Fedia Zaitsev

On 1 September, Fedia Zaitsev is the very first child to arrive at school. The school has been freshly painted and cleaned. In his excitement he draws a ‘little man’ with an umbrella on the wall inside his classroom. In class, the teacher notices the drawing and asks the children to admit to the wrongdoing. Fedia rubs his hands together so that they appear clean, but his friend, with whom he has shaken hands earlier, has dirty hands and is blamed for the drawing. Fedia goes home without saying anything, but he is unable to sleep peacefully because of his guilty conscience. In his dreams his toys begin to taunt him. It is the Little Man himself who decides that the truth must be known. He goes to Fedia’s home and on the way he meets other children’s drawings including an animal of unknown breed that agrees to give him a ride to Fedia’s home. With the Little Man’s encouragement Fedia agrees to admit his guilt the next day at school.