The train stopped right in the tunnel. Moreover, the first carriage has already left the tunnel, but the last one has not yet entered. The unexpected stop upset everyone except the passenger from the last carriage. And not because it was brighter in his carriage than in others, but because his father lived not far from the tunnel.
Every vacation a passenger passed through this tunnel, but he had not seen his father for many years, since the train did not stop here. A passenger leaned out of the window and called out to the conductor, who was walking along the train:
- What happened?
— Yes, when exiting the tunnel, the rail burst.
- Shall we leave soon?
“But not earlier than in four hours,” said the conductor and moved back to the other end of the tunnel. Directly opposite the last carriage was a telephone booth. The passenger got off the train and called his father. They told him that his father was at work and gave him a work phone number. The passenger called to work.
- Son?! - For some reason, his father immediately recognized him.
- Me, dad! For a full four hours.
“What a pity,” the father said, upset. — I have just four hours until the end of work.
- Can’t you ask for time off?
“You can’t,” answered the father. - The work is urgent. Well, I'll think of something.
The passenger hung up.
The conductor was just returning from the tunnel.
“We’re leaving in two hours,” he announced.
- How in two?! - the passenger gasped. - You promised: in four!
“So the repairman thought: he’ll fix it in four, but now he says: in two,” the conductor explained and moved back to the other end of the tunnel.
The passenger rushed to the phone:
- Father! Here, you understand, what’s the matter: I don’t have four hours, but two!
- What a shame! - the father was upset. - Well, that’s okay, I’ll push a little - maybe I can do it in an hour.
The passenger hung up. The conductor came out of the tunnel, whistling:
- Such a repairman was a good one! In an hour, he says, I’ll do it!
The passenger rushed to the phone:
- Father! Sorry! I don’t have two hours, but an hour!
- That's bad luck! - the father became depressed. - Of course, I won’t do it in half an hour.
The passenger hung up. The conductor was just returning from the tunnel:
- Well, a joke! It turns out there is only half an hour of work there.
- Why is he fooling around?! - the passenger shouted and rushed to the phone. - Father! Can't you do it in ten minutes?
- I’ll do it, son! I'll die with bones, but I'll do it!
The passenger hung up. The conductor came out of the tunnel, playing with a twig:
- What a talker this repairman is! "So much work, so much work!" And there's business there for ten minutes.
- What a bastard! - the passenger whispered and dialed the number. - Father, do you hear? Nothing will work out for us. There one bastard promised parking for four hours, but now he says: ten minutes.
“Really he’s a bastard,” the father agreed. - Well, don’t despair: I’ll finish now!
- All in the carriages! — the conductor’s voice came from the tunnel.
- Goodbye, father! - the passenger shouted. - They didn’t let us meet you!
- Wait, son! - the father shouted, breathing noisily. - I'm already free! Don't hang up!
But the passenger had already jumped into the carriage.
When leaving the tunnel, he noticed a lineman's booth, and an old man in its window. He wiped his wet face with his cap and joyfully shouted into the telephone receiver:
- I'm free, son! Freed!
But the sound of wheels drowned out his words...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru