Page 1 of 2
- This is apparently our situation with you.
The kids grew up healthy. Only one was unlucky. Either from the porch, or from somewhere else, he fell and injured himself: his hump began to grow. The Baushki ruled, of course, but it didn’t work out. So the hunchbacked one had to toil in this world.
Other kids, as I noticed, come out angry on such and such occasions, but this one is okay - he grew up cheerful and a master of inventions. He was the third in the family, and all the brothers obeyed him and asked:
- What do you think, Mitya? In your opinion, Mitya, what is this for?
Father and mother often shouted:
- Mityushka! Look at that! Okay, to your eye?
- Mityayko, didn’t you notice where I put the sparrows?
And it dawned on Mityunka that his father had played the horn skillfully from a young age. This one also makes a pickle, so it pronounces the song itself.
Due to his skill, Danilo still made good money. Well, Katya didn’t sit idle. So, they raised a family and didn’t go to people for food. And Katya took care of the children’s clothes. So that everyone on the right would have little ones, fur coats, and so on. In the summer, of course, barefoot is okay - your own skin, not bought. And Mityunka, how sorry he was for everyone, and had shoes. The older brothers did not envy this, but the little mothers themselves said:
- Mommy, it’s time to get Mitya new boots. Look, they’re not getting on his leg, but they would have been just right for me.
You see, they had their own childish cunning, how to quickly attach Mitya’s boots to themselves. So everything went smoothly for them. The neighbors simply mocked:
- What kind of robots are Katerina! They will never have a fight among themselves.
And this is all Mityunka - the main reason. In the family, he is like a light in the forest: he will amuse someone, warm someone, and make someone think.
Danilo did not allow children to take part in his craft until too late.
“Let them grow up first,” he says. They will still have time to swallow the malachite dust.
Katya and her husband are also in complete agreement - it’s too early to imprison her for her craft. Moreover, they came up with the idea of teaching the children so that they could read, write, and understand numbers. Due to the situation at that time, there was no school, and the older brothers began to run to some craftswoman. And Mityunka is with them. Those guys are smart, the craftswoman praised them, but this one is excellent. In those years, they taught it in a sophisticated way, but he took it on the fly. Before the craftswoman has time to show him, he thought. The brothers were still filling the warehouses, and he was already reading, know the words, catch them. The craftswoman has said more than once:
“I’ve never had such a student.”
Here, father and mother take a little pride: they got Mityunka some more formal boots. It was with these boots that their lives completely changed.
That year, listen, the gentleman lived at the factory. Apparently, he scrounged up some money in Sam-Petersburg, so he came to the plant - maybe I could scrape out some more money, they say.
In such and such a case, it’s clear how you won’t find money if you manage it wisely. The clerks and the clerk alone stole so much. Only the master did not even know how to look in this direction.
He was driving along the street and saw three little kids playing near one of the huts, and all of them were wearing boots. The master waves his hand at them: come here.
Although Mityunka had never seen the master before, he probably admitted it. The horses, you see, are excellent, the coachman is in good shape, the carriage is varnished and the rider is very fat, swam with fat, can barely move, and holds a stick with a gold knob in front of his belly.
Mityunka became a little timid, but nevertheless grabbed the brothers by the hands and brought them closer to the stroller, and the master wheezed:
-Whose are they?
Mityunka, as the eldest, explains calmly:
- Stonecutter Danila's sons. I'm Mitriy, and these are my little brothers.
The master turned blue from this conversation, almost suffocated, he just pestered:
- Ox, ox! what are they doing! what are they doing! Ox, ox!
Then, apparently, he sighed and roared like a bear:
- What's this? A? “And he uses a stick to show the guys their feet.” The kids, understandably, got scared and rushed to the gate, but Mityunka stood there and couldn’t understand what his master was asking him about.
He got his way and yells in frustration:
- What's this?
Mityunka became completely timid, and said:
- Earth.
The master was paralyzed and began to wheeze completely:
- Hrr, hrrr! What has it come to! What has it come to! Hrr, hrrr.
Then Danilo himself ran out of the hut, only the master did not talk to him, he poked the coachman in the neck with the knob - go!
This gentleman was not of a strong mind. This was noticed in him from a young age, but in his old age he became completely dependent. He attacks a person, and then he himself doesn’t know how to explain what he needs. Well, Danilo and Katerina thought - maybe the matter will work out, he’ll forget about the kids while he gets home. But that was not the case: the master did not forget the child’s boots. First of all, I sat down on the clerk.
- Where are you looking? There is nothing to buy shoes from the master, but the serfs lead their children in boots? What kind of clerk are you after this?
He explains:
- By your lordly grace, Danilo was released on quitrent, and how much to take from him is also indicated, but how he pays regularly, I was thinking...
“And you,” he shouts, “don’t think, but look both ways.” Look what he's got going on! Where has this been seen? Give him four times the dues.
Then he called Danila and explained the new rent to him. Danilo sees that this is completely absurd and says:
“I can’t leave the master’s will, but I can’t pay such a quitrent either.” I will work like others, according to your lordly order.
The master apparently doesn't like it. There is already a shortage of money - there is no time for stone crafts. It’s time to sell that one that was left over from the old years. It’s also not suitable for any other job as a stone cutter. Well, let's dress up. No matter how much Danila fought back, the master gave him double the rent, and whatever you like, he got a mountain. That's where it went!
