Mikhalkov Sergey Vladimirovich
Feast of Disobedience
Tale-tale
This never happened, although it could have happened, but if it actually happened, then ... In a word, a little boy was walking along the main street of a big city, or rather, he didn’t walk, but he was pulled and dragged by the hand, and he he resisted, stamped his feet, fell on his knees, sobbed into three streams and yelled in a voice that was not his own:
I want more ice cream!
And the Kid continued to yell all over the street:
I want more! I want more!
So they reached their house, went up to the top floor and entered the apartment. Here, mother led the Kid into a small room, put her nose in a corner and said sternly:
Stay like this until I forgive you!
What should I do? - asked the Kid, ceasing to roar.
That you are a terrible child! - Mom answered and left the room, locking the door with a key.
The terrible child began to think. At first he thought that chocolate ice cream tastes better than fruit ice cream, and then he thought and decided that if you first eat fruit ice cream and immediately eat it with chocolate, then the taste of chocolate will remain in your mouth, and two portions of ice cream will be in your stomach ... Actually, just because of this, such an ugly scene broke out between him and his mother on the street. He realized that the scene was ugly, because through his tears he saw how passers-by turned around, looked after them, shook their heads and also said:
What a terrible child!
And the Kid began to think about how bad it is to be small and that you must definitely try to grow up and become big as soon as possible, because everything is possible for big, but nothing is impossible for small. But before he had time to think about it, he heard a knock on the window pane behind him. The boy didn't turn around. Only when the knocking repeated itself did he cautiously turn his head. To be honest, he thought it was a familiar dove, which he sometimes fed bread crumbs, tapped with its beak. But what was his surprise when he saw outside the window not a dove, but a real Kite. He was caught on something and now beat in the wind against the window frame.
The boy went to the window, opened it and helped the Serpent to unhook. It was an unusually large and beautiful Kite. It was assembled from strong wooden planks and covered with thick waxed paper on all four sides. He had painted round blue eyes with brown eyelashes, a purple nose, and an orange mouth. But its main decoration was a long tail.
Thank you, Kid! - suddenly said the Kite, feeling free. - What is your name?
My name is Terrible Child!
And why are you sitting at home?
I was punished.
What have you done?
It's a long story. And my mother punished me.
Eternal history! - sympathetically said the Kite. - I have never met small children in my life who would not be punished by someone. However, I know one place where this is over. I was just about to fly there today, but I accidentally caught my tail on this nasty drainpipe.
Take me with you! - asked the Kid.
Why not capture you? The two of us will probably have more fun! Cling to my tail, hold on tight and try not to look down so you don't get dizzy!
Without thinking twice, the boy grabbed the tail of the Kite with both hands, pushed off the window sill with both legs, and in a moment was already flying over the roof of his house, and then over the whole city and its outskirts, and then over fields and over forests, rivers and lakes, and with height, he boldly looked down at the ground, and, honestly, he did not feel dizzy at all ...
The clock on the city tower struck midnight.
Dad, mom, grandfather and grandmother stood in the room and silently looked at the sleeping twins - Repka and Turnepka.
Sniffing sweetly, they slept soundly in their beds and smiled in their sleep.
Look! - Dad said in a disgruntled whisper. They are still smiling! They must be dreaming about that jar of jam they ate last week without asking...
Or the tube of ultramarine they painted the poor cat with! grumbled the grandfather. He was an artist and did not like it very much when children touched his paints.
It's time! Dad said decisively. - They won't wait for us!
Mom went to the beds and leaned over Repka to kiss him on the forehead.
Every child dreams of a story. And also - about the absence of prohibitions and punishments. Sergei Vladimirovich Mikhalkov wrote one of his stories on this subject. The plot of the work can be found in our article, which provides a summary. "The Feast of Disobedience" is one of the best works of the Soviet and Russian writer created for children.
What did Sergei Mikhalkov write about "The Feast of Disobedience"? The main characters are children. Adults in the tale appear for a short time: in the first and final chapters. Nevertheless, Mikhalkov dedicated the “Feast of Disobedience” not only to young readers. The main idea of the story, in the words of the author himself: "Complete freedom turns into anarchy." Later, twenty years after the publication of the story, answering questions from journalists regarding politics, the writer cited the plot of this tale as an example.
Mikhalkov's fairy tale "The Feast of Disobedience" was published in 1971 in the magazine "New World". The name of this work is widely used today in journalism. Moreover, to refer to some historical events, the phrase that was once invented by the writer Sergei Mikhalkov began to be used.
The "Feast of Disobedience", reviews of which are positive not only because of its artistic value, is mentioned in the books of modern psychologists and educators. One of them, Andrey Kurpatov, claims that the story is based not on the author's fiction, but on a well-known phenomenon called in science children's negativism.
The work should be divided into separate parts before a summary is given. The "Feast of Disobedience" can be retold according to the following plan:
The Feast of Disobedience begins with a depiction of a scene that can often be seen on the street and is painfully familiar to every parent. A woman walks along the street of a big city and drags her little son by the hand. He screams and rests: requires more ice cream.
The mother brings her son home and puts his nose in a corner. During the punishment, the Kid must consider his bad behavior in order to continue to behave with dignity. But children's thinking is not prone to introspection. As soon as the mother leaves, the boy begins to dream. At first he dreams of ice cream, fruit and chocolate. Then he begins to mentally philosophize. “How bad it is to be small,” the Kid concludes. After all, children can't do anything. And adults, on the contrary, everything is permissible.
And then the hero of Mikhalkov's story hears a knock on the window. This is a paper kite. He knows about a city where there are no adults and children do whatever they please. And he invites the boy to fly to this fabulous land.
New heroes appear in the plot - Turnip and Turnepka. They are brother and sister. During the day, like all normal children, they were naughty a lot: they ate a forbidden jar of jam and used paint for other purposes. And so, when they fell asleep, the parents, having kissed them, left the city. That's what all the adults did. At the general meeting of parents, which took place in the central city square, it was decided: children should be left without parental attention. At least for a while. After all, only in this way will naughty boys and girls be able to understand that bad behavior does not lead to anything good.
Such an announcement was seen by Repka and Turnepka, as well as other children, on the doors of the school, after they woke up and learned from their parents' letter that from now on they were left to their own devices. What will happen if one day adults disappear and only children remain in the world? Sergei Mikhalkov depicted a similar situation in his fairy tale, which can be called a utopia.
The children left school and headed to the nearest candy store. From now on, you can eat sweets as much as you like. And a lot came in. Children have destroyed almost all stocks of ice cream in the candy store. Many were hoarse. Then the uncontrolled boys and girls took up artistic creation. Previously, you could only draw on paper. Now - anywhere. The children decided to decorate shop windows and house walls with their art.
The first day of disobedience ended with smoking cigarettes, which were imprudently left by the parents who left the city.
There was only one adult left in the city. It was a dwarf named Fantik. He worked in the circus and loved children. However, on that day, when only kids remained in the city, I realized that I had not known anything about them before.
Fantik, leaving the house on that ill-fated day, faced the rudeness of the son of a local doctor. Then the circus performer became a witness to the jumble in the house of the same doctor. The children, hoarse from ice cream, smoked one cigarette after another. And at night Turnepka fell ill. And no one, except Fantik, could help her.
The next day other children also fell ill. Fantik did not leave them a single step. Some he treated, others he tried to educate. But he could not replace either mom or dad for any of the abandoned children.
On the second day after the children were left without adult care, they, in spite of everything, went to school. There was still an announcement about the cancellation of lessons. But now the schoolchildren suddenly began to regret that even the teachers did not stay in the city. And by the end of the second day, the children began to really miss their parents. And then it was decided to return moms and dads home at all costs.
And finally, the Kid flew to the city left by the adults. The one who so dreamed of becoming an adult and getting rid of maternal oppression. But, seeing the confused children, he did not rejoice for long. Boys and girls have already had enough of freedom. Now they wanted only one thing - the return of their parents. The kid, seeing their joyless faces, hurried home.
