Bazhov's malachite box and story. Malachite Box

Copper Mountain Mistress

Two of our factory workers went to look at the grass. And their mowing was far away. Somewhere behind Severushka.

It was a holiday day, and it was hot - passion. Parun is clean. And both of them were timid in grief, at Gumeshki that is. Malachite ore was mined, as well as blue tit. Well, when a kinglet with a coil came in, there was a thread that would fit.

He was a single young guy, unmarried, and his eyes began to turn green. The other one is older. This one is completely ruined. There is green in the eyes, and the cheeks seem to have turned green. And the man kept coughing.

It's good in the forest. The birds sing and rejoice, the earth soars, the spirit is light. Listen, they were exhausted. We reached the Krasnogorsk mine. Iron ore was mined there back then. So our guys lay down on the grass under the rowan tree and immediately fell asleep. Only suddenly the young man—someone pushed him in the side—woke up. He looks, and in front of him, on a pile of ore near a large stone, a woman is sitting. Her back is to the guy, and you can see from her braid that she’s a girl. The braid is gray-black and doesn’t dangle like our girls’, but sticks straight to the back. At the end of the tape are either red or green. They shine through and ring subtly, like sheet copper. The guy marvels at the scythe, and then he notices further. The girl is small in stature, good-looking and such a cool wheel - she won’t sit still. He will lean forward, look exactly under his feet, then lean back again, bend to one side, to the other. He jumps to his feet, waves his arms, then bends down again. In a word, artut girl. You can hear him babbling something, but in what way he speaks it is unknown, and with whom he speaks is not visible. Just a laugh. Apparently she's having fun.

The guy was about to say a word, when suddenly he was hit on the back of the head.

- My mother, but this is the Mistress herself! Her clothes are something. How did I not notice it right away? She averted her eyes with her oblique.

And the clothes are truly such that you won’t find anything else in the world. Made of silk, hear me, malachite dress. There is such a variety. It’s a stone, but it’s like silk to the eye, even if you stroke it with your hand.

“Here,” the guy thinks, “trouble! As soon as I could get away with it before I noticed.” From the old people, you see, he heard that this Mistress - a malachite girl - loves to play tricks on people.

Just when she thought something like that, she looked back. He looks at the guy cheerfully, bares his teeth and says jokingly:

- What are you doing, Stepan Petrovich? girlish beauty Are you staring at nothing? They take money for a look. Come closer. Let's talk a little.

The guy was scared, of course, but he didn’t show it. Attached. Even though she is a secret force, she is still a girl. Well, he’s a guy, which means he’s ashamed to be shy in front of a girl.

“I have no time,” he says, “to talk.” Without that we slept and went to look at the grass.

She chuckles and then says:

- I'll play a tune for you. Go, I say, there’s something to do.

Well, the guy sees that there is nothing to do. I went to her, and she loomed with her hand, go around the ore on the other side. He walked around and saw that there were countless lizards here. And everyone, listen, is different. Some, for example, are green, others are blue, which fade into blue, and others are like clay or sand with gold specks. Some, like glass or mica, shine, while others, like faded grass, and some are again decorated with patterns.

The girl laughs.

“Don’t part,” he says, “my army, Stepan Petrovich.” You are so big and heavy, but they are small for me. “And she clapped her hands together, and the lizards ran away and gave way.”

So the guy came closer, stopped, and she clapped her hands again and said, all laughing:

“Now you have nowhere to step.” If you crush my servant, there will be trouble.

He looked at his feet, and there wasn’t much ground there. All the lizards huddled together in one place, and the floor became patterned under our feet. Stepan looks - fathers, this is copper ore! All sorts and well polished. And there is mica, and blende, and all sorts of glitter that resemble malachite.

- Well, now you recognize me, Stepanushko? - asks the malachite girl, and she bursts into laughter.

Then, a little later, he says:

- Don't be scared. I won't do anything bad to you.

The guy felt miserable that the girl was mocking him and even saying such words. He became very angry and even shouted:

- Who should I be afraid of, if I am timid in grief!

“Okay,” answers the malachite girl. “That’s exactly what I need, someone who’s not afraid of anyone.” Tomorrow, as you descend the mountain, your factory clerk will be here, you tell him, yes, look, don’t forget the words:

“The owner of Copper Mountain, they say, ordered you, the stuffy goat, to get out of the Krasnogorsk mine. If you still break this iron cap of mine, I’ll dump all the copper in Gumeshki there for you, so there’s no way to get it.”

She said this and squinted:

– Do you understand, Stepanushko? In grief, you say, you are timid, you are not afraid of anyone? So tell the clerk as I ordered, and now go and the one who is with you, look, don’t say anything. He is a frightened man, why bother him and involve him in this matter. And so she told the blue tit to help him a little.

And she clapped her hands again, and all the lizards ran away. She also jumped to her feet, grabbed a stone with her hand, jumped up and, like a lizard, ran along the stone. Instead of arms and legs, its paws were green, its tail stuck out, there was a black stripe halfway down its spine, and its head was human. She ran to the top, looked back and said:

– Don’t forget, Stepanushko, as I said. She supposedly told you, the stuffy goat, to get out of Krasnogorka. If you do it my way, I’ll marry you!

The guy even spat in the heat of the moment:

- Ugh, what trash! So that I marry a lizard.

And she sees him spitting and laughs.

“Okay,” he shouts, “we’ll talk later.” Maybe you'll think about it?

And immediately over the hill, only a green tail flashed.

The guy was left alone. The mine is quiet. You can only hear someone else snoring behind a pile of ore. Woke him up. They went to their mowing, looked at the grass, returned home in the evening, and Stepan had one thing on his mind: what should he do? To say such words to the clerk is no small matter, but he was also, and it’s true, stuffy—there was some kind of rot in his gut, they say. Not to say, it’s also scary. She is the Mistress. What ore he wants can be thrown into the blende. Then do your homework. And worse than that, it’s a shame to show yourself off as a braggart in front of a girl.

I thought and thought and laughed:

“I wasn’t, I’ll do as she ordered.”

The next morning, as people gathered around the trigger drum, the factory clerk came up. Everyone, of course, took off their hats, remained silent, and Stepan came up and said:

“I saw the Mistress of the Copper Mountain last night, and she ordered me to tell you. She tells you, you stuffy goat, to get out of Krasnogorka. If you spoil this iron cap for her, she will dump all the copper on Gumeshki there, so that no one can get it.

The clerk even began to shake his mustache.

-What are you doing? Drunk or crazy? What Mistress? Who are you saying these words to? Yes, I will rot you in grief!

“Your will,” says Stepan, “and that’s the only way I was told.”

“Whip him,” the clerk shouts, “and take him down the mountain and chain him in the face!” And so as not to die, give him dog oatmeal and ask for lessons without any concessions. Just a little - tear mercilessly!

Well, of course, they flogged the guy and went up the hill. The mine overseer, also not the last dog, took him to the slaughter - it couldn’t be worse. It’s wet here, and there’s no good ore, I should have given up long ago. Here they chained Stepan to a long chain, so that he could work. It is known what time it was - the fortress. They made fun of the person in every possible way. The warden also says:

- Cool off here for a bit. And the lesson will cost you so much pure malachite - and he assigned it completely inappropriately.

Nothing to do. As soon as the warden left, Stepan began waving his stick, but the guy was still agile. He looks - okay. This is how malachite falls, no matter who throws it with their hands. And the water left somewhere from the face. It became dry.

“That’s good,” he thinks. Apparently the Mistress remembered me.”

I was just thinking, and suddenly there was a light. He looks, and the Mistress is here, in front of him.

“Well done,” says Stepan Petrovich. You can attribute it to honor. I wasn't afraid of the stuffy goat. Well told him. Let's go, apparently, to look at my dowry. I also don’t go back on my word.

And she frowned, it just didn’t feel good for her. She clapped her hands, the lizards came running, the chain was removed from Stepan, and the Mistress gave them the order:

– Break the lesson here in half. And so that there is malachite for selection, of the silk variety. “Then he says to Stepan: “Well, groom, let’s go look at my dowry.”

And so, let's go. She is in front, Stepan is behind her. Where she goes, everything is open to her. How large the rooms became underground, but their walls were different. Either all green, or yellow with gold specks. Which again have copper flowers. There are also blue ones and azure ones. In a word, it is decorated, which cannot be said. And the dress on her – on the Mistress – changes. One minute it shines like glass, then suddenly it fades, and then it sparkles like a diamond scree or turns reddish like copper, then again it shimmers like green silk. They're going, they're coming, she stopped.

And Stepan sees a huge room, and in it there are beds, tables, stools - all made of king copper. The walls are malachite with diamond, and the ceiling is dark red under blackening, and on it there are copper flowers.

“Let’s sit,” he says, “here, and talk.”

They sat down on stools, and the malachite girl asked:

-Have you seen my dowry?

“I saw it,” says Stepan.

- Well, how about marriage now?

But Stepan doesn’t know how to answer. Listen, he had a fiancée. A good girl, an orphan alone. Well, of course, compared to malachite, how can she compare in beauty! A simple person, an ordinary person. Stepan hesitated and hesitated, and then said:

“Your dowry is fit for a king, but I am a working man, a simple one.”

“You,” he says, “are a dear friend, don’t wobble.” Tell me straight, are you marrying me or not? – And she herself completely frowned.

Well, Stepan answered directly:

- I can’t, because another one was promised.

He said so and thinks: he’s on fire now. And she seemed happy.

“Well done,” says Stepanushko. I praised you for being a clerk, and for this I will praise you twice as much. You didn’t get enough of my wealth, you didn’t exchange your Nastenka for a stone girl. – And the guy’s fiancee’s name was probably Nastya. “Here,” he says, “is a gift for your bride,” and hands over a large malachite box. And there, listen, every woman’s device. Earrings, rings and other things that not even every rich bride has.

“How,” asks the guy, “will I get up to the top with this place?”

- Don't be sad about it. Everything will be arranged, and I will free you from the clerk, and you will live comfortably with your young wife, but here’s my story for you - don’t think about me later. This will be my third test for you. Now let's eat a little.

She clapped her hands again, the lizards came running - the table was set full. She fed him good cabbage soup, fish pie, lamb, porridge and other things, which are required according to the Russian rite. Then he says:

- Well, goodbye, Stepan Petrovich, don’t think about me. - And there are tears right there. She put her hand up, and the tears drip-drop and freeze on her hand like grains. Just a handful. - Here you go, take it for a living. People give a lot of money for these stones. You will be rich. - And gives it to him.

The stones are cold, but the hand, listen, is hot, as if it were alive, and shakes a little.

Stepan accepted the stones, bowed low and asked:

-Where should I go? - And he himself also became gloomy. She pointed with her finger, and a passage opened in front of him, like an adit, and it was light in it, like during the day. Stepan walked along this adit - again he saw enough of all the land riches and came just to his slaughter. He arrived, the adit closed, and everything became as before. The lizard came running, put a chain on his leg, and the box with gifts suddenly became small, Stepan hid it in his bosom. Soon the mine overseer approached. He wanted to laugh, but he sees that Stepan has a lot of tricks on top of the lesson, and malachite is a selection, a variety of varieties. “What,” he thinks, “is this thing? Where does it come from?" He climbed into the face, looked at everything and said:

- In this face, anyone will break as much as they like. - And he took Stepan to another pit, and put his nephew in this one.

The next day, Stepan began to work, and the malachite kept flying off, and even the wren began to fall with a coil, and with his nephew, tell me, there is nothing good, everything is just a shambles and a snag. It was then that the warden took notice of the matter. He ran to the clerk. Anyway.

“No other way,” he says, “Stepan sold his soul to evil spirits.”

The clerk says to this:

“It’s his business to whom he sold his soul, but we need to get our own benefit.” Promise him that we will release him into the wild, just let him find a malachite block worth a hundred pounds.

The clerk still ordered Stepan to be unchained and gave the following order: to stop work on Krasnogorka.

“Who,” he says, “knows him?” Maybe this fool was talking out of his mind then. And the ore and copper went there, but the cast iron was damaged.

The warden announced to Stepan what was required of him, and he replied:

- Who would refuse freedom? I’ll try, but if I find it, that’s my happiness.

Stepan soon found them such a block. They dragged her upstairs. They are proud - that’s what we are, but they didn’t give Stepan any freedom. They wrote to the master about the block, and he came from, hey, Sam-Petersburg. He found out how it happened and calls Stepan over.

“That’s what,” he says, “I give you my noble word to set you free if you find me such malachite stones that, that means, I can cut out pillars from them no less than five fathoms across the valley.”

Stepan answers:

“I’ve already been spun around.” I am not a scientist. First, write freely, then I will try, and we’ll see what comes out.

The master, of course, screamed and stamped his feet, and Stepan said one thing:

- I almost forgot - register my bride’s freedom too, but what kind of order is this - I myself will be free, and my wife will be in the fortress.

The master sees that the guy is not soft. I wrote him a document.

“Here,” he says, “just try to look.”

And Stepan is all his:

- It’s like looking for happiness.

Of course, Stepan found it. What does he need if he knew the whole inside of the mountain and the Mistress herself helped him. They cut out the pillars they needed from this malachite, dragged them upstairs, and the master sent them to the butt of the most important church in Sam-Petersburg. And the block that Stepan first found is still in our city, they say. How rare it is to take care of it.

From that time on, Stepan was released, and after that all the wealth in Gumeshki disappeared. There are a lot of blue tits coming, but more of them are snags. It became unheard of to hear about the bead with a coil, and the malachite left, and water began to be added. So from that time on, Gumeshki began to decline, and then they were completely flooded. They said that it was the Mistress who was burning for the pillars, hear that they were placed in the church. And she doesn’t need it at all.

Stepan also had no happiness in his life. He got married, started a family, furnished the house, everything was as it should be. He should have lived smoothly and been happy, but he became gloomy and deteriorated in health. So it melted before our eyes.

The sick man came up with the idea of ​​getting a shotgun and got into the habit of hunting. And yet, hey, he goes to the Krasnogorsk mine, but doesn’t bring the spoils home. In the autumn he left and that was the end. Now he’s gone, now he’s gone... Where did he go? They shot it down, of course, people, let's look for it. And hey, hey, he’s lying dead in the mine next to a high stone, he’s smiling evenly, and his little gun is lying to the side, unfired. The people who were the first to come running said that they saw a green lizard near the dead man, and such a big one, the likes of which had never been seen in our area. It’s as if she’s sitting over a dead man, with her head raised, and her tears just falling. As people ran closer, she was on the stone, and that was all they saw. And when they brought the dead man home and began to wash him, they looked: he had one hand tightly clasped, and green grains were barely visible from it. Just a handful. Then one person who knew happened, looked at the grains from the side and said:

- But it’s a copper emerald! A rare stone, dear. There is a whole wealth left for you, Nastasya. Where did he get these stones from?

Nastasya, his wife, explains that the dead man never spoke about any such stones. I gave her the box when I was still a fiance. A large box, malachite. There is a lot of goodness in her, but there are no such stones. I haven't seen it.

They began to take those stones out of Stepan’s dead hand, and they crumbled into dust. They never found out at that time where Stepan got them from. Then we dug around Krasnogorka. Well, ore and ore, brown, with a copper sheen. Then someone found out that it was Stepan who had the tears of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. He didn’t sell them to anyone, hey, he kept them secretly from his own people, and he died with them. A?

This means what a Mistress of the Copper Mountain she is!

For the bad to meet her, it is grief, and for the good, there is little joy.

Malachite Box

Nastasya, Stepanova's widow, still has a malachite box. With every feminine device. There are rings, earrings and other things according to women's rites. The Mistress of the Copper Mountain herself gave Stepan this box when he was still planning to get married.

Nastasya grew up as an orphan, she was not used to this kind of wealth, and she was quite a fan of fashion. From the first years I lived with Stepan, I wore it, of course, from this box. It just didn't suit her. He’ll put the ring on... It fits exactly right, it doesn’t pinch, it doesn’t roll off, but when he goes to church or on a visit somewhere, he gets dirty. Like a chained finger, in the end it will turn blue. He will hang his earrings - worse than that. It will tighten your ears so much that your lobes will swell. And to take it on your hand is no heavier than those that Nastasya always carried. Busks in six or seven rows only tried them on once. It’s like ice around your neck and they don’t warm up at all. She didn’t show those beads to people at all. It was a shame.

- Look, they’ll say what a queen they’ve found in Polevoy!

Stepan also did not force his wife to carry from this box. Once he even said:

Nastasya put the box in the very bottom chest, where canvases and other things are kept in reserve.

When Stepan died and the stones ended up in his dead hand, Nastasya had to show that box to strangers. And the one who knows, who told about Stepanov’s stones, says to Nastasya later, when the people have subsided:

- Look, don’t waste this box for nothing. It costs more than thousands.

He, this man, was a scientist, also a free man. Previously, he wore smart clothes, but he was removed: he supposedly weakened the people. Well, he didn’t disdain wine. He was also a good tavern plug, so be remembered, the little head is dead. And he is correct in everything. Write a request, wash off a sample, look at the signs - he did everything according to his conscience, not like others, just to rip off half a pint. Anyone and everyone will bring a glass to him as a festive occasion. So he lived at our factory until his death. He ate around the people.

Nastasya heard from her husband that this dandy is correct and smart in business, even though he has a passion for wine. Well, I listened to him.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll save it for a rainy day.” - And she put the box in its old place.

They buried Stepan, the Sorochins saluted with honor. Nastasya is a woman in wealth and wealth, and they began to woo her. And she is a smart woman, she tells everyone one thing:

“Even though we’re second in gold, we’re still stepfathers to all the timid kids.”

Well, we are behind in time.

Stepan left good provision for his family. A clean house, a horse, a cow, complete furnishings. Nastasya is a hard-working woman, the kids are timid, they don’t live very well. They live for a year, they live for two, they live for three. Well, they have become poor after all. How can one woman with young children manage a household? You also have to get a penny somewhere. At least some salt. Relatives are here and let Nastasya sing in her ears:

- Sell the box! What do you need it for? What good is there to lie in vain? Everything is one and Tanya won’t wear it when she grows up. There are some things over there! Only bars and merchants can buy. With our belt you won’t be able to wear an eco-friendly seat. And people would give money. Distributions for you.

In a word, they are slandering. And the buyer swooped in like a raven on a bone. All of them are merchants. Some give a hundred rubles, some give two hundred.

“We feel sorry for your robbers, and, due to your widowhood, we make allowances for you.”

Well, they're trying to fool a woman, but they hit the wrong one.

Nastasya remembers well, what? The old dandy told her he wouldn’t sell it for such a trifle. It's also a pity. After all, it was a groom’s gift, a husband’s memory. And what’s more, her youngest girl burst into tears and asked:

- Mommy, don’t sell it! Mommy, don't sell it! It’s better for me to go among the people and save my dad’s memo.

From Stepan, you see, there are only three little kids left. Two boys. They are timid, but this one, as they say, is neither like mother nor father. Even when Stepanova was a little girl, people marveled at this little girl. Not just the girls and women, but also the men said to Stepan:

“It’s no different that this one fell out of your hands, Stepan.” Who has just been born! She herself is black and fable, and her eyes are green. It’s like she doesn’t look like our girls at all.

Stepan used to joke:

“It’s no surprise that she’s black.” My father hid in the ground from an early age. And that the eyes are green is also not surprising. You never know, I stuffed master Turchaninov with malachite. This is the reminder I still have.

So I called this girl Memo. “Come on, my reminder!” And when she happened to buy something, she would always bring something blue or green.

So that little girl grew up in people’s minds. Exactly and in fact, the horsetail fell out of the festive belt - it can be seen far away. And although she was not very fond of strangers, everyone was Tanyushka and Tanyushka. The most envious grandmothers, and they admired. Well, what a beauty! Everyone's nice. One mother sighed:

- Beauty is beauty, but not ours. Exactly who replaced the girl for me.

According to Stepan, this girl was killing herself. She was all clean, her face lost weight, only her eyes remained. Mother came up with the idea of ​​giving Tanya that malachite box - let him have some fun. Even if she’s small, she’s still a girl—from a young age, it’s flattering for them to make fun of themselves. Tanya started taking these things apart. And it’s a miracle - the one he tries on, he fits it too. Mother didn’t even know why, but this one knows everything. And he also says:

- Mommy, what a good gift my dad gave! The warmth from it, as if you were sitting on a warm bed, and someone was stroking you softly.

Nastasya sewed the patches herself; she remembers how her fingers would become numb, her ears would hurt, and her neck could not get warm. So he thinks: “This is not without reason. Oh, for good reason!” - Hurry up and put the box back in the chest. Only Tanya from then on, no, no, will ask:

- Mommy, let me play with my dad’s gift!

When Nastasya gets strict, well, like a mother’s heart, she will take pity, take out the box, and only punish:

– Don’t break anything!

Then, when Tanya grew up, she began to take out the box herself. The mother and the older boys will go to mowing or somewhere else, Tanya will stay behind to do housework. First, of course, he will manage that the mother punished him. Well, wash the cups and spoons, shake off the tablecloth, wave a broom in the hut, give food to the chickens, take a look at the stove. He’ll get everything done as quickly as possible, and for the sake of the box. By that time, only one of the upper chests remained, and even that one had become light. Tanya slides it onto a stool, takes out the box and sorts through the stones, admires it, and tries it on for herself.

