Which sentences do not contain punctuation errors. Control work - test

And literature

Control work - test

1 option

1) The forest covered with a haze of young greenery came to life.

2) The road was white illuminated by the moon.

3) The car circled the streets like gardens for a long time.

4) The deserted yard, cut by a ravine, is overgrown with weeds from end to end.

5) An odorous, lifeless branch leaned over the edge of the glass.

2. Indicate the sentences in which there are separate definitions:

1) Carelessly sprinkled stars shone clearly in the sky.

2) A frosty, burning day blinds the eyes, scattering creaky snowdrifts.

3) An ominous howl, piercing and insolent, cut the sky in two.

4) An overgrown country road pressed close to the river.

5) I am tired of spring bliss, I fell into involuntary oblivion.

3. Determine in which sentences a single definition needs to be isolated:

1) White stars flash in the river.

2) Lagging ice floes hit the side of the ship.

3) The clear stars are reflected in the river.

4) The poor woman cries tirelessly.

5) Who did you leave me old for?

4. Indicate sentences in which there are no punctuation errors:

1) Clouds saturated with cold crept over Tsaritsyn.

2) Exhausted by the heat, people move slowly, sluggishly.

3) Friendship is strong youth, our struggle for peace is true.

4) Experienced and cautious, Usoltsev weaned Andrei from neglecting details.

5) Full of thought, I once walked along the high road.

AND:

1) The cat sat in a large basket, lined with pillows and looked suspiciously at the rod in Seryozha's hand.

2) He briefly remembered his mother and, pierced by a hot prick of pain, with an effort drove away the thought of her.

3) I was impatient to get to my people as soon as possible and I could hardly hold back my step.

4) The head stopped making noise and the forehead was covered with cold dew.

5) Tonya ran down the gangway and with a bold jump jumped right into the crowd of friends.

6. Determine which sentences have a separate application:

1) Old man Zdanevich, a former teacher at the gymnasium, studied French with several undersized people.

2) The apartment of the locomotive engineer Gladyshev was crowded and noisy.

3) The remarkable poet Zabolotsky lived in this city (Tarusa) shortly before his death.

4) The ship's doctor lives with us, a fast and strict old man, a great connoisseur of music, the owner of a large historical library.

5) Nikolai Nikolaevich loves goldfinches of multi-colored and elegant birds that look like fluttering flowers from afar.

7. Find out in which sentences the application is highlighted with a hyphen:

1) This summer I went to Tarusa, a quiet town on the Oka River.

2) The locksmith Yakov Stepanovich lives in it - an inventor and a poet at heart.

3) Yakov Stepanovich is a curious person, delving into the essence of any business.

4) There is a carpenter Nikolai Nikitich - a connoisseur of birds.

5) His cages are just bird palaces with mezzanines, mezzanines and balconies.

8. Determine in which sentences the application is joined with a hyphen:

1) In the river, silver and strong fish began to take shelespers.

2) Swimming beetles swam under the dark green leaves of algae.

3) Queen pine sparkling from top to bottom was especially good.

4) It was the end of December, the saddest time in the village.

5) A disabled copper samovar sang his simple song.

9. In which sentences there are no punctuation errors:

1) In 1961, the first man pilot Gagarin flew around the Earth on a space rocket.

2) The teacher and writer Dmitry Gulia - the educator of Abkhazia - created the Abkhazian alphabet and opened the first mobile theater on carts.

3) Cyril's brother Ilya lived in Paris for the second year and became friends with Picasso there.

4) The eldest of them, Misha, studied with us in the same class.

5) He is slow to answer, the dreamer is a crest.

10. Indicate in which sentences there is a participial phrase after the word being defined:

1) The pine forest mysteriously high darkens above the sandy ridge.

2) I look in thoughtful peace at a bush bent over the river.

3) The grass crushed by the foot gently rustles.

4) Thin birch branches showered with swollen resinous buds are visible above the head.

5) A yellowish foam similar to a downed squirrel was carried along the river.

