Fairy tales stories for children 6 7 years old. Educational bedtime stories for children
Saying
Our fairy tales begin
Our tales are woven
On the sea-ocean, on the island of Buyan.
There is a birch tree there,
A cradle hangs on it,
The bunny is fast asleep in the cradle.
Like my bunny
Silk blanket,
Perinushka Poohova,
Pillow in the heads.
Grandma sits next to me
Tells fairy tales to the bunny.
Old tales
Not short, not long:
About the cat
About the spoon
About the fox and the bull,
About the crooked rooster...
About geese-swans,
About smart animals...
This is a saying, but what about fairy tales? —
Russian folk tale "The Braggart Hare"
Once upon a time there lived a hare in the forest. In the summer he lived well, but in the winter he was hungry.
Once he climbed up to a peasant’s threshing floor to steal sheaves and saw that there were already a lot of hares gathered there. He began to brag about them:
- I don’t have a mustache, but whiskers, not paws, but paws, not teeth, but teeth, I’m not afraid of anyone!
The bunny went into the forest again, and the other hares told Aunt Crow how the hare had boasted. The crow flew off to look for the braggart. She found him under a bush and said:
- Well, tell me, how did you brag?
- And I don’t have a mustache, but whiskers, not paws, but paws, not teeth, but teeth.
The crow patted him by the ears and said:
- Look, don't brag anymore!
The hare got scared and promised not to brag anymore.
Once a crow was sitting on the fence, suddenly the dogs pounced on it and began to scold it. The hare saw the dogs mauling the crow, and thought: he should help the crow.
And the dogs saw the hare, abandoned the crow and ran after the hare. The hare ran quickly - the dogs chased him, chased him, became completely exhausted and fell behind him.
The crow was sitting on the fence again, and the hare caught his breath and ran to her.
“Well,” the crow tells him, “you’re great: not a braggart, but a brave man!”
Russian folk tale "The Fox and the Jug"
A woman went out into the field to reap and hid a jug of milk in the bushes. The fox approached the jug, stuck its head into it, and lapped up the milk. It’s time to go home, but the problem is that he can’t get his head out of the jug.
A fox walks, shakes its head and says:
- Well, jug, he was joking, and so be it! Let me go, little jug. I'm spoiling you enough - I've played and it will be!
The jug doesn't lag behind, whatever you want!
The fox got angry:
“Wait, if you don’t give up on honor, I’ll drown you!”
The fox ran to the river and let's drown the jug.
The jug drowned and dragged the fox with it.
Russian folk tale "Finist - Clear Falcon"
There lived a peasant and his wife in a village; they had three daughters. The daughters grew up, and the parents grew old, and then the time came, the turn came - the peasant’s wife died. The peasant began to raise his daughters alone. All three of his daughters were beautiful and equal in beauty, but different in character.
The old peasant lived in abundance and felt sorry for his daughters. He wanted to take some old lady into the yard so that she could take care of the housework. And the youngest daughter, Maryushka, says to her father:
“There’s no need to take the bob, father, I’ll take care of the house myself.”
Marya was caring. But the older daughters didn’t say anything.
Maryushka began to take care of the house instead of her mother. And she knows how to do everything, everything goes well with her, and what she doesn’t know how to do, she gets used to it, and once she gets used to it, she also gets along with things. The father looks at his youngest daughter and rejoices. He was glad that Maryushka was so smart, hard-working and meek in character. And Maryushka was a good looking girl - a real beauty, and her kindness added to her beauty. Her older sisters were also beauties, but their beauty was not enough for them, and they tried to add blush and whitewash and dress up in new clothes. It used to be that the two older sisters would sit and preen themselves all day, and by the evening they would all be the same as they were in the morning. They will notice that the day has passed, how much rouge and whitewash they have used, but they have not become any better, and they sit angry. And Maryushka will be tired in the evening, but she knows that the cattle are fed, the hut is clean, she prepared dinner, kneaded bread for tomorrow and the priest will be pleased with her. She will look at her sisters with her joyful eyes and will not say anything to them. And then the older sisters get even angrier. It seems to them that Marya was not like that in the morning, but by the evening she became prettier - why, they don’t know.
The need came for my father to go to the market. He asks his daughters:
- What should I buy for you, kids, to make you happy?
The eldest daughter says to her father:
- Buy me, father, a half shawl, so that the flowers on it are large and painted in gold.
“And for me, father,” the middle one says, “also buy half shawls with flowers, painted in gold, and have red in the middle of the flowers.” And also buy me boots with soft tops, high heels, so that they stomp on the ground.
The eldest daughter was offended by the middle one and said to her father:
“And for me, father, buy me boots with soft tops and heels so that they can stomp on the ground.” And also buy me a ring with a stone for my finger - after all, I am your only eldest daughter.
The father promised to buy gifts, which the two eldest daughters were punished with, and asks the youngest:
- Why are you silent, Maryushka?
“And I, father, don’t need anything.” I don’t go anywhere from the yard, I don’t need outfits.
- Your lie, Maryushka! How can I leave you without a gift? I'll buy you a treat.
“And you don’t need a gift, father,” says the youngest daughter. - And buy me, dear father, a feather from Finist - Yasna falcon, if it is cheap.
The father went to the market, he bought gifts for his eldest daughters, which they punished him, but he did not find the feather of Finist - Yasna the Falcon. I asked all the merchants.
“There is no such product,” said the merchants; “There is no demand,” they say, “for it.”
The father did not want to offend his youngest daughter, a hard-working, smart girl, but he returned to the court, and did not buy Finist’s feather, Yasna the Falcon.
But Maryushka was not offended. She was glad that her father had returned home and told him:
- Nothing, father. Another time you go, then you’ll buy it, my little feather.
Time passed, and again my father needed to go to the market. He asks his daughters what to buy them as a gift: he was kind.
Big daughter says:
“You bought me boots last time, father, so let the blacksmiths now forge the heels on those boots with silver shoes.”
And the middle one hears the older one and says:
“And me, too, father, otherwise the heels are knocking and not ringing—let them ring.” And so that the nails from the horseshoes don’t get lost, buy me another silver hammer: I’ll use it to knock out the nails.
- What should I buy you, Maryushka?
- And look, father, a feather from Finist - The falcon is clear: whether it will happen or not.
The old man went to the market, quickly finished his business and bought gifts for his older daughters, but for the younger daughter he was looking for a feather until the evening, and that feather is not there, no one gives it to buy.
The father returned again without a gift for his youngest daughter. He felt sorry for Maryushka, but Maryushka smiled at her father and did not show her grief - she endured him.
Time passed, and my father went to the market again.
- What should I buy you, dear daughters, as a gift?
The eldest thought and didn’t immediately come up with what she wanted.
- Buy me something, father.
And the middle one says:
- And for me, father, buy something, and add something else to something else.
- And you, Maryushka?
- And buy me, father, one feather from Finist - the falcon is clear.
The old man went to the market. I did my chores, bought gifts for my older daughters, but didn’t buy anything for my youngest daughters: there wasn’t that feather in the market.
The father was driving home, and he saw: an old man was walking along the road, older than him, completely decrepit.
- Hello, grandfather!
- Hello you too, honey. What are you upset about?
- How could she not be, grandfather! My daughter ordered me to buy her one feather from Finist - Yasna falcon. I was looking for that feather for her, but it wasn’t there. And my daughter is the youngest, I feel sorry for her more than anyone else.
The old man thought for a moment, and then said:
- So be it!
He untied his shoulder bag and took out a box from it.
“Hide,” he says, “the box, in it is a feather from Finist - Yasna the Falcon.” Yes, remember: I have one son; You feel sorry for your daughter, but I feel sorry for my son. My son doesn’t want to get married, but his time has come. If he doesn’t want to, he can’t force him. And he tells me: “Whoever asks you for this feather, give it to me,” he says, “It’s my bride asking for it.”
The old man said his words - and suddenly he was not there, he disappeared to no one knows where: he was there or he wasn’t!
Maryushka's father was left with a feather in his hands. He sees that feather, but it is gray and simple. And it was impossible to buy it anywhere.
The father remembered what the old man had told him and thought: “Apparently, this is the fate of my Maryushka - without knowing, without seeing, to marry someone unknown.”
The father came home, gave gifts to his older daughters, and gave the youngest a box with a gray feather.
The older sisters dressed up and laughed at the younger one:
“And you put your sparrow feather in your hair and show off.”
Maryushka remained silent, and when everyone in the hut went to bed, she put in front of her a simple, gray feather of Finist the Yasna Falcon and began to admire it. And then Maryushka took the feather in her hands, held it with her, caressed it and accidentally dropped it on the floor.
Immediately someone hit the window. The window opened, and Finist, the Clear Falcon, flew into the hut. He kissed himself to the floor and turned into a fine young man. Maryushka closed the window and began to talk with the young man. And in the morning Maryushka opened the window, the fellow bowed to the floor, the fellow turned into a clear falcon, and the falcon left behind a simple, gray feather and flew away into the blue sky.
For three nights Maryushka welcomed the falcon. During the day he flew across the sky, over fields, over forests, over mountains, over seas, and by night he flew to Maryushka and became a good fellow.
On the fourth night, the older sisters heard Maryushka’s quiet conversation, they also heard the strange voice of the kind young man, and the next morning they asked the younger sister:
“Who are you, sister, talking to at night?”
“And I speak the words to myself,” answered Maryushka. “I don’t have any friends, I’m at work during the day, I have no time to talk, and at night I talk to myself.”
The older sisters listened to the younger sister, but did not believe her.
They said to the father:
- Father, Marya has a betrothed, she sees him at night and talks to him. We heard it ourselves.
And the priest answered them:
“But you wouldn’t listen,” he says. - Why shouldn’t our Maryushka have a betrothed? There is no bad thing here, she is a pretty girl and came out at her time. Your turn will come.
“So Marya recognized her betrothed out of turn,” said the eldest daughter. “I would rather marry her.”
“It’s really yours,” the priest reasoned. - So fate doesn’t count. Some brides remain maids until old age, while others have been dear to all people since their youth.
The father said this to his eldest daughters, but he himself thought: “Or will the word of that old man come true when he gave me the feather? There’s no trouble, but will a good person be Maryushka’s betrothed?”
And the older daughters had their own desire. When it was time for evening, Maryushka’s sisters took the knives out of their handles, and stuck the knives into the window frame and around it, and in addition to the knives, they also stuck sharp needles and fragments of old glass there. Maryushka was cleaning the cow in the barn at that time and did not see anything.
And so, as it got dark, Finist, the Clear Falcon, flies to Maryushka’s window. He flew to the window, hit sharp knives and needles and glass, fought and fought, wounded his whole chest, and Maryushka was exhausted from the day's work, she dozed off, waiting for Finist - Yasna the falcon, and did not hear her falcon hitting the window .
Then Finist said loudly:
- Farewell, my red maiden! If you need me, you will find me, even if I’m far away! And first of all, when you come to me, you will wear out three pairs of iron shoes, you will wipe three cast-iron staves on the grass of the road, and you will devour three stone loaves.
And Maryushka heard Finist’s words through her slumber, but could not get up or wake up. And in the morning she woke up, her heart was burning. She looked out the window, and inside the window Finist’s blood was drying in the sun. Then Maryushka began to cry. She opened the window and pressed her face to the place where the blood of Finist, Yasna the Falcon, was. The tears washed away the falcon's blood, and Maryushka herself seemed to wash herself with the blood of her betrothed and became even more beautiful.
Maryushka went to her father and told him:
“Don’t scold me, father, let me go on a long journey.” If I’m alive, we’ll see each other, but if I die, it’s in the family, I know, it was written to me.
It was a pity for the father to let his beloved youngest daughter go to God knows where. But it is impossible to force her to live at home. The father knew: the girl’s loving heart is stronger than the power of her father and mother. He said goodbye to his beloved daughter and let her go.
The blacksmith made Maryushka three pairs of iron shoes and three cast iron staffs, Maryushka also took three stone loaves, she bowed to her father and sisters, visited her mother’s grave and set off on the road to look for the desired Finist - Yasna Falcon.
Maryushka is walking along the road. It doesn’t go for a day, not two, not three days, it goes for a long time. She walked through open fields and through dark forests, and through high mountains. In the fields the birds sang songs to her, the dark forests welcomed her, from the high mountains she admired the whole world. Maryushka walked so much that she wore out one pair of iron shoes, wore out a cast-iron staff on the road and gnawed up stone bread, but her path still does not end, and Finist - Yasna the Falcon is nowhere to be found.
Then Maryushka sighed, sat down on the ground, began to put on other iron shoes - and saw a hut in the forest. And the night has come.
Maryushka thought: “I’ll go to the people’s hut and ask if they have seen my Finist - Yasna Falcon?”
Maryushka knocked on the hut. There lived in that hut one old woman - good or evil, Maryushka did not know about that. The old woman opened the entryway and a beautiful maiden stood in front of her.
- Let me go, grandma, to spend the night.
- Come in, my dear, you will be a guest. How far are you going, young one?
- Whether it’s far or close, I don’t know, grandma. And I am looking for Finist - Yasna the Falcon. Haven't you heard about him, grandma?
- How can you not hear! I’m old, I’ve been in this world for a long time, I’ve heard about everyone! You have a long way to go, my dear.
The next morning the old woman woke up Maryushka and said to her:
- Go, dear, now to my middle sister, she is older than me and knows more. Maybe she will teach you good things and tell you where your Finist lives. And so that you don’t forget old me, take this silver bottom and a golden spindle, start spinning a tow, and the golden thread will stretch. Take care of my gift until it is dear to you, and if it doesn’t become dear, give it yourself.
Maryushka took the gift, admired it and said to the hostess:
- Thank you, grandma. Where should I go, in which direction?
And I’ll give you a ball - a scooter. Wherever the ball rolls, and you follow it. If you decide to take a break, sit on the grass, the ball will stop and wait for you.
Maryushka bowed to the old woman and followed the ball.
Whether Maryushka walked for long or short, she didn’t count the path, she didn’t feel sorry for herself, but she sees: the forests are dark, terrible, in the fields the grass grows ungrainful, prickly, the mountains are bare and stone, and the birds do not sing above the ground.
Maryushka sat down to change her shoes. She sees: the black forest is close, and night is coming, and in the forest, in one of the huts, a light was lit in the window.