Before delivering the boy home, the Kite had to fulfill the instructions of the children. He was supposed to play the role of a postman. The children wrote a letter to their parents in verse asking them to return and promising to behave well in the future. The snake delivered the letter. And now obedient children were preparing to meet their fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers.
Restoring order in the city was led by Fantik. He rode around on his little bicycle all day and gave orders. The children were getting ready to meet their parents. No one knew when they would return, so it was necessary to quickly restore order in the city: sweep the streets, wash the drawings from shop windows, feed the birds, which almost died of starvation during the absence of adults. The children washed the dishes, put things in order in the confectionery, and cleaned the classrooms.
Exactly at noon, the parents were in the central city square. They were met by children, lined up, as if in a parade. Boys and girls were washed and combed. They wore pressed suits and polished shoes. This sight so impressed the parents that they did not immediately recognize their children. “Some of them are not like that,” one of the dads said. But suddenly the children rushed into the arms of their parents. The buttons were torn off again within five minutes, the suits were soiled, and the hair was tousled. Nevertheless, both the children and their parents were happy.
The next day, the city began to live a normal life. The boy who once demanded a second helping of ice cream from his mother now promised to correct his behavior. He returned home on the Kite and from now on he did not dream of permissiveness.
This is the summary. "The Feast of Disobedience" is a fairy tale created by one of the best children's writers. It is written in bright, rich language. Parents simply owe their children to read such works. And exclusively in the original. Mikhalkov's tale not only has an interesting plot, but also helps parents understand their children. And for kids - to get rid of the harmful dream of disobedience.
"Feast of Disobedience" - a fairy tale story for children and parents. In it, Sergei Mikhalkov summed up his observations, summarized his dear and important thoughts about education, about the relationship between children and adults.
Addressed to young children
This never happened, although it could have happened, but if it actually happened, then ... In a word, a little boy was walking along the main street of a big city, or rather, he didn’t walk, but he was pulled and dragged by the hand, but he resisted, stamped his feet, fell on his knees, sobbed into three streams and yelled in a voice that was not his own:
I want more ice cream!
And the Kid continued to yell all over the street:
I want more! I want more!
So they reached their house, went up to the top floor and entered the apartment. Here, mother led the Kid into a small room, put her nose in a corner and said sternly:
Stay like this until I forgive you!
What should I do? - asked the Kid, ceasing to roar.
That you are a terrible child! - Mom answered and left the room, locking the door with a key.
The terrible child began to think. At first, he thought that chocolate ice cream tastes better than fruit ice cream, and then he thought and decided that if you first eat fruit ice cream and immediately eat it with chocolate, then the taste of chocolate will remain in your mouth, and two servings of ice cream will be in your stomach ... As a matter of fact, just because of this, such an ugly scene broke out between him and his mother on the street. He realized that the scene was ugly, because through his tears he saw how passers-by turned around, looked after them, shook their heads and also said:
What a terrible child!
And the Kid began to think about how bad it is to be small and that it is necessary to try to grow up and become big as soon as possible, because everything is possible for big, but nothing is impossible for small. But before he had time to think about it, he heard a knock on the window pane behind him.
The boy didn't turn around. Only when the knocking repeated itself did he cautiously turn his head. To be honest, he thought it was a familiar dove, which he sometimes fed bread crumbs, tapped with its beak. But what a surprise it was when he saw outside the window not a dove, but a real Kite. He was caught on something and now beat in the wind against the window frame.
The boy went to the window, flung it open and helped the Serpent to unhook. It was an unusually large and beautiful Kite. It was assembled from strong wooden planks and covered with thick waxed paper on all four sides. He had round blue eyes with brown eyelashes, a purple nose, and an orange mouth. But its main decoration was a long tail.
Thank you, Kid! - unexpectedly said the Kite, feeling free. - What is your name?
My name is Terrible Child!
And why are you sitting at home?
I was punished.
What have you done?
It's a long story. And my mother punished me.
Eternal history! - sympathetically said the Kite. - I have never met small children in my life who would not be punished by someone. However, I know one place where this is over. I was just about to fly there today, but accidentally caught my tail on this nasty drainpipe.
Take me with you! - asked the Kid.
Why not capture you? The two of us will probably have more fun! Cling to my tail, hold on tight and try not to look down so you don't get dizzy!
Without thinking twice, the boy grabbed the tail of the Kite with both hands, pushed off with both legs from the windowsill and in a moment was already flying over the roof of his house, and then over the whole city and over its outskirts, and then over fields and over forests, rivers and lakes, - and from a height he boldly looked down at the ground, and, honestly, he did not feel dizzy at all ...
The publication includes fairy tales of the famous writer S. V. Mikhalkov. The book was prepared for the 100th anniversary of the author. For elementary school age.
A series: Big books by S. Mikhalkov for children
The following excerpt from the book Tales (S. V. Mikhalkov, 2013) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.
© Mikhalkov S. V., nass., 2013
© Chizhikov V. A., ill., 2013
© LLC AST Publishing House, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet and corporate networks, for private and public use, without the written permission of the copyright owner.
The electronic version of the book was prepared by Litres (www.litres.ru)
Feast of Disobedience
story-tale
This never happened, although it could have happened, but if it actually happened, then ... In a word, a little boy was walking along the main street of a big city, or rather, he didn’t walk, but he was pulled and dragged by the hand, and he he resisted, stamped his feet, fell on his knees, sobbed into three streams and yelled in a voice that was not his own:
- I want more ice cream!
And the Kid continued to yell all over the street:
- I want more! I want more!
So they reached their house, went up to the top floor and entered the apartment. Here, mother led the Kid into a small room, put her nose in a corner and said sternly:
“You will stay like this until I forgive you!”
– What should I do? - asked the Kid, ceasing to roar.
- Think!
– About what?
“That you are a terrible child!” Mom answered and left the room, locking the door with a key.
The terrible child began to think. At first he thought that chocolate ice cream tastes better than fruit ice cream, and then he thought and decided that if you first eat fruit ice cream and immediately eat it with chocolate, then the taste of chocolate will remain in your mouth, and two portions of ice cream will be in your stomach ... Actually, just because of this, such an ugly scene broke out between him and his mother on the street. He realized that the scene was ugly, because through his tears he saw how passers-by turned around, looked after them, shook their heads and also said:
What a terrible child!
And the Kid began to think about how bad it is to be small and that you must definitely try to grow up and become big as soon as possible, because everything is possible for big, but nothing is impossible for small. But before he had time to think about it, he heard a knock on the window pane behind him. The boy didn't turn around. Only when the knocking repeated itself did he cautiously turn his head. To be honest, he thought it was a familiar dove, which he sometimes fed bread crumbs, tapped with its beak. But what was his surprise when he saw outside the window not a dove, but a real Kite. He was caught on something and now beat in the wind against the window frame.
The boy went to the window, opened it and helped the Serpent to unhook. It was an unusually large and beautiful Kite. It was assembled from strong wooden planks and covered with thick waxed paper on all four sides. He had painted round blue eyes with brown eyelashes, a purple nose, and an orange mouth. But its main decoration was a long tail.
- Thank you, Kid! - suddenly said the Kite, feeling free. - What is your name?
My name is Terrible Child!
- Why are you sitting at home?
- I was punished.
– What have you done?
- It's a long story. And my mother punished me.
– Eternal history! – sympathetically said the Kite. - I have never met small children in my life who would not be punished by someone. However, I know one place where this is over. I was just about to fly there today, but I accidentally caught my tail on this nasty drainpipe.
- Take me with you! asked the Kid.
"Why don't you get caught?" The two of us will probably have more fun! Cling to my tail, hold on tight and try not to look down so you don't get dizzy!
Without hesitation, the boy grabbed the tail of the Kite with both hands, pushed off the window sill with both legs, and in a moment was already flying over the roof of his house, and then over the whole city and its outskirts, and then over fields and over forests, rivers and lakes, and from a height, he boldly looked down at the ground, and, honestly, he did not feel dizzy at all ...
