Little Tommy

4.8

When little Tommy was six years old he already knew that his father was the best father in the world. He was the strongest and the cleverest father of all the fathers, and he loved his Tommy very much.

When Father was at home, everybody had a good time. Father laughed and sang. Mother looked at him and laughed too. He was an actor. He was a very good actor. But Tommy did not know that. And it was only because his father believed in bad and good luck that Tommy went to the theater. It was for the first time in his life.

One morning Tommy’s father broke a mirror. His face became white; he was very frightened.

“Why is he so frightened?” Tommy thought. “Mother is on a mission and grandmother is out in the country and I shall not tell anybody about it.” He just wanted to tell it to his father, when Father said,

“Well, Tommy, I have broken the mirror. It is bad luck to break a mirror. Now I am afraid to leave you at home alone, and I must go to the theater to-night. I am playing Othello. I think I shall take you to the theater with me to-night.”

In the theater Father brought Tommy to a big room. There were mirrors on the walls of this room and small tables near them. Many people were sitting there and... they were making their faces dirty. Father also put something on his face and hands and they became black. Tommy never saw such a dirty face in his life.

“Mother tells me to wash my face three times a day,” he thought, “and here Father is sitting in the room with his face and hands all black and dirty.” But Tommy was a polite little boy and he did not say anything.

Then Tommy heard music. But Father told him to sit and wait, and everybody went out of the room.

Now Tommy was alone in the room. He had nothing to do. He came up to a mirror. On the table near the mirror he saw many small boxes. He put his finger into a box. The finger became green. Then he put this finger to his face. His face became green too. It was very interesting. He put another finger into another box. Now his finger was red. He put it to his face. Then he tried another box, then another. Now his face was all in different colors. It was beautiful. Tommy looked into the mirror. He liked his face very much.

“Father will like it too,” thought Tommy, “it is much more beautiful than a black face.” But there was no Father in the room. So Tommy opened the door of the room and went into a corridor. There was nobody there. Tommy went on. He went on and on but did not meet anybody. Suddenly he heard his father’s voice. Father was speaking to somebody but he was very far away. Tommy went on. Now he came to the end of the corridor. There was a door. Tommy pushed the door and came into a very big room. It was dark there, but he could hear his father better. Tommy went on, and now he came to a wall. The wall was made of fabric and near the floor there was a hole in it.

Tommy looked through this hole. He saw a very large and beautiful room. Somebody was in the room, but Tommy could not see who it was. He pulled the fabric, and the hole became bigger. Now he could push his face through it.

* * *

The stage manager was sitting in the theater and was watching the play. Everything was all right. Othello was playing very well to-night, and Desdemona was good too. Suddenly the stage manager saw that there was a face in the fire-place.

“What has happened? I must run and see what has happened there,” the stage manager thought. But he had a weak heart, and now he felt so bad that he could not move; he was sitting and looking at the face.

The people who were sitting at the theater also saw the face in the fire-place. They began to whisper.

At that moment Othello came to Desdemona and said, “Oh, give me your hand.” Desdemona had to answer, “My hand? I have given you my heart.”

But she did not say anything; she was looking at the fire-place.

Othello thought that she did not remember her words and whispered to her,

“My hand? I have given you my heart.”

Desdemona did not say a word.

Othello was angry now. “Say: My hand...,” he whispered again. Desdemona whispered back,

“Behind you. In the fire-place.”

Othello looked there and was in a panic. He came nearer to the fire-place and whispered,

“Tommy, go away from here. Do you hear me?”

Little Tommy smiled happily, but did not move.

He was happy to see his father again.

Othello, who did not know what to do, went back to Desdemona.

Little Tommy could not see his father now, so he moved a little and came out of the fire-place. He looked at his trousers, saw that they were dirty and cleaned them with his hand. Then he came up to a small bench, which was near Desdemona, and sat down.

The people at the theater laughed.

Desdemona trying to use Shakespearian verse, said,

“My boy, you go! Your mother waits for you.” Othello also tried to use Shakespearian verse and said.

“You go, my son, and leave us here alone.”

Tommy liked it very much. It was like a song. And he sang,

“Mother is not at home. She is on a mission.”

The people at the theater laughed.

What could poor Othello do? He came up to the boy, took him by his hand and went to the door. In a minute he came back without the boy.

The play went on.

Little Tommy was sitting alone in the room with many mirrors. He was crying and crying. He did not understand why his father was angry with him.

In an hour his father came back and said,

“Don’t cry my boy. I am sorry. I believed that a broken mirror brought bad luck, but to-night I brought bad luck to me myself.”