Читать бесплатно онлайн книгу  Fairy tales of the wise grandma Agatha

автор Liudmila Petrovna Rzhevskaya

Liudmila Petrovna Rzhevskaya

Fairy tales of the wise grandma Agatha

Fonts by «ParaType»

Illustrator Anna Shabanova

© Liudmila Petrovna Rzhevskaya, 2018

© Anna Shabanova, illustrations, 2018

“Nastenka, you’re so smart, lovely girl, you’re our Skvorushka, we know that you can understand the language of birds and animals, we know that you can talk to them, and these aliens are bothering us, they will soon steal everything from our village and will kill everyone, for they have no conscience, no pity, gold and profit obscured their brains, nothing sacred remained in them. Help us, together with your animals, to get them away from here. We will be very grateful to you.”

ISBN 978-5-4493-7352-6

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Contents

1. Fairy tales of the wise grandma Agatha
2. Foreword
3. Nastenka-Skvorushka
4. Nastenka and her tiger Sharik
5. Farewell to Kalenovka

Foreword

In the very distant place, in Russia, in taiga of the Far East, there is a tiny village called Kalenovka. It is located on the bank of a small river, and one the other bank of the river begins the dark thick forest. No more than 20 little houses are in this village, and now, their number is probably even less. But in this village lives the old grandmother Agatha, aged, maybe, one hundred years old, and maybe more. And during the endless winter evenings all the children and adults of the village, local and travelling, gather at grandmother Agatha`s place to listen to her lovely fairy tales. And the tales of Grandma Agatha are really remarkable! Once I was there, listened to her tales and I want to share them with you.

Nastenka-Skvorushka

Beside grandmother Agatha there lived a little girl Nastenka. In the village people called her Skvorushka for her cheerful chirping, so lovely temper, and also because of her ability to talk with birds, forest animals and pets. Nastenka was only seven years old when her father went for hunting and did not return. So she lived with her mother. Most of all, Nastenka loved to spend time with her grandmother Agatha. They went to the river or to the woods, Skvorushka joyfully told her grandmother about what the thrush is singing or what the hedgehog is telling to them, or what a cat or a kitten purrs about. Grandmother chuckled at her. But she listened to the girl. And due to the fact that Nastenka understood the language of birds and animals, and she knew how to talk with them, all the birds in the district and the animals remembered Nastenka and loved her.

Very often Nastenka brought to her home the thrown out, homeless kittens or dogs, fed them, warmed them, and then gave them out to the people living in the village. But she did not just give them out, but she said: “This cat will bring peace and happiness to your house, and one day it will save your baby. And this dog will guard your house and will not let a thief or a dashing man come to the door. “People were amazed at the girl, but they took the animals, because they knew that the things will happen, just as Nastenka said. She often treated little animals and saved them from death, pulling them out of the traps they fell into. Hunters liked to visit their forest and shoot animals, set traps on them, collect pine nuts. The girl really did not like it when there was gunfire in the forest.

She imagined how many lives of animals, adults and little ones will come to end because of the evil hunters, and how many birds they will shoot, how much blood will be shed on the ground.

And one day the girl thought about how to save forest dwellers from dashing hunters and just fans of shooting game. She came to the edge of the forest, gathered birds and animals and told them.

“I will not let people kill you and your little ones, I’ll tell when hunters arrive to the village, and at that time all of you will stay inside your burrows.” I will be passing such news on this meadow, firstly to the magpie, then to the squirrel, and they will carry the message through the forest. As soon as the hunters can not find anything to take in this forest, they will surely stop going here, and you will live here, feeling no fear. If you urgently need my care, to cure your children or you, let the magpie or the swallow fly to me, tap on my window, and I’ll know that some of you are in need for help, and I’ll come to this meadow. And if I need help, then I will rely on you too”, the girl told them and looked at the old she-wolf.

“You are so smart and kind girl,” the she-wolf answered her, “we will obey you, because we know that you are our friend, and you can be sure that we will always give you our help and will never betray you. We are grateful to you for taking care of us and our little ones. We love you, Skvorushka.”

And it was so. As soon as the hunters came to Kalenovka, Nastenka rushed to the edge of the forest and called for the magpie and the squirrel, they met her, and the girl warned the birds and the animals that “hunters are in the village, beware of traps and shots.”

The magpie and the squirrel immediately spread the news around, and all the living creatures in the forest were hiding so that neither bullets of hunters nor their traps could reach them. But if any of the little ones occasionally got caught in a trap, then the magpie flew to Nastenka, and she followed the magpie and rescued the baby from the trap. The hunters were just wondering where all the wild fowl has gone from this forest, for earlier in these places there were really many of it, but now everything disappeared so suddenly. They came one, two, three times, could not catch anything, and could not shoot anything, and then left the forest. So the girl and the forest animals lived peacefully and well, until the gold diggers came to Nastenka’s village. And they found golden sand in Kalenovka river. And they began to wash out golden grains from the river sand.

They set up tents on the river bank, began to build something there, to make bonfires, to fish and shoot the wildlife. They were all enormous and scary, constantly drunk, with mustaches and beards, big hands and loud voices. Oh, Nastenka, for sure did not like all this. There was awful noise in the village and in the forest because of those people. Without any need, they often used their guns to shoot. They frightened the men in the village, if they refused to give them any food, and once the diggers robbed a pig from a village family, fried it and ate it.

The villagers got tired of all this. Once the women of Kalenovka came to Nastenka’s house and told her:

“Nastenka, you’re so smart, lovely girl, you’re our Skvorushka, we know that you can understand the language of birds and animals, we know that you can talk to them, and these aliens are bothering us, they will soon steal everything from our village and will kill everyone, for they have no conscience, no pity, gold and profit obscured their brains, nothing sacred remained in them. Help us, together with your animals, to get them away from here. We will be very grateful to you.”

“Yes, I already thought about it myself,” Nastenka answered them. “I’ll try to invent something together with my friends.”

Early in the morning, when the sun touched the tops of the trees, Nastenka jumped out of the house and rushed into the forest. She ran to her meadow, whistled for the squirrel and the magpie, they instantly rushed to her. Skvorushka ordered to urgently gather the animals for the council, so that to solve the clamorous matter. A magpie flew off; the squirrel ran off to carry to everyone the message that their little girl was calling everyone to her.

