{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_35036/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_35036","id":"gutenberg_35036","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35036","summary":null,"tags":["Animals -- Juvenile fiction","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Short Stories","Fairy tales -- Russia","Russia -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Chris Curnow, JoAnn Greenwood and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                    [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n                      VEROTCHKA'S\n                         TALES\n\n                         _by_\n\n                         MAMIN\n                       SIBERIAK\n\n                     TRANSLATED BY\n                     RAY DAVIDSON\n\n                     ILLUSTRATED BY\n                        BORIS M.\n                      ARTZYBASHEFF\n\n\n                 E. P. DUTTON & CO., INC.\n                 PUBLISHERS     NEW YORK\n\n\n                     Copyright, 1922,\n                By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY\n\n                  _All rights reserved_\n\n                 _Reprinted March, 1932_\n\n          _Printed in the United States of America_\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                            PAGE\n    HOW THEY HAPPENED                                          1\n\n    THE STORY OF A BOLD RABBIT WITH COCK EYES\n    AND A SHORT TAIL                                           3\n\n    THE STORY OF LITTLE CACINELLA                             13\n\n    THE STORY OF MOSQUITO LONG-NOSE AND\n    FUZZY BEAR, MISHKA SHORT-TAIL                             25\n\n    VANKA'S BIRTHDAY                                          40\n\n    THE STORY OF MASTER SPARROW, MASTER STICKELBACK\n    AND THE JOLLY CHIMNEY-SWEEP, YASHA                        62\n\n    THE STORY OF THE LAST FLY                                 82\n\n    THE STORY OF A BLACK-HEADED CROW AND A\n    LITTLE YELLOW CANARY                                     106\n\n    THE WISEST OF ALL                                        129\n\n    THE STORY OF LITTLE MILK, LITTLE CEREAL\n    AND GRAY KITTEN, MOORKA                                  153\n\n    BED TIME                                                 166\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVEROTCHKA'S TALES\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nHOW THEY HAPPENED\n\n\nLulla-lullaby. Verotchka's one little eye is sleeping, the other little\neye is still open. Verotchka's one little ear is sleeping, the other\nlittle ear is still listening. Sleep, Verotchka, sleep, my pretty one,\nand father will tell you these stories. I think they are all here. The\nSiberian cat, Vasca; the shaggy village dog, Postoika; the gray\nmousie-gnawers; the cricket behind the stove; the iridescent starling\nin the cage; and the cock, the bully.\n\nSleep, Verotchka, the story begins. The full moon in the heaven looks\ninto the window. The cock-eyed rabbit hops on his haunches and the\nwolf's eyes flash yellow fire lights. The bear, Mishka, is sucking his\npaw, and the old sparrow flies up to the window, pecks the pane with\nhis bill, and asks, \"How soon, now?\"\n\nI think they're all here now, waiting for Verotchka's Tale.\n\nVerotchka's one little eye is asleep, the other little eye is still\nopen. Verotchka's one little ear is asleep, the other little ear is\nstill listening. Lulla-Lullaby.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF A BOLD RABBIT WITH COCK EYES AND A SHORT TAIL\n\n\nThis rabbit was born in the woods and was scared of everything. If a\nbranch cracked anywhere or a bird flew past or a lump of snow fell\nfrom a tree, his rabbit heart went down, down, down into his furry\nboots. Now this little rabbit was afraid for a day, for two days, for a\nweek, for a whole year. But when he was grown up, he just got tired of\nbeing a scared rabbit.\n\n\"I am not afraid of anybody!\" he shouted through the woods. \"I am not\nafraid at all! I am not afraid of anything or of anybody, and that's\nall there is to it!\"\n\nOne day, the rabbits gathered to listen to him. The little ones ran,\nthe old rabbits hobbled along to hear Long-Ear, Cock-Eye, Short-Tail's\nboastings.\n\nThey listened and couldn't believe their own ears, for there never had\nbeen anything like a rabbit, unafraid of anything or anybody before.\n\n\"Oh, you Cock-Eye,\" called one, \"do you mean to say you aren't even\nafraid of a wolf?\"\n\n\"Not even a wolf, nor a fox, nor a bear. I am afraid of no one,\" said\nCock-Eye.\n\nNow this was altogether too amusing. The little rabbits giggled,\ncovering their faces with their front paws. The kind old mother rabbits\nlaughed and even the wise old rabbits, who had had a taste of the paws\nof the fox, and had felt the fangs of the wolf, smiled. So very funny\nwas this rabbit that suddenly everyone was seized with merriment. They\nstarted jumping, tumbling, turning somersaults, and playing tag as if\nthey had all suddenly gone mad.\n\n\"What is the use of talking so much,\" finally shouted Cock-Eye, drunk\nwith his own boldness. \"I tell you if I were to meet a wolf, I'd eat\nhim up myself.\"\n\n\"My, what a funny rabbit!\" said the crowd. \"And what a foolish rabbit,\ntoo.\" They all knew he was funny and foolish; still they laughed at\nhim and jested with him about the wolf. And as they were speaking of\nthe wolf, the wolf stood right there listening, though they did not see\nhim.\n\nThe wolf was walking through the forest on his own wolfish business.\nThen he grew hungry and began to think how fine it would be to have a\nbit of fresh rabbit. Suddenly quite near by, he heard rabbits talking,\nlaughing and shouting his name. He stopped short, sniffed the air and\ncrept nearer and nearer. When he was very near the merry-making\nrabbits, he learned that they were making sport of him, and that\nCock-Eye, Long-Ear, Short-Tail was laughing at him more than anyone\nelse.\n\n\"Eh, Brother! Just wait and I'll gobble you up,\" said the Gray Wolf to\nhimself, as he tried to spy out the boastful, bold rabbit.\n\nMeanwhile, the rabbits, aware of nothing, made merry and merrier.\nFinally, the boaster climbed up on the stump of a tree, sat on his hind\nlegs, and said,\n\n\"Hear, all ye cowards! Listen and look at me! Now I will show you some\ntricks. I ... I ... I....\"\n\nThe words were frozen on his lips, for just then he saw the wolf\nlooking, looking straight at him. The other rabbits did not see the\nwolf, but Cock-Eye did and he didn't dare to breathe.\n\nThen happened the most extraordinary thing. Through sheer fear, the\nBoaster jumped up like a rubber ball, fell on the wide forehead of the\nwolf, rolled over his back, turned a somersault in the air, landed on\nhis feet, and ran as if he were trying to run out of his skin.\n\nLong, long did the unfortunate rabbit run. It seemed to him the wolf\nwas right behind him and that in another moment he would feel the\nwolf's fangs. The poor limp rabbit ran on until he had no strength left\nand finally he closed his eyes and fell under a bush, dead with\nweariness.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMeanwhile, the wolf was running in another direction. When the rabbit\nfell on his forehead, the wolf thought he had been hit by a gun shot\nand he ran away as fast as he could, saying to himself, \"There are\nplenty of other rabbits in the forest. This one seems quite crazy\nanyway and not fit to eat.\"\n\nNow for a long time the other rabbits did not realize what had\nhappened. Some ran into the bushes, some hid behind stumps, others\ncrawled into their holes. After a while they grew tired of hiding and\nlittle by little, they crept out and looked around.\n\nThen said one, \"Our rabbit certainly scared that wolf. If it had not\nbeen for him, few of us would have escaped alive. But where is he, our\nFearless One?\"\n\nAnd everyone began looking for him. They looked everywhere, but\nCock-Eye was nowhere to be found. They began to think the Gray Wolf had\neaten him up, when they discovered him, lying in a hole under a bush,\nalmost dead from fear.\n\n\"Good for you, Cock-Eye,\" shouted the rabbits all in one voice. \"You\ncertainly frightened that wolf very cleverly. We thought you were\nboasting all the time, when you were telling us you were not afraid of\nanything or anybody.\"\n\nAt once the bold rabbit came to life. He crept out of the hole, shook\nhimself, squinted his eyes, and said:\n\n\"And what did you think, you cowards?\"\n\nAnd from that day, the bold rabbit was convinced that he was really not\nafraid of anyone.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF LITTLE CACINELLA\n\n\nI\n\nHow and where little Cacinella was born, no one knows. It happened one\nsunny day in spring. Little Cacinella looked around and said, \"Very\nnice.\" She stretched her tiny wings, rubbed one little thin leg against\nthe other, looked around again and said:\n\n\"How very, very nice! How warm the sun! How blue the sky! How green the\ngrass! How very, very nice! and all this is mine!\"\n\nRubbing one little leg against the other once more, little Cacinella\nbegan to fly. She flew and looked around and rejoiced. Beneath her, the\ngrass was green, and hidden in its bosom, was a crimson flower.\n\n\"Little Cacinella, come to me,\" called the flower.\n\nCacinella came down to the ground, climbed into the flower and sipped\nits sweet nectar.\n\n\"How kind you are, little flower,\" said Cacinella, rubbing her mouth\nwith one of her little thin legs.\n\n\"Yes, I may be kind, but I cannot walk,\" complained the flower.\n\n\"Still, the world is lovely,\" said little Cacinella, \"and it is all\nmine, too.\"\n\nShe had hardly finished, when a hairy drone flew down upon the flower\nwith a loud buzz.\n\n\"Buzz! Buzz! Who dares to get into my flower? Buzz! Buzz! Who dares to\nsip my sweet nectar? Buzz! Buzz! Oh, you nasty little Cacinella, get\naway from here! Buzz! Buzz! Get away or I'll sting you to death.\"\n\n\"I say, what does this mean?\" piped little Cacinella. \"Everything is\nmine.\"\n\n\"Buzz! Buzz! No, it's mine.\"\n\nLittle Cacinella was barely able to escape from the angry drone. She\ncrept into the grass, licked her thin little legs, sticky with flower\nnectar, and said angrily:\n\n\"How rude that drone was! It's quite amazing! He even tried to sting\nme to death! Why, aren't they all mine, the sun and the grass and the\nflower!\"\n\n\"No, pardon me. They are all mine,\" said a fuzzy Caterpillar, crawling\nalong a blade of grass. Little Cacinella realized that a caterpillar\ncannot fly, so she grew bold.\n\n\"Pardon me, Mr. Caterpillar. You are mistaken. I do not interfere with\nyour crawling. Don't argue with me.\"\n\n\"Very well. Pray don't touch my grass. To tell you the truth, I don't\nlike it. So many of you fly about here. You are all such light-minded\ncreatures; while I, Caterpillar, am a serious person. To be frank,\neverything is mine. I crawl along a blade of grass and I eat it up. I\nget into a flower and I eat that up. Good day.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nII\n\nIn a few hours, little Cacinella learned many things. She learned that\nbesides the sun, the blue sky and the green grass, there are angry\ndrones, serious caterpillars, thorns on flowers--all of which made one\nsad. Little Cacinella had thought that everything belonged to her and\nwas especially created for her. Now it hurt her to discover that others\nthought that everything had been made especially for them. Something\nwas wrong.\n\nLittle Cacinella flew further and she came to a pool.\n\n\"Now, this is surely mine,\" she piped gaily. \"My water. I am so happy.\nHere are also grass and flowers.\"\n\nThen she met other cacinellas.\n\n\"Hello, sister,\" they called.\n\n\"Hello, dears. I'm so glad I met you. It was getting very lonely flying\nabout alone. What are you doing here?\"\n\n\"We are playing, sister. Come along with us. We are very happy. When\nwere you born?\"\n\n\"Just to-day. A drone almost stung me to death and I also met a\ncaterpillar. I thought everything belonged to me. They said everything\nwas theirs.\"\n\nThe little cacinellas calmed their guest and invited her to play with\nthem. Then they swarmed in a thick cloud over the pool, playing tag,\nflying and squeaking.\n\nOur little Cacinella was almost overcome with joy and completely forgot\nthe angry drone and the serious caterpillar.\n\n\"Oh how nice,\" she gurgled with delight. \"It's all mine--the sun, the\ngrass, the water. I cannot understand why the others were so angry. It\nis all mine, but I don't interfere with anybody's life. I let them fly\nand buzz and be happy. It doesn't bother me.\"\n\nLittle Cacinella played a while and then sat down for a rest among some\nreeds. Sitting there, little Cacinella watched the other cacinellas\nplaying, when suddenly a sparrow flashed by, no one knew whence, and\ndropped like a stone among them.\n\n\"Oh! Oh!\" cried the little cacinellas, scattering in all directions.\n\nWhen the sparrow flew away, many little cacinellas were missing from\nthe flock.\n\n\"The thief,\" scolded the older cacinellas. \"He ate about fifteen or\nmore of us.\"\n\n\"That's worse than the drone,\" thought little Cacinella, and growing\nfrightened, she hid with the other cacinellas deeper among the reeds.\nBut there too, they found enemies. Two of them were eaten by a small\nfish and two more by a frog.\n\n\"What's all this?\" wondered little Cacinella. \"This is not a bit nice.\nIt is almost impossible to live. They are perfectly horrid!\"\n\nIt was a good thing that there were many little cacinellas. Those that\ndisappeared were hardly missed; many new ones were always coming,\nflying about and squeaking, \"It's all ours! It's all ours!\"\n\n\"No, it's not,\" called our little Cacinella to them. \"There are,\nbesides us, angry drones, serious caterpillars, horrid sparrows, fishes\nand frogs. Take care, sisters! Take care!\"\n\nWhen night came, all the little cacinellas hid in the rushes. Stars\nsprinkled the sky. The moon rose and reflected everything in the\nwater.\n\n\"My moon, my stars,\" thought little Cacinella; but she did not dare to\nsay it aloud. Some one might take them away from her.\n\n\nIII\n\nSummer passed quickly for little Cacinella. There was so much to make\nher happy, but there were sad times, too. Twice she was almost\nswallowed by a swift marten. Once a frog crept up to her unawares and\nnearly gobbled her up. A little cacinella has many enemies, you know.\n\nOur little Cacinella had her own joys. One day, she met another little\nCacinella with long hairy moustache, who said:\n\n\"You are so pretty, little Cacinella. Let us be friends and live\ntogether.\"\n\nAnd they did. And they were very happy. They were always together;\nwherever one went, the other followed.\n\nSummer passed before they were aware of it.\n\nRainy days came; nights grew cold. Our little Cacinella laid many eggs.\nShe hid them in the thick grass, murmuring, \"How tired I am.