For the expectant mother

In a distant kingdom there lived a king with three sons: Fyodor, Vasily and Ivan. The king grew old and began to see poorly. But he still heard well. Rumor reached him about a marvelous garden with apples that restore youth to a person. In this garden there is a well with magical water that makes the blind see.

The king gathered his entourage for a big feast and announced his desire: whoever brings these apples and that water, he will give half the kingdom. The eldest son volunteered to help his father. He drove for a long time and stopped at the intersection of three roads, where the stone lay. Fyodor chose the road that led to his betrothed. He met a beautiful tower on his way. A girl met him, treated him to delicious dishes, and at night pushed him sleepy into the basement. The middle brother followed the same path and ended up in the same basement.

The younger brother followed the brothers on a heroic horse. Only he chose a different path: the one that death promised him. On his way he came across a hut on chicken legs. Baba Yaga lived in it. Ivan bowed to her and told her where he was going. Baba Yaga liked him for his affection and respect. She decided to help Ivan. First she sent her to her middle sister, and she sent her to her eldest. Of all the sisters, she was the oldest and the smartest. The elder Baba Yaga taught Ivan how to get apples and water and took him on his way.

Ivan went to look for his brothers. I found them in the basement and helped them get out of it. And they thanked him - out of envy they threw the sleeping man into the abyss. We took the apples and water and went home. Ivan was lucky to fall successfully and didn’t even hurt himself badly. Then a storm came. The prince hid under a tree, and the chicks were sitting under it and fell out of the nest. Ivan covered them from the storm with his caftan and thereby saved them from death. Later, a huge bird flew in and, in gratitude for saving the children, carried the prince home.

The brothers were already at home, they gave the magic apples and water to their father. The king ate the apples, washed his face with water and became strong and healthy, and his eyes began to see well. Ivan did not go to the palace, he stayed to live with the vagabonds.

A few years later, Sineglazka arrived with two sons and demanded that the king give up Ivan, otherwise he would ruin the entire kingdom. The frightened king sent his sons to deal with Sineglazka. This showdown ended with them being beaten, and they barely escaped alive. Ivan heard about this and went to Sineglazka himself, and not alone, with a whole crowd of vagabonds. The guests were given water, food and sent back. Ivan and Sineglazka came to the king. The prince told his father what the brothers had done to him. The king got angry and drove his eldest sons out of the palace. And Ivan, together with Sineglazka and his sons, returned to her beautiful palace.

The fairy tale teaches you to be kind, honest and fair, to achieve happiness with your own hands.

Picture or drawing Tale of rejuvenating apples and living water

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Alexey Mikhailovich Domnin

Living water

The happiest people spend the night in a barn or hayloft in the summer. Natasha and I also slept in the barn among old furniture and shavings. There was a smell of dried sponge and the sound of lonely mosquitoes.

Natasha is a great inventor. She has surprised blue eyes, three freckles on her nose and soft hair the color of white bread. Bruises and abrasions do not go away from her elbows and knees: if she stumbles, she will certainly hurt herself on her elbows and knees. I lived in the North for a long time, missed her and now I tried to do everything so that she would feel good.

Climbing under the blanket, we turned off the flashlight, came up with adventures and listened to the jokes.

Natasha called frogs afraid. They lived in a pond under the mountain and at night they screamed at different voices, like kids who had fought. Natasha did not believe that these were frogs, she insisted that they looked like a hedgehog and that they had ears and a tail.

One day we made up a fairy tale about how the Boyuki came to our barn and ate all the cookies. Suddenly someone stomped on the roof. Then he sneezed, got down and knocked on the door. Natasha covered her head with a blanket and did not dare to breathe.

Who's there? - she asked, stuttering with fear.

It was the fat son of neighbor Nyura. He has a close-cropped head, which makes his ears seem too big. They are dark from a tan, but his nose and cheeks are light because the skin has peeled off from them. He's a funny man, this Buba. He calls fairy tales fairy tales, and teases me with a dreamer. He believes only what he knows and has seen.