The ball rolled towards that hut. Maryushka followed him and knocked on the window:
- Kind owners, let me spend the night!
An old woman, older than the one who had previously greeted Maryushka, came out onto the porch of the hut.
-Where are you going, red maiden? Who are you looking for in the world?
- I’m looking, grandma, for Finista - Yasna Sokol. I was with an old woman in the forest, I spent the night with her, she had heard about Finist, but did not know him. Maybe she said her middle sister knows.
The old woman let Maryushka into the hut. And the next morning she woke up the guest and told her:
- It will be far for you to look for Finist. I knew about him, but I didn’t know. Now go to our older sister, she should know. And so that you remember about me, take a gift from me. Out of joy, he will be your memory, and out of need, he will provide help.
And the old lady hostess gave her guest a silver saucer and a golden egg.
Maryushka asked the old mistress for forgiveness, bowed to her and followed the ball.
Maryushka is walking, and the land around her has become completely alien. She looks: only a forest is growing on the earth, but there is no clean field. And the trees, the further the ball rolls, grow higher and higher. It became completely dark: the sun and sky were not visible.
And Maryushka kept walking and walking through the darkness until her iron shoes were completely worn out, and her staff was worn out on the ground, and until she had devoured the last stone bread to the last crumb.
Maryushka looked around - what should she do? She sees her little ball: it lies under the window of a forest hut.
Maryushka knocked on the window of the hut:
- Good owners, shelter me from the dark night!
An ancient old woman, the eldest sister of all old women, came out onto the porch.
“Go to the hut, my dear,” he says. - Look, where did you come from? Further, no one lives on earth, I am the extreme one. To you in another
I need to keep the way tomorrow morning. Whose will you be and where are you going?
Maryushka answered her:
- I'm not from here, grandma. And I am looking for Finist - Yasna the Falcon.
The eldest old woman looked at Maryushka and said to her:
—Are you looking for Finist the Falcon? I know, I know him. I’ve lived in this world for a long time, so long ago that I recognized everyone, remembered everyone.
The old woman put Maryushka to bed and woke her up the next morning.
“It’s been a long time,” he says, “I haven’t done anyone any good.” I live alone in the forest, everyone has forgotten about me, I am the only one who remembers everyone. I will do good to you: I will tell you where your Finist, the Clear Falcon, lives. And even if you find him, it will be difficult for you. The falcon finist is now married, he lives with his mistress. It will be difficult for you, but you have a heart, and it will come to your heart and mind, and from your mind even the difficult will become easy.
Maryushka said in response:
“Thank you, grandmother,” and bowed to the ground.
“You’ll thank me later.” And here’s a gift for you - take from me a golden hoop and a needle: you hold the hoop, and the needle will embroider itself. Go now, and what you need to do, you’ll go and find out for yourself.
Maryushka walked off as she was, barefoot. I thought: “When I get there, the ground here is hard, foreign, I need to get used to it.”
She didn't last long. And he sees: there is a rich courtyard in a clearing. And in the courtyard there is a tower: a carved porch, patterned windows. A rich, noble housewife sits at one window and looks at Maryushka: what, they say, does she want.
Maryushka remembered: now she has nothing to put on shoes and she devoured the last stone bread on the road.
She said to the hostess:
- Hello, hostess! Don't you need a worker for bread, for clothes?
“It is necessary,” answers the noble housewife. - Do you know how to light stoves, carry water, and cook dinner?
- I lived with my father without my mother - I can do everything.
- Do you know how to spin, weave and embroider?
Maryushka remembered the gifts from her old grandmothers.
“I can,” he says.
“Go then,” the hostess says, “to the people’s kitchen.”
Maryushka began to work and serve in someone else's rich yard. Maryushka’s hands are honest, diligent - every business goes well with her.
The hostess looks at Maryushka and rejoices: she has never had such a helpful, kind, and intelligent worker; and Maryushka eats plain bread, washes it down with kvass, and doesn’t ask for tea. The owner of her daughter boasted:
“Look,” he says, “what a worker we have in our yard—submissive, skillful, and with a gentle face!”
The landlady's daughter looked at Maryushka.
“Ugh,” he says, “even though she’s affectionate, I’m more beautiful than her, and I’m whiter in body!”
In the evening, after she had completed her household chores, Maryushka sat down to spin. She sat down on a bench, took out a silver bottom and a golden spindle, and began to spin. She spins, a thread stretches from the tow, the thread is not simple, but golden; She spins, and she looks at the silvery bottom, and it seems to her that she sees Finist there - Yasna the Falcon: he looks at her as if alive in the world. Maryushka looks at him and talks to him:
- My Finist, Finist - Clear Falcon, why did you leave me alone, bitter, to cry for you all my life? These are my sisters, homewreckers, who shed your blood.
And at that time the owner’s daughter entered the people’s hut, stood at a distance, looked and listened.
- Who are you grieving for, girl? she asks. - And KE.KZ.Am I fun in your hands?
Maryushka tells her:
- I grieve for Finist - the Clear Falcon. And I’ll spin the thread, I’ll embroider a towel for Finist - he’d have something to wipe his white face with in the morning.
- Sell me your fun! - says the landlady's daughter. “And Finist is my husband, I’ll spin the thread for him myself.”
Maryushka looked at the owner’s daughter, stopped her golden spindle and said:
- I have no fun, I have work in my hands. But the silver bottom - the golden spindle - is not for sale: my kind grandmother gave it to me.
The owner's daughter was offended: she did not want to let go of the golden spindle from her hands.
“If it’s not for sale,” he says, “then let’s make an exchange: I’ll give you something too.”
“Give me,” said Maryushka, “let me look at Finist - Yasna Sokol at least once with one eye!”
The owner's daughter thought about it and agreed.
“If you please, girl,” he says. - Give me your fun.
She took the silver bottom - the golden spindle - from Maryushka, and she thought: “I’ll show her Finist for a while, nothing will happen to him, I’ll give him a sleeping potion, and through this golden spindle my mother and I will get rich!”
By nightfall Finist, the Clear Falcon, returned from the skies; He turned into a good young man and sat down to dinner with his family: his mother-in-law and Finist with his wife.
The owner's daughter ordered to call Maryushka: let her serve at the table and look at Finist, as was the agreement. Maryushka appeared: she served at the table, served food and did not take her eyes off Finist. And Finist sits as if he were not there - he did not recognize Maryushka: she was tired of the journey, going to him, and her face changed from sadness for him.
The hosts had dinner; Finist got up and went to sleep in his room.
Maryushka then says to the young hostess:
— There are a lot of flies in the yard. I’ll go to Finist’s room, I’ll drive the flies away from him so that they don’t disturb his sleep.
- Let her go! - said the old mistress.
The young housewife was thinking again.
“But no,” he says, “let him wait.”
And she followed her husband, gave him a sleeping potion to drink at night, and returned. “Perhaps,” the owner’s daughter reasoned, “the worker has some other fun for such an exchange!”
“Go now,” she said to Maryushka. - Go drive away the flies from Finist!
Maryushka came to Finist in the upper room and forgot about the flies. She sees: her dear friend is sleeping soundly.
Maryushka looks at him, can’t see enough. She leaned close to him, shared the same breath with him, whispered to him:
- Wake up, my Finist - Clear Falcon, it was I who came to you; I have trampled three pairs of iron shoes, worn out three cast-iron staffs on the road, and eaten three stone loaves!
And Finist sleeps soundly, he does not open his eyes and does not say a word in response.
Finist’s wife, the owner’s daughter, comes to the upper room and asks:
— Did you drive away the flies?
“I drove it away,” Maryushka says, “they flew out the window.”
- Well, go sleep in a human hut.
The next day, when Maryushka had done all the housework, she took a silver saucer and rolled a golden egg on it: she rolled it around - and a new golden egg rolled off the saucer; rolls it around another time - and again a new golden egg rolls off the saucer.
The owner's daughter saw it.
“Really,” he says, “do you have such fun?” Sell it to me, or I’ll give you whatever barter you want for it.
Maryushka says to her in response:
“I can’t sell it, my kind grandmother gave it to me as a gift.” And I’ll give you a saucer with an egg for free. Here you go, take it!
The owner's daughter took the gift and was delighted.
- Or maybe what do you need, Maryushka? Ask for what you want.
Maryushka asks in response:
- And I need the very least. Let me drive the flies away from Finist again when you put him to bed.
“If you please,” says the young hostess.
And she herself thinks: “What will happen to my husband from the look of a strange girl, and he will sleep from the potion, he won’t open his eyes, but the worker may have some other fun!”
By night again, as it had been, Finist, the Clear Falcon from the sky, returned, he turned into a good young man and sat down at the table to have dinner with his family.
Finist's wife called Maryushka to wait on the table and serve food. Maryushka serves the food, puts down the cups, puts out the spoons, but she doesn’t take her eyes off Finist. But Finist looks and doesn’t see her—his heart doesn’t recognize her.
Again, as it happened, the owner’s daughter gave her husband a drink with a sleeping potion and put him to bed. And she sent the worker Maryushka to him and told her to drive away the flies.
Maryushka came to Finist; She began calling him and crying over him, thinking that today he would wake up, look at her and recognize Maryushka.
Maryushka called him for a long time and wiped the tears from her face so that they would not fall on Finist’s white face and wet it. But Finist was sleeping, he did not wake up and did not open his eyes in response.
On the third day, Maryushka completed all the housework by evening, sat down on a bench in the people's hut, took out a golden hoop and a needle. She holds a golden hoop in her hands, and the needle itself embroiders on the canvas. Maryushka embroiders and says:
- Embroider, embroider, my red pattern, embroider for Finist - Yasna Sokol, it would be something for him to admire!
The young housewife walked and walked nearby; She came to the people's hut and saw in Maryushka's hands a golden hoop and a needle that she embroidered herself. Her heart was filled with envy and greed, and she said:
- Oh, Maryushka, darling red maiden! Give me this kind of fun or take whatever you want in exchange! I also have a golden spindle, I spin yarn, weave canvas, but I don’t have a golden hoop with a needle - I have nothing to embroider with. If you don’t want to give it in exchange, then sell it! I'll give you the price!
- It is forbidden! - says Maryushka. “You can’t sell a golden hoop with a needle or give it in exchange.” The kindest, oldest grandmother gave them to me for free. And I will give them to you for free.
The young housewife took a hoop with a needle, but Maryushka had nothing to give her, so she said:
“Come, if you want, to drive away the flies from my husband, Finist.” Before, you asked for it yourself.
“I’ll come, so be it,” said Maryushka.
After dinner, the young housewife at first did not want to give Finist a sleeping potion, but then she changed her mind and added that potion to the drink: “Why should he look at the girl, let him sleep!”
Maryushka went to the room to the sleeping Finist. Her heart couldn't stand it anymore. She fell to his white chest and wailed:
- Wake up, wake up, my Finist, my clear falcon! I walked the whole earth on foot, coming to you! Three cast-iron staffs were too tired to walk with me and were worn out on the ground, three pairs of iron shoes were worn out by my feet, three stone loaves I devoured.
But Finist is sleeping, doesn’t smell anything, and doesn’t hear Maryushka’s voice.
Maryushka wailed for a long time, woke up Finist for a long time, cried over him for a long time, but Finist would not have woken up: his wife’s potion was strong. Yes, one hot tear of Maryushka fell on Finist’s chest, and another tear fell on his face. One tear burned Finist’s heart, and another opened his eyes, and he woke up at that very moment.
“Oh,” he says, “what burned me?”
- My finist, clear falcon! - Maryushka answers him. - Wake up to me, it’s me who came! For a long, long time I searched for you, I ground iron and cast iron on the ground. They couldn’t stand the road to you, but I did! The third night I call you, but you sleep, you don’t wake up, you don’t answer my voice!
And then Finist, the Clear Falcon, recognized his Maryushka, the red maiden. And he was so happy about her that he couldn’t say a word for joy. He pressed Maryushka to his white chest and kissed her.
And when he woke up, accustomed to his joy, he said to Maryushka:
- Be my blue dove, my faithful red maiden!
And at that very moment he turned into a falcon, and Maryushka into a dove.
They flew away into the night sky and flew side by side all night until dawn.
And when they were flying, Maryushka asked:
- Falcon, falcon, where are you flying, because your wife will miss you!
The falcon finist listened to her and answered:
- I’m flying to you, red maiden. And whoever exchanges her husband on a spindle, on a saucer and on a needle, that wife does not need a husband and that wife will not get bored.
- Why did you marry such a wife? - Maryushka asked. - Wasn’t there your will?
Falcon said:
“There was my will, but there was no fate or love.”
And at dawn they sank to the ground. Maryushka looked around; she sees: her parent’s house stands as it was before. She wanted to see her father-parent, and she immediately turned into a red maiden. And Finist, the Bright Falcon, hit the damp ground and became a feather.
Maryushka took the feather, hid it on her chest in her bosom and came to her father.
- Hello, my youngest daughter, my beloved! I thought that you weren’t even in the world. Thank you for not forgetting my father, I returned home. Where were you for so long, why weren’t you in a hurry to get home?
- Forgive me, father. That's what I needed.
- But it’s necessary, it’s necessary. Thank you that the need has passed.
And it happened on a holiday, and a big fair opened in the city. The next morning the father was getting ready to go to the fair, and his older daughters were going with him to buy gifts for themselves.
The father also called the youngest, Maryushka.
And Maryushka:
“Father,” he says, “I’m tired from the road, and I have nothing to wear.” At the fair, tea, everyone will be dressed up.
“And I’ll dress you up there, Maryushka,” the father answers. - At the fair, tea, a lot of bargaining.
And the older sisters say to the younger ones:
- Put on our clothes, we have extra ones.
- Oh, sisters, thank you! - says Maryushka. - Your dresses are too much for me! Yes, I feel good at home.
“Well, have it your way,” her father tells her. - What should I bring you from the fair, what gift? Tell me, don’t hurt your father!
- Oh, father, I don’t need anything: I have everything! No wonder I walked far and got tired on the road.
My father and older sisters went to the fair. At the same time, Maryushka took out her feather. It hit the floor and became a beautiful, kind fellow, Finist, only even more beautiful than he was before. Maryushka was surprised, but she didn’t say anything out of joy. Then Finist said to her:
“Don’t be surprised at me, Maryushka, it’s because of your love that I became like this.”