The clock on the city tower struck midnight.
Dad, mom, grandfather and grandmother stood in the room and silently looked at the sleeping twins - Repka and Turnepka.
Sniffing sweetly, they slept soundly in their beds and smiled in their sleep.
– Look! - Papa said in a disgruntled whisper. They are still smiling! They must be dreaming about that jar of jam they ate last week without asking...
“Or the tube of ultramarine they painted the poor cat with!” grumbled the grandfather. He was an artist and did not like it very much when children touched his paints.
- It's time! Dad said decisively. - They won't wait for us!
Mom went to the beds and leaned over Repka to kiss him on the forehead.
- No need! Dad said softly. “He might wake up, and then we won’t be able to go anywhere.
Grandmother went to her granddaughter's bed and straightened the blanket. At the same time, she imperceptibly wiped away a tear that rolled down her cheek.
“This time we must show character…” grandfather whispered, took a large travel bag in one hand, and a box with his brushes and paints in the other, and headed for the door.
- Go-go! - Dad said hastily and heaved a heavy backpack full of all sorts of things onto his shoulders.
Mom threw two checkered blankets over her arm, grandmother took a wicker basket with knitting, which she never parted with, and all four left the room on tiptoe, closing the door tightly behind them.
… The city was asleep. More precisely, only children slept in the city. Sprawled out or curled up on their beds and cots, they slept the deep sleep of babies - running their fill during the day, crying from childhood insults, punished by their parents for whims and disobedience, for bad marks in diaries, for rumpled flower beds and broken window panes with balls, for spoiled things and for other pranks - freckled Styopki-disheveled, similar to red-haired devils, and blond Alyonushki, reminiscent of angels, with scratches and abrasions on thin knees, who lost their last milk tooth in a fight, clutching toy pistols and talking dolls to their chest in a dream .
Children are like children ... And in their sleep they laughed and cried, because some had good, cheerful, colorful dreams, while others had disturbing and sad ones, depending on how they spent the day. But none of them ever dreamed that at this late night time, from all over the city, along wide streets, along narrow alleys and crooked, lampless alleys, their fathers and mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers were stretching in a row towards the city square ...
At twelve o'clock in the morning, the entire adult population of the city gathered in the city square named after the Brave Traveler. Those who only yesterday baked lush pretzels and buns with poppy seeds and raisins in bakeries, who sold multi-colored balls of ice cream on the streets and in pastry shops, who vaccinated children, filled their teeth spoiled with sweets, and treated from a constant runny nose.
Strict teachers appeared without delay, who with red pencils put fat deuces in their diaries for students in the lesson, and fragrant hairdressers who cut children's hair as their mothers told them.
Tailors and shoemakers, postmen and plumbers, drivers of all types of public transport, sellers of all shops, all watchmen and all janitors came. They came, leaving their sleeping children at home.
Dad, mom, grandparents Repka and Turnepka appeared on the square at the moment when the most father of many children city, thin as a stick, Dr. Ukhogorlonos, having climbed onto the pedestal of a historical monument and clasping the bronze leg of the Brave Traveler with one hand, addressed the audience with a speech. His voice broke from excitement, and he continually raised a handkerchief to his eyes.
– It’s hard for all of us, but we must find the strength in ourselves and fulfill our decision, since we have already made it with you! the doctor said. - May our dear, but rude and lazy, capricious and stubborn children wake up without us! I have thirteen children,” he continued. - I don’t see any gratitude, I only hear from them: “I want!”, “I don’t want!”, “But I will!”, “But I won’t!”. I'm tired of fighting and fighting with them! We are all in the same position - we have lost patience. We have only one way out: to hand over the city to children. To our terrible children! Let's not interfere with them. Let them live as they want and do what they want! And then we'll see ... Thank you for your attention!
Swallowing tears and courageously holding back sobs, the doctor got down from the pedestal and got lost in the crowd.
The women sobbed. It was clear from the faces of many men that it was not easy for them either.
The clock on the city tower struck two in the morning, when not a single adult was left in the city ...
Repka woke up first. He rubbed his eyes and saw that Turnepka was still sleeping. Then he tore off the blanket from her with one jerk, pulled her bare leg, pinched her heel and showed her his tongue.
No one woke us up, I woke up myself! - Turnip said to his sister. - Get up! Otherwise, we might be late for school.
"Isn't today Sunday?" Turnepka asked and yawned sweetly.
- Sunday was yesterday. Today, unfortunately, is an ordinary Monday.
“Now, if it were always Sunday, Sunday, Sunday ... No, they came up with: Monday, Tuesday ...” Turnepka said, sighed sadly, stretched herself and began to dress lazily.
Neither dad, nor mother, nor grandmother, nor grandfather were at home. At first, the children thought that dad had already left for work, and mom went down to the bakery for bread.
But where could grandma and grandpa go? They never got up this early!
Why didn't anyone wake us up? Repka was alarmed.
"Why didn't they make breakfast for us?" Turnepka thought.
And then suddenly the children saw on the kitchen table a large sheet of paper, on which was written in their father's firm handwriting:
Dad.
And below, in my mother's thin handwriting, it was written:
Be careful with gas and water - turn off the taps! Do not climb with your feet on the windowsill. Food in the fridge.
Your mother.
And even lower, in printed letters, a small postscript from grandparents was made:
STILL WATER THE FLOWERS IN OUR ROOM.
Turnip read the note aloud, scratched the back of his head and looked at Turnepka in confusion.
Turnepka sat down on the edge of the chair and looked at Repka in confusion.
- Do you remember, Repka, what mother told us?
– What did she say?
"If you don't stop, we'll leave and won't come back!" So they left.
Turnepka's chin quivered, but she did not cry.
They decided to scare us! You'll see, we'll be back from school, and they're all at home again! - Turnip said confidently and opened the refrigerator. It was full of food. Turnip pulled out cellophane bag a ring of boiled sausage, broke it in half and handed half to my sister.
“We haven’t washed and brushed our teeth yet,” Turnepka said timidly.
- I'm clean! - Turnip muttered with a full mouth.
What if they don't come back? Turnepka asked with concern in her voice. How will we live without them?
- They're not going anywhere! - Repka said with a wave of his hand. - Let's go to school! Our first lesson is drawing and I want to draw a blue cat.
The turnip almost choked with laughter. Turnipka also laughed. They remembered Pupsik the cat, which had to be taken to the cleaners after it was dyed blue.
Do you remember what grandfather's paint was called?
“I remember,” Turnepka said. - Ultramarine!
It was far from an ordinary Monday!
Along the boulevards and streets, past the windows of toy, confectionery and other shops, along narrow alleys and crooked, lampless alleys with briefcases in their hands and knapsacks over their shoulders, crossing crossroads at random, children ran and hopped to school. No one stopped them when they violated the traffic rules, and did not whistle after them: in the whole city, in houses and on the street, there was no one except them!
Along the way, they passed the amazing news to each other, but it immediately ceased to be news, because, as we already know, all the children in the city on this beautiful morning discovered the complete disappearance of their parents.
Turnipka and Turnepka, out of breath, with difficulty squeezed through the crowd of noisy students in the school yard, who were hotly discussing the super-amazing event, and ran into their classroom.
There was an indescribable noise and din in the classroom. This has never happened before! The boys jumped from desk to desk, chasing each other and trying to slap one another on the back with a textbook. The girls squealed with inexplicable delight. The aquarium was already turned upside down, and small red fish from time to time jumped merrily in a puddle on the floor. On the blackboard was written in chalk:
All classes are cancelled!
The same thing happened in all classes. On all the blackboards was written:
All classes are cancelled!
The teacher's room was empty. There was a padlock on the door of the principal's office. No one was on duty in the cloakroom.
- Here it is, yes! Repka said. "Now you can get some rest!"
“So they all conspired against us?” Even the teachers…” Turnepka squeaked.
