Presents a summary of:
THREE FAT MEN
A Revolutionary Fairy Tale
by
Yuri Olesha
Illustrations by M. Dobuzhinsky
(1924)
PART I: TIGHTROPE WALKER TIBUL
Doctor Gaspar's Day Is Disturbed
The time of magicians has passed. But sometimes the uneducated
would mistake the distinguished and very learned Dr. Gaspar
Arneri for a magician because of the amazing things he could
do. He was the master of a hundred sciences.
One day, Dr. Gaspar decides to go to the park by the Palace of the Three Fat Men to
collect various grasses and insects. When he gets to the city's
edge, however, he finds that the city gates are closed and a huge
crowd is gathered there. The guards are letting no one out of the
city because the armorer Prospero and the gymnast
Tibul have led a mob to storm the Palace of the Three Fat
Men. The rebels are routed in a bloody battle and Prospero, the
hero of the people, is captured. Dr. Gaspar climbs a tower to watch the battle, but a stray shell destroys the tower.
Ten Gallows
In the commotion, Dr. Gaspar loses his hat, coat, eyeglasses, shoe
heels, and consciousness. When he awakens, it is night and he
hears waltz music. He comes upon a fancy party. Outside, the
carriage drivers and flower sellers are gossiping in concern about
the fate of Prospero, who has been put in an iron cage in the
Palace of the Three Fat Men. A fancy lady is happy that he is
locked up. A boy says that Tibul is still at large. A solemn
procession of guards and 100 carpenters passes by. They are on
their way to construct ten gallows. All the rebels will be
beheaded.
Star Square
At a menagerie, a clown parodies the Three Fat Men, portraying them
as fat sacks of grain and concluding that "Their last days have
come". The fat people in the audience are outraged; the more
slender ones are approving. Guards set fire to homes in the
workers' district as they search for Tibul.
Dr. Gaspar, trying to
get home, comes upon a commotion and a crowd in the town's main
square, called Star Square. The square is constructed with a
cupola of glass over it and a gigantic lantern suspended on cables
in the center. (The lantern is called the "Star", and hence the
name of the square.) Gymnast Tibul--wearing the green cape and
multicolored tights he usually wears when performing his
tightrope-walking act at fairs--is crawling along a roof, fleeing
from the guards. Some in the crowd are cheering him on, others
cursing him. Tibul climbs to the edge of the roof, then starts to
walk across one of the cables toward the Star. An officer of the
guards takes aim and is about to shoot Tibul when suddenly one of
the guards shoots the officer instead. The guards break into two
groups--pro-Tibul and anti-Tibul. Tibul reaches the Star in the
center of the square and pulls a lever, extinguishing the bright
lantern. In the darkness, Tibul escapes through a hatch in the
glass cupola. Dr. Gaspar returns home and notes in his diary the
events of the day. He hears a noise, turns around, and sees Tibul
himself.
PART II: THE DOLL OF THE HEIR TUTTI
The Amazing Adventure of the Balloon Seller
The next day, it is very windy. A Balloon Seller, holding onto his
bunch of balloons, is carried aloft in the wind. As he sails
overhead, one of his large slippers falls off his foot and lands
right on the head of dance instructor Razdvatris ("One-
two-three-s"), who was reprimanding some noisy children.
The Balloon Seller drifts out of the city and right into the window
of the pastry kitchen in the Palace of the Three Fat Men. He lands
on top of giant cake that is being prepared for gala breakfast
being held by the Fat Men to celebrate the crushing of the
rebellion. The pastry chefs decide that the only way now to save
the cake is to use the Balloon Seller and his balloons as an
ornament. So they immediately plaster the Balloon Seller all over
with cream and candies. He and the giant cake are then carried
into the dining hall where the enormously fat Fat Men are
entertaining many guests.
The Fat Men decide to exhibit Prospero (who is being kept in a cage
in a menagerie) for all the guests to see. At first, when they
bring in Prospero, everyone is fearful. One miller faints.
