D bisset forgotten day. Book: Bisset D

Once upon a time there lived a big elephant. He lived at the Whipsnade Zoo with his elephant and a baby elephant named Hjalmar.
Elephant dad was very big. The mother elephant was also big. And even Hjalmar would not be called very small. Elephants are not very small.

One fine day, the mother elephant and the baby elephant saw that the elephant father was standing on his head.
- What happened to you? asked the mother elephant.
“I’m trying to remember something,” said the elephant dad.

What are you trying to remember?
“If I knew,” said the elephant dad, “I wouldn’t try. Isn't that right, dove?
“Hjalmar,” the mother elephant said to her son, “run quickly and try to find what dad forgot.”

And Hjalmar ran along the road. Then he climbed a low hill near a bamboo grove and sat down to rest, and at the same time watch the clouds play tag in the sky
Suddenly he heard someone crying. They were crying very close, although Hjalmar did not see who. And he said:
- Do not Cry! Do you want me to help you?
They stopped crying.

- Who are you? Hjalmar asked.
- Forgotten birthday. I don't know whose I am.
- Ai! Hjalmar said. - That's the trouble! Do you have a birthday cake?

- Of course! What is a birthday without cake? There are six candles on mine, so someone turned six today.
“How good it is when you are six years old! thought Hjalmar. - Very well! Almost as good as seven. Five years is also not bad, and four is nothing. Well, when it's eight - when it's eight, you are already half an adult. Still, it's probably best when you're six."

“I'm very, very sorry,” he said. “But I can't help you. I just don't know who forgot their birthday.
And Hjalmar hurried home. When he returned, the elephant dad was no longer standing on his head, but was sitting at the table and having dinner.
- I remembered! said the elephant dad. “I knew it was yesterday, or tomorrow, or today. I knew it!

- What today? Hjalmar asked.
- What is your birthday today! - said the mother elephant, entering the room. You are six years old today.
Hjalmar got excited and quickly ran back to a low hill near the bamboo grove.

- Listen! he shouted. It turns out you are MY birthday. I am six years old today!
- Hooray! shouted the forgotten birthday. - Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

In the evening, for tea, Hjalmar received a festive cake with six candles. He extended his trunk and blew out all the candles at once.
“That's great! he thought. “It’s good when you are six years old!”

Meeting a new book is like meeting a new person. Sympathy arises immediately, comes gradually or does not arise at all.

In Bisset's book "Forgotten Birthday" there are wonderful characters, an atmosphere of kindness, fabulous serenity.

The most interesting thing for me is to come up with drawings. What should be the Rrrr tiger, Icarus pig, Crococott, Annabelle cow?.. Imagination works when you stand in line for bread, ride the subway, even in a dream, in my opinion.

And so all his life, because one book replaces another .. This is the happiness of an illustrator. Only the echo of worldly thunderstorms penetrates into his fairy-tale land. The heroes of the books created by him will stand as a wall and protect from troubles.

But back to Bisset.

on the screen of English television, where he, like our "Aunt Valya", hosts children's programs, telling fairy tales and at the same time drawing pictures with a felt-tip pen. He is said to have a riding horse and enjoys walking in his spare time. Here. perhaps that's all. I didn't know what he looked like, so I asked the translator NV Shereshevsky, who personally knew Bisset, to get me his photograph. She wrote a letter to England. Bisset first sent a very small photograph. Looking at her, I drew a portrait. Shereshevskaya said:

Very similar, only in life it is somewhat fuller.

After a while, she handed me two more cards. On one, Donald Bisset at the age of one, dressed in a girl's dress, on the other - his mother. I pasted these two photographs into an illustration for the fairy tale "The Philosopher Beetle and Others". So that goodness does not disappear.

Natalia Viktorovna Shereshevskaya not only skillfully retold the tales from English, but also wrote the author's conversations with the tiger, which tie all the tales together. In addition, funny tiger thoughts really enliven the dialogue.

