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.
Unfortunately, modern fairy tales, despite their variety and huge number, do not carry the brilliant semantic load that children's literature of past years can boast of. Therefore, we are increasingly introducing our children to the works of writers who have long established themselves as skilled masters of writing. One of these masters is Nikolai Nosov, known to us as the author of The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends, Mishkina Porridge, Entertainers, Vitya Maleev at School and at Home and other equally popular stories.
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It is worth noting that Nosov’s stories, which can be read by children at any age, are difficult to classify as fairy tales. These are rather artistic narratives about the lives of ordinary boys who, like everyone else in childhood, went to school, made friends with the guys and found adventures in completely unexpected places and situations. Nosov's stories are a partial description of the author's childhood, his dreams, fantasies and relationships with peers. However, it is worth noting that the author was not at all interested in literature, and certainly did not try to write anything for the public. The turning point in his life was the birth of his son. Nosov's fairy tales were born literally on the fly, when a young father lulled his son to sleep, telling him about the adventures of ordinary boys. This is how a simple adult man turned into a writer whose stories have been reread by more than one generation of children.
After some time, Nikolai Nikolaevich realized that writing witty and funny stories about the guys was the best thing he could imagine. The writer got down to business seriously and began publishing his works, which immediately became popular and in demand. The author turned out to be a good psychologist, and thanks to his competent and sensitive approach to the boys, Nosov’s stories are very easy and enjoyable to read. Light irony and wit do not offend the reader in any way; on the contrary, they make you smile once again or even laugh at the heroes of truly living fairy tales.
Nosov's stories for children will seem like just an interesting story, but an adult reader will involuntarily recognize himself in childhood. It is also pleasant to read Nosov’s fairy tales for the reason that they are written in simple language without sugary dilutions. What can also be considered surprising is the fact that the author was able to avoid ideological implications in his stories, which was the sin of children's writers of that time.
Of course, it is best to read Nosov’s fairy tales in the original, without any adaptations. That is why on the pages of our website you can read all of Nosov’s stories online without fear for the safety of the originality of the author’s lines.
Read Nosov's fairy tales
Entertainers
Didactic manual for literary reading lessons in grades 1-4 “Children’s writers in elementary school”
Stupchenko Irina Nikolaevna, primary school teacher of the first category, Municipal Budgetary Educational Institution Secondary School No. 5 of the village. Yablonovsky, Republic of Adygea
Target: getting to know children's writers and their works
Tasks: show interest in the works of Russian and foreign writers and poets, develop the desire to read children's fiction; develop cognitive interests, creative thinking, imagination, speech, replenish active vocabulary
Equipment: portraits of writers and poets, book exhibition, illustrations for fairy tales
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN (1805-1875)
The writer was born on April 2 in the city of Odense, located in the European country of Denmark, in the family of a shoemaker. Little Hans loved to sing, read poetry and dreamed of becoming an actor. When I was in high school, I published my first poems. And when he became a university student, he began to write and publish novels. Andersen loved to travel and visited Africa, Asia and Europe.
The writer gained popularity in 1835, after the publication of the collection “Fairy Tales Told for Children.” It included “The Princess and the Pea”, “The Swineherd”, “Flint”, “Wild Swans”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The King’s New Clothes”, “Thumbelina”. The writer wrote 156 fairy tales. The most popular of them are The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1838), The Nightingale (1843), The Ugly Duckling (1843), and The Snow Queen (1844).
In our country, interest in the work of the Danish storyteller arose during his lifetime, when his fairy tales were translated into Russian.
H. C. Andersen's birthday is declared International Children's Book Day.
AGNIYA LVOVNA BARTO (1906-1981)
Born on February 17 in the family of a veterinarian. She spent a lot of time in choreography classes, but gave preference to literature. Her idols were K.I. Chukovsky, S.Ya. Marshak, V.V. Mayakovsky. The writer's first book was published in 1925.
Agnia Lvovna wrote poems for children: “The Thief Bear” (1925), “The Roaring Girl” (1930), “Toys” (1936), “The Bullfinch” (1939), “First-Grader” (1944), “To School” ( 1966), “I’m Growing Up” (1969), and many others. In 1939, a film based on her script “Foundling” was made.
During the Great Patriotic War, Agnia Barto often went to the front to give speeches, and also spoke on the radio.
The poems of A.L. Barto are known to readers all over the world.
VITALY VALENTINOVICH BIANCHI (1894-1959)
Born on February 11 in St. Petersburg in the family of an ornithologist. The writer had an instilled interest in nature from childhood. After graduating from university, the writer went on expeditions throughout Russia.
Bianchi is the founder of the natural history movement in children's literature.
He began his literary career in 1923, publishing the fairy tale “The Journey of the Red-Headed Sparrow.” And after “The First Hunt” (1924), “Whose nose is better?” (1924), “Tails” (1928), “Mouse Peak” (1928), “The Adventures of an Ant” (1936). To this day, the novels and short stories “The Last Shot” (1928), “Dzhulbars” (1937), “There were forest tales” (1952) are very popular. And, of course, the famous “Forest Newspaper” (1928) is of great interest to all readers.
JACOB and WILHELM GRIMM (1785-1863; 1786-1859)
The Brothers Grimm were born into the family of an official, and lived in a kind and prosperous atmosphere.
The Brothers Grimm successfully graduated from high school, received a law degree, and served as university professors. They are the authors of the "German Grammar" and a dictionary of the German language.
But the fairy tales “The Bremen Town Musicians”, “A Pot of Porridge”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Puss in Boots”, “Snow White”, “Seven Brave Men” and others brought fame to the writers.
Fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm have been translated into many languages of the world, including Russian.
VIKTOR YUZEFOVICH DRAGUNSKY (1913-1972)
V. Dragunsky was born in America, but after his birth the family returned to Russia. The boy began his working career at the age of 16, working as a saddler, boatman, and actor. In 1940, he tried his hand at literary creativity (creating texts and monologues for circus and theater performers).
The writer's first stories appeared in the magazine "Murzilka" in 1959. And in 1961, Dragunsky’s first book was published, which included 16 stories about Denis and his friend Mishka.
Dragunsky wrote more than 100 stories and thus made a huge contribution to the development of children's humorous literature.