- I'm afraid of you! - said Maryushka. - If you became worse, I would feel better, calmer.
- Where is your parent, father?
- He went to the fair, and his older sisters were with him.
- Why didn’t you, my Maryushka, go with them?
- I have Finist, a clear falcon. I don't need anything at the fair.
“And I don’t need anything,” said Finist, “I became rich from your love.”
Finist turned around from Maryushka, whistled through the window - now dresses, headdresses and a golden carriage appeared. They dressed up, got into the carriage, and the horses rushed them off like a whirlwind.
They arrived in the city for a fair, and the fair had just opened, all the rich goods and food were lying in a heap, and buyers were on the road.
Finist bought all the goods at the fair, all the food that was there, and ordered them to be taken by carts to the village to Maryushka’s parent. He did not buy the wheel ointment alone, but left it at the fair.
He wanted all the peasants who came to the fair to become guests at his wedding and to come to him as soon as possible. And for a quick ride they will need ointment.
Finist and Maryushka went home. They ride fast, the horses do not have enough air from the wind.
Halfway along the road, Maryushka saw her father and older sisters. They were still on their way to the fair and didn’t get there. Maryushka told them to rush to the courtyard for her wedding with Finist, the Bright Falcon.
And three days later all the people who lived a hundred miles in the area gathered to visit; Then Finist got married to Maryushka, and the wedding was rich.
Our grandparents were at that wedding, they feasted for a long time, they celebrated the bride and groom, they would not have separated from summer to winter, but the time had come to harvest the harvest, the bread began to crumble; That’s why the wedding ended and there were no guests left at the feast.
The wedding was over, and the guests forgot the wedding feast, but Maryushka’s faithful, loving heart was forever remembered in the Russian land.
Russian folk tale "Seven Simeons"
Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman.
The hour came: the man died. He left behind seven twin sons, nicknamed the seven Simeons.
So they grow and grow, all one in the same in appearance and stature, and every morning all seven go out to plow the land.
It so happened that the king was driving that way: he saw from the road that far away in the field they were plowing the land, as if in corvee labor - so many people! - and he knows that there is no lordly land in that direction.
So the Tsar sends his groom to find out what kind of people are plowing, what kind of people and rank, lordly or royal, whether they are servants or hired ones?
The groom comes to them and asks:
- What kind of people are you, what is your family and rank?
They answer him:
“And we are such people, our mother gave birth to us, seven Simeons, and we plow our father’s and grandfather’s land.”
The groom returned and told the king everything he had heard.
The king was surprised and sent to tell the seven Simeons that he was waiting for them to come to his mansion for services and parcels.
All seven gathered and came to the royal chambers and stood in a row.
“Well,” says the king, “answer: what skill is anyone capable of, what craft do you know?”
The eldest comes out.
“I,” he says, “can forge an iron pillar twenty high.”
“And I,” says the second one, “can push it into the ground.”
“And I,” says the third, “can climb on it and look all around, far, far away, everything that is happening in this wide world.”
“And I,” says the fourth, “can cut down a ship that sails on the sea as if on dry land.”
“And I,” says the fifth, “can trade various goods in foreign lands.”
“And I,” says the sixth, “can dive into the sea with a ship, people and goods, swim under the water and emerge where necessary.”
“And I’m a thief,” says the seventh, “I can get whatever you like or like.”
“I do not tolerate such crafts in my kingdom-state,” the king angrily answered the last, seventh Simeon. “I give you three days to get out of my land wherever you like; and I order all the other six Simeons to stay here.
The seventh Simeon became sad: he did not know what to do or what to do.
And the king was after the beautiful princess who lived beyond the mountains, beyond the seas. So the boyars, the royal governors remembered this and began to ask the king to leave the seventh Simeon - and he, they say, will be useful and, perhaps, will be able to bring a wonderful princess.
The king thought and allowed him to stay.
The next day the king gathered his boyars and governors and all the people and ordered the seven Simeons to show their skills.
The elder Simeon, without hesitating for long, forged an iron pillar twenty yards high. The king orders his people to install an iron pillar in the ground, but no matter how hard the people fought, they could not install it.
Then the king ordered the second Simeon to erect an iron pillar. Simeon the second, without hesitation, lifted and placed the pillar into the ground. Then Simeon the Third climbed up this pillar, sat down on the crown and began to look around in the distance, how and what was going on around the world. And he sees blue seas, sees villages, cities, darkness of people, but does not notice that wonderful princess who fell in love with the king.
Simeon the third began to look even more closely at all the views and suddenly noticed: a beautiful princess, rosy-cheeked, white-faced and thin-skinned, was sitting by the window in a distant mansion.
- Do you see? - the king shouts to him.
“Get down quickly and get the princess, as you know, so that she can be with me no matter what!”
All seven Simeons gathered, cut down a ship, loaded it with all sorts of goods, and all together sailed by sea to get the princess.
They drive, drive between heaven and earth, landing on an unknown island at the pier.
And Simeon the Younger took with him on the journey a Siberian cat, a scientist who could walk along a chain, hand things over, and throw out various German things.
And the younger Simeon came out with his Siberian cat, walked along the island, and asked his brothers not to go to land until he himself came back.
He walks along the island, comes to the city, and on the square in front of the princess’s mansion he plays with a learned and Siberian cat: he orders him to give things, to jump over a whip, to throw out German things.
At that time, the princess was sitting by the window and saw an unknown animal, which they did not have and had never seen before. He immediately sends his maid to find out what kind of beast this is and is it corrupt or not? Simeon listens to the red pullet, the princess's servant, and says:
“My animal is a Siberian cat, but I don’t sell it for any money, but if someone really loves it, I’ll give it to him.”
The servant told everything to her princess. And the princess again sends her to Simeon the thief:
- Well, they say, I loved your beast!
Simeon went to the princesses’ mansion and brought her his Siberian cat as a gift; She only asks for this to live in her mansion for three days and taste the royal bread and salt, and also added:
“Shall I teach you, beautiful princess, how to play and have fun with an unknown beast, a Siberian cat?”
The princess allowed, and Simeon stayed overnight in the royal palace.
The news spread through the chambers that the princess had a wondrous unknown beast.
Everyone gathered: the tsar, and the queen, and the princes, and the princesses, and the boyars, and the governors - everyone looked, admired and could not stop looking at the cheerful animal, the learned cat.
Everyone wants to get one for themselves and asks the princess; but the princess does not listen to anyone, does not give anyone her Siberian cat, strokes his silken fur, plays with him day and night, and orders Simeon to drink and treat him as much as he can, so that he feels good.
Simeon thanks him for the bread and salt, for the treat and for the caresses, and on the third day he asks the princess to come to his ship, to look at its structure and at the various animals, seen and unseen, known and unknown, that he brought with him.
The princess asked the father-king and in the evening, with her maids and nannies, she went to look at Simeon’s ship and its animals, seen and unseen, known and unknown.
She comes, the younger Simeon is waiting for her at the shore and asks the princess not to be angry and to leave the nannies and maids on the ground, and to welcome her to the ship:
- There are many different and beautiful animals there; whichever one you like is yours! But we cannot give gifts to everyone - both nannies and servants.
The princess agrees and orders the nannies and maids to wait for her on the shore, and she herself follows Simeon to the ship to look at the wondrous wonders, the wonderful animals.
As soon as she rose, the ship sailed and went for a walk on the blue sea.
The king can't wait for the princess. Nannies and maids come and cry, telling of their grief.
The king was inflamed with anger and ordered to immediately equip the ship and give chase.
Simeonov's ship is sailing and does not know that the royal pursuit is flying after it - it is not sailing! That's really close!
How the seven Simeons saw that the pursuit was already close - it was about to catch up! — they dived into the sea with both the princess and the ship.
They swam underwater for a long time and rose to the top when it became close to native land. And the royal pursuit sailed for three days and three nights; I didn’t find anything, so I returned.
Seven Simeons and the beautiful princess arrive home, and lo and behold, there are as many people as there are peas pouring out on the shore! The king himself waits at the pier and greets the overseas guests with great joy.
As soon as they went ashore, the king kissed the princess on the sugary lips, led her into the white-stone chambers and soon celebrated the wedding with the princess’s soul - and there was fun and a great feast!
And he gave the seven Simeons the freedom to live freely throughout the entire kingdom-state, treated them with all kinds of affection and sent them home with the treasury to live. That's the end of the fairy tale!
Russian folk tale "The Frog Princess"
In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a king and a queen; he had three sons - all young, single, daredevils
such that neither could be said in a fairy tale nor described with a pen; the youngest was called Ivan Tsarevich. The king says this to them:
- My dear children, take each of your arrows, draw tight bows and shoot them in different directions; In whose yard the arrow will fall, make your match there.
The elder brother shot an arrow - it fell on the boyar's yard, right opposite the maiden's mansion.
The middle brother let her in - she flew to the merchant’s yard and stopped at the red porch, and on that porch stood the soul-maiden, the merchant’s daughter.
The younger brother fired - the arrow landed in a dirty swamp, and was picked up by a frog frog.
Ivan Tsarevich says:
- How can I take the frog for myself? Kvakusha is no match for me!
“Take it,” the king answers him, “to know that this is your fate.”
So the princes got married: the eldest to a hawthorn tree, the middle to a merchant’s daughter, and Ivan Tsarevich to a frog.
The king calls them and orders:
- So that your wives bake me soft white bread by tomorrow!
Ivan Tsarevich returned to his chambers sadly, hanging his head below his shoulders.
- Kva-kva, Ivan Tsarevich! Why did you become so twisted? - the frog asks him. — Did Al hear an unpleasant word from his father?
- How can I not get upset? My lord, my father, ordered you to make soft white bread by tomorrow!
- Don’t worry, prince! Go to bed and rest: the morning is wiser than the evening!
The frog put the prince to bed, threw off his frog skin and turned into a maiden soul, Vasilisa the Wise, went out onto the red porch and shouted in a loud voice:
- Nurses! Get ready, get ready, prepare soft white bread, the kind I ate, ate at my dear father’s.
The next morning, Tsarevich Ivan woke up, the frog’s bread had been ready for a long time - and so delicious that you couldn’t even imagine it, only say it in a fairy tale! The loaf is decorated with various tricks, on the sides you can see the royal cities and outposts.
The king thanked Ivan Tsarevich on that bread and immediately gave the order to his three sons:
“So that your wives can weave a carpet for me in one night!”
Ivan Tsarevich returned sadly, hanging his head below his shoulders.
- Kva-kva, Ivan Tsarevich! Why did you become so twisted? Did Al hear a harsh, unpleasant word from his father?
- How can I not get upset? My sovereign father ordered that a silk carpet be woven for him in one night.
- Don’t worry, prince! Go to bed and rest: the morning is wiser than the evening.
She put him to bed, and she shed her frog skin and turned into a maiden soul, Vasilisa the Wise. She went out onto the red porch and shouted in a loud voice:
- Nurses! Get ready, get ready to weave a silk carpet - so that it is the same as the one I sat on with my dear father!
As said, so done.
The next morning Ivan Tsarevich woke up, the frog’s carpet had been ready for a long time - and it was so wonderful that you wouldn’t even think of it, except in a fairy tale. The carpet is decorated with gold and silver and intricate patterns.
The tsar thanked Ivan Tsarevich on that carpet and immediately gave a new order: that all three princes should come to him for inspection together with their wives.
Again Tsarevich Ivan returned sadly, hanging his head below his shoulders.
- Kva-kva, Ivan Tsarevich! Why are you freaking out? Did Ali hear an unfriendly word from his father?
- How can I not freak out? My sovereign father ordered me to come with you to the inspection; How can I introduce you to people?
- Don’t worry, prince! Go alone to visit the king, and I will follow you; When you hear knocking and thunder, say: it’s my little frog coming in the box.
So the older brothers came to the review with their wives, dressed up and dressed up; they stand and laugh at Ivan Tsarevich:
- Why, brother, did you come without your wife? At least he brought it in a handkerchief! And where did you find such a beauty? Tea, all the swamps were coming!
Suddenly there was a great knock and thunder - the whole palace shook.
The guests were greatly frightened, jumped up from their seats and did not know what to do, and Ivan Tsarevich said:
- Don't be afraid, gentlemen! This is my frog in a box has arrived!
A gilded carriage, harnessed to six horses, flew up to the royal porch, and Vasilisa the Wise came out - such a beauty that you couldn’t even imagine it, only say it in a fairy tale! She took Ivan Tsarevich by the hand and led him to the oak tables and the stained tablecloths.
The guests began to eat, drink, and have fun. Vasilisa the Wise drank from the glass and poured the last of it down her left sleeve; She bit the swan and hid the bones behind her right sleeve.
The wives of the older princes saw her tricks, let's do the same for ourselves. After Vasilisa the Wise went to dance with Ivan Tsarevich, she waved her left hand - a lake became, waved her right - and white swans swam across the water. The king and guests were amazed.
And the older daughters-in-law went to dance, waved their left hands - they splashed the guests, waved their right hands - the bone hit the king right in the eye! The king became angry and drove them out of sight.
Meanwhile, Ivan Tsarevich took a moment, ran home, found a frog skin and burned it over a high fire. Vasilisa the Wise arrives, she missed it - there is no frog skin, she became despondent, sad and said to the prince:
- Oh, Ivan Tsarevich! What have you done? If you had waited a little, I would have been yours forever; and now goodbye! Look for me far away, in the thirtieth kingdom - near Koshchei the Immortal.
She turned into a white swan and flew out the window.
Ivan Tsarevich cried bitterly, prayed to God in all four directions and went wherever his eyes led him. Whether he walked close, or far, for a long time, or for a short time, an old old man came across him.
“Hello,” he says, “good fellow!” What are you looking for, where are you going?
The prince told him his misfortune.
- Eh, Ivan Tsarevich! Why did you burn the frog's skin? You didn’t put it on, it wasn’t yours to take it off! Vasilisa the Wise was born more cunning and wiser than her father; For this he became angry with her and ordered her to be a frog for three years. Here's a ball for you: wherever it rolls, follow it boldly.
Ivan Tsarevich thanked the old man and went to get the ball.
Tsarevich Ivan is walking through an open field and he comes across a bear.
“Let me,” he says, “let me kill the beast!”
