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  .., 2026.



Rudyard Joseph Kipling   

The lights went out  



Chapter I  I

"Well, what do you think she'll do if she catches us?  ,   ,   ,   ? We shouldn't do this, Dick," said Maisie.      , ,   .

Hell beat me up and lock you out of the bedroom, Dick answered without thinking.   ,     ,   ,  . Do you have any bullets?     ?

- Yes, they are in my pocket and they are shaking terribly;  ,     ,   ; They cannot explode on their own?      ?

- I dont know.   . If youre afraid, take the revolver and give me the cartridges.   ,  ,    .

Im not afraid at all.     . And Maisie quickly ran forward, putting her hand in her pocket and throwing her head back.       ,        . Dick followed her with a small, cheap revolver in his hand.      ,    .

These children decided that their lives would be unbearable unless they learned to shoot a pistol, and so, after much thought and all sorts of privations, Dick saved up seven shillings and sixpence to buy a poor-quality Belgian revolver.   ,     ,       ,  ,      ,            . Maisie, for her part, contributed half a crown to the syndicate to buy a hundred cartridges. ,   ,        .

You can save money better than I can, Dick, she explained, I love all sorts of treats, but you are indifferent to them;       , ,   ,     ,     ; and besides, such things should always be done by boys.   ,      .

Dick grumbled slightly, but nevertheless went and bought what he needed, and now they were going to try out their purchase.   ,         ,       . Shooting a revolver was not, of course, part of the program of their daily activities, worked out for them by their guardian, who, as people mistakenly assumed, replaced the mother of these two orphans.     , ,     ,     , ,    ,     . Dick had already been in her care for six years, and during this time she kept in her favor the money that she allegedly spent on his clothes and maintenance, and, partly from carelessness, and partly from an innate tendency to cause grief, this middle-aged widow, passionately desiring to get married, poisoned his life considerably.        ,           ,         , ,   ,       ,   ,    ,    . Where he looked for affection and love, he found first disgust, and then hatred, and when he grew up, and his soul asked for sympathy, it met instead with ridicule and insult. ,      ,    ,   ,    ,     ,       . Those hours of leisure that remained to her from household worries and household chores, she devoted to what she called the home education of Dick Geldar.   ,           ,   ,       . Religion, which she interpreted in accordance with her personal considerations, helped her a lot in this matter. ,        ,      . When she personally had no reason to be dissatisfied with Dick, she gave him to understand that he would be severely punished by the Creator, and as a result Dick hated God, just as he hated Mrs. Jennet, and this is a very undesirable state of mind for a child.         ,    ,     ,      ,      ,        . Since she stubbornly wanted to see in him an incorrigible liar after he, driven by fear of blows and punishment, had first resorted to untruth, the boy involuntarily turned into a liar, but a cautious and thrifty liar, who never resorted unnecessarily to even the most trifling lie, but, on the other hand, did not hesitate for a moment even before the most terrible lie, be it at all plausible and probable, if the lie could make his life even a little easier.            ,  ,     ,    ,       ,      ,          , ,   ,          ,    -   ,        . This upbringing taught Dick to live a separate, closed life, which was very useful to him when he went to school, where the boys laughed at his clothes, made of poor material and darned in many places.      ,  ,    ,      ,      ,         . On holidays he returned to Mistress Jennet, and not half a day had passed from the time of his return under her roof, as he was already beaten, for one reason or another, so that the discipline of home education would not be weakened by the influence of communication with the outside world.       ,           ,     ,     ,              .

One autumn fate presented him with a companion in misfortune, a small, long-haired, grey-eyed creature, as reserved and withdrawn as himself, who wandered silently about the house and at first spoke only to one goat, her only friend, who lived at the far end of the garden.        ,    ,     ,    ,            ,   ,     . Mrs. Jennet wanted to expel the goat from the garden because she was an infidel, which, of course, was undeniably true, but the little atom protested vigorously.       ,    , , ,   ,     .

In that case, said the little atom, weighing each of his words, I will write to my guardians that you are a very bad woman.    ,    ,    ,     ,     . Amomma is mine, mine and mine!  ,   !

Mrs. Jennet started towards the hall, where umbrellas, canes, and sticks stood in the corner, and the little atom realized as quickly as Dick what this movement meant.      ,     ,   ,       ,  ,    .

