Valentin Berestov
There was a time when birds could not sing.
And suddenly they learned that in one distant country there lived an old, wise man who taught music.
Then the birds sent the Stork and the Nightingale to him to check if this was so.
The stork was in a hurry. He couldn't wait to become the world's first musician.
He was in such a hurry that he ran to the sage and didn’t even knock on the door, didn’t greet the old man, and shouted with all his might right in his ear:
Hey old man! Come on, teach me music!
But the sage decided to first teach him politeness.
He took the Stork out the threshold, knocked on the door and said:
You have to do it like this.
All clear! - Stork was happy.
Is this what music is? - and flew away to quickly surprise the world with his art.
The nightingale arrived later on its small wings.
He timidly knocked on the door, said hello, asked for forgiveness for disturbing me and said that he really wanted to study music.
The sage liked the friendly bird. And he taught the nightingale everything he knew.
Since then, the modest Nightingale has become the best singer in the world.
And the eccentric Stork can only knock with his beak. Moreover, he boasts and teaches other birds:
Hey, do you hear? You have to do it like this, like this! This is real music! If you don't believe me, ask an old sage.
How to find a track
Valentin Berestov
The guys went to visit their grandfather the forester. We went and got lost.
They look, Squirrel is jumping over them. From tree to tree. From tree to tree.
Guys - to her:
Belka, Belka, tell me, Belka, Belka, show me, How to find the path to grandpa’s lodge?
“Very simple,” Belka answers.
Jump from this tree to that one, from that one to the crooked birch tree. From the crooked birch tree you can see a large, large oak tree. The roof is visible from the top of the oak tree. This is the gatehouse. Well, what about you? Jump!
Thank you, Belka! - the guys say. - Only we don’t know how to jump on trees. We'd better ask someone else.
The Hare is jumping. The guys sang their song to him too:
Bunny Bunny, tell me, Bunny, Bunny, show me, How to find the path to grandpa's lodge?
To the lodge? - asked the Hare. - There is nothing simpler. At first it will smell like mushrooms. So? Then - hare cabbage. So? Then it smells like a fox hole. So? Skip this smell to the right or left. So? When it is left behind, smell it like this and you will smell the smoke. Jump straight onto it without turning anywhere. This is the forester grandfather setting the samovar.
“Thank you, Bunny,” the guys say. “It’s a pity that our noses are not as sensitive as yours.” I'll have to ask someone else.
They see a snail crawling.
Hey, Snail, tell me, Hey, Snail, show me, How to find the path to grandpa’s lodge?
It’s a long time to tell,” sighed the Snail. - Lu-u-better, I’ll take you there-u-u. Follow me.
Thank you, Snail! - the guys say. - We have no time to crawl. We'd better ask someone else.
A bee sits on a flower.
Guys to her:
Bee, Bee, tell me, Bee, Bee, show me, How to find the path to grandpa’s lodge?
Well, well, says the bee. - I’ll show you... Look where I’m flying. Follow. See my sisters. Where they go, you go too. We bring honey to grandpa's apiary. Well, goodbye! I'm in a big hurry. W-w-w...
And she flew away. The guys didn’t even have time to say thank you to her. They went to where the bees were flying and quickly found the guardhouse. What a joy! And then grandfather treated them to tea with honey.
Honest caterpillar
Valentin Berestov
The caterpillar considered itself very beautiful and did not let a single drop of dew pass without looking at it.
How good am I! - the Caterpillar rejoiced, looking with pleasure at its flat face and arching its furry back to see two golden stripes on it.
It's a pity that no one notices this.
But one day she got lucky. A girl walked through the meadow and picked flowers. The caterpillar climbed onto the most beautiful flower and began to wait.
That's disgusting! It's disgusting to even look at you!
Ah well! - the Caterpillar got angry. “Then I give my honest caterpillar word that no one, ever, anywhere, for anything, under any circumstances, will ever see me again!”
You gave your word - you need to keep it, even if you are a Caterpillar. And the Caterpillar crawled up the tree. From trunk to branch, from branch to branch, from branch to branch, from branch to twig, from twig to leaf.
She took out a silk thread from her abdomen and began to wrap herself around it. She worked for a long time and finally made a cocoon.
Phew, I'm so tired! - the Caterpillar sighed. - I'm completely exhausted.
It was warm and dark in the cocoon, there was nothing more to do, and the Caterpillar fell asleep.
She woke up because her back was itching terribly. Then the Caterpillar began to rub against the walls of the cocoon. She rubbed and rubbed, rubbed right through them and fell out.
But she fell somehow strangely - not down, but up.
And then the Caterpillar saw the same girl in the same meadow.
"Horrible! - thought the Caterpillar. “I may not be beautiful, it’s not my fault, but now everyone will know that I’m also a liar.” I gave an honest assurance that no one would see me, and I didn’t keep it. A shame!" And the Caterpillar fell into the grass.
And the girl saw her and said:
Such a beauty!
So trust people,” grumbled the Caterpillar.
Today they say one thing, and tomorrow they say something completely different.
Just in case, she looked into the dew drop. What's happened? In front of her is an unfamiliar face with a long, very long mustache.
The caterpillar tried to arch its back and saw that large multi-colored wings appeared on its back.
Oh that's it! - she guessed. - A miracle happened to me. The most ordinary miracle: I became a Butterfly!
This happens. And she merrily circled over the meadow, because she did not give the butterfly’s honest word that no one would see her.
Magic word
V.A. Oseeva
A little old man with a long gray beard was sitting on a bench and drawing something in the sand with an umbrella.
. “Move over,” Pavlik told him and sat down on the edge.
The old man moved and, looking at the boy’s red, angry face, said:
- Did something happen to you? - Well, okay! “What do you want?” Pavlik looked sideways at him.
“I’ll go to my grandmother. She's just cooking. Will he drive away or not?
Pavlik opened the door to the kitchen. The old woman was removing hot pies from the baking sheet.
The grandson ran up to her, turned her red, wrinkled face with both hands, looked into her eyes and whispered:
- Give me a piece of pie... please.
Grandma straightened up. The magic word shone in every wrinkle, in the eyes, in the smile.
“I wanted something hot... something hot, my darling!” she said, choosing the best, rosy pie.
Pavlik jumped for joy and kissed her on both cheeks.
"Wizard! Wizard!" - he repeated to himself, remembering the old man.
At dinner, Pavlik sat quietly and listened to his brother’s every word. When his brother said that he would go boating, Pavlik put his hand on his shoulder and quietly asked:
- Take me, please. Everyone at the table immediately fell silent.
The brother raised his eyebrows and grinned.
“Take it,” the sister suddenly said. - What is it worth to you!
- Well, why not take it? - Grandma smiled. - Of course, take it.
“Please,” Pavlik repeated.
The brother laughed loudly, patted the boy on the shoulder, ruffled his hair:
- Oh, you traveler! Okay, get ready!
“It helped! It helped again!”
Pavlik jumped out from the table and ran into the street. But the old man was no longer in the park.
The bench was empty, and only incomprehensible signs drawn by an umbrella remained on the sand.
Badly
V.A. Oseeva
The dog barked furiously, falling on its front paws.
Right in front of her, pressed against the fence, sat a small, disheveled kitten. He opened his mouth wide and meowed pitifully.
Two boys stood nearby and waited to see what would happen.
A woman looked out the window and hurriedly ran out onto the porch. She drove the dog away and angrily shouted to the boys:
Shame on you!
What's a shame? We didn't do anything! - the boys were surprised.
This is bad! - the woman answered angrily.
Which is easier?
V.A. Oseeva
Three boys went into the forest. There are mushrooms, berries, birds in the forest. The boys went on a spree.
We didn’t notice how the day passed. They go home - they are afraid:
It will hit us at home!
So they stopped on the road and thought what was better: to lie or to tell the truth?
“I’ll say,” says the first, “that a wolf attacked me in the forest.”
The father will be afraid and will not scold.
“I’ll say,” says the second, “that I met my grandfather.”
My mother will be happy and will not scold me.
“And I’ll tell the truth,” says the third. “It’s always easier to tell the truth, because it’s the truth and there’s no need to invent anything.”
So they all went home.
As soon as the first boy told his father about the wolf, look, the forest guard is coming.
“No,” he says, “there are wolves in these places.” The father got angry. For the first guilt I was angry, and for the lie - twice as angry.
The second boy told about his grandfather. And the grandfather is right there - coming to visit. Mother found out the truth. For the first guilt I was angry, but for the lie I was twice as angry.
And the third boy, as soon as he arrived, immediately confessed to everything. His aunt grumbled at him and forgave him.
good
V.A. Oseeva
Yurik woke up in the morning. I looked out the window. The sun is shining. It's a good day. And the boy wanted to do something good himself.
So he sits and thinks: “What if my little sister was drowning, and I would save her!”
And my sister is right here:
Take a walk with me, Yura!
Go away, don't stop me from thinking! My little sister was offended and walked away.
And Yura thinks: “If only wolves attacked the nanny, and I would shoot them!”