All the birds and animals flied and run for the council. Nastenka told them about her worry. Animals and birds agreed that there was uneasy in the woods because of the strangers, these people did not take care of anything, and they did not honor anything in the forest. They destroyed everything and everyone. It was time to get rid of such barbarians using their own methods. Just kick them away. But how this can be done?

And Nastenka found out, how they could do all this, so that to scare the gold diggers and drive them away from the village and the whole area around.

When the entire camp of gold diggers was already sleeping, and the moon was shining over the forest, like a huge buttered pancake, the old she-wolf and her pack surrounded the tents of strangers and howled loudly and drawlingly. They howled so loudly and so drawlingly that they woke up almost all the people living nearby. Holding their rifles, the gold diggers jumped out of the tents, started screaming and looking around, but because of the tall grass around the camp nothing could be seen, only a terrible lingering wolf howl could be heard, and it was so strong that it made their skin crawl.

“Wolves! Where are they from? What do they need from us? It’s summer now! And in summer wolves do not attack people”, the elder in the brigade of gold diggers, Ivan said.

“Whether they attack or not – it does not matter,” Kirill said, “but they came to howl at the moon to our camp, and it’s not just by chance. They warn us about something. Otherwise why would they come here?”

“Let’s shoot, maybe they’ll run away, otherwise we are unable to fall asleep with such a howl!” the third gold digger, whose name was Taras, said.

Everyone agreed with him and started to shoot from the guns upside and on the grass.

The wolves clung to the ground and fell silent.

People stood for another ten minutes and went to sleep in their tents. But they just began to doze, when the terrible wolf howl came again, this time not drawling, but threatening, as if the animals asked: “Why did you come here? Why did you break our peace? Now we will not let you sleep, there will be no rest for you.”

Gold diggers this time not only began to shoot, but also made a fire. They began to throw burning flakes into the grass and bushes. The howl was interrupted, but not for long. As soon as people climbed into the tents, they heard the wolf howl again, and each time with increasing force, as if there was not a pack of wolves, but three or four of such packs. So it continued until the sunrise, people in tents did not close their eyes until morning. In the morning the wolves left. But the gold diggers could not work, they fell asleep in tents after a sleepless night.

During the day, birds worked at the gold digging place. Many of them flew to the tents, rose up such a whim that the strangers, waking up, could not understand for a long time, what was happening outside, and when they came out and saw a huge number of birds that grabbed everything from their tables and from the ground, and then were throwing all this onto them, the diggers were not only surprised by such an invasion, but also frightened.

“It seems that it is not very good place here”, the most cowardly of the gold diggers, blond Nazar said. “We have to leave this place, guys; I do not like this at all.”

“How to leave, when the gold in the river was just found, we just began washing it, a dredge was put, so much effort we took, and now we have to leave because of some birds? Well, we shoot them all, and it’s over!”

“What about wolves? At night, you could hardly understand where to shoot!” Nazar continued. “They can bite us themselves.”

“Stop whining,” furious Taras growled. He brought people here, he first found gold here, and only the work has started, the forest animals give them no peace now. He snatched a rifle from the tent and started shooting at the birds again. Those flew apart in a moment, but as soon as the silence came after the shots, the birds attacked the tents from above again.

People, exhausted by a sleepless night, furious because of uninvited guests during the day, covered their heads with blankets and fell asleep. How much they slept, no one knows, but when they woke up, they were horrified at what they saw. Their dredge, on which they washed river sand to find grains of gold, was broken by a bear – that’s what they thought, because everywhere on the ground there were footsteps of a large bear. The foodstuffs were scattered and pecked out by birds, their two workhorses were bitten to the blood by the wasps and lamented plaintively on the tie. Almost the whole camp was destroyed.

There was nothing left for their work.

The gold diggers were broken. They talked to each other and decided to go down the river to another place.

“What kind of calamity happened, as if the whole forest world has rebelled against us?” they asked themselves. And in fact, the forest world rebelled against people who did not appreciate nature, mercilessly destroyed the forest, birds, animals. For their bad attitude to nature, local people and forest inhabitants, the gold miners paid the highest price: they lost a fine gold vein, which, if developed, could make them wealthy people. We must respect the laws of nature and live in peace with birds and all forest creatures. Then we ourselves shall lead a good life, and shall be respected.

This is how the grandmother Agatha finished her story. And what about Nastenka? The girl kept on growing. And many other stories happened to her.

Nastenka and her tiger Sharik

One summer, Nastenka went into the woods, to pick berries for the grandmother Agata. She went into the forest thicket and saw under the tree a small red-haired kitty. The cat was very large and, for her pity, very sick. It could hardly move its paws and lift its head. Nastenka forgot about all her berries, picked up the kitty and ran home. Mom, seeing Nastenka, flung up her hands and cried out at her:

“Nastenka, why did you bring the little tiger home? What if a tigress comes to his smell here? Can you ever imagine what will happen to us?”

Nastenka opened her little mouth in fright and said:

“But Mom, it was alone in the forest, and then I thought it was a kitty. He really looks like a cat. Mom, how can it be, he’s alive, he needs to be cured, and the tigress, maybe, has already forgotten about him.”

The mother agreed that the tiger needed to be cured, because he was really very sick, but after that, Nastenka should take him to the forest. And Nastenka agreed with this.

And Nastenka’s mother worked as a veterinarian in the village. Her name was Maria. For a whole month Nastenka with her mom cured a tiger cub. During this time, the tiger cub became so attached to Nastenka that it followed her like a dog. And the inhabitants of the village gave him the nickname Sharik. Everyone laughed when Nastenka went out into the street with her fosterling: “Ah, it’s you, Nastenka, with your Sharik came to us. What news will you tell us?” The girl sat down on the log next to other villagers and their children, the tiger cub was climbing her knees, licking her nose, wrinkling its snout and sneezing. And everyone laughed and said: “Well, it is a real dog; the name Sharik is so suitable.” So Nastenka and her mother began to call him Sharik. Time passed and Sharik grew up. He demanded more and more porridge and meat. And mother Maria once told Nastenka: “Well, Nastenka, take your Sharik into the forest. He is a forest animal and must live in the forest. And we can not feed him. We can hardly feed ourselves.” But Nastenka did not want to part with her Sharik. They were really attached to each other.