“They decided to teach us a lesson and even punish us. Let's see what happens! her brother answered confidently.
The turnip and Turnepka approached the podium hastily built from an inverted barrel, from which a boy nicknamed Cockroach spoke.
- Finally, no one will command us! shouted the Cockroach, red with excitement. No one will force us to do what we don't like! Long live the Feast of Disobedience! Stand on your head, walk on all fours! Nobody will tell you anything!
- And will not punish! - someone's sonorous voice was heard in the crowd.
- And will not punish! - confirmed the Cockroach and, for greater persuasiveness, stood a little on his head, and then jumped off the barrel and went on all fours.
His classmates, who were called Tarakashki, clapped their hands together, all, as one, stood on their heads and also went on all fours. They, like monkeys, imitated the Cockroach in everything.
A snub-nosed, swirling boy climbed onto the barrel. It was one of the thirteen children of Dr. Ukhogorlonos. His school nickname was Pistol.
Once he made himself a homemade pistol, loaded it with real gunpowder, squinted, took aim, fired and almost lost his right eye.
"Listen to what I'm about to tell you!" Pistolletik turned to the guys who surrounded him. - I have six brothers and six sisters, and now we are also left alone! We were threatened all the time that they would leave us, and finally they left us! This is what they wrote…” Pistol reached into the pocket of his faded jeans, took out a crumpled piece of paper, smoothed it on his knee and began to read aloud: “Terrible children! ..”
But no one listened to him. Everyone is in a hurry...
- Let's get out of here! - said Repka Turnepke. “Then we won’t get anything.
- What won't you get?
- You'll see for yourself.
The turnip took his little sister by the hand and resolutely pulled her along.
Under an old chestnut tree in the middle of the school yard, school bags, briefcases and briefcases flew into a heap and muffled on top of each other. Running past the tree, Repka and Turnepka followed the example of the others and, freeing themselves from the excess load, ran out of the gates of the deserted school...
... An unprecedented feast was going on in the confectionery "SWEET-TOUGH" - stocks of ice cream were being destroyed!
It was some kind of invasion of sweet teeth, who in a quarter of an hour occupied all the places at the tables in the confectionery and settled down not only on the windowsills, but also right on the floor.
It's hard to imagine how many servings of creamy, chocolate, vanilla, raspberry, strawberry, pineapple, apricot or lemon ice cream can be eaten by one sweet tooth if it is not stopped in time!
Those with a sweet tooth did not eat ice cream with small spoons from vases and did not lick it with their tongues from waffle cups, but scooped it directly with tablespoons from deep plates. They did not hold it patiently in their mouths and did not wait for it to melt there, but hurried to swallow it as soon as possible, which caused some to immediately hoarse, and the Cockroach completely lost his voice.
Having swallowed everything that was on their plate, the sweet tooth immediately ran and stood in line for a new portion of ice cream. Scattered wafer cups crunched under their feet, no one picking them up.
- I can not do it anymore. I think I'm frozen to the chair! Turnepka said in a cold voice. Her nose turned blue, and frost appeared on her eyelashes.
“Maybe we should take with us what we haven’t eaten?” Repka suggested. He, too, was shivering from the cold after the tenth serving of chocolate ice cream.
Before he could say it, a wet pink ball of popsicles, thrown by someone, hit him right in the nose and flopped on the table in front of him. The second ball hit the back of Turnepke's head.
The twins looked around and saw Ear-throats, who, having swallowed ice cream, began to behave outrageously and started a game of "balls". From the other end of the hall, Tarakashki, led by Tarakan himself, began to answer them, and if Turnip and Turnepka had not rushed to get out the door of the confectionery, they would have to take part in the ensuing battle.
As they walked down the street, the clock on the city tower struck noon on the first day of the Feast of Disobedience...
Lilliput was called Fantik. And it was his real name, not a nickname.
Fantik lived on the outskirts of the city in a small, very small and pretty, pretty little house under a red tiled roof and with carved wooden shutters.
He slept on a children's iron crib and dressed in a store. Child's world". No one knew exactly how old Fantik was, although it was clear to everyone that he had not been a child for a long time.
Fantik was lonely, and he never had to raise children, much less punish them. He used to see them as kind, cheerful friends and was convinced that children bring only joy, because he met with them only on Sundays at the circus. During the performance, they laughed out loud, stamped their feet with impatience and delight, and beat their hands together when they clapped for the little midgets, among whom Fantik was the tallest.
A few days before the event that took place in the city, the circus went on tour. But Fantik remained, because during the rehearsal he twisted his leg in the arena and limped.
That night, everyone forgot about him, believing that he had long since left with his group of midgets and other artists.
In the morning, Fantik woke up in a great mood. His leg was almost gone, and he decided to go to town right after breakfast and buy himself a cane.
After carefully making the bed, he turned on the radio to do his usual morning exercises to the music. For some reason, the radio was silent.
Fantik was surprised, but he still did the gymnastics, mentally singing his favorite “Song of the Dwarfs”.
Then he took a shower, which he himself made from a garden watering can, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, boiled one soft-boiled egg for breakfast, drank a mug of milk with vanilla cracker and, not forgetting to water a small flower bed near the house, on which pansies and forget-me-nots grew, he took his children's two-wheeled bicycle out the gate and rolled down the street.
The first thing that struck him was that no one overtook him. No one was walking towards him. The traffic lights at the intersections did not flash. There were no pedestrians on the street, except for children.
Here and there, in groups and alone, they stood, walked, or ran somewhere.
As Fantik approached the center, there were more and more children. Now already some of them were riding bicycles and scooters next to him and, overtaking him, did not pay any attention to him.
At the entrance to the square named after the Brave Traveler, Fantik had to brake sharply, and he almost fell off the bike: two boys in front of his very nose decided to cross the road. They had buckets of paint in their hands.
- Shame on you! Fantik got angry. “I could run into you!” Why don't you follow the traffic rules? Do you want your parents to be fined?
- They abandoned us! - confirmed the second Ear-throat and also sneezed.
- Why aren't you at school?
"They've all run away!"
- That is, how did they “run away”? Fantik did not understand.
- What are you doing to us? Fell off the moon? It's like you don't know anything! - Ear-throats got angry. - Roll on your wheels, neat, and roll on!
Fantik had never been spoken to like that before. He was out of breath, and tears welled up in his eyes.
He wanted to say something, to explain something to the boys, but they were already far away.
In the classroom, most often you need to draw not what you want, but sketch some vase of flowers, or a clay pot, or, at best, an apple into an album, which you can quietly pull off after the lesson and slowly eat it in the toilet.
It’s quite another thing to wield chalk, charcoal and paints on the street, drawing whatever comes into your head anywhere!
Ear-throats captured the right side of Musketeers Street, and the Tarakashki got the left side, which they now painted together, trying their best to redraw Pistolletik with his family team.
There were more fences on the side of the Ear-throats, on which it was easier to draw than on the walls of houses, where windows and doors come across. But on the other hand, there were many shop windows on the side of the Tarakashki, and the Tarakashki were painting with might and main on the glass all sorts of funny faces with their tongues hanging out, steamboats and steam locomotives, from the chimneys of which thick black smoke poured.
And yet Pistolletik had more imagination and fiction. His dad, Dr. Ukhogorlonos, was the most peaceful person in the city - he treated adults and children for tonsillitis and inflammation of the middle ear - but Pistoletik himself wanted to become an officer, and therefore, commanding his brothers and sisters, he depicted a battle on all the fences: tanks were moving on the offensive, planes dropped bombs, cannons fired, rockets flew, the wounded fell, ships exploded and broke into two halves ... And all this was first drawn with charcoal, and then painted with paints, blue and green, which the Ukhogorlonosiki dragged from somewhere in buckets and tin cans.
Turnip and Turnepka appeared on the street just at the moment when Pistoletik, biting his lip, completed the burning enemy tank.
- Can we paint somewhere? Repka asked politely.