Sleep on me! - said Buba. - Let's go shoot with a slingshot.

Why were you stomping on the roof? - Natasha asked.

Nothing. You and I won’t go anywhere, and don’t disturb us from sleeping.

Here's another!

Buba moved away and began shooting pebbles from the slingshot at the walls and roof.

How stubborn he is, this Buba! Recently, someone broke the neighbors' glass, and they complained about Buba. His mother beat him up and put him in a corner. Buba stood until dark and fell asleep in the corner behind the chest, but he never wanted to ask for forgiveness. They play with Natasha, then fight, and after half an hour they forget about the quarrel again.

The slingshot fire finally stopped. Buba rustled behind the barn, got tangled up in the bushes, and groaned - apparently he had hit something. As I fell asleep, I thought that he must have run out of pebbles.

I woke up from a click in my nostril. I opened my eyes and for a long time could not understand where I was. Thin rays of sunlight streamed through the cracks. They pierced the twilight of the barn like light swords. Buba was fiddling behind the door; he stuck a green pipe into the crack - a pican and spat out chewed paper balls. I quietly crept up to the door and, opening it, grabbed Buba by the collar.

Come on, give me some pican here,” I said sternly.

Buba closed his eyes and sat down, expecting a blow.

Natasha ran out, bare-bellied, in her red panties. She had not yet woken up and was rubbing her eyes with her fists. Her tangled hair stuck out like horns.

What are you playing? - she asked in surprise.

“Who will over-stubborn whom,” I sighed and let Buba go.

“Let’s go feed the crucians,” Natasha called him.

He timidly looked at me and took out a jar of worms from his pocket.

Just make sure you don’t give more than two worms,” I punished.

And they ran into the house.

Buba really liked our aquarium with two learned crucians. We placed it on the window, in the sunniest place. If you tap the glass with your finger, the crucian carp will swim out and stick their noses into the surface of the water.

Our crucians are special. I caught them with my boot when I was working in the taiga with geologists. I was crossing the lake - it had dried up, only pits of liquid mud remained - and I stepped into the hole. I barely got out of it. Someone alive fluttered in the boot. I thought it was a snake and froze with fear. Shake my leg. Along with the mud, two golden carp splashed out of the boot. They began to live in our bucket, and the geologists took turns extracting worms for them. And then I brought them home for Natasha. On the plane they got sick and floated in a glass jar with their bellies up. But at home I transplanted them into an aquarium, and they quickly came to life.

Natasha allowed Buba to feed the crucians himself. He threw the worms into the aquarium. The crucians got scared and hid in the grass. Buba pressed his face against the glass so that his nose and cheeks were flattened. He laughed and beckoned the crucians like a dog:

Fut, lip slaps, fut...

Then they played trolleybus with Natasha and never quarreled.

Dad, let Buba spend the night with us,” Natasha asked. - We're doing well.

Let it be, I agreed.

And I was even happy. That evening I was just going to tell Natasha about the Ants - how they milk their cows, grow mushrooms and store honey in special barrel ants. Buba, of course, won’t believe it and will say that I made it up. And I’ll show him the book where it’s written about it. I immediately imagined how he would open his mouth in surprise and blink his light eyelashes for a long time.

Buba said that he was not used to going to bed early. It was already dark, we sat on a hill and looked at the pond. The moon was dozing in the dark water, as bright and ruddy as in the sky.

Now, if only we could scoop the moon out of the pond and transplant it into our aquarium... - Natasha daydreamed. - Will it be round or square in the aquarium?

I imagined crucian carp in the ruddy moonlit water and laughed quietly.

It will be triangular! - Buba chuckled. He began to rake up the dust with his bare feet. - You are chemists. Grandmother's tales with pictures.

And not fairy tales, and not with pictures,” Natasha was offended. - And we’ll still get her.