It’s clear that Danil and Katya had a bad time. Everyone was squeezed, but the timid ones were the worst: they sat down to work before they were too old. So they never had a chance to finish their studies. Mityunka—he considered himself the most guilty of all—and rushes to work himself. They say, I will help my father and mother, but they again think their own way:
“And that’s why he’s unhealthy with us, but if you put him in jail for malachite, he’ll be completely exhausted. Because everything is bad in this matter. If you prepare an additive varnish, you won’t breathe out the dust, if you crush crushed stone, take care of your eyes, and if you dilute tin with strong vodka, it will suffocate you with vapors.” We thought and thought and came up with the idea of sending Mityunk to study lapidary.
The eye, they say, is quick-witted, the fingers are flexible and you don’t need much strength—it’s the job that suits him best.
Of course, they were related to the lapidary. They assigned him a job, and he was glad, because he knew that the boy was smart and not lazy at work.
This cutter was a so-so mediocre one, he made second or even third-price stones. Still, Mityunka learned from him what he could do. Then this master says to Danil:
- We need to send your boy to the city. Let it get to the real point there. He has a very dexterous hand.
And so they did. Danila and the city, you never know, had an acquaintance on stone business. I found the right person and installed Mityunka. Here he ended up with an old stone berry master. The fashion, you see, was to make berries from stones. There are grapes, currants, raspberries and so on. And there was a setup for everything. For example, black currants were made from agate, white currants were made from dummies, strawberries were made from wax jasper, and princely currants were glued from small chipped balls. In a word, every berry has its own stone. The roots and leaves also had their own order: some were made of opate, some were made of malachite or orlets, and there were some other stones.
Mityunka adopted this whole attitude, but no, no, he’ll come up with his own idea. The master grumbled at first, then began to praise:
“Perhaps it makes it look more lively.”
Finally, he directly announced:
“I see, boy, that your talent for this matter is very great.” It’s time for me, an old man, to learn from you. You have become a master, and even with an invention.
Then he was silent for a moment, and then he punished:
- Just make sure you don’t let her go! It's a fantasy! As if they wouldn’t fight off her hands for it. There have been such cases.
Mityunka, you know, is young - without paying attention to this. He still chuckles:
- It would be a good idea. Who will fight for her?
Danilo and Katya lived amicably, in peace and harmony. They had eight sons. And over time, a daughter appeared. The boys were all well-mannered and smart. Somehow something bad happened, son Mitya fell, and he developed a hump. I hurt myself somehow. But this did not embitter the boy. He remained as kind and smiling as he was. All the brothers respected Mitya and always asked for advice. They reached out to him. Yes, both parents and those sometimes could ask Mityusha to do this or that way.
The family did not live in the royal mansions, of course, but they had enough of everything. The children were dressed and wearing shoes. And even in the summer, when you can walk without boots, Mitya sometimes still wore shoes. His parents, who considered him weaker than others, were afraid that something might not work out. The master was driving past Danil's house, and he saw that the children were wearing shoes, and not everyone had them like that. He went wild and started screaming. And he imposed a quitrent eight times greater than it was. The head of the family opposed it, because it would be too much to bear. The master thought and reduced the tax. But it still became very difficult for the family. They had another child.
Katya waited for her daughter. It was decided to teach the sons their father’s craft. After all, now it was necessary to give the master a lot of money. Mitya showed himself best. The father saw that his son was doing very well. I sent him for training to an experienced master. After working a little away from home, Mitya returns. He sees that men work very hard and hard, but it doesn’t get any better. My father has turned completely grey, but he is still young. Mitya decides to use the craft that the master taught him at home. But there are no expensive stones, and where can I get them? We need to come up with something simpler. Suddenly a hand with a coil and slag appeared in the window.
Mitya understood, the mistress of the copper mountain decided to help him. The boy begins to make very unusual beautiful things from an ordinary stone. The very first one, a fragile, beautiful twig, was made from an ordinary stone. He wanted to give it to a neighbor girl whom he really liked. But still I didn’t make up my mind. The master found out about such beauty. He sent servants to take the twig from Mitya. And when he found out that it was made from ordinary slag, he ordered a master to be brought. How can you sell such a cheap thing to a master's daughter? He was about to hit Mitya with his club. But the boy was not taken aback, grabbed a stick, hit the master and left with him. No one from the lord’s entourage said a word. And then no one saw Mitya anywhere. And the girl for whom the stone branch was intended also disappeared. With the help of the image of Mitya, the author makes it clear to the reader that external beauty is not the main thing. The main thing is to feel with your heart and treat people with respect. Then people will reciprocate your feelings. Mitya was respected by everyone both in the family and among those around him. He didn't feel inferior or intimidated. The guy was not afraid of the master, because he was sure that he had support. No one rushed after him or stopped him. Perhaps some people knew where he was. But they kept it secret. After all, there are not many good people. And no one wanted to betray Mitya, his respect, and his feelings. Be kind and honest with people.
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Danila and Katya, who rescued her fiancé from the Mistress of the Mountain, had a lot of children. Eight, listen, people, and all boys. Mother was jealous more than once: at least there was one girl to look at. And the father laughs:
- This is apparently our situation with you.
