CHILDHOOD Maksim Gorky
In memory of the great Russian writer Aleksey Maksimovich Gorky
Screenplay by I. GRUZDEV based on M. Gorky's works
Directed by M. DONSKOY
Director of Photography P. YERMOLOV
Music by L. SHVARTS
Production Designer I. STEPANOV
Cast :
Grandmother Akulina Ivanovna - V. MASSALITINOVA
Grandfather Kashirin - M. TROYANOVSKY
Varvara - Ye. ALEXEYEVA
Aleksey Peshkov - Alyosha LYARSKY
Yakov - V. NOVIKOV Mikhail - A. ZHUKOV
Grigory - K. ZYUBKO Tsiganok - D. SAGAL
Neighbor nicknamed "Good deed" - S. TIKHONRAVOV
Lyonka - Igor SMIRNOV
"Friendly band" - B. RODKEVICH, N. POGODIN,
V. MASLAKOV, A. KORNEYEV, A. LEBEDEV
Yakov's Sasha - Ye. MAMAYEV
Mikhail's Sasha - V. KHOROSHENCHIKOV
A SOYUZDETFILM Studio Production
Part One of the Trilogy
THE CHILDHOOD OF MAKSIM GORKY
Now, as I recall the past, I have difficulty in believing
that it was really like that...
...But the truth is beyond any commiseration... M. Gorky.
Look, we've come to the granddad. All them in the boat are our tribe.
C'mon, moor!
Grab the rope's end!
Ah, Varvara!
Eh, you silly! So here you are!
Oh, what people! Ah, mother!
How are you, mother? Where's Alexei?
Got your father's cheekbones.
Get down into the boat!
How are you, Akulina Ivanovna?
This is Uncle Yakov.
If Yakov was a little pup...
Uncle Mikhail.
Master-workman Grigory.
The splitting image of your father.
And these are your cousins, both named Sasha, and Aunt Natalya.
Tsiganok, the apprentice.
Get the rope!
Go on, sail!
Hello.
- Vasily Vasilyevich. - My respects.
So you've come for your dowry, sister?
Tut, you freemason!
Father is being so nice to Varvara. He'll give her the dowry.
Here're apples for you, eat them.
- How are our sons? - They fight all the time.
Oh, children, children...
That's all our tribe. Just look how many.
If Yakov was a little pup,
His howls would wake the neighbors up.
O-oh, Dear Lord!
O-oh, I'm bored!
A cricket chirps behind the stove,
A frog is croaking in the grove.
O-oh, I'm bored!
So bored, oh Lord!
Enough of tearing your heart out, Yakov!
Give us a dance, Vanya!
Enough of this dreariness!
Onto your feet, Vanya!
Make it faster, Yakov Vasilyich!
Cut across!
If it wasrt for spoiling my shoes on the way,
I'd run from my wife this very day!
If only your father were here, he'd light a different flame!
Do you remember him?
Used to be him and your grandmother...
Here, wait a minute.
Akulina Ivanovna, be so good as to do a dance for us.
Remember how you used to with Maxim Savvateyevich?
Now do us the favor.
Goodness sakes, what are you saying, Grigory Ivanovich?
Me dance? Just to make people laugh.
Go on, dance, mother. Dance for us, mother.
Dance, grandma.
Grandma, please dance.
Alright, let them laugh as wants to.
Come on there, Yakov! Tune up!
Here, mother, I bought a tablecloth for you. Spread it for the occasion.
Here, learn from me.
Who was I? Me, the orphan, son of a beggar woman.
I came to Nizhny in bast shoes.
And I've gone all the way up.
Was head of a workshop, ordering people around.
A breadwinner for the family.
And who are you? Oh, what people!
You, Vanka, got golden fingers.
When father gives me my share, come to work in my workshop.
Vasily Vasilyevich said he'd open up another dyeing shop.
I'll stay with him.
Father's going to ruin me.
- Will give everything to Varvara. - Shut up!
Vanka will stay with you. When will you give us our share?
When will you divide the property? Give us our money!