Once upon a time a hitnik climbed up to her. Either he buried himself in the fence early in the morning, or then slipped through unnoticed, but none of the neighbors saw him pass along the street. He’s an unknown man, but apparently someone brought him up to date and explained the whole procedure.

After Nastasya left, Tanyushka ran around doing a lot of housework and climbed into the hut to play with her father’s pebbles. She put on the headband and hung the earrings. At this time, this hitnik puffed into the hut. Tanya looked around - there was an unfamiliar man on the threshold, with an axe. And the ax is theirs. In the senki, in the corner he stood. Just now Tanya was rearranging him, as if in chalk. Tanya was frightened, she sat frozen, and the man jumped, dropped the ax and grabbed his eyes with both hands, as they burned. Moans and screams:

- Oh, fathers, I’m blind! Oh, blind! - and he rubs his eyes.

Tanya sees that something is wrong with the man and begins to ask:

- How did you come to us, uncle, why did you take the ax?

And he groans and rubs his eyes. Tanya took pity on him - she scooped up a ladle of water and wanted to serve it, but the man just shied away with his back to the door.

- Oh, don't come closer! “So I sat in the senki and blocked the doors so that Tanya wouldn’t inadvertently jump out.” Yes, she found a way - she ran out through the window and to her neighbors. Well, here we come. They began to ask what kind of person, in what case? He blinked a little and explained that the person passing by wanted to ask for a favor, but something happened to his eyes.

- Like the sun hit. I thought I would go completely blind. From the heat, perhaps.

Tanya didn’t tell her neighbors about the ax and the stones. They think:

“It’s a waste of time. Maybe she herself forgot to lock the gate, so a passer-by came in, and then something happened to him. You never know."

Still, they didn’t let the passerby go until Nastasya. When she and her sons arrived, this man told her what he had told his neighbors. Nastasya sees that everything is safe, she didn’t get involved. That man left, and so did the neighbors.

Then Tanya told her mother how it happened. Then Nastasya realized that he had come for the box, but apparently it was not easy to take it. And she thinks:

“We still need to protect her more tightly.”

She took it quietly from Tanya and the others and buried that box in the golbets.

All the family left again. Tanya missed the box, but there was one. It seemed bitter to Tanya, but then suddenly she felt a warmth. What is this thing? Where? I looked around, and there was light coming from under the floor. Tanya was scared - was it a fire? I looked into the golbets, there was light in one corner. She grabbed a bucket and wanted to splash it, but there was no fire and there was no smell of smoke. She dug around in that place and saw a box. I opened it, and the stones became even more beautiful. So they burn with different lights, and the light from them is like in the sun. Tanya didn’t even drag the box into the hut. Here in the golbtse I played my fill.

This is how it has been since then. The mother thinks: “Well, she hid it well, no one knows,” and the daughter, like housekeeping, snatches an hour to play with her father’s expensive gift. Nastasya didn’t even let her family know about the sale.

– If it fits around the world, then I’ll sell it.

Even though it was tough for her, she strengthened herself. So they struggled for a few more years, then things got better. The older boys began to earn little, and Tanya did not sit idle. Listen, she learned how to sew with silks and beads. And so I learned that the best master craftswomen clapped their hands - where does she get the patterns, where does she get the silk?

And it also happened by chance. A woman comes to them. She was short, dark-haired, about Nastasya’s age, and sharp-eyed, and, apparently, she was sneaking around so hard that you just had to hold on. On the back there is a canvas bag, in the hand there is a bird cherry bag, it looks like a wanderer. Asks Nastasya:

“Can’t you, mistress, have a day or two to rest?” They don’t carry their legs, and they can’t walk close.

At first Nastasya wondered if she had been sent for the box again, but then she finally let her go.

- There is no space for space. If you don’t lie there, go and take it with you. Only this piece is an orphan one. In the morning - onion with kvass, in the evening kvass with onions, everything and change. You are not afraid of becoming thin, so you are welcome to live as long as you need to.

And the wanderer had already put her bag down, put her knapsack on the stove and took off her shoes. Nastasya didn’t like this, but kept silent.

“Look, you ignorant one! We didn’t have time to greet her, but she finally took off her shoes and untied her knapsack.”

The woman unfastened her purse and beckoned Tanya to her with her finger:

“Come on, child, look at my handiwork.” If he takes a look, I’ll teach you... Apparently, you’ll have a keen eye for it!

Tanya came up, and the woman handed her a small fly, the ends sewn with silk. And such and such, hey, a hot pattern on that fly that just became lighter and warmer in the hut.

Tanya's eyes glared, and the woman chuckled.

- Did you look at my handicrafts, daughter? Do you want me to learn it?

“I want to,” he says.

Nastasya got so angry:

- And forget to think! There’s nothing to buy salt with, but you came up with the idea of ​​sewing with silks! Supplies, go figure, cost money.

“Don’t worry about that, mistress,” says the wanderer. “If my daughter has an idea, she will have supplies.” I’ll leave her the bread and salt for yours—it’ll last for a long time. And then you will see for yourself. They pay money for our skill. We don’t give away our work for nothing. We have a piece.

Here Nastasya had to give in.

“If you spare enough supplies, you won’t learn anything.” Let him learn as long as the concept is enough. I'll thank you.

This woman started teaching Tanya. Tanya quickly took over everything, as if she knew it before. Yes, here's another thing. Tanya was not only unkind towards strangers, but towards her own people, but she just clings to this woman and clings to her. Nastasya looked askance:

“I found myself a new family. She won’t approach her mother, but she’s stuck to a tramp!”

And she still teases her, keeps calling Tanya “child” and “daughter”, but never mentions her baptized name. Tanya sees that her mother is offended, but cannot restrain herself. Before that, hey, I trusted this woman because I told her about the box!

“We have,” he says, “we have my father’s dear memento—a malachite box.” That's where the stones are! I could look at them forever.

– Will you show me, daughter? - asks the woman.

Tanya didn’t even think that something was wrong.

“I’ll show you,” he says, “when none of the family is home.”

After such an hour, Tanyushka turned around and called that woman to the cabbage. Tanya took out the box and showed it, and the woman looked at it a little and said:

“Put it on yourself and you’ll see better.”

Well, Tanya - not the right word - began to put it on, and she, you know, praised it.

- Okay, daughter, okay! It just needs to be corrected a little.

She came closer and started poking the stones with her finger. The one that touches will light up differently. Tanya can see other things, but not others. After this the woman says:

- Stand up, daughter, straight up.

Tanya stood up, and the woman began to slowly stroke her hair and her back. She ironed everything, and she herself instructs:

“I’ll make you turn around, so don’t look back at me.” Look ahead, take note of what will happen, and don’t say anything. Well, turn around!

Tanya turned around - in front of her was a room the likes of which she had never seen. It's not the church, it's not like that. The ceilings are high on pillars made of pure malachite. The walls are also lined with malachite the height of a man, and a malachite pattern runs along the upper cornice. Standing right in front of Tanya, as if in the mirror, is a beauty the likes of which they only talk about in fairy tales. Hair like night and eyes green. And she is all decorated with expensive stones, and her dress is made of green velvet with iridescence. And so this dress is made, just like the queens in the pictures. What does it hold on to? Out of shame, our factory workers would burn to death to wear something like that in public, but this green-eyed girl stands there calmly, as if that’s the way it should be. There are a lot of people in that room. They are dressed like a lord, and everyone is wearing gold and merit. Some have it hung on the front, some have it sewn on the back, and some have it on all sides. Apparently, the highest authorities. And their women are right there. Also bare-armed, bare-breasted, hung with stones. But where do they care about the green-eyed one! None hold a candle.

In a row with the green-eyed one is some kind of fair-haired guy. Eyes slanted, ears stumpy, like eating a hare. And the clothes he’s wearing are mind-boggling. This one didn’t think the gold was enough, so he, listen, put stones on his weapon. Yes, so strong that maybe in ten years they will find one like him. You can immediately see that this is a breeder. That green-eyed hare is babbling, but she at least raised an eyebrow, as if he were not there at all.

Tanya looks at this lady, marvels at her, and only then notices:

- After all, there are stones on it! - Tanya said, and nothing happened.

And the woman chuckles:

- I didn’t notice, daughter! Don't worry, you'll see in time.

Tanya, of course, asks: where is this room?

“And this,” he says, “is the royal palace.” The same chamber that is decorated with local malachite. Your late father mined it.

- Who is this in her dad’s headdress and what kind of hare is she with her?

- Well, I won’t say that, you’ll find out for yourself soon.

On the same day that Nastasya came home, this woman began to get ready for the journey. She bowed low to the hostess, handed Tanya a bundle of silks and beads, then took out a small button. Either it is made of glass, or it is made of foolscap with a simple edge. He gives it to Tanya and says:

- Accept, daughter, a reminder from me. Whenever you forget something at work or a difficult situation comes up, look at this button. Here you will have the answer.

She said so and left. They only saw her.

From that time on, Tanya became a craftswoman, and as she grew older, she looked like a bride. The factory guys have calloused their eyes about Nastasya’s windows, and they are afraid to approach Tanya. You see, she’s unkind, gloomy, and where would a free woman marry a serf? Who wants to put on a noose?

In the manor's house they also inquired about Tanya because of her skill. They began to send people to her. A younger and nicer footman will be dressed like a gentleman, given a watch with a chain and sent to Tanya, as if on some business. They wonder if the girl will have an eye on this fellow. Then you can turn it back. It still didn't make any sense. Tanya will say that it’s on business, and other conversations of that lackey will be ignored. If he gets bored, he will make some mockery:

- Go, my dear, go! They're waiting. They're afraid that your watch might wear out and your grip might loosen. See, without the habit, how you call them.

Well, these words are like boiling water for a dog to a footman or other servant of the lord. He runs as if scalded, snorting to himself:

- Is this a girl? Stone statue, green-eyed! Will we find one!

He snorts like that, but he himself is overwhelmed. The one who will be sent cannot forget Tanyushka’s beauty. Like someone who is bewitched, he is drawn to that place - even to pass by, to look out the window. On holidays, almost all the factory bachelors have business on that street. The path has been paved right by the windows, but Tanya doesn’t even look.

The neighbors began to reproach Nastasya:

- Why is Tatyana acting so highly on you? She doesn’t have girlfriends and doesn’t want to look at guys. The Tsarevich-Krolevich is waiting for Christ's bride, is everything going well?

Nastasya just sighs at these submissions:

- Oh, ladies, I don’t even know. And so I had a wise girl, and this passing witch completely tormented her. You start talking to her, and she stares at her magic button - and remains silent. She should have thrown away that damned button, but in fact it’s good for her. How to change the silk or something, it looks like a button. She told me too, but apparently my eyes have become dull, I can’t see. I would beat the girl, yes, you see, she’s a gold digger among us. Consider, it is only her work that we live. I think and think so and so, and I’ll roar. Well, then she will say: “Mommy, I know that there is no destiny for me here. I don’t greet anyone and don’t go to games. What's the point of driving people into depression? And while I’m sitting under the window, my work requires it. Why are you coming at me? What bad thing have I done? So answer her!

Well, life started to go well after all. Tanya’s handicraft has become fashionable. It’s not like in the al factory in our city, they learned about it in other places, they send orders and pay a lot of money. A good man can earn so much money. Only then did trouble befall them - a fire broke out. And it happened at night. The drive, the delivery, the horse, the cow, all kinds of gear - everything burned down. They were left with nothing but what they jumped out in. However, Nastasya snatched the box in time. The next day he says:

“Apparently, the end has come—we’ll have to sell the box.”

- Sell it, mommy. Just don't sell it short.

Tanya looked furtively at the button, and there the green-eyed one loomed - let them sell it. Tanya felt bitter, but what can you do? All the same, this green-eyed girl’s father’s memo will go away. She sighed and said:

- Sell like that. “And I didn’t even look at those stones goodbye.” And that’s to say - they took shelter with neighbors, where to lay out.

They came up with this idea - to sell it, but the merchants were right there. Who, perhaps, set up the arson himself in order to take possession of the box. Also, the little people are like nails, they’ll get scratched! They see that the kids have grown up and give more. Five hundred there, seven hundred, one reached a thousand. There's a lot of money in the plant, you can use it to get some. Well, Nastasya still asked for two thousand. So they go to her and dress up. They throw it on little by little, but they hide from each other, they cannot come to an agreement among themselves. Look, a piece of this - no one wants to give up. While they were walking like this, a new clerk arrived at Polevaya.

When they - clerks - sit for a long time, and in those years they had some kind of transfer. The old gentleman on Krylatovsko put away the stuffy goat that was with Stepan because of the stench. Then there was Fried Butt. The workers put him on a blank. Here Severyan the Killer stepped in. This again the Mistress of the Copper Mountain threw into the empty rock. There were two or three more there, and then this one arrived.

They say he was from foreign lands, he seemed to speak all sorts of languages, but worse in Russian. He simply said one thing - flog. From above, with a stretch - a couple. No matter what shortage they talk to him about, one thing screams: paro! They called him Parotey.

In fact, this Parotya was not very thin. Although he shouted, he didn’t rush people to the fire department. The scoundrels there didn't even care. The people sighed a little at this Parot.

Here, you see, there’s something wrong. By that time the old master had become completely frail, he could barely move his legs. He came up with the idea of ​​marrying his son to some countess or something. Well, this young master had a mistress, and he had great affection for her. How should things be? It's still awkward. What will the new matchmakers say? So the old master began to persuade that woman—his son’s mistress—to marry the musician. This musician served with the master. He taught the little boys, through music, foreign conversation, as it was conducted according to their position.

“How can you,” he says, “live on bad fame, get married?” I’ll give you a dowry and send your husband as a clerk to Polevaya. The matter is directed there, let only the people be stricter. That's enough, I guess it's no use even if you're a musician. And you will live better than the best with him in Polevoy. The first person, one might say, will be. Honor to you, respect from everyone. What's bad?

The butterfly turned out to be a conspiracy. Either she was in a quarrel with the young master, or she was playing tricks.

“For a long time,” he says, “I had a dream about this, but didn’t dare say it.”

Well, the musician, of course, was reluctant at first:

“I don’t want to,” she has a very bad reputation, like a slut.

Only the master is a cunning old man. No wonder he built factories. He quickly ruined this musician. He intimidated them with something, or flattered them, or gave them something to drink - that was their business, but soon the wedding was celebrated, and the newlyweds went to Polevaya. So Parotya appeared in our plant. He only lived for a short time, and so - what can I say in vain - he is not a harmful person. Then, when one and a half Khari took over from his factory workers, they felt so sorry for even this Parotya.

Parotya arrived with his wife just at the time when the merchants were courting Nastasya. Baba Parotina was also prominent. White and ruddy - in a word, a lover. Probably the master wouldn't have taken it. I guess I chose it too! This Parotin’s wife heard that the box was being sold. “Let me see,” he thinks, “maybe it’s really worthwhile.” She quickly got dressed and rolled up to Nastasya. Factory horses are always ready for them!

“Well,” he says, “dear, show me what kind of stones you sell?”

Nastasya took out the box and showed it. Baba Parotina’s eyes began to dart. Listen, she was brought up in Sam-Petersburg, she had been to various foreign countries with the young master, she had a lot of sense in these outfits. “What is this,” he thinks, “this? The queen herself doesn’t have such decorations, but here it is – in Polevoy, among the fire victims! As long as the purchase doesn’t fall through.”

“How much,” he asks, “are you asking?”

Nastasya says:

“I’d like to take two thousand.”

The lady dressed herself up for appearance, and said:

- Well, honey, get ready! Let's go to me with the box. There you will get the money in full.

Nastasya, however, did not give in to this.

“We,” he says, “don’t have such a custom that bread follows the belly.” If you bring the money, the box is yours.

The lady sees what a woman she is, she’s eagerly running after the money, and she punishes:

- Don’t sell the box, honey.

Nastasya answers:

- It's in hope. I won’t go back on my word. I’ll wait until evening, and then it’s my will.

Parotin’s wife left, and the merchants all came running at once. They were watching, you see. They ask:

- Well, how?

“I sold it,” Nastasya answers.

- For how long?

- For two, as prescribed.

“What are you doing,” they shout, “have you made up your mind or what?” You give it into the hands of others, but refuse yours! - And let’s raise the price.

Well, Nastasya didn’t take the bait.

“This,” he says, “is something you’re accustomed to spinning around in words, but I haven’t had the chance.” I reassured the woman and the conversation was over!

Parotina's woman turned around very quickly. She brought the money, passed it from hand to hand, picked up the box and went home. Just on the threshold, and Tanya is coming towards you. She, you see, went somewhere, and all this sale happened without her. He sees some lady with a box. Tanya stared at her - they say, she’s not the one she saw then. And Parotin’s wife stared even more than that.

-What kind of obsession? Whose is this? - asks.

“People call me daughter,” Nastasya answers. - The very same heir to the box you bought. I wouldn’t sell it if the end didn’t come. From a young age I loved to play with these dresses. He plays and praises them - they make them feel warm and good. What can we say about this! Whatever fell in the cart was lost!

“It’s wrong, my dear, to think so,” says Baba Parotina. “I’ll find a place for these stones.” “And he thinks to himself: “It’s good that this green-eyed one doesn’t feel her strength. If someone like this showed up in Sam-Petersburg, she would turn the kings around. It’s necessary - my fool Turchaninov didn’t see her.”

With that we parted ways.

Parotya’s wife, when she arrived home, boasted:

- Now, dear friend, I’m not forced by you or the Turchaninovs. Just a moment - goodbye! I’ll go to Sam-Petersburg or, better yet, abroad, sell the box and buy two dozen men like you, if the need arises.

She boasted, but she still wants to show off her new purchase. Well, what a woman! She ran to the mirror and first of all attached the headband. - Oh, oh, what is it! - I have no patience - he twists and pulls his hair. I barely got out. And he’s itching. I put on the earrings and almost tore my earlobes. She put her finger in the ring - it was chained, and she could barely pull it off with soap. The husband chuckles: this is obviously not the way to wear it!

And she thinks: “What is this thing? We need to go to the city and show it to the master. He’ll fit it just right, as long as he doesn’t replace the stones.”

No sooner said than done. The next day she drove off in the morning. It's not far from the factory troika. I found out who the most reliable master is - and went to him. The master is very old, but he is good at his work. He looked at the box and asked who it was bought from. The lady said that she knew. The master looked at the box again, but didn’t even look at the stones.

“I won’t take it,” he says, “let’s do whatever you want.” This is not the work of the masters here. It is impossible for us to compete with them.

The lady, of course, did not understand what the squiggle was, she snorted and ran to the other masters. Only everyone agreed: they will look at the box, admire it, but they don’t look at the stones and flatly refuse to work. The lady then resorted to tricks and said that she brought this box from Sam-Petersburg. They did everything there. Well, the master for whom she wove this just laughed.

“I know,” he says, “where the box was made, and I’ve heard a lot about the master.” All of us can't compete with him. The master fits one for one, it won’t suit another, whatever you want to do.

The lady didn’t understand everything here either, all she understood was that something was wrong, the masters were afraid of someone. I remembered that the old housewife said that her daughter loved to put these dresses on herself.

“Wasn’t it the green-eyed one they were chasing after? What a problem!”

Then he translates again in his mind:

“What do I care! I’ll sell it to any rich fool. Let him toil, and I’ll have the money!” With this I left for Polevaya.

I arrived, and there was news: we received the news - the old master ordered us to live long. He pulled a trick on Paroteya, but death outwitted him - it took him and hit him. He never managed to get his son married, and now he has become the complete master. After a short time, Parotin’s wife received a letter. So and so, my dear, I’ll come along the spring water to show myself at the factories and take you away, and we’ll caulk your musician somewhere. Parotya somehow found out about this and started a fuss. It's a shame, you see, for him in front of the people. After all, he’s a clerk, and then look, his wife is taken away. I started drinking heavily. With employees, of course. They are happy to try for nothing. Once upon a time we feasted. One of these drinkers and boast:

“A beauty grew up in our factory; you won’t soon find another like it.”

Parotya asks:

-Whose is this? Where does he live?

Well, they told him and mentioned the box - it was from this family that your wife bought the box.

Parotya says:

- I’d like to take a look.

And the drinkers found something to eat:

“At least let’s go now to inspect whether they built the new hut okay.” The family, even if they are free, live on factory land. If something happens, you can press it.

Two or three went with this Parotei. They brought the chain, let’s measure it to see if Nastasya had stabbed herself in someone else’s estate, if the tops were coming out between the pillars. They are looking for, in a word. Then they go into the hut, and Tanya was just alone. Parotya looked at her and was lost for words. Well, I have never seen such beauty in any land. He stands there like a fool, and she sits there, keeping quiet, as if it’s none of her business. Then Parotya walked away a little and began asking:

- What are you doing?

Tanya says:

“I sew to order,” and she showed me her work.

“Can I place an order,” says Parotya?

- Why not, if we agree on the price.

“Can you,” Parotya asks again, “embroider my pattern with silk?”

Tanya slowly looked at the button, and there the green-eyed woman gave her a sign - take the order! - and points a finger at himself. Tanya answers:

“I won’t give you my own pattern, but I have a woman in mind, wearing expensive stones and wearing a queen’s dress, I can embroider this one.” But such work will not be cheap.

“Don’t worry about this,” he says, “I’ll pay even a hundred, even two hundred rubles, as long as there is a similarity with you.”