The kids grew up healthy. Only one was unlucky. Either from the porch, or from somewhere else, he fell and injured himself: his hump began to grow. The Baushki ruled, of course, but it didn’t work out. So the hunchbacked one had to toil in this world.
Other kids, as I noticed, come out angry on such and such occasions, but this one is okay - he grew up cheerful and a master of inventions. He was the third in the family, and all the brothers obeyed him and asked:
- What do you think, Mitya? In your opinion, Mitya, what is this for?
Father and mother often shouted:
- Mityushka! Look at that! Okay, to your eye?
- Mityayko, didn’t you notice where I put the sparrows?
And it dawned on Mityunka that his father had played the horn skillfully from a young age. This one also makes a pickle, so it pronounces the song itself.
Due to his skill, Danilo still made good money. Well, Katya didn’t sit idle. So, they raised a family and didn’t go to people for food. And Katya took care of the children’s clothes. So that everyone on the right would have little ones, fur coats, and so on. In the summer, of course, barefoot is okay - your own skin, not bought. And Mityunka, how sorry he was for everyone, and had shoes. The older brothers did not envy this, but the little mothers themselves said:
- Mommy, it’s time to get Mitya new boots. Look, they’re not getting on his leg, but they would have been just right for me.
You see, they had their own childish cunning, how to quickly attach Mitya’s boots to themselves. So everything went smoothly for them. The neighbors simply mocked:
- What kind of robots are Katerina! They will never have a fight among themselves.
And this is all Mityunka - the main reason. In the family, he is like a light in the forest: he will amuse someone, warm someone, and make someone think.
Danilo did not allow children to take part in his craft until too late.
“Let them grow up first,” he says. They will still have time to swallow the malachite dust.
Katya and her husband are also in complete agreement - it’s too early to imprison her for her craft. Moreover, they came up with the idea of teaching the children so that they could read, write, and understand numbers. Due to the situation at that time, there was no school, and the older brothers began to run to some craftswoman. And Mityunka is with them. Those guys are smart, the craftswoman praised them, but this one is excellent. In those years, they taught it in a sophisticated way, but he took it on the fly. Before the craftswoman has time to show him, he thought. The brothers were still filling the warehouses, and he was already reading, know the words, catch them. The craftswoman has said more than once:
“I’ve never had such a student.” 
Here, father and mother take a little pride: they got Mityunka some more formal boots. It was with these boots that their lives completely changed.
That year, listen, the gentleman lived at the factory. Apparently, he scrounged up some money in Sam-Petersburg, so he came to the plant - maybe I could scrape out some more money, they say.
In such and such a case, it’s clear how you won’t find money if you manage it wisely. The clerks and the clerk alone stole so much. Only the master did not even know how to look in this direction.
He was driving along the street and saw three little kids playing near one of the huts, and all of them were wearing boots. The master waves his hand at them: come here.
Although Mityunka had never seen the master before, he probably admitted it. The horses, you see, are excellent, the coachman is in good shape, the carriage is varnished and the rider is very fat, swam with fat, can barely move, and holds a stick with a gold knob in front of his belly.
Mityunka became a little timid, but nevertheless grabbed the brothers by the hands and brought them closer to the stroller, and the master wheezed:
-Whose are they?
Mityunka, as the eldest, explains calmly:
- Stonecutter Danila's sons. I'm Mitriy, and these are my little brothers.
The master turned blue from this conversation, almost suffocated, he just pestered:
- Ox, ox! what are they doing! what are they doing! Ox, ox!
Then, apparently, he sighed and roared like a bear:
- What's this? A? “And he uses a stick to show the guys their feet.” The kids, understandably, got scared and rushed to the gate, but Mityunka stood there and couldn’t understand what his master was asking him about.
He got his way and yells in frustration:
- What's this?
Mityunka became completely timid, and said:
- Earth.
The master was paralyzed and began to wheeze completely:
- Hrr, hrrr! What has it come to! What has it come to! Hrr, hrrr.
Then Danilo himself ran out of the hut, only the master did not talk to him, he poked the coachman in the neck with the knob - go!
This gentleman was not of a strong mind. This was noticed in him from a young age, but in his old age he became completely dependent. He attacks a person, and then he himself doesn’t know how to explain what he needs. Well, Danilo and Katerina thought - maybe the matter will work out, he’ll forget about the kids while he gets home. But that was not the case: the master did not forget the child’s boots. First of all, I sat down on the clerk.
- Where are you looking? There is nothing to buy shoes from the master, but the serfs lead their children in boots? What kind of clerk are you after this?
He explains:
- By your lordly grace, Danilo was released on quitrent, and how much to take from him is also indicated, but how he pays regularly, I was thinking...
“And you,” he shouts, “don’t think, but look both ways.” Look what he's got going on! Where has this been seen? Give him four times the dues.
Then he called Danila and explained the new rent to him. Danilo sees that this is completely absurd and says:
“I can’t leave the master’s will, but I can’t pay such a quitrent either.” I will work like others, according to your lordly order.
The master apparently doesn't like it. There is already a shortage of money - there is no time for stone crafts. It’s time to sell that one that was left over from the old years. It’s also not suitable for any other job as a stone cutter. Well, let's dress up. No matter how much Danila fought back, the master gave him double the rent, and whatever you like, he got a mountain. That's where it went!
