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A. I. Kuprin
lilac bush
Nikolai Evgrafovich Almazov barely waited until his wife opened the door for him, and without taking off his coat, in his cap, went into his office. The wife, as soon as she saw his frowning face with knitted eyebrows and nervously biting his lower lip, immediately realized that a very great misfortune had happened ... She silently followed her husband. In the office, Almazov stood for a minute in one place, looking somewhere in the corner. Then he let go of the briefcase, which fell to the floor and opened up, and he threw himself into an armchair, angrily cracking his fingers folded together ...
Almazov, a young poor officer, attended lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and has just returned from there. Today he presented to the professor the last and most difficult practical work- instrumental survey of the area ...
Until now, all the exams have passed safely, and only God and Almazov's wife knew what terrible labor they cost ... To begin with, the very admission to the academy seemed impossible at first. For two years in a row, Almazov solemnly failed, and only on the third year did he overcome all obstacles with hard work. Without a wife, he, perhaps, not finding enough energy in himself, would have given up on everything. But Verochka did not let him lose heart and constantly kept him cheerful ... She learned to meet every failure with a clear, almost cheerful face. She denied herself everything necessary to create comfort for her husband, although cheap, but still necessary for a person busy with head work. She was, as needed, his scribe, draftsman, reader, tutor and memorial book.
Five minutes of heavy silence passed, drearily broken by the lame running of the alarm clock, long familiar and boring: one, two, three, three: two clean blows, the third with a hoarse interruption. Almazov sat without taking off his coat and hat and turned away... Vera stood two steps away from him, also in silence, with suffering on her beautiful, nervous face. Finally, she spoke first, with the caution with which only women speak at the bedside of a close seriously ill person ...
– Kolya, how is your work?.. Is it bad?
He shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer.
– Kolya, your plan was rejected? You tell me, anyway, we'll discuss it together.
Almazov quickly turned to his wife and spoke ardently and irritably, as they usually say, expressing long-repressed resentment.
- Well, yes, well, yes, they rejected it, if you really want to know. Can't you see yourself? Everything went to hell!.. All this rubbish,” and he angrily kicked the portfolio with the drawings, “throw all this rubbish even into the stove now! That's the academy for you! A month later, again in the regiment, and even with disgrace, with a bang. And this is because of some filthy stain ... Oh, hell!
- What stain, Kolya? I do not understand anything.
She sat down on the arm of the chair and threw her arm around Almazov's neck. He did not resist, but continued to stare into the corner with an offended expression.
- What is the stain, Kolya? she asked again.
“Ah, well, an ordinary stain, green paint. You know, I didn't go to bed until three o'clock yesterday, I had to finish. The plan is beautifully drawn and illuminated. That's what everyone says. Well, I sat up yesterday, I was tired, my hands began to tremble - and I planted a stain ... And even such a thick stain ... greasy. Began to clean up and smeared even more. I thought, I thought what to make of it now, and I decided to depict a bunch of trees in that place ... It turned out very well, and it’s impossible to make out that there was a stain. I bring it to the professor today. “Yes, yes, yes. And where did you get the bushes here, lieutenant? I would have to tell you how it all happened. Well, maybe he would just laugh... However, no, he won't laugh, such a neat German, a pedant. I tell him: "Here really bushes grow." And he says: “No, I know this area like the back of my hand, and there can be no bushes here.” Word for word, we had a big conversation with him. And there were still many of our officers. “If you say so, he says that there are bushes on this saddle, then if you please ride there with me tomorrow ... I will prove to you that you either worked carelessly or drew directly from a three-verst map ...”
“But why does he say so confidently that there are no bushes there?”
- Oh, my God, why? What are you, by God, childish questions you ask. Yes, because for twenty years now he knows this area better than his bedroom. The most ugly pedant in the world, and a German on top of it... Well, it turns out in the end that I'm lying and entering into an altercation... Besides...
During the whole conversation, he pulled out burnt matches from the ashtray in front of him and broke them into small pieces, and when he stopped talking, he threw them on the floor with anger. It was evident that this strong man wanted to cry.
Husband and wife sat for a long time in heavy thought, not uttering a word. But suddenly Verochka jumped up from her chair with an energetic movement.
“Listen, Kolya, we have to go right now!” Get dressed soon.
Nikolai Evgrafovich frowned all over, as if from unbearable physical pain.
- Oh, don't talk nonsense, Vera. Do you really think I'm going to make excuses and apologize. This means directly signing the verdict on yourself. Please don't do stupid things.