And the nanny is right there:
Put away the dishes, Yurochka.
Clean it yourself - I have no time! The nanny shook her head.
And Yura thinks again: “If only Trezorka fell into the well, and I would pull him out!”
And Trezorka is right there. His tail wags: “Give me a drink, Yura!”
Go away! Don't bother thinking! Trezorka closed his mouth and climbed into the bushes.
And Yura went to his mother:
What good thing could I do? Mom stroked Yura’s head:
Take a walk with your sister, help the nanny put away the dishes, give Trezor some water.
sons
V.A. Oseeva
Two women were taking water from a well.
A third approached them. And the old man sat down on a pebble to rest.
Here's what one woman says to another:
My son is dexterous and strong, no one can handle him.
And the third is silent. “Why don’t you tell me about your son?” her neighbors ask.
What can I say? - says the woman. “There’s nothing special about him.”
So the women collected full buckets and left. And the old man is behind them.
Women walk and stop. My hands hurt, the water splashes, my back hurts. Suddenly three boys run out towards us.
One of them somersaults over his head, walks like a cartwheel, and the women admire him.
He sings another song, sings like a nightingale - the women listen to him.
And the third ran up to his mother, took the heavy buckets from her and dragged them.
The women ask the old man:
Well? What are our sons like?
Where are they? - the old man answers. “I only see one son!”
blue leaves
V.A. Oseeva
Katya had two green pencils. And Lena has none. So Lena asks Katya: 
Give me a green pencil.
And Katya says:
I'll ask my mom.
The next day both girls come to school.
Lena asks:
Did your mom allow it?
And Katya sighed and said:
Mom allowed it, but I didn’t ask my brother.
Well, ask your brother again,” says Lena.
Katya arrives the next day.
Well, did your brother allow it? - Lena asks.
My brother allowed me, but I'm afraid you'll break your pencil.
“I’m careful,” says Lena.
Look, says Katya, don’t fix it, don’t press hard, don’t put it in your mouth. Don't draw too much.
“I just need to draw leaves on the trees and green grass,” says Lena.
“That’s a lot,” says Katya, and her eyebrows frown. And she made a dissatisfied face. Lena looked at her and walked away. I didn't take a pencil. Katya was surprised and ran after her:
Well, what are you doing? Take it! “No need,” Lena answers.
During the lesson, the teacher asks: “Why, Lenochka, are the leaves on your trees blue?”
There is no green pencil.
Why didn't you take it from your girlfriend?
Lena is silent.
And Katya blushed like a lobster and said:
I gave it to her, but she doesn’t take it.
The teacher looked at both:
You have to give so that you can take.
On the rink
V.A. Oseeva
The day was sunny. The ice sparkled. There were few people at the skating rink.
The little girl, with her arms outstretched comically, rode from bench to bench.
Two schoolchildren were tying up their skates and looking at Vitya.
Vitya performed different tricks - sometimes he rode on one leg, sometimes he spun around like a top.
Well done! - one of the boys shouted to him.
Vitya rushed around the circle like an arrow, made a dashing turn and ran into the girl.
The girl fell.
Vitya was scared.
“I accidentally...” he said, brushing snow off her fur coat.
Did you hurt yourself?
The girl smiled:
Knee...
Laughter came from behind. “They’re laughing at me!” thought Vitya and turned away from the girl with annoyance.
What a surprise - a knee! What a crybaby!” he shouted, driving past the schoolchildren.
Come to us! - they called. Vitya approached them. Holding hands, all three merrily slid across the ice.
And the girl sat on the bench, rubbed her bruised knee and cried.
L. Tolstoy “Jump”
True story
One ship circumnavigated the world and was returning home. The weather was calm, all the people were on deck. A large monkey was spinning around in the middle of the people and amusing everyone. This monkey writhed, jumped, made funny faces, imitated people, and it was clear that she knew that they were amusing her, and that is why she became even more dissatisfied.
She jumped up to a twelve-year-old boy, the son of a ship's captain, tore his hat off his head, put it on and quickly climbed up the mast. Everyone laughed, but the boy was left without a hat and did not know whether to laugh or cry.
The monkey sat down on the first crossbar of the mast, took off his hat and began to tear it with his teeth and paws. She seemed to be teasing the boy, pointing at him and making faces at him. The boy threatened her and shouted at her, but she tore her hat even angrier. The sailors began to laugh louder, and the boy blushed, took off his jacket and rushed after the monkey to the mast. In one minute he climbed the rope to the first crossbar; but the monkey was even more dexterous and faster than him, and at the very moment he was thinking of grabbing his hat, he climbed even higher.
- So you won’t leave me! - the boy shouted and climbed higher.
The monkey beckoned him again and climbed even higher, but the boy was already overcome with enthusiasm and did not lag behind. So the monkey and the boy reached the very top in one minute. At the very top, the monkey stretched out to its full length and, hooking its back hand on the rope, hung its hat on the edge of the last crossbar, and climbed to the top of the mast and writhed from there, showed its teeth and rejoiced. From the mast to the end of the crossbar, where the hat hung, there were two arshins, so it was impossible to get it except by letting go of the rope and the mast.
But the boy became very excited. He dropped the mast and stepped onto the crossbar. Everyone on deck looked and laughed at what the monkey and the captain's son were doing; but when they saw that he let go of the rope and stepped onto the crossbar, swinging his arms, everyone froze with fear.
All he had to do was stumble and he would have smashed to pieces on the deck. And even if he hadn’t stumbled, but had reached the edge of the crossbar and taken his hat, it would have been difficult for him to turn around and walk back to the mast. Everyone looked at him silently and waited to see what would happen.
Suddenly, someone among the people gasped in fear. The boy came to his senses from this scream, looked down and staggered.
At this time, the ship's captain, the boy's father, left the cabin. He carried a gun to shoot seagulls. He saw his son on the mast and immediately took aim at his son and shouted:
- In water! Jump into the water now! I'll shoot you!
The boy was staggering, but did not understand.
“Jump or I’ll shoot you!.. One, two...” And as soon as the father shouted “three,” the boy swung his head down and jumped.
Like a cannonball, the boy’s body splashed into the sea, and before the waves had time to cover him, twenty young sailors had already jumped from the ship into the sea. About forty seconds later—they seemed like a long time to everyone—the boy’s body emerged. He was grabbed and dragged onto the ship. After a few minutes, water started pouring out of his mouth and nose and he began to breathe.
When the captain saw this, he suddenly screamed, as if something was strangling him, and ran to his cabin so that no one would see him cry.
A. Kuprin “Elephant”
The little girl is unwell. Doctor Mikhail Petrovich, whom she has known for a long, long time, visits her every day. And sometimes he brings with him two more doctors, strangers. They turn the girl over on her back and stomach, listen to something, putting her ear to her body, pull her eyelids down and look. At the same time, they snort somehow importantly, their faces are stern, and they speak to each other in an incomprehensible language.
Then they move from the nursery to the living room, where their mother is waiting for them. The most important doctor - tall, gray-haired, wearing gold glasses - tells her about something seriously and at length. The door is not closed, and the girl can see and hear everything from her bed. There is a lot she doesn’t understand, but she knows that this is about her. Mom looks at the doctor with big, tired, tear-stained eyes. Saying goodbye, the chief doctor says loudly:
“The main thing is don’t let her get bored.” Fulfill all her whims.
- Ah, doctor, but she doesn’t want anything!
- Well, I don’t know... remember what she liked before, before her illness. Toys... some treats...
- No, no, doctor, she doesn’t want anything...
- Well, try to entertain her somehow... Well, at least with something... I give you my word of honor that if you manage to make her laugh, cheer her up, it will be the best medicine. Understand that your daughter is sick with indifference to life, and nothing else. Goodbye, madam!
“Dear Nadya, my dear girl,” says my mother, “would you like anything?”
- No, mom, I don’t want anything.
- Do you want me to put all your dolls on your bed? We will supply an armchair, a sofa, a table and a tea set. The dolls will drink tea and talk about the weather and the health of their children.
- Thank you, mom... I don’t feel like it... I’m bored...
- Okay, my girl, no need for dolls. Or maybe I should invite Katya or Zhenechka to come to you? You love them so much.
- No need, mom. Really, it's not necessary. I don't want anything, nothing. I am so bored!
- Would you like me to bring you some chocolate?
But the girl does not answer and looks at the ceiling with motionless, cheerless eyes. She doesn't have any pain and doesn't even have a fever. But she is losing weight and weakening every day. No matter what they do to her, she doesn’t care, and she doesn’t need anything. She lies like that all days and whole nights, quiet, sad. Sometimes she dozes off for half an hour, but even in her dreams she sees something gray, long, boring, like autumn rain.
When the door to the living room is open from the nursery, and from the living room further into the office, the girl sees her dad. Dad walks quickly from corner to corner and smokes and smokes. Sometimes he comes to the nursery, sits on the edge of the bed and quietly strokes Nadya’s legs. Then he suddenly gets up and goes to the window. He whistles something, looking down at the street, but his shoulders are shaking. Then he hastily applies a handkerchief to one eye, then to the other, and, as if angry, goes to his office. Then he again runs from corner to corner and smokes, smokes, smokes... And the office becomes all blue from tobacco smoke.