“In the face,” he answers, “there will be similarities, but the clothes are different.”

We got dressed for a hundred rubles. Tanya set a deadline - in a month. Only Parotya, no, no, will run in as if to find out about the order, but he himself has the wrong thing in mind. He’s also frowned upon, but Tanya doesn’t notice at all. He will say two or three words, and that’s the whole conversation. Parotin’s drinkers began to laugh at him:

- It won’t break off here. You shouldn't be shaking your boots!

Well, Tanya embroidered that pattern. Parotya looks - wow, my God! but this is she, adorned with clothes and stones! Of course, he gives me three hundred-dollar tickets, but Tanya didn’t take two.

“It’s not customary,” he says, “we accept gifts.” We feed on labor.

Parotya ran home, admired the pattern, and kept it secret from his wife. He began to feast less, and began to delve into the factory business a little bit.

In the spring, a young gentleman came to the factories. I drove to Polevaya. The people were rounded up, a prayer service was served, and then the bell ringers began to ring in the manor’s house. Two barrels of wine were also rolled out to the people - to remember the old one and congratulate the new master. That means the seed has been done. All the Turchanin masters were experts at this. As soon as you fill the master’s glass with a dozen of your own, it will seem like God knows what kind of holiday, but in reality it will turn out that you’ve washed your last penny and it’s completely useless. The next day people went to work, and there was another feast in the master's house. And so it went. They’ll sleep as long as they can and then go on a party again. Well, there, they ride boats, ride horses into the forest, play music, you never know. And Parotya is drunk all the time. The master purposely placed the most dashing roosters with him - pump him up to capacity! Well, they try to serve the new master.

Even though Parotya is drunk, he senses where things are headed. He feels awkward in front of guests. He says at the table, in front of everyone:

“It doesn’t matter to me that master Turchaninov wants to take my wife away from me.” May you be lucky! I don't need one like that. That's who I have! “Yes, and he takes that silk patch out of his pocket.” Everyone gasped, but Baba Parotina couldn’t even close her mouth. The master, too, had his eyes fixed on him. He became curious.

- Who is she? - asks.

Parotya, you know, laughs:

- The table is full of gold - and I won’t say that!

Well, what can you say if the factory workers immediately recognized Tanya? One tries in front of the other - they explain to the master. Parotina woman with arms and legs:

- What do you! What do you! Make such nonsense! Where did a factory girl get such a dress and expensive stones? And this husband brought the pattern from abroad. He showed it to me before the wedding. Now, from drunken eyes, you never know what will happen. Soon he won’t remember himself. Look all swollen!

Parotya sees that his wife is not very nice, so he starts blabbering:

- You are Stramina, Stramina! Why are you weaving braids, throwing sand in the master’s eyes! What pattern did I show you? Here they sewed it for me. The same girl they're talking about over there. As for the dress – I won’t lie – I don’t know. You can wear whatever dress you want. And they had stones. Now you have them locked in your closet. I bought them myself for two thousand, but I couldn’t wear them. Apparently, the Cherkassy saddle does not suit the cow. The whole factory knows about the purchase!

As soon as the master heard about the stones, he immediately:

- Come on, show me!

He was, I hear, a little smart, a little extravagant. In a word, heir. He had a strong passion for stones. He had nothing to show off - as they say, neither height nor voice - just stones. Wherever he hears about a good stone, he can buy it now. And he knew a lot about stones, even though he wasn’t very smart.

Baba Parotina sees that there is nothing to do, she brought the box. The master looked and immediately:

- How many?

It boomed completely unheard of. Master dress up. Halfway through they agreed, and the master signed the loan paper: you see, he didn’t have any money with him. The master put the box in front of him on the table and said:

– Call this girl we’re talking about.

They ran for Tanya. She didn’t mind, she went straight away, thinking how big the order was. She comes into the room, and it’s full of people, and in the middle is the same hare that she saw then. In front of this hare is a box - a gift from his father. Tanya immediately recognized the master and asked:

- Why did you call me?

The master cannot say a word. I stared at her, and that was all. Then I finally found a conversation:

– Your stones?

“They were ours, now they’re theirs,” and pointed to Parotina’s wife.

“Mine now,” the master boasted.

- This is your business.

- Do you want me to give it back?

- There is nothing to give back.

- Well, can you try them on yourself? I would like to see how these stones look on a person.

“That,” Tanya answers, “is possible.”

She took the box, dismantled the decorations - the usual thing - and quickly put them in place. The master looks and just gasps. Oh yes ah, there is no more talk. Tanya stood in her attire and asked:

-Have you looked? Will? It’s not easy for me to stand here - I have work.

The master is here in front of everyone and says:

- Marry me. Agree?

Tanya just grinned:

“It wouldn’t be appropriate for a master to say such a thing.” “I took off my clothes and left.” Only the master does not lag behind. The next day he came to make a match. He asks and prays to Nastasya: give up your daughter for me.

Nastasya says:

“I don’t take away her will, as she wants, but in my opinion it doesn’t fit.”

Tanya listened and listened, and then said:

- That’s it, or that’s it... I heard that in the royal palace there is a chamber lined with malachite from the booty. Now, if you show me the queen in this chamber, then I will marry you.

The master, of course, agrees to everything. Now he’s starting to get ready for Sam-Petersburg and is calling Tanya with him - he says I’ll give you horses. And Tanya answers:

“According to our ritual, the bride does not ride to the wedding on the groom’s horses, and we are still nothing.” Then we’ll talk about it once you’ve fulfilled your promise.

“When,” he asks, “will you be in Sam-Petersburg?”

“I’ll definitely go to the Intercession,” he says. Don’t worry about it, but for now, leave here.

The master left, of course he didn’t take Parotina’s wife, he doesn’t even look at her. As soon as I arrived home in Sam-Petersburg, let’s spread the word all over the city about the stones and about my bride. I showed the box to many people. Well, the bride was very curious to see. For the fall, the master prepared an apartment for Tanya, brought all sorts of dresses, shoes, and she sent the news - here she lives with such and such a widow on the very outskirts.

The master, of course, is going there right away:

- What do you! Is it a good idea to live here? The apartment is ready, first grade!

And Tanya answers:

- I'm fine here.

The rumor about the stones and Turchaninov’s bride reached the queen. She says:

- Let Turchaninov show me his bride. There are a lot of lies about her.

Master to Tanyushka, they say, we need to get ready. Sew an outfit so that you can wear stones from a malachite box into the palace. Tanya answers:

“It’s not your sadness about the outfit, but I’ll take the stones to keep.” Don't even think about sending horses after me. I'll use mine. Just wait for me at the porch, in the palace.

The master thinks, where did she get the horses? where is the palace dress? – but still didn’t dare ask.

So they began to gather for the palace. Everyone rides up on horses, wearing silks and velvets. Turchaninov the gentleman hangs around the porch early in the morning, waiting for his bride. The others were also curious to look at her—they stopped immediately. And Tanya put on her stones, tied herself with a scarf in the factory style, threw on her fur coat and walked quietly. Well, people - where did this come from? - the shaft is falling behind her. Tanyushka approached the palace, but the royal lackeys did not let her in - it was not allowed, they say, because of the factory workers. Turchaninov the master saw Tanyushka from afar, but he was ashamed in front of his own people that his bride was on foot, and even in such a fur coat, he took it and hid. Tanya then opened her fur coat, the footmen looked - what a dress! The queen doesn't have that! - They let me in right away.

And when Tanya took off her scarf and fur coat, everyone around gasped:

-Whose is this? Which lands is the queen?

And master Turchaninov is right there.

“My bride,” he says.

Tanya looked at him sternly:

- We'll see about that! Why did you deceive me - you didn’t wait at the porch?

Master back and forth - it was a mistake. Excuse me please.

They went to the royal chambers, where they were ordered. Tanya looks - it’s not the right place. Turchaninova asked the master even more sternly:

- What kind of deception is this? It was told to you that in that chamber, which is lined with malachite from woodwork! “And she walked through the palace, just like at home.” And senators, generals and others follow her.

- What, they say, is this? Apparently, it was ordered there.

There were a ton of people, and everyone couldn’t take their eyes off Tanya, but she stood right next to the malachite wall and waited. Turchaninov, of course, is right there. He mutters to her that something is wrong, the queen did not order her to wait in this room. And Tanya stands calmly, even if she raised an eyebrow, as if the master was not there at all.

The queen went out into the room where she was assigned. He looks - there is no one. The Tsarina’s earphones lead the way - Turchaninov’s bride took everyone to the malachite chamber. The queen grumbled, of course, - what kind of self-will! She stamped her feet. She got a little angry, that is. The queen comes to the malachite chamber. Everyone bows to her, but Tanya stands there and doesn’t move.

The queen shouts:

- Come on, show me this unauthorized bride - Turchaninov’s bride!

Tanya heard this, her eyebrows furrowed, and she said to the master:

- I just came up with this! I told the queen to show me, and you arranged to show me to her. Cheating again! I don't want to see you anymore! Get your stones!

With this word she leaned against the malachite wall and melted. All that remains is that the stones sparkle on the wall, as if stuck to the places where the head, neck, and arms were.

Everyone, of course, was scared, and the queen fell unconscious on the floor. They started fussing and started lifting. Then, when the commotion subsided, the friends said to Turchaninov:

- Pick up some stones! They'll steal it quickly. Not just any place – a palace! They know the price here!

Turchaninov and let's grab those stones. The one he grabs will curl up into a droplet. Sometimes the drop is pure, like a tear, sometimes it’s yellow, and sometimes it’s thick, like blood. So I didn’t collect anything. He looks and sees a button lying on the floor. From bottle glass, on a simple edge. Not a big deal at all. Out of grief, he grabbed her. I just took it in my hand, and in this button, as in large mirror, a green-eyed beauty in a malachite dress, all decorated with expensive stones, bursts into laughter:

- Eh, you crazy slanting hare? Should you take me? Are you my match?

After that, the master lost his last mind, but did not throw away the button. No, no, and he looks at it, and there’s still the same thing: the green-eyed girl is standing there, laughing and offensive words speaks. Out of grief, the master let's copy, he got into debt, almost under him our factories were not sold under the hammer.

And Parotya, when he was suspended, went to the taverns. I drank to the point of drinking, and the patret is that silken shore. No one knows where this pattern went afterwards.

Parotin’s wife didn’t profit either; Go ahead, get the loan paper, if all the iron and copper are pledged!

From that time on, there was not a word or breath about Tanya in our plant. How it wasn't.

Nastasya grieved, of course, but not from strength either. Tanya, you see, at least she was a caretaker for the family, but Nastasya is still like a stranger.

And that’s to say, Nastasya’s boys had grown up by that time. Both got married. The grandchildren have gone. There were a lot of people in the hut. Know, turn around - look after this one, give it to someone else... It's getting boring here!

The bachelor did not forget longer. He kept trampling under Nastasya’s windows. They waited to see if Tanya would appear at the window, but they never did.

Then, of course, they got married, but no, no, they remember:

- That’s what a girl we had in the factory! You won't see another one like this in your life.

Moreover, after this incident, a note came out. They said that the Mistress of the Copper Mountain began to double: people saw two girls in malachite dresses at once.

1938

Clerk's soles

There was a Field Clerk - Severyan Kondratyich. Oh, and fierce, oh, and fierce! The way the factories stand has never happened before. Of dogs, a dog. Beast.

In the factory business, I hear you, he didn’t mess around at all, but he could only beat people. He was from a bar, he had his own villages, but he decided on everything. And all because of his cruelty. He beat a number of people to death, and some of them were from someone else's property. Well, the publicity has come out, there is no way to cover it up. The trial and the case - Severyan was sentenced to Siberia or to the local factories. And the Turchaninovs - the owners - give such a killer. Severyan was immediately appointed to Polevaya.

- Cut it short, do me a favor, the people there. Even if you kill someone, no one here will drag you to trial. If only the people would be quieter, otherwise he’ll come up with some crazy stuff.

And in Polevoy, before this, they put an old clerk on a hardwood block, so much so that he died overnight. They fought, of course, for the clerk. Only the culprit was not found.

- Nobody imprisoned him. I sat down myself. He got mad, maybe, or the eclipse got to him. They tried to lift him from the blank, but the whole ass was ruined to the core. This, apparently, is God’s will, for him to accept death from behind.

On this occasion, the factory owners needed a roar and roar to scare the people.

So the killer Severyan became our factory clerk. He was a brave man, but he still understood that a factory is not a village and requires more caution. People, you see, are always a bunch, the place is cramped, and even near the fire. Anyone with a tool of some kind... He can move with pliers, hit with a hammer, bend or slam with a strip, or even gasp with a block. It's very simple. They can also stick their heads into a windrow or into an oven. He got excited, came close, and was sucked in. They fried that clerk.

Severyan recruited guards for himself. Where did you dig it up from? Each one is more powerful than the other and more desperate. And all the people - roll out the last one. Brothers-grabbers from the shatal volost. I walked around the plant with this crowd. He goes ahead himself. In his hand is a whip two fingers thick, with a curled tip. There is a pistol in my pocket, loaded with four barrels. The caps are on, just take them out of your pocket. The gang is following Severyan. Some with a stick, some with a saber, and some with a pistol too. Just about to go on a hike.

First of all, the charterer asks:

-Who is the worst?

He already knows that you can’t say okay about everyone, you’ll end up under the whip yourself - he’s an indulger. So the charterer begins to look for guilt. On some for business, on others out of spite, and on others completely in vain. Just to take the whip away from yourself. The clerk will say something like that about people and start being angry. Hear me, he beat me. Don’t feed him bread, he loved to make fun of people. He had such a character. A killer, in a word.

At first I still didn’t go down to Medna Mountain. Without a habit, it’s scary underground, even if you happen to be there. main reason- it’s dark, but you can’t add light. Even if the owner himself comes down, they’ll give you the same bottle. Find out if it's on fire or if it's just giving an appearance. Well, get wet too. And the people in grief are completely lost. So what to live, what to die - everything is one. A hopeless people, the most restless for the authorities. And Severyan heard that Copper Mountain has its own Mistress. It’s as if she doesn’t like how people are abused underground. So Severyan was afraid. Then he laughed. With his whole gang he went down the mountain. From then on it went. Severyan’s anger increased just as much. Previously, mine workers were always fought at the top, but now they have come up with a new fashion. The foreman beats people with a whip and anything directly at the face. Yes, every day he got into the habit of going uphill, but he had the same routine - it’s like more people bad thing to do. The day a lot of people are beaten, the more fun it will be. He straightens his mustache and wheezes to the mine superintendent:

- Come on, old bastard, get ready to get up. It's time for lunch, I'm tired of it.

For a week he was in control of the mountain. Then the incident happened. As soon as he told the mine superintendent, “get ready to go up,” suddenly a voice, so loud, as if somewhere very close:

- Look, Severyanko, don’t leave your children’s soles to remember!

The clerk grabbed:

- Who said? – He turned towards the voice, and fell, almost breaking his legs. He has them like nailed steel. I barely got it off the ground. And the voice is female. The clerk was taken aback here, but still didn’t show it. It was as if I hadn't heard anything. Severyan’s gang is also silent, but apparently they are depressed. These immediately noticed - ?herself threatened.

Okay. The clerk stopped climbing the mountain. The mine workers sighed a little, but only for a short time. The clerk, you see, is ashamed: suddenly the workers heard that voice and now they laugh to themselves: Severyan was a coward. And this is worse to him than a knife, as he always boasted - I’m not afraid of anyone. He comes to the rental office, and there they shout:

- Hey, take care of your soles! - This is their saying. Preempt means who has been gaping. And the clerk thinks:

"They're laughing at me." He was hit hard by that word. I didn’t even bother looking for the person who was shouting about soles. That time he didn’t even beat anyone up, but stood in the middle of the rental area and said to his crowd:

- We haven’t been in grief for a long time. We need to keep an eye on the order there.

We went down the mountain. And the clerk was filled with such anger as never before. He beats everyone casually. He’s eager to show him everything, that he’s not afraid of anyone. And here is the same voice again:

– Next time, Severyanko, I’ll warn you. Have pity on your little ones. Just leave the soles for them!

Still, he pulled it out, only the boots showed their teeth in front - the soles came off.

The clerk fell silent, but as soon as they went upstairs, he grew bolder again. He asks his friends:

- Did you hear what? in mine?

They say:

- We heard.

– Did you see how my legs were stuck?

“We saw it,” they answer.

-What do you think this is?

Well, they hesitate, understandably, then one comes out and says:

“No other way, this is the Mistress of the Copper Mountain giving you a sign.” It seems to be threatening, but it’s not clear what.

“So,” says Severyan, “listen to what I say.” Get ready tomorrow, like light up the mountain. I'll show them how to scare me and hide a woman in grief. I climb all the adits, and I catch that woman and with this whip I knock the wind out of her five times. Did you hear?

And at home he boasts in the same way to his wife. That, by a woman's work, brought tears.

- Oh, yes, oh, you should be careful, Severyanushko! At least call the priest so that he can protect you.

And that’s right, the priest was called. He sang, read, hung the icon on Severyan’s neck, sprinkled some water on the pistol, and said:

- Don’t worry, Severyan Kondratyich, but if something happens, read “May God Rise Again.”

The next day, at dawn, the whole gang of clerks appeared for the descent. Everyone is tormented, one clerk is pacing like a gogol. He stuck out his chest, raised his shoulders, and they looked - his boots were brand new, shining like a mirror. And Severyan pats his boots with a whip and says:

“I’ll tear off the soles again, so I’ll show the mine superintendent how to stir up the dirt.” If I don’t even notice that he’s been serving in grief for twenty years, I’ll skin him too. And first of all, try to spot this woman. Whoever catches her will receive a reward of fifty rubles.

So we went down the mountain and let’s snoop around everywhere. The clerk, as usual, is in front, and the crowd is behind him. Well, the adits are narrow, they stretch out in a chain, one after the other. Suddenly the clerk sees someone looming ahead. He walks so-so lightly, waving his lens. At the turn it became clear that it was a woman. The clerk yelled - stop! – but she didn’t seem to have heard. The clerk runs after her, and his faithful servants are in no hurry. A trembling came over them. Therefore they see that something is wrong: ?herself This. And they don’t dare go back either - Severyan will beat you to death. The clerk keeps running forward, but cannot catch up. Of course, she barks all sorts of things, makes threats, but she doesn’t even look back. Not a soul in that adit.

Suddenly the woman turned around, and it immediately became light. The clerk sees a girl of indescribable beauty in front of him, and her eyebrows meet and her eyes are like coals.

“Well,” he says, “let’s get over it, killer!” I warned you: stop, but what about you? Boasted of beating me with a whip five times? Now what do you say?

And Severyan shouts in a fit of passion:

- I'll make it worse. Hey, Vanka, Efimka, grab the girl, drag her out of here, you bitch!

This is him to his servants. He thinks they are here, close, but he feels that his feet are stuck to the ground again.

- Hey, here! - And the girl says to him:

– Don’t tear your throat. Your servants have no use here. Many of them won’t be alive now.

And she waved her hand lightly. A collapse was heard from behind, and air rushed. The clerk looked around, and behind him was a wall - there was absolutely no adit at all.

- Now what do you say? – the Mistress asks again.

And the clerk - he was very fierce, and also a hopeful priest - pulled out his pistol:

- I’ll tell you what! - And a bang from one barrel... at the Mistress! She caught the bullet with her hand, threw it at the clerk’s knee and said quietly:

- It doesn’t exist before this place. - As I gave the order. And now the clerk is covered in greenery up to his knees. Well, then, of course, he howled:

- Mother dear, forgive me, do me a favor. I will order it for my grandchildren and great grandchildren. I will refuse the place. Release your soul to repentance!

And he roars and bursts into tears. The hostess even spat.

“Oh, you,” he says, “you are trash, an empty breed!” And you don't know how to die. Looking at you makes me sick to my stomach.

She moved her hand, and the clerk was covered with greenery up to the very top. It became like a big lump in its place. The Mistress came up, touched it slightly with her hand, the block fell, and the Mistress melted.

And there is commotion in the mountain. Well, of course - the adit collapsed, and the clerk with his entire retinue went there. It's no joke. The people were driven away. They began to dig out. There was also a commotion upstairs. A messenger was sent to the master in Sysert. The mining authorities from the city arrived the next day. Two days later they found the clerk's servants. And what a miracle! Those who were worse than all of them were all dead, and those who had even the slightest shame were only mutilated.

They found everyone, only the clerk was missing. Then we got to the bottom of some unknown hole. They look, and in the middle there is a block of malachite lying open. They began to look at it and saw that it was polished at one end.

“What a miracle,” they think. Who is going to polish the malachite here?” They began to take a good look, and saw two shoe soles in the middle of the sanded area. Brand new soles. All the carnations are visible on them. In three rows. They brought this to the attention of the master, and he was already an old man at that time; he had not gone down into the mine for a long time, but he wanted to take a look. He ordered the block to be pulled out as it was. How much battle there was! They still raised it. The old master, as soon as he saw the soles, burst into tears:

- That’s what a faithful servant I had! “Then he says: “We need to rescue this body from the stone and bury it with honor.”

They immediately sent to Mramor for the best stone cutter. And then Kostousov was famous there. They brought him. The master asks:

“Can you rescue the body from the stone without damaging the body?”

The master looked at the block and said:

– Who will have both?

