childhood, on earth, my university

Chapter 8: In the world (1)
1
I came to the world and worked as an apprentice in a "fashionable shoe store" on the main street of Nigeria.

The proprietor was a small, round man with a rough brown face, green teeth, and pale gray eyes.In addition to the boss, my cousin, Uncle Yakov's son Sasha, and a big guy are also in this shop.The big guy's face is flushed, he does things neatly, and knows how to win business.Sasha looked haughty in her little brown dress and corset, tie and loose trouser legs.

When my grandfather took me to see the boss, he asked Sashado to take care of me. He frowned and said arrogantly: "Then he will listen to me."

From this day on, Sasha has grown old in front of me.

The way the guys treat guests is hilarious.If a female customer comes, the big man will kneel down in front of the female customer, spread his fingers, and measure the size of the shoes.Once, the big man touched the feet of a female customer, and then puffed up his cheeks and kissed her feet.I couldn't help laughing, and I bumped my head against the glass, knocking it off.The big guy stomped at me, the boss tapped my head with his finger, and Sasha pulled my ear hard.Later, Sasha explained that if the big guy liked the ladies, the business would be better.I think I will never learn this method of soliciting business.

Every morning, the poor and bad-tempered cook always wakes me up early. I have to polish the leather shoes of the owner's family, the big man and Sasha, wash their clothes, light a samovar, and prepare firewood for the stove. Clean out the lunch box for lunch.When I arrived at the store, I had to sweep the floor, plaster, prepare tea, deliver the goods, and go to the boss's house to pick up lunch.

I was used to living a free life before, but here there is no grandmother, no partner, no one to speak, and there are ugly and hypocrisy here.I feel depressed and lonely.

If the female customers who came to the store left empty-handed, the store owner and the three of them would be very upset.For familiar female customers, they often bow and flatter in every possible way.As soon as the guests leave, they swear some nasty words.

Dude and Sasha also often steal things from the boss.They hid their shoes in the chimney of the stove and carried them out in the sleeves of their coats when they left the shop.I don't like this kind of thing, and I'm a little scared.

The cook is dissatisfied with everyone and gets angry at every turn. She also said that she likes fighting best, whether it is cockfighting, dog fighting dog, or fighting between men.If there was a fight of cocks and pigeons in the yard, she would immediately stop what she was doing, look out the window, and concentrate on seeing the fight until it was over.She and Sasha bickered a lot, and Sasha hated her so much that she would tell me to smear shoe polish or soot on her face or put needles in her pillow while she was asleep, but I didn't dare.She did not sleep deeply and woke up frequently.As soon as I woke up, I lit the lamp, sat on the bed, shook my body, and stared at the corner in a daze.I don't think she's going to live for more than a few days, and any minute she'll fall face down and die.

One night, after sitting in silence for a long time, she suddenly said in a low voice:
"I really want to die, and to live is to suffer..."

The cook died before us.Bending over the samovar, she suddenly sat down on the floor and fell silently on her side, with her hands forward, spitting blood.

Sasha and I were too scared to speak for a long time.Sasha immediately ran out of the kitchen, the boss came, he prayed, and told Sasha:
"Kashilin, go to the police!"

A policeman came, walked around, took a small tip and left.After a while, the policeman took a coachman and carried the cook away.

The proprietress stood in the front hall, glanced towards the kitchen, and said to me:
"Wipe the floor clean!"

The boss says:
"Fortunately, he died at night..."

I don't understand what's so good about it.

Sasha was terrified when she went to bed at night.After a while, he said: "Why did she die all of a sudden? This witch... I can't sleep..."

"I can't sleep either."

"Want to see my suitcase?" Sasha asked.

I have long wanted to know what is hidden in his box. He usually locks his box well and never wants to let me see it.

Sasha opened the box.Half of the box was filled with medicine boxes, and the other half was filled with colorful tea wrappers, shoe polish boxes and sardine boxes.He opened the first box, which contained a pair of glasses without lenses.An empty shoe polish box filled with buttons.He said triumphantly:

"I picked them all up on the street! I picked them up myself, and there are already 37 of them..."

The third box contained the brass pins and iron boot soles and buckles that I had picked up.Brass door handles and more.Seeing these things, I feel disappointed in him, even pity him.But he admired everything carefully, and touched and touched it fondly.Later he saw my indifference and was silent for a while, then he said:
"When the garden is dry, I'll show you something that will surprise you."