Buying tablecloths!
Want to give Varvara her dowry? How about us?
Silence! I ain't giving nothing to anyone!
I've earned it, it's all mine.
Ain't I your son?
Enough, Yakov.
Silence!
Give them everything, father, and have some peace.
Tut, you conniver!
Ain't I your son?
Am I some stranger?
Divide everything today!
- Giving everything to Varvara! - And her puppy!
- And what about me? - And what about me?
- Why you? - Ain't I his son?
And who's the eldest? Who's the eldest?!
It's me!
Who's the eldest? Me!
Me to the other side of the river, and he's in the city! I'm the eldest!
Oh, you robbers!
Blood brothers!
I'll burn everything down! Giving it to no one!
Oh, what people!
You accursed ones! Come to your senses! What a wild tribe!
Am I not your son?
Who's the eldest? Who's the eldest?
You! You're the eldest!
I'm wicked and won'thless, a lost soul!
You, taking delight in your grief.
A stupid tribe!
I'm going to place a huge cross for you.
These are the brutes you brought into the world, you old witch!
I'm a son, ain't I?
- Ain't I a son? - And I'm the eldest!
Keep your eye on them, mother,
or they'll be doing away with Varvara and Alexei.
Come on, father. Here, take off your shirt, so I can mend it.
Looks like I better divide up.
Yes, father, you'd better do.
I know you, you think more of them than you do of me!
That Mikhail of yours is a hypocrite! And that Yakov is an infidel!
They'll squander all I own, they'll swill it all down!
Who put you up on the stove? Your mother?
- I climbed up myself. - You're lying.
No, I'm not, I was scared.
The image of your father!
Get out!
This was the beginning of a swift, eventful,
and inexpressibly strange life.
Taking the dowry!
Give it back, I said!
Did you see your uncles fighting? And how angry your granddad was?
- Do you like your granddad? - I don't know.
I don't like any of these Kashirins except granny.
Only the devil could like them.
And me?
You're not a Kashirin. You're a Peshkov.
That's different blood, a different tribe.
Vanka!
Alright, go, I got to work.
You got to work, Mishka. Father will come, he'll give you...
It's not sewn together on your end, you loafer.
Heat the thimble for Grigory.
- Get away. - Granddad is here.
Look, you loafers, he's got golden hands.
Let me dye it.
Don't even try to. Or I'll let you down in one of those vats.
Who did this, you infidels?!
Who did this, I say?!
It's Yakov's Sasha did it.
He told me to do it! He did!
It's Uncle Mikhail's doing!
You'll get flogs on Saturday.
- Will you flog Uncle Mikhail too? - He ought to be.
Take that puppy of yours in hand, Varvara, or I'll screw his head off.
You just try laying a finger on him.
My mother's the strongest of all.
Why are you whimpering?
Tell Alyosha to dye a tablecloth.
White things take the color better, I know it.
If you dye a tablecloth,
the granddad will flog your skin off.
He won't. My mother's the strongest of all.
He'll be afraid of her.
Come here. This is the dark blue dye.
Run for your grandmother!
I'd better keep out of harm's way.
You'll get it for this all right.
Oh you Permyak! You, with your cabbage ears!
You ought to get picked up and flopped down on the other side!
Don't you be telling his grandfather, Vanya.
You needrt worry about me, see that Sasha don't go squealing.
He already dyed that tablecloth.
Let's see now what Grandfather will do to him...
On Saturdays, when grandfather left for vespers,
a life began in the kitchen that was indescribably amusing.
I'm taking a mouse.
Put it in a jar.
Tittle-tattle, tittle-tattle.
And... no mouse.
- No mouse. - C'mon, let me see.
The mouse is a wise and affectionate neighbor. The house goblin protects it.
Here he is!
- Is it the goblin from the fairy tale? - Right.
Grandma, tell us about the goblin.
C'mon, grandma, tell us.
Tell us, Akulina Ivanovna.
Go on, tell, grandma.
The goblin is the guard of the house.
In olden times, when moving to another place,
people took their house goblin with them.
