The Purple Children

Late one moonless night in an occupied town, a young, inexperienced sentry guarding the rear gate of the Town Hall is startled from his drowsy watch by a girl's soft voice calling for her lost cat. A slight, dark-eyed girl, no older than fifteen, appears at the gate, explaining that her cat escaped while she was bringing in firewood and begging to be let inside to search the courtyard for it, despite the town's strict night curfew. Though wary of breaking the rules, the young soldier — under orders to treat local residents politely so long as they cause no trouble — eventually gives in to her pleading and lets her through the gate to search.

The girl leads him deep into the shadowy courtyard, near the cellar steps behind the Town Hall, until she excitedly spots the cat and the two of them finally corner and catch it after several minutes. She thanks him warmly and appears ready to leave — but lingers strangely, staring at him, just as both of them suddenly hear the soft sound of someone dropping down from a high wall nearby. In that same instant, the girl flings the cat into the sentry's face and fires a concealed spray-gun loaded with vegetable dye directly at him, staining him purple, before she and an unseen accomplice vanish together into the dark streets beyond the gate.

The alarm is raised, and the Major in charge of the occupying garrison is called from his bed to investigate. At the scene, a long violet dye stain marks the ground, and the severed ropes of the flagstaff reveal that a prisoner — a resistance fighter awaiting punishment — has clearly used the girl's clever ruse as cover for his escape. Ashamed and fearful of the consequences of his own carelessness, the young sentry lies to the Major, claiming he barely got a look at the girl and could not possibly identify her again among the many similar-looking local children. The Major, weary but experienced after more than a year stationed in the country, remarks almost approvingly that at least the sentry managed to fire his spray-gun, leaving the real culprit marked with a very identifiable purple stain — a clue that should make her easy to trace.

Elsewhere in the town, it becomes clear that a network of local townspeople has been sheltering both the escaped prisoner and the young girl responsible for the trick, anxiously discussing how long the telltale purple dye will take to fade and how best to keep the children hidden from the authorities in the meantime. Determined not to let his authority be undermined, the Major organises a thorough search the next morning, visiting local homes and eventually arriving at the grammar school itself, warning the headmaster that he is looking for a stained girl of about fifteen, and possibly a boy accomplice as well, promising that no collective punishment will be necessary this time if the guilty parties are found.

The headmaster calmly agrees to cooperate, leading the Major and his soldiers into the school hall where the senior students have all been gathered and are waiting in neat rows. Expecting to easily spot one guilty, purple-stained child standing out among ordinary faces, the Major instead finds himself confronted with a striking and unforgettable sight: every single one of the fifty-three students assembled before him has dyed their own face vivid purple from forehead to chin, in a quiet, unified act of solidarity that makes it utterly impossible for him to identify the real culprits at all.