The Fairy Tale About The Hours

Elena Ponyatovskaya

 

It passed six generations to that. The master watch-maker lived. Often in the weekend master walked on his small town, listened to the back music of hours and thought: «Good hours, but I can make much better».

Townspeople very much respected the master and, when are meeting him, they wished to him happiness, good luck, health and that he would make else many great hours. But when they having departed aside, respectfully expressed about him. Here are the conversation of two ladies with parasols:

- You know, - said the first lady, - this master is our pride. He has glorified our small, but very accurate small town.

- Yes, he has the gold hands, - answered another lady.

And at that time the master went and thought: «Why people have families, animals have too, but the hours are not? Ah, how I should be happy, if to me come such customer to whom is need the family of hours! And how I should make it! The hours intended for one person, will approach only to him. Both on character, and on shape of hours it would be possible to tell about their owners …»

In that evening, when in the sky easy greenish waves waved, but sometimes the plumose orange lambs ran, nobody could present himself that such downpour gush. On the streets flowed the present rivers – not to get over. The master decided to stay in a workroom at the night. He falled asleep, listening how the tact of his hours intertwines with a rhythm of sad drops of continuing rain, and reflected: «Hours are bringing up by me, and they ticked in regular intervals, but the rain then strengthens that slows down the course, an each step – a new accord: simultaneous falling of drops on a roof, on the sheet of grapes, on the little light going away in the grass, on the tousled head of a titmouse. This music everybody hears, sees and feels … But it is interesting: who bringing it up? By golly, I shall go to be workmen to this miracle-worker. The remarkable watch-maker!»

Suddenly – knock at the door, which was opened, and from drizzling darkness had broken away a piece of not clear outlines. The fog flew into the room with him, had dissipated, and had appeared the coat with the long shirts and wet, but still beautiful moustaches.

- I wish order to you five hours for my family, - said appeared with foreign accent.

- The whole family of hours! - and the master jumped up on the bed.

- It is possible to say so, - smiled the stranger.

- Well, tell, tell me about you, - maundered the master, get round the mister and unwinding his scarf.

He poured some tea and showed the hours, which were in the workroom, talking, to whom they were belong. At the end the stranger himself unmistakably guessed, whose hours it is.

- Yes, make hours similar to my family. Me you had see. But my wife hadn’t. She is gentle and tender, clever woman, she greatly takes care of children. When she is being in pet or somebody pains her, her smile with which she meets everything in the life, does not disappear, only her eyes become such sad, that even our dog starts to whine.

About my mother. Now her face is in wrinkles and her hair is snow with ash, but in my juvenility friends, which meet me with her, asked if she is a bride. The charming person, but when is necessity she can by a severe word or by unexpected action to discourage everyone. She loves very much the family and all forces gives to grand daughters. By the way, about them.

One is adventuress, the girl with a drunk cherry inside. She is impatient – everything or nothing.

Another likes to travel together with me, to climb on the mountain trailways, to swim in the clouds, without seeing herself hand, to dash on hills, embracing a neck of a horse.

Now you know about us one or two. I give you term for the first hours three months.

- But it is too little, - tried to argue the master.

- Try to be in time. Here you are a half of the sum, the second half – when you finished. And so for each hours.

And he disappeared in dank night from which he was highlighted so unexpectedly and so wonderfully.

- See you later, - said the master for a closed door, he was surprised for such fast realisation of his dream, and he immediately start in for sketches of the next hours.

He composed, made numerous sketches, represented how his hours would look in material, glued sketchy layouts and choosed the first variant at last: the master seemed by this impression as the most exact, caught the being of person.

Being afraid not to be in time in time, the master has hung up the announcement: «Hours temporarily do not become. Holiday», but under his hands work hooted day and night that hardly it was possible to name holiday.

And here pocket hours-bulbs are ready. More truly, it there was a garlic head. You will break off one segment – hieroglyphs, figures of maya on a cut of a stone with stucco arabesques are visible; you will break off another – the white lily is blossom in snow-covered bluish mountains with islets of a green grass on the brown earth, and time here absolutely another, rather than in the previous cut. In garlic there was also a barometre, the thermometer and if to pull down half-and-half, on dials – the cards of hemispheres made with jeweller accuracy. Water was put by turquoise and emerald enamels, continents were made of coniferous pitch and amber, their borders with oceans are designated by the fallen asleep silver threads.

The master hastened to make the order in time – and he was in time (the third month has just ended), but the mister in black all did not come.

Now in the evenings at last it was possible to master to get out of the table, he goes to walk on a city and with amazement for himself detected that trees are already blossom, people carry easy clothes – he greedy inhaled a wind with smells of foliage, of a grass and of the promise something else more beautiful.

The master still had money of the first hours, and he has decided to begin work on the second – for the fine lady. Gradually from a smooth ivory there was a lock with carved doors and balconies, narrow windows and fantastic patterned turrets, and with hours on the front party.

The master made hours and for mother of the customer. It was a wooden wall clock with a pendulum and with elephants – a symbol of wisdom.

But money melted every day, and as the master refused to in all (except bread), soon they ended. These days to the master came the familiar worker with the account for light, which master burnt down at the nights. It was terribly awkward for the master always accurately paying, it was awkward for the worker to disconnect the light at the master always treating him tea with biscuits, but there's nothing to do…

The master was hungry, him was cold, he could not get up from the bed. Though, what it was the bed? On a floor lay thin mattress, the pillow wasn’t, a bed-sheet instead of a blanket (after all when the master started to do the first hours it was warm).

Year came to an end, and the stranger in black all did not come. And the master removed the former plate hanging on doors, and has attached the new: «I do and I repair hours. Welcome».

There was again money. And the master has made hours for daughters of the customer. For senior – hours-medallions with the engraved blossoming cherry, for younger – marching wirst, very strong hours which are not afraid of blows and water, with the image of a horse.

– What fine work! – townspeople admired, admiring a family of hours and begging the master to sell thise unusual watches (after all their customer sunk!), but the master flatly refused and did for townspeople other hours...

And here once knock at a door in the evening was distributed.

The master opened. There was that stranger in the black. Only now it was in white. The beard has not grown, moustaches remained also year have increased.

- I travelled, - he has told, - and me have captured. But here I at last have got on freedom. I yet did not see my family, I have decided that I will present in a gift to them your hours.

- Oh yes! I have made them, - the master has told. - here it are.

- О-о, I was not mistaken, having trusted in you, – the stranger has exclaimed. – That will be delighted my family. Here your well-deserved reward.

The master was happy. His dream has come true. He has established a magnificent family of hours which have suddenly revived and become to tick in hands of the stranger - it there was a secret of the master and secret of five hours: they could go only at the hands of their owners! (That is why the master could not sell to anybody them!..).

But the white-black stranger has arrived home. At dinner he told to a family about the adventures and presented the hours. Which immediately revived in hands of their mistresses. And all were delighted of the work of the master.

But the master of the house has soon ordered to construct the present royal museum for hours!

After all the customer was the king, his wife – the queen, and daughters – the princesses.

 

Elena Ponyatovskaya