Stepmother

(After J. Greenwood)

I was at Number Nineteen, Tummill Street, London. My mother died when I was five years old. She died fifteen minutes after my sister Polly was born.

As my father worked from morning till night, he had no time to look after Polly and me, so he married again soon. He married Mrs. Burke, who was much younger and more good-looking than my mother.

But I did not like my stepmother and she did not like me. So we began to hate each other; but she did not show her hatred when my father was at home. She beat me very often and she made me work very hard. From morning till night she found work for me to do. I looked after the baby. When she was awake, I took her for a walk, carrying her in my arms, and she was very heavy. I cleaned the rooms, went shopping, etc. There was always work for me to do.

One day a woman came to see my stepmother and they drank a lot of gin. All the money that my father had left for our dinner was spent. When the woman went home, my stepmother said to me in tears, «Oh, what shall I do, Jimmy, dear, what shall I do? Your father will come home soon, and there’s no dinner for him. He will beat me cruelly! What shall I do, what shall I do»?

I was sorry for her, she had tears in her eyes, and she called me «Jimmy, dear» for the first time. I asked her if I could help her and she said at once, «Oh, yes, you can help me! When tour father comes home in the evening, Jimmy, dear, tell him that you lost the money he left for our dinner».

«How could I lose it»? I asked in surprise.

«Уou can tell him that I sent you to buy some food. Suddenly a big boy ran against you and the money fell out of your hand and you could not find it. That will be very easy to say, Jimmy, dear, please, say it to your father»!

«But he’ll give me a good beating for it»! «Oh, no, he won’t! I shall not let him beat you, you may be sure! Here is a penny for you, go and buy some sweets with it!».

So I went off and spent my penny on sweets. When I came back and opened the door, my father was at home waiting for me with his waist-belt in his hand. I wanted to run out of the room, but he caught me by the ear.

«Stop a minute, young man»! he said. «What have you done with the money»?

«I lost it, father», said I in fear and looked at my stepmother.

«Oh, you lost it! Where did you lose it»?

«In the street, Father. Ask Mrs. Burke, she knows»!

I told him what my stepmother had asked me to tell him. I was not much surprised that he did not believe my story. But my stepmother’s words surprised me very much.

«Yes, he told me the same thing», she said, «but he is a liar! He has spent your money on sweets. I can’t beat him, he is your child, but you can give him a good beating»!

And she stood by while my father beat me with his belt till the blood showed. I hated my stepmother so much now that I wanted to see her dead.

Kirov

The city of Kirov is the centre of the Kirov region. The Kirov region is in the North-East of Moscow. The climate is continental with long and snowy winters and warm summers. The region is rich in forests, which cover more than half of its territory. The most advanced industries are house-building, machine-building, production of furniture, plywood and matches. The region is rather large and consists of 39 districts. There are 18 small towns in Kirov region. Slobodskoy, for example, is one of the most ancient towns. It was founded many centuries ago and it is of special interest to tourists. There you can see ancient wooden buildings, stone cathedrals and churches.

Kirov is old and modern at the same time. On the one hand it is one of the old Russian cities. It was founded in 1374 on the bancs of the Vyatka river. Its ancient name was Kchlynov. In 1780 the town was called Vyatka. It was a small provincial town with dirty narrow streets and small wooden houses. It was a place of exile for many outstanding people. Among them were famous democratic writers: Hertsen, Saltycov-Shchedrin, Korolenco, architect Vitberg. The Vyatka land gave birth to many great sons of Russia. Among them are: artists Vasnetsovs, singer Shalyapin, writer Alexander Grin, marshal Konev and other outstanding public figures. But in 1934 the town was given a new name. It was named after the revolutionarist S.M. Kirov (Kostricov) who was born in the small town Urzhum, Kirov region.

But, on the other hand, today Kirov is quite a big modern town. It is situated on the Vyatka river. They say, the town stands on 7 hills. Now its population is rather large. Over 500 thousand inhabitants live in Kirov. The longest street in our town is the October prospect. The oldest center of Kirov is the Lenin Street. Every district has schools, kindergartens, hospitals, shops and department-stores.

There are many wide and narrow streets and quite a lot of squares in Kirov. The most beautiful streets are Moskovskaya Street, Karl Marx Street, Karl Liebknekht Street, Alexander Grin Embankment and others. The heart of the city is the Theatre Square. It is difficult to say, that the architecture of our town is modern. Certainly, there is a lot of fashionable buildings, shops, restaurants and offices in the town. But in the streets you can see many old buildings as well. But the traffic in the evening is not so heavy as it is in the afternoon. In the afternoon the town is very vivid, with a lot of cars, lories, buses and trolley-buses running along the roads and with a lot of people walking along the pavements. There are no trams and underground in Kirov.

Kirov is an important industrial and economic center. Such brunches of industry as machine-building, furniture production, light industry and food industry are highly-developed in Kirov. There is a great number of modern industrial enterprises in it. Such machine-building enterprises as the plant «Avitek»and the plant «Lepse», the Artificial Leather plant, the Biochemical plant, some shoe and clothes making factories and others. There are many different firms and companies, banks and offices in Kirov.

Kirov is also a scientific and educational center. There are many schools, colleges, technical and vocational schools, institutes and universities. Kirov is a town of students, because the number of educational establishments grows with every year. The most famous are the Medical Academy, the Vyatka State Humanitarian University, the Technical University and the Agricultural Academy.

Kirov may be called a great cultural centre. There are a lot of cinemas and theatres, museums and libraries, Palaces of Culture and exhibition halls in Kirov. The Drama Theatre and the Theatre in Spasskaya Street, for example, are very popular with the Kirovites. Those, who are fond of films, may go to such cinemas as «Druzhba», «Kolizey», «Smena» and some others. Children of the town always have an opportunity to see an interesting performance at the Puppet theatre or a funny show-programme at the Circus. People, who are fond of music, can enjoy concerts of their favourite singers in the Palaces of Culture or in the Philarmonic Concert Hall. The art-lovers may go to the Museum of Regional Studies which is situated in Lenin Street. It shows the development of the region. The Vyatka land is rich not only in history but also in traditions. In the halls of the Art Museum and in its Exhibition Hall one can see pictures of many famous Russian artists and a fine collection of Dymkovo toys.

Kirov has a lot of places of interests. Sorry to say, there are no ancient castles in Kirov. But all the Kirovites are proud of the Trifonov Monastery. There are also some churches in Kirov. Today many of them are getting restored. Certainly, they make Kirov more beautiful and add much to the beauty of town. Besides, every guest of the city usually tries to visit the Theatre Square, which is situated near the Drama Theatre. The square is famous with its fountain. Many people like to walk along the square and to spend time there. And, of course, as any other city or town Kirov has quite a number of monuments, which are of special interest to tourists. So, if one goes sightseeing around the town, he will learn a lot of interesting facts about the town, about its history and its people. One can also buy Vyatka souvenirs: caskets and boxes made of wood, hand-made laces, clay toys from Dymkovo, wooden dolls-matryoshkas and other things.

Exercise 1. Retell the texts.