Евгения Марцишевская - Fairy tales for Veronica, or almost true stories. Book 1

Introduction

Once upon a time there was a girl named Veronica. She understood the language of toys and often talked to them. The girl loved to visit her grandmother. There was a big old closet. Toys lived in it. They knew many different stories and fairy tales. Sometimes Veronica took them out of the closet, sat them on the couch, and then they told their stories to the girl.

THE FIRST STORY

FLUFFY

One fine summer day, three little hares were born in a burrow at the edge of a pine forest. Two weeks later, the hares grew up and began to get out into the clearing near their house. Their names were Big Ears, Big Eyes and Fluffy. As you've probably guessed, they didn't get their names by accident. Big Ears' ears were much longer than his brothers'. Big Eyes had big expressive eyes. And Fluffy was distinguished by his fur coat: it was very thick and fluffy in a beautiful peach color. The Big Eyes and Big Ears had a completely different color: their fur was gray-brown.

The kids loved to play in their glade. There were many flowers growing there, and beautiful butterflies were flying over them. The little hares were hiding under the leaves when the butterfly landed on a flower to feast on sweet nectar, and then jumped after it to the next flower, trying to jump higher than it flies. It was a lot of fun! However, the mother Hare did not approve of such games. She explained that when the little hares jump so high, they can be noticed by some predator: a wolf or a fox.

– Little hares should be very careful and attentive, – the mother Hare taught her children.

– But physical education is also very important, – said Papa Hare, – you need to be able to run fast, jump and strengthen your hind legs.

So the little hares jumped on the lawn after the butterflies. There was a lot of food this summer: juicy grass, roots, berries. But it was especially delicious to feast on bitter dandelions and sweet clover. Sometimes, together with their parents, the little hares went to the river, which flowed not far from their house. Big Ears, Big Eyes and Fluffy loved the river very much. They splashed and learned to swim first in the shallow water near their shore, but by the end of summer the hares were calmly swimming across the river, arranging competitions. Fluffy won more often than others. He was generally the most agile and fastest of the brothers.

It was fun and carefree in the summer. But autumn has imperceptibly approached. All the butterflies have gone somewhere. And there was no one to play with in the meadow. And the meadow itself has noticeably thinned: clover and dandelions have disappeared, all the flowers have faded, there are no tasty berries, the grass has dried up. Now the little hares were feeding on the roots and bark of trees. It was getting colder every day. Big Ears and Big Eyes gradually began to change the color of their fur coats: They were getting whiter and whiter, and when the first snow fell, the hares became completely snow-white. White fluffy lumps that are not visible at all between the snowdrifts. And what about Fluffy? Its coat has become even warmer and fluffy, but the color remains the same – peach. And only the breast became snow-white. It became difficult for the little hare to hide in the field from enemies.

The mother Hare taught the children:

– Remember, your footprints don't smell in the snow. According to them, neither the fox nor the wolf will ever find you if you do not find yourself. Therefore, when you see a predator, it is better to hide in the snow and wait, and if you get scared and run, then both the fox and the wolf will notice you. Here you will have to rely only on your fast legs.

But what about the poor Fluffy, whose fur coat has not turned white like his brothers' with the arrival of winter? He had to be always ready to gallop away from predators that appeared nearby. He won't be able to hide in the snow: the peach color will give him away.

One day, the little hares were very interested in digging up the roots of a young birch tree and did not notice how a fox crept up on them. And if it hadn't been for the occasional crunch of snow under her paw, it's not known how this story would have ended…

But the snow crunched, the hares saw the fox and rushed in different directions, as their mother Hare taught them. The fox froze in place for a few seconds, thinking about which little hare it was better to run after. But neither the Big Ears nor the Big Eyes could be seen any more: they, having jumped some distance and confused their tracks, disguised themselves between the snowdrifts. The fox can't find them!

And the peach coat of the third hare was clearly visible on the snow-white field. A hungry predator ran after him.

Poor Fluffy! He jumped from side to side, trying to confuse the Fox, but nothing helped. And so he reached the river. What should he do next? Where to run to? The river was covered with transparent ice. The brave little hare rushed onto the ice. The fox follows him. It's about to catch up. But the weak ice under the fox cracked and split. And the red-haired predator, and with it the Fluffy, found themselves in cold water. The little hare quickly swam to the other shore. That's where summer training came in handy! And the Fox couldn't swim. She barely got out of the river, her teeth chattering from hunger and cold.

Fluffy swam across the river, jumped ashore, dusted himself off and … saw big sharp teeth right in front of him. It was a wolf! Unable to remember himself from fear, the hare abruptly jumped aside and rushed off, not looking back across the white field.

He had never ridden so fast and for so long! Feeling that he was completely losing his strength, Fluffy ran to a lonely fir that grew in a field and hid at its trunk under large branches. He squeezed his eyes shut and listened: it was quiet. The wolf has long been left behind. He was old and couldn't run that fast. Then the bunny wrapped himself better in the fir branches and fell asleep.

He slept for several hours. When he finally regained his strength, the bunny woke up and cautiously peeked out from under the tree. It was already dark. The area was completely unfamiliar. The hares had never been on the other side of the river before. Fluffy felt lonely and scared. But what to do? He must find his way home.

The little hare rode cautiously across the field to the forest, which was visible in the distance. But this was not his native forest. The poor bunny is completely lost! He rode and rode all night. In the morning, when it began to get light, Fluffy found himself on a white field again. It was very dangerous! He didn't want to meet a fox or a wolf again. He need to hide somewhere, but where?