I have been beaten before, said the atom in the same calm and dispassionate voice.      ,          . I have been beaten more than you can beat me, but if you hit me, I will write to my guardians that you do not give me food!      ,     ,     ,     ,      ! I am not afraid of you at all.     .

Mrs. Jennet did not go into the hall, and the atom, after waiting a little to make sure that all danger was over, went out into the garden to cry his sorrows on Amomma's neck. -     ,  ,  ,  ,    ,   ,        .

Dick soon learned that her name was Maisie, and at first he treated her with great mistrust, fearing that she might interfere with the little freedom of action that was allowed to him.   ,    ,         , ,        ,    . However, his fears were not justified, and the atom did not ask to be his friend until he himself made the first step towards rapprochement.     ,           ,         . Long before the end of the holidays, a long series of punishments suffered together brought the children closer together;        ,  ,  ; together inventing various evasions to deceive Mrs. Jennet, they unwittingly acted in concert and covered for each other.    ,   - ,        . And when Dick left for his school, Maisie, taking leave, whispered to him:       , , ,  :

Now I will be left alone, and there will be no one to stand up for me, but, and she proudly raised her head, I can manage myself, she added.     ,      , ,      ,     ,   . You promised to send Amomma a collar, send it quickly!       ,   !

A week later, she asked again about the collar and was quite dissatisfied to learn that it could not be made so quickly.           , ,    -   . And when Dick finally sent the promised gift, she forgot to thank him for it.   , ,   ,       .

Since then, many holidays have come and gone.         . Dick had grown taller and thinner, becoming a lanky, skinny teenager, more than ever painfully aware of the unsightliness of his clothes.      ,  ,   -      . Mrs. Jennet never relaxed her tender care for him, but the usual punishments of boarding schoolsand Dick was subjected to them about three times a monthfilled him with a haughty contempt for Mrs. Jennet's punitive powers. -           ,                        - .

She doesnt hit you hard, he explained to Maisie, who was egging him on to be indignant, but she becomes more affectionate towards you after she beats me.    ,    ,     ,       ,     .

Dick grew up outwardly unkempt and untidy and inwardly lonely and embittered, which was very soon noticed by his younger comrades, because in the heat of the moment he would hit them surreptitiously, painfully and deliberately;           ,       ,            ; More than once he tried to tease Maisie, but the girl stubbornly refused to give in to his desire to make her uncomfortable.       ,          .

We are both unhappy as it is, she said, so why should we try to make our lives even worse?      ,   ,           ? Lets think of something better to do, something to entertain ourselves with.   ,    ,   .

And the result of such reflections was the revolver.      . It could be fired only on the most swampy sandbank, far from the pier and bathing places, at the foot of the green hills of Fort Keeling.          ,     ,      . In this place the tide covered the sand for almost two miles, and the multi-colored heaps of silt, warmed by the sun, gave off an unpleasant heavy smell of rotting seaweed.           ,    ,  ,      . It was already late when Dick and Maisie came to the sandbank, and Amomma trotted leisurely behind them.   ,       ,       .

Ugh!  ! exclaimed Maisie, inhaling, I wonder why this sea gives off such a smell.    ,  ,  ,      . I find it terribly disgusting!    !

You are disgusted by everything that is not specially created for you, Dick grumbled.    ,      ,   . Give me the cartridges, Ill try to shoot first.     ,    . I wonder how far these little revolvers can shoot.  ,      .

"Oh, half a mile, probably!"  ,  , ! Maisie answered briskly.     . "Anyway, they make a terrible noise."     ,    . "Be careful with the cartridges;    ; I definitely don't like those things on the edges of the drum... Look out, Dick, be careful!"          , ,  !

- Okay, I know how to load.  ,  ,  . I'll shoot there, into the breakers.    ,  .

He fired, and Amomma ran away with a pitiful bleat.  ,       . The bullet threw up a fountain of mud to the right of the old, weed-covered pile.       ,   .

- It hits too high and to the side.      . Now you try it, Maisie.   , . Remember, it's loaded. ,   .