While working on the book, I was amazed at the author's extraordinary invention, his paradoxical thinking:

"Hurrah!" shouted the forgotten birthday. "Hurray, hurray, hurray!" You have to come up with something like this! Birthday can talk!

And this: “About the little bus that was afraid of the dark”

In the fairy tale "St. Pancras and King's Cross", the Queen awards Euston station with a gold medal.

And I especially like Waterloo Station. He could not stand still, caught up with the train in which King Samuel was traveling to visit his grandmother, and shouted:

Can I come with you too?

Come on, said King Samuel.

What is water? Scientists answer: N2 0. And Donald Bisset:

- Diamonds on the grass.

Yellow ones please! - said Donald Bisset to his beloved tiger Rrrr. - No whites, only yellow ones.

But Rrrr did not move his ear. He knew that Donald was saying it just like that: what if a pockmarked hen laid their testicles for breakfast? Yellow ones.

Yellow was his favorite color. Yellow leaves, yellow sun, yellow sand, yellow ice cream.

Yellow is even better than gold.

And the tiger is yellow, - said Rrrr. - Black stripes don't count, okay?

I agree, - said Donald Bisset. - But I like you and stripes.

Urrr, urrr. sweet i'm a tiger, huh?

Not sweet, but nice.

No sweet! And everything sweet is glorious. And it turns out the same thing. If you don't believe me, ask the dog!

Donald Bisset considered.

What would we come up with, Rrrr? he said. “I have six free days ahead of me.

Six is ​​almost seven, - answered Rrrr.

And seven is a whole week! So what are we to do?

Call and ask, - said Rrrr.

Well, of course! And how did I forget?

Donald Bisset picked up the phone and dialed the number: VBJ 1-2-3-4 (one-two-three-four).

Your Voo-Brah-Zhenie is listening, - they answered into the phone. - Do you want to have a fun vacation? Now let's think about what to advise. So... so... well, no... You know what, we'll call you in a few minutes, but for now introduce yourself to the guys who are reading this book. Maybe they don't know you yet?

With pleasure. Dear Guys! Meet my favorite tiger. His name is Rrr.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr said.

Sometimes he is angry, especially on Fridays.

Because all the lazy and disobedient on Fridays flogging! Before breakfast, grrrrr...

What are you thinking, Rrr? Don't listen to him, he got it wrong. We don't punish tigers. Here are schoolchildren sometimes ... I myself got it ... But I don’t want to remember about it. Rrr kidding! In fact, he is a very kind and nice tiger.

Yellow stripes!

Yes, like all real tigers.

And now it's my turn, - said Rrrr. - I'll introduce you to Donald Bisset. He is a real famous storyteller. He lives in England and writes fairy tales, draws pictures for them and tells his own fairy tales on television, because he is an actor. He plays in the theater, acts in films and knows how to ride a horse ...

Stop it, Rrrr, you're bragging.

I didn't brag, I brag about you. Do you want Donald to tell you a fairy tale as well, until his Voo-Bra-Zhenie calls?

And Rrrr thought to himself: “He knows how to compose fairy tales, but he can’t figure out how we can spend such a small vacation - VACATION WITH A NAIL. That's funny!"

But he did not say it aloud, because he wanted to hear the story himself.

New or old to tell? asked Donald Bisset.

First my favorite.

What is your favorite today?

- "About a pig that learned to fly." (The tiger had his favorite story every day.) And then tell two new ones and one old one. After all, you and I live in a book of fairy tales, right? So, without fairy tales we can not!

Donald just shook his head. “Well, this tiger is cunning!” he thought. But he did not say it out loud, but began to tell

ABOUT THE PIG WHO LEARNED TO FLY

Once a piglet - and his name was Icarus - came to the Magic Spring and asked:

Please fulfill my wish.

Piglet has long wanted to learn how to fly. No wonder his name was Icarus.