- How did they take him? - Just like that.
They took an old bast shoe and thrust it under the stove,
and said, "Come goblin,
here's a sledge, climb inside and take a ride
to bring us luck in the new house."
Some sledge!
There's not enough room for him there!
That's how the tale goes.
Grandma, tell us something else.
Something else?
Sitting under the stove
is an old house goblin.
He got a noodle splinter in his paw, and he's wobbling.
Wobbling and whimpering:
"Oh, mice, how it hurts! Oh, mice, I can't bear it!"
Forgive me, for the love of Christ!
Enjoys it, the brute.
Forgive me, for the love of Christ!
I'll forgive you after I've flogged you. Take down your pants.
Forgive me, for the love of Christ...
Alexei! Come closer.
Who am I talking to?
Have a good look at what is meant by a ripping.
Don't pretend, that didn't hurt. But this one will!
Here's your thimble for you!
Didrt I tell about the tablecloth?
Telling tales won't clear you. The tattletale gets the first lashing.
Now it's for the tablecloth! For the tablecloth!
Forgive me, for the love of Christ...
You'll not be touching Alexei!
I'll not let you, you brute!
Varvara! Varvara!
He bit me!
Let me in!
Open the door!
What are you doing, father? Father, let him go!
Get away!
Tie him down! I'll kill him!
Father, what are you doing?
Stop it, father!
Father, father...
Stop it, father!
These days were important days of his life.
Why didn't you snatch him away, eh?
- I was frightened. - A big creature like you!
Old as I be, I had no fear.
For shame, Varvara!
Leave me alone, ma! I'm sick of it!
You're not a-loving of him, not a-pitying of the poor little orphan!
I'm an orphan myself - for all my life!
If it wasrt for Alexei,
I'd go away.
I can't go on living in this hell!
I haven't the strength, ma!
Let the brothers have everything.
I don't need it. I'll go away.
Ah, child of my flesh, my own heart!
Go, go. If it's any better for you there.
And I'll be with Alexei.
I'll be his grandma and his mama.
So your mother is the strongest, eh?
How do you do, young man.
C'mon, answer me, don't hold a grudge.
See, I've brought you some presents.
Gave you a little more
than your share this time, sonny.
I was so mad.
You bit me and scratched me.
Well, I just lost my temper.
But it's not so bad that you got an overdose.
We'll count it to your credit next time.
Think I didn't take my share in my day? They beat me all right.
You came here on a steamer. The steam brought you here.
When I was young, I pulled the barges along the Volga with my own strength.
The barge in the water, me on the bank,
barefoot, over the sharp stones.
The sun heating your head,
and you all bent over, your bones creaking,
going on and on, not seeing where,
the sweat streaming into your eyes.
Your heart moaning, your lips groaning.
On and on you go...
Our Mother Volga...
Vasily Vasilyevich.
Vasily Vasilyevich, a customer's here for you.
Snowstorm is blowing along the street,
And my sweetheart's walking me to meet.
Wait, don't hurry, you my sweetest joy,
Let me have a look at you and enjoy.
If only I had a voice!
I would've gone away from here.
I'd sing without stopping for ten years, and then it wouldn't matter.
What is it on your arm?
It was even worse. They've almost healed.
Where did you get it?
I saw your granddad was crazy with fury, like to beat you to death.
So I put my arm under the whip in the hope
it would break, then your granddad would have to go for a new one,
giving your granny or mother a chance to snatch you away.
But it didn't break - too well soaked.
But still I spared you some of the lashes. You can see how many.
I felt so sorry for you.
I could see it would turn out bad, but he kept on, swinging away.
Swinging and swinging, you see.
Vanya, I love you very much.
I love you too.
That's why I took this pain on myself, for love of you.
Think I'd have done it for anyone else? Spit on them!
- He'll beat you lots of times yet. - What for?
Your granddad is stubborn, and you're stubborn. He'll find what for.
Next time they give you a licking, see you don't tighten up.
It hurts twice as bad when you tighten up.
Let your body go free, so's to be soft.