The tiger cub grew for the summer, his paws were much stronger, his voice was much coarser, and when he growled at strangers, they were afraid to approach Nastenka and tried to stay away from her. And one day the boys started a fight, Nastenka rushed to set them apart, Sharik rushed to the boys to and, probably, he thought that the boys wanted to offend his adorable little girl, such a lovely mistress, and began to bite the boys randomly. They roared and rushed off the tiger cub, and Sharik ran after them, Nastenka ran after Sharik, shouting and cursing: “Oh you rascal, why you have bitten the boys, don’t you dare to do it again!” But then Nastenka remembered that her Sharik was the forest animal and he did not understand the human language. She sat down on the grass, called Sharik to her, embraced him and began to talk with him in his own language, whispering something in his ear that only Sharik and Nastenka understood. Tiger guiltily lowered his head and followed Nastenka. And in the evening neighbors came to Nastenka’s mom place, with complaints of Nastenka and her Sharik. The tiger cub guiltily hid under the bed and angrily rumbled, knowing that the conversation was about him. Nastenka stood up for her fosterling: “Why did the boys fight? If it was not Sharik, no one would set them apart, and maybe they would beat each other even more than Sharik bit them.”

“Well, it is right”, the women answered, “but the tiger is not a dog, it’s small now, but with then he will grow, so we will be afraid to go through the village. And what if he tears someone into pieces or some other trouble happens?”

But Nastenka did not give up. She obstinately defended her pet and swore that she would never again let him go free, but would only drive on a leash. And mother Maria had to buy a leash for Sharik. But Sharik did not like this leash at all, and he tried to pull it off his neck with his paws, but nevertheless he got used to his new position and went to the street with Nastenka only on a leash. Little by little, Nastenka began to train her pet. For example, forced him, like a dog, to bring sticks, then to carry water in a bucket, following her, and in the street there was a wet path, and in a bucket water was left only on the bottom, then to chase Nastenka. By winter Sharik grew even more, even dogs began to be afraid of him. Seeing the tiger cub on the street, the dogs were tucking their tails and tried to quickly get into the booth or run into the yard. People also began to be afraid not of the tiger cub, but of the almost adult tiger. Maria began to say that it was not up to the adult tiger to be in the village. The mom began to beg Nastenka to take Sharik to the forest. Nastenka cried for a long time, but agreed. And when the first snow fell on the ground, Nastenka led her Sharik into the forest. But the tiger cub did not understand why Nastenka had brought him into the forest. She told Sharik: “That’s all, go into the forest, you are free, you are an animal and must live in the forest, go, and look for your mother or other tigers. Come on.” But when Nastenka returned to the house, Sharik immediately followed her like a dog. So she took him to the forest several times, but he kept coming home with her all the same. And they decided with her mother that they should live the winter together, because Sharik became completely domestic, and in the spring to let him go, and if he does not want to leave, then give him to the zoo in the city or to the circus. Nastenka liked this idea, and she began to train her pet for the circus. Whatever she makes him do, he did: rolled on the floor like a ball, brought her things, and he licked Nastenka, and kissed her, and jumped through the rope, and many other quirks of Nastenka were performed by Sharik. It seemed that he understood Nastenka without words, by the movement of her hand, her head, and her nod. And when she began to talk with him, he listened to her so attentively, that it seemed from the outside that a teacher was giving a lesson to the very diligent pupil. In the winter evenings Nastenka and her tiger performed a show for all who came from their village to see what her pet was able to do. And people were so attached to Nastenka and her Sharik, that they began to seriously think about what to do with the tiger cub. Yes, almost a tiger, he really is very domestic and he will be lost alone in the forest. Nastenka brought him up not as a forest aminal, but as a domestic cat. People in other villages also heard about the tiger and Nastenka was visited by unexpected guests who wanted to see her performance with Sharik.

And one night at Nastenka’s house stopped the sleigh, all painted, two healthy guys came out of them, knocked on the door. At that time Nastenka and her mother were having supper. They opened the door, the guys entered, they said words of greeting, the tiger was sitting in the corner and also eating his food. Seeing strangers, the tiger growled and went to them. They backed away frightened to the door. But Nastenka quickly jumped up, hugged Sharik by the neck and took him with her to another room.

“Why did you come so late?” Maria asked the unexpected guests.

“Well, we wanted to talk. To see the performance of your daughter and her tiger” the strangers explained.

“Well, I have to ask Nastenka about this,” her mother said.

“So you ask, and let us to sit down and put off our coats,” the strangers said.

“First we’ll ask, and then will talk about the rest,” the mother Maria answered.

“Nastenka, come here,” she called the girl. Nastenka was already nine-years old at that time.

“Did you hear our conversation? What will you say?”

“Why not to show if people are interested,” answered Nastenka.

The guys put off their coats, put their hats on the hanger and sat down on the bench at the door.

“Please go into the room,” Nastenka called them. “Here we live with Sharik, and here we show how clever we are,” Nastenka said. The guests went in, sat on chairs and waited. Nastenka patted her tiger’s withers and began whispering something to his ear.

And then it began: they rolled around the room like balls, and Nastenka lay down on Sharik’s stomach, and he curled up and rolled like a wheel. He dragged a basket after Nastenka and pretended to ask for alms. He put water in his mouth like Nastenka, and first Nastenka poured it, then Sharik poured water onto Nastenka. The guys clapped their hands and laughed. When Nastenka and Sharik finished their performance, they asked the mother Maria:

“Would you like to sell a tiger cub to us? We’ll pay you well for it.”

But the mother replied: “This is Nastenka’s finding she found him, brought up, raised him; let her decide what to do with him now.”

Then the strangers turned to Nastenka with the same request. But the girl answered:

“Do people sell friends? I will not sell him to anyone and I will not give up my Sharik. He is my best friend.”

