The Gluttonous Shoeby Alexei Tolstoy

The Gluttonous Shoe by Alexei Tolstoy

In the nursery behind the chest Teddy Bear was lying having been tossed there he remained yonder to dwell.

Toy soldiers stood square on the desk shelf holding their rifles atilt.

In the corner harboring the box there lived dolls, old loco, fireman with a water barrel, headless wild horse, as well as the rubber doggie and the doggie which had been lost – all box packed full-house.

And under the bed the old nanny shoe laid on its side jaws agape as begging for oatmeal.

When the nanny burnt up midnight wick fixed on the wall, uttered “Oh, sins of ours!” and flaked out on the chest, then the wintering mosquito flew down from the curtain rod and blared the trumpet attached to its nose.

- Off to war! Off to war!

And anon, toy soldiers began to jump out of the drawer, and the general on his white horse, and two cannons.

From behind of the chest, Teddy Bear was crawling in, spreading out his four paws.

Off the box in the corner the lid popped away, with the loco driving out two dolls, names Tanyika and Manyika, taking seats on it; the fireman was rolling out the barrel; the rubber doggie was squeezing its tummy producing the barking sounds; the doggie which had been lost was sniffing the floor and scratching it with its hind paws; the headless horse was ne-i-gh-i-ng that it could not see anything with a stocking sticking out of it in place of the head.

And following all, from under the bed the nanny shoe was trailing out unceasingly mooching: “Porridge, porridge!”

However, nobody was listening to it, for everyone was rushing to the soldiers, which being the bravest plunged headlong towards the burly commode.

And under the commode there was a fearful picture lying. In the picture there was a portrait of a scary mug of the human face with nothing else but the hands appended.

Everyone was gaping into the gap under the commode, the dolls with cowardice, but since nothing stirred there, the dolls announced:

You have frightened us just to no purpose, we will better go to have some tea.

Though all of a sudden everybody noticed that the scary mug had disappeared from the picture, and was already lurking behind a foot of the commode.

The dolls fainted at once, and the steam truck drove them under the bed; the horse rose on its hind legs, seesawed then to the front legs, and out of its neck fell out the stocking; the doggies pretended to be scratching for fleas, and the general turned his back - so much frightened he felt, and spit the command to the remnants of his troops:

- Charge bayonets!

The brave soldiers flung forward, but the mug came to the fore meeting them halfway having awfully distorted its face with hair all projecting on end, the red eyes gyrating, the mouth stretching to have its corners touch the ears, and yellow teeth snapping in it.

At a time, the soldiers thrust thirty bayonets into the mug, the general hit it atop with his saber and two cannons smote bombs at the mug rearward.

Everything vanished out of sight covered with smoke.

And when the white cloud rose to the ceiling, the floor was heaped with one single pile of rumpled and maimed soldiers, cannons and general.

Meanwhile the mug was skipping about the room on its hands throwing summersaults and gnashing its teeth.

Witness of this, the doggies fell flat swinging their legs in the air as begging forgiveness, the horse kicked up the heels, the nanny shoe was standing one wholesale silly goof gaping its mouth ajar, and only the fireman with the barrel was not afraid of anything as he was a Red Cross and not to be touched.

Well, now it is my turn, said Teddy Bear who had been sitting on the floor at the rear of all and now sprang to his feet, opened his mouth widely and ran on his soft paws chasing the mug.

The mug dashed under the bed, and the bear under the bed, the mug darted behind the pot, and the bear behind the pot.

The mug rolled out into the middle of the room, ducked a little, and when the bear came running near, leaped up and gnawed away his paw.

Wailed the bear and crawled away behind the chest.

Stayed behind by itself, the mug rested on the floor leaning on its left hand, and wagging its right hand as admonition, and said:

- Say, should I now start with the small fry or do first the nanny?

Choosing the nanny it began to sneak up to her, but Lo! There is a light on the floor! The mug turned around in order to face the window, and there in the window a perfect round moon was hanging, shiny, hideous, and stared at the mug without a wink!

The mug greatly terrified started to make itself scarcer and scarcer backing up straight toward the nanny shoe, with the shoe opening its mouth wider and wider by and by.

And when the mug backed to extreme to meet the shoe, the latter smacked and swallowed the mug.

Having seen this, the fireman with the barrel wheeled up to all wounded and killed, and started pumping water on those.

Being administered the fire water, came to life the general, and the soldiers, the cannons, the doggies and the dolls; Teddy Bear has got his paw healed; the wild horse stopped kicking up the heels and swallowed again the stocking; and the mosquito flew down from the curtain rod and bugled the retreat.

And all selves sprang very lively back to their places.

As for the shoe, it also asked for sweet water, though this turned to be not much of a help either. The shoe trudged back to the commode and said:

Indeed, the mug, you taste utterly disgusting.

Then it forcibly strained itself, constricted tightly, spat the mug out and ducked under the bed.

And what about the mug? It hardly squeezed itself back into the picture, and from now on not for a love or money would it try to appear again from beneath the commode; and only sometimes at night when Teddy Bear is hastily passing by or the dolls are coming by the steam truck, the mug gyrates its eyes trying to give even if someone a fright.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04