“No, not stupidity,” Vera objected, stamping her foot. - No one is forcing you to go with an apology ... But simply, if there are no such stupid bushes, then they should be planted right away.
- Plant? .. Bushes? .. - Nikolai Evgrafovich goggled his eyes.
- Yes, plant. If you already told a lie, you need to correct it. Get ready, give me a hat ... A blouse ... You are not looking for it here, look in the closet ... An umbrella!
While Almazov, who tried to object, but did not listen, was looking for a hat and blouse. Vera quickly pulled out the drawers of tables and chests of drawers, pulled out baskets and boxes, opened them and scattered them on the floor.
“Earrings… Well, these are nothing… They won’t give anything for them… But this ring with a solitaire is expensive… We must definitely buy it back… It will be a pity if it disappears.” A bracelet ... they will also give very little. Antique and bent... Where is your silver cigarette case, Kolya?
Five minutes later, all the jewelry was packed into the reticule. Vera, already dressed, looked around for the last time to make sure that nothing had been forgotten at home.
"Let's go," she finally said decisively.
“But where are we going?” Almazov tried to protest. - Now it will become dark, and my site is almost ten miles away.
- Nonsense ... let's go!
First of all, the Almazovs stopped at a pawnshop. It was evident that the appraiser had been so used to the daily spectacles of human misfortunes that they did not touch him at all. He examined the things he had brought so methodically and for a long time that Verochka was already beginning to lose her temper. He especially offended her by the fact that he tried the diamond ring with acid and, having weighed it, valued it at three rubles.
- Why, this is a real diamond, - Vera was indignant, - it costs thirty-seven rubles, and then on occasion.
The appraiser closed his eyes with a look of tired indifference.
“We don’t care, sir, madam. We do not accept stones at all,” he said, throwing the following thing onto the scales, “we evaluate only metals, sir.
But the old and bent bracelet, quite unexpectedly for Vera, was valued very dearly. In general, however, there were about twenty-three rubles. This amount was more than enough.
When the Almazovs arrived at the gardener, the white St. Petersburg night had already spilled over the sky and in the air with blue milk. The gardener, a Czech, a little old man with golden glasses, had just sat down to dinner with his family. He was very surprised and dissatisfied with the late appearance of customers and their unusual request. He probably suspected some kind of hoax and answered Verochkin's persistent requests very dryly:
- Sorry. But I can't send workers to such a distance at night. If you want tomorrow morning, then I am at your service.
Then there was only one remedy left: to tell the gardener in detail the whole story of the ill-fated spot, and Verochka did just that. The gardener listened at first incredulously, almost hostilely, but when Vera got to the point where she had the idea of planting a bush, he became more attentive and smiled sympathetically several times.
“Well, there’s nothing to do,” agreed the gardener, when Vera had finished talking, “tell me, what kind of bushes can you plant?”
However, of all the breeds that the gardener had, not one turned out to be suitable: willy-nilly, he had to stop at lilac bushes.
In vain Almazov tried to persuade his wife to go home. She went with her husband to the countryside, all the time while the bushes were being planted, she fussed hotly and interfered with the workers, and only then agreed to go home when she was convinced that the turf near the bushes could not be distinguished at all from the grass that covered the entire saddle.
The next day, Vera could not sit at home and went out to meet her husband on the street. Even from a distance, from only her lively and slightly bouncing gait, she learned that the story with the bushes ended happily ... Indeed, Almazov was covered in dust and could hardly stand on his feet from fatigue and hunger, but his face shone with the triumph of victory.
- Good! Wonderful! he shouted ten more paces away in response to his wife's anxious expression. - Imagine, we came with him to these bushes. He already looked at them, looked, even tore off a leaf and chewed it. "What is this tree?" he asks. I say: "I don't know, yours." - "Birch, must be?" - He speaks. I answer: "It must be, birch, yours." Then he turned to me and even extended his hand. “Excuse me, he says, lieutenant. I must be starting to get old if I forgot about these bushes. He is a nice professor, and such a clever one. Really, I'm sorry that I deceived him. One of the best professors we have. Knowledge is simply amazing. And what speed and accuracy in assessing the terrain is amazing!
But Vera was not enough that he told. She made him tell her the whole conversation with the professor again and again in detail. She was interested in the smallest details: what was the expression on the professor’s face, what tone he spoke about his old age, what Kolya himself felt at the same time ...
