The Tale of Zhenya and the Green Snake (about maternal love and self-sacrifice). The Tale of the Girl Zhenya and the Elephant Who Was Very Hungry The Tale of the Zhenya Who Didn't Eat
Natalia Sovetnaya (from the book "In Search of Treasure", St. Petersburg, 2008)
TALE about JENNYA and the GREEN SNAKE
Once upon a time there was a boy Zhenya. Smart, affectionate, kind, obedient - a joy for dad and mom. Zhenya was lucky with her mother. She is beautiful, she is smart, she is a craftswoman. He will sing a song - people will listen, he will play the accordion - his legs will start dancing on their own, he will speak - like a brook is murmuring, he will prepare a treat - to surprise all the guests. And Zhenya loves it so much! Hug him, kiss him and dream:
You will grow up, my dear son, you will become my support, in you is all my hope, in you is all my joy ...
Zhenya's dad is also a good person. Skillful, hardworking, jack of all trades. It just happened to him once.
He walks along the road, and the sun is high, hot. Stuffy, hot - very thirsty. Only there is no river, no lake, no well on the way. Suddenly he hears someone calling him. He went to the voice and sees: running from the mountain steeps, straight from the very heavens, a stream with clear cold water, and the sun's rays are reflected in it with golden crosses. Water murmurs, sings, and a voice is heard:
You do not look for other water,
Drink my water - alive,
Go to my source
At the end of the road you will find paradise.
Zhenya's dad got on his knees to wash his face and hands and drink living water, but suddenly he hears someone shouting:
Stop, well done, wait, don't drink!
He looked back. He sees a girl rushing towards him. Her figure is flexible, thin, covered with a green brocade dress, and in her hands she holds a foaming goblet.
What are you going to do, dude? Cold water doesn't take long to catch a cold! And it flows on dirty ground - you can get sick. And you have to bend over for water, get your knees dirty. And to go far to the source, the path is narrow and thorny.
The girl circles around him, with her yellow eyes, intoxicates, bewitches:
Drink from my cup
Forget your worries soon
Forget the heavenly ways
Follow me, come to me!
She brought him a goblet directly to his lips, he sipped dead water, and his mind was clouded, his head was spinning, his heart turned to stone.
There was a malevolent hissing laugh. The girl disappeared as if she never existed. Only the long green tail of the snake flashed in the hole.
After this incident, Zhenya's father often sat up for a bottle of snake potion, he did not notice how addicted to intoxicating poison.
The boy's house became unhappy. Dad is drunk and mom is crying. Mother's songs do not flow anymore, the button accordion does not sound provocatively. I feel sorry for Zhenya's mother.
He kisses her, hugs her, helps in all matters.
Don't cry, mommy, I will never hurt you.
And Zhenya began to ask his father to stop drinking, to stop ruining himself.
Dad thought. Decided to start a sober life. I decided to go for living water.
Again he goes along the same road, again the sun bakes, again he is tormented by thirst. Here is the mountain, here is the brook singing, the voice is heard:
You do not look for other water,
Drink my water - alive,
Go to my source
At the end of the road you will find paradise.
Zhenya's dad was delighted, he runs rather to the stream, he thinks: “This is where the water is real, living, this is where health and happiness are. I will drink from the stream, I will climb high into the mountains and drink from the very source.
Suddenly a girl in a green dress blocked the path, but not alone - her younger sisters were nearby, similar to her. Each holds a goblet in her hands, each fills it with intoxicating drink. They spun in a round dance around the young man, they do not take their yellow poisonous eyes away from him, they start a crafty song:
Drink from our cups
Forget your worries soon
Forget the heavenly ways
Follow us, follow us!
His mind was clouded, he forgot that he wanted to drink from the stream and go to the source. He grabbed a goblet and drained it to the bottom, grabbed another and a third.
He drank greedily until he drank it all. An older girl came up to him and said:
You have already given us your soul, we will soon come for your son. -
Although Zhenya's father was drunk, he was frightened and pleaded:
Don't touch your son! Why did you need it?
Don't you know that everyone who drinks our dead water sells us his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren up to the seventh generation? So you are our debtor. And debt payment is red. Wait, we'll come soon! - the sisters laughed, hissed, turned into green snakes and hid in an underground hole, where, together with their father, the terrible Green Serpent, they lived, destroying many human souls.