And connects homogeneous members:

1) He slammed the flag and crawled down the mast.

2) The navigator takes the treasured map and sees the blue of the oceans.

3) The sea is on fire again, and spring is again in the Baltic.

4) Gavrik deftly untied and raised a new quadrangular sail.

Key to check:

questions

Control work - test

"Separate members of the proposal."

Option 2

1. Determine in which sentences there is a participial turnover:

1) Bushes obscure from the fog hung over the deck.

2) The doorman fancied a leaden grove flying around from the first frost.

3) The sea was like a boiling cauldron covered with a cold wind.

4) Dew-washed gardens in bloom.

5) I love green forests renewed in spring.

2. Indicate the sentences in which there are separate definitions:

1) Sharp icy roses bloomed on the portholes.

2) The earliest spring was dry and gray.

3) In the west, a dim sunset burned, washed by rain.

4) Loose clouds saturated with dark water hung low over the sea.

5) Tired and chilly, I return to the estate at dusk.

3. Determine in which sentences you need to isolate a single definition:

1) The flown poplar is silvery and light.

2) Invisible, you are already dear to me.

3) Behind the blue seas, forgotten, he faded alone.

4) I like to lie down tired.

5) The dawn whiteness lies.

4. Indicate the sentences in which there are no punctuation errors:

1) The sky completely covered with autumn clouds was reflected in the water of the river.

2) Furious and sharp October rain blinded our eyes.

3) How soft-looking clouds are scattered in disorder across the sky.

4) Suddenly, in front of my eyes, the foliage, densely killed by rain and snow, reared up.

5) Exhausted by efforts and hardships, the old man went to bed.

5. Indicate in which sentences you need to put a comma before the union AND:

1) Large sprays fell from trees entangled in a light fog and from ferns.

2) Enormous clouds, illuminated by the lights of the harbor and already saturated with a pale dawn, huddled over the port.

3) The squeezed fingers of pine shoots open up and turn into a candlestick with three candles.

4) The night passed under a large clear moon, and by morning the first frost had fallen.

5) A strong wind was blowing and by morning the smell of smoke had already noticeably pinched my nose.

6. Indicate in which offers there is a stand-alone application:

1) The battalion commander senior lieutenant Prudnikov was nearby, around the corner of the hut.

2) Yuri Yuryevich, the teacher of military affairs, treated me well.

3) The pilot, a simple blond guy, nodded his head at me and smiled.

4) An elderly Red Guard worker with a rifle walked around the palace lattice.

5) Our accountant Klimov fell ill.

7. Indicate in which sentences the application is highlighted with a hyphen:

1) Schmidt is the embodied will, this is that undeniable strength of spirit, before which they either bow down or turn pale with shame for their silence.

2) When he spoke in court, the sentries put down their rifles and the old colonel, the chairman of the court, wept.

3) Topolev - a tall, bony old man with gray-greenish eyes - did not say a word all evening.

4) Schmidt is a man born and raised by the sea.

5) The island was covered in fog - a gray motionless haze.

8. Indicate in which sentences the application is joined with a hyphen:

1) The shepherd boy played on the pity.

2) It was a thin young man, an inventor and a debater.

3) First grader Alyonka brought him a kitten from a living corner.

4) A thin girl wandered along the narrow Yauza River.

5) Twilight, but we are still children on the street.

9. Find sentences that do not contain punctuation errors:

1) Hello motley aspen, early autumn beauty!

2) Spring, the madcap of heaven, is both my girlfriend and a poem.

3) An experienced tracker Sergei Nikolaevich easily read the short pages of a forest drama.

4) He knows and loves nature - one of the greatest incentives for the improvement of man.

5) Komsomol steam locomotives gathered at the station.

10. Indicate in which sentences there is a participial phrase after the word being defined:

1) I don't want to lose a drop from the novelty that overwhelms me.

2) The morning greeted us with an unexpectedly blowing wind.

3) I remember a tall Christmas tree standing on the edge of the forest that looked like a green bell tower.

4) At night we sat in a hut covered with reeds and sedge.