But one morning the girl wakes up a little more cheerful than usual. She saw something in a dream, but she can’t remember what exactly, and looks long and carefully into her mother’s eyes.
- Do you need something? - asks mom.
But the girl suddenly remembers her dream and says in a whisper, as if in secret:
- Mom... can I... have an elephant? Just not the one drawn in the picture... Is it possible?
- Of course, my girl, of course you can.
She goes to the office and tells dad that the girl wants an elephant. Dad immediately puts on his coat and hat and leaves somewhere. Half an hour later he returns with an expensive, beautiful toy. This is a large gray elephant, which itself shakes its head and wags its tail; there is a red saddle on the elephant, and on the saddle there is a golden tent, and three little men are sitting in it. But the girl looks at the toy as indifferently as at the ceiling and walls, and says listlessly:
- No. This is not the same at all. I wanted a real, living elephant, but this one is dead.
“Just look, Nadya,” says dad. “We’ll start him up now, and he’ll be just like alive.”
The elephant is wound with a key, and he, shaking his head and wagging his tail, begins to step with his feet and slowly walks along the table. The girl is not at all interested in this and is even bored, but in order not to upset her father, she whispers meekly:
“I thank you very, very much, dear dad.” I think no one has such an interesting toy... Only... remember... you promised for a long time to take me to the menagerie, to look at a real elephant... And you were never lucky.
- But listen, my dear girl, understand that this is impossible. The elephant is very big, it reaches the ceiling, it won’t fit in our rooms... And then, where can I get it?
- Dad, I don’t need such a big one... Bring me at least a small one, just a living one. Well, at least something like this... At least a baby elephant.
“Dear girl, I’m glad to do everything for you, but I can’t do this.” After all, it’s the same as if you suddenly told me: Dad, get me the sun from the sky.
The girl smiles sadly:
- How stupid you are, dad. Don't I know that you can't reach the sun because it burns! And the moon is also not allowed. No, I would like an elephant... a real one.
And she quietly closes her eyes and whispers:
- I'm tired... Excuse me, dad...
Dad grabs his hair and runs into the office. There he flashes from corner to corner for some time. Then he decisively throws the half-smoked cigarette on the floor (for which he always gets it from his mother) and shouts to the maid:
- Olga! Coat and hat!
The wife comes out into the hall.
-Where are you going, Sasha? she asks.
He breathes heavily, buttoning his coat.
“I myself, Mashenka, don’t know where... Only, it seems that by this evening I will actually bring a real elephant here, to us.”
His wife looks at him worriedly.
- Honey, are you okay? Do you have a headache? Maybe you didn't sleep well today?
“I didn’t sleep at all,” he answers angrily. “I see you want to ask if I’ve gone crazy?” Not yet. Goodbye! In the evening everything will be visible.
And he disappears, loudly slamming the front door.
Two hours later, he sits in the menagerie, in the first row, and watches how the learned animals, on the orders of the owner, make various things. Smart dogs jump, tumble, dance, sing to music, and form words from large cardboard letters. Monkeys - some in red skirts, others in blue pants - walk on a tightrope and ride on a large poodle. Huge red lions jump through burning hoops. A clumsy seal shoots from a pistol. At the end the elephants are brought out. There are three of them: one big, two very small, dwarfs, but still much taller than a horse. It’s strange to watch how these huge animals, so clumsy and heavy in appearance, perform the most difficult tricks that even a very dexterous person cannot do. The largest elephant is especially distinctive. He first stands on his hind legs, sits down, stands on his head, feet up, walks on wooden bottles, walks on a rolling barrel, turns over the pages of a large cardboard book with his trunk and finally sits down at the table and, tied with a napkin, has dinner, just like a well-bred boy.
The show ends. The spectators disperse. Nadya's father approaches the fat German, the owner of the menagerie. The owner stands behind a plank partition and holds a large black cigar in his mouth.
“Excuse me, please,” Nadya’s father says. —Can you let your elephant go to my house for a while?
The German opens his eyes and even his mouth wide in surprise, causing the cigar to fall to the ground. Groaning, he bends down, picks up the cigar, puts it back in his mouth and only then says:
- Let go? An elephant? Home? I do not understand.
It is clear from the German’s eyes that he also wants to ask if Nadya’s father has a headache... But the father hastily explains what the matter is: his only daughter Nadya is sick with some strange disease, which even the doctors do not understand properly. She has been lying in her crib for a month now, losing weight, getting weaker every day, not interested in anything, bored and slowly fading away. The doctors tell her to entertain her, but she doesn't like anything; They tell her to fulfill all her wishes, but she has no desires. Today she wanted to see a live elephant. Is it really impossible to do this?
- Well, here... I, of course, hope that my girl will recover. But... but... what if her illness ends badly... what if the girl dies?.. Just think: all my life I will be tormented by the thought that I did not fulfill her last, very last wish!..
The German frowns and scratches his left eyebrow with his little finger in thought. Finally he asks:
- Hm... How old is your girl?
- Hm... My Lisa is also six... But, you know, it will cost you a lot. You will have to bring the elephant at night and only take it back the next night. During the day you can't. The public will gather and there will be a scandal... Thus, it turns out that I am losing a whole day, and you must return the loss to me.
- Oh, of course, of course... don't worry about it...
— Then: will the police allow one elephant into one house?
- I'll arrange it. Will allow.
— One more question: will the owner of your house allow one elephant into his house?
- It will allow it. I am the owner of this house myself.
- Yeah! This is even better. And then one more question: on which floor do you live?
- In the second.
- Hm... This is not so good... Do you have a wide staircase, a high ceiling, a large room, wide doors and a very strong floor in your house? Because my Tommy is three arshins and four inches high, and five and a half arshins long. In addition, it weighs one hundred and twelve pounds.
Nadya's father thinks for a minute.
- Do you know what? - he says. “Let’s go to my place now and look at everything on the spot.” If necessary, I will order the passage in the walls to be widened.
- Very good! — the owner of the menagerie agrees.
At night, an elephant is taken to visit a sick girl.
In a white blanket, he strides importantly along the very middle of the street, shaking his head and twisting and then developing his trunk. There is a large crowd around him, despite the late hour. But the elephant does not pay attention to her: every day he sees hundreds of people in the menagerie. Only once did he get a little angry.
Some street boy ran up to his very feet and began to make faces for the amusement of onlookers.
Then the elephant calmly took off his hat with its trunk and threw it over a nearby fence studded with nails.
The policeman walks among the crowd and persuades her:
- Gentlemen, please leave. And what do you find so unusual here? I'm surprised! It’s as if we’ve never seen a live elephant on the street.
They approach the house. On the stairs, as well as along the entire path of the elephant, all the way to the dining room, all the doors were wide open, for which it was necessary to beat off the door latches with a hammer.
But in front of the stairs, the elephant stops, restless and stubborn.
“We need to give him some kind of treat...” says the German. - Some sweet bun or something... But... Tommy! Wow... Tommy!
Nadine's father runs to a nearby bakery and buys a large round pistachio cake. The elephant discovers a desire to swallow it whole along with the cardboard box, but the German only gives him a quarter. Tommy likes the cake and reaches out with his trunk for a second slice. However, the German turns out to be more cunning. Holding a delicacy in his hand, he rises up from step to step, and the elephant with an outstretched trunk and outstretched ears inevitably follows him. On the set, Tommy gets his second piece.
Thus, he is brought to the dining room, from where all the furniture has been removed in advance, and the floor is thickly covered with straw... The elephant is tied by the leg to a ring screwed into the floor. Fresh carrots, cabbage and turnips are placed in front of him. The German is located nearby, on the sofa. The lights are turned off and everyone goes to bed.
The next day the girl wakes up at dawn and first of all asks:
- What about the elephant? He came?
“He’s here,” mom answers. “But he only ordered that Nadya first wash herself, and then eat a soft-boiled egg and drink hot milk.”
- Is he kind?
- He is kind. Eat up, girl. Now we will go to him.
- Is he funny?
- A little. Put on a warm blouse.
The egg is quickly eaten and the milk is drunk. Nadya is put in the same stroller in which she rode when she was still so small that she could not walk at all, and they take her to the dining room.
The elephant turns out to be much larger than Nadya thought when she looked at it in the picture. He is only slightly taller than the door, and in length he occupies half the dining room. The skin on it is rough, in heavy folds. The legs are thick, like pillars. A long tail with something like a broom at the end. The head is full of big bumps. The ears are large, like mugs, and hang down. The eyes are very tiny, but smart and kind. The fangs are trimmed. The trunk is like a long snake and ends in two nostrils, and between them a movable, flexible finger. If the elephant had stretched out its trunk to its full length, it would probably have reached the window.
The girl is not scared at all. She is only a little amazed by the enormous size of the animal. But the nanny, sixteen-year-old Polya, begins to squeal in fear.