“Very simple,” I replied. - With a bucket.

Natasha stuck her tongue out at Buba and jumped around on one leg:

Bucket-drom-drom, bucket-drom-drom... But I'm afraid? - she suddenly asked. - They won't touch us?

Of course not. They are small and kind. You'll see for yourself.

Buba laughed hesitantly:

Dreamers!

Natasha, singing “bucket-drom-drom,” galloped off to the house. She brought a bucket and a flashlight, and we began to go down to the pond. Buba walked ahead at first, then fell behind. Natasha held onto my pocket.

Are you afraid?

The moon swayed quietly in the pond. The darkness became thicker, and the frogs screamed even more desperately. And suddenly they fell silent.

We stood right next to the water. Inaudible shadows moved in the bushes. Natasha could not stand this silence and shouted:

Why are you silent, hey!

Something rustled at her feet, she groaned and sat down, covering herself with a bucket. I suddenly turned on the flashlight. A little frog jumped into the water. And frogs sat all around - on the sand, on the grass, on the leaves of water lilies. Blinded by the light, they fell into the water.

The tale of rejuvenating apples and living water is one of the most interesting and magical tales of Russian folk art. It is quite long, filled with an exciting plot and unusual turns of events. You can read the fairy tale about rejuvenating apples and living water online in its entirety or download the text in PDF and DOC format. Here you will find the full text, summary and thematic proverbs for the fairy tale.
Brief summary of the tale we can start with how in a certain kingdom, in a certain state, a king lived with three sons. Everything was fine with them, until the moment when the old king got it into his head to become younger again. To do this, his sons had to get rejuvenating apples and living water. The eldest son Fedor was the first to set off. Soon his road diverged into three paths: If you go to the right, you will save yourself, you will lose your horse, If you go to the left, you will save your horse, you will lose yourself, If you go straight, you will be married. Fyodor, without thinking for a long time, followed the path of where to be married. He drove and drove and came to the mansion, and a beautiful maiden came out of it and offered bread and salt. The hero could not stand the temptation, he went after the girl, she gave him something to drink, fed him, began to put him to bed, turned the bed over, and Fyodor flew underground, into a deep hole. Soon the tsar’s middle son, Vasily, set off on his journey, and the same story happened to him. The third youngest son Ivan, the prince, set off on a journey, stopped at a crossroads and chose the road. If you go to the left, you will save your horse, but you will lose yourself. He drove for a long time and came across a hut on chicken legs, where Baba Yaga lives. Ivan Tsarevich spoke to her politely and courteously, so she did not eat it, but told her how to get rejuvenating apples and living water. Ivan did everything as Baba Yaga said, got to Sineglazka, the owner of magical attributes, and secretly took possession of them. Sineglazka gave chase to Ivan Tsarevich, and having caught up with him, she arranged a duel with him. And everything would have ended badly for Ivan if he had not asked her for mercy. Sineglazka raised Ivan the prince from the damp ground, kissed his sugar lips, and they immediately got married. But the fairy tale does not end there. Ivan Tsarevich is traveling home to his kingdom, and on the way he turns onto the road to Married to be in order to help his brothers out of trouble. He pulled them out of the hole, washed them with living water, and they all went home together. And the brothers, instead of gratitude, think: If we return without living water, without rejuvenating apples, we will have little honor, our father will send us geese to graze. They took everything that Ivan Tsarevich had, threw him into a deep abyss, and they themselves went to their father to present other people’s gifts. Ivan Tsarevich would have died if he had not been saved by Nagai, the bird that raised him from the seaside to his native land. Meanwhile, Sineglazka took her sons, gathered troops, and went to look for Ivan, the prince in the kingdom. The Tsar did not expect such a turn, he was frightened and sent for Fyodor the Tsarevich and Vasily the Tsarevich, telling them to find their brother. It was then that they confessed how they took away the rejuvenating apples and living water from the sleepy brother, and threw him into the abyss. The Tsar shed tears, and Sineglazka found Ivan Tsarevich among the drunkards and tavern nakedness, washed him, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. The next day they were already celebrating a wedding in the palace, and the brothers Fyodor and Vasily were driven away from the yard.