Prospero denounces the Three Fat Men, saying that the peasants,
miners and workers will no longer slave for their benefit. The
First Fat Man says Prospero will sit in his cage until they catch
Tibul, then the two of them will be executed together.
The Fat Men boast of their wealth. The First controls all the
grain, the Second all the coal, and the Third all the iron.
Prospero is led away, and everyone turns their attention back to
the cake. They are greatly intrigued by the "ornament" of the
Balloon Seller. They wonder what delicious treat is inside this
"ornament"--maybe candy, maybe champagne. They are about to chop
of its head to see when they are interrupted by the heir
Tutti.
The heir Tutti is a 12-year-old boy whom the Fat Men, themselves
childless, have chosen as heir. He is crying inconsolably and
announces that his life-sized girl doll has been ruined, stabbed
with sabers by guardsmen. Tutti's tutor relates how, in the park,
they were approached by 12 surly guardsmen, who sneered at Tutti,
calling him a wolf cub raised by three fat pigs. (The First Fat
Man, puzzled, asks, "Who are these three fat pigs?") The guardsmen
taunted Tutti, then stabbed the doll with their swords and chanted support
for Prospero. Tutti's bodyguards merely saluted the 12 guardsmen
and told them that soon all the soldiers would be on the side of
the people.
Everyone is shocked at this story. The most loyal guards are
immediately posted at all entrances and exits to the park and
palace. The Three Fat Man weigh themselves and discover that,
despite the furor, they have not lost an ounce of fat. For this, the chief
doctor is arrested and put on a regimen of bread and water.
Tutti
hugs his doll, which is torn and tattered and has a broken internal
spring. The State Council decides that the famous Dr. Gaspar must
repair the doll. They dispatch a message to him giving him until
tomorrow to effect the repair. He can have any reward he wants if
successful. If he fails, severe punishment is promised.
Meanwhile, the giant cake with the creamed-over Balloon Seller on
it is carried back into the pastry kitchen. There, the Balloon
Seller gives his balloons to 20 kitchen boys who promise to help
him escape. Following their instructions, the Balloon Seller
climbs into a giant copper pot, and the boys cover him with the
lid.
THE BLACK MAN AND THE CABBAGE HEAD
Earlier that morning, while the Balloon Seller was enjoying his
flight, Dr. Gaspar's housekeeper, Auntie Ganymede entered
Dr. Gaspar's study. There she noticed something burning in a
crucible and was shocked to see a black man in red underpants also
in the room.
Gaspar and the black man go out for a walk. They see a notice that
the Three Fat Men have arranged for a festival to be held that day
in the Fourteenth Market--it will held at the same time that the
executions of the rebels are scheduled to take place in Judgment
Square.
Gaspar and the black man go to the festival. One performer, a
Spaniard, thinking that the black man is an actor, tells him
that the Fat Men have hired all the performers for this festival
and paid them well as long as they praise the Fat Men and condemn
the rebels in their performances. Any performers who refused were
arrested. As the show begins, a clown comes out and says some
words in praise of the Fat Men, but is hit in the face with a
cake.
Strongman Lapitup comes out and gives a weight-lifting
demonstration. He bangs some barbells together and says that is
how the Three Fat Men will smash the heads of Prospero and
Tibul. The black man calls him a traitor and tells him to shut up.
The strongman is unnerved when the black man says he knows
Lapitup's personal history--his father is a blacksmith and his
sister a washer-woman. The black man gives Lapitup until the count
of three to leave. Confused and fearful, Lapitup flees. The black
man tells the crowd that is the way the people will chase off the
three Fat Men. The people in the crowd become suspicious, thinking
that the black man is really just another one of the Fat Men's
stooges. The black man, however, reveals that he is really Tibul
in disguise.