If you really want to, I can make you fly, - said the Magic Spring. - Only for this you first need to turn into a bird.

No, I want to be a pig. A pig that can fly,” said Icarus.

But piglets can't fly, objected the Magic Spring.

Icarus was very upset and went home.

On the way, he thought of only one thing: how to still learn to fly.

Once upon a time there lived a big elephant. He lived at the Whipsnade Zoo with his elephant and a baby elephant named Hjalmar.
Elephant dad was very big. The mother elephant was also big. And even Hjalmar would not be called very small. Elephants are not very small.

One fine day, the mother elephant and the baby elephant saw that the elephant father was standing on his head.
- What happened to you? asked the mother elephant.
“I’m trying to remember something,” said the elephant dad.

What are you trying to remember?
“If I knew,” said the elephant dad, “I wouldn’t try. Isn't that right, dove?
“Hjalmar,” the mother elephant said to her son, “run quickly and try to find what dad forgot.”

And Hjalmar ran along the road. Then he climbed a low hill near a bamboo grove and sat down to rest, and at the same time watch the clouds play tag in the sky
Suddenly he heard someone crying. They were crying very close, although Hjalmar did not see who. And he said:
- Do not Cry! Do you want me to help you?
They stopped crying.

- Who are you? Hjalmar asked.
- Forgotten birthday. I don't know whose I am.
- Ai! Hjalmar said. - That's the trouble! Do you have a birthday cake?

- Of course! What is a birthday without cake? There are six candles on mine, so someone turned six today.
“How good it is when you are six years old! thought Hjalmar. - Very well! Almost as good as seven. Five years is also not bad, and four is nothing. Well, when it's eight - when it's eight, you are already half an adult. Still, it's probably best when you're six."

“I'm very, very sorry,” he said. “But I can't help you. I just don't know who forgot their birthday.
And Hjalmar hurried home. When he returned, the elephant dad was no longer standing on his head, but was sitting at the table and having dinner.
- I remembered! said the elephant dad. “I knew it was yesterday, or tomorrow, or today. I knew it!

- What today? Hjalmar asked.
- What is your birthday today! - said the mother elephant, entering the room. You are six years old today.
Hjalmar got excited and quickly ran back to a low hill near the bamboo grove.

- Listen! he shouted. It turns out you are MY birthday. I am six years old today!
- Hooray! shouted the forgotten birthday. - Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

In the evening, for tea, Hjalmar received a festive cake with six candles. He extended his trunk and blew out all the candles at once.
“That's great! he thought. “It’s good when you are six years old!”

August 3 - 105 years of Donald Bisset (1910 - 1995). If a person is talented, then he is talented in everything. A common truth perfectly describes the English storyteller, artist, actor and director Donald Bisset. The writer voiced his fairy tales in such a way that he made children believe in the existence of the legendary African animal Crococott and in a confident voice fully confirmed the possibility of talking with tigers on philosophical topics. In The Forgotten Birthday, Donald Bisset introduces a tiger named Rrrr: " He is a real famous storyteller. He lives in England and writes fairy tales, draws pictures for them and tells his own fairy tales on television, because he is an actor. He plays in the theater, acts in films and knows how to ride a horse ... " Everything in these words is true. It seems that fate has always smiled at the author - Donald Bisset. But it wasn't always like that.

He was born on August 3, 1910 in Brentford, Middlesex, England. Donald from childhood plunged into the fabulous atmosphere of old England. Terrible and funny stories about the adventures of folk heroes on winter evenings, majestic castles with gloomy windows-loopholes excited the imagination of a young dreamer. At the age of ten, after the death of his father, Donald, along with his older sister, ended up in an orphanage. He recalled this in one of his interviews: As a child, I did not know cordiality and warmth, but it was people who softened my heart, and I kindled my soul.". During World War II, Bisset served as a lieutenant in the artillery. One day he dramatically changed his life: "went into acting." His sister said, "That's not serious!" But it turned out to be serious and for a long time - for life. Bisset changed several scenes and by the time his first book was published he was an actor at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