So that night the guys left with nothing. But just a week later a third man came with them, a very fat gentleman in a sable fur coat and with gold teeth in his mouth. He went into the hut as if he entered his own home. And right in the doorway he suggested that the mother Maria to sell him a tiger for very good money. Nastenka refused. Then he asked: “And if I take you to work together with your Sharik in the circus, I will bring you to the city, I will allocate a room for you and your mother, and pay you a good salary?”

“No,” said Nastenka, “I do not need any city, and Sharik does not know how to work. We just give people some cheer; we do it for fun, not for money. We are happy in the countryside. And we’re not going anywhere.”

“Well,” the fat gentleman threatened, “then we will talk to you in another way! The tiger will be taken away, and you yourself will be left with nothing.”

“Then we will see who will remain with nothing,” Nastenka told to the fat man very boldly and pointed with her hand in his direction. At the same instant, Sharik made a leap and pushed the fat man to the ground. “Hold,” said Nastenka. The tiger stepped on the chest of the fat gentleman and growled. And the man turned pale, afraid to move.

“Nastenka, let him go,” her mother said sternly. Nastenka waved at Sharik, and he reluctantly removed his paws from the fat man. Maria helped the gentleman to rise, shook him off and let him out into the street. He jumped into the sleigh and shook his fist at Nastenka.

And both the mother and Nastenka realized that now this gentleman will not leave them in peace. And they need to take security measures.

“Well, Nastenka,” her mother said, “you will call your animals for help again, just make sure they do no harm to anyone, but ask them to do so that no other stranger could go to the village. Let our people enter the village and leave it, but do not let the strangers bother us. Tomorrow morning you will go to the forest with Sharik.”

“I’ve already thought about it, Mom, but now many animals are in brumal sleep, the only ones who can help us are wolves, crows, marals, and little hares, and other small animals. But this will be enough. We will take our tiger cub also, and we’ll figure out something ourselves.”

“All right. God helps those who help themselves. And we need to take care of ourselves. There are no men in our house, so we will fight with the convicts ourselves”, the mother told Nastenka.

In the morning, when it was still dark, before the sun rose behind the mountains and forests, Nastenka and her Sharik went to the forest, to their favorite meadow. And in the forest it was so much snow, so high that it reached Nastenka’s waist, her legs fell into the snow and got stuck, and Sharik walked easily, as if on skis. And then Nastenka climbed on the tiger’s back, grabbed him by the neck, and Sharik rushed through the forest like an arrow. They approached the meadow very quickly, and Nastenka, with her cherished signal, called her wolf, crow and maral. The first to fly to her was a crow. Then the she-wolf came running, and after all, breaking the twigs and branches on the trees, came a huge maral. Nastenka explained to the forest inhabitants what kind of help is required from them, since uninvited guests constantly visited their village and threatened Nastenka and her mother because of the tiger cub. All the animals agreed to help the girl.

“Tell us, Skvorushka, what to do, and we’ll do it,” said the old she-wolf.

“One crow and one wolf will always stay on guard, and then we will act on their signal,” Nastenka said. “And I’ll think of how to frighten the uninvited guests,” Nastenka replied.

And the uninvited guests did not take long to wait. Actually, two days later a fat gentleman with a forest ranger and a gendarme on three horses harnessed to a sleigh rushed to the village, in the daylight. The crow and the wolf immediately informed all the forest animals and Nastenka about strangers approaching the road which leads to the village. Nastenka quickly prepared, took her Sharik and went out to the edge of the forest near the road where the strangers were supposed to go. She called the she-wolf and asked her to put a few wolves right on the road so that they would pretend to be dead and stop the horses.

And then… And Nastenka told them the probable scenario of all the action. The riders came very close to the road leading to Kalenovka, and suddenly their horses stood up as if rooted to the ground.

The horses began to neigh and beat their hooves anxiously.

“What is there on the road, why did the horses stop?” the forester asked. “Go and take a look,” he said to the coachman. The coachman climbed down from the driving-box and went towards the lying wolves.

He came very close and wanted to lean over them, to see if they were dead or alive, because they were still without any movement, and as soon as the coachman approached them, the wolves suddenly jumped, rushed at him and then rushed to the horses, which got scared and rushed straight into the forest, without seeing the road, and the coachman screamed so terribly when running along the road away from Kalenovka, that the people sitting in the sleigh were numb with fear and could not even ask what it all meant. And the forest grew darker and thicker, and finally the horses stopped at the most impassable part of the forest. They could not move further. But then a huge flock of crows descended upon the people and horses and began to peck them and croak so that the people became frozen with fear. The horses snored, people trembled with horror.

And suddenly they saw that something strange, wrapped in a white robe, with burning torches, rushed on the tiger from the forest straight to them. The people in the sleigh bent their heads in fear and hid them in their sheepskin coats. And the horses turned away of the horror and smell of danger, the sleigh was upside-down, the riders fell down into the snow, and froze, without moving. The horses raced off. The people buried themselves in the snow and waited to see what would happen to them next.

They did not remember how much time had passed, but it was night in the forest. And someone’s tender childish voice told them: “Get up and go home, and never come here again. Otherwise it will be even worse.” They raised their heads, but saw no one. And they decided that it seemed to them. They shook off the snow, got up and asked each other: “What was that? What happened to the horses? What happened to us?”

And they began to make their way to the road. But the forest was so thick and so dark that they wandered for a long time and got out of the forest only in the morning. Their horses stood on the road, they peacefully chewed hay. A note was stuck to the sleigh: “We ask you never to come to our village again and not to break the peace of the forest inhabitants; otherwise the next time you have no chance to leave this place alive.”

“Yes”, the men shivered, “we’d rather not visit this place any more,” the forester and the gendarme said to the fat gentleman. “Next time, if you decide to go here again, look for other fellow travelers,” they began to call the coachman loudly. He came out of the forest in rags, tattered, but not bitten.

“What happened to you?” they all asked in chorus.

“I was attacked by a pack of wolves; they drove me and tore me. I thought they would bite me and eat me. It is winter now.”

“But you are intact. How can this be? A pack of wolves tore your clothes to shreds, but did not touch your body at all?”

“And what happened to you?”

“When the horses run, we were attacked by crows, then a tiger came running with someone terrible on the back, and then we could not see anything. But some voice warned us not to come here again.”