Just then a carriage containing the captain of the palace guard,
Count Boneventura, and the broken doll thunders into the
square. The guardsmen identify Dr. Gaspar, usher him into the
carriage, and thunder off with him. Lapitup chases after the
guardsmen to inform on Tibul. The Spaniard, armed with pistols,
comes out on stage and says they must turn Tibul over to the Fat
Men. The Director of the show supports the Spaniard. They
are joined by Lapitup, who failed to stop the guardsmen. Tibul
runs and jumps over a fence into a vegetable garden. He snatches
up cabbage heads and hurls them at his pursuers, causing them great
confusion. He then bends down to grab another cabbage head, but
it's not a cabbage--it's the head of the Balloon Seller, who is
just emerging from an underground tunnel, which was his means of
escape from the Fat Men's palace (the tunnel began in the big pot).
The Balloon Seller tells Tibul about his escape. Tibul pulls the
Balloon Seller out of the ground, then runs off. Meanwhile, the
Spaniard is distracted by one of the balloons (lost by the kitchen
boys), floating overhead. He tries to shoot it, but misses and
instead shoots the hat off the Director's head. The gunshot
startles a dog, who chases after the trio, nipping Lapitup on the
calf and forcing the Director up a tree.
AN UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCE
The guardsmen take Dr. Gaspar back home to his lab and show him the
broken doll, ordering that it be repaired by the next morning. The
guards leave. Dr. Gaspar examines the doll, which is of amazingly
fine workmanship. He looks at the doll's face, which is very
lifelike, and he feels that it is familiar, but from where? It
almost seems as if it were a real girl who was turned into a doll.
Further investigation reveals that an internal gear is broken on
the doll. Dr. Gaspar knows how to fix it, but it will take at
least two days to prepare the special metal--more time than he was
given for repairs. With trepidation, Dr. Gaspar decides to take
the broken doll to the Palace of the Fat Men and try to explain the
situation.
NIGHT OF THE STRANGE DOLL
On the way to the Palace of the Three Fat Men with the doll, Dr.
Gaspar falls asleep in the carriage. He is awakened by shouting
outside the carriage. It is guardsmen, who have been ordered not
to allow anyone within one kilometer of the Palace. Dr. Gaspar
says he must get to the Palace and identifies himself. The guards
laugh in disbelief. Dr. Gaspar, they say, is home in his workshop
repairing Tutti's doll. Dr. Gaspar, about to show them the doll,
then sees that it is missing. It must have fallen out of the
carriage while he was asleep. So Gaspar and the carriage turn
around. He and the coachman search for the doll, but to no avail.
Dr. Gaspar then thinks that the doll must really have been alive
and that it ran away.
Dr. Gaspar assumes that he will certainly be beheaded now, but
becomes distracted by his hunger. All the restaurants are closed,
but he smells food coming from a circus wagon. The wagon belongs
to Brizak, in whose troupe Tibul performed. Dr. Gaspar
knocks on the wagon door and is admitted by August, an old
clown. He says they've been hiding from the guardsmen and have no
idea where Tibul is now. August is pleased to see Dr. Gaspar and
reminds him of an incident a year ago when the troupe was giving a
performance in a public square and his daughter, Suok, was
singing. She sang a song about a cake that preferred to bake in
the oven than disappear into the stomach of a fat landowner. A
fashionable lady in the crowd took offense and ordered her servant
to beat the girl, but Dr. Gaspar intervened and stopped the
beating.
August call his daughter. She steps out and Dr. Gaspar is shocked
to see that she is....heir Tutti's doll!
PART III: SUOK
The Difficult Role of a Little Actress
Dr. Gaspar is now convinced that Tutti's doll was really a living
girl who jumped out of his carriage while he was sleeping. He
demands that Suok tell him who she really is. (In his confusion he
didn't see that Suok was not dressed elegantly as was the doll and
that--most importantly--she had no holes in her chest.) Just then,
a black man enters. Everyone, except Dr. Gaspar of course, is
terrified. The black man hugs Suok, but she squirms to get away.
The black man then pours a solution over himself. The black color
fades away, revealing that it is Tibul! Everyone is overjoyed!
