Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky, a great Russian teacher, also wrote for children. His book "Children's World. Reader" is being used with benefit at the present time.
His works were intended to be read to students primary school. After all, education began at the age of 9. They are designed for this age. Short stories are suitable for independent reading for children aged 6-7 years.
Adapted. It clings with its paws. The tail rests. He taps his nose. It scares away ants and boogers from behind the bark.
Short stories for children.
Not well tailored, but tightly sewn
The white, sleek bunny said to the hedgehog:
- What an ugly, scratchy dress you have, brother!
“True,” answered the hedgehog, “but my thorns save me from the teeth of dogs and wolves: does your pretty skin serve you the same way?”
Instead of answering, the bunny just sighed.
Vaska
Little cat - gray pubis. Vasya is affectionate, but cunning, his paws are velvet, his nails are sharp.
Vasyutka has sensitive ears, a long mustache, and a silk fur coat.
The cat caresses, bends over, wags its tail, closes its eyes, sings a song, but a mouse is caught - don’t be angry! The eyes are big, the paws are steel, the teeth are crooked, the claws are protruding.
Mice
Mice, old and small, gathered at their hole. Their eyes are black, their paws are small, they have sharp teeth, gray fur coats, their ears stick out from the top, their tails drag along the ground.
Mice, underground thieves, have gathered, they are thinking, they are holding advice: “How can we, the mice, get the cracker into the hole?” Oh, watch out, mice! Your friend, Vasya, is not far away. He loves you very much, he will caress you with his paws, he will remember your tails, he will tear your fur coats.
Cow
The cow is ugly, but she gives milk. Her forehead is wide, her ears are to the side, there is a lack of teeth in her mouth, but her faces are large, her spine is pointed, her tail is broom-shaped, her sides are protruding, and her hooves are double.
She tears grass, chews gum, drinks swill, moos and roars, calling her mistress:
- Come out, hostess, take out the bowl, clean toilet! I brought milk and thick cream for the kids.
Frost is not scary
It's a shame about winter that even little children are not afraid of it severe frosts! They skate and sled, play snowballs, sculpt snow women, build mountains, water them, and even ask for frost: “Come, help!”
Winter pinched one boy by the ear, another by the nose, and a third by the cheek. My cheek even turned white. And the boy grabbed the snow, let's rub it. And her face became red like fire.
Crow and cancer
A crow flew over the lake; Looks - the cancer is crawling: grab it. She sat down on a willow tree and thought about having a snack. The cancer sees that it has to disappear and says:
- Hey, crow! Crow! I knew your father and mother, what nice birds they were!
- Yes! - says the crow without opening his mouth.
“I knew both your sisters and brothers—they were excellent birds!”
- Yes! - the crow says again.
- Yes, even though the birds were good, they are still far from you.
- Yeah! – the crow shouted at the top of her lungs and dropped Cancer into the water.
Woodpecker
Knock-Knock! In a deep forest, a black woodpecker is carpentering on a pine tree. It clings with its paws, rests its tail, taps its nose, scares away ants and boogers from behind the bark.
He'll run around the trunk and won't miss anyone.
The ants got scared:
- These rules are not good! They squirm in fear and hide behind the bark - they don’t want to go out.
Knock-Knock! The black woodpecker knocks with its nose, gouges the bark, shoots its long tongue into holes, gives rise to goosebumps, as if dragging a fish.
Fox and geese
One day a fox came to the meadow. And there were geese in the meadow. Good geese, fat. The fox was happy and said:
- Now I’ll eat all of you!
And the geese say:
- You, fox, are kind! You are a good fox, don’t eat, have pity on us!
- No! - says the fox, - I won’t regret it, I’ll eat everyone!
What to do here? Then one goose says:
- Let me sing a song to us, fox, and then eat us!
“Okay,” says the fox, “sing!”
The geese all stood in a row and sang:
Ga-ha-ha-ga!
Ga-ha-ha-ha-ga!
They are still singing, and the fox is waiting for them to finish.
Eagle
The blue-winged eagle is the king of all birds. He makes nests on rocks and on old oak trees; flies high, sees far, looks unblinkingly at the sun. The eagle has a sickle nose, hooked claws; the wings are long; bulging chest - well done.
Coloring book for the story "Eagle"
It is bad for him who does no good to anyone
"Grishenka! Lend me a pencil for a minute."
And Grishenka responded: “Wear yours, I need mine myself.”
“Grisha! help me put the books in my bag.”
And Grisha responded: “The books are yours, pack them yourself.”
Did Grisha's comrades love him?
Chicken and ducklings
The owner wanted to raise ducks. She bought duck eggs, put them under the chicken and is waiting for her ducklings to hatch. The hen sits on the eggs, sits patiently, comes down for a while to peck at the food and then returns to the nest.
The hen has hatched her ducklings, is happy, clucks, leads them around the yard, tears up the ground - looking for food for them.
One day a hen and her brood went outside the fence and reached a pond. The ducklings saw the water, they all ran to it, one after another they started swimming. The poor chicken runs along the shore, screams, calls the ducklings to her - she is afraid that they will drown.
And the ducklings are happy about the water, they swim, dive and don’t even think about going ashore. The housewife barely managed to get the chicken away from the water.
Martin
In the fall, the boy wanted to destroy the swallow’s nest stuck under the roof, in which the owners were no longer there: sensing the approach of cold weather, they flew away.
“Don’t ruin the nest,” his father told him. - In the spring the swallow will fly again, and she will be pleased to find her former home.
The boy obeyed his father.
Winter passed, and at the end of April a pair of sharp-winged, beautiful birds, cheerful and chirping, flew in and began to fly around the old nest. Work was in full swing. The swallows carried clay and silt from a nearby stream in their noses, and soon the nest, which had deteriorated a little over the winter, was redecorated. Then the swallows began to carry either fluff, then a feather, or a stalk of moss into the nest.
A few more days passed, and the boy noticed that only one swallow was flying out of the nest, and the other remained in it constantly.
“Apparently she’s been touching the testicles and is now sitting on them,” the boy thought. In fact, after about three weeks, tiny heads began to poke out of the nest. How glad the boy was now that he had not ruined the nest!
Sitting on the porch, he spent hours watching how caring birds flew through the air and caught flies, mosquitoes, and midges. How quickly they scurried back and forth, how tirelessly they obtained food for their children!..
The hostess came out and beckoned the geese home: “Tag-tag-tag! White geese, gray geese, go home!”
And the geese stretched out their long necks, spread their red paws, flapped their wings, opened their noses: “Ha-ha-ha! We don't want to go home! We feel good here too.”
The hostess saw that you couldn’t get anything good out of the geese, so she took a long twig and drove them home.
Vaska
Little cat - gray pubis. Vasya is affectionate, but cunning, his paws are velvet, his nails are sharp. Vasyutka has sensitive ears, a long mustache, and a silk fur coat. The cat caresses, bends over, wags its tail, closes its eyes, sings a song, but if you come across a mouse, don’t be angry! The eyes are big, the paws are steel, the teeth are crooked, the claws are protruding!