- On the other street! - Pistolletik replied dryly and, dipping his brush into a can of red paint, depicted a fire that engulfed the tank turret.
- Greedy! Turnepka whispered.
And they crossed to the other side of the street.
The cockroaches were more hospitable. They knew that the twins' grandfather was a real artist, and therefore they made room and gave Repka a place at the window of a furniture store.
The whole window was already painted. Only a small clean piece of glass remained in the lower right corner.
The turnip dipped the brush into a bucket of blue paint and very quickly drew a blue cat on the glass.
Give him green eyes! Turnepka asked.
One of the Cockroaches handed Repka a tube of paint, and the blue cat immediately flashed green pupils.
- Turnip, look! Look! Sweeties! - Turnepka unexpectedly shouted and grabbed her brother by the hand.
Pursued by the smell of the hated paint, the cat Pupsik, who had already been dry-cleaned once, miraculously returned his original color, was running away from the children in big jumps.
... Fantik turned the corner and ended up on Musketeers Street. What he saw stunned him. It was no longer a street, but a real exhibition of children's drawings. Only this exhibition could not be sent to any country, because the drawings could only be washed off with water from the glass of shop windows, from the walls of houses and fences.
Along the large fence, along the entire length of which the battle was painted by unknown artists, a girl walked and, from time to time picking her nose, carefully examined the picture of the battle.
Fantik has arrived.
- Can you draw like that? the girl suddenly asked Fantik.
- Not! - frankly confessed Fantik.
- I think so too. Let's go see!
- What? Where? Fantik did not understand.
- To the other street. They are now painting there ... I will sit on your trunk. They call me Kostochka, because I once choked on a plum stone, and if it weren’t for Pistol’s dad, then oh-oh-oh, what would have happened ...
Before Fantik had time to open his mouth, the girl climbed onto the trunk of a bicycle, and they were already on their way.
There was no one on the other street. On the third one too.
- Fanfiction...
Fantik heard that he was hailed.
- Fanfiction! repeated the girl behind him, pointing at the multicolored candy papers lining the street. - You know, it's better to go to their house! Now to the left, then straight ahead, then a little to the side, and there it’s already quite close, at the end of the boulevard, around the second corner ...
Fantik again did not answer and pressed the pedals. It's good that his leg completely stopped hurting! ..
“The most amazing thing,” thought Fantik, pedaling, “is that no one recognizes me! However, at the arena of the circus I appear in a suit embroidered with silver sequins and in makeup. But if this Kostochka knew that she was being driven not by some boy, but by an adult, and besides, a circus performer, she would fly off the trunk in surprise! In the meantime, Fantik decided to ask the girl in more detail about what happened in the city.
Kostochka reported the situation in a completely military way.
"Didn't anyone leave you?" What are you, an orphan? And why are you asking me like you're from out of town? Stop! Stop! We've already arrived!
The bone jumped off the trunk.
- Here! They live in this house!
Smoke billowed from the second floor window.
"Fire!" - flashed through Fantik's head.
The bone was completely calm.
This is their window. They are at home. Let's go... I don't know your name!..
“The time will come - you will find out,” thought Fantik.
And they went up to the second floor, where a copper plate hung on the door:
DOCTOR EARTHROAT.
ADULTS ONLY ON MONDAYS
FROM TWO TO FIVE HOURS OF THE DAY.
RECEPTION OF CHILDREN AT ANY TIME
DAY AND NIGHT.
The apartment was full of chaos.
Having decorated Musketeers Street on both sides, Ukhogorlonosiki and Tarakashki came to a mutual agreement: if the Pistolletik wonderfully depicted the war, then the Tarakashki showed great ingenuity in depicting animals. In addition, they drew a steam locomotive that pulled fifteen wagons, and an additional blue cat with green eyes.
Having come to the conclusion that no one had redrawn anyone, which means that they had not won, both sides decided to celebrate an unusual drawing lesson at the Ukhogorlonosiki’s apartment, where they gathered, smeared with paints of all colors of the rainbow, cheerful and satisfied: from the very early morning they did what they wanted and no one made a single remark to them.
Now they were sitting on top of everything in the doctor's office and ... smoking! Yes Yes! Quite right: smoked! ..
The cockroach, which after swallowing ice cream completely lost his voice, got somewhere cigarettes and a box of cigars and distributed them equally among everyone. He took the largest and thickest cigar for himself in order to "clear his throat" properly. The pistol filled his father's old pipe with tobacco and, lying on the floor, smoked from it like a locomotive.
Despite the open window, the children in the room smoked so much that they could hardly distinguish each other. The girls, who did not smoke themselves, coughed, suffocating in tobacco smoke, but endured.
The turnip smoked his cigarette in disgust and, staggering, went to the door.
- Where are you going? Pistol asked. “No one is leaving yet. Smoke on!
- I feel dizzy! - Repka answered, barely managing to grab the back of a chair so as not to fall.
The non-smoking Fantik immediately darkened in his eyes when he stepped over the threshold of the room. He couldn't stand tobacco smoke, but he couldn't turn around and leave. How can you leave children in trouble? What if something happens? And now it has already happened: a little girl lies unconscious on the floor near the door!
Fantik gathered all his strength and pulled Turnepka onto the landing. Taking a breath of fresh air, Turnepka came to her senses.
- Am I not dead? she asked quietly, seeing Fantik's wrinkled face above her. - Fantik! she whispered and smiled. - Fantik! Do I know you. I saw you at the circus, you crawled out of a box with pigeons ... Did you save me? You are kind…
Fantik helped Turnepka get up.
- Are you alive?
- I do not know.
- And here Fantik!
Hearing the familiar name, the smoking children rose from their seats. Which of the guys did not know this artist from the group of midgets! Everyone knew! It was he who appeared riding a little pony and then suddenly disappeared somewhere in order to find himself under the dome of the circus in a box with white doves. Fantik! So he didn't leave the city alone! And stayed with Terrible children!
Bone stared at Fantik with bulging eyes.
The cockroach tried to yell "Hurrah!" but his throat never cleared from the cigar, and he could only make a sound like the hiss of a faucet when there was no water.
- Children! Fantik turned to the guys and coughed. “Please don’t think that I have come to tell you about the dangers of smoking!” I ended up here quite by accident: Kostochka and I were driving past and saw smoke from the window. I thought you were already on fire. I will not bother you. But just in case of a fire, remember my address: Circus Street, house number seven.
Coughing and putting a handkerchief to his eyes, Fantik left the room. No, he did not cry, although there was something to shed tears from!
Cockroach, Pistoletik and a few more Ear-throats and Cockroaches crawled out of the room onto the landing to look at Fantik and see him off, but for some reason they vomited. Probably clean air...
And Fantik was already riding his children's bike around the city, and his heart was anxious and uncomfortable.
He never bought a cane for himself: all the shops were closed ...
In the evening, the children dispersed to their homes.
The cockroaches stayed overnight at the Ukhogorlonosiki.
With a headache, with a cold and stoned, they lay anywhere and anyhow: some on chairs, some on chairs, and the Cockroach was completely under the piano on the floor.
Turnip and Turnepka went to their home. The ear-throats offered them to spend the night, but there were only free places in the bath.
- I have a sore throat. I can’t swallow,” Turnepka complained before going to bed.
- And my head hurts. What will we do if we get sick?
- Treat with medication.
- What?
- Everyone.
- Everyone can't. Anyone can get sick even worse.
- Is it really a pity that Fantik is not a doctor? ..
Turnepka sighed heavily.
- I feel hot. Get me an ice cube from the fridge to suck...
The clock on the city tower struck midnight, then one, then two and three in the morning, and Fantik tossed and turned on his iron bed. Only in the very morning he forgot himself in a short, restless sleep. In a dream, he saved children from a fire, pulled them out of the water, took them off the roof and took away matches and cigarettes from them. He was awakened by an alarming knock on the door.
Turnip stood on the threshold.
- What happened? Fantik asked, rubbing his eyes and shivering from the morning cold.