It’s clear that Danil and Katya had a bad time. Everyone was squeezed, but the timid ones were the worst: they sat down to work before they were too old. So they never had a chance to finish their studies. Mityunka—he considered himself the most guilty of all—and rushes to work himself. They say, I will help my father and mother, but they again think their own way:
“And that’s why he’s unhealthy with us, but if you put him in jail for malachite, he’ll be completely exhausted. Because everything is bad in this matter. If you prepare an additive varnish, you won’t breathe out the dust, if you crush crushed stone, take care of your eyes, and if you dilute tin with strong vodka, it will suffocate you with vapors.” We thought and thought and came up with the idea of sending Mityunk to study lapidary.
The eye, they say, is quick-witted, the fingers are flexible and you don’t need much strength—it’s the job that suits him best.
Of course, they were related to the lapidary. They assigned him a job, and he was glad, because he knew that the boy was smart and not lazy at work.
This cutter was a so-so mediocre one, he made second or even third-price stones. Still, Mityunka learned from him what he could do. Then this master says to Danil:
- We need to send your boy to the city. Let it get to the real point there. He has a very dexterous hand.
And so they did. Danila and the city, you never know, had an acquaintance on stone business. I found the right person and installed Mityunka. Here he ended up with an old stone berry master. The fashion, you see, was to make berries from stones. There are grapes, currants, raspberries and so on. And there was a setup for everything. For example, black currants were made from agate, white currants were made from dummies, strawberries were made from wax jasper, and princely currants were glued from small chipped balls. In a word, every berry has its own stone. The roots and leaves also had their own order: some were made of opate, some were made of malachite or orlets, and there were some other stones.
Mityunka adopted this whole attitude, but no, no, he’ll come up with his own idea. The master grumbled at first, then began to praise:
“Perhaps it makes it look more lively.”
Finally, he directly announced:
“I see, boy, that your talent for this matter is very great.” It’s time for me, an old man, to learn from you. You have become a master, and even with an invention.
Then he was silent for a moment, and then he punished:
- Just make sure you don’t let her go! It's a fantasy! As if they wouldn’t fight off her hands for it. There have been such cases.
Mityunka, you know, is young - without paying attention to this. He still chuckles:
- It would be a good idea. Who will fight for her?
Danila and Katya, who rescued her fiancé from the Mistress of the Mountain, had a lot of children. Eight, listen, people, and all boys. Mother was jealous more than once: at least there was one girl to look at. And the father, you know, laughs:
This, apparently, is our situation with you.
The kids grew up healthy. Only one was unlucky. Either from the porch, or from somewhere else, he fell and injured himself: his hump began to grow. The Baushki ruled, of course, but it didn’t work out. So the hunchbacked one had to toil in this world.
Other kids, as I noticed, come out angry on such and such occasions, but this one is okay - he grew up cheerful and a master of inventions. He was the third in the family, and all the brothers listened to him and asked:
What do you think, Mitya? In your opinion, Mitya, what is this for?
Father and mother often shouted:
Mityushka! Look at that! Okay, to your eye?
Mityaiko, didn’t notice where I put the sparrows (a device for unwinding yarn. - Ed.)?
And it dawned on Mityunka that his father had played the horn skillfully from a young age. This one also makes a pickle, so it pronounces the song itself.
Due to his skill, Danilo still made good money. Well, Katya didn’t sit idle. So, they raised a family and didn’t go to people for food. And Katya took care of the children’s clothes. So that everyone on the right would have little ones, fur coats, and so on. In the summer, of course, it’s okay to be barefoot: your own skin, not purchased. And Mityunka, how sorry he was for everyone, and had shoes. The older brothers did not envy this, but the little mothers themselves said:
Mommy, it’s time to get Mitya new boots. Look, they don’t climb on his leg, but they would be just right for me.
You see, they had their own childish cunning, how to quickly attach Mitya’s boots to themselves. So everything went smoothly for them. The neighbors simply mocked:
What kind of robots are Katerina! They will never have a fight among themselves.
And this is all Mityunka - the main reason. In the family, he is like a light in the forest: he will amuse someone, warm someone, and make someone think.
Danilo did not allow children to take part in his craft until too late.
“Let them grow up first,” he says. They will still have time to swallow the malachite dust.
Katya and her husband are also in complete agreement - it’s too early to imprison her for her craft. Moreover, they came up with the idea of teaching the children: so that they could read, write, and understand numbers. Due to the situation at that time, there was no school, and the older brothers began to run to some craftswoman. And Mityunka is with them. Those guys are smart, the craftswoman praised them, but this one is excellent. In those years, they taught it in a sophisticated way, but he took it on the fly. Before the craftswoman has time to show him, he has lost his mind. The brothers were still filling the warehouses, and he was already reading, know the words, catch them. The craftswoman has said more than once:
I have never had such a student. Here, father and mother take a little pride: they got Mityunka some more formal boots. It was with these boots that they experienced a complete revolution in their lives. That year, listen, the gentleman lived at the factory. Apparently, he scrounged up some money in Sam-Petersburg, so he came to the plant - maybe I could scrape out some more money, they say.
In such and such a case, it’s clear how you won’t find money if you manage it wisely. The clerks and the clerk alone stole so much. Only the master did not even know how to look in this direction.
He was driving along the street and saw three children playing near one of the huts, and all of them were wearing boots. The master looms his hand at them - come here.
