Funny stories about animals for children. Stories about animals that will enrich a child’s inner world

The natural world in children's imagination has always been distinguished by its diversity and richness. The thinking of a child under 10 years of age remains figurative, which is why children treat nature and its inhabitants as equal and thinking members of the earthly community. The task of teachers and parents is to maintain children’s interest in nature and its inhabitants using accessible and interesting methods. The simplest and most effective means of introducing little children to the animal world are words. Literature is an indispensable assistant for adults: fairy tales, poems, stories about animals.

Specifics of children's works about animals

Works recommended for children's reading are distinguished by the simplicity and accessibility of images, a certain construction storyline. A story about animals for children is built according to the following principle: introduction, beginning, increasing tension, climax, denouement. The main characters of the works are animated, endowed with certain qualities and character traits. This makes the work accessible and understandable to children, easy to remember, evoking an emotional response, which is especially important in the process of educating the environmental consciousness of preschoolers and primary schoolchildren. In such stories, animals are personified, which does not deprive the work of a real biological basis.

Main characters in children's stories about animals

An important place in children's stories about little brothers is given to the main character. Children who think in pictures gladly accept the main character, who can speak and sing, but at the same time retains the habits of an animal. In the image of the hero, the fantastic principle is combined with the educational; stories about animals for children provide truthful and accurate information about the life of the animal world in an accessible form. The story itself can trace the “biography” of the hero with a detailed description of the biological conditions of existence. Considering that the animal is endowed with speech and mental functions, we can say that children perceive educational information with interest and emotional overtones. The leading activity of a preschool child remains play; children's works reflect this feature of the child's worldview, therefore the actions that occur with the main characters have a playful and entertaining component.

Humanism in stories about animals for children

Stories, fairy tales and stories about animals for children are actively used in pedagogical process. In order to develop in a child careful attitude and it is necessary to make sure that he recognizes her. Ignorance of nature, lack of understanding of its importance in human life leads to the fact that a little person develops an indifferent attitude towards the world around him, even to the point of cruelty. Experts in children's pedagogy consider a children's story, a children's fairy tale, to be the main means of environmental education. “The child is his own person in the realm of the miraculous. What seems surprising to him is not a miracle, but the absence of a miracle,” wrote K.I. Chukovsky. Stories for children about the lives of animals fill the child’s world with miracles, fairy tales, fiction intertwined with reality.

The world of wild animals in children's works

A child’s acquaintance with the natural world will not be complete and harmonious without familiarization with the world of wild animals. Even the most Small child knows that animals live in the forest. Folk wisdom, expressed in fairy tales, endowed animals with human habits, thereby bringing the natural world closer to the world of a child, making it accessible and more understandable. Kids begin to become interested in the life of the forest, and its inhabitants - wild animals - also attract increased interest. Stories for children are aimed at introducing children to appearance and the habits of animals, characteristic features each animal, the conditions of existence. The story itself should have a vibrant, dynamic plot, be entertaining and emotional. This is the only way it can be better remembered and understandable to children. Among the classics, experts recommend using the following works for children's stories: “Who Lives in the Forest and What Grows in the Forest” by Yu. Dmitriev, “At the Zoo” by V. Chaplina.

Pets in children's stories

The world of pets is extremely rich and interesting for children. Still in the very early childhood Many of the children have the necessary opportunity to contact pets - cats, dogs, birds, etc. Animals become as integral a part of childhood as their favorite toys. Various situations of communication with pets provide a large stock of ideas about their characteristics and habits, awaken interest and curiosity, and develop skills in interacting with them. For a child, the world called “pets” is extremely close. A story for children continues to show the child a realistic picture of the life of pets; the heroes of the stories can be given more realistic representatives of the world of pets. Classics recommend using the following works for telling children: “These are all cats”, “These are all dogs” by N. Akimushkin, etc.

Northern residents and children

Often children, knowing the world well enough, begin to become interested in other inhabitants of the planet, their lives, habits, and living conditions. A convenient object for study in this case will be animals living in northern conditions. The specificity of studying such animals is that, on the one hand, they are close and a little familiar to children, on the other hand, they are somewhat different from the usual inhabitants of the forest. For children, the story primarily has a cognitive and developmental function: they improve the skills of comparing forest animals and northern animals, determining the similarities and differences between them, their way of life. The main characters of such stories can be endowed with human qualities, for example, like the bear cub Umka in the fairy tale about northern bears. This image will be close and interesting to children, and also understandable. Older children also readily associate residents Far North with fairy-tale heroes and characters.

Children's stories about their own observations

Listening to an adult talk about interesting world animals, the child mentally finds himself in this wonderful world, breathes the atmosphere of the forest, travels with the teacher. Gradually, the child gets used to such stories, and as he grows up, he understands that the wonderful world of the story is close to a fairy tale, but at the same time completely recreates reality. Most children have a desire to independently tell stories from the lives of their little friends. Initially, children simply copy the teacher’s stories, retelling them to their parents, brothers, sisters, neighbors, and friends. Gradually, the storytelling process improves; the child independently describes the habits and living conditions of the animals he knows. Teachers and parents need to ensure that stories invented by children about animals closely reflect the reality of the existence of wild or domestic pets.

Realistic stories about animals for children

For younger children preschool age endowing animals with human qualities helps to quickly and more fully imagine the life and habits of small pets and animals in the forest. Due to the specific thinking of a preschool child, this method is often necessary to improve the quality of learning. A realistic animal story for children designed to teach older children that cute little pets are not toys! Each animal has its own habits and character, so you cannot take a kitten or a dog for a few days and then mercilessly throw it out into the street, since the animal not only gets used to people - it trusts them. Realistic stories will help kids understand the rules of keeping pets, the peculiarities of caring for them, and the level of responsibility when deciding to take a small four-legged friend into the house. Stories about animals for children of senior preschool age are selected taking into account the realism and specific thinking of a preschool child. Images of animals in children's stories, along with realistic features and habits, can be interesting for children and relatable to perception.

Taking into account the age category of children when selecting stories about animals

When choosing a range of children's stories for working with preschool children, you should take into account the age of the preschool child. A story about animals for children younger age It is distinguished by its simplicity of construction, melody of sound and accessibility of images. They are small in volume; the main characters in such stories, as a rule, are characters familiar to children: cats, dogs, bunny. As the child grows up, the images of the plot of the story for children also become more complex. Exotic characters are already accessible to children of middle preschool age: monkey, elephant, tiger. In addition, forest animals are actively included in the plots of children's stories: squirrel, fox, wolf, bear. We should also not forget about domestic pets; at this age stage, differentiation is already being formed: domestic and wild animals.

Stories about animals for older preschoolers and primary schoolchildren

Older preschoolers, like younger schoolchildren, stories should be selected with both fairy-tale elements and realistic ones, in order to form a holistic picture of the reflection of the surrounding world. Naturally, animals for stories to children of senior preschool age are selected without restrictions, since the task of teachers and parents at this stage is to broaden the child’s horizons and comprehensive awareness of the subjects environment. By this age period, the processes of classification and generalization have already been actively formed, so children who develop normally have no problems relating animals and their environment, habits and habits of the animal and the rules for caring for it.

How to write a short story about my favorite animal? It's very simple. In this article you will find several examples of such stories about both pets and wild animals from the forest. You yourself can compose any similar story using a simple scheme: first you name this animal, then describe its appearance, what is characteristic of it (for example, long ears, short tail, beautiful fur, smart eyes - everything that seems characteristic of this animal).

Then describe a little of its habits, what it can do, how it helps people, or how you take care of it, how this animal plays, where it lives, what its favorite food is, and so on. At the end you can write a short conclusion about why you like this animal. The main thing you may need is a supply of adjectives about animals, the ability to use verbs in, and you can check the correct spelling of your essay for free on the website: www.paperrater.com.

Animal stories:

My favorite animal is a dog

My favorite pet is my dog. His name is Larry. He is white with a bit of brown. He has long fur and a short tail. He is very cute and funny. When he hears my voice his tail is wagging. He likes eating meat, cakes and even chocolate. He lives in our house. All my family likes to play with him. Larry loves to run in the fields. He often follows me around the house with a small ball in his teeth and drops it on my foot, so I will kick it. Larry takes care of me. If someone approaches me, he starts to bark. But he never bites. All these reasons show why I really love my wonderful dog Larry.

My favorite pet is my dog. His name is Larry. It is mostly white with some brown. He has long fur and a short tail. He is very cute and funny. When he hears my voice, his tail wags in a friendly manner. He loves to eat meat and cakes. He lives in our house. My whole family loves playing with him. Larry loves to run in the fields. He often follows me around the house with a small ball in his mouth and drops it on my leg for me to kick. Larry takes care of me. If someone comes near me, he starts barking. But he never bites. All of these reasons show why I truly love my wonderful dog Larry.

