... you're right. Her condition is great.

Does this mean to enter the content?

Why such words! .. Just fall in love, want to get married, or even so ... She is waiting for you, whenever you want!

Get out... brute! - Georges suddenly flared up and menacingly rose from his seat.

Scold in vain, Mr. Sapozhkov ... in vain ... I will no longer bother you personally, but I will send my attorney to collect the debt on the bill, and if I don’t ...

I will introduce fodder (72)!

Go away!

But Pilson knew Georges and had already gone out the door, not forgetting, however, to throw the address of the "widow with southern ardor" on the table...

Georges paced anxiously in his sumptuous living room. He nervously shrugged his shoulders, screwed up his eyes, clenched and unclenched his thin, graceful fingers. Now he went to the window, peered attentively at the snow patterns on the glass, drew some numbers on it with the pink fingernail of his little finger, then, quickly turning on his heels, began to walk again with a graceful, but nervous gait ... He noticed the address on the table, looked at him, put it in his pocket, ordered the horse to be brought in, and rode to the address.

Great staircase. Magnificent apartment. Graceful living room. He seemed to be expected, greeted kindly. The "Eastern Lady," Avdotya Matveevna, the widow of a tax-farmer, of Russian origin, entertained her guest very nicely and intently examined her purchase. Apparently, she was satisfied with Georges and asked to come when she pleases. Through Pilson, a bargaining took place. All debts were paid for Georges and they were given two thousand a month, but, Pilson added, "we must not forget that a widow is jealous, as a woman of forty-five years old can be jealous ... Tomorrow evening you are expected for a decisive answer!"

The next day in the evening Georges went...

The carnival has come again. Again life without worries, without worries. But now this life was worth more. I had to visit Avdotya Matveevna every day, sometimes appear with her in theaters, endure scenes of jealousy, take oaths with full confidence to forget them beyond the threshold and, at times, experience such torments of disgust when Avdotya Matveevna, passionately attached to Georges, gently stroked his cheek and gave money - which Georges hardly considered himself a happy person ...

But he was unable to change his life... She pulled him towards her with an unstoppable force, and it was just as impossible for him to refuse her as it is impossible for a drunkard to refuse wine...

The life of the sixties passed before his nose ... the peasant reform, common hopes, revival, but he did not see anything of it. He only knew that the reform had given him ransom money (73), and that some, devil knows, students were writing books there... He wanted a career, but was afraid of work... If he had been made a deputy minister right away, he would have , perhaps, he would be ready to "sign papers", otherwise he would pull the strap ... God forbid! He called himself a "conservative" because he liked fine linen and dress; but what a conservative is, he did not know. He only believed that "liberal" was a swear word, and that liberals should be flogged because "they imagine" ... What they imagine - he did not bother to think, but he was quite convinced that "we must have means and they shouldn't." They were in his eyes everything that goes not in a German dress ... He read French novels, knew almost no Russian books, and once even embarrassed his friends, naively asking who Turgenev was ... He condemned the open court (74) , because they could put him next to a lackey, but in general he didn’t care much about all this ... He wanted to live in such a way that everyone could see that he lives, how a decent person should live. After all, one must also have a decent apartment, and a footman, and a horse, and an armchair, and dinner with good wine. He got used to all this from childhood, and where all this came from and is taken from - he could hardly answer accurately. Before, he knew, it was the "peasants" who gave, well, but now, now ... probably the same peasants. That's why they are men. They don't have to make Tedeschi's dress... That would be funny. Whoever does not have money from the peasants receives a salary... A good salary, of course, is worth taking, but a small one is not worth it, it is better to marry an old woman and wait until she dies.

Recently, he liked to dream of getting a huge sum of money at once ... Take, for example, a concession. He did not know for certain what a concession was, but he understood that it was "a very harmless thing," and if you could get it, you would not have to visit Avdotya Matveyevna. He was going to think about it seriously, bought a card Russian Empire and met with middle-class businessmen. The businessmen saw that Georges was greedy, but lazy, and only laughed at him and advised him to take care of the concession, if only it would be in the hands of some woman, greedy for languid brunettes ... But Georges, nevertheless, sat for a couple of hours at the map and drew a straight line across Siberia.