And the bear tells him:
- Don't hit me, Ivan Tsarevich! I'll be useful to you someday.
- Don't hit me, Ivan Tsarevich! I'll be useful to you myself.
A sideways hare runs; The prince began to aim again, and the hare said to him in a human voice:
- Don't hit me, Ivan Tsarevich! I'll be of use to you myself.
He sees a pike fish lying on the sand, dying.
“Ah, Ivan Tsarevich,” said the pike, “have mercy on me, let me into the sea!”
He threw her into the sea and walked along the shore.
Whether long or short, the ball rolled towards the hut; The hut stands on chicken legs, turning around. Ivan Tsarevich says:
- Hut, hut! Stand in the old way, as your mother did - with your front to me and your back to the sea!
The hut turned its back to the sea, and its front to it. The prince entered it and saw: on the stove, on the ninth brick, Baba Yaga was lying, a bone leg, her nose had grown into the ceiling, she was sharpening her teeth.
- Hey you, good fellow! Why did you come to me? - Baba Yaga asks Ivan Tsarevich.
“Oh, you old bastard,” says Ivan Tsarevich, “you should have fed me, a good fellow, and given me something to drink, steamed me in a bathhouse, and then you would have asked.”
Baba Yaga fed him, gave him something to drink, steamed him in a bathhouse, and the prince told her that he was looking for his wife Vasilisa the Wise.
- Oh, I know! - said Baba Yaga. - She is now with Koshchei the Immortal; it is difficult to get her, it is not easy to deal with Koshchei; his death is at the end of a needle, that needle is in an egg, that egg is in a duck, that duck is in a hare, that hare is in a chest, and the chest stands on a tall oak tree, and Koschey protects that tree like his own eye.
Baba Yaga pointed out where this oak grows.
Ivan Tsarevich came there and didn’t know what to do, how to get the chest? Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bear came running.
The bear uprooted the tree; the chest fell and broke into pieces.
A hare ran out of the chest and took off at full speed; lo and behold, another hare is chasing him; caught up, grabbed it and tore it to shreds.
The duck flew out of the hare and rose high, high; flies, and the drake rushed after her, when he hit her, the duck immediately dropped the egg, and that egg fell into the sea.
Ivan Tsarevich, seeing the inevitable misfortune, burst into tears. Suddenly a pike swims to the shore and holds an egg in its teeth; he took that egg, broke it, took out a needle and broke off the tip. No matter how much Koschey fought, no matter how much he rushed in all directions, he had to die!
Ivan Tsarevich went to Koshchei’s house, took Vasilisa the Wise and returned home. After that they lived together happily ever after.
In this section we have collected short folk and original fairy tales from all over the world. These small instructive and kind stories will help children calm down after a stormy day and get ready for sleep.
In bedtime stories you won't find cruelty or scary characters. Only light plots and pleasant characters.
At the bottom of every fairy tale there is clue, what age it is intended for, as well as other tags. Be sure to pay attention to them when choosing a piece! You don't have to waste time reading a fairy tale to find out whether it is suitable for your child or not. We have already read and sorted everything.
Enjoy reading and good dreams :)
short bedtime stories to read
Navigation by works
Navigation by works
In the sweet carrot forest
Kozlov S.G. 
A fairy tale about what forest animals love most. And one day everything happened as they dreamed. In the sweet carrot forest read The hare loved carrots most of all. He said: - I would like it in the forest...
Magic herb St. John's wort
Kozlov S.G. 
A fairy tale about how the Hedgehog and the Little Bear looked at the flowers in the meadow. Then they saw a flower they didn’t know, and they became acquainted. It was St. John's wort. Magic herb St. John's wort read It was a sunny summer day. - Do you want me to give you something...
Green bird
Kozlov S.G. 
A tale about a Crocodile who really wanted to fly. And then one day he dreamed that he turned into a large Green bird with wide wings. He flew over the land and over the sea and talked with different animals. Green...
How to catch a cloud
Kozlov S.G. 
A fairy tale about how the Hedgehog and the Little Bear went fishing in the fall, but instead of fish they were bitten by the moon, then stars. And in the morning they pulled the sun out of the river. How to catch a cloud to read When the time has come...
Caucasian prisoner
Tolstoy L.N. 
A story about two officers who served in the Caucasus and were captured by the Tatars. The Tatars ordered letters to be written to relatives demanding a ransom. Zhilin was from a poor family; there was no one to pay the ransom for him. But he was strong...
How much land does a person need?
Tolstoy L.N. 
The story is about the peasant Pakhom, who dreamed that he would have a lot of land, then the devil himself would not be afraid of him. He had the opportunity to inexpensively buy as much land as he could walk around before sunset. Wanting to have more...
Jacob's dog
Tolstoy L.N. 
A story about a brother and sister who lived near a forest. They had a shaggy dog. One day they went into the forest without permission and were attacked by a wolf. But the dog grappled with the wolf and saved the children. Dog …
Tolstoy L.N. 
The story is about an elephant who stepped on his owner because he was mistreating him. The wife was in grief. The elephant put his eldest son on his back and began to work hard for him. Elephant read...
What is everyone's favorite holiday? Of course, New Year! On this magical night, a miracle descends on the earth, everything sparkles with lights, laughter is heard, and Santa Claus brings long-awaited gifts. A huge number of poems are dedicated to the New Year. IN …
In this section of the site you will find a selection of poems about the main wizard and friend of all children - Santa Claus. Many poems have been written about the good grandfather, but we have selected the most suitable ones for children aged 5,6,7 years. Poems about...
Winter has come, and with it fluffy snow, blizzards, patterns on the windows, frosty air. The children rejoice at the white flakes of snow and take out their skates and sleds from the far corners. Work is in full swing in the yard: they are building a snow fortress, an ice slide, sculpting...
A selection of short and memorable poems about winter and New Year, Santa Claus, snowflakes, Christmas tree for junior group kindergarten. Read and learn short poems with children 3-4 years old for matinees and New Year's Eve. Here …
One woman had a stepdaughter and her own daughter. This woman loved her daughter, but could not even look at her stepdaughter. And all because Marushka was much more beautiful than her Golena. Marushka, patient and submissive, had to do all the work: wash and cook, spin and weave, mow the grass and look after the cow. And all Golena did was dress up and sit on the heap. Only Golena became uglier every day, and Marushka more beautiful. So the stepmother and Golena decided to drive Marushka out of the world. No sooner said than done.
One day in mid-January, Shin wanted snowdrops.
- Go, Marushka, into the forest and pick me some snowdrops. I'll pin them to my belt.
- Oh, little sister, how could such a thing come into your head? Where have you seen flowers growing under the snow? - Marushka cried.
- Do you want to argue with me? Please obey! Bring snowdrops, otherwise it will get worse! - Golena threatened, and the stepmother put Marushka out the door and locked all the locks.
Marushka cried even more bitterly and went into the forest. And there the snow is waist-deep, dark, scary, cold. Marushka wandered through the forest for a long time, got stuck in snowdrifts, and was completely frozen. Only suddenly I saw in the distance between the trees, as if a light was glowing. She turned towards the light and came to a high mountain. On that mountain a large fire is burning, there are twelve stones around the fire, and twelve people are sitting on those stones. Three are old men in silver fur coats, white-haired and white-bearded, three are younger - in golden cloaks, three more are even younger - in colorful, multi-colored clothes, and the last three - the youngest and most beautiful - in green. They sit silently and look at the fire. And it was twelve months. Big January, with a staff in his hand, sat above everyone else.
Marushka was scared at first, but then she became bolder:
- Why did you come to the forest in such frost?
“For snowdrops,” answered Marushka.
- Who goes for snowdrops in winter?! Flowers do not grow in winter.
- I know. “My sister and stepmother ordered me to bring them snowdrops from the forest, otherwise they threatened to beat me,” said Marushka. - Do you know, good people, where I can find flowers?
Then Big January stood up from his stone and approached the very young month:
- Brother Mart, sit in my place!
March sat down in January’s place, took the staff, waved it over the fire - and the fire rose higher, the snow began to quickly melt, the buds on the branches swelled, the rare grass turned green, and the buds of daisies turned pink in the grass. Spring has come. Snowdrops bloomed under the bushes, and before Marushka had time to recover from surprise, the entire clearing in front of her seemed to be covered with a flower carpet.
- Collect quickly, Marushka! - the month of March hurried her.
Marushka began to collect flowers and picked a large bouquet. Then she thanked the month brothers and ran home.
Golena was surprised, and so was her stepmother when they saw that Marushka had not returned home empty-handed.
-Where did you find the narwhal? - they ask.
- In the forest on the mountain. There's a whole clearing of snowdrops there.
Golena took the flowers, pinned them to her belt, smelled them herself, gave them to her stepmother to smell, but didn’t offer them to her sister.
The next day, Shin wanted berries:
- Go, Marushka, into the forest and bring me some berries.
- Oh, little sister, how could such a thing come into your head? Where have you seen berries grow under the snow? - Marushka cried.
- Do you want to argue with me? Bring some berries, otherwise it will get worse! - Golena shouted at her, and her stepmother pushed Marushka out the door and locked all the locks.
There is nothing to do. Marushka cried even more bitterly and went into the forest. And there the snow is deep, dark, cold. Marushka wandered through the forest for a long time, when suddenly she saw a light in the distance, the one she saw yesterday. She was happy and went to this light. She came to a huge fire, and twelve months again sat around that fire. And Big January is above all.
- Hello, good people! Let me warm myself by your fire, I’m very cold.
Big January nodded his head and asked:
- Why did you come to the forest again?
- For berries.
“It’s winter now, and berries don’t grow in winter,” said January.
“I know,” Marushka answered sadly, “but Golen’s sister and stepmother ordered them to bring berries from the forest, otherwise they threatened to beat them.” Help me, good people, find the berries!
Big January stood up, walked up to the month that was sitting opposite, gave him the staff in his hands and said:
- Brother June, sit in my place.
June sat down on the highest stone and waved his staff over the fire. The fire rose higher, the snow melted, the earth turned green, the trees were covered with leaves, the birds began to sing, the flowers bloomed. Summer has come. It was as if someone had scattered white stars in the grove. The white stars began to turn into berries, and before Marushka had time to recover from her amazement, the berries were ripe.
- Collect quickly, Marushka! - said June.
Marushka was delighted, quickly got to work and soon had a full apron ready. Then she thanked the month brothers and ran home.
Golena was surprised, and so was her stepmother when they saw that Marushka had brought an apron full of berries.
- Where did you collect it? — attacked Golen’s sister.
- In the forest on the mountain. There's a whole clearing of them there.
Golena took the berries, ate her fill, the stepmother ate too, but Marushka was not offered even a berry.
The next day Shin wanted apples:
- Go, Marushka, into the forest - for apples.
- Oh, sister, where will apples come from in the forest in winter? - the unfortunate Marushka begged.
- Do you want to argue with me? If you don't bring home red apples, blame yourself! - Golena threatened. And the stepmother pushed Marushka out the door and locked all the locks.
There is nothing to do. Marushka wandered into the forest.
The snow is deep in the forest, there are no paths anywhere. Only Marushka was no longer confused. She immediately ran to the mountain, where a hot fire was burning, and twelve months were sitting around. And Big January is above all.
- Hello, good people! Let me warm myself by your fire, I’m very cold.
Big January nodded and asked:
- Why did you come to the forest again?
“For red apples,” answered Marushka.
“But it’s winter now, and apples don’t grow in winter.”
“I know,” Marushka answered sadly, “but Golena’s sister and stepmother ordered them to bring apples from the forest, otherwise they threatened to beat them.” Tell me, good people, where can I get them?
Big January stood up, approached one of the brothers who were sitting in golden cloaks, gave him a staff and said:
- Brother September, sit in my place!
The month of September sat down on the highest stone and waved his staff over the fire. The fire flared up with a red flame, the snow melted, the leaves on the trees first turned green, then turned yellow. The wild carnations grew red along the slopes. Then Marushka saw an apple tree, and on it were ripe apples.
Marushka shook the apple tree and one apple fell. She shook it again and another apple fell.
- Hurry up! - the month September shouted to her.
Marushka picked up two fallen apples, thanked the moon brothers and ran home.
Golena was surprised, and so was her stepmother when they saw that Marushka had brought apples.
-Where did you find the narwhal?
- In the forest on the mountain. The entire apple tree there is strewn with them.
- Why didn’t you bring more? She probably ate everything herself along the way?
- Oh, sister, I haven’t even tried a piece. She shook the apple tree - one apple fell, shook it again - the second one fell. And they didn’t let me pick any more.
Golena and her stepmother ate both apples. And they seemed so tasty and sweet to them, well, they had never tasted anything like that in their lives.
This is what Golena says:
- Give me a fur coat and a scarf, mother, I’ll go to the forest myself to get apples.
As she said, she did so.
And in the forest the snow is deep, and there is no path anywhere. Golena was confused for a long time until she saw a light in the distance. It was a bonfire of twelve months. Golena was scared at first, but then she grew bolder, went up to the fire without asking, and began to warm her hands.
Big January frowned and asked:
-What do you want in the forest?
- What do you care, old man? - Golena snapped.
January frowned more than ever, waved his staff over the fire, and the fire began to burn very low. The sky darkened, thick snow fell, as if someone had torn a feather bed above, a north wind blew in and rustled in the branches. A blizzard swirled around Golen, and she lost her way home forever.
The stepmother waited for her daughter, waited, but never came. “Apparently, she liked the apples, so she can’t tear herself away,” she thought, put on her fur coat, took the basket and went into the forest. She walked and walked, searched and searched, until she froze.
Marushka was left at home alone. I cleaned up, cooked dinner, fed the cow, but Golena and her stepmother still did not return. “As if something bad wouldn’t happen to them!” - she became worried. Only she didn’t have to see either Golena or her stepmother again. Marushka was left alone in the small house. And soon a groom was found for her. And they lived together happily ever after.
Italian fairy tale "The Sloth"
A hard-working peasant, Bastiano, lived in a village. And his wife, on the contrary, was lazy, lazy.
One morning Bastiano got ready to go to the forest to buy firewood and said to his wife:
“I know, Lina, that you don’t enjoy your work, but, please, make sure that the chickens don’t eat our grain.”
“Lean on me, hubby.” I won’t let even a single chicken come close to the field.