Dr. Gaspar tells Tibul of the lost doll and of the resemblance Suok
bears to it. Tibul tells Suok that she must pretend to be the doll
and go with Dr. Gaspar to the Palace. There they can help Prospero
escape through the secret tunnel he learned about from the Balloon
Seller.
As dawn breaks, Suok puts on her fanciest dress and rides off in a
carriage with Dr. Gaspar. As they ride, they see a man trying to
snatch something out of the jaws of a dog--the same dog which
earlier bit Lapitup. The man is successful and runs off, clutching
his prize to his chest--it is Tutti's doll! And the man is dance
instructor Razdvatris.
The Doll With a Big Appetite
Dr. Gaspar and Suok arrive at the Palace. A crowd of courtiers and
servants gathers as Dr. Gaspar presents the repaired doll with the
"improvements" of the ability to walk and talk. Heir Tutti is
thrilled and excited. The Three Fat Men, covered with sweat from
their exercise session, enter. (The First Fat Man has a black
eye--the result of being hit in the eye by a ball thrown by the
Second Fat Man.) They examine the doll. Tutti's beaming face puts
them in a good mood. They tell Dr. Gaspar that he can name any
reward he wants. Dr. Gaspar requests that all the prisoners who
were to be executed be set free and that the gallows be burned.
All are shocked. The Secretary, who was about to write down the
request, drops his sharp quill pen and it sticks right in the foot
of the Second Fat Man. The Second Fat Man hops around in pain,
then takes the pen out of his foot and hurls it angrily at the
Secretary. The pen misses the Secretary and lands in the rear end
of a guard standing on duty. The guard, faithful to his duty, does
not flinch and the pen is not removed until his duty shift
ends.
The Fat Men refuse Dr. Gaspar's request as "criminal". Dr. Gaspar
whispers to Suok, who begins to squeak and stagger around as if
dying. Dr. Gaspar says it's because her system is extremely
sensitive and that she will be completely broken unless his request
is granted. Tutti stamps his feet and wails, so the Fat Men
finally agree. Dr. Gaspar leaves.
Tutti takes the "doll" Suok out to the garden, then orders
breakfast. Suok is uncertain if dolls should eat, but she can't
resist the sight of the tasty cakes and eats some. Tutti is
pleased, saying, "Before, it was so boring to eat alone." Suok
then hears a "tuk-tuk", not a "tick-tock". Tutti says it is the
sound of the beating of his iron heart.
The Menagerie
Tutti leaves Suok for his lessons. Suok knows that Prospero is
being kept in Tutti's menagerie and tries to think of a plan for
freeing him.
Tutti had been raised away from other children. He never had a
living playmate. He never heard the sound of laughter. The Fat
Men wanted to raise a cruel and evil heir, so they denied him the
company of other children and gave him only a doll, which could
smile, but not talk--so Tutti never learned about poverty, prisons,
suffering, etc. And the Fat Men gave him an animal menagerie,
reasoning that the sight of the tiger eating raw meat and a boa
swallowing a live rabbit would make Tutti hard and cruel. But it
didn't work out that way. Tutti loved the company of the doll much
more than the animals.
When Tutti returns, Suok says that when she was broken she had a
dream that she was a circus actress who would walk on the
tightrope, dance, do acrobatic stunts; that she and her troupe were
poor and sometimes went hungry. Tutti doesn't understand the
concept of "poor" and Suok has to explain. For hours until
nightfall, Suok continues telling Tutti of her "dream", eventually
forgetting that it was supposed to be a "dream". She says she can
play a waltz on apricot seeds made into whistles. Tutti is
intrigued. She says she can even play a waltz on a key. Tutti
says he has a special key from his menagerie given to him by the
Chancellor which he keeps hanging around his neck. He gives the
key to Suok, who blows over it, playing a song. Tutti does not
notice how she then pockets the key.