One day, London television made him an unexpected offer - to write fairy tales, and he willingly agreed. Soon he began to read them in children's programs. And since he was a professional actor, he read his fairy tales just fine. Very skillful and fun. He accompanied his reading with a display of amusing and expressive drawings. The broadcast lasted about eight minutes, so the volume of the tale did not exceed two or three pages. In 1954, he published the first book of his short stories, it was published in the Read It Yourself series. The book was called "I'll Tell You When You Want". It was followed by "I'll tell you another time", "I'll tell you someday." After this series, collections appeared, united by the same heroes. Little readers learned about Yak, Conversations with a Tiger, Adventures of Miranda the Duck, Smokey Horse, Uncle Tick-Tock's Journey, and Journey to the Jungle. All books were illustrated with drawings by Bisset himself. Perhaps he could become a classic of the fantasy genre, but he settled on short fairy tale stories, where in just two or three pages he described fascinating journeys to countries where there are witches and sorcerers, where animals speak human language, and the sun not only warms, but also gives advices. He invented and settled in Africa a beast that is never bored: one half of it consists of the Charming Cat, and the other of the Resourceful Crocodile. The animal's name is Crococat. Donald Bisset's favorite friend is the tiger cub Rrrr, with whom Donald Bisset loves to travel along the river of time until the end of Rainbow. And he knows how to move his brains so much that his thoughts rustle. The main enemies of Donald Bisset and Tiger Cub Rrrr are Vrednyugs with the names You Can't, Don't You Dare and Be ashamed. The author embodied all his ideas in his own writings in a unique literary memorable style. He made up stories about waves, girls, wizards and dragons, food and animals. He wrote with pleasure about fish, starfish, children, plants, weather phenomena. Heroes in stories celebrate birthdays and go on interesting journeys.

Sergey Mikhalkov highly appreciated the writer's work and spoke flatteringly about Bisset's fairy tales, repeating that only a person with a good heart can compose fairy tales for children: “ Dear Guys! Now you are going to read this book, which is called Conversations with the Tiger. “How so? - you ask. “Do they talk to tigers?” However, you are unlikely to ask about it. You have long known that in fairy tales you can talk not only with tigers, but also with elephants, with kings and witches, and even with the sun ... This book was written by the English writer Donald Bisset. He lives in London, and he is an English theater and film actor. But his favorite pastime is writing fairy tales for children. Very short and very funny. During his life, Bisset wrote probably a hundred such tales. Many of them were published in our country in a large collection of his fairy tales, which is called "Everything is somersault." Bisset loves not only to write fairy tales, but also to tell them. With his new fairy tales, he always appears on television in front of the London guys. Not so long ago, Donald Bisset was a guest in Moscow. He was invited to one kindergarten. Bisset immediately made friends with the guys and together with them began to compose a fairy tale. Yes, yes, with the guys. And it was completely unimportant that Bisset did not know Russian, and the guys did not know English. But they perfectly understood each other in the fabulous language of friendship. Bisset visited Moscow twice, spoke on television, and visited a kindergarten, where he even composed a fairy tale “I do what I want” with the children.

During one of his visits to our country in 1967, Bisset wrote a tiny autobiography: Autobiography with a fingernail. Scot. I live in London. Gray hair, blue eyes, 5.9 feet tall. I have been working in the theater since 1933. He began telling fairy tales for children in 1953 on television. The first book of fairy tales, A Story for Any Occasion, was published in 1954. Since then, I have been writing all the time, little by little. My favorite heroes of the past: Jesus Christ (for his teachings), Johann Sebastian Bach, William Shakespeare, William Blake (aphorisms), Charles Darwin. Philosophically, I am a materialist. By temperament, he is an optimist. I believe that anyone who reflects the world can be called an artist. My greatest desire is to publish one of my children's books with my own color illustrations. Until now, I have not been able to do this for economic (among other) reasons related to the laws of our publishing business. My favorite children's books are The Wind in the Willows, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland. As well as folk tales about giants and witches. Fairy tales by Hans Andersen and the Brothers Grimm I don't really like».

