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

“Vegetables left on a plate,” he cried, “because no one wanted to eat them. And pencils that are too short to use.”

Owl thought about many other sad things. He cried and cried.

Soon the kettle was filled with tears.

“There,” said Owl. “That is enough!”

Owl stopped crying. He put the kettle on the stove to boil for tea.

Owl felt happy when he filled his cup with tea.

“It is a little salty,” he said, “but tear-water tea is always very good.”

Owl’s house had an upstairs and a downstairs.

There were twenty stairs between them.

Sometimes Owl was upstairs in his bedroom.

Other times Owl was downstairs in his living room.

When Owl was downstairs, he said, “I wonder how my upstairs is?”

When Owl was upstairs, he said, “I wonder how my downstairs is? I always miss one place or the other. I want to be upstairs and downstairs at the same time.”

“Maybe if I run very very fast, I can be in both places at the same time,” said Owl.

Owl ran up the stairs. “I am up,” he said.

Owl ran down the stairs. “I am down,” he said.

Owl ran up and down the stairs faster and faster.

“Owl!” he cried. “Are you downstairs?”

There was no answer.

“No,” said Owl. “I am not downstairs because I am upstairs. I am not running fast enough.”

“Owl!” he shouted again. “Are you upstairs?”

There was no answer.

“No,” said Owl. “I am not upstairs because I am downstairs. I must run faster.”

“Faster, faster, faster!” cried Owl.

Owl ran upstairs and downstairs all evening.

But he could not be in both places at the same time.

“When I am up,” said Owl, “I am not down. When I am down, I am not up. All I am is very tired!”

Owl sat down to rest. He sat on the tenth step because it was a place that was right in the middle.

One night Owl went to the seashore.

He sat on a big rock and looked at the waves. Everything was dark.

Then the moon went up over the sea.

Owl watched the moon. It went higher and higher into the sky.

Soon the whole, round moon was shining.

Owl sat on the rock and looked at the moon for a long time.

“If I am looking at you, moon, then you must be looking at me. We must be very good friends.”

The moon did not answer, but Owl said, “I will come back and see you again, moon. But now I must go home.”

Owl walked back home. He looked at the sky.

The moon was still there. It was following him.

“No, no, moon,” said Owl. “It is kind of you to light my way. But you must stay over the sea where you look so fine.”

Owl walked a little farther. He looked at the sky again.

There was the moon following him.

“Dear moon,” said Owl, “you really must not come home with me. My house is small. You would not fit in it. And I have nothing to give you for supper.”

Owl walked and walked. The moon followed him over the tops of the trees.

“Moon,” said Owl, “I think that you do not hear me.”

Owl climbed to the top of a hill. He shouted loudly, “Good-bye, moon!”

The moon went behind some clouds. Owl looked and looked. The moon was gone.

“It is always a little sad to say good-bye to a friend,” said Owl.

Owl came home. He put on his pajamas and went to bed.

The room was very dark. Owl was still feeling sad.

Suddenly, silver light filled Owl’s bedroom. Owl looked out of the window.

The moon came from behind the clouds.

“Moon, you followed me all the way home! What a good, round friend you are!” said Owl.

Then Owl put his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.

The moon was shining through the window.

Owl did not feel sad.

A mouse once found a wishing well.

“Now all of my wishes can come true!” she cried.

She threw a penny into the wishing well and made a wish.

“Ouch!” said the wishing well.

The next day the mouse came back to the well.

She threw a penny into the wishing well and made a wish.

“Ouch!” said the well.

The next day the mouse came back again.

She threw a penny into the wishing well.

“I wish this well would not say ouch,” she said.

“Ouch!” said the well. “That hurts!”

“What shall I do?” cried the mouse. “My wishes will never come true!”

The mouse ran home. She took the pillow from her bed.

“This may help,” said the mouse, and she ran back to the well.

The mouse threw the pillow into the well.

Then she threw a penny into the well and made a wish.

“Ah! That feels much better!” said the well.

“Good,” said the mouse. “Now I can start wishing.”

Then the mouse made many wishes by the well.

And every one of them came true.

A little mouse went for a walk with his mother.

They went to the top of the hill and looked at the sky.

“Look!” said Mother.”We can see pictures in the clouds.”

The little mouse and his mother saw many pictures in the clouds.

They saw a castle, a rabbit, and a mouse.

“I will go and pick flowers,” said Mother.

“I will stay here and watch the clouds,” said the little mouse.

The little mouse saw a big cloud in the sky. It became bigger and bigger.

The cloud became a cat. The cat came closer and closer to the little mouse.