He led a desperately crazy life, gave parties, kept expensive horses, played the game, was familiar with everyone. No one asked how this handsome young man lives: whether he has a fortune, whether he received a concession, whether he is engaged in counterfeit banknotes or plays on the stock exchange. Everyone shook his hand in a friendly way, praised his dinners, found that he was a decent person, and said in his ear that he was on the payroll. He showed up everywhere: at the opera, at balls, even at the stock exchange. He has learned to play. Pilson taught him.

Avdotya Matveyevna scolded him. She threatened not to pay his debts. Then he played the role of a passionate lover. She saw that he was lying, despised him, and yet believed, throwing herself into his arms. She believed this devilishly elegant young man, who smelled of health, perfume, champagne, and she paid her debts.

But the more she paid, the more insatiable Georges became, who, in addition, was carried away by some Frenchwoman and spent a lot of money on her. Again the unfailing Pilson urgently asked for the payment of fifty thousand. Georges went to Avdotya Matveevna. She made a scene and refused. He threatened to leave her. She laughed evilly in response and said that she was not afraid of it. He left. Avdotya Matveevna wept, but did not call him: the sum was very large. And Pilson threatened again. And on one of those days, instead of money, Georges issued a bill with Avdotya Matveevna's letterhead. He waved his signature after a fun lunch. Then he caught himself, he wanted to return, but it was too late.

Three months later, a bad scene broke out in the boudoir. Avdotya Matveevna, angry with Georges for his connection with the French cocotte, threatened with court.

Aren't you afraid of scandal? After all, then you have to tell everything, my dear! - Georges threatened with a smile.

You ungrateful scoundrel! Go away! I'll pay the bill, but we're strangers...

And you will do well, my dear! And now addio, mio ​​care! .. * - Georges answered, laughing merrily, blowing a kiss.

* goodbye, my heart (ital.).

Georges was still waiting to be sent for; but a week or two passed, and no one sent for him. He got scared. After three years of this reckless life at the expense of Avdotya Matveevna - and suddenly nothing again. He regretted that he had not given a bill for a larger sum.

The fall downhill went quickly. Furniture, horses - everything was sold one day at a public auction. Georges settled in a furnished room and avoided meeting with acquaintances. Again he returned to the thought of the concession, smeared a few sheets of paper and hoped. After all, many do. Many, and lacking stars from the sky, have excellent maintenance under these concessions. Well, at least the former bosom Mishka Leshtukov, after all, is stupid and very stupid, but attacked thirty thousand maintenance, thanks to the old woman who could arrange it. Why is he worse? And why didn't he meet such an old woman? .. He got angry, depressed and consulted with third-party businessmen. They shrugged and smiled...

Pilson no longer gave money. Avdotya Matveevna did not let George in her eyes, because she bought another George, fresher and younger. Georges sank lower and lower. At first he was sheltered by a French woman, then she drove him away... Need threatened Georges, and he was surprised that he found a tasty dinner in the kitchens (76)... He did not show himself on the big streets and turned away from his acquaintances. He lost weight and grew ugly. With the greed of a young wolf, he looked at the rich carriages rushing rich people. He bared his teeth angrily and dreamed of revenge, as if they were to blame. Once he met Aunt Vera Alekseevna. She recognized him, was embarrassed and sent twenty-five rubles. If not for the laundress, a gullible creature attached to Georges, he would often not dine. I almost had to rob her. And he robbed her...

George summed up. He is twenty six years old. What to do?.. Nothing. What does he know? Nothing. It remained to enter the service ... Now the service seemed to him a desirable outcome ... Fortunately, the northwestern region required fresh strength, Georges wrote a desperate letter to his aunt and, thanks to his uncle, fell into the number of Russified ...

He did not stay long there either. The treasury chest was somehow close, but the old manners had not died. He was sued and fired.

Then fate finally pushed him onto the path on which he stood from an early age; he found himself in the company of the same "bypassed nobles" who did not have enough places with a "decent" content, and he had to do everything from forging fake tickets to stealing pocket watches.

