On the shore, near the ferry, was a small boardwalk. The ferryman Cyril and a boy of about 10 Vasya (Kirill's assistant) slept in the room. In the early spring, Vasya's mother brought Cyril. Vasya worked only for bread. In the early morning they knocked on the house and asked for a crossing. Cyril sent the boy.

There were two drivers. One of them seemed to the boy to be a robber because he "did not close his lips, his senile empty mouth turned black, and a yellow fang peered out from under the ragged gray mustache." Transported a bird. When they reached the shore, the boy breathed a sigh of relief and drove the heavy ferry back. The working day began: Cyril drove the ferry, and the boy was repairing the boat. In the evening, Cyril left somewhere, and Vasya said to stay home.

A frantic wind rose, the river rustled angrily, and from the other side was heard: "Pa-ro-moo-y! ..". The boy was scared in such weather to drive the ferry. But he was afraid that Uncle Kirill would beat him and cry, with trembling hands he began to untie the rope. " Vasya worked with all his might oars, but realized that he was fighting uselessly in the middle of this darkness. The boat washed ashore, and the boy was 50 steps from his house. The boat was blown away. The boy sailed on a ferry. On the other side were waiting for two carts and two people.

"Silent night + lightning more and more dispersed the darkness, and it was clear how sparrows began to fly." The boy saw hands clutching the edge of the ferry. He was very scared and lost consciousness. When I woke up, the steam did not pump. He was taken to the house. These were the people whom Vasya was transporting in the morning. And not robbers, sellers of birds.