Mikhail Bulgakov. The Fateful Eggs -
61 >
gone off somewhere. Get me those chickens!"
"Where could I have gone? I know my job." The guard took offence.
"Don't you go accusing me unfairly, Comrade Feight!"
"Then where are they?"
"How the blazes should I know!" the guard finally exploded. "I'm not
supposed to guard them, am I? Why was I put on duty? To see that nobody
pinched the chambers, and that's what I've done. Your chambers are safe and
sound. But there's no law that says I must chase after your chickens.
Goodness only knows what they'll be like. Maybe you won't be able to catch
them on a bicycle."
This somewhat deflated Alexander Semyonovich. He muttered something
else, then relapsed into a state of perplexity. It was a strange business
indeed. In the first chamber, which had been switched on before the others,
the two eggs at the very base of the ray had broken open. One of them had
even rolled to one side. The empty shell was lying on the asbestos floor in
the ray.
"The devil only knows," muttered Alexander Semyonovich. "The windows
are closed and they couldn't have flown away over the roof, could they?"
He threw back his head and looked at some big holes in the glass roof.
"Of course, they couldn't, Alexander Semyonovich!" exclaimed Dunya in
surprise. "Chickens can't fly. They must be here somewhere. Chuck, chuck,
chuck," she called, peering into the corners of the conservatory, which were
cluttered with dusty flower pots, bits of boards and other rubbish. But no
chicks answered her call.
The whole staff spent about two hours running round the farmyard,
looking for the runaway chickens and found nothing. The day passed in great
excitement. The duty guard on the chambers was reinforced by the watchman,
who had strict orders to look through the chamber windows every quarter of
an hour and call Alexander Semyonovich if anything happened. The guard sat