And what a life it was! True, there were times when Georges, lounging in a carriage, still thought that everything would change, that he would finally get out and live without fear of every policeman, but these were rare times. Stealing whatever he could, not knowing the price of what he stole, he was always a coward, always waiting to be caught... And he was finally caught! "Why did they seize him, and not Mishka Leshtukov?" - flashed through his head at the moment of enlightenment.

In a prisoner's dressing gown, in a Dutch shirt, with tightly starched collars, with a mustache twisted into a thread, with honed nails, Georges was sitting in the dock. He grew fat, flabby, his eyes lost their former brilliance, but still he was still an "interesting brunette", at whom the ladies stared with curiosity with binoculars. He hunched a little and lowered his head, but when he raised it he held it straight and looked with that bright, insolent look that ladies used to admire...

The prosecutor spoke an ardent speech, calling on the thunders of heaven against Georges, but Georges did not listen to the prosecutor. He looked at the audience and, noticing among them a tall, graceful brunette with gray hair, turned away and thought.

And again before him, as happened in prison, pictures of the past flashed by. Life at home, father, mother, who taught him to spy on his father, Carolina, who corrupted him, aunt, old uncle, "institution", theft of a star, then a brilliant life, trotters, kept women, then again the same, then poverty, service and life again without labor, without content, without purpose. And finally...

He remembered for the thousandth time that he had lived, is living, and probably will live at someone else's expense, never thinking that life would oblige him to anything. After all, this was not told to him when he was still small, when there was still time. Against...

And is he to blame? And is he alone?.. Did not a whole mass of people grow up with the same consciousness and with the same habits? Of course, this is an idle question, but why exactly is he in a prisoner's robe, and not that spectator over there, the former bosom who differs from Georges only in that he steals not such small sums ...

Defendant Rastegay-Sapozhkov! What do you have to say in your defense? came the chairman's voice.

I ... I ... - Georges began and stopped. - I, of course, is to blame, but which of us is not to blame? If, gentlemen of the jury, you knew my life, if you understood that I was brought up specifically to make me a scoundrel by the age of fifteen... If my dear...

Here Georges could not continue and sobbed.

The senator's widow, who was on her way to Moscow (she was going to the Caucasus to visit Mitrofania's mother), also became emotional, burst into tears, and could not help but say that Georges was still a "decent person" even in a prisoner's dressing gown.

Konstantin Stanyukovich - Jack of Hearts, read text

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| site collection
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| Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva
| Jack of Hearts
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RED LADY, 20 years old, blond. - Rose.
KING OF HEARTS, old man, gray beard.
KING OF SPADES, 30 years old, black.
jack of spades, 20 years old, black.
Jack of clubs, 40 years old, red.
JACK OF DIAMONDS, 20 years old, black.
Jack of Hearts, boy, blond.

The costumes of the actors are according to the color of the suit, except for the peak suit, which is all black. Lady and Kings in large cloaks. Jacks in short - like wings - capes. The lute at the Jack of Hearts and the tip of the peak at Spades - in the form of a heart.

Throne room. Lady on the throne. Next to her, stretched out to attention, with a lute in her hands, Jack. Opposite - with a huge sword at his belt - sits the King of Hearts.

King of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, Jack of Hearts.

KING OF HEART

Farewell, queen. I'm going on a hike.
Without you, queen, a day is like a year for me.
They dream as soon as I step out of the house,
Terrible dreams to the gray-haired king.
Good dreams my love
Guard the king's sleep.

The lady tilts her head.

Do not look through the crack at the carnival,
Don't forget to thread the needle
Red silk, red silk.
Do not walk in the parks in the evenings,
Do not guess at night on the cards ...

Your Majesty! My mind is simple:
Raised - so the drawbridge is raised.

Holy service - strengthen the soul.
Don't sing songs
Don't listen to songs.
Going to church
Don't look to the right
Don't look to the left.
And may the pure maiden keep you,
Queen queen.

The lady descends from the throne and crouches.

