Classics fantasy – 12

“Semyon Alekseevich, why the sound so reaches me soon?” – Vanyushka tapped.

“Because in air the sound passes 322 meters, and in water 1450” – Volkov answered.

“And why so?”

But Volkov was busy – not time now to perestukivatsya.

And suddenly Vanyushki’s hearing caught some absolutely other sound – the remote percussion. Who it could knock? Perhaps, Pun called to have breakfast? But still early. Makar Ivanovich? But he was not going to put out to sea today.

“You hear?” – vystukat Vanyushka Volkov. “Yes – that answered. – Someone knocks in water”. Volkov and Toporkov stopped work, met together and extinguished lamps, and Vanyushka even undertook a dirk handle. The knock stopped. Vanyushka did not restrain. He pressed the button and again lit a lamp. Green dregs were lit. At distance of five meters not clear figure – more true, an indistinct spot of a spherical figure on human legs loomed. In process of approach of an outline of a figure became more and more distinct. It was now possible to distinguish that on an ocean floor there is a huge person, very slowly swinging veslopodobny hands. His trunk reminded a barrel – so it was thick and кругло. Some more steps – and the old man with the longest gray small beard which fluttered extensively as smoke, at each movement of water approached them. On it there were big points, and the rubber black nose gave to the face a strange look. The long shirt and ports twirled to knees made his suit. On huge bare feet sandals with heavy soles were put on. Around a trunk the network is wound, and in network live fishes fought. This network with fishes also gave to a figure of the old man published such extraordinary barrel-shaped look.

The old man stopped, placed hands, having lowered them down. With thumbs up these hands were reminded by the Neptune’s tridents, and the old man – sea god. Volkov and nicknamed him: Neptune Ivanovich Konobeev. Its real name was Makar. He smiled from ear to ear, starting up bubbles and baring healthy long white teeth. Volkov nodded to him and felt his hands.

In them there were no castanets. Volkov was surprised. Than the Neptune Ivanovich knocked in water? The old man had no ear trumpet, he did not know and Morse alphabets and therefore with it it was necessary to speak gestures. Volkov pointed to the castanets and again felt hands of a giant. Makar Ivanovich smiled, showed a mouth – and suddenly zashchelkat teeth. The sound much louder, than from castanets turned out. Vanyushka, having forgotten that he under water, burst out laughing, having released fireworks of bubbles, then has a fit of coughing and nearly choked. It clamped a mouth hands, somehow restrained, but for a while. The new fit of laughter captured it. Then Vanyushka quickly unfastened sandals with lead soles and, having made a start from a bottom, rose up as the children’s balloon which came off thread.

It came up on a surface. Waves downloaded it, and the surf incurred to the coast.

Vanyushka emerged near the fishing boat by which two Japanese sat. Having seen the terrible monster which came up from sea depth, Japanese with the eyes expanded for fear jumped in water as the scared frogs, and quickly floated from a chernonosy monster aside. And Vanyush – “and still struck a heat – suddenly zaulyulyukat by an inhuman voice.

On the surface of the ocean it was windy, solarly and cheerfully. It is hard it was possible to laugh, without being afraid to choke. Having laughed much, Vanyushka calmed down for a moment, lying on waves, and looked at the coast. In the distance the fanza under a high fir-tree was seen, stood near a fanza as a tolstenky strong fungus, the female figure, and at the coast howled a dog, having turned a muzzle directly to water. Vanyushka nodded, whispered “foot take!” and, having made a deep breath, fell by a bottom.

It managed to find Volkov and Konobeev in underwater dregs not at once. Inflow on the surface of the ocean carried Vanyushka to the coast, and it had to float over familiar footpaths, being confused in long films of seaweed and from time to time stopping to cut osklizly tapes a dirk. Water squeezed out up. Vanyushka was forced to dive to the bottom, to find for several stones and, having taken them in hand, to go to a way rather “balanced” for underwater travel.

Here somewhere in the distance, in a green haze, the spark flashed and draft beats of castanets were heard. Vanyushka answered with conditional three blows and quickened the pace. Fire moved towards to it. Vanyushka approached Volkov and Konobeev soon, Volkov grabbed a govoritelny tube of Vanyushki and made such look as though he twists it for an ear, then, having put a tube to lips, told:

– Johnny! It is impossible to be such thoughtless. You risked to die laughing. There are your galoshes!

– It would be the most cheerful death, Semyon Alekseevich – Vanyushka answered, putting on heavy sandals. – Howls! – it added.

– Who howls?

– Hunguz. There will be a scolding Makar to Ivanovich again – and, having addressed Konobeev, Vanyushka put a mouth a tubule and raised a howl, starting up bubbles.

Konobeev’s face was suddenly saddened. Eyebrows over big points moved, and moustaches and hair of a beard about a mouth bristled up. “Sea god” was angry or upset with something. It waved hands oars and went quickly to the coast.

– Semyon Alekseevich! I can look though with half an eye how she will abuse it? – Vanyushka asked.

– Jean! You forget about the duties! – strictly Volkov told. They turned to work again.