Just lie down like jelly. And don't hold your breath.
Yell at the top of your lungs.
When it comes to beatings, I know more than a policeman.
You can make a pair of boots out of my skin.
Wait, don't hurry, you my sweetestjoy,
Let me have a look at you and enjoy.
From this time, Alyosha developed a deep concern about all people.
And my sweetheart's walking me to meet.
Wait, don't hurry, you my sweetestjoy,
Let me have a look at you and enjoy.
Vanya, to whom does Uncle Yakov want to put up a cross?
Your uncle beat his wife to death.
His conscience gives him no peace, so he's putting a cross on her grave.
How did he beat her to death?
He beat her when no one saw it.
- She couldn't bear it, and died. - Why did he beat her?
I guess he couldn't tell you himself. The Kashirins can't stand any good.
You have to know everything. Watch out, or you'll be in trouble.
Ask your granny how they wanted to drown your father.
She'll tell you everything, she can't stand lies.
Uncle Grigory told me about it.
- Arert you afraid of him? - No.
And don't be. He's a good sort.
Wait, don't hurry, you my sweetestjoy...
If only I had a good voice!
I would've gone away and burned people's souls with song!
Vanka!
What?
- Where've you been? - Going for an order.
Stand under the pedestal.
Hold it.
C'mon, lift it.
Vanya!
Can you manage?
Pretty heavy.
Shame on you, we're both lighter than you.
Open the gate, you blind devil!
It's alright, Lyosha.
Are you going, Mikhail?
- Vanya! - Get away!
- Vanya! - You puppy!
You mangy old fool!
It's alright, Uncle Grigory, I'll manage.
Let's go.
Uncle Grigory, why do you wear dark glasses?
My eyes won't stand light. See how acid is the steam?
Eating up my eyes.
It's been eating your eyes for long?
For 37 years now, sonny.
For 37 years I've been working for your granddad.
He's eaten up all my strength.
Soon as I'm blind I'll go off begging.
When you go blind, I'll go with you.
I'll become your guide. Alright?
All right, we'll go together.
And I'll cry through the streets:
"This is the grandson of Vasily Kashirin,
owner of the dye works!"
Uncle Grigory, why is my granddad so angry?
Because his business is going very bad.
You don't know the how and the why of things yet.
But you should know everything.
Your father, Maxim Savvateyevich, was a trump,
he understood everything.
That's why your grandfather didn't like him, didn't recognize him.
It's a hard life to be an orphan.
Do not give in to anyone.
Look people straight in the eye.
Even a dog that's after you will stop if you do that.
Wait a minute.
He stumbled, and it crushed him.
It'd have smashed Mishka and me too if we hadrt let the cross go in time.
Then it was you that smashed him.
You!
Uncle Mikhail took a horse and went to the church to fetch father.
It's good I didn't carry the pedestal myself, or look where I'd be now...
The bastards!
To do in a chap like this!
In five years he'd have been won'th his weight in gold!
Ah, you poor dear boy...
Such a joy you were...
Out of here, you accursed ones!
...Tsiganok was buried unnoticeably, unobtrusively.
Ivan was a simple soul.
On a rainy night in the early spring
I found Ivan on the bench beside the gate of our house.
He was a foundling. There he lay wrapped up in a sheet.
Why do people give babies away?
It's all on account of poverty, Alyosha.
Some people are so poor there's no words for it.
Grandfather was for taking Vanya to the police, but I talked him out of it.
I was happy to get Vanya.
It's such a love I have for wee ones like you!
So we took him in.
First I called him the Beetle.
He used to go crawling around,
buzzing like a beetle.
But your uncles did him in.
Grandma, what makes my uncles so wicked?
They're just stupid.
Mishka's sly and stupid,
while Yakov's just one of your milksops.
Well, come on, my dear.
So you going across the river, Mikhail Vasilyevich?
Lord God, why not send a drop ofjoy to Varvara?
Our sons fight and fight.
Mikhail is the oldest.
So he's the one to stay here in town.
It's an offence to send him over the river, You know Yourself.