- Turnepka is ill, she is dying! Repka answered and began to cry.
- What with her?
- I do not know. She got sick. At night she called for her mother, and now she is silent and does not answer anything when I ask her.
“Good,” said Fantik. I'll get dressed now...
Turnepka was lying with her eyes closed when Fantik touched her forehead. The forehead was hot. Turnepka opened her eyes and blinked her eyelashes.
- Fantik! Have you come to rescue me? Treat me a little so that I don't die!
Fantik sat down on the edge of the bed.
- I'm not a doctor. I can only try.
– Try, please!
Fantik thought. He never treated children. Maybe give Turnepka a glass of hot milk with honey? With a cold, Fantik always drank hot milk.
- I don't want milk! Turnepka winced. - I won't drink it!
If you don't listen, I won't treat you!
“I will be obedient,” Turnepka agreed. “And then you will leave, as they all left.”
“There is no milk,” said Repka. We drank it yesterday...
Everything that could be closed and locked before leaving, the adults tightly closed and locked, leaving the children open access only to what caused tears in families most often. There was no milk at the Dairy, no bread at the Bakery, no vegetables at Zelennaya, no meat at the Butcher's. Only in the confectionery "SWEET-TOUGH" and in the tobacco shop "AROMAT" some varieties of confectionery and tobacco products remained untouched. But all ice cream, all cakes, as well as chocolate bars were eaten, and all fruit water was drunk on the first day of the Feast of Disobedience.
Entering from the courtyard, Fantik found a window that was not tightly closed, and, opening it, climbed into the Dairy. He knew that no one cares about the fact that some kid climbs in some window for some reason, but still Fantik felt somehow awkward. At another time, he would never have allowed himself this. But what would you do for a sick child!
There were several bottles of milk on the counter.
Fantik uncorked one and took a sip. The milk has gone sour.
Already in the yard, Fantik met the cat Pupsik. He, apparently, was also looking for a loophole in the store to profit from something.
- There's nothing there! Fantik said. - Catch the mice!
The cat meowed understandingly and dived into the doorway ...
Of course, the easiest thing would have been to let Turnepka take some medicine, but there was no doctor to prescribe it, and no pharmacist to prepare it.
Returning without milk, Fantik boiled a bucket of water and, covering Turnepka's head over it with a shaggy towel, let her breathe in the hot steam. She immediately felt better and cheered up.
- Fantik! Stay with us live! she suggested. - Repka and I will fit on the same bed, and he will give you his. She's just the right size for you.
“I would rather visit you. And now I’ll go and see if anyone else needs my help, ”Fantik answered and waved his hand to Turnepka at the door.
- Turnip! Turnepka! Fantik, by any chance, not with you?
The second day of the Feast of Disobedience arrived. However, there was no festive mood in the city.
Pale, unwashed, unkempt, and sleepy children roamed the streets. Some had stomach pains, others coughed and sneezed. On the boulevard one could meet sad kids with their father's pipes in their teeth and sad little girls smeared with their mother's lipstick and grandmother's rouge.
The canaries in the cages fluffed up and stopped singing, the flowers on the windows withered and lowered their heads, because no one else reminded the children that the birds needed to be fed on time and the flowers watered. Hungry cats and cats finally started catching mice...
The adults left in an unknown direction and did not leave the children an address where to look for them. They pitched their tent camp at a place marked on the map by a geography teacher nicknamed Globe.
At first, not all parents shared the point of view of Dr. Ukhogorlonos. It was he who first came up with the idea of leaving the children alone for some time, without the supervision of the elders, but, after conferring with him, in the end, they agreed, although it was unbearably hard for everyone to part with the Terrible Children.
The first day at the parent camp was spent in memories. Sitting by the fire, dads, moms, grandparents talked until late at night about all the children's pranks, pranks and bad deeds known to them. Vivid examples of childish selfishness, stubbornness, laziness, lies, rudeness and disobedience were given. As they reminisced, many parents made the discovery that they themselves had once been Terrible Children.
At night, muffled whispers and sobs could be heard in the tents.
They might drown! someone's mother whispered.
– There is no river, no lake! Someone's dad reassured her.
“They might drown in the bath!” insisted someone's grandmother.
They don't like to bathe! someone's grandfather reassured her.
... And the Kite with the Kid on the tail kept flying and flying.
Are you flying right? asked the Kid as they emerged from one cloud and dived into another. "I'm already tired of holding on to you!"
- Be patient. We'll be arriving soon.
- How do you know about this place?
- I overheard the guys who launched me into the sky today. Wait, don't distract me! We need to get around the thundercloud, otherwise lightning can hit us! ..
Caught up by a strong gust of wind, the Kite rushed up, rolled over to its right side and, barely touching the edge of an ordinary rain cloud, began to bypass a dark thundercloud filled with thunder and lightning.
From fear, the Kid closed his eyes and clung even tighter to the tail of the Kite.
Tired and exhausted, Fantik returned home. He could not fall asleep for a long time, before his eyes in the smallest detail the past day arose. From morning until late at night he was busy helping someone. It was just torn to pieces! One he put lotions on a black eye and applied coins to bruises. Others put heating pads on their stomachs and told fairy tales so that they would not cry and call for their mother. The third ones I undressed and washed, because they fell on the bed dressed and did not want to wash their dirty hands before going to bed. Fourth ... It is difficult to list everything that he had to do during this crazy day. But no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he invented, he could not replace anyone, neither mom, nor dad, nor grandmother, nor grandfather.
"How much longer can this go on?" thought Fantik, tossing and turning from side to side.
An uneasy night fell over the city.
The kids cried in their sleep: “I want to go to my mother!” Those who were older had nightmares - as if someone were treating them to ice cream! - they woke up in horror and then lay with their eyes open for a long time, thinking that it would be nice to fall asleep again, and wake up in the morning from the gentle touch of the hand and the familiar voice: "It's time to get up!" And they fell asleep, leaving wet traces of their remorse on the pillows.
The turnip woke up from the striking of the clock on the city tower. Turnipka has already recovered, and nothing hurt her.
- Let's go to school! Repka suddenly said.
- Just. Let's see…
They got up and ran to the school.
In the school yard, several Ear-throats silently and busily sorted out their property under a chestnut tree.
The turnip immediately recognized his briefcase by the torn off handle and Turnepkin's knapsack with red clasps. Everything was intact: textbooks, notebooks, a pencil case with erasers and pencils, an album for drawing, and even two apples. This was especially helpful, because I really wanted something to chew on.
In an empty classroom, a cockroach was sitting on someone else's desk and, resting his head on his hand, looked gloomily at the blackboard. It still had:
All classes are cancelled!
Turnip and Turnepka sat down at their desks.
Why aren't you in your class? Repka asked.
- Isn't it all the same! - croaked a cold cockroach.
“This is our class,” Turnepka said quietly. - Go to yours!
The cockroach didn't object. He silently got up and walked to the door. When it closed behind him, Repka put his hand on Turnepka's shoulder and said sadly:
- Teachers could still stay ...
High in the sky, right above the square named after the Brave Traveler, a large paper kite was circling. He had something on his tail. The serpent then descended, then soared up again, then moved away to the side, so that in a moment it would again be in its original place. From the way he behaved, it was clear that he wanted to land and chose the city square as a place for his landing.
Ear-throats were the first to notice him. Then Tarakashki joined them. And soon the whole area was crowded with children. Heads up and mouths gaping, they stood and watched the approaching Kite.
Not finding a free place, the Kite sat right on the bronze head of the Brave Traveler. Moreover, his tail, having slid down the pedestal of the monument, touched the ground so that the Kid, who had flown on it, immediately found himself in the midst of children.
- Who are you? Pistol asked, gently touching the Kid on the shoulder and wanting to make sure that it was a real child.
The kid didn't hesitate. He stood on the ground, still not letting go of the tip of the tail of the Kite, and curiously looked at the children surrounding him.
- Who are you? Pistolletik repeated his question.
