Vinnitsa, Ukraine. Here, in the Cherry estate, the famous Russian surgeon Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov lived and worked for 20 years: a man who performed many miracles during his life, the prototype of the “wonderful doctor” about whom Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin narrates.
On December 25, 1897, the newspaper “Kievskoye Slovo” published a work by A.I. Kuprin " Wonderful doctor(true incident)”, which begins with the lines: “The following story is not the fruit of idle fiction. Everything I described actually happened in Kyiv about thirty years ago...”, which immediately puts the reader in a serious mood: after all real stories we take it closer to our hearts and feel more strongly about the heroes.
So, this story was told to Alexander Ivanovich by a banker he knew, who, by the way, is also one of the heroes of the book. The real basis of the story is no different from what the author depicted.
“The Wonderful Doctor” is a work about the amazing philanthropy, the mercy of one famous doctor who did not strive for fame, did not expect honors, but only selflessly provided help to those who needed it here and now.
Meaning of the name
Secondly, no one except Pirogov wanted to lend a helping hand to people in need; passers-by replaced the bright and pure message of Christmas with the pursuit of discounts, profitable goods and festive dishes. In this atmosphere, the manifestation of virtue is a miracle that can only be hoped for.
Genre and direction
“The Wonderful Doctor” is a story, or, to be more precise, a Yuletide, or Christmas, story. According to all the laws of the genre, the heroes of the work find themselves in a difficult life situation: troubles fall one after another, there is not enough money, which is why the characters even think about taking their own lives. Only a miracle can help them. This miracle results from a chance meeting with a doctor who, in one evening, helps them overcome life’s difficulties. The work “The Wonderful Doctor” has a bright ending: good defeats evil, the state of spiritual decline is replaced by hopes for better life. However, this does not prevent us from attributing this work to the realistic direction, because everything that happened in it is the pure truth.
The story takes place during the holidays. Decorated Christmas trees peek out from store windows, there is an abundance of delicious food everywhere, laughter is heard in the streets, and the ear catches the cheerful conversations of people. But somewhere, very close by, poverty, grief and despair reign. And all these human troubles in Holy holiday The Nativity of Christ is illuminated with a miracle.
Composition
The entire work is built on contrasts. At the very beginning, two boys stand in front of a bright shop window, a festive spirit is in the air. But when they go home, everything around them becomes darker: old, crumbling houses are everywhere, and their own home is completely in the basement. While people in the city are preparing for the holiday, the Mertsalovs do not know how to make ends meet in order to simply survive. There is no talk of a holiday in their family. This stark contrast allows the reader to feel the desperate situation in which the family finds itself.
It is worth noting the contrast among the heroes of the work. The head of the family turns out to be weak person who is no longer able to solve problems, but is ready to run away from them: he is thinking about suicide. Professor Pirogov is presented to us as an incredibly strong, cheerful and positive hero who, with his kindness, saves the Mertsalov family.
The essence
In the story “The Wonderful Doctor” by A.I. Kuprin talks about how human kindness and caring for one's neighbor can change lives. The action takes place approximately in the 60s of the 19th century in Kyiv. The city has an atmosphere of magic and the approaching holiday. The work begins with two boys, Grisha and Volodya Mertsalov, joyfully gazing at the store window, joking and laughing. But it soon turns out that their family big problems: they live in the basement, there is a catastrophic lack of money, their father was kicked out of work, six months ago their sister died, and now their second sister, Mashutka, is very ill. Everyone is desperate and seems to be prepared for the worst.
That evening the father of the family goes to beg for alms, but all attempts are in vain. He goes to a park, where he talks about the difficult life of his family, and thoughts of suicide begin to occur to him. But fate turns out to be favorable, and in this very park Mertsalov meets a man who is destined to change his life. They go home to an impoverished family, where the doctor examines Mashutka, prescribes her the necessary medications and even leaves her a large sum money. He does not give a name, considering what he did to be his duty. And only by the signature on the prescription does the family know that this doctor is the famous Professor Pirogov.
The main characters and their characteristics
The story involves a small amount characters. In this work for A.I. The wonderful doctor himself, Alexander Ivanovich Pirogov, is important to Kuprin.
- Pirogov- famous professor, surgeon. He knows how to approach any person: he looks at the father of the family so carefully and interestedly that he almost immediately inspires confidence in him, and he talks about all his troubles. Pirogov does not need to think about whether to help or not. He heads home to the Mertsalovs, where he does everything possible to save desperate souls. One of Mertsalov’s sons, already an adult man, remembers him and calls him a saint: “... that great, powerful and holy thing that lived and burned in the wonderful doctor during his lifetime faded away irrevocably.”
- Mertsalov- a man broken by adversity, who is consumed by his own powerlessness. Seeing the death of his daughter, the despair of his wife, the deprivation of the other children, he is ashamed of his inability to help them. The Doctor stops him on the path to a cowardly and fatal act, saving, first of all, his soul, which was ready to sin.
Themes
The main themes of the work are mercy, compassion and kindness. The Mertsalov family is doing everything possible to cope with the troubles that have befallen them. And in a moment of despair, fate sends them a gift: Doctor Pirogov turns out to be a real wizard who, with his indifference and compassion, heals their crippled souls.
He does not stay in the park when Mertsalov loses his temper: being a man of incredible kindness, he listens to him and immediately does everything possible to help. We do not know how many such acts Professor Pirogov committed during his life. But you can be sure that in his heart there lived a great love for people, indifference, which turned out to be the saving grace for the unfortunate family, which he extended at the most necessary moment.
Problems
A. I. Kuprin in this a short story raises such universal problems as humanism and loss of hope.
Professor Pirogov personifies philanthropy and humanism. He is no stranger to problems strangers, and he takes helping his neighbor for granted. He does not need gratitude for what he has done, he does not need glory: the only important thing is that the people around him fight and do not lose faith in the best. This becomes his main wish to the Mertsalov family: “...and most importantly, never lose heart.” However, those around the heroes, their acquaintances and colleagues, neighbors and just passers-by - all turned out to be indifferent witnesses to someone else's grief. They did not even think that someone’s misfortune concerned them, they did not want to show humanity, thinking that they were not authorized to correct social injustice. This is the problem: no one cares about what is happening around them, except for one person.
Despair is also described in detail by the author. It poisons Mertsalov, depriving him of the will and strength to move on. Under the influence of sorrowful thoughts, he descends to a cowardly hope for death, while his family perishes from hunger. The feeling of hopelessness dulls all other feelings and enslaves the person, who is only able to feel sorry for himself.