The main meaning of the tale about rejuvenating apples and living water, of course: Good always triumphs over evil. But if you look at the tale in more detail, you can identify not just one moral, but several. For example, when the king wants to look younger, the sons, without asking any questions, go to an unknown place in order to satisfy the father’s seemingly delusional request. This suggests that the time is coming when children should take care of their parents and be grateful for their upbringing. When Ivan Tsarevich stands at a crossroads, he chooses the road. If you take the horse to the left, you will save yourself and you will lose yourself. He chose the most difficult path, because the easy path is not always the right one, you shouldn’t look for easy paths to your intended goal, there are no easy paths at all if you really started a big business. Ivan Tsarevich meets with Baba Yaga, but she does not eat him, but rather tells him how to get what he is looking for. This suggests that a polite and sociable person will always be able to agree with anyone and about anything. Having passed all the tests and rightfully taken possession of the rejuvenating apples and living water, Ivan Tsarevich returned home happy, but he could not pass by, and saved his brothers from trouble. This speaks of his kind heart, and that he needs to help his family and friends. Unfortunately, the brothers did not appreciate this; out of their envy and self-interest, they got rid of Ivan in a vile way and took possession of his things. But soon this deception was revealed, the brothers paid in full, and having lost everything, they were kicked out in disgrace. The truth always comes true, and all evil deeds done are sure to come back a hundredfold.
Read the Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water not only very interesting, but also instructive. A good fairy tale with a happy ending, teaches kindness, respect for elders, courage, honesty, justice. Each hero of a fairy tale personifies human vices that you can see in yourself, analyze your behavior, and draw certain conclusions.
The tale of rejuvenating apples and living water is a clear example of many folk proverbs: Whoever honors his parents, that age does not perish, Like the father, so is the fellow, Helping parents is our direct responsibility, Respect for the young is a duty, respect for the elder is a duty, Even if you go hungry for six days, still honor your father, An obedient son is not a father’s order hurts his back, Parental blessing does not burn in fire, does not drown in water, There will be no good if there is enmity in the family, Brotherly love is better than stone walls, He is my brother, but he has his own mind, He climbed into wealth - he forgot brotherhood, Brother, brother , but don’t take money! , My brother, eat your bread, It’s easier to live without the truth, but it’s hard to die, Whoever has no good, has little truth in him, Cover the truth with gold, trample it in the dirt, and everything will come out, You’ll go through the whole world with lies. , but you can’t go back, What you have gained through untruth will not be used for future use, The secret always becomes clear, Happiness is built on the truth.

“The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples” summary you can remember in 5 minutes.

“The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water” summary for the reader’s diary

The aged and blind king, having heard about rejuvenating apples and living water, sends his sons to get them. For this they should have received half the kingdom.

The eldest son Fyodor was deceived by an evil beautiful maiden and ended up underground. The same fate befell his middle brother Vasily.

The youngest son Ivan, on the advice of a grandmother he met, found himself a heroic horse and also went for apples and water.

On the way, he met three Baba Yagas, who told him where to get apples and water and helped him.

Ivan Tsarevich steals rejuvenating apples and living water from the strong girl Sineglazka.

Sineglazka caught up with Ivan and they began to fight. Sineglazka defeated Ivan and they got married, exchanged rings and said goodbye - Ivan went after his brothers, and Sineglazka went to her kingdom.

Ivan saves his brothers, but they betray him and throw him into the abyss. And his findings are brought to his father and he receives a reward.

The big bird helps Ivan and carries him to the surface, and he goes for a walk in the taverns.

Three years later, Sineglazka returns with two sons and asks that Ivan Tsarevich be delivered to her.