The owner of the elephant, a German, comes up to the stroller and says:
- Good morning, young lady! Please don't be afraid. Tommy is very kind and loves children.
The girl extends her small, pale hand to the German.
- Hello. How are you? - she answers. “I’m not the least bit afraid.” And what is his name?
“Hello, Tommy,” the girl says and bows her head. Because the elephant is so big, she does not dare to speak to him on a first name basis. - How did you sleep last night?
She extends her hand to him too. The elephant carefully takes and shakes her thin fingers with his mobile strong finger and does it much more tenderly than Doctor Mikhail Petrovich. At the same time, the elephant shakes its head, and its small eyes are completely narrowed, as if laughing.
- He understands everything, doesn’t he? - the girl asks the German.
- Oh, absolutely everything, young lady!
- But he’s the only one who doesn’t speak?
- Yes, but he doesn’t speak. You know, I also have one daughter, just as small as you. Her name is Liza. Tommy is a great, great friend of hers.
— Have you, Tommy, already had tea? - asks the girl.
The elephant again stretches out its trunk and blows warm, strong breath right into the girl’s face, causing the light hairs on the girl’s head to fly in all directions.
Nadya laughs and claps her hands. The German laughs loudly. He himself is as big, fat and good-natured as an elephant, and Nadya thinks that they both look alike. Maybe they are related?
- No, he didn’t drink tea, young lady. But he happily drinks sugar water. He also loves buns very much.
They bring a tray of bread rolls. A girl treats an elephant. He deftly grabs the bun with his finger and, bending his trunk into a ring, hides it somewhere down under his head, where his funny, triangular, furry lower lip moves. You can hear the roll rustling against dry skin. Tommy does the same with another bun, and with a third, and with a fourth, and with a fifth, and nods his head in gratitude, and his small eyes narrow even more with pleasure. And the girl laughs joyfully.
When all the buns are eaten, Nadya introduces the elephant to her dolls:
- Look, Tommy, this elegant doll is Sonya. She is a very kind child, but she is a little capricious and does not want to eat soup. And this is Natasha, Sonya’s daughter. She is already starting to learn and knows almost all the letters. And this is Matryoshka. This is my very first doll. You see, she has no nose, and her head is glued on, and there is no more hair. But still, you can’t kick the old woman out of the house. Really, Tommy? She used to be Sonya’s mother, and now she serves as our cook. Well, let's play, Tommy: you will be dad, and I will be mom, and these will be our children.
Tommy agrees. He laughs, takes Matryoshka by the neck and drags it into his mouth. But this is just a joke. After lightly chewing the doll, he again places it on the girl’s lap, albeit a little wet and dented.
Then Nadya shows him a large book with pictures and explains:
- This is a horse, this is a canary, this is a gun... Here is a cage with a bird, here is a bucket, a mirror, a stove, a shovel, a crow... And this, look, this is an elephant! It really doesn't look like it at all? Are elephants really that small, Tommy?
Tommy finds that there are never such small elephants in the world. In general, he doesn’t like this picture. He grabs the edge of the page with his finger and turns it over.
It's time for lunch, but the girl can't be torn away from the elephant. A German comes to the rescue:
- Let me arrange all this. They will have lunch together.
He orders the elephant to sit down. The elephant obediently sits down, causing the floor in the entire apartment to shake, the dishes in the closet to rattle, and the plaster of the lower residents to fall from the ceiling. A girl sits opposite him. A table is placed between them. A tablecloth is tied around the elephant's neck, and the new friends begin to dine. The girl eats chicken soup and cutlet, and the elephant eats various vegetables and salad. The girl is given a tiny glass of sherry, and the elephant is given warm water with a glass of rum, and he happily pulls this drink out of the bowl with his trunk. Then they get sweets: the girl gets a cup of cocoa, and the elephant gets half a cake, this time a nut one. At this time, the German is sitting with his dad in the living room and drinking beer with the same pleasure as an elephant, only in larger quantities.
After dinner, some of my father’s acquaintances come; They are warned about the elephant in the hall so that they do not get scared. At first they don’t believe it, and then, seeing Tommy, they crowd towards the door.
- Don't be afraid, he's kind! - the girl reassures them.
But the acquaintances hastily go into the living room and, without sitting for even five minutes, leave.
Evening is coming. Late. It's time for the girl to go to bed. However, it is impossible to pull her away from the elephant. She falls asleep next to him, and she, already sleepy, is taken to the nursery. She doesn't even hear how they undress her.
That night Nadya dreams that she married Tommy and they have many children, little cheerful elephants. The elephant, which was taken to the menagerie at night, also sees a sweet, affectionate girl in a dream. In addition, he dreams of large cakes, walnut and pistachio, the size of gates...
In the morning the girl wakes up cheerful, fresh and, as in the old days, when she was still healthy, shouts to the whole house, loudly and impatiently:
- Mo-loch-ka!
Hearing this cry, mom hurries joyfully.
But the girl immediately remembers yesterday and asks:
- And the elephant?
They explain to her that the elephant went home on business, that he has children who cannot be left alone, that he asked to bow to Nadya and that he is waiting for her to visit him when she is healthy.
The girl smiles slyly and says:
- Tell Tommy that I’m completely healthy!
B. Zhitkov “How I caught little men”
When I was little, I was taken to live with my grandmother. Grandmother had a shelf above the table. And on the shelf there is a steamboat. I've never seen anything like this. He was completely real, only small. He had a trumpet: yellow and on it two black belts. And two masts. And rope ladders went from the masts to the sides. At the stern there was a booth, like a house. Polished, with windows and door. And just at the stern there is a copper steering wheel. Below under the stern is the steering wheel. And the screw in front of the steering wheel shone like a copper rose. There are two anchors on the bow. Oh, how wonderful! If only I had one like this!
I immediately asked my grandmother to play with the steamboat. My grandmother allowed me everything. And then suddenly she frowned:
- Don’t ask for that. Let alone play - don’t you dare touch. Never! This is a dear memory for me.
I saw that even if I cried, it wouldn’t help.
And the steamboat stood importantly on a shelf on varnished stands. I couldn't take my eyes off him.
And grandma:
- Give me your word of honor that you won’t touch me. Otherwise I’d better hide it from sin.
And she went to the shelf.
- Honest and honest, grandma! - and grabbed my grandmother’s skirt.
Grandmother did not remove the steamer.
I kept looking at the ship. He climbed onto a chair to see better. And more and more he seemed real to me. And the door in the booth must certainly open. And probably little people live in it. Small, just the size of the ship. It turned out that they should be slightly lower than the match. I began to wait to see if any of them would look through the window. They're probably peeking. And when no one is home, they go out onto the deck. They are probably climbing ladders to the masts.
And a little noise - like mice: they dash into the cabin. Down and hide. I looked for a long time when I was alone in the room. Nobody looked out. I hid behind the door and looked through the crack. And they are cunning, damned little men, they know that I am spying. Yeah! They work at night when no one can scare them away. Tricky.
I began to quickly and quickly swallow the tea. And asked to sleep.
Grandma says:
- What is this? You can’t be forced into bed, but here you are asking to sleep this early.
And so, when they settled down, the grandmother turned off the light. And the steamboat is not visible. I tossed and turned on purpose, so that the bed creaked.
- Why are you tossing and turning?
“And I’m afraid to sleep without light.” At home they always light a night light. “I lied: the house is completely dark at night.”
Grandma cursed, but got up. I spent a long time poking around and made a night light. It didn't burn well. But you could still see how the steamboat glittered on the shelf.
I covered my head with a blanket, made myself a house and a small hole. And he looked out of the hole without moving. Soon I looked so closely that I could clearly see everything on the boat. I looked for a long time. The room was completely silent. Only the clock was ticking. Suddenly something rustled quietly. I was wary - this rustling sound was coming from the ship. And it was as if the door had opened slightly. My breath was taken away. I moved forward a little. The damned bed creaked. I scared the little man away!
Now there was nothing to wait for, and I fell asleep. I fell asleep out of grief.
The next day I came up with this. The humans are probably eating something. If you give them candy, it's a whole lot for them. You need to break off a piece of the candy and put it on the steamer, near the booth. Near the doors. But such a piece that it won’t fit through their doors right away. They will open the doors at night and look through the crack. Wow! Sweets! For them it’s like a whole box. Now they’ll jump out, quickly take the candy to themselves. They are at her door, but she won’t get in! Now they’ll run away, bring hatchets - small, small, but completely real - and start baling with these hatchets: bale-bale! bale bale! And quickly push the candy through the door. They are cunning, they just want everything to be nimble. So as not to get caught. Here they are bringing in candy. Here, even if I creak, they still won’t be able to keep up: the candy will get stuck in the door - neither here nor there. Let them run away, but you will still see how they carried the candy. Or maybe someone will miss the hatchet out of fright. Where will they choose! And I will find on the deck of the ship a tiny real hatchet, very sharp.
