Free The Fatal Eggs by Mikhail Bulgakov Page A

over alright. Stuck
away at the back of beyond..."
    "Thick as posts," muttered the
guard, who had settled down on his greatcoat in the conservatory doorway.
    The next day was heralded by some strange and
inexplicable events. In the early morning, at the first glint of sunlight, the
groves, which usually greeted the heavenly body with a strong and unceasing
twitter of birds, met it with total silence. This was noticed by absolutely
everybody. It was like the calm before a storm. But no storm followed.
Conversations at the state farm took on a strange and sinister note for
Alexander Semyonovich, especially because according to the well-known Kontsovka
trouble-maker and sage nicknamed Goat Gob, all the birds had gathered in flocks
and flown away northwards from Sheremetevo at dawn, which was quite ridiculous.
Alexander Semyonovich was most upset and spent the whole day putting a phone
call through to the town of Grachevka. Eventually they promised to send him in
a few days' time two speakers on two subjects, the international situation and
the question of Volunteer-Fowl.
    The evening brought some more surprises.
Whereas in the morning the woods had fallen silent, showing clearly how
suspiciously unpleasant it was when the trees were quiet, and whereas by midday
the sparrows from the state farmyard had also flown off somewhere, that evening
there was not a sound from the Sheremetevka pond either. This was quite extraordinary,
because everyone for twenty miles around was familiar with the croaking of the
Sheremetev frogs. But now they seemed to be extinct. There was not a single
voice from the pond, and the sedge was silent. It must be confessed that this
really upset Alexander Semyonovich. People had begun to talk about these
happenings in a most unpleasant fashion, i.e., behind his back.
    "It really is strange," said
Alexander Semyonovich to his wife at lunch. "I can't understand why those
birds had to go and fly away."
    "How should I know?" Manya replied.
"Perhaps it's because of your ray."
    "Don't be so silly, Manya!"
exclaimed Alexander Semyonovich, flinging down his spoon. "You're as bad
as the peasants. What's the ray got to do with it?" "I don't know.
Stop pestering me." That evening brought the third surprise. The dogs
began howling again in Kontsovka and how! Their endless whines and angry,
mournful yelping wafted over the moonlit fields.
    Alexander Semyonovich rewarded himself
somewhat with yet another surprise, a pleasant one this time, in the
conservatory. A constant tapping had begun inside the red eggs in the chambers.
"Tappity-tappity-tappity,"
    came from
one, then another, then a third.
    The tapping in the eggs was a triumph for
Alexander Semyonovich. The strange events in the woods and on the pond were
immediately forgotten.
    Everyone gathered in the
conservatory, Manya, Dunya, the watchman and the guard, who left his rifle by
the door.
    "Well, then? What about that?" asked
Alexander Semyonovich triumphantly. Everyone put their
ears eagerly to the doors of the first chamber. "That's them tapping with
their little beaks, the chickens,"
    Alexander Semyonovich went on,
beaming. "So you thought I wouldn't hatch out any chicks, did you? Well,
you were wrong, my hearties." From an excess of emotion he slapped the
guard on the shoulder. "I'll hatch chickens that'll take your breath away.
Only now I must keep alert," he added strictly. "Let me know as soon
as they start hatching."
    "Right you are," replied the
watchman, Dunya and the guard in a chorus.
    "Tappity-tappity-tappity," went one
egg, then another, in the first chamber. In fact this on-the-spot spectacle of
new life being born in a thin shining shell was so intriguing that they all sat
for a long time on the upturned empty crates, watching the crimson eggs mature
in the mysterious glimmering light. By the time they went to bed it was quite
late and a greenish night had spread over the farm and the surrounding
countryside. The night was mysterious, one might