Cow
The cow is ugly, but she gives milk. Her forehead is wide, her ears are to the side; there is a lack of teeth in the mouth, but the faces are large; the ridge is pointed, the tail is broom-shaped, the sides are protruding, the hooves are double. She tears grass, chews gum, drinks swill, moos and roars, calling her mistress:
- Come out, mistress; take out the dustbin, clean toilet! I brought milk and thick cream for the kids.
Cockerel with family
A cockerel walks around the yard: there is a red comb on its head and a red beard under its nose. Petya's nose is a chisel, Petya's tail is a wheel; there are patterns on the tail, spurs on the legs. Petya rakes the pile with his paws and calls the hens and chicks together:
- Crested hens! Busy hostesses! Motley-pockmarked! Little black and white! Gather together with the chickens, with the little children: I have saved you some grain!
The hens and chicks gathered and cackled; They didn’t share the grain, they got into a fight.
Petya the cockerel does not like unrest - now he has reconciled his family: one for the crest, that for the cowlick, he ate the grain himself, flew up onto the fence, flapped his wings, shouted at the top of his lungs: “Ku-ka-re-ku!”
Goat
A shaggy goat is walking, a bearded one is walking, waving its faces, shaking its beard, tapping its hooves: it walks, bleats, calls for goats and kids; and the little goats and kids went into the garden, nibbling the grass, gnawing the bark, spoiling the young clothespins, hoarding milk for the children; and the kids, little kids, sucked milk, climbed the fence, fought with their horns. Wait, the bearded owner will come and give you all order!
Ducks
Vasya is sitting on the bank; He watches how the ducks tumble in the pond: they hide their wide noses in the water, and dry their yellow paws in the sun.
They ordered Vasya to guard the ducks, but they went to the water - both old and small: how can we get them home now?
So Vasya began to click on the ducks: “Duck-duck-ducks!” Gluttonous chatterboxes, wide noses, webbed paws! You’ve had enough of carrying around worms, plucking grass, swallowing mud, filling your crops - it’s time for you to go home!”
Vasya’s ducklings obeyed, went ashore, walked home, waddled from foot to foot.
Bishka
“Come on, Bishka, read what’s written in the book!”
The dog sniffed the book and walked away. “It’s not my job,” he says, “to read books; I guard the house, I don’t sleep at night, I bark, I scare thieves and wolves, I go hunting, I keep an eye on the bunny, I look for ducks, I carry diarrhea __ I’ll have that too.”
K.D. Ushinsky, stories
GEESE AND CRANES
Geese and cranes grazed together in the meadow. Hunters appeared in the distance. The light cranes took off and flew away, but the heavy geese remained and were killed.
IT'S NOT WELL CUT, BUT IT'S STRICTLY SEWED
The white, sleek bunny said to the hedgehog:
- What an ugly, scratchy dress you have, brother!
“True,” answered the hedgehog, “but my thorns save me from the teeth of the dog and the wolf; does your pretty skin serve you the same way?
Instead of answering, the bunny just sighed.
CUCKOO
The gray cuckoo is a homeless sloth: it doesn’t build nests, it lays eggs in other people’s nests, it gives its cuckoo chicks to be raised, and it also laughs and boasts to its hubby: - - Hee-hee-hee! Ha ha ha! Look, hubby, how I laid an egg for the joy of the oatmeal.
And the tailed hubby, sitting on a birch tree, his tail unfurled, his wings lowered, his neck stretched out, swaying from side to side, calculating the years, counting out stupid people.
WOODPECKER
Knock-Knock! In a deep forest, a black woodpecker is carpentering on a pine tree. It clings with its paws, rests its tail, taps its nose, and scares away ants and boogers from behind the bark; He will run around the trunk, not overlook anyone. The ants got scared:
- These rules are not good! They squirm in fear, hide behind the bark - they don’t want to go out.
Knock-Knock! The black woodpecker knocks with its nose, chisels the bark, and sticks its long tongue into holes; drags ants around like a fish.
MARTIN
The killer whale swallow did not know peace, it flew all day long, carried straws, sculpted with clay, made a nest. She made a nest for herself: she carried testicles. I applied it to the testicles: it doesn’t come off the testicles, it’s waiting for the kids. I hatched the babies: the babies squeaked and wanted to eat.
The killer whale flies all day long, knows no peace: catches midges, feeds the crumbs. The inevitable time will come, the babies will fledge, they will all fly apart, blue seas, beyond the dark forests, beyond the high mountains.
The killer whale swallow does not know peace: day after day it keeps on the prowl, looking for cute children.
EAGLE
The blue-winged eagle is the king of all birds. He makes nests on rocks and on old oak trees; flies high, sees far, does not blink at the sun. The eagle has a sickle nose, hooked claws; the wings are long; the chest is bulging - well done. An eagle flies through the clouds, looking for prey from above. He will fly at a pintail duck, a red-footed goose, a deceiver cuckoo - only feathers will fall...
FOX PATRIKEVNA
The gossamer fox has sharp teeth and a thin snout; ears on the top of the head, a tail on the fly, a warm fur coat.
The fox walks quietly, bends down to the ground as if bowing; wears his fluffy tail carefully; looks affectionately, smiles, shows white teeth.
She digs holes, clever, deep: there are many entrances and exits, there are storage rooms, there are also bedrooms; The floors are lined with soft grass.
If only a little fox would be nice to everyone, the mistress... but the fox is a robber, a fasting woman: she loves chickens, she loves ducks, she will wring the neck of a fat goose, she will not have mercy on even a rabbit.
BUNNY'S COMPLAINTS
The gray bunny stretched out and began to cry, sitting under a bush; cries, says: “There is no worse fate in the world than mine, little gray bunny!” And who doesn’t sharpen their teeth on me? Hunters, dogs, wolf, fox and predatory bird; crooked hawk, goggle-eyed owl; even the stupid crow drags my dear little gray bunnies with her crooked paws...
Trouble threatens me from everywhere; but I have nothing to defend myself with: I can’t climb a tree like a squirrel; I don’t know how to dig holes like a rabbit. True, my teeth regularly gnaw cabbage and gnaw the bark, but I don’t have the courage to bite...
I’m a master at running and I can jump pretty well; but it’s good if you have to run across a flat field or up a mountain, but downhill -
- then you will go somersault over your head: the front legs are not mature enough.
It would still be possible to live in the world if it were not for worthless cowardice. If you hear a rustling, your ears will perk up, your heart will beat, you won’t see the light, you’ll jump out of a bush, and you’ll end up right in the snare or at the hunter’s feet... Oh, I feel bad, the little gray bunny! You are cunning, you hide in the bushes, you wander around the bushes, you confuse your tracks; and sooner or later trouble cannot be avoided: and the cook will drag me to the kitchen for long ears…
My only consolation is that the tail is short: there is nothing for the dog to grab. If I had a tail like a fox's, where would I go with it? Then, it seems, he would have gone and drowned himself.
SCIENTIST BEAR
Children! Children! - the nanny shouted. - Go see the bear. The children ran out onto the porch, and a lot of people had already gathered there. A Nizhny Novgorod man, with a large stake in his hands, is holding a bear on a chain, and the boy is preparing to beat a drum.
