Читать книгу Snoutie and His Friends - Diana Malivani - Страница 9

CHAPTER ONE,

IN WHICH THE LITTLE TRAVELERS SET OUT FOR THE BIG FOREST AND DADDY TELLS MICHELLE ABOUT SNOUTIE

One morning, when Snoutie was still deep asleep, a beautiful butterfly flew in through his open window. It circled around his bed for a while and then settled down right on his snunk. This tickled Snoutie. He sneezed loudly, woke up, and saw the butterfly flying away.

“Well this is turning out to be an interesting morning,” thought Snoutie. “Probably something unusual will happen today.”

Then he sucked in some air through his snunk and caught the mouthwatering scent of corn cereal and warm milk floating in from the kitchen. Snoutie sighed deeply with pleasure, stroked his plump tummy, and bounced off to breakfast.

That day, like all other days, Snoutie played in the green meadow in front of the house and swung on the swings. Then he helped his Papa by watering the juicy vegetables in the garden from his red watering can.

“I really did have an interesting morning,” thought Snoutie, remembering the butterfly’s visit.

No sooner had he thought of this than he again saw the same butterfly sitting on an enormous cabbage leaf.

“Now I’ll catch you for sure!” exclaimed Snoutie and, grabbing his net, he started chasing after the butterfly.

His morning guest left the cabbage leaf, flew over to a dandelion, and then started circling over the swings. Then, after resting a minute on the gate, she flew off somewhere in the direction of the forest.

“You still can’t escape me!” shouted Snoutie, waving the net around.

He continued to run after the butterfly and didn’t even realize that he had jumped over the fence around his little house.

As he chased after the butterfly, he failed to notice how far he had traveled from home. Meanwhile, the butterfly had disappeared into thin air! Suddenly he heard a delicate little voice singing a happy song not far from him. Just to be careful, Snoutie hid behind the trunk of an old oak tree. Then, after a bit, he cautiously stuck his snunk out. He saw a small, beautiful girl gathering a bunch of bright yellow dandelions. She was singing something softly and had no idea that Snoutie was there. Snoutie was pleasantly surprised and started studying her from his hiding place.

She really was quite pretty. She had thick, chestnut-colored curls that gleamed in the sunlight and enormous blue eyes with long lashes. She was wearing a pink dress with a white lace collar and a big bow in the back.

Snoutie shifted from paw to paw and did not realize that he might snap a dry twig until a loud crack rang out.

“Oh, who’s there?” asked the scared girl, looking over at the tree.

“It’s me. Please forgive me,” mumbled an embarrassed Snoutie as he came out of his hiding place. “I really did not mean to frighten you. I am Snoutie. Who are you?”

“My name is Michelle. I live near here, on the other side of the hill. Mama let me go out on a walk to pick dandelions.”

“And I was chasing after a butterfly and ran beyond the fence by accident. My house is over there, at the very edge of the Big Forest. Have you ever been there?” Snoutie asked his new friend.

“No, never! My Mommy and Daddy do not let me go that far,” answered Michelle. “You know, Daddy told me that a magical white flower grows in that forest. If you see it and make a wish, your wish will most certainly come true. But it is very hard to find this flower. It grows in a thicket that is impossible to pass through.”

“It would be great to find it!” Snoutie’s eyes gleamed and he started noisily sucking in air through his snunk with excitement. “Maybe we should try? We’ll find it quickly and be back before the sun sets so our parents won’t even have the chance to get worried.”

“OK,” agreed Michelle, “but we have to be back home by evening. Otherwise my parents will be very upset.”

So Snoutie and Michelle set off quickly in the direction of the Big Forest.

* * *

Snoutie and Michelle bounced along the forest path. Everything around them seemed magical: the heavy branches hanging over their heads; the thick, prickly bushes with sour berries; the soft carpet of green moss; the splashing of clear water in the stream; the songs of birds; and the rustling of fallen leaves.

The little travelers ran merrily off into the depths of the forest, singing a happy song as they went along. Butterflies of all sorts of colors fluttered in the air, and gay grasshoppers jumped around in the deep grass. It seemed to the two travelers that the Forest, which had been warmed by the rays of morning sunlight, wanted to be their friend.

Then Snoutie thought he heard the splashing of water somewhere up ahead, and the two friends soon found themselves on the banks of the forest stream. The stream was so wide and fast that there was no point in even thinking about crossing it. The travelers began to feel a little tired and hungry.