\"\n\nNo one saw how or when little Cacinella died. She may not have died at\nall. She may have only fallen asleep quietly for the winter, to wake up\nin the spring and be happy once more.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF MOSQUITO LONG-NOSE AND FUZZY BEAR, MISHKA SHORT-TAIL\n\n\nI\n\nIt happened at noon, when all the mosquitoes hid in the marsh to escape\nthe heat.\n\nMr. Long-Nose settled under a leaf and fell asleep. His sleep was\ndisturbed by a despairing shout.\n\n\"Wow! Wow! Help! Help!\"\n\nMosquito Long-Nose jumped out from under the leaf and called:\n\n\"What happened? Why are you screaming?\"\n\nA whole swarm of mosquitoes flew about, buzzed and shrieked--apparently\nfor no reason at all.\n\n\"Oh, my! Just think what happened! A bear came into our marsh,\nstretched himself out full length and fell asleep. And as he lay down,\nhe crushed five hundred of us; and as he opened his mouth, he swallowed\na hundred of us. Some trouble, brothers. We hardly escaped being\ncrushed to death ourselves.\"\n\nMosquito Long-Nose grew furiously angry--angry at the bear and at the\nfoolish mosquitoes, who were shouting to no purpose.\n\n\"Stop your squealing!\" shouted he. \"It's all very simple. I will go\nand chase the bear away. Your noise is foolish.\"\n\nMosquito Long-Nose grew even more angry and flew away. He reached the\nmarsh and there lay the bear in the very thickets where the mosquitoes\nhad lived from the beginning of time.\n\nThe Bear lay stretched full length, snoring and whistling like a\ntrumpeter.\n\n\"The beast! Grabbed the place that doesn't belong to him ... killed off\nso many mosquitoes ... and now he sleeps so soundly! It's outrageous!\"\n\n\"Hey, Uncle, what are you doing?\" shouted Mosquito Long-Nose through\nthe forest. He shouted so loudly that he grew afraid of himself. Fuzzy\nMishka opened one eye and saw nothing. Then he opened the other eye and\nall he could see was a mosquito hovering over his nose.\n\n\"What do you want, Comrade?\" grumbled Mishka, getting angry, and\njustly so. There he was all ready for a nap when along comes this\ngood-for-nothing squealing at him and waking him up.\n\n\"Hey, Uncle, get away! Get up and go away in a friendly fashion!\"\nadvised Long-Nose.\n\nMishka opened his eyes, looked at Mr. Impudence, snorted and grew\nfuriously angry.\n\n\"What do you want, you good-for-nothing?\" growled Mishka.\n\n\"Leave our quarters or I'll eat you up, fur coat and all.\"\n\nThe bear was very much amused. He turned over on the other side,\ncovered his face with his paw and fell asleep, snoring immediately.\n\n\nII\n\nMosquito Long-nose returned to the flock, shouting across the entire\nmarsh, \"I certainly did frighten him! He will never come again.\"\n\nThe mosquitoes wondered. They were perplexed and asked, \"But what about\nMishka? Where is he now?\"\n\n\"I don't know, brothers. He surely got scared when I told him I'd eat\nhim up, if he did not go away. You know I don't like to jest, so I just\nsaid, 'I'll eat you up,' I'm afraid he perished from fear while I was\ncoming back here. Well, it's his own fault.\"\n\nThe mosquitoes buzzed loudly. They were discussing how to deal with an\ninvading bear. There never had been such a noise in the marsh before.\nThey buzzed and hissed and finally decided to chase the bear away from\ntheir domain.\n\n\"Let him go home into his forest and sleep there. The marsh is ours.\nOur fathers and our grandfathers lived in this very marsh. It is ours.\"\n\nOne sensible old mosquito advised them to leave the bear alone. \"Let\nhim have his sleep,\" said she, \"when he wakes up, he will leave the\nmarsh of his own accord.\"\n\nBut the rest of the flock just flew at her. The poor old thing was glad\nto get away and hide.\n\n\"Come on, brothers!\" shouted Mosquito Long-Nose, louder than the rest.\n\"We will show him who we are!\"\n\nThe whole flock followed Mosquito Long-Nose. They came to the spot\nwhere Mishka was lying as still as death.\n\n\"Didn't I say he died of fright?\" boasted Mosquito Long-Nose. \"It's a\npity! He was a fine, strong bear!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Brothers, he is only asleep,\" piped a tiny mosquito, flying close to\nMishka's nose and being almost blown to pieces by the wind from the\nbear's nostrils.\n\n\"The shameless rascal!\" squealed the Mosquitoes in chorus. \"He crushed\nfive hundred of us ... swallowed another hundred ... and now he sleeps\nas if nothing had happened.\"\n\nBut shaggy Mishka slept soundly as if nothing had really happened. He\nwas whistling through his nose.\n\n\"He is pretending to be asleep,\" said Mosquito Long-Nose. \"I'll show\nhim who I am. Hey, Uncle, enough of this make-believe!\"\n\nAnd with this, Mosquito Long-Nose flew at the bear, aimed at his black\nnose and pierced it with his mosquito-sting. Mishka fairly jumped,\ngrabbing his nose with his paw; but Mosquito Long-Nose was already too\nfar away.\n\n\"Well, Uncle, you did not seem to like that,\" squealed Mosquito\nLong-Nose. \"Go away or it will be the worse for you. I'm not alone.\nWith me, is Grandfather, Mosquito Longer-Nose, and my younger brother,\nMosquito Longest-Nose. Better go away, Uncle.\"\n\n\"I will not go away!\" shouted the bear, sitting down on his haunches.\n\"I'll crush you all to death!\"\n\n\"Oh, uncle, you're boasting foolishly.\"\n\nOnce more, Mosquito Long-Nose flew at the bear and this time he aimed\nat his eye. Mishka groaned with pain, and slapped his paw over his\nface, trying to catch the mosquito. Again he failed and he only\nscratched his face in the effort. Mosquito Long-Nose was meanwhile\nbuzzing by close to his ear and threatening Mishka, \"I'll eat you up,\nUncle.\"\n\n\nIII\n\nMishka grew angry and angrier. He grabbed a birch tree and tore it up\nby the roots, aiming it at the mosquitoes. He waved it and waved it\nuntil he grew very tired, but he did not succeed in killing a single\nmosquito. They just swarmed and buzzed a little beyond his reach. Then\nMishka took a huge stone and hurled it at the Mosquitoes, but all in\nvain.\n\n\"Well, Uncle,\" squealed Mosquito Long-Nose, \"I'll eat you up after\nall.\"\n\nThe battle raged between Mishka and the mosquitoes. There was much\nnoise; one could hear the bear's growling from afar.\n\n\nIV\n\nHe tore up many trees, he dug up many stones. He always aimed at\nMosquito Long-Nose, who seemed to be right over his ear. But the bear's\npaw always missed its aim, while his face was scratched and bleeding\nfrom his own claws.\n\nFinally, Mishka was overpowered. He sat on his haunches and snorted and\nthought of a new trick, which was to roll in the grass and crush the\nwhole mosquito kingdom. Mishka rolled and rolled but nothing happened.\nHe only grew more tired. Then he hid his face in the moss, but that was\neven worse because the mosquitoes clung to his bear tail. Mishka became\nfurious.\n\n\"Just wait, I'll show you!\" he howled so loudly that he could be heard\nfor miles around. \"I'll show you some trick! Aiy! Aiy! Aiy!\"\n\nThe mosquitoes flew aside and waited to see what would happen. Now\nMishka climbed a tree like an acrobat, sat on the thickest bough and\nroared:\n\n\"You just dare to come near to me and all your noses will be broken!\"\n\nThe mosquitoes laughed in their shrill voices and flew at the bear,\nfull force, squealing, swarming and attacking him. Mishka beat them off\nagain and again. Without intending, he swallowed a hundred of them,\nchoking. He coughed and the bough broke under the strain. Down fell\nMishka. But he was up again, patting his bruised sides and saying:\n\n\"Who is the winner? You see how skillful I am at jumping from trees.\"\n\nThe mosquitoes laughed in their thin, shrill laughter. And Mosquito\nLong-Nose just trumpeted, \"I'll eat you up! I'll eat you up! I'll eat\nyou up!\"\n\nCompletely exhausted, Mishka knew that he was beaten, but he was\nashamed to leave the marsh. He sat on his haunches, but all he could do\nwas to blink his eyes.\n\nHe was saved from further shame by a Wise Frog. She came hopping along\nfrom under a bush and seeing Mishka in such difficulty, she said:\n\n\"Why do you bother yourself needlessly, Master Mishka? Don't waste your\ntime with these nasty little mosquitoes. They aren't worth it.\"\n\n\"They really are not,\" cried the bear joyfully. \"I was only fooling a\nbit. Just let them visit my lair, then I'll ... I'll ... I'll....\"\n\nIn a flash, Mishka turned and ran from the marsh. But Mosquito\nLong-Nose flew right after, shouting:\n\n\"Catch him, brothers! Catch him! Hold him!\"\n\nThe mosquitoes gathered in meeting and decided, \"It isn't worth while.\nLet him go. The marsh is left. It did not go away.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nVANKA'S BIRTHDAY\n\n\nI\n\nBeat, drum! Rub-a-dub-dub! Blow, trumpets! Toot-a-toot-too!\n\nThis is Vanka's birthday. Let's have music. All are welcome. Come, let\nus gather. Rub-a-dub-dub! Toot-a-toot-too! Vanka is strutting about in\nhis new red blouse, exclaiming:\n\n\"Brothers, you are welcome. There is plenty to eat. The soup is made of\nthe freshest shavings; the cutlets of the very best and cleanest sand;\ndoughnuts of different-colored papers; tea of the finest boiling water.\nYou are all welcome. Music, play! Rub-a-dub-dub! Rub-a-dub-dub!\nToot-a-toot-too!\"\n\nThe room was crowded with visitors. The first to arrive was the bulging\nWooden Top.\n\n\"Z-z-z! Z-z-z! Where is the birthday child? Z-z-z! Z-z-z! I am very\nfond of making merry in good company.\"\n\nThe next to arrive were two Dolls; one, blue-eyed Anya with a slightly\ndamaged nose; the other, black-eyed Katya with one arm missing. Both\ncame in very modestly and sat down on the toy couch.\n\n\"Let us see the treat Vanka has for us,\" said Anya, \"I think he boasts\ntoo much. The music isn't bad, but I have my doubts about the treat.\"\n\n\"Anya, you are always grumbling,\" said Katya, chidingly.\n\n\"And you are always ready to argue,\" said Anya.\n\nThe Dollies had a little argument and were just about to quarrel, when\na much worn Clown hobbled in on one leg, and made peace.\n\n\"Ladies, patience! Everything will be very nice and we will have a good\ntime. Of course, I have only one leg, but Top isn't any better off than\nI am. See him spin on his one leg. Hello, old Top!\"\n\n\"Z-z-z! Z-z-z! Hello! Why does one of your eyes look as if someone had\npunched you?\"\n\n\"Nonsense! I fell off the couch. Worse things than that happen.\"\n\n\"Oh, I know that. Spinning, I sometimes strike my head against the wall\nfull force.\"\n\n\"It's a good thing your head is empty,\" said Clown.\n\n\"All the same, it hurts. Z-z-z! Just try it and you'll find out.\"\n\nClown only clapped his brass cymbals in answer. He was really a very\nlight-minded fellow.\n\nThen came Petrooshka, bringing along with him a crowd of visitors: his\nown wife, Matryona Ivanovna; the German doctor, Carl Ivanovitch; and a\nhuge-nosed Gypsy, riding on a three-legged horse.\n\n\"Now, Vanka, receive your visitors!\" said Petrooshka gaily, tapping his\nown nose. \"They're all fine. Look at my own wife, Matryona Ivanovna!\nIsn't she splendid? She is as fond of tea as a duck is of water.\"\n\n\"We will find some tea for her, Master Petrooshka, and we are always\nglad to see good company,\" said Vanka. \"Please sit down, Matryona\nIvanovna. Carl Ivanovitch, pray be seated.\"\n\nThen came Mr. Bear with Mr. Rabbit, Gray Billy Goat and Waddling\nDuckling, Mr. Rooster and Mr. Wolf. There was plenty of room for\neveryone.\n\nThe last to arrive was Verotchka's Slipper with Verotchka's Broom. They\nlooked around and found all seats occupied.\n\n\"Never mind. I'll stand in the corner,\" said Broom.\n\nSlipper said nothing, but crept silently under the couch. She was a\nvenerable old Slipper, very much worn. She was slightly embarrassed by\nthe tiny hole near her toe, but she hoped that under the couch no one\nwould notice that.\n\n\"Music, start!\" ordered Vanka. \"Drum, beat! Rub-a-dub-dub! Trumpets\ntoot! Toot-a-toot-too!\"\n\nImmediately the guests became merry and gay.\n\n\nII\n\nAt the beginning, the party was splendid. Drum did his own beating, and\nTrumpet his own tooting. Top buzzed, Clown beat his cymbals and\nPetrooshka squealed with all his might. It was merry and gay.\n\n\"Friends, be happy!\" called Vanka, smoothing his flaxen curls.\n\nAnya and Katya laughed in their shrill voices, clumsy Bear danced with\nlittle Broom, Gray Billy Goat strutted about with Waddling Duck, Clown\ntumbled about, showing off his tricks, and Dr. Carl Ivanovitch,\nchatting with Matryona Ivanovna, asked:\n\n\"Does your stomach ache, Matryona Ivanovna?\"\n\n\"Why, no, Carl Ivanovitch,\" replied Matryona Ivanovna, offended. \"What\nmakes you think that?\"\n\n\"Just show me your tongue,\" insisted the Doctor.\n\n\"Leave me alone, please.\"\n\n\"I'm here,\" rang the thin voice of Silver Spoon, with which Verotchka\nate her cereal. She had been lying quietly on the table until the\nDoctor spoke of showing a tongue. Then she jumped up, for she knew that\nthe Doctor always needed her help when he looked at Verotchka's\ntongue.\n\n\"Oh, no! Not that!\" piped Matryona Ivanovna, waving her arms comically,\nas if she were a windmill.\n\n\"Very well. I will not burden you with my services,\" said little Spoon,\nvery much offended. She was growing angry, when little Top came\nspinning up to her and invited her to dance. Top hummed. Little Spoon\nrang.\n\nLittle Slipper could resist no longer. She crept out from under the\ncouch and whispered to little Broom:\n\n\"I love you very much, little Broom.\"\n\nLittle Broom closed her eyes softly and sighed: she loved to be loved.\nShe was such a modest little Broom, never boasting as others do,--for\ninstance, Matryona Ivanovna, Anya, and Katya. These dollies always\nliked to make fun of other people's failings, saying:\n\n\"Clown has but one leg. Petrooshka's nose is too long. Carl Ivanovitch\nis bald. Gypsy is like a firebrand.\"\n\nBut Vanka, the birthday child, was criticized most of all.\n\n\"He is too much of a moujik,\" Katya said.\n\n\"And he boasts too much,\" added Anya.\n\nAfter dancing and making merry, they all sat down at the table and the\nreal feast began. The dinner passed as a real birthday dinner should;\nnot without a few mishaps, however. Bear almost ate Rabbit, mistaking\nhim for the cutlet. Top nearly came to blows with Gypsy about little\nSpoon. You see, Gypsy wanted to steal little Spoon and he tried to put\nher into his pocket. Petrooshka, a well-known squabbler, quarrelled\nwith his wife over nothing at all.\n\n\"Matryona Ivanovna, be calm,\" urged Carl Ivanovitch.\n\n\"Petrooshka is really kind. Perhaps your head aches. I have wonderful\npowders for headaches.\"\n\n\"Doctor, do leave her alone,\" said Petrooshka. \"She is an impossible\nwoman. I love her very much. Come Matryona Ivanovna, let us kiss and be\nfriends.\"\n\n\"Hurrah!\" shouted Vanka. \"That's much better than quarreling. I hate to\nsee people quarrel. Just look ...