Zhenya's dad cried and suddenly found himself at home. Outside the window the sun is rising, the birds are singing, my mother is preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
I must have dreamed it all, thought dad, and immediately forgot what had happened to him.
Again he began to come home drunk, again mother became sad.
How much, how little time has passed - Zhenya has grown. He graduated from school, served in the army, received a diploma of higher education and became a respected person at work.
Once he went with his dad on the road. The sun is high and it's hot. Hot, stuffy - very thirsty. They hear as if someone is calling them. We went to the voice and saw: running from the mountain steeps, right from the very heavens, a stream with clear cool water, and the sun's rays are reflected in it with golden crosses. Water gurgles, sings tenderly, and a voice is heard:
You do not look for other water,
Drink my water - alive,
Go to my source
At the end of the road you will find paradise.
Dad, look - living water! - he called and then he saw that his father was surrounded by young girls, similar to each other: all flexible, thin, dressed up in green brocade dresses, all eyes were yellow, poisonous, and goblets with intoxicating drink in their hands .
Release my dad immediately! He will not drink from your cups anymore. We have water from the sources of heaven, living water!
The girls laughed, started a round dance around Zhenya.
Son, do not look at them, - the father asks, - do not listen to their songs, do not take a cup from them. They will destroy you, as they destroyed me.-
And the girls keep circling, they don’t take their eyes off Zhenya, they sing and fascinate:
Drink from our cups
Forget your worries soon
Forget the heavenly ways
Follow us, follow us!
His mind was clouded, he forgot that he wanted to drink from the stream and go to the source, he forgot about his father. He drank a poisonous potion from a goblet, and his heart turned to stone. He looks indifferently as the girls tied his father's hands and beckon him with a goblet full of them, as he follows them straight into the hole - underground darkness. There was a hiss of a snake, the girls turned into poisonous snakes and disappeared together with Zhenya's dad ...
After the death of his father, mother and Zhenya were left alone. It was difficult for them.
Nothing, mommy, - the son said, - I will be for you for two, I will do everything that is needed in the house, I will help in everything, I will never offend.
But Zhenya had already drunk from the goblet of the intoxicating poisonous potion. I didn’t even notice how addicted to it. He began to come home late, began to be rude to his mother, began to offend her, to scold her with bad words. He turned into a completely dishonest person.
At work, Zhenya's colleagues cannot recognize him: where did his irresponsibility, absent-mindedness, deceit come from? They stopped trusting him, demoted him in his position, and then completely fired him.
Gloomy life in Zhenya's house became, as if a joyless, painful night had come. Again, the mother spent time in tears and sadness. I didn't know how to help my son.
Once she was walking past the Temple of God, and her feet themselves led into the church gates. She looks, the people of the Mysteries of Christ take communion, the priest sprinkles everyone with holy living water, and the children's choir sings prayers with angelic voices. Sadness suddenly receded somewhere, and tears flowed from her eyes, only these tears were not sorrowful, but joyful.
I will implore the souls of my husband and son, and my sinful one, -
she decided.
Zhenya's mother prayed for a long time, asking forgiveness for everyone, mercy and help. The Angel of God heard her prayers, came to her and said:
I want to help you, Elizabeth. After all, your son loved you very much and pitied you. And love is the main commandment of God, love is omnipotent. I will ask the Lord for a disease for you. Your son will see how you suffer, take pity on you and stop drinking intoxicating poison. Do you agree to be sick and suffer?
I agree, I agree, my Angel, I agree to everything, if only to save my son, his soul!
How much, how little time has passed, Zhenya's mother fell ill. Weaker every day, her legs are taken away from her, her hands do not obey well. She can't do anything without her son's help. Zhenya stopped leaving the house. Everything must be done in time: clean the house, wash the linen, cook dinner, go to the store, and dress, feed, and put mum to bed. He began to forget about the poisonous potion, but no such luck.
The serpent maidens got agitated, they do not want to let Zhenya go free, they want to take his soul to the dungeon. They frequented him in dreams. They look into his eyes, sing a bewitching song and fill their goblets with intoxicating poison: either with flattering champagne, or deceitful beer, or sour wine, or bitter vodka. Zhenya's head began to spin, he forgot about his sick mother and drank again to unconsciousness. The snake-girls picked him up, dragged him into the darkness of the underground.