Everyone should want to better himself.
But father has a preference for Yakov.
Is it right for a father to love his children unequal?
He's stubborn, the old man is.
Give him a drop of sense, Lord, about how to divide with his sons.
Across the river? I'm not going!
And then Grigory, Lord.
His eyes getting worse every day. Once he's blind, he goes begging.
And would that be right?
He's poured out all his strength in granddad's business.
But the old marll give him no help.
Stop making believe, you little rascal! You're not asleep, my dear.
Are you making fun of your old grandma?
You pigeon-widgeon!
Go to sleep now, my dear.
Well, what else?
Alexei here is so disobedient to his granddad.
He contradicts him all the time.
How is he going to live, the poor orphan?
Well, mother, a visitation from the Lord! We're on fire!
Come here!
Children, go there!
It's Mishka! It's his doing!
Oh! Oh, the devil!
Where's Mishka? Where's Grigory?
Mother, it's Mikhail set us on fire!
You've gone blind, blind...
I can't see anything.
The sulphuric acid, you fools!
The sulphuric acid'll blow up! The sulphuric acid!
Stop her! Stop her!
Oh, she's done for!
Oh, she'll burn down!
Oh, my wife... She's done for!
Pull this thing off me! Can't you see I'm a-fire?
Father, lead out the horse.
Lead out the horse!
Hold him, mother!
Oh, God...
Would I leave you at such a fearful moment? You silly little mouse...
Get away!
Make way!
Let's go back.
It's all Mishka's doing!
Uncle Grigory.
Alexei Maximovich.
It's all over.
I can't see anything.
Alexei Maximovich.
Alexei Maximovich...
Have to get rid of Grigory. It's all his carelessness.
That mars done for, outlived his time.
You can't. He's worked for you for 37 years.
He's gone completely blind.
All right. It's none of your business.
Now I'll divide up with the children.
But there's nothing to divide!
Everything's burned down.
You'll have it easier now, father.
We'll send Mikhail over the river, Yakov will remain here.
And we'll move to a new place.
Oh, what people!
If Yakov was a little pup, His howls would wake the neighbors up.
Oh, dear Lord! Oh, I'm... bored.
Ah, everything's burned down?
And you thought everything'd go to Yakov, and Varvara and her puppy?
You're lying!
Who's there?
- Ah, Alyoshka. - You fool.
You, Varka's seed.
Come goblin, come goblin,
climb inside and take a ride
to bring us luck in the other house.
Father, father, look.
Where are you going?
Go, you accursed ones!
Uncle Grigory!
In the new house.
See that sign? That's 'a' for apple.
Say it - 'a' for apple.
'A' for apple.
- 'B' for butter. - 'B' for butter.
- 'C' for cellar. - 'C' for cellar.
- 'D' for dinner. - 'D' for dinner.
What's this?
'B' for butter.
Right. And this?
"C' for cellar.
Right. And this?
- 'E' for ever. - Right.
What's this?
- 'A' for apple. - 'A' for apple!
'B' for butter, 'C' for cellar,
'D' for dinner, 'E' for ever, 'F' for father...
Just look how he's took to it, mother!
Oh, you Astrakhan plague! What you hollering about?
It's you that's hollering.
I'm shouting because I'm sick, but what you shouting for?
Enough of shouting your heads off!
Go on out and play.
The new neighbor.
What are you doing?
- Where did you come from? - I'm the grandson here.
Ah, Kashirin.
I'm not a Kashirin, I'm a Peshkov.
- Peshkov? - Peshkov.
Good thing.
Climb in here.
Sit down and don't make any noise.
- Smells bad, brother? - Yes.
That's good, brother.
If it's bad, it can't be good.
Well, that's not always true, brother.
- Do you play knucklebones? - Dibs? Sure I do.
Want me to smelt a filler for you?
- I'd like it. - It'll make a good beater.
I'll fill it up for you,
but you promise you won't come back any more. All right?
Why do you beat Igosha?
He's the grandson of Kashirin, boys.
I'm not a Kashirin, I'm a Peshkov.
