Ke for sand

"You see, that's the thing. His father was sentenced to a year and a half for embezzlement, and we ate up all our savings in that time. Our savings were small to begin with. By the time my husband got out of prison, I was burning horseradish root for firewood. A farmer sent me a cart full of useless horseradish root -- I dried it and burned it with dried cow dung. It smells awful. The porridge soup also has a strange smell. Coryusha was at school these days. He's a flexible boy... They also know how to save. On his way home from school, he would pick up wood and boards and bring them home. Yeah... Spring came and the snow had melted, but he was still wearing his felt boots. The boots were often wet... He took them off, and his little feet were all red -- red. Just then they let his father out of prison and drove him home in a taxi. He was paralyzed in prison. He would lie there and look at me with a wry smile, and I would stand by the bed and look down at him and think to myself, 'Why should I keep him, such a pest? Better to throw him into a puddle in the street. 'But Coryusha saw it and wept. He was completely white, and as he looked at his father, large tears ran down his face. He said, 'Good mother, how is he? 'I said,' He's a dead man. '... Yeah, from this day on, it's been like this. And so it goes, my Lord. I work like a madman all day, but on a good day I only get twenty kopecks... I wish I could die... Even if it means killing yourself. Kryuska saw it all... He looked terrible... There was one time I couldn't watch... I say: This damn life! It would be nice to be dead... Even if one of you dies... I mean them, Father and Coleuza... Father nodded, as if he wanted to say: I am dying, don't scold me, be patient. But Kolyusha... He looked at me and went out. By the time I woke up... Oh, it's too late. Because of you, my Lord, he, Coryusha, had not been away for an hour -- a policeman arrived in a carriage. He said: 'Are you Madame Sishenina? 'I knew at once what was going on... He said, 'Please go to the hospital. 'he said,' Your son has been kicked by the horse of Anochen the merchant. '... I'll take a bus to the hospital. In the carriage it was as if I were sitting on red-hot nails. I thought to myself, 'Damn you, woman! 'Here we are. Corryussa, he lay there with bandages all over him. He smiled at me... Tears were streaming from his eyes... He said to me in a very small voice, 'Dear mother, forgive me! The inspector has the money. 'And I said,' Coryusha, God bless you. What money are you talking about? 'He said:' The people in the street threw it to me, and Anochen gave it to me... 'I asked,' Why do they give money? 'He said,' Because of this... 'He whispered... Moaning. His eyes were wide open... I said, 'Klutherka, my good son, how could you not see the horse coming? 'But, ah, Sir, he said to me clearly:' I saw it... The horse car... But... I didn't want to run away. I thought -- if I was crushed, they'd give me money. They actually gave money... 'That's what... What he said... I know that. I know how he feels. He's an angel, but it's too late. The next morning he was dead... He was conscious when he died. He kept saying, 'Good Mom, buy this for Dad, buy that for yourself... 'It sounds like a lot of money. Money -- forty-seven roubles, indeed. I went to Anochen's house, but he gave me five roubles... He said: 'Everyone saw that it was the child who ran into the trap, and you still come to ask me for money? 'I never came to him again. It is such a thing, my Lord."

She was silent, as cold and stiff as before.

The cemetery was empty and desolate: the cross, the ill-growing trees that stood in the middle of it, the burial mound, the expressionless woman sitting sadly on a grave -- all this reminded me of human suffering, of death.

Yet the cloudless sky was clear, and it spread dry heat.

I took some money from my pocket and gave it to the woman who was still alive, but whose heart had been killed by the misfortune of life.

She nodded and said to me in a very slow voice:

"Don't trouble you, Sir, I've had enough for one day... I don't really need much, and right now... It was just me... Alone in the world..."

She sighed deeply, and again pressed her lips, twisted by grief.