Bisset's fairy tales have been published in our country since 1963, and more than one generation has grown up on them, but recently they have been undeservedly forgotten, although some are still being published. They were translated into Russian by the wonderful translator Natalia Viktorovna Shereshevskaya, although other translations can now be found. If we talk about literary continuity, the poetics of Bisset's fairy tales is closest to English folk songs-shifters. They have a reverse logic familiar from folklore, a rearrangement of cause and effect: if you rearrange the hands of the clock back, time will also run into the past; to make it warmer, you need to turn the cockerel weather vane to the south, etc. And paradoxical eccentricity. How, for example, to fly to Australia? Very simply, you need to drink more fizz, then you will fly high, high, and if you stay in the air long enough for the Earth to make half a turn around its axis, then you will land exactly in Australia. Or how to silence a stupid minister? We must bring an elephant into parliament that loves crispy gingerbread, and no one will hear what the minister is saying, because the elephant will crunch very loudly.

« Conversations with the tiger»: A world of incredible adventures and fascinating stories. This wonderful, kind and unusual world, which appears before the eyes of a young (or not so) reader, will not leave anyone indifferent. This is how a slightly capricious, but very good-natured tiger appears; the man from the moon; cow - philosopher; kind dragon and many, many others.

« All somersault»: Want to know an easy and affordable way to fly to Australia? Then drink a whole bath of soda and when your stomach bubbles and sssss like a real rocket, grab an umbrella and take off! Australia is close.

« Jungle trip”: Before you is the only book in Russian, which was not only invented, but also painted by Donald Bisset.

« Uncle Tick-Tock's Journey and Other Tales". Travel is different. For example, Uncle Tick-Tock, along with his striped tiger friend Rrrr, went on a boat trip along the River of Time. They had to find the end of the rainbow. Donald Bisset is a famous storyteller. He lives and performs with his best friend the tiger Rrrrr. Once, some Vrednyugs stole what Rrrr was most proud of - his tiger ROAR. What to do? And Donald Bisset and Rrrr go on a long journey...

Collected Fairy Tales by Donald Bisset Forgotten birthday”is an amazing and magical journey in which children will learn why chefs need to be fat and kings need to be thin, what the River of Time is and where it came from. And also the mysterious Voo-Brah-Zhenie, a bus that is afraid of the dark, and much, much more will appear in front of them. The book is not only informative, but also helps to develop imagination and teaches you not to forget about important things, such as the birthdays of loved ones. The illustrator of the book Viktor Chizhikov says: « Meeting a new book is like meeting a new person. Sympathy arises immediately, comes gradually or does not arise at all. In Bisset's book "Forgotten Birthday" there are wonderful characters, an atmosphere of kindness, fabulous serenity. The most interesting thing for me is to come up with drawings. What should Rrrr the tiger, Icarus the pig, Crococott, Annabelle the cow look like?... I decided to start with the portrait of the author. What did I know about Bisset? That he is a writer and artist, film actor. That he can often be seen on the screen of English television, where he, like our "Aunt Valya", hosts children's programs, telling fairy tales and at the same time drawing pictures with a felt-tip pen. He is said to have a riding horse and enjoys walking in his spare time. That, perhaps, is all. And I didn’t know what he looked like, so I asked the translator N.V. Shereshevskaya, who personally knew Bisset, to get me his photograph. She wrote a letter to England. Bisset first sent a very small photograph. Looking at her, I drew a portrait. Shereshevskaya said: “Very similar, only in real life he is somewhat fuller. After a while, she handed me two more cards. On one, Donald Bisset at the age of one, dressed in a girl's dress, on the other - his mother. I pasted these two photographs into an illustration for the fairy tale Philosopher Beetle and Others. So that goodness does not disappear. While working on the book, I was amazed at the author's extraordinary invention, his paradoxical thinking:

"Hooray! shouted the forgotten birthday. “Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!” You have to come up with something like this! Birthday can talk! In the fairy tale "St. Pancras and King's Cross", the Queen awards Euston station with a gold medal. And I especially like Waterloo Station. He could not stand still, caught up with the train in which King Samuel was traveling to visit his grandmother, and shouted:

- May I come with you?