Elizabeth prayed, calling the Guardian Angel, calling the saints and the Mother of God, asking to save her son.
The Angel of God comes to her again. His face is mournful.
Your son has chosen his own path. Didn't listen to the voice of God. Now he is dying.
The mother cried bitter tears. Begged, pleaded:
Why should I live here, on earth, if my son, my bloodline, is not next to me? It’s better that I die instead of him, and he will live and beg forgiveness from God with tears for me, save his soul from the machinations of hell, drink living water and rise to the source.
Your love is strong, mother, - said the Angel, - be your way.
He took the soul of Elizabeth and rushed along with her to the entrance to the underground hole. They made it in time. The terrible green Serpent has already opened its mouth. She smelled of a deadly stench of fumes, blazed with hellish fire. And the Serpent almost swallowed Zhenya, but the Angel and Elizabeth picked him up and carried him out of the dungeon into the light of God. She hugged her son's mother for the last time, blessed him for a sober life and ascended high, high into the Sky, to the very Source.
She looked down and saw: an ambulance was rushing down the street, an alarm siren was heard, Zhenya was lying under a dropper in the car, and next to him was the Angel of God. He raised his eyes to Heaven, met the eyes of Elizabeth and said:
Thank God, your prayers have been heard, mother - rejoice!
It didn’t work out to get ready quickly, because with the pants it was still back and forth, but it was difficult to get into the sleeves of the shirt without letting go of the bag from the hands. And lace up his shoes too, but Zhenya did not dare to put the bag on the floor: Mom valued it very much.
What are you digging? We're late! - Mom grumbled, putting a backpack on Zhenya's back with her fear of not fitting.
Things were going well on Zhenkina Street at first, but at the bus stop Mom almost missed the right bus because of Zhenya, who stared at the striped street cat and therefore did not hear mother's cries: “Zhenya! Fifteenth!"
Razzyava! .. - Mama strained tensely, dragging Zhenya by the hand to an empty seat. - Sit down okay! she added, and shoved her annoyance into his lap.
It was also rather good on the bus, because Zhenya got a seat by the window, and, moreover, carrying luggage when you are sitting is not at all difficult.
When the bus arrived at “our stop”, Zhenya, grabbing the box with his mother's irritation under his arm, jumped off the steps onto the asphalt. The jump was not very successful: Zhenya landed on his knee and soiled his trousers.
Yes, why do I need this! - wrinkling her face and frighteningly aging twenty years from this, Mom cleaned Zhenya's leg, and, muttering: “Disgrace!”, put a voluminous bundle in his habitually outstretched hands. The package was cunning: inside it lay shame, wrapped in inferiority, which in turn was wrapped in superiority, and this last just gave the package an impressive volume.
The bundle was not so heavy, because the superiority in it was exaggerated, but it blocked almost the entire view, and Zhenya had to navigate only by the sound of her mother's steps.
Before entering Yevgeny Petrovich, mother examined whether Zhenya was all right, and since his hands were busy, she hung her fear of rejection over his shoulder.
Zhenya entered Yevgeny Petrovich's office sideways - that way it was better to see, although there was still little to be seen, almost nothing.
Hello! - He heard from somewhere from under the ceiling - What is your name?
Hello, Evgeny Petrovich. His name is Zhenya. I am my wife Mom, I called you, they recommended me ...
Mom chattered a lot of words at once, of which Zhenya managed to make out only the usual ones:
The teacher complains... The lessons are all scandalous... All the children are like children... It shakes my nerves... I have no strength anymore... Inattentive, hovering in the clouds... It's a shame to go to school...
Yevgeny Petrovich listened for a long time, and then asked:
Have you come to consult about the child?
Mom coughed.
Well, yes…
Why didn't you bring him with you? Did we agree on this?
Mom opened her eyes.
So here he is! Zhenya, say hello!
But Zhenya did not have time to open his mouth ...
I'm sorry, but I don't see the baby here. It's a porter!
What? Mom couldn't believe her ears.
A wonderful, I must say, porter, disciplined, a real professional! It stands, holds all your luggage on itself and won’t say a word that it’s tired, that it’s not interesting for him here ...
