Читать книгу The Kind Cow. New fairy tales and fairy stories - Andrew Budhi - Страница 5

Once upon a time there were rubber boots, very comfortable. They were made of real rubber, not soft plastic. The owner loved them, every weekend he went with them to the forest and the river: for mushrooms, berries or fishing. And when the rain makes the roads muddy, he wore them on weekdays. And how he looked after them! He washed and dried them with a soft cloth: the boots also loved their owner.

Once the owner went to the south to rest, but did not take the boots: why does the owner need boots where it is always dry and sunny. The boots were sad, pined for a few days and decided to fly after the owner. They got out of the closet into the corridor, out of the corridor into the street, got on the bus and arrived at the airport. They stood in line for the right flight and heard people were asked for tickets. And the boots didn’t have a ticket: what kind of ticket can boots have? They went to the place where the luggage is loaded on the plane, stomp-stomp-stomp, climbed into a suitable bag and got into the luggage compartmen. People go with people, and things – with things. The boots looked out of the bag, and saw around suitcases, suitcases, other bags, bags, backpacks… As soon as they begin to gain altitude, there was a tapping and oohing from the next suitcase: «Ooh, ooh, ooh!»

«Who’s there?» asked the boots.

«This is us, Semyonovsky matryoshka dolls, and who are you?»

«We are the rubber boots. What are you oohing about?»

«We are bumping each other… and we have our ears blocked.»

«What kind of ears do nesting dolls have?»

«They are drawn… Ears are under the handkerchiefs.»

The boots remembered the matryoshka dolls in their master’s sideboard: they were one smaller than the other, all dressed up, painted, in handkerchiefs, shiny, varnished. And then the boots asked:

«Where are you travelling to?»

«We are going to visit the relatives of our owners, Petya and Masha. They were given two sets of Matryoshka dolls for their wedding, so they are took one set of them to re-gift. At the same time they want to relax by the sea. Where are you travelling to?»

«We are looking for the owner: he also went to the sea.»

«Hee-hee-hee,» laughed Matryoshka dolls, «how can you find a person in a big resort city?»

«We don’t know… somehow…»

Then the plane hit an air hole, and the nesting dolls began to rattle and oohing again. The boots felt for a moment as if they were falling down, then they were pinned to the bottom of the bag, and then the plane leveled off, and the boots wondered how they were going to find their owner. They thought and thought and decided: if they don’t find it, they will go home.

All the way the boots talked to the nesting dolls. Matryoshka dolls told how toys and dishes are made from Linden logs in the old beautiful Semenov city. First the work pieces are made on a lathe or using special knives, then they are soaked in oil, dried, the dishes are covered with tin powder, painted with bright colors, and varnished… Such elegant things turn out! People say: «It’s nice to use them yourself, and it’s a great gift.»

When the air holes came across on the way, the nesting dolls clattered, oohed, forgot everything they told, and started to tell over with new details. The boots liked it very much.

The plane arrived in the southern city, our fellow travelers said goodbye, and boots, stomp-stomp-stomp, went to look for the owner. They went to the beach first. There were multicolored flip-flops on the shingle on the beach.

The flip-flops were squinting contentedly and smiling at something.

«Hello,» said the boots, «where are you from?»

«From the far North,» the flip-flops replied, still squinting and smiling. «We are with the owner for a whole month here! There he is bathing.»

«We’re looking for our owner,» sighed the boots. «Have you seen my owner around here?»

The flip-flops stopped squinting and looked at the rubber giants.

«No, we haven’t seen him. Why didn’t he take you with him?»

«Why does he need us here?»

«That’s right. Our man didn’t take felt boots or high fur boots to this place. Where are you from?»

«We are from the middle latitudes. We often have cold rains, dampness, slush and all that…»

«Clear,» said the flip-flops, «it’s cold in our place in winter and summer… You can look for in the hotel.»

The boots thanked their collocutors and went to the hotel. There were men’s sandals at the entrance. The barefooted proprietor sat in a wicker chair beside them.

«Good afternoon,» the boots said to the sandals. – We’re looking for our master.» Have you seen him?»

«Are you lost?» answered sandals lazily a question on a question, not looking at the boots.

«No. He just didn’t take us with him…»

«Well, why did you come here? Why can’t you stay at home?»

«We missed our owner…»

«This is stupid,» the sandals grumbled, casting a quick glance at their collocutors. «Your master is not here. Look for in the private sector.

«Thank you,» the boots said, and started walking toward the two-story houses.

In the very first house, a pair of old, worn-out women’s shoes with small heels stood on the porch.

«Good day! Sorry to bother you, have you met our host?»

«My dears,» said the shoes good-naturedly, «we can’t keep in mind all the people around. What does your owner look like?»

The boots began to describe their master in detail.

«Do you live alone with the owner?» the shoes asked before had finished listening.

«No. The owner has a wife and children. And they have a mountain of shoes. Why do you ask that?»

«It’s strange,» said the shoes. «It seemed to us that you live alone – you have no one to talk to. The owner went on a spree: so you went to the courtyards to communicate.»

«Well no! We are visitors here,» said the boots. «The owner went on vacation, and we followed him.»

«So that is it! Let’s get a closer look at you – we can’t see very well in our old age.» And the shoes began to look long and carefully at the boots. Then they said good-naturedly: «Visitors, indeed. My dears, if your host isn’t here, you’d better ask around at the hotel.»

«We’ve been there before,» the boots said sadly.

«Did your master went to this resort?» suddenly asked the shoes.

«We don’t know… We thought he went to this resort…»