“Come on, Misha,” says the Nizhny Novgorod resident, tugging the bear with a chain, “get up, rise, shift from side to side, bow to the honest gentlemen and show yourself to the pullets.”
The bear roared, reluctantly rose to its hind legs, waddled from foot to foot, bowed to the right, to the left.
Come on, Mishenka,” continues the Nizhny Novgorod resident, “show how little kids steal peas: where it’s dry – on the belly, and where it’s wet – on the knees.”
And Mishka crawled: he fell on his belly and raked it with his paw, as if he were pulling a pea.
Come on, Mishenka, show me how women go to work.
The bear is coming, not coming; looks back, scratches behind his ear with his paw. Several times the bear showed annoyance, roared, and did not want to get up; but the iron ring of the chain, threaded through the lip, and the stake in the hands of the owner forced the poor beast to obey.
When the bear had remade all his things, the Nizhny Novgorod resident said:
- Come on, Misha, now shift from foot to foot, bow to the honest gentlemen, but don’t be lazy - but bow lower! Sweat the gentlemen and grab your hat: if they put down the bread, eat it, but return the money to me.
And the bear, with a hat in its front paws, went around the audience. The children put in a ten-kopeck piece; but they felt sorry for poor Misha: blood was oozing from the lip threaded through the ring...
EAGLE AND CROW
Once upon a time there lived a crow in Rus' - with nannies, with mothers, with small children, with close neighbors. Geese and swans flew in from distant countries and laid eggs; and the crow began to offend them and began to steal their testicles.
An owl happened to fly by, and he saw that the crow was offending the birds, so he flew and said to the eagle: “Father, gray eagle!” Give us righteous judgment against the thief crow.
The gray eagle sent a light messenger, a sparrow, for the crow. The sparrow flew and captured the crow; She tried to resist, but he kicked her and dragged her towards the eagle.
So the eagle began to judge the crow:
- Oh, you thief crow, stupid head! They say about you that you open your mouth at other people's goods: big birds you carry eggs.
This is all a blind owl, an old brat, who lied about me.
“They say about you,” says the eagle, “that a man will come out to sow, and you will jump out with all your sodom—and well, rake up its seeds.”
- It’s a lie, father, gray eagle, it’s a lie!
- And they also say: the women will begin to lay sheaves, and you will jump out with all your sodomy - and well, stir up the sheaves.
- It’s a lie, father, gray eagle, it’s a lie!
The eagle condemned the crow to be imprisoned.
FOX AND GOAT
A fox ran, gaped at the crow, and ended up in a well. There was not much water in the well: you couldn’t drown, and you couldn’t jump out either. The fox sits and grieves.
There comes a goat, a smart head; walks, shakes his beard, shakes his faces; With nothing to do, he looked into the well, saw a fox there and asked:
- What are you doing there, little fox?
“I’m resting, my dear,” the fox answers. “It’s hot up there, that’s why I climbed up here.” It's so cool and nice here! Cold water - as much as you want.
But the goat has been thirsty for a long time.
- Is the water good? - asks the goat.
- Excellent! - answers the fox. - Clean, cold! Jump here if you want; There will be a place for both of us here.
The goat foolishly jumped, almost ran over the fox, and she said to him:
- Eh, bearded fool! And he didn’t know how to jump - he splashed all over.
The fox jumped onto the goat's back, from the back onto the horns, and out of the well. The goat almost disappeared from hunger in the well; They found him by force and dragged him out by the horns.
ROOSTER AND DOG
There lived an old man and an old woman, and they lived in great poverty. The only bellies they had were a rooster and a dog, and they fed them poorly. So the dog says to the rooster:
- Come on, brother Petka, let’s go into the forest: life here is bad for us.
“Let’s leave,” says the rooster, “it won’t get any worse.”
So they went wherever they looked. We wandered around all day; It was getting dark - it was time to stop for the night. They left the road into the forest and chose a large hollow tree. The rooster flew up onto a branch, the dog climbed into the hollow and fell asleep.
In the morning, just as dawn began to break, the rooster cried: “Ku-ku-re-ku!” The fox heard the rooster; She wanted to eat rooster meat. So she went up to the tree and began praising the rooster:
- What a rooster! I have never seen such a bird: what beautiful feathers, what a red comb, and what a clear voice! Fly to me, handsome.
- What business? - asks the rooster.
- Let's go visit me: I have a housewarming party today, and I have a lot of peas in store for you.
“Okay,” says the rooster, “but I can’t go alone: I have a comrade with me.” “What luck has arrived!” thought the fox. “Instead of one rooster there will be two.”
- Where is your friend? - she asks the rooster. - I’ll invite him to visit too.
“He spends the night there in the hollow,” answers the rooster.
The fox rushed into the hollow, and the dog grabbed its muzzle - tsap!.. Caught and tore the fox to pieces.
CRAFT CAT
I
Once upon a time there lived a cat, a goat and a ram in the same yard. They lived together: a tuft of hay and that in half; and if a pitchfork hits the side, it will hit Vaska the cat alone. He is such a thief and robber: wherever something bad lies, he looks there.
Once upon a time there comes a purring little cat, a gray forehead, walking and crying so pitifully. They ask the cat, goat and ram:
- Kitty, little gray pubis! Why are you crying, jumping on three legs? Vasya answers them:
- How can I not cry! The woman beat me and beat me; She tore out my ears, broke my legs, and even had a stranglehold on me.
- Why did such trouble come to you? - the goat and the ram ask.
- Eh-eh! For accidentally licking the sour cream.
“Flour serves the thief right,” says the goat, “don’t steal sour cream!”
And the cat cries again:
- The woman beat me, beat me; she beat and said: my son-in-law will come to me, where will he get sour cream? Inevitably, you will have to slaughter a goat or a ram. Here a goat and a ram roared:
- Oh, you gray cat, your stupid forehead! Why did you ruin us?
They began to judge and decide how they could get rid of the great misfortune - and they decided right there: all three of them should run away. They waited until the landlady did not close the gate, and left.
II
The cat, the goat and the ram ran for a long time through the valleys, over the mountains, over the shifting sands; got tired and decided to spend the night in a mown meadow; and in that meadow there are stacks like cities.
The night was dark and cold: where could I get fire? And the purring cat had already taken out birch bark, wrapped the horns of the goat and ordered him and the ram to knock their foreheads. A goat and a ram bumped into each other, sparks flew from their eyes: the birch bark burst into flames.
Okay,” said the gray cat, “now let’s warm up!” - and without thinking for long, he lit a whole haystack on fire.
Before they had time to warm up sufficiently, the uninvited guest- gray little man, Mikhailo Potapych Toptygin.
“Let me in,” he says, “brothers, to warm up and rest; I can't do something.
- Welcome, gray little man! - says the cat. -- Where are you going from?
“I went to the beekeeping,” says the bear, “to check on the bees, I got into a fight with the men, and that’s why I pretended to be ill.”