And so, secretly from my grandmother, I cut off a piece of candy, just the one I wanted. He waited a minute while the grandmother was fiddling around in the kitchen, once or twice, with her feet on the table, and put the candy right next to the door on the steamer. Theirs is half a step from the door to the lollipop. He got off the table and wiped away with his sleeve what he had left behind with his feet. Grandma didn't notice anything.
During the day I secretly glanced at the ship. My grandmother took me for a walk. I was afraid that during this time the little men would steal the candy and I wouldn’t catch them. On the way, I purposely whined that I was cold, and we returned soon. The first thing I looked at was the steamboat! The lollipop was still there. Well, yes! They are fools to take on such a thing during the day!
At night, when my grandmother fell asleep, I settled down in the blanket house and began to look. This time the night light burned wonderfully, and the candy sparkled like a piece of ice in the sun with a sharp light. I looked and looked at this light and fell asleep, as luck would have it! The little people outsmarted me. I looked in the morning and there was no candy, but I got up before everyone else and ran around in my shirt to look. Then I looked from the chair - of course, there was no hatchet. Why did they have to give up: they worked slowly, without interruption, and not even a single crumb was lying around - they picked everything up.
Another time I put in bread. I even heard some fuss at night. The damned night light was barely smoking, I couldn’t see anything. But the next morning there was no bread. There are only a few crumbs left. Well, it’s clear that they don’t particularly care about bread or candy: every crumb is a candy for them.
I decided that they had benches on both sides of the ship. Full length. And during the day they sit side by side and whisper quietly. About your business. And at night, when everyone is asleep, they have work here.
I thought about little people all the time. I wanted to take a cloth, like a small rug, and place it near the door. Wet a cloth with ink. They will run out, you won’t notice right away, they will get their feet dirty and leave marks all over the ship. At least I can see what kind of legs they have. Maybe some are barefoot to make their feet quieter. No, they are terribly cunning and will only laugh at all my tricks.
I couldn't stand it anymore.
And so - I decided to definitely take the steamboat and look and catch the little men. At least one. You just need to arrange it so that you can stay alone at home. My grandmother took me with her everywhere, to all her visits. All to some old women. Sit and you can’t touch anything. You can only pet a cat. And the grandmother whispers with them for half a day.
So I see that my grandmother is getting ready: she began to collect cookies in a box for these old women to drink tea there. I ran into the hallway, took out my knitted mittens and rubbed my forehead and cheeks - my whole face, in a word. No regrets. And he quietly lay down on the bed.
Grandma suddenly snapped:
- Borya, Boryushka, where are you?
I remain silent and close my eyes.
Grandma to me:
- Why are you lying down?
- My head hurts.
She touched her forehead:
- Look at me! Sit at home. I'll go back and get some raspberries from the pharmacy. I'll be back soon. I won't sit for long. And you undress and lie down. Lie down, lie down without talking.
She began to help me, laid me down, wrapped me in a blanket and kept saying: “I’ll be back now, in spirit.”
Grandma locked me up. I waited five minutes: what if he came back? What if you forgot something there?
And then I jumped out of bed as I was, in my shirt. I jumped up on the table and took the steamer from the shelf. I immediately realized with my hands that it was made of iron, completely real. I pressed it to my ear and began to listen: were they moving? But they, of course, fell silent. They realized that I had grabbed their ship. Yeah! Sit there on the bench and are silent, like mice. I got off the table and began to shake the steamer. They will shake themselves off, will not sit on the benches, and I will hear them hanging out there.
But it was quiet inside.
I realized: they were sitting on the benches, their legs were tucked under and their hands were clinging to the seats with all their might. They sit as if glued.
Yeah! So just wait. I'll dig around and raise the deck. And I’ll cover you all there. I began to take out a table knife from the cupboard, but I didn’t take my eyes off the steamer so that the little men wouldn’t jump out. I started picking at the deck. Wow, how tightly everything is sealed. Finally I managed to slip the knife a little. But the masts rose along with the deck. And the masts were not allowed to rise by these rope ladders that went from the masts to the sides. They had to be cut off - there was no other way. I stopped for a moment. Just for a moment. But now, with a hasty hand, he began to cut these ladders. I sawed them with a dull knife. Done, they are all hung, the masts are free. I began to lift the deck with a knife. I was afraid to immediately give a big gap. They will all rush at once and run away. I left a crack so I could get through alone. He will climb, and I will clap him! - and I’ll slam it like a bug in the palm of my hand. I waited and kept my hand ready to grab.
Not a single one climbs! I then decided to immediately turn the deck and slam it in the middle with my hand. At least one will come across. You just have to do it right away: they’ve probably already got ready there - you open it, and the little men all jump to the sides.
I quickly threw back the deck and slammed my hand inside. Nothing. Nothing at all! There weren't even these benches. Bare sides. Like in a saucepan. I raised my hand. And, of course, there’s nothing at hand. My hands were shaking as I adjusted the deck back. Everything was becoming crooked. And there is no way to attach ladders. They were hanging out randomly. I somehow pushed the deck into place and put the steamer on the shelf. Now everything is gone!
I quickly threw myself into bed and wrapped my head up.
I hear the key in the door.
- Grandmother! - I whispered under the blanket. - Grandma, dear, dear, what have I done!
And my grandmother stood over me and stroked my head:
- Why are you crying, why are you crying? You are my dear, Boryushka! Do you see how soon I am?
She had not yet seen the steamboat.
M. Zoshchenko “Great Travelers”
When I was six years old, I did not know that the Earth is spherical.
But Styopka, the owner’s son, with whose parents we lived at the dacha, explained to me what the Earth is. He said:
- The earth is a circle. And if you go straight, you can go around the entire Earth and still end up in the very place you came from.
And when I didn’t believe it, Styopka hit me on the back of the head and said:
“I’d rather go on a trip around the world with your sister Lelya than take you.” I have no interest in traveling with fools.
But I wanted to travel, and I gave Styopka a penknife. Styopka liked my knife and agreed to take me on a trip around the world.
In the garden, Stepka organized a general meeting of travelers. And there he told me and Lele:
- Tomorrow, when your parents leave for the city, and my mother goes to the river to wash clothes, we will do what we have planned. We will go straight and straight, crossing mountains and deserts. And we will go straight until we get back here, even if it took us a whole year.
Lelya said:
- What if, Stepochka, we meet Indians?
“As for the Indians,” answered Styopa, “we will take the Indian tribes prisoner.”
- And those who don’t want to go into captivity? - I asked timidly.
“Those who don’t want to,” answered Styopa, “we won’t take them prisoner.”
Lelya asked:
- Will three rubles be enough for this trip? I'll take it from my piggy bank.
Stepka said:
“Three rubles will certainly be enough for us for this trip, because we will only need money to buy seeds and sweets.” As for food, we will kill various small animals along the way and fry their tender meat over a fire.
Styopka ran to the barn and brought back a bag of flour. And in this bag we put bread and sugar. Then they put in various utensils: plates, glasses, forks and knives. Then, after thinking, they put in a magic lantern, colored pencils, a clay washstand and a magnifying glass for lighting fires. And besides, they stuffed two blankets and a pillow from the ottoman into the bag.
In addition, I prepared three slingshots, a fishing rod and a net for catching tropical butterflies.
And the next day, when our parents left for the city, and Stepka’s mother went to the river to rinse clothes, we left our village of Peski.
We followed the road through the forest.
Stepka’s dog Tuzik ran ahead. Styopka walked behind her with a huge bag on his head. Lelya walked behind Styopka with a skipping rope. And I followed Lelya, with three slingshots, a net and a fishing rod.
We walked for about an hour.
Finally Styopa said:
— The bag is devilishly heavy. And I won’t carry it alone. Let everyone take turns carrying this bag.
Then Lelya took this bag and carried it.
But she didn’t carry it for long because she was exhausted.
She threw the bag on the ground and said:
- Now let Minka carry it!
When they put this bag on me, I gasped in surprise, the bag was so heavy.
But I was even more surprised when I walked along the road with this bag. I was bent to the ground, and like a pendulum, I swung from side to side. Until finally, after walking ten steps, he fell into a ditch with this bag.
And first the bag fell into the ditch, and then I fell on the bag. And although I was light, I nevertheless managed to crush all the glasses, almost all the plates and the clay washstand.
We sadly pulled the shards out of the bag. And Styopka hit me on the back of the head and said that people like me should stay at home and not go on a trip around the world.
Then Styopka whistled for the dog and wanted to adapt it to carry weights. But nothing came of it, because Tuzik did not understand what we wanted from him.
Moreover, we ourselves did not really understand how to adapt Tuzik to this.
Then Styopka ordered us all to carry this bag together.
Grabbing the corners, we carried the bag. But it was awkward and difficult to carry. Nevertheless, we walked for another two hours. And finally they came out of the forest onto the lawn.
Here Styopka decided to take a break. He said:
“Whenever we rest or when we go to bed, I will stretch my legs in the direction in which we need to go.” All great travelers did this and thanks to this they did not stray from their straight path.
And Styopka sat down by the road, stretching his legs forward.
We untied the bag and started snacking.
We ate bread sprinkled with granulated sugar.
