Repka (turnip)
The mouse family has grown big: as many as nine little mice were born. Five boys and four girls. Five boys resembled each other as like as two peas, and four girls, twin sisters - four identical micekin.
The boys, when they were born, squeaked twice: - pee-pee, pee-pee, and the girls squeaked three times in a row: - pee-pee-pee, pee-pee-pee. Neither father nor mother could distinguish their children from one another. All of them were voiceless, completely bare-skinned, with closed eyes, with ears appressed to their heads, so helpless and clumsy.
But it was impossible not to notice one of them. Among all the ‘pee-pee’ and ‘pee-pee-pee-pee’, one voice was heard distinctly - ‘ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni’.
Mum called him Nick, or affectionately she called him Nikusha, and their grandma said he was special because he was born with a certain mission.
- “What mission?”- Mum asked.
- “What do you mean?”-Dad asked.
- “Listen to this”- squeaked the grandmother hoarsely. –An old man planted a turnip. The turnip grew big, very big. The gaffer went to pull out the turnip: pulling resulted in no effect, he failed to pull it out.
- “Mummy, dear! You've told us this tale a thousand times” - the mummy-mouse squeaked pleadingly.
- “I have! But I didn't tell you the main thing”- squeaked the grandmother, she was being insistent.
Everything is important in the fairy tale. Without the grandmother, the granddaughter, their dog Zhuchka, the cat and the mouse, the old man would not have been able to pull the turnip. It was too big,’ Mummy Mouse tried to object.
- “No, not everything! A thousand times have I told you this fairy tale, and you still haven't understood the main point! Do you remember the end of the story?” – The Grandma croaked mysteriously.
- The cat called for the mouse, the mouse was holding the cat at the waist, and in the same way the cat was holding the dog Zhuchka, the dog was holding the granddaughter, the granddaughter was holding the grandmother, the grandmother was holding the old man, the old man was pulling the turnip. They pulled and pulled, giving a lot of straining and eventually they pulled out the turnip! - squeaked Daddy.
- Got it? This fairy tale is about us! -exclaimed Grandma.
- Strange. Why go to all that trouble with that turnip? I could have gnawed the turnip from the root. It's a piece of cake. The Grandpa could do it without anyone helping him,’ suggested Papa Mouse.
- “We are ready at call at any time” - mummy mouse supported her husband.
- “What is it you are talking about?” - The Granny was indignant. -You want to ruin such a beautiful and interesting fairy tale?
No, we don't! We love fairy tales. I grew up listening to fairy tales. Every fairy tale you read to me was my favorite,’ Mum squeaked.
- Well, that's it! Our task is to preserve this fairy tale for our children, - said Grandma.
- We don't mind, but how? – both Mum and Dad squeaked in unison.
-And what does our Nikusha have to do with it?
- And this is my little secret for now. Let him grow up a little, - said Grandma mysteriously.
The micekin grew very fast. In two days the first fluff appeared on the mice's body, in three days the ear canals opened, in four days the ears detached from the head and the mice could hear mum's, dad's, grandma's voices, but especially the squeaking of their brothers and sisters. In eight days they got their first teeth, in a fortnight they all had their eyes open and could see everything around them. Imagine the surprise when they saw their mum for the first time! The mice squeaked in the mouse hole in the first minutes after their birth, and when they saw their mum, they were happy with joy. It was like they hadn't seen her for ages. In fact, they'd never seen her before. Three weeks later, they were running around in the nearby vicinity of their hole, and then, all of a sudden they all dispersed. They were all grown up now and on their own.
Only Nikusha was lying on the dry grass – first, on his right side, then on his left side, then on his back, stretching out his legs. Mum and dad were constantly bringing him berries, tasty grass and small insects.
His parents had a special attitude to Nikusha and he understood it. Why? Neither his parents nor Nikusha himself knew it yet. Grandmother said about some mission, but nobody knows or understands what it is and what they have to do about it. Well, if nobody knows and understands anything, then there is no point in thinking about it.
- Our Nikushka has a mission! Why should he think about it? - his parents reasoned.