She actually sat down on the edge of the field under a fig tree and decided to keep an eye on the chickens. But they calmly pecked at the crumbs of bread far from the wheat field. And the sun had already risen to its zenith and was burning mercilessly. Lina thought that nothing bad would happen if she took a nap for a minute. She closed her eyes and immediately fell fast asleep.
A cicada sitting on a fig tree began to sing and cluck:
Lina has been sleeping for a long time.
And the chickens in the field peck the grain.
Lena the couch potato will have a hard time,
When Bastiano returns from work.
But Lina had already seen her tenth dream. She had no idea that chickens actually trampled and pecked wheat. And when she finally woke up, the chickens had eaten so much that they couldn’t move their paws.
- Oh, trouble! The harvest is gone! - Lina wailed. But, however, just as she despaired, she quickly consoled herself: “But our chickens will be fat and big, like geese.”
She drove the chickens into the chicken coop, and again sat down in the shade to take a nap.
And the cicada began to sing and crackle again:
The chickens will sit on their roost,
The fox will come and eat them all.
Bastiano will return home,
Lina will get it later or sooner.
But after Lina had driven the chickens into the coop, she was so tired from this hard work that she was fast asleep again and did not hear anything. But as soon as I woke up, I quickly ran to the chicken coop to look at the chickens. And there the fox was already gnawing the last wing of the last chicken.
- Oh, you red-haired cheat! - Lina cried and quickly slammed the window through which the fox crawled into the chicken coop.
“It’s not so bad,” she thought. — The fox, of course, ate all the chickens. But now she's trapped. Let's sell her fur skin and buy a whole brood of little chickens. And a couple of geese to boot. It’s good that everything turned out this way.”
So she calmed herself down and returned to the shade of her favorite fig tree. There she fell into a sweet dream.
And the restless cicada sings and creaks:
Fox is locked up
But the dog is about to tear her apart.
Oh, it’s going to be tough for Lina,
But Lina just dreamed that she was carrying chickens from the market. She smiled in her sleep and heard nothing.
Then she was awakened by a terrible noise and fuss in the chicken coop. She looked through the window and saw a big gray dog chasing a fox. As soon as he smelled the fox, he ran to the chicken coop, dug a hole under the wall and crawled inside.
- Calm down, stupid dog! - Lina shouted. She burst into the chicken coop and grabbed the dog by the withers. And the fox, without wasting any time, slipped out, and that was all they saw. But Lina had no time for her now. “Very good,” she thought. “The husband will go hunting with this dog and shoot dozens of foxes.”
Lina tied the dog to the fence and, pleased with herself, hurried to her place under the fig tree.
But the cicada doesn’t stop:
You sleep, and the boys are right there.
They will untie the dog and take him away.
Oh, it's going to be tough for you,
When Bastiano returns home.
She sang and poured out, but all in vain. Lina was fast asleep and didn’t hear anything.
And then Bastiano returned from the forest. Lina perked up and joyfully ran out to meet him.
“Is everything all right with us,” asks Bastiano, “is the wheat in the field safe?”
- Oh, hubby, as soon as I turned away for a second, those damned chickens ate all the grain! But they became as big and fat as your geese.
“This problem is not a problem,” said Bastiano. - Let's sell chickens and buy grain.
- No matter how it is, dear hubby. The fox ate the chickens. But I'm not a failure! She locked the chicken coop and caught the fox.
“So much the better,” nodded Bastiano. - Let's sell the fox skin. It's in price these days.
- Yes, the red skin was good! Only the fox, such a cheat, ran away. A huge dog got into the chicken coop and tore at it so much that it ruined the whole skin. But I caught this dog. You will go hunting with him into the forest, there are foxes there, apparently and invisible.
- Well, let's go and look at this dog.
They came to the fence, but there was no dog. While Lina was sleeping, the boys ran past, saw the dog, untied it and took it away.
And their trace has long since disappeared.
What do you think Bastiano did? Do you think he's angry? Right. How!
Japanese fairy tale “The most beautiful dress in the world”
In the old days, long ago, the raven had white-white feathers. He wanted to dress up.
So the raven flew to the owl.
In those days, the owl was a dyer. She painted dresses for all the birds in whatever color they wanted: red, blue, turquoise, yellow... There was no end to customers.
- Madam Owl! Lady Owl! Paint my outfit in the most beautiful color. I want to amaze the whole world with my beauty.
- Uh-huh, uh-huh, I can! - the owl agreed. - Do you want a blue dress like a heron? Do you want a patterned outfit like a falcon? Do you want a motley one, like a woodpecker?
- No, choose a completely unprecedented color for me, so that no other bird has such an outfit!
The raven shook off its white plumage and flew away.
The owl thought and thought about what color was the most unprecedented, and painted the raven’s feathers black—black, blacker than ink.
A raven flew in and asked:
- Did I get a good row?
He put on his new dress and looked in the mirror. I looked and gasped! From head to tail he became black-black, and you can’t even tell where the eyes are, where the nose is.
- What color did you dye my feathers, r-robber?! - the raven screamed.
The owl began to make excuses:
“You yourself wanted me to paint your outfit an unprecedented color.”
- Wait, I’ll catch you - I’ll r-tear you to shreds! Now we are enemies forever! - The raven croaked angrily.
From then on, as soon as he sees an owl, he rushes at it.
That is why the owl hides in a hollow during the day. She does not appear in the light while the raven is flying.
Japanese fairy tale "Fire Tarot"
In the old days, in ancient times, there lived a girl named O-Kiku. One day she was walking in the field behind her house and suddenly saw a large hole in the ground turning black. And where did she come from?!
O-Kiku leaned over the hole and looked into the depths. It's dark there and you can't see anything. The girl was overcome with curiosity. She went down into the pit and found herself in the underworld. O-Kiku walks along a long, long road, and along the road grow beautiful flowers, never seen on earth. How far or how little has she walked, and suddenly she sees a black gate standing.
O-Kiku knocked on the gate: don-don-don! A young man came out to meet her, handsome in appearance, but pale to the point of blue, with not a trace of blood in his face. He invited her to come into the house.
“My name,” he says, “is Fire Tarot, and this is the kingdom of fire.” My father was the ruler of this kingdom, but he died, and since then the devils have haunted me. I endure cruel torments, and I don’t know who will free me from them.
The girl took pity on the Fire Tarot and stayed with him. The next morning the young man got ready to leave and punished her:
“Don’t even try to peek where I’m going.” Wait for me here in this room. Nowhere from-, don’t come out here.
He pushed the door aside, pushed it behind him again and went deeper into the house.
And in the farthest chambers someone is making noise, making noise, and rattling iron. O-Kiku couldn’t stand it and looked out quietly. And what did she see? The terrible devils stripped the young man naked, stretched him out on an iron grate and hung him over a huge fireplace. A young man writhes in the flames. When there was almost no life left in him, the elder devil ordered:
- That's enough for today.
The devils took the young man out of the fire.
The girl almost lost her mind from horror. She slowly closed the door and returned back to the room.
The next morning the young man said to her:
“Today I will again spend the whole day in the distant chambers of the house.” You obviously feel sad alone... Take a walk in the garden, there is something to admire there. Here are thirteen keys to thirteen storerooms. You can unlock twelve storerooms, but do not enter the thirteenth. My late father also forbade it to be opened. I've never been there myself. Do you hear? Don't you dare open the thirteenth door! - With these words, the Fire Tarot handed the girl a bunch of black keys, and he again went into the inner chambers.
With sadness in her heart, O-Kiku went out into the yard. There are thirteen stone storerooms standing side by side in the courtyard. The girl wanted to see what was hidden in them. She unlocked the first storeroom with the key. And when I saw what was in it, I forgot everything in the world.
The New Year was celebrated in the first storeroom. Many little people in ceremonial capes with coats of arms decorated New Year's pines, and tiny girls in festive outfits tossed balls with feathers. It was fun and noisy there.
It was February in the second storeroom. Plum trees were blooming, fragrant. Tiny boys flew kites in the wind.
What was in the third pantry? The Peach Blossom Festival was celebrated there. Girls as tall as a finger, smart and cheerful, admired the beautifully dressed dolls the size of peas.
The April sun was shining in the fourth storeroom. Gray-bearded dwarfs, leading their grandchildren by the hand, ceremoniously walked to the temple on the occasion of the birth of Buddha.
And in the fifth storeroom? O-Kik couldn't wait to look into the fifth storeroom. It was warm May there. In the blue sky, colorful carps swam like alive, and tiny boys, singing merrily, covered the roofs of houses with blooming irises. In the state rooms there were warrior dolls the size of a fingernail.
In the sixth storeroom the sun shone hotter. On the banks of a transparent river, caring dwarf housewives were diligently washing clothes. And across the river one could see rice fields. Peasants and peasant women, so small that you could fit each one in the palm of your hand, sang songs as they planted rows of green rice sprouts.
O-Kiku unlocked the door to the seventh storeroom and saw a clear starry sky. It was the evening of the “Meeting of Two Stars”. The dwarf children tied thin strips of multi-colored paper with the inscription “Heavenly River” and many other decorations to bamboo leaves.
Having looked enough, O-Kiku unlocked the door to the eighth pantry. It was the night of the autumn full moon1. Tiny children admired the bright moon, and in front of them on the tables lay colorful piles of apples and pears no larger than wild strawberries. The moon, like a large round tray, gazed intently from the sky at the rice balls.
O-Kiku looked into the ninth storeroom. Everything was red and gold. The dwarfs, leaning on their staves, leisurely walked through the mountains. Either they climbed a steep slope, or descended into a deep valley, admiring the autumn maples.
It was the turn of the tenth pantry. It was October there. The dwarfs, having climbed the trees, shook the branches with all their might, and ripe chestnuts rained down to the ground. It was fun to watch the children collect them in baskets.
O-Kiku opened the eleventh pantry. A cold wind blew towards her. The whole ground was covered with a fine scattering of the first frost. Dried persimmons and radishes hung under each fence. Tiny peasants threshed rice, rejoicing at the rich harvest.
In the twelfth pantry there was a kingdom of snow. Everywhere you look there are deep snowdrifts. Children are having fun, playing in the snow, making snowmen...
Here is another storage room. But the Fire Tarot strictly forbade opening the thirteenth door. O-Kiku holds the black key in his hand... And he is not ordered to enter, but he wants to. The girl thinks: should she open it or not, but step by step, step by step, she gets closer to the door, as if something is pulling her...
The girl put the key in the keyhole and tried to turn it, but the lock was rusty and wouldn’t budge. With difficulty she unlocked the door and entered the pantry. This storeroom was not like all the others. There were no dwarfs or festive spectacles in it. O-Kiku found herself in a richly decorated chamber. She looked around and saw: on a shelf in the front niche there was a box covered with black varnish. O-Kiku wanted to see what was hidden in it. The girl opened the lid and looked in. There are two red balls in the box. It’s like they’re made of glass, but only soft. What could it be? O-Kiku put the box in her bosom and ran out of the pantry.
The sun has already risen high. The girl wanted to drink. She sees a stream running in the garden. O-Kiku leaned over the stream and scooped up a handful of water. In the clear water, as in a mirror, coastal trees were visible, and on one of them something colorful was moving. The girl raised her head: a huge snake wrapped itself around a pine branch and looked at her, eyes sparkling!
Not remembering herself from fear, O-Kiku jumped over the stream and began to run. And at that very moment the box in her bosom opened slightly, one ball rolled out and fell into the stream. But the girl was frightened and did not notice anything.
She ran into the house, and the Fire Tarot was coming towards her. She tells him what miracles she saw in twelve storerooms, but not a word about the thirteenth. The young man listens to her and smiles.
Suddenly there was a sound of stomping and noise. A gang of devils poured out from the depths of the house. O-Kiku shook with fear, and the devils bowed low to her and said:
- Good evening! Thanks to you, we found one of the eyes of our main military leader. The snake told us everything... Our commander ordered that you both appear before him.
The devils took the young man and the girl to their leader. And he has only one single eye sparkling in his forehead with red fire, instead of the other there is an empty socket.
- Thank you very much! - bowed main devil your horns before them. “It’s been several decades since your late father, a young man, became angry with me for one unkind deed and deprived me of both eyes.” Since then I have walked blind for many years. In retaliation for this, I tortured you mercilessly. But today I have great joy: one eye has been found. Give me the second one too. I won't bother you anymore. If I have both eyes, I don’t need any treasures. I’ll give you everything, just give me back my second eye!
He listens to the Fire Tarot and understands nothing. He asked the girl:
“You didn’t hide anything from me?”
“Yes, to tell the truth, I violated your ban and opened the thirteenth storeroom.” And in it stood a box with two red balls... I didn’t know that these were the eyes of the devil. I put the box in my bosom, but I saw a snake near the stream and, I don’t know how, dropped one ball into the water.
The commander of the devils rejoiced:
- Here, here, this very eye. Give me another one, I beg you!
The girl took the box out of her bosom and gave the devil the second red ball, and the devil immediately inserted it into his empty eye socket. Both his eyes sparkled like two lights.
To celebrate, he presented O-Kika and the Fire Tarot with countless treasures.
A young man and a girl got married. They lived a happy life: after all, every day they could admire all the seasons.
Konstantin Ushinsky “Children in the Grove”
Two children, brother and sister, went to school. They had to pass by a beautiful, shady grove. It was hot and dusty on the road, but cool and cheerful in the grove.
- Do you know what? - said the brother to the sister. “We’ll still have time for school.” The school is now stuffy and boring, but the grove should be a lot of fun. Listen to the birds screaming there, and the squirrels, how many squirrels are jumping on the branches! Shouldn't we go there, sister?
The sister liked her brother's proposal. The children threw the alphabet into the grass, held hands and disappeared between the green bushes, under the curly birches. It was definitely fun and noisy in the grove. The birds fluttered constantly, sang and shouted; squirrels jumped on the branches; insects scurried about in the grass.
First of all, the children saw a golden bug.
“Come play with us,” the children said to the bug.
“I would love to,” answered the beetle, “but I don’t have time: I have to get myself lunch.”
“Play with us,” the children said to the yellow, furry bee.
“I don’t have time to play with you,” answered the bee, “I need to collect honey.”
-Won't you play with us? - the children asked the ant.
