Arkady Averchenko—“the king of laughter,” as his contemporaries called him—had an amazing ability to recreate the absurdity of everyday life of the Russian townsfolk, easily inventing witty plots and creating a multitude of funny situations, dialogues, and improvisations. Averchenko’s humor can provoke a smile even on the lips of the most serious reader. The book includes stories belonging to different periods of the writer’s career: “Old Age,” “Kostya,” “A Smart Brat,” “A Conversation at School.”