Suddenly, wasps began to circle above us. And one of them, wanting to taste my sugar, stung me on the cheek.
It made my cheek swell up like a pie. And I wanted to return home. But Styopka didn’t let me think about it. He said:
“I will tie anyone who wants to return home to a tree and leave it to be eaten by the ants.”
I walked behind everyone, whining and whining. My cheek burned and ached.
Lelya was also not happy about the trip. She sighed and dreamed of returning home.
We continued walking in a bad mood.
And only Tuzik was in a wow mood. With his tail raised, he chased the birds and with his barking brought unnecessary noise into our journey.
Finally it began to get dark. Styopka threw the bag on the ground. And we decided to spend the night here.
We collected brushwood for the fire. And Styopka took a magnifying glass out of the bag to light a fire.
But, not finding the sun in the sky, Styopka became depressed. And we were upset too. And, having eaten bread, they lay down in the dark.
Styopka solemnly lay down feet first, saying that in the morning it would be clear to us which way to go.
Styopka immediately began snoring. And Tuzik also began to sniffle. But Lelya and I couldn’t sleep for a long time. The dark forest and the noise of the trees scared us.
Lelya suddenly mistook a dry branch under her head for a snake and screamed in horror.
And a falling cone from a tree scared me so much that I jumped on the ground like a ball.
Finally we dozed off.
I woke up to Lelya tugging at my shoulders. It was an early morning. And the sun hasn't risen yet.
Lelya whispered to me:
- Minka, while Styopka is sleeping, let’s turn his legs in the opposite direction. Otherwise he will lead us where Makar never drove his calves.
We looked at Styopka. He slept with a blissful smile.
Lelya and I grabbed his legs and in an instant turned them in the opposite direction, so that Stepka’s head described half a circle.
But Styopka did not wake up from this.
He just groaned in his sleep and waved his arms, muttering: “Hey, here, to me...”
He probably dreamed that he was capturing the Indians, but they did not want to and resisted.
We began to wait for Styopka to wake up.
He woke up with the first rays of the sun and, looking at his feet, said:
“We’d be fine if I lay down with my feet anywhere.” So we wouldn’t know which way to go. And now, thanks to my legs, it’s clear to all of us where we need to go.
And Styopka waved his hand in the direction of the road along which we walked yesterday.
We ate some bread, drank some water from the ditch and hit the road. The road was familiar from yesterday's trip. And Styopka kept opening his mouth in surprise. Nevertheless he said:
— A trip around the world differs from other trips in that everything repeats itself, since the Earth is a circle.
The creaking of wheels was heard behind me. It was some guy riding in an empty cart.
Stepka said:
“For the speed of travel and to quickly circle the Earth, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to sit in this cart.”
We started asking for a ride. A good-natured man stopped the cart and allowed us to get into it.
We drove quickly. And the drive took no more than two hours.
Suddenly our village of Peski appeared ahead.
Styopka, his mouth open in amazement, said:
— Here is a village exactly similar to our village of Peski. This happens when traveling around the world.
But Styopka was even more amazed when we approached the river and drove up to the pier.
We got out of the cart.
Indeed, this was our Pesky pier, and a steamer had just approached it.
Styopka whispered:
- Have we really circled the Earth?
Lelya snorted, and I laughed too.
But then we saw our parents and our grandmother on the pier - they had just gotten off the ship.
And next to them we saw our nanny, who was crying and telling them something. We ran up to our parents.
And the parents laughed with joy that they saw us.
Nanny said:
- Children, I thought you drowned yesterday.
Lelya said:
- If we had drowned yesterday, we would not have been able to go on a trip around the world.
Mom exclaimed:
- What do I hear! They need to be punished.
Grandmother, tearing off a branch, said:
- I propose to flog the children. Let Minka be spanked by her mother. And I take Lelya on myself. And I will give her, as the eldest, at least twenty rods.
Dad said:
— Spanking is an old method of raising children. And it doesn't do any good. Even without spanking, the children realized what a stupid thing they had done.
Mom sighed and said:
- Oh, I have stupid children! Going on a trip around the world without knowing geography and the multiplication tables - well, what is this!
Dad said:
— It’s not enough to know geography and the multiplication table. To go on a trip around the world, you must have a higher education of five courses. You need to know everything that is taught there, including cosmography. And those who set off on a long journey without this knowledge come to sad results.
With these words we came home. And they sat down to dinner. And our parents laughed and gasped as they listened to our stories about yesterday's adventure.
Dad said:
- All is well that ends well.
And he did not punish us for our trip around the world and for the fact that we lost the ottoman pillow.
As for Styopka, his own mother locked him in the bathhouse, and there our great traveler sat the whole day with his dog Tuzik.
And the next day his mother let him out. And we started playing with him as if nothing had happened.
Alyosha’s parents usually returned home late after work. He came home from school on his own, warmed up his lunch, did his homework, played and waited for mom and dad. Alyosha went to a music school twice a week; it was very close to the school. From early childhood, the boy was accustomed to his parents working a lot, but he never complained, he understood that they were trying for him.
Nadya has always been an example for her younger brother. An excellent student at school, she still managed to study at music school and help her mother at home. She had many friends in her class, they visited each other and sometimes even did homework together. But for class teacher Natalya Petrovna, Nadya was the best: she always managed to do everything, but also helped others. There was only talk both at school and at home about how “Nadya is a smart girl, what a helper, what a smart girl Nadya is.” Nadya was pleased to hear such words, because it was not in vain that people praised her.
Little Zhenya was a very greedy boy; he used to bring candy to kindergarten and not share it with anyone. And to all the comments from Zhenya’s teacher, Zhenya’s parents responded like this: “Zhenya is still too small to share with anyone, so let him grow up a little, then he will understand.”
Petya was the most pugnacious boy in the class. He constantly pulled the girls' pigtails and tripped the boys. It wasn't that he liked it very much, but he believed that it made him stronger than the other guys, and this was undoubtedly nice to know. But there was also a downside to this behavior: no one wanted to be friends with him. Petya’s desk neighbor, Kolya, got it especially hard. He was an excellent student, but he never allowed Petya to copy from him and did not give any hints on tests, so Petya was offended by him for this.
Spring has come. In the city, the snow turned gray and began to settle, and merry drops could be heard from the rooftops. There was a forest outside the city. Winter still reigned there, and the sun's rays barely made their way through the thick spruce branches. But then one day something moved under the snow. A stream appeared. He gurgled cheerfully, trying to make his way through the blocks of snow up to the sun.
The bus was stuffy and very crowded. He was squeezed from all sides, and he already regretted a hundred times that he decided to go to the next doctor’s appointment early in the morning. He drove and thought that quite recently, it would seem, but in fact seventy years ago, he rode the bus to school. And then the war began. He didn’t like to remember what he experienced there, why bring up the past. But every year on June twenty-second he locked himself in his apartment, did not answer calls and did not go anywhere. He remembered those who volunteered with him to the front and did not return. The war was also a personal tragedy for him: during the battles of Moscow and Stalingrad, his father and older brother died.
Even though it was only mid-March, the snow had almost melted. Streams ran through the streets of the village, in which paper boats sailed merrily, overtaking each other. They were launched by local boys returning home after school.
Katya always dreamed about something: how she would become a famous doctor, how she would fly to the moon, or how she would invent something useful for all humanity. Katya also loved animals very much. At home she had a dog, Laika, a cat, Marusya, and two parrots, which were given to her by her parents for her birthday, as well as fish and a turtle.
Mom came home from work a little early today. As soon as she closed the front door, Marina immediately threw herself on her neck:
- Mom, mommy! I almost got run over by a car!
- What are you talking about! Well, turn around, I'll look at you! How did this happen?
It was spring. The sun was shining very brightly, the snow had almost melted. And Misha was really looking forward to summer. In June he turned twelve years old, and his parents promised to give him a new bicycle for his birthday, which he had long dreamed of. He already had one, but Misha, as he himself liked to say, “grew out of it a long time ago.” He did well in school, and his mom and dad, and sometimes his grandparents, would give him money as praise for his excellent behavior or good grades. Misha did not spend this money, he saved it. He had a big piggy bank where he put all the money that was given to him. Since the beginning of the school year, he had accumulated a significant amount, and the boy wanted to offer his parents this money so that they could buy him a bicycle before his birthday, he really wanted to ride.
The ability to retell a text not only demonstrates the level of speech development, but also shows how much the child can understand and analyze the text he heard or read. But for children, retelling the text often causes difficulties. How can you help your child overcome them?
There are two main reasons why a child may have difficulty retelling text: problems with speech development or problems with understanding, analyzing and formulating what he heard. In the first case, the emphasis should be placed specifically on the development of speech and this should be done not with the help of retelling, but with the help of simpler games for the development of speech. But in the second case, it is the child’s ability to retell the text that needs to be trained.
We bring to your attention short stories with which you can easily teach your child to retell texts.
GOOD DUCK
V. Suteev
The duck and ducklings and the hen and chicks went for a walk. They walked and walked and came to the river. A duck and ducklings can swim, but a hen and chicks cannot. What to do? We thought and thought and came up with an idea! They swam across the river in exactly half a minute: a chicken on a duckling, a chicken on a duckling, and a chicken on a duck!
