Read the full story Scarlet Sails. The book "Scarlet Sails": who wrote it, in what year

15.04.2019

Offered and dedicated to Nina Nikolaevna Green by the Author

I. PREDICTION

Longren, a sailor of the Orion, a strong three-hundred-ton brig on which he served for ten years and to which he was more attached than another son to his own mother, had to finally leave the service.

It happened like this. On one of his rare returns home, he did not see, as always from afar, his wife Mary on the threshold of the house, throwing up her hands and then running towards him until she lost her breath. Instead, an excited neighbor stood by the crib - a new item in Longren's small house.

“I followed her for three months, old man,” she said, “look at your daughter.”

Dead, Longren bent down and saw an eight-month-old creature intently looking at his long beard, then he sat down, looked down and began to twirl his mustache. The mustache was wet, as if from rain.

- When did Mary die? - he asked.

The woman told a sad story, interrupting the story with touching gurgles to the girl and assurances that Mary was in heaven. When Longren found out the details, heaven seemed to him a little brighter than a woodshed, and he thought that the fire of a simple lamp - if all three of them were now together - would be an irreplaceable consolation for a woman who had gone to an unknown country.

Three months ago, the young mother’s economic affairs were very bad. Of the money left by Longren, a good half was spent on treatment after a difficult birth and on caring for the health of the newborn; finally, the loss of a small but necessary amount for life forced Mary to ask Menners for a loan of money. Menners ran a tavern and a shop and was considered a wealthy man.

Mary went to see him at six o'clock in the evening. At about seven the narrator met her on the road to Liss. Mary, tearful and upset, said that she was going to the city to pawn her engagement ring. She added that Menners agreed to give money, but demanded love for it. Mary achieved nothing.

“We don’t even have a crumb of food in our house,” she told her neighbor. “I’ll go into town, and the girl and I will get by somehow until my husband returns.”

The weather was cold and windy that evening; The narrator tried in vain to persuade the young woman not to go to Lis before nightfall. “You’ll get wet, Mary, it’s drizzling, and the wind, no matter what, will bring downpour.”

Back and forth from the seaside village to the city was at least three hours of quick walking, but Mary did not listen to the narrator’s advice. “It’s enough for me to prick your eyes,” she said, “and there is almost not a single family where I would not borrow bread, tea or flour. I’ll pawn the ring and it’s over.” She went, returned, and the next day fell ill with fever and delirium; bad weather and evening drizzle struck her with double pneumonia, as the city doctor said, caused by the kind-hearted narrator. A week later, there was an empty space on Longren’s double bed, and a neighbor moved into his house to nurse and feed the girl. It was not difficult for her, a lonely widow. Besides,” she added, “it’s boring without such a fool.”

Longren went to the city, took payment, said goodbye to his comrades and began to raise little Assol. Until the girl learned to walk firmly, the widow lived with the sailor, replacing the orphan’s mother, but as soon as Assol stopped falling, lifting her leg over the threshold, Longren decisively announced that now he himself would do everything for the girl, and, thanking the widow for her active sympathy, lived the lonely life of a widower, focusing all his thoughts, hopes, love and memories on a small creature.

Ten years of wandering life left very little money in his hands. He started working. Soon his toys appeared in city stores - skillfully made small models of boats, cutters, single- and double-decker sailing ships, cruisers, steamships - in a word, what he knew intimately, which, due to the nature of the work, partly replaced for him the roar of port life and painting work swimming. In this way, Longren obtained enough to live within the limits of moderate economy. Unsociable by nature, after the death of his wife, he became even more withdrawn and unsociable. On holidays he was sometimes seen in a tavern, but he never sat down, but hurriedly drank a glass of vodka at the counter and left, briefly throwing around “yes”, “no”, “hello”, “goodbye”, “little by little” - at everything addresses and nods from neighbors. He could not stand guests, quietly sending them away not by force, but with such hints and fictitious circumstances that the visitor had no choice but to invent a reason not to allow him to sit longer.

He himself did not visit anyone either; Thus, a cold alienation lay between him and his fellow countrymen, and if Longren’s work - toys - had been less independent from the affairs of the village, he would have had to more clearly experience the consequences of such a relationship. He purchased goods and food supplies in the city - Menners could not even boast of the box of matches that Longren bought from him. He also did all the housework himself and patiently went through the difficult art of raising a girl, which is unusual for a man.

Assol was already five years old, and her father began to smile softer and softer, looking at her nervous, kind face, when, sitting on his lap, she worked on the secret of a buttoned vest or amusingly hummed sailor songs - wild rhymes. When narrated in a child's voice and not always with the letter "r", these songs gave the impression of a dancing bear decorated with a blue ribbon. At this time, an event occurred, the shadow of which, falling on the father, covered the daughter as well.

It was spring, early and harsh, like winter, but of a different kind. For three weeks, a sharp coastal north fell to the cold earth.

Fishing boats, dragged ashore, formed a long row of dark keels on the white sand, reminiscent of the ridges of huge fish. No one dared to fish in such weather. On the only street of the village it was rare to see a person who had left the house; the cold whirlwind rushing from the coastal hills into the emptiness of the horizon made the “open air” a severe torture. All the chimneys of Kaperna smoked from morning to evening, spreading smoke over the steep roofs.

But these days of the Nord lured Longren out of his small warm house more often than the sun, which in clear weather covered the sea and Kaperna with blankets of airy gold. Longren went out onto a bridge built along long rows of piles, where, at the very end of this plank pier, he smoked a pipe blown by the wind for a long time, watching how the bottom exposed near the shore smoked with gray foam, barely keeping up with the waves, the thundering run of which towards the black, stormy horizon filled the space with herds of fantastic maned creatures, rushing in unbridled ferocious despair towards distant consolation. Moans and noises, the howling gunfire of huge upsurges of water and, it seemed, a visible stream of wind striping the surroundings - so strong was its smooth run - gave Longren's exhausted soul that dullness, stunnedness, which, reducing grief to vague sadness, is equal in effect to deep sleep .

On one of these days, Menners’s twelve-year-old son, Hin, noticing that his father’s boat was hitting the piles under the bridge, breaking the sides, went and told his father about it. The storm began recently; Menners forgot to take the boat out onto the sand. He immediately went to the water, where he saw Longren standing at the end of the pier, with his back to it, smoking. There was no one else on the shore except the two of them. Menners walked along the bridge to the middle, descended into the madly splashing water and untied the sheet; standing in the boat, he began to make his way to the shore, grabbing the piles with his hands. He did not take the oars, and at that moment, when, staggering, he missed to grab the next pile, a strong blow of the wind threw the bow of the boat from the bridge towards the ocean. Now, even with the entire length of his body, Menners could not reach the nearest pile. The wind and waves, rocking, carried the boat into the disastrous expanse. Realizing the situation, Menners wanted to throw himself into the water to swim to the shore, but his decision was late, since the boat was already spinning not far from the end of the pier, where the considerable depth of the water and the fury of the waves promised certain death. Between Longren and Menners, carried away into the stormy distance, there was no more than ten fathoms of still saving distance, since on the walkway at Longren’s hand hung a bundle of rope with a load woven into one end. This rope hung in case of a pier in stormy weather and was thrown from the bridge.

- Longren! - shouted the mortally frightened Menners. - Why have you become like a stump? You see, I'm being carried away; leave the pier!

Longren was silent, calmly looking at Menners, who was rushing about in the boat, only his pipe began to smoke more strongly, and he, after hesitating, took it out of his mouth in order to better see what was happening.

- Longren! - Menners called. - You can hear me, I’m dying, save me!

But Longren did not say a single word to him; he did not seem to hear the desperate scream. Until the boat carried so far that Menners’ words and cries could barely reach him, he did not even shift from foot to foot. Menners sobbed in horror, begged the sailor to run to the fishermen, call for help, promised money, threatened and cursed, but Longren only came closer to the very edge of the pier so as not to immediately lose sight of the throwing and jumping boats. “Longren,” it came to him muffledly, as if from the roof, sitting inside the house, “save me!” Then, taking a deep breath and taking a deep breath so that not a single word would be lost in the wind, Longren shouted: “She asked you the same thing!” Think about this while you are still alive, Menners, and don’t forget!

Then the screams stopped, and Longren went home. Assol woke up and saw that her father was sitting in front of a dying lamp, deep in thought. Hearing the girl's voice calling him, he went up to her, kissed her deeply and covered her with a tangled blanket.

“Sleep, honey,” he said, “the morning is still far away.”

- What are you doing?

“I made a black toy, Assol, sleep!”

The next day, all the residents of Kaperna could talk about was the missing Menners, and on the sixth day they brought him himself, dying and angry. His story quickly spread around the surrounding villages. Until the evening wore Menners; broken by shocks on the sides and bottom of the boat, during a terrible struggle with the ferocity of the waves, which, tirelessly, threatened to throw the maddened shopkeeper into the sea, he was picked up by the steamer Lucretia, heading to Kasset. A cold and shock of horror ended Menners' days. He lived a little less than forty-eight hours, calling upon Longren all the disasters possible on earth and in the imagination. Menners' story of how the sailor watched his death, refusing help, eloquent all the more so since the dying man was breathing with difficulty and groaning, amazed the residents of Kaperna. Not to mention the fact that very few of them were able to remember an insult even more severe than that suffered by Longren, and to grieve as much as he grieved for Mary for the rest of his life - they were disgusted, incomprehensible, and amazed that Longren was silent. Silently, to your own last words sent after Menners, Longren stood; stood motionless, sternly and quietly, like a judge, showing deep contempt for Menners - there was more than hatred in his silence, and everyone felt it. If he had shouted, expressing his gloating with gestures or fussiness, or in some other way his triumph at the sight of Menners’ despair, the fishermen would have understood him, but he acted differently from what they acted - he acted impressively, incomprehensibly, and thereby placed himself above others, in a word, he something that is not forgiven. No one else bowed to him, extended their hands, or cast a recognizing, greeting glance. He remained completely aloof from village affairs; The boys, seeing him, shouted after him: “Longren drowned Menners!” He didn't pay any attention to it. It also seemed that he did not notice that in the tavern or on the shore, among the boats, the fishermen fell silent in his presence, moving away as if from the plague. The case of Menners cemented the previously incomplete alienation. Having become complete, it caused lasting mutual hatred, the shadow of which fell on Assol.