A few days later, it was a festival, and the store was only open for half a day.When the boss and his family finished their meal and took a nap, Sasha said to me mysteriously:

"Let's go."

We come in disguise.There are more than a dozen old linden trees growing in the narrow garden.Sasha walked towards the street wall and stopped under a lime tree.Then he squatted down and pushed aside a pile of leaves, revealing a big tree root with two bricks buried in the soil beside it.He moved the bricks, and underneath it was a piece of iron sheet, and under it was a square plank.After uncovering it, a big hole leading directly to the root of the tree appeared in front of my eyes.

Sasha struck a match, lit a candle, went into the hole, and said to me:
"Look! Don't be afraid."

But he himself turned pale with fear, and the candle trembled in his hand.I was also scared, and looked carefully to the bottom of the cave.The hole is as deep as the barrel and wider than the barrel.The sides of the cave are covered with shards of colored glass and broken porcelain from tea sets.A piece of red cloth was spread in the raised place in the middle, and a small coffin made of tinfoil was placed on it. The coffin was half covered with a small cloth, revealing the small gray paws and sharp beaked head of a sparrow.Behind the coffin stood a lectern with a small brass crucifix on it.Three candles were burning in the candlestick.The smell of candles, musty smell, and earth rushed to my face together. When I saw these, I was no longer afraid, but surprised and uncomfortable.

"What's this for?" I couldn't help asking.

"The chapel."

"Is this sparrow dead?"

"No, after it flew into the shed, I threw it to death with my hat."

"why?"

"No reason."

He looked at me and asked again:
"not good."

So he sealed the hole again, and asked with a gloomy face:

"Why don't you like it?"

"I pity the sparrow."

"You are jealous!" He pushed me, "In this case, let's fight." I was stronger than him, and soon he was lying on the ground with his head in his hands, his face on the ground, and a hoarse voice .I was terrified and wanted to help him up, but his hands and feet were shaking and he wouldn't let me help him.He kept hurling insults at me.In a fit of anger, I dug the hole open, pulled out all the things in the hole, threw the sparrow's coffin over the wall, and trampled the other things to pieces.

Sasha's attitude was strange: he was sitting on the ground, staring at me without saying a word.When I finished, he stood up unhurriedly, patted the dirt on his body, put the little dress on his shoulders, and said calmly and viciously:
"Just wait and see, it won't be long! I did it on purpose, it's magic! Hmph..."

I seem to be overwhelmed by his words.I squatted down and felt chills all over my body.But he left without looking back, and this look made me even more indignant.

I decided to leave the city tomorrow, leave the boss, leave Sasha and his magic, and no longer live this boring, ignorant life.

Waking up the next morning, the new cook screamed and told me that my face was thickly coated with soot.As soon as I started shining shoes, I got my fingers stuck with tacks as soon as I put my hands in them.And all the shoes have pins and sewing needles.So, I scooped up a ladle of water, walked up to the magician who was still asleep or was pretending to be asleep, and poured him a happy head.

I was going to run away that night.However, when he was heating soup on the kerosene stove before lunch, because he was distracted, he accidentally overturned the soup pot, burned his hand, and was sent to the hospital.

The hospital bed reminded me of a coffin, and the people lying on their backs were like dead sparrows.I heard from my grandfather and grandmother that hospitals always kill people.I think my life is over.

My hands were burning and aching like someone had whipped the bones in my hands.I was scared and in pain, and couldn't help crying.I was afraid that people would see it, so I closed my eyes, but the tears still passed through my eyelids, flowed down my temples, and dripped into my ears.

As night fell, everyone lay down, covered in gray quilts.I thought I should write a letter to my grandmother, asking her to come quickly and get me out of the hospital while I was still alive.However, I couldn't move my hands, and I didn't have a pen and paper.So I wanted to try to see if I could sneak out from here.

I got off the bed gently and walked to the door.The door was ajar.Under the light in the corridor, a man with gray hair and smoke was sitting.He stared at me and said:
"come over!"

I couldn't avoid it, so I walked over.

"What, you burned your hand? Why did you come out to hang out at night?" He took a puff of smoke at me.Wrapping a warm hand around my neck, he pulled me to his side.

"Scared?" he asked.