5) The sunlight reflected in the snow unbearably hurts the eyes.

11. Determine in which sentences the union And connects homogeneous members:

1) The cranes trumpeted into the winged distance and the horses ran to the ferry.

2) A tit sits on a branch and greedily pecks at the berries.

3) It was winter and the boredom of swimming was felt especially strongly.

4) The wind carried dry birch leaves and covered the distant lake with them.

5) The lightning flashed dazzlingly, and the first thunder was born in the deaf, immense stings.

KEY:

Verification work. Separate definitions. 8th grade.

Write off, punctuate. Designate graphically punctogram.

1. The swimmer was brave, who decided on such a night to set off across the strait for a distance of up to twenty miles, and there must be an important reason that prompted him to do this.

2. The road, all pitted with ruts, was a dark forest, dotted on both sides with bright and sandy yellowness of birch and larch leaves that had not yet flown around.

3. They saw a peaceful fire burning in the windows of the houses, friendly smoke coming from the chimneys and were buried in the deserted forest ravines.

4. An electric lamp suspended above the table swayed, white damp boards sheathed the walls and ceiling of the dugout, sighed and creaked in pain.

5. A huge five-story house was engulfed in smoke and flames escaping from under the roof, part of which was already scattered and from the windows.

6. The damp cold piercing wind with furious malice knocks on windows and roofs.

7. A thick white fog quietly swims up to the lilac and wants to close it.

8. Far beyond the lake stretches the high bank of the Irtysh, brown and gloomy.

9. The sounds of the piano and violins, cheerful, remote, were confused in the air in some kind of chaos.

10. His face, weathered, tired and concentrated, seems older from a sleepless night.

11. Ogarkov, young and timid, did not participate in the conversation.

12. Smoky light clouds rushed high in the bright sky.

13. Thunderstorms died down, and the hot and rainy summer flew by quickly and imperceptibly.

14. Resolutely pale, she walked and talked loudly, ordered.

15. Sergei no longer remembered his combat with a company of Germans, when one day, immediately after the battle, his exhausted dirty was called to headquarters.

16. The sun has long gilded the tops of the forest, and I sat sleepless on the upper deck and admired more and more new corners.

17. Indignant to the depths of his soul, Thomas clenched his teeth and left Myakin.

19. Fascinated by the story, Liza did not notice how pale Tumanova's face was covered.

20. Cut off from the whole world, the Urals withstood the Cossack siege with honor.

21. Shpakovsky in a hat and a short coat in a woolen scarf and leather gloves looked disapprovingly as Marchenko, dressed in a wetsuit, flounders in dirty water.

22. Anna Vasilievna in a black dress in a black lace shawl wrapped around her neck looked straight ahead with an impenetrable hard expression.

23. He just blinded a doll with a nose, arms and legs and in a Tatar shirt and put the doll on the roof.

24. Well-read and educated, he knew several foreign languages.

25. At this time, Katya and Sonya, cheerful and wet, with a loud voice, went out onto the terrace.

26. Hungry with battered legs, I got to my hometown, to my father's house.

27. Above the horizon, a month hung low, so narrow and so pale that it could be mistaken for a sickle molded from wax.

28. In the whitish sky, the transparent white flame of the Northern Lights, majestic, beautiful, mysterious, wondrous, shuddered with silver luminous stripes.

29. Now, probably, a sharp cold wind will blow and tear this fog to shreds.

30. On the porch sat a short old man with a beard overgrown to the eyes and a young woman in a raincoat.

32. Behind the office was a large table covered with a beautiful cloth, all filled with books.

KEY:

1. The swimmer was brave, who decided on such a night to set off across the strait at a distance of up to twenty miles, and there must be an important reason that prompted him to do this.

2. The road, all pitted with ruts, went through a dark forest, dotted on both sides with bright and sandy yellowness of birch and larch leaves that had not yet flown around.

3. They saw a peaceful fire burning in the windows of houses, friendly smoke coming from the chimneys, and were buried in the deserted forest ravines.