The girl grew up without friends. Two or three dozen children of her age who lived in Kaperna, saturated like a sponge with water, a rough family principle, the basis of which was the unshakable authority of the mother and father, overbearing, like all children in the world, once and for all erased little Assol from the sphere of their patronage and attention. This happened, of course, gradually, through suggestion and shouting from adults, it acquired the character of a terrible prohibition, and then, reinforced by gossip and rumors, it grew in children’s minds with fear of the sailor’s house.

In addition, Longren's secluded lifestyle has now freed the hysterical language of gossip; They used to say about the sailor that he had killed someone somewhere, which is why, they say, he is no longer hired to serve on ships, and he himself is gloomy and unsociable, because “he is tormented by remorse of a criminal conscience.” While playing, the children chased Assol if she approached them, threw dirt and teased her that her father ate human flesh and was now making counterfeit money. One after another, her naive attempts to get closer ended in bitter crying, bruises, scratches and other manifestations public opinion; She finally stopped being offended, but still sometimes asked her father: “Tell me, why don’t they like us?” “Eh, Assol,” said Longren, “do they know how to love? You have to be able to love, but they can’t do that.” - “How is it to be able to?” - "And like this!" He took the girl in his arms and deeply kissed her sad eyes, which were squinting with tender pleasure.

Assol’s favorite pastime was in the evenings or on holidays, when her father, having put aside the jars of paste, tools and unfinished work, sat down, taking off his apron, to rest, with a pipe in his teeth, to climb onto his lap and, spinning in the careful ring of his father’s hand, touch various parts of toys, asking about their purpose. Thus began a kind of fantastic lecture about life and people - a lecture in which, thanks to Longren’s previous lifestyle, accidents, chance in general - outlandish, amazing and extraordinary events was given the main place. Longren, telling the girl the names of rigging, sails, and marine items, gradually became carried away, moving from explanations to various episodes in which either a windlass, or a steering wheel, or a mast or some type of boat, etc. played a role, and then From these individual illustrations he moved on to broad pictures of sea wanderings, weaving superstition into reality, and reality into the images of his imagination. Here appeared a tiger cat, the messenger of a shipwreck, and a talking flying fish, disobeying whose orders meant going off course, and the Flying Dutchman with his frantic crew; omens, ghosts, mermaids, pirates - in a word, all the fables that while away a sailor's leisure time in calm or in his favorite tavern. Longren also talked about the castaways, about people who had gone wild and had forgotten how to speak, about mysterious treasures, convict riots and much more, which the girl listened to more attentively than perhaps she listened to Columbus’s story about the new continent for the first time. “Well, say more,” Assol asked when Longren, lost in thought, fell silent, and fell asleep on his chest with a head full of wonderful dreams.

It also gave her great, always materially significant pleasure, the appearance of the clerk of the city toy shop, who willingly bought Longren’s work. To appease the father and bargain for excess, the clerk took with him a couple of apples, a sweet pie, and a handful of nuts for the girl. Longren usually asked for the real price out of dislike for bargaining, and the clerk would reduce it. “Oh, you,” Longren said, “I spent a week working on this bot. - The boat was five vershoks. - Look, what kind of strength, what kind of draft, what kindness? This boat can withstand fifteen people in any weather.” The end result was that the quiet fuss of the girl, purring over her apple, deprived Longren of his stamina and desire to argue; he gave in, and the clerk, having filled the basket with excellent, durable toys, left, chuckling in his mustache. Longren did all the housework himself: he chopped wood, carried water, lit the stove, cooked, washed, ironed clothes and, besides all this, managed to work for money. When Assol was eight years old, her father taught her to read and write. He began to occasionally take her with him to the city, and then send her even alone if there was a need to intercept money in a store or carry goods. This did not happen often, although Lyse lay only four miles from Kaperna, but the road to it went through the forest, and in the forest there is much that can frighten children, in addition to physical danger, which, it is true, is difficult to encounter at such a close distance from the city, but still... It doesn't hurt to keep this in mind. Therefore only in good days, in the morning, when the thicket surrounding the road was full of sunny showers, flowers and silence, so that Assol’s impressionability was not threatened by phantoms of the imagination, Longren let her go into the city.

One day, in the middle of such a journey to the city, the girl sat down by the road to eat a piece of pie that had been placed in a basket for breakfast. While snacking, she sorted through the toys; two or three of them turned out to be new to her: Longren made them at night. One such novelty was a miniature racing yacht; the white boat raised scarlet sails made from scraps of silk, used by Longren for lining steamship cabins - toys for a wealthy buyer. Here, apparently, having made a yacht, he did not find a suitable material for the sail, using what he had - scraps of scarlet silk. Assol was delighted. The fiery, cheerful color burned so brightly in her hand as if she were holding fire. The road was crossed by a stream with a pole bridge across it; the stream to the right and left went into the forest. “If I take her down to the water to swim a little,” Assol thought, “she won’t get wet, I’ll dry her later.” Moving into the forest behind the bridge, following the flow of the stream, the girl carefully launched the ship that had captivated her into the water near the shore; the sails immediately sparkled with a scarlet reflection in clear water: the light, penetrating the matter, lay as a trembling pink radiation on the white stones of the bottom. - “Where did you come from, captain? - Assol asked the imaginary face importantly and, answering herself, said: “I came” came... I came from China. -What did you bring? – I won’t tell you what I brought. - Oh, you are so, captain! Well, then I’ll put you back in the basket.” The captain was just getting ready to humbly answer that he was joking and that he was ready to show the elephant, when suddenly the quiet retreat of the coastal stream turned the yacht with its bow towards the middle of the stream, and, like a real one, full swing Having left the shore, she swam straight down. The scale of what was visible instantly changed: the stream seemed to the girl like a huge river, and the yacht seemed like a distant, large ship, to which, almost falling into the water, frightened and dumbfounded, she stretched out her hands. “The captain was scared,” she thought and ran after the floating toy, hoping that it would wash ashore somewhere. Hastily dragging the not heavy but annoying basket, Assol repeated: “Oh, Lord! After all, if something happened...” She tried not to lose sight of the beautiful, smoothly running triangle of sails, stumbled, fell and ran again.

Assol has never been so deep in the forest as she is now. She, absorbed in the impatient desire to catch the toy, did not look around; Near the shore, where she was fussing, there were quite a few obstacles that occupied her attention. Mossy trunks of fallen trees, holes, tall ferns, rose hips, jasmine and hazel trees interfered with her at every step; overcoming them, she gradually lost strength, stopping more and more often to rest or wipe the sticky cobwebs off her face. When sedge and reed thickets stretched out in wider places, Assol completely lost sight of the scarlet sparkle of the sails, but, running around a bend in the current, she again saw them, sedately and steadily running away. Once she looked around, and the forest mass with its diversity, passing from smoky pillars of light in the foliage to the dark crevices of the dense twilight, deeply struck the girl. Shocked for a moment, she remembered again about the toy and, letting out a deep “f-f-f-u-uu” several times, ran as fast as she could.

In such an unsuccessful and alarming pursuit, about an hour passed, when with surprise, but also with relief, Assol saw that the trees ahead freely parted, letting in the blue flood of the sea, clouds and the edge of a yellow sandy cliff, onto which she ran out, almost falling from fatigue. Here was the mouth of the stream; having spread not widely and shallowly, so that the flowing blue of the stones could be seen, it disappeared into the oncoming sea wave. From a low cliff, pitted with roots, Assol saw that by the stream, on a large flat stone, with his back to her, a man was sitting, holding a runaway yacht in his hands, and was carefully examining it with the curiosity of an elephant who had caught a butterfly. Partially reassured by the fact that the toy was intact, Assol slid down the cliff and, coming close to the stranger, looked at him with a searching gaze, waiting for him to raise his head. But the unknown man was so immersed in the contemplation of the forest surprise that the girl managed to examine him from head to toe, establishing that she had never seen people like this stranger.

But in front of her was none other than Aigle, traveling on foot, a famous collector of songs, legends, tales and fairy tales. Gray curls fell in folds from under his straw hat; a gray blouse tucked into blue trousers and high boots gave him the appearance of a hunter; a white collar, a tie, a belt, studded with silver badges, a cane and a bag with a brand new nickel lock - showed a city dweller. His face, if one can call his nose, lips and eyes, looking out from a rapidly growing radiant beard and lush, fiercely raised mustache, a face, would seem sluggishly transparent, if not for his eyes, gray as sand and shining like pure steel, with a look brave and strong.

“Now give it to me,” the girl said timidly. -You've already played. How did you catch her?

Egle raised his head, dropping the yacht, as Assol’s excited voice suddenly sounded. The old man looked at her for a minute, smiling and slowly letting his beard fall into a large, stringy handful. The cotton dress, washed many times, barely covered the girl’s thin, tanned legs to the knees. Her dark thick hair, pulled back into a lace scarf, tangled, touching her shoulders. Every feature of Assol was expressively light and pure, like the flight of a swallow. Dark eyes, tinged with a sad question, seemed somewhat older than the face; his irregular, soft oval was covered with that kind of lovely tan that is inherent in healthy white skin. The half-opened small mouth sparkled with a gentle smile.