- I have a mission! Why should I do anything? - reasoned Nikusha.
Time passed, and time runs very fast for mice, so Nikusha very quickly turned into a small, lazy, fat and very silly animal, similar to a piglet. The only difference is the size of the body, muzzle, feet, tail, ears, and as far as the rest is concerned, he was similar to a piglet.
The spacious mouse hole was very close to the house of the old man, who planted turnips every year. Grandma, the dog Zhuchka and the cat Murka lived with Grandpa. Every year granddaughter Nastenka came to her grandparents to stay with them in the summer.
Nastenka finished the first grade this year and already read, wrote and counted on her own. She helped her grandmother in the kitchen and her grandfather ,in the garden. Not an ordinary granddaughter, but just a wonder girl. Clever and beautiful, to the delight of her parents and the envy of all the neighbors. Well, the envy of the neighbors, it’s just said by the way, besides the point.
This year, like last year, Nastenka had to help her grandfather, grandmother, their dog Zhuchka, cat Murka and mouse to pull out a turnip in the vegetable garden.
Otherwise, the tale about turnip would be in vain and eventually forgotten. Nastenka grew up to be a kind girl, because her mother and grandmother read her good fairy tales. Nastenka saw well enough that her grandfather and grandmother have become very old. It would be hard for them to pull the turnip, and she could not cope with it alone.
- “What am I to do?” - Nastenka has been thinking about it day and night. Nastenka slept soundly, she didn’t even have dreams, because she was busy all day helping her grandparents or playing with her friends.
Nastenka shared her thoughts with her friend Katya, friend Masha, friend Nadia and Dasha. They all happily agreed to help. Dasha even recalled that at school they had learnt the proverbs: ‘A friend in court is better than a penny in purse’, ‘together we are strong’. They were born at the same time as the fairy tale about the turnip was written.
Nastenka spent the whole summer persuading her grandfather to change the composition of the turnip pulling team. Grandpa only sighed and kept silent. Nastenka spent the whole summer persuading her grandmother to give her place in the team to one of her friends. Grandma just sighed and said nothing. All summer they thought and worried about whether something wrong was going to happen with the fairy tale. After all, for 100 years it had been an annual tradition in their family to plant and pull turnips. Their grandfathers and grandmothers, great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers did so.... And there have always been granddaughters in their family. And there were cats, and all the dogs were called Zhuchka.
Nastenka has been persuading her grandfather and grandmother so persistently that they had to give in. They could not refuse their favorite granddaughter. And the main thing was to pull the turnip, they reckoned.
Nastenka, and her friends Katya, Masha, Nadya and Dasha have come together to pull out the turnip. They are pulling and pulling, but they can't pull it out.
And where are Zhuchka, the cat Murka and the mouse? - suddenly remembered Nastenka.
- Zhuchka! Zhuchka! Come here! - shouted Grandpa. Zhuchka came running to her master's call with a joyful squeal.
- Murka! Murka! Kitty, kitty, kitty! - Grandma called the cat. Murka the cat lazily climbed out from behind the bush.
- Hey! Mouse! We're waiting for you! - called Nastenka. Barely moving its small paws, the little mouse appeared. His eyes were wet, his ears were small, his tail was thin, and he was as fat as a kolobok (Roly-Poly). As one could guess, it was Nikusha.
Nastenka reminded the newcomers – Zhuchka, the cat and the mouse that their task was to help pull out the turnip, because that was a story from a fairy tale, and the fairy tale should live on and delight the children.
Zhuchka shrieked and jumped with joy. Murka purred:
- What's in it for me?
Grandma promised to give her a piece of her favourite cheese.
- Ni ni ni ni ni... - squeaked Nikusha the mouse. I can't. It's a very hard job. Ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-... -he wanted to sneak away quickly into the grass, but he was so fat and clumsy, so clumsy that he could not slip away.
Murka the cat saw the fat mouse and immediately ran to Nikusha from behind and…devoured him.
- “What have you done?” - shrieked Nastenka. - What will happen to the fairy tale now?
