The Thirteenth Labour of Hercules by Fazil Iskander. Short summary

5 seconds

In order to avoid getting an F in math, a fifth grader arranges for the whole class to be vaccinated against typhoid. But the hero could not avoid embarrassment in front of the whole class.

1 minute

The story is set in a Georgian town. In the new school year, a new math teacher, Harlampy Diogenovich, arrives at the school. The new teacher never scolded the students, but could make such a mockery in front of the entire class that it was much worse.

One day the narrator, a student in the fifth «B» class, did not prepare for class and was terrified of being punished. But then salvation came — a doctor and a nurse came into the classroom to inoculate the class against typhoid. They were looking for 5 «A,» but the hero convinced the doctors to start vaccinating their class. One boy got sick from the shot, and the hero even tried to call an ambulance. But the teacher gave him a stern look.

The vaccinations were done, but there was still a little time left until the end of class. Then the teacher decided to find out what the storyteller’s «thirteenth feat of Hercules» was for. He called the student to the blackboard and then it turned out that the homework assignment had not been solved. The hero embarrassed himself in front of the whole class and has always done his homework ever since.