“This,” says the master, “is in your favor, and I will pay for the work, I will not skimp.”

“Well,” he says, “we can try.” The main thing is that the material is very good. It's rare to see one like this. It's just a shame - our business is slow. If you immediately upholster the body, the spirit, I think, will become stinking. First, apparently, you need to fool him, and this is a loss for malachite.

The master even got angry at these words.

“Don’t think about malachite,” he says, “think about how to get the body of my faithful servant without blemish.”

“That,” the master answers, “depends on who.”

You see, he was free, Kostousov. Well, this is how he talked. Kostousov began to hunt for the carrion. He fooled me at first and took the malachite home. Then he began to get to the body. So what? Wherever there was a body or clothes, everything was empty rock, and all around there was first-class malachite.

The master still ordered this worthless breed to be buried as a human being. And Master Kostousov regretted:

“If only you knew,” he says, “the block should be cut right away.” How much property was lost because of the clerk, and look what’s left of him! Just soles.

1936

Sochnevy stones

After Stepanova’s death—he was the one who mined the malachite pillars—a lot of people flocked to Krasnogorka. There was a desire to get hold of those pebbles that were seen in Stepan’s dead hand. It was autumn, just before the snow. You'll have to try a lot here. And when the winter passed, they ran into that place again. They scurried and scurried around, stuffed themselves with iron ore, they saw that it was a waste of time, and they fell behind. Only Vanka Sochen remained. People are going to mow, and he, you know, is banging away at the mine. And the prospector was not a real one, and so, on the side of the heat. From a young age he rubbed shoulders with the gentlemen, but they kicked him out for misbehavior. Well, this infection - licking the master's dishes - remained with him. Everyone wanted to do something for themselves. To curry favor, that is. Well, how will he prove himself? Small diploma. They won’t hire someone like that as an official. He’s not fit for fiery work; he won’t last a week in grief. He went to the mine and went. I thought they drink honey there. I took a sip, but it was salty. Then he adapted his craft to his snout - he became a sniffer-earphone among the prospectors at the office. He didn’t give up the miner’s ladle. He was also hanging out near the sands, but all he could think of was where to find out something and bring it to the office. The office workers see the benefit for themselves - they began to master Sochnya. They give them good places, they give them money, clothes, shoes. The prospectors are again making their calculations with Sochny: sometimes on the back of the hump, sometimes on the ear, sometimes in all places. Looking at the matter. Only Sochen, accustomed to beatings, was a lackey. Let's take a rest and forget about old things. So he lived - hovering between these and those. And his wife was a match for him, not just a stroller or a complete brat, but also... someone else's wife's name: she loved to live off of freebies. Of course, they didn’t have any boys at all. Where is so-and-so.

That’s how the talk about Stepanov’s stones spread around the plant, and people rushed to Krasnogorka, and this Sochen went there too.

“I’ll look for it,” he thinks. - Why am I worse than Stepan? I suppose I won’t allow such stupidity to crush wealth in my hand.”

Prospectors know where to look for what. They scratched at Krasnogorka, saw that the breed was not the same, and fell behind. And this Sochen seems smarter than everyone else - he’s the only one left.

“I won’t,” he says, “if I don’t take the wealth!” - What a smart guy he turned out to be!

It just gets whipped at the face. It's no use unwrapping the ore. Suddenly the block fell off. Perhaps twenty pounds, or even more. Sochnya’s leg almost got crushed. He jumped back, looked, and in the pothole there were two green stones just opposite him. So very happy, he thinks he attacked the nest. He reached out his hand to pick out a pebble, and from there it burst out - out of fear, something was wrong with Vanka. He looks - a cat jumped out of the slaughterhouse. Purely all brown, without a single mark, only green eyes and white teeth. The fur is on end, the back is humped, the tail is like a candle - it’s about to throw itself. Vanka, let's run away from this cat. He scratched about two miles without looking back, suffocated, almost died. Then he went quieter. He came home and shouted to his woman:

- Run the bathhouse quickly! Something bad happened to me.

After the bath, go ahead, you fool, and tell the woman everything. She, of course, immediately advised:

“You should go, Vanyushka, to Grandma Kolesishka.” Bow to her. She will quickly guide you on the path.

There was such an old woman, they say. Women in labor were floating in the baths; It happened, and she buried the girl’s sin. Listen, her legs were very crooked. The body is set on a wheel. That's why they called him Wheelie.

Vanka at first resisted:

“I won’t go anywhere, and I can’t lure you to the mine even with gold.” For some passion! Never mind! “I even wanted to dress up a person for my instrument.” I was afraid, you see. Then - after two, three days - he left, and the woman told him her story:

- Go, go to Kolesishka! She is a witch. He will teach you how to take those pebbles. – Apparently, Baba Sochneva also became greedy for wealth.

Vanka went to Kolesishka. He began to tell her what the old woman understood about land wealth. He sits and mutters:

- Hole-gyr-byr. A snake is afraid of a cat, a cat is afraid of a dog, a dog is afraid of a wolf, a wolf is afraid of a bear. Hole-byr-gyr! Forget me! crumble! - Well, I’ll explain away the witch’s stupidity, and Vanka thinks: “Look, what a wise old woman.”

Vanka told the story, the old woman asked:

- Do you have a dog yaga, son?

“Yes,” he answers, “it’s not very smart, it’s all full of holes!”

“This,” he says, “is all one, as long as it stinks of the spirit of a dog.”

“It stinks,” he says, “it stinks a lot.” Collected from non-fed dogs.

- That's okay. Put this yaga on and don’t take it off until you bring the stones home. And if you’re still afraid, I’ll give you a wolf’s tail to hang around your neck or some bear’s fat to sew into your shirt. Only that thing costs money, and not a small one.

Sochen arranged things with the witch, went home, and brought money.

- Come on, grandma, tail and lard! - The old lady loves it: God gave him a fool.

Sochen hung his tail around his neck, and his wife sewed the fat into a scar on the collar of his shirt. I equipped myself like this, put on the yaga and went to Krasnogorka. Everyone who meets him marvels - he put on a yaga in Petrovka. And Sochen pesters - the fever has overcome him - even though the sweat is running like a stream.

Came to the mine. He sees his instrument lying here. Nobody got the hang of it. The hut was only slightly askew by the wind.

No one, apparently, has ever been here without him. Sochen looked around and let’s move ore in vain again. Things got better in the evening. He’s very afraid to stay at the mine, but he’s taken a beating. In the yaga in the summer, wave your Kaelka! Those who are stronger will wear themselves out, but Sochen is completely limp. Where he stood, he lay down here. Son-ot is not his brother, he makes everyone equal. Who is timid, but snores no worse than a brave man.

Vanka got a good night's sleep - couldn't have been better - and became completely bolder. I ate and went to work. He pounded and pounded, and again, like that time, a large block bounced off - as soon as Vanka saved his legs. He thinks that now the cat will jump out. No, there is no one: apparently, the wolf's tail and bear fat help. He approached the pothole and saw that a new rock had emerged. Vanka cleaned everything around, got to that place and let’s pick out the rock. The breed of blue tit, like the blue tit, is light and fluffy. I poked around a little and came across a nest. I took as many as six green stones, and they all sat in pairs in the rock. Where did Sochnya get his strength from? Let’s keep moving the ore. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get anything else. How it was cut off. Even that breed is gone. Exactly who put it there for a peek.

Vanka didn’t give up for a long time. He will look at the pebbles and admire the pickle. Still no sense. I’m exhausted, I’ve eaten enough of my grain supply, I have to run home. The path was straight to the spring, which is near the bridge over Severushka. Vanka followed that path. The forest here is dense and standing, and the path is noticeable. Sochen walks along, counting the profits: how much they will give him for the stones. Only suddenly from behind:

- Meow! meow! give us our eyes!

Sochen looked around, and three cats were running straight towards him. All brown and all without eyes. They're about to pounce. Vanka aside, into the forest. The cats are behind him. But where are they, the eyeless ones! His eyes were very thick, and he bloodied his whole face, tore the yaga to shreds more often than not. How many times has an elm fallen in a swamp and forced its way onto the road? Luckily, the Seversky men rode in five carts. They saw someone jumping out completely out of his mind, without a word they picked him up and gave him a ride to Severnaya, and there Sochen slowly got better on his own. It's night time. Baba is sleeping at Sochnya’s, but the hut is not locked. Bespelyukha was also kind, Sochneva’s wife. She would like to get carried away, but she doesn’t care about the house. He blew up the light, crossed all the corners and immediately went into his wallet to look at his stones. Grab and praise, but there’s just a pinch of dust in your wallet. Crushed! Sochen howled here and let’s curse Wheelie out of grief:

“I couldn’t, so-and-so, protect me from the cats.” Why did I waste money on you, why did I carry the yaga on myself!

The woman woke up - he gave her a poke and reprimanded her in every way. Baba sees that the man doesn’t look like himself, let’s fawn on him. He fires her, and she:

- Vanyushka, shouldn’t we heat the bathhouse?

I also knew what to come with. Well, Vanka made some noise and noise, and then walked away and told the woman every last bit. At this point she began to cry herself. He looks at the dust in his wallet, takes it on his finger, licks it and bursts into tears again. They both howled like that, then the woman began to advise again.

“Apparently,” he says, “Kolesishka’s strength does not take.”

You need to go to the priest to strengthen yourself.

At first I really didn’t want to listen. I was afraid to think how he would ever go to that mine. But a woman is like autumn rain. It takes a day, two days, and it finally finishes. Well, Vanka himself lost his temper a little.

“It’s a shame,” he thinks, “I was scared of cats then. Why are they without eyes?

I went to the priest: so and so, father.

The priest thought and thought, and then said:

“You, son, should make a promise that you will put the first pebble from the spoil on the crown of the Mother of God, and then you will give more according to your strength.”

“That,” Sochen answers, “is possible.” If I get two dozen, I won’t regret five heels.

“It would be nice for you, son, to have access to a cypress cross from Mount Athos.” I have one like this, but it’s just too expensive. Perhaps, for such a case, I’ll give you my price, - and appointed twice as much as Kolesishka. Well, they don’t dress up like a priest,” Vanka went home and scraped together the last of the money with the woman. Sochen bought a cross and boasted to the woman:

– Now I’m not afraid of anyone.

The next day I got ready to go to the mine. Baba washed his shirt with bear fat and repaired it as best he could. Vanka put the wolf's tail around his neck and immediately hung a cypress cross. Came to Krasnogorka. Everything is the same there. Whatever lay where, lies here. Only the hut became even more lopsided. Well, Vanka has no time for that. Go straight to the slaughter. As soon as he swung his pick, someone asked him:

- Vanya, have you come again? Aren't you afraid of eyeless cats?

Vanka looked around, and was almost there herself is sitting. Vanka immediately recognized her by her malachite dress. Vanka’s arms and legs were paralyzed and his tongue started wagging out of control:

- Of course, of course... Dyr-gyr-byr... Holy... holy... crumble.

She chuckles like this:

- Don't be afraid! After all, I'm not an eyeless cat. Tell me better, what do you want here?

Vanka, you know, mutters:

- Of course, of course... Dyr-gyr-byr... - Then he walked away as if a little: - He came to look for pebbles... People saw in Stepan’s hand...

She frowned:

– Don’t touch that name! And I'll give you stones. I see what a prospector you are, and I’ve heard about you from the mine workers. As if you are very useful to them.

“Of course, of course...” Vanka was delighted. - I always follow my conscience.

“That’s what you’ll get according to your conscience.” Only, mind you, an agreement. Don't sell those stones to anyone. Not a single one, look! Take everything to the clerk right away. He will reward you from his own hands. Then he will add more from the treasury. You will be satisfied for the rest of your life. It will be so heavy that you won’t be able to carry it home yourself.

She said so and led Sochnya down the hill. As we descended, I kicked a huge stone. The stone fell away, and underneath it, like a hiding place, opened up. There are green pebbles sitting on the blue rock. Fully full.

“Rake,” she says, “as much as you need,” and she stands right there, watching.

Even though Vanka was a small prospector, he had a serviceable wallet, bigger than anyone else. He stuffed it tightly, but it’s not enough for him. He would like to put it in his pockets, but he is afraid: The hostess looks angrily, but she herself is silent. There is nothing to do, apparently, I need to say thank you. He looks, and there is no one. He looked back at the hiding place, and it was gone. It was as if it didn't exist at all. There is a stone lying in that place that looks like a bear. Vanka felt the wallet - it was too small, as if it had not broken down. I also looked at the place where I took the pebbles, and let’s hurry home. He runs and runs and feels the wallet: is it there? He waves his wolf's tail over him, rubs him with a cross, and runs again. I came home long before evening. Baba was even scared.

“Should I heat the bathhouse?” he asks.

And he's like wild.

“Curtain,” he shouts, “windows on the street!” - Well, the woman, of course, curtained both windows with anything, and put the wallet on the table:

Baba sees that the wallet is full of some green grains. At first she was happy, crossed herself, and then said:

- Or maybe they’re not real?

Vanka even got angry:

- Stupid! In grief, I guess he took it. Who will slip a fake into your mountain? “I didn’t say that the Mistress herself showed him the stones and even gave him an order.” But Baba Sochneva still hesitates:

“If you immediately filled your wallet, the horse men will find out and bring you in carts.” Where then are these pebbles? Little guys for toys and girls for beads?

Vanka’s face even flushed:

– Now you will find out the price of such a stone!

He poured five pieces into a handful, put the wallet around his neck and ran to the dandy:

- Kuzma Mironych, look at the pebbles.

The dandy looked around. I took my glass with legs. I looked around again. I tried it with acid.

“Where,” he says, “did you get it?”

Well, Vanka, the office sniffer, immediately says:

- On Krasnogorka.

- In which place?

Here Vanka cheated a little and pointed out where he first worked.

“Something is doubtful,” says the dandy. – There are no copper emeralds for iron. Did you get a lot?

Vanka pulled out the wallet onto the table. The dandy looked at the wallet and was completely stunned. Then he caught his breath and said:

– Congratulations, Ivan Trifonich! Happiness has found you. Don't forget about us little ones. - And Vanka himself is holding everything up. We know what money doesn’t do! “Let’s go,” he says, “to the clerk now.”

Vanka this way and that:

- First, you should wash yourself, go to the bathhouse, change your clothes.

And he wanted to throw away pebbles. Just show off your own:

- With such a wallet, you can go to the king, not just to the clerk. He will not disdain, he will accept you at any time.

Well, there's nothing to do. The dandy Vanka brought him to the clerk. And there was some kind of gathering there. And the old master himself was right there, he had just arrived. He sits in the middle of the room and holds a horn to his ear, and the clerk says “doo-doo” to him and says all sorts of things.

The dandy came into that room, explained what was needed, and the clerk immediately blew the master’s horn:

– We did find copper emeralds. One faithful man went overboard. We need to reward him properly.

They brought Sochnya into the room.

He took out his wallet, gave it to the master and kissed his hand. The master was even surprised:

-Where does this come from? He knows the whole order.

“I used to be a footman,” the clerk whined.

“That’s exactly it,” says the master, “you can see right away.” They also interpret that street servants are bad workers. That's how much he got.

This is how he throws the wallet on his hand. All the factory nobility gathered around. The ladies who are more important immediately work. The master began to untie his wallet, but there was no skill, so he handed Sochnya - untie it. I’m very glad to try: I pulled the strap, stretched the stoma.

- You're welcome!

And then, listen, the spirit came, I can’t stand it. A dead horse or cow was dragged in. The ladies who stood closer covered their mouths and noses with handkerchiefs, and the master attacked the clerk:

- What? Are you making fun of me?

The clerk grabbed his wallet with his hand, and there was nothing there, only the spirit of that one went worse. The master covered his mouth with his hand and left the room. The rest - who goes where. One clerk and Sochen remained. He turned very white all over, and the clerk was shaking with anger:

-What are you? A? Where did you get such a stink from? Who taught?

He really sees that things are bad, let’s tell everything frankly. He didn't hide anything. The clerk listened and listened, and then asked:

“Did you promise a reward?” you say?

“Sulila,” Sochen sighed.

- Did you promise from me?

“That’s what she said: she will reward from her own hand and add from the treasury.”

“Get it then,” the clerk roared, and when he hit Sochnya in the teeth, he nearly hit a corner with his head.

“This,” he shouts, “is a deposit for you.” You will receive a firefighter award. You won't forget her forever.

And rightly so. The next day they poured so much into Sochnya that he couldn’t carry it on his own legs - they dragged him to the infirmary on matting. Even those who had the opportunity to beat Sochnya more than once regretted it a little.

- Got it, office sniffer!

Only the clerk did not have a sweet meal. That same day, master, let’s pester him:

- How dare you set up such a thing?

The clerk, of course, is a trickster:

- Not involved in this matter. Prospector let me down.

“And who,” he asks, “allowed this miner to come to me, and even with such a wallet?”

The clerk had nowhere to go, he confessed:

- My mistake.

- Here you go. On merit. “Become one of the clerks and become a supervisor at Krylatovskoe,” the master says, and he also explains to his assistants, who happened to be talking during the conversation:

- Let him go, he says, to exercise in the free air. And so his spirit is heavy. No wonder they tease him as a goat, but now I can’t even see him. I'm sick of it, after yesterday.

On Krylatovsky, that clerk went to hell. After the previous life, life was also hard.

Apparently the Mistress laughed at him too.

1937

Two lizards

Our Field, they say, was installed by the treasury. There were no factories in these places at that time. They fought. Well, the treasury is known. The soldiers were sent. The village of Mountain Shield was built on purpose so that the road would be safe. On Gumeshki, you see, at that time visible wealth lay on top - and they approached it. We got there, of course. They brought in people, they installed a plant, they brought in some Germans, but things didn’t work out. It didn't work and it didn't work. Either the Germans didn’t want to show it, or they didn’t know themselves - I can’t explain, but the Gumeshki turned out to be unattended to them. They took it from another mine, but it wasn’t worth the work at all. A completely useless little mine, skinny. You can’t build a good factory like this. That’s when our Polevaya ended up in Turchaninov’s hands.

Before that, he - Turchaninov - traded in salt and traded on the Stroganov lands and was also a little involved in the copper business. He had a factory. It's such a little factory. He has moved away little from peasant homemade products. The ore was burned in heaps, then boiled, digested, and the owner also made a profit. Turchaninov apparently took an eye on this profit.

When I heard that the treasury’s copper plant was not going well, I drove up: is it possible to get such a plant? We are, they say, accustomed to copper work, and it will work for us.

The Demidovs and other breeders, who were richer and better known, did not get involved with any of them. “The Germans,” they think, “haven’t worked out anything – what’s the use of such a plant? There is only one loss." So our plant was given to Turchaninov, and Sysert to boot. Eco-wealth is completely free!

Turchaninov came to Polevaya and brought his craftsmen. Of course, he gave them one or the other. The merchant knew how to deal with people! I could fool anyone you wanted.

“Try,” he says, “old men, and I’ll give you the end of your life...

Well, gentle tongue, he sang! I’ve been skilled at this since I was a young man! He also added a word about the Germans:

“Can’t you really stand up to them?”

The old people had no great desire to move from their places, but this word about the Germans hurt. I don’t want to show myself inferior to the Germans. They have turned their noses up and look down on our masters, as if they don’t even consider them people. The old people felt completely offended. They looked around the plant. They see that it is well arranged against theirs. Well, the treasury was building. Then they went to Gumeshki, looked at the ore there, and said straight out:

- Fools were sitting here. From such and such ore and in such furnaces, half and half can be removed. Just, of course, salt so that it’s reliable, like in our places.

Hey, they knew one trick - to boil ore with salt. That's what we hoped for. Turchaninov trusted his masters and refused all the Germans:

“We don’t need any more of yours.”

What should the Germans do if the owner refuses? They began to gather, some to go home, some to other factories. But it’s still surprising to them how men alone will handle such a thing. The Germans persuaded about three of the newcomers who worked for the Germans at the plant.

“Look,” they say, “if these men have any cunning.” What do they hope for - are they taking on such a thing? If you find out, give us the news, and we will repay you.

One of these whom the Germans knocked out turned out to be a good guy. He told our masters everything. Well, the masters then say to Turchaninov:

“It would be better if you recruited all the workers for the copper plant from our region, otherwise you will see what happens.” You put in an unknown person, and he may have been sent by the Germans. It’s to your advantage that others don’t know our trick with copper.

Turchaninov, of course, agreed, and he also had his own trick. He didn’t tell the craftsmen about it, but he himself thinks: “This is good for me.”

Then, you see, the Demidovs and other breeders here accepted all sorts of runaways, Bashkirs too, Old Believers and so on. These, they say, are cheaper and there is no answer for them - do what you want with them. Well, Turchaninov apparently thought differently:

“If you pick such and such, from the forest and from the pine trees, then you won’t manage, you won’t be happy with yourself.” The fugitives are experienced people; they will teach one another. The Bashkirs again have their own language and a different faith - you can’t keep an eye on them. I’d better lure them from distant places and transport them with their families. Where will he run away from his family then? It will be calm, but as soon as I hold it in my hand, we’ll see who will get more benefits. But runaways and Bashkirs or any other people should not be allowed anywhere near the factories.

That's how it turned out later, listen. In our factories, it is known that all are subject to the same law. I happened to visit the Tagil people, and they couldn’t count these faiths, but here we have never even heard of anyone following any other faith. Well, not from other nations either, except for the authorities. In a word, tailored.