\"\n\nThen something quite unexpected happened, something so horrible, it's\ndreadful to relate.\n\nDrum beat--rub-a-dub-dub! Trumpets blew--toot-a-toot-too. Clown clanged\nhis cymbals. Little Spoon laughed in her silver voice. Top hummed.\nRabbit shouted merrily, \"Bo! Bo! Bo!\" Porcelain Dog barked loudly.\nRubber Cat meowed gently. Bear stamped his feet with such force that\nthe floor shook. Gayest of all was Gray Billy Goat. He was the best\ndancer. And he shook his beard so comically and bleated \"Baa! Baa!\nBaa!\" in his cracked voice.\n\n\nIII\n\nHow did it all happen? That is hard to tell because of all the guests\nonly Verotchka's Slipper remembered just what had transpired. She was\nthe only sensible one. She crept away under the couch just in time.\n\nThis is how it all happened. First the Wooden Blocks went up to Vanka\nto congratulate him. No-No-NO. That isn't how it started. The Blocks\nreally did go up to Vanka, but the real cause of the trouble was\nKatya. Yes, it was all her fault. This pretty little rascal, towards\nthe very end of the dinner, whispered to Anya:\n\n\"Anya, who do you think is the prettiest of all here?\"\n\nIt was quite a simple question to ask, but Matryona Ivanovna,\noverhearing it, grew frightfully offended and asked Katya:\n\n\"Do you think my Petrooshka is ugly?\"\n\n\"Nobody thinks that,\" answered Katya, trying to defend herself. But it\nwas too late.\n\n\"Of course, his nose is too big,\" continued Matryona Ivanovna, \"but\nthat is hardly noticeable, if you look at him sideways. I know he has a\nbad habit of squealing and squabbling with people but he is really very\nkind. And as for brains ...\"\n\nShe was unable to finish because the Dolls began to argue with so much\nheat that they attracted everybody's attention. The first to interfere\nwas, of course, Petrooshka himself.\n\n\"It's true, Matryona Ivanovna,\" said he, \"I am the handsomest here.\"\n\nThen the men were all offended.\n\n\"Just listen to this conceited Petrooshka!\" said they. \"It's\ndisgusting!\"\n\nClown was not much of a talker, so he was silently offended. But Dr.\nCarl Ivanovitch almost shouted:\n\n\"Does that mean that the rest of us are monsters? Gentlemen, I\ncongratulate you!\"\n\nThere was great noise and confusion. Gypsy shouted something in his own\nlanguage. Bear growled. Wolf howled. Gray Billy Goat bawled. Top\nhummed. They all shouted their offense.\n\n\"Gentlemen, stop!\" pleaded Vanka. \"Please pay no attention to\nPetrooshka. I am sure he was only jesting.\"\n\nIt was all in vain. Carl Ivanovitch was noisier and more excited than\nthe rest. He even pounded his fist on the table and shouted:\n\n\"Gentlemen, this is a fine treat, I must say! We were invited here only\nto be told that we are monsters!\"\n\n\"Ladies and gentlemen!\" shouted Vanka, trying in vain to be heard. \"If\nmonsters are under discussion, there is but one monster here. It is I!\nNow are you satisfied?\"\n\nThen, let us see what happened next....\n\nCarl Ivanovitch completely lost control and flew at Petrooshka, with a\nthreatening fist.\n\n\"If I were not an educated man, knowing how to behave properly in\ndecent society, I would say to you, 'Master Petrooshka, you are quite a\nfool.'\"\n\nKnowing Petrooshka's squabbling disposition, Vanka tried to get between\nhim and the Doctor, but on his way, his fist caught Petrooshka's long\nnose. Petrooshka thought that it was not Vanka, but the doctor who had\nstruck him. And that's how it all began.\n\nPetrooshka clutched at the doctor. Gypsy, seated at one side, began\nwithout any provocation to pummel Clown. Bear threw himself with a\ngrowl upon Wolf. Top hit Billy Goat with his empty head. In a word,\nthere was a row. Dolls squealed in their shrill voices and all three\nfainted with fright.\n\n\"I'm fainting,\" screamed Matryona Ivanovna, falling off the couch.\n\n\"Gentlemen! What does all this mean?\" pleaded Vanka. \"Gentlemen! Is\nthis not my birthday? Gentlemen! This is rude!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIt was a real fight. The confusion was so great that it was impossible\nto tell who was beating whom. Vanka tried to separate the fighters, but\nit ended in his beating anybody and everybody who came within his arm's\nreach. And as he was the strongest, his guests came off pretty badly.\n\n\"Help! Help! Heavens' help!\" cried Petrooshka, loudest of all, trying\nto strike the Doctor.\n\n\"They are murdering Petrooshka! Help! Help!\"\n\nSlipper was the only one who escaped the fight. She crept under the\ncouch just in time. She closed her eyes in fear. Rabbit, seeking\nsafety, hid inside Slipper.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" grumbled Slipper.\n\n\"Keep still! They might hear us and then both of us would get it,\"\npleaded little Rabbit, peeping through the tiny hole in Slipper's toe.\n\"What a rascal that Petrooshka is! He beats everyone and shouts loudest\nof all. He's a fine guest, I must say! You know I hardly got away from\nWolf. My! it's horror, just to think of it! Just see Duckling with her\ntiny legs up. Poor thing! She must be dead.\"\n\n\"How foolish you are, little Rabbit,\" said Slipper. \"All the dolls have\nfainted and so has Duckling.\"\n\nThey fought and fought and fought until Vanka drove away all the guests\nexcept the Dolls.\n\nMatryona Ivanovna, tired of lying in a faint, opened one eye and asked:\n\n\"Where am I? Doctor, will you see if I am still alive?\"\n\nNo one answered her and Matryona Ivanovna opened her other eye. The\nroom was empty except for Vanka, who stood in the center looking\naround, much astonished. Anya and Katya also revived and they, too,\nwere amazed. Something horrible must have happened.\n\n\"You're a fine birthday child, I must say!\" simultaneously exclaimed\nthe Dolls, addressing Vanka, who did not know what to answer.\n\nSomeone hit him; he hit someone. Why? Wherefore? He did not know.\n\n\"I really do not know how it all happened,\" said Vanka. \"The thing that\nhurts most is that I love them all. All without exception.\"\n\n\"We know how it all happened,\" called Slipper and Rabbit from under the\ncouch. \"We saw it all.\"\n\n\"It is all your fault,\" said Matryona Ivanovna, accusing little Slipper\nand Rabbit. \"Of course, it is you who are to blame. You started the\nrow and then you ran away and hid.\"\n\n\"They're to blame! They're to blame!\" screamed Anya and Katya in\nchorus.\n\n\"Now I see it all,\" cried Vanka, joyfully. \"Get out, you rascals! You\nonly visit people to start quarrels.\"\n\nSlipper and Rabbit were barely able to make their escape through the\nwindow.\n\n\"I'll teach you a lesson,\" threatened Matryona Ivanovna, following in\ntheir wake. \"There are some nasty people in this world! Even little\nDuckling will agree with me.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" said little Duckling. \"I saw them hide under the couch.\"\nDuckling always agreed with everybody.\n\n\"Let the guests return,\" said Katya. \"We can still have a jolly time.\"\n\nThe guests were all glad to come back. Some had black eyes; some\nlimped. Petrooshka's long nose had the worst of it.\n\n\"The rascals!\" all repeated in chorus, blaming Rabbit and Slipper for\neverything. \"Who would have thought it of them!\"\n\n\"Oh, I am so tired! My hands are all sore,\" complained Vanka. \"But let\nus forget it and bear no grudge. Let's have music.\"\n\nOnce more, drum beat--rub-a-dub-dub! Trumpets blew--toot-a-toot-too!\nAnd Petrooshka shouted with all his might:\n\n\"Hurrah for Vanka!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF MASTER SPARROW, MASTER STICKELBACK AND THE JOLLY\nCHIMNEY-SWEEP, YASHA\n\n\nI\n\nMaster Sparrow and Master Stickelback were great friends. In summer,\nMaster Sparrow came daily to the river, calling:\n\n\"Hello, brother! How are you?\"\n\n\"Pretty well. Managing to keep alive,\" answered Stickelback. \"Come to\nvisit me. The deep pools are fine. The water is quiet. And it's just\nfull of water grass. I will treat you to frogs' eggs, worms and water\nbugs.\"\n\n\"Thank you, brother, I would come with pleasure, only I am afraid of\nthe water,\" said the Sparrow. \"You better visit me on my roof. I'll\ntreat you to berries--I have a whole garden full--and we will rummage\nfor some bread crusts, some oats, a bit of sugar and live mosquitoes.\nYou like sugar, don't you?\"\n\n\"What does it look like?\" asked Stickelback.\n\n\"It is white.\"\n\n\"Like the pebbles in my river?\"\n\n\"Exactly. But when you take it into your mouth it's sweet. One can't\neat pebbles, you know. Come, let us fly to my roof.\"\n\n\"No, I can't fly. And I suffocate in the open air,\" said the Fish. \"Let\nus have a swim together in my river. That's much better. I will show\nyou all sorts of things.\"\n\nMaster Sparrow tried to get into the water. He jumped in up to his\nknees; then fear seized him--fear of drowning. Heretofore, all that the\nSparrow had ever done was to get a drink of clear river water and to\ntake a bath in the shallowest part on a hot day. Then he would shake\nhis feathers out and return to his roof.\n\nNevertheless, the two were great friends. They liked chatting together\nabout all sorts of things.\n\n\"Don't you ever get tired of staying in the water,\" Sparrow would say,\nwondering. \"It is so wet. Aren't you afraid of taking cold?\"\n\nMaster Stickelback in his turn would wonder at Master Sparrow:\n\n\"Don't you ever get tired of flying? Isn't it too warm to be out in the\nsun? It would just suffocate me. It is always cool where I live. I swim\nas I like. When summer comes, my river is crowded with bathers. But who\never visits your roof?\"\n\n\"Oh, I have plenty of visitors. I have one great chum, the\nChimney-Sweep, Yasha. He often visits me. He is such a jolly\nChimney-Sweep, always singing. He cleans the chimneys, singing away.\nWhen he rests, he sits on the very edge of the roof, eats his piece of\nbread for lunch, while I pick up the crumbs. We are great friends. I\nalso like to be jolly sometimes.\"\n\nThe Sparrow and the Fish had many troubles in common. Winter was very\nhard on both. Poor Master Sparrow almost froze to death. The days were\nso bitter cold. His very soul seemed to freeze within him. He would\npuff himself up, tuck his legs underneath him and sit on his roof,\nwaiting for the sunshine. There was only one other warm place for him\nand that was the chimney, but even here it was hardly safe.\n\nOnce, Master Sparrow almost perished. It was the fault of his best\nfriend, the Chimney-Sweep. One day, Yasha came to clean the chimney.\nHis brush, with the weight attached, came down the chimney and almost\nsmashed Master Sparrow's head. Covered with soot, Master Sparrow\nescaped from the chimney. He was even blacker than Yasha.\n\n\"I say! What do you mean, Yasha? You almost killed me,\" scolded Master\nSparrow.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"How was I to know you were sitting in the chimney?\" asked Yasha.\n\n\"You must be more careful,\" said Master Sparrow. \"It isn't very nice to\nbe hit by such a heavy weight. I am sure you wouldn't like it.\"\n\nIn winter, Stickelback's life was not very pleasant. He crawled\nsomewhere deep, deep into the river and dozed there for days. It was\ndark and cold and he had no desire to move. Occasionally he came up to\nthe ice-hole to chat with his friend.\n\nWhen Master Sparrow came to the ice-hole for a drink, he would call,\n\"Hey, Master Stickelback! Are you still alive?\"\n\n\"I am,\" Master Stickelback would answer sleepily. \"But I want to stay\nasleep all the time. It isn't very nice here. Everybody is asleep.\"\n\n\"It isn't much better where I live,\" said Sparrow. \"But we must be\npatient. At times the wind is very cruel. There is no sleep then. I\nhop along on one leg to keep warm, while people watching me say, 'What\na gay little sparrow!' If only warm days would come! Brother, I believe\nyou are asleep again.\"\n\nSummer brought with it its own troubles. Once a hawk chased Master\nSparrow for two miles. Sparrow barely escaped by hiding in the sedge\nnear the river.\n\n\"My! I am glad to get off alive,\" complained Master Sparrow to Master\nStickelback, scarcely able to catch his breath. \"That rascal almost\ncaught me then.\"\n\n\"He must be something like our pike,\" said Stickelback, consolingly.\n\"Not long ago I, too, barely escaped the pike's fangs. That pike was as\nquick as lightning. One day, as I was swimming out with some friends, I\nmistook him for a log, he lay so still, and he chased me. Will you\ntell me why there are pikes in the world? I have often wondered, but I\ncannot understand.\"\n\n\"Neither can I,\" said Master Sparrow. \"Do you know, I sometimes think\nthat a hawk must at one time have been a pike and a pike must have been\na hawk. Anyway, both are rascals.\"\n\n\nII\n\nThus lived Master Sparrow and Master Stickelback, freezing in winter,\njoyous in summer; while jolly Chimney-Sweep, Yasha, cleaned his\nchimneys and sang his songs. Each had his work, his joys and his\ntroubles.\n\nOne summer day the Chimney-Sweep walked down to the river to wash. He\nwalked along, whistling, when suddenly he heard a terrific noise. What\nhad happened?\n\nWhirling above the river was a crowd of birds, ducks, geese, swallows,\nsnipe, crows and pigeons, shouting with laughter, for no apparent\nreason.\n\n\"I say! What has happened?\" asked the Chimney-Sweep.\n\n\"This is what happened,\" piped a bold Bluebird. \"It is too funny for\nwords. Just see what Master Sparrow is doing. He seems quite mad.\"\n\nThe Bluebird piped in her thin, high voice, flicked her tail and soared\nabove the river. When Chimney-Sweep drew nearer, Master Sparrow just\nflew at him. He was frightful to behold. His beak was open, his eyes\nwild, his feathers all ruffled.\n\n\"Master Sparrow, what is all this about? Why are you making all this\nnoise?\" asked the Chimney-Sweep.\n\n\"No! I'll teach him a few things!\" shouted Master Sparrow, fairly\nchoking with rage. \"He doesn't yet know who I am! I'll teach that\nconfounded Stickelback! He'll have cause to remember me! The rascal!\"\n\n\"Don't listen to him,\" shouted Stickelback from his river. \"It's all\nlies.\"\n\n\"Who is lying?\" shouted Master Sparrow. \"Who found the worm? I'm lying?\nIndeed! A nice fat worm that I myself dug up on the bank. I worked\nhard, too. I finally got him and was just about ready to take him home\nto my nest--I have a family, you know, that has to be fed. No sooner\ndid I get above the river, the worm in my mouth, than that abominable\nStickelback (I hope the pike swallows him) shouted, 'Hawk! Hawk!' I\nscreamed with fright and the worm dropped out of my mouth into the\nwater and Master Stickelback swallowed him. I call this cheating. There\nwas no hawk in sight.\"\n\n\"It was only a little joke of mine,\" said Stickelback, defending\nhimself. \"That worm was really delicious.\"\n\nAll kinds of fish were gathered about Stickelback, minnows, carp and\nperch, listening and laughing at the story.