1. Answer the questions:
Who went for a walk?
Where did the duck and ducklings and the hen and chickens go for a walk?
What can a duck do with its ducklings?
What can't a hen do with her chicks?
What did the birds come up with?
Why did they say good about the duck?
The birds swam across the river in half a minute, what does this mean?
2. Retell.
SLIDE
N. Nosov
The guys built a snow slide in the yard. They poured water on her and went home. Kotka didn't work. He was sitting at home, looking out the window. When the guys left, Kotka put on his skates and went up the hill. He skates across the snow, but can’t get up. What to do? Kotka took a box of sand and sprinkled it on the hill. The guys came running. How to ride now? The guys were offended by Kotka and forced him to cover his sand with snow. Kotka untied his skates and began to cover the slide with snow, and the guys poured water on it again. Kotka also made steps.
1. Answer the questions:
What did the guys do?
Where was Kotka at that time?
What happened when the guys left?
Why couldn't Kotka climb the hill?
What did he do then?
What happened when the guys came running?
How did you fix the slide?
2. Retell.
AUTUMN.
In autumn the sky is cloudy and overcast with heavy clouds. The sun barely peeks out from behind the clouds. Cold, piercing winds are blowing. The trees and bushes are bare. Their green outfit flew around them. The grass turned yellow and withered. There are puddles and dirt all around.
1. Answer the questions:
What time of year is it now?
What is described in the story?
What is the sky like in autumn?
What is it tightening with?
What is said about the sun?
What happened to the grass in the fall?
And what else distinguishes autumn?
2. Retell.
HEN.
E. Charushin.
A hen and her chicks were walking around the yard. Suddenly it started to rain. The chicken quickly sat down on the ground, spread out all its feathers and clucked: Kwok-kwok-kwok-kwok! This means: hide quickly. And all the chickens crawled under her wings and buried themselves in her warm feathers. Some are completely hidden, some have only their legs visible, some have their heads sticking out, and some only have their eyes peeking out.
But the two chickens did not listen to their mother and did not hide. They stand there, squeal and wonder: what is this thing dripping on their heads?
1. Answer the questions:
Where did the hen and her chicks go?
What's happened?
What did the chicken do?
How did the chickens hide under the chicken's wings?
Who didn't hide?
What did they do?
2. Retell.
MARTIN.
The mother swallow taught the chick to fly. The chick was very small. He flapped his weak wings ineptly and helplessly.
Unable to stay in the air, the chick fell to the ground and was seriously hurt. He lay motionless and squeaked pitifully.
The mother swallow was very alarmed. She circled over the chick, screamed loudly and did not know how to help him.
The girl picked up the chick and put it in a wooden box. And she put the box with the chick on a tree.
The swallow took care of her chick. She brought him food every day and fed him.
The chick began to recover quickly and was already chirping cheerfully and cheerfully flapping its strengthened wings.
The old red cat wanted to eat the chick. He quietly crept up, climbed the tree and was already at the very box.
But at this time the swallow flew off the branch and began to fly boldly in front of the cat’s very nose.
The cat rushed after her, but the swallow quickly dodged, and the cat missed and slammed to the ground with all its might. Soon the chick completely recovered and the swallow, with joyful chirping, took him to his native nest under the neighboring roof.
1. Answer the questions:
What misfortune happened to the chick?
When did the accident happen?
Why did it happen?
Who saved the chick?
What is the red cat up to?
How did the mother swallow protect her chick?
How did she take care of her chick?
How did this story end?
2. Retell.
BUTTERFLIES.
The weather was hot. Three butterflies were flying in a forest clearing. One was yellow, the other was brown with red spots, and the third butterfly was blue. Butterflies landed on a large beautiful daisy. Then two more colorful butterflies flew in and landed on the same daisy
It was cramped for the butterflies, but it was fun.
1. Answer the questions:
Who is the story about?
What is said first?
What were the butterflies like?
Where did the butterflies go?
What kind of chamomile was it?
How many more butterflies have arrived?
What were they like?
What does it say at the end?
2. Retell.
GRANDCHILDREN HELPED.
Grandmother Nyura's goat Nochka has disappeared. Grandma was very upset.
The grandchildren took pity on their grandmother and decided to help her.
The guys went into the forest to look for a goat. She heard the guys' voices and went towards them.
Grandma was very happy when she saw her goat.
1. Answer the questions:
Who is the story talking about?
Why was Grandma Nyura upset?
What was the goat's name?
What did the grandchildren decide to do? Why?
How was the goat found?
How did this story end?
2. Retell.
SHAME ON THE NIGHTINGALE.
V. Sukhomlinsky.
Olya and Lida, little girls, went into the forest. After a tiring journey, they sat down on the grass to rest and have lunch.
They took bread, butter, and eggs out of the bag. When the girls had already finished lunch, a nightingale began to sing not far from them. Enchanted by the beautiful song, Olya and Lida sat, afraid to move.
The nightingale stopped singing.
Olya collected the remains of her food and scraps of paper and threw them under a bush.
Lida wrapped the eggshells and bread crumbs in newspaper and put the bag in her bag.
Why do you take trash with you? Olya said. -Throw it under the bush. After all, we are in the forest. Nobody will see.
“I’m ashamed in front of the nightingale,” Lida answered quietly.
1. Answer the questions:
Who went to the forest?
Why did Olya and Lida go into the forest?
What did the girls hear in the forest?
What did Olya do with the garbage? And Lida?
Why is the story called Ashamed Before the Nightingale?
Whose action do you like better? Why?
2. Retell.
FRIENDSHIP.
In the summer, a squirrel and a bunny were friends. The squirrel was red, and the bunny was gray. Every day they played together.
But then winter came. White snow fell. A red squirrel climbed into a hollow. And the bunny climbed under a spruce branch.
One day a squirrel crawled out of a hollow. She saw the bunny, but did not recognize him. The bunny was no longer gray, but white. The bunny also saw a squirrel. He didn't recognize her either. After all, he knew the red squirrel. And this squirrel was gray.
But in the summer they get to know each other again.
1. Answer the questions:
When did the squirrel and the bunny become friends?
What were they like in the summer?
Why didn't the squirrel and the bunny recognize each other in winter?
Where do the squirrel and the hare hide from the frost in winter?
Why do they recognize each other again in the summer?
2. Retell.
FABLE TWO COMRADES.
L.N. Tolstoy.
Two comrades were walking through the forest, and a bear jumped on them. One ran, climbed a tree and hid, while the other stayed on the road. He had nothing to do, he fell to the ground and pretended to be dead.
The bear came up to him and began to sniff: he stopped breathing.
The bear sniffed his face, thought he was dead, and walked away.
When the bear left, he climbed down from the tree and laughed.
Well, he says, did the bear speak into your ear?
And he told me that bad people are those who run away from their comrades in danger.
1. Answer the questions:
Why is the fable called Two Comrades?
Where were the boys?
What happened to them?
What did the boys do?
How do you understand the expression fell to the ground?
How did the bear react?
Why did the bear think the boy was dead?
What does this fable teach?
What would you do in this situation?
Were the boys real comrades? Why?
2. Retell.
MURKA.
We have a cat. Her name is Murka. Murka is black, only the paws and tail are white. The fur is soft and fluffy. The tail is long, fluffy, Murka’s eyes are yellow, like lights.
Murka has five kittens. Three kittens are completely black, and two are mottled. All kittens are fluffy, like lumps. Murka and the kittens live in a basket. Their basket is very large. All kittens are comfortable and warm.
At night, Murka hunts mice, and the kittens sleep sweetly.
1. Answer the questions:
Why is the story called Murka?
What have you learned about Murka?
Tell us about the kittens.
What does the ending say?
2. Retell.
HOW THE BEAR SCARED HIMSELF.
N. Sladkov.
A bear entered the forest. A dry twig crunched under his heavy paw. The squirrel on the branch got scared and dropped the pine cone from its paws. A cone fell and hit the hare on the forehead. The hare jumped up and ran into the thick of the forest. He ran into forty and jumped out from under the bushes. They raised a cry throughout the forest. The moose heard it. The moose went through the forest to break the bushes.
Here the bear stopped and pricked up his ears: a squirrel was babbling, magpies were chirping, moose were breaking down bushes. Isn’t it better to leave? - thought the bear. He barked and gave chase.
So the bear scared itself.
1. Answer the questions:
Where did the bear go?
What crunched under his paw?
What did the squirrel do?
Who did the bump fall on?
What did the hare do?
Who did the magpie see? What did she do?
What did the moose decide? What did they do?
How did the bear behave?
What does the expression gave a streak, barked?
How does the story end?
Who scared the bear?
2. Retell.
FIRE DOGS.
L.N. Tolstoy.
It often happens that in cities during fires, children remain in houses and cannot be pulled out, because they hide and are silent from fear, and from the smoke they cannot be seen. Dogs in London are trained for this purpose. These dogs live with firefighters, and when a house catches fire, the firefighters send the dogs to pull the children out. One such dog saved twelve children, his name was Bob.
