Who would have thought that this old, torn embroidery would give me such an unusual story. But it's a good way to start from the beginning.…
My good friend, a collector, restorer and collector of antiquities, a great storyteller and – last but not least – a listener, knowing my fascination with old embroidery, once invited me to visit him.
Everything was in bloom in the garden, and a light breeze blew the petals off the trees and, spinning, fell on the grass to the yellow dandelions. There was a table by the porch, under an old pear tree, and several chairs with embossed patterns nearby. The embroidery was on the table. It was in poor condition, but when I looked at it, I noticed the main thing-what was embroidered on it.
I'm listening to this story again and once again I thank heaven for my luck. And, thank God, our land is full of such legends and stories of ancient times.
Families used to be large, each with several children. So this one had six sons and one daughter, the youngest. The brothers, when they grew up, arranged their lives as best they could. The eldest, having married, separated immediately. And the second brother followed him: he became a capable blacksmith. Two of the younger brothers went abroad for a salary. Returning home after every long trip was an important event, almost a holiday. Everyone gathered and listened to their stories about how people live there in Europe, what cities and villages they had to see. The younger sister loved their stories more than the others. And so she began to ask her brothers to take her with them. I wanted to go at least once, if they let me. The parents, of course, were strongly opposed at first, but agreed when the sons assured them that everything would be fine. And then the older brothers also supported, they say, let him go if he wants to but is not afraid. They made the brothers promise that they would look after the baby and take care of her and that they would return home earlier than usual. This girl's journey lasted just a few weeks, and it ended with a happy return home. And then…
Then there was war, revolution, devastation, famine, and war again. The brothers who worked abroad stayed there, and it is not known how their fate turned out. My older brother died at the front, and two more died in camps in Siberia. Of all the children of the once large family, only the youngest daughter remained alive. Her fiance also died during the Second World War.
Later, in 1946, she married a one-armed veteran. They had a daughter, Zoska. Life gradually got better, a house was built, and my daughter went to school. And so, sometime in the mid-fifties, when the girl was in the third grade, Zoska's teacher and the chairman of the village council came to her parents.
- what is it? - putting embroidery on the table, they sternly asked the girl's mother. And, without waiting for the embarrassed parents to respond, they continued: "she embroider in labor lessons, we didn't teach her that. Children embroider stars, flags, Lenin's words... We know which family you come from, where your brothers are, and where you've been. You can't even imagine how it might end for you. Ana and the literature were brought with pictures. Show me, now!
Threats, screams... The poor mother fell to her knees:
- There are no pictures or books. Yes, I was there. But nowhere, never, and to no one... I swear it! - and lost consciousness at the feet of the uninvited "guests".
When she opened her eyes, her husband and daughter were there.
"They're gone," the soldier said softly. - I lied that I was the one telling my daughter what I saw there. They ordered the embroidery to be burned.
At these words, Zoska began to cry. Later, in the kitchen, the wife swore to her husband that she had never told about her trip abroad. Incredibly, the child was embroidering what his mother had seen as a child so many years ago.
Completion. Everyone is asleep in the house. On the table in the moonlight there are embroidery with unusual patterns: colored houses with red roofs, tall spires with
crosses, bright carts and carriages, people in bright multicolored clothes. There is a lot of greenery, colors and light that seems to flow, interrupting the moonlight.…