Meaning
What is the main idea of A.I. Kuprin? The answer to this question is precisely contained in the phrase that Pirogov says as he leaves the Mertsalovs: never lose heart.
Even in the darkest times, you need to hope, search, and if there is absolutely no strength left, wait for a miracle. And it does happen. With the most ordinary people on one frosty, say, winter day: the hungry become full, the cold become warm, the sick become well. And these miracles are performed by people themselves with the kindness of their hearts - this is the main idea a writer who saw salvation from social cataclysms in simple mutual assistance.
What does it teach?
This small work makes you think about how important it is to be caring towards the people around us. In the bustle of our days, we often forget that somewhere very close by, neighbors, acquaintances, and compatriots are suffering; somewhere, poverty reigns and despair prevails. Entire families do not know how to earn their bread, and barely survive to receive pay. That’s why it’s so important not to pass by and be able to support: kind words or by action.
Helping one person, of course, will not change the world, but it will change one part of it, and the most important one for giving rather than accepting help. The donor is enriched much more than the petitioner, because he receives spiritual satisfaction from what he has done.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!The following story is not the fruit of idle fiction. Everything I described actually happened in Kyiv about thirty years ago and is still sacred, down to the smallest detail, preserved in the traditions of the family in question. For my part, I only changed the names of some of the characters in this touching story and gave the oral story a written form.
- Grisha, oh Grisha! Look, the little pig... He's laughing... Yes. And in his mouth!.. Look, look... there is grass in his mouth, by God, grass!.. What a thing!
And two boys, standing in front of a huge solid glass window of a grocery store, began to laugh uncontrollably, pushing each other in the side with their elbows, but involuntarily dancing from the cruel cold. They had been standing for more than five minutes in front of this magnificent exhibition, which excited their minds and stomachs in equal measure. Here, illuminated bright light hanging lamps, towered whole mountains of red, strong apples and oranges; stood regular pyramids tangerines, delicately gilded through the tissue paper enveloping them; stretched out on the dishes, with ugly gaping mouths and bulging eyes, huge smoked and pickled fish; below, surrounded by garlands of sausages, juicy cut hams with a thick layer of pinkish lard flaunted... Countless jars and boxes with salted, boiled and smoked snacks completed this spectacular picture, looking at which both boys for a moment forgot about the twelve-degree frost and about the important assignment assigned their mother, an assignment that ended so unexpectedly and so pitifully.
The eldest boy was the first to tear himself away from contemplating the enchanting spectacle. He tugged at his brother's sleeve and said sternly:
- Well, Volodya, let's go, let's go... There's nothing here...
At the same time, suppressing a heavy sigh (the eldest of them was only ten years old, and besides, both of them had eaten nothing since the morning except empty cabbage soup) and casting one last lovingly greedy glance at the gastronomic exhibition, the boys hurriedly ran down the street. Sometimes, through the foggy windows of some house, they saw a Christmas tree, which from a distance seemed like a huge cluster of bright, shining spots, sometimes they even heard the sounds of a cheerful polka... But they courageously drove away the tempting thought: to stop for a few seconds and press their eyes to the glass.
As the boys walked, the streets became less crowded and darker. Beautiful shops, shining Christmas trees, trotters racing under their blue and red nets, the squealing of runners, the festive excitement of the crowd, the cheerful hum of shouts and conversations, the laughing faces of elegant ladies flushed with frost - everything was left behind. There were vacant lots, crooked, narrow alleys, gloomy, unlit slopes...
Finally they reached a rickety, dilapidated house that stood alone; its bottom - the basement itself - was stone, and the top was wooden. Having walked around the cramped, icy and dirty courtyard, which served as a natural cesspool for all residents, they went downstairs to the basement, walked in the darkness along a common corridor, groped for their door and opened it.
The Mertsalovs had been living in this dungeon for more than a year. Both boys had long since gotten used to these smoky walls, crying from the dampness, and to the wet scraps drying on a rope stretched across the room, and to this terrible smell of kerosene fumes, children’s dirty linen and rats - the real smell of poverty.
But today, after everything they saw on the street, after this festive rejoicing that they felt everywhere, their little children’s hearts sank from acute, unchildish suffering. In the corner, on a dirty wide bed, lay a girl of about seven years old; her face was burning, her breathing was short and labored, her wide, shining eyes looked intently and aimlessly. Next to the bed, in a cradle suspended from the ceiling, he screamed, wincing, straining and choking, infant. A tall, thin woman, with a gaunt, tired face, as if blackened by grief, was kneeling next to the sick girl, straightening her pillow and at the same time not forgetting to push the rocking cradle with her elbow. When the boys entered and white clouds of frosty air quickly rushed into the basement behind them, the woman turned her worried face back.
- Well? What? - she asked abruptly and impatiently.
The boys were silent. Only Grisha noisily wiped his nose with the sleeve of his coat, made from an old cotton robe.
- Did you take the letter?.. Grisha, I’m asking you, did you give the letter?
“I gave it away,” Grisha answered in a voice hoarse from the frost.
- So what? What did you say to him?
- Yes, everything is as you taught. Here, I say, is a letter from Mertsalov, from your former manager. And he scolded us: “Get out of here, he says... You bastards...”
- Who is this? Who was talking to you?.. Speak clearly, Grisha!
- The doorman was talking... Who else? I tell him: “Uncle, take the letter, pass it on, and I’ll wait for the answer here downstairs.” And he says: “Well, he says, keep your pocket... The master also has time to read your letters...”
- Well, what about you?
“I told him everything, as you taught me: “There’s nothing to eat... Mashutka is sick... She’s dying...” I said: “As soon as dad finds a place, he’ll thank you, Savely Petrovich, by God, he’ll thank you.” Well, at this time the bell will ring as soon as it rings, and he tells us: “Get the hell out of here quickly! So that your spirit is not here!..” And he even hit Volodka on the back of the head.
“And he hit me on the back of the head,” said Volodya, who was following his brother’s story with attention, and scratched the back of his head.
The older boy suddenly began to anxiously rummage through the deep pockets of his robe. Finally pulling out the crumpled envelope, he put it on the table and said:
- Here it is, the letter...
The mother didn't ask any more questions. For a long time in the stuffy, dank room, only the frantic cry of the baby and Mashutka’s short, rapid breathing, more like continuous monotonous moans, could be heard. Suddenly the mother said, turning back:
- There is borscht there, left over from lunch... Maybe we could eat it? Only cold, there’s nothing to warm it up with...
At this time, someone’s hesitant steps and the rustling of a hand were heard in the corridor, searching for the door in the darkness. The mother and both boys - all three even turning pale from intense anticipation - turned in this direction.
