Petro And Luba Rastorguev Analysis

Petro and Luba Rastorguev Deeply religious person, Petro did not drink alcohol, and that made him an outsider among the villagers. He and his wife Luba lived in a simple hut with the earthen floor; as it was common in this part of the country, the walls were laid with bricks made from steer manure, hay, and clay. Petro worked in the flourmill; the extra flour hidden under his shirt was bartered for burning oil and other necessities, while Luba tended to a couple of chickens, pig, and vegetable garden. Both in their forties, they did not have children. For years, Luba wept and prayed for a child, yet as the years were going by; the hope for a child became more and more elusive.
Encouraged by the Rastorguev’s family story, the priest approached Petro with the proposition to adopt Victor:
“He was just a baby to remember how his parents perished, so he will be really yours, besides the boy is smart and well behaved.
Do not be afraid that he is Jewish. Remember God’s admonition to love thy neighbor as thyself,” insisted priest. After Sunday services, Luba would stop in the yard and watched children playing; she liked the skinny blond boy with blue eyes; her motherly nature needed to love and take care of somebody. Therefore, after several days of talking and considering, excited and nervous Petro and Luba decided to claim the child.
The problem was with Victor, who after two years in the orphanage, considered it his home.
“This couple wants to adopt you, so you will be a part of their family. You will have good food, real house with a real bed and they will take care of you. Peter and Luba will be your father and mother”, said the priest, smiling at
Victor.
“I do not want other parents, I want to stay here with you or I will run away!” , howled the desperate child.
It took priest several days with a lot of convincing and threats: “You can come visit us, and if you don’t like to live there, you can always come back to the church. You are a big boy now; if someone will tell Germans that I am hiding you here, they will kill both of us“.
That was the most terrifying thought of a child who had so many disasters in his short life. Therefore, one day, Victor, freshly cleaned, his unruly hair brushed, held on to the nurse’s hand. He was still crying when Petro approached them. “I made this horse for you,” said Petro, handling little wooden toy to Victor. Hesitating, the boy took the horse: “Are you going to be my papa?”
“Yes, and this is your mama Luba. Come, you will live with us now. We do not have children and we will treat you as our own son. You can come back to the priest any time you want”.
The new, but not the last, chapter started in Victor’s childhood.