III
So they all began to while away the night together: the goat and the ram were by the fire, the little purr climbed onto the stack, and the bear hid under the stack. The bear fell asleep; the goat and the ram are dozing; Only the purr does not sleep and sees everything.
And he sees: seven gray wolves are coming, and one is white. And straight to the fire.
- Fu-fu! What kind of people are these! - says the white wolf to the goat and the ram. - Let's try the force. Here a goat and a ram bleated out of fear; and the cat, the gray forehead, made the following speech:
- Oh, you white wolf, prince of wolves! Don't anger our elder: God have mercy, he is angry! How it diverges is bad for anyone. Al you don’t see his beard: that’s where all the strength lies; He kills all the animals with his beard, and only removes the skin with his horns. Better come and ask with honor: we want to play with your little brother who sleeps under the haystack.
The wolves on that goat bowed; They surrounded Misha and started flirting. So Misha steadied himself and steadied himself, and as soon as there was enough for each paw of the wolf, they sang Lazarus. The wolves crawled out from under the stack barely alive and, with their tails between their legs, “God bless your legs!”
The goat and the ram, while the bear was dealing with the wolves, picked up the purr on their back and quickly went home:
- Stop wandering around without a way, they say, we won’t get into such trouble.
And the old man and the old woman were very happy that the goat and ram returned home; and the purring cat was torn out for cheating.
Wind and sun
One day the Sun and the angry North Wind started a dispute about which of them was stronger. They argued for a long time and finally decided to measure their strength against the traveler, who at that very time was riding on horseback along the high road.
Look, - said the Wind, - how I will fly at him: I will instantly tear off his cloak.
He said, and began to blow as hard as he could. But the more the Wind tried, the tighter the traveler wrapped himself in his cloak: he grumbled about the bad weather, but rode further and further. The wind became angry, fierce, and showered the poor traveler with rain and snow; Cursing the Wind, the traveler put his cloak into the sleeves and tied it with a belt. At this point the Wind himself became convinced that he could not pull off his cloak.
The sun, seeing the powerlessness of its rival, smiled, looked out from behind the clouds, warmed and dried the earth, and at the same time the poor half-frozen traveler. Feeling the warmth sun rays, he perked up, blessed the Sun, took off his cloak himself, rolled it up and tied it to the saddle.
You see,” the meek Sun then said to the angry Wind, “you can do much more with affection and kindness than with anger.”
Two plows
Two plows were made from the same piece of iron and in the same workshop. One of them fell into the hands of a farmer and immediately went to work, while the other spent a long time and completely uselessly in the merchant’s shop.
It happened some time later that both fellow countrymen met again. The farmer's plow shone like silver and was even better than when he had just left the workshop; the plow, which lay idle in the shop, darkened and became covered with rust.
Tell me please, why do you shine so much? - the rusty plow asked his old acquaintance.
From work, my dear,” he answered, “and if you got rusty and became worse than you were, it’s because all this time you lay on your side, doing nothing.”
Blind horse
A long time ago, a very long time ago, when not only we, but also our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were not yet in the world, the rich and commercial Slavic city of Vineta stood on the seashore; and in this city lived a rich merchant, Usedom, whose ships, loaded with expensive goods, sailed across distant seas.
Usedom was very rich and lived luxuriously: perhaps he received the very nickname Usedom, or Vsedom, because in his house there was absolutely everything that could be found that was good and expensive at that time; and the owner himself, his mistress and children ate only on gold and silver, walked only in sables and brocade.
There were many excellent horses in Usedoma's stable; but neither in Usedom’s stable, nor in the whole of Vineta was there a horse faster and more beautiful than Dogoni-Veter - that’s how Usedom nicknamed his favorite riding horse for the speed of its legs. No one dared to ride Dogoni-Vetra except the owner himself, and the owner never rode any other horse.
It happened to the merchant, on one of his trips on trade business, returning to Vineta, to ride his favorite horse through a large and dark forest. It was late in the evening, the forest was terribly dark and dense, the wind was shaking the tops of the gloomy pines; The merchant rode alone and at a pace, saving his beloved horse, which was tired from the long journey.
Suddenly, from behind the bushes, as if from under the ground, six broad-shouldered young men with brutal faces, in shaggy hats, with spears, axes and knives in their hands, jumped out; three were on horseback, three on foot, and two robbers had already grabbed the merchant's horse by the bridle.
The rich Usyedy would not have seen his dear Vineta if he had had some other horse under him, and not Catch-the-Wind. Sensing someone else's hand on the bridle, the horse rushed forward, with his wide, strong chest he knocked over two daring villains who were holding him by the bridle to the ground, crushed under his feet the third, who, waving his spear, ran forward and wanted to block his way, and rushed off like a whirlwind . The mounted robbers set off in pursuit; Their horses were also good, but where could they catch up with Usedomov’s horse?
Catch-the-Wind, despite his fatigue, sensing pursuit, rushed like an arrow shot from a tightly drawn bow, and left the enraged villains far behind him.
Half an hour later, Usedom was already riding into his dear Vineta on his good horse, from which foam fell in shreds to the ground.
Getting off his horse, whose sides were rising high from fatigue, the merchant immediately, patting Catch-the-Wind on his lathered neck, solemnly promised: no matter what happens to him, never sell or give his faithful horse to anyone, never drive him away, no matter how he never grew old, and every day, until his death, he gave his horse three measures of the best oats.
But, hurrying to his wife and children, Usedom did not look after the horse himself, and the lazy worker did not take the exhausted horse out properly, did not allow it to completely cool down and gave it water ahead of time.
From then on, Catch-the-Wind began to fall ill, become frail, weakened his legs and, finally, went blind. The merchant was very sad and for six months faithfully kept his promise: the blind horse was still standing in the stable, and he was given three measures of oats every day.
Usedom then bought himself another riding horse, and six months later it seemed too imprudent to give a blind, worthless horse three measures of oats, and he ordered two. Another six months have passed; The blind horse was still young, it took a long time to feed him, and they began to let him have one measure at a time.
Finally, this too seemed difficult to the merchant, and he ordered the reins to be taken off Dogoni-Vetr and driven out of the gate so that he would not waste his space in the stable. The workers escorted the blind horse out of the yard with a stick, as he resisted and would not walk.
Poor blind Catch-the-Wind, not understanding what they were doing to him, not knowing or seeing where to go, remained standing outside the gate, with his head down and his ears moving sadly. Night fell, it began to snow, and sleeping on the rocks was hard and cold for the poor blind horse. She stood in one place for several hours, but finally hunger forced her to look for food. Raising his head, sniffing in the air to see if somewhere there might be even a tuft of straw from the old, sagging roof, the blind horse wandered at random and constantly bumped into either the corner of the house or the fence.
You need to know that in Vineta, like in all ancient Slavic cities, there was no prince, and the inhabitants of the city governed themselves, gathering in the square when some important matters had to be decided. Such a meeting of the people to decide their own affairs, for trial and punishment, was called a veche. In the middle of Vineta, on the square where the veche met, a large veche bell hung on four pillars, by the ringing of which the people gathered and which anyone who considered himself offended and demanded justice and protection from the people could ring. No one, of course, dared to ring the veche bell for trifles, knowing that for this they would get a lot of punishment from the people.