"Fear."

"People here are afraid at first, but there is nothing to be afraid of, especially when I am with you, I will not let anyone be bullied. Where are your parents? They are gone. Forget it, children without parents can also Live on, don't be afraid, understand?"

I haven't met someone so easy-going in a long time.Hearing his words, I felt indescribably happy.

As he walked me back to the hospital bed, I begged him:
"Sit with me for a while, okay?"

"Okay." He agreed.

"what is your job?"

"Me? A soldier, a Caucasian soldier through and through."

Later, I fell asleep in a daze.When I opened my eyes, the grandmother in black was sitting where the Caucasian soldier had been sitting just now.The soldier stood beside her.Grandma bent down and asked me:

"What's the matter, dear? Is it badly hurt? Let's go home."

"I'll go through the formalities right away," the Caucasian soldier said and left.

The doctor came and changed the bandages on my wound.I left the hospital with my grandmother in a carriage.

The sun is shining brightly, and white clouds are swimming in the sky like birds.Horse-drawn carriages drive through the streets of the city.Spring is here and Easter is fast approaching.My heart trembled like a lark. "Grandmother, how I love you!"

She was not at all surprised by my words, and said to me calmly:
"Because we are relatives! It's not that I boast, even outsiders like me. Thanks to the Holy Mother!"

She smiled again and said:
"The Holy Mother is about to rejoice, her son is about to be resurrected. But what about my daughter..." After she finished speaking, she fell silent.

2
When my grandfather met me in the yard, he was kneeling on the ground cutting a wooden wedge.He said sarcastically:

"Hello, my lord, have you retired? Now you can live a comfortable life, oh, you guys..."

"Okay, okay!" Grandma quickly waved him away.She went into the room, lit the samovar, and said:

"Your grandfather is poor now. He gave the money to his godson to earn interest. It seems that there is no good documentation. In short, he is bankrupt and has no money."

Everything in the room was the same, only the place where the mother lived was bleakly empty.Kolya, the younger brother, slept in a basket of underwear on top of a large box in the corner.He woke up and looked at me.His complexion became uglier and his body became thinner.He didn't recognize me, turned away, and closed his eyes.

A lot of bad news kept coming: Viahir was dead, Jazz lost his legs, Happy had gone to town to make a living.In addition, Kostroma and Churk both fell in love with Lyudmina, a crippled girl from Yevseyenko's family who lived in the same yard as their grandfather, and they had a lot of trouble over it.

One evening I met Lyudmina.She came down the steps into the yard and accidentally dropped the walking stick.I wanted to help her pick it up, but the bandage on my hand was in the way, so I couldn't pick it up after a lot of effort.Then we chatted.She smiled happily, but I didn't like her.I don't understand how the partners can fall in love with her?I felt very uncomfortable with her and went back to my room.

In the middle of the night, my grandma woke me up earnestly.Then she took my hand and walked in the dark night.It was a humid night, the wind was howling, and the gravel under my feet was icy cold.Grandmother went softly to the window of a small bourgeois house, crossed herself three times, then put a five-copeck piece and three loaves of sweet bread on the window sill, and crossed herself again.In the dark, my grandmother went to other people's windows again and again, leaving "quiet alms" on the window sill.

Its daybreak.Grandmother said:
"It's time to go home! Wait for the women to wake up and see, oh, the Holy Mother has brought something to the children. When you are short of food and clothing, a little thing is precious. I am a little tired, let's rest for a while... ..."

We sat down on a bench in front of someone else's house, and I leaned against my grandmother's warm body and fell asleep.

Life went by fast and fulfilling day by day.

Soon, I wanted to be with Lyudmina too.I am happy even without talking to each other.

When Kostroma, Churk, and I played games, no matter how much we played, as long as Lyudmina was watching the game, one of the three of us would run to her to show off from time to time:
"See, Lyudmina?"

Kostroma and Churk will also fight because of the game.Once, when Kostroma lost to Churk in a bat game, he hid himself and cried secretly.The complacent Churk wore his hat on one side, put his hands in his pockets, and seemed to have a sturdy air.I don't like the way he looks, I feel like I'm losing a partner, and it's Lyudmina's fault.

One evening, I was cleaning up bones, rags, and scraps in the yard when Lyudmina wobbled over.I accused her that Churk was not on good terms with us because of her.