My favorite animal is cat

My favorite pet is my little cat. Its name is Musya. Her color is white, gray and a little reddish. She has very sharp teeth and yellow eyes. I take care of my cat. She has soft fluffy fur. She cleans it by her selves, but I also keep her neat and clean. I feed Musya healthy dry food and milk, but she also likes fish and meat. She is playful. Sometimes she is scratching me with her claws. Musya likes to go out in our garden where she eats some grass and climbs a tree. Sometimes she catches mice or birds. I like playing with my cat very much.

My favorite pet is my little cat. Her name is Musya. She is white with gray and reddish. She has very sharp teeth and yellow eyes. I take care of my cat. She has soft fluffy fur. She cleans it herself, but I keep hers clean and tidy too. I feed Musya healthy dry food and milk, but she also loves fish and meat. She's playful. She sometimes scratches me with her claws. Musya loves to go outside in our garden, where she eats grass and climbs trees. Sometimes she catches mice or birds. I really like playing with my cat.

My favorite animal is horse

My favorite animal is a horse. Its name is Mila. Its color is brown. She is very tall and strong. Her teeth are very big and her tail is bushy and long. Horses are very useful. Mila lives on a farm and she helps farmers in their work. She likes eating grass, hay, apples, carrots and bread. Mila runs very fast. She is very friendly. I love to feed her, to take care of her, and I love riding her.

My favorite animal is a horse. Her name is Mila. It is brown. She is very tall and strong. Her teeth are very large and her tail is bushy and long. Horses are very useful. Mila lives on a farm and she helps farmers with their work. She loves to eat grass, hay, apples, carrots and bread. Mila runs very fast. She is very friendly. I love feeding her, taking care of her, and I love riding her.

More short stories about my favorite animal

Hedgehog - Hedgehog

My favorite animal is the hedgehog. It has sharp spines all over its back. He can curl up into a ball. He can climb trees and swim in water. He loves to eat bugs and dig in the ground for earthworms. He uses his sense of smell to find food.

The hedgehog sleeps under stones and in tall grass. It has short legs and a short tail. He doesn't like winter. Winter is too cold for hedgehogs, so they curl up and go to sleep. A few months later they wake up and they are very hungry!

Fox - Fox

My favorite animal is fox. They look like dogs. They have triangular ears and a long and bushy tail. The fox has reddish fur and a pointed muzzle.

At night they like to catch mice and rabbits. They also eat fruits and vegetables. They live in the forest. Sometimes they go to farms to hunt chicken. Farmers don't like foxes.

There are many fairy tales about the fox. The fox is cunning and careful. I love them because they are very beautiful.

Monkey - Monkey

My favorite animal is the monkey. Monkeys have five fingers and five toes, just like humans. They have long arms and a long tail.

The monkey lives in trees in tropical forests. IN tropical forest very hot. They swing on the branches with great pleasure.

They love to chew fruits and leaves. Bananas are their favorite food. A group of monkeys is called a troop. Monkeys are very smart animals.

Penguin - Penguin

My favorite animal is the penguin. It is a type of bird, but it cannot fly. He waddles.
They have black and white feathers. They have black and orange beaks and black webbed feet. Penguins are good swimmers. They can jump out of the water. They live in a very cold place called Antarctica.

There is a lot of ice and the water is very cold. Penguins have a lot of fat on their bodies to keep them warm. They eat seafood, preferably fish and squid. They can lie on their stomachs and slide across the snow. I like penguins because they are so cute and wonderful.

Dolphin - Dolphin

My favorite animal is the dolphin. Dolphins live in the ocean. Dolphins have a long tail and a large fin at the top. Their skin is gray and white, and they have no hair.

They can swim very fast and jump out of the water. They are very smart. There are many varieties of dolphins. You can find them in all the oceans of the planet.

They eat fish and seafood. They can play. They can make sounds. Some species of dolphins can hold their breath for 30 minutes. Dolphins can sleep with one with an open eye. Dolphins are very good and friendly, and sometimes they can save people's lives.

Parrot - Parrot

My favorite bird is the parrot. The parrot is a very beautiful and intelligent bird. He lives in warm countries. Its colors are green, yellow, blue and red. It has a strong and curved beak. It eats grains, fruits, leaves, seeds, pears, nuts, and cooked rice. It can also eat worms and other insects. He washes himself every morning.

Some parrots can talk and whistle. They can imitate the human voice. Some people keep parrots in a small cage at home. Some people train parrots to do amazing things.
I love parrots because they are very beautiful, smart and can learn to do many things.

Hamster - Hamster

My favorite animal is the hamster. He has a small body, a very short tail, mustache, sharp teeth and red eyes. A hamster looks like a mouse. Hamsters love to eat seeds, vegetables, fruits and nuts. Hamsters are black, grey, honey, white, brown, yellow, red or a mixture of colors.

Hamsters are cute and smart. Typically, they sleep during the day and play at night. They carry food in their cheeks and this makes their head twice the size. It is very funny. The hamster is playful. He loves to exercise, so you should put a play wheel in his cage. I like hamsters because they are very cute and funny.

Fish - Fish

I have gold fish, and his name is Minor. He lives in a large aquarium. Minor has large black eyes and chubby cheeks. It has a long tail, which helps it swim very fast. At night he sleeps in a hole big stone. He's probably having some really nice fish dreams!

Minor loves to eat fish food. I feed him twice a day. Minor is very greedy fish because he loves a lot of food. His stomach looks like it's going to burst, but he never stops eating.

I like my goldfish because he is calm and quiet, easy to take care of, and very funny. That's why my cute goldfish is my favorite pet. I absolutely adore it.

Cow - Cow

My Zorka, like all cows, has a tail, two horns, an udder, and four legs with hooves. It is black with large white spots on its sides. Zorka moos loudly. In the summer, Zorka grazes in the meadow all day, and in the evening she goes home herself, and I follow her, but in the winter she remains in the stall. She mostly eats grass and drinks water. We also give her some vegetables and bread.

In winter, she eats hay and straw. There is always a large piece of salt in the corner of the stall and Zorka can lick it whenever she wants. Zorka chews all the time.

She is a friendly and smart cow. Zorka gives us milk, and her milk is very tasty. My mother milks her twice a day. Zorka is curious and calm, but she can be scared if someone wants to touch her. We make butter and cream from Zorka's milk. I love to play with my beloved Zorka, pet her and give her tidbits. She snorts funny and tries to lick my nose.

Mouse

Molly is very small, with short brown fur and a white belly. She has rounded ears, a pointed nose with curly mustache, beautiful black eyes and a long tail. Molly is a very clean animal that constantly grooms itself by licking its fur.

I put shredded paper and fabrics in her crate so she can have a comfortable bed. My Molly rips fabric and makes a huge nest in the middle of which she sleeps, it's very cute.
I love her and give her the best food and care. I clean her cage every 3 weeks and give her mouse food every day. She also loves fresh vegetables, seeds, cheese, fruits and grain bars from pet stores.

Whenever I give her food, she squeaks back, “thank you!” and eats her. Most of all she loves seeds.

She gets a lot of exercise, sits on my hand when I reach her into her crate, and loves to be held. Molly is tame and pleasant.

Mice are great pets if you are willing to spend time playing with them and taming them.
I love mice because they are all unique, playful and loving animals.

Turtle - Turtle

My favorite animal is Dormouse the turtle because she is cute and easy to keep as a pet. The turtle has claws, but it is a tame animal that does not harm anyone. This reptile also has a thick, hard shell to protect itself. She uses her four plump legs to crawl. The turtle is known as an animal that is never in a hurry.

Sonia loves me and she slowly follows me around the house. She finds me and lies on her back waiting to be tickled. I tickle her, pick her up and take out some food. The turtle is mainly a vegetarian animal. It feeds on plants and sometimes worms. Sonya loves cheese and I always feed her it.

Sonya also likes to play with small balls, I roll them 30 cm and she follows them and tries to move the ball with her paws.

Some people like cats or puppies as pets, but I would definitely prefer a turtle because it has a long life. She can live more than 150 years.

Stories about animals for reading in elementary school. Stories by Boris Zhitkov about animals. Stories for extracurricular reading in elementary school. Stories about an elephant, stories about dogs, stories about a cow and a calf.

Boris Zhitkov. Evening

The cow Masha goes to look for her son, the calf Alyosha. Can't see him anywhere. Where did he go? It's time to go home.

And the calf Alyoshka ran around, got tired, and lay down in the grass. The grass is tall - Alyosha is nowhere to be seen.

The cow Masha was afraid that her son Alyoshka had disappeared, and she started mooing with all her strength:

At home they milked Masha, milked a whole bucket fresh milk. They poured it into Alyosha’s bowl:

- Here, drink, Alyoshka.

Alyoshka was delighted - he had been wanting milk for a long time - he drank it all to the bottom and licked the bowl with his tongue.

Alyoshka got drunk and wanted to run around the yard. As soon as he started running, suddenly a puppy jumped out of the booth and started barking at Alyoshka. Alyoshka was scared: that’s right, scary beast, if he barks so loudly. And he started to run.