KING
(jack)

I respect your youth
And straight eyes
And a mouth that says yes and no.
Yours and your queen and lady
I entrust you
Jack.

Jack bends the knee.

The lady sits low. The King kisses the Lady's hand. Pipes. The king leaves.

Lady, Jack.

LADY
(sitting on the throne, singing)

Jack, Jack, you are not happy!
I am the throne rose.
Jack, Jack, young Jack,
My jack of hearts.

What are you clinging to, what are you waiting for, if in broad daylight,
Kohl at midnight stormy
Comes out with a black king to me -
Amorous bed.
Hurry, and flatter, and whistle, and take revenge, -
What do I care about this?
Go blow from the royal rooftops
Jack love.
Blow, blow, that I love him.
What is stormy at midnight
Ready for the black king
Amorous bed.

(Jack.)

I'm not talking about myself and about you, -
So, - so as not to cry from the rain,
Yes, do not sit idle on the throne.
Grandma used to sing this song to me
Where everyone sings. - In my land...
I dare not sing in front of the king.
Do you like what I sing?

LADY
(absently)

It's February, and March is just around the corner...
Boy, give me a deck of cards.

Knave pushes the table, puts two candles, puts down the cards.
(Singing, laying out the cards.)

Your eyes are black, your eyes are sharp,
There is nothing blacker in the whole world...
Boy! All four left
I'm six.
It means?

In the heads - the king of hearts,
My husband is yours, your king.
May the Madonna keep him.
And at the feet - a jack of hearts.
It means?

People say lover. However,
Our master, queen,
Claims - the cards lie.

LADY
(funny)

What cards are on the heart?

(Opens the first one.)

Black at heart is a king.
It means?

LADY
(opening second)

Peak - is it a nine?

Passion.

How strange! - Well, let's see.
Third.

(In a highly outstretched hand - an ace of spades.)

Sorry, queen
This means death.

The sound of a tambourine.

Bursts - wind - Jack of Diamonds. Above the head is a tambourine. Having flown to the throne of the Queen, he bows his knee. Then lifting the mask.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Hello, hello queen!
Red March sent me.
I bowed my knee before you
Queen, carnival.

Your king, holy and old,
Thank God, it's far away.
I am a jack, and I am without a pair,
I am a jack, and I am at my feet.

I am both a boy and a girl
I bring you tunes
Meetings in the depths of mirrors
Marble fountains pharynx,
Sighs on the right, sighs on the left, -
Queen, queen
Queen, carnival.

Red March.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

King of Diamonds.

LADY
(coy)

I - red - true.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Ah, child, is it not for this?
bloodthirsty war
By tousled crops
Kings are on their way
To young queens
Take a break from corona?

(Boldly.)

What's the point - such beauty
To be holy and adamant?
And what do you need red
Your king, long worthy
Be prey to worms?

JACK OF HEARTS
(arrogantly)

The worm is dust, the gold piece is gold.
My lady is rich
And Red March will cry.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Hm ... From what Spartan desks
You carry this harmful nonsense,
My young knight is cardboard?

JACK OF HEARTS
(with bow)

Lots of honor. I am red
Their Majesties - jack.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Jack, in love with the queen,
So God commanded, so will I.
But stupid, we swear by the eternal virgin,
Knave in love with the king!

LADY
(laughing)

Don't look through the crack at the carnival...
Red silk, red silk...

JACK OF DIAMONDS
(closer, flattering)

Little Red Riding Hood, listen to the wolf:
Loyalty - on the shelf, loyalty on the shelf ...

(Decidedly.)

Your king is gray-haired, toothless,
You are like a rose has blossomed.
I raise a violent tambourine
For tambourines!

(Hugs, wants to kiss, the Lady clicks on his nose, he runs out laughing and ringing.)

Jack of Clubs enters. Forty years. Shaved, stocky, square. On white shoes - black clubs bows. In his hand is a black shamrock. Queen, Jack of Clubs, Jack of Hearts.

JACK OF CLUBS
(squeaky like a lesson learned)

Praise to the empress - prudent, albeit young.
Long live the Empress many more moons!
Yes, they praise the empress - how do you mean? Look, hurry up
hesitated? - strings.