Maisie took the revolver, carefully approached the very edge of the mud and silt, keeping her finger on the trigger and slightly twisting her mouth and squinting her left eye, began to aim.   ,        ,            ,  . Dick, sitting down on the bank, chuckled, looking at her. ,   , ,   . Amomma approached cautiously;   ; she was accustomed to all sorts of surprises during these evening walks and, seeing that the box of cartridges remained open, began to sniff it.            , ,      ,   . Maisie fired, but did not see where the bullet hit.  ,   ,   .

I feel like Ive hit a pile, she said, shielding her eyes with her hand and gazing into the distance of the boundless sea.   ,     ,   ,         .

I know she hit the bell on the Marizon Balcony, Dick said with a chuckle.   ,        ,  ,  . Shoot lower and to the left, then maybe youll hit it.      , ,  , . Ah, look, Amomma is eating bullets! , ,   !

Maisie turned around with a revolver in her hand just in time to see Amomma running away from the stones Dick was throwing at her.         ,      ,     . Nothing is sacred to a spoiled goat!      ! Well-fed and idolized by her mistress, Amomma had mischievously swallowed two cartridges, but Maisie found this incredible, and she hastened to make sure that Dick was telling the truth.      ,      ,     ,    ,    .

- Yes, she really did swallow two of them.  ,     . Nasty creature!  ! Now these cartridges will hang around in her stomach and, what good will come of it, they will explode, and it serves her right!             ,   !. .. . Oh, Dick! , ! Did I really kill you?    ?

A revolver is far from a safe thing in the hands of young people;        ; Maisie could not explain to herself how it happened, but suddenly a thick cloud of smoke enveloped Dick, and it seemed to her that the revolver had discharged right in his face.     ,   ,       ,   ,       . But then she heard his muttering and fell to her knees beside him, exclaiming:            , :

- Dick, are you hurt?  ,   ? No? ? I didn't mean to.    .

Well, of course you didnt mean to, Dick said mockingly, emerging from the cloud and wiping his cheek.  , ,   ,    ,       . But you nearly blinded me.        . This gunpowder burns terribly.    .

A nice little grey spot of flattened lead on the stone showed exactly where the bullet had struck. , ,       ,    . Maisie began to whimper.  .

Stop it!  ! Dick stopped her, jumping to his feet and shaking himself off.     ,     . Im not hurt at all.       .

Yes, but I could have killed you!  ,     ! Maisie objected, the corners of her mouth turning down and trembling.    ,        . What would I have done then?        ?

You should go home and tell Mrs. Jennet everything, Dick replied, smiling, mentally picturing this picture.           ,    ,    . But please dont be upset about it, he added more gently.     ,    ,     . Were just wasting our time, and we should be back for tea.       ,       . Give me the revolver for a minute. -    .

Maisie would have whined for a long time at the slightest encouragement, but Dick's indifference, whose hand, however, trembled violently when he took the revolver, calmed her.        ,   ,  , ,  ,    ,  . She still continued to sob, lying on the sand, and Dick methodically shot at the breakers above the piles.     ,   ,       .

I finally got it!  , ! he exclaimed at the moment when a small piece of seaweed flew off from the old pile.       ,        .

Let me shoot, Maisie said imperiously, Im completely calm now.    ,    ,     .

And they began to shoot in turns until the poor revolver almost fell apart, and the exiled Amomma, who could explode at any moment, nibbling the grass at a respectful distance, was surprised and did not understand why they kept throwing stones at her, not allowing her to come closer.         ,        ,   ,    ,     ,    ,       ,     . Then they found a can floating on the surface of a small lake or puddle, and sat down in front of this new target.    ,       ,      .

Next holidays, said Dick, well get another revolver, a centerfire one  they shoot much further.    ,   ,     ,  ,     .

I wont be here next holiday, Maisie answered.         ,   . Ill be leaving here soon.      .

- Where to?  ?

I dont know.   . My guardians wrote to Mrs. Jennet that I should be brought up somewhere, perhaps in FranceI dont know exactly, but I would be glad to leave here.     ,     -,  ,  ,    ,      .

- Well, I dont like it at all.        . I suppose theyll leave me here. ,  ,  . Listen, Maisie, is it really true that youre going away, and this is the last time I see you? , ,    ,   ,         ? And next week I have to go back to school!         ! Id like   

The blood rushed to his face, and Maisie plucked blades of grass and threw them into a yellow water lily bobbing on the water of a muddy pond.     ,           ,     .