Alyoshka ran away, and the puppy did not bark anymore. It became quiet all around. Alyoshka looked - no one was there, everyone had gone to bed. And I wanted to sleep myself. He lay down and fell asleep in the yard.

The cow Masha also fell asleep on the soft grass.

The puppy also fell asleep at his kennel - he was tired, he barked all day.

The boy Petya also fell asleep in his crib - he was tired, he had been running around all day.

And the bird has long since fallen asleep.

She fell asleep on a branch and hid her head under her wing to make it warmer to sleep. I'm tired too. I flew all day, catching midges.

Everyone has fallen asleep, everyone is sleeping.

Only the night wind does not sleep.

It rustles in the grass and rustles in the bushes.

Boris Zhitkov. Hunters and dogs

Early in the morning the hunter got up, took a gun, cartridges, a bag, called his two dogs and went to shoot hares.

Was severe frost, but there was no wind at all. The hunter was skiing and warmed up from walking. He felt warm.

The dogs ran ahead and chased the hares at the hunter. The hunter shot deftly and scored five pieces. Then he noticed that he had gone far.

“It’s time to go home,” thought the hunter. “The tracks of my skis are visible, and before it gets dark, I’ll follow the tracks home.” I’ll cross the ravine, and it’s not far there.”

He went down and saw that the ravine was black and black with jackdaws. They were sitting right in the snow. The hunter realized that something was wrong.

And it’s true: he had just left the ravine when the wind blew, snow began to fall, and a blizzard began. Nothing was visible ahead; the tracks were covered with snow. The hunter whistled for the dogs.

“If the dogs don’t lead me onto the road,” he thought, “I’m lost. I don’t know where to go, I’ll get lost, I’ll be covered in snow and I’ll freeze.”

He let the dogs go ahead, but the dogs ran away five steps - and the hunter could not see where to follow them. Then he took off his belt, untied all the straps and ropes that were on it, tied the dogs by the collar and let them go forward. The dogs dragged him, and he came to his village on skis, like on a sleigh.

He gave each dog a whole hare, then took off his shoes and lay down on the stove. And I kept thinking:

“If it weren’t for the dogs, I would be lost today.”

Boris Zhitkov. How an elephant saved its owner from a tiger

The Hindus have tame elephants. One Hindu went with an elephant into the forest to collect firewood.

The forest was deaf and wild. The elephant trampled the owner's path and helped to cut down trees, and the owner loaded them onto the elephant.

Suddenly the elephant stopped obeying its owner, began to look around, shake its ears, and then raised its trunk and roared.

The owner also looked around, but did not notice anything.

He became angry with the elephant and hit its ears with a branch.

And the elephant bent its trunk with a hook to lift its owner onto its back. The owner thought: “I’ll sit on his neck - this way it will be even more convenient for me to rule over him.”

He sat on the elephant and began to whip the elephant on the ears with a branch. And the elephant backed away, trampled and twirled its trunk. Then he froze and became wary.

The owner raised a branch to hit the elephant with all his might, but suddenly a huge tiger jumped out of the bushes. He wanted to attack the elephant from behind and jump on its back.

But he got his paws on the firewood, and the firewood fell down. The tiger wanted to jump another time, but the elephant had already turned, grabbed the tiger across the stomach with its trunk, and squeezed it like a thick rope. The tiger opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue and shook his paws.

And the elephant had already lifted him up, then slammed him to the ground and began to trample him with his feet.

And the elephant's legs are like pillars. And the elephant trampled the tiger into a cake. When the owner recovered from his fear, he said:

- What a fool I was for beating an elephant! And he saved my life.

The owner took the bread he had prepared for himself from his bag and gave it all to the elephant.

Boris Zhidkov. About the elephant

We were approaching India by boat. They were supposed to come in the morning. I changed my shift, was tired and couldn’t fall asleep: I kept thinking about how it would be there. It’s like if, as a child, they brought me a whole box of toys and only tomorrow I can uncork it. I kept thinking - in the morning, I’ll immediately open my eyes - and Indians, black, will come around, muttering incomprehensibly, not like in the picture. Bananas right on the bush

the new city - everything will move and play. And elephants! The main thing is that I wanted to see the elephants. I still couldn’t believe that they weren’t there like in the zoological department, but were simply walking around and carrying things around: suddenly such a huge mass was rushing down the street!

I couldn’t sleep; my legs were itching with impatience. After all, you know, when you travel by land, it’s not at all the same: you see how everything gradually changes. And then for two weeks there was the ocean - water and water - and immediately a new country. It's like the curtain has been raised in a theater.

The next morning they stamped on the deck and began to buzz. I rushed to the porthole, to the window - it’s ready: the white city stands on the shore; port, ships, near the side of the boat: they are black in white turbans - their teeth are shining, they are shouting something; the sun is shining with all its might, pressing, it seems, pressing with light. Then I went crazy, just suffocated: as if I wasn’t me and it was all a fairy tale. I haven't wanted to eat anything since the morning. Dear comrades, I will stand two watches at sea for you - let me go ashore as soon as possible.

The two of them jumped out onto the shore. In the port, in the city, everything is seething, boiling, people are milling around, and we are like crazy and don’t know what to look at, and we don’t walk, as if something is carrying us (and even after the sea it’s always strange to walk along the shore). We look - a tram. We got on the tram, we didn’t really know why we were going, just to keep going—we went completely crazy. The tram rushes us along, we stare around and don’t notice that we have reached the outskirts. It doesn't go any further. We got out. Road. Let's go along the road. Let's come somewhere!

Here we calmed down a little and noticed that it was very hot. The sun is above the crown itself; the shadow does not fall from you, but the whole shadow is under you: you walk and trample on your shadow.

We've already walked quite a distance, we've stopped seeing people, and we see an elephant coming our way. There are four guys with him, running along the road. I couldn’t believe my eyes: I hadn’t seen one in the city, but here it was just walking along the road. It seemed to me that I had escaped from the zoological. The elephant saw us and stopped. We felt terrified: there was no one big with him, the guys were alone. Who knows what's on his mind. He shakes his trunk once and he’s done.

And the elephant probably thought this about us: some extraordinary, unknown people are coming - who knows? And so he did. Now he bent his trunk with a hook, the older boy stood on this hook, like on a step, holding the trunk with his hand, and the elephant carefully sent it onto his head. He sat there between his ears, as if on a table.

Then the elephant, in the same order, sent two more at once, and the third was small, probably about four years old - he was only wearing a short shirt, like a bra. The elephant offers his trunk to him - go, sit down. And he does all sorts of tricks, laughs, runs away. The elder shouts to him from above, and he jumps and teases - you won’t take it, they say. The elephant did not wait, lowered his trunk and walked away - pretending that he did not want to look at his tricks. He walks, sways his trunk rhythmically, and the boy curls around his legs and makes faces. And just when he was not expecting anything, the elephant suddenly grabbed his trunk! Yes, so clever! He caught him by the back of his shirt and lifted him up carefully. With his arms and legs, like a bug. No way! None for you. The elephant picked it up, carefully lowered it onto its head, and there the guys accepted it. He was there, on an elephant, still trying to fight.

We caught up, walking along the side of the road, and the elephant was on the other side, looking at us carefully and cautiously. And the guys also stare at us and whisper among themselves. They sit, as if at home, on the roof.

That’s great, I think: they have nothing to fear there. Even if a tiger were to come across, the elephant would catch the tiger, grab it across the stomach with its trunk, squeeze it, throw it higher than a tree, and, if it doesn’t catch it with its tusks, it would still trample it with its feet until it crushed it into a cake.

And then he picked up the boy like a booger, with two fingers: carefully and carefully.

An elephant passed us: we looked, it turned off the road and ran into the bushes. The bushes are dense, prickly, and grow like walls. And he - through them, like through weeds - only the branches crunch - climbed over and went to the forest. He stopped near a tree, took a branch with his trunk and bent it down to the guys. They immediately jumped to their feet, grabbed a branch and robbed something from it. And the little one jumps up, tries to grab it for himself, fidgets as if he were not on an elephant, but standing on the ground. The elephant let go of a branch and bent another one. Same story again. Here the little one, apparently, has stepped into the role: he completely climbed onto this branch so that he too would get it, and he works. Everyone finished, the elephant let go of the branch, and the little one, lo and behold, flew off with the branch. Well, we think he disappeared - now he flew like a bullet into the forest. We rushed there. No, where is it going? Do not get through the bushes: prickly, and dense, and tangled. We look, an elephant is rummaging through the leaves with its trunk. I felt for this little one - he was apparently clinging on there like a monkey - took him out and put him in his place. Then the elephant walked onto the road in front of us and walked back. We're behind him. He walks and from time to time looks around, looks sideways at us: why, they say, are some people walking behind us? So we came to the house to get the elephant. There is a fence around. The elephant opened the gate with its trunk and carefully poked its head into the yard; there he lowered the guys to the ground. In the yard, a Hindu woman started shouting something at him. She didn't notice us right away. And we stand, looking through the fence.