And they walked home as if there was no one else on the street except them: holding hands and constantly laughing. Passers-by stopped in bewilderment to take another look at this strange couple ...
Nikolai Evgrafovich had never dined with such appetite as on that day... After dinner, when Vera brought Almazov a glass of tea into his office, the husband and wife suddenly laughed at the same time and looked at each other.
- What are you? Vera asked.
- What are you doing?
- No, you speak first, and I then.
- Yes, that's nonsense. I remembered the whole story with lilacs. And you?
- I, too, are stupid, and also - about lilacs. I wanted to say that lilac will now forever be my favorite flower ...
Nikolai Evgrafovich Almazov barely waited until his wife opened the door for him, and, without taking off his coat, in his cap went into his office. The wife, as soon as she saw his frowning face with knitted eyebrows and nervously biting his lower lip, immediately realized that a very great misfortune had happened ... She silently followed her husband. In the office, Almazov stood for a minute in one place, looking somewhere in the corner. Then he let go of the briefcase, which fell to the floor and opened up, and he himself threw himself into an armchair, angrily cracking his fingers folded together ...
Almazov, a young poor officer, attended lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and has just returned from there. Today he presented to the professor the last and most difficult practical work - instrumental survey of the area ...
Until now, all the exams have passed safely, and only God and Almazov's wife knew what terrible work they cost ... To begin with, entering the academy itself seemed impossible at first. For two years in a row, Almazov solemnly failed, and only on the third year did he overcome all obstacles with hard work. Without a wife, he, perhaps, not finding enough energy in himself, would have given up on everything. But Verochka did not let him lose heart and constantly kept him cheerful ... She learned to meet every failure with a clear, almost cheerful face. She denied herself everything necessary to create comfort for her husband, although cheap, but still necessary for a person busy with head work. She was, as needed, his scribe, draftsman, reader, tutor and memorial book.
Five minutes of heavy silence passed, drearily broken by the lame running of the alarm clock, long familiar and boring: one, two, three, three: two clean blows, the third with a hoarse interruption. Almazov sat without taking off his coat and hat and turned away... Vera stood two steps away from him, also in silence, with suffering on her beautiful, nervous face. Finally, she spoke first, with the caution with which only women speak at the bedside of a close seriously ill person ...
– Kolya, how is your work?.. Is it bad?
He shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer.
– Kolya, your plan was rejected? You tell me, anyway, we'll discuss it together.
Almazov quickly turned to his wife and spoke ardently and irritably, as they usually say, expressing long-repressed resentment.
- Well, yes, well, yes, they rejected it, if you really want to know. Can't you see yourself? Everything went to hell!.. All this rubbish,” and he angrily kicked the portfolio with the drawings, “throw all this rubbish even into the stove now! That's the academy for you! A month later, again in the regiment, and even with disgrace, with a bang. And this is because of some filthy stain ... Oh, hell!
A. I. Kuprin
lilac bush
Nikolai Evgrafovich Almazov barely waited until his wife opened the door for him, and without taking off his coat, in his cap, went into his office. The wife, as soon as she saw his frowning face with knitted eyebrows and nervously biting his lower lip, immediately realized that a very great misfortune had happened ... She silently followed her husband. In the office, Almazov stood for a minute in one place, looking somewhere in the corner. Then he let go of the briefcase, which fell to the floor and opened up, and he threw himself into an armchair, angrily cracking his fingers folded together ...
Almazov, a young poor officer, attended lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and has just returned from there. Today he presented to the professor the last and most difficult practical work - instrumental survey of the area ...
Until now, all the exams have passed safely, and only God and Almazov's wife knew what terrible labor they cost ... To begin with, the very admission to the academy seemed impossible at first. For two years in a row, Almazov solemnly failed, and only on the third year did he overcome all obstacles with hard work. Without a wife, he, perhaps, not finding enough energy in himself, would have given up on everything. But Verochka did not let him lose heart and constantly kept him cheerful ... She learned to meet every failure with a clear, almost cheerful face. She denied herself everything necessary to create comfort for her husband, although cheap, but still necessary for a person busy with head work. She was, as needed, his scribe, draftsman, reader, tutor and memorial book.
Five minutes of heavy silence passed, drearily broken by the lame running of the alarm clock, long familiar and boring: one, two, three, three: two clean blows, the third with a hoarse interruption. Almazov sat without taking off his coat and hat and turned away... Vera stood two steps away from him, also in silence, with suffering on her beautiful, nervous face. Finally, she spoke first, with the caution with which only women speak at the bedside of a close seriously ill person ...
