Munoo 1 had been watching the cattle on the bank of the Beas ? and had begun to play with the boys while the cattle lay in the low waters of the river when his aunt called him. "Munoo! Oh, Munoo! Where are you? Come back, you of the evil star. Your uncle is leaving soon, and you must go to the town!" shouted she from the veranda of a little hut, which stood a hundred metres away from the village. Munoo heard, but he did not answer. He only came out from under the tree. "Munoo! Oh, Munoo!" she called again. "Where have you gone, you good-for-nothing orphan? Come home and go away!" "Your aunt is calling you," said the son of the village land-lord. "Don't you hear, you savage? Why don't you answer her?" "You mustn't call Munoo a savage because he does not go home when his aunt calls him," said another boy. "He goes to school and in summer he watches the cattle, and you don't do anything. You don't even want to go to school though your father gives you pocket money. Is it true that you are going away to town, Munoo?" "Yes, I am going away this morning," replied the boy. "But you are only fourteen years old, and you haven't finished school!" "My uncle says it is time'for me to earn my living. He has got a job for me in the house of the Babu & of the bank where he works in Shampur." 4 "It must be nice to live in Shampur," said the landlord's son, but Munoo did not want to speak to the boy. He had not forgotten that it was this boy's father who had taken five acres of land from his father because he could not pay for the land in time. And he knew that his father had died in great poverty and left his mother without a penny when Munoo was still a little child. He remembered how hard his mother had worked day and night and he could never forget her as she lay dead on the ground with a terrible expression on her face. "Will you never come back?" asked one of the boys. "No, never; I don't want to come back," answered Munoo. But in his heart he did not yet want to go to town though his aunt beat him more than he beat his cattle. He had dreamed of all the wonderful things which the village people spoke about when they came back from towns. He wanted very much to see the machines he had read about in his textbook, but he wanted to go to town when he had passed all his examinations here and was ready to learn how to make machines. No, he didn't want to go yet, because it was pleasant to be here with the boys of his age, to play "You catch me only in the air", 1 jumping like a monkey from one tree to another; to lie under the trees watching the cattle and eat some fruit. "Munoo! Oh, Munoo!" shouted his aunt again. He got up. All the boys got up too. He called his cattle and drove the animals towards home, a little more quickly today than ever before. lesson that you will remember to the end of your life." He said the last words raising himself to his full height. The foreman stepped back saying: "Go to your work or I will strike you, you fooll I rented the hut to them, not to you. It is none of your business." 1 "Ratan! Ratanl" the crowd of coolies called. "Sahib..." "You are insulting a superior," said the foreman. "Are you mad?" "Sahib or no Sahib," Ratan replied. "You may be a fore-man, but you have no right to beat the mill workers!" "I shall take the full rent for the month," said the foreman retreating. "That's all! Attention! March to your jobs, all of you." Ratan walked away to the mill followed by Munoo. The coolies ran to their jobs. They were panic-stricken. "You look out," a young coolie said, coming up to Ratan. "He will have his revenge on you." ? "Ratan, brother, what will happen now!" cried Munoo when they began their work. "Don't be afraid," said Ratan. "I have seen men like this Jimmie. I worked at the steel works at Jamshedpur. There were fifty thousand workers there. And all went on strike + one day, because the Company cut our wages. Who made the Company agree to our terms if not I!" "Why did you leave the Jamshedpur works then?" asked Munoo. "Oh, we went on strike again as a protest against long hours, general bad treatment and bad housing conditions. And the Company won over the leaders by bribing them. I caught one of these betrayers and... showed him what I thought of him. After that I left." ? "I would like to go to a steel works," Munoo said eagerly. "I was eighteen when I went there." "Was the work easy?" "Easy?" Ratan repeated sarcastically. "Sometimes, when I changed from the day shift to the night shift, or back again, "Come quickly, or I will be late at the office!" shouted Daya Ram, who was working as an errand-man of the Imperial Bank of India.1 There were tears in Munoo's eyes as he looked at his hurt feet. "My feet hurt me," & he cried in reply to his uncle's words "Come, come," & said Daya Ram, of shoes out of your next month's pay." "I can't walk," said Munoo hearing the noise of a coming cart, "that driver will give me a lift " if you ask him." "No, no, he will want money for it,' ," said Daya Ram loud- ly, so that the driver of the cart might hear his words and take the boy without money. He"himself was too proud of his uniform to ask the driver. the back be so said the courtifAnd you can haye a lift too if you like. You must be warm in that red woolen uniform." "Keep silent!s I did not talk to you," cried Daya Ram. "Go your way, or I will have you put into prison. Don't you know that I am a Government official!"® "I am very sorry for that poor boy? who has no shoes. You have no heart," answered the driver, and drove on.