4. An electric lamp suspended above the table swayed, the white damp boards that sheathed the walls and ceiling of the dugout sighed and creaked in pain.

5. A huge five-story house was engulfed in smoke and flames escaping from under the roof, already partly scattered, and from the windows.

6. The wind, damp, cold, piercing, with furious malice knocks on windows and roofs.

7. Fog, white, thick, quietly swims up to the lilac and wants to close it.

8. Far beyond the lake stretches the high bank of the Irtysh, brown and gloomy.

9. The sounds of the piano and violins, cheerful, remote, were confused in the air in some kind of chaos.

10. His face, weathered, tired and concentrated, seems older from a sleepless night.

11. Ogarkov, young and timid, did not participate in the conversation.

12. Clouds, smoky, light, rushed high in the bright sky.

13. Thunderstorms died down, and summer, sultry and rainy, flew by quickly and imperceptibly.

14. Resolute, pale, she walked and talked loudly, ordered.

15. Sergei no longer remembered his combat with a company of Germans, when one day, immediately after the battle, he, exhausted and dirty, was called to headquarters.

16. The sun has long gilded the tops of the forest, and I, sleepless, sat on the upper deck and admired more and more new corners.

17. Indignant to the depths of his soul, Foma gritted his teeth and left Myakin.

18. Washed by the rains, the young moon rested like a bright slit on the western edge of the sky.

19. Fascinated by the story, Lisa did not notice how pale Tumanova's face was covered.

20. Cut off from the whole world, the Urals withstood the Cossack siege with honor. 21. Shpakovsky, in a hat and short coat, in a woolen scarf and leather gloves, watched disapprovingly as Marchenko, dressed in a wetsuit, flounders in dirty water.

22. Anna Vasilievna, in a black dress, in a black lace shawl wrapped around her neck, looked straight ahead with an impenetrable hard expression.

23. He just blinded a doll, with a nose, arms, legs and in a Tatar shirt, and put the doll on the roof.

24. Well-read and educated, he knew several foreign languages.

25. At this time, Katya and Sonya, cheerful and wet, with a loud voice, went out onto the terrace.

26. Hungry, with beaten legs, I got to my native town, to my father's house.

27. A moon hung low over the horizon, so narrow and so pale that it could be mistaken for a sickle made of wax.

28. In the whitish sky, the transparent white flame of the northern lights, majestic, beautiful, mysterious, wondrous, shuddered with silver luminous stripes.

29. Now, probably, the wind will blow, sharp, cold, and will tear this fog to shreds.

30. On the porch sat a short old man with a beard overgrown to the eyes, and a young woman in a raincoat.

31. Through the glass door, Meresyev could see the entire corridor, dimly lit by dimmed bulbs.

32. Behind the office was a large table, covered with a beautiful cloth, all filled with books.

The orchestra played a colonial march. The sailors kept "on guard" and bared their teeth.

In the evening we went to Saigon. Pellier appeared on deck for the first time all day. He looked at the Chinese coast.

- Damn you aunt! he hissed. “I'll be damned if I don't turn this box over to another commander.

I was on watch. Chinese waters quietly rustled and merged with the sky. The stars lay low in the south, and the moon rose over China. For the first time on the whole flight, I thought about uncut books and smiled: today I will read all night.

Jamm came up.

– Cleanly done, oh-la-la! he said, winking. - Hear how they are having fun.

From the cockpit came the chorus:

Holy Virgin, Save the Sailors From countries hot and stinking, From Le Havre and Brest skipper dogs And from parade uniforms ...

It was winter, and the boredom of swimming was felt especially strongly. The boredom of steamship nights, filled with creaking bulkheads, mournful lapping waves and dim stars. The stars swayed all night over the humming black masts.

All the books had been re-read long ago, and one could stand for hours at the porthole without any thoughts and look at the flame of the lighthouse lit on the flat banks. There, for months, the monotonous surf hummed, unceasingly, bored everyone unbearably.

On one of these nights, I heard the glassy sound of a piano over my head. Someone played after midnight, grossly violating ship discipline.

