War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1045 Loud singing voice

"How did you come up with the idea of ​​bringing the little animals over to perform for the children?"

While asking the other party, Wei Ran squatted in front of the other party, "Take off your shoes and let me see what's going on with your feet."

"Isn't the meaning of the zoo's existence to bring happiness to children and all kind people who love animals?"

Matwei dragged Wei Ran's empty sledge truck and answered as a matter of course, "So after hearing that there are many children in your place, I decided to bring the animals to perform for the children. As for my feet, Just a sprain."

"How did you sprain it?" Wei Ran asked quite thoroughly.

Matvey spread his hands indifferently, "When I was arranging the mouse trap a few days ago, the German plane dropped a series of incendiary bombs. In order to avoid those arsonists, I jumped from the second floor of an apartment building. come down."

"Take off your shoes and let me take a look at them for you."

As Wei Ran said, he had already grabbed the other party's sprained leg, and took off the gray felt boots on the other party's feet without any explanation.

"Victor, are you still a doctor?" Matvey asked curiously, "Aren't you a childcare worker?"

"Previously a Veterinarian"

Wei Ran said while tearing off the stinky foot wrap, "A veterinarian who treats the legs and feet of animals."

"Veterinarian?" Matvey's eyes lit up, "Can you cure hippo skin diseases?"

"What did you say? Hippo skin disease?"

Wei Ran asked in astonishment while gently pinching the other's ankle with his hand, "Isn't that thing covered in armor? It also has skin diseases?"

"What kind of stupid are you talking about—!"

Matvey, who was unprepared, let out an exclamation without finishing a sentence, and at the same time, there was a crisp sound from his ankle.

"Try it now, does it still hurt?"

Wei Ran stood up and asked, this guy's ankle was not dislocated, he just used massage to set the bones in the literal sense of healing and saving lives, and he did a small local joint massage for the other party.

After carefully moving his ankle, Matvey tried to stand up, took two steps with one bare foot, and said in surprise, "Although it still hurts, it's much better than before. Victor, what are you doing?" Did it?"

"Do you mean that you want me to show you again?" Wei Ran asked expectantly.

"Forget it"

Matvey quickly waved his hand, sat on the former sledge again, picked up the smelly foot wrap, wrapped his feet, put on the felt boots again, and said in a whisper, "I guess you might It can really help our beautiful hippopotamus cure her skin disease."

"I'm afraid I can't help"

Wei Ran supported the sledge and stood up slowly, while fighting against the dizziness caused by hypoglycemia, he responded, "I have never treated hippopotamus, especially skin diseases. That is not my field of expertise."

"Forget it." Matvey didn't insist, and said instead, "Now take me to meet the children!"

"We can't afford the performance fee," Wei Ran joked, while helping the other party pull the heavy sledge cart, and gave up his own sledge cart to Matvey.

"It's ok"

Matvey also said in a joking tone, "You can owe it for now, wait until spring, no, wait until the end of the war!
After the war is over, how about you come to the zoo to find me or my colleagues to pay for the performance, 1 ruble per person, and only accept the audience to pay in person? "

"The price is not expensive," Wei Ran responded with a smile.

"Only pay by the audience themselves," Matvey emphasized, "especially children."

"Of course, it is paid directly by the audience themselves, especially children, but we will only pay the performance fee to Comrade Matvey, otherwise we would not recognize anyone who brought animals to perform for us."

Wei Ran slightly increased his voice, while repeating the other party's request, he also made a promise and made a request full of blessings.

Hearing this, Matvey ignored the request in the second half of the sentence, but pretended to be happy and calculated, "1 ruble per child, 10 rubles for 10 children, that's enough."

"16"

Wei Ran corrected the other party without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, "We had 6 more friends yesterday, so now we have 16 small audiences."

"This is really good news," Matvey said immediately with a smile on his face.

"So if you don't want the zoo to lose the huge sum of 16 rubles, when the war is over, it's better for the children to find you in the zoo."

"Of course!" Matvey patted his chest and made his promise.

After negotiating the "price", the two pulled the sledge, crossed the bridge across the Neva River in the sound of non-stop firefighting, and walked slowly towards the basement.

