Girl with matches. the true meaning of this tale
Mayu Lassila. For matches
CHAPTER FIRST
What, a black cow calved at Vatanen’s? - said Anna-Liisa, wife of Antti Ihalainen, who lives in the village of Koutsu in Liperi.
She said this as if to herself, putting the bread in the oven. This thought flashed through her head just like that, unexpectedly.
They say she’s already calved,” answered Miina Sormunen, who happened to come to visit and was now drinking coffee, noisily sipping. Then, thinking that Anna-Liisa was talking, perhaps, about Antti Vatanen’s cow, she asked again:
What are you talking about Jussi Vatanen's cow?
Yes,” answered Anna-Liisa. Then Miina confirmed again:
They say she has already calved.
Ah, that's how it is...
Anna-Liisa fiddled with her bread for a while, then asked again:
Did she bring a heifer or a bull?
Jussi Vatanen's cow? - Yes…
They say she brought a heifer,” said Miina.
The heifer, then... Did Jussi leave her or kill her? - Anna-Liisa continued to ask.
Sipping coffee, Miina said:
It seems he stabbed her.
This Jussi already has a large herd. What else should he leave them for?
There was a long silence. The owner himself, Antti Iha-lainen, lay on his belly on the bench with a pipe in his teeth. His eyes were half-closed, and his pipe was almost falling out of his mouth.
However, he heard the conversation and even in his sleep understood what was being said. Of course, he did not understand everything with sufficient clarity, but he still figured out something. And he even muttered in his sleep:
Jussi has enough cattle. How many milk cows does he have now?
“Ah, I woke up,” said Anna-Liisa. Miina Sormunen began counting the cows:
Perhaps he will have fifteen together with that black cow that he bought from Voutilainen.
“Oh, fifteen,” Antti muttered and fell back into a sweet sleep. And his pipe, swaying, seemed about to fall.
Miina repeated:
Jussi has fifteen milk cows.
Well, milk in his house! - Anna-Liisa said in surprise and after a moment added: - It wouldn’t hurt to have a mistress in such a house...
Taking a bite of sugar, Miina in turn said:
Just wait, this Jussi is getting married. It's almost a year since the death of his Loviisa.
“It’s time for him to get married,” Anna-Liisa agreed. And after fiddling a little with the bread, she, after thinking about it, asked:
How old is this very daughter of Pekka Hyväri-nena?
Hyvärinen from Luos? - Miina asked carefully.
Yes, from Luos...
Wouldn’t she... Excuse me, she’s the same age as Ida Olkkola! - Miina exclaimed.
Ah, that's it... Well, then it's time for her to leave her parents. They have enough workers without her... Isn’t Jussi Vatanen thinking about her?
About this, perhaps, Hyvärinen’s daughter? - Antti muttered again through his sleep.
They say he means her,” Miina answered. - But will there be any sense in this?
Here Anna-Liisa, standing up for Hyvärinen’s daughter, said:
She would be a suitable wife for Jussi. After all, Jussi himself is far from young.
And then, wanting to clarify Jussi’s age, she asked: “How old is this Jussi?”
Miina began to count:
Well, old Voutilainen has entered his sixties since Candlemas. Wasn’t it also our Jussi in those years?
He's exactly his age. “Now I remember it,” Anna-Liisa confirmed. And then, having entered the path of memories, she put into use her entire stock of information.
At first, they say, he was going to marry Kaisa Karhutar, and then in the end he got involved with his late Loviisa.
This Jussi Vatanen?
Yes... At first he thought about Karhutar.
Oh, that's it! - Miina was surprised. Anna-Liisa explained:
Karhutar, you see, then married Makkonen. And she went with him to the city of Yoki... Isn’t she still living there with her husband?.. Well, this Karhutar has always dreamed of city life... But it’s unlikely that she lives better there than in any other place...
“Of course, she’s no better there,” Miina agreed. - They say that Hakulinen’s family lives there in complete poverty.
At that time I also told Karhutar to follow Jussi Vatanen. In his house she would not have to sit without bread. Besides, Jussi himself is still quite a nice man.
He’s a strong-built man,” Miina confirmed. - True, his nose looks like a potato. This is precisely why they sometimes make fun of him.
Well, Hyvärinen’s daughter’s nose is not particularly beautiful either. Plus she's red. And she has no reason to disdain this Jussi. I would have taken it and married him.
And then, finally taking Jussi Vatanen under her protection, Anna-Liisa added:
Well, as for his nose, Jussi always got by with his nose very well and knew how to blow his nose when required.
Closing the chimney, Anna-Liisa added:
What good is it if a man has a beautiful nose if he has more to his soul and has nothing masculine except his pants?