SERGEY ALEXANDROVICH ESENIN (1895-1925)
Born on October 3 in a peasant family. He graduated from a rural college and a church teacher's school, after which he moved to Moscow.
The poem “Birch” (1913) became the first poem of the great Russian poet. It was published in the children's magazine Mirok. And although the poet practically did not write for children, many of his works entered the circle of children’s reading: “Winter Sings and Calls...” (1910), “Good Morning!” (1914), “Powder” (1914), “Grandmother’s Tales” (1915), “Bird Cherry” (1915), “The fields are compressed, the groves are bare...” (1918)
BORIS VLADIMIROVICH ZAKHODER (1918-2000)
Born on September 9 in Moldova. He graduated from school in Moscow. Afterwards he studied at the Literary Institute.
In 1955, Zakhoder’s poems were published in the collection “On the Back Desk.” In 1958 - “Nobody and Others”, in 1960 - “Who Looks Like Who?”, in 1970 - “School for Chicks”, in 1980 - “My Imagination”. The author also wrote fairy tales “The Monkey’s Tomorrow” (1956), “Little Rusachok” (1967), “The Good Rhinoceros”, “Once Upon a Time There Was Fip” (1977)
Boris Zakhoder is the translator of A. Milne “Winnie the Pooh and All-All-All”, A. Lindgren “Baby and Carlson”, P. Travers “Mary Poppins”, L. Carroll “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”.
IVAN ANDREEVICH KRYLOV (1769-1844)
Born on February 13 in Moscow. I spent my childhood in the Urals and Tver. He received a worldwide calling as a talented fabulist.
He wrote his first fables in 1788, and his first book was published in 1809.
The author wrote more than 200 fables.
For children's reading, “The Crow and the Fox” (1807), “The Wolf and the Lamb” (1808), “The Elephant and the Pug” (1808), “The Dragonfly and the Ant” (1808), “Quartet” (1811), “Swan, Pike” are recommended and Cancer" (1814), "Mirror and Monkey" (1815), "Monkey and Glasses" (1815), "Pig under the Oak" (1825) and many others.
ALEXANDER IVANOVICH KUPRIN (1870-1938)
Born on September 7 in the Penza province into a poor noble family. After the death of his father, he moved with his mother to Moscow, where he was assigned to an orphanage. Later he graduated from the Alexander Military School and served in an infantry regiment for several years. But in 1894 he left military affairs. He traveled a lot, worked as a loader, a miner, a circus organizer, flew in a hot air balloon, descended to the seabed in a diving suit, and was an actor.
In 1889, he met A.P. Chekhov, who became both a mentor and teacher for Kuprin.
The writer creates such works as “The Wonderful Doctor” (1897), “Elephant” (1904), “White Poodle” (1904).
MIKHAIL YURIEVICH LERMONTOV (1814-1841)
Born on October 15 in Moscow. He spent his childhood with his grandmother on the Tarkhany estate in the Penza region, where he received an excellent home education.
He began writing his first poems at the age of 14. The first work published in print was the poem “Hadji Abrek” (1835)
And such poems as “Sail” (1832), “Two Giants” (1832), “Borodino” (1837), “Three Palms” (1839), “Cliff” (1841) and others entered the circle of children's reading.
The poet died in a duel at the age of 26.
DMITRY NARKISOVICH MAMIN-SIBIRYAK (1852-1912)
Born on November 6 in the family of a priest and a local teacher. He was educated at home and graduated from the Perm Theological Seminary.
Began publishing in 1875. He wrote stories and fairy tales for children: “Emelya the Hunter” (1884), “In Apprenticeship” (1892), “Adoptive Child” (1893), “Spit” (1897), “SerayaNeck”, “Green War”, “Postoyko”, “The Stubborn Goat”, “The Tale of the Glorious King Pea and His Beautiful Daughters - Princess Kutafya and Princess Pea.”
Dmitry Narkisovich wrote the famous “Alyonushka’s Tales” (1894-1897) for his sick daughter.
SAMUIL YAKOVLEVICH MARSHAK (1887-1964)
Born on November 3 in the city of Voronezh. He began writing poetry early. In 1920, he created one of the first children's theaters in Krasnodar and wrote plays for it. He is one of the founders of children's literature in Russia.
Everyone knows his works “The Tale of a Stupid Mouse” (1923), “Luggage” (1926), “Poodle” (1927, “He’s so absent-minded” (1928), “Mustachioed and Striped” (1929), “Children in a Cage” (1923) And many, many widely known and beloved poems and stories in verse.
And the famous stories “The Cat's House” (1922), “Twelve Months” (1943), “Teremok” (1946) have long found their readers and remain the most beloved children's works of millions of people of different ages.
SERGEY VLADIMIROVICH MIKHALKOV (1913)
Born on March 13 in Moscow into a noble family. He received his primary education at home and immediately entered the 4th grade. Little Sergei liked to write poetry. And at 15 lats the first poem was published.
Mikhalkov's fame was brought to him by the poem "Uncle Styopa" (1935) and its sequel "Uncle Styopa - Policeman" (1954).
Readers’ favorite works are “About Mimosa”, “The Cheerful Tourist”, “My Friend and I”, “Vaccination”, “My Puppy”, “Song of Friends”; Fairy tales “The Festival of Disobedience”, “The Three Little Pigs”, “How the Old Man Sold a Cow”; fables.
S. Mikhalkov wrote more than 200 books for children and adults. He is the author of the Russian anthem (2001).
NIKOLAI ALEXEEVICH NEKRASOV (1821-1878)
Born on December 10 in Ukraine.
In his work, Nekrasov paid great attention to the life and way of life of the Russian people, the peasantry. Poems written for children are mostly addressed to simple peasant children.
Schoolchildren are familiar with such works as “The Green Noise” (1863), “The Railway” (1864), “General Toptygin” (1867), “Grandfather Mazay and the Hares” (1870), and the poem “Peasant Children” (1861).
NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH NOSOV (1908-1976)
Born on November 23 in Kyiv in the family of an actor. The future writer was involved in self-education, theater and music. After the Institute of Cinematography, he worked as a film director, director of animated and educational films.