- I'm a terrible child! – loudly declared the Kid.
A murmur of approval went through the crowd.
- Why did you come here?
- What do you mean why? I'm tired of obeying my mother, and I flew away from her!
“But it’s the opposite with us,” Pistolletik said. “We didn’t listen, and everyone ran away from us.
“So now you can do everything?” And no one punishes you?
We can do everything, but for some reason we don’t want anything anymore!
- And I want it so much! Kid admitted. - Chocolate ice cream!
The pistol turned pale, and he vomited ...
- And I'm hooked again! – the voice of the Paper Kite was heard from above. - Unhook me, please! Just be careful, don't tear my sides!
A cockroach and two Ear-throats climbed onto the monument and removed the Kite from the top of the Brave Traveler. Caught up in a gust of wind, the Kite tore the tip of its tail out of the Kid's hands.
- I'll rest a little, lie down on one of the roofs! he shouted, and swam slowly over the heads of the children.
The turnip brought the Kid to Fantik.
- This boy was punished by his mother, and he flew away from her!
- So how did it “fly away”?
- Very simple. On the paper kite!
- Where is the Serpent?
- Resting on the roof. They're flying back now.
“They don’t want to stay with us?”
- There's something I don't like about you! I'd rather fly home. To my mother,” said the Kid, frowning.
Fantik thought. He did not immediately pay attention to the fact that Repka was giving him some mysterious signs all the time and blinking one or the other eye. When he noticed this, he guessed why Repka brought the Kid to him.
- Well, - said Fantik, - if the boy does not like us, we will not detain him. This is his right. But maybe he will lend us his Serpent for an hour or two? We will return it safe and sound. What do you say, baby?
- This is not my Serpent! - muttered the Kid. - He's independent!
- All the better! Fantik exclaimed and also winked at Repka. “Then we ourselves will properly ask him for one favor! ..
Despite his fatigue, the Paper Kite agreed to fulfill Fantik's request: to find the place where the parents had taken refuge and give them a letter signed by all the children.
The letter was written by Fantik himself. Now all I had to do was sign it.
Pistoletik was the first to sign the letter, followed by all the Ukhogorlonosiki. The cockroach didn't even read the letter. He only asked who had already signed it, and immediately put some kind of squiggle under it. The cockroaches, seeing this squiggle, without hesitation put thirty of their squiggles under it, and everyone else signed there. Those who could not yet write or read put crosses. When the letter was ready, just in case, it was sealed in an envelope made of waterproof paper and securely fastened to the tail of the Kite.
- Bon Voyage! Come back with good news! Fantik shouted when the Serpent flew over his head.
I will definitely find them! As far as I understand in distances, they could not go far, - the voice of the Kite came from afar.
He made a circle over the city and disappeared from sight.
Fantik returned home, where he found the Kid sleeping sweetly on an iron bed.
Terrible children in agonizing expectation sat at home ...
... The letter ended with verses:
Moms! Dads! We without you -
It doesn't matter what you are without us!
The good doctor Ukhogorlonos reached these lines and stumbled. He wiped his glasses, but that didn't help either, he couldn't read any further.
His throat was dry with excitement and his heart stopped beating. He pulled himself together, his heart began to beat again, but the letter still had to be read to the teacher Globus.
With great expression he read the last lines of the message:
Moms! Dads! We without you -
It doesn't matter what you are without us!
– What did I say?! the doctor shouted happily. - I foresaw it! They understood everything, and now we will begin a new life! Everything will be different, you'll see! And what wonderful poems and how easy they are to remember!
And then the fun began. Dads, mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers joined hands, spun in a round dance and sang in all voices:
Moms! Dads! We without you -
It doesn't matter what you are without us!
They were so merry that they themselves felt like children - they began to somersault in the grass, play tag, and the teacher Globus got so naughty that he completely forgot that he was a teacher, and, catching up with the doctor, tripped him, and so successfully that he flew over his head and knocked down the grandmother of Repka and Turnepka, who, in turn, falling, grabbed her grandfather, and together they rolled head over heels down the hill.
All this was seen by the Kite. He did not wait for an answer to the letter: it was already clear to him how it would all end. He quietly rose above the tents and flew.
Fantik's order was fulfilled.
Once again, the children gathered in the town square.
Pistol and Cockroach sat on the broad shoulders of the Courageous Traveler, holding onto his bronze ears. Even Fantik with theatrical binoculars in his hands was attached to the top of the monument.
Everyone looked at the cloudless sky with impatience and hope.
- Flying! Flies! yelled Pistol. - Flying!
Fantik raised binoculars to his eyes:
- It's a jackdaw!
Then a crow flew by, which was also taken from afar for the wrong thing.
Then another jackdaw flew by.
Finally, the long-awaited postman appeared. He appeared unexpectedly and not at all from the side where he was expected. He was blown away by the wind, and he flew into the square from behind the city tower, almost catching his tail on the hands of the clock.
- They're coming back! Get ready for the meeting! he shouted as he sank onto the roof of the tower.
- Hurrah-ah-ah!.. Hurrah-ah-ah!.. Hurrah-ah!
This joyful cry arose at the foot of the monument and, growing, swept three times over the entire square.
- Let me kiss you! Fantik shouted to the Kite, clapping his hands. Theater binoculars fell to the ground, but for some reason did not break.
- Serpent! Serpent! called the Kid.
The square was empty: everyone who was on it was blown away by the wind ...
The paper kite waved its tail:
- Catch the tip!
The kid jumped up, contrived and caught the tip of the tail.
- Now pull yourself up!
The kid climbed up the tail, working with his arms and legs.
- Well done! Now hold on to me, as you held on, and - let's fly!
And they flew.
When they were already high, the Kid asked:
- Listen, Snake! Didn't you like it here too?
“To tell the truth, this kind of freedom is not for me!” replied the Kite. “Still, there must be some order…
Fantik rushed on his bicycle from one end of the city to the other - ordered, commanded, advised and checked. Terrible children were preparing for the solemn meeting of their parents. No one knew exactly when they would appear, so it was necessary to sweep the streets as soon as possible, feed the birds in cages and water the flowers in pots, make the beds, wash the dirty dishes, wash yourself properly - in a word, have time to do a thousand things, of which each was the most important.
The floor in the SWEET-TOUGH confectionery shone like a mirror.
On tables, on chairs, on walls and on window sills, there was no trace of the recent battle of the sweet tooth.
The classrooms were clean and comfortable, just like on the first day of school. On all the blackboards was written in beautiful handwriting: Welcome!» The same inscription was on the school gates.
The pistol with the whole team was operating on Musketeers Street.
Armed with several fire hoses, they washed off the walls of houses, shop windows and fences what they had created with such inspiration on the first day of the Feast of Disobedience.
- Down with the war! Pistolletik shouted and sent a tight stream of water at the tanks going on the offensive. And the tanks flowed in green streams along the fence onto the sidewalk, and the guns disappeared as if they were not there, and the rockets interrupted their flight, washed out by water ...
What can I say, the Ear-throats were, of course, sorry to destroy the fruits of their imagination themselves, but Fantik resolutely told them:
- If we are to put the city in order, then we must start with Musketeers Street. Otherwise, no one will understand you!..
"Why don't you understand? thought Pistolletik, who had put the most effort into painting the street. Why won't he understand? The war is real. Everything is clear ... War! But he did not argue with Fantik: the children agreed to unquestioningly obey Fantik, the temporary commandant of the city, in everything.
Exactly at noon, the first columns of parents in an organized manner entered the square named after the Brave Traveler.
Lined up as in a parade, their children and grandchildren stood in front of them. Combed, washed boys in ironed suits and polished shoes. Elegant girls with bows in clean, combed hair. Quiet and obedient. Ready to fulfill any order, task or request. Exemplary children!
“They are not like that!” Dr. Ukhogorlonos looked at a little boy with a wrinkled face that looked like a baked apple, who was standing a few steps ahead of the rest of the children.