The Hindu woman yells at the elephant; the elephant reluctantly turned and went to the well. There are two pillars dug in at the well, and a view between them; there is a rope wound on it and a handle on the side. We look, the elephant took the handle with its trunk and began to twirl it: it twirled it as if it was empty, and pulled it out - there was a whole tub there on a rope, ten buckets. The elephant rested the root of its trunk against the handle to prevent it from spinning, bent its trunk, picked up the tub and, like a mug of water, placed it on the side of the well. The woman fetched water and made the boys carry it too - she was just doing the laundry. The elephant lowered the tub again and twisted the full one up.

The hostess began to scold him again. The elephant put the tub into the well, shook his ears and walked away - he didn’t get any more water, he went under the canopy. And there, in the corner of the yard, a canopy was built on flimsy posts - just enough for an elephant to crawl under it. There are reeds and some long leaves thrown on top.

Here it’s just an Indian, the owner himself. He saw us. We say that we came to see the elephant. The owner knew a little English and asked who we were; everything points to my Russian cap. I say Russians. And he didn’t even know what Russians were.

- Not the British?

“No,” I say, “not the British.”

He was happy, laughed, and immediately became different: he called to him.

But Indians cannot stand the British: the British conquered their country long ago, rule there and keep the Indians under their thumb.

I'm asking:

- Why doesn’t the elephant come out?

“And he,” he says, “was offended, and that means it was not in vain.” Now he won’t work for anything until he leaves.

We look, the elephant came out from under the canopy, through the gate - and away from the yard. We think it will go away completely now. And the Indian laughs. The elephant went to the tree, leaned on its side and, well, rubbed. The tree is healthy - everything is just shaking. He itches like a pig against a fence.

He scratched himself, collected dust in his trunk and, wherever he scratched, dust and earth as he blew! Once, and again, and again! He cleans this so that nothing gets stuck in the folds: all his skin is hard, like a sole, and in the folds it is thinner, and in the southern countries there are a lot of all kinds of biting insects.

After all, look at him: he doesn’t itch on the posts in the barn, so as not to fall apart, he even carefully makes his way there, but goes to the tree to itch. I say to the Hindu:

- How smart he is!

And he laughs.

“Well,” he says, “if I had lived for one and a half hundred years, I would have learned the wrong thing.” And he,” he points to the elephant, “baby-sat my grandfather.”

I looked at the elephant - it seemed to me that it was not the Hindu who was the boss here, but the elephant, the elephant was the most important one here.

I speak:

- Is it old?

“No,” he says, “he’s one and a half hundred years old, he’s just in time!” I have a baby elephant over there, his son, he’s twenty years old, just a child. By the age of forty, one begins to gain strength. Just wait, the elephant will come, you will see: he is small.

A mother elephant came, and with her a baby elephant - the size of a horse, without tusks; he followed his mother like a foal.

The Hindu boys rushed to help their mother, began jumping and getting ready somewhere. The elephant also went; the elephant and the baby elephant are with them. The Hindu explains that he is on the river. We are also with the guys.

They didn't shy away from us. Everyone tried to speak - they in their own way, we in Russian - and laughed all the way. The little one pestered us the most - he kept putting on my cap and shouting something funny - maybe about us.

The air in the forest is fragrant, spicy, thick. We walked through the forest. We came to the river.

Not a river, but a stream - fast, it rushes, it gnaws at the shore. To the water there is a cut off a yard long. The elephants entered the water and took the baby elephant with them. They put him where the water was up to his chest, and the two of them began to wash him. They will collect sand and water from the bottom into the trunk and, as if from a gut, water it. It’s great - only the splashes fly.

And the guys are afraid to get into the water - the current is too fast and will carry them away. They jump on the shore and throw stones at the elephant. He doesn’t care, he doesn’t even pay attention - he keeps washing his baby elephant. Then, I look, he took some water into his trunk and suddenly he turned towards the boys and blew a stream straight into the belly of one - he just sat down. He laughs and bursts out.

The elephant washes his own again. And the guys pester him even more with pebbles. The elephant just shakes his ears: don’t pester me, you see, there’s no time to play around! And just when the boys weren’t waiting, they thought he would blow water on the baby elephant, he immediately turned his trunk towards them.

They are happy and tumble.

The elephant came ashore; The baby elephant extended its trunk to him like a hand. The elephant intertwined its trunk with his and helped him climb out onto the cliff.

Everyone went home: three elephants and four children.

The next day I asked where I could see elephants at work.

At the edge of the forest, near the river, a whole city of hewn logs is fenced in: the stacks stand, each as high as a hut. There was one elephant standing right there. And it was immediately clear that he was quite an old man - his skin was completely sagging and stiff, and his trunk was dangling like a rag. The ears are kind of chewed off. I see another elephant coming out of the forest. A log is swinging in its trunk - a huge hewn beam. There must be a hundred pounds. The porter waddles heavily and approaches the old elephant. The old man picks up the log from one end, and the porter lowers the log and moves his trunk to the other end. I look: what are they going to do? And the elephants together, as if on command, lifted the log up on their trunks and carefully placed it on the stack. Yes, so smoothly and correctly - like a carpenter on a construction site.

And not a single person around them.

I later found out that this old elephant is the main worker of the artel: he has already grown old in this work.

The porter walked slowly into the forest, and the old man hung up his trunk, turned his back to the stack and began to look at the river, as if he wanted to say: “I’m tired of this, and I wouldn’t look.”

And the third elephant with a log is already coming out of the forest. We are going to where the elephants came from.

It’s downright embarrassing to tell you what we saw here. Elephants from the forest workings carried these logs to the river. In one place near the road there are two trees on the sides, so much so that an elephant with a log cannot pass. The elephant will reach this place, lower the log to the ground, tuck his knees, tuck his trunk, and with his very nose, the very root of his trunk, pushes the log forward. The earth and stones fly, the log rubs and plows the earth, and the elephant crawls and kicks. You can see how difficult it is for him to crawl on his knees. Then he gets up, catches his breath and doesn’t immediately take up the log. Again he will turn him across the road, again on his knees. He puts his trunk on the ground and rolls the log onto the trunk with his knees. How can the trunk not crush! Look, he's already up and running again. The log on its trunk swings like a heavy pendulum.

The stories of Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky are very sincere. He wrote about what he saw around him while still a barefoot boy - about animals, about nature, about village life. Stories about animals are full of warmth and kindness; they call for treating our smaller brothers with care and respect. “Bishka” alone is worth it: in three sentences, Ushinsky expressed the entire important essence of a dog. Animals in his stories reveal themselves like people, standing on a par with us, each with their own character, and what a character! Let's get to know these animals better and read the stories. To read offline, you can download a pdf file with Ushinsky’s stories about animals at the bottom of the page. All stories with pictures!

K.D.Ushinsky

Stories about animals

Bishka (story)

Come on, Bishka, read what’s written in the book!

The dog sniffed the book and walked away.

The Lively Cow (short story)

We had a cow, but it was so characteristic and lively that it was a disaster! Maybe that’s why she had little milk.

Both her mother and sisters suffered with her. It happened that they would drive her into the herd, and she would either come home at noon or end up dead - go help her out!

Especially when she had a calf - I couldn’t help it! Once she even tore up the whole barn with her horns, she fought towards the calf, and her horns were long and straight. More than once, her father was going to saw off her horns, but somehow he kept putting it off, as if he had a presentiment of something.

And how evasive and quick she was! If he raises his tail, lowers his head, and waves, you won’t be able to catch him on a horse.

One day in the summer she came running from the shepherd, long before evening: she had a calf at home. The mother milked the cow, released the calf and said to her sister, a girl about twelve years old:

Drive them to the river, Fenya, let them graze on the bank, and be careful that they don’t get in the way. Night is still so far away that it is useless for them to stand.

Fenya took a twig and drove both the calf and the cow; she drove her to the bank, let her graze, and she sat down under a willow tree and began to weave a wreath from cornflowers that she had picked along the way in the rye; weaves and sings a song.

Fenya heard something rustling in the vines, and the river was overgrown with thick vines on both banks.

Fenya looks like something gray is pushing through the thick vines, and show the stupid girl that this is our dog Serko. It is known that a wolf is very similar to a dog, only the neck is clumsy, the tail is sticky, the muzzle is downcast, and the eyes are shining; but Fenya had never seen a wolf up close.

Fenya has already begun to beckon the dog:

Serko, Serko! - as he looks - the calf, and behind him the cow, rush straight at her like mad. Fenya jumped up, pressed herself against the willow, and didn’t know what to do; the calf to her, and the cow pressed both of them with her backside to the tree, bowed her head, roared, dug the ground with her front hooves, and pointed her horns straight at the wolf.

Fenya got scared, grabbed the tree with both hands, wanted to scream, but had no voice. And the wolf rushed straight at the cow, and jumped back - the first time, apparently, it hit him with its horn. The wolf sees that you can’t take anything unceremoniously, and he began to rush from one side to the other, in order to somehow grab a cow from the side, or grab a carcass - but wherever he rushes, horns are everywhere to meet him.