What are you carrying? - whispered the pale mother. -Are you kidding me? I've had such good things to say about you, is this a joke?!
Don't be afraid, girl, - said Evgeny Petrovich and stroked Mom on the head - no one scolds you.
What kind of girl am I??!!
Ordinary. Ten or eleven years. See for yourself! - Evgeny Petrovich pointed with his hand to a large mirror, which reflected a schoolgirl similar to Mama in a brown uniform, with a disheveled “basket” on her head, nervously fiddling with her fingers smeared with blue paste. The schoolgirl looked guiltily frightened, as if she expected that she would now get from the teacher for her unfinished homework.
What kind of stupid tricks? I didn't come here to have fun! I'm a grown woman! - Shouted the schoolgirl, stamping her feet and rapidly decreasing in height. My son has learning problems! I want my child to be normal! Want! Want! Give! Yeah! Aaaaaa! Waaaaa! Waaaaa!
Yevgeny Petrovich took the crying baby in his arms and suddenly cooed in the voice of either a mother or a nanny:
Well, well, well, hush, hush, my little one, my golden one. I'm with you, I won't leave you. Don't be afraid, it's all right, all right...
When the little girl stopped crying and began to sniff softly, Yevgeny Petrovich came up to Zhenya and squatted down.
Hello! he repeated quietly.
Hello, Zhenya whispered.
What is your name?
Zhenya…
Class! My name is Zhenya too. Yevgeny Petrovich smiled. - And how old are you?
Eight - Zhenya answered for some reason not very confidently.
More precisely? - the interlocutor screwed up his eyes.
Five and a half - Zhenya said, counting something in his mind.
And even more precisely?
Zhenya released his left hand from under the bundle and pointed to three fingers.
I thought so! - Evgeny Petrovich named Zhenya declared with boyish self-confidence. - So, you are already completely independent and can help me.
Zhenya nodded.
You see how it turned out - I will now be busy with the baby, and there is no one to play with my toys. And they sit in their room and are very bored, I haven’t played with them since morning! Maybe you can take care of it? And we'll talk later.
Zhenya sighed and pointed with his eyes at the bags and bundles with which he was hung from head to toe.
Don't worry about luggage. We'll leave it in a safe place - right here, behind the chair, and when you play, you can take it back. If you want.
Zhenya neatly folded the bags, bundles and backpack behind the armchair and went to the room with toys. He opened the door of the room and really saw a lot of all sorts of toys, and it even seemed to him that the multi-colored racing cars the motors snorted impatiently, and the big plush Dalmatian winked merrily with its plastic eye and shifted from paw to paw.
On the threshold, Zhenya looked around uneasily - is everything all right? And he saw that the baby had already woken up and was trying to get on her feet, tenaciously holding on to the caring hands of Evgeny Petrovich.
"They'll manage without me!" Zhenya thought - and stepped towards his game.
Ludmila Sorokina, 2009
The girl's name was Zhenya.
Parents generally immediately came up with, even before her birth, what they would call Zhenya. Autumn is convenient - you can't go wrong, boy or girl. Anyway Zhenya. This is what they decided.
In general, it is strange that it is the parents who choose the name, and then the person lives with him all his life. Even if in his heart he is not Zhenya at all. So the girl Zhenya thought, and dried crackers in the oven in the kitchen.
She made her own croutons. Mom bought a loaf of white bread in the store, and a brick - black bread. Brown actually. Zhenya cut the bread into slices, then into squares, and then dried it in the oven. And they got crackers.
Sometimes she sprinkled the crackers with sugar, and sometimes with salt. It didn't depend on the day of the week.
Zhenya never ate these crackers. She put them in a blue plastic bag and waited for her mother to go for a walk with her.
There was a dragon living in the next yard. It was big and orange, it once had three heads, but over time only two remained, and in place of the third head, the end of a rusty wire stuck out.
But the dragon was still the best. So thought the girl Zhenya.
She put crackers into his open mouth, carefully so as not to bite him. There, in the mouth, the whole Zhenya could fit in. If, of course, she would shrink and pull her legs up to her chin in green breeches.
After eating, the dragon always became more cheerful. Zhenya looked at his large stone wings, covered with orange plaster, and did not understand why he did not fly away?