Mertsalov entered. He was wearing a summer coat, a summer felt hat and no galoshes. His hands were swollen and blue from the frost, his eyes were sunken, his cheeks were stuck around his gums, like a dead man's. He didn’t say a single word to his wife, she didn’t ask him a single question. They understood each other by the despair they read in each other's eyes.
In this terrible, fateful year, misfortune after misfortune persistently and mercilessly rained down on Mertsalov and his family. First, he himself fell ill with typhoid fever, and all their meager savings were spent on his treatment. Then, when he recovered, he learned that his place, the modest place of managing a house for twenty-five rubles a month, was already taken by someone else... A desperate, convulsive pursuit began for odd jobs, for correspondence, for an insignificant place, pledging and re-pledge of things, selling all kinds of household rags. And then the children started getting sick. Three months ago one girl died, now another lies in the heat and unconscious. Elizaveta Ivanovna had to simultaneously care for a sick girl, breastfeed a little one and go almost to the other end of the city to the house where she washed clothes every day.
All day today I was busy trying to squeeze out from somewhere at least a few kopecks for Mashutka’s medicine through superhuman efforts. For this purpose, Mertsalov ran around almost half the city, begging and humiliating himself everywhere; Elizaveta Ivanovna went to see her mistress, the children were sent with a letter to the master whose house Mertsalov used to manage... But everyone made excuses either with holiday worries or lack of money... Others, like, for example, the doorman of the former patron, simply drove the petitioners off the porch .
For ten minutes no one could utter a word. Suddenly Mertsalov quickly rose from the chest on which he had been sitting until now, and with a decisive movement pulled his tattered hat deeper onto his forehead.
- Where are you going? - Elizaveta Ivanovna asked anxiously.
Mertsalov, who had already grabbed the door handle, turned around.
“Anyway, sitting won’t help anything,” he answered hoarsely. “I’ll go again... At least I’ll try to beg.”
Going out into the street, he walked forward aimlessly. He didn't look for anything, didn't hope for anything. He had long since gone through that burning time of poverty when you dream of finding a wallet with money on the street or suddenly receiving an inheritance from an unknown second cousin. Now he was overcome by an uncontrollable desire to run anywhere, to run without looking back, so as not to see the silent despair of a hungry family.
Beg for alms? He has already tried this remedy twice today. But the first time, some gentleman in a raccoon coat read him an instruction that he should work and not beg, and the second time, they promised to send him to the police.
Unnoticed by himself, Mertsalov found himself in the center of the city, near the fence of a dense public garden. Since he had to walk uphill all the time, he became out of breath and felt tired. Mechanically he turned through the gate and, passing a long alley of linden trees covered with snow, sat down on a low garden bench.
It was quiet and solemn here. The trees, wrapped in their white robes, slumbered in motionless majesty. Sometimes a piece of snow fell from the top branch, and you could hear it rustling, falling and clinging to other branches. The deep silence and great calm that guarded the garden suddenly awakened in Mertsalov’s tormented soul an unbearable thirst for the same calm, the same silence.
“I wish I could lie down and go to sleep,” he thought, “and forget about my wife, about the hungry children, about the sick Mashutka.” Putting his hand under his vest, Mertsalov felt for a rather thick rope that served as his belt. The thought of suicide became quite clear in his head. But he was not horrified by this thought, did not shudder for a moment before the darkness of the unknown.
“Rather than perish slowly, isn’t it better to choose more shortcut? He was about to get up to fulfill his terrible intention, but at that time, at the end of the alley, the creaking of steps was heard, clearly heard in the frosty air. Mertsalov turned in this direction with anger. Someone was walking along the alley. At first, the light of a cigar that flared up and then went out was visible. Then Mertsalov little by little could see a small old man, wearing a warm hat, a fur coat and high galoshes. Having reached the bench, the stranger suddenly turned sharply in the direction of Mertsalov and, lightly touching his hat, asked:
—Will you allow me to sit here?
Mertsalov deliberately turned sharply away from the stranger and moved to the edge of the bench. Five minutes passed in mutual silence, during which the stranger smoked a cigar and (Mertsalov felt it) looked sideways at his neighbor.
“What a nice night,” the stranger suddenly spoke. “It’s frosty... quiet.” What a delight - Russian winter!
His voice was soft, gentle, senile. Mertsalov was silent, without turning around.
“But I bought gifts for the children of my acquaintances,” continued the stranger (he had several packages in his hands). “But on the way I couldn’t resist, I made a circle to go through the garden: it’s very nice here.”
Mertsalov was generally a meek and shy person, but last words the stranger was suddenly overcome by a surge of desperate anger. He turned with a sharp movement towards the old man and shouted, absurdly waving his arms and gasping:
- Gifts!.. Gifts!.. Gifts for the children I know!.. And I... and I, dear sir, at the moment my children are dying of hunger at home... Gifts!.. And my wife’s milk has disappeared, and the baby has been nursing all day didn’t eat... Gifts!..
Mertsalov expected that after these chaotic, angry screams the old man would get up and leave, but he was mistaken. The old man brought his intelligent, serious face with gray sideburns closer to him and said in a friendly but serious tone:
- Wait... don't worry! Tell me everything in order and as briefly as possible. Maybe together we can come up with something for you.
There was something so calm and trust-inspiring in the stranger’s extraordinary face that Mertsalov immediately, without the slightest concealment, but terribly worried and in a hurry, conveyed his story. He spoke about his illness, about the loss of his place, about the death of his child, about all his misfortunes, right up to the present day.
The stranger listened without interrupting him with a word, and only looked more and more inquisitively into his eyes, as if wanting to penetrate into the very depths of this painful, indignant soul. Suddenly, with a quick, completely youthful movement, he jumped up from his seat and grabbed Mertsalov by the hand. Mertsalov involuntarily also stood up.
- Let's go! - said the stranger, dragging Mertsalov by the hand. - Let's go quickly!.. You are lucky that you met the doctor. Of course, I can’t vouch for anything, but... let’s go!
Ten minutes later Mertsalov and the doctor were already entering the basement. Elizaveta Ivanovna lay on the bed next to her sick daughter, burying her face in dirty, oily pillows. The boys were slurping borscht, sitting in the same places. Frightened by the long absence of their father and the immobility of their mother, they cried, smearing tears over their faces with dirty fists and pouring them abundantly into the smoky cast iron.
Entering the room, the doctor took off his coat and, remaining in an old-fashioned, rather shabby frock coat, approached Elizaveta Ivanovna. She didn't even raise her head when he approached.
“Well, that’s enough, that’s enough, my dear,” said the doctor, affectionately stroking the woman on the back. “Get up!” Show me your patient.