“I think we’ll find a tasty lunch on the other side of the stream,” said Snoutie. “We just have to figure out how to get over there.”

“But first let’s sit down and rest,” answered Michelle.

A large, flat, brown rock lay near the shore. The tired travelers decided to sit on it and take a little break.

But as soon as they sat down, they felt the rock begin to move.

“You’re not very courteous, are you, young creatures? You have just sat down right on the roof of my house, which, if you must know, is not a bench for tourists!” said a scratchy voice.

Michelle jumped up in alarm, and Snoutie grunted in fear and rolled off onto the grass.

“There’s no reason to jump up and grunt!” continued the grumpy voice.

“Oh, please excuse us,” said the travelers in unison, still unsure who the voice belonged to. “Would you be so kind as to tell us the best place to cross this stream? It’s so wide and so fast.”

“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you,” said the same grumbling voice, and a small, wrinkled head popped out from under the stone they had just been sitting on.

“I am Turtle,” said the head in a scratchy voice. “Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you, too,” said Snoutie, embarrassed. “My name is Snoutie, and this is Michelle. We are traveling through the forest. We want to cross to the other side of the stream to find something tasty to eat, but we don’t know how to do it.”

“Walk down that way a little farther. It’s narrower there and the wind has blown a lot of branches into the water,” explained Turtle. “You won’t find it very hard to cross at that point. You’ll probably meet Croaky the Feel Good Froggy and Beaver the Builder and his little beaver cubs on your way. Once you get across the stream, you should follow Burly Boary’s tracks along the well-trodden path. You will pass the leaning tree, where Robin the Elder has built his nest at the very tippy top. Then you will see a thicket of burdock, where Loppy the Bunny has dug his den. After that, you will come out into a large field that has been completely turned over by Sir Mole. Lots of sweet potatoes and wild strawberries grow there.”

Snoutie and Michelle thanked Turtle and happily ran on down the stream. They soon heard the splashing of water and a loud croaking coming from somewhere behind a growth of ferns.

They had already reached the stream and were preparing to walk into the water when they suddenly heard someone quite nearby croak out in a singsong voice:

“Don’t cross the stream there! Do-o-o-on’t! Cro-o-o-a-a-a-k-k-k! It’s deep there.”

Snoutie and Michelle looked over to the place where they had heard this croaked warning coming from and saw an enormous frog rocking back and forth on a yellow water lily. His cheeks were puffed out and he looked very important and serious. When he saw our travelers, he jumped up high in air and plopped down into the water, but then he neatly emerged from the stream and made his way up to where they were standing on the shore.

“Thank you very much,” said Snoutie. “You know, I am slightly acquainted with your relatives, the green frogs.”

“Some relatives!” snorted their new acquaintance self-importantly. “I am much bigger and stronger than any other frog. I am Croaky the Feel Good Froggy! And, if you have noticed, I am not just green like they are; I am green with brown spots. And what’s more, no one else croaks as loudly as I do. Cro-o-o-a-a-a-k-k-k!” Croaky the Feel Good Froggy showed off his skill with pride, causing Michelle to hide behind Snoutie’s back.

“Might you tell me where you are going? I would be happy to assist you! Cro-o-o-a-a-a-k-k-k!” proposed Croaky helpfully.

Snoutie and Michelle explained how they came to find themselves in the Big Forest and how they were searching for a magical white flower.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this flower,” said Croaky, thinking hard.

He showed them the best place to cross the stream, how to get back to the edge of the woods, and where the sweetest wild strawberries grew.

“Have a safe trip,” he croaked after the friends.

After crossing the stream without any problems any problems, they headed straight for the field that Turtle had told them about. Snoutie caught sight of the green sprouts he knew so well and, squealing and wagging his tail in anticipation of the enjoyment he would get from filling up his tummy, he started digging up sweet potatoes, just like the expert his father had taught him to be. Michelle picked lots of ripe, red strawberries.

The satisfied travelers had just sat down on the green grass to rest, when all of a sudden they heard someone’s desperate cries for help coming from the direction of the stream. The friends jumped up and ran quickly in the direction of the cries. When they reached the stream, they saw red Little Squirrel struggling in the water as he tried as hard as he could to grab hold of some branches hanging above him. Snoutie walked into the cold water and, standing firm against the strong current, stretched out his snunk to drowning Little Squirrel. Little Squirrel grabbed it tightly with his front paws, but the current was so strong that Snoutie could not make his way back to the shore.

