Classics fantasy – 3

– Who owner of this jade?

– To kill! To tear to pieces it! Where it?

– Here it, in a hat… the inventor Wagner…

– Though physicist, and swindler. Beat him!.

– Misters! – tried to outvoice crowd of people in a hat. – Calm down. I did not put on the jade. I was not going to beat you… Also wanted only…

Shouts of indignation muffled its voice. Over a hat fists, umbrellas, canes rose. It is unknown, than it would come to an end if Wagner did not lift the sphere which brightly sparkled in the sun size about billiard.

– Bomb! – he screamed. The crowd in horror jumped aside. The inventor disappeared.

Such is there was an event described in the magazine. I became interested in Wagner, found for him and, having got acquainted, started talking about a case on a hippodrome. The young inventor hopelessly waved a hand.

– My next nonsense. Nonsense. How many times I promised «to go not that street» – not to rasshibat a forehead a wall. And here the next cone … – And it rubbed a forehead on which really there was a cone. – Donkikhotstvo.

– It could be worse – having burst out laughing, I told. – You were saved by resourcefulness. But about what wall and about what donkikhotstvo you speak?

– About a wall of stagnancy, dullness, conservatism of our government and our public. We hopelessly lagged behind in the technician from Europe and America. We still did not leave a plow. Fundamentals of our power still are natural horse backs. From all this it is possible to come to a despair. I cannot reconcile with it, well and still donkikhotstvy. I take each convenient and inconvenient opportunity to convince these people that the small motor can be stronger than a big horse that the self-moving crew will overtake any trotter. – Wagner’s eyes derisively blinked the eyes. – This jade whom you saw, not live is the automatic machine, a mechanical toy. They did not even notice it. Saw only a motor and levers. Isn’t that so, it is well made? – cheerfully he asked, having seen the amazement mixed with admiration on my face. After this he sighed. – I did not manage even to explain. They are mad about money, about the totalizator… Villains! They suspected even that I just wanted to beat them. However we will turn this sad page and somewhat quicker we will forget about it – Wagner already with usual good nature told. – I am occupied now by one fascinating idea… one invention … – And it rubbed the cone on a forehead again.

– It you on a hippodrome was so decorated? – I asked.

– Yes… is not present, it I itself. One idea holds apart the head, and here cones. On a forehead and on a nape. You come more often, a guest you will be.

I used this invitation, became constant visitor at Wagner and every time found it with the new cone on the head and grazes on hands. «Idea» as a disease, came to light. Wagner laughed away and did not open the true reason of these wounds. Once he met me with the bandaged head and the tied-up right hand. Cheerfully smiling, he offered to me the left hand and told:

– The idea ripened. Yes, it seems to me, it is time to reap the harvest.

– Whether not to wait until it is possible to remove bandage? – it is sympathizing I asked.

– Trifles. If you help me… Perfectly. I also did not doubt you. And so, come to me on the dacha tomorrow, and you will see… Yes you will see that you will see … – And Wagner cunning blinked the right eye – left was bandaged.

The next day early in the morning I descended from the train on the thrown substation and walked on the desert country road. Around neither dachas, nor wood. Quite sad, desert town. On the horizon gray country huts – the village Kolodezi – the purpose of my travel. In the village many wells with high cranes were valid. Sign: near the highest crane, in a «pure» half of a country hut, Wagner lodged. He met me already without bandage, treated with strong tea with cream and rye flat cakes with oil and told:

– Well – with if you were not tired, an idemta.

The inventor took a small suitcase from a table, in an outer entrance hall took an oar, two rods and came to the dusty street.

– And rods and an oar what for? – I with astonishment asked.

– Masking – Wagner winked at me. – That for us were not coordinated curious, увидав that people with suitcases go not to the station, and in the field. And so all will decide that we go to fishing.

I about this masking had a dissenting opinion: if as could excite curiosity of natives, so it is rods. I knew well that on three tens kilometers there was around neither river, nor the lake where fish would be found. Fortunately, the village as if became extinct – all were at field works. To us only one ancient old woman who crept out met to get warm in the sun. Having seen rods, she long saw off us the surprised eyes, having slightly opened a toothless mouth.