“I have been warned by the child’s voice too, not to bring anyone here again. I said that never in my life I would take anyone to this damned village. Not for any promises or money.”

All the four men climbed into the sleigh and drove the horses back, away from this nightmare of village.

The news that some strange things taking place in Kalenovka, quickly flew over not only the entire city of Ussuriysk, but the whole area around. Someone believed this, someone called these people liars and inventors. Finally, the fat mister got tired of being a laughingstock in the view of other townsmen, and he suggested one day, when sitting in a restaurant with the glass of beer: “I’m going to bet, and I’m paying 1000 rubles to someone who will ride to this village and bring me the girl with the tiger.”

Many eyes fired. But only two people agreed to bet. They were recently released from prison, and they needed money so much, and they did not believe in these fables that the fat man told them.

“So you say that you pay 1000 rubles, if we deliver you a girl and a tiger cub? Agreed, give the address, sign a contract with us, take witnesses, and tomorrow we will start our way. My name is Roman, and his name is Grishka. And what is your name, mister fat man?” Roman laughed.

“I am called Sergei Petrovich. So let it be, I’ll sign the contract with you, but if you do not bring a girl and a tiger for three days, you’ll work all summer for me on the timber-rafting for free. Do you agree?”

“Agree,” Grishka and Roman laughed. They did not believe the fat man, they thought, he invented everything. Something strange glimmered to the men with drunken heads, that’s why they invented stories.

Hunters left for Nastenka and Sharik early in the morning, to get to the village of Kalenovka before the darkness. They decided to ride not in a sleigh, but on the horseback. And by noon they had already approached the same winter road that led straight to the village. As soon as the riders appeared, the crow immediately alerted Nastenka and all the animals about new guests who visited their places. It was necessary to prepare very quickly. And Nastenka jumped onto Sharik and rushed to meet the riders.

The men noticed from afar that some red ball was rushing towards them. They slowed down the horses. And did not have time to understand what happens, when suddenly a child’s voice sounded, shouting something in an incomprehensible language. This red ball instantly turned into a tiger, jumped on the horse’s withers, bit it; the horse frantically stood onto its hind legs, jerked, nipped, threw off the rider and rushed to the forest. Grishka fell to the ground, and at the same instant the tiger stepped on his chest with his paws and opened its mouth. Grishka closed his eyes with fear and he did not see, what happened to Roman. And Roman had the following situation: the she-wolf threw herself under the feet of the horse, the horse fell and pressed Roman with its whole body, raven flew over Roman and began to peck him in the head, the horse tried to get up, but the she-wolf again rushed at it and bit its side, the horse wildly neighed and pressed Roman with its body even harder.

And at that time a little girl approached Grishka and asked him:

“Why did you come? You do not have to answer, you came for a little girl – it’s me – and for my tiger, it’s him whose paws are on you now. You should not have done it. Swear that you will never enter this village again, and then we let you go alive, if not, the tiger will tear you to pieces.”

“I swear, I swear,” Grishka said, stuttering with fear. “I’ll never approach this village again.”

“Then get up and help your friend. And immediately leave this place. You have already crippled one horse, but you will get home on the one remaining. But if you do not leave, you will get a lot of trouble here,” Nastenka said and rushed off on her Sharik. But not far from the place where it all happened she decided to observe what happens to them next. Grishka went to Roman and tried to pull him out. But the horse was so heavy that they could not do it. Seeing that men can not get rid of the load of the horse, Nastenka once again rushed to them on her tiger and said:

“I’ll help you, but swear that you’ll never be here again.”

“Girl, help, we will never be here, we swear,” they begged together.

“Well, lie still and close your eyes and you step aside. No one will touch you.”

Roman closed his eyes, guessing what would happen. And Nastenka shouted something in her language, clear only to her and the animals, and instantly a pack of wolves dragged the horse aside, Nastenka whispered something again, and the wolves began to tear the horse to shreds and immediately swallow it. Grishka’s hair stood straight because of such a view, and the snow under Roman melted. But as soon as Roman felt that there was no more weight on him, he jumped to his feet and started running along the road away from the village.

“Wait, where are you going? I’ll give you a horse,” Nastenka cried. But Roman fled and could not stop. And Grishka stood still and could not move. Nastenka whistled softly, and the horse jumped out of the forest.

“Take it, it’s yours, remember your oath. And the second one was taken to feed wolves. Anyway, it would die.”

“Girl, who are you, a witch?” Grishka asked in a whisper.

Nastenka laughed and said: “No, I’m a forest fairy. You see, all animals obey me. We punish disobedient and greedy people. Farewell! And never come here again,” the girl cried, fleeing away on her Sharik’s back.

Grishka jumped on his horse and started to chase Roman. Roman was already exhausted and could hardly drag his feet. Grishka helped Roman to climb the horse, and they silently drove about ten kilometers, and then sat on to the ground to have a snack and discuss what had happened to them.

“Who do you think this girl is?” Grishka asked Roman.

“I think it’s a witch who turned into a girl and jumps on the demon, whom she turned into a tiger.”

“And she told me that she is a forest fairy and controls all the animals.”

“What do you mean, how can such a small child control tigers and wolves. It was the witch who turned into a child, that’s a fact, it was a witch.”

“A witch or a fairy, no matter, but what are we going to say to the fat man now?” There is no horse, the girl was not brought, we will have to go into his slavery for a whole year,” Grishka said.

“Are you crazy? Do you want to go back now? Don’t you have enough space in the forest? Let’s get away from the city to some mine and live there,” Roman replied.

“What about the contract? Our names and signatures are there. And what if he sues us and seeks us? We’ll go to the jail again. It’s better to go and tell everything as it was. And if there is too much work, then we’ll escape.”

“Well, let it be so,” Roman agreed, “I hope he will not skin us alive for the horse.”

“I think that he will not, he himself has been in our shoes”, they agreed on that they needed to return to the city and tell everything that has happened to them.

They reached Ussuriysk late at night. They went to bed in their tiny room, and in the morning they went to the fat man. As soon as the fat gentleman saw them, he immediately understood the matter and laughed:

“Well? Where is your girl with a tiger cub?”