Wandering around the square, a blind, deaf and hungry horse accidentally came across the pillars on which the bell hung, and, thinking perhaps to pull out a bunch of straw from the eaves, grabbed the rope tied to the tongue of the bell with its teeth and began to pull: the bell rang like this it was so strong that the people, despite the fact that it was still early, began to flock to the square in crowds, wanting to know who was so loudly demanding his trial and protection. Everyone in Vineta knew Dogoni-Veter, they knew that he saved the life of his owner, they knew the owner’s promise - and they were surprised to see a poor horse in the middle of the square - blind, hungry, shivering from the cold, covered with snow.
It soon became clear what the matter was, and when the people learned that the rich Usedom had driven out of the house the blind horse that had saved his life, they unanimously decided that Dogoni-Veter had every right to ring the veche bell.
They demanded an ungrateful merchant to come to the square; and, despite his excuses, they ordered him to keep the horse as before and feed it until its death. A special person was assigned to oversee the execution of the sentence, and the sentence itself was carved on a stone placed in memory of this event on the veche square...
Hunter of fairy tales
There lived an old man with an old woman, and the old man was a great lover of fairy tales and all kinds of tales.
In winter, a soldier comes to an old man and asks to spend the night.
“Perhaps, service, spend the night,” says the old man, “only with an agreement: tell me all night.” You are an experienced person, you have seen a lot, you know a lot.
The soldier agreed.
The old man and the soldier had dinner, and they both lay down on the bed side by side, and the old woman sat down on a bench and began to spin by a torch.
The soldier told the old man for a long time about his life, where he had been and what he had seen. He talked until midnight, and then he was silent for a while and asked the old man:
Well, master, do you know who is lying on the bunk with you?
Like who? - asks the owner, - apparently, a soldier.
But, no, not a soldier, but a wolf.
The man looked at the soldier, and, sure enough, it was a wolf. The old man got scared, and the wolf said to him:
Yes, master, don’t be afraid, look at yourself, after all, you are a bear.
The man looked back at himself, and sure enough, he became a bear.
Listen, master,” the wolf then says, “you and I don’t have to lie on the beds; What a blessing, people will come to the hut, so we will not escape death. We'd better run away while we're safe.
So the wolf and the bear ran into an open field.
They run, and the owner’s horse meets them. The wolf saw the horse and said:
Let's eat!
No, this is my horse,” says the old man.
Well, what is yours: hunger is not your aunt.
Let's eat the old woman.
As it is? “But this is my wife,” says the bear.
What is your! - the wolf answers.
They also ate the old woman.
This is how the bear and the wolf ran the whole summer. Winter is coming.
“Come on,” says the wolf, “let’s lie down in the den; You climb further, and I’ll lie in front. When the hunters find us, they will shoot me first, and you watch: how they kill me and begin to tear off my skin, jump out of the den, and jump over my skin, and you will become a man again.
Here is a bear and a wolf lying in a den; Hunters came across them, shot the wolf and began to skin it. And the bear jumped out of the den and somersaulted through the wolf's skin... and the old man flew upside down.
Oh oh! - the old man screamed, - he beat off his whole back.
The old woman got scared and jumped up.
What are you, what’s wrong with you, dear? Why did he fall, it seems he wasn’t drunk!
How why? - said the old man, - but you obviously don’t know anything!
And the old man began to tell: the soldier and I were beasts; he is a wolf, I am a bear; They spent the whole summer, they ate our horse, and they ate you, old woman. The old woman grabbed her sides and started laughing.
“Yes,” he says, “both of you have been snoring at the top of your lungs for an hour together in the bunk, but I kept sitting and spinning.”
The old man was hurt badly: from then on until midnight he stopped listening to fairy tales.
Bishka
“Come on, Bishka, read what’s written in the book!”
The dog sniffed the book and walked away. “It’s not my job,” he says, “to read a book; I guard the house, I don’t sleep at night, I bark, I scare thieves and wolves, I go hunting, I look after the bunny, I look for ducks, I carry diarrhea - I’ll have that too.”
BraveI am a dog
Dog, why are you barking?
I scare the wolves.
The dog with its tail between its legs?
I'm afraid of wolves.
MouseAnd
Mice, old and small, gathered at their hole. They have black eyes, small paws, sharp teeth, gray fur coats, ears sticking up, tails drag along the ground. Mice, underground thieves, have gathered, they are thinking, they are holding advice: “How can we, the mice, get the cracker into the hole?” Oh, watch out for the mouse! Your friend, Vasya, is not far away. He loves you very much, he will kiss you with his paw; He'll wring your tail and tear your fur coats.
Goatsate
A shaggy goat is walking, a bearded one is walking, waving its faces, shaking its beard, tapping its hooves, walking, bleating, calling for goats and kids. And the goats and kids went into the garden, nibbled grass, gnawed bark, spoiled young clothespins, hoarded milk for the children; and the kids, little kids, sucked milk, climbed the fence, fought with their horns.
Wait, the bearded owner will come and give you all order!
Foxand geese
One day a fox came to the meadow. And there were geese in the meadow. Good geese, fat. The fox was happy and said:
Now I'll eat you all! And the geese say:
You, fox, are kind! You are a good fox, don’t eat, have pity on us!
No! - says the fox, - I won’t regret it, I’ll eat everyone! What to do here? Then one goose says:
Let us sing a song, fox, and then eat us!
“Okay,” says the fox, “sing!” The geese all stood in a row and sang:
Ga-ha-ha-ga!
Ga-ha-ha-ha-ga!
They are still singing, and the fox is waiting for them to finish.
Cockerel with family
A cockerel walks around the yard: there is a red comb on its head and a red beard under its nose. Petya’s nose is a chisel, Petya’s tail is a wheel, there are patterns on his tail, and spurs on his legs. Petya rakes the pile with his paws and calls the hens and chicks together:
Crested hens! Busy hostesses! Motley-pockmarked, black-white! Gather together with the chickens, with the little children: I have saved you some grain!
The hens and chicks gathered and cackled; They didn’t share the grain, they got into a fight.
Petya the cockerel does not like unrest - now he has reconciled his family: he ate one for his crest, that for his tuft, he himself ate a grain, flew up onto the fence, flapped his wings, and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Ku-ka-re-ku!”
Cow
The cow is ugly, but she gives milk. Her forehead is wide, her ears are to the side; there are not enough teeth in the mouth, but the faces are large; the ridge is pointed, the tail is broom-shaped, the sides are protruding, the hooves are double. She tears grass, chews gum, drinks swill, moos and roars, calling the hostess: “Come out, hostess; take out the milk pan, clean toilet bowl! I brought milk and thick cream for the kids.”
Lisa PatRikeevna
The godmother fox has sharp teeth, a thin snout, ears on the top of her head, a tail that flies away, and a warm fur coat.
The godfather is well dressed: the fur is fluffy and golden; there is a vest on the chest, and a white tie on the neck.