That night, Suok, with the key, sneaks down to the menagerie. She
takes the lantern from the sleeping guard and searches among the
animals. She finds whom she assumes is Prospero. But he is
strangely changed--fur growing on him like a bear, his ears human
yet somehow wolflike, long nails, apelike hands--overall like a
gorilla. He is dying. But before he expires he hands Suok a note
which, he says, explains everything. Suok gasps and drops the
lantern. All is dark.
PART IV: ARMORER PROSPERO
Candy Death
When Suok drops the lantern and gasps, all the animals in the
menagerie wake up and begin roaring, growling, etc. The sleeping
guard also awakens and summons other guards, who immediately
search the area. They find nothing suspicious, but notice a
trace of pink high up in a tree. Assuming it is Laura the Parrot,
escaped from her cage, the Zoologist, the administrator of
the menagerie, climbs up the tree to retrieve it. However, he sees
something terrifying, yelps, and falls down, getting caught on a
branch with his nightgown. The guardsmen also cry in terror and
start running around in confusion.
Fifteen minutes earlier, the Fat Men had received distressing news.
In the city, the workers had gotten hold of guns and were rioting,
throwing all fat people into the river. Tibul was organizing the
people, and many guardsmen had gone over to his side. As usual
whenever they were alarmed, the Fat Men started to get even fatter,
their stomachs growing and their collar buttons bursting. The
State Council immediately took up two questions: (1) How to stop
the fattening of the Fat Men, and [2] How to put down the
rebellion. On the first question the Council decided that dance
was the answer and the dance teacher was to be summoned
immediately. It was then that they heard the commotion in the
menagerie.
A big crowd rushes to the menagerie to see what's the matter, but
as soon as they get there, they turn around and flee the other way
in terror because of what they see: A gigantic, red-headed man in
a torn jacket. It is Prospero. In one hand he holds the iron
leash of a snarling panther. On his other arm sits Suok. Prospero
then releases the panther. He and Suok pick up pistols which were
dropped by fleeing guardsmen. They then climb in through the
window of the pastry kitchen--the same window which the Balloon
Seller had drifted through.
"Hands up!" shouts Prospero. All the cooks and kitchen workers
immediately obey, dropping pots of compote and syrup. Prospero
then begins a frantic, messy search for the giant escape pot. He
tosses bottles and pots of sweets and syrups everywhere, creating
a small sweet lake on the floor of the kitchen. He finds the pot
and jumps in. Before Suok can follow, the panther bursts in,
followed by guardsmen. The panther leaps down into the pot.
Thinking that the panther has killed Prospero, a disheartened Suok
surrenders to the guardsmen. Then, however, gunshots ring out
inside the pot. The guardsmen look down into it, then pull out the
carcass of the panther. Prospero lives! The guards start to drag
Suok to the Fat Men.
Dance Teacher Razdvatris
Dance teacher Razdvatris is conducting a class. None of the
elegant people there are worried about the uprisings in the city.
They fully expect the guardsmen, with the cannons, to put down the
rebellion. Guardsmen then arrive summoning Razdvatris to the
Palace. The teacher gladly packs some costumes, musical
instruments, wigs, etc. He is placed--facing backwards--on one of
the guardsmen's horses, and they set off.
As they ride through the city, Razdvatris sees servants chasing
after their masters threateningly with sticks. In one instance he
sees servants beating their master, dust rising up from
him like from an old rug.
Razdvatris and his escort are stopped by a group of rebellious
guardsmen. A battle ensues. Razdvatris faints. When he comes to,
he sees that his box of possessions has been ripped open. All his
costumes, etc., are still there, but the most important thing is
missing--the doll! At that very moment, a group of rebellious
guardsmen are galloping to the Palace. One of them, a blue-eyed
one, is clutching to his chest...the doll.
Victory
On the previous night, about an hour after Suok had been captured,
three mysterious figures crept into the bedroom where Tutti was
sleeping. Tutti's tutor, who was keeping guard in the room, was a
coward and hid behind a chair. He watched as the figures put ten
drops of a powerful sleeping potion in Tutti's ear. They whisper
among themselves saying Tutti will now sleep for three days and not
interfere when the doll appears before the court. They fear that
if Tutti were present, he would cry and plead for the doll and that
the Three Fat Men would relent and spare Suok's life.
