Classics fantasy – 12. A. Belyaev

      ISBN 978-5-0050-1163-3 (т. 12)

      ISBN 978-5-0050-0936-4

      Created with Ridero smart publishing system

      UNDERWATER FARMERS

      Chapter 1

      THE NEPTUNE IVANOVICH IS UPSET

      – Jean! Johann! John! Johnny! Dzhiovanni!. Ioann! Ivan! Vanya! Vanyushka!

      – And – and – aakh! – someone with pleasure yawned and turned over on other side.

      It was heard as bed springs began to creak. Silence. And the first voice starts over again calling with different Yvgonatsiyami, raising, lowering sound intensity:

      – Jean! Ivan! John!. – And suddenly shouted from all this: – Vanka, shelmets! Become before me as a leaf before a grass.

      – Ah-ah, take foot! – Behind a partition the spring screamed, bare feet zashlepat on a floor. Someone breathed heavily a nose, tinkered in the dark, opened a door, rummaged around at a wall, clicked the switch.

      The electric bulb hanging under a ceiling lit golden pine logs of walls, the wide window veiled by a dense curtain of dark blue cloth, a big drawing table at a wall on a table – old issue of Izvestia, drawing accessories, geodetic plans, several books, folders with papers. At other wall on a narrow iron camp-bed lay, having stuffed up hands for the head, the man of average years, dense, broad-shouldered, red-haired, with small moustaches and a small beard a wedge. Blue, widely open eyes stared in a ceiling, and on the left cheek the mark was seen: deep reddish scar.

      – Gather, Vanyusha, is time! – told lying on a bed.

      Vanyusha once again sighed. Very much he wanted to sleep. It stood in the middle of the room in one pants, sleepy, with the sticking together eyes. His face had childlike softness and roundness of lines, and a black hard hair stood a hedgehog. He raised eyebrows that eyes revealed rather, moved lips and scattered hands in the parties, warming up after a dream. Then approached a window, drew aside a curtain and, looking in an impenetrable gloom, told:

      – Darkly still, Semyon Alekseevich!

      – Until we gather, just right will be – Semyon Alekseevich Volkov answered.

      Vanyushka Toporkov left to other room and switched on light there. This room was same, as well as the first. The bed, a simple chair, the shelf with books over a small little table and a locker at a bed made all its situation. In one of these rooms the oven was not visible. But, if to bend down, under a table it was possible to notice plates of electric heating. This highest manifestation of electrification in house life so did not go to all shape of a timbered izba.

      Vanyushka Toporkov began collecting, without ceasing to speak because of a partition. It had a peculiar lack of the speech: Vanyushka did not utter hissing, “ш”, “щ”. Instead of and “ш” at it left “ф”, and instead of “щ” something between “in” and “ф”, but is closer to “ф”. Favourite its introduction was “the clown take”, and at him it turned out “foot take”. The more he worried, the more burred.

      – Semyon Alekseevich. What I had a dream. As though the bolfuffy feltobryukhy whale came to us, lay on a kryfa nafy at home and crushed him as an egg shell. Mofet it to be?

      – The roof will sustain, be not afraid. What you there long potter?

      – Now, Semyon Alekseevich.

      Vanyushka opened a case and took out a theodolite [51] of the special device, a tripod, a geodetic chain, a rubber bag from there. Having loaded all this on itself, it left to other room. Volkov already rose from a bed and strenuously did gymnastics.

      Vanyusha looked at him, involuntarily repeated all his movements, at first slowly, and then, having thrown things on is whole, really. He squatted, got up, swung hands, satisfied bent down, unbent and, at last, finished:

      – Ha-arofo, take foot! Morning exercises.

      He packed things again and opened an external door of an izba.

      For this door, in some distance from it, there was the second door – iron, densely driven. Vanyushka tinkered at a round lock and opened it. Before it the iron chamber opened.

      This camera had volume in two cubic meters. Directly before Vanyushka in an iron wall the round door in meter diameter, similar to a big window was seen. In the right wall there was an iron case with the door which is removed sideways, and in left, below, two small round barred openings, on forty centimeters in the diameter were seen.

      Vanyushka brought geodetic tools in the camera. After it in the camera Volkov dressed, as well as Vanyushka, entered one pants. Vanyushka opened a case and began to take out strange objects from there: two half masks consisting of a big black rubber nose and the points attached to it. From points there was a rubber holding them, and from a nose (from below – from nostrils) – two rubber tubes. Then Vanyushka took couple of electric lamps with rubber tapes and wires, a satchel, earphones, a dirk and, at last, heavy sandals with lead soles. Volkov and Vanyushka began to put on themselves all this armor quickly. First of all put on the satchels made of ferrous metal then black noses and points. The long tubes which were hanging down from noses they, helping each other, attached to special openings in satchels behind the back. Then put on the devices reminding earphones the head. These devices kept the flexible metal plate which is put on the head. Round earphones were densely attached to ears, and from earphones there were two tubes falling is a little lower than shoulders and terminating in small bells, as in phone tube. By means of a rubber tape on the head lamps were attached. Then travelers buttoned belts on which long dirks were hung up. At last, put on heavy sandals legs, having attached them belts.

      Judging by their confident and bystry movements, such masquerade was made very often and became habitual. Nevertheless Vanyushka, having looked at Volkov, at his black huge nose, at convex points, at the dangling tubes ears, the satchel which is sticking out a hump and a shishkovidny lamp on the head, could not refrain from laughter nevertheless.

      – Ah, take foot! Directly not the person, and purposely! Directly a dyadyufka from Mars.

      Wolves, without paying attention to Vanyushka, densely closed a case, examined a door in an izba, approached a wall both abruptly and strongly turned the round crane. In one of openings suddenly with noise water together with little small fishes rushed. Water filled in naked legs to knees, and when reached a belt, Vanyushka began to jump up: the body did not cool down from warmth of a bed yet, and cool water not absolutely pleasantly tickled it. To get used to change of temperature at once, Vanyushka sat down on a floor and disappeared with the head, without expecting until water reaches up to the top.

      In two minutes the camera was filled with water. Lit with a strong electric lamp, in greenish water small small fishes zaplyasat. Vanyushka, feeling that he became easier, rose from a floor and loaded on himself geodetic tools. Volkov unscrewed the round door similar to a window, and shifted it sideways. Before them the dark opening filled with water opened. They stepped through a threshold, height in a third of meter, and came to light. On Volkov’s head the electric lamp brightly flashed. Volkov pushed a round door, put out a lamp and stepped forward.

      Travelers were surrounded by almost full darkness, but they surely moved ahead. Went on a slope from soft silt. At the left, where there was a coast, and dark green dregs ahead got denser, above water was slightly lighter. Weak rays of light made the way through five-meter thickness of water. And on the right impenetrable darkness stuck together. There was depth, the bottom slope went down there.

      Sometimes the naked body was touched by long films of seaweed. Sometimes with scope the humpback salmon [52] will fly and will scaredly wag aside or a fancy small fish agonomat will scratch the bone guards. Vanyushka stepped on a big sink and stumbled.

      He took the call which was hanging down from Volkov’s ear, brought close to the mouth, blew air from an external opening of a tube and, having pressed strongly