One time the house caught fire. When firefighters arrived at the house, a woman ran out to them. She cried and said that there was a two-year-old girl left in the house. The firefighters sent Bob. Bob ran up the stairs and disappeared into the smoke. Five minutes later he ran out of the house, carrying the girl by the shirt in his mouth. The mother rushed to her daughter and cried with joy that her daughter was alive.
The firefighters petted the dog and examined it to see if it was burned; but Bob was eager to get into the house. The firefighters thought there was still something alive in the house and let him in. The dog ran into the house and soon ran out with something in its teeth. When the people looked at what she brought out, they all burst out laughing: she was carrying a large doll.
1. Answer the questions:
What happened one time?
Where did this happen, in what city?
Who did the firefighters bring to the house?
What do dogs do in a fire? What are their names?
Who ran out to the firefighters when they arrived?
What did the woman do, what did she talk about?
How did Bob carry the girl?
What did the girl's mother do?
What did the firefighters do after the dog carried the girl out?
Where was Bob going?
What did the firefighters think?
When the people considered what she had endured, what did they do?
2. Retell.
BONE.
L.N. Tolstoy
The mother bought plums and wanted to give them to the children after lunch. They were on the plate. Vanya never ate plums and kept smelling them. And he really liked them. I really wanted to eat it. He kept walking past the plums. When there was no one in the upper room, he could not resist, grabbed one plum and ate it.
Before dinner, the mother counted the plums and saw that one was missing. She told her father.
At dinner my father says:
Well, children, did anyone eat one plum?
Everyone said:
Vanya blushed like a lobster and said too:
No, I didn't eat.
Then the father said:
What any of you has eaten is not good; but that’s not the problem. The trouble is that plums have seeds, and if someone doesn’t know how to eat them and swallows a seed, he will die within a day. I'm afraid of this.
Vanya turned pale and said:
No, I threw the bone out the window.
And everyone laughed, and Vanya began to cry.
1. Answer the questions:
What was the name of the main character?
What did the mother buy for the children?
Why did Vanya eat the plum?
When did your mother discover it was missing?
What did the father ask the children?
Why did he say it was possible to die?
Why did Vanya immediately admit that he ate the plum?
Why did the boy cry?
Did Vanya do the right thing?
Do you feel sorry for the boy or not?
What would you do in his place?
Any fairy tale is a story invented by adults in order to teach a child how to behave in a given situation. All edifying tales give the child life experience and allow him to understand worldly wisdom in a simple and understandable form.
Short, instructive and interesting fairy tales help shape a child into a harmonious personality. They also force children to think and reflect, develop fantasy, imagination, intuition and logic. Usually fairy tales teach children to be kind and brave, giving them the meaning of life - to be honest, to help the weak, to respect elders, to make their own choices and be responsible for them.
Instructive good fairy tales help kids understand where is good and where is evil, distinguish truth from lies, and also teach what is good and what is bad.
About the squirrel
One little boy bought a squirrel at the fair. A squirrel lived in a cage and no longer hoped that the boy would take it to the forest and let it go. But one day the boy was cleaning the cage in which the squirrel lived and forgot to close it with a loop after cleaning. The squirrel jumped out of the cage and first galloped to the window, jumped onto the windowsill, jumped from the window into the garden, from the garden onto the street and galloped into the forest located nearby.
The squirrel met her friends and relatives there. Everyone was very happy, hugged the squirrel, kissed it and asked where it had been, how it had lived and how it was doing. The squirrel says that she lived well, the owner-boy fed her deliciously, groomed and cherished her, looked after her, stroked and took care of his little pet every day.
Of course, other squirrels began to envy our squirrel, and one of her friends asked why the squirrel left such a good owner who cared so much about her. The squirrel thought for a second and replied that the owner took care of her, but she lacked the most important thing, but we didn’t hear what, because the wind rustled in the forest and the squirrel’s last words were drowned in the noise of leaves. What do you guys think, what did the squirrel lack?
This short tale has a very deep subtext; it shows that everyone needs freedom and the right to choose. This fairy tale is instructive, it is suitable for children 5-7 years old, you can read it to your kids and have short discussions with them.
Educational cartoon for children, Forest Tale cartoon about animals
Russian tales
About a playful cat and an honest starling
Once upon a time there lived a kitten and a starling in the same house with the same owner. Once the owner went to the market, and the kitten played around. He started catching his tail, then he chased a ball of thread around the room, he jumped onto a chair and wanted to jump onto the windowsill, but he broke a vase.
The kitten was scared, let's collect the pieces of the vase into a pile, I wanted to put the vase back together, but you can't return what you did. The cat says to the starling:
- Oh, and I’ll get it from the mistress. Starling, be a friend, don’t tell the hostess that I broke the vase.
The starling looked at this and said:
“I won’t tell you, but the fragments themselves will say everything for me.”
This educational fairy tale for children will teach children 5-7 years old to understand that they need to be responsible for their actions, as well as think before doing anything. The meaning inherent in this fairy tale is very important. Such short and kind fairy tales for children with a clear meaning will be useful and educational.
Russian Fairy Tales: Three Woodmen
Folk tales
About the Helping Bunny
In the thicket of the forest, in a clearing, the Helping Bunny lived with other animals. The neighbors called him that because he always helped everyone. Either Hedgehog will help carry the brushwood to the mink, or the Bear will help collect raspberries. Bunny was kind and cheerful. But a misfortune happened in the clearing. The son of the Bear, Mishutka, got lost, went in the morning to the edge of the clearing to pick raspberries, and went into the bowl.
Mishutka did not notice how he got lost in the forest, feasted on a sweet raspberry and did not notice how he went far from home. He sits under a bush and cries. Mama Bear noticed that her baby was not there, and it was already getting dark, so she went to the neighbors. But there is no child anywhere. Then the neighbors gathered and went to look for Mishutka in the forest. They walked for a long time, calling, right up to midnight. But no one responds. The animals returned to the edge of the forest and decided to continue the search tomorrow morning. We went home, had dinner and went to bed.
Only the Helping Bunny decided to stay up all night and continue the search. He walked through the forest with a flashlight, calling Mishutka. He hears someone crying under a bush. I looked in, and there was a tear-stained, chilled Mishutka sitting there. I saw the Helping Bunny and was very happy.
Bunny and Mishutka returned home together. Mother Bear was happy and thanked the Helping Bunny. All the neighbors are proud of Bunny, after all, he was able to find Mishutka, a hero, he didn’t give up the case halfway.
This interesting fairy tale teaches children that they need to insist on their own, and not give up what they started halfway. Also, the meaning of the fairy tale is that you cannot follow your desires, you need to think so as not to get into such a difficult situation as Mishutka. Read such short stories for your children aged 5-7 years at night.
Fairy tale The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats. Audio fairy tales for children. Russian folk tales
Bedtime Stories
About the calf and the cockerel
Once a calf was nibbling grass near the fence, and a cockerel came up to him. The cockerel began to look for grain in the grass, but suddenly he saw a leaf of cabbage. The cockerel was surprised and pecked at a cabbage leaf and said indignantly:
The cockerel did not like the taste of the cabbage leaf and decided to offer it to the calf. The cockerel tells him:
But the calf did not understand what was the matter and what the cockerel wanted and said:
The cockerel says:
- Ko! - and points with his beak at the leaf.
- Mu-u??? – the little calf won’t understand everything.
So the cockerel and the calf stand and say:
- Ko! Mooo! Ko! Mooo!
But the goat heard them, sighed, came up and said:
Me-me-me!
Yes, and I ate a leaf of cabbage.
This fairy tale will be interesting for children 5-7 years old; it can be read to kids at night.
Little tales
How a fox got rid of nettles in the garden.
One day a fox went out into the garden and saw that a lot of nettles had grown there. I wanted to pull it out, but decided that it wasn’t even worth trying. I was about to go into the house, but here comes the wolf:
- Hello, godfather, what are you doing?
And the sly fox answers him:
- Oh, you see, godfather, how many beautiful things I have lost. Tomorrow I will clean and store it.
- What for? - asks the wolf.
“Well,” says the fox, “the one who smells nettles is not taken by a dog’s fang.” Look, godfather, don’t come close to my nettles.
The fox turned and went into the house to sleep. She wakes up in the morning and looks out the window, and her garden is empty, not a single nettle remains. The fox smiled and went to prepare breakfast.
Tale of the Hare's Hut. Russian folk tales for children. Bedtime story
Illustrations for fairy tales
Many fairy tales that you will read to kids are accompanied by colorful illustrations. When choosing illustrations for fairy tales to show them to children, try to ensure that the animals in the drawings look like animals, they have the correct body proportions and well-drawn clothing details.
This is very important for children 4-7 years old, since at this age aesthetic taste is formed and the child makes his first attempts to draw animals and other fairy tale characters. At 5-7 years of age, a child should understand what proportions animals have and be able to diagram them on paper independently.