The brothers admit to the king that they destroyed Ivan, but Ivan himself comes to Sineglazka. They get married, the envious brothers are expelled from the kingdom, and Ivan and Sineglazka leave for her kingdom.

“The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples” summary

Once upon a time there lived a king, he had three sons. The eldest is Fedor, the middle one is Vasily and the youngest is Ivan. The king grew old, but he learned that far away, there was an apple tree with rejuvenating apples and there was a well with living water. He promised the man who gave him these gifts to take possession of half the kingdom.

The eldest son Fedor took himself the inevitable horse and was the first to go for wonderful gifts. At the crossroads of three roads, he saw a huge stone on which was written: “If you go to the right, you will lose your horse, if you go straight, you will be married, if you go to the left, you will save your horse, and you will lose yourself.” He walked straight and soon saw a tower with a gilded roof. A beautiful maiden came out of him, fed him, offered to rest, and then threw him into a deep hole.

The middle brother Vasily chose the same road as the eldest. And together they waited for their release in the dark pit of the girl.

Ivan Tsarevich decided to go get rejuvenating water for his father and find his brothers. On the advice of his grandmother, he took himself a heroic horse.

Ivan sets off along the path of “saving the horse, but losing himself.” He rode for a long time or a short time, but at sunset he came across a hut on chicken legs where Baba Yaga lived. He told her where he was going. It turned out that the threshing water was in the possession of her own niece - the maiden Sineglazka, a strong hero. But it is almost impossible to find her. And she sent him to her middle sister and gave him her horse. He quickly got to her, but she didn’t know how to find the girl Sineglazka. He sent him to his eldest, most knowledgeable sister. She told Ivan Tsarevich how to find Sineglazka. She gave the young man her war horse, which could fly over the wall.

Ivan reached the kingdom, Blue Eyes, jumped over the wall. In the Magic Garden there was an apple tree with rejuvenating apples, and under it there was a well with water. He picked the apples, took some water and wanted to look at Sineglazka. Ivan Tsarevich kissed her, as he was fascinated by her beauty. But as he was leaving, the horse hit the wall with its horseshoe, and from this ringing, Blue-Eyes woke up and chased the thief.

But she did not dare to punish him, since she liked this kind fellow. And he began to kiss her sugary lips. They walked for three days and three nights. And then she ordered him to go home, without turning anywhere, and wait for her for three years. But Ivan did not listen to her and went to rescue his brothers from trouble.

Brother Ivan rescued them, but they deceived him, took the apples and a jug of water, and threw him into the abyss.

The Nagai bird helped him get out of the cave and took him straight to his homeland. He learned that the brothers brought magical gifts to the father-tsar, and he became healthy. Ivan Tsarevich did not want to return home, but began to drink and hang out in taverns.

And Sineglazka gave birth to two sons. They grew by leaps and bounds. She arrived to the kingdom of Ivan Tsarevich. The Tsar sent Fyodor to her first, then Vasily. But she did not recognize them as her Ivan Tsarevich, but ordered her sons to flog them with a cane for treachery and deception. Yes, she ordered them to tell the whole truth to their father and find Ivan.

At this time, Ivan himself goes to Sineglazka. Sineglazka recognized the drunkard as Ivan Tsarevich - the father of her children - and ordered her sons to take him and take him to the tent to change him and give him a rest after three years of innocent suffering.

Sineglazka and Ivan Tsarevich arranged a merry wedding feast. Fyodor and Vasily were driven out of the yard. They themselves left for the kingdom of Sineglazka. Where they lived and did not grieve.

Vladimir Krupin

Living water

Information Products Mark 12+

© Krupin V.N., 2017

© Veche Publishing House LLC, 2017

© Veche Publishing House LLC, electronic version, 2017

Publishing house website www.veche.ru

Living water

As a keepsake for you, as a stone for me.