Although Mityunka had never seen the master before, he probably admitted it. The horses, you see, are excellent, the coachman is in good shape, the carriage is varnished and the rider is a mountain, swollen with fat, can barely move, and holds a stick with a gold knob in front of his belly.
Mityunka became a little timid, but nevertheless grabbed the brothers by the hands and brought them closer to the stroller, and the master wheezed:
Whose are they?
Mityunka, as the eldest, explains calmly:
Stonecutter Danila's sons. I'm Mitriy, and these are my little brothers.
The master turned blue from this conversation, almost suffocated, he just pestered:
Oh oh! what are they doing! what are they doing! Oh oh. Then, apparently, he sighed and roared like a bear:
What's this? A? -And he uses a stick to show the guys their feet. The kids, understandably, got scared and rushed to the gate, but Mityunka stood there and couldn’t understand what his master was asking him about.
He got his way and yells in frustration:
What's this?
Mityunka became completely timid and said:
The master was paralyzed and began to wheeze completely.
Hrr, hrrr! What has it come to! What has it come to! Hrr, hrrr.
Then Danilo himself ran out of the hut, but the master did not talk to him, he poked the coachman in the neck with the knob - go!
This gentleman was not of a strong mind. This was noticed in him from a young age, but in his old age he became not at all independent. He attacks a person, and then he himself doesn’t know how to explain what he needs. Well, Danilo and Katerina thought - maybe the matter will work out, he’ll forget about the kids while he gets home. But that was not the case: the master did not forget the child’s boots. First of all, I asked the clerk:
Where are you looking? There is nothing to buy shoes from the master, but the serfs lead their children in boots? What kind of clerk are you after this?
He explains:
By your lordly grace, they say, Danilo was released on quitrent and how much to take from him is also indicated, but how he pays regularly is what I thought...
And you,” he shouts, “don’t think, but look both ways.” Look what he's got going on! Where has this been seen? Give him four times the dues.
Then he called Danila and explained the new rent to him. Danilo sees that this is completely absurd and says:
I can’t leave the master’s will, but I can’t pay such a quitrent either. I will work like others, according to your lordly order.
The master apparently doesn't like it. There is already a shortage of money - there is no time for stone crafts. It’s time to sell that one that was left over from the old years. It’s also not suitable for any other job as a stone cutter. Well, let's dress up. No matter how much Danila fought back, the master gave him double the quitrent, and whatever you like - up the mountain. That's where it went!
It’s clear that Danil and Katya had a bad time. Everyone was squeezed, but the worst thing was for the boys: they sat down to work before they were too old. So they never had a chance to finish their studies. Mityunka - he considered himself the most guilty of all - he himself climbs into work. They say, I will help my father and mother, but they again think their own way:
“And that’s why he’s unhealthy with us, and if you put him in jail for malachite, he’ll be completely exhausted. That’s why it’s bad all around in this matter. To prepare an additive pitch, you won’t breathe in the dust, to break crushed stone, take care of your eyes, and to dilute tin with strong vodka for polishing - in pairs will strangle." We thought and thought and came up with the idea of sending Mityunk to study lapidary.
The eye, they say, is tenacious, the fingers are flexible and you don’t need much strength - it’s the job that suits him best.
Of course, they were related to the lapidary. They assigned him a job, and he was glad, because he knew that the boy was smart and not lazy at work.
This cutter was so-so, he was mediocre, he made second or even third-price stones. Still, Mityunka learned from him what he could do. Then this master says to Danil:
We need to send your boy to the city. Let it get to the real point there. He has a very dexterous hand.
And so they did. Danila had quite a few acquaintances in the city on some stone business. I found the right person and settled Mityunka. Here he ended up with an old stone berry master. The fashion, you see, was to make berries from stones. There are grapes, currants, raspberries and so on. And there was a setup for everything. For example, black currants were made from agate, white currants were made from dummies, strawberries were made from wax jasper, and princes were glued from small sherl balls. In a word, every berry has its own stone. The roots and leaves also had their own order: some were made of opate, some were made of malachite or orlets, and there were some other stones.
Mityunka adopted this whole attitude, but no, no, he’ll come up with his own idea. The master grumbled at first, then began to praise:
Perhaps it comes out more lively this way.
Finally, he directly announced:
I see, boy, your talent for this matter is very great. It’s time for me, an old man, to learn from you. You have become a master, and even with an invention.
Then he was silent for a while and then punished:
Just make sure you don’t let her go! It's a fantasy! As if they wouldn’t fight off her hands for it. There have been such cases.
Mityunka, you know, is young - without paying attention to this. He still chuckles:
It would be a good idea. Who will fight for her?
So Mityukha became a master, and he was still very young: his mustache had just begun to emerge. He didn’t miss orders; he always had plenty of work to do. The stone shopkeepers quickly realized that this guy smells like a big profit - they give him orders one after the other, just have time. Mityukha came up with this idea:
I'll go home now. If my work is needed, they will find me at home. The road is not far, and the load is not large - bring the material and pick up the craft.
So I did. The family was happy, understandably: Mitya had come. He also wants to make everyone happy, but I’m not happy myself. At home it was almost like a solid malachite workshop. The father and two older brothers are sitting at the machines in the malukha, and the younger brothers are right there: some are sawing, some are grinding. The long-awaited one-year-old girl is trembling in her mother’s arms, but there is no joy in the family. Danilo really looks like an old man, the older brothers are coughing, and it’s not fun to look at the little ones. They fight and fight, and everything goes into the master's rent.