“I swear by the Grimms, Aesop and Andersen,” said Egle, looking first at the girl and then at the yacht. – This is something special. Listen up, plant! Is this your thing?

– Yes, I ran after her all over the stream; I thought I was going to die. Was she here?

- At my very feet. The shipwreck is the reason why I, as a shore pirate, can give you this prize. The yacht, abandoned by the crew, was thrown onto the sand by a three-inch shaft - between my left heel and the tip of the stick. – He tapped his cane. -What's your name, baby?

“Assol,” said the girl, hiding the toy given by Egl in the basket.

“Okay,” the old man continued his incomprehensible speech, without taking his eyes off, in the depths of which a smile of a friendly disposition gleamed. “Actually, I shouldn’t have asked your name.” It’s good that it’s so strange, so monotonous, musical, like the whistle of an arrow or the noise of a sea shell: what would I do if you were called one of those euphonious, but unbearably familiar names that are alien to the Beautiful Unknown? Moreover, I don’t want to know who you are, who your parents are and how you live. Why break the spell? Sitting on this rock, I was engaged in a comparative study of Finnish and Japanese stories... when suddenly a stream splashed out this yacht, and then you appeared... Just as you are. I, my dear, am a poet at heart, although I have never composed anything myself. What's in your basket?

“Boats,” said Assol, shaking her basket, “then a steamer and three more of these houses with flags.” Soldiers live there.

- Great. You were sent to sell. On the way, you started playing. You let the yacht sail, but it ran away - right?

-Have you seen it? – Assol asked doubtfully, trying to remember if she had told this herself. - Did someone tell you? Or did you guess right?

- I knew it. - What about it?

- Because I am the most important wizard. Assol was embarrassed: her tension at these words of Egle crossed the border of fear. The deserted seashore, the silence, the tedious adventure with the yacht, the incomprehensible speech of the old man with sparkling eyes, the majesty of his beard and hair began to seem to the girl as a mixture of the supernatural and reality. Now if Egle made a grimace or screamed something, the girl would rush away, crying and exhausted from fear. But Egle, noticing how wide her eyes opened, made a sharp volte-face.

“You have nothing to fear from me,” he said seriously. “On the contrary, I want to talk to you to my heart’s content.” “It was only then that he realized what was so closely marked by his impression in the girl’s face. “An involuntary expectation of a beautiful, blissful fate,” he decided. - Oh, why wasn’t I born a writer? What a glorious story."

“Come on,” Egle continued, trying to round out the original position (the tendency to create myths, a consequence of constant work, was stronger than the fear of planting the seeds of a major dream on unknown soil), “come on, Assol, listen to me carefully.” I was in that village - where you must be coming from, in a word, in Kaperna. I love fairy tales and songs, and I sat in that village all day, trying to hear something no one had heard. But you don't tell fairy tales. You don't sing songs. And if they tell and sing, then, you know, these stories about cunning men and soldiers, with the eternal praise of cheating, these dirty, like unwashed feet, rough, like a rumbling stomach, short quatrains with a terrible motive... Stop, I’m lost. I'll speak again. After thinking, he continued: “I don’t know how many years will pass, but in Kaperna one fairy tale will bloom, memorable for a long time.” You will be big, Assol. One morning at sea distance A scarlet sail will sparkle under the sun. The shining bulk of the scarlet sails of the white ship will move, cutting through the waves, straight towards you. This wonderful ship will sail quietly, without shouts or shots; a lot of people will gather on the shore, wondering and gasping: and you will stand there. The ship will approach majestically to the very shore to the sounds of beautiful music; elegant, in carpets, in gold and flowers, a fast boat will sail from him. - “Why did you come? Who are you looking for?" - people on the shore will ask. Then you will see the brave handsome prince; he will stand and stretch out his hands to you. - “Hello, Assol! - he will say. “Far, far from here, I saw you in a dream and came to take you to my kingdom forever.” You will live there with me in the deep pink valley. You will have everything you want; We will live with you so friendly and cheerfully that your soul will never know tears and sadness.” He will put you on a boat, bring you to the ship, and you will leave forever to a brilliant country where the sun rises and where the stars will descend from the sky to congratulate you on your arrival.

- It's all for me? – the girl asked quietly. Her serious eyes, cheerful, shone with confidence. A dangerous wizard, of course, would not talk like that; she came closer. - Maybe he has already arrived... that ship?

“Not so soon,” Egle objected, “first, as I said, you will grow up.” Then... What can I say? – it will be, and it’s over. What would you do then?

- I? “She looked into the basket, but apparently did not find anything there worthy of serving as a significant reward. “I would love him,” she said hastily, and added, not quite firmly, “if he doesn’t fight.”

“No, he won’t fight,” said the wizard, winking mysteriously, “he won’t, I guarantee it.” Go, girl, and don’t forget what I told you between two sips of aromatic vodka and thinking about the songs of convicts. Go. May there be peace to your furry head!

Longren was working in his small garden, digging up potato bushes. Raising his head, he saw Assol running headlong towards him with a joyful and impatient face.

“Well, here...” she said, trying to control her breathing, and grabbed her father’s apron with both hands. – Listen to what I’ll tell you... On the shore, far away, there is a wizard sitting... She started with the wizard and his interesting prediction. The fever of her thoughts prevented her from conveying the incident smoothly. Next came a description of the wizard’s appearance and, in reverse order, the pursuit of the lost yacht.

Longren listened to the girl without interrupting, without smiling, and when she finished, his imagination quickly depicted an unknown old man with aromatic vodka in one hand and a toy in the other. He turned away, but, remembering that on great occasions in a child’s life it is proper for a person to be serious and surprised, he solemnly nodded his head, saying: “So, so; according to all signs, there is no one else to be but a wizard. I would like to look at him... But when you go again, don’t turn aside; It's not difficult to get lost in the forest.

Throwing away the shovel, he sat down by the low brush fence and sat the girl on his lap. Terribly tired, she tried to add some more details, but the heat, excitement and weakness made her sleepy. Her eyes stuck together, her head fell on her father’s hard shoulder, a moment - and she would have been carried away into the land of dreams, when suddenly, worried by a sudden doubt, Assol sat up straight, with her eyes closed and, resting her fists on Longren’s vest, said loudly: “What do you think?” , will the magic ship come for me or not?

“He will come,” the sailor calmly answered, “since they told you this, then everything is correct.”

“When he grows up, he’ll forget,” he thought, “but for now... it’s not worth taking such a toy away from you. After all, in the future you will have to see a lot of not scarlet, but dirty and predatory sails: from a distance - elegant and white, close up - torn and arrogant. A passing man joked with my girl. Well?! Good joke! Nothing - just a joke! Look how tired you were - half a day in the forest, in the thicket. And about the scarlet sails, think like me: you will have scarlet sails.”

Assol was sleeping. Longren, taking out his pipe with his free hand, lit a cigarette, and the wind carried the smoke through the fence and into the bush growing on the outside of the garden. A young beggar sat by a bush, with his back to the fence, chewing a pie. The conversation between father and daughter put him in a cheerful mood, and the smell of good tobacco put him in a prey mood. “Give the poor man a smoke, master,” he said through the bars. “My tobacco versus yours is not tobacco, but, one might say, poison.”

- What a problem! He wakes up, falls asleep again, and a passerby just smokes.

“Well,” Longren objected, “you’re not without tobacco after all, but the child is tired.” Come back later if you want.

The beggar spat contemptuously, lifted the bag onto a stick and explained: “Princess, of course.” You drove these overseas ships into her head! Oh, you eccentric, eccentric, and also the owner!

“Listen,” Longren whispered, “I’ll probably wake her up, but only so I can soap up your huge neck.” Go away!

Half an hour later the beggar was sitting in a tavern at a table with a dozen fishermen. Behind them, now tugging at their husbands' sleeves, now lifting a glass of vodka over their shoulders - for themselves, of course - sat tall women with arched eyebrows and hands as round as cobblestones. The beggar, seething with resentment, said: “And he didn’t give me tobacco.” “You,” he says, “will be one year of age, and then,” he says, “a special red ship... Behind you.” Since your destiny is to marry the prince. And that,” he says, “believe the wizard.” But I say: “Wake up, wake up, they say, get some tobacco.” Well, he ran after me halfway.

- Who? What? What is he talking about? – curious voices of women were heard. The fishermen, barely turning their heads, explained with a grin: “Longren and his daughter have gone wild, or maybe they have lost their minds; Here's a man talking. They had a sorcerer, so you have to understand. They are waiting - aunts, you shouldn’t miss it! - an overseas prince, and even under red sails!