He published his first story, “Entertainers,” in 1938 in the magazine “Murzilka.” Then the book “Knock-Knock-Knock” (1945) and the collections “Funny Stories” (1947), “The Diary of Kolya Sinitsyn” (1951), “Vitya Maleev at School and at Home” (1951), “On the Hill” (1953) appeared ), "Dreamers" (1957). The most popular trilogy was “The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends” (1954), “Dunno in the Sunny City” (1959), and “Dunno on the Moon” (1965).
Based on his works N.N. Nosov wrote screenplays for the feature films “Two Friends”, “Dreamers”, “The Adventures of Tolya Klyukvin”.
KONSTANTIN GEORGIEVICH PAUSTOVSKY (1892-1968)
Born on May 31st. He spent his childhood in Ukraine with his grandparents. He studied at the Kyiv gymnasium. Later he moved to Moscow. He worked as an orderly, a tutor, a tram conductor and a factory worker. Traveled a lot.
In 1921 he began to engage in literary creativity. The writer's stories and fairy tales for children appear. These are “Badger Nose”, “Rubber Boat”, “Cat Thief”, “Hare Paws”.
Later, “Lyonka from the Small Lake” (1937), “Dense Bear” (1947), “Dishesive Sparrow” (1948), “Frog” (1954), “Basket with Fir Cones,” “Warm Bread” and others were published. .
CHARLES PERROT (1628-1703)
Born on January 12 in Paris. The collection “Tales of Mother Goose” (1697) brought the author worldwide fame. We are widely familiar with the fairy tales “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Donkey Skin”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Cinderella”, “Bluebeard”, “Puss in Boots”, “Tom Thumb”.
In Russia, the tales of the great French storyteller were translated into Russian in 1768 and immediately attracted attention with their riddles, secrets, plots, heroes and magic.
ALEXANDER SERGEEVICH PUSHKIN (1799-1837)
Born on June 6 in the family of a nobleman. Received an excellent home education. Pushkin had a nanny, Arina Rodionovna, who told the future poet many Russian fairy tales, which were reflected in the works of the brilliant classic.
A.S. Pushkin did not write specifically for children. But there are wonderful works that have become part of children's reading: “The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda” (1830), “The Tale of Tsar Saltan, his son, the glorious and mighty hero Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and the beautiful swan princess” (1831 ), “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” (1833), “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights” (1833), “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” (1834).
On the pages of school textbooks, children become acquainted with such works as the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, “At Lukomorye there is a green oak” (1820), excerpts from the novel “Eugene Onegin” (1833): “The sky was already breathing in autumn”, “Dawn rises in cold haze...", "That year the autumn weather...", "Winter! The peasant is triumphant...” They study many poems “The Prisoner” (1822), “Winter Evening” (1825), “Winter Road” (1826). “Nanny” (1826), “Autumn” (1833), “Cloud” (1835).
Many feature and animated films have been made based on the poet’s works.
ALEXEY NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY (1883-1945)
Born on January 10 in the family of a landowner. He received his primary education at home and later studied at the Samara School. In 1907 he decided to devote himself to writing. He went abroad, where he wrote the autobiographical story “Nikita’s Childhood” (1920).
Young readers know A. Tolstoy as the author of the fairy tale “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio.”
LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY (1828-1910)
Born on September 9 in the Krasnaya Polyana estate in the Tula province into a noble noble family. Received home education. Later he studied at Kazan University. He served in the army and took part in the Crimean War. In 1859 he opened a school for peasant children in Yasnaya Polyana.
In 1872 he created ABC. And in 1875 he published a textbook for teaching reading, “The New Alphabet” and “Russian Books for Reading.” Many people know his works “Filipok”, “Bone”, “Shark”, “Lion and the Dog”, “Fire Dogs”, “Three Bears”, “How a Man Divided Geese”, “Ant and a Dove”, “Two Comrades”, “What kind of grass is there in the dew”, “Where does the wind come from”, “Where does the water go from the sea.”
DANIEL KHARMS (1905-1942)
Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev was born on January 12 in St. Petersburg.
He was attracted to children's literature by S. Marshak. In 1928, his funny poems “Ivan Ivanovich Samovar”, “Ivan Toropyshkin”, “Game” (1929), “Million”, “Merry Siskins” (1932), “A Man Came Out of the House” (1937) appeared.
In 1967, “What It Was” was published. In 1972 - “12 Chefs”.
EVGENY IVANOVICH CHARUSHIN (1901-1965)
Born on November 11 in the family of an architect.
More than anything else, he loved to draw. Later he graduated from the Petrograd Academy of Arts. In 1929, his picture books “Free Birds” and “Different Animals” were published.
The first stories appeared in 1930, including “Schur”, “Chicks”, “Chicken City”, “Bear”, “Animals”. Later “Nikitka and his friends”, “About Tomka” and others appeared.
E.I. Charushin illustrated books by Mamin-Sibiryak, Bianki, Marshak, Chukovsky, Prishvin.
ANTON PAVLOVICH CHEKHOV (1860-1904)
Born on January 29 in the family of a small merchant. He studied first at school, then at gymnasium. From an early age he was interested in literary creativity.
From 1879-1884 he studied at the medical faculty of Moscow University and, having received a medical diploma, worked for some time in his specialty.
But then I began to pay great attention to literature. Participated in the creation of handwritten journals. He was published in humorous magazines, wrote short stories, signing them with Antosha Chekhonte.
Chekhov wrote many works for children: “Kashtanka”, “White-fronted”, “Horse Name”, “Vanka”, “Burbot”, “Chameleon”, “Boys”, “The Fugitive”, “I Want to Sleep”.
KORNEY IVANOVICH CHUKOVSKY (1882-1969)
Born on March 31st. The real name of the writer is Nikolai Vasilyevich Korneychukov.
Since childhood, he loved to read a lot and was engaged in self-education.
In 1901, an article appeared in a newspaper signed with the pseudonym Korney Chukovsky.
After publishing the poetic fairy tales “Moidodyr”, “Cockroach”, “Tsokotukha Fly”, “Miracle Tree”, “Fedorino’s Mountain”, “Barmaley”, “Telephone”, “The Adventures of Bibigon”, he truly became the best children's storyteller.