And just like recently in the garden, something affectionate and convincing sounding in his voice forced Elizaveta Ivanovna to instantly get out of bed and unquestioningly do everything the doctor said. Two minutes later, Grishka was already heating the stove with firewood, for which the wonderful doctor had sent to the neighbors, Volodya was inflating the samovar with all his might, Elizaveta Ivanovna was wrapping Mashutka in a warming compress... A little later Mertsalov also appeared. With three rubles received from the doctor, during this time he managed to buy tea, sugar, rolls and get hot food at the nearest tavern. The doctor was sitting at the table and writing something on a piece of paper that he had torn from notebook. Having finished this lesson and depicting some kind of hook below, instead of a signature, he stood up, covered what he had written with a tea saucer and said:
- With this piece of paper you will go to the pharmacy... give me a teaspoon in two hours. This will cause the baby to cough up... Continue the warming compress... Besides, even if your daughter feels better, in any case, invite Doctor Afrosimov tomorrow. This is a good doctor and good man. I'll warn him right now. Then farewell, gentlemen! May God grant that the coming year treats you a little more leniently than this one, and most importantly, never lose heart.
Having shaken the hands of Mertsalov and Elizaveta Ivanovna, who was still recovering from amazement, and casually patting Volodya, who was gaping, on the cheek, the doctor quickly put his feet into deep galoshes and put on his coat. Mertsalov came to his senses only when the doctor was already in the corridor, and rushed after him.
Since it was impossible to make out anything in the darkness, Mertsalov shouted at random:
- Doctor! Doctor, wait!.. Tell me your name, doctor! Let at least my children pray for you!
And he moved his hands in the air to catch the invisible doctor. But at this time, at the other end of the corridor, a calm, senile voice said:
- Eh! Here are some more nonsense!.. Come home quickly!
When he returned, a surprise awaited him: under the tea saucer, along with the wonderful doctor’s prescription, lay several large credit notes...
That same evening Mertsalov learned the name of his unexpected benefactor. On the pharmacy label attached to the bottle of medicine, in the clear hand of the pharmacist it was written: “According to the prescription of the professor Pirogov».
I heard this story, more than once, from the lips of Grigory Emelyanovich Mertsalov himself - the same Grishka who, on the Christmas Eve I described, shed tears into a smoky cast iron pot with empty borscht. Now he occupies a fairly large, responsible position in one of the banks, reputed to be a model of honesty and responsiveness to the needs of poverty. And each time, finishing his story about the wonderful doctor, he adds in a voice trembling with hidden tears:
“From now on, it’s like a beneficent angel descended into our family.” Everything has changed. At the beginning of January, my father found a place, Mashutka got back on her feet, and my brother and I managed to get a place in the gymnasium at public expense. This holy man performed a miracle. And we have only seen our wonderful doctor once since then - this was when he was transported dead to his own estate Vishnya. And even then they didn’t see him, because that great, powerful and sacred thing that lived and burned in the wonderful doctor during his lifetime died out irrevocably.
The following story is not the fruit of idle fiction. Everything I described actually happened in Kyiv about thirty years ago and is still sacred, down to the smallest detail, preserved in the traditions of the family in question. For my part, I only changed the names of some of the characters in this touching story and gave the oral story a written form.
Grish, oh Grish! Look, the little pig... He's laughing... Yes. And in his mouth!.. Look, look... there is grass in his mouth, by God, grass!.. What a thing!
And two boys, standing in front of a huge solid glass window of a grocery store, began to laugh uncontrollably, pushing each other in the side with their elbows, but involuntarily dancing from the cruel cold. They had been standing for more than five minutes in front of this magnificent exhibition, which excited their minds and stomachs in equal measure. Here, illuminated by the bright light of hanging lamps, towered whole mountains of red, strong apples and oranges; there were regular pyramids of tangerines, delicately gilded through the tissue paper enveloping them; huge smoked and pickled fish stretched out on dishes, ugly mouths open and eyes bulging; below, surrounded by garlands of sausages, juicy cut hams with a thick layer of pinkish lard flaunted... Countless jars and boxes with salted, boiled and smoked snacks completed this spectacular picture, looking at which both boys for a moment forgot about the twelve-degree frost and about the important assignment assigned their mother, an assignment that ended so unexpectedly and so pitifully.
The eldest boy was the first to tear himself away from contemplating the enchanting spectacle. He tugged at his brother's sleeve and said sternly:
Well, Volodya, let's go, let's go... There's nothing here...
At the same time, suppressing a heavy sigh (the eldest of them was only ten years old, and besides, both of them had eaten nothing since the morning except empty cabbage soup) and casting one last lovingly greedy glance at the gastronomic exhibition, the boys hurriedly ran down the street. Sometimes, through the foggy windows of some house, they saw a Christmas tree, which from a distance seemed like a huge cluster of bright, shining spots, sometimes they even heard the sounds of a cheerful polka... But they courageously drove away the tempting thought: to stop for a few seconds and press their eyes to the glass.
As the boys walked, the streets became less crowded and darker. Beautiful shops, shining Christmas trees, trotters racing under their blue and red nets, the squealing of runners, the festive excitement of the crowd, the cheerful roar of shouts and conversations, the laughing faces of elegant ladies flushed with frost - everything was left behind. There were vacant lots, crooked, narrow alleys, gloomy, unlit slopes... Finally they reached a rickety, dilapidated house that stood alone; its bottom - the basement itself - was stone, and the top was wooden. Having walked around the cramped, icy and dirty courtyard, which served as a natural cesspool for all residents, they went downstairs to the basement, walked in the dark along a common corridor, groped for their door and opened it.
The Mertsalovs had been living in this dungeon for more than a year. Both boys had long since gotten used to these smoky walls, crying from dampness, and to the wet rags drying on a rope stretched across the room, and to this terrible smell of kerosene fumes, children's dirty linen and rats - the real smell of poverty. But today, after everything they saw on the street, after this festive rejoicing that they felt everywhere, their little children’s hearts sank from acute, unchildish suffering. In the corner, on a dirty wide bed, lay a girl of about seven years old; her face was burning, her breathing was short and labored, her wide, shining eyes looked intently and aimlessly. Next to the bed, in a cradle suspended from the ceiling, a baby was screaming, wincing, straining and choking. A tall, thin woman, with a gaunt, tired face, as if blackened by grief, was kneeling next to the sick girl, straightening her pillow and at the same time not forgetting to push the rocking cradle with her elbow. When the boys entered and white clouds of frosty air quickly rushed into the basement behind them, the woman turned her worried face back.