Chapter 2

“TO FISH – WATER, THE EARTH – TO THE PERSON”

– And Makar Ivanovich quickly went, going to the coast. An ocean floor everything rose. Than closer to the coast, those the soil became more oozy from the alluvial earth and humus. The movement of water was more and stronger felt. The surf adjusted Konobeeva as strong wind. The old man leaned back back and hardly managed to touch legs. If not its huge force, would turn it long ago and cast with waves ashore as the broken ship mast. But Konobeev still fought. However, when it came to a sandy slope where water hardly covered the head, even it, the Neptune Ivanovich, could not resist. The ocean overcame. The surf was helped by the strong wind blowing to the coast. Water masses, elastic as soccerballs, rotating, lifted silt, sand, crabs, shrimps from a bottom, pulled out seaweed and rolled all this together with themselves to the coast and threw out with noise, hissing, a rumble. They, these water spheres, brought down from Konobeev’s legs and together with his network filled with fish threw out on a shallow and with deafening hissing were rolled away back.

Big dog – the Siberian laika of gray wool – with the scared yelping, having put the fluffy tail between the legs, jumped aside from Konobeev, then suddenly, choking with joyful bark, ran up to it and began to lick his wet person, damp glasses of points, a rubber black nose, the beard similar to seaweed, huge hands…

“Ah! Ah!” – the dog hysterical screamed; then, having unexpectedly turned on the place a top, rushed off a whirlwind to the fanza standing under a fir-tree. For bark of a dog a fanza there was an elderly tolstenky short woman, with chubby red hands and a red round face. On her head the clean white scarf with black peas was tied; a blue spacious jacket from the Chinese cloth and a black long skirt waved at each movement. The woman a vperevalka, in a duck way, hobbled to the coast.

Konobeev confusedly rose from wet sand and went to it towards, and the dog with joyful bark ran to the woman, to the old man until they met then the laika began to jump around them.

– Hi, old woman! – Konobeev told, shaking network in which fish trembled. – Here I … … small fishes brought that to you!

But the old woman did not pay to network with fish any attention.

– Remove you though a nasty ugly mug from a face, to look precisely! – she told strictly. – Water. Directly water! Also flows from it, as from utoply. Ha – and – рош! There is nothing to tell. Go, change clothes in dry, perhaps!

– Nothing, I will dry. Now warmly. Yes to me and back soon in water. Work waits.

– Yes you though to tea get drunk. Dampened probably there, in water. Long ago to tea not of saws.

Konobeev it is noisy sighed and took off from himself glasses, a rubber nose and a satchel.

His own nose was the little more beautiful rubber: big, fleshy, friable and in addition overgrown with a gray long hair. Hands with the big, inactive, very widely placed fingers and folded thick skin were surprising. And on palms the old man had real corn pillows. He freely put a hot piece of coal on these palms, without burning.

– However well, we will go, the old woman! With water let fish in the coil. Tomorrow you will weld an ushitsa. The humpback salmon is more, but there is also a herring, ivas…

Konobeev’s wife, Marfa Zakharovna, knew that her old man likes to chayevat. For this purpose she also enticed it with insidiousness of the woman into the Chinese fanza where a vein. When Konobeev crossed a fanza threshold, Marfa Zakharovna, quickly moving on a fanza the duck transfer, prepared tea, put fresh bread on a table and, looking at the husband pouring in a huge mouth in a glass behind a glass began to lecture it for “dissolute life”.

– Well have you ever seen anything like it, where it slykhano, that the person how a humpback salmon, in water of veins? To fishes – water, to birds – air, and to the person – the earth. So from time immemorial god put. You got into the wet place.

– However the person by air flies now better than any bird – Konobeev objected, sipping tea.

Marfa Zakharovna did not pay attention to this remark and continued, more and more increasing tone:

– If you married me, and live with me, but not with humpback salmons and seldyam. What you are a husband after that when herring is lovelier to you, than the wife? Forty years lived together, and here on you! As changed the person. Sdurel on an old age of years. I do not want and do not wish. Either I, or herring. Now to the woman free will. Here I will go to a registry office and I will divorce you.

– However … – there began Konobeev, but choked on tea. The dog began a bark, and because of a door Vanyushka seemed.

– Correctly, Marfa Zakharovna, correctly, mamafa! – Vanyushka shouted, appearing in the doorway in one pants. – Now not an old regime. But only you it is vain, a mamafa, on Makar you serchat Ivanovich. You better would come to live to us…

– What? I! Under water? To herrings? I am not a mermaid, in the name of God, that under water to live. With frogs, with reptiles sea.

– There are no frogs there, Marfa Zakha…

– Yes never!

– And you though looked, Marfa Zakharovna. There very much it is even excellent. In the sea ocean there is felezny mansion caps, and under caps – an izbufka. And in an izbufka and light-, and warmly, and any water – chilly quite. Both the tea, and sugar, and a samovarchik will be.

– You are better trousers a would plot, than to teach old people. Shameless person! And still Komsomol member.

– You are afraid, means?

– I am afraid of nothing. And I do not wish to dampen.

– And here Pun was not afraid. Brisket is more courageous than you. It at us on all hands. Both cooks, and farit, and washes clothes, and washes the floor.

– Washes the floor? Under water?