I PREDICTION

Longren, a sailor of the Orion, a strong three-hundred-ton brig on which he
served for ten years and to whom he was more attached than another son to
his own mother, had to finally leave the service.
It happened like this. On one of his rare returns home, he
I saw, as always from afar, on the threshold of the house, my wife Mary, splashing
hands, and then running towards him until he loses his breath. Instead, at the nursery
crib - a new item in Longren's small house - stood
excited neighbor.
“I followed her for three months, old man,” she said, “look at
your daughter.
Dead, Longren bent down and saw an eight-month-old creature,
looking intently at his long beard, then sat down, looked down and began
twist the mustache The mustache was wet, as if from rain.
- When did Mary die? -- he asked.
The woman told a sad story, interrupting the story with touching
gurgling at the girl and assuring her that Mary was in heaven. When Longren found out
details, heaven seemed to him a little lighter than a woodshed, and he
I thought that the fire of a simple lamp - if now they were all together, the three of them -
would be an irreplaceable consolation for a woman who has gone to an unknown country.
Three months ago, the young mother’s economic affairs were very bad.
Of the money left by Longren, a good half was spent on treatment after
difficult childbirth, worries about the health of the newborn; finally a loss
a small but necessary amount for life forced Mary to ask for a loan
money from Menners. Menners owned a tavern, a shop and was considered wealthy
person.
Mary went to see him at six o'clock in the evening. Around seven the narrator
I met her on the road to Liss. Mary, tearful and upset, said that
goes to town to pawn an engagement ring. She added that Menners
agreed to give money, but demanded love for it. Mary achieved nothing.
“We don’t even have a crumb of food in our house,” she told her neighbor. -- I
I’ll go into town, and the girl and I will get by somehow until my husband returns.
The weather was cold and windy that evening; the narrator is in vain
persuaded the young woman not to go to Lys by nightfall. "You'll get wet, Mary,
It’s drizzling with rain, and the wind, just in time, will bring downpour.”
Back and forth from the seaside village to the city was at least three
hours of quick walking, but Mary did not listen to the narrator’s advice. "Enough
I should stab you in the eyes,” she said, “and there’s almost no family,
where I would not borrow bread, tea or flour. I’ll pawn the ring and it’s over.”
She went, returned, and the next day fell ill with fever and delirium; bad weather and
the evening drizzle struck her with double pneumonia, as he said
the city doctor, called by the kind-hearted narrator. A week later on
there was an empty space left in Longren's double bed, and the neighbor moved into
his house to nurse and feed the girl. It was not difficult for her, a lonely widow. TO
Besides,” she added, “it’s boring without such a fool.”
Longren went to the city, took payment, said goodbye to his comrades and began
raise little Assol. Until the girl learned to walk firmly, the widow
lived with a sailor, replacing the orphan's mother, but as soon as Assol stopped
fall, lifting his leg over the threshold, Longren decisively announced that now he
will do everything for the girl himself, and, thanking the widow for her active
sympathy, lived the lonely life of a widower, concentrating all his thoughts, hopes,
love and memories on a small creature.
Ten years of wandering life left very little in his hands
money. He started working. Soon his toys appeared in city stores
-- skillfully made small models of boats, cutters, single-deck and
double-decker sailing ships, cruisers, steamships - in a word, the fact that it is close
knew that, due to the nature of the work, it partly replaced the roar of the port
life and the picturesque work of voyages. In this way, Longren mined so much
to live within moderate savings. Uncommunicative by nature, he, after
death of his wife, he became even more withdrawn and unsociable. On holidays he was sometimes seen
in the tavern, but he never sat down, but hurriedly drank at the bar
a glass of vodka and left, briefly throwing around “yes”, “no”,
“hello”, “goodbye”, “little by little” - to all the calls and nods of the neighbors.
He could not stand guests, quietly sending them away not by force, but by such hints and
fictitious circumstances that the visitor had no choice,
how to come up with a reason not to sit longer.
He himself did not visit anyone either; thus it fell between him and his fellow countrymen
cold alienation, and if Longren's work - toys - were less independent
from the affairs of the village, he would have to suffer the consequences more clearly
such relationships. He bought goods and food supplies in the city - Menners did not
could even boast of a box of matches that Longren bought from him. He
I also did all the homework myself and patiently went through unusual
For a man, the complex art of raising a girl.
Assol was already five years old, and her father began to smile softer and softer,
looking at her nervous, kind little face, when, sitting on his lap, she
worked on the secret of a buttoned vest or hummed sailor songs funny
the songs are wild reverences. In the program in a child's voice and not with letters everywhere
"r" these songs gave the impression of a dancing bear, decorated
blue ribbon. At this time an event occurred, the shadow of which fell on
father, and sheltered her daughter.
It was spring, early and harsh, like winter, but of a different kind. Three weeks
the sharp coastal north fell to the cold earth.
Fishing boats pulled ashore formed a long
a row of dark keels resembling the ridges of huge fish. Nobody dared
go fishing in this weather. On the only street of the village it is rare
a person could be seen leaving the house; a cold whirlwind rushing from
coastal hills into the emptiness of the horizon, made the "open air" harsh
torture. All the chimneys of Kaperna smoked from morning to evening, wafting smoke along the steep
roofs.
But these days of the Nord lured Longren out of his small warm home
more often than the sun, covering the sea and Caperna with blankets in clear weather
air gold. Longren went out onto a bridge laid out along long rows
piles, where, at the very end of this boardwalk, he smoked an inflated
blowing his pipe in the wind, watching the bottom exposed near the shore smoke with gray foam,
barely keeping up with the waves, the thundering rush of which towards the black, stormy
the horizon filled the space with herds of fantastic maned creatures,
rushing in unbridled ferocious despair towards distant consolation. Moans and
noises, the howling gunfire of huge rises of water and, it seemed, a visible stream
the wind striping the surroundings - so strong was its even run -
gave Longren's tormented soul that dullness, stunnedness that,
reducing grief to vague sadness, the effect is equal to deep sleep.
On one of these days, Menners's twelve-year-old son, Hin, noticed that
father's boat hits the piles under the bridge, breaking the sides, he went and said about
this father. The storm began recently; Menners forgot to take the boat out onto the sand. He
immediately went to the water, where he saw at the end of the pier, with his back to it
Longren stood smoking. There was no one else on the shore except the two of them.
Menners walked along the walkway to the middle, descended into the madly splashing water and
untied the sheet; standing in the boat, he began to make his way to the shore, clutching his hands
piles. He did not take the oars, and at that moment when, staggering, he lost
grab onto another pile, a strong blow of the wind threw the bow of the boat away from
bridges towards the ocean. Now even with the entire length of his body Menners could not
reach the nearest pile. The wind and waves, rocking, carried the boat towards
disastrous space. Realizing the situation, Menners wanted to throw himself into the water to
swim to the shore, but his decision was late, since the boat was already spinning
not far from the end of the pier, where considerable depth of water and the fury of the waves promised
certain death. Between Longren and Menners, carried away into the stormy distance, there was
no more than ten fathoms is still a saving distance, since on the bridges under
Longren had a bundle of rope hanging from his hand with a weight woven into one end.
This rope hung in case of a pier in stormy weather and was thrown from the bridge.
- Longren! - shouted the mortally frightened Menners. - What are you doing?
became like a stump? You see, I'm being carried away; leave the pier!
Longren was silent, calmly looking at Menners, who was rushing about in the boat, only
his pipe began to smoke more intensely, and he hesitated and took it out of his mouth to better
see what is happening.
- Longren! - Menners cried. - You can hear me, I’m dying,
save me!
But Longren did not say a single word to him; he didn't seem to hear
desperate cry. Until the boat was carried so far that they could barely reach
Menners shouted words, he didn’t even move from foot to foot. Menners cried from
horror, conjured the sailor to run to the fishermen, call for help, promised money,
threatened and cursed, but Longren only came closer to the very edge
mole, so as not to immediately lose sight of the throwing and racing of the boat. "Longren,"
came to him muffledly, as if from the roof - sitting inside the house - save!
Then, taking a deep breath and taking a deep breath, so as not to get lost in the wind
one word, Longren shouted: “She asked you the same thing!” Think about it
while he's still alive, Menners, and don't forget!
Then the screams stopped, and Longren went home. Assol, waking up,
I saw my father sitting in front of a dying lamp, deep in thought.
Hearing the girl's voice calling him, he walked up to her, kissed her deeply and
covered it with a tangled blanket.
“Sleep, honey,” he said, “it’s still a long way until morning.”
-- What are you doing?
“I made a black toy, Assol, sleep!”
The next day all the residents of Kaperna could talk about was about
missing Menners, and on the sixth day they brought him, dying and
evil. His story quickly spread around the surrounding villages. I wore it until the evening
Menners; broken by shocks on the sides and bottom of the boat, during the terrible
fight against the ferocity of the waves, which, without tiring, threatened to throw them into the sea
distraught shopkeeper, he was picked up by the steamer "Lucretia", sailing to
Cassette. A cold and shock of horror ended Menners' days. He lived
a little less than forty-eight hours, calling upon Longren all disasters,
possible on earth and in the imagination. Menners' story about how the sailor watched
his death, refusing help, eloquent especially since the dying man was breathing
with difficulty and groaning, he amazed the inhabitants of Kaperna. Not to mention rare
of them was able to remember an insult even more serious than the one suffered
Longren, and grieve as much as he grieved for Mary for the rest of his life -
They were disgusted, incomprehensible, and amazed that Longren was silent. Silently, until
of his last words sent after Menners, Longren stood; stood