– Kolya, how is your work?.. Is it bad?
He shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer.
– Kolya, your plan was rejected? You tell me, anyway, we'll discuss it together.
Almazov quickly turned to his wife and spoke ardently and irritably, as they usually say, expressing long-repressed resentment.
- Well, yes, well, yes, they rejected it, if you really want to know. Can't you see yourself? Everything went to hell!.. All this rubbish,” and he angrily kicked the portfolio with the drawings, “throw all this rubbish even into the stove now! That's the academy for you! A month later, again in the regiment, and even with disgrace, with a bang. And this is because of some filthy stain ... Oh, hell!
- What stain, Kolya? I do not understand anything.
She sat down on the arm of the chair and threw her arm around Almazov's neck. He did not resist, but continued to stare into the corner with an offended expression.
- What is the stain, Kolya? she asked again.
“Ah, well, an ordinary stain, green paint. You know, I didn't go to bed until three o'clock yesterday, I had to finish. The plan is beautifully drawn and illuminated. That's what everyone says. Well, I sat up yesterday, I was tired, my hands began to tremble - and I planted a stain ... And even such a thick stain ... greasy. Began to clean up and smeared even more. I thought, I thought what to make of it now, and I decided to depict a bunch of trees in that place ... It turned out very well, and it’s impossible to make out that there was a stain. I bring it to the professor today. “Yes, yes, yes. And where did you get the bushes here, lieutenant? I would have to tell you how it all happened. Well, maybe he would just laugh... However, no, he won't laugh, such a neat German, a pedant. I tell him: "Here really bushes grow." And he says: “No, I know this area like the back of my hand, and there can be no bushes here.” Word for word, we had a big conversation with him. And there were still many of our officers. “If you say so, he says that there are bushes on this saddle, then if you please ride there with me tomorrow ... I will prove to you that you either worked carelessly or drew directly from a three-verst map ...”
“But why does he say so confidently that there are no bushes there?”
- Oh, my God, why? What are you, by God, childish questions you ask. Yes, because for twenty years now he knows this area better than his bedroom. The most ugly pedant in the world, and a German on top of it... Well, it turns out in the end that I'm lying and entering into an altercation... Besides...
During the whole conversation, he pulled out burnt matches from the ashtray in front of him and broke them into small pieces, and when he stopped talking, he threw them on the floor with anger. It was evident that this strong man wanted to cry.
Husband and wife sat for a long time in heavy thought, not uttering a word. But suddenly Verochka jumped up from her chair with an energetic movement.
“Listen, Kolya, we have to go right now!” Get dressed soon.
Nikolai Evgrafovich frowned all over, as if from unbearable physical pain.
- Oh, don't talk nonsense, Vera. Do you really think I'm going to make excuses and apologize. This means directly signing the verdict on yourself. Please don't do stupid things.
“No, not stupidity,” Vera objected, stamping her foot. - No one is forcing you to go with an apology ... But simply, if there are no such stupid bushes, then they should be planted right away.
- Plant? .. Bushes? .. - Nikolai Evgrafovich goggled his eyes.
"Lilac Bush" - a story by Alexander Kuprin, published on October 17, 1894, in the newspaper "Life and Art" in No. 305. Usually the meaning of the story is interpreted as follows.
The artistic idea of the story "The Lilac Bush" is love and happiness. What is happiness? Each person understands this differently. For some, these are material goods, for others, their own achievements in science or creativity. For the third - love, well-being in the family and the presence loved one. Someone believes that happiness is freedom, someone - that it is understanding ... The heroine of the story by A. I. Kuprin "The Lilac Bush" by Vera Almazova has her own happiness!
The meaning of the title is inextricably linked with the theme of the work. Lilac for the Almazov family is characterized by a new stage in life. The story has such a name, since it is the lilac bush that brings happiness to the heroes. Nikolai Almazov studies at the General Staff Academy. It is very difficult, there are difficult exams, and due to an accidental mistake, the young officer found himself in a difficult situation. He and his wife Vera are looking for a way out, and Vera finds it. A lilac bush planted outside the city helped Almazov. It is the lilac bush that brings happiness and peace to the Almazov family.
Nikolai is stubborn, purposeful, but due to previous failures, he became nervous and unsure of his abilities.
Vera is kind, sympathetic, selfless, she loves her husband very much. In any situation, he can find a way out.