Well? What? - she asked abruptly and impatiently.
The boys were silent. Only Grisha noisily wiped his nose with the sleeve of his coat, made from an old cotton robe.
Did you take the letter?.. Grisha, I’m asking you, did you give the letter?
So what? What did you say to him?
Yes, everything is as you taught. Here, I say, is a letter from Mertsalov, from your former manager. And he scolded us: “Get out of here, he says... You bastards...”
Who is this? Who was talking to you?.. Speak clearly, Grisha!
The doorman was talking... Who else? I tell him: “Uncle, take the letter, pass it on, and I’ll wait for the answer here downstairs.” And he says: “Well, he says, keep your pocket... The master also has time to read your letters...”
Well, what about you?
I told him everything, as you taught me: “There’s nothing to eat... Mashutka is sick... She’s dying...” I said: “As soon as dad finds a place, he’ll thank you, Savely Petrovich, by God, he’ll thank you.” Well, at this time the bell will ring as soon as it rings, and he tells us: “Get the hell out of here quickly! So that your spirit is not here!..” And he even hit Volodka on the back of the head.
And he hit me on the back of the head,” said Volodya, who was following his brother’s story with attention, and scratched the back of his head.
The older boy suddenly began to anxiously rummage through the deep pockets of his robe. Finally pulling out the crumpled envelope, he put it on the table and said:
Here it is, the letter...
The mother didn't ask any more questions. For a long time in the stuffy, dank room, only the frantic cry of the baby and Mashutka’s short, rapid breathing, more like continuous monotonous moans, could be heard. Suddenly the mother said, turning back:
There is borscht there, left over from lunch... Maybe we could eat it? Only cold, there’s nothing to warm it up with...
At this time, someone’s hesitant steps and the rustling of a hand were heard in the corridor, searching for the door in the darkness. The mother and both boys - all three even turning pale from intense anticipation - turned in this direction.
Mertsalov entered. He was wearing a summer coat, a summer felt hat and no galoshes. His hands were swollen and blue from the frost, his eyes were sunken, his cheeks were stuck around his gums, like a dead man’s. He didn’t say a single word to his wife, she didn’t ask him a single question. They understood each other by the despair they read in each other's eyes.
In this terrible, fateful year, misfortune after misfortune persistently and mercilessly rained down on Mertsalov and his family. First, he himself fell ill with typhoid fever, and all their meager savings were spent on his treatment. Then, when he recovered, he learned that his place, the modest place of managing a house for twenty-five rubles a month, was already taken by someone else... A desperate, convulsive pursuit began for odd jobs, for correspondence, for an insignificant place, pledging and re-pledge of things, selling all kinds of household rags. And then the children started getting sick. Three months ago one girl died, now another lies in the heat and unconscious. Elizaveta Ivanovna had to simultaneously care for a sick girl, breastfeed a little one and go almost to the other end of the city to the house where she washed clothes every day.
All day today I was busy trying to squeeze out from somewhere at least a few kopecks for Mashutka’s medicine through superhuman efforts. For this purpose, Mertsalov ran around almost half the city, begging and humiliating himself everywhere; Elizaveta Ivanovna went to see her mistress, the children were sent with a letter to the master whose house Mertsalov used to manage... But everyone made excuses either with holiday worries or lack of money... Others, like, for example, the doorman of the former patron, simply drove the petitioners off the porch .
For ten minutes no one could utter a word. Suddenly Mertsalov quickly rose from the chest on which he had been sitting until now, and with a decisive movement pulled his tattered hat deeper onto his forehead.
Where are you going? - Elizaveta Ivanovna asked anxiously.
Mertsalov, who had already grabbed the door handle, turned around.
“Anyway, sitting won’t help anything,” he answered hoarsely. - I’ll go again... At least I’ll try to beg.
Going out into the street, he walked forward aimlessly. He didn't look for anything, didn't hope for anything. He had long since gone through that burning time of poverty when you dream of finding a wallet with money on the street or suddenly receiving an inheritance from an unknown second cousin. Now he was overcome by an uncontrollable desire to run anywhere, to run without looking back, so as not to see the silent despair of a hungry family.
Beg for alms? He has already tried this remedy twice today. But the first time, some gentleman in a raccoon coat read him an instruction that he should work and not beg, and the second time, they promised to send him to the police.
Unnoticed by himself, Mertsalov found himself in the center of the city, near the fence of a dense public garden. Since he had to walk uphill all the time, he became out of breath and felt tired. Mechanically he turned through the gate and, passing a long alley of linden trees covered with snow, sat down on a low garden bench.
It was quiet and solemn here. The trees, wrapped in their white robes, slumbered in motionless majesty. Sometimes a piece of snow fell from the top branch, and you could hear it rustling, falling and clinging to other branches. The deep silence and great calm that guarded the garden suddenly awakened in Mertsalov’s tormented soul an unbearable thirst for the same calm, the same silence.
“I wish I could lie down and go to sleep,” he thought, “and forget about my wife, about the hungry children, about the sick Mashutka.” Putting his hand under his vest, Mertsalov felt for a rather thick rope that served as his belt. The thought of suicide became quite clear in his head. But he was not horrified by this thought, did not shudder for a moment before the darkness of the unknown.
“Rather than dying slowly, isn’t it better to take a shorter path?” He was about to get up to fulfill his terrible intention, but at that time, at the end of the alley, the creaking of steps was heard, clearly heard in the frosty air. Mertsalov turned in this direction with anger. Someone was walking along the alley. At first, the light of a cigar flaring up and then going out was visible. Then Mertsalov little by little could see a small old man, wearing a warm hat, a fur coat and high galoshes. Having reached the bench, the stranger suddenly turned sharply in the direction of Mertsalov and, lightly touching his hat, asked:
Will you allow me to sit here?
Mertsalov deliberately turned sharply away from the stranger and moved to the edge of the bench. Five minutes passed in mutual silence, during which the stranger smoked a cigar and (Mertsalov felt it) looked sideways at his neighbor.
“What a nice night,” the stranger suddenly spoke. - Frosty... quiet. What a delight - Russian winter!
“But I bought gifts for the children of my friends,” the stranger continued (he had several packages in his hands). - Yes, I couldn’t resist on the way, I made a circle to go through the garden: it’s very nice here.
Mertsalov was generally a meek and shy person, but at the last words of the stranger he was suddenly overcome by a surge of desperate anger. He turned with a sharp movement towards the old man and shouted, absurdly waving his arms and gasping:
Presents! ate... Gifts!..