Such an ugly yard-well.
Those old trash cans.
Such felled trees around the dragon.
Such a big beautiful dragon.
One day Zhenya asked her mother about it. My mother read Françoise Sagan in paperback with frayed corners. Mom looked at the back of Zhenya's head. Mom said "Because you have no one to play with."
"Because you won't have anyone to play with," Mom said.
Since then Zhenya has been very frightened. The dragon can't fly away because of her, Zhenya. Cannot fly to his dragon nest. He sits all the time in St. Petersburg, and here, by the way, the climate is bad.
Day after day, the little girl Zhenya continued to dry crackers for the dragon. Sometimes she persuaded him to fly away, sometimes she simply silently fed him with her hands.
And then Zhenya went to the first grade of the gymnasium at the Philological University of St. Petersburg State University, and stopped going into the courtyard to the dragon. Because the gymnasium was far away, in another area.
And then Zhenya stopped dreaming about the dragon at night, because she was tired for a whole, endlessly long day at school, and also in an extension.
And then Zhenya left for another city.
And then she turned thirty-seven.
By the age of thirty-seven, Zhenya got used to her name. Not that she loved him, but she got used to it.
This always happens if you live with something for a long time: for example, with chronic gastritis or a beloved man.
Now, when Zhenya went for a walk, she no longer put on her blue woolen breeches. She was wearing nice bottle blue Lee jeans.
Zhenya was very fond of her Lee jeans, and felt better in them than in breeches.
To be completely honest, she had already forgotten how she felt in prickly leggings.
For the first time in her thirty-seven-year life, Zhenya came to the dragon empty-handed. She took crackers with her.
Zhenya did not really remember in which of the courtyards the dragon was built. In the yard where she lived as a child, there was now a new playground, with slides, swings, and a United Russia poster.
Zhenya went around many yards before she found her dragon. All yards were the same.
The dragon sat in the middle of a small courtyard, tarnished and dirty, painted with incomprehensible English words from its only head to its tail. Most likely, it was black spray paint.
He looked at Zhenya with sad eyes. He recognized her, despite the fact that Zhenya now wore blue jeans and dyed her hair black.
Probably, the dragon thought to himself that the red hair suited Zhenya more.
Zhenya looked into his sad eyes. And then she looked into his hungry, open mouth. The dragon had ice cream wrappers and empty cigarette packs in its mouth. Zhenya realized that now she would definitely not be able to fit in his mouth.
Zhenya cried.
“Wait,” Zhenya said.
Zhenya stroked the dragon's dirty stone nose and said, "Wait."
The dragon, of course, agreed. After all, he loved Zhenya very much, even though she dyed her hair black.
Zhenya returned to the yard, and then it slowly began to get dark. In St. Petersburg it always gets dark early, especially in the yards.
Zhenya brought with her a large loaf of white bread.
“You know, you were always waiting for me here, and you could not fly to your nest,” Zhenya said.
“And my husband never waited for me. He could fly wherever he wanted,” Zhenya said.
The dragon watched gratefully as Zhenya plucked small pieces from the loaf. Zhenya carefully put pieces of bread into his mouth.
“I haven’t fed you for so long, and now my husband and I are divorcing,” Zhenya said.
And then it got completely dark in the yard, and it was time to go home.
The name Eugene, which in the common people sounds like Eudenia, represents the female form of the male name Eugene, and in Greek means "noble." This beautiful, reliable, gentle and ardent name is like the image of a flexible and light, soaring and vibrating jet of air.
The main character traits of Evgenia are activity, sociability and representativeness. Zhenya has great willpower, her image is hard to miss. She can both charm the interlocutor and immediately imperceptibly prick. Sometimes Zhenechka acts at random, without thinking about the consequences. She is hot and young. Often Eugenes find themselves in hopeless situations, and then they puzzle over how to get out of them for a long time.
Eugenia is characterized by touchiness and stubbornness, punctuality and thriftiness, and economy. The girl Zhenya has strict tastes, her nature is bright, ambitious and a little wild. It is impossible to explain her actions with ordinary logic. Evgenia likes to act decisively.
With age, Zhenya turns from a submissive and obedient girl into a quarrelsome, non-standard, restless and unstable. She can easily change not only her place of work and residence, but also her family, while not looking back for a second.
