Ever since he was a young boy, Vasya was a compassionate person. Once, I broke a plate. The fact that even a single one of them was missing would soon be discovered. Mother asked, ‘Where is the plate? ’ Before I could answer, Vasya said, ‘I broke it accidentally.’ He knew I would get in trouble, but he wouldn’t because he was a boy and always helped around the house. God, I was so grateful to him!

I was approaching them. Vasyatka had already gathered the boys around him by the stone and was telling them something… He was smart beyond his years and would often entertain us with his stories. I remember that he was not tall, and when a crowd of boys surrounded him tightly, it would be hard to tell at first why they were all standing in a tight circle and laughing. No, I can’t agree with those who say that Vasya was just like any other ordinary child. In appearance, yes, we all dressed similarly in our poor clothes — linen pants and shirts, walking barefoot as soon as the snow melted, white hair bleached from the sun and swimming, red noses… ‘Well, boys, ’ he would say, ‘where should we go? ’ We would decide to go to the fourth lake and not take the girls because it was too far away. Sometimes Vasya’s sister Talya would catch up with him, ‘Vasya, please, let me come with you! ’ Then Vasily would ask his mother, ‘Mom, can you take care of my little tag-along? ’ And the tag-along — Natasha — would cry loudly and keep asking to join us…