: Late in the evening, waiting for their parents, the children played lotto. They played recklessly, for money, quarreled, envied each other, but were soon tired and fell asleep, and the won pennies lost their strength before the new game.

The original narration is in the present tense.

Parents and aunt left for christening. Of the adults in the house there was only a nanny with a cook - in the kitchen, and the elder brother Vasya was bored, lying on the sofa in the living room.

Only children remained in the dining room. It was long time to go to bed, but they wanted to know more about the christening and waited for the adults, playing lotto for money. The bet in the game is a penny, and those who tried to cheat were kicked out. The numbers in the cards were covered with glass. We played with excitement.

The excitement of all was the nine-year-old Grisha - he played only for the money.

As the biggest and most intelligent, Grisha took a decisive voice. What he wants is what they do.

Grisha was jealous of partners and was afraid to lose. Having won the game, he eagerly hid the money in his pocket.

Eight-year-old Anya played to win. Money did not interest her.

Six-year-old Sonya played for the sake of the process. She was happy for everyone who won, clapping her hands loudly.

Alyosha was already happy that they did not persecute him and did not put him to bed.

He sat down at the table not for the sake of lotto, but for the misunderstanding that arose during the game.

He had long needed to run somewhere, but he didn’t leave the table even for a minute, afraid that his glasses and cents would not have been stolen without him.

Alyosha still did not really know the number, and Anya closed the cards for him.

The fifth player was Andrew.

He was indifferent to the winnings, he was interested in the arithmetic of the game. Andrei thought about how many different numbers there are in this world, and how they will not be mixed up.

The barrels were pulled in turn by everyone except Sonya and Alyosha. To revive the monotonous game, the children gave the numbers different funny nicknames. Anya noticed that Andrey missed the number. Previously, she would have told him, but now her pride triumphed.

During the game, the children talked: they discussed a certain Philip Filippich, who knew how to wrap his eyelids and make scary eyes “like an unclean spirit”, and entered the girls' room without knocking; argued why at night in the cemetery ring the bell.

Finally, Grisha won and wanted to continue the game, but Andrei no longer had a penny. Good Sonya made a bet for him, and the game continued. Andrey won, Alyosha accused him of fraud. The fight began, the youngest children roared, but after about five minutes everything calmed down. Alyosha was happy - a misunderstanding occurred.

Entering the dining room, Vasya was indignant at the fact that the children were playing for money, but a minute later he himself joined the game. For lack of cents, he wanted to put the ruble, but the children demanded little things. Vasya explained for a long time that the ruble is more expensive than a penny and even wanted to buy ten kopecks from Grisha for this ruble, but the children, who did not understand the true value of money, did not believe him, suspecting some kind of cheating on his part.

Finally, Sonya set a penny for Vasya, the game continued. Suddenly Grisha dropped a coin on the floor. While he was looking for her, Sonya fell asleep.

Sonya, laying her curly head in her hands, sleeps sweetly, serene and firmly, as if she fell asleep an hour ago.

Anya took her sister to her parents' bedroom, the rest of the children followed. Five minutes later, everyone lay down on the large parental bed and fell asleep. Nearby were pennies, "having lost their strength until the new game."