\n\n\"Yes, that was a fine trick Master Stickelback played on his old\nfriend. But funnier still was to see Master Sparrow fighting Master\nStickelback, flying at him again and again and getting nothing.\"\n\n\"I hope my worm chokes you! I'll dig up another,\" shouted Master\nSparrow. \"What hurts me most is that Stickelback fooled me and now he\nlaughs at me. I was even inviting him to visit me on my roof. A fine\nfriend he is, I must say! Here's our Chimney-Sweep, Yasha. He will\nagree with me, I'm sure. He's my good friend. At times, we even eat\ntogether. Yasha eats his bread and I pick up the crumbs.\"\n\n\"Wait, brothers! This affair needs a judge,\" announced Yasha. \"Just let\nme wash myself and I shall deal with the whole thing fairly. And you,\nMaster Sparrow, just calm yourself a bit.\"\n\n\"I know I am right. I have nothing to worry about,\" shouted Master\nSparrow. \"I only want to show Stickelback that I shall not stand for\nhis jokes.\"\n\nChimney-Sweep Yasha sat down on the bank, put his lunch near him,\nwashed his face and hands, and said:\n\n\"Now, brothers, let us get at the bottom of this trouble. You, Master\nStickelback, are a fish. And you, Master Sparrow, are a bird. Am I\nright?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" shouted the birds and fishes in chorus.\n\n\"Let us go on,\" said Yasha. \"A fish must live in water, a bird in the\nair. Am I right? Well then, a worm lives in the ground. Very well. Now\nlet's see.\"\n\nThe Chimney-Sweep opened his lunch, a piece of wheaten bread, and laid\nit on a stone, saying:\n\n\"Now look! What is this? Bread, isn't it? I earned it and I shall eat\nit. And with it, I shall have a drink of water. All this means that I\nhave earned my dinner without harming anyone. A fish and a bird also\nwant their dinner. Each of you has his own food. Why quarrel? Master\nSparrow dug up the worm, therefore the worm was his. He earned it.\"\n\n\"Wait, Uncle,\" piped a thin voice in the crowd. The birds moved apart\nto allow a little snipe to come forward. Standing on his thin little\nlegs close to the Chimney-Sweep, the snipe said:\n\n\"It isn't true, Uncle.\"\n\n\"What isn't true?\" asked Yasha.\n\n\"About the worm,\" said the snipe. \"I found it. You can ask the ducks.\nThey saw me. I found the worm and Master Sparrow snatched it away from\nme.\"\n\nChimney-Sweep Yasha was puzzled. This was quite a different story.\n\n\"Let me see,\" he murmured, trying to gather his thoughts together.\n\"Hey, Master Sparrow! What do you mean by lying to me?\"\n\n\"I'm not lying. The snipe is. He and the ducks made that story up.\"\n\n\"Well, brothers, something is wrong. Of course, a worm isn't anything,\nbut to steal it, is not nice. And he who steals must lie. Am I not\nright?\"\n\n\"Right! You are right!\" shouted all in chorus. \"All the same, you have\nto be the judge between Master Stickelback and Master Sparrow.\"\n\n\"Which of those two is right?\" asked Yasha. \"Both made a noise. Both\nfought and stirred up everybody else. Who is right? Oh, the two of you,\nMaster Stickelback and Master Sparrow, the two of you are rascals. I\nwill punish both of you as an example. Now, both of you make up\nquickly.\"\n\n\"That's right,\" shouted the crowd in chorus. \"Let them make up.\"\n\n\"As for the snipe who worked to get the worm, I will feed him with my\ncrust,\" decided the Chimney-Sweep. \"Then everybody will be satisfied.\"\n\n\"Splendid!\" all shouted their approval.\n\nThe Chimney-Sweep made a move to offer his crust to the snipe, but the\ncrust had disappeared. While Yasha was talking, Master Sparrow grabbed\nthe crust and flew away with it.\n\n\"The rascal! The scamp!\" shouted the birds and the fishes indignantly,\nstarting in pursuit of the thief.\n\nThe crust was heavy and Master Sparrow could not fly far with it. He\nwas caught just beyond the river. Birds, large and small, threw\nthemselves upon the thief. It was a real battle. They were all tearing\nthe bread to bits and the crumbs fell into the river. These the fishes\ngrabbed. Then followed a battle between birds and fish. The crust was\nbroken into tiny crumbs. The crumbs were eaten up. When it was all\nover, everybody grew thoughtful. They felt ashamed. While chasing the\nthief to recover the crust, they had grabbed it up themselves.\n\nThe jolly Chimney-Sweep, Yasha, sat on the bank, watching and laughing.\nThe whole affair had turned out to be so funny. They were all gone.\nThere remained only the Sandy Snipe.\n\n\"Why don't you fly along with the others?\" asked the Chimney-Sweep.\n\n\"I would, Uncle, only I am too small. The big birds might peck me to\ndeath.\"\n\n\"Well, maybe you are right, little Snipe. Both of us are left without\nour dinner. Evidently, we haven't worked hard enough for it.\"\n\nThen came Verotchka to the river bank and asked the jolly Chimney-Sweep\nwhat had happened. How she laughed when she heard the story!\n\n\"How foolish they all are, the fish and the birds,\" said Verotchka. \"I\ncould divide everything right, and no one would quarrel. Not long ago\nI divided four apples. Father brought four apples and said, 'Divide\nthese between you and Lisa and me evenly.' I divided them into three\nparts. I gave one apple to father, one apple to Lisa, and I took two\napples for myself.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF THE LAST FLY\n\n\nI\n\nSummer-time is a merry time for flies. It is hard to tell just how it\nall happened. There were so many flies; thousands of them, gaily flying\nand buzzing.\n\nWhen Little Fly was born, she straightened out her wings and\nimmediately felt happy,--so happy that one really cannot tell it in\nwords. It was all so interesting. The doors and windows leading to the\nporch were thrown wide open in the morning, and Little Fly flitted in\nand out as she pleased.\n\n\"How kind human beings are!\" exclaimed Little Fly, astonished, flying\nin and out of the windows. \"The windows were made for us, and they are\nopen for us. It is so nice to be alive and feeling so happy.\"\n\nShe flew in and out of the garden many times. Sitting on a blade of\ngrass, she admired the blooming lilacs, the delicate leaves of the\nbudding poplars, and the different flowers in their beds. The gardener,\nstill unknown to her, had taken care of everything. What a kind\ngardener! Little Fly was not born yet and he had already prepared\neverything she might need. It was all the more amazing since he himself\nwas not only unable to fly, but he even walked about with great\ndifficulty, trembling all over at times, and muttering to himself.\n\n\"I wonder where these nasty flies come from?\" grumbled the kind\ngardener.\n\nThe poor dear probably said this from sheer envy because all he could\ndo was to dig beds, set out and water flowers. He couldn't fly. Little\nFly liked to buzz around the gardener's red nose, which annoyed him\nvery much.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nPeople were usually very kind, providing all kinds of pleasures for\nflies. For instance, when Verotchka had her bread and milk in the\nmorning, she always asked Aunt Olga for a piece of sugar. This she did\njust to give Little Fly a chance to have a bit of sugar, a few crumbs\nof bread, and a few drops of milk.\n\n\"Now tell me, is there anything more delicious than this treat after\nworking busily all morning?\" said Little Fly.\n\nCook Pascha was even kinder than Verotchka. Every morning she would go\nto market and bring such wonderful things, especially for the\nflies--meat, fish, cream and butter. Pascha was the kindest woman in\nthe whole house. Though, like the gardener, she could not fly, she knew\nperfectly well every need of a fly. She was the kindest woman in all\nthe world.\n\nAnd Aunt Olga--oh, that wonderful woman!--seemed to live only for the\nflies. With her own hands she would open all the windows every morning,\nso that the flies might come and go at will. When it rained, or it was\ncold, she closed the windows to keep their little wings dry and\nprevent them from catching cold. Then Aunt Olga noticed that flies\nliked sugar and berries. So every day she cooked berries and sugar. The\nflies knew at once why she did this, and to show their gratitude, they\ncrawled right into the pans of jam.\n\nVerotchka was also very fond of jam, but Aunt Olga would only give her\none or two teaspoonfuls, because she did not wish to deprive the flies\nof their share. As the flies could not eat all the jam at once, Aunt\nOlga put away the jam in jars (to keep it away from mice who were not\nentitled to jam) ready to serve to the flies each day at tea time.\n\n\"Oh, how kind and good everybody is!\" exclaimed Little Fly, flitting in\nand out of the window. \"It is even good that people cannot fly, for\nthey would turn into big, greedy flies, grabbing up everything. It's\nfine to live in this world!\"\n\n\"But people aren't at all as kind as you think,\" remarked an old fly\nwho liked to grumble occasionally. \"It only seems so to you. Have you\never noticed the man they call Papa?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes. He is a very strange gentleman. You are perfectly right, good\nold fly. Why does he smoke that pipe? He knows very well I do not like\ntobacco smoke. It seems to me sometimes that he does it just to spite\nme. And he doesn't like to do anything for flies. You know, once I\ntasted that ink with which he is forever writing, and I almost died. It\nwas awful. I once saw with my own eyes two pretty, inexperienced young\nflies drown in his ink. It was a dreadful sight to see how he pulled\nthem out with his pen, put them on his paper, making a splendid blot.\nJust think of it! Then he blames us and not himself. Where is justice?\"\n\n\"I think this Papa has no sense of justice, although he has one good\nquality,\" answered the old, experienced fly. \"He drinks beer after\ndinner. That isn't at all a bad habit. To tell the truth, I like a\ntaste of beer myself, though it does make me dizzy.\"\n\n\"I also like beer,\" confessed Little Fly, blushing slightly. \"I become\nquite gay after having some, although my head aches the next day.\nPerhaps Papa does not do anything for flies because he does not care\nfor jam and puts all of his sugar into his tea. One really cannot\nexpect much of a man who does not eat jam. There is nothing left for\nhim but his pipe.\"\n\nThe flies knew people very well, although they interpreted them in\ntheir own fashion.\n\n\nII\n\nThe summer was hot. Each day brought more and more flies. They fell\ninto the milk, crawled into the soup and into the ink-well, they buzzed\nand they whirled and annoyed everyone. Our Little Fly grew up into a\nbig fly. On several occasions she almost perished. The first time her\nlegs stuck in jam and she was just able to free herself. The second\ntime she flew sleepily against a burning lamp and almost scorched her\nwings. The third time she was almost crushed by a closing window. On\nthe whole, she had many adventures.\n\n\"There is no living with these flies about,\" complained Cook. \"They act\nlike mad--crawling into everything. They must be done away with.\"\n\nEven our Fly decided that there were altogether too many flies,\nespecially in the kitchen. At night the ceiling was black with them.\nThey seemed like a moving net. When the provisions were brought, the\nflies threw themselves upon them--a live mass, pushing, jostling,\nquarrelling. The best morsels fell to the lot of the bold and the\nstrong. The rest had the remains.\n\nPascha, the cook, was right. There were too many flies. Then something\nhorrible happened. One morning, Pascha brought along with the\nprovisions a package of very tasty papers--that is, she made them\ntasty, when she spread them out on plates, by moistening them with warm\nwater and sprinkling sugar over them.\n\n\"There is a fine treat for the flies,\" said Pascha, putting the plates\nwhere they could be seen. Without Pascha's saying anything, the flies\nknew at once that this was a special treat for them. Buzzing gaily,\nthey threw themselves upon the new dainty. Our Fly tried to get into a\nplate, but she was pushed rudely aside.\n\n\"No pushing, please,\" said she, offended, \"I'm not one of those greedy\nones, you know. You are quite rude.\"\n\nThen something quite terrible happened. Thousands of flies died. The\ngreediest were the first to succumb. They crawled about as if drunk and\nthen fell to the ground, dead. In the morning, Pascha swept up a large\nplate full of dead flies. Only the most sensible ones remained alive.\nAmong these was our Fly.\n\n\"No papers for us,\" buzzed the surviving flies. \"We don't want them.\"\n\nThe next day the same thing happened. Of all the sensible flies only\nthe most sensible remained alive. But Pascha still complained, \"There\nis no living with these flies about.\"\n\nThen the gentleman they called Papa brought home three very pretty\nglass bowls and filled them with beer. This time even the most sensible\nflies were caught. It turned out that these bowls were nothing but\nfly-catchers. The flies, attracted by the smell of beer, were caught in\nthe bowls and perished.\n\n\"That's good,\" said Pascha approvingly. She had turned out to be the\nmost heartless of women, rejoicing at others' misfortunes.\n\n\"There isn't anything good about that,\" said Little Fly. \"If people had\nwings like flies and someone were to set a fly-catcher as big as a\nhouse, they, too, would be caught.\"\n\nOur Fly, learning from the bitter experiences of the sensible flies,\nceased to trust people. They only seem kind, these people; while, in\nreality, they are busy with just one thing--to cheat poor trusting\nflies. To tell the truth, human beings are the slyest and crudest of\nanimals.\n\nThrough all these misfortunes the number of flies decreased\nconsiderably. Then followed another calamity. Suddenly summer was gone.\nRains began to fall. Cold winds blew. The weather was very\ndisagreeable.\n\n\"Is summer really gone?\" asked the few remaining flies. \"How could it\nhave passed so quickly. It doesn't seem quite fair. We have hardly had\ntime to live and autumn is already upon us.\"\n\nThis was worse than poison paper or glass fly-catchers. There was only\none escape from the coming bad weather--to seek shelter with one's\nbitterest enemy, Master Man. Alas, now the windows were closed all day\nlong and only the ventilators were occasionally open! The very sun\nseemed to shine just to deceive the trustful house flies.\n\nFor instance, what do you think of this picture? It is morning. The sun\nis gaily peeping into all the windows as if inviting the flies into the\ngarden. You would think summer was returning. And what happens? The\ntrustful flies fly through the ventilator into the garden. True, the\nsun is shining, but it gives no heat. They try to return to the house\nbut the ventilator has been closed. Thus many flies perished in the\ncold autumn nights.\n\n\"No, I no longer believe,\" said our Little Fly, \"I have no faith in\nanything. Since even the sun deceives me, I believe in nothing.