We went beyond a village fence and vigorously walked to the so-called old ground remote of kilometer on four from a small village. Here once there were military of the camp. The huge field overgrown with weeds, on the one hand was fenced with the lop-sided old fence, with another – became isolated an earth shaft. Near a fence and behind it huge heaps of dry horse manure towered. Wagner stopped near these «Augean stables», threw rods and took seat on a suitcase. He all road kept silence. I was burned with curiosity, but did not ask, knowing that Wagner himself will reveal to me the secret soon. And this moment came… The beginning was unexpected.

– How it seems to you whether the person is well made? It seems to me, badly. Worse than a flea. You laugh? In vain. A flea – an insignificant insect. So. And she jumps in tens and hundreds of times are higher than the growth. The person – a universe wreath – jumps in height on two meters and in length at three-four meters, the most bigger. Unless it is not offensive for human dignity?

– And you decided to correct this injustice of the nature? – I asked Wagner, beginning to guess.

– Yes, I dare to think that I will manage to correct this subquality work. The person learned to cross oceans, to rise in air, to skate, ski, get on smooth cable columns. Why don’t it learn to jump in a flea way if not in hundreds then is tens times higher also further the growth? How? Using the muscular force of hands and legs and small adaptation.

Wagner opened a suitcase and took out four springs resembling matratsny from there. Springs were attached to plates, on plates there were belts. Two springs were big – for hands – the inventor explained – and two it is less – foot. Wagner quickly tied plate belts with springs to legs and asked me that I helped to bind springs on hands.

– All this is still primitive. Test of the principle. The main difficulty – to calculate balance – he said while I tightened to it belts. – I thank you. Now you will help me to get on a fence. Here we and an oar need.

The newborn person flea got on a fence. To be more exact, I with own hand raised and seated him as with the springs it was absolutely helpless.

– Well – with, so, we begin. Attention! Time, two, three!. – Wagner jumped. The spring on a leg was hooked for the acting fence board, and the inventor fell sideways.

– Better luck next time – he good-natured told.

– Judging by your cones and scratches, it is not the first pancake – I noticed.

– On these springs – the first. Latest model. Help me to rise, please, and again to climb up a fence.

It became tiresome.

– So, we begin.

– We continue – I corrected.

– All question in successfully to jump on all fours. It is easier for flea to jump, she has six legs – Wagner told. – And well, hop!

Already how it fell – the head down, I guessed that the jump will be unsuccessful again. And it is valid, the first blow – all weight of a body – fell on hands. Threw Wagner up and back. Having described an arch, he disappeared behind a fence.

I found the unlucky inventor on a heap of horse manure. Wagner lay on a back and pottered about as a bug who vainly tried to turn over on legs. To my astonishment, Wagner’s face brightened with pleasure.

– Springs, springs what, and? As threw! This time there will be a sense.

And, when Wagner jumped for the third time, there was a sense. Even, perhaps, bigger, than the inventor expected. «Flea» managed to fall by all four legs and to make a jump. Wagner, apparently, used muscles of legs as the second jump was higher and farther. The third, fourth is even better. And suddenly I heard uneasy shout:

– Hold me! I cannot stop!

Unfortunate! He also did not think of it. I rushed behind it, but where there! Wagner as a huge flea, huge jumps quickly moved away from me. The high earth shaft blocked it a way. The jumper could not turn aside. Some more jumps – and Wagner hit the head against an earth shaft, turned over head over heels and fell.

– I did not punch a hole in earth to a shaft? – slowly, hardly moving language, Wagner when recovered asked me. He still could joke.

* * *

I did not see Wagner several years. Unexpectedly he reminded of himself, having called by phone. He invited me to himself to the dacha so simply as if we left it only yesterday.

«There are news. If you allow, I will come for you on the car».

Did not pass also hour as I already went with Wagner by his car on the magnificent highway Moscow – Minsk. Externally Wagner changed a little, only his beard became as though is longer and more dense. He drove the covered car of the extended, well streamline shape. The car flew with such speed that I could hardly distinguish counter bridges, beautiful hotels standing at the road in picturesque corners – on woody hills or on the river bank. After an hour of such mad driving Wagner reduced speed, turned from the highway to the good highway, about half an hour flew with a speed of fifty kilometers per hour and, at last, stopped near a lonely cottage.

– Here we and houses.