Evgenia constantly needs communication: she cannot be left alone, otherwise her well-developed and slightly extravagant imagination will draw an absurd picture of what is happening for her. Zhenya loves to subjugate people and control them: she feels sincere pleasure from this. Eugene is able to subjugate her own parents. Zhenya has a passionate, irrepressible nature, characterized by a rich imagination. She does not try to limit herself in anything, without feeling the danger. When Evgenia starts any event, it is difficult for her to stop halfway: she will definitely bring what she has planned to the end, even if she experiences a fall into the abyss.
Evgenia is a self-confident person, she has her own rules, which she clearly follows. However, Zhenya will always come to the rescue of someone who needs help. Zhenya is always her own among her own. Always supports people close to her.
Evgenia is able to beautifully set the table and amaze guests with delicious dishes. In business, Zhenya is demanding, stands up for justice.
Evgenia's animals are hippopotamus and mountain goat, her plants are hawthorn, fir and thistle, and her name is dark green, smoky lemon, bluish green, blue and beige-orange. The planet Mars patronizes the name of Eugene.
Tale about Zhenya
Zhenechka grew up as a mobile and inquisitive girl. There was life in her every movement. The little egoza could not sit in one place, she was interested in everything: how her mother cooks food, how she cleans, how she mends things. Sometimes Zhenya herself grabbed a needle to sew a new dress for a doll or repair a torn sarafan.
But most of all she was interested in her father's activities. Dad called the girl Zhenya and patted her shoulder all the time, asking: “Well, how are you doing? What new did Zhenya do today? And Zhenya carefully watched how dad was repairing a window frame that had broken from the wind or hanging a shelf on the wall. She studied her father's instruments for a long time.
“This is what dad hammers in a healthy nail!” Zhenya said, holding a hammer in her hands.
“But with this, dad twists and unscrews screws, screws and bolts!” - noticed the girl, lifting the screwdriver up.
My father had pliers, wire cutters, and various keys in a separate box - and not a single device was left without Zhenya's attention. She loved her father very much, and all his unpretentious tools were dear to the girl.
One day, while waiting for dad to get home from work, Zhenechka climbed into the toolbox out of habit. She quietly sorted through them, remembering what dad does with each of them, when suddenly the girl in the very corner of the box noticed a small box locked with a small padlock. Jenny's eyes lit up. She knew every folder's instrument, and then some mysterious box appeared with unknown contents inside. Zhenya turned the box in her hands, trying to somehow open it, but it was all to no avail.
In the girl's imagination, magical pictures arose of the contents of a small box. She imagined new tools, small, small, that could only work with microscopic details, barely visible to the human eye. Tiny screwdrivers appeared in front of her, tiny nuts, barely noticeable pliers. And it was all so beautiful! So I wanted to touch, see, try in action!
Zhenya was tormented by conjectures until the evening. The girl could not find a place for herself. She was waiting for her father from work, who must reveal to her the secret of a small box!
Dad came home from work late. He worked at the factory in the repair service: the whole shift was setting up machines on which workers made new parts for machines. This time there was a serious accident on his line, and he had to be delayed. Tired, he collapsed onto the couch and closed his eyes for a moment.
Zhenya watched him from behind the closet, waiting for Papa's eyes to open again. She sincerely worried about him, but was afraid to approach: sometimes dad was out of sorts and was silent for a long time. Then Zhenya began to worry even more. Father felt it, but he could not help himself: he just needed to rest a little.
At last, the father opened the folder, and the loving daughter clung tightly to him. “Well, how are you, Zhenya?” - asked the father, stroking his daughter on the head. “Dad, I found a small box in your tools! So tiny! What's in it? Little screwdrivers and little nails?
Father laughed merrily: “No, Zhenya. There's a big secret in this box, and it's not to be opened until your birthday!"
“But my birthday is only a few days away! Let's open now! I want to see what's in it!"
"Wait, girl. We will definitely open for your birthday!”
Zhenya was a little offended by her father, but not for long. She hugged him tightly, and then went to her room. Of course, the girl did not stop wondering what was hidden in the cherished box. At night she dreamed magical dreams, in which little men opened the cherished box, took out tools and built small tables, chairs and beds.
