Original text of "Fanka"

Full text:

Nine-year-old Fanka Zhukov was sent to be an apprentice to the shoemaker Ariashne three months ago. On Christmas Eve, he didn't lie down to sleep. He waited for the boss, his wife and several waiters to go to church for worship, then he took out a small bottle of ink and a pen with a rusty tip from the boss's cabinet, flattened a piece of crumpled white paper, and started writing a letter. Come.

Before writing the first word, he glanced worriedly at the door and the window, and then squinted at the dim statue. On both sides of the statue were two rows of shelves filled with items. Last. He sighed, knelt in front of the desk, and spread the piece of paper on the desk.

"Dear Grandpa Konstantin Makaryc," he wrote, "I am writing to you. I wish you a Merry Christmas and God bless you. I have no father. Without my mother, I have only you as a relative."

Fanka looked at the dark window, and the blurred shadow of the candle was reflected on the glass window; he imagined his grandfather Konstantin Makalich, It seemed like grandpa was right in front of me. ——Grandpa is the night watchman at Zhifaroviev’s house. He is a very interesting, thin old man, 65 years old, always smiling and winking. During the day, he always slept in the big kitchen.

At night, he put on a large sheepskin jacket, banged his clapper, and walked around the villa. The old female dog Kashidanka and the male dog Loach followed him with their heads lowered. Loach is a very obedient and lovable dog. Its body is black and as long as a weasel, so it is called a loach.

Now, Grandpa must be standing at the gate, squinting at the bright red windows of the country church. He must be stamping his feet in high felt boots, his clappers hanging on his belt, he was huddled in the cold and hunched his shoulders...

The weather was really nice, sunny, and there was no wind at all. , dry and cold. It was a moonless night, but the whole village - the white roofs, the wisps of smoke coming out of the chimneys, the silver-white trees covered with thick frost, and the snowdrifts - were all visible. The sky was filled with stars blinking happily, and the Milky Way looked very clear, as if someone had polished it with snow for the festival...

Fanka sighed, dipped the tip of his pen, Then keep writing.

“I was beaten last night because I fell asleep unknowingly while rocking the cradle for their little baby. The boss grabbed my hair and dragged me to the yard. She beat me with a belt. This week, the boss lady asked me to pick up a herring. I picked it up from the tail and stabbed me in the face with its mouth.

Guys. To make fun of me, they sent me to the hotel to drink. They asked me to steal the boss's cucumbers. The boss just picked up a guy and beat me. I had little food in the morning, some porridge for lunch. It's a little bread; as for the dishes and tea, only the boss himself eats and drinks them.

They asked me to sleep in the corridor. When their little kid cries, I can't sleep, so I have no choice but to sleep. Rock that cradle. Have mercy on me, dear grandpa, and take me away from here, back to our village! I can't bear it anymore! ... I kneel down for you, and I will always do it for you! Pray to God. Take me away from here, otherwise, I will die!..." Fanka curled his lips, rubbed his eyes with the back of his dirty hands, and sobbed.

"I will rub tobacco leaves for you," he continued, "I will pray to God for you. If I do something wrong, you can just give me a good beating. If you If I'm afraid I can't find a job, I can ask the housekeeper to let me shine my shoes, for God's sake; or I can ask Fijica to let me help him herd the sheep.

My dear. Grandpa, I can't bear it anymore, there is only one way to die! ... I originally wanted to run back to our village, but I have no shoes and I am afraid of the cold. When I grow up, I will take care of you and no one will. I dare to bully you.

“Speaking of Moscow, this is a big city, the houses are all owned by gentlemen, there are many horses, no sheep, and the dogs are not fierce at all. On Christmas, children here do not walk around holding star lanterns, and no one is allowed to sing on the choir in the church. Once, I saw in the window of a shop a fishing hook sold together with a fishing rod and wire. It can catch all kinds of fish and is very expensive.

There is a giant catfish that can even weigh as much as a pound. I also saw some shops selling all kinds of guns, just like our boss’s guns. I think a gun costs a hundred rubles.

There were woodcocks, partridges, and hares in the butcher's shop...but where they came from, the clerk refused to say.

"Dear grandpa, when I hang candies on the Christmas tree, please pick a golden walnut and hide it in my green box."