The fox walks quietly, bends down to the ground as if bowing; wears his fluffy tail carefully, looks affectionately, smiles, shows his white teeth.
Digs holes, clever, deep; there are many passages and exits, there are storage rooms, there are also bedrooms, the floors are lined with soft grass. Everyone would like the little fox to be a good housewife, but the robber fox is cunning: she loves chickens, she loves ducks, she will wring the neck of a fat goose, she will not have mercy on even a rabbit.
Voroon and cancer
A crow flew over the lake; looks - the cancer is crawling: grab it! She sat down on a willow tree and thought about having a snack. The cancer sees that it has to disappear and says:
Ay, crow! crow! I knew your father and mother, what nice birds they were!
Yes! - says the crow without opening his mouth.
I knew your sisters and brothers - they were excellent birds!
Yes! - the crow says again.
Even though the birds were good, they are still far from you.
Ara! - the crow shouted at the top of her lungs and dropped Cancer into the water.
Know how to wait
Once upon a time there lived a brother and a sister, a cockerel and a hen. The cockerel ran into the garden and began to peck the green currants, and the hen said to him: “Don’t eat, Petya! Wait until the currants ripen.” The cockerel did not listen, he pecked and pecked, and got so sick that he had to force his way home. “Oh!” the cockerel cries, “my misfortune! It hurts, sister, it hurts!” The hen gave mint to the cockerel, applied mustard plaster - and it went away.
The cockerel recovered and went into the field: he ran, jumped, got hot, sweated and ran to the stream to drink cold water; and the chicken shouts to him:
Don’t drink, Petya, wait until you get cold.
The cockerel didn't listen and got drunk cold water- and then a fever began to hit him: the chicken was forced home. The chicken ran for the doctor, the doctor prescribed Petya some bitter medicine, and the cockerel lay in bed for a long time.
The cockerel recovered for winter and saw that the river was covered with ice; the cockerel wanted to go ice skating; and the hen says to him: “Oh, wait, Petya! Let the river freeze completely; now the ice is still very thin, you’ll drown.” The cockerel did not listen to his sister: he rolled on the ice; the ice broke, and the cockerel fell into the water! Only the cockerel was seen.
Vaska
Kitty-cat - gray pubis. Vasya is affectionate and cunning; The paws are velvety, the claw is sharp. Vasyutka has sensitive ears, a long mustache, and a silk fur coat. The cat caresses, bends over, wags its tail, closes its eyes, sings a song, but if you come across a mouse - don’t be angry! The eyes are big, the paws are like steel, the teeth are crooked, the claws are protruding!
Little goats and a wolf
Russian folk tale processed by K. Ushinsky
Once upon a time there lived a goat.
The goat made herself a hut in the forest and settled in it with her
kids.
Every day the goat went to the forest for food.
She leaves on her own, and tells the kids to lock themselves tightly and let no one in.
do not unlock.
The goat returns home, knocks on the door and sings:
"Little goats, little kids,
Open up, open up!
Your mother has come,
I brought milk.
I, a goat, was in the forest,
I ate silk grass,
I drank cold water;
Milk runs down the shelf,
From the markings to the hooves,
And from the hooves there is dirt in the cheese."
The kids will hear their mother and open the door for her.
She will feed them and go off to graze again.
The wolf overheard the goat and, when the goat left, he went up to the door of the hut and
"You, children, you, fathers,
Open up, open up!
Your mother has come,
Brought milk...
The hooves are full of water!"
The little goats listened to the wolf and said: “We hear, we hear! Not mother’s
door to the wolf.
The wolf left unsalted.
The mother came and praised the children for listening to her: “You are smart,
“Children, you didn’t open the door to the wolf, otherwise he would have eaten you.”
_________________________________________________________________________
Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky (1824 - 1870) - Russian teacher, founder of scientific pedagogy in Russia. He is a literary figure, a talented writer, the author of many pedagogical and literary-artistic works: poems, stories, fables, essays, reviews, critical and bibliographic publications. Ushinsky collaborated in many magazines, including Sovremennik, the most progressive magazine of that time.
Excellent knowledge of the state of educational theory and practical work school, a deep analysis of the history of the development of views on the goals and objectives of education, a broad orientation in the achievements of contemporary scientific thought (in various fields of knowledge) allowed him to create numerous works that meet the most pressing needs of the Russian school, and put forward a number of scientific positions of lasting value. His works, especially his educational books “Children’s World” and “Native Word”, were extremely popular
Genre and theme of literary works by K.D. Ushinsky are diverse and diverse. Particularly prominent among them are works of fiction for children, which are interesting and informative for beginning readers. Clear, in simple language Articles have been written introducing children to natural science, nature, and everyday life issues.
GEESE AND CRANES
Geese and cranes grazed together in the meadow. Hunters appeared in the distance. The light cranes took off and flew away, but the heavy geese remained and were killed.
IT'S NOT WELL CUT, BUT IT'S STRICTLY SEWED
The white, sleek bunny said to the hedgehog:
- What an ugly, scratchy dress you have, brother!
“True,” answered the hedgehog, “but my thorns save me from the teeth of the dog and the wolf; does your pretty skin serve you the same way?
Instead of answering, the bunny just sighed.
CUCKOO
The gray cuckoo is a homeless sloth: it doesn’t build nests, it lays eggs in other people’s nests, it gives its cuckoo chicks to be raised, and it also laughs and boasts to its hubby: - - Hee-hee-hee! Ha ha ha! Look, hubby, how I laid an egg for the joy of the oatmeal.
And the tailed hubby, sitting on a birch tree, his tail unfurled, his wings lowered, his neck stretched out, swaying from side to side, calculating the years, counting out stupid people.
WOODPECKER
Knock-Knock! In a deep forest, a black woodpecker is carpentering on a pine tree. It clings with its paws, rests its tail, taps its nose, and scares away ants and boogers from behind the bark; He will run around the trunk, not overlook anyone.
The goosebumps were frightened: “These arrangements are not good!” They squirm in fear, hide behind the bark - they don’t want to go out.
- These rules are not good! They squirm in fear, hide behind the bark - they don’t want to go out.
Knock-Knock! The black woodpecker knocks with its nose, chisels the bark, and sticks its long tongue into holes; drags ants around like a fish.
MARTIN
The killer whale swallow did not know peace, it flew all day long, carried straws, sculpted with clay, made a nest. She made a nest for herself: she carried testicles. I applied it to the testicles: it doesn’t come off the testicles, it’s waiting for the kids. I hatched the babies: the babies squeaked and wanted to eat.
The killer whale flies all day long, knows no peace: catches midges, feeds the crumbs. The inevitable time will come, the babies will fledge, they will all fly apart, beyond the blue seas, beyond the dark forests, beyond the high mountains.
The killer whale swallow does not know peace: day after day it keeps on the prowl, looking for cute children.
EAGLE
The blue-winged eagle is the king of all birds. He makes nests on rocks and on old oak trees; flies high, sees far, does not blink at the sun. The eagle has a sickle nose, hooked claws; the wings are long; bulging chest - well done. An eagle flies through the clouds, looking for prey from above. He will fly at a pintail duck, a red-footed goose, a deceiver cuckoo - only feathers will fall...