“Help! Please hurry!” cried Michelle loudly.

“I’m coming!” sounded someone’s voice.

And right then and there Hedgie the Valiant ran out onto the shore. He was known by this name to all forest residents because one day he saved Robin the Elder’s chicks from an attacking snake. After making sure that the chicks were safe, Hedgie drove that snake out of the Big Forest once and for all.

Now, standing on the very edge of the shore, Hedgie stretched out his walking stick to Snoutie. Snoutie grabbed it, clambered up onto the shore, and then easily dragged wet, frightened Little Squirrel out of the water.

“Thank you, brave Snoutie! Thank you, Hedgie the Valiant!” they heard someone say behind their backs.

It was breathless Mama Squirrel, hurrying as fast as she could towards the cries of her Little Squirrel and looking terribly afraid.

“Where are you heading?” Squirrel asked, once she caught her breath.

Upon learning that Snoutie and Michelle were looking for a magical white flower, Squirrel ran off somewhere and soon returned with a basket overflowing with fresh mushrooms.

“You have a long trip ahead of you,” she said, handing the basket to the travelers. “Take these mushrooms with you so that you can snack on them during your trip.”

After wishing Snoutie and Michelle bon voyage, Mama Squirrel and Little Squirrel scampered up a tree and disappeared into their hollow. Meanwhile, the friends set off farther along the river in search of the magical flower.

“What on earth could this be?” wondered Michelle, pointing to a large, ash-grey ball at the foot of the trunk of an old tree.

“Let’s find out,” said Snoutie, and he started prodding the strange ball with his snunk.

Well, let’s just say it would have been better if he had never tried that, because suddenly a cloud of angry wasps descended on Snoutie and Michelle with a terrible buzzing.

“A wasp’s nest!” shrieked Michelle, very frightened. She grabbed Snoutie’s paw, and they took to their heels without even trying to find the path.

The wasps quickly caught up with the fleeing Snoutie and Michelle, circled over their heads, and tried to sting them. Snoutie and Michelle were already getting tired from this race through the forest. They started tripping over roots and rocks and feeling more and more out of breath.

Just when they thought they could not go any farther, they noticed a small, long-eared, fluffy, grey creature waving its paw at them from under a large burdock leaf. Desperate to escape from the wasps that were catching up with them, Snoutie and Michelle rushed over to the leaf at full speed. They hid themselves away beneath it and then suddenly fell down into a hole and found themselves in someone’s den.

“That’s it, you can come out now. The wasps have flown by,” the owner of the den said from above and then introduced himself to the panting and frightened travelers. “I am Loppy the Believing Bunny.”

“Thank you ever so much,” said Michelle as soon as she caught her breath.

“Yes, thank you! You saved us!” chimed in Snoutie. “But why are you called that?” he asked curiously.

“Because…because that’s what I’m called…because my den is under a big burdock leaf, which is lop-eared just like me,” answered their savior somewhat slowly. “Well, and probably also for some other reasons as well,” he added, avoiding their question as he stroked his long, grey ears with his paws.

Then he noticed that Snoutie had swollen up from the wasp bites and that Michelle had scratches on her legs. He got very worried and even started shaking out his ears.

“Oh, oh, oh! You need some emergency medical assistance!” he exclaimed, happy to change the subject.

Loppy hopped off somewhere and soon returned carrying some green leaves in his paws. He ground them up like a professional and stuck them onto Snoutie’s snunk and Michelle’s scrapped knee.

“This will do the trick,” said Loppy in his best doctor’s voice. “You won’t even notice how quickly everything heals. And these are for you, Snoutie: cold pebbles from the stream. You need to hold them up against your snunk.”

Then it was time to say goodbye. Loppy the Believing Bunny wished the friends good health and gave them each of juicy, orange carrot.

As they came out of the den, Snoutie and Michelle noticed that the sun was already starting to set beyond the tips of the trees. Dusk was settling in over the forest and the first stars were appearing in the sky.

“To tell you the truth, I’m a little hungry, and I wouldn’t mind a light dinner,” complained Michelle. “A warm bun with raisins and a mug of hot chocolate would be just right.”

Snoutie also felt quite hungry.

At that moment they heard a strange rustling of leaves and a delicate little squeak.

A small, chubby grey mouse appeared between the trees. Her round tummy didn’t seem to prevent her from moving quickly, and on her back she was carrying a sack filled with grain, which was quite large for her height.