Fenya still doesn’t know what’s going on, she wanted to run, but the cow wouldn’t let her in, and kept pressing her against the tree.

Here the girl began to scream, calling for help... Our Cossack was plowing here on a hillock, he heard that the cow was braying and the girl was screaming, he threw his plow and ran to the cry.

The Cossack saw what was happening, but did not dare to attack the wolf with his bare hands - he was so big and furious; The Cossack began to call his son that he was plowing right there in the field.

When the wolf saw that people were running, he calmed down, snapped once or twice more, howled and into the vines.

The Cossacks barely brought Fenya home - the girl was so scared.

Then the father was glad that he did not saw off the cow’s horns.

In the forest in summer (story)

There is no such expanse in the forest as there is in the field; but it’s good to wear it on a hot afternoon. And what can you see in the forest! Tall, reddish pines hung their needle-like tops, and green fir trees arched their thorny branches. A white, curly birch tree with fragrant leaves flaunts; the gray aspen trembles; and the stocky oak spread its carved leaves like a tent. The little white eye of a strawberry peeks out from the grass, and next to it a fragrant berry is already turning red.

The white catkins of the lily of the valley sway between the long, smooth leaves. Somewhere a strong-nosed woodpecker is chopping; the yellow oriole screams pitifully; A homeless cuckoo is counting down the years. The gray bunny darted into the bushes; high between the branches a tenacious squirrel flashed its fluffy tail.

Far away in the thicket, something is cracking and breaking: is a clumsy bear bending an arc?

Vaska (story)

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 a mouse is caught - don’t be angry! The eyes are big, the paws are like steel, the teeth are crooked, the claws are protruding!

Raven and Magpie (story)

A spotted magpie jumped along the branches of a tree and chatted incessantly, and the raven sat silently.

Why are you silent, kumanek, or don’t you believe what I’m telling you? - the magpie finally asked.

“I don’t believe it well, gossip,” answered the raven, “whoever talks as much as you do probably lies a lot!”

Viper (story)

Around our farm, in the ravines and wet places, there were many snakes.

I’m not talking about snakes: we are so used to the harmless snake that we don’t even call it a snake. He has small sharp teeth in his mouth, he catches mice and even birds and, perhaps, can bite through the skin; but there is no poison in these teeth, and the snake’s bite is completely harmless.

We had a lot of snakes; especially in the piles of straw that lay near the threshing floor: as soon as the sun warms them, they will crawl out of there; they hiss when you approach, they show their tongue or sting, but it’s not the sting that snakes bite. Even in the kitchen there were snakes under the floor, and when the children would sit on the floor and slurp milk, they would crawl out and pull their heads towards the cup, and the children would hit them on the forehead with a spoon.

But we also had more than just snakes: there was also a poisonous snake, black, large, without those yellow stripes that are visible near the head of a snake. We call such a snake a viper. The viper often bit the cattle, and if they did not have time to call old grandfather Okhrim from the village, who knew some medicine against the bite of poisonous snakes, then the cattle would certainly fall - it would swell, poor, like a mountain.

One of our boys died from a viper. She bit him near the shoulder, and before Okhrim arrived, the swelling had spread from his arm to his neck and chest: the child began to become delirious, toss about, and two days later he died. As a child, I heard a lot about vipers and was terribly afraid of them, as if I felt that I would have to meet a dangerous reptile.

They mowed it behind our garden, in a dry ravine, where in the spring a stream runs every year, but in the summer it is only damp and tall, thick grass grows. Every mowing was a holiday for me, especially when the hay was raked into stacks. Here, it happened, you would start running around the hayfield and throw yourself into the haystacks with all your might and flounder in the fragrant hay until the women chased you away so that you wouldn’t break the haystacks.

That’s how this time I ran and tumbled: there were no women, the mowers had gone far away, and only our big black dog Brovko was lying on a haystack and gnawing on a bone.

I somersaulted into one heap, turned around in it twice and suddenly jumped up in horror. Something cold and slippery brushed my hand. The thought of a viper flashed through my head - so what? The huge viper, which I had disturbed, crawled out of the hay and, rising on its tail, was ready to attack me.

Instead of running, I stand petrified, as if the reptile had fascinated me with its lidless, unblinking eyes. Another minute and I would have died; but Brovko, like an arrow, flew off the hay, rushed at the snake, and a mortal struggle ensued between them.

The dog tore the snake with its teeth and trampled it with its paws; the snake bit the dog in the face, chest, and stomach. But a minute later, only scraps of the viper lay on the ground, and Brovko began to run and disappeared.

But the strangest thing is that from that day on Brovko disappeared and wandered in an unknown place.

Only two weeks later he returned home: thin, scrawny, but healthy. My father told me that dogs know the herb that they use to treat viper bites.

Geese (story)

Vasya saw a string of wild geese flying high in the air.

Vasya. Can our domestic ducks fly the same way?

Father. No.

Vasya. Who feeds the wild geese?

Father. They find their own food.

Vasya. And in winter?

Father. As soon as winter comes, wild geese They fly away from us to warm countries, and return again in the spring.

Vasya. But why can’t domestic geese fly just as well and why don’t they fly away from us to warm countries for the winter?

Father. Because domestic animals have already lost part of their former dexterity and strength, and their feelings are not as subtle as those of wild animals.

Vasya. But why did this happen to them?

Father. Because people care about them and have taught them to use their own strength. From this you see that people should try to do for themselves everything they can. Those children who rely on the services of others and do not learn to do everything they can for themselves will never be strong, smart and dexterous people.

Vasya. No, now I will try to do everything for myself, otherwise, perhaps, the same thing could happen to me as to domestic geese that have forgotten how to fly.

The Goose and the Crane (story)

A goose swims on the pond and talks loudly to itself:

What an amazing bird I really am! And I walk on the ground, and swim on the water, and fly through the air: there is no other bird like this in the world! I am the king of all birds!

The crane overheard the goose and said to him:

You stupid bird, goose! Well, can you swim like a pike, run like a deer, or fly like an eagle? It’s better to know one thing, but it’s good, than everything, but it’s bad.

Two goats (story)

Two stubborn goats met one day on a narrow log thrown across a stream. It was impossible to cross the stream at both times; one had to turn back, give way to the other and wait.

“Make way for me,” said one.

- Here's another! Look, what an important gentleman,” answered the other, “backing away, I was the first to ascend the bridge.”

- No, brother, I am much older than you in years, and I have to give in to the milksucker! Never!

Here both, without thinking for a long time, collided with strong foreheads, locked horns and, resting their thin legs on the deck, began to fight. But the deck was wet: both stubborn men slipped and flew straight into the water.

Woodpecker (story)

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'll run around the trunk and won't miss 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, long tongue launches into holes, drags ants around like a fish.

Playing dogs (short story)

Volodya stood at the window and looked out onto the street, where a large dog, Polkan, was basking in the sun.

A little Pug ran up to Polkan and began to rush and bark at him; he grabbed his huge paws and muzzle with his teeth and seemed to be very annoying to the large and gloomy dog.

Wait a minute, she’ll ask you! - Volodya said. - She'll teach you a lesson.

But Mops did not stop playing, and Polkan looked at him very favorably.

You see,” Volodya’s father said, “Polkan is kinder than you.” When your little brothers and sisters start playing with you, it will certainly end with you pinning them. Polkan knows that it is a shame for the big and strong to offend the small and weak.

Goat (story)

A shaggy goat is walking, a bearded one is walking, waving its faces, shaking its beard, tapping its hooves; walks, bleats, calls 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!

Cow (fairy tale)

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 her mistress: “Come out, mistress; take out the bin, clean toilet! I brought milk and thick cream for the kids.”

Cuckoo (story)

The gray cuckoo is a homeless sloth: it doesn’t build a nest, it lays its eggs in other people’s nests, it gives its cuckoo chicks to be raised, and it even 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.

Swallow (story)

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 searches and searches for small children.

Horse (story)

The horse snores, curls its ears, moves its eyes, gnaws at the bit, bends its neck like a swan, and digs the ground with its hoof. The mane is wavy on the neck, the tail is a pipe at the back, bangs are between the ears, and a brush is on the legs; the wool shines silver. There is a bit in the mouth, a saddle on the back, golden stirrups, steel horseshoes.

Sit down and let's go! To distant lands, to the thirtieth kingdom!

The horse runs, the ground trembles, foam comes out of the mouth, steam comes out of the nostrils.

The Bear and the Log (story)

A bear walks through the forest and sniffs around: is it possible to profit from something edible? He smells honey! Mishka raised his face up and saw a beehive on a pine tree, under the beehive there was a smooth log hanging on a rope, but Misha didn’t care about the log. The bear climbed up the pine tree, climbed up to the log, you can’t climb higher - the log is in the way.