(Handing her a flower.)

And this, madam, means - Fortune.
May the arrows not sting the Empress of the malicious Cupid ...

And now, Ma'am, let's get down to business.
Time is money, even for young queens.

(Appears.)

Club majesty jack - club.

In English, money
And in our opinion - the treasury.
My king is alone on the throne.
And he needs a wife.

The old woman told him on the coffee grounds,
So that he would marry the Queen of Hearts,
And with me he sends his betrothed
List of movable and immovable property.

(Pulls out a scroll from his bosom.)

I don't have a knack
In reading. -

(Chervonny.)

Read Valet.

JACK OF CLUBS
(giving Chervonny a scroll)

All: from here to here.

I won't listen for long.

JACK OF CLUBS
(Chervonny)

Get started.

JACK OF HEARTS
(with mock solemnity)

Sands and ores.

How are the sands?

JACK OF CLUBS

Well, yes, sands.

I think I'm dying of boredom
Like an old man's sermon!

JACK OF CLUBS

Continue.

JACK OF HEARTS
(Also)

Sands and quartz.

Lord, the sands again!

JACK OF CLUBS

Uruguay.

Whiskey hurts.

JACK OF HEARTS

Colorado. Mines.
Steel, cast iron, iron, sulfur.

JACK OF CLUBS
(enjoying)

My king is rich beyond measure.

JACK OF HEARTS

Argentina. Chile. Peru.

LADY
(Jack of clubs)

Your king has gone mad!

JACK OF HEARTS

El Callao.

I am ill!

JACK OF HEARTS

Mexico. Siam. Canada.
Venezuela.

Worse than hell
Worse than the church!

JACK OF HEARTS

crowds
California.

LADY
(Jack of Hearts)

(Jack of clubs.)

Your king is a fool!

JACK OF CLUBS
(scared)

What do I hear?

LADY
(with rising heat)

Your king is a fool and a liar!
So beauties do not write!
Better with cats on the roof
Than with a footman down the aisle!

JACK OF CLUBS

My lord...

LADY
(interrupting)

They don't write like that!

JACK OF CLUBS
(spreading hands)

Here's an analogy for you!
My lord is full of passion...

I hear. - Out of my sight!

Jack of clubs, pulling his head into his shoulders, instantly and clumsily runs out.

JACK OF HEARTS
(burning a scroll on a candle, laughing)

Is the gold scary to the sun?

Three knocks on the door with iron.

FIFTH PHENOMENON

Silent scene.
The door opens. Jack of spades with a spade. Silently stretches along the wall. At the sight of him, the Jack of Hearts stands up. During the whole scene, he stands at the throne of the Lady with his arms crossed. Behind the Jack of Spades is the King of Spades. At the sight of him, the Lady raises her head and - half-closing her eyes - in a column - like a sleepwalker - goes towards him. Kiss.

A curtain.

Night. Royal garden. Huge round tree in bloom. To the left, in the corner, is a gazebo. Behind the tree, half-hidden by branches, is the Jack of Clubs. From Tambourine, from a tree, one leg. Enter Jack of Spades.

JACK OF SPADES

Club - what do you say?

JACK OF CLUBS
(coming out from behind a tree)

What will I say?
They missed the lady!
In love with him like a cat:
They drink together and sleep together.
Ugliness! Debauchery!

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Simply - the baby is growing up.
Everything is as it should be: there is a war,
Here is an unfaithful wife,
There are soldiers and gray hairs,
Here is a fun conversation.
Husband - from the bedroom, into the bedroom - a thief ...

JACK OF CLUBS

Ugliness! - A shame!

JACK OF DIAMONDS

A hilarious picture!
Throne. Insidiousness. Passion. Dagger.
And the cutest of all is the finale:
Who was late for the wedding
Keeps up - on the christening.
The husband is at the gate, the thief is at the window...

JACK OF SPADES
(irritated)

Shut up, spindle!

(Persistently.)

The black king is an enemy to all of us?