The author expresses his feelings openly. With greater sympathy, Kuprin treats Verochka. The author calls the hero Nikolai Evgrafovich, Almazov (and only Vera calls him Kolya). And the heroine is Vera, Vera. But both heroes are dear to the writer. He writes about them warmly, with interest. The author loves them.
lilac bush
Nikolai Evgrafovich Almazov barely waited until his wife opened the door for him, and without taking off his coat, in his cap, went into his office. The wife, as soon as she saw his frowning face with knitted eyebrows and nervously biting his lower lip, immediately realized that a very great misfortune had happened ... She silently followed her husband. In the office, Almazov stood for a minute in one place, looking somewhere in the corner. Then he let go of the briefcase, which fell to the floor and opened up, and he threw himself into an armchair, angrily cracking his fingers folded together ...
Almazov, a young poor officer, attended lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and has just returned from there. Today he presented to the professor the last and most difficult practical work - instrumental survey of the area ...
Until now, all the exams have passed safely, and only God and Almazov's wife knew what terrible labor they cost ... To begin with, the very admission to the academy seemed impossible at first. For two years in a row, Almazov solemnly failed, and only on the third year did he overcome all obstacles with hard work. Without a wife, he, perhaps, not finding enough energy in himself, would have given up on everything. But Verochka did not let him lose heart and constantly kept him cheerful ... She learned to meet every failure with a clear, almost cheerful face. She denied herself everything necessary to create comfort for her husband, although cheap, but still necessary for a person busy with head work. She was, as needed, his scribe, draftsman, reader, tutor and memorial book.
Five minutes of heavy silence passed, drearily broken by the lame running of the alarm clock, long familiar and boring: one, two, three, three: two clean blows, the third with a hoarse interruption. Almazov sat without taking off his coat and hat and turned away... Vera stood two steps away from him in the same silence, with suffering on her beautiful, nervous face. Finally, she spoke first, with the caution with which only women speak at the bedside of a close seriously ill person ...
Kolya, how is your work?.. Is it bad?
He shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer.
Kolya, your plan was rejected? You tell me, anyway, we'll discuss it together.
Almazov quickly turned to his wife and spoke ardently and irritably, as they usually say, expressing long-repressed resentment.
Well, yes, well, yes, they were rejected, if you really want to know. Can't you see yourself? Everything has gone to hell!.. All this rubbish, - and he angrily poked the briefcase with the drawings with his foot, - throw all this rubbish even into the stove now! That's the academy for you! A month later, again in the regiment, and even with disgrace, with a bang. And this is because of some filthy stain ... Oh, hell!
What stain, Kolya? I do not understand anything.
She sat down on the arm of the chair and threw her arm around Almazov's neck. He did not resist, but continued to stare into the corner with an offended expression.
What is the stain, Kolya? she asked again.
Ah, well, the usual stain, green paint. You know, I didn't go to bed until three o'clock yesterday, I had to finish. The plan is beautifully drawn and illuminated. That's what everyone says. Well, I sat up yesterday, got tired, my hands began to tremble - and planted a stain ... And even such a thick stain ... greasy. Began to clean up and smeared even more. I thought, I thought what to make of it now, and I decided to depict a bunch of trees in that place ... It turned out very well, and it’s impossible to make out that there was a stain. I bring it to the professor today. “Yes, yes, yes. And where did you get the bushes here, lieutenant? I would have to tell you how it all happened. Well, maybe he would only laugh ... However, no, he won’t laugh - such a neat German, a pedant. I tell him: "Here really bushes grow." And he says: “No, I know this area like the back of my hand, and there can be no bushes here.” Word for word, we had a big conversation with him. And there were still many of our officers. “If you say so, he says that there are bushes on this saddle, then if you please ride there with me tomorrow ... I will prove to you that you either worked carelessly or drew directly from a three-verst map ...”
But why does he say so confidently that there are no bushes there?
Oh my God, why? What are you, by God, childish questions you ask. Yes, because for twenty years now he knows this area better than his bedroom. The most ugly pedant in the world, and a German on top of it... Well, it turns out in the end that I'm lying and entering into an altercation... Besides...
During the whole conversation, he pulled out burnt matches from the ashtray in front of him and broke them into small pieces, and when he stopped talking, he threw them on the floor with anger. It was evident that this strong man wanted to cry.
Husband and wife sat for a long time in heavy thought, not uttering a word. But suddenly Verochka jumped up from her chair with an energetic movement.