- Kashirin! - No! Peshkov!
Knock him down!
What? They bashed you?
- Have you found the jar? - Stop it!
Don't get angry.
Want to be our friend?
Help a blind beggar.
Help a blind beggar, for the love of Christ.
Help, please.
Help a blind beggar, for the love of Christ.
Uncle Grigory, how are you?
Ah, Lyonya, how you doing? Is your mother home?
No, she's gone.
- How are your beasts? Alive? - Yes, alive.
Mind you, don't let the roaches out.
Alright, I won't.
How do you know him?
I know everybody here.
Careful.
What's this?
Get in here and you'll see.
But be careful. Oh, you dropped it.
What's in these boxes?
It's my menagerie, brother.
Let me see it.
Don't open it, or they'll run away. I won't be able to catch them.
Why not?
See how my legs are? They've always been like this.
Wort walk, won't live, just legs.
- Are you alone here? - Yeah. What's your name?
- Alexei. - So you're my namesake.
Put it to your ear and listen.
Well? What?
Something's moving in there.
It's a spider in there, named Drummer. He's very sly!
And this is the cockroach Anisim, a braggart, like a soldier.
And this is the fly Clerk.
And this is a black roach, a huge one. Landlord.
Why are you giving them human names?
Because they look like people.
They're awfully like people.
We have a clerk's wife living in our house.
She's buzzing and nagging all day,
cursing everybody, just like a fly.
Or our landlord. Just the image of the cockroach.
Looks so important, so puffed up.
Do you catch them yourself?
Some I catch myself, others are brought by the boys.
The boys that come to me. They pity me.
Too bad I don't have any butterflies or moths.
They live in the open field.
But I can't get there.
Listen, have you seen the open field?
- Yes, I've seen it. - Is it good in there?
Yes, it's good.
I wish I could come to the open field.
I guess I'll die without seeing it.
Was it God who made the open field?
Must be.
And where's God made? In God's house?
I guess so.
If you feed the roach for a long time,
can it grow as big as a horse?
If you feed him real good, it will.
You sure can feed a mouse to be a horse, right?
I guess you can.
I wish I could feed a mouse to be as big as a horse,
harness him with a can't and go to a wide field.
I would've taken all my menagerie there and let them out.
Enjoy the freedom, house dwellers!
The music is here. Help me up, quick.
It's the clerk fly fighting.
Here.
Take it.
Feed him as big as a horse.
- Are you leaving already? - I'll come again.
- You're not lying? - No.
Let's be friends, alright?
Alright.
Where will you keep the mouse?
Over there, in the jar.
On rainy evenings, my grandmother would hold very interesting parties.
Near him reclineth Ivan-the-Warrior,
Sword and its sheathing rotted to dust,
Chain mail and armor eaten by rust,
All of his garments gone to decay.
Powerless he to move from that place,
To lift a hand, or even to stand.
And this, I wist, be a punishment,
That he harkened to such evilness,
That he bent his will to another's will.
That's a wonderful thing!
It must be written down by all means.
It is so... Russian, you see...
How very true it is!
Well, go ahead and write it down.
No sin in that. I know lots of others like it.
Just this one. It is so very Russian!
It's wrong to let someone else act as your conscience.
- Come for me? - No.
- Then what? - Nothing special.
Well, sit down.
We'll just sit and say nothing, all right?
All right.
Here, look.
That grandmother of yours is a wonderful woman.
Ah, what a land!
And this be a punishment,
That he harkened to such evilness,
That he bent his will to another's will!
Remember that, brother!
- Can you write? - No. I only can read.
Learn.
And once you learn,
put down what your grandmother recites.
That's very important, brother.
What are you making in your room?
- A certain thing, brother. - What thing?
Better let's not talk any more.
You've ruined everything! Get out!
We don't need such tenants! Get out of here!
We don't want such tenants!
Get out!
Well, goodbye, brother. I'm leaving.
Why?
Your mother's coming. The room is needed for your mother.
- Who said so? - Your grandfather.
He's lying. There's another room for my mother.