Misha pushed the log away with his paw; the log gently rolled back - and the bear knocked on the head. Misha pushed the log harder - the log hit Misha harder. Misha got angry and grabbed the log with all his might; the log was pumped back two fathoms - and it was enough for Misha that he almost fell out of the tree. The bear became furious, he forgot about the honey, he wanted to finish the log: well, he felled it as hard as he could, and he was never left without surrender. Misha fought with the log until he fell out of the tree, completely beaten; There were pegs stuck under the tree - and the bear paid for his insane anger with his warm skin.

Not well cut, but tightly sewn (The Hare and the Hedgehog) (fairy tale)

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.

Eagle (story)

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.

The Eagle and the Cat (story)

Outside the village, a cat was playing happily with her kittens. The spring sun was warm, and the little family was very happy. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge steppe eagle: like lightning, he descended from above and grabbed one kitten. But before the eagle had time to rise, the mother had already grabbed onto it. The predator abandoned the kitten and grabbed the old cat. A battle to the death began.

Mighty wings, a strong beak, strong paws with long, curved claws gave the eagle a great advantage: he tore the skin of the cat and pecked out one of her eyes. But the cat did not lose courage, grabbed the eagle tightly with its claws and bit off its right wing.

Now victory began to lean towards the cat; but the eagle was still very strong, and the cat was already tired; however, she gathered her last strength, made a deft leap and knocked the eagle to the ground. At that very moment she bit off his head and, forgetting her own wounds, began to lick her wounded kitten.

Cockerel with his family (story)

A cockerel walks around the yard: there is a red comb on his head, and a red beard under his 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! 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!”

Ducks (story)

Vasya sits 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, and they went to the water - both old and young. How can I get them home now?

So Vasya started clicking ducks:

Duck-duck-duck! Gluttonous chatterboxes, wide noses, webbed paws! You've had enough of carrying around worms, plucking grass, swallowing mud, stuffing your crops - it's time for you to go home!

Vasya’s ducklings obeyed, went ashore, walked home, shimmering from foot to foot.

The Scientist Bear (short story)

- 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 and reluctantly climbed up hind legs, shifts from foot to foot, bows 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 wet - on your 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 comes and goes; 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 through the ring.

Khavronya (story)

Our sow hare is dirty, dirty and gluttonous; It eats everything, crumples everything, itches on the corners, finds a puddle - like rushing into a feather bed, grunting, basking.

The sow's snout is not elegant: its nose rests on the ground, its mouth reaches to its ears; and the ears dangle like rags; Each leg has four hooves, and when it walks, it stumbles.

The sow's tail is a screw, the ridge is a hump; stubble sticks out on the ridge. She eats for three, gets fat for five; but her mistresses take care of her, feed her, and give her slop to drink; If he breaks into the garden, they will drive him away with a log.

Brave Dog (story)

Dog, why are you barking?

I scare the wolves.

The dog with its tail between its legs?

I'm afraid of wolves.

You can download this book of children's stories about animals by K. Ushinsky for free in pdf format: DOWNLOAD >>

Stories about animals by Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov, Prishvin, Koval, Paustovsky

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy “The Lion and the Dog”

In London they showed wild animals and for viewing they took money or dogs and cats to feed the wild animals.

One man wanted to see the animals: he grabbed a little dog on the street and brought it to the menagerie. They let him in to watch, but they took the little dog and threw him into a cage with a lion to be eaten.

The dog tucked its tail and pressed itself into the corner of the cage. The lion came up to her and smelled her.

The dog lay down on its back, raised its paws and began wagging its tail.

The lion touched it with his paw and turned it over.

The dog jumped up and stood on its hind legs in front of the lion.

The lion looked at the dog, turned his head from side to side and did not touch it.

When the owner threw meat to the lion, the lion tore off a piece and left it for the dog.

In the evening, when the lion went to bed, the dog lay down next to him and put her head on his paw.

Since then, the dog lived in the same cage with the lion, the lion did not touch her, ate food, slept with her, and sometimes played with her.

One day the master came to the menagerie and recognized his dog; he said that the dog was his own, and asked the owner of the menagerie to give it to him. The owner wanted to give it back, but as soon as they began to call the dog to take it from the cage, the lion bristled and growled.

So the lion and the dog lived for a whole year in the same cage.

A year later the dog got sick and died. The lion stopped eating, but kept sniffing, licking the dog and touching it with his paw.

When he realized that she was dead, he suddenly jumped up, bristled, began to whip his tail on the sides, rushed to the wall of the cage and began to gnaw at the bolts and the floor.

All day long he struggled, thrashed about in the cage and roared, then he lay down next to the dead dog and fell silent. The owner wanted to take away the dead dog, but the lion would not let anyone near it.

The owner thought that the lion would forget his grief if he was given another dog, and let a live dog into his cage; but the lion immediately tore it into pieces. Then he hugged the dead dog with his paws and lay there for five days.

On the sixth day the lion died.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy "Bird"

It was Seryozha’s birthday, and they gave him many different gifts; and tops, and horses, and pictures. But the most valuable gift of all was Uncle Seryozha’s gift of a net to catch birds.

The mesh is made in such a way that a board is attached to the frame, and the mesh is folded back. Place the seed on a board and place it in the yard. A bird will fly in, sit on the board, the board will turn up and slam shut on its own.

Seryozha was delighted and ran to his mother to show the net. Mother says:

- Not a good toy. What do you need birds for? Why are you going to torture them?

- I'll put them in cages. They will sing and I will feed them.

Seryozha took out a seed, sprinkled it on a board and placed the net in the garden. And still he stood there, waiting for the birds to fly. But the birds were afraid of him and did not fly to the net. Seryozha went to lunch and left the net. I looked after lunch, the net slammed shut, and a bird was beating under the net. Seryozha was happy, caught the bird and took it home.

- Mother! Look, I caught a bird, it must be a nightingale! And how his heart beats!

Mother said:

- This is a siskin. Look, don’t torment him, but rather let him go,

- No, I will feed and water him.

Seryozha put the siskin in a cage and for two days he poured seed into it, and put water in it, and cleaned the cage. On the third day he forgot about the siskin and did not change the water. His mother says to him:

- You see, you forgot about your bird, it’s better to let it go.

- No, I won’t forget, I’ll put some water on now and clean the cage.

Seryozha put his hand into the cage and began to clean it, but the little siskin got scared and hit the cage. Seryozha cleaned the cage and went to get water. His mother saw that he forgot to close the cage and shouted to him:

- Seryozha, close the cage, otherwise your bird will fly out and kill itself!

Before she had time to speak, the little siskin found the door, was delighted, spread its wings and flew through the room to the window. Yes, I didn’t see the glass, I hit the glass and fell on the windowsill.

Seryozha came running, took the bird, and carried it into the cage. The little siskin was still alive, but he was lying on his chest, his wings outstretched, and breathing heavily. Seryozha looked and looked and began to cry:

- Mother! What should I do now?

- Now you can't do anything.

Seryozha did not leave the cage all day and kept looking at the little siskin, and the little siskin still lay on his chest and breathed heavily and quickly. When Seryozha went to bed, the little siskin was still alive. Seryozha could not fall asleep for a long time; Every time he closed his eyes, he imagined the little siskin, how it lay and breathed.

In the morning, when Seryozha approached the cage, he saw that the siskin was already lying on its back, curled its paws and stiffened. Since then, Seryozha has never caught birds.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev “Sparrow”

I was returning from hunting and walking along the garden alley. The dog ran ahead of me.

Suddenly she slowed down her steps and began to sneak around, as if sensing game in front of her.

I looked along the alley and saw a young sparrow with yellowness around its beak and down on its head. He fell from the nest (the wind strongly shook the birch trees of the alley) and sat motionless, helplessly spreading his barely sprouted wings.

My dog ​​was slowly approaching him, when suddenly, falling from a nearby tree, an old black-breasted sparrow fell like a stone in front of her muzzle - and, all disheveled, distorted, with a desperate and pitiful squeak, he jumped a couple of times in the direction of the toothy open mouth.

He rushed to save, he shielded his brainchild... but his whole small body trembled with horror, his voice grew wild and hoarse, he froze, he sacrificed himself!

What a huge monster the dog must have seemed to him! And yet he could not sit on his high, safe branch... A force stronger than his will threw him out of there.

My Trezor stopped, backed away... Apparently, he recognized this power. I hastened to call the embarrassed dog away and left in awe.

Yes, don't laugh. I was in awe of that small, heroic bird, of its loving impulse.

Love, I thought, is stronger than death and the fear of death. Only by her, only by love does life hold and move.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov "White-fronted"

The hungry wolf got up to go hunting. Her cubs, all three of them, were fast asleep, huddled together, warming each other. She licked them and walked away.

Was already spring month March, but at night the trees crackled with cold, like in December, and as soon as you stuck out your tongue, it began to sting strongly. The wolf was in poor health and suspicious; She shuddered at the slightest noise and kept thinking about how at home without her no one would offend the wolf cubs. The smell of human and horse tracks, tree stumps, stacked firewood and the dark, manure-covered road frightened her; It seemed to her as if people were standing behind the trees in the darkness and dogs were howling somewhere beyond the forest.