Listen, Kolya, we have to go this minute! Get dressed soon.
Nikolai Evgrafovich frowned all over, as if from unbearable physical pain.
Oh, don't talk nonsense, Vera. Do you really think I'm going to make excuses and apologize. This means directly signing the verdict on yourself. Please don't do stupid things.
No, not stupidity, - objected Vera, stamping her foot. - No one is forcing you to go with an apology ... But simply, if there are no such stupid bushes, then they should be planted right away.
Plant? .. Bushes? .. - Nikolai Evgrafovich goggled his eyes.
Yes, plant. If you already told a lie, you need to correct it. Get ready, give me a hat ... A blouse ... You are not looking for it here, look in the closet ... An umbrella!
While Almazov, who tried to object, but was not listened to, was looking for a hat and blouse, Vera quickly pulled out the drawers of tables and chests of drawers, pulled out baskets and boxes, opened them and scattered them on the floor.
Earrings... Well, it's nothing... They won't give anything for them... But this ring with a solitaire is expensive... We must definitely buy it back... It will be a pity if it disappears. A bracelet ... they will also give very little. Antique and bent... Where is your silver cigarette case, Kolya?
Five minutes later, all the jewelry was packed into the reticule. Vera, already dressed, looked around for the last time to make sure that nothing had been forgotten at home.
Let's go," she finally said decisively.
But where are we going? Almazov tried to protest. - Now it will become dark, and my site is almost ten miles away.
Nonsense... let's go!
First of all, the Almazovs stopped at a pawnshop. It was evident that the appraiser had been so used to the daily spectacles of human misfortunes that they did not touch him at all. He examined the things he had brought so methodically and for a long time that Verochka was already beginning to lose her temper. He especially offended her by the fact that he tried the diamond ring with acid and, having weighed it, valued it at three rubles.
Why, this is a real diamond, - Vera was indignant, - it costs thirty-seven rubles, and then on occasion.
The appraiser closed his eyes with a look of tired indifference.
We don't care, sir, ma'am. We don’t accept stones at all,” he said, throwing the following thing onto the scales, “we evaluate only metals, sir.
But the old and bent bracelet, quite unexpectedly for Vera, was valued very dearly. In general, however, there were about twenty-three rubles. This amount was more than enough.
When the Almazovs arrived at the gardener, the white St. Petersburg night had already spilled over the sky and in the air with blue milk. The gardener, a Czech, a little old man with golden glasses, had just sat down to dinner with his family. He was very surprised and dissatisfied with the late appearance of customers and their unusual request. He probably suspected some kind of hoax and answered Verochkin's persistent requests very dryly:
Sorry. But I can't send workers to such a distance at night. If you want tomorrow morning - then I'm at your service.
Then there was only one remedy left: to tell the gardener in detail the whole story of the ill-fated spot, and Verochka did just that. The gardener listened at first incredulously, almost hostilely, but when Vera got to the point where she had the idea of planting a bush, he became more attentive and smiled sympathetically several times.
Well, there is nothing to do, - the gardener agreed, when Vera had finished talking, - tell me, what kind of bushes can you plant?
However, of all the breeds that the gardener had, not one turned out to be suitable: willy-nilly, he had to stop at lilac bushes.
In vain Almazov tried to persuade his wife to go home. She went with her husband to the countryside, all the time while the bushes were being planted, she fussed hotly and interfered with the workers, and only then agreed to go home when she was convinced that the turf near the bushes could not be distinguished at all from the grass that covered the entire saddle.
The next day, Vera could not sit at home and went out to meet her husband on the street. She had learned from a distance, from her lively and slightly bouncing gait alone, that the story with the bushes ended happily ... Indeed, Almazov was covered in dust and could barely stand on his feet from fatigue and hunger, but his face shone with the triumph of victory.
Good! Wonderful! he shouted ten more paces away in response to the worried expression on his wife's face. - Imagine, we came with him to these bushes. He already looked at them, looked, even tore off a leaf and chewed it. "What is this tree?" - asks. I say: "I don't know, yours." - "Birch, must be?" - He speaks. I answer: "It must be, birch, yours." Then he turned to me and even extended his hand. “Excuse me, he says, lieutenant. I must be starting to get old if I forgot about these bushes. He is a nice professor, and such a clever one. Really, I'm sorry that I deceived him. One of the best professors we have. Knowledge is simply awesome. And what speed and accuracy in assessing the terrain is amazing!