A few days passed, and Zhenya's birthday came. Dad took out a gift from his toolbox and handed it to the girl. Zhenechka opened the box with unconcealed curiosity and saw small earrings lying on a velvet cushion. The girl was delighted with the gift and kissed her father tightly.
"But that is not all!" - said dad. He got up from the festive table, went into the hallway and returned back with a healthy bundle in his hands. The girl unwrapped the gift and saw a children's constructor with small screwdrivers, nuts and bolts, with small details from which it was possible to create toy cars and even airplanes!
"Thank you dad!" Zhenya shouted, clinging tightly to her father.
Strawberries ripened in the forest. Dad took a mug, mom took a cup, the girl Zhenya took a jug, and little Pavlik was given a saucer. They went into the forest and began to pick berries: whoever picks them up first. Zhenya's mother chose a better clearing and says:
Here's a great place for you, daughter. There are a lot of strawberries here. Go collect.
Zhenya wiped the jug with burdock and began to walk around. She walked and walked, looked and looked, found nothing and returned with an empty jug. He sees - everyone has strawberries. Dad has a quarter cup. Mom has half a cup. And little Pavlik has two berries on a silver platter.
Mom, and mom, why do you all have it, but I don’t have anything? You probably chose the worst clearing for me.
Did you search well?
Good. There are no berries, only leaves.
Have you looked under the leaves?
Didn't look.
Here you see! We must look.
Why doesn't Pavlik look in?
The peacock is small. He himself is as tall as strawberries, he doesn’t even need to look in, and you are already a pretty tall girl.
And dad says:
Berries are tricky. They are always hiding from people. You need to be able to get them. Watch how I do.
Then dad sat down, bent down to the very ground, looked under the leaves and began to look for berry after berry, saying:
Okay, Zhenya said. - Thank you, daddy. I will do so.
Zhenya went to her clearing, squatted down, bent down to the very ground and looked under the leaves. And under the leaves of the berries, apparently invisible. Eyes run wide. Zhenya began to pick berries and throw them into a jug. Vomiting and saying:
I take one berry, I look at another, I notice the third, and the fourth seems to me.
However, Zhenya soon got tired of squatting.
Enough with me, he thinks. - I already and so, probably, have typed much.
Zhenya got to her feet and looked into the jug. And there are only four berries. Quite a few! Again, you need to squat down. It's nothing you can do.
Zhenya sat down again on her haunches, began to pick berries, saying:
I take one berry, I look at another, I notice the third, and the fourth seems to me.
Zhenya looked into the jug, and there were only eight berries - even the bottom had not yet been closed.
Well, - he thinks, - I don’t like to collect at all. Bend over and bend over all the time. Until you pick up a jug, what good, and you can get tired. I'd better go and look for another clearing.
Zhenya went through the forest to look for such a clearing, where strawberries do not hide under the leaves, but climb into their eyes and ask for a jug.
I walked and walked, I didn’t find such a clearing, I got tired and sat down on a stump to rest. He sits, from nothing to do, takes out berries from a jug and puts it in his mouth. She ate all eight berries, looked into an empty jug and thinks:
What to do now? If only someone could help me!
As soon as she thought this, the moss stirred, the ant parted, and a small, strong old man crawled out from under the stump: a white coat, a gray beard, a velvet hat and a dry blade of grass across the hat.
Hello girl, she says.
Hello, uncle.
I'm not an uncle, but a grandfather. Al didn't know? I am an old boletus, a native forester, the head of all mushrooms and berries. What are you sighing about? Who hurt you?
Offended me, grandfather, berries.
Don't know. They are meek. How did they hurt you?
They don’t want to be seen, they hide under the leaves. You can't see anything from above. Bend over bend over. Until you pick up a full jug, what good, and you can get tired.
The old boletus, the indigenous forester, stroked his gray beard, grinned into his mustache and said:
Sheer rubbish! I have a special pipe for this. As soon as she starts to play, so now all the berries from under the leaves will appear.
An old boletus, a native forester, took out a pipe from his pocket and said:
Play, motherfucker.
The pipe began to play by itself, and as soon as it began to play, berries peeked out from under the leaves from everywhere.
Stop it, motherfucker.