She was very angry and left crying.I began to sympathize with her again.

The next day, as an apology, I bought a handful of maltose for two kopecks, which I knew she liked.

"Want some candy?"

She pretended to be angry and said:
"Let's go, I don't want to talk to you!"

But she immediately reached out to catch the sugar again:
"You don't even need to wrap a bag in paper, look how dirty your hands are."

"I washed it, but I didn't wash it clean."

She took my hand with a clean warm hand, looked at it and said:

"How did you make it like this?"

"Your finger was pricked too," I said.

"It's needle pricking. I often do needlework."

After a while, she looked around and said:
"Let's find a place to read The Woman of Kamchatka, shall we?"

We searched and searched and couldn't find a suitable place, so we decided to go to the changing room in the bathroom, which is rarely visited by people.She sat sideways by the window, excitedly reading a series of dry and difficult words, her serious eyes moving like two blue flames on the page.

From this evening, we often go to the dressing room.I'm glad she didn't read The Woman of Kamchatka after a while, because the book was endless, and we had just read the second volume when we found out that there was a third, and she said there was a fourth , and I couldn't answer her questions about the book.

We like rainy days because no one goes to the locker room because of the rain.We used to sit in the locker room for hours at a time, talking about everything.Sometimes I told stories I heard from my grandmother, and she told about Cossack life on the Bear River.

But soon, we stopped going to the locker room.Because Liudmina's mother found a job in a fur factory, she had to go out early every morning.My younger sister is at school and my older brother works in a tile factory.So she had to stay at home and work.On cloudy and rainy days, I would go to her place to help with cooking and sweeping the floor.When I have money, I buy some sweets and drink tea with her.My grandmother often came to see us, sat down to weave or embroider, and told beautiful stories.When my grandfather went to town and was away, Lyudmina came to our house and we all had a good meal.

Once, Kostroma deliberately told us the story of the hunter Kalinin.The hunter Koolinin, an old man with white hair and notoriety in the village, died not long ago.Kostroma said Kalinin was not buried in the sand of the cemetery, but was placed on the ground.Every evening, old man Kalinin climbed out of the coffin and wandered around the cemetery, looking for something, until the cock crowed the next day.

"Don't say scary things!" Lyudmina said terrified.

"Nonsense!" said Churk sneeringly. "I saw the coffin being buried with my own eyes. What dead people are wandering outside, it's all nonsense!

Kostroma, without looking at him, said angrily:

"In this case, do you dare to go to the cemetery to stay overnight?"

Then they quarreled.

Valek, the fat son of the shopkeeper's wife, came.He was in his twenties, heard our argument, and said:

"You three, if any one of you sleeps on a coffin overnight, I'll give him twenty kopecks, and if he's too timid to sneak back, I'll pull his ear."

Everyone was silent.

After a while Churk said tremblingly:

"Give me a ruble and I'll go!"

"What? Are you scared for twenty kopecks?" Kostroma said sarcastically, and turned to Valek again. "Give him a ruble, and he won't go anyway, just bragging."

Churk took the money without a word and walked slowly along the fence.Kostroma whistled after him.

"Hmph, coward!" said Valek sarcastically.

I hate this guy.It was even more painful to watch Churk go away in humiliation.So I said to Valek:
"Give me a ruble, and I'll go."

He laughed at me and threatened me again.I decided to go to the cemetery without his money.Grandmother came over, and after understanding what had happened, she took the ruble and said to me calmly:

"Put on a coat and a quilt, it will be cold at dawn."

My grandmother's words boosted my confidence: there is nothing to be afraid of.

Valek's condition was: no matter what happens, even if the coffin shakes and old man Kalinin crawls out, I can't get down and stay on the coffin until dawn.If it comes down, I lose.

"Be careful, I'll keep an eye on you!" Valek warned.

I walked quickly to the cemetery, hoping that this matter would start and end sooner.Valek, Kostroma and other young men walked with me.I climbed in from the wall of the cemetery, and there was the sound of Valek and the others laughing outside the wall.I staggered to the coffin.One end of the coffin was buried in the sand, and the other end showed stubby legs.I sat down on the coffin and looked around. There were gray crosses everywhere on the undulating cemetery.Jazzy's father lazily struck the clock in the watchtower, making a mournful sound.

(End of this chapter)