- Let's! King Samuel replied».

Donald Bisset created his own special fairy-tale world, in which the most incredible characters - a semicolon, London fog, an imaginary horse and tiger, a monument to Admiral Nelson, darkness, etc. - behave like ordinary people, adults and children. And their behavior is human and very human. The most precious thing for them is the joy of friendship and the fulfillment of desires - not their own, but someone else's. Bisset's virtuoso wordplay makes his fairy tales even funnier and infects not only with fun, but involuntarily encourages the children themselves to play with words, invent new words, and creatively use their native language. His fairy tales are often close to English literature of nonsense on the one hand, philosophical parables on the other, sometimes sad, sometimes cheerful, but always bright, kind, but not moralizing, smart - as fairy tales should be smart. Everyone will find something in Bisset's fairy tales - something of your own. They will please someone with English humor, someone with unusual, even absurd situations, someone will see in them references to folklore, primarily to shifting songs. And someone just wants to meet their favorite characters again and again: Mr. Crococott and the policeman Arthur, Lord Nelson and the chicken, Annabelle the cow and the Forgotten Birthday. The main thing is that you have an imagination, and the fairy tales of Donald Bisset will not disappoint you. The stories are funny, witty, whimsical.

When Donald Bisset was asked why he became a writer, he replied: " Because the grass is green and the trees are growing. 'Cause I can hear the thunder and the pounding of the rain. Because I love children and animals. I take my hat off to the ladybug. I love petting cats and riding horses... And also writing fairy tales, acting in the theatre, drawing... When you love both, then you are rich. Who loves nothing cannot be happy". Perhaps you can't say it better!

Bisset is also an artist and designs his own books. He won great success as an illustrator. Several exhibitions of his graphics have already taken place in London. His fans also know him as an excellent theater director. He independently engaged in staging his own fairy tales. Most often he did this on the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon and certainly took part in some of them. He played small roles, the total number of which is 10 pieces. Working on the creation of fairy tales, Donald also managed to act in films. He played roles in 57 films and television series that remained unknown outside of England. Bisset's first role was in the film Go-round in 1949. In 1978, he played a small role in the film "Leaders of Atlantis", which was also shown in the Soviet box office. The last time in the movie he played in 1991 in the English television series "Purely English Murder" (The Bill) the role of Mr. Grimm.

Bisset died in London on 18 August 1995 at the age of 85. He was always happy with his fate, which prepared for him a bright and eventful life, full of fabulous adventures in fictional countries. Fairy tales were, are and will be again and again as long as there are children and amazing creators of magic on Earth - fairy tale writers. One such wizard is writer Donald Bisset. Ask your child if he had to talk with a talking snail? Does he know a tiger cub saddened by the loss of black stripes on its golden fur? Does he know the man from the moon? If not, then do not deprive him of the pleasure of meeting you. It is striking that in the English-speaking world, Bisset is completely forgotten. His children's stories have been out of print for over forty years! While Bisset is still reprinted in Russia, and his fairy tales are widely known. Readers fell in love with the cute, slightly eccentric, but kind and selfless, honest and courageous heroes of the English writer. In Russia, 10 cartoons based on his fairy tales were shot.

Mr Crococat

One day the Man from the Moon looked down at the Earth - he had, of course, looked at the Earth before - and saw a huge dog chasing a small cat with loud barks.