- “I won't give you your favorite cheese!” – the grandmother said indignantly wagging her finger at the cat.
- “Hmm! The fairy tale is gone” - the Grandpa said sadly.
- “I have a tame mouse at home. It sits in a cage. Maybe I should ask her? If she agrees to help, I'll let her go free” - Katya said hesitantly.
- It's worth a try! Bring your pet! - Nastya exclaimed in a commanding tone.
Katya, Masha, Nadia and Dasha ran off to get the cage and came back very quickly. They talked excitedly about how they had persuaded the mouse to agree to help the team pull out the turnip.
The mouse didn't agree to do the work for freedom. It turns out that she likes living in the cage and does not want to leave Katya. Katya is kind. She feeds the mouse, cleans the cage, and the mouse always has fresh water. And she doesn't know how to live free. She'll get lost. The girls had to promise to give the mouse something tasty: Katya - a piece of sausage, Masha - a piece of cheese, Nadia - a piece of bacon, and Dasha promised to think about her gift. Sure enough, the mouse agreed to pull its weight.
And so, the team has assembled. Grandfather and grandmother command:
-So, get set! Try it once! Try it again! And again!
The granddaughter, her friend Katya, her friend Masha, her friends Nadia and Dasha, Zhuchka, the cat and the mouse are pulling the turnip.
- So, get set! Try it once! Try it again! Pull it hard! Pull it again! Hurray, they have eventually succeeded and pulled out the turnip.
That's it! The mouse has fulfilled its mission. But Nikusha's grandmother was wrong. Nikusha was born a very ordinary mouse. He lay, slept and wasted his life, but his life could have been a wonderful one. He could have become famous.
Katya's mouse was put back in the cage and, of course, got all her treats.
Grandma didn't give the cat her favorite cheese, but Murka wasn't offended. She went away to some cosy place to sleep.
Zhuchka lay down in the sun, and the grandparents and the girls sat down to drink tea. With pancakes and jam. Everybody seemed to be happy and satisfied with the happy ending.
The mouse family has grown big: as many as nine little mice were born. Five boys and four girls. Five boys resembled each other as like as two peas, and four girls, twin sisters - four identical micekin.
The boys, when they were born, squeaked twice: - pee-pee, pee-pee, and the girls squeaked three times in a row: - pee-pee-pee, pee-pee-pee. Neither father nor mother could distinguish their children from one another. All of them were voiceless, completely bare-skinned, with closed eyes, with ears appressed to their heads, so helpless and clumsy.
But it was impossible not to notice one of them. Among all the ‘pee-pee’ and ‘pee-pee-pee-pee’, one voice was heard distinctly - ‘ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni’.
Mum called him Nick, or affectionately she called him Nikusha, and their grandma said he was special because he was born with a certain mission.
- “What mission?”- Mum asked.
- “What do you mean?”-Dad asked.
- “Listen to this”- squeaked the grandmother hoarsely. –An old man planted a turnip. The turnip grew big, very big. The gaffer went to pull out the turnip: pulling resulted in no effect, he failed to pull it out.
- “Mummy, dear! You've told us this tale a thousand times” - the mummy-mouse squeaked pleadingly.
- “I have! But I didn't tell you the main thing”- squeaked the grandmother, she was being insistent.
Everything is important in the fairy tale. Without the grandmother, the granddaughter, their dog Zhuchka, the cat and the mouse, the old man would not have been able to pull the turnip. It was too big,’ Mummy Mouse tried to object.
- “No, not everything! A thousand times have I told you this fairy tale, and you still haven't understood the main point! Do you remember the end of the story?” – The Grandma croaked mysteriously.
- The cat called for the mouse, the mouse was holding the cat at the waist, and in the same way the cat was holding the dog Zhuchka, the dog was holding the granddaughter, the granddaughter was holding the grandmother, the grandmother was holding the old man, the old man was pulling the turnip. They pulled and pulled, giving a lot of straining and eventually they pulled out the turnip! - squeaked Daddy.