She was no longer young, and her instincts had weakened, so that it happened that she mistook a fox’s track for a dog’s and sometimes even, deceived by her instincts, lost her way, which had never happened to her in her youth. Due to poor health, she no longer hunted calves and large rams, as before, and already walked far around horses with foals, but ate only carrion; She had to eat fresh meat very rarely, only in the spring, when she, having come across a hare, took her children away from her or climbed into the men's barn where the lambs were.

About four versts from her lair, near the post road, there was a winter hut. Here lived the watchman Ignat, an old man of about seventy, who kept coughing and talking to himself; He usually slept at night, and during the day he wandered through the forest with a single-barreled gun and whistled at the hares. He must have served as a mechanic before, because every time before stopping he shouted to himself: “Stop, car!” and before going any further: “Full speed ahead!” With him was a huge black dog of an unknown breed, named Arapka. When she ran far ahead, he shouted to her: “Reverse!” Sometimes he sang and at the same time staggered greatly and often fell (the wolf thought it was from the wind) and shouted: “He went off the rails!”

The wolf remembered that in the summer and autumn a sheep and two lambs grazed near the winter hut, and when she ran past not so long ago, she thought she heard something bleating in the barn. And now, approaching the winter quarters, she realized that it was already March and, judging by the time, there must certainly be lambs in the barn. She was tormented by hunger, she thought about how greedily she would eat the lamb, and from such thoughts her teeth clicked and her eyes shone in the darkness like two lights.

Ignat's hut, his barn, stable and well were surrounded by high snowdrifts. It was quiet. The little black must have been sleeping under the barn.

The wolf climbed up the snowdrift to the barn and began raking the thatched roof with her paws and muzzle. The straw was rotten and loose, so that the wolf almost fell through; Suddenly a warm smell of steam and the smell of manure and sheep's milk hit her right in the face. Below, feeling the cold, the lamb gently bleated. Jumping into the hole, the she-wolf fell with her front paws and chest on something soft and warm, probably on a ram, and at that time something in the barn suddenly squealed, barked and burst into a thin howling voice, the sheep shied away from the wall, and the she-wolf , frightened, grabbed the first thing she caught in her teeth and rushed out...

She ran, straining her strength, and at this time Arapka, who had already sensed the wolf, howled furiously, disturbed chickens clucked in the winter hut, and Ignat, going out onto the porch, shouted:

- Full speed ahead! Let's go to the whistle!

And it whistled like a car, and then - go-go-go-go!.. And all this noise was repeated by the forest echo.

When little by little all this calmed down, the she-wolf calmed down a little and began to notice that her prey, which she held in her teeth and dragged through the snow, was heavier and seemed to be harder than lambs usually are at this time; and it smelled as if differently, and some strange sounds were heard... The wolf stopped and put her burden on the snow to rest and start eating, and suddenly jumped back in disgust. It was not a lamb, but a puppy, black, with a large head and high legs, of a large breed, with the same white spot all over its forehead, like Arapka’s. Judging by his manners, he was an ignoramus, a simple mongrel. He licked his bruised, wounded back and, as if nothing had happened, waved his tail and barked at the she-wolf. She growled like a dog and ran away from him. He's behind her. She looked back and clicked her teeth; he stopped in bewilderment and, probably deciding that it was she who was playing with him, stretched his muzzle towards the winter hut and burst into a ringing, joyful bark, as if inviting his mother Arapka to play with him and the wolf.

It was already dawn, and when the wolf made her way to her place through the dense aspen forest, every aspen tree was clearly visible, and the black grouse were already waking up and beautiful roosters often fluttered up, disturbed by the careless jumps and barking of the puppy.

“Why is he running after me? - thought the wolf with annoyance. “He must want me to eat him.”

She lived with the wolf cubs in a shallow hole; three years ago, during a strong storm, a tall old pine tree was uprooted, which is why this hole was formed. Now at the bottom there were old leaves and moss, and there were bones and bull horns with which the wolf cubs played. They had already woken up, and all three were very similar friend at each other, stood side by side on the edge of their hole and, looking at the returning mother, wagged their tails. Seeing them, the puppy stopped at a distance and looked at them for a long time; noticing that they were also looking at him attentively, he began to bark angrily at them, as if they were strangers.

It was already dawn and the sun had risen, the snow was sparkling all around, and he still stood at a distance and barked. The wolf cubs sucked their mother, pushing her with their paws into her skinny belly, and at that time she was gnawing on a horse bone, white and dry; she was tormented by hunger, her head ached from the dog's barking, and she wanted to rush at the uninvited guest and tear him apart.

Finally the puppy became tired and hoarse; Seeing that they were not afraid of him and did not even pay attention to him, he began to timidly, now crouching, now jumping, approach the wolf cubs. Now, in daylight, it was easy to see him. He had a large white forehead, and on his forehead there was a bump, such as happens to very stupid dogs; the eyes were small, blue, dull, and the expression of the entire muzzle was extremely stupid. Approaching the wolf cubs, he stretched his wide paws forward, put his muzzle on them and began:

- Mnya, mnya... nga-nga-nga!..

The wolf cubs did not understand anything, but waved their tails. Then the puppy hit one of the wolf cubs on the big head with his paw. The wolf cub also hit him on the head with his paw. The puppy stood sideways to him and looked at him sideways, wagging its tail, then suddenly rushed away and made several circles on the crust. The wolf cubs chased him, he fell on his back and lifted his legs up, and the three of them attacked him and, squealing with delight, began to bite him, but not painfully, but as a joke. The crows sat on a tall pine tree and looked down on their struggle. And they were very worried. It became noisy and fun. The sun was already hot like spring; and the roosters, constantly flying over the pine tree fallen by the storm, seemed emerald in the brilliance of the sun.

Usually she-wolves accustom their children to hunting by letting them play with their prey; and now, watching how the wolf cubs chased the puppy along the crust and fought with it, the wolf thought: “Let them get used to it.”

Having played enough, the cubs went into the hole and went to bed. The puppy howled a little with hunger, then also stretched out in the sun. And when they woke up, they started playing again.

All day and evening the wolf remembered how last night the lamb bleated in the barn and how it smelled of sheep's milk, and from appetite she kept clicking her teeth and did not stop gnawing greedily on an old bone, imagining to herself that it was a lamb. The wolf cubs suckled, and the puppy, who was hungry, ran around and sniffed the snow.

“Let’s eat it...” the wolf decided.

She came up to him, and he licked her face and whined, thinking that she wanted to play with him. In the past, she ate dogs, but the puppy smelled strongly of dog, and, due to poor health, she no longer tolerated this smell; she felt disgusted and walked away...

By night it got colder. The puppy got bored and went home.

When the wolf cubs were fast asleep, the wolf went hunting again. Like the previous night, she was alarmed by the slightest noise, and she was frightened by stumps, firewood, and dark, lonely juniper bushes that looked like people from afar. She ran away from the road, along the crust. Suddenly something dark flashed on the road far ahead... She strained her eyes and ears: in fact, something was walking ahead, and even measured steps could be heard. Isn't it a badger? She carefully, barely breathing, taking everything to the side, overtook the dark spot, looked back at it and recognized it. It was a puppy with a white forehead who was slowly walking back to his winter quarters.

“I hope he doesn’t bother me again,” the wolf thought and quickly ran forward.

But the winter hut was already close. She again climbed up the snowdrift into the barn. Yesterday's hole had already been filled with spring straw, and two new strips stretched across the roof1. The wolf began to quickly work with her legs and muzzle, looking around to see if the puppy was coming, but as soon as the warm steam and the smell of manure hit her, a joyful, liquid bark was heard from behind. It's the puppy back. He jumped onto the wolf's roof, then into a hole and, feeling at home, in the warmth, recognizing his sheep, barked even louder... Arapka woke up under the barn and, sensing the wolf, howled, the chickens clucked, and when Ignat appeared on the porch with with her single-barreled gun, the frightened wolf was already far from her winter hut.

- Fut! - Ignat whistled. - Fut! Drive at full speed!

He pulled the trigger - the gun misfired; he fired again - again it misfired; he fired a third time - and a huge sheaf of fire flew out of the trunk, and a deafening “boo!” boo!". There was a strong blow to his shoulder; and, taking a gun in one hand and an ax in the other, he went to see what was causing the noise...

A little later he returned to the hut.

“Nothing...” Ignat answered. - It's an empty matter. Our White-fronted one got into the habit of sleeping with the sheep, in the warmth. Only there is no such thing as going through the door, but everything seems to be going through the roof.

- Silly.

- Yes, the spring in the brain burst. I don't like death, stupid people! - Ignat sighed, climbing onto the stove. - Well, man of God, it’s too early to get up, let’s go to sleep at full speed...

And in the morning he called White-fronted to him, tore him painfully by the ears and then, punishing him with a twig, kept saying:

- Go through the door! Walk through the door! Walk through the door!

