Эльза Хольмлунд Минарик - Little Bear and Other Stories / Маленький медвежонок и другие рассказы. 3-4 классы

“Yes, thank you. I am not eating too much, am I?”

“Oh no, no!” said Grandmother.

Then Grandfather said to Little Bear, “We will have fun today, you and I.”

“Yes. But father told me not to make you tired.”

“Me? Tired? How can you make me tired? I am never tired!”

He got up and did a little dance. “Never tired!” Grandfather said and sat down.

Little Bear laughed. “You know what?” he said to his Grandmother and Grandfather.

“What?”

“I like it here,” said Little Bear. He hugged them.

Little Bear and Grandfather had all the fun. Then Grandfather Bear sat down.

“Now we can have a story,” said Little Bear.

“Good. Tell me a story,” said Grandfather Bear.

“No!” Little bear laughed. “You tell me one.”

“Then I must have my pipe.”

Little Bear ran to the house, took the pipe, and ran back.

But Grandfather was already asleep!

“Oh,” said Little Bear.

Little Bear was sad, but not for long. He found his Grandmother in the garden.

Could Grandmother tell him a story? Oh yes, she could.

She took Little Bear to the summer house. It was cool there.

They sat down in the summer house.

“Tell me a story about Mother Bear, when she was little. About Mother Bear and the robin. I like that story,” asked Little Bear.

“Very well,” said Grandmother Bear.

And so, she began.

One spring day, when Mother Bear was little, she found a baby robin in the garden. A baby robin, too little to fly.

“Oh, how sweet you are,” she said. “Where did you come from?”

“From my nest,” said the robin.

“And where is your nest, little robin?”

“I think it is there,” said the robin.

Mother Bear looked at one tree. No, that was a blackbird’s nest.

“Maybe it is there,” said the robin.

Mother Bear looked at another tree. No, that was a sparrow’s nest.

Mother Bear looked everywhere, but she could not find a robin’s nest.

“You can live with me. You can be my robin,” said Mother Bear.

She took the robin in the house and made a little home for it.

“Please put me by the window. I like to look at the trees and the sky,” said the robin.

Mother Bear put it by the window.

“Oh. It must be fun to fly out there,” said the robin.

“It will be fun to fly in here, too,” said Mother Bear.

The robin ate. It grew. It sang. Soon it could fly.

It flew about the house. And that was fun, just as Mother Bear had said.

But then one day, the robin was unhappy.

Mother Bear asked, “Why are you so sad, little robin?”

“I do not know. My heart is sad,” said the robin.

“Sing a song,” said Mother Bear.

“I cannot,” said the robin.

“Fly in the house,” said Mother Bear.

“I cannot,” said the robin.

Mother Bear was in tears. She took the robin into the garden.

“I love you, little robin. But I want you to be happy. Fly away, if you wish. You are free.”

The robin flew into the blue sky. It sang a sweet song.

Then it came back again, to Mother Bear.

“Do not be sad. I love you, too. I must fly into the world, but I will come back. Every year I will come back,” said the robin.

So Mother Bear kissed the robin, and it flew away.

“And it came back, Grandmother. Did it?” asked Little Bear.

“Oh yes, Little Bear. It came back. And its children came back. And its children’s children, too. Here is one now.”

Grandfather Bear came to the summer house.

“Hooray! Here is Grandfather,” cried Little Bear.

“Then it is coffee time,” said Grandmother Bear.

She went into the house.

Grandfather looked at Little Bear. Little Bear looked at Grandfather. They both laughed.

“How about a goblin story?” asked Grandfather Bear.

“Oh yes, but I may be scared,” said Little Bear.

“I will not be scared,” said Grandfather Bear.

“Oh, Grandfather!” cried Little Bear. “Please begin the story then.”

So Grandfather began.

One day a little goblin went to an old cave. It was old, it was cold, it was dark.

And something inside the cave went ‘BANG!’.

What was that?

“Ooh-hoo!” cried the goblin.

He was so scared that he jumped out of his shoes.

Then he began to run.

PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT…

What was that?

SOMETHING was running after him.

Oh my goodness, what could it be?

The goblin was too scared to look back. He ran faster and faster.

But the SOMETHING ran faster and faster, too!

PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT…

The goblin saw a hole in a tree. He jumped in the hole to hide.

The PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT came closer, closer – CLOSER – until it stopped by the hole in the tree!

Then all was quiet.

Nothing happened.

Nothing.

It was SO quiet. The little goblin looked out.

Do you know what he saw?

He saw his SHOES! His little shoes!

“Oh my goodness,” said the goblin.

He climbed out of the tree hole. “I jumped out of my shoes. But they ran after me! And here they are!”

He picked his shoes, hugged them, and put them on.

“Good little shoes. You did not want to stay behind!” the goblin laughed and went away.

“Just like that!” said Grandfather Bear.

“I cannot jump out of my shoes, because I do not have any shoes,” said Little Bear.

He laughed. “That is how I like it.”

