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N.Nosov
The Crucian Carp
Translated by Rose Prokofieva
freebooksforkids.net
Illustrated by L.Gladnyova
Vitalik's mother made him a present of a crucian carp and a small aquarium for it to live in. It was a beautiful little fish and Vitalik was very excited about it at first — he fed it and changed the water in the bowl regularly. But after a time he lost interest in it and sometimes he even forgot to feed it.
Vitalik had a kitten, too, called Murzik, a grey fluffy kitten with large green eyes. Murzik loved to watch the fish swimming about in its bowl. He could sit for hours beside the bowl with his eyes glued to the carp.
"You'd better keep an eye on Murzik," Vitalik's mother warned him. "He'll eat up your fish one of these days."
"No, he won't," said Vitalik. "I'll see he doesn't."
One day when his mother was out, Vitalik's friend Seryozha came to see him. When he saw the fish he said:
"That's a nice little carp you've got there. I'll give you a whistle for it if you like."
"What do I need a whistle for?" said Vitalik. "I think a fish is much better than a whistle."
"No, it isn't. You can blow on a whistle, but what can you do with a fish?"
"You can watch it swimming in its bowl. And that's more fun than blowing a whistle."
"Rats," said Seryozha. "Besides, the cat can gobble up your fish any time and then you won't have a whistle or a fish either. But the cat won't eat a whistle, because it's made of iron."
"Mummy doesn't like me to swap things. She'll buy me a whistle if I want one."
"She'd never get one like this," said Seryozha. "You can't buy them in the shops. This is a real militiaman's whistle. When I go outside in our yard and whistle everyone thinks it's the militia."
Seryozha took a whistle out of his pocket and blew a piercing blast on it.
"Let me have a try," begged Vitalik.
He took the whistle and blew on it. It responded with a loud trill. Vitalik was enchanted. He longed to own the whistle but at the same time he didn't want to part with his fish.
"Where would you put the fish if I changed with you? You haven't got an aquarium."
"I'd put it in a jam jar. We have a big one at home."
"All right, take it," said Vitalik, finally giving in.
They had a hard time taking the fish ,out of the bowl. It kept slipping out of their hands. At last, after splashing water all over the floor, Seryozha managed to catch it, wetting his sleeves up to the elbow in the process.
"I've got him!" he shouted. "Quick, bring me a glass of water."
Vitalik brought a mug full of water and Seryozha dropped the fish into it. Then the two friends went to Seryozha's place. The jam jar turned out to be not quite so big as Seryozha had said, and the fish had much less room than in its bowl. The boys stood watching it swimming back and forth in the jar. Seryozha was very pleased, but Vitalik felt a little sad. He was sorry he had given away his fish, and what is most important, he was afraid to tell his mother that he had exchanged it for a whistle.
"Perhaps she won't notice that it's gone," he thought as he walked home. But as soon as he came home his mother asked him: "Where is your fish?"
Vitalik did not know what to say.
"Did Murzik eat it up?"
"I don't know," Vitalik mumbled.
"There you are," said his mother. "He waited until everybody was out, fished it out of the bowl and gobbled it up. Look at all the water splashed about! The wicked cat! Where is he? Find him at once."
"Murzik! Murzik!" Vitalik called, but Murzik was nowhere to be seen.
"He must have jumped out through the window," said his mother. "Go outside and have a look."
Vitalik put on his coat and went outside.
"Oh dear, what shall I do?" he thought miserably. "Now Murzik will get a hiding because of me."
He was just about to go back and say he couldn't find Murzik, when Murzik himself sprang out of an opening that led into the basement and ran over to the door.
"Murzik darling, don't go home," said Vitalik. "You'll get a hiding from Mummy."
Murzik purred and rubbed himself against Vitalik's leg and miaowed softly.
"Don't you understand, you silly cat?" said Vitalik. "You mustn't go in."
But Murzik wouldn't listen. He looked up adoringly at Vitalik, rubbing himself against his legs and pushing at him gently with his head as if begging him to hurry up and open the door. Vitalik tried to drag him away from the door, but Murzik insisted. Vitalik opened the door quickly, slipped inside and closed it before Murzik had time to follow him.
"Miaow!" cried Murzik from the other side of the door.
Vitalik poked his head out: "Keep quiet, you silly. Mummy will hear and you'll get beaten!"
He picked up the cat and started to push him back into the hole under the house. Murzik resisted with all four paws. He didn't want to go back into the basement.
"Get in, silly," muttered Vitalik. "And stay there."
