Officer Ochulov, dressed in a new army coat and carrying a small bag, crossed the square of the market. He was followed by a fiery red-haired patrolman carrying a sieve filled with confiscated gooseberries. There was silence in all four. There was no one in the square. The doors of shops and restaurants were listlessly open, facing the world God had created, like many hungry mouths; there was not even a single beggar at the door.
"Well wow, you bite? Damn stuff! Ochulov suddenly heard a shout: "Guys, don't let it go!" This year, biting is not ok! Catch it! ouch...... ouch! ”
There was the scream of a dog. Ochurov glanced over to the other side and saw a dog running out of the merchant Pichukin's firewood factory, running upside down on three legs, and kept looking back. It was followed by a man, wearing a slurred floral shirt and open shoulders. He caught up with the dog, leaned forward, threw himself to the ground, and grabbed the dog's hind legs. There was the barking of dogs again, and the cries of others: "Don't let it go!" "Someone popped his head out of the store, his face still drowsy. A crowd soon gathered around the wood factory, as if they had suddenly emerged from underground.
"Something seems to be going wrong, sir!" The patrol officer said.
Ochurov turned slightly to the left and walked toward the crowd. At the door of the wood factory, he saw the man with the shoulders open raised his right hand and stretched out a bloody finger for people to see. His half-drunken face showed this kind of aura: "I will peel your skin, villain!" "Even that finger looks like a flag of victory. Ochurov recognized the man as the jeweler Heliokin. The "criminal" in this case, sitting on the ground in the middle of the crowd, his front legs split and trembling—it turned out to be a small white hunting dog with a pointed face and a macula on his back. Its tearful eyes showed a look of sorrow and horror.
"What the hell is going on here?" Ochurov squeezed into the crowd and asked, "What are you doing here?" Why on earth are you holding that finger? ...... Who's yelling? ”
"Sir, I walked my way well, and I didn't provoke anyone..." Hlyukin spoke, put his hand over his mouth, and coughed, "I was talking to Mithri Mitrici about firewood, and suddenly this beast bit this finger for no reason... You have to forgive me, I'm a worker, I'm doing meticulous work. They have to pay me a sum of money, because maybe I can't use this finger for a week... Sir, there is not even a law that says that people should endure the harm of animals. If everyone let the beasts bite like this, then there would be no living head in this world. ”
"Hmm! Not bad..." Said Ochurov sternly, coughing and furrowing his brows, "Not bad... Whose dog is this? I will not let this happen easily! I'm going to show some color to the people who let the dogs out and run around. Since those old men were unwilling to obey the law, they had to take care of them now. It wasn't until he, the bastard, was punished and took out the money that he would know what would happen if he released this dog, and released this wild beast. I'm going to educate him well!" Yeldrin," said the sergeant to the patrolman, "go and investigate whose dog this is, and make a report!" This dog, get it dead. Do it now, don't delay! It's probably a mad dog... Whose dog is this? ”
"It seems to be General Sigalov's dog." Someone in the crowd said.
"General Sigalov? oh! ...... Yeldrin, help me take my coat off... It's so hot, it looks like it's going to rain... There's just one thing I don't understand yet: how could it bite you? Ochurov said to Hlyukin, "Is it enough to hold your fingers?" It's so small; you're so big! Your finger must have been broken by the little nail, but then you had a whimsical idea and wanted to get some compensation. You kind of person... It's famous! I know what you guys are!" ”
"Sir, he was joking and poked the cigarette roll into the dog's face; the dog, who wouldn't be a fool, bit him... He's a ridiculous fellow, sir! ”
"Nonsense, one-eyed ghost! You don't see anything, why are you talking nonsense? He was a man of understanding, and could see who was talking nonsense, who spoke with conscience as if in the presence of God; if I had lied, let the mediator judge ask me. He made it clear legally that now everyone is equal. Don't tell you that my brother is a gendarme..."
"Talk less nonsense!"
"No, this is not the general's dog..." said the patrolman thoughtfully, "there is no such dog in the general's house." His dogs were all big hounds. ”
"Are you sure?"
"Get it right, sir..."
"I know that too. The general's house is full of precious, purebred dogs; this dog, the ghost knows what it is! The coat color is not good, the appearance is not good, it is completely a lower embryo. Some people actually have this kind of dog! Where is this man's brain? If such a dog were to be met in St. Petersburg or Moscow, guess what? The people there don't care what law is not legal, and in the blink of an eye, they will make it out of breath! You, Heliukin, have been victimized, and we must not leave it alone. Teach them a lesson! It's time. ”
"But maybe it's the general's dog..." The patrolman said his thoughts, "and its face is not written... I saw such a dog in the general's yard the other day. ”
"That's right, the general's!" Someone in the crowd said.
"Oh! ...... Brother Yeldrin, put me on my coat... It seems to be windy, it's cold... You take the dog to the general's house and ask for clarification. Let's just say that I found this dog and sent someone to send it. Tell them not to put their dogs on the street again. Maybe it was a precious dog; but if every pig cub had poked a cigarette in the nose, it would have been ruined. Dogs are delicate animals... You bastard, put your hands down! Don't stick your stupid fingers out! Blame yourself for being bad! ......”
"The cook of the general's house came and asked him well—hey, Prochar! Come on, man, come up here! Look at this dog, is it yours? ”
"Guess what! We've never had a dog like this there! ”
"Then there is no need to go up there and ask in vain," said Ochurov, "this is a wild dog!" There is no need to waste time talking. Since Prochal said it was a wild dog, it was a wild dog. Kill it. "This is not our dog," prochal went on, "it is the dog of the general's brother. His brother had only been here a few days before. Our general did not like this little beagle, but his brother did. "Is his brother coming?" Is it Uladimir Ivanich? Ochulov asked, his whole face filled with a smile of warmth, "Oh my God! I don't know yet! Did he come up here and stay for a while and then leave? ”
"I'm here to stay for a while."
"Oh my God! He was thinking about his brother... But I don't know yet! So, this is his old man's dog? Very happy... Take it with you. This puppy is not bad, weird, and bites this guy's finger in one bite! Hahaha... Come on, why are you shaking? Whining...... Whining...... This villain is angry... What a puppy..."
Prochar called out the dog's name and took it away from the wood factory. The group laughed at Helyukin.
"Sooner or later I'm going to pick you up!" Ochurov threatened him, wrapped his coat tightly, and walked through the square of the market.