K.I. Chukovsky is the author of retellings for children of novels by D. Defoe, R. Raspe, R. Kipling, Greek myths, and stories from the Bible.
Konstantin Ushinsky “Children in the Grove”
Two children, brother and sister, went to school. They had to pass by a beautiful, shady grove. It was hot and dusty on the road, but cool and cheerful in the grove.
- Do you know what? - said the brother to the sister. “We’ll still have time for school.” The school is now stuffy and boring, but the grove should be a lot of fun. Listen to the birds screaming there, and the squirrels, how many squirrels are jumping on the branches! Shouldn't we go there, sister?
The sister liked her brother's proposal. The children threw the alphabet into the grass, held hands and disappeared between the green bushes, under the curly birches. It was definitely fun and noisy in the grove. The birds fluttered constantly, sang and shouted; squirrels jumped on the branches; insects scurried about in the grass.
First of all, the children saw a golden bug.
“Come play with us,” the children said to the bug.
“I would love to,” answered the beetle, “but I don’t have time: I have to get myself lunch.”
“Play with us,” the children said to the yellow, furry bee.
“I don’t have time to play with you,” answered the bee, “I need to collect honey.”
-Won't you play with us? - the children asked the ant.
But the ant had no time to listen to them: he dragged a straw three times his size and hurried to build his cunning home.
The children turned to the squirrel, inviting it to also play with them, but the squirrel waved its fluffy tail and answered that it must stock up on nuts for the winter. The dove said: “I am building a nest for my little children.”
The little gray bunny ran to the stream to wash his face. The white strawberry flower also had no time to take care of the children: he took advantage of the beautiful weather and was in a hurry to prepare his juicy, tasty berries on time.
The children became bored that everyone was busy with their own business and no one wanted to play with them. They ran to the stream. A stream ran through the grove, babbling over the stones.
“You really have nothing to do,” the children told him, “Come play with us.”
- How! I have nothing to do? - the stream purred angrily. - Oh, you lazy children! Look at me: I work day and night and don’t know a minute of peace. Am I not the one who sings to people and animals? Who, besides me, washes clothes, turns mill wheels, carries boats and puts out fires? “Oh, I have so much work that my head is spinning,” the stream added and began to murmur over the stones.
The children became even more bored, and they thought that it would be better for them to go to school first, and then, on their way from school, go into the grove. But at that very time the boy noticed a tiny, beautiful robin on a green branch. She sat, it seemed, very calmly and, having nothing to do, whistled a joyful song.
- Hey you, cheerful singer! - the boy shouted to the robin. “It seems like you have absolutely nothing to do: just play with us.”
- How? - whistled the offended robin. - I have nothing to do? Didn’t I catch midges all day to feed my little ones! I am so tired that I cannot raise my wings, and even now I lull my dear children to sleep with a song. What did you do today, little sloths? You didn’t go to school, you didn’t learn anything, you’re running around the grove, and even preventing others from doing their work. Better go where you were sent, and remember that only those who have worked and done everything that was obliged to do are pleased to rest and play.
The children felt ashamed; They went to school and although they arrived late, they studied diligently.
Georgy Skrebitsky “Everyone in his own way”
In the summer, in a clearing in the forest, a little hare was born to a long-eared hare. He was not born helpless, naked, like some little mice or squirrels, not at all. He was born with gray fluffy fur, with open eyes, so nimble, independent, he could immediately run and even hide from enemies in the thick grass.
“You’ve done well,” the hare told him in her hare language. - Lie here quietly under the bush, don’t run anywhere, and if you start running, jumping, traces of your paws will remain on the ground. If a fox or wolf stumbles upon them, they will immediately follow your trail and eat you. Well, be smart, rest, gain more strength, but I need to run and stretch my legs.
And the hare, making a big leap, galloped off into the forest. Since then, the little hare was fed not only by her own mother, but also by other bunnies, those who accidentally ran into this clearing. After all, hares have been like this since ancient times: if a hare comes across a baby, she doesn’t care whether it’s hers or someone else’s, she’ll definitely feed it milk.
Soon the little hare became completely stronger, grew up, began to eat lush grass and run through the forest, getting to know its inhabitants - birds and animals.
The days were fine, there was plenty of food around, and in the thick grass and bushes it was easy to hide from enemies.
The little hare lived for himself and did not grieve. So, without caring about anything, he lived through the warm summer.
But then autumn came. It's getting cold. The trees turned yellow. The wind tore withered leaves from the branches and circled over the forest. Then the leaves fell to the ground. They lay there restlessly: they fidgeted all the time, whispering to each other. And from this the forest was filled with an alarming rustle.
The little bunny could hardly sleep. Every minute he became wary, listening to suspicious sounds. It seemed to him that it was not the leaves rustling in the wind, but someone scary creeping up on him from behind the bushes.
Even during the day, the hare often jumped up, ran from place to place, and looked for more reliable shelters. I searched and didn’t find it.
But while running through the forest, he saw a lot of new and interesting things that he had never seen before in the summer. He noticed that all his forest acquaintances - animals and birds - were busy about something, doing something.
One day he met a squirrel, but it did not jump, as usual, from branch to branch, but descended to the ground, picked a boletus mushroom, then grabbed it tightly in its teeth and jumped up the tree with it. There the squirrel stuck a mushroom into a fork between the branches. The little hare saw that several mushrooms were already hanging on the same tree.
- Why do you tear them and hang them on branches? - he asked.
- What do you mean why? - answered the squirrel. “Winter will come soon, everything will be covered with snow, then it will be difficult to get food.” So now I’m in a hurry to prepare more supplies. I dry mushrooms on branches, collect nuts and acorns in hollows. Don’t you store food for the winter yourself?
“No,” answered the bunny, “I don’t know how to do this.” Mother bunny didn't teach me.
“Your business is bad,” the squirrel shook her head. “Then at least insulate your nest better, plug all the cracks with moss.”
“Yes, I don’t even have a nest,” the bunny became embarrassed. “I sleep under a bush, wherever I have to.”
- Well, this is no good! — the farm squirrel spread its paws. “I don’t know how you will survive the winter without food supplies, without a warm nest.”
And she again began her chores, and the bunny sadly hopped on.