Mikhail Prishvin “Fox Bread”

One day I walked in the forest all day and in the evening I returned home with rich booty. He took the heavy bag off his shoulders and began to lay out his 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 a bloody boneberry in my pocket, 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 on purpose for Zinochka, I brought various wonderful herbs, one leaf at a time, a root at a time, a flower at a time: cuckoo’s tears, valerian, Peter’s cross, hare’s cabbage. And just under the hare cabbage I had a piece of black bread: it always happens to me that when I don’t take bread into the forest, I’m hungry, but if I take it, I forget to eat it and bring it back. And Zinochka, when she saw black bread under my hare cabbage, was stunned:

-Where did the bread come from in the forest?

- What's surprising here? After all, there is cabbage there!

- Hare...

- And the bread is chanterelle bread. Taste it.

I tasted it carefully and started eating:

- Good chanterelle bread!

And she ate all my black bread clean. And so it went with us: Zinochka, such a copula, often won’t even take white bread, but when I bring fox bread from the forest, she will always eat it all and praise it:

- Fox bread is much better than ours!

Mikhail Prishvin "Inventor"

In one swamp, on a hummock under a willow, wild mallard ducklings hatched. Soon after this, their mother led them to the lake along a cow path. I noticed them from a distance, hid behind a tree, and the ducklings came right to my feet. I took three of them into my care, the remaining sixteen went further along the cow path.

I kept these black ducklings with me, and they soon all turned gray. Then a handsome multi-colored drake and two ducks, Dusya and Musya, emerged from the gray ones. We clipped their wings so they wouldn’t fly away, and they lived in our yard along with poultry: we had chickens and geese.

With the onset of a new spring, we made hummocks for our savages out of all sorts of rubbish in the basement, like in a swamp, and nests on them. Dusya laid sixteen eggs in her nest and began to hatch the ducklings. Musya put down fourteen, but didn’t want to sit on them. No matter how we fought, the empty head did not want to be a mother.

And we planted our important black hen, the Queen of Spades, on duck eggs.

The time has come, our ducklings have hatched. We kept them warm in the kitchen for a while, crumbled eggs for them, and looked after them.

A few days later, very good, warm weather arrived, and Dusya took her little ones to the pond, and the Queen of Spades took hers to the garden to get worms.

- Hang down! - ducklings in the pond.

- Quack-quack! - the duck answers them.

- Hang down! — ducklings in the garden.

- Kwok-kwok! - the chicken answers them.

The ducklings, of course, cannot understand what “kwoh-kwoh” means, but what is heard from the pond is well known to them.

“Svis-svis” means: “friends to friends.”

And “quack-quack” means: “you are ducks, you are mallards, swim quickly!”

And they, of course, look there, towards the pond.

- Ours to ours!

- Swim, swim!

And they float.

- Kwok-kwok! — an important hen on the shore insists. They keep swimming and swimming. They whistled, swam together, and Dusya joyfully accepted them into her family; According to Musa, they were her own nephews.

All day long a large duck family swam on the pond, and all day the Queen of Spades, fluffy, angry, clucked, grumbled, kicked worms on the shore, tried to attract ducklings with worms and clucked to them that there were too many worms, so good worms!

- Rubbish, rubbish! - the mallard answered her.

And in the evening she led all her ducklings with one long rope along a dry path. They passed under the very nose of the important bird, black, with large duck-like noses; no one even looked at such a mother.

We collected them all in one high basket and left them to spend the night in the warm kitchen near the stove.

In the morning, when we were still sleeping, Dusya crawled out of the basket, walked around on the floor, screamed, and called the ducklings to her. The whistlers answered her cry in thirty voices.

To the duck cry of the walls of our house, made of sonorous pine forest, responded in their own way. And yet, in this confusion, we heard the separate voice of one duckling.

- Do you hear? - I asked my guys. They listened.

- We hear! - they shouted. And we went to the kitchen.

There, it turned out, Dusya was not alone on the floor. One duckling was running next to her, very worried and whistling continuously. This duckling, like all the others, was the size of a small cucumber. How could such and such a warrior climb over the wall of a basket thirty centimeters high?

We began to guess about this, and then a new question arose: did the duckling himself come up with some way to get out of the basket after his mother, or did she accidentally touch him with her wing and throw him out? I tied this duckling's leg with a ribbon and released it into the general herd.

We slept through the night, and in the morning, as soon as the morning duck cry was heard in the house, we went into the kitchen.

A duckling with a bandaged paw was running on the floor with Dusya.

All the ducklings, imprisoned in the basket, whistled, were eager to be free and could not do anything. This one got out.

I said:

- He came up with something.

- He's an inventor! - Leva shouted.

Then I decided to see how

In the same way, this “inventor” solves the most difficult problem: to climb a sheer wall on his duck webbed feet. I got up the next morning before light, when both my boys and ducklings were fast asleep. In the kitchen, I sat down near the switch so that, when necessary, I could turn on the light and look at the events in the depths of the basket.

And then the window turned white. It was getting light.

- Quack-quack! - said Dusya.

- Hang down! - answered the only duckling. And everything froze. The boys slept, the ducklings slept. A beep sounded in the factory. The light has increased.

- Quack-quack! - Dusya repeated.

No one answered. I realized: the “inventor” has no time now - now, probably, he is solving his most difficult problem. And I turned on the light.

Well, that's how I knew it! The duck had not yet stood up, and its head was still level with the edge of the basket. All the ducklings slept warmly under their mother, only one, with a bandaged paw, crawled out and climbed up the mother’s feathers, like bricks, onto her back. When Dusya stood up, she raised it high, level with the edge of the basket. The duckling, like a mouse, ran along her back to the edge - and somersaulted down! Following him, the mother also fell to the floor, and the usual morning chaos began: screaming, whistling throughout the house.

About two days after that, in the morning, three ducklings appeared on the floor at once, then five, and it went on and on: as soon as Dusya quacked in the morning, all the ducklings would land on her back and then fall down.

And my children called the first duckling, who paved the way for others, the Inventor.

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. All the time while they were catching the ducklings, the mother ran after them with an open beak or flew several steps in different directions in the greatest excitement. The guys were just about to throw hats at their mother and catch her like ducklings, but then I approached.

- What will you do with the ducklings? - I asked the guys sternly.

They chickened out and replied:

- Let's go.

- Let’s “let it go”! - I said very 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 straight 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? Quickly 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 “Chicken on poles”

In the spring, our neighbors gave us four goose eggs, and we placed them in the nest of our black hen, nicknamed the Queen of Spades. The prescribed days for hatching have passed, and the Queen of Spades brought out four yellow geese. They squeaked and whistled in a completely different way than the chickens, but the Queen of Spades, important and unkempt, did not want to notice anything and treated the goslings with the same maternal care as the chickens.

Spring passed, summer came, dandelions appeared everywhere. Young geese, if their necks are extended, become almost taller than their mother, but still follow her. It happens, however, that the mother digs up the ground with her paws and calls the geese, and they tend to the dandelions, nudge them with their noses and blow fluff in the wind. Then the Queen of Spades begins to glance in their direction, as it seems to us, with some degree of suspicion. Sometimes, fluffed up and clucking, she digs for hours, but they don’t care: they just whistle and peck at the green grass. It happens that the dog wants to go somewhere past her, where here! He will rush at the dog and drive him away. And then he looks at the geese, sometimes he looks thoughtfully...

We began to watch the hen and wait for such an event, after which she would finally realize that her children did not even look like chickens at all and it was not worth throwing herself at the dogs because of them, risking her life.

And then one day this event happened in our yard. A sunny June day, rich in the scent of flowers, has arrived. Suddenly the sun darkened and the rooster crowed.

- Kwok, kwok! - the hen answered the rooster, calling her goslings under the canopy.

- Fathers, what a cloud is coming! - the housewives shouted and rushed to save the hanging laundry. Thunder struck and lightning flashed.

- Kwok, kwok! - insisted the chicken Queen of Spades. And the young geese, raising their necks high, like four pillars, followed the chicken under the shed. It was amazing for us to watch how, at the hen’s order, four decent goslings, tall as the hen itself, folded into little things, crawled under the hen, and she, fluffing her feathers, spreading her wings over them, covered them and warmed them with her maternal warmth.

But the thunderstorm was short-lived. The cloud cleared, went away, and the sun shone again over our little garden.

When the rain stopped pouring from the roofs and various birds began to sing, the goslings under the hen heard it, and they, the young ones, of course, wanted to be free.

- Free, free! - they whistled.

- Kwok, kwok! - answered the chicken.

And that meant:

- Sit a little, it’s still very fresh.

- Here's another! - the goslings whistled. - Free, free!

And suddenly they rose to their feet and raised their necks, and the chicken rose as if on four pillars and swayed in the air high from the ground.

It was from this time that everything ended with the Queen of Spades and the geese: she began to walk separately, and the geese separately; Apparently, only then did she understand everything, and the second time she no longer wanted to get on the pillars.