Here's the bad guy! said the Man in the Moon. - Who would it? It looks like Bulka from Highstreet. Well, yes! So it is, Bulka! Well, wait, I'll wean you from chasing cats!

And then late at night, when the moon shone over Africa, the Man from the Moon looked at the Earth again, wanting to see one of his old friends named Mr. Crococott.

One half of Mr Crococat was a cat and the other was a crocodile. He was a one of a kind Crococat and lived very secluded in a small cave in the middle of Africa and never saw anyone.

Aren't you bored here? the Man from the Moon asked him.

Not a little! said Mr. Crococott.

And I think just the opposite, - said the Man from the Moon. - After all, you don't even have anyone to kiss good night and say "good night."

Ha! That's inconsiderate! said Mr. Crococott. - I am the only creature in the world who always has someone to say "good night." Look!

With these words, Mr Crococat curled up in a ring, and half of the crocodile kissed the half of the cat.

Good night, dear Croc! - said the Cat. - Sound sleep.

Good night, my friend Cat! - answered the Crocodile - Pleasant dreams!

Yeah! said the Man from the Moon. - It turns out that crococats have their advantages.

Of course! agreed Mr Crococott. But also their troubles.

What? said the Man from the Moon.

You see, - said Mr. Crococat, - I can never go only forward, some half of me always backs up. Therefore, I sometimes cannot understand whether I am walking forward or backing away.

Yes, it's inconvenient, - the Man from the Moon agreed. By the way, could you help me? There is one worthless dog here, his name is Bulka, he lives in England and is always chasing cats. I wish you could get there some night. At first you would have seemed to him a cat, and when he would have chased you, you would have frightened him with a crocodile mouth. Maybe that would have discouraged him from chasing cats forever.

I agree! said Mr. Crococott. - Let's do it!

When he got to England, the moon brightly illuminated the neighbor's yard behind Bulka's house. Mr Crococat lay down under a shady tree, hid his crocodile half, and exposed only the cat's to the moonlight.

As soon as Bulka noticed the cat - it seemed to him that it was a real cat - he barked, jumped over the fence and rushed at her. But instead of a cat, he was met by a crocodile, and wow, what a scary one!

Poor Bulka rushed home without looking back and took a breath only in his basket in the kitchen.

No, you motherfuckers! I don't chase cats anymore! he decided.

Well, the Man from the Moon and his friend Mr. Krokokot laughed at him!

Then Mr Crococat yawned and said:

I would like to take a nap now. - And lay down more comfortably.

Good night, dear Krok, said the Cat.

Good night, my friend Cat, - said the Crocodile. - Have a nice sleep!

Forgotten birthday

Once upon a time there lived a big elephant. He lived at the Whipsnade Zoo with his elephant and a baby elephant named Hjalmar. Elephant dad was very big. The mother elephant was also big. And even Hjalmar would not be called very small. Elephants are not very small. One fine day, the mother elephant and the baby elephant saw that the elephant father was standing on his head.

- What happened to you? asked the mother elephant.

“I’m trying to remember something,” said the elephant dad.

What are you trying to remember?

“If I knew,” said the elephant dad, “I wouldn’t try. Isn't that right, dove?

“Hjalmar,” the mother elephant said to her son, “run quickly and try to find what dad forgot.”

And Hjalmar ran along the road. Then he climbed a low hill near a bamboo grove and sat down to rest, and at the same time watch the clouds play tag in the sky.
Suddenly he heard someone crying. They were crying very close, although Hjalmar did not see who. And he said:

- Do not Cry! Do you want me to help you?

They stopped crying.

- Who are you? Hjalmar asked.

- Forgotten birthday. I don't know whose I am.

- Ai! Hjalmar said. - That's the trouble! Do you have a birthday cake?

- Of course! What is a birthday without cake? There are six candles on mine, so someone turned six today.

“How good it is when you are six years old! thought Hjalmar. - Very well! Almost as good as seven. Five years is also not bad, and four is nothing. Well, when it's eight - when it's eight, you are already half an adult. Still, it's probably best when you're six."