Little Bear lay on the sofa.

He was waiting for Mother Bear and Father Bear to come and take him home.

He said to himself, “I am not tired. I can shut my eyes, but I will not go to sleep. I am not at all tired.”

He shut his eyes.

He heard a door open.

He heard Mother and Father Bear say hello to Grandmother and Grandfather.

He heard them come to the sofa. But he did not open his eyes.

“Ah,” said Mother Bear. “He is sleeping. How sweet he is!”

Father picked up Little Bear and said, “Yes, he is a fine little bear. Tomorrow I will take him fishing.”

“Look at him,” said Grandmother. “He is such a good little one.”

“And clever, too,” said Grandfather. “Just like me.”

They all laughed.

Little Bear opened his eyes. He said to Father Bear, “Will you really take me fishing?”

“You! You were not really asleep! You heard about going fishing! You heard all we said about you! I can see it in your eyes!”

Little Bear laughed.

He said to his grandfather, “We had fun. And you are not tired, are you, Grandfather?”

“Oh, no, a little bear like you and a grandfather like me, we never get tired. We can sing and dance, and run and play all day, and never get tired.”

Little Bear smiled. He was feeling sleepier and sleepier.

Grandfather Bear said, “Yes, yes, yes! We can have many good times, you and I. But we never, never get tired! You are not tired, are you, Little Bear? Little Bear – are you tired?”

Little Bear was not tired! No!

Little Bear was asleep.

Owl was at home.

“How good it feels to sit here by this fire,” said Owl. “It is so cold and snowy outside.”

Owl was eating a toast and hot pea soup for supper.

Owl heard a loud sound at the front door.

“Who is there, knocking at my door on a night like this?” he asked.

Owl opened the door. No one was there. Only the snow and the wind.

Owl sat by the fire again. There was another loud sound at the door.

“Who can it be,” said Owl, “knocking at my door on a night like this?”

Owl opened the door. No one was there. Only the snow and the cold.

“The poor old winter is knocking at my door,” said Owl. “Maybe it wants to sit by the fire. Well, I will be kind and let the winter come in.”

Owl opened the door very wide.

“Come in, Winter,” said Owl. “Come in and warm yourself.”

Winter came into the house. It came in very fast. A cold wind pushed Owl to the wall.

Winter ran around the room. It blew out the fire in the fireplace.

The snow covered the stairs and the hallway.

“Winter!” cried Owl. “You are my guest. This is not the way to behave!”

But Winter did not listen. It frosted the windows. It turned the pea soup into green ice.

Winter went to all the rooms of Owl’s house. Soon everything was covered with snow.

“You must go, Winter!” shouted Owl. “Go away, now!”

The wind blew around and around. Then Winter went out and slammed the front door. “Good-bye,” cried Owl, “and do not come back!”

Owl made a new fire in the fireplace. The room became warm again.

The snow melted. The green ice turned into the pea soup again.

Owl sat down in his chair and finished his supper.

Owl was in bed. “It is time to go to sleep,” he said. Then Owl saw two bumps under his blanket at the end of his bed.

“What are those strange bumps?” asked Owl.

Owl lifted the blanket. He looked into the bed. He saw only darkness.

Owl went to sleep, but he could not.

“What if those two strange bumps become bigger and bigger when I am asleep?” said Owl. “That will not be pleasant.”

Owl moved his right foot up and down. The bump on the right moved up and down.

“One of those bumps is moving!” cried Owl.

Owl moved his left foot up and down. The bump on the left moved up and down.

“The other bump is moving!” cried Owl.

Owl pulled the blanket off his bed. The bumps were not there.

All Owl saw at the end of the bed were his two feet.

“But now I am cold,” said Owl. “I will cover myself with the blankets again.”

When he did, he saw the two bumps again.

“The bumps are back!” shouted Owl. “Bumps, bumps, bumps! I will never sleep tonight!”

Owl jumped up and down on his bed.

“Where are you? What are you?” he cried.

With a crash the bed broke.

Owl ran down the stairs. He sat in his chair by the fire.

“Let those two strange bumps sit on my bed,” said Owl. “Let them grow as big as they wish. I will sleep here where I am safe.”

And that is what he did.

Owl took the kettle out of the cupboard.

“Tonight I will make tear-water tea,” he said.

He put the kettle on his lap. “Now,” said Owl, “I will begin.”

Owl sat very still. He began to think of things that were sad.

“Chairs with broken legs,” said Owl. His eyes began to water.

“Songs that cannot be sung,” said Owl, “because the words are forgotten.”

Owl began to cry. A big tear rolled down his face and dropped into the kettle.

“Spoons and forks that are lost,” said Owl.

More tears dropped into the kettle.

“Books that cannot be read,” said Owl, “because some pages are lost.”

“Clocks that are broken,” said Owl, “because no one could fix them.”

Owl was crying. Many big tears dropped into the kettle.

“Mornings nobody saw because everybody was sleeping,” cried Owl.