CONSPIRACY

“Once upon a time...,” Kirpikov began, but Masha shouted:

- Oh, not grandpa and grandma!

- Mother, do you hear?

- What? – Varvara responded from the kitchen.

- Why does the granddaughter say, that’s enough, she says, let’s live.

“Live,” Masha allowed. – You don’t tell me a fairy tale, but about yourself.

- About myself? “Kirpikov opened the newspaper, pretended to study it, and reported: “Nothing has been written about me.”

“How little you were,” Masha ordered. - How I went for living water.

- I walked and walked.

- Well, grandfather, well, the last time! Well! “The Vyatka men lived poorly, but they didn’t know this...” Grandfather! Further!

- They lived and lived. And they thought that they were living well, no worse than others, but a stranger came and said: “Why are you living so poorly? Haven’t you drunk the living water?

And Kirpikov himself, and Masha, and Varvara knew that he would tell the story to the end. For Masha! Yes, she twirled them as she wanted. Yes, he was glad. Mashenka also ran after him like a tail, as if tied. And it was impossible to tell which of them was the child. Mashenka resurrected the beginning of his life. It was as if it had gone somewhere for fifty years and now it has returned.

This was not an old man’s descent into childhood, no, these memories were sealed with seven seals of adult labor, shortages, deprivations, war, labor again, deafness to the childhood of her own children, but Masha came, put her little hands on these seals, and they disappeared, the doors fell into dust, and - my God! - just as there was no whole life, but only childhood.

As it turns out, he knew a lot of fairy tales! As if he himself had composed all the fairy tales about fools, and Baba Yaga, and Koshchei, he walked freely along an unfamiliar road, confident that he would come to the right place. And the songs! Why is Varvara a singer, and she marveled at how her hubby sang “Oh, don’t you fly, brown curls...”, “On Saturday, a rainy day...” (she even pulled this one up, and Mashenka, without going into the meaning, danced) , “The twenty-second of June, at exactly four o’clock...”. And how many completely printed ditties suddenly rained down from Kirpikov’s memory onto the admiring Maria.

She did not remain in debt and treated the old people to newfangled songs, of which she knew many. “Don’t cry, girl...”, “Snowfalls are very, very good...”, “There will be more...” and others, forced my grandfather to play in kindergarten. Varvara laughed once when her old man pretended to be a boy. “Don’t be afraid, boy,” Masha said, starting the treatment, “now the machine will buzz a little, we’ll blow off the dust from the teeth, and that’s all.” Kirpikov, who remembered pulling out the remains of teeth without freezing and making an artificial jaw, sincerely showed horror. He and his aunt had to be a teacher, and Masha came to his group to check on him. “Something about you, Alexandra Ivanovna (Kirpikov was putting on Varvarin’s apron), discipline is lame. Draw your conclusions." And Kirpikov did. He held a meeting and frightened naughty kindergarten dolls by shouting: “You work for Hitler!” That makes Masha laugh.

“Well, grandfather,” Masha reminded, “a person passing by told them: why do you live like this, that no one lives worse than you?”

“The men say: “Let’s get out of here in the cold, and we’ll figure it out ourselves.” Well, he got away, and the men thought about it. They think for a day, two, a week: what if they really live worse than everyone else? Back, and they didn’t drink the living water. We need to ask. It is necessary, but it is not necessary! Whom to ask! Like whom? God, there is no one else...

Masha sat down more comfortably. Kirpikov understood that he was harnessed to history and had to pull it to the end.