Mertsalov expected that after these chaotic, angry screams the old man would get up and leave, but he was mistaken. The old man brought his smart, serious face with gray sideburns closer to him and said in a friendly but serious tone:
Wait... don't worry! Tell me everything in order and as briefly as possible. Maybe together we can come up with something for you.
There was something so calm and trust-inspiring in the stranger’s extraordinary face that Mertsalov immediately, without the slightest concealment, but terribly worried and in a hurry, conveyed his story. He spoke about his illness, about the loss of his place, about the death of his child, about all his misfortunes, right up to this day. The stranger listened without interrupting him with a word, and only looked more and more inquisitively into his eyes, as if wanting to penetrate into the very depths of this painful, indignant soul. Suddenly, with a quick, completely youthful movement, he jumped up from his seat and grabbed Mertsalov by the hand. Mertsalov involuntarily also stood up.
Let's go! - said the stranger, dragging Mertsalov by the hand. - Let's go quickly!.. You are lucky that you met with the doctor. Of course, I can’t vouch for anything, but... let’s go!
Ten minutes later Mertsalov and the doctor were already entering the basement. Elizaveta Ivanovna lay on the bed next to her sick daughter, burying her face in dirty, oily pillows. The boys were slurping borscht, sitting in the same places. Frightened by the long absence of their father and the immobility of their mother, they cried, smearing tears over their faces with dirty fists and pouring them abundantly into the smoky cast iron. Entering the room, the doctor took off his coat and, remaining in an old-fashioned, rather shabby frock coat, approached Elizaveta Ivanovna. She didn't even raise her head when he approached.
Well, that’s enough, that’s enough, my dear,” the doctor spoke, affectionately stroking the woman on the back. - Get up! Show me your patient.
And just like recently in the garden, something affectionate and convincing sounding in his voice forced Elizaveta Ivanovna to instantly get out of bed and unquestioningly do everything the doctor said. Two minutes later, Grishka was already heating the stove with firewood, for which the wonderful doctor had sent to the neighbors, Volodya was inflating the samovar with all his might, Elizaveta Ivanovna was wrapping Mashutka in a warming compress... A little later Mertsalov also appeared. With three rubles received from the doctor, during this time he managed to buy tea, sugar, rolls and get hot food at the nearest tavern. The doctor was sitting at the table and writing something on a piece of paper that he had torn out of his notebook. Having finished this lesson and depicting some kind of hook below instead of a signature, he stood up, covered what he had written with a tea saucer and said:
With this piece of paper you will go to the pharmacy... give me a teaspoon in two hours. This will cause the baby to cough up... Continue the warming compress... Besides, even if your daughter feels better, in any case, invite Doctor Afrosimov tomorrow. He is an efficient doctor and a good person. I'll warn him right now. Then farewell, gentlemen! God grant that the coming year treats you a little more leniently than this one, and most importantly, never lose heart.
Having shaken the hands of Mertsalov and Elizaveta Ivanovna, who were still not recovered from amazement, and casually patting Volodya, who was open-mouthed, on the cheek, the doctor quickly put his feet into deep galoshes and put on his coat. Mertsalov came to his senses only when the doctor was already in the corridor, and rushed after him.
Since it was impossible to make out anything in the darkness, Mertsalov shouted at random:
Doctor! Doctor, wait!.. Tell me your name, doctor! Let at least my children pray for you!
And he moved his hands in the air to catch the invisible doctor. But at this time, at the other end of the corridor, a calm, senile voice said:
Eh! Here's some more nonsense you've come up with!.. Come home quickly!
When he returned, a surprise awaited him: under the tea saucer, along with the wonderful doctor’s prescription, lay several large credit notes...
That same evening Mertsalov learned the name of his unexpected benefactor. On the pharmacy label attached to the bottle of medicine, in the clear hand of the pharmacist it was written: “According to the prescription of Professor Pirogov.”
I heard this story, more than once, from the lips of Grigory Emelyanovich Mertsalov himself - the same Grishka who, on the Christmas Eve I described, shed tears into a smoky cast iron pot with empty borscht. Now he occupies a fairly large, responsible position in one of the banks, reputed to be a model of honesty and responsiveness to the needs of poverty. And every time, finishing his story about the wonderful doctor, he adds in a voice trembling from hidden tears:
From then on, it was as if a beneficent angel descended into our family. Everything has changed. At the beginning of January, my father found a place, Mashutka got back on her feet, and my brother and I managed to get a place in the gymnasium at public expense. This holy man performed a miracle. And we have only seen our wonderful doctor once since then - this was when he was transported dead to his own estate Vishnyu. And even then they didn’t see him, because something great, powerful and holy that lived and burned in the wonderful doctor during his lifetime died out irrevocably.
A. I. Kuprin's story "The Wonderful Doctor" is about how poor people live. How they are driven to the brink by misfortune and poverty. And there is no light at the end. And also about the fact that there is always room for a miracle. About how one meeting can change the lives of several people.
The story teaches kindness and mercy. Teaches you not to get angry. In "The Wonderful Doctor" a miracle is performed by one man, with the warmth of his heart and the richness of his soul. If there were more doctors like this, maybe the world would become a kinder place.
Read briefly Kuprin Wonderful Doctor
Life is often not as beautiful as they say in fairy tales. This is precisely why many people become incredibly embittered.
Volodya and Grishka are two boys who are not very neatly dressed in this moment. They are brothers who stood and looked at the store window. And the display window was simply gorgeous. No wonder they stood near her as if enchanted. There were so many goodies on display. There were also sausages, the most different types, and overseas fruits - tangerines and oranges, which seemed and probably were so juicy, and fish - pickled and smoked, and even a baked pig along with greens in the mouth.
All these extraordinary things simply amazed the children, who were stuck for some time near the store with a beautiful and magical display. The poor children wanted to eat, but then they had to go to the master, from whom they wanted to ask for help, because their family had no money at all, and even their sister was sick. But the doorman did not take the letter from them, and simply kicked them out. When the poor children came and told their mother about this, she was not surprised in principle, although the ray of hope in her eyes went out immediately.
The children came to the basement of some old house - this was their place of residence. The basement smelled unpleasant smell dampness and mustiness. It was very cold, and in the corner, lying on some rags, was a girl who had been sick for some time. After the children, the father came in almost immediately - who, as the mother also realized, brought nothing to feed the children and save the sick girl, who could even die. The father of the family was in despair, so he went outside and, after walking a little, sat down on a bench.
Soon the thought of suicide crept into his head. He didn’t want to see the despair on his wife’s face and his sick daughter Masha. But then someone sat down next to him, it was old man, who, out of the simplicity of his soul, decided to start a conversation and talked about how he bought gifts for his children, and very successful ones. The poor father simply yelled at him, and then told him how hard it was for him. That person turned out to be a doctor who wanted to examine the girl. It was he who helped them with money. And it was he who brought happiness to their family.