“I'm very, very sorry,” he said. “But I can't help you. I just don't know who forgot their birthday.

And Hjalmar hurried home. When he returned, the elephant dad was no longer standing on his head, but was sitting at the table and having dinner.

- I remembered! said the elephant dad. “I knew it was yesterday, or tomorrow, or today. I knew it!

- What today? Hjalmar asked.

- What is your birthday today! - said the mother elephant, entering the room. You are six years old today.

Hjalmar got excited and quickly ran back to a low hill near the bamboo grove.

- Listen! he shouted. It turns out you are MY birthday. I am six years old today!

- Hooray! shouted the forgotten birthday. - Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

In the evening, for tea, Hjalmar received a festive cake with six candles. He extended his trunk and blew out all the candles at once.

“That's great! he thought. “It’s good when you are six years old!”

About the tiger cub Binky, whose stripes disappeared

One day Tigress Mother decided to bake a sweet cake. “What if guests come to me in the evening,” she thought. She took out a small jar of powdered sugar and a large jar of flour from the cupboard and began kneading the dough. She rolled out the dough so hard that flour and powdered sugar flew all over the kitchen.

Just at this time, Binky the tiger cub was born. The mother tigress looked at him and was surprised:

Where are your stripes? It's okay, we'll still love you, and without the stripes.

Indeed, Binky had no stripes. None. He was very upset.

Binky waited for him to come, and when the man left, Binky leaned against the fence, first on one side, then on the other. The dye stuck to the wool, and it became striped. Binky ran home to show his mom his stripes. But it was very hot, the sun was hot, and the paint began to melt and drip onto the ground, so that soon Binky again had not a single streak left.

And then he met Zebra. Binky froze in surprise: how many stripes on one single back! It's unfair! He sat down and wept bitterly.

- What are you talking about, baby? Zebra asked him.

- By ... by ... why am I not striped? Binky complained.

“Poor thing,” said the Zebra and licked the tiger cub affectionately. “But you taste nothing, pleasant.” And she licked him again. “Like a sweet pie. She licked him again and again, and suddenly black stripes appeared one after another on Binky's back!

He ran home to his mother and shouted:

- Mother! Hooray, I'm striped!

- Truth! - Tigress-mother was delighted. - Well, who would have thought! It must have been the powdered sugar and flour that covered your strips when I made the sweet cake. The mother tigress was very pleased and invited Zebra for a cup of tea. For tea, Zebra got a handful of hay, and Binky got a piece of sweet pie.

Murr was surprised. “What nonsense! Do mice hunt cats? she thought. But when the mice chased her, she ran away in surprise without looking back.
“Well, life, everything goes upside down!” Murr thought. Then a huge dog Woof came across to meet her. Woof growled angrily at Murr. Murr was about to run away and hide in a tree, but suddenly she thought: "If everything in this world goes topsy-turvy, Woof will run away from me."

And Murr rushed to Gav, and Gav, of course, took to his heels. “Miracles are happening in this world! Murr thought. “Cats prey on dogs, mice prey on cats. I have never seen anything like it in my life!” Then she looked down the road and saw the milkman, the cart, and the horse. The milkman was pulling the cart, and the horse was sitting on the cart and urging him on: "Nn-ooh!" The milkman had to hurry. Then Murr met two children with their parents. Children scolded their parents:

- Hey Alice! Wake up! she called.

Alice woke up, rolled over and flew on as if nothing had happened. And then the sun went down, the moon and stars shone, the milkman's horse pulled the cart by itself, Gav chased Murr, and Murr chased the mice until they hid again in the laundry basket. Murr was very hungry and hurried to the kitchen to feast on fish and milk. And lazy Alice returned to her nest at the very top of the tree, settled herself comfortably and fell asleep.

– Karr! she said, falling asleep. What a funny dream it was!