Mityukha began to think: everything happened because of those boots.
Let's get our business going quickly. Even if it is small, there are more than one machines for it; a tool is also required. It’s all a small thing, but it needs a place.
He settled down in the hut opposite the window and fell down to work, and thought to himself:
“How can I get berries to grind from the local stone? Then my younger brothers could be assigned to this business.” He thinks and thinks, but doesn’t see the way. In our area it is known that chrysolite and malachite are more common. You can’t get chrysolite cheaply either, and it’s not suitable, and malachite is only used on leaves, and even then it’s not found at all: it requires setting or gluing.
Now he's sitting at work. The window in front of the machine is open during summer time. There is no one else in the hut. The mother has gone somewhere about her business, the kids have run away, the father and the elders are sitting in the little room. Can't hear them. It is known that you can’t sing a song over malachite and it doesn’t make you want to talk.
Mityukha sits, grinding his berries from the merchant’s material, and he himself is still thinking about the same thing:
“What kind of cheap local stone would you use to make such a craft?”
Suddenly some kind of either a woman’s or a girl’s hand stuck through the window, with a ring on the finger and in the sleeve (in a bracelet. - Ed.) - and placed a large tile of a coil directly on Mityunka’s machine: and on it, as on tray, juice (slag from copper smelting - Ed.) road.
Mityukha rushed to the window - there was no one, the street was empty, there was absolutely no one walking by.
What's happened? Who's joking or what kind of obsession? I looked at the tiles and the sapling and almost jumped for joy, cartloads of this kind of material can be carted around, but apparently you can make it out of it if you choose it with dexterity and try. Just what?
He began to figure out which berry would be more suitable, and he himself stared at the place where the hand was. And then again she appeared and placed a burdock leaf on the machine, and on it three berry branches: bird cherry, cherry and ripe, ripe gooseberries.
Here Mityukha couldn’t resist and ran out into the street to find out who was playing jokes on him. I looked around - no one, as if they had died out. Time is the hottest thing. Who should be on the street at this time?
He stood and stood for a while, went to the window, took a piece of paper with twigs from the machine and began to look at it. The berries are real, alive, but it’s a wonder where the cherries came from. It’s easy with bird cherry, there’s plenty of gooseberries in the master’s garden too, but where does this one come from, since such a berry doesn’t grow in our area, but looks like it’s just been picked?
He admired the cherries so much, but he still liked the gooseberries better and suited the material even better. As soon as he thought, a hand stroked his shoulder.
“Well done, they say! You understand the matter!”
At this point it is clear to the blind whose hand it is. Mityukha grew up in Polevoy and heard about the Mistress of the Mountain several times. So he thought - at least she would show herself. Well, it didn't work out. Apparently she regretted disturbing the hunchbacked guy with her beauty - she didn’t show herself.
Mityukha got busy here with juice and a coil. I went through a lot. Well, I chose it and did it with ingenuity. Sweated. First I ground the gooseberries into halves, then I made grooves inside and went through the grooves where necessary, where I left the knots again, glued the halves together and then polished them clean. A live berry came out. I also thinly chiseled the leaves out of a snake, and managed to attach tiny thorns to the spine. In a word, varietal work. In each berry you can see exactly the grains and the leaves are alive, even slightly with flaws: on one the holes seem to have been pierced by a bug, on the other there are rusty spots again. Well, there are real ones.
Although Danilo and his sons worked on other stones, they also understood this matter. And my mother worked in stone. Everyone can't stop looking at Mityukhin's work. And it’s amazing to them that such a thing came out of a simple coil and road juice. Mitya loves it too. So how is work! Subtlety. If anyone understands, of course.
Mitya later made a lot out of juice and coils. Helped the family a lot. The merchants, you see, did not run around this craft, as if they were paying for a real stone, and the buyer, first of all, snatched Mityukhin’s work, because it was excellent. Mityukha, therefore, was chasing the berries. And he made bird cherry, and cherries, and ripe gooseberries, but he didn’t sell the first branch - he kept it for himself. I tried (intended. - Ed.) to give it to the girl alone, but I was hesitant.
The girls, you see, did not turn away from Mityukhin’s window. Even though he’s a hunchback, he’s a guy with a conversation and an inventive mind, and his craft is interesting, and he’s not stingy: he used to give out beads for beads by the handful. Well, the girls, no, no, will run up, but this one most often had a place in front of the window - to shine her teeth, play with her scythe. Mityukha wanted to give her his twig, but he was still afraid:
They'll even make the girl laugh, or even consider it an insult.
And that gentleman, because of whom the turn of life happened, was still puffing and puffing on the ground. That year he betrothed his daughter to some prince or merchant and collected a dowry for her. Polevsky's clerk decided to help himself. He saw Mitya’s twig and, apparently, also understood what kind of thing it was. So he sent his whippers with the order:
If you won't give it away, take it away by force. So what? It's a common thing. They took the twig from Mitya, brought it, and the clerk put it in a velvet box. As the master arrived in Polevaya, the clerk now:
Receive, do me a favor, a gift for the bride. The right thing.