Evening had already come, the hare reached a remote ravine. There he stopped and listened carefully. Every now and then small lumps of earth rolled down the ravine with a slight noise.
The little bunny stood up on his hind legs to get a better look at what was going on there in front. Yes, this is a badger busy near the hole. The hare ran up to him and said hello.
“Hello, oblique,” answered the badger. - Are you still jumping? Well, sit down, sit down. Wow, I’m tired, even my paws hurt! Look how much earth I raked out of the hole.
- Why are you raking it out? - asked the bunny.
— For winter, I clean the hole so that it is more spacious. I’ll clean it out, then drag moss and fallen leaves there and make a bed. Then I won’t be afraid of winter either. Lie down and lie down.
“And the squirrel advised me to build a nest for winter,” said the hare.
“Don’t listen to her,” the badger waved his paw. “She learned to build nests in trees from birds.” A waste of time. Animals need to live in a hole. This is how I live. Help me better dig emergency exits from the hole. We’ll arrange everything as needed, climb into the hole, and spend the winter together.
“No, I don’t know how to dig a hole,” answered the bunny. “And I won’t be able to sit underground in a hole, I’ll suffocate there.” It's better to rest under a bush.
“The frost will soon show you how to rest under a bush!” - the badger answered angrily. - Well, if you don’t want to help me, then run wherever you want. Don’t bother me with arranging my home.
Not far from the water, someone large and clumsy was fiddling around an aspen tree. “He’s the beaver,” the bunny saw and in two leaps found himself next to him.
- Hello, buddy, what are you doing here? - asked the bunny.
“Yes, I’m working, gnawing aspen,” the beaver answered slowly. “I’ll throw it on the ground, then I’ll start biting the branches, dragging them into the river, and insulating my hut for winter.” You see, my house is on the island - it’s built all out of branches, and the cracks are coated with silt, inside I’m warm and cozy.
- How can I enter your house? - asked the bunny. - The entrance is nowhere to be seen.
— The entrance to my hut is located below, under water. I will swim to the island, dive to the very bottom, and there I will find the entrance to my house. There is no better animal house than my hut. Let's insulate it together for winter, and let's spend the winter together.
“No,” answered the little hare, “I don’t know how to dive and swim under water, I’ll drown right away, I’d rather spend the winter under a bush.”
“You shouldn’t want to spend the winter with me,” the beaver answered and began gnawing on the aspen tree.
Suddenly something rustles in the bushes! Kosoy was about to run away, but then an old acquaintance, a hedgehog, looked out from the fallen leaves.
- Great, buddy! - he shouted. - Why are you so sad, your ears hanging open?
“My friends upset me,” answered the bunny. “They say you need to build a warm nest or hut for the winter, but I don’t know how.”
— Build a hut? - the hedgehog laughed. - This is nonsense! You better do what I do: every night I eat more, store more fat, and when I have enough stored, then I will start to feel sleepy. Then I will climb into the fallen leaves, into the moss, curl up in a ball and fall asleep for the whole winter. And when you sleep, then neither frost nor wind are afraid of you.
“No,” answered the bunny, “I won’t be able to sleep all winter.” My sleep is sensitive, disturbing, I wake up every minute from every rustle.
“Well, then do as you please,” answered the hedgehog. - Goodbye, it’s time for me to look for a place for my winter sleep.
And the animal disappeared into the bushes again.
The little hare trudged further through the forest. Wandered, wandered. The night has already passed, the morning has come. He got out into the clearing. He looks - there are many, many blackbirds gathered on it. All the trees are stuck around and are jumping on the ground, screaming, chattering, arguing about something.
- What are you arguing about? - the little bunny asked the blackbird, who was sitting closer to him.
- Yes, we are discussing when we should fly from here to warm countries for the winter.
- Aren’t you going to stay in our forest for the winter?
- What are you, what are you! - the blackbird was surprised. - In winter, snow will fall and cover the entire ground and tree branches. Where can you get food then? We fly with us to the south, where it’s warm in winter and there’s plenty of food.
“Don’t you see, I don’t even have wings,” the hare answered sadly. “I’m an animal, not a bird.” Animals don't know how to fly.
“That’s not true,” the blackbird objected. - Bats are also animals, but they fly no worse than us birds. They have already flown south, to warm countries.
The little hare didn’t answer the blackbird, he just waved his paw and ran away.
“How am I going to spend the winter? - he thought anxiously, - All animals and birds each prepare for winter in their own way. But I have neither a warm nest, nor food supplies, and I won’t be able to fly south. I’ll probably have to die of hunger and cold.”
Another month has passed. The bushes and trees have shed their last leaves. The time has come for rain and cold weather. The forest became gloomy and dull. Most of the birds flew to warm countries. The animals hid in holes, in nests, in lairs. The little bunny was not happy in the empty forest, and besides, something bad happened to him: the bunny suddenly noticed that his skin began to turn white. The summer gray wool was replaced by a new one - fluffy, warm, but completely white. First, the hind legs, sides, then the back and, finally, the head turned white. Only the tips of the ears remained black.
“How can I hide from my enemies now? - the hare thought with horror. “In a white fur coat, both the fox and the hawk will immediately notice me.” And the little hare hid in the very wilderness, under bushes, in swampy thickets. However, even there, his white fur coat could easily give him away to the keen eye of a predator.
But then one day, when the little bunny was lying, crawling under a bush, he saw that everything around him had suddenly darkened. The sky was covered with clouds; However, rain did not start dripping from them, but something white and cold fell down.
The first snowflakes swirled in the air and began to land on the ground, on the faded grass, on the bare branches of bushes and trees. With every second the snow fell thicker and thicker. It was no longer possible to see the nearest trees. Everything was drowned in a solid white stream.
The snow stopped only in the evening. The sky cleared, the stars appeared, bright and radiant, like blue frosty needles. They illuminated the fields and forests, dressed up and covered with the white blanket of winter.
Night had long fallen, and the bunny was still lying under the bush. He was afraid to get out of his ambush and go for a night walk through this unusually white land.
Finally, hunger forced him to leave the shelter and look for food.
Finding it was not so difficult - the snow only slightly covered the ground and did not even hide the smallest bushes.
