"Valentin Katayev. The Cottage in the Steppe (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

THE RESIGNATION






Late at night-the last night of the school holidays-Petya, who was
drowsing off to sleep, again heard Father and Auntie talking heatedly in the
dining-room.
"You cannot and you must not do such a thing!" Auntie was saying in an
excited voice. "What then?" Father asked, and there was a sharp click as he
cracked his knuckles. "What shall I do? How shall we live? Have I the right
to do this? What a tragedy that Zhenya is no longer with us!"
"Believe me, if Zhenya were here now, she would never let you grovel
before these officials!"
Petya soon fell asleep and did not hear any more, but an astonishing
thing happened the next morning: for the first time in his life Vasily
Petrovich did not put on his frock-coat and did not go to his classes.
Instead, the cook was sent to the shop for "ministerial" stationery, and
Vasily Petrovich wrote out his resignation in his clear flowing hand,
unadorned by flourishes or curlicues.
His resignation was accepted coldly. However, there was no further
unpleasantness-apparently, it was not in the interests of the Education
Department to have the story spread round. And so, Vasily Petrovich found
himself out of a job, the most terrible thing that could hap-
pen to a family man with no other means of support except his salary.
Vasily Petrovich had put aside a little money a long time ago; he had
dreamed of going abroad with his wife, and then, after her death, with his
'boys. Now that dream evaporated. This money, together with what he would
get from the mutual aid society, would see the family through the next year,
if they lived frugally. But it was still a mystery how they were to exist
after that, especially as another question arose: how were Petya and Pavlik
to continue at the gymnasium? As the sons of a teacher they had been exempt
from tuition fees; now, however, he would have to pay out of their meagre
budget a sum that was beyond his means.
But worst of all, where Vasily Petrovich was concerned, was his
enforced idleness, for he had been used to work all his life. He did not
know what to do with himself and hung around the house for days on end in
his old jacket, forgetting to go to the barber's, looking older every day,
and making frequent visits to the cemetery where he spent long hours at his
wife's grave.
Pavlik, still too young to be touched by the terrible thing that had
befallen them, continued his former carefree existence. But Petya understood
everything. The thought that he would have to leave school, remove the
cockade from his cap and wear his uniform with hooks instead of shiny metal
buttons, as was the case with boys who had been expelled or had not