Unwanted child - стр. 25
The situation was different for the boy when it came to playing in the red circle, which was in the centre of the sports hall. In order to instil in the pupils such useful qualities as perseverance, fighting to the very end, and endurance, there was a children's game that allowed to show and develop these strong-willed character traits. It consisted of the following:
The group was divided into three subgroups, each with an equal number of people, plus/minus one additional participant if the children could not be equally divided. Each member of the subgroup stood on the outline of the red circle in any free place and stayed there until the coach's signal, which was accompanied by a whistle or a loud clap of hands. After receiving this signal, the competition began. It consisted in keeping only one of its participants in the centre of the red circle. The permitted techniques were thrusts and arm grabs, with the help of which one could push his opponents out of the designated area. The circle was quite large and occupied almost 1/3 of the site, if we take into account its total internal area. Therefore, there was enough space for all the contestants. After the player's body completely left the red circle, the child was considered a loser and dropped out of the game. When trying to return and continue the competition, the coach or tutor would calm the child and explain to him that the game was over for him, so he had to wait until it was over so as not to disturb the other players.
Today, on Theodore's birthday, it happened to be the second day of physical education. It would be followed by a couple more classes, and then in the dining room Ted would have a little surprise prepared by Mrs Donova in honour of his birthday. In the meantime, the boy was focused on the upcoming competition, which had already become a routine for him. Theodore was most looking forward to this particular game, in which he outclassed everyone in strength and perseverance.
Ted's subgroup of three boys and two girls took their place around the red circle. Each of the children prepared in their own way for the start of the contest. Some simply stood erect, others bent forward a little and redistributed most of their weight onto their supporting leg. One of the girls looked around unhappily, clearly not understanding the meaning of the game and not really wanting to participate. Despite her very ordinary origin, she looked and behaved like a real princess. Therefore, she was extremely capricious and disobedient. She never did what she did not want to do at the moment, which many times upset her tutor, who tried hard to instil in her the desire and interest in various kinds of activities.