Don't be angry. I would've gone away anyway.
Remember my telling you not to visit me?
I do.
- Did I hurt your feelings then? - Yes.
I didn't mean to.
I knew they would scold you, and me too,
if you started making friends with me.
- I knew that long ago. - That's how it is, brother.
Why doesn't anybody like you?
Because I'm not like them, understand?
Don't be angry.
Remember what your grandmother said:
Never bend your will to another's will.
You have to know how
to take hold of things, understand?
It's very difficult to know how to take hold of things, of life.
Goodbye, boys!
Goodbye, Alexei Maximovich!
Oh God, am I more sinful than the others? What for?
Oh, what people!
Why are you so worried, father?
The money's gone. The landowner is bankrupt.
The Lord knows what He's doing.
Sure he knows. Punishing us at the brink of the grave.
No joy, no peace.
Mark my words, beggars we'll die!
What of it? So we'll be beggars.
You can sit home and I'll go out with the cup.
Nobody'll refuse me, we'll not go hungry.
You fool! You blessed little fool!
The only person left to me!
You'd be willing to lose everything,
simpleton that you are!
Just remember
how we worked for our children, how we sinned for them!
And the children, Mishka and Yashka, are squandering my property away!
It was you who connived with them! You the conniver!
Don't dare beating her! Don't you dare!
Don't dare beating her!
The one who lived here with you? That chemist?
Where did he go?
Here? When?
If only I could remember.
Not really? Merciful God! Let's go.
Gather up these pillows. A fine thing to go throwing the pillows about!
Does it hurt?
Tomorrow I'll heat up the bathhouse and wash all the hurt away.
Is my face bruised bad?
Grandma, why do you bear with him? He isn't stronger than you, is he?
Not stronger, but older. Besides, he's my husband.
It's my duty to bear with him.
And I won't.
What are you saying? May your tongue wither at the roots.
What if your grandfather hears it?
Let him! I'll show him when my mother comes!
Listen, pigeon-widgeon,
don't you tell your mother that he beat me.
You won't, now, will you?
No.
That's good. So everything's neat as daisies.
Pick up the calendar of saints.
Mother! You hear, mother?
Our tenant, you know, turned out a rioter against the tsar!
Goodness gracious...
O Saints, have mercy... Varvara the Martyr...
Who gave the permission to take the calendar? I'll kill you!
What is it, father?
Come to your senses!
I'm done for!
My daughter, too! You're all against me! All of you!
You should be ashamed of yourself for putting on such a show!
I'll paste these pieces on some calico, and it will be even better, stronger.
See that you paste them today. I shall bring you the calico.
Varvara the Martyr...
And he deserves a licking!
Alexei.
Why did you cut up the calendar?
I did it on purpose. So that he won't beat grandma.
Yes, if he beats you again, I'll cut his beard off!
How big you've grown!
The way they dress you...
You need a hair cut.
And time for you to be going to school.
My mother is the best! She'll never leave again.
She'll stay with me. I'll go to school. Yes!
And mine came home last night soaked to the gills.
This morning I says to her: "Why are you such a drunkard?"
And she says, "Try to bear it a little longer, I'll be dying soon."
What will you do then?
I want to study.
When she dies, I'm going to school too.
I'll kiss the teacher's feet to make him take me.
- I'll be teaching you. - And me, too.
And I want to get many pigeons.
To see a white tumbler soaring up in the blue sky,
and then making circles!
Isn't it good?
Good.
Like a falcon.
And I got no ma, no pa.
My uncle brought me here, and drowned shortly after.
What town are you from?
He's forgotten the name of the town.
Yes, I forgot.
- Where was it? - On the Kama River.
On the Kama?
A town on the Kama, very fair...
But he doesn't know where!
Here or there,
Or in the air!
Some town!
A town on the Kama, very fair, But he doesn't know where!
Here or there, Or in the air!
Come on! You can't be angry with your friends!
Come on, guys!
A town very fair,
But we don't know where!
A town on the Kama River.
Here or there,
Or in the air!
A town on the Kama River!
