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Балбес. Перевод Эвелины Черняк
Translation by Evelina Tcherniak
Balbess (by S. Vostokov)
Almost every house in our village had a dog living in it. The only person who didn’t own one was the merchant, Timothy. But then he decided to finally adopt a dog. One weekend, when his store was closed, Timothy went to a market in Moscow and bought a dog that looked very suspicious.
“What breed is that?” Anna asked, when the merchant walked his newly-bought dog by our yard.
“Who cares what breed it is!” Timothy objected. “His name is Balbess”
“Okay, then. Maybe he’s a good watchdog”
The merchant only shrugged. “Give me a few days to live with him; then we’ll see”
And we saw it really soon. That night, when the whole village was sleeping, Balbess suddenly started hauling, and did that until morning.
In the morning, Anna ran to Timothy and scolded him. “Why are you torturing the dog?”
“what do you mean ‘torturing’?” he answered, hurtfully.
“Scary!” said Anna.
“I didn’t even lay a finger on him”
“Then, maybe, he is in pain?”
“No, he is not in pain; look, he just ate a bowl of soup.”
“Just you wait, “Anna threatened. “If you don’t stop torturing him, I’ll write a complaint to authorities!”
In the next couple of days, the story repeated: Balbess hauled at night, and in the morning, someone came to Timothy and scolded him. The merchant was on the verge of tears.
“You should return him to the owner.” Michael advised. “It’s some type of Baskerville’s dog!”
“Where would I even find that owner?”
“Then at least take him to the vet; our village has a chronic lack of sleep because of it.”
There was nothing Timothy could do. Even though it was a work day, he closed the shop, grabbed Balbess on a leash, and took him on train to town. They returned in the evening.
“Well?” Michael asked.
“The vet said that he is healthy,” Timothy answered darkly. “It’s just that he has one defect.”
“What?”
“A speech defect. He can’t bark, so he howls instead. There is nothing that can be done with this.”
“Wow!” Michael said, surprised. “Well, okay, let him live. Maybe we’ll even get used to it.”
Once they found out about Balbess’ defect, everyone started taking pity on him and brought something delicious to the merchant to feed the dog. And then they started to accustom to the night howling, because they knew that it wasn’t Timothy hurting the dog, but his way of barking.
And then this happened: Three months later, at night, two people went into the store, which was on the other side of the merchant’s house. Balbess was the first to sense that something was wrong, and started sniffing for the intruder’s odor. Then he howled so loud that even the accustomed villagers got scared. So of course, the burglars almost went insane. In their horror, they dropped the irons and buckets they were carrying and ran.
Since then, Balbess became a respected identity, and people brought him even more food. The policeman who came to the village for the robbery said that the dog didn’t have a defect, but a unique ability and then asked Timothy to sell Balbess to him.
“No, of course not!” Timothy replied.
And he was right, because in the entire world you wouldn’t be able to see a dog with this unique defect. A speech defect.
Balbess (by S. Vostokov)
Almost every house in our village had a dog living in it. The only person who didn’t own one was the merchant, Timothy. But then he decided to finally adopt a dog. One weekend, when his store was closed, Timothy went to a market in Moscow and bought a dog that looked very suspicious.
“What breed is that?” Anna asked, when the merchant walked his newly-bought dog by our yard.
“Who cares what breed it is!” Timothy objected. “His name is Balbess”
“Okay, then. Maybe he’s a good watchdog”
The merchant only shrugged. “Give me a few days to live with him; then we’ll see”
And we saw it really soon. That night, when the whole village was sleeping, Balbess suddenly started hauling, and did that until morning.
In the morning, Anna ran to Timothy and scolded him. “Why are you torturing the dog?”
“what do you mean ‘torturing’?” he answered, hurtfully.
“Scary!” said Anna.
“I didn’t even lay a finger on him”
“Then, maybe, he is in pain?”
“No, he is not in pain; look, he just ate a bowl of soup.”
“Just you wait, “Anna threatened. “If you don’t stop torturing him, I’ll write a complaint to authorities!”
In the next couple of days, the story repeated: Balbess hauled at night, and in the morning, someone came to Timothy and scolded him. The merchant was on the verge of tears.
“You should return him to the owner.” Michael advised. “It’s some type of Baskerville’s dog!”
“Where would I even find that owner?”
“Then at least take him to the vet; our village has a chronic lack of sleep because of it.”
There was nothing Timothy could do. Even though it was a work day, he closed the shop, grabbed Balbess on a leash, and took him on train to town. They returned in the evening.
“Well?” Michael asked.
“The vet said that he is healthy,” Timothy answered darkly. “It’s just that he has one defect.”
“What?”
“A speech defect. He can’t bark, so he howls instead. There is nothing that can be done with this.”
“Wow!” Michael said, surprised. “Well, okay, let him live. Maybe we’ll even get used to it.”
Once they found out about Balbess’ defect, everyone started taking pity on him and brought something delicious to the merchant to feed the dog. And then they started to accustom to the night howling, because they knew that it wasn’t Timothy hurting the dog, but his way of barking.
And then this happened: Three months later, at night, two people went into the store, which was on the other side of the merchant’s house. Balbess was the first to sense that something was wrong, and started sniffing for the intruder’s odor. Then he howled so loud that even the accustomed villagers got scared. So of course, the burglars almost went insane. In their horror, they dropped the irons and buckets they were carrying and ran.
Since then, Balbess became a respected identity, and people brought him even more food. The policeman who came to the village for the robbery said that the dog didn’t have a defect, but a unique ability and then asked Timothy to sell Balbess to him.
“No, of course not!” Timothy replied.
And he was right, because in the entire world you wouldn’t be able to see a dog with this unique defect. A speech defect.