I would like, she said after a short silence, to see you again someday.    ,      ,   -  . You would also like that, wouldnt you?      ?

- Yes, but it would have been better if... if you had shot me there, at the piles...  ,    ,        ,  

Maisie looked at him for a minute with wide eyes.         . Could this really be the same boy who ten days ago decorated Amomma's horns with paper figures and curlers and drove her out into the street like that to be the laughing stock of the public?     ,                       ? And she lowered her eyes:    : No, this is not that boy. ,    .

Dont talk nonsense, she said admonishingly, and with a purely feminine instinct, she turned aside.    ,            . You see what an egoist you are!   ,   ! Just think what would have happened to me if this damned trinket had killed you!   ,     ,       ! Im unhappy enough as it is!      !

- Why?  ? Because you are leaving Mrs. Jennet? ,      ?

- No.  .

- Well, so from me?  ,   ?

For a long time there was no answer.    . Dick did not dare look at her.      . He now vividly felt what these four years had been for him, and he felt it all the more acutely because he did not know how and could not express his feelings in words.    ,       ,     ,          .

I dont know, she said, but I suppose so.   ,   ,    ,  .

- Maisie, you must know!  ,   ! I dont assume, I know!   ,  !

Lets go home, Maisie said weakly, turning to go.   ,     , ,  .

But Dick was not willing to retreat.      .

I never know how to say the right thing, he said, and Im terribly sorry that I teased you then with Amomma.      ,  ,   ,     ,       . But now its not the same, do you understand me, Maisie?     ,   , ? And you could have told me that you were leaving, instead of waiting for me to find out about it myself.      ,   ,   ,      .

- But you didnt even know;        ; I told you myself, but, Dick, whats the point of grieving?    , , ,   ?

Of course, there is no benefit, but you and I lived together for years, and I didnt suspect that you were so dear to me, I didnt know that.  , , ,        ,    ,     ,    .

I dont believe that I will ever be dear to you!    ,  -   ! she said.    .

You werent dear to me before, but now!        ,  ! You are terribly dear to me, Maisie, he muttered barely audibly.    , ,     . Masie, my dear, tell me that you love me too, tell me, I beg you!   , , ,     , ,  !

- Yes, yes... really, I love you;  ,   ,   ; but what good is that?     ?

- How?  ?

- But I'm leaving.     .

But if you promise me before you leave... just tell me, do you want to?    ,   ,     ,  ? - The second time the word darling rolled off his tongue more easily than the first time;             ,    ; There were very few good words in Dicks home and school vocabulary, but he instinctively found them:           ,     : Just as instinctively he caught the small, gunpowder-blackened hand and held it in his own.       ,        .

I promise, Maisie said solemnly, but since I love you, what is the need to promise?   ,    ,     ,    ?

So you love?    ? And for the first time in the last few minutes their eyes met and said more clearly than any words what they could not and did not know how to convey in words.                 ,         .

- Oh, Dick, don't do that!  , ,   ! I beg you!  ! It was all very well when we said hello in the morning;  ,    ; but now it's quite different!     !

Amomma looked at them from afar in bewilderment;       ; She had often witnessed quarrels, but had never seen her mistress exchange kisses with her young comrade.     ,    ,         . But the yellow water lily in the swamp was smarter than the goat and nodded her golden head approvingly.              . As a kiss, it was not even a real kiss, but nevertheless it was the first, not like those given out of duty, and it opened up new worlds to them ... one more beautiful and radiant than the other, so that their feelings, thoughts, and imagination were carried away to unknown, transcendental countries, above all worldly cares and worries, especially worries about evening tea - and therefore they sat quietly next to each other, holding hands and not saying a word.  ,      ,       ,    ,    ,           ,     ,  ,     ,  ,      ,     ,         ,        .

Now you cant forget, Dick said finally.       ,    . And something was now burning his cheek much more than a gunpowder burn.    -      ,   .

I wouldnt have forgotten anything anyway, said Maisie, lets go home.        ,   ,   .

Lets shoot the remaining cartridges first, Dick objected and helped Maisie down the slope of the green rampart of the fort to the sea, although Maisie could easily have run off on her own.      ,              ,        . Maisie took his hand with no less seriousness.        . Dick awkwardly bent over her hand;      ; she pulled it away, and Dick blushed deeply.  ,    .