- Got it? This fairy tale is about us! -exclaimed Grandma.
- Strange. Why go to all that trouble with that turnip? I could have gnawed the turnip from the root. It's a piece of cake. The Grandpa could do it without anyone helping him,’ suggested Papa Mouse.
- “We are ready at call at any time” - mummy mouse supported her husband.
- “What is it you are talking about?” - The Granny was indignant. -You want to ruin such a beautiful and interesting fairy tale?
No, we don't! We love fairy tales. I grew up listening to fairy tales. Every fairy tale you read to me was my favorite,’ Mum squeaked.
- Well, that's it! Our task is to preserve this fairy tale for our children, - said Grandma.
- We don't mind, but how? – both Mum and Dad squeaked in unison.
-And what does our Nikusha have to do with it?
- And this is my little secret for now. Let him grow up a little, - said Grandma mysteriously.
The micekin grew very fast. In two days the first fluff appeared on the mice's body, in three days the ear canals opened, in four days the ears detached from the head and the mice could hear mum's, dad's, grandma's voices, but especially the squeaking of their brothers and sisters. In eight days they got their first teeth, in a fortnight they all had their eyes open and could see everything around them. Imagine the surprise when they saw their mum for the first time! The mice squeaked in the mouse hole in the first minutes after their birth, and when they saw their mum, they were happy with joy. It was like they hadn't seen her for ages. In fact, they'd never seen her before. Three weeks later, they were running around in the nearby vicinity of their hole, and then, all of a sudden they all dispersed. They were all grown up now and on their own.
Only Nikusha was lying on the dry grass – first, on his right side, then on his left side, then on his back, stretching out his legs. Mum and dad were constantly bringing him berries, tasty grass and small insects.
His parents had a special attitude to Nikusha and he understood it. Why? Neither his parents nor Nikusha himself knew it yet. Grandmother said about some mission, but nobody knows or understands what it is and what they have to do about it. Well, if nobody knows and understands anything, then there is no point in thinking about it.
- Our Nikushka has a mission! Why should he think about it? - his parents reasoned.
- I have a mission! Why should I do anything? - reasoned Nikusha.
Time passed, and time runs very fast for mice, so Nikusha very quickly turned into a small, lazy, fat and very silly animal, similar to a piglet. The only difference is the size of the body, muzzle, feet, tail, ears, and as far as the rest is concerned, he was similar to a piglet.
The spacious mouse hole was very close to the house of the old man, who planted turnips every year. Grandma, the dog Zhuchka and the cat Murka lived with Grandpa. Every year granddaughter Nastenka came to her grandparents to stay with them in the summer.
Nastenka finished the first grade this year and already read, wrote and counted on her own. She helped her grandmother in the kitchen and her grandfather ,in the garden. Not an ordinary granddaughter, but just a wonder girl. Clever and beautiful, to the delight of her parents and the envy of all the neighbors. Well, the envy of the neighbors, it’s just said by the way, besides the point.
This year, like last year, Nastenka had to help her grandfather, grandmother, their dog Zhuchka, cat Murka and mouse to pull out a turnip in the vegetable garden.
Otherwise, the tale about turnip would be in vain and eventually forgotten. Nastenka grew up to be a kind girl, because her mother and grandmother read her good fairy tales. Nastenka saw well enough that her grandfather and grandmother have become very old. It would be hard for them to pull the turnip, and she could not cope with it alone.
- “What am I to do?” - Nastenka has been thinking about it day and night. Nastenka slept soundly, she didn’t even have dreams, because she was busy all day helping her grandparents or playing with her friends.
Nastenka shared her thoughts with her friend Katya, friend Masha, friend Nadia and Dasha. They all happily agreed to help. Dasha even recalled that at school they had learnt the proverbs: ‘A friend in court is better than a penny in purse’, ‘together we are strong’. They were born at the same time as the fairy tale about the turnip was written.