Then those speeches of the smelters really resonated with Turchaninov. He and let's talk:

- Thank you, old men, for giving me the idea. I won’t forget this forever. I will arrange everything as it is according to your teaching. I will close the plant in our area and move all the people here. And if you look at which people are more reliable, I’ll buy them out or hire them out for a short period of time. Take the trouble, do this kindness, and I’ll...

And again, it means that he promised over his head. Don't feel sorry for him! He gives them wine to drink, sets out food for them, and just feasts with them for everything, sings songs, dances. Well, I walked around the old people.

They came home and let's praise:

- The place is free, all sorts of land, rich in copper, earnings, apparently, will be good. The owner is a simpleton. He drank and hung out with us and did not hesitate. You can live with this.

And Turchaninov’s servants are right there. People are caught by those words. So they recruited people, not just for the copper plant, but enough for all the work. They invented more, and some were even bought off. There was a fortress, you see. They sold people like cattle.

They didn’t hesitate, and that same summer they moved everyone and their families to new places - to our Polevaya. The road back, of course, was completely broken off. Not to mention those bought, quitrents cannot be returned. They were charged so much for transportation that they won’t be able to pay until they die. Who agrees to run away from their family? My own blood, it's a pity. That’s how Turchaninov imprisoned these people. Everything is one, as if chained with a chain.

Of the old workers at the copper plant, only the guy who told the craftsmen about German meanness was retained. Turchaninov wanted to drive him up the mountain, but one master admonished him:

- What are you doing? The guy did something useful for us. We need to adapt him to the job - he’s smart, you see.

Then he asks the guy:

– What did you do under the Germans?

“I was a Stenbukharem,” he answers.

- In our opinion, what will happen?

- In our opinion, he walked around the pestles - crush ore and sow.

“It’s a small matter,” says the master, “to hit the wall.” Do you know German backfill?

“No,” he answers, “they didn’t let our people in.” They had their own. Ours only dragged as many as they told us to. I noticed a little about this tray. I wanted to understand. It also happened that carnahars were noticed. He was the one who cleaned their copper, but didn’t have access to smelting at all.

The master listened and listened and said a firm word:

- I’ll take you as my assistant. I will teach according to my conscience, and you tell me back that you saw something useful from the Germans.

So this guy - his name was Andryukha - was left at the stoves. He quickly got used to the job and soon became no worse than the master who taught him.

Two years have passed now. Things in Polevaya are not at all like they were under the Germans. There is much more copper available. Our Gumeshki rattled. Their fame spread throughout the entire earth. The number of people, of course, has increased greatly, and all from those regions where Turchaninov used to have a factory. The stoves are full, and in the mountain there are even more. Turchaninov showed a great desire for this - to rake in money. Give him whatever you want - he’ll find a place. Apparently he was getting rich. To which the Stroganovs, and those envious, took it. They filed a complaint that Gumeshki was on their lands and Turchaninov was hit in vain. It is necessary, they say, to take them away and give them - the Stroganovs. Only Turchaninov came into force in those years. Simply with princes and senators. Fought off the Stroganovs. How long can you have money?

Well, the people, of course, had a hard time, and the smelting masters were also offended that he had deceived them.

At first, as things were going, I walked gently in front of these masters:

- Be patient, old people! Moscow was not suddenly built. If we manage to set up the plant in a good way, then it will be a great relief for you.

“Don’t get your hopes up that they showed the trick with copper.” Now we know the flux better. Let's tell the master and he'll show it!

At that time everyone already called Turchaninov master. Master and master, there was no other name. He completely forgot his way to the factory. There is no time, you see, he has a lot of money, he needs to count.

Here are the masters who encouraged people to move to these places, and they say:

- We need to go see ourselves. He, of course, became a master, but still a courteous guy, he understands the matter. Haven't you forgotten how you feasted with us? Let's tell him frankly.

So all the people went, but they were not allowed.

“The master,” they say, “drank some coffee and went to bed.” Go to your places at the stoves and work hard.

The people made a noise:

- What a dream that came out of place! It's about noon, and he's going to bed! Wake me up! Let him come out to the people!

At those words the master flew out. Apparently he got enough sleep. There are as many weapons as you want with him. And that henchman, Andryukha, is a young, hot-tempered man, not afraid, shouts louder than anyone else, reproaches the master in every way. In the end he says:

- Do you remember about salt? What were you without her?

“How,” the master answers, “not to remember!” Grab this one, flog him and salt him well! The memory will be stronger.

Well, they also began to grab others, whom the master pointed out. Only he, they say, had a cunning passion - he did not give the same orders as the government authorities. It was not in vain that he grabbed people, but with skill: so as not to make a hole in his pocket. At least I didn’t go to the factory, but through headphones I knew every detail about who was breathing what. Those masters who were smarter and more talkative were all whipped, but those who were quieter were not hurt. He threatened only them:

- Look at me! The same thing will happen to you if you don’t try!

Well, they were scared, they were responsible for two, they were watching every place - there would be no chaos. But there is still a shortage of people - how can there not be damage? They began to accept the old masters one by one, but the one who taught Andryukha was not alive at all. They overwhelmed the old man. So Andryukha was taken in his place. At first he did nothing - good master showed himself. He did better than anyone else. Turchaninov’s minions think that it is, and they also make fun of the guy. They called him Salty. He has no hard feelings about it. When he himself jokes:

- Salty meat is stronger.

Well, that’s how they believed in him, but then he got smart and put the goats in two ovens at once. Yes, hey, he froze it so cleverly that it couldn’t be any stronger. I did it with skill.

He was, of course, grabbed and chained up the mountain. The mine workers had heard a lot about Andryukha and tried their best to rescue him, but it didn’t work. Guards have been appointed, people are kept under strict control... Well, no way...

How long does it take for a person to lose his health when he is chained? No matter how strong he is, he won’t survive. The food, you see, is poor, and when they bring water, when there is none at all, drink from the mine! And mine food is very harmful to the heart.

Andryukha suffered like this for about six months, about a year - he was completely exhausted. The shadow has become a shadow - there is no one to ask for work.

The mine overseer, and he says:

“Wait, you’ll feel better soon.” If this happens, we’ll bury it here, no hassle.

It means the burial is going well, and Andryukha himself sees that it’s a bad thing. And young people don’t want to die.

“Eh,” he thinks, “it’s in vain that people talk about the Mistress of the Mountain. It's like she's helping. If there was such a thing, wouldn’t it really help me? I saw how a man was muzzled in grief. What a Mistress she is! People are weaving empty things, amusing themselves.”

I thought so, and fell where I was standing. So it got wet in the mine and sank, only to splash. It’s cold—mine water, but he doesn’t care—he doesn’t smell it. The end has come.

How long he lay here he doesn’t know, he just felt warm. It’s as if he’s lying on the grass, the wind is blowing on him, and the sun is just hot and hot. Just like during mowing time.

Andryukha is lying there, and there is a thought in his head:

“I dreamed of the sun before I died.”

Only he is getting hotter and hotter. He opened his eyes. I didn’t believe myself at first. He’s not in the face, but on some forest hill. The pines are tall, the grass on the hill is sparse and the stones are small – black flagstone. On the right, right next to the hand, there is a large stone, like a smooth wall, taller than the pine trees.

Andryukha, let’s feel ourselves with our hands to see if he’s sleeping. He touched a stone, tore off the grass, began to scrape his legs - they were eaten away by the mud... It turns out that he was not sleeping, and the mud was the worst of the mines, but there were no chains on his legs.

“Apparently,” he thinks, “they dragged me out like a corpse, unchained me, and put me here, and I lay there. What should we do now? Should I run or wait, what will happen? Who even brought me to this place?”

He looked around and saw: there was a little pot standing by a stone, and on it there was bread, cut into slices. Well, Andryukha cheered up:

“It means they pulled out their own people and didn’t consider them dead. See, they brought bread and drink too! In the dark, they'll probably come to visit you. Then I’ll find out everything.”

Andryukha ate every crumb of bread, drank every drop from the tuesk and was amazed - he couldn’t tell what kind of drink it was. It doesn’t seem to make you tipsy, but it adds strength. After eating he felt completely good. A century would not leave this place. All he thinks is:

In a word, care has arrived. It is known that the living think about the living. He climbed onto a rock and saw that they were here, the Gumeshki, and the plant was close, you could even see people, and flies crawling. Andryukha even became afraid, in case they saw him from there too. He got off the stone, sat down in his old place, thought, and lizards ran in front of him. A lot of them. Every color. And two are excellent. Both are green. One is larger, the other is smaller.

There are lizards running around. They flash across the grass like they are playing smoothly. They also seem to be having fun in the sun. Andryukha looked at them and didn’t notice how a cloud came over. It was buried, and the lizards immediately hid. Only those two green ones haven’t calmed down, they keep running after each other and very close to Andryukha. As the rain began to fall heavier, they hid under the stones. They stuck their heads in, and they were gone. Andryukha thought it was funny. He himself did not hide from the rain. Warm, yes, apparently, and not for long. Andryukha took his clothes and undressed.

“At least,” he thinks, “the dirt will wash away,” and he spread out his straps for this rain.

The rain passed and the lizards appeared again. Everyone is snooping here and there and dryly. Well, he felt cold. Towards evening it started - the sun’s strength is not the same. Andryukha thought:

“If only a person could do the same. You poke your head under a stone and that’s where your home is.”

He rested his hand on a large stone, from which he looked at the plant and Gumeshki. It wasn’t as if he pushed against me forcefully, but rather lightly pushed me to the very bottom. Only suddenly the stone began to shake when it fell on him. Andryukha jumped back, and the stone fell back into place.

“What,” he thinks, “this miracle? There's a stone there, but it's barely holding on. Almost ran over me.”

Still, he came closer and looked at the stone from all sides. There are no cracks, it went deep into the ground. He rested his hands in one place, in another. Well, rock and rock. Will she move?

“Apparently, my head is spinning due to ill health. It seemed to me,” thought Andryukha and sat down again in his old place.

Those two lizards immediately run around. One poked her head in the same place that Andryukha first touched, the stone and swayed. There was a gap all along the side. The lizard darted in there, and the gap was gone. Another lizard ran to the end of the stone and hid here, as if guarding, and looked at Andryukha:

- Here, they say, it will come out. Nowhere else.

Andryukha waited a little, and again a wonderful crack passed along the bottom of the stone, then began to be heard. At the other end, from under a stone, a lizard stuck its head out, looked around to see where the other one was, but the other one huddled and didn’t move. A lizard jumped out, then another, and jumped onto its backbone - it caught it, they say! - and his eyes sparkle and rejoice. Then both ran away. They were the only ones they saw. As Andryukha was shown which place to enter and where to exit.

I looked at the stone again. He is intact, he doesn’t even have a rank, so where is the crack?

“Okay,” he thinks, “I’ll try again.”

Again he hit the stone in the same place, and he fell on Andryukha. Only Andryukha doesn’t pay attention to this - he looks down. There the staircase opened, and well, hear me, it was settled, just like in a new manor house. Andryukha stepped onto the first step, and both lizards scurried forward, as if showing the way. He went down two more steps, but still held on to the stone, thinking:

“If I let go, it will close me. What’s it like in the dark then?”

He stands, and both lizards stopped, looking at him as if they were waiting. Then Andryukha realized:

“Apparently, the Mistress of the Mountain is torturing my courage. This, they say, is her first job.”

Well, then he made up his mind. He walked boldly, and when his head fell below the gap, he lowered his hand from the stone. The stone closed, and below, like the sun rose, everything became visible down to the last drop.

Andryukha looks, and in front of him are folding stone doors, all decorated with patterns, and to the right there is a single-leaf door. The lizards approached her - to this, they say, place. Andryukha opened the door, and there was a bathhouse. “It’s built with honor, but everything is made of stone. There is a shelf, a deck, a ladle and so on. One birch broom. And the passion is hot - take care of your ears. Andryukha was delighted. First of all, I wanted to fry my straps over the heater. As soon as I took them off, they disappeared somewhere, as if they had never existed. I looked around, and new shirts were laid out on the benches and clothes were hung on knitting needles as much as you wanted. All kinds of clothes: lordly, merchant, work. Then Andryukha didn’t even think, he climbed onto the shelf and took away his darling - he got the whole broom wet. I evaporated better than ever, sat down and caught my breath. Then he dressed for work, as was usual for him. He left the bathhouse, and the lizards were waiting for him at the big door.

He opened it - what is it? A chamber in front of him, the likes of which he had never seen in his dreams. The walls are all decorated with stone patterns, and in the middle is a table. All food and drink is provided for it. Well, Andryukha has been hungry for a long time. I didn’t hesitate and sat down at the table. The food is ordinary, the drink is unimaginable. It looks like something he drank from. Strong drink, but not tipsy.

Andryukha ate and drank, as if at the biggest holiday or wedding, and bowed to the lizards:

- For a treat, hostesses!

And they both sit on a high bench, waving their little heads:

- Cheers, my dear! Cheers!

Then one lizard - a smaller one - jumped off the bench and ran. Andryukha followed her. She ran to the bed, stopped - go to bed, they say, now! The bed is so made that you are afraid to touch it. Well, after all, Andryukha laughed. He lay down on the bed and immediately fell asleep. Here the light went out.

Meanwhile, on Gumeshki, the mine supervisor was alarmed. In the morning I looked into the face to see if the chained man was alive, and there was only one chain. The warden became worried and began to run around:

-Where did you go? What should we do now?

He tossed and tossed around, there were no signs, and he didn’t know who to think about. He is afraid to tell his superiors - he will have to answer himself. They will say that he looked badly. It was this mine supervisor who came up with the idea of ​​collapsing the roof over that place. It’s not terribly simple, but he still managed to contrive it – he raked some from the sides, picked some from the top. Then he told the authorities. The authorities, apparently, did not fully understand the matter, they believed it.

“And then,” he says, “a collapse.” See how he was crushed, you can barely see the chain.

The warden, of course, sings:

– There’s no point in tearing it off here. The roof is so unreliable, there is no real ore for a long time, but does it matter to the dead where he lies.

The mine workers saw, of course, that it was a setup here, but they remained silent.

“The man has given up,” they think. How can you help him?

So the bosses said to the master:

“It crushed, they say, that one, Soleny, who deliberately put the goats in the oven.”

The master did not forget his benefit here either.

“This,” he says, “God himself punished him.” We need to tell the priests about this thing. Let the people be taught how to oppose the master.

The priests started making noise. All the people found out about Andryukha that he was crushed under the roof. They regretted it, of course:

- He was a good guy. There are few of these left.

What is he? After the bath he sleeps and sleeps. He's warm, soft. I slept for a day, slept for two, turned over on the other side and worse than that. I still got enough sleep and became completely healthy, as if I had never been sick and had never been to the mine. He looks - the table is completely empty again, and both lizards are sitting on the bench, looking around.

Andryukha ate and got drunk, bowed to the lizards, and said:

“Now it wouldn’t be a bad idea to say thank you to master Turchaninov for the salt.” Make a gift that will make you sneeze to tears.

One lizard - a smaller one - now jumped off the bench and ran. Andryukha follows her. The lizard led him to another door. I opened it, and there was also a ladder, going up to the ceiling. There is a brass bracket on the ceiling, like a handle. Andryukha, of course, guessed what she meant. I went up the stairs, moved this little bracket, the exit and it opened. Andryukha went out onto the hill, and the time looked, in the evening - the sun was setting.

“This,” he thinks, “is what I need. I walk through the darkness to the mine. Maybe I’ll see someone and find out what’s going on there and what’s going on at the plant.”

I went slowly. He is careful, of course, so as not to be seen by anyone who doesn’t care. I got close to the mine and hid behind a heather bush. There are a lot of people at the ore, but there is no suitable opportunity. Either they are bustling with their chests, or they are the wrong people. It has become quite dark. Here one fought back and came close. The guy is simple-minded, but also reliable. I went with Andryukha to the stoves, and also ended up at Gumeshki. Andryukha says to him quietly:

- Mikhailo! Come closer.

- Who needs?

“Come,” I say, “closer.”

Mikhailo still gave in, and, apparently, he was afraid of something. Andryukha then looked out from behind the bush, wanting to show himself so that he wouldn’t doubt it. Mikhailo decided to run. As if on purpose, at that time another little girl was brought to that place. She also saw Andryukha. She raised a squeal - cover your ears:

- Oh, fathers, he’s dead! Oh, dead man!

Mikhailo also shouts:

– I saw Andryukha Soleny! As it is, it seemed like it was before the mine! Over there behind that heather bush!

The people became uneasy. Some of them ran from the mine, and the bosses ran ahead of everyone else. Others say:

- We need to see what this thing is!

Let's go to Tula, and Andryukha thought something was wrong.

“Show yourself,” he thinks, “in vain, but you never know who will happen among the people.”

Andryukha came up with an idea. I walked around Gumeshki through the forest and at night straight to the copper plant. We saw him there and got scared. They threw everything away in all directions. The night guard climbed onto the roof out of fear. The next day they took it off - he was completely unconscious... Andryukha walked around the stoves... Again he froze everything tightly and went to the master.

He, of course, heard about the deceased, ordered the priests to be dressed up, but at that time they could not be found. Then the master locked himself tightly in the house and did not order anyone to open it. Andryukha sees that you won’t get him, so he went to his place - in the patterned chamber. He thinks:

"Wait a minute! I’ll also remember the salt for you!”

The next day there is turmoil in the factory. It's no joke, there are goats in all the ovens. The master is crying in tears. There is also a lot of crowding on Gumeshki. He ordered them to dig up the crushed man and give it to the priests - let him, they say, bury him well, according to all the rules, so that he will not rise again.

They cleared up the collapse, but there was no body there. One chain remained and the leg rings were intact, not even sawed off. Then the mine supervisor was pulled over. He turned around a bit more, wanted to blame it on the workers, and then he told how it happened. They told the master - now there is a change. Tearing and throwing:

- Catch him if he's alive!

He ordered all his guard servants to search the forest.

Andryukha didn’t know this and in the evening he went out to the hill again. No matter how good it is in the underground chamber, everything is better on the hill. He sits by a stone and thinks about how he can see his friends. Well, the girl was also alone on her mind.

“I suppose, and she believed that he died. Did you cry for a while?"

As luck would have it, at that time women walked through the forest. They were tossing and turning after mowing, or the buttocks were late... Well, you never know how many people pass through the forest in the summer. We walked quite close to that little hill. At first Andryukha heard the songs being sung, then he began to understand the conversation.

This is what one says:

“I was thinking, I guess Tasyutka heard about Andryukha.” They say he's alive.

The other one answers:

- How can he not be alive if he froze all the ovens!

- Well, what about Tasyutka? Are you ready to search?

- She’s a fool, Tasyutka. Yesterday, as much as I told her, she still believes her old women. She’s afraid that Andryukha might come to her under the window, but she’s bawling.

- She is a fool. You don't deserve a guy like that. If only I had one like that, I wouldn’t be afraid of the dead.

Andryukha heard this and was drawn to see who condemned Tasyutka. He himself thinks: “Is it possible to send a message through them?”

I looked and looked, but didn’t show up. I went back.

He sat down in his old place and became sad. And while he was walking, apparently some master’s dog spotted him and quietly sent word to others. They surrounded the little town. Everyone is happy. The chief shouted:

- Take him!

Andryukha sees that they are running from all sides... He pressed on the stone, and there he went. The guard servants ran up - there was no one. Where did you go? Let's push on that stone. They puff and try. Well, can you move it? They thought better of it a little, fear attacked them again:

- Indeed, it’s obvious that he’s dead, since he left through the stone.

They ran to the master and told him. He was shaking with fright.

“I need to go to Sysert,” he says. Things are urgent there. You're fishing here without me. If you don’t catch me, I will punish you strictly.

He threatened him and drove him off to Sysert on a horse. The minions don't know what to do. Well, that’s what they brought out - we need to guard the pea. Andryukha there, under the stone, was also thinking: what to do? It’s unusual to sit idle, but you don’t have to go out.

“At night,” he thinks, “I’ll try. Will we be able to get out in the dark, and then we’ll see.”

I thought of something like this, I wanted to tie a little food into the bundle for the road, but there were no lizards. He somehow felt awkward without them, as if he would sneak away.

“Okay,” he thinks, “I can do without it.” If I’m alive, I’ll get bread.”

He looked at the patterned chamber, admired how everything was arranged, and said:

- Thanks to this house - I’ll go to another one.

Here the Mistress appeared to him as it should be. The guy was dumbfounded - what a beauty! And the Mistress says:

- There is no more going up. You will go another way. Don't worry about food. It will be for you as you want - you deserve it. The road will take you where you need to go. Go through those doors, just don’t look back. Do not forget?

“I won’t forget,” he answers, “thank you for all the good things.”

He bowed to her and went to the door, and there stood exactly the same girl, only even more beautiful. Andryukha couldn’t stand it, he looked around - where is so-and-so? And she shakes her finger:

- Forgot your promise?

“I forgot,” he answers, “I lost my mind.”

“Oh, you,” he says, “and also Solyony!” In all respects, the guy came out, and how to sort out the girls, he showed the penalty. What should I do with you now?

“Your,” he says, “your will.”

- OK. Says goodbye the first time, don’t look back next time. It will be bad then.