The master looked, also praised him at first, and then asked:
What stones is it made of and how much do the stones cost? The clerk answers:
What’s surprising is that it’s made from the simplest material: coils and slag. Here the master immediately choked:
What? How? From slag? My daughter?
The clerk sees that something is wrong, so he turns everything on the foreman:
It was he, the scoundrel, who slipped it to me, and even told me about Thursdays for a week, otherwise I wouldn’t have dared. The master, you know, is wheezing:
Bring on the masters! Bring the master!
They dragged Mityukha, of course, and, you see, his master recognized him.
"This is the one... in boots who..."
How dare you?
He rushed at Mityukha with a stick.
At first Mityukha couldn’t understand, but then he realized it and said straight out:
The clerk took it from me by force, let him answer.
Just what a conversation with the master, he wheezes all his own: - I’ll show you...
Then he grabbed a twig from the table, slammed it on the floor and started trampling on it. Naturally, he crushed it into dust.
At this point Mityukha was taken to the quick, she even began to shake. It’s a matter of who will love it, if your dear invention is crushed by wild meat.
Mityukha grabbed the master’s stick by the thin end and when he smacked the knob on his forehead, the master sat down on the floor and rolled his eyes.
And what a miracle - there was a clerk in the room and as many servants as you want, but everyone seemed petrified - Mityukha came out and disappeared somewhere. They couldn’t find it, but people saw his craft later. Those who understand recognized her.
And another note came out. That girl who was washing her teeth in front of Mityukha’s window also got lost, and that’s how it ended.
We looked for this girl for a long time. Apparently, they decided in their own way that it would be easier to find her, because the woman was not accustomed to going far from her place. Her parents were stepped on:
Specify the place!
But still they didn’t achieve any sense.
Danila and his sons were pressed, of course, yes, apparently, they regretted the large quitrent - they retreated. And the master was still suffocating for some time, but he was soon crushed by fat.
Pavel Petrovich Bazhov
fragile twig
Danila and Katya, who rescued her fiancé from the Mistress of the Mountain, had a lot of children. Eight, listen, people, and all boys. Mother was jealous more than once: at least there was one girl to look at. And the father laughs:
- This is apparently our situation with you.
The kids grew up healthy. Only one was unlucky. Either from the porch, or from somewhere else, he fell and injured himself: his hump began to grow. The Baushki ruled, of course, but it didn’t work out. So the hunchbacked one had to toil in this world.
Other kids, as I noticed, come out angry on such and such occasions, but this one is okay - he grew up cheerful and a master of inventions. He was the third in the family, and all the brothers obeyed him and asked:
- What do you think, Mitya? In your opinion, Mitya, what is this for?
Father and mother often shouted:
- Mityushka! Look at that! Okay, to your eye?
- Mityayko, didn’t you notice where I put the sparrows?
And it dawned on Mityunka that his father had played the horn skillfully from a young age. This one also makes a pickle, so it pronounces the song itself.
Due to his skill, Danilo still made good money. Well, Katya didn’t sit idle. So, they raised a family and didn’t go to people for food. And Katya took care of the children’s clothes. So that everyone on the right would have little ones, fur coats, and so on. In the summer, of course, barefoot is okay - your own skin, not bought. And Mityunka, how sorry he was for everyone, and had shoes. The older brothers did not envy this, but the little mothers themselves said:
- Mommy, it’s time to get Mitya new boots. Look, they’re not getting on his leg, but they would have been just right for me.
You see, they had their own childish cunning, how to quickly attach Mitya’s boots to themselves. So everything went smoothly for them. The neighbors simply mocked:
- What kind of robots are Katerina! They will never have a fight among themselves.
And this is all Mityunka - the main reason. In the family, he is like a light in the forest: he will amuse someone, warm someone, and make someone think.
Danilo did not allow children to take part in his craft until too late.
“Let them grow up first,” he says. They will still have time to swallow the malachite dust.
Katya and her husband are also in complete agreement - it’s too early to imprison her for her craft. Moreover, they came up with the idea of teaching the children so that they could read, write, and understand numbers. Due to the situation at that time, there was no school, and the older brothers began to run to some craftswoman. And Mityunka is with them. Those guys are smart, the craftswoman praised them, but this one is excellent. In those years, they taught it in a sophisticated way, but he took it on the fly. Before the craftswoman has time to show him, he thought. The brothers were still filling the warehouses, and he was already reading, know the words, catch them. The craftswoman has said more than once:
“I’ve never had such a student.”
Here, father and mother take a little pride: they got Mityunka some more formal boots. It was with these boots that their lives completely changed.
That year, listen, the gentleman lived at the factory. Apparently, he scrounged up some money in Sam-Petersburg, so he came to the plant - maybe I could scrape out some more money, they say.
In such and such a case, it’s clear how you won’t find money if you manage it wisely. The clerks and the clerk alone stole so much. Only the master did not even know how to look in this direction.
He was driving along the street and saw three little kids playing near one of the huts, and all of them were wearing boots. The master waves his hand at them: come here.
Although Mityunka had never seen the master before, he probably admitted it. The horses, you see, are excellent, the coachman is in good shape, the carriage is varnished and the rider is very fat, swam with fat, can barely move, and holds a stick with a gold knob in front of his belly.