But a completely different misfortune happened: as soon as the little hare jumped out from under the bushes and ran across the clearing, he was horrified to see that a string of his tracks was trailing behind him everywhere.
“Following such tracks, any enemy can easily find me,” thought the oblique one.
Therefore, when in the morning he again went for a day's rest, the bunny confused his tracks even more thoroughly than before.
Only after doing this, he hid under a bush and dozed off.
But winter brought with it more than just grief. When dawn broke, the little hare was happy to see that his white coat was completely invisible on the white snow. The bunny seemed to be dressed in an invisible fur coat. In addition, it was much warmer than his summer gray skin, and perfectly protected him from frost and wind.
“Winter is not so terrible,” the little bunny decided and calmly dozed off for the whole day until the evening.
But only the beginning of winter turned out to be so pleasant, and then things went worse and worse. There was a lot of snow. It was almost impossible to dig through it to get to the remaining greenery. The little hare ran in vain through the high snowdrifts in search of food. It was not often that he managed to chew some twig sticking out from under the snow.
One day, while running in search of food, the hare saw the forest giants, elk. They stood calmly in the aspen forest and gnawed with appetite at the bark and shoots of young aspen trees.
“Let me try,” thought the bunny. “The only problem is: moose have high legs, long necks, it’s easy for them to reach young shoots, but how can I get them?”
But then a tall snowdrift caught his eye. The little hare jumped on him, stood on his hind legs, easily reached out to the young, thin branches and began to gnaw them. Then he gnawed the aspen bark. He found all this very tasty, and he ate his fill.
“So the snow didn’t cause any big trouble,” the scythe decided. “He hid the grass, but allowed him to reach the branches of bushes and trees.”
Everything would have been fine, but the frost and wind began to bother the bunny. Even a warm fur coat couldn’t save him.
There was nowhere to hide from the cold in the bare winter forest.
“Wow, it’s so cold!” - said the scythe, running through the forest clearing to warm up a little.
The day had already come, it was high time to go on vacation, but the hare still could not find a place to hide from the icy wind.
Birch trees grew at the very edge of the clearing. Suddenly the little hare saw that large forest birds, black grouse, were calmly sitting on them and feeding. They flew here to feast on the catkins that hung at the ends of thin branches.
“Well, you’ve eaten enough, it’s time to rest,” said the old black grouse to his brothers. “Let’s quickly hide in holes from the angry wind.”
“What kind of burrows could black grouse have?” — the bunny was surprised.
But then he saw that the old black grouse, having fallen from the branch, fell in a lump straight into the snow, as if he had dived into water. The other black grouse did the same, and soon the whole flock disappeared under the snow.
“Is it really warm there?” — the bunny was surprised and decided to immediately try to dig himself a snow hole. And what? It turned out to be much warmer in the hole under the snow than on the surface. There was no wind, and the frost bothered us much less.
From then on, the bunny became quite comfortable with how to spend the winter. A white fur coat in a white forest protected him from the eyes of the enemy, snowdrifts helped him reach succulent shoots, and a deep hole in the snow saved him from the cold. The little hare felt no worse in winter among the snow-covered bushes than in the summer in green flowering thickets. He didn't even notice how winter had passed.
And then the sun warmed up again, melted the snow, the grass turned green again, the leaves bloomed on the bushes and trees. Birds have returned from southern countries.
The busy squirrel crawled out of the nest where it hid from the cold in winter. A badger, a beaver and a prickly hedgehog got out of their shelters. Each of them talked about how he spent the long winter. Everyone thought that they had carried it out better than others. And all together they were surprised, looking at the hare. How, poor fellow, did he spend the winter without a warm nest, without a hole, without food supplies? And the bunny listened to his friends and just chuckled. After all, he lived quite well in the winter in his snow-white invisible fur coat.
Even now, in the spring, he was also wearing an invisible fur coat, only a different one, to match the color of the earth - not white, but gray.
Alexander 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, then this 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 mom, “wouldn’t you like something?”
- No, mom, I don’t want anything.
“If you want, I’ll 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...
- Well, 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, sad 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 everything... 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 long ago to take me to the menagerie to look at a real elephant... and you never got 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 this one... 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 resolutely 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 buttons.
“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 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 wide in surprise and then his mouth, 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’s 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’s the matter: his only daughter, Nadya, is sick with some strange disease, which even the doctors don’t understand how follows. 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 wishes. Today she wanted to see a live elephant. Is it really impossible to do this? And he adds in a trembling voice, taking the German by the button of his coat:
- Well, here... I, of course, hope that my girl will recover. But... God forbid... 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. Hm... 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 the 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. The same thing was done once when a large miraculous icon was brought into the house. 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 came,” my mother answers, “but he only ordered Nadya to wash herself first, 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 was eaten and the milk was 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. His skin is rough, with 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 personal level. - 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? - the girl asks the elephant.
The elephant again stretches out its trunk and blows warm, strong air right into the girl’s face.
breathing, causing the light hair 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 a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and nods his head in gratitude, and his little 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 lady 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 the dad, and I will be the 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 lunch, some of my father’s friends come, they are warned in the hall about the elephant so that they don’t 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 they take her, already sleepy, 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, small, 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, my mother joyfully crosses herself in her bedroom.
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!
Mikhail Prishvin "Guys and Ducklings"
A small wild teal duck finally decided to move her ducklings from the forest, bypassing the village, into the lake to freedom. In the spring, this lake overflowed far, and a solid place for a nest could only be found about three miles away, on a hummock, in a swampy forest. And when the water subsided, we had to travel all three miles to the lake.
In places open to the eyes of man, fox and hawk, the mother walked behind so as not to let the ducklings out of sight for a minute. And near the forge, when crossing the road, she, of course, let them go ahead. That’s where the guys saw them and threw their hats at them. The whole time they were catching the ducklings, the mother ran after them with her beak open and flew several steps in different directions in the greatest excitement. The guys were just about to throw hats at their mother and catch her like ducklings, but then I approached.
- What will you do with the ducklings? - I asked the guys sternly.
They chickened out and replied:
- Let's go.
- Let’s “let it go”! - I said angrily. - Why did you need to catch them? Where is mother now?