Miina Sormunen was of the same opinion. Referring to Aina-Liisa's husband's nose, she said:
It is quite possible to blow your nose even if you have such a nose. Your Ihalainen’s nose is no better.
They have the same noses. And my Ihalainen treated him well too. Both my husband and I lived well, and we never lacked food!
There was silence again as Miina drank her second cup of coffee and Anna-Liisa fussed with her bread.
However, having dealt with this, Anna-Liisa returned to the topic that was interesting to her:
My Ihalainen and Jussi Vatanen have been together since childhood. And they even stopped drinking at the same time... After that, like drunken eyes, they beat that fool Niiranen... Then they had to give four cows for his broken ribs... They damaged four of his ribs... This is my Ihalainen and Vatanen.
So why haven't they been drinking since then? After all, more than twenty years have passed since that time? - Miina asked in surprise.
No, they don’t even put poppy dew in their mouths, although Vatanen still has half a bottle of wine from that time. Well, my Ihalainen hasn’t consumed anything like wine since then. He is even wary of water. Unless sometimes he goes to the bathhouse to wash his eyes with water.
What are you talking about?
After a pause, Anna-Liisa began to talk about her husband, not without sympathy:
There might not have been any unnecessary talk about the fact that they beat Niiranen, but, you see, this Niiranen himself made a fuss - he found fault with the men over such an empty matter as his broken ribs. And he even wanted to sue. And then the men said that they would give him a cow for each of his ribs that were broken there in a fight, unless, of course, he brought up a lawsuit over such trifles. And since then they have become especially friends - my Ihalainen and Jussi Vatanen. They are like two peas in a pod, although my Ihalainen is six months younger than Vatanen.
Mayu Lassila
For matches
CHAPTER FIRST
– What, the black cow calved at Vatanen’s? - said Anna-Liisa, wife of Antti Ihalainen, who lives in the village of Koutsu in Liperi.
She said this as if to herself, putting the bread in the oven. This thought flashed through her head just like that, unexpectedly.
“They say she’s already calved,” answered Miina Sormunen, who accidentally came to visit and was now drinking coffee, noisily sipping. Then, thinking that Anna-Liisa was talking, perhaps, about Antti Vatanen’s cow, she asked again:
– What are you talking about Jussi Vatanen’s cow?
“Yes,” Anna-Liisa answered. Then Miina confirmed again:
“They say she’s already calved.”
- Oh, that's how it is...
Anna-Liisa fiddled with her bread for a while, then asked again:
– Did she bring a heifer or a bull?
– Jussi Vatanen’s cow? - Yes…
“They say she brought a heifer,” said Miina.
- The heifer, then... Did Jussi leave her or kill her? – Anna-Liisa continued to ask.
Sipping coffee, Miina said:
“I think he stabbed her.”
– This Jussi already has a large herd. What else should he leave them for?
There was a long silence. The owner himself, Antti Iha-lainen, lay on his belly on the bench with a pipe in his teeth. His eyes were half-closed, and his pipe was almost falling out of his mouth.
However, he heard the conversation and even in his sleep understood what was being said. Of course, he did not understand everything with sufficient clarity, but he still figured out something. And he even muttered in his sleep:
– Jussi has enough cattle. How many milk cows does he have now?
“Ah-ah, I woke up,” said Anna-Liisa. Miina Sormunen began counting the cows:
“He’ll probably have fifteen, along with that black cow he bought from Voutilainen.”
“Oh, fifteen,” Antti muttered and fell back into a sweet sleep. And his pipe, swaying, seemed about to fall.
Miina repeated:
– Jussi has fifteen milk cows.
- Well, milk in his house! – Anna-Liisa said in surprise and after a moment added: – It wouldn’t hurt to have a mistress in such a house...
Taking a bite of sugar, Miina in turn said:
- Just wait, this Jussi is getting married. It's almost a year since the death of his Loviisa.
“It’s time for him to get married,” Anna-Liisa agreed. And after fiddling a little with the bread, she, after thinking about it, asked:
– How old is this same daughter of Pekka Hyväri-nen?
– Hyvärinen from Luos? – Miina asked carefully.
- Yes, from Luos...
– Wouldn’t she be... Excuse me, she’s the same age as Ida Olkkola! – Miina exclaimed.
– Ah, that’s it... Well, then it’s time for her to leave her parents. They have enough workers without her... Isn’t Jussi Vatanen thinking about her?
– About this, perhaps, Hyvärinen’s daughter? – Antti muttered again through his sleep.
“They say he means her,” Miina answered. - But will there be any sense in this?
Here Anna-Liisa, standing up for Hyvärinen’s daughter, said:
“She would be a suitable wife for Jussi.” After all, Jussi himself is far from young.