The pipe stopped, and the berries hid.
Zhenya was delighted:
Grandpa, Grandpa, give me this pipe!
I can't donate. And let's change: I'll give you a pipe, and you give me a jug - I really liked it.
Fine. With great pleasure.
Zhenya gave the jug to the old boletus, the indigenous forester, took the pipe from him and quickly ran to her clearing. She ran, stood in the middle, said:
Play, motherfucker.
The pipe began to play, and at the same moment all the leaves in the clearing stirred, began to turn, as if the wind had blown on them.
First, the youngest curious berries, still quite green, looked out from under the leaves. Behind them, the heads of older berries were stuck out - one cheek is pink, the other is white. Then the berries came out quite ripe - large and red. And finally, old berries appeared from the very bottom, almost black, wet, fragrant, covered with yellow seeds.
And soon the whole clearing around Zhenya was strewn with berries, which shone brightly in the sun and reached for the pipe.
Play, darling, play! Zhenya screamed. - Play faster!
The pipe began to play faster, and even more berries poured out - so many that under them the leaves were not visible at all.
But Zhenya did not let up:
Play, darling, play! Play even faster.
The pipe began to play even faster, and the whole forest was filled with such a pleasant, quick ringing, as if it were not a forest, but a music box.
The bees stopped pushing the butterfly off the flower; the butterfly flapped its wings like a book, the robin chicks looked out from their light nest, which swayed in the elderberry branches, and opened their yellow mouths in admiration, the mushrooms rose on tiptoe so as not to miss a single sound, and even the old, pop-eyed dragonfly, known for its grumpy character , stopped in the air, admiring the wonderful music to the depths of her soul.
Now I’ll start picking!” Zhenya thought, and was already stretching out her hand to the largest and reddest berry, when she suddenly remembered that she had exchanged a jug for a pipe and now she had nowhere to put the strawberries.
Ooh, stupid bastard! the girl shouted angrily. - I have nowhere to put the berries, and you played out. Shut up now!
Zhenya ran back to the old boletus, the native forester, and said:
Grandpa, grandpa, give me back my pitcher! I have nowhere to pick berries.
Well, - answers the old boletus, a native forester, - I will give you your jug, only you give back my pipe.
Zhenya gave the old man a boletus, a native forester, his pipe, took her jug and quickly ran back to the clearing.
She ran, and there was not a single berry visible - only leaves. What a misfortune! There is a jug - there are not enough pipes. How to be here?
Zhenya thought, thought, and decided to go again to the old boletus, the native forester, for a pipe.
Comes and says:
Grandpa, grandpa, give me the pipe again!
Fine. Just give me the jug again.
I'm not giving it. I myself need a jug to put berries in it.
Well, then I won't give you a pipe.
Zhenya pleaded:
Grandfather, and grandfather, how am I going to pick berries in my jug when, without your pipe, they all sit under the leaves and don’t show up? I certainly need both a jug and a pipe.
Look, what a smart girl! Give her both a pipe and a jug! You can do without a pipe, with one jug.
I won't, grandpa.
And how do other people manage?
Other people bend down to the very ground, look under the leaves from the side and take berry after berry. They take one berry, look at another, notice the third, and imagine the fourth. So I don't like collecting. Bend over bend over. Until you pick up a full jug, what good, and you can get tired.
Ah, that's how! - said the old boletus, a native forester, and was so angry that his beard instead of a gray one turned black-black. - Oh, that's how! Yes, you, it turns out, just a lazybones! Take your jug and get out of here! You won't get any fluff.
With these words, the old boletus, the indigenous forest man, stamped his foot and fell under the stump.
Zhenya looked at her empty jug, remembered that her father, mother and little Pavlik were waiting for her, quickly ran to her clearing, squatted down, looked under the leaves and began to quickly take berry after berry. He takes one, looks at the other, notices the third, and imagines the fourth ...
Soon Zhenya took a full jug and returned to her father, mother and little Pavlik.
Here's a good girl, - dad said to Zhenya, - she brought a full jug! Are you tired?
Nothing, daddy. The pitcher helped me. And everyone went home - dad with a full mug, mom with a full cup, Zhenya with a full jug, and little Pavlik with a full saucer.
Zhenya didn't say anything about the pipe to anyone.