Roman and Grishka told everything that happened to them. In the evening, so many people came into the restaurant of the fat man, to listen about the trip of these two men to the village for a strange girl, that there were not enough tables for everyone. People stood even in the aisles.

When Roman and Grishka told them everything in details about their adventure, the people froze. Then they all started to shout at once:

“She’s a witch, not a girl; she only turns into a girl.” She won the battle with such strong men. And we did not believe” – that evening the fat man’s revenue at the restaurant increased ten-fold. And he told Grishka and Roman: “Well, you’ll work to compensation for the horse in the restaurant, every night you will tell our visitors about your adventure.” They agreed. They had nothing else to do, and nowhere to go.

For a week they talked about their trip to Kalenovka. Already the whole region knew that in the village of Kalenovka there lives the witch who rides the demon, and the demon turns into a tiger. And all other evil spirits are transformed into wolves and crows. But somehow, one very beautiful lady wandered into the restaurant to listen to their stories. She listened to them, listened again, and then said to the fat man: “And will you sign the contract with me on condition that if I bring you a girl with her tiger, you will pay me 2,000 rubles?” The master of the restaurant, being in full confidence that no one can do this, with a smile said: “I’ll sign. But if you do not deliver them, you’ll have to work as maid for me. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” the beautiful lady said and went away. She did not tell the fat man one thing – that in the village of Kalenovka her old mother and sister lived. And because of this she is not a stranger for that village. And she can go there easily.

In the morning a beautiful lady named Ekaterina came to the fat man together with the notary and signed the contract according to all the rules. She gave one copy to the notary, took the second to herself, and left the third to the owner of the restaurant.

The same day Ekaterina went to Kalenovka to visit her mother and sister.

Of course, no one in Kalenovka suspected Ekaterina, Katka, as everyone called her in the village, of anything wrong. She was a native here. She grew up here. Here her parents and sister lived.

Katka did not ask about anything, but just went to watch the performance of Nastenka and Sharik with her mother and sister in the evening. She clapped her hands, admired the tiger cub and Nastenka. All the time she told very pleasant things. Every evening she visited Nastenka and her mother Maria, treated everyone with candies and other sweets brought from the city. She treated also the tiger cub with sweets, but he kept roaring and did not take anything from other people’s hands. Then Nastenka approached, took a candy from Ekaterina and gave it to Sharik. He gladly swallowed it and licked. And Ekaterina was telling how good it was in the city, what carriages were riding in the city, how people are dressed, how they built a new hospital there. And for children from poor families a school was built. And that there was a circus, where not only people, but also animals acted!

And then she asked:

“Nastenka, do not you want to see how people live in the city? Go to the circus? Show your Sharik? He’s such a fine fellow!”

“No,” answered Nastenka, “it’s good for me in the village; all the animals are friendly to me. And I love the forest, the animals, the river, my mother and the village. For what do I need the city where everything is strange and everyone is a stranger?”

But Ekaterina began to tell mother Maria that it was worth to send the girl to school, that she was very smart, talented, and now it is hard to survive without education..

Mother Maria began to think: and it’s true, Nastenka is about nine years old, and yet she does not know how to read and writes with errors, her mother arranged lessons herself, and there is nobody else in the village to teach the girl. Yes, Nastenka pays attention to writing and reading too little, more and more she is engaged in communication with animals. And one day Ekaterina said to Maria: “Why do not you go with your daughter to the city and see the school? You will stay at my place. In the afternoon we will go to the circus. Nastenka can also take her tiger with her. We will show him in the circus.”

“Yes, I agree to go and relax,” the mother Maria said, “but we should persuade Nastenka persuaded. She is so stubborn; nothing can be done with it. All the same she will do everything in her own way.”

“Then persuade her. What’s the matter, that daughter is only 8 years old, but she does not obey her mother.”

And Maria began to persuade Nastenka to go, just to look at the city and go to the circus. Nastenka eventually agreed, and most of all she was interested to see with her own eyes the circus, where the animals perform.

“Well, Mom, we’ll go, but Sharik will be on the guard of the house, and grandmother Agatha will feed him, but we’ll go only for two days and will be back.”

So they decided. Only Ekaterina was upset that they were going without a tiger cub. But Katka the Scoundrel – such a nickname she has had since childhood – thought: “Going slowly doesn’t prevent arriving. Gradually I’ll find the key to her, and then 2000 rubles will be mine.”

And for those times 2000 rubles were very big money, they would be enough to buy a big house, a farm and spend another year cheerfully, at your pleasure.

In the morning before she left, Nastenka ran to her meadow. Behind her there was Sharik. She called the she-wolf and the crow and told them: “I’m going to the city, but I feel that Katka the Scoundrel has certain reasons to be here, she is following me and my mother, she needs something from us. I’ll take the magpie with me. As soon as the magpie arrives without me, then I need your help. I leave the tiger at home, take care of it, too, but in case of need … take it with you and go. Here’s a map for you, where to find me – and Nastenka painted in the snow a detailed plan on how to get to the city. – And there you will find me by smell, here’s my mitten,” and she put her new mitten in front of the wolf, first having rubbed it properly on her nose and fingers.

“Do not be afraid, Nastenka,” the old she-wolf said. “You will have escorts. We will all know what is happening to you in the city.”

When Nastenka run home, the horse was already harnessed to a sleigh and her mother and Ekaterina were waiting for her. Nastenka kissed her tiger, ordered him to obey the grandmother Agatha and the she-wolf, waved to him and jumped into the sleigh. The horse slowly walked away from the house, then ran faster. Instead of the coachman sat mother Maria.

They reached the city of Ussuriysk, when the streets were already dark, and only on the one, the main street the lights were turn on. In the city, Ekaterina took the horse. She drove up to a small house.

“Well, we arrived,” she said, and led Nastenka and Maria into the house. The house was cool and not heated. Ekaterina quickly burnt the stove, made tea, gave it to the guests, and put them in the upper room. Tired from the road, Nastenka and her mom quickly fell asleep.

Then Ekaterina quietly left the house and ran to the fat man.

“Well, I brought the girl along with her mother, but without a tiger. Meanwhile, we will not hurry. Let them get used to me so that they do not have fear. Then we’ll see. Without my permission, they are not to be touched,” Ekaterina warned the fat man, “and now, so that you can make sure of this fact yourself, come with me. They sleep in my house. However, do not tell anyone about this now”, Ekaterina said.