Nastenka spent the whole summer persuading her grandfather to change the composition of the turnip pulling team. Grandpa only sighed and kept silent. Nastenka spent the whole summer persuading her grandmother to give her place in the team to one of her friends. Grandma just sighed and said nothing. All summer they thought and worried about whether something wrong was going to happen with the fairy tale. After all, for 100 years it had been an annual tradition in their family to plant and pull turnips. Their grandfathers and grandmothers, great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers did so.... And there have always been granddaughters in their family. And there were cats, and all the dogs were called Zhuchka.
Nastenka has been persuading her grandfather and grandmother so persistently that they had to give in. They could not refuse their favorite granddaughter. And the main thing was to pull the turnip, they reckoned.
Nastenka, and her friends Katya, Masha, Nadya and Dasha have come together to pull out the turnip. They are pulling and pulling, but they can't pull it out.
And where are Zhuchka, the cat Murka and the mouse? - suddenly remembered Nastenka.
- Zhuchka! Zhuchka! Come here! - shouted Grandpa. Zhuchka came running to her master's call with a joyful squeal.
- Murka! Murka! Kitty, kitty, kitty! - Grandma called the cat. Murka the cat lazily climbed out from behind the bush.
- Hey! Mouse! We're waiting for you! - called Nastenka. Barely moving its small paws, the little mouse appeared. His eyes were wet, his ears were small, his tail was thin, and he was as fat as a kolobok (Roly-Poly). As one could guess, it was Nikusha.
Nastenka reminded the newcomers – Zhuchka, the cat and the mouse that their task was to help pull out the turnip, because that was a story from a fairy tale, and the fairy tale should live on and delight the children.
Zhuchka shrieked and jumped with joy. Murka purred:
- What's in it for me?
Grandma promised to give her a piece of her favourite cheese.
- Ni ni ni ni ni... - squeaked Nikusha the mouse. I can't. It's a very hard job. Ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-... -he wanted to sneak away quickly into the grass, but he was so fat and clumsy, so clumsy that he could not slip away.
Murka the cat saw the fat mouse and immediately ran to Nikusha from behind and…devoured him.
- “What have you done?” - shrieked Nastenka. - What will happen to the fairy tale now?
- “I won't give you your favorite cheese!” – the grandmother said indignantly wagging her finger at the cat.
- “Hmm! The fairy tale is gone” - the Grandpa said sadly.
- “I have a tame mouse at home. It sits in a cage. Maybe I should ask her? If she agrees to help, I'll let her go free” - Katya said hesitantly.
- It's worth a try! Bring your pet! - Nastya exclaimed in a commanding tone.
Katya, Masha, Nadia and Dasha ran off to get the cage and came back very quickly. They talked excitedly about how they had persuaded the mouse to agree to help the team pull out the turnip.
The mouse didn't agree to do the work for freedom. It turns out that she likes living in the cage and does not want to leave Katya. Katya is kind. She feeds the mouse, cleans the cage, and the mouse always has fresh water. And she doesn't know how to live free. She'll get lost. The girls had to promise to give the mouse something tasty: Katya - a piece of sausage, Masha - a piece of cheese, Nadia - a piece of bacon, and Dasha promised to think about her gift. Sure enough, the mouse agreed to pull its weight.
And so, the team has assembled. Grandfather and grandmother command:
-So, get set! Try it once! Try it again! And again!
The granddaughter, her friend Katya, her friend Masha, her friends Nadia and Dasha, Zhuchka, the cat and the mouse are pulling the turnip.
- So, get set! Try it once! Try it again! Pull it hard! Pull it again! Hurray, they have eventually succeeded and pulled out the turnip.
That's it! The mouse has fulfilled its mission. But Nikusha's grandmother was wrong. Nikusha was born a very ordinary mouse. He lay, slept and wasted his life, but his life could have been a wonderful one. He could have become famous.
Katya's mouse was put back in the cage and, of course, got all her treats.
Grandma didn't give the cat her favorite cheese, but Murka wasn't offended. She went away to some cosy place to sleep.
Zhuchka lay down in the sun, and the grandparents and the girls sat down to drink tea. With pancakes and jam. Everybody seemed to be happy and satisfied with the happy ending.