You've got guests.
Your new father came to see you.
If Yakov was a little pup,
His howls would wake the neighbors up.
Oh, dear Lord!
Oh, I'm bored...
Who is that?
That'll be another grandmother for you.
Oh, I'm bored...
And here's your future father.
I'll buy you some paints.
Oh, I'm bored.
I don't want you!
What are you pouting about?
If you only knew how hard you make it for me!
Mummy, I'll never do it again.
Please don't cry.
You mustrt be naughty.
Soon we shall get married
and take a trip to Moscow.
And when we return, you will live with me.
You will go to the gymnasium,
and then become a student.
After that you may be a doctor.
A learned person can do anything.
Whatever he wants.
All right, go to sleep.
Mummy!
I myself will provide for you.
I shall work, but please don't go away!
Enough!
Tell him to obey me.
You must obey your grandfather.
See?
Let's go, mother. Come on.
Looks like you're fated to go on living with me.
Scratching up against me like a match on a brick.
I've sold the house.
Everything's for the children. We have to move.
...And they divided up again...
That's all yours, and don't be asking me for anything else.
Come goblin, come goblin,
climb inside and take a ride
to bring us luck in the other house.
Taking it along, are you? I'll show you, you heretic!
Grandfather went completely bankrupt.
Alyosha began to earn money himself.
They crushed the flowers, the devils!
For how much have we collected today?
Today is a bad day.
Me and my grandma need just five kopecks a day.
Two pounds of bread, right? Four kopecks.
- A kopeck-won'th of sugar, right? - Right.
That makes five kopecks.
I've found a third wheel for Lyonka, guys!
Let's go and sell the rags.
A town very fair,
But we don't know where!
A town on the Kama River.
Here or there,
Or in the air.
A town on the Kama River!
- Where shall we keep the wheel? - At my place.
Lyonka will be so happy!
Alexei, come to the market place tomorrow, alright?
Alright.
One, two, three, four, five.
Your tea's finer than mine.
Mine's thicker, makes a better brew, so I got to put in less.
Shame on you, grandfather.
None of your business.
You'll be the ruin of me, you're eating me out of house and home.
And you stop it, will you? Why are you saying it?
He's old, that's why he's fooling.
Let him be. It's no big deal.
That would be won'th about 6 kopecks.
That's for Lyonka.
Oh, what people!
Here, grandma, take it.
Thanks, pigeon-widgeon. Thank you.
Well, Alexei, you're not a medal to hang around my neck.
Time you were getting out in the world. No room for you here any more!
I'll go, grandma.
I'll go away!
Fedka, look! The convicts are being led!
Look...
Here, take it, dear.
Come with us, boy!
Good deed?
Alexei Maximovich.
Here we meet again.
You've grown so big, so strong!
What is it you've got?
- You reading? - Yes.
Go on, read. And think.
And how are your folks? Your grandfather?
Grandfather's begging, like Uncle Grigory.
And your grandmother?
Remember your grandmother's tales?
That he harkened to such evilness,
That he bent his will to another's will!
What is this for?
You'll know some day.
That's it, go!
Well, goodbye, brother.
We'll see each other again. Goodbye.
Come on!
Get up!
I'm going out in the world!
Good deed!
Thus ended my friendship with the first of
that innumerable company of people - strangers in their native land -
who represent its finest sons.
There's a ball, there's no ball.
Here it is, the ball.
Greetings to you all! Our show is on!
Good cooks, help, please.
Help a blind beggar, for the love of Christ.
Oh, what people! Please, help.
Oh, what people!
Give me a piece of pie.
Help, good folks, give me a piece of pie.
Vasily Vasilyevich, take it.
You've eaten me out of home! Oh, what people!
Give a donation for God's church.
Let's go, guys!
- Come on! - To the open field!
Here it is, the open field.
Enjoy your freedom, house dwellers!
Enjoy, house dwellers!
Enjoy your freedom, house dwellers!
Into life... into life...
to make everything that is good and humane
in our hearts and minds part of it.
Maksim Gorky
THE END