-Who should I send? No one wants to touch anyone. This one is afraid, this one has no time. That's a sin, that's two. I immediately spun. The men decided: we’ll send Sanka. He’s young, they won’t care about him. “Get out, Sanya, find out how and what. And ask for living water. If anything happens, we’ll work for nothing.” Okay, I say. And I’d like to see it for myself. The men took me by the arms and legs, swung me and threw me into the sky. Just tucked his shirt into his pants, the apostles: “Who is this? Where?..” So and so, to the very thing. And there they have it so organized, everything sparkles so much that it’s a shame to be in rags. Yes, barefoot. One says: “Maybe we shouldn’t let him in?” The other one is still in favor of letting him in - how much, they say, does the brat know and still has a connection with the people. Let me go! Before he could blink, he was changed, put on shoes, and introduced. So, I say, they sent me to ask. "Where?" - “Vyatsky”. - “What kind of people?” “Nothing,” they answer him, “within the limits of tolerance. They just build wooden churches, but otherwise they tolerate it. And they live well, the children even wear shoes in the summer. Here is a clear example." - “What other request?” So, I say, they told me to ask, as if for living water, at least a sip. There was a lot of talk, but no attempt was made. “Give it up! All?" Not everything, but if they poke you in the back, bow down. I went out into the hallway, I couldn’t come to my senses, I was thinking about how I could remember: this is how I stood, this is how he sat, and why didn’t he ask whether we were living worse or better? I look, and I’m back barefoot. The apostles say: “Go ahead and be with your own people, go and be patient.” And how, I say, living water, they promised. "Will. Payback later." They brought me to the edge and pushed me off. Yes, they calculated it cleverly, I fell on the straw, my eyes fluttering, and I had a huge bottle in my hands. There are men all around. "Brought?" - "Here". They started trying. Yes, everyone really liked it. Yes, once they let him go in a circle, and then another, and they sang a song.

- Which song? – asked Masha.

-Which one? “Steppe and steppe all around, the path is long...”

– And that time they sang “Glorious Sea, Sacred Baikal...”.

– Not just one, they sang a lot. They started singing and looked - the bottle was empty. “Come on, San, it won’t be long, fly over for more.” I’m waiting for them to swing me and throw me into the sky. “No,” they say, “it’s closer, run to the general store, it makes no difference...”

- And then you wake up? – asked Masha.

- And then I wake up.

It was not during the velvet season, as the poet said, that our hero came into the world, lived his life as he was told, and will anyone really condemn the fact that at these moments he is sitting with a glass of beer? Or rather, he doesn’t sit, but stands and speaks. And everyone listens to him, although at the hour the pub closes it is impossible to capture everyone’s attention. For example, a certain Vasya Zyukin wanted to sing with the delight of his soul, but the barmaid Larisa immediately threw out the singer. And again silence. If flies could survive in a pub, you could hear them fly by.

“We scratch our heads, but go bald from our foreheads,” said Kirpikov. - And that’s exactly how it is. Therefore, even if we jumped from more than one tree or came out of more than one cave, we were still brothers and sisters. At least second or fourth cousins. And if you do it, you will find your relatives everywhere. Even in Africa, but maybe they won’t admit it...

I wonder what attracted everyone’s attention to Kirpikov? The answer was the time of year: spring was coming. The palms of the hillocks were already sticking out of their snow mittens, and the owners were already looking at their vegetable gardens. Everyone had vegetable gardens - only Kirpikov had a horse. The horse was an unnamed le-dog gelding. Kirpikov was listed as a logging guard, but considered himself a groom. “The word “watchman,” he said, “disgraces our reality. If there is a watchman, it means there are thieves. But whoever needs it will steal from the guard, but there is nothing to guard from the honest.”

In the spring, on the days of planting potatoes, and in the fall, on the days of harvesting, Kirpikov became desirable to everyone. They vied with each other to treat him, or better yet, to give him something to drink in advance, and, what was more important for him, they listened to him. He ceased to be Sashka, his full name was remembered.

“Speak, Alexander Ivanovich,” the timid voice of pensioner Delyarov appeared.

– I order the word “woman” to be crossed out from all lists! – ordered Kirpikov. – Note in the margin: women. Get started!

“There are no lists,” said Delyarov, “nowhere to cross them off.”

“You’re a fool,” Kirpikov told him.