|
Free Online Illustrated Books for Kids |
Popular Andersen Fairy Tales Animal Stories Poetry for Kids Short Stories Categories list
Chukcha Stories
Animal Stories Of The North
Translated by Fainna Solasko
freebooksforkids.net
Illustrated by Y.Rachov
I Want To — Don't Want To Go
It so happened that the bears decided to leave the berry patches and move on to where the mushrooms grew. No sooner said than done. The big bears led the way, cubs following.
They journeyed on and on. When they reached a stream they crossed it. When they reached a river they swam across. When they reached a mountain they climbed it.
Little Cub was the last in line. He trudged along unhappily, for he was very tired. After a while he began to whine, but his mother didn't hear him. He whimpered louder, but still his mother didn't stop. She kept on going, looking off into the distance. Little Cub tried to catch up but wasn't strong enough. Besides, his paws were sore. As ill-luck would have it, he spotted some ripe blueberries and stopped to munch on them, eating the tasty berries until he had room for no more. When Little Cub looked up at last he couldn't see a single bear. They must have all gone beyond the mountain.
Little Cub became frightened. He was all alone in the tundra now. He sat back on his haunches and howled. Someone replied, but the sound was terrifying: "Croak! Croak!"
Little Cub scampered off. He tripped over a rock in his haste and hurt his paw. He got scratched in a bramble thicket. He tumbled down a slope and into a river, was drenched and just managed to crawl back onto the bank.
By then it was getting dark.
Little Cub fell asleep among the hummocks. When he awoke the next morning he saw someone sitting by his side. That someone had tong ears, a short tail and a wiggly nose. Little Cub thought the creature looked very funny.
"Who're you?"
"I'm Hare. How'd you get here?"
"All the big bears went off and left me."
Hare felt sorry for Little Cub and took him along to his tent. The two became great friends, spending their days together. While Hare nibbled on twigs, Little Cub would eat berries. Hare would beat the dust out of Little Cub's fur with his hard paw, and Little Cub would comb Hare's fur with his claw. It was a wonderful life.
One day Hare scampered off to the river for a drink of water. A big bear was catching fish in the shallows there.
Just as Hare was about to dash off he said to himself, "That bear can't harm me. I'll always manage to run away." So he shouted, "Hey, Shaggy! All the bears have moved on. What're you doing here?"
"I'm looking for my cub. When we came to where the mushrooms grow I saw that my son was missing. All the other cubs were there except mine. My cub must've gotten lost somewhere in the mountains."
"I'll tell you what, my friend. You follow me. If you recognize a certain cub he's yours, but if you don't, he'll stay on with me."
As they neared Hare's tent Little Cub spotted his mother and raced towards them. Mother Bear was happier still to have found him and licked Little Cub from head to toe.
"I'm so glad I've found you at last! Come along with me now," she said.
Little Cub trotted along. After they had gone a ways he turned to look back and saw Hare crying bitterly by his tent.
"Let's stay here! I don't want to go anyplace!" Little Cub whimpered.
"Come along, son!" Mother Bear coaxed. "There are so many mushrooms there. Wait till you see how nice it is." She led Little Cub off into the woods, but he kept crying all the way. Nothing she could do would please him. He wouldn't eat the food she gave him. He wouldn't even play. He just kept on crying.
"This is a bad place! It's dark here in the woods, but it's light in the tundra. These mushrooms are bitter, but the berries there are sweet. I want to go back! Let's go back to the tundra," Little Cub wailed.
Mother Bear didn't know what to do. "All right," she said at last. "We'll spend the night here and start back for the tundra tomorrow."
Then they went to sleep. Little Cub turned and tossed all night, sobbing in his sleep. At the crack of dawn he heard something go thump-thump as heels beat against the ground, and then hoppity-hop right outside Mother Bear's tent. Little Cub tumbled out to see who it was. It was his long-eared friend, Hare! They began to play hide-and-seek and tag among the trees. Soon Mother Bear woke up and began preparing for the journey.
"Where are you going, Mama?" Little Cub asked.
"Why, back to the tundra. You want to go back, don't you? You said you don't like it here."
"But I do like it. These are fine woods. They're full of mushrooms. I don't want to go anyplace!"
And so they remained in the forest, Mother Bear, Little Cub and his best friend, Hare.
Please support us
PayPal: anfiskinamama@gmail.com
Contact us if you have any questions or see any mistakes
© 2019-2024 Freebooksforkids.net