Andryukha went, and the other one opened the door for him. The adit went there. There is light in it, and there is no end in sight.

Whether Andrei looked back another time and where the adit led him - the old people did not tell me about that. From that time on, this guy was no longer seen in our area, but was kept in memory.

He put salt on Turchaninov!

And those - Turchaninov’s servants - for a long time, listen, they were guarding the stone. Day and night they stood around the stones. People deliberately went to look at these fools. Then, apparently, they themselves got tired of it. Let's tear that stone with gunpowder. The miners caught up. Well, they broke it, of course, and by that time the master had lost his mind - he walked away from fear and scolded them.

“For now,” he shouts, “you were guarding an empty stone, you never know what happened in the factory and on Gumeshki.” Over there the clerk's butt was burned. Where is it good?

1939

Stone Flower

The marble workers were not the only ones who were famous for their stone work. Also in our factories, they say, they had this skill. The only difference is that ours were more fond of malachite, as there was enough of it, and the grade is no higher. It was from this that malachite was suitably made. Hey, these are the little things that make you wonder how they helped him.

There was a master Prokopich at that time. First on these matters. No one could do it better. I was in my old age.

So the master ordered the clerk to put the boys under this Prokopich for training.

- Let them go over everything down to the subtleties.

Only Prokopich - either he was sorry to part with his skill, or something else - taught very poorly. Everything he does is a jerk and a poke. He puts lumps all over the boy's head, almost cuts off his ears, and says to the clerk:

- This guy is no good... His eye is incapable, his hand can’t carry it. It won't do any good.

The clerk, apparently, was ordered to please Prokopich.

- It’s not good, it’s not good... We’ll give you another... - And he’ll dress up another boy.

The kids heard about this science... They roar early in the morning, trying not to get to Prokopich. Fathers and mothers, too, do not like to give away their own child to wasted flour - they began to shield their own as best they could. And to say that, this skill is unhealthy, with malachite. The poison is pure. That's why people are protected.

The clerk still remembers the master’s order - he assigns students to Prokopich. He will wash the boy in his own way and hand him back to the clerk.

- This is no good...

The clerk began to get angry:

- How long will this last? No good, no good, when will it be good? Teach this...

Prokopich know yours:

- What do I... Even if I teach for ten years, this kid will be of no use...

– Which one do you want?

“Even though you don’t put it on me at all, I don’t miss it...

So the clerk and Prokopich went through a lot of kids, but the result was the same: there were bumps on the head, and in the head it was like running away. They spoiled them on purpose so that Prokopich would drive them away.

This is how it came to Danilka the Underfed. This little boy was an orphan. Probably twelve years then, or even more. He is tall on his feet, and thin, thin, which is what keeps his soul going. Well, his face is clean. Curly hair, blue eyes. At first they took him as a Cossack servant at the manor's house: give him a snuff box, give him a handkerchief, run somewhere, and so on. Only this orphan did not have the talent for such a task. Other boys climb like vines in such and such places. A little something - at attention: what do you order? And this Danilko will hide in a corner, stare at some painting, or even at a piece of jewelry, and just stand there. They shout at him, but he doesn’t even listen. They beat me, of course, at first, then they waved their hand:

- Some kind of blessed one! Slug! Such a good servant will not make.

They still didn’t give me a job in a factory or up a mountain - the place was very runny, there wouldn’t be enough for a week. The clerk put him in assistant grazing. And here Danilko didn’t fare well. The little guy is extremely diligent, but he always makes mistakes. Everyone seems to be thinking about something. He stares at a blade of grass, and the cows are over there! The gentle old shepherd was caught, felt sorry for the orphan, and at the same time he cursed:

- What will come of you, Danilko? You will destroy yourself, and you will also put my old back in harm’s way. Where is this good? What are you even thinking about?

- I myself, grandpa, don’t know... So... about nothing... I stared a little. A bug was crawling along a leaf. She herself is blue, and from under her wings she has a yellowish look peeking out, and the leaf is wide... Along the edges the teeth, like frills, are curved. Here it looks darker, but the middle is very green, they just painted it exactly... And the bug is crawling.

- Well, aren’t you a fool, Danilko? Is it your job to sort out bugs? She crawls and crawls, but your job is to look after the cows. Look at me, get this nonsense out of your head, or I’ll tell the clerk!

Danilushka was given one thing. He learned to play the horn - what an old man! Purely based on music. In the evening, when the cows are brought in, the women ask:

- Play a song, Danilushko.

He will start playing. And the songs are all unfamiliar. Either the forest is noisy, or the stream is murmuring, the birds are calling to each other in all sorts of voices, but it turns out well. Women began to greet Danilushka a lot for those songs. Whoever will mend a thread, whoever will cut a piece of canvas, who will sew a new shirt. There is no talk about a piece - everyone strives to give more and sweeter. The old shepherd also liked Danilushkov’s songs. Only here, too, something went a little wrong. Danilushko will start playing and forget everything, even if there are no cows. It was during this game that trouble befell him.

Danilushko, apparently, began to play, and the old man dozed off a little. They lost a few cows. As they began to gather for the pasture, they looked - one was gone, the other was gone. They rushed to look, but where are you? They grazed near Yelnichnaya... This is a very wolf-like place, desolate... They only found one little cow. They drove the herd home... They said so and so. Well, they also ran out of the factory and went looking for him, but they didn’t find him.

The reprisal then, we know what it was like. For any guilt, show your back. Unfortunately, there was another cow from the clerk's yard. Don't expect any descent here. First they stretched the old man, then it came to Danilushka, but he was skinny and scrawny. The Lord's executioner even made a slip:

“Someone,” he says, “will fall asleep at once, or even lose his soul.”

He still hit - he didn’t regret it, but Danilushko remained silent. His executioner suddenly in a row is silent, the third one is silent. The executioner then became enraged, let’s go bald from all over, and he himself shouted:

Danilushko is shaking all over, tears are falling, but is silent. I bit the sponge and strengthened myself. So he fell asleep, but they didn’t hear a word from him. The clerk—he was there, of course—was surprised:

- What a patient man he was! Now I know where to put him if he remains alive.

Danilushko took a rest. Grandma Vikhorikha stood him up. There was, they say, an old lady like that. Instead of a doctor in our factories, she had great fame. I knew the power in herbs: some from teeth, some from stress, some from aches... Well, everything is as it is. I myself collected those herbs at the very time when which herb had full strength. From such herbs and roots I prepared tinctures, boiled decoctions and mixed them with ointments.

Danilushka had a good life with this grandmother Vikhorikha. Hey, the old lady is affectionate and talkative, and she has dried herbs, roots, and all sorts of flowers hung all over the hut. Danilushko is curious about herbs - what’s the name of this one? where does it grow? what flower? The old lady tells him.

Once Danilushko asks:

- Do you, grandma, know every flower in our area?

“I won’t brag,” he says, “but I seem to know everything about how open they are.”

“Are there really,” he asks, “something that hasn’t been opened yet?”

“There are,” he answers, “and such.” Have you heard Papor? It seems to bloom on Midsummer's day. That flower is witchcraft. The treasures are opened to them. Harmful for humans. On the gap-grass the flower is a running light. Catch him and all the gates will be open for you. Vorovskoy is a flower. And then there is also a stone flower. It seems to be growing in the malachite mountain. On the snake holiday it has full power. The unfortunate person is the one who sees the stone flower.

- What, grandma, are you unhappy?

- And this, child, I don’t know myself. That's what they told me.

Danilushko might have lived longer at Vikhorikha’s, but the clerk’s messengers noticed that the boy began to go more and more often, and now to the clerk. The clerk called Danilushka and said:

- Now go to Prokopich - learn the malachite trade. The job is right for you.

Well, what will you do? Danilushko went, but he himself was still being shaken by the wind.

Prokopich looked at him and said:

– This was still missing. The studies here are beyond the strength of healthy boys, and what you get from them is barely worth living.

Prokopich went to the clerk:

- There is no need for this. If you accidentally kill, you will have to answer.

Only the clerk - where are you going - didn’t listen:

- It’s given to you - teach, don’t argue! He - this guy - is strong. Don't look how thin it is.

“Well, it’s up to you,” says Prokopyich, “it would have been said.” I will teach, as long as they don’t force me to answer.

- There is no one to pull. This guy is lonely, do whatever you want with him,” the clerk replies.

Prokopich came home, and Danilushko was standing near the machine, looking at the malachite board. A cut has been made on this board; the edge needs to be knocked off. Here Danilushko is staring at this place and shaking his little head. Prokopich became curious about what this new guy was looking at here. He asked strictly how things were done according to his rule:

-What are you? Who asked you to pick up a craft? What are you looking at here?

Danilushko answers:

- In my opinion, grandfather, this is not the side where the edge should be cut. See, the pattern is here, and they’ll cut it off.

Prokopich shouted, of course:

- What? Who are you? Master? It didn’t happen to your hands, but you judge? What can you understand?

“Then I understand that this thing was ruined,” Danilushko answers.

- Who spoiled it? A? It’s you, brat, to me, the first master!.. Yes, I’ll show you such damage... you won’t live!

He made some noise and shouted, but didn’t hit Danilushka with his finger. Prokopich, you see, was thinking about this board himself - which side to cut off the edge from. Danilushko hit the nail on the head with his conversation. Prokopich shouted and said very kindly:

- Well, you, revealed master, show me how, in your opinion, to do it?

Danilushko began to show and tell:

- That would be the pattern that would come out. And it would be better to put a narrower board, beat off the edge in an open field, just leave a small braid on top.

Prokopich, know, shouts:

- Well, well... Of course! You understand a lot. Saved up - don't wake up! “But he thinks to himself: “The boy is right.” This will probably make some sense. Just how to teach him? Knock once and he’ll stretch his legs.”

I thought so, and asked:

- Whose scientist are you?

Danilushko told about himself.

Say, an orphan. I don’t remember my mother, and I don’t even know who my father was. They call him Danilka Nedokormish, but I don’t know what his father’s middle name and nickname are. He told how he was in the household and why he was driven away, how he spent the summer walking with a herd of cows, how he got caught in a fight.

Prokopich regretted:

- It’s not sweet, I see you, guy, have a hard time with your life, and then you came to me. Our craftsmanship is strict.

Then he seemed angry and growled:

- Well, that's enough, that's enough! Look, he's so talkative! With the tongue, not with the hands, everyone would work. A whole evening of balusters and balusters! The student too! I'll see tomorrow how good you are. Sit down to dinner, and it's time to go to bed.

Prokopich lived alone. His wife died a long time ago. Old lady Mitrofanovna, one of his neighbors, took care of his household. In the mornings she went to cook, cook something, clean up the hut, and in the evenings Prokopich himself managed what he needed.

After eating, Prokopich said:

- Lie down on the bench over there!

Danilushko took off his shoes, put his knapsack under his head, covered himself with a string, shivered a little - you see, it was cold in the hut in the autumn time - but he soon fell asleep. Prokopich also lay down, but he couldn’t sleep: he couldn’t get the conversation about the malachite pattern out of his head. He tossed and turned, got up, lit a candle, and went to the machine - let’s try on this malachite board this way and that. It will close one edge, another... add a margin, subtract it. He’ll put it this way, turn it the other way, and it turns out that the boy understood the pattern better.

- Here's the Underfeeder for you! - Prokopich is amazed. “Nothing yet, but I pointed it out to the old master.” What a peephole! What a peephole!

He quietly went into the closet and brought out a pillow and a large sheepskin coat. He slipped a pillow under Danilushka’s head and covered it with a sheepskin coat:

- Sleep, big-eyed!

But he didn’t wake up, he just turned on the other side, stretched out under his sheepskin coat - he felt warm - and let’s whistle lightly with his nose. Prokopich did not have his own guys, this Danilushko fell to his heart. The master stands there, admiring it, and Danilushko, you know, whistles and sleeps peacefully. Prokopich's concern is how to get this boy properly on his feet, so that he is not so skinny and unhealthy.

- Is it with his health that we learn our skills? Dust, poison, will quickly wither away. First he should rest, get better, and then I’ll start teaching. There will be some sense, apparently.

The next day he says to Danilushka:

- At first you will help with the housework. This is the order I have. Understood? For the first time, go buy viburnum. She was overcome with frost - just in time for the pies. Look, don't go too far. As much as you can type, that’s okay. Take some bread - there is some in the forest - and go to Mitrofanovna. I told her to bake you a couple of eggs and pour some milk into the little container. Understood?

The next day he says again:

When Danilushko caught it and brought it back, Prokopyich says:

- Okay, not at all. Catch others.

And so it went. Every day Prokopyich gives Danilushka work, but everything is fun. As soon as the snow fell, he told him and his neighbor to go pick up firewood and help him out. Well, what a help! He sits forward on the sleigh, drives the horse, and walks back behind the cart. He’ll wash himself off, eat at home, and sleep better. Prokopich made him a fur coat, a warm hat, mittens, and pymas to order. Prokopich, you see, had wealth. Even though he was a serf, he was on quitrent and earned little. He stuck tightly to Danilushka. To put it bluntly, he was holding on to his son. Well, I didn’t spare him for him, but didn’t let him get to his business until the time came.

In a good life, Danilushko began to recover quickly and also clung to Prokopich. Well, how! - I understood Prokopyichev’s concern; for the first time I had to live like this. Winter has passed. Danilushka felt completely at ease. Either he goes to the pond, or into the forest. It was only Danilushko’s skill that he looked closely at. He comes running home, and right away they have a conversation. He will tell Prokopich about this and that, and ask – what is it and how is it? Prokopich will explain and show in practice. Danilushko notes. When he himself will accept it. “Well, I...” - Prokopich looks, corrects when necessary, indicates how best.

One day the clerk spotted Danilushka on the pond. He asks his messengers:

- Whose boy is this? Every day I see him on the pond... On weekdays he plays around with a fishing rod, and he’s not a little one... Someone is hiding him from work...

The messengers found out and told the clerk, but he didn’t believe it.

“Well,” he says, “drag the boy to me, I’ll find out myself.”

They brought Danilushka. The clerk asks:

- Whose are you?

Danilushko answers:

- Apprenticeship, they say, with a master in the malachite trade.

The clerk then grabbed him by the ear:

“That’s how you learn, you bastard!” - Yes, by the ear and took me to Prokopich.

He sees that something is wrong, let’s protect Danilushka:

“I sent him myself to catch perch.” I really miss fresh perch. Due to my poor health, I cannot take any other food. So he told the boy to fish.

The clerk didn't believe it. I also realized that Danilushko had become completely different: he had gained weight, he was wearing a good shirt, pants too, and boots on his feet. So let’s check Danilushka:

- Well, show me what the master taught you?

Danilushko put on the donut, went up to the machine and let’s tell and show. Whatever the clerk asks, he has an answer ready for everything. How to chip a stone, how to saw it, remove a chamfer, when to glue it, how to apply polish, how to attach it to copper, like to wood. In a word, everything is as it is.

The clerk tortured and tortured, and he said to Prokopich:

- Apparently this one suits you?

“I’m not complaining,” replies Prokopich.

- That’s right, you’re not complaining, but pampering yourself! They gave him to you to learn the skill, and he is by the pond with a fishing rod! Look! I’ll give you such fresh perches - you won’t forget them until you die, and the boy will be sad.

He made such and such a threat, left, and Prokopich marveled:

- When did you, Danilushko, understand all this? Actually, I haven’t taught you at all yet.

“I myself,” says Danilushko, “showed and told, and I noticed.”

Prokopich even started to cry, it was so close to his heart.

“Son,” he says, “darling, Danilushko... What else I know, I’ll tell you everything... I won’t hide it...

Only from that time on, Danilushka did not have a comfortable life. The clerk sent for him the next day and began giving him work for the lesson. First, of course, something simpler: plaques, what women wear, little boxes. Then things started to happen: there were different candlesticks and decorations. There we reached the carving. Leaves and petals, patterns and flowers. After all, they – the malachite workers – have a slow business. It’s just a trivial thing, but how long has he been sitting on it! So Danilushko grew up doing this work.

And when he carved the snake sleeve from a solid stone, the clerk recognized him as a master. I wrote to Barin about this:

“So and so, he showed up with us new master on the malachite case - Danilko Nedokormish. It works well, but it's still quiet when it's young. Will you order him to remain in class or, like Prokopyich, to be released on quitrent?”

Danilushko did not work quietly, but surprisingly deftly and quickly. It’s Prokopich who really got the knack here. The clerk will ask Danilushka what lesson for five days, and Prokopich will go and say:

- Not because of this. This kind of work takes half a month. The guy is studying. If you hurry, the stone will only serve no purpose.

Well, the clerk will argue how many, and you see, he will add more days. Danilushko and worked without strain. I even learned to read and write little by little from the clerk. So, just a little, but still I understood how to read and write. Prokopich was also good at this. When he himself gets the hang of doing Danilushka’s clerk’s lessons, only Danilushko did not allow this:

- What you! What are you doing, uncle! Is it your job to sit at the machine for me? Look, your beard has turned green from malachite, your health has begun to deteriorate, but what am I doing?

Danilushko had indeed recovered by that time. Even though in the old fashioned way they called him Nedokormysh, but what a guy he is! Tall and ruddy, curly and cheerful. In a word, girlish dryness. Prokopich had already started talking to him about brides, and Danilushko shook his head:

- He won’t leave us! Once I become a real master, then there will be a conversation.

The master wrote back to the clerk's news:

“Let that Prokopichev student Danilko make another turned bowl on a leg for my home. Then I’ll look at whether to release the quitrent or keep it in lessons. Just make sure that Prokopyich doesn’t help that Danilka. If you don’t watch, you will be punished.”

The clerk received this letter, called Danilushka, and said:

- Here, with me, you will work. They will set up the machine for you and bring you the stone you need.

Prokopich found out and was saddened: how could this be? what kind of thing? I went to the clerk, but would he really say... He just shouted: “It’s none of your business!”

Well, Danilushko went to work at a new place, and Prokopich punished him:

- Look, don’t rush, Danilushko! Don't prove yourself.

Danilushko was wary at first. He tried it on and figured it out more, but it seemed sad to him. Do it, don’t do it, and serve your sentence - sit with the clerk from morning to night. Well, Danilushko was bored and went wild. The cup was with his living hand and went out of business. The clerk looked as if this was the way it should be, and said:

- Do the same again!

Danilushko made another, then a third. When he finished the third, the clerk said:

- Now you can’t dodge! I caught you and Prokopyich. The master, according to my letter, gave you time for one bowl, and you carved three. I know your strength. You won't deceive me anymore, and I'll show that old dog how to indulge! Will order for others!

So I wrote to the master about this and provided all three bowls. Only the master - either he found a clever verse on him, or he was angry with the clerk for something - turned everything the other way around.

The rent he assigned to Danilushka was trivial, he did not order the guy to take it from Prokopich - maybe the two of them would sooner come up with something new. When I wrote, I sent the drawing. There is also a bowl drawn with all sorts of things. There is a carved border along the rim, a stone ribbon with a through pattern on the waist, and leaves on the footrest. In a word, invented. And on the drawing the master signed: “Let him sit for at least five years, so that something like this is done exactly.”

Here the clerk had to go back on his word. He announced that the master had written it, sent Danilushka to Prokopich and gave him the drawing.

Danilushko and Prokopyich became happier, and their work went faster. Danilushko soon began to work on that new cup. There are a lot of tricks in it. If you hit me a little wrong, your work is gone, start again. Well, Danilushka has a true eye, a brave hand, enough strength - things are going well. There is one thing he doesn’t like - there are a lot of difficulties, but there is absolutely no beauty. I told Prokopyich, but he was just surprised:

- What do you care? They came up with it, which means they need it. I’ve turned and cut out all sorts of things, but I don’t really know where they go.

I tried to talk to the clerk, but where are you going? He stamped his feet and waved his arms:

-Are you crazy? They paid a lot of money for the drawing. The artist may have been the first to do it in the capital, but you decided to overthink it!

Then, apparently, he remembered what the master ordered him - maybe the two of them could come up with something new - and he said:

– Here’s what... make this bowl according to the master’s drawing, and if you invent another one of your own, it’s your business. I won't interfere. We have enough stone, I guess. Whichever one you need, that’s the one I’ll give you.

It was then that Danilushka’s thought struck. It’s not us who said that you need to criticize someone else’s wisdom a little, but come up with your own - you’ll be turning from side to side for more than one night. Here Danilushko is sitting over this bowl according to the drawing, but he himself is thinking about something else. He translates in his head which flower, which leaf is best suited to the malachite stone. He became thoughtful and sad. Prokopich noticed and asked:

– Are you healthy, Danilushko? It would be easier with this bowl. What's the hurry? I should go on a walk somewhere, otherwise you just sit and sit.

“And then,” says Danilushko, “at least go to the forest.” Will I see what I need?

From then on, I began to run into the forest almost every day. It's time for mowing and berries. The grasses are all in bloom. Danilushko will stop somewhere in the meadow or in a clearing in the forest and stand and look. And then again he walks through the mowing and looks at the grass, as if looking for something. There were a lot of people in the forest and in the meadows at that time. They ask Danilushka if he lost anything? He will smile sadly and say:

- I haven’t lost it, but I can’t find it.

Well, who started talking:

- There's something wrong with the guy.