motionless, stern and quiet, like a judge, showing deep contempt for Menners
- there was more than hatred in his silence, and everyone felt it. If
he would shout, expressing gloating with gestures or fussiness, or something else
his triumph at the sight of Menners' despair, the fishermen would have understood him, but he
acted differently from what they acted - he acted impressively, incomprehensibly, and this
he put himself above others, in a word, he did something that cannot be forgiven. Nobody else
did not bow to him, did not extend his hand, did not abandon the one who recognized him, greeted him
glance. He remained completely aloof from village affairs;
The boys, seeing him, shouted after him: “Longren drowned Menners!” He is not
paid attention to this. He also seemed not to notice that in
in the tavern or on the shore, among the boats, the fishermen fell silent in his presence,
moving away as if from the plague. The case with Menners was cemented earlier
incomplete alienation. Having become complete, it caused strong mutual hatred,
the shadow of which fell on Assol.
The girl grew up without friends. Two or three dozen children her age who lived in
Capernet, soaked like a sponge with water, a rough family principle, a basis
served by the unshakable authority of his mother and father, who, like everyone else,
children in the world have erased little Assol once and for all from their sphere
patronage and attention. This happened, of course, gradually, by
suggestions and shouts from adults acquired the character of a terrible prohibition, and then,
reinforced by gossip and rumors, grew in children's minds with fear of
sailor's house.
In addition, Longren's secluded lifestyle has now freed his hysterical
gossip language; they used to say about the sailor that he had killed someone somewhere, because
they say that he is no longer hired to serve on ships, and he himself is gloomy and unsociable, because
that he is “tormented by remorse of a criminal conscience.” While playing, the children drove Assol,
if she approached them, they threw dirt and teased that it was like her father
He ate human flesh, and now he makes counterfeit money. One by one,
her naive attempts to get closer ended in bitter crying, bruises,
scratches and other manifestations of public opinion; she stopped
finally, offended, but still sometimes asked her father: - “Tell me why
don’t they love us?” “Eh, Assol,” said Longren, “do they know how to love?
You have to be able to love, but they can’t do that.” — “How can you do that?” — “And
like this!" He took the girl in his arms and kissed her sad eyes deeply,
squinting with tender pleasure.
Assol's favorite pastime was in the evenings or on holidays, when her father
putting aside jars of paste, tools and unfinished work, he sat down,
taking off his apron, resting, with a pipe in his teeth, - climb onto his lap
and, turning in the careful ring of his father’s hand, touch various parts
toys, asking about their purpose. Thus began a peculiar
a fantastic lecture about life and people - a lecture in which, thanks to
Longren's former way of life, accidents, chance in general - outlandish,
amazing and unusual events were given the main place. Longren,
telling the girl the names of gear, sails, marine items,
gradually became carried away, moving from explanations to various episodes in which
played a role either a windlass, or a steering wheel, or a mast or some type
boats, etc., and from these individual illustrations he moved on to broad paintings
sea wanderings, weaving superstition into reality, and reality -
into the images of your imagination. A tiger cat also appeared here, the messenger
shipwreck, and a talking flying fish, whose orders are not to be obeyed
meant to go off course, and the Flying Dutchman with his frantic crew;
omens, ghosts, mermaids, pirates - in a word, all the fables that while away your leisure time
a sailor in a calm or a favorite tavern. Longren also spoke about
castaways, about people who have gone wild and have forgotten how to talk, about
mysterious treasures, convict riots and much more that was heard
the girl listened more attentively than perhaps the first time to Columbus's story
about the new continent. “Well, say more,” Assol asked when Longren
lost in thought, fell silent, and fell asleep on his chest with a head full of wonderful
dreams
It also served her as a great, always materially significant pleasure.
the appearance of a clerk at a city toy shop who willingly bought work
Longren. To appease his father and bargain for excess, the clerk seized
bring a couple of apples, a sweet pie, a handful of nuts for the girl. Longren
usually asked for the real price out of dislike for bargaining, and the clerk
slowed down. - “Oh, you,” said Longren, “yes, I’ve been sitting on this for a week
bot. - The boat was five vershoks. - Look at the strength, and the draft, and
kindness? This bot can withstand fifteen people in any weather." End
because the quiet fuss of the girl, purring over her apple, deprived Longren
persistence and willingness to argue; he yielded, and the clerk, having filled the basket
with excellent, durable toys, he left, chuckling into his mustache. The whole house
Longren did the work himself: he chopped wood, carried water, lit the stove, cooked,
I washed, ironed clothes and, besides all this, managed to work for money. When
Assol turned eight years old, her father taught her to read and write. He became
occasionally take it with you to the city, and then send even one if there was
the need to intercept money in a store or carry goods. This didn't happen
often, although Lise lay only four miles from Kaperna, the road to it
walked through the forest, and in the forest many things can frighten children, besides physical
danger, which, however, is difficult to meet at such a close distance from
city, but still does not hurt to keep in mind. Therefore, only on good days,
in the morning, when the thicket surrounding the road is full of sunny showers, flowers and
silence, so that Assol’s impressionability was not threatened by phantoms of the imagination,
Longren let her go to the city.
One day, in the middle of such a journey to the city, the girl sat down at
way to eat a piece of pie placed in the breakfast basket. Snacking
she sorted through the toys; two or three of them turned out to be new to her: Longren
made them at night. One such novelty was a miniature racing yacht; white
the little boat raised scarlet sails made from scraps of silk used
Longren for pasting steamship cabins - toys of a wealthy buyer. Here,
apparently, having made a yacht, he did not find a suitable material for the sail, using
what it was - scraps of scarlet silk. Assol was delighted. Fiery
the cheerful color burned so brightly in her hand, as if she were holding fire. Way to go
crossed a stream with a pole bridge across it; stream on the right
and on the left went into the forest. "If I take her out to the water for a little swim, I thought
Assol, she won’t get wet, I’ll dry her later.” Moving into the forest behind the bridge,
along the stream, the girl carefully launched it into the water near the shore
the ship that captivated her; the sails immediately sparkled with a scarlet reflection in the transparent
water: light, penetrating matter, lay trembling pink radiation on white
bottom rocks. “Where did you come from, captain?” Assol asked importantly
an imaginary face and, answering herself, said: “I’ve arrived,” I’ve arrived...
I came from China. -What did you bring? - I won’t tell you what I brought. --
Oh, you are so good, captain! Well, then I'll put you back in the basket." Just now
the captain prepared to humbly answer that he was joking and that he was ready to show
elephant, when suddenly a quiet retreat of the coastal stream turned the yacht with its bow towards the middle
stream, and, like a real one, leaving the bank at full speed, it swam smoothly down.
The scale of what was visible instantly changed: the stream seemed to the girl like a huge river,
and the yacht - a distant, large vessel, towards which, almost falling into the water,
frightened and dumbfounded, she held out her hands. "The captain was scared" -
she thought and ran after the floating toy, hoping that it would be somewhere
will wash ashore. Hastily dragging a basket that is not heavy but gets in the way, Assol
repeated: - “Oh, Lord! After all, if it happened...” - She tried not to lose from
view of a beautiful, smoothly running triangle of sails, she stumbled, fell and
ran again.
Assol has never been so deep in the forest as she is now. To her,
absorbed in the impatient desire to catch the toy, did not look
to the parties; near the shore where she was fussing there were quite a few obstacles,
occupied attention. Mossy trunks of fallen trees, holes, high
ferns, rosehips, jasmine and hazels interfered with her at every step; overcoming
them, she gradually lost strength, stopping more and more often to
take a break or brush the sticky cobwebs off your face. When we reached out, more
wide places, sedge and reed thickets, Assol was completely lost
out of sight the scarlet sparkle of the sails, but, having run around a bend in the current, I saw again
them, sedately and steadily running away. Once she looked back, and the forest mass
with its variegation, passing from smoky pillars of light in the foliage to dark
the clefts of the dense darkness, deeply struck the girl. Shocked for a moment,
she remembered again about the toy and, several times releasing deep
“f-f-u-uu”, she ran with all her might.
About an hour passed in such an unsuccessful and alarming chase, when
Assol was surprised, but also relieved to see that the trees ahead were clear
moved apart, letting in the blue flood of the sea, the clouds and the edge of the yellow sandy
cliff, to which she ran out, almost falling from fatigue. There was a mouth here
stream; spreading not wide and shallow, so that flowing blueness was visible
stones, he disappeared into the oncoming sea wave. From a low, pitted
the roots of the cliff, Assol saw that by the stream, on a large flat stone, with her back
a man sits next to her, holding a runaway yacht in his hands, and comprehensively
examines it with the curiosity of an elephant who has caught a butterfly. Partly
Reassured by the fact that the toy was intact, Assol slid down the cliff and, close
approaching the stranger, she looked at him with a searching gaze, waiting for
he will raise his head. But the unknown person was so immersed in contemplation of the forest
surprise that the girl managed to examine him from head to toe, establishing that
She had never seen people like this stranger before.
But in front of her was none other than Aigle, traveling on foot, famous
collector of songs, legends, stories and fairy tales. Gray curls fell out in folds
from under his straw hat; a gray blouse tucked into blue trousers, and
high boots gave him the appearance of a hunter; white collar, tie, belt,
a plaque studded with silver, a cane and a bag with a brand new nickel lock -
showed a city dweller. His face, if you can call his nose, lips and eyes a face,
looking out from a rapidly growing radiant beard and lush, fierce
upturned mustache, seemingly sluggishly transparent, if not for the eyes,
