The beautiful Wanda, or according to the ID card: Honorary Citizen Na Stasija Canaff Kinna, fell into a difficult situation she had not encountered before leaving the hospital: she had no place to live and had no money. What should I do?
The first thing she did was run to the credit office and pawn her only treasure, a turquoise ring. They paid her a ruble, but … what can a ruble buy? This money can’t buy fashionable coats, beautiful high hats and bronze shoes. Without these things, she always felt naked. She felt that not only pedestrians but also horses and dogs stared at her and laughed at her inappropriate clothes. She was only thinking about her clothes, but the food and accommodation problem did not worry her at all.
” As long as you meet a man you know …” She thought, ” I’ll be rich … no one will refuse me, because …”
But none of the men I met met met. It is not difficult to meet them at the ” Renaissance” club at night, but now she is wearing this ugly dress and no hat, and people don’t let her in. What should I do? After a long ordeal, she was tired of walking, sitting and thinking. Wanda decided to use the last resort: to find someone and ask for some money from a man he knew.
” Who do you want?” She thought to herself, ” Misha can’t, he is a man of family … red hair old man is at work …”
Wanda remembered dentist Finkel, a Jew who converted to Orthodox Christianity. The man gave her a bracelet three months ago and once she poured a glass of beer on his head at a dinner table at a German club. She danced with joy at the thought of Finkel.
” As long as he is at home, he will definitely give money.” She thought along the way, ” If he doesn’t give it, I’ll smash all the lights in his house.”
When she walked to the dentist’s door, she had already thought of a good idea: she giggled and ran up the stairs, flew into his office and asked him for twenty-five roubles … however, she was about to ring the doorbell, and the idea somehow escaped from her mind. Wanda suddenly became timid and flustered, which had never happened before. In fact, she was bold and unbridled only among a group of drunks. Now she is dressed in ordinary household clothes and acts as an ordinary beggar. This kind of person can be completely shut out. Thought of here, she felt guilty, trying. She was ashamed and afraid.
” Maybe he has forgotten me …” She thought again, still afraid to ring the doorbell, ” how can I go to see him in this dress? It’s like a beggar or ordinary citizen … ”
She gave the doorbell a hesitant ring.
Footsteps came from behind the door. This is the doorman.
” Is the doctor at home?” She asked.
At the moment, if the doorman said ” no”, she would be happier, but the other party didn’t answer and let her into the hall to help her take off her coat. The stairs here felt rich and magnificent, but in all the magnificent furnishings, she first noticed a big mirror and saw a mirror in rags, without a beautiful hat, a fashionable coat and bronze shoes. Wanda even wondered why she was dressed like a seamstress or a washerwoman in such a cold gun. Her heart was only ashamed and she did not have the impudence and boldness. She did not think that the man was Wanda, but the former Nastia Canaff Kinna …
” Come in!” The maid said and led her into the consulting room, ” the doctor will come right away … you sit down. Call
Wanda sat in a soft chair.
” I said to him: Please lend me some money!” She thought to herself, ” It’s more decent, after all, we are acquaintances. Only the maid had better go out. What a shame in front of the maid … what is she doing standing here all the time? ”
After four or five minutes, the door opened and Finkel came in. This is a dark – skinned, tall Jew with plump cheeks and bulging eyes. The face, eyes, stomach and thick thighs – everything on him seemed so bloated, disgusting and indifferent. In the ” Renaissance” club and the German club, he is usually drunk, willing to spend a lot of money on women, willing to be mocked by them ( for example, Wanda poured a glass of beer on his head that time, he just smiled and put out a finger to frighten her ). In front of him is a sullen, bleary – eyed, looks serious, cold, like a bureaucrat. He is still chewing something in his mouth.
” What are your orders?” He asked, looking straight at Wanda.
Wanda looked at the maid’s serious face and Finkel’s paunchy body. Obviously he didn’t recognize her. She couldn’t help blushing …
” What are your orders?” The dentist was already angry when he asked again.
” Teeth … toothache …” Wanda Ruru said.
” Aha … which tooth? Where is it? ”
Wanda remembered that she had a decayed tooth.
” Right, down …” She said.
” Uh – huh, open your mouth!”
Finkel frowned, held his breath and began to examine the diseased teeth.
” Does it hurt?” He asked, taking an iron guy to dig in his teeth.
” Pain …” Wanda talk nonsense. She thought: ” remind him that he must recognize … but … the maid is here! What is she doing standing here all the time? ”
Finkel suddenly snorted at her mouth, panting like a locomotive. He said.
” I advise you not to mend this tooth … your tooth is useless, whether it is the same or not.”
He was pounding in his teeth for a while, and his smoked fingers smeared Wanda’s lips and gums. He held his breath again, put a cold thing into her mouth … Wanda suddenly felt a sharp pain, she let out a scream and grabbed Finkel’s hand.
” It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter …” He murmured, ” you don’t be afraid … your teeth are useless anyway. Be brave. ”
Smoked fingers stained with blood, holding an extracted tooth, sent it to her eyes. The maid came over and put the cup to her mouth.
” Go home and rinse your mouth with cold water …” Finkel said. ” The blood stopped …”
He stood in front of her, looking forward to someone walking away quickly and not bothering him any more.
” Goodbye …” She said, turning toward the door.
” ah! Then who will pay me the fees? ” Finkel asked in a playful tone.
” Oh, yes …” Wanda to think of it, all of a sudden blush with shame, busy with turquoise ring when the ruble to Finkel.
When she came to the street, she felt more humiliated than before. But now she doesn’t think poverty is shameful. She doesn’t care whether she wears a beautiful hat or a fashionable coat. She walked in the street, spitting blood, and every mouthful of blood told her: her life was very bad, very difficult, and suffered all kinds of humiliation, not only today, but also tomorrow, a week later, a year later – all her life, until she died …
” Oh, this is terrible!” She muttered to herself, ” oh my god, it’s terrible!”
But the next day she returned to the ” Renaissance” club and danced there again. She wears a new big red hat on her head, a new fashionable coat on her body and bronze shoes on her feet. A young businessman from Kazan is inviting her to dinner.