Meanwhile, Suok, in custody, sat with her tongue sticking out at
the guardsmen for a solid hour just to spite them. The Chancellor
then appears and orders that Suok be brought for her trial.
Suddenly, the guardsmen and the Chancellor are ambushed. Someone
grabs Suok and whispers, "Don't be afraid."
The Three Fat Men and their entire court are eagerly awaiting Suok's
arrival for her trial. The Fat Men are sweating. Drops of sweat,
the size of peas, keep falling on the papers in front of them, so secretaries
are constantly changing the papers. Then three guards arrive,
carrying the girl. The Fat Men ask where the Chancellor is. One
of the guards, a blue-eyed one, says the Chancellor suffered some
indigestion on the way. This satisfies the Fat Men.
The guardsman puts the girl down on a bench in front of the court.
She is questioned, but she remains silent, refusing to answer. The
Fat Men summon the Zoologist as the only witness. He had been
hanging on the tree branch all night and they had only just now gotten him
down. When he enters and sees Suok, he trembles in fear. He
testifies that as he was climbing in the tree, he saw Suok in the
branches. Having never before seen a living doll, he fainted.
Thus he doesn't know how Suok freed Prospero. He suggests,
however, that they call as a witness one of the talking parrots
from the menagerie, who probably overheard and can repeat whatever
conversations took place there during the night.
The parrot is summoned and gives its report. We hear how Suok
found Prospero and told him of the man-beast she saw. Prospero
said that was Tub. Suok used the key she got from Tutti to
free Prospero, who broke his chain and released the
panther.
Suok is sentenced to be torn apart by tigers. When this horrible
sentence is pronounced, Suok still doesn't bat an eye and says not
a word.
The Fat Men and their entourage go to the menagerie to watch the
punishment. They are protected behind bars as Suok is placed in an
open area in front of the cages. Three tigers are then released.
One sniffs at the girl, one touches her with his paw, and the third
tiger completely ignores the girl and growls at the Fat Men. Only
then does everyone realize that this isn't a real live girl, but a
doll.
Bombs begin exploding in the air over the palace. The people
have cannons and are attacking. The Fat Men run out to the park,
but are surrounded and arrested by a surging mass of the poor, led
by Prospero and Tibul. Even the guardsmen are all on the side of
the people. The entire town then takes up a song of victory. The
rich hurry to the harbor, hoping to flee the country. But they are
stopped and arrested by sailors.
The three arrested Fat Men are displayed to the people in the great
hall of the Palace. Prospero gives a speech announcing the dawn of
a new era. He advises everyone to, "Remember this day, remember
this hour." When he says, "hour", everyone turns to a large
grandfather clock in the room to see exactly what time it is. The
door of the clock suddenly (the last "suddenly" in the book) opens,
revealing that the clock works have been removed and that hiding
inside is...Suok! The crowd cheers and rushes to hug and kiss
her.
The Three Fat Men are locked in the same cage in which they had
confined Prospero.
EPILOGUE
A year later, a festival is held to honor the anniversary of the
overthrow of the Fat Men. Suok performs on stage with Tutti, who
is in fact her brother. All is explained in the note Suok received
from the wolflike man she saw in the menagerie when searching for
Prospero. In the note, the scientist Tub relates how when Suok and
Tutti were five years old, they were kidnapped by the Fat Men's
guardsmen. Tub was then ordered to make a doll in the exact image
of Suok. But not an ordinary doll. A doll that would grow exactly
like the real Suok would. Once Tub made the doll, Suok was sold to
a traveling circus in exchange for a talking parrot. The Fat Men
also ordered Tub to make an iron heart for Tutti, so that he would
be cruel and feel no emotion. This Tub refused to do, saying a
real human heart can never be replaced. For this refusal, Tub was
locked in a cage in the menagerie, where he grew into his
animallike state.
THE END
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