gray like sand and shiny like pure steel, with a bold and
strong.
“Now give it to me,” the girl said timidly. - You've already played. You
how did you catch her?
Aigle raised his head, dropping the yacht - so unexpectedly sounded
Assol's excited voice. The old man looked at her for a minute, smiling and
slowly dropping the beard into a large, stringy handful. Washed many times
The chintz dress barely covered the girl’s thin, tanned legs to the knees.
Her dark thick hair, pulled back into a lace scarf, tangled, touching
shoulders Every feature of Assol was expressively light and pure, like flight
swallows. Dark eyes, tinged with a sad question, seemed somewhat
older person; its irregular soft oval was fanned with that kind of charming
tan, which is inherent in healthy white skin. Half-opened small mouth
flashed a gentle smile.
“I swear by the Grimms, Aesop and Andersen,” said Egle, looking
sometimes for a girl, sometimes for a yacht. - This is something special. Listen up, plant!
Is this your thing?
“Yes, I ran after her all along the stream; I thought I was going to die. She was
here?
- At my very feet. The shipwreck is the reason that I, as
shore pirate, I can give you this prize. A yacht abandoned by its crew
was thrown onto the sand by a three-inch shaft - between my left heel and
the end of a stick. - He tapped his cane. -What's your name, baby?
“Assol,” said the girl, hiding the toy given by Egle into the basket.
“Okay,” the old man continued his incomprehensible speech, without taking his eyes off the
in the depths of which a smile of friendly disposition gleamed. -- To me,
Actually, I shouldn't have asked your name. It's good that it's so strange
so monotonously, musically, like the whistle of an arrow or the sound of a seashell: so that
I began to do, call yourself one of those euphonious, but unbearable
familiar names that are alien to the Beautiful Unknown? Moreover, I don’t want
know who you are, who your parents are and how you live. Why violate
Charm? Sitting on this stone, I was engaged in a comparative study of Finnish
and Japanese stories... when suddenly a stream splashed out this yacht, and then a
you... Such as you are. I, my dear, am a poet at heart - although I have never composed anything myself.
What's in your basket?
“Boats,” said Assol, shaking her basket, “then a steamer.”
and three more such houses with flags. Soldiers live there.
-- Great. You were sent to sell. On the way, you started playing. You
I let the yacht sail, but it ran away - right?
-Have you seen it? - Assol asked doubtfully, trying to remember,
didn't she tell it herself? - Did someone tell you? Or did you guess right?
- I knew it. - What about it?
- Because I am the most important wizard. Assol was embarrassed: her
At these words from Egle, the tension crossed the border of fear. Deserted
seashore, silence, tedious adventure with a yacht, incomprehensible speech
an old man with sparkling eyes, the majesty of his beard and hair became
seem to the girl to be a mixture of the supernatural and reality. Build
now Egle would make a grimace or shout something - the girl would rush away,
crying and exhausted with fear. But Egle, noticing how wide her
eyes, made a steep volt.
“You have nothing to fear from me,” he said seriously. - On the contrary, I
I want to talk to you to my heart's content. - It was only then that he realized that in the face
The girls were so closely marked by his impression. "Involuntary anticipation
a beautiful, blissful fate,” he decided. - Oh, why wasn’t I born?
a writer? What a glorious story."
“Come on,” Egle continued, trying to round out the original position
(the tendency towards myth-making - a consequence of constant work - was stronger,
than the fear of planting the seeds of a big dream on unknown soil) - come on,
Assol, listen to me carefully. I was in that village - where are you from, I guess?
you are going, in a word, to Kaperna. I love fairy tales and songs, and I sat in
in that village all day, trying to hear something no one had heard. But
You don't tell fairy tales. You don't sing songs. And if they tell
sing, then, you know, these stories about cunning men and soldiers, with the eternal
in praise of fraud, these dirty as unwashed feet, rough as
rumbling in the stomach, short quatrains with a terrible motive... Stop, I
got lost. I'll speak again. After thinking, he continued: “I don’t know how long.”
Years will pass, and only in Kaperna will one fairy tale blossom, memorable for a long time. You
You'll be big, Assol. One morning in the sea distance under the sun it will sparkle
scarlet sail The shining bulk of the scarlet sails of the white ship will move, cutting
waves, straight to you. This wonderful ship will sail quietly, without shouts and
shots; a lot of people will gather on the shore, amazed and gasping: and you will
stand there The ship will approach majestically to the very shore to the sounds
wonderful music; elegant, in carpets, in gold and flowers, will float from him
fast boat. - “Why did you come? Who are you looking for?” - people will ask
shore. Then you will see the brave handsome prince; he will stand and
stretch out my arms to you. - “Hello, Assol!” he will say.
Far, far from here, I saw you in a dream and came to take you away
forever to your kingdom. You will live there with me in the pink deep
valley. You will have everything you want; we will live with you
so friendly and cheerful that your soul will never know tears and sadness." He
will put you on a boat, bring you to the ship, and you will leave forever
a brilliant country where the sun rises and where the stars descend from the sky,
to congratulate you on your arrival.
-- It's all for me? - the girl asked quietly. Her serious eyes
having cheered up, they beamed with confidence. A dangerous wizard, of course, would not
say so; she came closer. - Maybe he has already come... that
ship?
“Not so soon,” objected Egle, “first, as I said, you
you will grow up. Then... What can I say? - it will be, and it will be over. What would you do then
did you do it?
-- I? - She looked into the basket, but apparently did not find anything there
worthy to serve as a significant reward. “I would love him,” hastily
she said, and not quite firmly added: “if he doesn’t fight.”
“No, he won’t fight,” said the wizard, winking mysteriously,
- it won’t, I guarantee it. Go girl and don't forget what you said
for you, between two sips of aromatic vodka and thinking about songs
convicts. Go. May there be peace to your furry head!
Longren was working in his small garden, digging up potato bushes.
Raising his head, he saw Assol, running headlong towards him with a joyful and
impatient face.
“Well, here...” she said, trying to control her breathing, and grabbed
with both hands on my father's apron. - Listen to what I tell you... On the shore,
there, far away, sits a wizard... She started with the wizard and his interesting
predictions. The fever of her thoughts prevented her from conveying the incident smoothly. Further
there was a description of the wizard's appearance and - in reverse order - the pursuit of
lost yacht
Longren listened to the girl without interrupting, without smiling, and when she
finished, his imagination quickly drew an unknown old man with
aromatic vodka in one hand and a toy in the other. He turned away, but
remembering that in the great events of a child's life it is fitting for a person to be
serious and surprised, he solemnly nodded his head, saying: “So,
So; according to all signs, there is no one else to be but a wizard. I would like to
look at it... But when you go again, don’t turn aside;
It's not difficult to get lost in the forest.
Throwing away the shovel, he sat down at the low brush fence and sat the girl down
on knees. Terribly tired, she tried to add some more
details, but the heat, excitement and weakness made her sleepy. Her eyes
stuck together, her head fell on her father's hard shoulder, a moment - and she
would have been carried away into the land of dreams, when suddenly, disturbed by the sudden
doubt, Assol sat up straight, with her eyes closed and, resting her fists on
Longren's vest, said loudly: - Do you think a wizard will come?
is the ship behind me or not?
“He will come,” the sailor answered calmly, “since they told you so, it means
that's right.
“When he grows up, he’ll forget,” he thought, “but for now... don’t take it away from
you such a toy. In the future you will have to see a lot of not scarlet, but
dirty and predatory sails: from afar - elegant and white, close - torn and
impudent. A passing man joked with my girl. Well?! Good joke!
Nothing - just a joke! Look how tired you were - half a day in the forest, in the thicket. A
about scarlet sails, think like me: you will have scarlet sails."
Assol was sleeping. Longren, taking out his pipe with his free hand, lit a cigarette, and the wind
carried the smoke through the fence, into the bush growing on the outside of the garden. U
A young beggar sat in a bush with his back to the fence, chewing a pie. Father's conversation
with his daughter put him in a cheerful mood, and the smell of good tobacco put him in the mood
prey “Give the poor man a smoke, master,” he said through
rods. “My tobacco versus yours is not tobacco, but, one might say, poison.”
“I would give it,” Longren answered in a low voice, “but I have tobacco in that
pocket. You see, I don’t want to wake up my daughter.
- What a problem! He wakes up, falls asleep again, and a passer-by took and
smoked.
“Well,” Longren objected, “you’re not without tobacco after all, but a child.”
tired. Come back later if you want.
The beggar spat contemptuously, lifted the bag onto a stick and explained:
Princess, of course. You drove these overseas ships into her head! Oh you,
eccentric, eccentric, and also the owner!
“Listen,” Longren whispered, “I’ll probably wake her up, but only
then to soap your huge neck. Go away!
Half an hour later the beggar was sitting in a tavern at a table with a dozen fishermen. Behind
them, now tugging at their husbands' sleeves, now lifting a glass of vodka over their shoulder, -
for themselves, of course, - tall women with arched eyebrows and arms sat
round like a cobblestone. The beggar, seething with resentment, said: “And he didn’t give me
tobacco. “You,” he says, “will be a year old, and then,
- he says, - a special red ship... Behind you. Because it's your fate
marry the prince. “And that,” he says, “believe in the wizard.” But I say:
“Wake up, wake up, they say, get some tobacco.” Well, he ran after me halfway.
-- Who? What? What is he talking about? - curious voices of women were heard.
The fishermen, barely turning their heads, explained with a grin: - Longren with
the daughter has become wild, or perhaps lost her mind; Here's a man talking.
They had a sorcerer, so you have to understand. They are waiting - aunts, you shouldn’t miss it!
- an overseas prince, and under red sails at that!
Three days later, returning from the city store, Assol heard for the first time
once: - Hey, gallows! Assol! Look here! Red sails are sailing!
The girl, shuddering, involuntarily looked from under her hand at the flood of the sea.
Then she turned towards the exclamations; there, twenty paces from her, stood
a bunch of guys; they grimaced, sticking out their tongues. Sighing, the girl ran
home.