But Vera was not enough that he told. She made him tell her the whole conversation with the professor again and again in detail. She was interested in the smallest details: what was the expression on the professor’s face, what tone he spoke about his old age, what Kolya himself felt at the same time ...
And they walked home as if there was no one else on the street except them: holding hands and constantly laughing. Passers-by stopped in bewilderment to take another look at this strange couple ...
Nikolai Evgrafovich had never dined with such appetite as on that day ... After dinner, when Vera brought a glass of tea to Almazov in the office, the husband and wife suddenly laughed at the same time and looked at each other.
What are you? Vera asked.
What are you?
No, you speak first, and I then.
Yes, that's nonsense. I remembered the whole story with lilacs. And you?
I, too, nonsense, and also - about lilacs. I wanted to say that lilac will now forever be my favorite flower ...
A. I. Kuprin
lilac bush
Nikolai Evgrafovich Almazov barely waited until his wife opened the door for him, and without taking off his coat, in his cap, went into his office. The wife, as soon as she saw his frowning face with knitted eyebrows and nervously biting his lower lip, immediately realized that a very great misfortune had happened ... She silently followed her husband. In the office, Almazov stood for a minute in one place, looking somewhere in the corner. Then he let go of the briefcase, which fell to the floor and opened up, and he threw himself into an armchair, angrily cracking his fingers folded together ...
Almazov, a young poor officer, attended lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and has just returned from there. Today he presented to the professor the last and most difficult practical work - instrumental survey of the area ...
Until now, all the exams have passed safely, and only God and Almazov's wife knew what terrible labor they cost ... To begin with, the very admission to the academy seemed impossible at first. For two years in a row, Almazov solemnly failed, and only on the third year did he overcome all obstacles with hard work. Without a wife, he, perhaps, not finding enough energy in himself, would have given up on everything. But Verochka did not let him lose heart and constantly kept him cheerful ... She learned to meet every failure with a clear, almost cheerful face. She denied herself everything necessary to create comfort for her husband, although cheap, but still necessary for a person busy with head work. She was, as needed, his scribe, draftsman, reader, tutor and memorial book.
Five minutes of heavy silence passed, drearily broken by the lame running of the alarm clock, long familiar and boring: one, two, three, three: two clean blows, the third with a hoarse interruption. Almazov sat without taking off his coat and hat and turned away... Vera stood two steps away from him, also in silence, with suffering on her beautiful, nervous face. Finally, she spoke first, with the caution with which only women speak at the bedside of a close seriously ill person ...
– Kolya, how is your work?.. Is it bad?
He shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer.
– Kolya, your plan was rejected? You tell me, anyway, we'll discuss it together.
Almazov quickly turned to his wife and spoke ardently and irritably, as they usually say, expressing long-repressed resentment.
- Well, yes, well, yes, they rejected it, if you really want to know. Can't you see yourself? Everything went to hell!.. All this rubbish,” and he angrily kicked the portfolio with the drawings, “throw all this rubbish even into the stove now! That's the academy for you! A month later, again in the regiment, and even with disgrace, with a bang. And this is because of some filthy stain ... Oh, hell!
- What stain, Kolya? I do not understand anything.
She sat down on the arm of the chair and threw her arm around Almazov's neck. He did not resist, but continued to stare into the corner with an offended expression.
- What is the stain, Kolya? she asked again.
“Ah, well, an ordinary stain, green paint. You know, I didn't go to bed until three o'clock yesterday, I had to finish. The plan is beautifully drawn and illuminated. That's what everyone says. Well, I sat up yesterday, I was tired, my hands began to tremble - and I planted a stain ... And even such a thick stain ... greasy. Began to clean up and smeared even more. I thought, I thought what to make of it now, and I decided to depict a bunch of trees in that place ... It turned out very well, and it’s impossible to make out that there was a stain. I bring it to the professor today. “Yes, yes, yes. And where did you get the bushes here, lieutenant? I would have to tell you how it all happened. Well, maybe he would just laugh... However, no, he won't laugh, such a neat German, a pedant. I tell him: "Here really bushes grow." And he says: “No, I know this area like the back of my hand, and there can be no bushes here.” Word for word, we had a big conversation with him. And there were still many of our officers. “If you say so, he says that there are bushes on this saddle, then if you please ride there with me tomorrow ... I will prove to you that you either worked carelessly or drew directly from a three-verst map ...”