And he will come home and go straight to the machine and sit until the morning, and with the sun he will go back to the forest and mow. I began to drag all sorts of leaves and flowers home, and gathered more and more from them: cherry and omega, datura and wild rosemary, and all sorts of rezuns. He fell asleep on his face, his eyes became restless, he lost courage in his hands. Prokopich became completely worried, and Danilushko said:

“The cup doesn’t give me peace.” I want to do it in such a way that the stone has full power.

Prokopich, let's talk him out of it:

– What did you use it for? You're full, what else? Let the bars have fun as they please. We just wouldn't get hurt. If they come up with a pattern, we’ll do it, but why bother meeting them? Put on an extra collar - that's all.

Well, Danilushko stands his ground.

“Not for the master,” he says, “I’m trying.” I can't get that cup out of my head. I see, hey, what kind of stone we have, and what are we doing with it? We sharpen and cut, and polish, and there’s no point at all. So I had the desire to do this so that I could see the full power of the stone for myself and show people.

In time, Danilushko walked away and sat down again at that bowl, according to the master’s drawing. It works, but he chuckles:

– Stone tape with holes, carved border...

Then he suddenly abandoned this work. Another started. Standing at the machine without a break. Prokopich said:

- I will make my cup using the datura flower.

Prokopich began to dissuade him. At first Danilushko didn’t even want to listen, then, three or four days later, he made some mistake and said to Prokopich:

- OK. First I’ll finish the master’s bowl, then I’ll get to work on my own. Just don’t talk me out of it then... I can’t get her out of my head.

Prokopich answers:

“Okay, I won’t interfere,” but he thinks: “The guy leaves, he’ll forget. He needs to be married. That's what! The extra nonsense will fly out of your head as soon as you start a family.”

Danilushko busied himself with the bowl. There is a lot of work with her - you can’t fit it into one year. He works hard and doesn’t think about the datura flower. Prokopich began to talk about marriage:

– At least Katya Letemina is not a bride? Good girl... Nothing to complain about.

This was Prokopich speaking out of his mind. You see, he noticed a long time ago that Danilushko was looking at this girl very much. Well, she didn't turn away. It was as if Prokopich inadvertently started a conversation. And Danilushko repeats his own:

- Wait a minute! I can handle the cup. I'm tired of her. Just behold, I’ll hit it with a hammer, and it’s about marriage! Katya and I agreed. She will wait for me.

Well, Danilushko made a bowl according to the master’s drawing. Of course, they didn’t tell the clerk, but at home he decided to have a little party. Katya - the bride - came with her parents, who also ... among the malachite masters, more. Katya marvels at the cup.

“How,” he says, “only you managed to cut such a pattern and didn’t break off the stone anywhere!” How smooth and clean everything is!

The masters also approve:

- Exactly according to the drawing. There is nothing to complain about. Cleanly done. It’s better not to do it, and soon. If you start working like that, it’s probably hard for us to follow you.

Danilushko listened and listened, and then said:

- It’s a shame that there’s nothing to complain about. Smooth and even, the pattern is clean, the carving is according to the drawing, but where is the beauty? There is a flower... the most inferior one, but when you look at it, your heart rejoices. Well, who will this cup make happy? What is she for? Anyone who looks at Katya over there will marvel at what kind of eye and hand the master has, how he had the patience not to break off a stone anywhere.

“And where I made a mistake,” the craftsmen laugh, “I glued it and covered it with polish, and you won’t find the ends.”

- That's it... And where, I ask, is the beauty of the stone? Then the tremors passed, and you drill holes in it and cut flowers. What are they here for? Damage is a stone. And what a stone! First stone! You see, the first one!

He began to get excited. Apparently he drank a little.

The masters tell Danilushka that Prokopich told him more than once:

- A stone is a stone. What will you do with him? Our job is to sharpen and cut.

There was only one old man here. He also taught Prokopyich and those other masters. Everyone called him grandfather. He’s such a decrepit little old man, but he also understood this conversation, and he says to Danilushka:

End of free trial.

Current page: 1 (book has 3 pages in total) [available reading passage: 1 pages]

Pavel Petrovich Bazhov
Malachite Box

Nastasya, Stepanova's widow, still has a malachite box. With every feminine device. There are rings, earrings and other things according to women's rites. The Mistress of the Copper Mountain herself gave Stepan this box when he was still planning to get married.

Nastasya grew up as an orphan, she was not used to this kind of wealth, and she was quite a fan of fashion. From the first years I lived with Stepan, I wore it, of course, from this box. It just didn't suit her. He’ll put the ring on... It fits exactly, doesn’t pinch, doesn’t slip, but when he goes to church or on a visit somewhere, he gets dirty. Like a chained finger, in the end it will turn blue. He will hang his earrings - worse than that. It will tighten your ears so much that your lobes will swell. And to take it on your hand is no heavier than those that Nastasya always carried. Busks in six or seven rows only tried them on once. It’s like ice around your neck and they don’t warm up at all. She didn’t show those beads to people at all. It was a shame.

- Look, they’ll say what a queen they’ve found in Polevoy!

Stepan also did not force his wife to carry from this box. Once he even said:

Nastasya put the box in the very bottom chest, where canvases and other things are kept in reserve.

When Stepan died and the stones ended up in his dead hand, Nastasya had to show that box to strangers. And the one who knows, who told about Stepanov’s stones, says to Nastasya later, when the people have subsided:

- Look, don’t waste this box for nothing. It costs more than thousands.

He, this man, was a scientist, also a free man. Previously, he wore smart clothes, but he was removed: he supposedly weakened the people. Well, he didn’t disdain wine. He was also a good tavern plug, so be remembered, the little head is dead. And he is correct in everything. Write a request, wash off a sample, look at the signs - he did everything according to his conscience, not like others, just to rip off half a pint. Anyone and everyone will bring a glass to him as a festive occasion. So he lived at our factory until his death. He ate around the people.

Nastasya heard from her husband that this dandy is correct and smart in business, even though he has a passion for wine. Well, I listened to him.

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll save it for a rainy day.” - And she put the box in its old place.

They buried Stepan, the Sorochins saluted with honor. Nastasya is a woman in wealth and wealth, and they began to woo her. And she is a smart woman, she tells everyone one thing:

“Even though we’re second in gold, we’re still stepfathers to all the timid kids.”

Well, we are behind in time.

Stepan left good provision for his family. A clean house, a horse, a cow, complete furnishings. Nastasya is a hard-working woman, the kids are timid, they don’t live very well. They live for a year, they live for two, they live for three. Well, they have become poor after all. How can one woman with young children manage a household? You also have to get a penny somewhere. At least some salt. Relatives are here and let Nastasya sing in her ears:

- Sell the box! What do you need it for? What good is there to lie in vain? Everything is one and Tanya won’t wear it when she grows up. There are some things over there! Only bars and merchants can buy. With our belt you won’t be able to wear an eco-friendly seat. And people would give money. Distributions for you.

In a word, they are slandering. And the buyer swooped in like a raven on a bone. All of them are merchants. Some give a hundred rubles, some give two hundred.

“We feel sorry for your robbers, and, due to your widowhood, we make allowances for you.”

Well, they're trying to fool a woman, but they hit the wrong one.

Nastasya remembered well what the old dandy told her, he wouldn’t sell it for such a trifle. It's also a pity. After all, it was a groom’s gift, a husband’s memory. And what’s more, her youngest girl burst into tears and asked:

- Mommy, don’t sell it! Mommy, don't sell it! It’s better for me to go among the people and save my dad’s memo.

From Stepan, you see, there are only three little kids left. Two boys. They are timid, but this one, as they say, is neither like mother nor father. Even when Stepanova was a little girl, people marveled at this little girl. Not just the girls and women, but also the men said to Stepan:

“It’s no different that this one fell out of your hands, Stepan.” Who has just been born! She herself is black and fable, and her eyes are green. It’s like she doesn’t look like our girls at all.

Stepan used to joke:

“It’s no surprise that she’s black.” My father hid in the ground from an early age. And that the eyes are green is also not surprising. You never know, I stuffed master Turchaninov with malachite. This is the reminder I still have.

So I called this girl Memo. “Come on, my reminder!” And when she happened to buy something, she would always bring something blue or green.

So that little girl grew up in people’s minds. Exactly and in fact, the horsetail fell out of the festive belt - it can be seen far away. And although she was not very fond of strangers, everyone was Tanyushka and Tanyushka. The most envious grandmothers, and they admired. Well, what a beauty! Everyone's nice. One mother sighed:

- Beauty is beauty, but not ours. Exactly who replaced the girl for me.

According to Stepan, this girl was killing herself. She was all clean, her face lost weight, only her eyes remained. Mother came up with the idea of ​​giving Tanya that malachite box - let him have some fun. Even if she’s small, she’s still a girl—from a young age, it’s flattering for them to make fun of themselves. Tanya started taking these things apart. And it’s a miracle - the one he tries on, he fits it too. Mother didn’t even know why, but this one knows everything. And he also says:

- Mommy, what a good gift my dad gave! The warmth from it, as if you were sitting on a warm bed, and someone was stroking you softly.

Nastasya sewed the patches herself; she remembers how her fingers would become numb, her ears would hurt, and her neck could not get warm. So he thinks: “This is not without reason. Oh, for good reason!” - Hurry up and put the box back in the chest. Only Tanya from then on, no, no, will ask:

- Mommy, let me play with my dad’s gift!

When Nastasya gets strict, well, like a mother’s heart, she will take pity, take out the box, and only punish:

– Don’t break anything!

Then, when Tanya grew up, she began to take out the box herself. The mother and the older boys will go to mowing or somewhere else, Tanya will stay behind to do housework. First, of course, he will manage that the mother punished him. Well, wash the cups and spoons, shake off the tablecloth, wave a broom in the hut, give food to the chickens, take a look at the stove. He’ll get everything done as quickly as possible, and for the sake of the box. By that time, only one of the upper chests remained, and even that one had become light. Tanya slides it onto a stool, takes out the box and sorts through the stones, admires it, and tries it on for herself.

Once upon a time a hitnik climbed up to her. Either he buried himself in the fence early in the morning, or then slipped through unnoticed, but none of the neighbors saw him pass along the street. He’s an unknown man, but apparently someone brought him up to date and explained the whole procedure.

After Nastasya left, Tanyushka ran around doing a lot of housework and climbed into the hut to play with her father’s pebbles. She put on the headband and hung the earrings. At this time, this hitnik puffed into the hut. Tanya looked around - there was an unfamiliar man on the threshold, with an axe. And the ax is theirs. In the senki, in the corner he stood. Just now Tanya was rearranging him, as if in chalk. Tanya was frightened, she sat frozen, and the man jumped, dropped the ax and grabbed his eyes with both hands, as they burned. Moans and screams:

- Oh, fathers, I’m blind! Oh, blind! - and he rubs his eyes.

Tanya sees that something is wrong with the man and begins to ask:

- How did you come to us, uncle, why did you take the ax?

And he groans and rubs his eyes. Tanya took pity on him - she scooped up a ladle of water and wanted to serve it, but the man just shied away with his back to the door.

- Oh, don't come closer! “So I sat in the senki and blocked the doors so that Tanya wouldn’t inadvertently jump out.” Yes, she found a way - she ran out through the window and to her neighbors. Well, here we come. They began to ask what kind of person, in what case? He blinked a little and explained that the person passing by wanted to ask for a favor, but something happened to his eyes.

- Like the sun hit. I thought I would go completely blind. From the heat, perhaps.

Tanya didn’t tell her neighbors about the ax and the stones. They think:

“It’s a waste of time. Maybe she herself forgot to lock the gate, so a passer-by came in, and then something happened to him. You never know."

Still, they didn’t let the passerby go until Nastasya. When she and her sons arrived, this man told her what he had told his neighbors. Nastasya sees that everything is safe, she didn’t get involved. That man left, and so did the neighbors.

Then Tanya told her mother how it happened. Then Nastasya realized that he had come for the box, but apparently it was not easy to take it. And she thinks:

“We still need to protect her more tightly.”

She took it quietly from Tanya and the others and buried that box in the golbets.

All the family left again. Tanya missed the box, but there was one. It seemed bitter to Tanya, but then suddenly she felt a warmth. What is this thing? Where? I looked around, and there was light coming from under the floor. Tanya was scared - was it a fire? I looked into the golbets, there was light in one corner. She grabbed a bucket and wanted to splash it, but there was no fire and there was no smell of smoke. She dug around in that place and saw a box. I opened it, and the stones became even more beautiful. So they burn with different lights, and the light from them is like in the sun. Tanya didn’t even drag the box into the hut. Here in the golbtse I played my fill.

This is how it has been since then. The mother thinks: “Well, she hid it well, no one knows,” and the daughter, like housekeeping, snatches an hour to play with her father’s expensive gift. Nastasya didn’t even let her family know about the sale.

– If it fits around the world, then I’ll sell it.

Even though it was tough for her, she strengthened herself. So they struggled for a few more years, then things got better. The older boys began to earn little, and Tanya did not sit idle. Listen, she learned how to sew with silks and beads. And so I learned that the best master craftswomen clapped their hands - where does she get the patterns, where does she get the silk?

And it also happened by chance. A woman comes to them. She was short, dark-haired, about Nastasya’s age, and sharp-eyed, and, apparently, she was sneaking around so hard that you just had to hold on. On the back there is a canvas bag, in the hand there is a bird cherry bag, it looks like a wanderer. Asks Nastasya:

“Can’t you, mistress, have a day or two to rest?” They don’t carry their legs, and they can’t walk close.

At first Nastasya wondered if she had been sent for the box again, but then she finally let her go.

- There is no space for space. If you don’t lie there, go and take it with you. Only this piece is an orphan one. In the morning - onion with kvass, in the evening kvass with onions, everything and change. You are not afraid of becoming thin, so you are welcome to live as long as you need to.

And the wanderer had already put her bag down, put her knapsack on the stove and took off her shoes. Nastasya didn’t like this, but kept silent.

“Look, you ignorant one! We didn’t have time to greet her, but she finally took off her shoes and untied her knapsack.”

The woman unfastened her purse and beckoned Tanya to her with her finger:

“Come on, child, look at my handiwork.” If he takes a look, I’ll teach you... Apparently, you’ll have a keen eye for it!

Tanya came up, and the woman handed her a small fly, the ends sewn with silk. And such and such, hey, a hot pattern on that fly that just became lighter and warmer in the hut.

Tanya's eyes glared, and the woman chuckled.

- Did you look at my handicrafts, daughter? Do you want me to learn it?

“I want to,” he says.

Nastasya got so angry:

- And forget to think! There’s nothing to buy salt with, but you came up with the idea of ​​sewing with silks! Supplies, go figure, cost money.

“Don’t worry about that, mistress,” says the wanderer. “If my daughter has an idea, she will have supplies.” I’ll leave her the bread and salt for yours—it’ll last for a long time. And then you will see for yourself. They pay money for our skill. We don’t give away our work for nothing. We have a piece.

Here Nastasya had to give in.

“If you spare enough supplies, you won’t learn anything.” Let him learn as long as the concept is enough. I'll thank you.

This woman started teaching Tanya. Tanya quickly took over everything, as if she knew it before. Yes, here's another thing. Tanya was not only unkind towards strangers, but towards her own people, but she just clings to this woman and clings to her. Nastasya looked askance:

“I found myself a new family. She won’t approach her mother, but she’s stuck to a tramp!”

And she still teases her, keeps calling Tanya “child” and “daughter”, but never mentions her baptized name. Tanya sees that her mother is offended, but cannot restrain herself. Before that, hey, I trusted this woman because I told her about the box!

“We have,” he says, “we have my father’s dear memento—a malachite box.” That's where the stones are! I could look at them forever.

– Will you show me, daughter? - asks the woman.

Tanya didn’t even think that something was wrong.

“I’ll show you,” he says, “when none of the family is home.”

After such an hour, Tanyushka turned around and called that woman to the cabbage. Tanya took out the box and showed it, and the woman looked at it a little and said:

“Put it on yourself and you’ll see better.”

Well, Tanya - not the right word - began to put it on, and she, you know, praised it.

- Okay, daughter, okay! It just needs to be corrected a little.

She came closer and started poking the stones with her finger. The one that touches will light up differently. Tanya can see other things, but not others. After this the woman says:

- Stand up, daughter, straight up.

Tanya stood up, and the woman began to slowly stroke her hair and her back. She ironed everything, and she herself instructs:

“I’ll make you turn around, so don’t look back at me.” Look ahead, take note of what will happen, and don’t say anything. Well, turn around!

Tanya turned around - in front of her was a room the likes of which she had never seen. It's not the church, it's not like that. The ceilings are high on pillars made of pure malachite. The walls are also lined with malachite the height of a man, and a malachite pattern runs along the upper cornice. Standing right in front of Tanya, as if in the mirror, is a beauty the likes of which they only talk about in fairy tales. Hair like night and eyes green. And she is all decorated with expensive stones, and her dress is made of green velvet with iridescence. And so this dress is made, just like the queens in the pictures. What does it hold on to? Out of shame, our factory workers would burn to death to wear something like that in public, but this green-eyed girl stands there calmly, as if that’s the way it should be. There are a lot of people in that room. They are dressed like a lord, and everyone is wearing gold and merit. Some have it hung on the front, some have it sewn on the back, and some have it on all sides. Apparently, the highest authorities. And their women are right there. Also bare-armed, bare-breasted, hung with stones. But where do they care about the green-eyed one! None hold a candle.

In a row with the green-eyed one is some kind of fair-haired guy. Eyes slanted, ears stumpy, like eating a hare. And the clothes he’s wearing are mind-boggling. This one didn’t think the gold was enough, so he, listen, put stones on his weapon. Yes, so strong that maybe in ten years they will find one like him. You can immediately see that this is a breeder. That green-eyed hare is babbling, but she at least raised an eyebrow, as if he were not there at all.

Tanya looks at this lady, marvels at her, and only then notices:

- After all, there are stones on it! - Tanya said, and nothing happened.

And the woman chuckles:

- I didn’t notice, daughter! Don't worry, you'll see in time.

Tanya, of course, asks: where is this room?

“And this,” he says, “is the royal palace.” The same chamber that is decorated with local malachite. Your late father mined it.

- Who is this in her dad’s headdress and what kind of hare is she with her?

- Well, I won’t say that, you’ll find out for yourself soon.

On the same day that Nastasya came home, this woman began to get ready for the journey. She bowed low to the hostess, handed Tanya a bundle of silks and beads, then took out a small button. Either it is made of glass, or it is made of foolscap with a simple edge. He gives it to Tanya and says:

- Accept, daughter, a reminder from me. Whenever you forget something at work or a difficult situation comes up, look at this button. Here you will have the answer.

She said so and left. They only saw her.

From that time on, Tanya became a craftswoman, and as she grew older, she looked like a bride. The factory guys have calloused their eyes about Nastasya’s windows, and they are afraid to approach Tanya. You see, she’s unkind, gloomy, and where would a free woman marry a serf? Who wants to put on a noose?

In the manor's house they also inquired about Tanya because of her skill. They began to send people to her. A younger and nicer footman will be dressed like a gentleman, given a watch with a chain and sent to Tanya, as if on some business. They wonder if the girl will have an eye on this fellow. Then you can turn it back. It still didn't make any sense. Tanya will say that it’s on business, and other conversations of that lackey will be ignored. If he gets bored, he will make some mockery:

- Go, my dear, go! They're waiting. They're afraid that your watch might wear out and your grip might loosen. See, without the habit, how you call them.

Well, these words are like boiling water for a dog to a footman or other servant of the lord. He runs as if scalded, snorting to himself:

- Is this a girl? Stone statue, green-eyed! Will we find one!

He snorts like that, but he himself is overwhelmed. The one who will be sent cannot forget Tanyushka’s beauty. Like someone who is bewitched, he is drawn to that place - even to pass by, to look out the window. On holidays, almost all the factory bachelors have business on that street. The path has been paved right by the windows, but Tanya doesn’t even look.

The neighbors began to reproach Nastasya:

- Why is Tatyana acting so highly on you? She doesn’t have girlfriends and doesn’t want to look at guys. The Tsarevich-Krolevich is waiting for Christ's bride, is everything going well?

Nastasya just sighs at these submissions:

- Oh, ladies, I don’t even know. And so I had a wise girl, and this passing witch completely tormented her. You start talking to her, and she stares at her magic button - and remains silent. She should have thrown away that damned button, but in fact it’s good for her. How to change the silk or something, it looks like a button. She told me too, but apparently my eyes have become dull, I can’t see. I would beat the girl, yes, you see, she’s a gold digger among us. Consider, it is only her work that we live. I think and think so and so, and I’ll roar. Well, then she will say: “Mommy, I know that there is no destiny for me here. I don’t greet anyone and don’t go to games. What's the point of driving people into depression? And while I’m sitting under the window, my work requires it. Why are you coming at me? What bad thing have I done? So answer her!

Well, life started to go well after all. Tanya’s handicraft has become fashionable. It’s not like in the al factory in our city, they learned about it in other places, they send orders and pay a lot of money. A good man can earn so much money. Only then did trouble befall them - a fire broke out. And it happened at night. The drive, the delivery, the horse, the cow, all kinds of gear - everything burned down. They were left with nothing but what they jumped out in. However, Nastasya snatched the box in time. The next day he says:

“Apparently, the end has come—we’ll have to sell the box.”

- Sell it, mommy. Just don't sell it short.