“Help!” shouted the little mouse, and he ran to his mother.

“There is a big cat in the sky!” cried the little mouse. “I am scared!”

Mother looked at the sky. “Do not be scared,” she said. “See, the cat is a cloud again.”

The little mouse saw that this was true, and he felt better.

He helped his mother pick flowers, but he did not look at the sky the whole day.

Once there was a very tall mouse and a very short mouse who were good friends.

When they met, Very Tall Mouse said, “Hello, Very Short Mouse.” And Very Short Mouse said, “Hello, Very Tall Mouse.”

The two friends went for a walk together.

When they walked, Very Tall Mouse said, “Hello, birds!”

And Very Short Mouse said, “Hello, bugs!”

When they passed by a garden, Very Tall Mouse said, “Hello, flowers.”

And Very Short Mouse said, “Hello, roots.”

When they passed by a house, Very Tall Mouse said, “Hello, roof.”

And Very Short Mouse said, “Hello, cellar.”

One day the two mice were caught in a rain.

Very Tall Mouse said, “Hello, raindrops.”

And Very Short Mouse said, “Hello, puddles.”

They ran home to get dry.

“Hello, ceiling,” said Very Tall Mouse.

“Hello, floor,” said Very Short Mouse.

Soon the rain was over. The two friends ran to the window.

Very Tall Mouse held Very Short Mouse up to see.

“Hello, rainbow,” they both said together.

A mouse went sailing in his boat, but there was no wind.

The boat did not move.

“Wind!” shouted the mouse. “Come here and blow my boat across the lake!”

“Here I am,” said the west wind.

The west wind blew and blew. The mouse and the boat went up in the air and landed on the roof of a house.

“Wind!” shouted the mouse. “Come here and blow my boat off this house!”

“Here I am,” said the east wind.

The east wind blew and blew. The mouse and the boat and the house went up in the air and landed on the top of a tree.

“Wind!” shouted the mouse. “Come here and blow my boat off this house and off this tree!”

“Here I am,” said the south wind.

The south wind blew and blew. The mouse and the boat and the house and the tree went up in the air and landed on the top of a mountain.

“Wind!” shouted the mouse. “Come here and blow my boat off this house and off this tree and off this mountain!”

“Here I am,” said the north wind.

The north wind blew and blew. The mouse and the boat and the house and the tree and the mountain went up in the air and fell into the lake.

The mountain became an island.

The tree landed on the island and started to bloom.

The house landed next to the tree.

A lady looked out of a window of the house and said, “What a nice place to live!”

And the mouse just sailed away.

There was a mouse who wanted to visit his mother.

So he bought a car and drove to his mother’s house.

He drove and drove and drove until the car broke.

But at the side of the road there was a person who was selling roller skates.

So the mouse bought two roller skates and put them on.

He rolled and rolled and rolled until the wheels broke.

But at the side of the road there was a person who was selling boots.

So the mouse bought two boots and put them on.

He marched and marched and marched until there were big holes in the boots.

But at the side of the road there was a person who was selling sneakers.

So the mouse bought two sneakers and put them on.

He ran and ran and ran until the sneakers tore.

So he took the sneakers off and walked and walked and walked until his feet hurt.

But at the side of the road there was a person who was selling feet.

So the mouse took off his old feet and put on the new feet.

He ran all the way to his mother’s house.

When he got there, his mother was glad to see him.

She hugged him and kissed him, and she said, “Hello, my son. You look fine, and what nice new feet you have!”

There was an old mouse who went for a walk every day.

The old mouse did not like children. When he saw them on the street, he shouted, “Go away, horrible things!”

One day the old mouse was walking on the street.

Suddenly, his belt broke, and his pants fell down.

Some ladies passed by.

“Help! Help!” cried the old mouse.

But the ladies shouted, “Your pants have fallen down!”

And they ran away.

The old mouse ran home and cried, “Help me!”

But his wife said, “You look silly in your underpants,” and she hit him on the head.

The old mouse began to cry.

Some children passed by.

“Poor old mouse,” they said, “we will help you. Here is some chewing gum. It will hold your pants very well.”

The old mouse took the chewing gum.

“Look!” cried the old mouse. “My pants are up! This chewing gum is great. My pants will never fall down again.”

The pants never fell down again.

And after that the old mouse was always kind to children when he went for a walk.

A mouse was walking through the forest.

A nest of bees fell from a tree. It landed on the top of his head.

“Bees,” said the mouse, “fly away! I do not want a nest of bees on my head.”

But the bees said, “We like your ears, we like your nose, we like your whiskers. Oh yes, this is a fine place for our nest. We will never fly away.”