But the ant had no time to listen to them: he dragged a straw three times his size and hurried to build his cunning home.
The children turned to the squirrel, inviting it to also play with them, but the squirrel waved its fluffy tail and answered that it must stock up on nuts for the winter. The dove said: “I am building a nest for my little children.”
The little gray bunny ran to the stream to wash his face. The white strawberry flower also had no time to take care of the children: he took advantage of the beautiful weather and was in a hurry to prepare his juicy, tasty berries on time.
The children became bored that everyone was busy with their own business and no one wanted to play with them. They ran to the stream. A stream ran through the grove, babbling over the stones.
“You really have nothing to do,” the children told him, “Come play with us.”
- How! I have nothing to do? - the stream purred angrily. - Oh, you lazy children! Look at me: I work day and night and don’t know a minute of peace. Am I not the one who sings to people and animals? Who, besides me, washes clothes, turns mill wheels, carries boats and puts out fires? “Oh, I have so much work that my head is spinning,” the stream added and began to murmur over the stones.
The children became even more bored, and they thought that it would be better for them to go to school first, and then, on their way from school, go into the grove. But at that very time the boy noticed a tiny, beautiful robin on a green branch. She sat, it seemed, very calmly and, having nothing to do, whistled a joyful song.
- Hey you, cheerful singer! - the boy shouted to the robin. “It seems like you have absolutely nothing to do: just play with us.”
- How? - whistled the offended robin. - I have nothing to do? Didn’t I catch midges all day to feed my little ones! I am so tired that I cannot raise my wings, and even now I lull my dear children to sleep with a song. What did you do today, little sloths? You didn’t go to school, you didn’t learn anything, you’re running around the grove, and even preventing others from doing their work. Better go where you were sent, and remember that only those who have worked and done everything that was obliged to do are pleased to rest and play.
The children felt ashamed; They went to school and although they arrived late, they studied diligently.
Georgy Skrebitsky “Everyone in his own way”
In the summer, in a clearing in the forest, a little hare was born to a long-eared hare. He was not born helpless, naked, like some little mice or squirrels, not at all. He was born with gray fluffy fur, with open eyes, so nimble, independent, he could immediately run and even hide from enemies in the thick grass.
“You’ve done well,” the hare told him in her hare language. - Lie here quietly under the bush, don’t run anywhere, and if you start running, jumping, traces of your paws will remain on the ground. If a fox or wolf stumbles upon them, they will immediately follow your trail and eat you. Well, be smart, rest, gain more strength, but I need to run and stretch my legs.
And the hare, making a big leap, galloped off into the forest. Since then, the little hare was fed not only by her own mother, but also by other bunnies, those who accidentally ran into this clearing. After all, hares have been like this since ancient times: if a hare comes across a baby, she doesn’t care whether it’s hers or someone else’s, she’ll definitely feed it milk.
Soon the little hare became completely stronger, grew up, began to eat lush grass and run through the forest, getting to know its inhabitants - birds and animals.
The days were fine, there was plenty of food around, and in the thick grass and bushes it was easy to hide from enemies.
The little hare lived for himself and did not grieve. So, without caring about anything, he lived through the warm summer.
But then autumn came. It's getting cold. The trees turned yellow. The wind tore withered leaves from the branches and circled over the forest. Then the leaves fell to the ground. They lay there restlessly: they fidgeted all the time, whispering to each other. And from this the forest was filled with an alarming rustle.
The little bunny could hardly sleep. Every minute he became wary, listening to suspicious sounds. It seemed to him that it was not the leaves rustling in the wind, but that someone terrible was sneaking up on him from behind the bushes.
Even during the day, the hare often jumped up, ran from place to place, and looked for more reliable shelters. I searched and didn’t find it.
But, running through the forest, he saw a lot of new, interesting things, earlier in the summer never seen. He noticed that all his forest acquaintances - animals and birds - were busy about something, doing something.
One day he met a squirrel, but it did not jump, as usual, from branch to branch, but went down to the ground, picked a boletus mushroom, then grabbed it tightly in its teeth and jumped up the tree with it. There the squirrel stuck a mushroom into a fork between the branches. The little hare saw that several mushrooms were already hanging on the same tree.
- Why do you tear them and hang them on branches? he asked.
- How - why? - answered the squirrel. “Winter will come soon, everything will be covered with snow, then it will be difficult to get food.” So now I’m in a hurry to prepare more supplies. I dry mushrooms on branches, collect nuts and acorns in hollows. Don’t you store food for the winter yourself?
“No,” answered the bunny, “I don’t know how to do this.” Mother bunny didn't teach me.
“Your business is bad,” the squirrel shook her head. “Then at least insulate your nest better, plug all the cracks with moss.”
“Yes, I don’t even have a nest,” the bunny became embarrassed. “I sleep under a bush, wherever I have to.”
- Well, this is no good! — the farm squirrel spread its paws. “I don’t know how you will survive the winter without food supplies, without a warm nest.”
And she again began her chores, and the bunny sadly hopped on.
Evening had already come, the hare reached a remote ravine. There he stopped and listened carefully. Every now and then small lumps of earth rolled down the ravine with a slight noise.
The little bunny stood up on his hind legs to get a better look at what was going on there in front. Yes, this is a badger busy near the hole. The hare ran up to him and said hello.
“Hello, oblique,” answered the badger. -Are you still jumping? Well, sit down, sit down. Wow, I’m tired, even my paws hurt! Look how much earth I raked out of the hole.
- Why are you raking it out? - asked the bunny.
— For winter, I clean the hole so that it is more spacious. I’ll clean it out, then drag moss and fallen leaves there and make a bed. Then I won’t be afraid of winter either. Lie down and lie down.
“And the squirrel advised me to build a nest for winter,” said the hare.
“Don’t listen to her,” the badger waved his paw. “She learned to build nests in trees from birds.” A waste of time. Animals need to live in a hole. This is how I live. Help me better dig emergency exits from the hole. We’ll arrange everything as needed, climb into the hole, and spend the winter together.
“No, I don’t know how to dig a hole,” answered the bunny. “And I won’t be able to sit underground in a hole, I’ll suffocate there.” It's better to rest under a bush.
“The frost will soon show you how to rest under a bush!” - the badger answered angrily. - Well, if you don’t want to help me, then run wherever you want. Don’t bother me with arranging my home.
Not far from the water, someone large and clumsy was fiddling around an aspen tree. “He’s the beaver,” the bunny saw and in two leaps found himself next to him.
- Hello, buddy, what are you doing here? - asked the bunny.
“Yes, I’m working, gnawing aspen,” the beaver answered slowly. “I’ll throw it on the ground, then I’ll start biting the branches, dragging them into the river, and insulating my hut for winter.” You see, my house is on the island - it’s built all out of branches, and the cracks are coated with silt, inside I’m warm and cozy.
- How can I enter your house? - asked the bunny. - The entrance is nowhere to be seen.
— The entrance to my hut is located below, under water. I will swim to the island, dive to the very bottom, and there I will find the entrance to my house. There is no better animal house than my hut. Let's insulate it together for winter, and let's spend the winter together.
“No,” answered the little hare, “I don’t know how to dive and swim under water, I’ll drown right away, I’d rather spend the winter under a bush.”
“You shouldn’t want to spend the winter with me,” the beaver answered and began gnawing on the aspen tree.
Suddenly something rustles in the bushes! Kosoy was about to run away, but then an old acquaintance, a hedgehog, looked out from the fallen leaves.
- Great, buddy! - he shouted. - Why are you so sad, your ears hanging open?
“My friends upset me,” answered the bunny. “They say you need to build a warm nest or hut for the winter, but I don’t know how.”
— Build a hut? - the hedgehog laughed. - This is nonsense! You better do what I do: every night I eat more, store more fat, and when I have enough stored, then I will start to feel sleepy. Then I will climb into the fallen leaves, into the moss, curl up in a ball and fall asleep for the whole winter. And when you sleep, then neither frost nor wind are afraid of you.
“No,” answered the bunny, “I won’t be able to sleep all winter.” My sleep is sensitive, disturbing, I wake up every minute from every rustle.
“Well, then do as you please,” answered the hedgehog. - Goodbye, it’s time for me to look for a place for my winter sleep.
And the animal disappeared into the bushes again.
The little hare trudged further through the forest. Wandered, wandered. The night has already passed, the morning has come. He got out into the clearing. He looks - there are many, many blackbirds gathered on it. All the trees are stuck around and are jumping on the ground, screaming, chattering, arguing about something.
-What are you arguing about? - the little bunny asked the blackbird, who was sitting closer to him.
- Yes, we are discussing when we should fly from here to warm countries for the winter.
- Aren’t you going to stay in our forest for the winter?
- What are you, what are you! - the blackbird was surprised. - In winter, snow will fall and cover the entire ground and tree branches. Where can you get food then? We fly with us to the south, where it’s warm in winter and there’s plenty of food.
“Don’t you see, I don’t even have wings,” the hare answered sadly. “I’m an animal, not a bird.” Animals don't know how to fly.
“That’s not true,” the blackbird objected. - Bats are also animals, but they fly no worse than us birds. They have already flown south, to warm countries.
The little hare didn’t answer the blackbird, he just waved his paw and ran away.
“How am I going to spend the winter? - he thought anxiously, - All animals and birds each prepare for winter in their own way. But I have neither a warm nest, nor food supplies, and I won’t be able to fly south. I’ll probably have to die of hunger and cold.”
Another month has passed. The bushes and trees have shed their last leaves. The time has come for rain and cold weather. The forest became gloomy and dull. Most of the birds flew to warm countries. The animals hid in holes, in nests, in lairs. The little bunny was not happy in the empty forest, and besides, something bad happened to him: the bunny suddenly noticed that his skin began to turn white. The summer gray wool was replaced by a new one - fluffy, warm, but completely white. First, the hind legs, sides, then the back and, finally, the head turned white. Only the tips of the ears remained black.
“How can I hide from my enemies now? - the hare thought with horror. “In a white fur coat, both the fox and the hawk will immediately notice me.” And the little hare hid in the very wilderness, under bushes, in swampy thickets. However, even there, his white fur coat could easily give him away to the keen eye of a predator.
But then one day, when the little bunny was lying, crawling under a bush, he saw that everything around him had suddenly darkened. The sky was covered with clouds; However, rain did not start dripping from them, but something white and cold fell down.
The first snowflakes swirled in the air and began to land on the ground, on the faded grass, on the bare branches of bushes and trees. With every second the snow fell thicker and thicker. It was no longer possible to see the nearest trees. Everything was drowned in a solid white stream.
The snow stopped only in the evening. The sky cleared, the stars appeared, bright and radiant, like blue frosty needles. They illuminated the fields and forests, dressed up and covered with the white blanket of winter.
Night had long fallen, and the bunny was still lying under the bush. He was afraid to get out of his ambush and go for a night walk across this unusually white land.
Finally, hunger forced him to leave the shelter and look for food.
Finding it was not so difficult - the snow only slightly covered the ground and did not even hide the smallest bushes.
But a completely different misfortune happened: as soon as the little hare jumped out from under the bushes and ran across the clearing, he saw with horror that a string of his footprints was stretching everywhere behind him.
“Following such tracks, any enemy can easily find me,” thought the oblique one.
Therefore, when in the morning he again went for a day's rest, the bunny confused his tracks even more thoroughly than before.
Only after doing this, he hid under a bush and dozed off.
But winter brought with it more than just grief. When dawn broke, the little hare was happy to see that his white coat was completely invisible on the white snow. The bunny seemed to be dressed in an invisible fur coat. In addition, it was much warmer than his summer gray skin, and perfectly protected him from frost and wind.
“Winter is not so terrible,” the little bunny decided and calmly dozed off for the whole day until the evening.
But only the beginning of winter turned out to be so pleasant, and then things went worse and worse. There was a lot of snow. It was almost impossible to dig through it to get to the remaining greenery. The little hare ran in vain through the high snowdrifts in search of food. It was not often that he managed to chew some twig sticking out from under the snow.
One day, while running in search of food, the hare saw the forest giants, elk. They stood calmly in the aspen forest and gnawed with appetite at the bark and shoots of young aspen trees.
“Let me try,” thought the bunny. “The only problem is: moose have high legs, long necks, it’s easy for them to reach young shoots, but how can I get them?”
But then a tall snowdrift caught his eye. The little hare jumped on him, stood on his hind legs, easily reached out to the young, thin branches and began to gnaw them. Then he gnawed the aspen bark. He found all this very tasty, and he ate his fill.
“So the snow didn’t cause any big trouble,” the scythe decided. “He hid the grass, but allowed him to reach the branches of bushes and trees.”
Everything would have been fine, but the frost and wind began to bother the bunny. Even a warm fur coat couldn’t save him.
There was nowhere to hide from the cold in the bare winter forest.
“Wow, it’s so cold!” - said the scythe, running through the forest clearing to warm up a little.
The day had already come, it was high time to go on vacation, but the hare still could not find a place to hide from the icy wind.
Birch trees grew at the very edge of the clearing. Suddenly the little hare saw that large forest birds, black grouse, were calmly sitting on them and feeding. They flew here to feast on the catkins that hung at the ends of thin branches.
“Well, you’ve eaten enough, it’s time to rest,” said the old black grouse to his brothers. “Let’s quickly hide in the holes from the angry wind.”
“What kind of burrows could black grouse have?” — the bunny was surprised.
But then he saw that the old black grouse, having fallen from the branch, fell in a lump straight into the snow, as if he had dived into water. The other black grouse did the same, and soon the whole flock disappeared under the snow.
“Is it really warm there?” — the bunny was surprised and decided to immediately try to dig himself a snow hole. So what? It turned out to be much warmer in the hole under the snow than on the surface. There was no wind, and the frost bothered us much less.
From then on, the bunny became quite comfortable with how to spend the winter. A white fur coat in a white forest protected him from the eyes of the enemy, snowdrifts helped him reach succulent shoots, and a deep hole in the snow saved him from the cold. The little hare felt no worse in the winter among the snow-covered bushes than in the summer in the green flowering thickets. He didn't even notice how winter had passed.
And then the sun warmed up again, melted the snow, the grass turned green again, the leaves bloomed on the bushes and trees. Birds have returned from southern countries.
