"Do you know the lesson now?" he asked Alyosha.
"No," said the boy.
"Then learn it!" said the headmaster angrily. He left the bedroom. Soon he came again. He brought Alyosha a glass of water and a piece of bread.
Alyosha started reading his book. He tried hard to learn the text by heart. But it was hard for him now.
He stopped studying long time ago. In the evening he knew only two pages.
It was time to go to bed. The boys came into the bedroom. With them came the headmaster again.
"Alyosha, do you know the lesson?" he asked.
"Only two pages," said Alyosha.
"I see. Then you can learn it in the morning," said the headmaster. "Sorry, but no breakfast for you. Only some bread and water again."
The headmaster left. Alyosha tried to speak to the other boys. But his friends didn't like him any longer. So no one said a word to him. Alyosha went to bed in tears. But he couldn't sleep. He was very sad.
"Blacky doesn't want to see me either," he thought.
Suddenly the sheet started moving.
"Blacky! Blacky!" said Alyosha in a low voice.
The sheet moved once more. Then the black hen flew up on the boy's bed. Alyosha was very happy to see his friend.
"Oh, Blacky!" he said. "Why didn't you come? I am your friend."
"Yes," said the hen. "I know. You are my friend. And you saved me from the cook. You were a good boy then. Everyone liked you. But now… you are awful!"
Alyosha started crying. Blacky spoke to him for a long time. She asked him to become a nice, kind boy again. In the end the hen told him:
"I must leave you now, Alyosha. Here is your hemp seed. You lost it in the yard. Our King doesn't take his present away from you. But you should become a good boy. And remember your promise. Don't tell anyone about us, Alyosha!"
Alyosha took the hemp seed from the hen.
"Dear Blacky, thank you for your help. Don't worry. I promise to become better in the morning."
"It is not easy. Remember that," said the hen. "I'm sorry, I must go now. Good-bye, Alyosha!"
Alyosha looked at the hemp seed. He was happy again.
"I can say twenty pages of the text without a mistake now. And it is very easy to become better," he thought.
The next morning the headmaster told Alyosha to come to the classroom.
"Do you know your lesson?" he said.
"Yes, I do," said the boy quickly.
And he said his lesson without any mistakes. Then he looked at the headmaster and the boys. The headmaster didn't like Alyosha's proud smile.
"You know your lesson now," said the headmaster. "But why didn't you want to say it yesterday?"
"I didn't know it yesterday," said Alyosha.
"Didn't you?" said the headmaster. "Yesterday evening you knew two pages. You told me that. And today you know all twenty pages without any mistakes! When did you learn them?"
Alyosha said in low voice:
"I learned them in the morning."
But then the children shouted:
"No! He didn't look at the book this morning."
Alyosha said nothing.
"Answer me!" the headmaster said. "When did you learn the lesson?"
Alyosha didn't know what to say.
Helpful Words & Notes
He tried hard — Он очень старался.
in tears — в слезах.