The fat man was dumbfounded and did not believe Katka.

“You’re lying, probably you have brought another girl, and we’ll go and see. I know, for I saw her myself.”

“And I came to you, so that you could make sure.”

And the fat man hopingly went after Ekaterina along the frosty snowy street. Katka quietly opened the door and led the fat man into the room.

“Here they are,” the fat man saw that indeed, they were Nastenka and her mother Maria.

They tiptoed out of the room.

“How did you manage to get to their village and lure them both here?” the fat man asked in surprise.

“This is my secret,” Ekaterina answered. “But agreement is more expensive than money.” The fact that they are here, yet should not be known to anyone. Because there are a lot of hunters for them.”

“Well, Ekaterina, until the whole thing is done, no one will hear a word.”

The magpie, that flew, following Nastenka, nestled on the edge of the fence and heard everything. In the morning, with the sunrise, Nastenka ran into the courtyard to wash with snow. And to listen to the magpie. And the magpie told Nastenka everything she heard at night in the yard.

“I thought so,” Nastenka said, “that she is not just inviting us to visit. Look, magpie, now please do not leave me even for a step away, in anyway, whether I go to the house or somewhere else. Be right under my coat and sit quietly with me. And if it is necessary, you will fly to Sharik and the she-wolf. Is it clear?”

“Clear, clear,” the magpie said.

Nastenka ran into the house and asked right from the doorway: “And where are we going today?”

“Today we’ll certainly go to the circus,” Ekaterina answered. “The presentation is very large, they say, today trained lions will be performing.”

“Let’s go for sure,” said Nastenka, “I’ve never seen performing lions.”

In the afternoon Ekaterina ran to the fat man and told him to buy the tickets for the first row in the circus. But she told him to sit down where he can not be seen from their first row. The fat man ordered the tickets and sent the manager for them. He literally an hour later brought tickets for the day’s performance and the evening performance. Ekaterina took both. She picked up various food in the restaurant and ran to feed the “dear” guests. Nastenka and mother Maria ate deliciously and went along with Ekaterina to walk around the city.

“And where is the circus?” Nastenka asked.

“And soon we will also go to the circus, the day’s performance starts at 2 o’clock. Let’s do a little more shopping and go to the circus.”

They came to the circus an hour before the start. Magpie climbed up to Nastenka under her coat.

The girl was amazed with the size of the circus and the fact that it had a circle-shaped construction and with such a large dome. And high above, under the dome, a lot of all kinds of ropes strings and other equipment were hanging.

“For what purpose is this all?” Nastenka аsked.

“You’ll see,” Ekaterina laughed. “You will see many miracles here.”

The performance began. The acrobats flew under the dome, the clowns made the audience laugh, the rope walkers moved along the ropes under the dome, the jigits galloped on horses, and then the trained lions with the tamer came out. The tamer was English. Three lions and one lioness rolled balls, jumped into the hoop, and then the tamer forced them to jump into the huge fire rings. The lions jumped, and the lioness suddenly became obstinate and did not jump over the burning torch. Then the tamer whipped her and again ordered to jump, but the lioness growled and growled backwards. The enraged trainer with all his might hit the lioness with a whip, and she suddenly, instead of jumping into the fire circle, rushed to the tamer and knocked him to the floor. She stood with both paws on his chest and muffled, growling menacingly. Everyone in the hall screamed, but Nastenka’s heart began to beat faster. The tamer wanted to free himself from the lioness and reached for the whip, but the lioness clutched her teeth in the hand of him and bit it so that the blood splashed on both the lioness and the tamer. And then suddenly someone shouted: “Help, the lioness will bite a man!” Nastenka in one instant crossed the barrier, ran into the fence, and slowly began to approach the lioness and to tell something affectionately in a language that is clear only to her and the lions. When Nastenka came up to the lioness, she released her victim and went to Nastenka. The girl hugged the lioness by the neck and sat on her back: “Where to lead the lioness?” she shouted to the stunned employees of the circus, standing at the edges of the stage. “Here, here” – one of the employees began to show the way out. And the girl calmly led the lioness out and took her into a cage. In the cage she once again whispered something in her ear. The lioness laid down, obediently pulled out her paws and laid her head on them. Nastenka so quietly left the cage, as she entered it.

The whole hall looked at what was happening, with stopped breath. And mother Maria was more dead than alive. Ekaterina looked at the fat man and thought: “Oh, I asked from him too little for this girl, she costs more.”

And the fat man, opening his mouth, shouted louder then others: “Call for a doctor, a man dies!”

But the doctor has already tied the hand of the tamer. And when Nastenka came up to him to climb over the barrier, he stopped her.

“Who are you, girl? Who taught you to tame animals?” he asked.

“Nobody taught me anything,” Nastenka answered. “I just know their language and we are friends with animals.” I explained to the lioness that if she did not let you go and took her place in the cage, she would simply be shot. And then she will never see her kids-lions, never will get freedom, or anything else. I knew that she would obey.”

“Girl, would you like to work with me in the circus?” the Englishman asked.

“No,” Nastenka answered, “I do not like torturing animals, keeping them in cages, or beating them. They must live in freedom, – and Nastenka quickly jumped over the barrier and sat down in her place. The performance continued.”

“Nastenka, I was about to faint because of you,” the mother said.

“Well, Mom, you know that I always find a common language with animals. They listen to me, because they know, I wish them only good.”

Ekaterina left them for five minutes and ran to the fat man.

“Well, did you see the ability of this girl? She has no price. Just do not force me, let me take her entire trust. And then she is ours.”

“I saw it, I saw she costs a plenty of gold. I will not rush, but watch out and do not miss her,” he said.

When the performance was over, the director of the circus and the tamer of animals approached Nastenka and her companions.

“Forgive me, Madame,” the first said to Nastenka’s mother, “May I invite you and your daughter to come to the backstage and talk with you?”

“Of course you may, you even must!” Ekaterina exclaimed, answering immediately for all three. “We’ll have a cup of tea with you and talk.”