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Alexander Stepanovich Green

Scarlet Sails

Offered and dedicated to Nina Nikolaevna Green by the Author

I. PREDICTION

I followed her for three months, old man,” she said, “look at your daughter.”

Dead, Longren bent down and saw an eight-month-old creature intently looking at his long beard, then he sat down, looked down and began to twirl his mustache. The mustache was wet, as if from rain.

When did Mary die? - he asked.

The woman told a sad story, interrupting the story with touching gurgles to the girl and assurances that Mary was in heaven. When Longren found out the details, heaven seemed to him a little brighter than a woodshed, and he thought that the fire of a simple lamp - if now they were all together, the three of them - would be an irreplaceable consolation for a woman who had gone to an unknown country.

“We don’t even have a crumb of food in our house,” she told her neighbor. “I’ll go into town, and the girl and I will get by somehow until my husband returns.”

Ten years of wandering life left very little money in his hands. He started working. Soon his toys appeared in city stores - skillfully made small models of boats, cutters, single- and double-decker sailing ships, cruisers, steamships - in a word, what he knew intimately, which, due to the nature of the work, partly replaced for him the roar of port life and painting work swimming. In this way, Longren obtained enough to live within the limits of moderate economy. Unsociable by nature, after the death of his wife, he became even more withdrawn and unsociable. On holidays, he was sometimes seen in a tavern, but he never sat down, but hurriedly drank a glass of vodka at the counter and left, briefly throwing around “yes”, “no”, “hello”, “goodbye”, “little by little” - at everything addresses and nods from neighbors. He could not stand guests, quietly sending them away not by force, but with such hints and fictitious circumstances that the visitor had no choice but to invent a reason not to allow him to sit longer.

It was spring, early and harsh, like winter, but of a different kind. For three weeks, a sharp coastal north fell to the cold earth.

Fishing boats pulled ashore formed a long row of dark keels on the white sand, reminiscent of the ridges of huge fish. No one dared to fish in such weather. On the only street of the village it was rare to see a person who had left the house; the cold whirlwind rushing from the coastal hills into the emptiness of the horizon made the “open air” a severe torture. All the chimneys of Kaperna smoked from morning to evening, spreading smoke over the steep roofs.

But these days of the Nord lured Longren out of his small warm house more often than the sun, which in clear weather covered the sea and Kaperna with blankets of airy gold. Longren went out onto a bridge built along long rows of piles, where, at the very end of this plank pier, he smoked a pipe blown by the wind for a long time, watching how the bottom exposed near the shore smoked with gray foam, barely keeping up with the waves, the thundering run of which towards the black, stormy horizon filled the space with herds of fantastic maned creatures, rushing in unbridled ferocious despair towards distant consolation. Moans and noises, the howling gunfire of huge upsurges of water and, it seemed, a visible stream of wind striping the surroundings - so strong was its smooth run - gave Longren's exhausted soul that dullness, stupefaction, which, reducing grief to vague sadness, is equal in effect to deep sleep .

The main characters of the work “Scarlet Sails”, created by the Russian writer Alexander Green, are people who lived separately from other residents of the locality. Father Longren and his daughter Assol lived by making models of sailing ships and selling them.

Longren used to be a sailor, but after the death of his wife he had to raise his daughter alone. A man lost his beloved wife a long time ago because the owner of the tavern did not lend her money. The poor woman had to go to a neighboring town on a stormy evening to pawn her jewelry in order to buy food. After this she fell ill and died. The next time, when the innkeeper himself needed help, Longren did not provide it. The owner of the inn almost died.

One day, eight-seater Assol met an old man. Who predicted to her that in a few years the girl would be taken away by a handsome prince on a ship with scarlet sails. After these incidents, the hostility of fellow countrymen towards the man and his daughter only intensified. They were considered insane.

Another hero of the work, Arthur Gray, grew up in a rich and noble family. He was a sympathetic, fearless child who loved to read about sea adventures. When the young man grew up, he ran away from home and joined a schooner. There he gained a lot of knowledge and became a “real sea wolf.”

One day a ship landed at the place where Longren and Assol lived. The young man went to the shore, where he saw a girl sleeping in the shade of the trees. Arthur was so amazed by Assol’s beauty that he put an old ring on the girl’s finger.

In the village, the young man learned that the girl was waiting for a prince who would arrive on a ship with scarlet sails. Arthur decided to fulfill the girl's dream. He bought scarlet fabric and invited a traveling orchestra on board the ship.

In the morning Assol saw a ship with scarlet sails. As the old man predicted, the young man took her with him.

The work once again proves to readers that dreams, even the most unusual ones, come true.

Retelling Scarlet Sails chapter by chapter

Chapter 1. Prediction

Longren served as a sailor on the ship for ten years, but was forced to leave the service against his own will. Once, returning home, he did not see his wife Mary, who usually ran towards him. Instead there was a crib with a baby, who was looked after by a neighbor.

Mary spent the money on treatment after giving birth and caring for the child. Having asked for a loan from the wealthy innkeeper Menners, she received an offer to exchange love for money. A desperate woman went into town on a cold rainy evening to pawn her engagement ring. On the way, she caught a cold, fell ill and soon died, leaving her daughter in the care of a lonely widow.

So Longren said goodbye to the sea and began to raise his daughter, named Assol. He made his living by carving wooden boats, ships and other toys.

One day during a storm, Menners remembered that he forgot to pull the boat ashore. He climbed onto the ship, but strong wind began to drive him further from the ground. Longren stood next to the pier. The innkeeper shouted for him to throw him a rope, but the man was deaf to requests, pleas and curses. Only when the boat had drifted far away did he shout that Mary had begged the same way, and Menners refused.

A few days later the innkeeper was found. The shock was so strong that he soon died, and Longren and his daughter became outcasts in the village.

Once Assol was carrying toys for sale and saw among them a yacht with scarlet sails. Having admired it, she set the craft sailing along the stream, but the yacht carried away far away. The girl chased her for a long time and found her in the hands of old man Egle, the storyteller. He told Assol that when she grows up, the same ship with the prince who saw her in a dream will sail for her.

Returning home, the girl asked her father if the old man told her the truth. Longren did not want to upset her and confirmed.

There was a beggar sitting by the fence who overheard their conversation. He asked Longren to give him tobacco, but he refused - he did not want to wake up his daughter, who was sleeping in his arms. In revenge, the beggar told the residents this story, and they began to laugh at Assol, considering her crazy.

Chapter 2. Gray

Since childhood, Arthur Gray dreamed of becoming a captain. The father was always busy, the mother indulged all the wishes of her son, and the boy was never punished. However, his pranks were limited to exploring the castle, books and the wine cellar, in which he saw an old barrel of wine, on which it was written that Gray would drink it in heaven. Arthur's grandfather wanted to try the drink so much that he got too excited, knocking the hoop off the barrel, and died without opening it. Since then, no one has encroached on the barrel.

Arthur was inquisitive and from childhood knew how to understand people. Despite his noble origin, he did not hesitate to communicate with servants. So I grew up, living in my own world, until I saw a painting in the library.

The painting depicted a ship and its captain. The sea was so fascinating that Gray fell in love with it and began to dream of connecting his life with it.

One day he ran away from home and joined a ship as a cabin boy. The captain kept waiting for the boy to give in to difficulties, but the cabin boy’s stubbornness touched him and Arthur began to be taught the intricacies of seamanship.

Five years later, Gray returned home. By that time, the father had died, and the mother prayed for her son every day. But she still could not refuse him anything, and soon a new ship, the Secret, appeared in the port.

Chapter 3. Dawn

For several years, Gray was engaged in the transportation of goods. One day the ship was standing near the shore, preparing for another raid. Arthur was seized by a vague uneasiness that neither reading nor inspection of the ship could dispel. At night, he decided that in the morning he would go fishing in the company of the sailor Letika.

At dawn, the captain set sail in the boat with Letika. The lights of the village could be seen in the distance, and near the shore Arthur saw a place suitable for fishing.

Soon the sailor started fishing, and the captain suddenly fell asleep. A couple of hours later he came to his senses and decided to walk along the shore.

Parting the branches of the bushes, Arthur saw a sleeping girl. Her sleep was sweet and natural, and she herself breathed peace and tranquility so much that Gray involuntarily fell in love with this picture. Seized by an incomprehensible impulse, he took off the ring and put it on the stranger’s little finger.

Returning to the sailor, he asked him to find a tavern in the village. There Arthur learned the stranger's name and her story. The innkeeper spoke extremely discordantly about her, but the old coal miner contradicted him, saying that Assol was normal. Leaving Letika to find out more about the girl, Gray returned to the ship thoughtfully.

Chapter 4. The day before

Things were getting worse for Longren and Assol. Toys have ceased to be in demand; they have been replaced by beautiful newfangled houses, soldiers, cars and airplanes.

My father had no choice but to try to get a job on a ship. The girl also wanted to work with him, at least as a barmaid, but Longren was strongly against it.

Having put on an old altered dress and a scarf, Assol left the house and headed to her friends - plants and trees on the forest edge. Since childhood, the girls did not want to be friends with her, having heard enough stories from their parents. Therefore, the girl’s only interlocutors were her father and the trees.

From the hill Assol looked at the sea. She often came here and waited for the ship. The one with the scarlet sails. She has already grown up and soon they will come for her, because the old man could not have lied many years ago. It was hard to return from dreams to reality, they were exhausting as physical work. Assol lay down and fell asleep.

A fly tickled my foot. The girl brushed it away and began to finger it with her fingers, trying to get rid of the stem tangled between them. But the persistent stalk did not disappear. Assol looked at the hand and froze. There was a ring on the finger. A feeling of imminent happiness welled up within her.

That's how Gray and Assol found each other by chance.

Chapter 5. Combat preparations

Gray returned to the ship in captivity of thoughts, from which he was brought out by his pragmatic assistant Panten. He was surprised by the order to further go deeper into the river bed for the purpose of repairs, despite the fact that the ship was in perfect order.

Without providing any further explanation, Gray went to the trading shops. There he went through all the shades of red material in search of the right color. He put aside bale after bale until he saw what he was looking for - a dazzling scarlet color. The fabric, like dawn creeping on the horizon, flowed over Arthur's knees, falling to the floor. Seeing that the picky client had found what he was looking for, the owner began to fuss, praising his product in every possible way.

The buyer thought for a moment, apparently counting his cash, and the merchant decided to hurry him up with a question: does he want to purchase the entire bale or a few meters?

Arthur nodded and asked for 2000 meters. The owner jumped up, not believing his ears. What was demanded was worth fabulous money, and the profitable buyer was seen off like a Chinese king.

On the street, Gray met a traveling musician who had played in a tavern the day before. Having paid him a handful of coins, he asked to recruit several people who could play music coming from the soul, and not according to generally accepted canons - “the sea and love do not tolerate pedants.”