FOX PATRIKEVNA
The gossamer fox has sharp teeth and a thin snout; ears on the top of the head, a tail on the fly, a warm fur coat.
The godfather is well dressed: the fur is fluffy and golden; there is a vest on the chest, and a white tie on the neck.
The fox walks quietly, bends down to the ground as if bowing; wears his fluffy tail carefully; looks affectionately, smiles, shows white teeth.
She digs holes, clever, deep: there are many entrances and exits, there are storage rooms, there are also bedrooms; The floors are lined with soft grass.
If only a little fox would be nice to everyone, the mistress... but the fox is a robber, a fasting woman: she loves chickens, she loves ducks, she will wring the neck of a fat goose, she will not have mercy on even a rabbit.
BUNNY'S COMPLAINTS
The gray bunny stretched out and began to cry, sitting under a bush; cries and says: “There is no worse fate in the world than mine, little gray bunny!” And who doesn’t sharpen their teeth on me? Hunters, dogs, wolf, fox and bird of prey; crooked hawk, goggle-eyed owl; even the stupid crow drags my cute little gray bunnies with her crooked paws...
Trouble threatens me from everywhere; but I have nothing to defend myself with: I can’t climb a tree like a squirrel; I don’t know how to dig holes like a rabbit. True, my teeth regularly gnaw cabbage and gnaw the bark, but I don’t have the courage to bite...
I’m a master at running and I can jump pretty well; but it’s good if you have to run across a flat field or up a mountain, but downhill -
- then you will go somersault over your head: the front legs are not mature enough.
It would still be possible to live in the world if it were not for worthless cowardice. If you hear a rustling, your ears will perk up, your heart will beat, you won’t see the light, you’ll jump out of the bush, and you’ll end up right in the snare or at the hunter’s feet... Oh, I feel bad, the little gray bunny! You are cunning, you hide in the bushes, you wander around the bushes, you confuse your tracks; and sooner or later trouble is inevitable: and the cook will drag me into the kitchen by my long ears...
My only consolation is that the tail is short: there is nothing for the dog to grab. If I had a tail like a fox's, where would I go with it? Then, it seems, he would have gone and drowned himself.
SCIENTIST BEAR
- Children! Children! - the nanny shouted. - Go see the bear. The children ran out onto the porch, and a lot of people had already gathered there. A Nizhny Novgorod man, with a large stake in his hands, is holding a bear on a chain, and the boy is preparing to beat a drum.
“Come on, Misha,” says the Nizhny Novgorod resident, tugging the bear with a chain, “get up, rise, shift from side to side, bow to the honest gentlemen and show yourself to the pullets.”
The bear roared, reluctantly rose to its hind legs, waddled from foot to foot, bowed to the right, to the left.
“Come on, Mishenka,” continues the Nizhny Novgorod resident, “show how little kids steal peas: where it’s dry - on the belly, and where it’s wet - on the knees.”
And Mishka crawled: he fell on his belly and raked it with his paw, as if he were pulling a pea.
“Come on, Mishenka, show me how women go to work.”
The bear is coming, not coming; looks back, scratches behind his ear with his paw. Several times the bear showed annoyance, roared, and did not want to get up; but the iron ring of the chain, threaded through the lip, and the stake in the hands of the owner forced the poor beast to obey.
When the bear had remade all his things, the Nizhny Novgorod resident said:
- Come on, Misha, now shift from foot to foot, bow to the honest gentlemen, but don’t be lazy - but bow lower! Sweat the gentlemen and grab your hat: if they put down the bread, eat it, but return the money to me.
And the bear, with a hat in its front paws, went around the audience. The children put in a ten-kopeck piece; but they felt sorry for poor Misha: blood was oozing from the lip threaded through the ring...
EAGLE AND CROW
Once upon a time there lived a crow in Rus' - with nannies, with mothers, with small children, with close neighbors. Geese and swans flew in from distant countries and laid eggs; and the crow began to offend them and began to steal their testicles.
An owl happened to fly by, and he saw that the crow was offending the birds, so he flew and said to the eagle: “Father, gray eagle!” Give us righteous judgment against the thief crow.
The gray eagle sent a light messenger, a sparrow, for the crow. The sparrow flew and captured the crow; She tried to resist, but he kicked her and dragged her towards the eagle.
So the eagle began to judge the crow:
- Oh, you thief crow, stupid head! They say about you that you open your mouth at other people's goods: you steal eggs from big birds.
This is all a blind owl, an old brat, who lied about me.
“They say about you,” says the eagle, “that a man will come out to sow, and you will jump out with all your sodom - and well, rake up its seeds.”
- It's a lie, father, gray eagle, it's a lie!
- And they also say: the women will start laying sheaves, and you will jump out with all your sodomy - and well, stir up the sheaves.
- It's a lie, father, gray eagle, it's a lie!
The eagle condemned the crow to be imprisoned.
FOX AND GOAT
A fox ran, gaped at the crow, and ended up in a well. There was not much water in the well: you couldn’t drown, and you couldn’t jump out either. The fox sits and grieves.
There comes a goat, a smart head; walks, shakes his beard, shakes his faces; With nothing to do, he looked into the well, saw a fox there and asked:
- What are you doing there, little fox?
“I’m resting, my dear,” the fox answers. “It’s hot up there, so I climbed up here.” It's so cool and nice here! Cold water - as much as you want.
But the goat has been thirsty for a long time.
- Is the water good? - asks the goat.
- Excellent! - the fox answers. - Clean, cold! Jump here if you want; There will be a place for both of us here.
The goat foolishly jumped, almost ran over the fox, and she said to him:
- Eh, bearded fool! And he didn’t know how to jump - he splashed all over.
The fox jumped onto the goat's back, from the back onto the horns, and out of the well. The goat almost disappeared from hunger in the well; They found him by force and dragged him out by the horns.
ROOSTER AND DOG
There lived an old man and an old woman, and they lived in great poverty. The only bellies they had were a rooster and a dog, and they fed them poorly. So the dog says to the rooster:
- Come on, brother Petka, let’s go into the forest: life here is bad for us.
“Let’s leave,” says the rooster, “it won’t get any worse.”
So they went wherever they looked. We wandered around all day; It was getting dark - it was time to stop for the night. They left the road into the forest and chose a large hollow tree. The rooster flew up onto a branch, the dog climbed into the hollow and fell asleep.
In the morning, just as dawn began to break, the rooster cried: “Ku-ku-re-ku!” The fox heard the rooster; She wanted to eat rooster meat. So she went up to the tree and began praising the rooster:
- What a rooster! I have never seen such a bird: what beautiful feathers, what a red comb, and what a clear voice! Fly to me, handsome.
- What business? - asks the rooster.
- Let's go visit me: I have a housewarming party today, and I have a lot of peas in store for you.
“Okay,” says the rooster, “but I can’t go alone: I have a comrade with me.” “What luck has arrived!” thought the fox. “Instead of one rooster there will be two.”