\"\n\nIt is understood that with the coming of the fall all flies experienced\nthe same unhappy moods. They became very disagreeable. Not a sign of\ntheir former gayety remained. They became gloomy, indolent and\ndissatisfied. Some of them even began to bite, which they had never\nbeen known to do before.\n\nOur Fly's disposition became so bad she didn't know herself. She had\nalways been so sorry for other flies. Now when they perished, she\nthought only of herself. She was even ashamed to speak the thoughts\nthat were in her mind, \"Let them perish, then there will be more left\nfor me.\" In the first place, there were not many warm corners where a\ndecent fly could spend the winter. In the second place, the other flies\nwere very annoying, always in the way, snatching from under her nose\nthe very best tidbits, and behaving badly in general. Besides, it was\ntime for them to rest.\n\nThe flies seemed to understand the cruel thoughts of our Fly and they\nfell by the hundreds. They didn't seem to die--just to fall asleep.\nWith each day their number grew smaller and smaller. There was no\nlonger any need of poison paper or glass fly-catchers. But all this was\nnot enough to satisfy our Fly. She wanted to be the only fly left in\nthe world.\n\n\nIII\n\nThere came a very happy day. One morning our Fly woke up quite late.\nShe had felt a curious weariness for a long time and preferred to\nremain immovable in her corner under the stove. And now she felt that\nsomething unusual was going to happen. She flew to the window. The\nfirst snow had fallen! The ground was covered with a brilliant, white,\nshining sheet.\n\n\"Oh, this must be winter!\" Our Fly knew at once. \"Winter is all white,\nlike a piece of sugar.\"\n\nThen our Fly noticed that all the other flies had disappeared. The poor\nthings could not survive the first frost and dropped off to sleep\nwherever they happened to be. In former days, our Fly would have felt\nvery sorry for them. But now she thought, \"This is splendid. Now I am\nreally the only one. No one will eat my jam, my sugar, my crumbs. This\nis fine.\"\n\nShe flew through all the rooms to convince herself that she was the\nonly fly left. Now she could do anything she pleased. It was so nice.\nThe house was so warm. Winter was there, out of doors; but inside the\nhouse it was bright, warm, and cozy, especially in the evening when the\ncandles and lamps were lighted. A slight misfortune occurred when the\nfirst lamp was lighted. Our Fly once more flew against it and was\nalmost scorched to death.\n\n\"This must be the winter fly-trap,\" said our Fly, rubbing her burnt\nlegs. \"Now you can't fool me. I know too much. You wish to burn the\nLast Fly, do you? Well, that's the last thing that I want. There is\nalso a hot stove in the kitchen. Don't I know that, too, is a\nfly-catcher?\"\n\nThe Last Fly was happy for a few days only. Then suddenly she felt\nlonely, so lonely, so very lonely. Of course, she was warm and there\nwas plenty to eat, but still she was unhappy. She flew and rested and\nate. She flew again, but she felt lonelier than ever.\n\n\"Oh, how lonely I am!\" she buzzed in a thin, pitiful voice, flying from\none room to the other. \"If there were only one other fly here! The\nmeanest, the worst of them, but only one fly!\"\n\nNo one seemed to understand the complaints of the Last Fly and this of\ncourse made her cross. She flew about like one mad, alighting on this\none's nose, on that one's ear, or back and forth in front of people's\neyes.\n\n\"Heavens, can't you understand? I am quite alone in the world and I am\nvery, very lonely,\" she would buzz at every one. \"You don't even know\nhow to fly. How can you know loneliness? If someone were only to play\nwith me! But no, how can they? What can be clumsier and heavier than a\nhuman being? The ugliest creatures I have ever met.\"\n\nThe Last Fly annoyed the dog and the cat and everybody else. She was\nmost hurt when she heard Aunt Olga say, \"Please don't touch the Last\nFly. Leave her alone. Let her live through the winter.\" This was\ninsulting! It sounded as if she was not even considered a fly. \"Let\nher live.\" What a kindness!\n\n\"But I am so lonely! Maybe I don't want to live. That's all there's to\nit.\"\n\nThe Last Fly was so angry at everybody that she grew frightened at\nherself. She flew, she buzzed, she squeaked, she squealed. The spider\nin the corner finally took pity on her and said:\n\n\"Dear fly, come to me. See how pretty my web is!\"\n\n\"Thank you very much,\" said the Last Fly. \"Are you my new friend? I\nknow what your pretty cob web means. You were probably a human being at\none time who is now pretending to be a spider.\"\n\n\"You know I wish you well,\" said the spider.\n\n\"Oh, you ugly creature!\" said the Fly. \"To eat the Last Fly means to\nwish me well, hey?\"\n\nThey had a great quarrel. Nevertheless, it was lonely, too lonely for\nwords to tell. The Fly was bitter against everybody. She grew weary and\nin a loud voice announced:\n\n\"Since all of you refuse to understand how lonely I am, I will sit here\nin the corner the whole winter through. That's all there is to it! Yes,\nI will stay in the corner and nothing will make me leave it. So there!\"\n\nWhen she returned to her corner she cried, thinking of last summer's\ngladness. There had been so many merry flies. How foolish she had been\nto desire to be left alone. That had been a great mistake.\n\nThe winter seemed endless and Last Fly was beginning to think that\nsummer would never return. She wished to die and she wept quietly.\nSurely human beings invented winter. They always seemed to think of\nthings that harmed flies. Perhaps it was Aunt Olga who had hidden away\nthe summer, as she did sugar and jam. Last Fly was almost dead with\ndespair when something unexpected happened.\n\nOne day she was sitting in her corner, as was her custom, when she\nsuddenly heard, \"Buzz! Buzz!\" She couldn't believe her own ears at\nfirst and then she thought that someone was fooling her. And\nthen--heavens!--what was that? A real live fly! A Fly, very young, flew\npast. It was just born and it was glad.\n\n\"Spring is coming! Spring is coming!\" it buzzed.\n\nHow glad the two were to see each other! They embraced and kissed, and\nlicked each other's feelers. The Last Fly talked for days, telling her\nnew friend what an awful winter she had spent and how lonely she had\nbeen. The young fly only laughed in her thin little voice. She couldn't\nunderstand how anyone could be lonely.\n\n\"Spring! Spring!\" she joyfully repeated.\n\nWhen Aunt Olga ordered the winter windows removed and Verotchka leaned\nout of the first open window, Last Fly knew what was happening.\n\n\"Now, I know it all,\" buzzed Last Fly, flying out of the window. \"We\nflies make the summer.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF A BLACK-HEADED CROW AND A LITTLE YELLOW CANARY\n\n\nI\n\nThe Black-Headed Crow sat in a birch tree, pecking at a twig. Peck!\nPeck! She cleaned her bill, looked around, and suddenly cawed, \"Caw!\nCaw!\"\n\nThe drowsy cat, Vaska, sitting on a fence, almost fell off with fright\nat the noise and growled:\n\n\"What is the matter with you, Blackhead? The Lord has given you some\nvoice! What are you happy about?\"\n\nThe Crow answered, \"Leave me alone. Don't you see I'm busy? Caw! Caw!\nCaw! So much to do, so much to do.\"\n\n\"You poor thing,\" laughed Vaska.\n\n\"Keep still, you lazy thing. Your sides must be all worn out with lying\nabout, forever baking in the sun; while I know no rest from early\nmorning. Look at me. Just see what I've done today. I perched on ten\nroofs, flew over half the town, peeped into every corner and hole there\nis, and now I must fly up the church steeple, visit the market, and dig\na little in the garden. But I'm really wasting time talking to you.\nToo busy! Too busy! Caw! Caw! Caw!\"\n\nThe Crow pecked her beak for the last time against the twig, shook her\nfeathers out and was just ready to fly off when she heard a terrible\nnoise. A flock of sparrows was noisily chasing a tiny little yellow\nbird.\n\n\"Catch her! Catch her!\" squawked the sparrows.\n\n\"What's happened? Whither away?\" cawed the Crow, following the\nsparrows.\n\nThe Crow flapped her wings ten times and caught up with the sparrows.\nThe tiny yellow bird, completely exhausted, dropped into the little\ngarden overgrown with bushes of lilacs, currants and syringa, to hide\nfrom the pursuing sparrows. The little yellow bird hid under a bush and\nthere was the Crow.\n\n\"Who are you?\" cawed the Crow.\n\nThe sparrows scattered over that bush like a handful of peas. They were\nfurious with the little yellow bird and wanted to peck her to death.\n\n\"What do you want with her?\" asked the Crow.\n\n\"Why is she yellow?\" peeped the sparrows in chorus.\n\nThe Crow looked at the little yellow bird. She certainly was all\nyellow. He jerked his head and said:\n\n\"Oh, you mischiefs! Why, it isn't a bird at all! There never was a bird\nlike this! However, all you clear out. I must speak with this curiosity\nthat pretends to be a bird.\"\n\nThe sparrows piped, chatted, and were very angry, but they had to clear\nout. Conversations with a Crow are always very brief. He can peck you\nto death, you know.\n\nAfter chasing the sparrows, the Crow questioned the little yellow bird\nthat was breathing heavily and looking pitifully at him with her little\nblack eyes.\n\n\"Who are you?\" asked the Crow.\n\n\"I am a canary.\"\n\n\"No fooling now, or you will get the worst of it. Remember, if it had\nnot been for me, the sparrows would have pecked you to death.\"\n\n\"But I am a canary.\"\n\n\"Where do you come from?\" asked the Crow.\n\n\"I lived in a cage. I was born in a cage. I grew up in a cage. But I\nalways wanted to fly about like other birds. The cage hung near the\nwindow and I always watched other birds. They looked so happy and my\ncage seemed so small. Well, one day when the little girl, Verotchka,\nbrought my cup of water, she left the door open and I flew out. I flew\nabout the room first and then I flew out through the open window.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"What were you doing in a cage?\" said the Crow.\n\n\"I am a singer, you know.\"\n\n\"Just sing for me, then,\" said the Crow.\n\nThe Canary sang. The Crow, with his head tilted to one side, listened\nand wondered.\n\n\"You call this singing?\" he exclaimed. \"Ha! Ha! Ha! How foolish were\nyour masters to feed you for such singing. If they fed anyone, why\nshould it not have been a real bird like me? Just a while ago I cawed\nand that rascal Vaska almost fell off the fence. That's what I call\nsinging.\"\n\n\"I know Vaska, a most awful beast! Many a time he softly crept to my\ncage, his green eyes burning, his claws out.\"\n\n\"To some, he seems fierce, but not to others. That he is sly, is true,\nbut there is nothing fierce about him. However, we can talk about this\nlater, for somehow I cannot yet believe that you are a real bird.\"\n\n\"But, Aunty, I am a bird. I am a real bird. All canaries are birds, you\nknow.\"\n\n\"Very well. We shall see. How do you expect to make a living?\"\n\n\"I don't need very much, really. A few seeds, a bit of sugar and a bit\nof toast. That is all.\"\n\n\"What a lady you are! A bit of sugar indeed! You can do without sugar.\nAs for seeds, those might be found. On the whole, I like you. Do you\nwant to live with me? I have a splendid nest in the birch tree.\"\n\n\"Thank you. But how about the sparrows?\"\n\n\"If you live with me, no one will dare to touch you. Not only the\nsparrows, but even sly Vaska knows my character well. I don't like\nfooling.\"\n\nThe Canary at once took courage and flew off with the Crow. Yes, the\nnest was fine. If there were only some toast and a wee bit of sugar!\n\n\nII\n\nSo the Canary and the Crow lived together in one nest. Although the\nCrow liked to grumble occasionally, on the whole she was not unkind.\nHer chief fault was that she envied everybody and very often considered\nherself abused.\n\n\"Will you tell me why the foolish hens are better than I? Just see how\nthey are cared for, fed and watched,\" she would complain to the Canary.\n\"Then look at the pigeons. Of what use are they? and still look at the\nhandfuls of oats they get. They are so foolish. Yet whenever I come\nnear I am chased from every corner. Is this just? And I'm scolded, too.\nHaven't you noticed that I'm nicer than other birds and much prettier,\ntoo? However, one should not say such things about oneself. Don't you\nthink so?\"\n\nThe Canary agreed with everything.\n\n\"Yes, you are a big bird,\" she would say.\n\n\"Here you are. They keep parrots in cages and look after them. Can you\nsee why the foolish parrot is better than I? He only knows how to\nscream and chatter and no one can really understand what he says.\"\n\n\"I know. We had a parrot that every one grew tired of,\" said the\nCanary.\n\n\"Yes, one can think of many birds that live, no one knows why. For\ninstance, the starling; it comes like a mad thing no one knows whence,\nstays through the summer, and flies away again. There are also the\nswallows, the bluebirds and nightingales, but one can't really count\nall this rubbish. There isn't a single really desirable bird. Why, just\nas soon as there is a cold breeze, all of them seem to fly away, the\nLord knows where.\"\n\nIn reality, the Crow and the Canary did not understand each other. The\nCanary could not understand a life of freedom; the Crow could not\nunderstand a life of captivity.\n\n\"Aunty, has no one ever thrown you a bit of seed,\" wondered the Canary,\n\"not a single grain?\"\n\n\"How foolish you are to talk of seeds, when I have to dodge sticks and\nstones. People are very cruel.\"\n\nWith this, the Canary could never agree, because people had always\nbeen kind to her. She thought that the Crow imagined these things, but\nthe Canary was soon to see the cruelty of people. Once, perched on a\nfence, she heard a heavy stone whizz over her very head. Some school\nboys walking past the fence saw the Crow and couldn't resist throwing a\nstone at her.\n\n\"Now, have you seen for yourself?\" asked the Crow, climbing upon the\nroof. \"People are always like that.\"\n\n\"Perhaps you have done something to annoy them, Aunty.\"\n\n\"Nothing at all. They are just cruel and all of them hate me.\"\n\nThe Canary felt very sorry for the poor Crow whom no one loved. It must\nbe very hard to live under such circumstances.\n\nOn the whole, there were many enemies. For instance, Vaska, with his\noily eyes, watching the birds and always feigning sleep. The Canary saw\nwith her own eyes how he caught a young inexperienced sparrow; one\ncould only see the feathers flying, and hear the bones crackling.\nHorrible! Horrible! Then the hawks, too; very fine to watch them as\nthey sail up into the air, but suddenly you see them, like a heavy\nstone dropping to the ground, and before you know it, a chick is in\ntheir claws.