“But why does he say so confidently that there are no bushes there?”
- Oh, my God, why? What are you, by God, childish questions you ask. Yes, because for twenty years now he knows this area better than his bedroom. The most ugly pedant in the world, and a German on top of it... Well, it turns out in the end that I'm lying and entering into an altercation... Besides...
During the whole conversation, he pulled out burnt matches from the ashtray in front of him and broke them into small pieces, and when he stopped talking, he threw them on the floor with anger. It was evident that this strong man wanted to cry.
Husband and wife sat for a long time in heavy thought, not uttering a word. But suddenly Verochka jumped up from her chair with an energetic movement.
“Listen, Kolya, we have to go right now!” Get dressed soon.
Nikolai Evgrafovich frowned all over, as if from unbearable physical pain.
- Oh, don't talk nonsense, Vera. Do you really think I'm going to make excuses and apologize. This means directly signing the verdict on yourself. Please don't do stupid things.
“No, not stupidity,” Vera objected, stamping her foot. - No one is forcing you to go with an apology ... But simply, if there are no such stupid bushes, then they should be planted right away.
- Plant? .. Bushes? .. - Nikolai Evgrafovich goggled his eyes.
- Yes, plant. If you already told a lie, you need to correct it. Get ready, give me a hat ... A blouse ... You are not looking for it here, look in the closet ... An umbrella!
While Almazov, who tried to object, but did not listen, was looking for a hat and blouse. Vera quickly pulled out the drawers of tables and chests of drawers, pulled out baskets and boxes, opened them and scattered them on the floor.
“Earrings… Well, these are nothing… They won’t give anything for them… But this ring with a solitaire is expensive… We must definitely buy it back… It will be a pity if it disappears.” A bracelet ... they will also give very little. Antique and bent... Where is your silver cigarette case, Kolya?
Five minutes later, all the jewelry was packed into the reticule. Vera, already dressed, looked around for the last time to make sure that nothing had been forgotten at home.
"Let's go," she finally said decisively.
“But where are we going?” Almazov tried to protest. - Now it will become dark, and my site is almost ten miles away.
- Nonsense ... let's go!
First of all, the Almazovs stopped at a pawnshop. It was evident that the appraiser had been so used to the daily spectacles of human misfortunes that they did not touch him at all. He examined the things he had brought so methodically and for a long time that Verochka was already beginning to lose her temper. He especially offended her by the fact that he tried the diamond ring with acid and, having weighed it, valued it at three rubles.
- Why, this is a real diamond, - Vera was indignant, - it costs thirty-seven rubles, and then on occasion.
The appraiser closed his eyes with a look of tired indifference.
“We don’t care, sir, madam. We do not accept stones at all,” he said, throwing the following thing onto the scales, “we evaluate only metals, sir.
But the old and bent bracelet, quite unexpectedly for Vera, was valued very dearly. In general, however, there were about twenty-three rubles. This amount was more than enough.
When the Almazovs arrived at the gardener, the white St. Petersburg night had already spilled over the sky and in the air with blue milk. The gardener, a Czech, a little old man with golden glasses, had just sat down to dinner with his family. He was very surprised and dissatisfied with the late appearance of customers and their unusual request. He probably suspected some kind of hoax and answered Verochkin's persistent requests very dryly:
- Sorry. But I can't send workers to such a distance at night. If you want tomorrow morning, then I am at your service.
Then there was only one remedy left: to tell the gardener in detail the whole story of the ill-fated spot, and Verochka did just that. The gardener listened at first incredulously, almost hostilely, but when Vera got to the point where she had the idea of planting a bush, he became more attentive and smiled sympathetically several times.
“Well, there’s nothing to do,” agreed the gardener, when Vera had finished talking, “tell me, what kind of bushes can you plant?”
However, of all the breeds that the gardener had, not one turned out to be suitable: willy-nilly, he had to stop at lilac bushes.
In vain Almazov tried to persuade his wife to go home. She went with her husband to the countryside, all the time while the bushes were being planted, she fussed hotly and interfered with the workers, and only then agreed to go home when she was convinced that the turf near the bushes could not be distinguished at all from the grass that covered the entire saddle.
The next day, Vera could not sit at home and went out to meet her husband on the street. Even from a distance, from only her lively and slightly bouncing gait, she learned that the story with the bushes ended happily ... Indeed, Almazov was covered in dust and could hardly stand on his feet from fatigue and hunger, but his face shone with the triumph of victory.