® "Now come quickly, or I will kill you," shouted Daya Ram turning to Munoo. Munoo wiped the tears that were running down his cheeks and walked on in the terrible heat. But when the boy saw a large number of houses at the foot of the hill, he forgot how hard his way to the town had been. He liked the bright colours, the new houses and everything that was around him, especially the strange carts without horses that ran along the main road. He was glad to be in a new place and to see wonderful things. And oh, wonder of all wonders,® he saw a black metal people came out of the animal. "Wonderful," Munoo said to himself. "Wonderfull" "Where is their cattle and where are their fields, Uncle?" he asked turning to Daya Ram. "They have no cattle and no fields here." "But how do they get their food, Uncle?" "They have money, " said Daya Ram. "They have much money in my bank. They get money by buying wheat or cotton which the peasants grow and by selling it to the English Government. Some of them are Babus who work in offices. You will work as a servant in the house of such a Babu." "How strange!" the boy thought as he walked slowly behind his uncle. A man was shouting, "Ices, cool ices," and selling ice-cream to some people who were sitting on a wooden bench before him. Munoo wanted to taste one of those ices, but he was afraid to ask his uncle to buy him one. He smiled when he heard the words of a song which came from a box with a black disk. He stepped back when the song became louder, but then came nearer again. "Come, come, or you will get lost," i his uncle called from a distance. "Who is singing there? How does a man get into a box to sing?" he asked. "Hurry up, hurry up, you fool!" shouted Daya Ram. "That is a record. There is no man in the box. It's the machine that speaks." The boy was afraid to ask how the machine spoke, but he did not want to leave this wonderful box. "Tin, tin, tin, tin," a bell suddenly rang behind Munoo, and a voice shouted, "Look out, you fool!" Munoo quickly stepped aside and a steel horse on two wheels passed him at a great speed. "You rascal! You will be killed!" Munoo heard angry words of abuse coming from his uncle. An old man came up to the boy, saying kindly: "Let abuse come in at one ear and go out through the oth- er" The boy smiled at the words, but his uncle struck him, shouting, "Walk quickly, you dog! I have no time to lose.""Bibiji," 2 said Daya Ram with joined hands a to a dark woman with a sharp nose who had opened the door to them, "I have brought my brother's son to serve you. Babuji + told me to bring him. Here he is." § Then he looked angrily at Munoo and whispered, "Join your hands to the Bibiji and say 'I fall at your feet!' Munoo did as his uncle told him, but he did not like the dark woman. "May I leave him here, Bibiji?" Daya Ram asked bowing low. Munoo waited with a sad heart for the woman's answer. He was afraid of her. "All right," she said to Daya Ram. "Now go and tell Ba-buji to buy some vegetables and send them with the boy." Munoo felt very hungry and tired after the long march through the hills and the town. He had thought that he would be able to sit down and rest when he came to the Babu's house, and that he would be given some food, as it was the custom in their village. Instead, he was asked to do some work the very minute * he arrived. "Perhaps the customs in the towns are different," he thought with a sad heart. Daya Ram who was accustomed to the caprices of his masters was not surprised. "Come, Munoo," he said turning to the door. "You must' do what Bibiji tells you to do. She is your mistress now." The boy followed him into the street. "The masters will give you much food," his uncle continued, as they walked to the Babu's office, "and you will get three rupees a month.1 I shall show you my room. You may come and see me on your day off. Don't forget to do your best a for the masters. You are their servant and they are kind people." As Munoo listened to these words, tears came to his eyes. And through the tears he could see the high hills, grey in the sunshine, and the silver waters of the Beas. * * The boy did not close his eyes that night as he lay hungry and tired in a corner of the kitchen of Nathoo Ram's house.? He had been given an old brown blanket and though there were great holes in it, it was hot and his shirt became wet with sweat. Flies and mosquitoes troubled him all night. Sleep did not come to him. In the morning he was ordered to clean the dishes, while Bibiji shouted at everybody. Prem,* the Babu's youngest brother, who was a very kindhearted man, took the Babu's baby and elder daughter Shei-la, a girl of ten, to the living-room and began to amuse them by playing the gramophone. Munoo, on hearing the music, left the kitchen, hurriedly washed up the dishes at the pump outside and ran through the veranda into the living-room. He wanted to hear the music, to see and touch the singing machine. "How lucky I am," • he thought, "that there is such a wonderful machine in the house where I have come to serve." "Your feet and hands, you monkey!" shouted Prem kind-ly. Munoo wiped both on the little carpet and then began to Munoo's life in the Babu's house became a life of slavery. He worked from early morning till late at night.' He washed the floors, cleaned the dishes, peeled the vegetables, brought water from the pump and did many other things. He was glad when his mistress sent him to the living-room. He swept the carpet, dusted the tables? and then looked with admiration at the armchairs and the various photographs. The boy wanted to remember the colours and looks of all the things, wanted to understand what those things were for.? "What is written in that book?" he asked himself. "How does the big clock work? I should like to know • how the voice in the box speaks." After the rooms had been done 5 Munoo was sent to the kitchen again. One day his uncle came in to take some food for Nathoo Ram. "Do you like it here?" he asked Munoo. The boy could have cried at that, & but as his mistress was there he answered: "Yes, I like it very much." When