In his hands he held a bouquet of pansies.
Dads, moms, grandparents were confused. They expected a completely different meeting: stormy hugs, tears of joy, cries of delight ...
- What terrible children! .. - the doctor whispered. How could they have changed so much in three days! What happened to them? It's just some little oldies!
And then suddenly a little old man waved a bunch of pansies, and at his signal the line of exemplary children trembled and scattered with an incredible pig squeal.
All the children, as one, rushed to disassemble the adults ...
- Let me go! I'm not yours, I'm not yours! shouted someone's grandfather, fighting off foreign grandchildren who attacked him.
- It's not your mom! This is our mom! yelled the Cockroach, taking away his frightened mother from the twins.
- It's not me! It's not me! I'm here! I'm here! - Dr. Ukhogorlonos shouted in a voice that was not his own, climbing onto the pedestal of the monument and waving a straw hat to attract the attention of his Eargorlonos, who rushed in pursuit of someone's father ...
With torn buttons, in a crumpled dress, disheveled and having lost more than one pair of glasses in the street fuss, happy dads, moms, grandparents, disassembled by their children and grandchildren, finally went home.
Only Fantik returned home alone. He lay down on his iron bed and fell asleep in the calm sleep of a man with a clear conscience. In a dream, he dreamed that he was presenting Turnepka with a bouquet of pansies ...
Morning has come.
Having survived the three-day Feast of Disobedience, the city began to live a normal life: traffic lights blinked at street intersections, pedestrians appeared, and street transport began to work. Fragrant bread appeared in the Bakery, fresh milk and kefir appeared in the Dairy, vegetables and fruits appeared in the Zelennaya, fresh meat appeared in the Meat, and ice cream of all varieties and cakes appeared in the confectionery "SWEET TOOTH".
The barbers donned white coats and stood by their chairs. The doctors put syringes, tubes and hammers into their suitcases. The apothecary opened a cabinet with poisons locked with two keys. The teachers sharpened their red pencils and the cooks sharpened their large kitchen knives.
"Good morning! Let's do some gymnastics!" the radio said.
A new day has come...
At the first lesson in the first grade "A" at ten o'clock in the morning, the first deuce flew into the diary of a student who was sitting on the first desk: damn it !!!
In the first hour of the day, the first soccer ball landed on the glass in the window of the first floor of the house number one on Musketeers Street: benz!!!
“Listen, Turnepka, what am I going to tell you, just listen carefully!” - with a mysterious look whispered in the ear of his sister Repka. I found an extra tube of yellow paint in my grandfather's drawer. Shall we paint Pupsik again?
It all started over...
A key clicked in the door, and my mother entered the room.
The kid was still standing in the corner.
Will you buy me chocolate ice cream now? - asked the Kid and squinted at the open window.
“If you promise me to be good,” Mom said.
And outside the window, above the roofs of the houses, a large beautiful Serpent soared freely. At times, gusts of wind threw him to the side, and it seemed that he was about to lose stability and helplessly begin to fall. But a boy in the yard was vigilantly watching him. Not letting the Serpent lose his balance, he carefully let go of a long thread, then wound it again on a spool.
And no winds were afraid of the Kite, because the boy skillfully directed his flight ...
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This never happened, although it could have happened, but if it actually happened, then ... In a word, a little boy was walking along the main street of a big city, or rather, he didn’t walk, but he was pulled and dragged by the hand, and he he resisted, stamped his feet, fell on his knees, sobbed into three streams and yelled in a voice that was not his own:
- I want more ice cream!
- I won't buy it again! - his mother repeated in a calm voice, holding the Kid tightly by the hand. - I won't buy it again! 
And the Kid continued to yell all over the street:
- I want more! I want more! 
So they reached their house, went up to the top floor and entered the apartment. Here, mother led the Kid into a small room, put her nose in a corner and said sternly:
"You will stay like this until I forgive you!"
- What should I do? - asked the Kid, ceasing to roar.
- Think!
- About what?
- That you're a terrible child! - Mom answered and left the room, locking the door with a key.
The terrible child began to think. At first he thought that chocolate ice cream tastes better than fruit ice cream, and then he thought and decided that if you first eat fruit ice cream and immediately eat it with chocolate, then the taste of chocolate will remain in your mouth, and two portions of ice cream will be in your stomach ... Actually, just because of this, such an ugly scene broke out between him and his mother on the street. He realized that the scene was ugly, because through his tears he saw how passers-by turned around, looked after them, shook their heads and also said:
What a terrible child! 
And the Kid began to think about how bad it is to be small and that you must definitely try to grow up and become big as soon as possible, because everything is possible for big, but nothing is impossible for small. But before he had time to think about it, he heard a knock on the window pane behind him. The boy didn't turn around. Only when the knocking repeated itself did he cautiously turn his head. To be honest, he thought it was a familiar dove, which he sometimes fed bread crumbs, tapped with its beak. But what was his surprise when he saw outside the window not a dove, but a real Kite. He was caught on something and now beat in the wind against the window frame. 
The boy went to the window, opened it and helped the Serpent to unhook. It was an unusually large and beautiful Kite. It was assembled from strong wooden planks and covered with thick waxed paper on all four sides. He had painted round blue eyes with brown eyelashes, a purple nose, and an orange mouth. But its main decoration was a long tail.
- Thank you, Kid! - suddenly said the Kite, feeling free. - What is your name?
My name is Terrible Child!
- Why are you sitting at home?
- I was punished.
- What have you done?
- It's a long story. And my mother punished me.
- Eternal history! - sympathetically said the Kite. - I have never met small children in my life who would not be punished by someone. However, I know one place where this is over. I was just about to fly there today, but I accidentally caught my tail on this nasty drainpipe.
- Take me with you! - asked the Kid.
- Why don't you get caught? The two of us will probably have more fun! Cling to my tail, hold on tight and try not to look down so you don't get dizzy!
Without thinking twice, the boy grabbed the tail of the Kite with both hands, pushed off with both legs from the windowsill, and in a moment was already flying over the roof of his house, and then over the whole city and over its outskirts, and then over fields and over forests, rivers and lakes, and from a height, he boldly looked down at the ground, and, honestly, he did not feel dizzy at all ...
The clock on the city tower struck midnight. Dad, mom, grandfather and grandmother stood in the room and silently looked at the sleeping twins - Repka and Turnepka. Sniffing sweetly, they slept soundly in their beds and smiled in their sleep.
- Look! - Dad said in a disgruntled whisper. They are still smiling! They must be dreaming about that jar of jam they ate last week without asking... 
“Or the tube of ultramarine they used to paint the poor cat!” grumbled the grandfather. He was an artist and did not like it very much when children touched his paints.
- It's time! Dad said decisively. - They won't wait for us!
Mom went to the beds and leaned over Repka to kiss him on the forehead.
- No need! Dad said softly. - He can wake up, and then we can't go anywhere.
Grandmother went to her granddaughter's bed and straightened the blanket. At the same time, she imperceptibly wiped away a tear that rolled down her cheek.
- This time we must show character ... - grandfather whispered, took a large travel bag in one hand, and a box with his brushes and paints in the other, and headed for the door. 
- Go-go! - Dad said hurriedly and heaved a heavy backpack full of all sorts of things onto his shoulders.
Mom threw two checkered blankets over her arm, grandmother took a wicker basket with knitting, which she never parted with, and all four left the room on tiptoe, closing the door tightly behind them.
… The city was asleep. More precisely, only children slept in the city. Sprawled or curled up on their beds and cots, they slept the deep sleep of babies - having had their fill of running around during the day, crying from childhood insults, punished by their parents for whims and disobedience, for bad marks in diaries, for rumpled flower beds and broken window panes with balls, for spoiled things and for other pranks - freckled tattered steppe, similar to red-haired devils, and blond alenushki, reminiscent of angels, with scratches and abrasions on thin knees, who lost their last milk tooth in a fight, clutching toy pistols and talking dolls to their chest in a dream .