The sounds were solemn and counted time with the precision of a metronome. The man played with one hand, so the elegance fell out of the melody and only a harsh and unhurried theme remained. It sounded louder and louder as it approached my cabin. I recognized an excerpt from The Queen of Spades: "Midnight is approaching, but Herman is still gone, still gone."

I went up to the wardroom. A one-armed old man in a gray suit was sitting at the piano. He played with his right hand. The left empty sleeve was casually tucked into the side pocket of his jacket.

The cabin was lit by a single lightbulb, but it was so dark that I could make out black waves and a hazy streak of dawn outside the windows. The old man stopped playing, turned to me and said:

I tried to play very quietly. But it woke you up anyway.

I recognized him. It was Captain Shestakov. He sailed with us as a passenger. I looked into his narrowed eyes and remembered the cruel fate of this man. We young people talked about her as an example of almost incomprehensible courage.

During the German war, Shestakov commanded the destroyer "105" in the Baltic Sea. The destroyer stood along with the main forces of the squadron near Revel.

One autumn night, Admiral Fitingoff summoned Shestakov to his ship. This admiral was nicknamed "Chukhon Beatty". He imitated the English flagship Beatty in everything, who led the Battle of Jutland.

Fitinghoff, like Beatty, never let out a small pipe from the thin woman's lips, the eternal feather stuck out like a golden petal from the pocket of his tunic, and in the evenings the admiral played solitaire. In many words, Fitingof made the wrong accents, trying to emphasize his complete contempt for the Russian language. Sometimes the "Chukhonian Beatty" allowed himself strange jokes.

Greeting any ship on the day of the ship's holiday, he ordered the signal to be raised:

- As a young life?

The embarrassed ship, not daring to laugh it off, respectfully thanked the admiral.

Late at night Shestakov climbed the ladder to the admiral's ship and went to Fitingoff's cabin. The admiral, without looking at Shestakov, said, chewing the words along with the mouthpiece of his pipe:

- Lieutenant, immediately go out on your destroyer to the Alland Islands, where a brigade of cruisers is stationed. Give the brigade commander this secret package. Deliver the commander's reply here immediately.

- There is! - Shestakov answered very quietly: he was afraid to break the steel silence of the ship.

An hour later, the destroyer "105" escaped into the black foamy night, and only the rumble of steam from its low pipes was heard for some time by the watchmen on the patrol ships.

The night thickened. The wind blowing from Sweden pumped the darkness like a gigantic pump, thicker and thicker. By dawn, it became difficult for watchmen to breathe from dense darkness.

In Shestakov's cabin, in a secret box, was a package sealed with a personal imperial seal.

The storm hit the destroyer's cheekbone, and the wind wept in the rigging. From below it seemed that sailors were singing with their mouths closed on deck. The boatswain was dissatisfied with the signs - the whistle of gear, going to sea on Monday and a cigarette butt found on the deck did not bode well.

The next day, at dusk, a brigade of cruisers opened on the horizon. The destroyer "105" approached the flagship, and Shestakov handed over a secret package to the commander.

The answer was received in a quarter of an hour, and the destroyer, having extinguished the lights, again went into the raging night and pitching.

He traveled at twenty knots.

On the trembling decks, one could breathe only by standing with one's back to the wind.

Heavy rain was coming from the west.

The engine fans roared like a hurricane, and the smell of mud and solar oil gave Shestakov a headache.

He went down to his cabin for half an hour, lay down and dozed off.

He dreamed of stokers, with faces as if burnt by soldering irons, with soot on their pale lips, wet with steam and exhaustion.

Together they threw coal into the furnaces and sang to the beat:

Sailor, forget about the sky Forget about your father's house! Black holes in the sails Ripped open with a knife!

This absurd song, which landed on the destroyer from nowhere, caused Shestakov anxiety. He was afraid of her: when the stokers began to sing, he tried not to listen, and with his whole being felt the proximity of misfortune. It was the same now, in a dream.