During the chat along the way, Wei Ran also learned that in order to perform for the children, Matvey had already set off at six o'clock this morning.

Not only that, but from what he said, it seems that his other two also brought small animals to other children in the city to perform voluntary performances, and such activities have been suspended since the zoo was bombed. , he and his colleagues, as well as those multi-talented little animals, almost each perform once a week.The rest of the time is spent collecting supplies and food that can fill the stomachs of small animals.

"So where do the food for the carnivores in your zoo come from?" Wei Ran couldn't help asking curiously.

"Frontline" Matvey replied bluntly, "I have a few colleagues who will go to the frontline every once in a while. There are many of them there."

"German?" Wei Ran couldn't help answering the question.

"Our little animals don't eat human flesh"

Matwei quickly waved his hand, "It's horse meat. There are many horse corpses on the front line. The soldiers cut off the good parts of the corpses and ate them, but there are still a lot of things like internal organs and horse hide left. It can be eaten by animals."

Hearing this, Wei Ran's eyes lit up immediately, "When is the next time you go to the front line to collect horse meat?"

"You want to go too?" Matvey looked at Wei Ran in surprise.

"certainly"

Wei Ran nodded as a matter of course, "We have 16 children, an old man, two grown girls and I are all waiting to eat."

"But those war horses"

"It's much better than rats, isn't it?" Wei Ran asked back, "Even if it's just the internal organs and intestines of a horse, it still provides more meat than rats."

Hearing this, Matvey thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "I was going to wait until my feet were ready, so let's wait until I finish performing for the children!

Tomorrow no no no, the day after tomorrow!The day after tomorrow I will take you to the battlefield to find horse meat.But when the time comes, you have to go to the zoo to meet me. I don't have the energy to walk so far to pick you up. "

"Then the day after tomorrow" Wei Ran immediately agreed when he saw the way out.

After negotiating the matter of going to the battlefield to find food together, the two of them quickened their pace again.

Before noon, the two finally returned safely to the ruins of the building where the basement was located.As expected, the arrival of Matvey and his little animals was warmly welcomed by the children who had been hiding in the ruins of the war for how long.

I haven't seen you for half the morning, and Lydia has already registered with the older children headed by Alexander and the little boy named Bogdan, and even she herself, because she helped the family at the port last night I need to rest after a busy night, so it's rare that I don't go out to work.

Not only that, but Ke Na also happened to take those older children and brought back some fragmented planks with a sledge cart.

No need to ask, the girl took the initiative to explain that just over half an hour ago, a shell blew up a nearby house. These wooden boards, which could only burn for half a day at most, were the ones that she took the children to take the risk of demolishing. back.

Under the leadership of this girl, several hungry older children relayed the wooden boards into the unlocked room and put them in order. Then they simply cleaned up the open space at the door of the three rooms, which was regarded as giving way to the performance. site.

When Mrs. Via came out of the warm room with the rest of the children wrapped in blankets and colorful Budyonny hats, Wei Ran also generously stuffed two pieces of chocolates prepared in advance to them. Matvey was ready to perform.

"eat it"

Wei Ran said in a low voice, "I don't want you to starve to death here while acting, and then we can only cry while sending those little actors in the car into the pot."

"You are so vicious"

Matvey shook his head dumbfounded, but he didn't take the chocolate in Wei Ran's hand, "I know how precious this thing is, let's keep it for the children, I'm here to bring hope to the children, not to eat drop their candy."

"Eat at least one." Wei Ran said seriously, "For you to have the strength to perform for more children."

Hearing this, Matvey looked straight at Wei Ran with a sincere face, hesitated for a moment, then nodded seriously, picked up the piece of chocolate carefully, bit down a third of it at most, and then Wrap it in tinfoil and put it in your pocket.

Patting Wei Ran's shoulder lightly, Matvey unloaded a small baby carriage from his sledge and put it on the ground, followed by a children's bicycle and a colored ball.

"Responsible to Kamsky—!"

With a long voice, Matvey called out a name in a rhythmic tone, and at the same time stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of "啪!", those children, those girls, and even Mrs. Via, who was holding the baby Galina in her arms, subconsciously looked at Matvey and him in the center of the venue. Behind him was a sledge covered with a canvas cover.