All together they went to the office of the circus director, sat around the table, and Nastenka began to look at the posters glued all over the office with interest.

“Well, do you like it?” director of the circus asked her. Nastenka shrugged her shoulders. Especially she liked the shot of a circus flyer under the dome with lighted candles.

Director of the circus introduced himself: “My name is Joseph, and the tamer of animals is Peter, Petr in Russian. We know that your name is Nastenka, because everyone was shouting very loudly when you jumped over the barrier to the arena. Frankly speaking, we were all very frightened for you and did not expect that you, such a little girl, will cope with the lioness.”

“Yes, I did not cope with her,” Nastenka said, “I just told her what could be if she did not listen to me or listen to her master.”

“And where did you learn the language of animals?” Joseph asked.

“In the forest,” Nastenka replied calmly “because I was born in the forest, there is large forest around our village forest. I often went to the meadow to see animals and repeated their sounds, and then began to understand what they were saying, and then I myself began to talk to them. I never offended them, helped wounded birds and animals, and brought them food in the winter, so they loved me. And then they began to help me too.”

“So, you are the one about whom legends are told in the city, right?”

“Yes, it is all about her,” Ekaterina confirmed, attentively listening to their conversation.

“And would you like, Nastenka, to be photographed riding that lioness, from which you saved Peter? As a souvenir, because you would be interested to show in your village how you ride a lioness in a circus?”

Nastenka looked at her mother.

“Why not?” mother Maria said. “That will surprise our country people. Although we have our own tiger, but the lioness is a circus one.”

“And what kind of tiger do you have?” the director asked. And Nastenka told him the history of the tiger and the way in which she and the tiger frightened uninvited guests in the village and what a wonderful friend, her tiger Sharik is. The director and the tamer, along with the women, laughed for a long time. Then Joseph offered all three women a free pass for all the performances for a whole week, when the circus is here. The women and Nastenka were very happy about that they could go to the circus for free.

“But for that,” said Joseph, “you, Nastenka, will be photographed with the lioness and show what she can do with you.”

“All right,” Nastenka agreed with pleasure. She really wanted, like every little girl, to bring home pictures of the circus to the village and show them to all.

“Does Nastenka know how to write and read?” the Englishman asked.

“He knows how, but not very well,” the mother replied.

“Would you like to give her to a circus school? There she would develop her abilities, be educated and become an actress-tamer, known throughout the world. She has a talent. And this talent should not be buried in the village. Besides, the salary even now, would be not so small if she worked for the circus, she could support herself, you, and even pay for her education abroad. But this will happen later. In the meantime, you need to learn here. Think about my offer. Your girl is very capable. She would have achieved a lot in life, if she were an actress.”

“We’ll think about it,” mother Maria said. Then the women and Nastenka left, having stayed in the director’s office until late evening. But they promised that they would come again with Nastenka in the morning to take a picture with the lioness.

In the evening, already at home, Ekaterina kept on talking, how wonderful it would be if Nastenka went to study and they all could lived together in the city. After all, the child is growing, but what future does she have in her village?

Nastenka herself was very eager to learn, and she said: “I agree to study, but with one condition – that the tiger will live with us in the city.”

“Well, of course!” Ekaterina exclaimed. “He will live in a circus and work with you.”

“No,” Nastenka said, “he will live with me in the house.”

“We’ll see,” the mother said. “We must think it over carefully.”

“And what to think about, tomorrow you will sign a contract, get an advance and move here, that’s all,” Ekaterina croaked.

“Let’s sleep,” Maria said, “tomorrow everything will be decided.”

Early in the morning, Nastenka woke up cheerful and ran to the yard to feed her dear magpie. The magpie immediately noticed her and flew to her from the nearest branch. Nastenka immediately told the magpie about all the news from the director’s office, and asked the magpie: “Do you think I should agree to study at the circus or not?”

“Agree, agree,” the magpie snapped, “and take me with you, I also want to perform in the circus. I like circus.”

“I’ll take you, of course I will,” Nastenka laughed. “How can I be without you, my dear, who will tell me all the news of the forest? – and Nastenka decided for herself that she would definitely go to the circus and learn, so that to become a great actress, to make friendship with animals and forest beasts, and so that no one could offend them in the circus.”

She came in the house from the frost so ruddy and cheerful. And from the door she shouted: “I want to study in the circus; I want to be a competent and good actress-tamer. Mom, let’s go to the director today and tell him that I want to study!”

“Well, if that’s what you decided, then you’ll learn. We’ll go home, pick up things and come to the city. And we’ll take your tiger cub. Everyone in the circus will be pleased with such a gift.”

As soon as the working day began, Nastenka, mother Maria and Ekaterina were already standing at the door of the circus director.

“Well, come, dear guests,” he called Nastenka and the women. “Have you already taken the decision?”

“We have taken the decision,” Nastenka answered. “I will study at your circus and work. And now let’s take pictures with the lioness and my magpie.”

“What magpie?” the director was surprised.

“Mine,” Nastenka said proudly.

“Well, then, let’s go,” Joseph suggested. And Nastenka took her magpie out of the sleeve of her coat. The magpie sat on the girl’s shoulder and looked around with curiosity.

They came to the circus arena, and the director ordered to call the lion tamer, photographer and attendants of the performance with the lions.

All of them very quickly appeared at Joseph’s call. Joseph ordered the Englishman to lead the lioness and, together with Nastenka, take the photo.

“And may I go with George for the lioness?” Nastenka аsked.

“Yes, you may,” the director nodded. And Nastenka together with the Englishman went for the lioness.

The lioness in the cage was dozing. But hearing the voice of the tamer and seeing Nastenka, immediately rose and growled, not at all spitefully, but as if welcoming the guests. The tamer opened the door of the cage, and Nastenka quietly went in to the lioness, began to tell her something and called to follow her, and the lioness obeyed and went after Nastenka. So they came to the arena. Nastenka was ahead, behind her there was a lioness, and then behind a lioness was a tamer. The photographer took pictures of the whole procession.

Then Nastenka climbed onto the lioness’s back, astride her, and put her magpie on her shoulder. And the third picture turned out to be quite remarkable: Nastenka held the lioness by the paw, and she stood on her hind