Upon his return, the captain talked with Letika, who did not tell him anything particularly new about Assol. Soon a team of 9 musicians boarded the ship, and the brig set off up the river to the place chosen for repairs.

Gray explained to the sailors gathered on the gangway that he wanted to equip the ship with scarlet sails. The assistant was happy - he understood the brilliant idea of the captain, who finally decided to start smuggling. After all, silk instead of sails can be transported without taxes!

But Arthur’s further words surprised and delighted many. The captain was getting ready to get married, and the crew was in a hurry to congratulate him on this event.

Chapter 6. Assol is left alone

Longren spent the whole night at sea. When he returned, he waited for Assol from her early walk. The girl was thoughtful and laughed with quiet, joyful triumph in her voice. The father could not understand the change that had occurred, but Assol assured him of her health and did not admit to anything.

Having packed Longren's bag for the journey - the former sailor joined the mail ship - the girl saw her father off and got down to household chores. But the ring haunted her, and Assol left the house.

On the road she met a coal miner who often gave her lifts and said that she would soon go far. After shaking the old man's hand goodbye, she left, leaving him bewildered.

Chapter 7. Scarlet “Secret”

Early in the morning a ship sailed along the river, engulfed in the glow of scarlet sails. The sight was so unusual and impressive that the hunter who saw it rubbed his eyes for a long time until he realized the reality of what was happening.

Gray personally led the ship, and Panten stood nearby and could not understand why the captain needed scarlet sails. And then Arthur explained that if a person can do a miracle for another, he must definitely do it. And then " new soul He will have a new one for you too.” Even something as simple as a smile, a word, or forgiveness can work a miracle. And these sails are a symbol of the love of Gray and Assol.

Panten sighed, grunted, and said that he understood the captain. His words made the assistant think, and so he will go and apologize to the sailor for yesterday’s curses, and also give him some tobacco, since he lost his at cards.

So the “Secret” floated out to sea. A military cruiser appeared on the horizon, ordering this strange scarlet ship to drift.

The cruiser's lieutenant, having learned what was the matter, left Gray's cabin in amazement and soon the air was shaken by fireworks. This is how the crew of the warship expressed their surprise and congratulated Arthur Gray.

The village where Assol lived appeared in the distance. The girl herself was sitting in the house by the window and reading. Having blown away a beetle crawling on the book, she accidentally looked into the visible sea distance and froze.

There was a white ship there, sparkling with scarlet sails in the bright sunlight.

Without memory, Assol rushed out of the house and ran to the sea. Scarlet sails appeared and disappeared behind trees and fences, and each time the girl was afraid that they would disappear completely and everything would turn out to be just a vision.

And the village was gripped by general confusion. Never before has such a large ship approached the shores. In addition, the ship had the same sails, the color of which served as a mocking disguise for so many years.

People made way for the running Assol and hissed something after her. But the girl didn't care. Her miracle, which she had been waiting for all her life, became a reality

A boat with rowers separated from the ship, and at its bow stood the captain, exactly the same as Assol had imagined him. The girl notified Gray about this when he pulled her out of the water, running towards the boat and very afraid of making a mistake.

Music played from the decorated deck and Assol closed her eyes from this splendor. However, she could not fall - Arthur held her tightly. Hiding her face, wet with tears, on his chest, the girl asked to take Longren on the ship as well. Gray agreed and kissed his chosen one deeply.

And on the deck an ancient barrel of wine was uncorked, and the whole crew celebrated the happiest day in the life of Captain Gray.

Sometimes even the most unrealistic dreams are coming true. The main thing is to be true to them and to yourself.

You can use this text for a reader's diary

Plot

The story tells a beautiful story about the life of young Assol, who dreams of finding happiness.

Longren, a reserved and unsociable person, lived by making and selling models of sailing ships and steamships. The countrymen were not very fond of the former sailor, especially after one incident.

Once, during a severe storm, the shopkeeper and innkeeper Menners was carried away in his boat far out to sea. The only witness to what was happening was Longren. He calmly smoked his pipe, watching how Menners called to him in vain. Only when it became obvious that he could no longer be saved, Longren shouted to him that in the same way his Mary asked a fellow villager for help, but did not receive it.

On the sixth day, the shopkeeper was picked up among the waves by a steamer, and before his death he spoke about the culprit of his death.

The only thing he didn’t talk about was how five years ago Longren’s wife approached him with a request to lend him some money. She had just given birth to baby Assol, the birth was not easy, and almost all her money was spent on treatment, and her husband had not yet returned from the voyage. Menners advised not to be hard to touch, then he is ready to help. The unfortunate woman went to the city in bad weather to pawn a ring, caught a cold and died of pneumonia. So Longren remained a widower with his daughter in his arms and could no longer go to sea.

Whatever it was, the news of such demonstrative inaction by Longren shocked the villagers more than if he had drowned a man with his own hands. The ill will turned almost into hatred and also turned on the innocent Assol, who grew up alone with her fantasies and dreams and seemed to need neither peers nor friends. Her father replaced her mother, her friends, and her fellow countrymen.

One day, when Assol was eight years old, he sent her to the city with new toys, among which was a miniature yacht with scarlet silk sails. The girl lowered the boat into the stream. The stream carried him and carried him to the mouth, where she saw a stranger holding her boat in his hands. It was old Aigle, a collector of legends and fairy tales. He gave the toy to Assol and told her that years would pass and a prince would sail for her on the same ship under scarlet sails and take her to a distant country.

The girl told her father about this. Unfortunately, a beggar who accidentally heard her story spread rumors about the ship and the overseas prince throughout Caperna. Now the children shouted after her: “Hey, hanged man! Red sails are sailing! So she became known as crazy.

Arthur Gray, the only son of a noble and wealthy family, grew up not in a hut, but in a family castle, in an atmosphere of predetermination of every present and future step. This, however, was a boy with a very lively soul, ready to fulfill his own destiny in life. He was decisive and fearless.

The keeper of their wine cellar, Poldishok, told him that two barrels of Alicante from the time of Cromwell were buried in one place and its color was darker than cherry, and it was thick, like good cream. The barrels are made of ebony, and have double copper hoops on them, on which is written: “Gray will drink me when he is in heaven.” No one has tried this wine and no one will try it. “I’ll drink it,” Gray said, stamping his foot and clenching his hand into a fist: “Paradise?” He is here!.."

For all that, he was extremely responsive to the misfortune of others, and his sympathy always resulted in real help.

In the castle library, he was struck by a painting by some famous marine painter. She helped him understand himself. Gray secretly left home and joined the schooner Anselm. Captain Gop was a kind man, but a harsh sailor. Having appreciated the intelligence, perseverance and love of the sea of the young sailor, Gop decided to “make a captain out of the puppy”: introduce him to navigation, maritime law, pilotage and accounting. At twenty, Gray bought the three-masted galliot Secret and sailed on it for four years. Fate brought him to Liss, an hour and a half walk from which was Caperna.

With the onset of darkness, together with the sailor Letika Gray, taking fishing rods, sailed on a boat in search of a suitable fishing places. They left the boat under the cliff behind Kaperna and lit a fire. Letika went fishing, and Gray lay down by the fire. In the morning he went for a wander, when suddenly he saw Assol sleeping in the thickets. He looked at the girl who amazed him for a long time, and when leaving, he took off the ancient ring from his finger and put it on her little finger.

Then he and Letika walked to Menners's tavern, where young Hin Menners was now in charge. He said that Assol was crazy, dreaming of a prince and a ship with scarlet sails, that her father was responsible for the death of the elder Menners and horrible man. Doubts about the veracity of this information intensified when a drunken coal miner assured that the innkeeper was lying. Gray, even without outside help, managed to understand something about this extraordinary girl. She knew life within the limits of her experience, but beyond that she saw in phenomena a meaning of a different order, making many subtle discoveries that were incomprehensible and unnecessary to the inhabitants of Kaperna.

The captain was in many ways the same himself, a little out of this world. He went to Liss and found scarlet silk in one of the shops. In the city, he met an old acquaintance - the traveling musician Zimmer - and asked him to come to the "Secret" with his orchestra in the evening.

The scarlet sails bewildered the team, as did the order to advance to Kaperna. Nevertheless, in the morning the Secret set out under scarlet sails and by noon was already in sight of Kaperna.

Assol was shocked by the sight of a white ship with scarlet sails, from the deck of which music flowed. She rushed to the sea, where the inhabitants of Kaperna had already gathered. When Assol appeared, everyone fell silent and parted. The boat in which Gray was standing separated from the ship and headed towards the shore. After some time, Assol was already in the cabin. Everything happened as the old man predicted.

On the same day, they opened a barrel of hundred-year-old wine, which no one had ever drunk before, and the next morning the ship was already far from Kaperna, carrying away the crew defeated by Gray’s extraordinary wine. Only Zimmer was awake. He played his cello quietly and thought about happiness.

Meaning

The story “Scarlet Sails” entered the treasury of Russian literature, becoming Green’s unsurpassed creation, distinguished by its romantic and sentimental narrative.¿

Adaptations

“Scarlet Sails” (), - graduation performance of faculty graduates puppetry Music College named after. Gnessins, who created under the leadership of L. A. Khait famous theater"People and Dolls" ( Gray, - V. Garkalin, Assol, - doll)
the famous song of the bard Vladimir Lanzberg “Scarlet Sails”, - video- and thematically adjacent to it “But in vain no one believed in miracles”
musical "Scarlet Sails" - official site
instrumental New-Age album by Andrei Klimkovsky - Scarlet Sails", 2000
Scarlet Sails - rock opera by A. Bogoslovsky. Recorded by VIA "Music" in 1977.

Links

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