"Comrades! Students! The performance is about to begin! Please look here! Yes! Look here! This is it!"

Under the thick canvas cover, an ugly drake greeted in Russian with ups and downs, and Kona, a girl sitting on the dilapidated stairs, also played a small string of funny and cheerful music with the bayan in her arms. .

This tacit cooperation, which had not been discussed in advance, immediately made those hungry and older children laugh like a war that could not be destroyed at all.

At the same time, Wei Ran also walked to Ke Na's side and whispered, "Close your eyes and open your mouth."

Hearing this, Ke Na, who was holding the bayanqin, was stunned for a moment, then she closed her eyes and opened her mouth obediently. In less than half a second, she felt a small square with sharp edges and corners being crushed. Throwing it into her mouth, she tasted the sweetness of chocolate that she hadn't tasted for a long time!

"Hush—" Wei Ran made a silent gesture towards her, and at the same time showed a reassuring smile.

It wasn't until the girl nodded excitedly that he turned around and walked towards Lydia, who was not far away and was struggling.

"Lydia" Wei Ran approached the other party's ear and whispered something.

"What's the matter?" Delia asked weakly, and couldn't help yawning after she finished speaking.

Without waiting for the yawn to end, Wei Ran quickly put a piece of chocolate into the opponent's mouth.

"Well!"

Lydia, who was startled, was about to spit out the contents of her mouth, but Wei Ran covered her mouth first, and at the same time, put two small pieces wrapped in tin foil into her woolen coat pocket. chocolate.

"Eat it," Wei Ran whispered, "There are still two pieces in your pocket, you keep them for yourself, the children and Mrs. Weiya need you to survive."

With just one sentence, coupled with the long-lost sweet taste in her mouth, Lydia's eyes burst into unstoppable tears.

"Today is a happy day, isn't it?"

Wei Ran glanced at Matvey, who was introducing himself to Shi Jiansiqi in the canvas cover in the center of the field, and continued with a smile, "How can there be no candy in the animal show, so I let go Hand, can you eat the food in your mouth with big mouthfuls?"

Hearing this, Lydia, who was in tears, nodded vigorously, and when Wei Ran's hand left her cheek, she immediately covered her mouth, trying not to let herself choke up.

While Wei Ran was busy using all kinds of little lies to stuff a piece of fragrant chocolate into the mouths of every child except the baby Galina, Matvey finally opened the door in anticipation of the children. A small window in the canvas cover.

Amidst the fluttering of its wings and the exclamation of the children, a colorful macaw also accurately flew onto Matvey's shoulder, and first rubbed its small head affectionately against Matvey's belt. Cheeks with frostbite, followed by a crackling imitation of a short fart sound.

Amidst the children's laughter, Matvey, who pretended to be smoked by the fart, opened the second small window. Soon, a not too big and somewhat skinny dog ​​came out wagging its tail. Matvey carried it to the sledge cart, and Wang Wang Wang started to compare arithmetic problems with the children.

At the same time, Wei Ran leaned over to Mrs. Weiya who was holding Galina, and said with a smile, "Mrs. Weiya, open your mouth."

"What are you going to do again?" Mrs. Weiya asked helplessly. She had already discovered Wei Ran's little tricks, but she also knew that there was no way for her to stop his "wasting food".

"Anyway, just open your mouth." Wei Ran urged with a smile, "Anyway, open your mouth quickly, I'm still in a hurry to watch the show."

Hearing this, Mrs. Via sighed helplessly, opened her mouth obediently, and let Wei Ran stuff a piece of chocolate into her mouth.

"I'll watch you eat it before you leave," Wei Ran said seriously.

"You shouldn't be wasting food like this." Mrs. Via said with a wry smile. She naturally knew what was in her mouth, but she couldn't figure out where Wei Ran got it from.

"Anyway, eat it first." Wei Ran insisted stubbornly, "If you eat it, the children will still have it in the future. If you don't eat it, I won't bother to look for it anymore."

Speaking of this matter, she knew that she couldn't resist Wei Ran, and Mrs. Via could only chew the chocolate in her mouth bit by bit, and ate it into her stomach under Wei Ran's "surveillance".