\n\nAll this the Canary saw. The Crow, however, was not afraid of either\ncats or hawks. She often had a notion to have a taste of a young bird\nherself. At first, the Canary could not believe this, but she really\ndid see this with her own eyes. A flock of sparrows were chasing the\nCrow, chattering and screaming.\n\n\"Let her go! Let her go!\" screamed the sparrows, beside themselves,\nflying over the Crow's nest in a frenzy. \"This is awful! This is real\nrobbery!\"\n\nThe Crow hid deep in her nest and the Canary saw with horror a bleeding\nsparrow, dead.\n\n\"Aunty, what are you doing?\"\n\n\"Keep still!\" said the Crow.\n\nHer eyes were horrible. They seemed to burn. The Canary had to shut her\nown eyes for fear she would see the Crow gobbling up the poor little\nvictim.\n\n\"Some day she may even eat me,\" thought the Canary.\n\nHaving satisfied her hunger, the Crow grew kinder and kinder. She\ncleaned her bill, perched comfortably and fell into a sweet slumber.\nThe Canary noticed that the Crow was very greedy and not very\nparticular as to what she ate.\n\nSometimes she would carry a piece of bread, a bit of decayed meat, or\nsome leavings found in a dump hole. The dump hole the Crow liked best,\nbut the Canary could never understand the pleasure of digging in such\nplaces.\n\nIn fact, it was hard to blame the Crow. She alone ate in one day food\nenough for twenty canaries. The Crow had only one care--food. Perched\non some roof, she was always on the lookout for food.\n\nWhen the Crow was too lazy to search for food, she would resort to\nslyness. If she saw a flock of sparrows tearing at something, she would\nfly right over to them, pretending she was just passing by, cawing with\nher whole might, \"Caw! Caw! I'm busy! I'm busy!\"\n\nShe would then swoop down, grab the booty, and that was the end of it.\n\n\"But it isn't a bit nice to take food away from others,\" once remarked\nthe indignant Canary.\n\n\"Isn't it? But what if I am hungry?\"\n\n\"Others are hungry, too,\" said the Canary.\n\n\"Well, let them look out for themselves. It is easy enough for you, the\npets, cuddled in cages. We have to get our own food. You and the\nsparrows--how much do you need? A few grains and you are satisfied for\nthe whole day.\"\n\n\nIII\n\nSummer passed unnoticed. The sun seemed to grow colder, the day\nshorter. Rains began to fall. A cold wind blew. The Canary felt herself\na most unfortunate bird, especially when it rained. But the Crow did\nnot seem to mind it.\n\n\"What if it does rain? It will stop,\" said the Crow.\n\n\"But it is so cold, too cold, Aunty,\" said the Canary.\n\nIt was especially hard at night. The little wet Canary would shiver\nwith cold and the Crow would scold at her.\n\n\"Oh, you baby! What will you do when the real frost comes and the snow\nfalls?\"\n\nThe Crow was puzzled. \"What sort of bird is this that is afraid of\nrain, wind and cold?\" And she began to doubt once more whether the\nCanary was a real bird, after all. \"Surely she must be pretending.\"\n\n\"Truly, Aunty, I am a real bird,\" the Canary would assert with tears in\nher eyes, \"even if I do feel cold sometimes.\"\n\n\"Look out, now! It always seems to me that you are only pretending to\nbe a bird,\" said the Crow.\n\n\"Honestly, Aunty, I'm not pretending.\"\n\nSometimes the Canary would try to think about her future. Perhaps it\nwould have been better to have stayed in the cage, after all. There it\nwas warm and one always had plenty to eat.\n\nSeveral times she flew up to the window, where her old cage hung. Two\nnew canaries looked out at her and envied her.\n\n\"Oh, how cold it is!\" pitifully piped the freezing Canary. \"How I would\nlike to be in there with you.\"\n\nOne morning the Canary looked out of the Crow's nest. She was\nastonished at the dreary sight. Over night, the ground had been covered\nwith the first snow. Everything was white, but, saddest of all, the\nsnow covered all the grains on which the Canary fed. There remained\nonly the mountain ash berry, but she couldn't possibly eat that! It\nwas too sour! As for the Crow, she ate that, saying, \"Very fine!\"\n\nAfter starving two whole days, the Canary was in despair.\n\n\"What is going to happen to me? I will die of hunger,\" thought the\nCanary.\n\nThe next day the Canary sat wondering when suddenly she saw coming into\nthe garden the very same boys who had thrown stones at the Crow. They\nspread a net on the ground and covered it with very tasty bird seed\nthen went away.\n\n\"These boys aren't so bad,\" said the happy Canary, looking at the\nseeds. \"Look, Aunty, the boys have brought me some food.\"\n\n\"Very fine food, I must say,\" croaked the Crow. \"Don't you dare stick\nyour bill in there! Do you hear me! If you try to get that seed, you\nwill be caught in the net.\"\n\n\"And what will happen then?\" asked the Canary.\n\n\"Why, they will put you into a cage again,\" said the Crow.\n\nThe Canary grew thoughtful. She wanted food, but she did not want a\ncage. Of course, it was cold and at times there was little to eat.\nStill, life in freedom was better, especially when it did not rain. For\nseveral days the Canary was strong. But hunger was stronger. Finally\nshe just had to yield to her longing for food. She was caught in the\nnet.\n\n\"Help! Help!\" piped the Canary pitifully. \"I will never do it again. It\nis better to die of hunger than to live in a cage.\"\n\nThe Canary now thought that there was nothing in the whole world nicer\nthan the Crow's nest. Of course, it was cold and occasionally one had\nno food. But there was freedom. One could fly about wherever one\npleased. She wept, waiting for the boys to come to put her into the\ncage. But as luck would have it, the Crow passed by that very moment\nand spied the Canary in difficulty.\n\n\"You are foolish,\" scolded the Crow. \"Didn't I tell you not to touch\nthose seeds?\"\n\n\"Aunty, I'll never do it again.\"\n\nThe Crow was just in time. The boys were already on their way to fetch\ntheir victim. The Crow tore the net quickly with her beak. The Canary\nwas free.\n\nThe boys chased the Crow, throwing sticks and stones and scolding her\nfor some time.\n\n\"How nice it is to be free,\" chirped the glad Canary, finding herself\nonce more in the Crow's nest.\n\n\"Of course, it's nice. You'd better take care if you want to stay\nfree,\" scolded the Crow.\n\nThe Canary, safe in the Crow's nest, started life anew. Never again did\nshe complain of either cold or hunger.\n\nOne day, the Crow flew away in search of food and stayed all night in\nthe field. When she returned she found the little Canary lying in the\nnest with her little legs up--cold and stiff.\n\nThe Crow tilted her head to one side and looking very closely at the\nCanary, she said:\n\n\"Well, I told you you were not a real bird.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE WISEST OF ALL\n\n\nI\n\nTurkey Gobbler awoke as usual before any one else. It was still dark.\nHe woke up his wife and said:\n\n\"Am I not the wisest of all?\"\n\nTurkey Hen was not quite awake. She coughed and then answered:\n\n\"Oh, you are very wise. Khe! Khe! Khe! Who does not know that? Khe!\nKhe! Khe!\"\n\n\"No, it isn't enough to say 'wisest of all,'\" said Turkey Gobbler.\n\"There are plenty of wise birds, but the wisest of all is one, and that\nis I.\"\n\n\"The wisest of all! Khe! Khe! Khe! The wisest of all! Khe! Khe! Khe!\"\n\n\"That's right,\" said Turkey Gobbler.\n\nA little cross, Turkey Gobbler added in a voice that other birds might\nhear:\n\n\"Do you know, I think that I am not respected enough.\"\n\n\"You only imagine that. Khe! Khe!\"\n\nTurkey Hen calmed him, at the same time smoothing her feathers that had\nruffled over night.\n\n\"You only think that, for one could not imagine a wiser bird than you.\nKhe! Khe!\"\n\n\"What about the Gander? Oh, I see everything. Of course, he is silent\nmost of the time, never saying anything directly, but I feel that\nsilently he does not respect me.\"\n\n\"Don't pay any attention to him,\" said Turkey Hen. \"He isn't worth it.\nKhe! Khe! Haven't you noticed how foolish he is?\"\n\n\"Any one can see that,\" said Turkey Gobbler. \"It is written all over\nhis face, 'Foolish Gander,' and nothing else. But it isn't really the\nGander, for, after all, can one be angry with a fool? The Rooster, for\ninstance. The most ordinary Rooster. Did you hear him scream at me the\nother day? He screamed so loudly that all the neighbors heard him. It\nseemed to me he was saying I was foolish or something like that.\"\n\n\"How strange you are,\" said Turkey Hen, astonished. \"Don't you know why\nRooster screams?\"\n\n\"Why?\" asked Turkey Gobbler.\n\n\"Khe! Khe! Khe! It's very simple and everybody knows it. You're a Cock\nand he's a Cock. Only he is a very, very common Cock, while you are a\nreal beyond-the-sea Indian Cock. That's why he screams with envy. Every\nbird wishes to be an Indian Cock. Khe! Khe!\"\n\n\"But that's hard to be, mother. Ha! ha! ha! Some ambition for a common\nlittle Rooster to become a Turkey Gobbler! No, sir. That never can be!\"\nsaid Turkey Gobbler.\n\nTurkey Hen was a very modest, kind bird. She was always worried when\nTurkey Gobbler quarreled with anyone.\n\nThis morning, he was hardly awake when he was thinking with whom to\npick a quarrel and fight. He was a restless bird, though not unkind.\nTurkey Hen was often hurt when other birds made sport of Turkey\nGobbler, calling him, \"Old Stuck-Up\" or \"Chatterbox\" or \"Empty-Head.\"\nThey were partly right, of course. But then, there are no birds without\nfaults. That's why it is pleasant to find in another bird even the\ntiniest shortcomings.\n\nThe birds, now awakened, proceeded from the poultry house into the\nbarnyard, and at once there arose a horrible clatter. The hens made the\nmost noise; they ran around the yard, they climbed on the kitchen\nwindows, and they screamed, beside themselves,\n\n\"Cut-a-cut! Cut-a-cut! Cut-a-cut! We are hungry! Cook Matryona must\neither be dead or she wants to starve us to death.\"\n\n\"Ladies and gentlemen, have patience!\" remarked Gander, standing on one\nleg. \"Look at me. I, too, am hungry, but I don't shout in the way you\ndo. If I were to open my mouth and scream, 'Quack! Quack!' or louder,\n'QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!'...\"\n\nGander quacked so loudly that Cook Matryona awakened immediately.\n\n\"It's easy for him to talk of patience,\" grumbled a Duck. \"His throat\nis like a megaphone. If I had a neck as long as his, and a bill as\nstrong as his, I'd also preach patience. I would also have my food\nbefore any one else, and preach patience to the others. We know Master\nGander's patience.\"\n\nRooster, supporting Duck in this, screamed, \"Yes, it's easy for Gander\nto talk of patience. Who pulled out two of my finest tail feathers\nyesterday? It is dishonorable to grab hold of a bird's tail. Of course,\nwe quarreled slightly and I won't deny that I intended to pick Gander's\nhead, but then I was to blame, not my poor tail. Am I not right, ladies\nand gentlemen?\"\n\nHungry birds, like hungry people, become unjust--just because they are\nhungry.\n\n\nII\n\nTurkey Gobbler, through sheer pride, never scrambled for food like\nother birds. He always waited patiently for Matryona to chase some\ngreedy bird away and to call him.\n\nIt was the same this morning. Turkey Gobbler strutted along the side of\nthe fence, pretending to be looking for something.\n\n\"Khe! Khe! I am so hungry,\" complained Turkey Hen, stepping along\nbehind her husband. \"Cook Matryona has already strewn the oats and now,\nI think, the leftover cereal of yesterday is coming. Khe! Khe! Oh, how\nI do love cereal! I think I could eat nothing but cereal the rest of my\nlife. I even dream of cereal sometimes.\"\n\nTurkey Hen liked to complain when she was hungry and she demanded\nsympathy from Turkey Gobbler. Compared with other birds, she looked\nlike an old woman, humping her back and coughing. She even walked with\na broken gait, as if her legs didn't belong to her.\n\n\"Yes, it would be nice to have some cereal,\" said Turkey Gobbler,\nagreeing with her. \"But a wise bird never scrambles for food. Am I not\nright? If my master does not feed me, then I die of hunger. Just let\nhim find another Turkey Gobbler like me!\"\n\n\"There is not another like you,\" said Turkey Hen.\n\n\"Of course not,\" said her husband.\n\n\"In reality, cereal is nothing. It is not a question of cereal, but of\nMatryona. Am I not right? As long as there is Matryona there will be\ncereal. Everything in the world depends upon Matryona--oats, cereal,\ngrains and crusts of bread.\"\n\nIn spite of these discussions, Turkey Gobbler began to feel the pangs\nof hunger. He became very sad indeed.\n\nAll the birds had been fed, and still Matryona did not call him. Could\nshe have forgotten him? That would be no joke.\n\nThen something happened which caused Turkey Gobbler to forget his\nhunger.\n\nA young hen, walking near the barn, began to call, \"Cut-a-cut!\nCut-a-cut! Cut-a-cut!\" All the other hens took up the call at once,\nscreaming with all their might, \"Cut-a-cut! Cut-a-cut!\" Loudest of all\nwas Rooster, of course, with his \"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Who's there?\"\n\nAttracted by the noise, all the birds ran toward the barn. There they\nsaw a most unusual sight. Close to the barn, in a hole, lay something\ngray and round and all covered with sharp needles.\n\n\"Just an ordinary stone,\" said one.\n\n\"It's moving,\" exclaimed Little Hen. \"I also thought it was a stone,\nbut it moved when I came close, and it seems to me that I saw eyes.\nStones have no eyes, you know.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"A foolish hen can see anything if she is frightened,\" remarked Turkey\nGobbler. \"Perhaps it ... it ...\"\n\nHe was interrupted by Gander, who screamed:\n\n\"It's a mushroom. I have seen mushrooms just like this, only they had\nno needles.\"\n\nEverybody laughed loudly at the Gander.\n\n\"It looks more like a hat,\" someone ventured to say, but this remark,\ntoo, met with laughter.\n\n\"A hat has no eyes.\"\n\n\"Let us waste no time in empty conversation. Let us act,\" decided the\nRooster for everybody. \"Hey, you thing full of needles, you speak for\nyourself! What sort of beast are you? I like no fooling. Do you hear?\"\n\nAs there was no answer, the Rooster felt insulted, and threw himself\nupon the unknown offender. He tried to peck him once or twice but\nstepped aside, abashed.\n\n\"It is nothing but a huge pine cone,\" he said. \"Nothing tasty about it.\nWould someone like to try?\"\n\nEverybody chattered, saying the first thing that occurred to him.\n\nThere was no end to the different opinions. Turkey Gobbler was the only\nsilent one. All the others chattered while he listened to their\nfoolishness. They clattered and chattered for a long time, until\nsomeone shouted:\n\n\"Ladies and gentlemen, we are wasting time, and needlessly tiring\nourselves, when we have Turkey Gobbler with us. He knows everything.\"\n\n\"I do, indeed!\" said Turkey Gobbler, spreading his tail and puffing out\nhis red wattles.