The busy squirrel crawled out of the nest where it hid from the cold in winter. A badger, a beaver and a prickly hedgehog got out of their shelters. Each of them talked about how he spent the long winter. Everyone thought that they had carried it out better than others. And all together they were surprised, looking at the hare. How, poor fellow, did he spend the winter without a warm nest, without a hole, without food supplies? And the bunny listened to his friends and just chuckled. After all, he lived quite well in the winter in his snow-white invisible fur coat.
Even now, in the spring, he was also wearing an invisible fur coat, only a different one, to match the color of the earth - not white, but gray.
Alexander Kuprin "Elephant"
The little girl is unwell. Doctor Mikhail Petrovich, whom she has known for a long, long time, visits her every day. And sometimes he brings with him two more doctors, strangers. They turn the girl over on her back and stomach, listen to something, putting her ear to her body, pull her eyelids down and look. At the same time, they snort somehow importantly, their faces are stern, and they speak to each other in an incomprehensible language.
Then they move from the nursery to the living room, where their mother is waiting for them. Most chief doctor- tall, gray-haired, wearing gold glasses - tells her about something seriously and at length. The door is not closed, and the girl can see and hear everything from her bed. There is a lot she doesn’t understand, but she knows that this is about her. Mom looks at the doctor with big, tired, tear-stained eyes. Saying goodbye, the chief doctor says loudly:
“The main thing is don’t let her get bored.” Fulfill all her whims.
- Oh, doctor, but she doesn’t want anything!
- Well, I don’t know... remember what she liked before, before her illness. Toys... some treats...
- No, no, doctor, she doesn’t want anything...
- Well, try to entertain her somehow... Well, at least with something... I give you my word of honor that if you manage to make her laugh, amuse her, then it will be the best medicine. Understand that your daughter is sick with indifference to life, and nothing else... Goodbye, madam!
“Dear Nadya, my dear girl,” says my mother, “wouldn’t you like something?”
- No, mom, I don’t want anything.
“If you want, I’ll put all your dolls on your bed.” We will supply an armchair, a sofa, a table and a tea set. The dolls will drink tea and talk about the weather and the health of their children.
- Thank you, mom... I don’t feel like it... I’m bored...
- Well, okay, my girl, no need for dolls. Or maybe I should invite Katya or Zhenechka to come to you? You love them so much.
- No need, mom. Really, it's not necessary. I don't want anything, nothing. I'm so bored!
- Would you like me to bring you some chocolate?
But the girl does not answer and looks at the ceiling with motionless, sad eyes. She doesn't have any pain and doesn't even have a fever. But she is losing weight and weakening every day. No matter what they do to her, she doesn’t care, and she doesn’t need anything. She lies there all days and whole nights, quiet and sad. Sometimes she dozes off for half an hour, but even in her dreams she sees something gray, long, boring, like autumn rain.
When the door to the living room is open from the nursery, and from the living room further into the office, the girl sees her dad. Dad walks quickly from corner to corner and smokes and smokes. Sometimes he comes to the nursery, sits on the edge of the bed and quietly strokes Nadya’s legs. Then he suddenly gets up and goes to the window.
He whistles something, looking down at the street, but his shoulders are shaking. Then he hastily applies a handkerchief to one eye, then to the other, and, as if angry, goes to his office. Then he again runs from corner to corner and everything... smokes, smokes, smokes... And the office becomes all blue from tobacco smoke.
But one morning the girl wakes up a little more cheerful than usual. She saw something in a dream, but she can’t remember what exactly, and looks long and carefully into her mother’s eyes.
- Do you need anything? - asks mom.
But the girl suddenly remembers her dream and says in a whisper, as if in secret:
- Mom... can I... have an elephant? Just not the one drawn in the picture... Is it possible?
- Of course, my girl, of course you can.
She goes to the office and tells dad that the girl wants an elephant. Dad immediately puts on his coat and hat and leaves somewhere. Half an hour later he returns with an expensive, beautiful toy. This is a large gray elephant, which itself shakes its head and wags its tail; there is a red saddle on the elephant, and on the saddle there is a golden tent, and three little men are sitting in it. But the girl looks at the toy as indifferently as at the ceiling and walls, and says listlessly:
- No. This is not the same at all. I wanted a real, living elephant, but this one is dead.
“Just look, Nadya,” says dad. “We’ll start him up now, and he’ll be just like alive.”
The elephant is wound with a key, and he, shaking his head and wagging his tail, begins to step with his feet and slowly walks along the table. The girl is not at all interested in this and is even bored, but in order not to upset her father, she whispers meekly:
“I thank you very, very much, dear dad.” I think no one has such an interesting toy... Only... remember... you promised long ago to take me to the menagerie to look at a real elephant... and you never got lucky...
“But listen, my dear girl, understand that this is impossible.” The elephant is very big, it reaches the ceiling, it won’t fit in our rooms... And then, where can I get it?
- Dad, I don’t need such a big one... Bring me at least a small one, just a living one. Well, at least this one... At least a baby elephant...
“Dear girl, I’m glad to do everything for you, but I can’t do this.” After all, it’s the same as if you suddenly told me: Dad, get me the sun from the sky.
The girl smiles sadly.
- How stupid you are, dad. Don't I know that you can't reach the sun because it burns. And the moon is also not allowed. No, I would like an elephant... a real one.
And she quietly closes her eyes and whispers:
- I'm tired... Excuse me, dad...
Dad grabs his hair and runs into the office. There he flashes from corner to corner for some time. Then he resolutely throws the half-smoked cigarette on the floor (for which he always gets it from his mother) and shouts to the maid:
- Olga! Coat and hat!
The wife comes out into the hall.
-Where are you going, Sasha? she asks.
He breathes heavily, buttoning his coat buttons.
“I myself, Mashenka, don’t know where... Only, it seems that by this evening I will actually bring a real elephant here, to us.”
His wife looks at him worriedly.
- Honey, are you okay? Do you have a headache? Maybe you didn't sleep well today?
“I didn’t sleep at all,” he answers.
angrily. “I see you want to ask if I’m crazy?” Not yet. Goodbye! In the evening everything will be visible.
And he disappears, loudly slamming the front door.
Two hours later, he sits in the menagerie, in the first row, and watches how the learned animals, on the orders of the owner, make various things. Smart dogs jump, tumble, dance, sing to music, and form words from large cardboard letters. Monkeys - some in red skirts, others in blue pants - walk on a tightrope and ride on a large poodle. Huge red lions jump through burning hoops. A clumsy seal shoots a gun. At the end the elephants are brought out. There are three of them: one big, two very small, dwarfs, but still much taller than a horse. It’s strange to watch how these huge animals, so clumsy and heavy in appearance, perform the most difficult tricks that even a very dexterous person cannot do. The largest elephant is especially distinctive. He first stands on his hind legs, sits down, stands on his head, feet up, walks on wooden bottles, walks on a rolling barrel, turns the pages of a large cardboard book with his trunk and finally sits down at the table and, tied with a napkin, has dinner, just like a well-bred boy .
The show ends. The spectators disperse. Nadya's father approaches the fat German, the owner of the menagerie. The owner stands behind a plank partition and holds a large black cigar in his mouth.
“Excuse me, please,” Nadya’s father says. —Can you let your elephant go to my house for a while?
The German opens his eyes wide in surprise and then his mouth, causing the cigar to fall to the ground. Groaning, he bends down, picks up the cigar, puts it back in his mouth and only then says:
- Let go? An elephant? Home? I don't understand you.
It’s clear from the German’s eyes that he also wants to ask if Nadya’s father has a headache... But the father hastily explains what’s the matter: his only daughter, Nadya, is sick with some strange disease, which even the doctors don’t understand how follows. She has been lying in her crib for a month now, losing weight, getting weaker every day, not interested in anything, bored and slowly fading away. The doctors tell her to entertain her, but she doesn’t like anything; they tell her to fulfill all her wishes, but she has no wishes. Today she wanted to see a live elephant. Is it really impossible to do this? And he adds in a trembling voice, taking the German by the button of his coat:
- Well, here... I, of course, hope that my girl will recover. But... God forbid... what if her illness ends badly... what if the girl dies?.. Just think: all my life I will be tormented by the thought that I did not fulfill her last, very last wish!..
The German frowns and scratches his left eyebrow with his little finger in thought. Finally he asks:
- Hm... How old is your girl?
- Hm... My Lisa is also six. Hm... But, you know, it will cost you a lot. You will have to bring the elephant at night and only take it back the next night. During the day you can't. The public will gather and there will be a scandal... Thus, it turns out that I am losing the whole day, and you must return the loss to me.
- Oh, of course, of course... don't worry about it...
— Then: will the police allow one elephant into one house?
- I'll arrange it. Will allow.
— One more question: will the owner of your house allow one elephant into his house?
- It will allow it. I am the owner of this house myself.
- Yeah! This is even better. And then one more question: on which floor do you live?
- In the second.
- Hm... This is not so good... Do you have a wide staircase, a high ceiling, a large room, wide doors and a very strong floor in your house? Because my Tommy is three arshins and four inches high, and five and a half arshins long. In addition, it weighs one hundred and twelve pounds.
Nadya's father thinks for a minute.
- Do you know what? - he says. - Let's go to my place now and look at everything on the spot. If necessary, I will order the passage in the walls to be widened.
- Very good! — the owner of the menagerie agrees.
At night, an elephant is taken to visit a sick girl. Wearing a white blanket, he strides importantly down the very middle of the street, shaking his head and curling and then developing his trunk. There is a large crowd around him, despite the late hour. But the elephant does not pay attention to her: every day he sees hundreds of people in the menagerie. Only once did he get a little angry.
Some street boy ran up to his very feet and began to make faces for the amusement of onlookers. Then the elephant calmly took off his hat with its trunk and threw it over a nearby fence studded with nails.
The policeman walks among the crowd and persuades her:
- Gentlemen, please leave. And what do you find so unusual here? I'm surprised! It’s as if we’ve never seen a live elephant on the street.
They approach the house. On the stairs, as well as along the entire path of the elephant, all the way to the dining room, all the doors were wide open, for which it was necessary to beat off the door latches with a hammer. The same thing was done once when a large miraculous icon was brought into the house. But in front of the stairs, the elephant stops, restless and stubborn.
“We need to give him some kind of treat...” says the German. - Some sweet bun or something... But... Tommy!.. Wow... Tommy!..
Nadine's father runs to a nearby bakery and buys a large round pistachio cake. The elephant discovers a desire to swallow it whole along with the cardboard box, but the German only gives him a quarter. Tommy likes the cake and reaches out with his trunk for a second slice. However, the German turns out to be more cunning. Holding a delicacy in his hand, he rises up from step to step, and the elephant with an outstretched trunk and outstretched ears inevitably follows him. On the set, Tommy gets his second piece.
Thus, he is brought to the dining room, from where all the furniture has been removed in advance, and the floor is thickly covered with straw... The elephant is tied by the leg to a ring screwed into the floor. Fresh carrots, cabbage and turnips are placed in front of him. The German is located nearby, on the sofa. The lights are turned off and everyone goes to bed.
The next day the girl wakes up at dawn and first of all asks:
- What about the elephant? Has he come?
“He came,” my mother answers, “but he only ordered Nadya to wash herself first, and then eat a soft-boiled egg and drink hot milk.”
- Is he kind?
- He's kind. Eat up, girl. Now we will go to him.
- Is he funny?
- A little. Put on a warm blouse.
The egg was eaten and the milk was drunk. Nadya is put in the same stroller in which she rode when she was still so small that she could not walk at all, and they take her to the dining room.
The elephant turns out to be much larger than Nadya thought when she looked at it in the picture. He is only slightly taller than the door, and in length he occupies half the dining room. His skin is rough, with heavy folds. The legs are thick, like pillars.
A long tail with something like a broom at the end. The head is full of big bumps. The ears are large, like mugs, and hang down. The eyes are very tiny, but smart and kind. The fangs are trimmed. The trunk is like a long snake and ends in two nostrils, and between them a movable, flexible finger. If the elephant had stretched out its trunk to its full length, it would probably have reached the window. The girl is not scared at all. She is only a little amazed by the enormous size of the animal. But the nanny, sixteen-year-old Polya, begins to squeal in fear.
The owner of the elephant, a German, comes up to the stroller and says:
— Good morning, young lady. Please don't be afraid. Tommy is very kind and loves children.
The girl extends her small pale hand to the German.
- Hello, how are you doing? - she answers. “I’m not the least bit afraid.” What's his name?
“Hello, Tommy,” the girl says and bows her head. Because the elephant is so big, she does not dare to speak to him on private terms. - How did you sleep last night?
She extends her hand to him too. The elephant carefully takes and shakes her thin fingers with his mobile strong finger and does it much more tenderly than Doctor Mikhail Petrovich. At the same time, the elephant shakes its head, and its small eyes are completely narrowed, as if laughing.
- He understands everything, doesn’t he? - the girl asks the German.
- Oh, absolutely everything, young lady!
- But he’s the only one who doesn’t speak?
- Yes, but he doesn’t speak. You know, I also have one daughter, just as small as you. Her name is Lisa. Tommy is a great, great friend of hers.
— Have you, Tommy, already had tea? - the girl asks the elephant.
The elephant again stretches out its trunk and blows warm, strong air right into the girl’s face.
breathing, causing the light hair on the girl’s head to fly in all directions.
Nadya laughs and claps her hands. The German laughs loudly. He himself is as big, fat and good-natured as an elephant, and Nadya thinks that they both look alike. Maybe they are related?
- No, he didn’t drink tea, young lady. But he happily drinks sugar water. He also loves buns very much.
They bring a tray of bread rolls. A girl treats an elephant. He deftly grabs the bun with his finger and, bending his trunk into a ring, hides it somewhere down under his head, where his funny, triangular, furry lower lip moves. You can hear the roll rustling against dry skin. Tommy does the same with another bun, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and nods his head in gratitude, and his little eyes narrow even more with pleasure. And the girl laughs joyfully.
When all the buns are eaten, Nadya introduces the elephant to her dolls:
- Look, Tommy, this elegant doll is Sonya. She is a very kind child, but she is a little capricious and does not want to eat soup. And this is Natasha, Sonya’s daughter. She is already starting to learn and knows almost all the letters. And this is Matryoshka. This is my very first doll. You see, she has no nose, and her head is glued on and there is no more hair. But still, you can’t kick the old lady out of the house. Really, Tommy? She used to be Sonya’s mother, and now she serves as our cook. Well, let's play, Tommy: you will be the dad, and I will be the mom, and these will be our children.