Mityunka became a little timid, but nevertheless grabbed the brothers by the hands and brought them closer to the stroller, and the master wheezed:
-Whose are they?
Mityunka, as the eldest, explains calmly:
- Stonecutter Danila's sons. I'm Mitriy, and these are my little brothers.
The master turned blue from this conversation, almost suffocated, he just pestered:
- Ox, ox! what are they doing! what are they doing! Ox, ox!
Then, apparently, he sighed and roared like a bear:
- What's this? A? “And he uses a stick to show the guys their feet.” The kids, understandably, got scared and rushed to the gate, but Mityunka stood there and couldn’t understand what his master was asking him about.
He got his way and yells in frustration:
- What's this?
Mityunka became completely timid, and said:
The master was paralyzed and began to wheeze completely:
- Hrr, hrrr! What has it come to! What has it come to! Hrr, hrrr.
Then Danilo himself ran out of the hut, only the master did not talk to him, he poked the coachman in the neck with the knob - go!
This gentleman was not of a strong mind. This was noticed in him from a young age, but in his old age he became completely dependent. He attacks a person, and then he himself doesn’t know how to explain what he needs. Well, Danilo and Katerina thought - maybe the matter will work out, he’ll forget about the kids while he gets home. But that was not the case: the master did not forget the child’s boots. First of all, I sat down on the clerk.
- Where are you looking? There is nothing to buy shoes from the master, but the serfs lead their children in boots? What kind of clerk are you after this?
He explains:
- By your lordly grace, Danilo was released on quitrent, and how much to take from him is also indicated, but how he pays regularly, I was thinking...
“And you,” he shouts, “don’t think, but look both ways.” Look what he's got going on! Where has this been seen? Give him four times the dues.
Then he called Danila and explained the new rent to him. Danilo sees that this is completely absurd and says:
“I can’t leave the master’s will, but I can’t pay such a quitrent either.” I will work like others, according to your lordly order.
The master apparently doesn't like it. There is already a shortage of money - there is no time for stone crafts. It’s time to sell that one that was left over from the old years. It’s also not suitable for any other job as a stone cutter. Well, let's dress up. No matter how much Danila fought back, the master gave him double the rent, and whatever you like, he got a mountain. That's where it went!
It’s clear that Danil and Katya had a bad time. Everyone was squeezed, but the timid ones were the worst: they sat down to work before they were too old. So they never had a chance to finish their studies. Mityunka—he considered himself the most guilty of all—and rushes to work himself. They say, I will help my father and mother, but they again think their own way:
“And that’s why he’s unhealthy with us, but if you put him in jail for malachite, he’ll be completely exhausted. Because everything is bad in this matter. If you prepare an additive varnish, you won’t breathe out the dust, if you crush crushed stone, take care of your eyes, and if you dilute tin with strong vodka, it will suffocate you with vapors.” We thought and thought and came up with the idea of sending Mityunk to study lapidary.
The eye, they say, is quick-witted, the fingers are flexible and you don’t need much strength—it’s the job that suits him best.
Of course, they were related to the lapidary. They assigned him a job, and he was glad, because he knew that the boy was smart and not lazy at work.
This cutter was a so-so mediocre one, he made second or even third-price stones. Still, Mityunka learned from him what he could do. Then this master says to Danil:
- We need to send your boy to the city. Let it get to the real point there. He has a very dexterous hand.
And so they did. Danila and the city, you never know, had an acquaintance on stone business. I found the right person and installed Mityunka. Here he ended up with an old stone berry master. The fashion, you see, was to make berries from stones. There are grapes, currants, raspberries and so on. And there was a setup for everything. For example, black currants were made from agate, white currants were made from dummies, strawberries were made from wax jasper, and princely currants were glued from small chipped balls. In a word, every berry has its own stone. The roots and leaves also had their own order: some were made of opate, some were made of malachite or orlets, and there were some other stones.
Mityunka adopted this whole attitude, but no, no, he’ll come up with his own idea. The master grumbled at first, then began to praise:
“Perhaps it makes it look more lively.”
Finally, he directly announced:
“I see, boy, that your talent for this matter is very great.” It’s time for me, an old man, to learn from you. You have become a master, and even with an invention.
Then he was silent for a moment, and then he punished:
- Just make sure you don’t let her go! It's a fantasy! As if they wouldn’t fight off her hands for it. There have been such cases.
Mityunka, you know, is young - without paying attention to this. He still chuckles:
- It would be a good idea. Who will fight for her?
So Mityukha became a master, and he was still very young: his mustache had just begun to emerge. He didn’t miss orders; he always had plenty of work to do. The stone shopkeepers quickly realized that this guy smells like a big profit - they give him orders one after the other, just have time. Mityukha came up with this idea:
- I’ll go home now. If my work is needed, they will find me at home. The road is not far, and the load is not large - bring the material and pick up the craft.
So I did. The family was happy, understandably: Mitya had come. He also wants to make everyone happy, but he himself is not happy. At home it was almost like a solid malachite workshop. The father and two older brothers sit at the machines in the malukha, and the younger brothers are right there: some are sawing, some are grinding. The long-awaited one-year-old girl is trembling in her mother’s arms, but there is no joy in the family. Danilo really looks like an old man, the older brothers are coughing, and it’s not fun to look at the little ones. They fight and fight, and everything goes into the master's rent.