Bibiji had left the kitchen, he began to cry and told his uncle how hard his life was in the Babu's house. "You are their servant," said Daya Ram, "and you must work hard for them. Your life at home was too easy. Your aunt was too kind to you." In the afternoon Munoo had his dinner. He was given two thin cakes and some vegetables. He was not allowed to eat from a plate as he was considered too low in status ? for that. The insult pained the boy. He could hardly eat his food. Later Munoo had to wash up the dishes again. After that. his eyes closed in sleep and he did not hear the insulting words of Bibiji, Munoo was happy when he saw the merry, kind-hearted Babu. One day Prem gave him some sweets on a plate. noo's heart went out to him. He was ready to do anything the young Babu would order him. "What am I - Munoo?" the boy asked himself as he lay in his corner, of the kitchen. "Why am I in this house?" - "I am Munoo, Babu Nathoo Ram's servant," the answer came to his mind, "and I am here because my uncle brought me here to earn my living." He did not ask himself why he was a servant and Nathoo Ram was his master, or why he walked barefoot while the Babu wore beautiful black boots. How he wished to be like the young Babu, a medicine man! 3 He was a generous man, and kind. He was clever too. He could help the sick and he had wonderful clothes in his boxes, silk handkerchiefs and warm woollen suits. The stories of his village, the stories of his province and of his country which he had read at school and still remembered spoke of the wish for power, the wish for things and the wish for honour of a few chosen men. And he was blinded by the light of greatness, the fame and splendour of it, forgetting that he was condemned by the existing system of inequality to remain small, abject and poor. The townspeople were superior to all the village people, he thought, but why they lived better he did not know. They wore nice clothes, had nice things, so he thought they were wonderful people. He did not know that their happiness was built on the foundation of money; that their health was kept good by the food which money bought. And as Munoo did not know all this he accepted his po- sition of a slave, and tried to be a model servant. Daya Ram was sleeping on the bed in his small dark room. Munoo came up to him and woke him up. "Who is it? What do you want?" cried Daya Ram, opening his eyes. "It is I, Munoo," the boy answered. "I am very hungry. Can you give me something to eat, Uncle?" "What time is it that you come to me for food? Don't you get any food at the Babu's house? I have nothing for you!" "Will you give me some money then? I shall go and get some food in the bazaar." Munoo never had any money himself, because the Babu gave his month's pay of three rupees to his uncle. "You little rogue! How can I get clothes and shoes for you, if you spend all the money which I am keeping for you?" shouted Daya Ram. "But you haven't bought me any clothes," said Munoo. "I am wearing the old shirt which Bibiji gave me and you have not bought me any shoes." "You damned orphan!" shouted Daya Ram jumping up and seizing Munoo. "What right have you to ask me where I spend your money? This is how you thank me for keeping you so long 1 and for finding you a job." He shook the boy striking him blow after blow. "Oh, don't beat me, please, don't beat me, Uncle," sobbed Munoo. "I only want food." "Why didn't you come here earlier if you wanted food? And don't your masters give you any food?" : "Bibiji did not want to let me come here. You don't know how she hates me. You wouldn't beat me if you knew. They gave me turnips for dinner today, and I don't like turnips. I like home dishes, the lentils and rice that you cook!" "You Jiar! You swine!" shouted Daya Ram striking the boy again. "Tell me the truth; tell me where you have been today." Munoo had no heart to speak. He stood weeping. "Where have you been? Answer mel" shouted Daya Ram again. "I was at home," Munoo sobbed. "You lie! Don't I know you? You don't want to do your work well. You don't do anything! I've had to work hard for my living, and I've built up a reputation here by pleasing "Forgive me, forgive me, I am only a humble workman, a coolie. I didn't know that Ganpat would go away and leave me." But the creditors did not want to listen and as Prabha did not come down a policeman appeared at the door of the factory. The poor man was dragged to the police. Tulsi and Munoo followed him. "Make him confess his crime," the thanedar 1 said to a sergeant. "He is arrested for non-payment of debt." ? The sergeant stood at attention, saluted the officer and took a stick. "Now confess, you rogue," he said coming up to Prabha. "Where have you put your money?" "Huzoor, ," 4 said Prabha, "I have no money anywhere. But I have some equipment. I only ask for your forgiveness and I will pay every penny that I owe to my creditors." "You lie!" shouted the sergeant and struck him several times with the stick. "I have told the truth. I don't lie!" Prabha cried lifting his handcuffed hands. The sergeant struck him blow after blow. "Oh, don't beat him, don't beat him," cried Munoo and Tulsi. "It's Master Ganpat who is in fault."s "Strike him! Strike him like this!" shouted the thanedar, striking the sergeant hard to show him how to do it. And then he turned to the boys and struck them with the stick on their bare backs. "Oh, beat me, huzoor, beat me!" shrieked Prabha. "Beat me as much as you like " but spare those boys." And the sergeant struck Prabha again and again, till the sound of the glistening stick was all that could be heard in the air. "O my God! O my God! Where are you?" cried Prabha. Munoo and Tulsi stood looking at their master with a pain in their hearts but not a tear in their eyes. Составить 20 вопросов