JACK OF CLUBS

JACK OF SPADES

Do we hate him?

JACK OF CLUBS

JACK OF SPADES

The red king, glorious and gray,
They are dishonored.

JACK OF CLUBS

I have no business -
Which one of them - by whom - is dishonored.
Courtage was promised to me for her,
For Mrs., and Mrs.
Suddenly went on a spree - no courtship.

JACK OF DIAMONDS
(jumping up)

The mask is my decoration
The wind is my master
I have one enemy
Damned constancy.

JACK OF SPADES

Every woman has a Judas!

JACK OF DIAMONDS

That's it, peak suit!
You look in the evening - a whim,
In the morning - a fatal passion.
For infidelity to the spouse -
Frantic loyalty to a friend
Common table and common sleep,
Same rings, same vows
The same stone, damned,
Triumphant law.

JACK OF SPADES

To the point, to the point, to the point, to the point!
Who will plunge a dagger into him?

JACK OF DIAMONDS
(pointing to her clothes)

No! Red on white
I have enough!

JACK OF SPADES
(furious)

Knew!
Barin! Krasnobai-pretender!
A coward of diamonds, a conspirator!
(Tref.)
Clubs, will you support the honor of the jack?

JACK OF CLUBS

Today honor, and tomorrow in part.
Little honor! - Revenge is not this
Revenge is a club suit.
(Lowering voice.)
Our revenge, yes our honor -
Weave golden nets, -
This is more than a sword.
(Almost in a whisper.)
Look around, sideways
Whisper, ringing coin
Yes, on stamped paper -
Our club revenge!
(Loud.)
Kira wins - Croesus.

JACK OF SPADES

Coward of clubs!

JACK OF CLUBS
(modestly)

Club, I'm sober.

JACK OF SPADES
(twitching - almost a dance)

Black cloak and black look.
Black from head to toe.
In black veins - poison,
Hell.
This peak is the tip -
My heart is black.

Yes, attack from around the corner
And then laugh heartily -
This passion
This peak suit.

Whose will take? - I took it!
Haze.
Evil for evil.

JACK OF DIAMONDS

Anger you, that balloon, inflated.
Hey, don't burst!

JACK OF SPADES

JACK OF CLUBS

Hush, sirs!
They're coming!

They run away.

On the left - because of the gazebo. - Lady and Jack of Hearts. The Lady has a huge black necklace and the same wrists. Jack has a lute in his hands. The lady leans lightly on his shoulder.
Lady, Jack of Hearts.

Do you like my new
Lord?

Don't jack
Think about the king.

Well, it's a necklace.
Do you like it? Wrist
Gift of it.

Wear it for happiness.

LADY
(cosy)

Well, let's forget for a moment
Who are we. If you want, we'll just -
Very old friends?
Yes? Agree?

Queen,
I have long forgotten who I am.
Who are you - I remember.

You are stubborn.

jack
(with bow)

I am subdued.

LADY
(eyes half closed, blissfully)

Ah, I remember the first time
He entered, thin and languid...
I didn't lower my eyes
I got up towards it.
Do you remember?

jack
(stone)

I don't remember anything.

You stood with your arms crossed...
God, how pale you are
What's wrong with you? - White as chalk!

Empress, in science
Tender passion - there is a department:
Death. In it all science is passion.

Fully call out misfortune!
You are whiter than the canvas!

jack
(smiling wryly)

If pallor is boring to you,
Paint my cheeks red.

LADY
(fervently)

And I'll color it!

jack
(bowing)

Your will.

Here's a kiss!

You are cheeky like a boy
Like a monkey!

Like a jack.
(Suddenly, as if taking a breath.)
Jokes aside. - It's not okay
In a palace. Jacks grumble.
CONSPIRACY! - Deception! - Treason!

LADY
(scared)

CONSPIRACY?

For the life of
Who is dearer to you than life.
But the King has been warned.
It's almost midnight. Exactly at midnight
The king will give you a signal.
His black cloak is like a sail,
His black horse is like a whirlwind.
The dawn will find you in paradise, -
Outside the kingdom.

LADY
(scared)

At midnight?