At last he managed to push the kitten through the hole, all except his tail which still stuck out. The tail wiggled angrily for a little, then disappeared inside. Vitalik was glad: he thought Murzik understood that he must sit tight in the cellar. But the next minute Murzik stuck his head out of the hole again.
"Where are you going, stupid!" hissed Vitalik, covering the opening with his hands. "Didn't I tell you you can't go home just now."
"Miaow!" cried Murzik.
"Miaow yourself," snapped Vitalik. "Oh dear, what shall I do with you?"
He looked around for something to cover the hole with. There was a brick lying on the ground near the cellar. Vitalik picked it up and stood it up against the opening.
"There," he said. "Now you can't get out. You stay there for a while. Tomorrow Mummy will forget all about the fish and then I'll let you out."
Vitalik went back into the house and told his mother he couldn't find Murzik anywhere.
"Never mind," said Mummy. "He'll come back. I shan't forgive him for this."
At dinner that day Vitalik felt very miserable. He didn't want to eat anything.
"Here I am having dinner," he thought, "and poor Murzik is sitting there in the dark cellar."
When his mother left the table, Vitalik took his portion of meat from his plate, hid it in his pocket and ran out to the cellar. He moved the brick aside and called softly: "Murzik! Murzik!"
But Murzik didn't answer. Vitalik bent down and peeped through the hole, but it was too dark to see anything.
"Murzik! Murzik!" Vitalik called. "Do come out, there's a good cat. I've got a nice bit of meat for you."
But Murzik did not appear.
"You won't? All right, you can stay there hungry," said Vitalik and went home in a huff.
At home he felt very lonely without Murzik. Besides, his heart was heavy because he had deceived his mother.
His mother saw that he looked unhappy.
"Cheer up," she said. "I'll get you another fish."
"I don't want a fish," he said.
He wanted to own up to his mother about everything but he hadn't the courage, so he said nothing. Just then there was a faint scratching noise outside the window, followed by loud "Miaow!"
Vitalik looked up and saw Murzik standing on the window-ledge. How had he got out of the cellar?
"Aha!" cried Vitalik's mother. "There he is, the rascal! Come here, you bad cat!"
She opened the little window and Murzik came in. She tried to grab him, but he must have guessed that something was wrong because he darted under the table.
"Oh, the cunning little beast," said Vitalik's mother. "He knows he's guilty. Vitalik, help me catch him."
Vitalik crawled under the table. When Murzik saw him he fled for cover under the sofa. Vitalik was glad, and though he dutifully crawled after him, he made as much noise as he could so as to give Murzik a chance to escape. Murzik sprang out from under the sofa and Vitalik started chasing him round and round the room.
"Don't make such a noise," said his mother. "You'll never catch him that way."
Murzik jumped on to the window-sill where the empty fish bowl stood and was about to jump back through the window but missed his footing and fell into the fish bowl with a great splash!
The next moment he was out, shaking himself furiously. Mother seized him by the scruff of the neck.
"Now, I'll teach you a good lesson."
"Mummy, Mummy! Please don't beat him!" cried Vitalik and burst into tears.
"Now, don't go pitying him. He didn't pity the fish, did he?"
"He isn't to blame, Mummy."
"Oh, isn't he? Who ate the fish, then?"
"It wasn't him."
"Then who was it?"
"It was me...."
"What? You ate the fish?"
"No, I didn't eat it. I ... I exchanged it for a whistle."
"For a what?"
"For this." And Vitalik pulled the whistle out of his pocket and showed it to his mother.
"You naughty boy, you ought to be ashamed of yourself."
"I didn't mean it, Mummy. Seryozha said: 'Let's change,' so I did."
"I meant you ought to be ashamed of yourself for not telling the truth. I blamed it on Murzik. Is it nice to shift the blame on others?"
"I was afraid you would scold me."
"Only cowards are afraid to tell the truth. How would you have felt if I had punished Murzik?"
"I'll never do it again."
"Well, mind you don't. I forgive you this time because you owned up."
Vitalik picked up Murzik and took him over to the stove to dry. With his wet fur sticking up all over Murzik looked more like a hedgehog than a cat. He looked skinny too, as if he hadn't eaten for a whole week. Vitalik felt very sorry for him. He took the piece of meat out of his pocket and laid it on the chair in front of Murzik. Murzik ate it up with great zest and settled down on the chair to dry. After a while he climbed on to Vitalik's lap, curled up in a ball and began to purr as loudly as he could. The sound of his purring made Vitalik somehow feel very happy. It must have been the purring because what else could it be?
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