And then, wanting to clarify Jussi’s age, she asked: “How old is this Jussi?”
Miina began to count:
- Yes, old Voutilainen has entered his sixties since Candlemas. Wasn’t it also our Jussi in those years?
“He’s exactly his age.” “Now I remember it,” Anna-Liisa confirmed. And then, having entered the path of memories, she put into use her entire stock of information.
Abstract to the book “Tricks with matches”
The main rule by which the tricks were selected for this publication is the simplicity of the secret of execution and the impact of the external effect. The author refrained from placing tricks with a primitive external effect in the brochure.
The book features mostly magic tricks rather than puzzles or entertaining physics experiments.
The publication presents automatic tricks that do not require additional training or special sleight of hand, which can be achieved by anyone who knows their secret. At the same time, they are quite effective. Some of them can serve as the basis for creating large-scale illusions.
The tricks are, if possible, modernized and, as the author hopes, will contribute to meaningful leisure time for readers.
Total pages - 163, tricks - 33, puzzles, jokes, practical jokes - 7, color illustrations - 224, the publication contains a glossary.
Age restrictions: 18+
NB: The book is in electronic form in .pdf format.
After payment, the book is sent by email.
Mikhail Vladimirovich Izotov has 14 USSR copyright certificates and 3 Russian Federation patents for inventions. 15 of them are devoted to illusionary themes. The author of an illusionary invention put into practice, for which he received the “Inventor of the USSR” badge. Awarded the badge of the Central Committee of VOIR “Excellence in Invention and Rationalization of 1989.”
In 1977 he graduated from the Riga Higher Military Red Banner School. Marshal of the Soviet Union Biryuzov S.S. Specialty: automated control and monitoring systems, qualification: military electronics engineer.
In 1990, he graduated from the Central Institute for Advanced Training of Managers and National Economy Specialists in the Field of Patent Work, Leningrad. He defended his thesis on the totality of his illusionary inventions on the topic: “Some issues of creating new technical solutions in the field of illusionism.” Specialty: patent specialist (specialist in the protection of intellectual (industrial) property).
2004-2007 — RSUH (Russian State University for the Humanities), lawyer.
Contact Information:
Friday, October 23, 2009
A great short story with an expected yet unexpected ending.
You might think that borrowing a match on the street is a simple thing. But any person who has ever tried to do this will assure you that this is not so, and he will be ready to swear to the authenticity of my experience that evening.
I was standing on a street corner with a cigar that I wanted to light. I didn't have a match. I waited until a decent, ordinary-looking man walked down the street. Then I said:
“Excuse me, sir, but could you do me a favor by lending me a match?”
“A match? - he said. “Why not, of course.” He then undid the buttons of his coat and put his hand in the pocket of his vest. “I know I have one,” he continued. “I’m almost ready to swear it’s in the bottom pocket - or, don’t go, although I guessed it might be in the top pocket - just wait until I put these bags on the sidewalk.”
“Oh, don't worry,” I said, “it really doesn't matter.”
“No worries, I’ll have her in a minute; I know that somewhere here I should have one,” he rummaged with his fingers in his pocket as he expressed this, “but, you understand, this is not the vest that I mostly…”
I saw that this man was becoming more and more excited about this. “Well, it’s okay,” I protested, “if this is not the vest that you wear most of the time - why would it, it doesn’t matter.”
“Don’t leave, now, don’t leave! - the man called. “I have one of those damn things around here somewhere.” I believe it may be inside my watch. No, she's not here either. Wait while I check my coat. If only that damned tailor was smart enough to sew the pocket so that it could be reached!”
He had already become quite excited. He threw away his cane and rummaged through his pockets with his dentures. “This is all my damned boy,” he hissed, “all because of his tomfoolery in my pockets. I swear to God! I hope I don't beat him too badly when I get home. I'll tell you, I'll bet it's in my back pants pocket. Just hold the tails of my coat for a second while I…”
“No, no,” I protested again, “please don’t take on all this trouble, it’s really not important at all. I am sure that you should not take off your coat, and, oh, I beg you, do not throw your letters and things out of your pockets into the snow, and do not tear your pockets to the bottom in this way! Please, please, don't trample your coat or crush boxes under your feet. I really hate to hear you trash your little boy with that special whine in your voice. Don’t tear - please don’t tear your clothes so violently.”
Suddenly the man let out a roar of exaltation, and threw his hand up from the inside lining of his coat.
“I found her,” he shouted. - Here she is!" Then he held it up to the light.
It turned out to be a toothpick.
Obeying an instant impulse, I pushed him under the wheels of the trolleybus and ran away.