- And there he sits! - the guys answered in unison. And they pointed me to a nearby hillock of a fallow field, where the duck was actually sitting with her mouth open in excitement.
“Quickly,” I ordered the guys, “go and return all the ducklings to her!”
They even seemed to be delighted at my order and ran up the hill with the ducklings. The mother flew away a little and, when the guys left, rushed to save her sons and daughters. In her own way, she quickly said something to them and ran to the oat field. Five ducklings ran after her. And so, through the oat field, bypassing the village, the family continued its journey to the lake.
I joyfully took off my hat and, waving it, shouted:
- Bon voyage, ducklings!
The guys laughed at me.
-Why are you laughing, you fools? - I told the guys. — Do you think it’s so easy for ducklings to get into the lake? Just wait, wait for the university exam. Take off all your hats and shout “goodbye!”
And the same hats, dusty on the road while catching ducklings, rose into the air; the guys all shouted at once:
- Goodbye, ducklings!
Mikhail Prishvin “Fox Bread”
One day I walked in the forest all day and in the evening I returned home with rich booty. I took the heavy bag off my shoulders and began to lay out my belongings on the table.
- What kind of bird is this? - Zinochka asked.
“Terenty,” I answered.
And he told her about the black grouse, how it lives in the forest, how it mutters in the spring, how it pecks at birch buds, collects berries in the swamps in the fall, and warms itself from the wind under the snow in winter. He also told her about the hazel grouse, showed her that it was gray with a tuft, and whistled into the pipe in the hazel grouse style and let her whistle. I also poured a lot of porcini mushrooms, both red and black, onto the table. I also had in my pocket a bloody boneberry, and a blue blueberry, and a red lingonberry. I also brought with me a fragrant lump of pine resin, gave it to the girl to smell and said that trees are treated with this resin.
- Who treats them there? - Zinochka asked.
“They are treating themselves,” I answered. “Sometimes a hunter comes and wants to rest, he’ll stick an ax into a tree and hang his bag on the ax, and lie down under the tree.” He'll sleep and rest. He takes an ax out of the tree, puts on a bag, and leaves. And from the wound from the wood ax this fragrant resin will run and heal the wound.
Also, especially for Zinochka, I brought various wonderful herbs, one leaf at a time, a root at a time, a flower at a time: cuckoo’s tears, valerian, Peter’s cross, hare’s cabbage. And just under the hare cabbage I had a piece of black bread: it always happens to me that when I don’t take bread into the forest, I’m hungry, but if I take it, I forget to eat it and bring it back. And Zinochka, when she saw black bread under my hare cabbage, was stunned:
-Where did the bread come from in the forest?
- What's surprising here? After all, there is cabbage...
- Hare...
- And the bread is chanterelle bread. Taste it.
She tasted it carefully and started eating.
— Good chanterelle bread.
And she ate all my black bread clean. That's how it went for us. Zinochka, such a copula, often won’t even take white bread, but when I bring fox bread from the forest, she will always eat it all and praise it:
- Fox bread is much better than ours!
Yuri Koval "Grandfather, Grandmother and Alyosha"
Grandfather and woman argued about who their grandson looked like.
Baba says:
- Alyosha looks like me. Just as smart and economical.
Alyosha says:
- That's right, that's right, I look like a woman.
Grandfather says:
- And, in my opinion, Alyosha looks like me. He has the same eyes - beautiful, black. And he will probably have the same big beard when Alyosha himself grows up.
Alyosha wanted him to grow the same beard, and he says:
- That's right, that's right, I look more like my grandfather.
Baba says:
- How big a beard will grow is still unknown. But Alyosha is much more like me. Just like me, he loves tea with honey, gingerbread, jam and cheesecakes with cottage cheese. But the samovar was just in time. Now let's see who Alyosha is more like.
Alyosha thought for a moment and said:
“Perhaps I still look a lot like a woman.”
Grandfather scratched his head and said:
— Tea with honey is not a complete similarity. But Alyosha, just like me, loves to harness a horse and then ride a sled into the forest. Now let’s lay down the sled and go into the forest. There, they say, moose have appeared and are grazing the hay from our stack. We need to take a look.
Alyosha thought and thought and said:
“You know, grandpa, things happen so strangely in my life.” I look like a woman for half a day, and for half a day I look like you. Now I’ll drink some tea and I’ll immediately look like you.
And while Alyosha drank tea, he closed his eyes and puffed like a grandmother, and when they raced on a sled into the forest, just like his grandfather, he shouted: “But-oooh, honey! Let's! Let's!" - and cracked his whip.
Yuri Koval "Stozhok"
By the way, Uncle Zui lived in an old bathhouse near the bend of the Yalma River.
He lived not alone, but with his granddaughter Nyurka, and he had everything he needed - chickens and a cow.
“There’s just no pig,” said Uncle Zui. “What does a good man need a pig?”
Back in the summer, Uncle Zui mowed grass in the forest and swept away a stack of hay, but he didn’t just sweep it away - cunningly: he put the haystack not on the ground, as everyone does, but right on the sleigh, so that it would be more convenient to take the hay out of the forest in winter.
And when winter came, Uncle Zui forgot about that hay.
“Grandfather,” says Nyurka, “aren’t you bringing hay from the forest?” Oh, did you forget?
- What kind of hay? - Uncle Zui was surprised, and then slapped himself on the forehead and ran to the chairman to ask for a horse.
The chairman gave me a good, strong horse. On it, Uncle Zui soon reached the place. He looks - his stack is covered with snow.
He began to kick the snow around the sleigh, then looked around - there was no horse: the damned one had gone!
He ran after him and caught up, but the horse did not go to the stack, he resisted.
“Why would she,” thinks Uncle Zui, “resist?”
Finally, Uncle Zui harnessed her to the sleigh.
- But-oh-oh!..
Uncle Zui smacks his lips and screams, but the horse doesn’t move—the runners are frozen solid to the ground. I had to tap them with a hatchet - the sleigh started moving, and there was a haystack on it. It drives just like it was standing in the forest.
Uncle Zui walks from the side and smacks his lips on the horse.
By lunchtime we got home, Uncle Zui began to unharness.
- What did you bring, Zuyushko?! - Pantelevna shouts to him.
- Hay, Pantelevna. What else?