\n\n\"If you do, then tell us who is this strange creature.\"\n\n\"And if I don't want to tell you? Just refuse to tell you?\" said Turkey\nGobbler.\n\nThen all the birds began to beg him to tell them.\n\n\"You are our wisest bird, Turkey Gobbler. Please tell us. It will cost\nyou nothing.\"\n\nTurkey Gobbler plumed himself for a time and finally said:\n\n\"Very well. I will. Yes, I will tell you. But first you must answer\nme--what do you think of me?\"\n\n\"Who doesn't know? You are the wisest of all!\" they answered in chorus.\n\"Isn't there a saying, 'As wise as a Turkey?'\"\n\n\"Then you do respect me?\" asked Turkey Gobbler.\n\n\"Of course we do. All of us respect you.\"\n\nTurkey Gobbler plumed himself some more, puffed up his red wattles,\nstrutted around the strange beast three times and finally said:\n\n\"This is.... So you want to know what this is?\"\n\n\"We do! Please tell us! Don't torture us any longer!\" said the others.\n\n\"This ... but it is creeping!\" said Turkey Gobbler.\n\nThe fowls felt like laughing at him when a giggle was heard and a thin\nlittle voice said:\n\n\"There is the wisest bird of all! He! He! He!\" And from under the\nneedles appeared a black snout and two tiny black eyes. The tiny black\nsnout sniffed the air and said:\n\n\"Hello, everybody! Is it possible that you do not recognize\nPorcupine--Porcupine Gray? Pardon me ... but what a funny Turkey\nGobbler you have! I really do not know how to say it politely ... but\nyour Turkey Gobbler is stupid.\"\n\n\nIII\n\nEverybody was horrified at this insult that Porcupine hurled at Turkey\nGobbler. Of course, Turkey Gobbler did say a foolish thing just now,\nbut it does not mean that Porcupine has any right to insult him.\n\nIt is very rude to enter a house and then to insult the master. You\nmust admit that a Turkey Gobbler is a very dignified and imposing bird.\nThere is surely no comparison between him and a Gray Porcupine.\n\nSuddenly, everybody sided with Turkey Gobbler and there arose a\nterrific clatter.\n\n\"Porcupine probably thinks that all of us are foolish,\" said Rooster,\nflapping his wings.\n\n\"He insulted all of us! If any one is foolish, it is surely the\nPorcupine himself,\" said Gander, stretching his neck. \"I noticed that\nat once.\"\n\n\"How can mushrooms be foolish?\" answered Porcupine.\n\n\"Ladies and gentlemen, we are wasting time talking to him,\" shouted\nRooster. \"He will not understand us, anyway. If, instead, you, Mr.\nGander, were to grab his needles on one side, and Master Gobbler and I\non the other side, we would at once know who is the wiser, for you\ncannot hide brains under foolish needles.\"\n\n\"I am ready,\" replied Gander. \"It would be better still if I were to\ngrab his needles in the back and you, Master Rooster, pecked his\nsnout. Then, ladies and gentlemen, it will be seen who is the wisest.\"\n\nTurkey Gobbler was silent all this time. At first, he was overwhelmed\nby the Porcupine's impudence and he did not know what answer to make.\nThen Turkey Gobbler grew so angry, so angry that he was horrified at\nhimself. His first wish was to throw himself upon the offender and tear\nhim into tiny bits. Then would the world see and be convinced what a\nstrict and serious bird a Turkey Gobbler is. He even started in\nPorcupine's direction, blowing himself up more and more, and just as he\nwas about to throw himself upon Porcupine everybody began shouting and\nscolding the stranger. Turkey Gobbler stopped and waited patiently to\nsee the end of it all.\n\nWhen Rooster suggested that they grab Porcupine's needles and drag him\nin different directions, Turkey Gobbler stopped his ardor.\n\n\"Ladies and gentlemen,\" said he, \"perhaps all this can be settled\namicably. Yes, it seems to me there is a little misunderstanding here.\nLeave the whole thing to me.\"\n\n\"Very well. Let us wait,\" agreed the Rooster, unwillingly. He was eager\nto fight Porcupine. \"I know nothing will come of it.\"\n\n\"This is my affair,\" answered Turkey Gobbler calmly. \"Just stay around\nand hear what I say.\"\n\nAll the birds formed a ring around Porcupine and waited.\n\nTurkey Gobbler walked around the stranger, coughed and said:\n\n\"Listen, Mr. Porcupine. Let us have a serious explanation. In general,\nI do not like domestic troubles.\"\n\n\"Heavens! How wise! How wise he is!\" thought Turkey Hen, listening to\nher husband, silent with admiration.\n\n\"First of all, I want you to understand that you are in respectable,\nwell-behaved society,\" said Turkey Gobbler, \"and that means something.\nYes, you may consider it an honor to get into our company.\"\n\n\"True! True!\" shouted several.\n\n\"But this is between ourselves. The main thing is not ...\" here Turkey\nGobbler stopped, was silent a moment for better effect, then continued,\n\"Yes, the main thing is--did you really think that we had no idea what\na Porcupine was? I have no doubt that Gander was only joking when he\ntook you for a mushroom. And I can say the same of what Rooster and\nthe others said. Am I not right, ladies and gentlemen?\"\n\n\"You certainly are, Turkey Gobbler,\" shouted the fowls in a voice so\nloud, that poor Gray Porcupine tucked in her little black snout.\n\n\"Oh, how wise he is!\" thought Turkey Hen, beginning to understand what\nher husband was driving at.\n\n\"You see, Master Porcupine,\" continued Turkey Gobbler, \"we all like our\nlittle jokes. I will not speak for myself. Why not have a little joke?\nAnd as I see it, you, Mr. Porcupine, seem also to be of a merry\ndisposition.\"\n\n\"And you guessed right,\" admitted Porcupine, once more showing his\nlittle black snout. \"I have such a merry disposition that I cannot\nsleep at night. Many cannot stand that, but sleeping bores me.\"\n\n\"You will probably agree best with our Rooster, who crows like mad all\nnight,\" said Turkey Gobbler.\n\nEverybody suddenly became gay. They all felt Porcupine was there to\ncomplete their happiness.\n\nTurkey Gobbler was triumphant at so cleverly getting out of an awkward\nsituation caused by Porcupine's laughing in his face and calling him\nstupid.\n\n\"Now Mr. Porcupine,\" said Turkey Gobbler, winking, \"confess that even\nyou were joking when you said that I was not a wise bird.\"\n\n\"Of course, I was joking,\" said Porcupine, reassuring him. \"I have a\nmerry disposition. I love to joke.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, I was quite sure of that. Ladies and gentlemen, have you\nheard him?\" asked Turkey Gobbler.\n\n\"Of course, we did. No one could doubt it. He was joking.\"\n\nTurkey Gobbler bent close to Porcupine's ear and whispered:\n\n\"I want to tell you a horrible secret. But only on one condition--don't\nbreathe it to a soul. It is true ... I am a little ashamed to talk\nabout myself ... but how can I help it? I am the wisest bird! At times,\nit even embarrasses me, but as the wise Russians say, 'You can't hide\nan awl in a sack.' Please not a word of this to anyone!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF LITTLE MILK, LITTLE CEREAL AND GRAY KITTEN, MOORKA\n\n\nI\n\nIt was wonderful. It was wonderful that it happened every day. As soon\nas Cook placed the pot of milk and the earthenware oatmeal pan upon the\nstove, it would all begin. At first, there was silence; then\nconversation.\n\n\"I am Little Milk.\"\n\n\"And I am Little Cereal.\"\n\nAt first, conversation was carried on in whispers. But gradually both\nLittle Cereal and Little Milk would grow more and more excited.\n\n\"I AM LITTLE MILK!\"\n\n\"AND I AM LITTLE CEREAL!\"\n\nThe cereal was generally covered with an earthenware cover and she\ngrumbled away in her pot like an old woman. When she grew angry, there\ncame to the top a bubble that burst and said:\n\n\"Still, I am Little Cereal. Puff!!\"\n\nThis boasting was offensive to Little Milk.\n\n\"My what a wonder! As if one had never seen oatmeal cereal before!\" and\nLittle Milk would grow more and more excited until rising to the top\nin a foam, she tried to get out from the pot. No sooner would Cook turn\nher head away than Little Milk would run all over the hot stove.\n\n\"Oh, this milk,\" complained Cook every time it happened. \"No sooner do\nI take my eyes off it than it runs over.\"\n\n\"I can't help my fiery temper,\" would reply Little Milk, defending\nherself. \"It doesn't make me happy to be angry and to hear the\nboastings of Cereal, 'I'm Cereal! I'm Cereal! I'm Cereal!' To see her\nsitting there in her pan and grumbling makes me angrier and angrier.\"\n\nIt happened sometimes that, in spite of the cover, Little Cereal would\nescape from her pan and creep along the stove, forever repeating:\n\n\"I'm Cereal! I'm Cereal! I'm Cereal! Z-h-h! Z-h-h!\"\n\nOf course, this did not happen every day, but it did happen, and each\ntime, Cook in despair would say:\n\n\"Oh, this Cereal! It is amazing how it will not stay in the pan.\"\n\n\nII\n\nAs a rule, Cook was excited. Of course, there were plenty of reasons\nfor her agitation. For instance, there was Kitty Moorka. He was a very\nbeautiful cat and Cook loved him very much. In the morning, Moorka\nwould follow at the Cook's heels and meow so pitifully that it would\nmelt a heart of stone.\n\n\"Isn't your belly ever filled?\" asked Cook, astonished, chasing the\ncat. \"Just think of all that liver you ate last night.\"\n\n\"But that was yesterday,\" answered Moorka, astonished in his turn.\n\"To-day, I am hungry again. Meow.\"\n\n\"Why don't you catch mice if you're hungry? Lazy! That's what you are!\"\n\n\"Talking is very easy. I'd like to see you catch a mouse,\" Moorka\ndefended himself. \"However, I always try hard. Who caught a mouse last\nweek? Who had a scratch the full length of his nose? That's the kind of\nrat I almost caught. Then she grabbed hold of my nose. It's easy to\ntalk of catching mice. Indeed!\"\n\nAfter eating his liver, Moorka would sit somewhere near the stove where\nit was warm, close his eyes and doze sweetly.\n\n\"I hope you're full, now,\" said Cook. \"Even your eyes are squinting.\nWell, you lie-on-your-side cat? Always meat, meat, meat!\"\n\n\"I'm no vegetarian, you know. I can eat meat!\" said Moorka, opening\njust one eye. \"You know I like fish too. It is really pleasant to eat\nfish, and up to this moment, I can't say which I like better, liver or\nfish. Out of politeness, I like both. If I were a man, I'd be either a\nfishman or the butcher-boy who brings us the liver. I'd feed all the\ncats from every corner of the earth, and I myself would always have my\nfill.\"\n\nAfter eating, Moorka would grow interested in things going on around\nhim, just by way of amusement. He would sit on the window where the\nstarling's cage hung. It was pleasant to watch the foolish bird,\nhopping back and forth.\n\n\"I know you, you old rascal!\" the starling would call to him. \"You\ndon't have to be watching me!\"\n\n\"Perhaps I would like to make your acquaintance,\" said Moorka.\n\n\"Yes, I know how you make friends,\" said the starling. \"Didn't I see\nyou eat a real live baby sparrow? You disgusting brute!\"\n\n\"I'm not at all disgusting. On the contrary, everybody loves me,\" said\nMoorka. \"Come to me. I'll tell you a fairy tale.\"\n\n\"Oh, you rascal!\" said the starling. \"I know what a fine story-teller\nyou are. Haven't I seen you tell stories to a roasted spring chicken\nstolen from the kitchen? I know you! You're a fine one!\"\n\n\"Just as you like,\" said Moorka. \"I was thinking only of your pleasure.\nAs for that roasted spring chicken, I did eat him. But anyhow, he\nwasn't good for anything else.\"\n\n\nIII\n\nEvery morning, Moorka would sit near the stove and listen patiently to\nthe quarreling of Little Milk and Little Cereal. He could never\nunderstand what it was all about and only blinked his eyes.\n\n\"I am Little Milk!\"\n\n\"I am Little Cereal! Cereal! Cereal!\"\n\n\"I can't understand a word of it. No, I don't understand it. Why are\nthey angry? If I were to repeat, 'I'm a Cat! I'm a Cat! I'm a Cat!'\ncould any one take offense at it? I can't understand it at all.\nHowever, I must confess I prefer Milk, especially when she isn't\nangry.\"\n\nWhen they quarreled, Little Cereal and Little Milk would become so\nheated, they ran all over the stove. Then there arose a horrible smell.\nCook would rush in, wringing her hands, and crying:\n\n\"Whatever shall I do now? I can never turn my head away without having\nsomething happen.\"\n\nSetting Milk and Cereal aside, Cook went to market for provisions.\nMoorka at once made the best of this. He sat down close to Little Milk\nand said:\n\n\"Mistress Milk, please don't be angry.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nLittle Milk grew calmer as the cat watched her. Moorka walked around\nthe spot several times, fixed his whiskers very gently and said:\n\n\"Listen, folks! It isn't nice to quarrel. Choose me for your judge and\nI'll settle your affairs very quickly.\"\n\nThe black roach, sitting in the crack of the wall, almost choked with\nlaughter.\n\n\"A judge indeed! I must say! Ha! Ha! Ha! It took you to think of it,\nyou old rascal.\"\n\nBut Little Milk and Little Cereal were very glad to have someone settle\ntheir quarrel at last, for they really did not know why they were\nquarreling or what it was all about.\n\n\"Very well. Very well. I'll unravel this,\" said Kitty Moorka. \"And\nI'll do it honestly. Let us begin with Milk.\"\n\nHe walked around the pot several times, touched Little Milk gently with\nhis paw, blew upon her again and started lapping her up.\n\n\"Help Help!\" shouted the black roach. \"He will lap up all the milk and\nI will be blamed for it.\"\n\nWhen Cook returned from market and looked for the milk, the pot was\nempty. Cat Moorka was sleeping sweetly near the stove as if nothing had\nhappened.\n\n\"You good-for-nothing!\" scolded Cook, pulling his ear. \"Tell me, who\ndrank the milk?\"\n\nIt was very painful, but Moorka pretended not to understand anything.\nHe had suddenly become speechless! Then he was thrown out of the\nkitchen.\n\nBehind the door, he shook himself, smoothed his ruffled fur, curved\nhis tail and said:\n\n\"If I were Cook, all the cats would drink milk day and night. However,\nI am not angry with my Cook, because this is something she can never\nreally understand!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nBED TIME\n\n\nI\n\nLittle Verotchka's one little eye is falling asleep. Verotchka's one\nlittle ear is falling asleep.\n\n\"Father, are you here?\"\n\n\"Yes, dear child.\"\n\n\"You know, father, I want to be a Queen.\"\n\nVerotchka sleeps. She smiles as she sleeps.\n\nThere are so many flowers. All of them are smiling. They surround\nVerotchka's little bed; they whisper and laugh in their thin little\nvoices.\n\nThere are crimson flowers, blue flowers, yellow flowers, azure, pink,\nscarlet, white, as if a rainbow, falling, struck the earth and\nscattered its living sparks into many-colored lights.\n\n\"Verotchka wants to be a Queen,\" gaily proclaimed the Field Bluebells,\nswaying on their thin, green stems.