Tanya looked furtively at the button, and there the green-eyed one loomed - let them sell it. Tanya felt bitter, but what can you do? All the same, this green-eyed girl’s father’s memo will go away. She sighed and said:

- Sell like that. “And I didn’t even look at those stones goodbye.” And that’s to say - they took shelter with neighbors, where to lay out.

They came up with this idea - to sell it, but the merchants were right there. Who, perhaps, set up the arson himself in order to take possession of the box. Also, the little people are like nails, they’ll get scratched! They see that the kids have grown up and give more. Five hundred there, seven hundred, one reached a thousand. There's a lot of money in the plant, you can use it to get some. Well, Nastasya still asked for two thousand. So they go to her and dress up. They throw it on little by little, but they hide from each other, they cannot come to an agreement among themselves. Look, a piece of this - no one wants to give up. While they were walking like this, a new clerk arrived at Polevaya.

When they - clerks - sit for a long time, and in those years they had some kind of transfer. The stuffy goat that was with Stepan was thrown away by the old gentleman on Krylatovskoe for the stench. Then there was Fried Butt. The workers put him on a blank. Here Severyan the Killer stepped in. This again the Mistress of the Copper Mountain threw into the empty rock. There were two or three more there, and then this one arrived.

They say he was from foreign lands, he seemed to speak all sorts of languages, but worse in Russian. He simply said one thing - flog. From above, with a stretch - a couple. No matter what shortage they talk to him about, one thing screams: paro! They called him Parotey.

In fact, this Parotya was not very thin. Although he shouted, he didn’t rush people to the fire department. The scoundrels there didn't even care. The people sighed a little at this Parot.

Here, you see, there’s something wrong. By that time the old master had become completely frail, he could barely move his legs. He came up with the idea of ​​marrying his son to some countess or something. Well, this young master had a mistress, and he had great affection for her. How should things be? It's still awkward. What will the new matchmakers say? So the old master began to persuade that woman—his son’s mistress—to marry the musician. This musician served with the master. He taught the little boys, through music, foreign conversation, as it was conducted according to their position.

“How can you,” he says, “live on bad fame, get married?” I’ll give you a dowry and send your husband as a clerk to Polevaya. The matter is directed there, let only the people be stricter. That's enough, I guess it's no use even if you're a musician. And you will live better than the best with him in Polevoy. The first person, one might say, will be. Honor to you, respect from everyone. What's bad?

The butterfly turned out to be a conspiracy. Either she was in a quarrel with the young master, or she was playing tricks.

“For a long time,” he says, “I had a dream about this, but didn’t dare say it.”

Well, the musician, of course, was reluctant at first:

“I don’t want to,” she has a very bad reputation, like a slut.

Only the master is a cunning old man. No wonder he built factories. He quickly ruined this musician. He intimidated them with something, or flattered them, or gave them something to drink - that was their business, but soon the wedding was celebrated, and the newlyweds went to Polevaya. So Parotya appeared in our plant. He only lived for a short time, and so - what can I say in vain - he is not a harmful person. Then, when one and a half Khari took over from his factory workers, they felt so sorry for even this Parotya.

Parotya arrived with his wife just at the time when the merchants were courting Nastasya. Baba Parotina was also prominent. White and ruddy - in a word, a lover. Probably the master wouldn't have taken it. I guess I chose it too! This Parotin’s wife heard that the box was being sold. “Let me see,” he thinks, “maybe it’s really worthwhile.” She quickly got dressed and rolled up to Nastasya. Factory horses are always ready for them!

“Well,” he says, “dear, show me what kind of stones you sell?”

Nastasya took out the box and showed it. Baba Parotina’s eyes began to dart. Listen, she was brought up in Sam-Petersburg, she had been to various foreign countries with the young master, she had a lot of sense in these outfits. “What is this,” he thinks, “this? The queen herself doesn’t have such decorations, but here it is – in Polevoy, among the fire victims! As long as the purchase doesn’t fall through.”

“How much,” he asks, “are you asking?”

Nastasya says:

“I’d like to take two thousand.”

The lady dressed herself up for appearance, and said:

- Well, honey, get ready! Let's go to me with the box. There you will get the money in full.

Nastasya, however, did not give in to this.

“We,” he says, “don’t have such a custom that bread follows the belly.” If you bring the money, the box is yours.

The lady sees what a woman she is, she’s eagerly running after the money, and she punishes:

- Don’t sell the box, honey.

Nastasya answers:

- It's in hope. I won’t go back on my word. I’ll wait until evening, and then it’s my will.

Parotin’s wife left, and the merchants all came running at once. They were watching, you see. They ask:

- Well, how?

“I sold it,” Nastasya answers.

- For how long?

- For two, as prescribed.

“What are you doing,” they shout, “have you made up your mind or what?” You give it into the hands of others, but refuse yours! - And let’s raise the price.

Well, Nastasya didn’t take the bait.

“This,” he says, “is something you’re accustomed to spinning around in words, but I haven’t had the chance.” I reassured the woman and the conversation was over!

Parotina's woman turned around very quickly. She brought the money, passed it from hand to hand, picked up the box and went home. Just on the threshold, and Tanya is coming towards you. She, you see, went somewhere, and all this sale happened without her. He sees some lady with a box. Tanya stared at her - they say, she’s not the one she saw then. And Parotin’s wife stared even more than that.

-What kind of obsession? Whose is this? - asks.

“People call me daughter,” Nastasya answers. - The very same heir to the box you bought. I wouldn’t sell it if the end didn’t come. From a young age I loved to play with these dresses. He plays and praises them - they make them feel warm and good. What can we say about this! Whatever fell in the cart was lost!

“It’s wrong, my dear, to think so,” says Baba Parotina. “I’ll find a place for these stones.” “And he thinks to himself: “It’s good that this green-eyed one doesn’t feel her strength. If someone like this showed up in Sam-Petersburg, she would turn the kings around. It’s necessary - my fool Turchaninov didn’t see her.”

With that we parted ways.

Parotya’s wife, when she arrived home, boasted:

- Now, dear friend, I’m not forced by you or the Turchaninovs. Just a moment - goodbye! I’ll go to Sam-Petersburg or, better yet, abroad, sell the box and buy two dozen men like you, if the need arises.

She boasted, but she still wants to show off her new purchase. Well, what a woman! She ran to the mirror and first of all attached the headband. - Oh, oh, what is it! - I have no patience - he twists and pulls his hair. I barely got out. And he’s itching. I put on the earrings and almost tore my earlobes. She put her finger in the ring - it was chained, and she could barely pull it off with soap. The husband chuckles: this is obviously not the way to wear it!

And she thinks: “What is this thing? We need to go to the city and show it to the master. He’ll fit it just right, as long as he doesn’t replace the stones.”

No sooner said than done. The next day she drove off in the morning. It's not far from the factory troika. I found out who the most reliable master is - and went to him. The master is very old, but he is good at his work. He looked at the box and asked who it was bought from. The lady said that she knew. The master looked at the box again, but didn’t even look at the stones.

“I won’t take it,” he says, “let’s do whatever you want.” This is not the work of the masters here. It is impossible for us to compete with them.

The lady, of course, did not understand what the squiggle was, she snorted and ran to the other masters. Only everyone agreed: they will look at the box, admire it, but they don’t look at the stones and flatly refuse to work. The lady then resorted to tricks and said that she brought this box from Sam-Petersburg. They did everything there. Well, the master for whom she wove this just laughed.

“I know,” he says, “where the box was made, and I’ve heard a lot about the master.” All of us can't compete with him. The master fits one for one, it won’t suit another, whatever you want to do.

The lady didn’t understand everything here either, all she understood was that something was wrong, the masters were afraid of someone. I remembered that the old housewife said that her daughter loved to put these dresses on herself.

“Wasn’t it the green-eyed one they were chasing after? What a problem!”

Then he translates again in his mind:

“What do I care! I’ll sell it to any rich fool. Let him toil, and I’ll have the money!” With this I left for Polevaya.

I arrived, and there was news: we received the news - the old master ordered us to live long. He pulled a trick on Paroteya, but death outwitted him - it took him and hit him. He never managed to get his son married, and now he has become the complete master. After a short time, Parotin’s wife received a letter. So and so, my dear, I’ll come along the spring water to show myself at the factories and take you away, and we’ll caulk your musician somewhere. Parotya somehow found out about this and started a fuss. It's a shame, you see, for him in front of the people. After all, he’s a clerk, and then look, his wife is taken away. I started drinking heavily. With employees, of course. They are happy to try for nothing. Once upon a time we feasted. One of these drinkers and boast:

“A beauty grew up in our factory; you won’t soon find another like it.”

Parotya asks:

-Whose is this? Where does he live?

Well, they told him and mentioned the box - it was from this family that your wife bought the box.

Parotya says:

- I’d like to take a look.

And the drinkers found something to eat:

“At least let’s go now to inspect whether they built the new hut okay.” The family, even if they are free, live on factory land. If something happens, you can press it.

Two or three went with this Parotei. They brought the chain, let’s measure it to see if Nastasya had stabbed herself in someone else’s estate, if the tops were coming out between the pillars. They are looking for, in a word. Then they go into the hut, and Tanya was just alone. Parotya looked at her and was lost for words. Well, I have never seen such beauty in any land. He stands there like a fool, and she sits there, keeping quiet, as if it’s none of her business. Then Parotya walked away a little and began asking:

- What are you doing?

Tanya says:

“I sew to order,” and she showed me her work.

“Can I place an order,” says Parotya?

- Why not, if we agree on the price.

“Can you,” Parotya asks again, “embroider my pattern with silk?”

Tanya slowly looked at the button, and there the green-eyed woman gave her a sign - take the order! - and points a finger at himself. Tanya answers:

“I won’t give you my own pattern, but I have a woman in mind, wearing expensive stones and wearing a queen’s dress, I can embroider this one.” But such work will not be cheap.

“Don’t worry about this,” he says, “I’ll pay even a hundred, even two hundred rubles, as long as there is a similarity with you.”

“In the face,” he answers, “there will be similarities, but the clothes are different.”

We got dressed for a hundred rubles. Tanya set a deadline - in a month. Only Parotya, no, no, will run in as if to find out about the order, but he himself has the wrong thing in mind. He’s also frowned upon, but Tanya doesn’t notice at all. He will say two or three words, and that’s the whole conversation. Parotin’s drinkers began to laugh at him:

- It won’t break off here. You shouldn't be shaking your boots!

Well, Tanya embroidered that pattern. Parotya looks - wow, my God! but this is she, adorned with clothes and stones! Of course, he gives me three hundred-dollar tickets, but Tanya didn’t take two.

“It’s not customary,” he says, “we accept gifts.” We feed on labor.

Parotya ran home, admired the pattern, and kept it secret from his wife. He began to feast less, and began to delve into the factory business a little bit.

In the spring, a young gentleman came to the factories. I drove to Polevaya. The people were rounded up, a prayer service was served, and then the bell ringers began to ring in the manor’s house. Two barrels of wine were also rolled out to the people - to remember the old one and congratulate the new master. That means the seed has been done. All the Turchanin masters were experts at this. As soon as you fill the master’s glass with a dozen of your own, it will seem like God knows what kind of holiday, but in reality it will turn out that you’ve washed your last penny and it’s completely useless. The next day people went to work, and there was another feast in the master's house. And so it went. They’ll sleep as long as they can and then go on a party again. Well, there, they ride boats, ride horses into the forest, play music, you never know. And Parotya is drunk all the time. The master purposely placed the most dashing roosters with him - pump him up to capacity! Well, they try to serve the new master.

Attention! This is an introductory fragment of the book.

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U Ural mountains Nastasya lived with her husband Stepan. Suddenly Nastasya became a widow and was left with a small daughter and sons. The older children helped their mother, but the daughter was still very young, and so that she would not interfere, Nastasya let her play with a malachite box - a wedding gift from the Mistress of the Copper Mountain herself, full of gems. But they didn’t suit Nastasya: either her earlobes were swollen or her fingers were swollen. My daughter Tanya really loved the jewelry and never parted with it. Nastasya, fearing that the jewelry on her daughter would attract thieves, hid the box. But Tanyusha found her and was already secretly trying on the jewelry.

One day, a beggar woman who came to get drunk asked to stay at Nastasya’s house, offering in return to teach Tanya to embroider beautiful tapestries. Having taught the girl, the beggar woman disappeared, leaving Tanya a button so that she could call her teacher in needlework at any time. Time passed, Tanyusha grew up to be a beauty and a needlewoman. Embroidery began to generate income, and the family began to live richly, but then their house burned down and Nastasya sold all her jewelry to survive. The clerk's wife Parotya bought them, but could not wear them for the same reason as Nastasya.

The young master Turchaninov arrived from St. Petersburg to get acquainted with the Ural property. Having seen a malachite jewelry box with his mistress, he decided to meet with the former owner. This is how Tanyusha and master Turchaninov met. The master fell madly in love with Tanyusha and, having bought the box from his mistress, as a sign of love he gave the very jewelry that the girl had loved since childhood. Tanyusha agrees to become his bride on the condition that the master introduces her to the empress and this will happen in the malachite chambers of the palace.

Turchaninov leaves to prepare the meeting and succeeds. The master calls Tanyusha to St. Petersburg. Tanyusha dressed up and put on all the jewelry, and so that those she met would not be blinded by the amazing beauty of the gems, she threw on an old fur coat. Turchaninov, who was waiting for Tanyusha on the steps of the palace, saw her poor outfit and decided to run away so as not to disgrace himself in front of the St. Petersburg elite, because he painted his bride as a charming beauty, and a beggar woman was coming to him. Tanyusha took off her fur coat and left it with the court servants. She, beautiful and radiant, went straight to the malachite chambers. But since the Empress was waiting for her in a completely different hall, no one was waiting for her in the malachite chambers.

Feeling deceived and humiliated, Tanyusha stepped into the malachite column and disappeared into it. The precious jewelry could not fit into the malachite, and remained hanging on the column. No one could tear them away from her, and since then two mistresses of the Copper Mountain began to appear to people in the Urals.

The fairy tale “The Malachite Box” tells about the legends of the Ural Mountains, about the hard underground labor of mountain workers, about the art of folk stone cutters and lapidaries. The work describes the events of ancient times, when many people did not have complete freedom and were entirely dependent on their master. In the Malachite Box, the author Bazhov expressed his delight and admiration for those people who will not sell their conscience and soul for any wealth. Human honor is incorruptible!

The meaning of the tale lies in the pure and inviolable conscience of many Ural women. This work by Bazhov instructs the future generation to live faithfully and truthfully. And the lie will certainly come out. The honor and dignity of man in this work turned out to be above all.

One Ural woman, whose name was Nastasya, inherited a box from her late husband Stepan. The box contained items made of precious stones made by real craftsmen. Rich merchants did not leave her alone with their persuasion to sell the box. Nastasya knew the value of these riches and did not give in to the persuasion of the irrepressible traders, so she was in no hurry to sell the precious box. Her daughter Tanya didn’t want this either. She loved to play with beautiful jewelry that suited her like no other girl. The girl was painted not only with expensive stones, but also with an elegant craft that a beggar taught her. old woman. But, misfortune came, there was a fire in the house. The malachite box had to be sold. As a result, Stepanov’s jewelry ended up in the hands of the gentleman - the owner of the local factories. And when he saw Tanya, a local needlewoman, he wanted to marry her. She was already beautiful, and her father’s jewelry made the girl even more beautiful. But the young girl set the conditions for the breeder that she would marry only when he showed her the queen herself in the royal chambers. In St. Petersburg, the master boasted to everyone about his extraordinary bride. The queen herself became interested in seeing the miracle, and she arranged a reception for noble guests. Master Turchaninov promised to meet the Ural beauty at the threshold of the royal court, but in last moment, seeing Tanya walking towards the porch in a simple, poor and modest attire, he chickened out and deceived her. Hiding from the shame that seemed to him, he missed important point. The fairy-tale heroine exposed the master's unclean intentions and, entering the column, disappeared. Disappeared also gems, which melted in the wicked hands of Turchaninov.

Picture or drawing Malachite box

Other retellings for the reader's diary

• Summary of Petrushevskaya Gluck

  One day, waking up in the morning, the heroine of the story, Tanya, saw in front of her an unusual creature - Gluck. A wanderer who saw a dream offered a girl to fulfill several of her wishes

• Summary of Leskov Cadet Monastery

  The narrator writes that he intends to prove the existence of righteous people in Rus'. Moreover, in his opinion, such people are found even in places that are not conducive to honesty and integrity.

• Summary of The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf by Zhukovsky

  A beautiful apple tree grew in Demyan Danilovich’s green garden. And suddenly, one day, he began to notice that there were much fewer apples on the tree. He called his sons and ordered them to take turns guarding the garden.

• Brief summary of the fable Oboz Krylov

  A convoy was traveling loaded with clay pots. While following it, it became necessary to go down a steep mountain. The owner took one horse and led it first.

• Summary of Salammbeau Flaubert

  During the feast, wars gathered in the gardens around Hamilcar's palace in Carthage, who fought valiantly for the honor of the state, but were left without payment for their labors, since the treasury was bankrupt

Nastasya, Stepanova's widow, still has a malachite box. With every feminine device. There are rings, earrings and other things according to women's rites. The Mistress of the Copper Mountain herself gave Stepan this box when he was still planning to get married.

Nastasya grew up as an orphan, she was not used to this kind of wealth, and she was not much of a fan of fashion. From the first years I lived with Stepan, I wore it, of course, from this box. It just didn't suit her. He’ll put the ring on... It fits exactly right, doesn’t pinch, doesn’t roll off, but when he goes to church or on a visit somewhere, he gets dirty. Like a chained finger, in the end the nali (even - Ed.) will turn blue. He'll hang his earrings - worse than that. It will tighten your ears so much that your lobes will swell. And to take it on your hand is no heavier than those that Nastasya always carried. Busks in six or seven rows only tried them on once. It’s like ice around your neck, and they don’t warm up at all. She didn’t show those beads to people at all. It was a shame.

Look, they will say what a queen they have found in Polevoy!

Stepan also did not force his wife to carry from this box. Once he even said:

Take it somewhere out of harm's way. Nastasya put the box in the very bottom chest, where canvases and other things are kept in reserve. As Stepan died and the stones ended up in his dead hand, Nastasya had to (had to - Ed.) show that box to strangers. And the one who knows, who told about Stepanov’s stones, says to Nastasya, then, as the people subsided:

Just be careful not to waste this box for nothing. It costs more than thousands.

He, this man, was a scientist, also a free man. Previously, he wore dandies (mining masters - Ed.), but he was suspended; It weakens the people. Well, he didn’t disdain wine. He was also a good tavern plug, so be remembered, the little head is dead. And he is correct in everything. Write a request, wash off a sample, look at the signs - he did everything according to his conscience, not like others, just to rip off half a pint. Anyone and everyone will bring a glass to him as a festive occasion. So he lived at our factory until his death. He ate around the people.

Nastasya heard from her husband that this dandy is correct and smart in business, even though he has a passion for wine. Well, I listened to him.

Okay,” he says, “I’ll save it for a rainy day.” - And she put the box in its old place.

They buried Stepan, the Sorochins saluted with honor. Nastasya is a woman in the juice, and with wealth, they began to take advantage of her. And she, a smart woman, tells everyone one thing:

Even though the golden one is the second, we are still the stepfathers of all the timid children.

Well, we are behind in time.

Stepan left good provision for his family. A clean house, a horse, a cow, complete furnishings. Nastasya is a hard-working woman, the timid little ones (obedient - Ed.), not too crazy (not hard - Ed.) live. They live for a year, they live for two, they live for three. Well, they got poor after all. How can one woman with young children manage a household? You also have to get a penny somewhere. At least some salt. Relatives are here and let Nastasya sing in her ears:

Sell ​​the box! What do you need it for? What good is there to lie in vain! Everything is one and Tanya won’t wear it when she grows up. There are some things over there! Only bars and merchants can buy. With our rags (rags - Ed.) you can’t wear an eco-friendly place. And people would give money. Distributions (help - Ed.) for you.

In a word, they are slandering. And the buyer swooped in like a raven on a bone. All from merchants. Some give a hundred rubles, some give two hundred.

We pity your robbers, we make a descent into widowhood.

Well, they're trying to fool a woman, but they hit the wrong one. Nastasya remembered well what the old dandy told her, he wouldn’t sell it for such a trifle. It's also a pity. After all, it was a groom’s gift, a husband’s memory. And what’s more, her youngest girl burst into tears and asked:

Mommy, don't sell it! Mommy, don't sell it! It’s better for me to go among the people and save my dad’s memo.

From Stepan, you see, there are only three little kids left.

Two boys. They are timid, but this one, as they say, is neither like mother nor father. Even when Stepanova was a little girl, people marveled at this girl. Not just the girls and women, but also the men said to Stepan:

Otherwise, this one fell out of your hands, Stepan ( beautiful girl is compared to a garusinka that fell from the tassels of a belt that was previously worn by both men and women in the Urals. - V.A. Bazhova). Who has just been born! She herself is black and pretty (pretty. - Ed.), and her eyes are green. It’s like she doesn’t look like our girls at all.

Stepan used to joke:

It's no surprise that she's black. From an early age, my father hid in the ground (scraped in the ground. - Ed.). And that the eyes are green is also not surprising. You never know, I stuffed master Turchaninov with malachite. This is the reminder I still have.