- Quit singing! - Shouted Shestakov - and woke up: a watchman was standing at the door of the cabin and asked him to urgently go upstairs.

A minute later, the bells of a loud battle rattled throughout the destroyer. People ran along the clanging decks and ladders. The destroyer lay on board at a sharp turn, and the silvery light of the searchlight, like the dazzling sparkle of snow, hit Shestakov in the eyes. The alarm bells suddenly went silent.

The destroyer "105" ran into three German reconnaissance cruisers. Shestakov led the destroyer around the cruising squadron, trying to dodge the searchlights, but they calmly groped for him and did not let go for a second. Three rivers of smoky light stretched to the sides of the destroyer and lit the portholes with an unbearable brilliance.

The destroyer had to break past the German cruisers at all costs in order to deliver an answer to the admiral. The only way out was to accept an unequal battle. And Shestakov accepted him. He made a sharp turn and led the destroyer to the nearest cruiser.

Shestakov had an advantage in speed. Cruisers could not develop such a move. The night was lashing from all sides with rain and wind.

Shestakov ordered the left searchlight to be opened. In its flickering, streaming light, the bulk of a clumsy German cruiser appeared. He burrowed heavily with his nose into the waves and rolled breakers in front of him. His guns were aimed at the destroyer.

The destroyer launched a mine, but missed. At the same moment the cruiser fired a volley, and the black night, as it were, fell like muffled thunder into the storm and the wind.

The fight lasted over an hour. The destroyer "105" had pipes shot down, it received two holes above the waterline, and a fire started in the bow cockpit.

Eight sailors and a mechanic were killed. Shestakov's left arm was torn off by a shell fragment, and the ship's paramedic put a tight bandage on him. She was soaked with blood all the time, and Shestakov often lost consciousness.

Toast

On one of these nights, I heard the glassy sound of a piano over my head. Someone played after midnight, grossly violating ship discipline.

The sounds were solemn and counted time with the precision of a metronome. The man played with one hand - so the elegance fell out of the melody and only a harsh and unhurried theme remained. It sounded louder and louder as it approached my cabin. I recognized an excerpt from The Queen of Spades: "Midnight is approaching, but Herman is still gone, still gone."

I went up to the wardroom. A one-armed old man in a gray suit was sitting at the piano. He played with his right hand. The left empty sleeve was casually tucked into the side pocket of his jacket.

The cabin was lit by a single lightbulb, but it was so dark that I could make out black waves and a hazy streak of dawn outside the windows. The old man stopped playing, turned to me and said:

I tried to play very quietly. But it woke you up anyway.

During the German war, Shestakov commanded the destroyer "105" in the Baltic Sea. The destroyer stood along with the main forces of the squadron near Revel.

One autumn night, Admiral Fitingoff summoned Shestakov to his ship. This admiral was nicknamed "Chukhon Beatty". He imitated the English flagship Beatty in everything, who led the Battle of Jutland.

Greeting any ship on the day of the ship's holiday, he ordered the signal to be raised:

As a young life?

The embarrassed ship, not daring to laugh it off, respectfully thanked the admiral.

Lieutenant, leave at once on your destroyer to the Alland Islands, where a brigade of cruisers is stationed. Give the brigade commander this secret package. Deliver the commander's reply here immediately.

There is! - Shestakov answered very quietly: he was afraid to break the steel silence of the ship.

An hour later, the destroyer "105" escaped into the black foamy night, and only the rumble of steam from its low pipes was heard for some time by the watchmen on the patrol ships.

The night thickened. The wind blowing from Sweden pumped the darkness like a gigantic pump, thicker and thicker. By dawn, it became difficult for watchmen to breathe from dense darkness.

In Shestakov's cabin, in a secret box, was a package sealed with a personal imperial seal.

The next day, at dusk, a brigade of cruisers opened on the horizon. The destroyer "105" approached the flagship, and Shestakov handed over a secret package to the commander.

The answer was received in a quarter of an hour, and the destroyer, having extinguished the lights, again went into the raging night and pitching.

He traveled at twenty knots.