Fanka sadly He sighed and stared blankly at the window again. He remembered that his grandfather always went to the woods to cut down Christmas trees, and his grandfather always took him there. What a happy day! The frozen mountain forest was chirping, and Grandpa was coughing from the cold, and he was coughing too... It was time to cut down the Christmas tree. Grandpa first smoked a pipe, then took snuff for a while, and talked to the frozen Xiao Fan. Ka laughed for a while.

Many small fir trees, covered with thick frost, stood motionless, waiting to see which one should die. Suddenly a hare jumped out of nowhere and darted across the snowdrift like an arrow. Grandpa couldn't help shouting, "Catch it, catch it, catch it! Hey, short-tailed ghost!"

Grandpa dragged the cut tree back to his house, and everyone started dressing up the tree. .

"Come on, dear grandpa," Fanka went on to write, "I beg you, for the sake of Christ, take me out of here. Have mercy on me, this unfortunate orphan. Here Everyone beat me. I was so hungry and so alone that I couldn't help but cry. One day, the boss hit me on the head with a stick and I fainted.

My life is hopeless, worse than a dog! ...I send my greetings to Alyona, to the one-eyed Egor, and to the coachman, don't let anyone take my little organ. Zhukov. Dear Grandpa, come on!"

Fanka folded the paper with the words in it and put it in an envelope. The envelope was bought for one kopeck the night before. of. He thought for a moment, dipped in ink, and wrote the address.

The cold wind was howling, and everyone on the street was wrapped in thick cotton jackets. As for Fanka, he was wearing a thin piece of tattered clothes with 5 or 6 patches; as for his pants, Only half. Because the boss felt that Fanka was too disobedient at times, and even beating him could not calm him down, so he asked his beloved dog to pull off Fanka's pants. Over time, Fanka's pants were pulled to only half a pair.

Fanka had no socks or shoes, so he could only walk on the cold street with his bare feet, which were red from the heavy snow. From time to time, Fanka had to tighten his belt...

Suddenly, a carriage flew across from Fanka. Fanka didn't pay attention and fell into a pool of blood. "Hu-" the carriage stopped. It turned out that a drunken postman drove a carriage and hit Fanka. Instead of getting off the carriage to save Fanka, the postman said contemptuously to Fanka: "Poor boy, you deserve to be hit to death! Write a letter - without a stamp, no Write the recipient's address, who will send it to you?"

After that, he tore it with his hands, and then tore it, and then tore it, and then tore it... He raised his hand, and the wind blew, and gave the card to Grandpa. The letters he wrote turned into thousands of butterflies, flying all over the sky... Fanka used his last breath to call out softly: "Master - Master..." With the last bit of strength left, he picked up the letter. Zhang fragment, placed on the chest, slowly died...

The sun rose, and the soft sunlight shone on Fanka's thin body. His lips were white, but there was a smile on the corner of his mouth. : He may be thinking that grandpa will definitely come to take him out of the sea of ??suffering.

Source: From the short story "Vanka" written by the Russian writer Chekhov.

Extended information:

Artistic features:

The beginning of the novel is a declarative sentence, explaining the time, place, characters and events. The whole story has neither ups and downs nor a gorgeous and dazzling protagonist. The entire story is borrowed from Fanka's mouth and describes the process of Fanka writing a letter to his grandfather in the countryside, looking at the world from Fanka's perspective.

From the narrative, we learned that Xiao Fanka was severely beaten by the boss because he accidentally fell asleep; we saw Fanka being stabbed in the face with a herring by the boss's wife; and we also saw the boys encouraging Fanka. The scene of stealing cucumbers from the boss and getting hungry.

In order to make the plot real and touching, the author made careful and detailed artistic conception. Because Fanka is a nine-year-old child, the author interspersed letters and narratives to make the two Water and milk blend together, truly moving.

This novel is entirely written in epistolary style. Fanka’s tragic situation, his nostalgia for life in his hometown, and his hopes are all written by him in letters, so this letter must be written very carefully. Long and very organized, it is unbelievable that a nine-year-old child has such great abilities.

What's more, he doesn't have the conditions to enjoy formal cultural education. It's just that when his mother was working as a maid in the master's house, she taught him to read and write when she had nothing to do. Now he can pick up a pen and write letters to his grandfather, and It is even more impossible for such a child to write such an organized letter.

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