1.10 How Daddy left Uncle Vitya all alone
A bedtime story from 'When Daddy was a little boy' by Alexander Raskin
A story from a dad’s childhood, narrated to his daughter, written in 1961. Read the introduction below.
Receive a bedtime tale from this long-lost collection at 8 PM IST every night from now till February 3rd, 2023.
HOW DADDY LEFT UNCLE VITYA ALL ALONE
When Daddy was little he had a brother who was still smaller than he.
His brother is now called Uncle Vitya. He's an engineer and he has a son of his own, whose name is also Vitya.
But then, Uncle Vitya was still a little baby. He had just learned how to walk. Sometimes he preferred to crawl instead of toddling. Sometimes he just sat down on the ground. That's why he couldn't be left alone. He was still so little.
One day, little Daddy and tiny Uncle Vitya were playing in the yard. They were left alone for a few minutes. Just then their ball rolled into the street. Little Daddy ran after it. Uncle Vitya crawled after Daddy. Their house was on a hill. The ball rolled down the hill.
Daddy ran after it. Uncle Vitya rolled down after Daddy.
There was a road at the foot of the hill. That's where the ball stopped and where little Daddy finally caught up with it and tiny Uncle Vitya finally caught up with Daddy.
The ball wasn't one bit tired, though it was the smallest of the three. Little Daddy was a little tired. But Uncle Vitya was exhausted! After all, he had just learned how to walk! That's why he sat down right in the middle of the road.
A cloud of dust appeared in the distance, and then many men on horseback came into view. They were galloping down the road. All this was very long ago, right after the war.
Little Daddy knew that the war was over, but he became very frightened all the same. He dropped his ball, left Uncle Vitya in the middle of the road and ran home.
As for little Uncle Vitya, he was sitting there, playing with the ball. He wasn't afraid of the soldiers or horses. He wasn't afraid of anything. After all, he was still very tiny.
The riders were very close by then. The captain was riding a white horse. "Halt!" he shouted. He got off his horse and picked up Uncle Vitya. He tossed him into the air, caught him again and laughed.
"Well, how are things?" he asked.
Uncle Vitya laughed back and offered him the ball. Meanwhile, Grandma, Grandpa and little Daddy were all racing down the hill.
Grandma was shouting: "Where's my baby?"
Grandpa was shouting: "Don't shout!"
Little Daddy was sobbing loudly.
Then the captain said: "Here's your baby! He's a fine fellow. He's not even afraid of horses!"
The captain tossed Uncle Vitya into the air again and handed him over to Grandma. He handed Grandpa the ball. Then he looked at little Daddy and said: "Garun fled faster than a doe."
Everyone laughed. Then the soldiers rode off. Grandpa, Grandma, little Daddy and tiny Uncle Vitya went home. Grandpa said to little Daddy:
"‘Garun fled faster than a doe' because he was a coward. That's from a poem by Lermontov1. Shame on you!"
And little Daddy was very much ashamed.
When he grew up and read all of Lermontov's poems he always felt bad when he read that line.
THE END
Enjoyed this story?
Want to enhance your reading habit with us?
Thank you for reading :) - Project Bibliotherapy
Read ‘The Runaway’ - M. Lermontov