"Now can you tell me where you found the chocolate?" Mrs. Via asked until she swallowed the chocolate.

"I found the wreckage of a German plane"

Wei Ran sat down next to the other party, and explained as a matter of course, "I found it on him, and I also found some other gadgets. Anyway, don't worry, I will definitely let the children survive , I promised."

Hearing this, Mrs. Weiya licked her sweet lips, and although she didn't say anything, there was a relieved smile on her face.

At the same time, Matvey also sent the parrot, which was not resistant to frost at all, into a warm cage, and the dog who had finished the arithmetic problem also pushed the small stroller around with its front paws. Turned around the edge of the field.

It wasn't until this time that the children noticed that there was a little monkey with big eyes and eating fingers in the stroller!

Almost subconsciously, all the children looked at Anastasia, the wife who is snuggling with Via. This little girl also likes to eat her fingers!
In this inexplicable coincidence, the atmosphere at the scene became more and more lively. The little monkey who was circling the arena in a stroller also rode the bicycle in circles.

Coincidentally, the midday sun passed through the cracks in the ceiling on the first floor, like a natural spotlight, illuminating Matvey who was standing in the center of the venue with a friendly smile on his face, and also illuminating the hope on the faces of the children .

Seeing this, Wei Ran left Mrs. Weiya silently, bypassed Ke Na who was in charge of the accompaniment of the forest farm, climbed up to the first floor, found an angle facing away from the sun, and turned the basement sideways to his performers and children. , were all included in the viewfinder frame of the Rollei SLR camera, and they were fixed on the film.

Back in the basement, he found a few more angles and took a few photos of Matvey, his little actors, and the smiling children.

After the little monkey finished the performance, as the last canvas window opened, a naive little bear who was obviously not an adult also walked out slowly.

Amid the exclamation of the children, Matvey commanded the clever little bear to stand up, and put the leather ball on top of its furry head.

When the little guy standing on two hind legs started to walk slowly with the ball on his head, the children clapping their hands wildly and the adults forgot their hunger, and also ignored the cheerful accompaniment provided by Kona's bayan. The sound of gunfire and the roar of aircraft that cannot be concealed.

And in the center of this happy field, Matvey, who was shrouded in bright sunlight, also looked at each other at this moment with Wei Ran who had just pressed the shutter on the edge of the field, and both of them saw something in each other's eyes. Something exactly the same and yet completely different.

It was a little difficult to turn around Matvey and the sledge cart. The smart little bear sat down on the ground, whether he couldn't hold on or completed the task, and Budyonny on the children's head The cap-like colorful ball just happened to roll off the little bear's head, and rolled to Matvey's feet with a grunt.

Seeing that he had put away the ball, the little brown bear immediately ran to the edge of the field, stood up again, ran sideways with its furry legs upside down, and waved it towards the children in a decent manner little paws.

While the little guy was interacting with the children, Matvey also put on a set of bridles for the dog that had just performed, and put on a set of Cossacks for the little monkey that was released again Ethnic Clothing.

When the little monkey started galloping around the field on the dog, the naive little bear followed behind on four legs.And after Matvey opened the cage door of the parrot, the macaw even imitated the sound of a horseshoe after flying to his shoulder.

This shocking performance did not end here. Matvey snapped his fingers towards Kona who was sitting on the stairs, and said loudly, "Comrade Kona, the song of the red cavalry!"

"No problem!" Ke Na responded loudly, and the bayan in her arms immediately changed its style, playing the red cavalry song smoothly.

At the same time, Matvi in ​​the center of the field also sang the red cavalry song with a loud and powerful voice.

Gradually, Mrs. Via and Lydia also sang this song, and several of the children also sang along.

When the song tore through the sound of the rumbling gunfire, the roar of the plane, squeezed out of the ruins, and finally spread to the snow-covered streets, some people who were pulling the sledge and moving slowly one after another They stopped in their tracks, sat unsteadily on their respective sledges, looked at the direction the music was coming from, and sang this battle song that brought people strength and hope together with a voice that only they could hear .

(End of this chapter)