You have such a pretty hand, he said.      ,   .

Oh!  -! said Maisie, smiling a smug smile that reflected the womans flattered vanity.    ,   ,      .

She stood very close to Dick when he loaded his revolver for the last time and fired into the sea, with the vague consciousness that he was protecting Maisie from all the troubles in the world.      ,           ,   ,         .

A small puddle in the distance on the muddy shallows reflected for a moment the last rays of the setting sun, which turned into a crimson disk, which attracted Dick's attention at the moment when he cocked his revolver, and he was again overcome by a feeling of something wonderful and unusual.             ,    ,      ,     ,      -   . Here he stands next to Maisie, who promised to remember him always, always, until the day when ... Suddenly a gust of wind scattered her long black hair, throwing it right in his face, as she stood next to him, behind him, putting her hand on his shoulder and affectionately calling Amomma to her.       ,     , ,   ,         ,      ,     ,  ,           . For a moment it became dark before his eyes and something seemed to burn him.          -   . And the bullet whistled somewhere into the open sea.      -   .

I missed, he said, shaking his head.  ,   ,  . Im out of bullets.     . Ill have to run home.    .

But they did not run, but walked very slowly hand in hand and did not worry at all whether the forgotten Amomma was running after them, or whether the cartridges she had swallowed had torn her to pieces.    ,             ,       ,        . They had found an unexpected treasure and now enjoyed it with all the wisdom inherent in their age.           ,   .

I will be in time... Dick began confidently, but suddenly stopped short.         ,   . I dont know what Ill be.    ,   . I dont think Im capable of passing exams, but I can draw excellent caricatures of teachers, thats what!   , ,  ,        ,  !. .. .

So be an artist!    ! said Maisie.    . You always laugh at my attempts to draw something, it will be useful to you.          -,    .

I will never laugh at anything you do again, he replied.          ,   ,   . I will become an artist and show myself!        !

 Artists always seem to need money, don't they?  , ,    ,   ?

I have one hundred and twenty pounds a year, which I shall receive, as my guardians say, when I come of age.         ,    ,    ,    . That will be enough for a start.     .

- Well, I am rich.   ,    . I will have three hundred pounds a year when I am twenty-one.       ,      . That is why Mrs. Jennet is kinder to me than to you.       ,   . But I still wish I had someone close to me, a father, or a mother, or a brother.   -  ,     - , ,  ,  .

You are mine and you will always be mine!       ! said Dick.    .

Yes, I am yours forever, and you are mine its so good!  ,   ,      !  and she squeezed his hand.       .

The blessed darkness hid them from each other, and, barely able to discern only Maisie's profile, Dick finally gathered his courage and became so bold that, reaching the door of the house, he uttered the words that had been on his tongue for two whole hours.       , ,      ,         , ,    ,   ,          .

I love you, Maisie!    , ! he whispered, and it seemed to him that these words resounded throughout the world, which he was going to conquer any day now.    ,   ,       ,       .

When they returned, Mrs. Jennet attacked Dick, firstly, for his unacceptable unpunctuality, and secondly, for the fact that he almost shot himself with a prohibited weapon.   , -    , -,   ,  -,  ,        .

I was playing with it and it went off by accident, said Dick, making sure that the burn on his cheek could not be hidden, but if you think that I will let you beat me for that, then you are very much mistaken.    ,    ,   , ,      ,     ,        ,    . You will never lay a finger on me again!       ! Sit down in your place and pour me some tea.        . You cant take that away from us.  -       .

Mrs. Jennet was almost choked and even turned blue. -       . Maisie did not say a word, did not look at Dick encouragingly, and all that evening Dick behaved in an inexcusably insolent manner.     ,    ,         . Mrs. Jennet predicted to him that God would immediately punish him and that afterwards he would face the fiery Gehenna, but Dick felt in seventh heaven and did not want to hear anything. -   ,            ,            . Only when he was already going to bed, Mrs. Jennet somewhat came to her senses and regained her usual composure.       , -           . Dick wished Maisie good night without looking at her or approaching her, and this did not escape Mrs. Jennets notice.     ,         ,      - .




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