Читать книгу Flamy the Dragonet - Dmitrii Emets - Страница 7

The bunnies Sineus and Truvor never went to bed without a fairy tale. Every night before bedtime Masha or the doll Olga would tell them the familiar stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, or Puss in Boots. However, Masha was not home that evening; she had gone to spend the night with Grandma and had taken the doll Olga with her. The bunnies complained and did not want to go to bed without a fairy tale. In the end, Pookar, who was fond of sitting in silence in the evening, got tired of their whining.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough! You’ll have a fairy tale! Lie in bed and close your eyes!”

Pookar put his hands behind his back and began to pace the room. The bunnies quietly lay in their mitten beds and waited for the fairy tale promised by Pookar.

“What does that silly doll usually stuff your head with?”

“Once upon a time there was a miller and he had three sons. He left the oldest the mill, the middle one the donkey, and the youngest a cat in boots…” the bunnies babbled. They knew all the stories by heart, but for some strange reason they could not tell the tales by themselves.

Pookar laughed. “What cat? In boots? What they don’t do to mess with kids’ heads! I once tried to put boots on Muffin, thought that she would scratch less, and what happened? Muffy almost pulled all the stuffing out of me! No, not on your life! Today I’ll tell you another story.”

The bunnies perked up. Pookar started, “An old man like our Pirozhkov had a lot of dust in his apartment. The dust lay on the floor, on the sofas, and even in the closed drawers of the table. One morning the old man got up and saw in the dust tracks of little feet wearing shoes with tiny studs. The tracks led into the kitchen to the sugar bowl. It was as if ten little people had gone there in the night.

“In the evening the old man put ten pieces of candy on the kitchen table. Nine were normal, but one was poisoned. The candies disappeared in the night. The next morning only the tracks of nine pairs of small shoes led to the sugar bowl… Bunnies, eyes closed, I said!

“The old man put out another piece of poisoned candy. The day passed and there were fewer tracks. He poisoned another piece of candy, and another, and another. So time after time he poisoned the candy, until one day he saw only one track. A row of tracks crossed the dust sadly and led to the window. Nobody came to the sugar bowl anymore.”

Pookar finished the tale, yawned, and looked at the bunnies, certain that they were already asleep. Nothing of the kind. The bunnies were quietly trembling in their mitten beds.

“Te-te…”

“What te-te…? Watch out, or I’ll spank you!”

“Tell us Cinderella, Pookar!” the bunnies timidly asked.

Pookar grimaced. “Well, fine. Remind me.”

“Once upon a time there was Cinderella. The stepmother and her two daughters forced Cinderella to work a lot and did not let her go to the ball at the palace. In the palace lived a prince…” the bunnies prompted.

“Then Cinderella, like our Muffy, wanted to get married. Right?” Pookar interrupted.

“Yes. How do you know?” The bunnies were surprised.

“Always one and the same! Well, listen to the sequel. Cinderella got tired of them taking her for a fool and preventing her from having a good time. She whacked the stepmother on the forehead with the glass slipper. The slipper, naturally, went to pieces. Then Cinderella locked the sisters in the basement and ran to the ball herself. There she quickly married the prince and arranged her own business.”

“What business?” The bunnies were surprised.

“It’s clear what. With the prince. That was the kind of person she was, this Cinderella of yours!” Pookar yawned and looked at Sineus and Truvor in the hope that they, too, were inclined to sleep.

It was not so, however. The bunnies were whimpering softly in their mittens but were not going to sleep. “Olga didn’t tell it this way! Ah-h!”

Pookar became extremely annoyed and jumped up and down on the spot. “Well, what else do you want? You want that I tell you about vampires or Blue Beard?”

“Olga didn’t tell us about them! Ah-h!”

“I’m tired of your Olga and your fairy tales! I’m asking for the last time: will you sleep or not? I’ll give you three minutes! Already two! If you don’t fall asleep, I’ll call Freddy with the saw![3] And he’ll cut you up into pieces!” Pookar threatened.

You can imagine what started here. Pookar had never heard such a loud squeal. Usually Sineus and Truvor would only whine a little bit, but now, what a storm! Pookar nearly went deaf. He darted around the room, not knowing what to do. Lucky for him, Muffin, awakened by the loud crying, came in and calmed the bunnies. At the same time, the cat expressed to Pookar everything she thought of him and even a lot more that she did not. It turned out that, on the whole, the cat did not have a very high opinion of him.

Pookar held his head with his hands. “You meowed out my soul, nasty Muffy! Not on your life! Next time, you tell the fairy tale! This Cinderella of yours is a pain in the neck!”