Read the summary of the story The Wonderful Doctor
The story begins with two boys looking at the window of a large store. They are poor and hungry, but still children, they have fun looking at the pig behind the glass. The store window is filled with various foods. Behind the glass is a gastronomic paradise. The poor children would never dream of such an abundance of food. The boys look at the food display for a long time, and then rush home.
The vibrant cityscape gives way to dull slums. The boys run through the entire city, to the very outskirts. The place where already more than a year The boys' family is forced to live in what can only be called a slum. Dirty courtyard, semi-basements with dark corridors and rotten doors. A place that decently dressed people try to avoid.
Behind one of these doors lives a family of boys. A mother, a sick sister, a baby and a father, exhausted by hunger and lack of money. In a dark, cold room, a sick little girl lies on a bed. Her ragged breathing and baby's cries are just depressing. Nearby, a baby rocks and cries from hunger in a cradle. An exhausted mother kneels by the sick bed and at the same time rocks the cradle. The mother no longer even has the strength to despair. She mechanically wipes the girl's forehead and rocks the cradle. She understands the gravity of the family's situation, but is powerless to change anything.
There was hope for the boys, but this hope was very weak. This is the picture that appears before the eyes of the boys who come running. They were sent to take a letter to the master for whom the father of the family, Mertsalov, had previously worked. But the boys were not allowed to see the master and the letters were not taken. For a year now, my father couldn’t find a job. The boys told their mother how the doorman kicked them out and didn’t even listen to their requests. A woman offers the boys cold borscht; the family doesn’t even have anything to warm up their food. At this time, the elder Mertsalov returns.
He never found a job. Mertsalov is dressed in summer clothes, he doesn’t even have galoshes. Memories of a difficult year for the whole family depress him. Typhoid fever left him jobless. The family barely made ends meet by doing odd jobs. Then the children started getting sick. One girl died, and now Mashutka was in a fever. Mertsalov leaves the house in search of any kind of income, he is even ready to ask for alms. Mashutka needs medicine and he must find money. In search of income, Mertsalov turns into the garden, where he sits down on a bench and thinks about his life. He even has thoughts of suicide.
At the same time, a stranger is walking through the park. Having asked permission to sit on the bench, the stranger begins a conversation. Mertsalov's nerves are on edge, his despair is so enormous that he cannot restrain himself. The stranger listens to the unfortunate man without interrupting, and then asks to take him to the sick girl. He gives money to buy food and asks the boys to run to their neighbors for firewood. While Mertsalov is buying provisions, a stranger, introducing himself as a doctor, examines the girl. Having completed the examination, the wonderful doctor writes out a prescription for medicine and explains how and where to buy it, and then how to give it to the girl.
Mertsalov returning with hot food finds the wonderful doctor leaving. He tries to find out the name of the benefactor, but the doctor only politely says goodbye. Returning to the room, under the saucer along with the recipe, Mertsalov discovers money left by the guest. Having gone to the pharmacy with a prescription written by the doctor, Mertsalov finds out the doctor’s name. The pharmacist clearly wrote that the medicine was prescribed according to Professor Pirogov’s prescription. The author heard this story from one of the participants in those events. From Grigory Mertsalov, one of the boys. After meeting with the wonderful doctor, things began to improve in the Mertsalov family. The father found a job, the boys were sent to school, Mashutka recovered, and the mother also got back on her feet. They never saw their wonderful doctor again. They only saw the body of Professor Pirogov, which was transported to his estate. But this was no longer a wonderful doctor, but only a shell.
Despair is no help in trouble. A lot can happen in life. Today's rich man may become poor. An absolutely healthy person can suddenly die or become seriously ill. But there is a family, there is responsibility to oneself. You need to fight for your life. After all, goodness is always rewarded. One conversation on a snowy bench can change the fate of several people. If possible, you should definitely help. After all, someday you will have to ask for help. It was rumored that ghosts live in the building where the Pavlovsk Palace was previously located. Now this palace is called the Engineering Castle, which was inhabited by cadets.
The action took place during World War II. At the station near the front. The author made the main character of this story a boy, Seryozha, ten years old.
Our life is full of prejudices. Everything can be ruined, and only because of some completely unimportant opinion that was once formed. All people are full of prejudices.
Zabolotsky's work Good Boots is written in verse. main idea is that the shoemaker made very good shoes. And in the village lived Carlos, who walked barefoot all the time
Wonderful doctor
A. Kuprin
"Wonderful Doctor"
(excerpt)
The following story is not the fruit of idle fiction. Everything I described actually happened in Kyiv about thirty years ago and is still sacredly preserved in the traditions of the family that will be discussed.
? ? ?
... The Mertsalovs had been living in this dungeon for more than a year. The boys had time to get used to the smoky walls, crying from dampness, and to the wet scraps drying on a rope stretched across the room, and to this terrible smell of kerosene fumes, children's dirty linen and rats - the real smell of poverty. But today, after the festive rejoicing that they saw on the street, their little children’s hearts sank from acute, unchildish suffering.
In the corner, on a dirty wide bed, lay a girl of about seven; her face was burning, her breathing was short and labored, her wide, shining eyes looked aimlessly. Next to the bed, in a cradle suspended from the ceiling, a baby was screaming, wincing, straining and choking. A tall, thin woman with a gaunt, tired face, as if blackened by grief, was kneeling next to the sick girl, straightening her pillow and at the same time not forgetting to push the rocking cradle with her elbow. When the boys entered and white clouds of frosty air quickly rushed into the basement behind them, the woman turned her worried face back.
- Well? What? - she asked her sons abruptly and impatiently.
The boys were silent.
- Did you take the letter?.. Grisha, I ask you: did you give the letter?
“I gave it away,” Grisha answered in a voice hoarse from the frost.
- So what? What did you say to him?
- Yes, everything is as you taught. Here, I say, is a letter from Mertsalov, from your former manager. And he scolded us: “Get out of here,” he says...”
The mother didn't ask any more questions. For a long time in the stuffy, dank room, only the frantic cry of the baby and Mashutka’s short, rapid breathing, more like continuous monotonous moans, could be heard. Suddenly the mother said, turning back:
- There is borscht there, left over from lunch... Maybe we could eat it? It's just cold, there's nothing to warm it up...
At this time, someone’s hesitant steps and the rustling of a hand were heard in the corridor, searching for the door in the darkness.