On the trembling decks, one could breathe only by standing with one's back to the wind.

Heavy rain was coming from the west.

The engine fans roared like a hurricane, and the smell of mud and solar oil gave Shestakov a headache.

He went down to his cabin for half an hour, lay down and dozed off.

He dreamed of stokers, with faces as if burnt by soldering irons, with soot on their pale lips, wet with steam and exhaustion.

Together they threw coal into the furnaces and sang to the beat:

Sailor, forget about the sky

Forget about your father's house!

Black holes in the sails

Ripped open with a knife!

Stop singing! - Shouted Shestakov - and woke up: a watchman was standing at the door of the cabin and asked him to urgently go upstairs.

Shestakov had an advantage in speed. Cruisers could not develop such a move. The night was lashing from all sides with rain and wind.

The destroyer launched a mine, but missed. At the same moment the cruiser fired a volley, and the black night, as it were, fell like muffled thunder into the storm and the wind.

The fight lasted over an hour. The destroyer "105" had pipes shot down, it received two holes above the waterline, and a fire started in the bow cockpit.

By four o'clock in the morning, the destroyer came out of the fire of the cruisers and headed for the main forces of the squadron. Shestakov was carried from the conning tower to the cabin.

Gloomy twilight flew after the ship, fell to the waves, and the destroyer could not get away from them. He seemed to be pulling them behind him in tow.

The whole way back was like severe dizziness.

The decks smelled of burnt blood and smoke. Water seeped into the holes.

The destroyer "105" approached the main forces of the squadron only in the evening and anchored. He crawled past dreadnoughts and cruisers like a dying dog. Greeting signals were raised to him, but he did not even answer them. His eyes followed silently. On all the ships one could see the pale faces of people who suddenly felt the full gravity of what had happened.

A signal was raised on the admiral's ship. It was raised so slowly that from the side it seemed as if Vietinghof hesitated and stopped the signalman several times:

“Commander… one hundred and fifth… is asked to come… to the admiral…”

Shestakov was led off the ladder into the boat. When he boarded the admiral's ship, the sailors helped him, and one of them looked into Shestakov's face attentively and sadly. Shestakov could not forget this look of his friend for a long time.

The admiral met Shestakov on deck and led him into the cabin.

Sovereign Emperor, - he said muffledly, - a report will be filed on heroic behavior - both yours and the entire crew of the destroyer "One Hundred and Five".

You will immediately go to the palace hospital.

Fitinghoff opened the packet, took out the report, and putting it far from his eyes, showing off his far-sightedness, began to read.

Shestakov, no less far-sighted than the admiral, saw the short lines of the secret report:

"The cruiser brigade thanks the monarch for the toast proclaimed by his majesty in honor of our glorious sailors and delivered to the ships of the brigade by the destroyer 105."

Fitinghoff looked round and shuddered. Shestakov, without saluting, left the cabin. He staggered. His eyes were closed. He kept his hand on the railing. His pursed lips looked painted black. He went down into the boat, not noticing the sailors helping him, and returned to the destroyer.

He called the survivors on deck and said to them:

I order everyone to go ashore now. I will answer the sovereign's toast myself.

The team obeyed. The sailors did not understand anything, except that it was impossible to disobey this order.

Shestakov stayed. He went downstairs and opened the kingstones. Water rushed into the compartments of the destroyer and wheezed in them like blood in the throat of a shot man.

The destroyer slowly began to fall on board and sank.

They managed to remove Shestakov.

At night, he was arrested and sent under escort to a psychiatric hospital. He was quite normal, but spent two years in the hospital.

And now, during a boring winter voyage, I asked Shestakov to play something else on the piano for me.

I'll play a sailor's song for you, - he answered quietly and hit the keys:

Sailor, forget about the sky

Forget about your father's house!

Black holes in the sails

Ripped open with a knife!

The blue dawn swayed in the waves and fought the flame of the bulb still burning in the cabin.

Moscow, 1933

Notes

First published in the magazine "30 days" (1933, No. 11-12).