Tommy agrees. He laughs, takes Matryoshka by the neck and drags it into his mouth. But this is just a joke. After lightly chewing the doll, he again places it on the girl’s lap, albeit a little wet and dented.
Then Nadya shows him a large book with pictures and explains:
- This is a horse, this is a canary, this is a gun... Here is a cage with a bird, here is a bucket, a mirror, a stove, a shovel, a crow... And this, look, this is an elephant! It really doesn't look like it at all? Are elephants really that small, Tommy?
Tommy finds that there are never such small elephants in the world. In general, he doesn’t like this picture. He grabs the edge of the page with his finger and turns it over.
It's time for lunch, but the girl can't be torn away from the elephant. A German comes to the rescue:
- Let me arrange all this. They will have lunch together.
He orders the elephant to sit down. The elephant obediently sits down, causing the floor throughout the entire apartment to shake, the dishes in the closet to rattle, and the plaster of the lower residents to fall from the ceiling. A girl sits opposite him. A table is placed between them. A tablecloth is tied around the elephant's neck, and the new friends begin to dine. The girl eats chicken soup and cutlet, and the elephant eats various vegetables and salad. The girl is given a tiny glass of sherry, and the elephant is given warm water with a glass of rum, and he happily pulls this drink out of the bowl with his trunk. Then they get sweets - the girl gets a cup of cocoa, and the elephant gets half a cake, this time a nut one. At this time, the German is sitting with his dad in the living room and drinking beer with the same pleasure as an elephant, only in larger quantities.
After lunch, some of my father’s friends come, they are warned about the elephant in the hall so that they don’t get scared. At first they don’t believe it, and then, seeing Tommy, they crowd towards the door.
- Don't be afraid, he's kind! - the girl reassures them. But the acquaintances hastily go into the living room and, without sitting for even five minutes, leave.
Evening is coming. Late. It's time for the girl to go to bed. However, it is impossible to pull her away from the elephant. She falls asleep next to him, and they take her, already sleepy, to the nursery. She doesn't even hear how they undress her.
That night Nadya dreams that she married Tommy and they have many children, small, cheerful elephants. The elephant, which was taken to the menagerie at night, also sees a sweet, affectionate girl in a dream. In addition, he dreams of large cakes, walnut and pistachio, the size of gates...
In the morning the girl wakes up cheerful, fresh and, as in the old days, when she was still healthy, shouts to the whole house, loudly and impatiently:
- Mo-loch-ka!
Hearing this cry, my mother joyfully crosses herself in her bedroom.
But the girl immediately remembers yesterday and asks:
- And the elephant?
They explain to her that the elephant went home on business, that he has children who cannot be left alone, that he asked to bow to Nadya and that he is waiting for her to visit him when she is healthy.
The girl smiles slyly and says:
- Tell Tommy that I’m completely healthy!
Mikhail Prishvin "Guys and Ducklings"
A small wild teal duck finally decided to move her ducklings from the forest, bypassing the village, into the lake to freedom. In the spring, this lake overflowed far, and a solid place for a nest could only be found about three miles away, on a hummock, in a swampy forest. And when the water subsided, we had to travel all three miles to the lake.
In places open to the eyes of man, fox and hawk, the mother walked behind so as not to let the ducklings out of sight for a minute. And near the forge, when crossing the road, she, of course, let them go ahead. That’s where the guys saw them and threw their hats at them. The whole time they were catching the ducklings, the mother ran after them with her beak open and flew several steps in different directions in the greatest excitement. The guys were just about to throw their hats at their mother and catch her like ducklings, but then I approached.
- What will you do with the ducklings? - I asked the guys sternly.
They chickened out and replied:
- Let's go.
- Let’s “let it go”! - I said angrily. - Why did you need to catch them? Where is mother now?
- And there he sits! - the guys answered in unison. And they pointed me to a nearby hillock of a fallow field, where the duck was actually sitting with her mouth open in excitement.
“Quickly,” I ordered the guys, “go and return all the ducklings to her!”
They even seemed to be delighted at my order and ran up the hill with the ducklings. The mother flew away a little and, when the guys left, rushed to save her sons and daughters. In her own way, she quickly said something to them and ran to the oat field. Five ducklings ran after her. And so, through the oat field, bypassing the village, the family continued its journey to the lake.
I joyfully took off my hat and, waving it, shouted:
- Bon voyage, ducklings!
The guys laughed at me.
-Why are you laughing, you fools? - I told the guys. — Do you think it’s so easy for ducklings to get into the lake? Just wait, wait for the university exam. Take off all your hats and shout “goodbye!”
And the same hats, dusty on the road while catching ducklings, rose into the air; the guys all shouted at once:
- Goodbye, ducklings!
Mikhail Prishvin “Fox Bread”
One day I walked in the forest all day and in the evening I returned home with rich booty. I took the heavy bag off my shoulders and began to lay out my belongings on the table.
- What kind of bird is this? - Zinochka asked.
“Terenty,” I answered.
And he told her about the black grouse, how it lives in the forest, how it mutters in the spring, how it pecks at birch buds, collects berries in the swamps in the fall, and warms itself from the wind under the snow in winter. He also told her about the hazel grouse, showed her that it was gray with a tuft, and whistled into the pipe in the hazel grouse style and let her whistle. I also poured a lot of porcini mushrooms, both red and black, onto the table. I also had in my pocket a bloody boneberry, and a blue blueberry, and a red lingonberry. I also brought with me a fragrant lump of pine resin, gave it to the girl to smell and said that trees are treated with this resin.
- Who treats them there? - Zinochka asked.
“They are treating themselves,” I answered. “Sometimes a hunter comes and wants to rest, he’ll stick an ax into a tree and hang his bag on the ax, and lie down under the tree.” He'll sleep and rest. He takes an ax out of the tree, puts on a bag, and leaves. And from the wound from the wood ax this fragrant resin will run and heal the wound.
Also, especially for Zinochka, I brought various wonderful herbs, one leaf at a time, a root at a time, a flower at a time: cuckoo’s tears, valerian, Peter’s cross, hare’s cabbage. And just under the hare cabbage I had a piece of black bread: it always happens to me that when I don’t take bread into the forest, I’m hungry, but if I take it, I forget to eat it and bring it back. And Zinochka, when she saw black bread under my hare cabbage, was stupefied:
-Where did the bread come from in the forest?
- What's surprising here? After all, there is cabbage...
- Hare...
- And the bread is chanterelle bread. Taste it.
She tasted it carefully and started eating.
— Good chanterelle bread.
And she ate all my black bread clean. That's how it went for us. Zinochka, such a copula, often won’t even take white bread, but when I bring fox bread from the forest, she will always eat it all and praise her:
- Fox bread is much better than ours!
Yuri Koval "Grandfather, Grandmother and Alyosha"
Grandfather and woman argued about who their grandson looked like.
Baba says:
- Alyosha looks like me. Just as smart and economical.
Alyosha says:
- That's right, that's right, I look like a woman.
Grandfather says:
- And, in my opinion, Alyosha looks like me. He has the same eyes - beautiful, black. And he will probably have the same big beard when Alyosha himself grows up.
Alyosha wanted him to grow the same beard, and he says:
- That's right, that's right, I look more like my grandfather.
Baba says:
- How big a beard will grow is still unknown. But Alyosha is much more like me. Just like me, he loves tea with honey, gingerbread, jam and cheesecakes with cottage cheese. But the samovar was just in time. Now let's see who Alyosha is more like.
Alyosha thought for a moment and said:
“Perhaps I still look a lot like a woman.”
Grandfather scratched his head and said:
— Tea with honey is not a complete similarity. But Alyosha, just like me, loves to harness a horse and then ride a sled into the forest. Now let’s lay down the sled and go into the forest. There, they say, moose have appeared and are grazing the hay from our stack. We need to take a look.
Alyosha thought and thought and said:
“You know, grandpa, things happen so strangely in my life.” I look like a woman for half a day, and for half a day I look like you. Now I’ll drink some tea and I’ll immediately look like you.
And while Alyosha drank tea, he closed his eyes and puffed like a grandmother, and when they raced on a sled into the forest, just like his grandfather, he shouted: “But-oooh, honey! Let's! Let's!" - and cracked his whip.
Yuri Koval "Stozhok"
By the way, Uncle Zui lived in an old bathhouse near the bend of the Yalma River.
He lived not alone, but with his granddaughter Nyurka, and he had everything he needed - chickens and a cow.
“There’s just no pig,” said Uncle Zui. “What does a good man need a pig?”
Back in the summer, Uncle Zui mowed grass in the forest and swept away a stack of hay, but he didn’t just sweep it away - cunningly: he put the haystack not on the ground, as everyone does, but right on the sleigh, so that it would be more convenient to take the hay out of the forest in winter.
And when winter came, Uncle Zui forgot about that hay.
“Grandfather,” says Nyurka, “aren’t you bringing hay from the forest?” Oh, did you forget?
- What kind of hay? - Uncle Zui was surprised, and then slapped himself on the forehead and ran to the chairman to ask for a horse.
The chairman gave me a good, strong horse. On it, Uncle Zui soon reached the place. He looks - his stack is covered with snow.
He began to kick the snow around the sleigh, then looked around - there was no horse: the damned one had gone!
He ran after him and caught up, but the horse did not go to the stack, he resisted.
“Why would she,” thinks Uncle Zui, “resist?”
Finally, Uncle Zui harnessed her to the sleigh.
- But-oh-oh!..
Uncle Zui smacks his lips and screams, but the horse doesn’t move—the runners are frozen solid to the ground. I had to tap them with a hatchet - the sleigh started moving, and there was a haystack on it. It drives just like it was standing in the forest.
Uncle Zui walks from the side and smacks his lips on the horse.
By lunchtime we got home, Uncle Zui began to unharness.
- What did you bring, Zuyushko?! - Pantelevna shouts to him.
- Hay, Pantelevna. What else?
- What do you have on your cart?
Uncle Zui looked and sat down in the snow as he stood. Some kind of terrible, crooked and shaggy muzzle stuck out from the cart - a bear!
“R-ru-u-u!..”
The bear stirred on the cart, tilted the stack to one side and fell out into the snow. He shook his head, grabbed the snow in his teeth and ran into the forest.
- Stop! - Uncle Zuy shouted. - Hold him, Pantelevna!
The bear barked and disappeared into the fir trees.
People began to gather.
The hunters came, and of course I was with them. We crowd around, looking at bear tracks.
Pasha the Hunter says:
- Look what a den he came up with for himself - Zuev Stozhok.
And Pantelevna screams and gets scared:
- How come he didn’t bite you, Zuyushko?..
“Yes,” said Uncle Zui, “now the hay will stink with bear meat.” A cow probably wouldn’t even take it into its mouth.
This section contains fairy tales for “why girls” 4-5-6 years old. All fairy tales correspond to the child’s age-related interests, develop the ability to fantasize and imagine, broaden his horizons, teach him to make friends and dream.
We tried to select fairy tales for children aged 4-6 years with beautiful artistic translations and high-quality illustrations.
Fairy tales will help instill and strengthen a child’s love of reading and books. Therefore, read as much as possible. Read whenever possible and anywhere. This is why our site was created :)
P.S. Each tale is marked tags, which will help you better navigate the sea of works and choose exactly what you want to read most at the moment!
fairy tales for children 4-5-6 years old to read
Navigation by works
Navigation by works
In the sweet carrot forest
Kozlov S.G.
A fairy tale about what forest animals love most. And one day everything happened as they dreamed. In the sweet carrot forest read The hare loved carrots most of all. He said: - I would like it in the forest...
Magic herb St. John's wort
Kozlov S.G.
A fairy tale about how the Hedgehog and the Little Bear looked at the flowers in the meadow. Then they saw a flower they didn’t know, and they became acquainted. It was St. John's wort. Magic herb St. John's wort read It was a sunny summer day. - Do you want me to give you something...
Green bird
Kozlov S.G.
A tale about a Crocodile who really wanted to fly. And then one day he dreamed that he turned into a large Green bird with wide wings. He flew over the land and over the sea and talked with different animals. Green...
How to catch a cloud
Kozlov S.G.
A fairy tale about how the Hedgehog and the Little Bear went fishing in the fall, but instead of fish they were bitten by the moon, then stars. And in the morning they pulled the sun out of the river. How to catch a cloud to read When the time has come...
Caucasian prisoner
Tolstoy L.N.
A story about two officers who served in the Caucasus and were captured by the Tatars. The Tatars ordered letters to be written to relatives demanding a ransom. Zhilin was from a poor family; there was no one to pay the ransom for him. But he was strong...
How much land does a person need?
Tolstoy L.N.
The story is about the peasant Pakhom, who dreamed that he would have a lot of land, then the devil himself would not be afraid of him. He had the opportunity to inexpensively buy as much land as he could walk around before sunset. Wanting to have more...
Jacob's dog
Tolstoy L.N.
A story about a brother and sister who lived near a forest. They had a shaggy dog. One day they went into the forest without permission and were attacked by a wolf. But the dog grappled with the wolf and saved the children. Dog …
Tolstoy L.N.
The story is about an elephant who stepped on his owner because he was mistreating him. The wife was in grief. The elephant put his eldest son on his back and began to work hard for him. Elephant read...
What is everyone's favorite holiday? Of course, New Year! On this magical night, a miracle descends on the earth, everything sparkles with lights, laughter is heard, and Santa Claus brings long-awaited gifts. A huge number of poems are dedicated to the New Year. IN …
In this section of the site you will find a selection of poems about the main wizard and friend of all children - Santa Claus. Many poems have been written about the good grandfather, but we have selected the most suitable ones for children aged 5,6,7 years. Poems about...
Winter has come, and with it fluffy snow, blizzards, patterns on the windows, frosty air. The children rejoice at the white flakes of snow and take out their skates and sleds from the far corners. Work is in full swing in the yard: they are building a snow fortress, an ice slide, sculpting...
A selection of short and memorable poems about winter and New Year, Santa Claus, snowflakes, and a Christmas tree for the younger group of kindergarten. Read and learn short poems with children 3-4 years old for matinees and New Year's Eve. Here …
