The headmaster was very angry. He said:
"You are a clever boy, Alyosha. But yesterday you were very naughty. And you are naughty today. I am going to punish you for that."
It was a terrible thing for Alyosha.
"Boys!" said the headmaster to the other children. "Don't speak to Alyosha." The headmaster took the birch. Alyosha ran up to the headmaster in tears:
"Please, don't do it. I promise to become better!"
"Why didn't you think about it before?" asked the headmaster.
The other boys asked the headmaster to forgive Alyosha.
"Very well," said the headmaster, "I forgive you. But first you must say when you learned the lesson."
Alyosha was very unhappy. He forgot his promise to the King and his minister. He told the headmaster about the black hen. He told him about the knights and the underground people.
The headmaster stopped the boy.
"What!" he cried angrily. "You're trying to tell me a story about a hen now! That is too much. No, children. I must punish this boy!"
The headmaster punished Alyosha. After that the boy went to the bedroom. It was a terrible time for him. Alyosha put his hand in his pocket. The hemp seed wasn't there. The boy started crying again.
That evening he went to bed with the other children. But he couldn't sleep.
"I must become better. I was so bad," he thought. "And I can't get the hemp seed back now."
Suddenly the sheet moved. Alyosha closed his eyes. He was afraid of seeing Blacky.
"Only yesterday I promised her to become better. What can I tell her now?" he thought.
Somebody came up to his bed. A voice called his name: "Alyosha! Alyosha!" It was the voice of Blacky.
Alyosha opened his eyes. But it was not the black hen near his bed. The boy saw a sad small man in black. He had his little red hat on his head.
"Alyosha!" said the Minister. "I can see that you are not sleeping. I want to tell you something important. We are going away. Good-bye, Alyosha!"
"Good-bye, Blacky!" said Alyosha. "Good-bye! And please forgive me."
"Alyosha," said the Minister sadly, "I forgive you. You saved my life. I still love you. But we can't stay under your school any longer. We are going far away. Everyone is so unhappy! We lived here many years. It was such a good place!"
Alyosha tried to take the Minister's small hand. Suddenly he saw something strange.
"What is it on your hands?" he asked.
The Minister showed him his hands. Alyosha saw gold chains.
"I must wear these chains now," said the Minister. "But don't cry, Alyosha! Your tears can't help me. Do one thing for me: be a good boy. Good-bye!"
And the Minister disappeared under the bed.
"Blacky! Blacky!" cried Alyosha. But Blacky didn't say a word.
Alyosha didn't sleep all night. He heard voices under the floor. He got out of the bed and sat down on the floor. He listened to the voices for a long time.
"The little people are going away because of me," he thought.
Then he heard the voice of Minister Blacky:
"Good-bye, Alyosha! Good-bye!"
The next morning the children found Alyosha on the floor. He was ill. They put him to bed. Soon the doctor came.
"The boy is very ill," he said. "He must stay in bed."
Alyosha stayed in bed for a long time.
In spring he was back in classroom. The headmaster and the other boys didn't talk to him about the black hen or about the birch. Alyosha didn't like to remember them, either. He tried to be good and kind. Everyone became nice to him again. But he couldn't learn twenty pages by heart. In fact, nobody asked him to do that any more.
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