Mertsalov entered. He was wearing a summer coat, a summer felt hat and no galoshes. His hands were swollen and blue from the frost, his eyes were sunken, his cheeks were stuck around his gums, like a dead man's. He did not say a single word to his wife, she did not ask a single question. They understood each other by the despair they read in each other's eyes.
In this terrible fateful year, misfortune after misfortune persistently and mercilessly rained down on Mertsalov and his family. First, he himself fell ill with typhoid fever, and all their meager savings were spent on his treatment. Then, when he recovered, he learned that his place, the modest place of managing a house for twenty-five rubles a month, was already taken by someone else... A desperate, convulsive pursuit of odd jobs, pledging and re-pledge of things, selling all kinds of household rags began. And then the children started getting sick. Three months ago one girl died, now another lies in the heat and unconscious. Elizaveta Ivanovna had to simultaneously care for a sick girl, breastfeed a little one and go almost to the other end of the city to the house where she washed clothes every day.
All day today I was busy trying to squeeze out from somewhere at least a few kopecks for Mashutka’s medicine through superhuman efforts. For this purpose, Mertsalov ran around almost half the city, begging and humiliating himself everywhere; Elizaveta Ivanovna went to see her mistress; the children were sent with a letter to the master whose house Mertsalov had previously managed...
For ten minutes no one could utter a word. Suddenly Mertsalov quickly rose from the chest on which he had been sitting until now, and with a decisive movement pulled his tattered hat deeper onto his forehead.
- Where are you going? - Elizaveta Ivanovna asked anxiously.
Mertsalov, who had already grabbed the door handle, turned around.
“Anyway, sitting won’t help anything,” he answered hoarsely. - I’ll go again... At least I’ll try to beg.
Going out into the street, he walked forward aimlessly. He didn't look for anything, didn't hope for anything. He had long since gone through that burning time of poverty when you dream of finding a wallet with money on the street or suddenly receiving an inheritance from an unknown second cousin. Now he was overcome by an uncontrollable desire to run anywhere, to run without looking back, just so as not to see the silent despair of a hungry family.
Unnoticed by himself, Mertsalov found himself in the center of the city, near the fence of a dense public garden. Since he had to walk uphill all the time, he became out of breath and felt tired. Mechanically he turned through the gate and, passing a long alley of linden trees covered with snow, sat down on a low garden bench.
It was quiet and solemn here. “I wish I could lie down and go to sleep,” he thought, “and forget about my wife, about the hungry children, about the sick Mashutka.” Putting his hand under his vest, Mertsalov felt for a rather thick rope that served as his belt. The thought of suicide became quite clear in his head. But he was not horrified by this thought, did not shudder for a moment before the darkness of the unknown. “Rather than dying slowly, isn’t it better to take a shorter path?” He was about to get up to fulfill his terrible intention, but at that time, at the end of the alley, the creaking of steps was heard, clearly heard in the frosty air. Mertsalov turned in this direction with anger. Someone was walking along the alley.
Having reached the bench, the stranger suddenly turned sharply in the direction of Mertsalov and, lightly touching his hat, asked:
-Will you allow me to sit here?
- Mertsalov deliberately turned sharply away from the stranger and moved to the edge of the bench. Five minutes passed in mutual silence.
“What a nice night,” the stranger suddenly spoke. - Frosty... quiet.
His voice was soft, gentle, senile. Mertsalov was silent.
“But I bought gifts for the children of my friends,” the stranger continued.
Mertsalov was a meek and shy man, but at the last words he was suddenly overcome by a surge of desperate anger:
- Gifts!.. To the kids I know! And I... and my dear sir, right now my children are dying of hunger at home... And my wife’s milk has disappeared, and my infant hasn’t eaten all day... Gifts!
Mertsalov expected that after these words the old man would get up and leave, but he was mistaken. The old man brought his intelligent, serious face closer to him and said in a friendly but serious tone:
- Wait... Don't worry! Tell me everything in order.
There was something very calm and confidence-inspiring in the stranger’s extraordinary face that Mertsalov immediately conveyed his story without the slightest concealment. The stranger listened without interrupting, only looking more and more inquisitively into his eyes, as if wanting to penetrate into the very depths of this painful, indignant soul.
Suddenly, with a quick, completely youthful movement, he jumped up from his seat and grabbed Mertsalov by the hand.
- Let's go! - said the stranger, dragging Mertsalov by the hand. - You are lucky that you met a doctor. Of course, I can’t vouch for anything, but... let’s go!
...Entering the room, the doctor took off his coat and, remaining in an old-fashioned, rather shabby frock coat, approached Elizaveta Ivanovna.
“Well, that’s enough, that’s enough, my dear,” the doctor spoke affectionately, “get up!” Show me your patient.
And just like in the garden, something gentle and convincing sounding in his voice made Elizaveta Ivanovna instantly get up. Two minutes later, Grishka was already heating the stove with firewood, for which the wonderful doctor had sent to the neighbors, Volodya was blowing up the samovar. A little later Mertsalov also appeared. With three rubles received from the doctor, he bought tea, sugar, rolls, and got hot food from the nearest tavern. The doctor wrote something on a piece of paper. Drawing some kind of hook below, he said:
- You will go to the pharmacy with this piece of paper. The medicine will cause the baby to cough up. Continue applying the warm compress. Invite Dr. Afanasyev tomorrow. He is an efficient doctor and a good person. I'll warn him. Then farewell, gentlemen! May God grant that the coming year treats you a little more leniently than this one, and most importantly, never lose heart.
After shaking hands with Mertsalov, who had not recovered from his amazement, the doctor quickly left. Mertsalov came to his senses only when the doctor was in the corridor:
- Doctor! Wait! Tell me your name, doctor! Let at least my children pray for you!
- Eh! Here are some more nonsense!.. Come home quickly!
That same evening Mertsalov learned the name of his benefactor. On the pharmacy label attached to the bottle of medicine it was written: “According to the prescription of Professor Pirogov.”
I heard this story from the lips of Grigory Emelyanovich Mertsalov himself - the same Grishka who, on the Christmas Eve I described, shed tears into a smoky cast iron pot with empty borscht. He now occupies a major post, reputed to be a model of honesty and responsiveness to the needs of poverty. Finishing his story about the wonderful doctor, he added in a voice trembling with unconcealed tears:
“From now on, it’s like a beneficent angel descended into our family.” Everything has changed. At the beginning of January, my father found a place, my mother got back on her feet, and my brother and I managed to get a place in the gymnasium at public expense. Our wonderful doctor has only been seen once since then - when he was transported dead to his own estate. And even then they didn’t see him, because that great, powerful and sacred thing that lived and burned in this wonderful doctor during his lifetime faded away irrevocably.