- Where is your comrade? - she asks the rooster. - I’ll invite him to visit too.
“He spends the night there in the hollow,” answers the rooster.
The fox rushed into the hollow, and the dog grabbed its muzzle - tsap!.. Caught and tore the fox to pieces.
FOUR WISHES.
Mitya went sledding down the icy mountain and skating on the frozen
river, ran home rosy, cheerful and said to his father:
- How fun it is in winter! I wish it were all winter.
“Write your wish in my pocket book,” said the father.
Mitya wrote it down.
Spring came. Mitya ran to his heart's content for colorful butterflies in the green
meadow, picked flowers, ran to his father and said:
- What a beauty this spring is! I wish it were still spring.
The father again took out the book and ordered Mitya to write down his wish.
Summer has come. Mitya and his father went to haymaking. All long day
the boy was having fun: he fished, picked berries, tumbled in the fragrant hay, and
in the evening he told his father:
- I had a lot of fun today! I wish the summer never ends
was.
And this desire of Mitya was written down in the same book.
Autumn has come. Fruits were collected in the garden - ruddy apples and yellow pears.
Mitya was delighted and said to his father:
— Autumn is the best time of the year!
Then the father took out his notebook and showed the boy that he was the same
he said the same thing about spring, and about winter, and about summer.
HOW A SHIRT GREW IN A FIELD
Tanya saw how her father scattered small
shiny grains, and asks:
- What are you doing, daddy?
- But I’m sowing flax, daughter; a shirt will grow for you and Vasyutka.
Tanya thought: she had never seen shirts growing in a field.
After two weeks the strip was covered with green silky grass and
Tanya thought: “It would be nice if I had a shirt like that.”
Once or twice Tanya’s mother and sisters came to weed the strip and every time
told the girl:
- You will have a nice shirt!
Several more weeks passed: the grass on the strip rose, and on it
blue flowers appeared.
“Brother Vasya has such eyes,” Tanya thought, “but I don’t have shirts like that.”
I haven’t seen it on anyone.”
When the flowers fell, green heads appeared in their place. When
the heads turned brown and dried out, Tanya’s mother and sisters pulled out all the flax from
roots, tied sheaves and put them on the field to dry.
When the flax dried out, they began to cut off its heads, and then drowned it
There were headless bunches in the river and they piled a stone on top so that they wouldn’t float up.
Tanya watched sadly as her shirt was drowned; and the sisters are here for her again
said:
- You have a nice shirt, Tanya.
About two weeks later they took the flax out of the river, dried it and began to beat it,
first with a board on the threshing floor, then with a ruffle in the yard, so that from the poor flax
The fire was flying in all directions. Having become frayed, they began to scratch the flax with an iron
comb until it becomes soft and silky.
“You’ll have a nice shirt,” the sisters said to Tanya again. But Tanya
thought:
“Where is the shirt here? It looks like Vasya’s hairs, not a shirt.”
The long winter evenings have arrived. Tanya's sisters put flax on combs and steel
spin threads from it.
“These are threads,” Tanya thinks, “but where is the shirt?”
Winter, spring and summer have passed, autumn has come. My father installed a roof in the hut,
I pulled the warp over them and began to weave. The shuttle ran nimbly between the threads,
and then Tanya herself saw that canvas was coming out of the threads.
When the canvas was ready, they began to freeze it in the cold, on the snow
spread it out, and in the spring they spread it on the grass, in the sun, and sprinkled it
water. The canvas turned from gray to white, like boiling water.
Winter has come again. The mother cut shirts from canvas; the sisters began
sew shirts and for Christmas they put new ones on Tanya and Vasya, white as snow
shirts.
CRAFT CAT
Once upon a time there lived a cat, a goat and a ram in the same yard. They lived together: a tuft of hay and that in half; and if a pitchfork hits the side, it will hit Vaska the cat alone. He is such a thief and robber: wherever something bad lies, he looks there.
Once upon a time there comes a purring little cat, a gray forehead, walking and crying so pitifully. They ask the cat, goat and ram:
- Kitty, little gray pubis! Why are you crying, jumping on three legs? Vasya answers them:
- How can I not cry! The woman beat me and beat me; She tore out my ears, broke my legs, and even had a stranglehold on me.
- Why did such trouble come to you? - the goat and the ram ask.
- Eh-eh! For accidentally licking the sour cream.
“The thief deserves the flour,” says the goat, “don’t steal the sour cream!”
And the cat cries again:
- The woman beat me, beat me; she beat me and said: my son-in-law will come to me, where will I get sour cream? Inevitably, you will have to slaughter a goat or a ram. Here a goat and a ram roared:
- Oh, you gray cat, your stupid forehead! Why did you ruin us?
They began to judge and decide how to get rid of the great misfortune, and decided right there: all three of them should run away. They waited until the landlady did not close the gate, and left.
The cat, the goat and the ram ran for a long time through the valleys, over the mountains, over the shifting sands; got tired and decided to spend the night in a mown meadow; and in that meadow there are stacks like cities.
The night was dark and cold: where could I get fire? And the purring cat had already taken out birch bark, wrapped the horns of the goat and ordered him and the ram to knock their foreheads. A goat and a ram bumped into each other, sparks flew from their eyes: the birch bark burst into flames.
“Okay,” said the gray cat, “now let’s warm up!” - and without thinking for long, he lit a whole haystack on fire.
Before they had time to warm up enough, an uninvited guest came to them - a gray peasant, Mikhailo Potapych Toptygin.
“Let me in,” he says, “brothers, to warm up and rest; I can't do something.
- Welcome, gray little man! - says the cat. - Where are you going from?
“I went to the beekeeping,” says the bear, “to check on the bees, I got into a fight with the men, and that’s why I pretended to be ill.”
So they all began to while away the night together: the goat and the ram were by the fire, the little purr climbed onto the stack, and the bear hid under the stack. The bear fell asleep; the goat and the ram are dozing; Only the purr does not sleep and sees everything.
And he sees: seven gray wolves are coming, and one is white. And straight to the fire.
- Fu-fu! What kind of people are these! - says the white wolf to the goat and the ram. - Let's try the force. Here a goat and a ram bleated out of fear; and the cat, the gray forehead, made the following speech:
- Oh, you, white wolf, prince of wolves! Don't anger our elder: God have mercy, he is angry! How it diverges is bad for anyone. Al you don’t see his beard: that’s where all the strength lies; He kills all the animals with his beard, and only removes the skin with his horns. Better come and ask with honor: we want to play with your little brother who sleeps under the haystack.
The wolves on that goat bowed; They surrounded Misha and started flirting. So Misha steadied himself and steadied himself, and as soon as there was enough for each paw of the wolf, they sang Lazarus. The wolves crawled out from under the stack barely alive and, with their tails between their legs, “God bless your legs!”
The goat and the ram, while the bear was dealing with the wolves, picked up the purr on their back and quickly went home:
“They say, stop wandering around without a way, we won’t get into such trouble.”
And the old man and the old woman were very happy that the goat and ram returned home; and the purring cat was torn out for cheating.