“Into the den! Everything into the den! Don’t block the path! Move aside!” she exclaimed by way of a greeting. “I have to get everything into the den or the rains will start and I’ll lose all my supplies! Then what will we eat all winter? Into the den! Everything goes into the den right away!”

“Let’s help her,” Michelle whispered into Snoutie’s ear. “She’s so small and those sacks must be so heavy for her.”

Snoutie and Michelle helped their new friend gather up the grain and carry it into her den. After that, Housey Mousey—for that is what this little mouse who stored her food wisely was called—offered them some dinner:

“We’ve done what we needed to do! My supplies of grain are safe and well-hidden! Now we should have a bite to eat.”

Housey Mousey took all the best things out of her cold cellar: little ears of oats and wheat, grains of buckwheat and corn, dried white mushrooms, and last year’s acorns, and laid them out on a wide stump. Then she invited her guests to start eating.

Snoutie and Michelle, who were starving, threw themselves at the food and quickly ate their fill. They warmly thanked their kindly hostess for the meal, but then they suddenly felt embarrassed: together they had probably eaten a year’s supply of the mouse’s food.

“Learn how to give generously and your gifts will be returned to you,” said Housey Mousey, as if in response to their thoughts. Then she bid them farewell.

As they continued on their way, the mouse’s song carried to them from somewhere behind the trees:

Give generously

And you’ll be a plump old Mousey!

Give generously

And you’ll be a wise old Mousey!

“We really need to get home,” worried Michelle. “It’s too bad we weren’t able to find our magical white flower,” she added sadly.

“It really is,” answered Snoutie. “We must have done something wrong or looked in the wrong place.”

“H-o-o-o-t!” rang out a voice from somewhere way up high in a pine tree. “As far as doing something wrong, well you sure got that right. For starters, you never should have gone out on such a long walk without permission from your parents. And that goes for both of you,” the voice scolded. “You must have known that your parents would get very worried and upset! Well, anyway, let’s get acquainted.”

The invisible speaker flew noisily down to a lower branch.

“My name is Michelle,” said the girl, who was the first one to collect herself. “And this is my friend Snoutie. We have been searching the forest for a magical white flower…”

“I am Owl. The forest creatures call me Wise Old Owl, and it’s true that I have seen quite a bit in my time. And it’s safe to say I know everything there is to know about the Big Forest. For example, I know that you are good and kind creatures, and that you saved Little Squirrel. I will always be happy to see you in our forest, and I think that you will have many friends here. But now you must go home. H-o-o-o-t!” And Owl disappeared.

Snoutie and Michelle understood that their trip was coming to an end and that they would be home that night. The rising moon brightly lit up all the forest paths, and its light guided the young friends to an opening in the trees. Snoutie and Michelle hurried in that direction. Soon they came out to the edge of the Big Forest, right next to the familiar green hill they had left behind that morning when they set off on their trip.

* * *

One fall evening, after dinner, when Michelle had grown bored of watching the wet leaves spin in the wind as dusk set in, she went to see her Daddy in his office. Daddy was sitting at a wide table, leaning back in a dark-green leather chair, and reading a big, fat book. When he saw Michelle, Daddy smiled, set aside the book, and cleared a place on the table. Michelle climbed up, got comfy, and started swinging her legs, letting her slippers knock against the oak panels of the table.

“Daddy, you’re probably quite busy?” asked Michelle sweetly.

“Not very, I don’t think,” answered Daddy. “In fact, I’m quite sure of it.”

“Well, that’s great, then,” said Michelle. “Please tell me my favorite story about Snoutie.”

“About Snoutie?” Daddy asked.

“Yes. You do remember Snoutie, don’t you? He’s a little funny-looking, but very good and kind,” answered Michelle. “He and I are best friends.”

“Yes, now lots of children know who Snoutie is, and they write him letters,” said Daddy. “Snoutie sometimes drops in for a visit, and I let him sit in my chair at the table and read those letters.”

“He’s an Incredible Snoutie!” cried Michelle.

“I have no doubt about it,” said Daddy.

And Daddy began telling Michelle about Snoutie again.

“As you will remember, Snoutie and Michelle once did some traveling in the Big Forest,” said Daddy. “I would even say they did quite a bit of traveling for such little travelers.”

“Of course I remember,” nodded Michelle. “That was where they met so many friends. Tell me what happened next, Daddy.”

“I’ll try,” said Daddy.

And he did.