- What do you have in your cart?
Uncle Zui looked and sat down in the snow as he stood. Some kind of terrible, crooked and shaggy muzzle stuck out from the cart - a bear!
“R-ru-u-u!..”
The bear stirred on the cart, tilted the stack to one side and fell out into the snow. He shook his head, grabbed the snow in his teeth and ran into the forest.
- Stop! - Uncle Zuy shouted. - Hold him, Pantelevna!
The bear barked and disappeared into the fir trees.
People began to gather.
The hunters came, and of course I was with them. We crowd around, looking at bear tracks.
Pasha the Hunter says:
- Look what a den he came up with for himself - Zuev Stozhok.
And Pantelevna screams and gets scared:
- How come he didn’t bite you, Zuyushko?..
“Yes,” said Uncle Zui, “now the hay will stink with bear meat.” A cow probably wouldn’t even take it into its mouth.
A funny story about a mischievous deceiver, schoolgirl Ninochka. A story for elementary school and middle school age students.
Harmful Ninka Kukushkina. Author: Irina Pivovarova
One day Katya and Manechka went out into the yard, and there sat on a bench Ninka Kukushkina in a brand new brown school dress, a brand new black apron and a very white collar (Ninka was a first grader, she boasted that she was an A student, but she herself was a D student) and Kostya Palkin in a green cowboy jacket, sandals on bare feet and a blue cap with a large visor.
Ninka enthusiastically lied to Kostya that she had met a real hare in the forest in the summer and this hare made Ninka so happy that he immediately climbed into her arms and did not want to get off. Then Ninka brought him home, and the hare lived with them for a whole month, drinking milk from a saucer and guarding the house.
Kostya listened to Ninka with half an ear. Stories about hares did not bother him. Yesterday he received a letter from his parents saying that perhaps in a year they would take him to Africa, where they were now living and building a dairy canning plant, and Kostya sat and thought about what he would take with him.
“Don’t forget the fishing rod,” thought Kostya. “A trap for snakes is a must... A hunting knife... I need to buy it at the Okhotnik store.” Yes, there's still a gun. Winchester. Or a double-barreled shotgun."
Then Katya and Manechka came up.
- What's this! - said Katya, after hearing the end of the “rabbit” story. “It’s nothing!” Just think, a hare! Hares are nonsense! A real goat has been living on our balcony for a whole year now. Call me Aglaya Sidorovna.
“Yeah,” said Manechka. “Aglaya Sidorovna.” She came to visit us from Kozodoevsk. We have been eating goat's milk for a long time.
“Exactly,” said Katya. “Such a kind goat!” She brought us so much! Ten bags of chocolate-covered nuts, twenty cans of goat’s condensed milk, thirty packs of Yubileinoye cookies, and she eats nothing but cranberry jelly, bean soup and vanilla crackers!
“I’ll buy a double-barreled shotgun,” Kostya said respectfully. “You can kill two tigers at once with a double-barreled shotgun... Why specifically vanilla ones?”
- So that the milk smells good.
- They're lying! They don't have any goats! — Ninka got angry. “Don’t listen, Kostya!” You know them!
- Just as it is! She sleeps in a basket at night in the fresh air. And during the day he sunbathes in the sun.
- Liars! Liars! If a goat lived on your balcony, it would bleat throughout the entire yard!
- Who bleated? For what? - Kostya asked, having managed to immerse himself in thoughts about whether or not to take his aunt’s lotto to Africa.
- And she bleats. You'll hear it for yourself soon... Now let's play hide and seek?
“Come on,” said Kostya.
And Kostya began to drive, and Manya, Katya and Ninka ran to hide. Suddenly a loud goat bleating was heard in the yard. It was Manechka who ran home and bleated from the balcony:
- B-e-e... Me-e-e...
Ninka crawled out of the hole behind the bushes in surprise.
- Kostya! Listen!
“Well, yes, he’s bleating,” said Kostya. “I told you...
And Manya ran back one last time and ran to the rescue.
Now Ninka was driving.
This time Katya and Manechka ran home together and began bleating from the balcony. And then they went down and, as if nothing had happened, ran to the rescue.
- Listen, you really have a goat! - said Kostya. “What were you hiding before?”
- She's not real, not real! - Ninka shouted. “They have a groovy one!”
- Here's another one, catchy! Yes, she reads our books, counts to ten and even knows how to speak like a human being. Let's go and ask her, and you stand here and listen.
Katya and Manya ran home, sat down behind the balcony bars and bleated in one voice:
- Ma-a-ma! Ma-a-ma!
- Well, how? - Katya leaned out. - Do you like it?
“Just think,” said Ninka. - “Mom” every fool can say. Let him read some poem.
“I’ll ask you now,” Manya said, squatted down and shouted to the whole yard:
Our Tanya cries loudly:
She dropped a ball into the river.
Hush, Tanechka, don’t cry:
The ball will not drown in the river.
The old women on the benches turned their heads in bewilderment, and the janitor Sima, who at that time was diligently sweeping the yard, became wary and raised her head.
- Well, isn’t it great? - said Katya.
- Amazing! — Ninka made a sly face. “But I don’t hear anything.” Ask your goat to read poetry louder.
Here Manechka starts screaming obscenities. And since Manya had the right voice, and when Manya tried, she could roar so that the walls shook, it is not surprising that after the poem about the whiny Tanya, people’s heads began to poke out of all the windows with indignation, and Matvey Semyonicheva Alpha, who at this ran around in the yard for a while, barking deafeningly.
And the janitor Sima... There’s no need to talk about her! Her relationship with the Skovorodkin children was not the best anyway. They are sick of Sima to death with their antics.
Therefore, having heard inhuman screams from the balcony of apartment eighteen, Sima rushed straight into the entrance with her broom and began pounding on the door of apartment eighteen with her fists.
And the most mischievous Ninka, pleased that she managed to teach Frying Pans a lesson so well, glanced at the angry Sima, and sweetly said, as if nothing had happened:
- Well done, your goat! Excellent poetry reader! Now I’ll read something to her.
And, dancing and sticking out her tongue, but not forgetting to adjust the blue nylon bow on her head, the cunning, harmful Ninka squealed very disgustingly.