\n\n\"Oh, how comical she is!\" whispered the modest Forget-me-nots.\n\n\"Ladies and gentlemen, this affair needs serious discussion,\" said the\nyellow Dandelion pertly.\n\n\"What does it mean to be a Queen?\" asked the blue Cornflower. \"I grew\nup in a field and I cannot understand your city ways.\"\n\n\"It's very simple,\" said the pink Carnation. \"It is so simple it\nrequires no explaining. A Queen is ... is ... is.... You don't seem to\nunderstand.... How strange you are! A Queen is like a flower, as pink\nas I am. In other words, Verotchka wants to be a pink Carnation. Isn't\nthat simple?\"\n\nEverybody laughed gaily. Only the Roses were silent. They were much\noffended.\n\n\"Who doesn't know that the Queen of Flowers is a Rose--delicate,\nfragrant, marvellous? And suddenly a mere pink Carnation calls herself\na Queen. It's all nonsense.\"\n\nFinally one Rose grew angry and, turning scarlet, she said: \"Pardon me.\nVerotchka wants to be a Rose. A Rose is the Queen because everybody\nloves her.\"\n\n\"Oh, that is nice,\" said Dandelion, growing angry. \"If that's the case,\nwhere do I come in?\"\n\n\"Dandelion, please don't be angry,\" pleaded the Wood Bluebells. \"It\nspoils your temper and it is very ugly to be angry. Look at us. We are\nsilent, although we know perfectly well Verotchka wants to be a Wood\nBluebell.\"\n\n\nII\n\nThere were many flowers and they all talked calmly without arguing.\n\nAll the field flowers, Lilies-of-the-Valley, Violets, Forget-me-nots,\nBluebells, Cornflowers, Field Clovers, were so very modest; while the\ncultivated flowers, like the Roses, Tulips, Lilies, Narcissuses, put on\nairs like rich children in their Sunday clothes.\n\nVerotchka loved the modest field flowers best. Of these, she would make\nwreaths and bouquets for the table. They were all so nice.\n\n\"Verotchka loves us very much,\" whispered the Violets. \"We are the\nfirst to arrive in spring. We come here as soon as the snow melts.\"\n\n\"And we, too,\" said the Lilies-of-the-Valley. \"We are also spring\nflowers. We are not exacting; we come direct from the woods.\"\n\n\"It is not our fault that it is too cold for us to grow in the fields,\"\ncomplained the fragrant curly Stocks and Hyacinths. \"We are only\nvisitors here. Our native land is far away, in a warm country where\nthere is no winter. Oh, it is so nice there! We are always longing for\nour native land. Your north is so cold. Verotchka loves us, and very\nmuch, too.\"\n\n\"It is also very nice here,\" argued the Field Flowers. \"Of course, it\nis very cold at times, but it is healthy. The frost kills our bitterest\nenemies, worms and bugs of all kinds. If not for frost, life would be\nvery difficult.\"\n\n\"We also like cold,\" said the Roses.\n\nThe Azaleas and Camelias agreed with this. They all liked the cold when\nthey were through blooming.\n\n\"Ladies and gentlemen, let us talk about our native countries,\"\nsuggested White Narcissus. \"It will be so interesting. Verotchka will\nlisten, because she loves us all.\"\n\nThen they all talked together. Roses, with tears, remembered the Vale\nof Shiraz in Persia; the Hyacinths recalled Palestine; the Azaleas,\nAmerica; the Lilies, Egypt; the flowers gathered there were from all\ncorners of the earth and each one could tell many wonderful stories.\nMost of them came from the South, where there is no winter and much\nsunshine.\n\nThere it is lovely--the summer is eternal. The south is full of\nenormous trees, wonderful birds, many butterflies, beauties, resembling\nflying flowers, and flowers resembling butterflies.\n\n\"We are only visitors here in the North. At times, we feel very cold,\"\nwhispered all these southern flowers.\n\nThe native Field Flowers felt sorry for them. Really, it must take a\ngood deal of patience to stand the cold north wind, the cold rain and\nthe falling snow. Of course, the spring snow melts quickly, but it is\nsnow, nevertheless.\n\n\"You have one great fault,\" exclaimed the Cornflower, after listening\nto all these stories. \"I don't deny you are, at times, more beautiful\nthan we, simple Field Flowers. I readily admit that, and then you, too,\nyou are our dear visitors, but your main fault is that you grow only\nfor the few rich, while we grow for everybody. In that we are kinder\nthan you. For example, look at me! You will find me in the hands of\nevery country child. Just see how much pleasure I give to the children\nof the poor! No one has to pay money to buy me. It takes only a walk in\nthe woods to get me. I grow among the wheat, the rye, and the oats.\"\n\n\nIII\n\nLittle Verotchka listened and wondered at these stories of the flowers.\nShe longed to see everything for herself--all the wonderful countries\nof which the flowers spoke.\n\n\"If I were only a Swallow I would fly thither at once,\" said Verotchka.\n\"Why haven't I wings! Oh, it would be so nice to be a bird!\"\n\nShe had hardly finished speaking when a little Lady Bug crept up to\nher,--a real Lady Bug all red with tiny black spots, a little black\nhead, thin little black feelers and thin little black legs.\n\n\"Let us fly, Verotchka,\" whispered Lady Bug, twitching her feelers.\n\n\"But I have no wings, Lady Bug,\" said Verotchka.\n\n\"Get on my back.\"\n\n\"How can I? You are so small, Lady Bug.\"\n\n\"Just watch me,\" said Lady Bug.\n\nVerotchka watched and wondered more and more. Lady Bug stretched out\nher strong upper wings and doubled in size; then she opened her thin\ncobwebby lower wings and grew still larger. She grew under Verotchka's\nvery eyes and she became so large--large enough for Verotchka to sit\ncomfortably upon her back between her red wings.\n\n\"Are you comfortable, Verotchka?\" asked Lady Bug.\n\n\"Very,\" said Verotchka.\n\n\"Then hold on tight,\" said Lady Bug.\n\nThen they flew. At first Verotchka was afraid and closed her eyes. It\nseemed to her that it was not she who was flying, but as if cities,\nwoods, rivers and mountains were flying beneath her. Then it seemed as\nif she had grown small--as small as a pin head and as light as the down\nof Dandelion.\n\nLady Bug flew fast and faster, so fast that the air whistled through\nher wings.\n\n\"Look down, Verotchka,\" said Lady Bug.\n\nVerotchka looked down and clapped her hands.\n\n\"Oh, how many Roses--red, yellow, white, pink,\" exclaimed Verotchka.\nThe world seemed to be covered with a carpet of swaying Roses. \"Let us\ndescend,\" begged Verotchka of the Lady Bug.\n\nThey descended and Verotchka grew big again, as big as she was before,\nand Lady Bug grew tiny again.\n\nFor a long time Verotchka ran about in the rose-field and gathered a\nhuge bunch of Roses. How beautiful they were! Their perfume made one\nfaint. If one could only carry the rose-field to the North, where Roses\nwere mere visitors!\n\n\"Now, let us go further,\" said Lady Bug, stretching out her wings\nagain. Again, Lady Bug grew large and larger and Verotchka grew small\nand smaller.\n\n\nIV\n\nAgain they flew. It was all so nice. Above, the sky so blue; beneath,\nthe water still bluer. They flew over a steep rocky shore.\n\n\"Will we really fly across the sea?\" asked Verotchka.\n\n\"Yes. But you must sit still and hold me tight,\" said Lady Bug.\n\nAt first, Verotchka was afraid, but after a while she wasn't. There was\nnothing but sky and sea. On the sea sailed ships like huge birds with\nwhite wings. The little boats looked like flies.\n\nEverything was lovely--so nice. Way yonder was the shore, low, yellow,\nsandy. It was the mouth of some huge river and near it gleamed a city\nall white, as if built of sugar. Still beyond, one saw a dead desert,\nwhere stood the Pyramids. Lady Bug descended upon the bank of the\nriver. Upon it grew tall Papyrus and among them were Lilies, wonderful,\ndelicate.\n\n\"Your home is very lovely,\" said Verotchka to the Lilies. \"Does winter\nnever come here to you?\"\n\n\"What is winter?\" asked the Lilies, wonderingly.\n\n\"Winter is the time snow falls,\" said Verotchka.\n\n\"And what is snow?\" asked the Lilies.\n\nThe Lilies even laughed at Verotchka. They thought the little northern\ngirl was making fun of them. It is true that every fall huge flocks of\nbirds from the North visited them and told them about the winter. But\nthese birds had never really seen winter. They were only repeating what\nthey had heard and Verotchka could not believe that there was no\nwinter, for that meant no need of warm coats or warm shoes.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThey flew further. Verotchka wondered no longer at the blue sea, the\nmountains, the sun-kissed desert and the Hyacinths.\n\n\"I'm too warm,\" complained Verotchka. \"You know, Lady Bug, I don't\nthink it's nice to have summer all the time.\"\n\n\"It all depends upon what one is accustomed to,\" said Lady Bug.\n\nThey flew towards high mountains, the tops of which were always white\nwith snow. There it wasn't so warm. Beyond the mountains, stretched\ndeep, dark forests. Under the forest trees, it was dark, for the rays\nof the sun never penetrated beyond the thick tree tops. Monkeys swung\nfrom bough to bough. The woods were full of birds--green, yellow,\nblue. But the most wonderful of all were the flowers growing directly\nfrom the tree trunks. There were flowers like fire, flowers of all\ncolors, flowers that looked like birds and butterflies. The whole\nforest seemed to blaze with many-colored living fires.\n\n\"These are Orchids,\" explained Lady Bug.\n\nHere it was all a tangle. It was impossible to walk.\n\nThey flew further. Beneath them, a huge river spread between green\nbanks. Lady Bug alighted upon a huge white flower that grew in the\nwater. Verotchka had never before seen a flower so large as this.\n\n\"This is a holy flower,\" explained Lady Bug. \"It is called 'Lotus.'\"\n\n\nV\n\nLittle Verotchka had seen so much that she finally grew tired and\nwanted to go home. Home is best.\n\n\"I love white snow,\" said Verotchka. \"It isn't nice without winter.\"\n\nAgain they flew. The higher they flew, the colder it grew. Soon there\nappeared beneath them white fields and only the pine woods were green.\nVerotchka was so happy when she saw the first fir-tree.\n\n\"Little Fir-Tree! Little Fir-Tree!\" called Verotchka.\n\n\"Hello, Verotchka,\" answered the Little Fir-Tree beneath her.\n\nThis was a real Christmas tree. Verotchka knew her at once. That dear\nChristmas tree! Verotchka bent down to tell her how lovely she was and\nall of a sudden she felt herself going down, down, down.\n\nIt was frightful. She turned somersaults in the air several times, and\nthen fell right into the soft white snow. Verotchka closed her eyes\nwith fear and didn't know whether she was dead or alive.\n\n\"How did you get here, Little One?\" asked somebody.\n\nVerotchka opened her eyes and saw a bent, old man, all gray. She knew\nhim at once. It was the same old man who brought Christmas trees and\ngolden stars, boxes of candy and wonderful toys, to the good children.\nHe was so kind, this old man; he picked her up in his arms and covered\nher with his fur coat, asking her again:\n\n\"How did you come here, Little Girl?\"\n\n\"I travelled on Lady Bug's back, and I saw so much, Grandfather!\"\n\n\"So, so.\"\n\n\"I know you, Grandfather. You bring Christmas trees to children.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes. I'm fixing one now.\" And he pointed to a tall pole that\ndidn't look like a Christmas tree at all.\n\n\"What sort of Christmas tree is that, Grandfather? It's nothing but a\nlong stick.\"\n\n\"Wait and see,\" said Grandfather.\n\nGrandfather carried Verotchka into a tiny village almost buried in\nsnow. Only the roofs and chimneys were visible. The country children\nwere all waiting for the old grandfather. They jumped and shouted, when\nthey saw him.\n\n\"Christmas tree! Christmas tree!\"\n\nThey came to the first hut. Grandfather got an unbroken sheaf of oats,\ntied it to the end of the pole and stuck the pole on the roof.\nImmediately the tiny birds that do not go away for the winter flew\nupon it from all sides and began pecking the seeds.\n\n\"It is our Christmas tree,\" they shouted.\n\nSuddenly, Verotchka felt very happy. That was the first time she had\nseen a Christmas tree made for the winter birds.\n\n\"What a kind old grandfather!\"\n\nOne little Sparrow, bustling about more than the others, recognized\nVerotchka and called out!\n\n\"Why, this is Verotchka! I know her very well. Many, many times has she\nscattered crumbs for me.\"\n\nOther Sparrows also recognized her and piped noisily with joy.\n\nThen came another Sparrow that turned out to be the squabbler. He began\npushing everybody aside and snatching the best seeds. This was the same\nSparrow who had quarreled with Stickelback. Verotchka knew him at\nonce.\n\n\"Hello, Master Sparrow!\" she said.\n\n\"Is that you, Verotchka? Why, hello!\"\n\nSparrow Squabbler hopped on one leg, winked knowingly with one eye and\nsaid to the old man:\n\n\"Why, this is Verotchka, who wants to be the Queen. I myself heard her\nsay that.\"\n\n\"Do you want to be a Queen, Little One?\" asked the Old Man.\n\n\"Yes, very much, Grandfather,\" said Verotchka.\n\n\"Very well,\" said the wise old man. \"There is nothing simpler. Every\nQueen is a woman and every woman a Queen. Now go home and tell that to\nall the other little girls.\"\n\nLady Bug was very glad to get away. She was afraid that the\nquarrelsome Sparrow would gobble her up.\n\nSo Verotchka and Lady Bug flew home. Faster and faster they flew. At\nhome, all the flowers were waiting for Verotchka. They had been\nwondering what is a Queen all the time she was away.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLulla-lullaby. Verotchka's one eye is sleeping; the other little eye is\nopen. Verotchka's one little ear is sleeping; the other ear listens.\n\nNow everybody gathered about Verotchka's bed. Bold Rabbit, Bear Mishka,\nSquabbling Rooster and Sparrow, Black-headed Crow, Stickelback and\ntiny, tiny Cacinella. They were all there near Verotchka.\n\n\"Father, I love them all,\" whispered Verotchka. \"I love even the Black\nRoach, Father.\"\n\nVerotchka's other eye is asleep. The other little ear is also asleep.\nNear Verotchka's bed, the green spring grass grows gaily, the flowers\nare smiling--many flowers, blue, pink, yellow, azure and scarlet. The\ngreen birch bends over Verotchka's bed and whispers something,\nlovingly.\n\nThe sun is shining, the sand is yellow, and the blue sea waves beckon\nto Verotchka to come to them.\n\nSleep, Verotchka, and grow strong!\n\nLulla-Lullaby.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nTHE END\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nIllustration locations on p.9, p.31, p.55, p.85, p.139, p.161, and\np.179 changed slightly to match text.\n\nMissing, extra, incorrect, and misplaced punctuation corrected.\n\nP.157--\"mice if your're\" changed to \"mice if you're\"\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Verotchka's Tales","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":20445}