Читать Fairy tales for Veronica, or almost true stories. Book 1

Introduction

Once upon a time there was a girl named Veronica. She understood the language of toys and often talked to them. The girl loved to visit her grandmother. There was a big old closet. Toys lived in it. They knew many different stories and fairy tales. Sometimes Veronica took them out of the closet, sat them on the couch, and then they told their stories to the girl.

THE FIRST STORY

FLUFFY

One fine summer day, three little hares were born in a burrow at the edge of a pine forest. Two weeks later, the hares grew up and began to get out into the clearing near their house. Their names were Big Ears, Big Eyes and Fluffy. As you've probably guessed, they didn't get their names by accident. Big Ears' ears were much longer than his brothers'. Big Eyes had big expressive eyes. And Fluffy was distinguished by his fur coat: it was very thick and fluffy in a beautiful peach color. The Big Eyes and Big Ears had a completely different color: their fur was gray-brown.

The kids loved to play in their glade. There were many flowers growing there, and beautiful butterflies were flying over them. The little hares were hiding under the leaves when the butterfly landed on a flower to feast on sweet nectar, and then jumped after it to the next flower, trying to jump higher than it flies. It was a lot of fun! However, the mother Hare did not approve of such games. She explained that when the little hares jump so high, they can be noticed by some predator: a wolf or a fox.

– Little hares should be very careful and attentive, – the mother Hare taught her children.

– But physical education is also very important, – said Papa Hare, – you need to be able to run fast, jump and strengthen your hind legs.

So the little hares jumped on the lawn after the butterflies. There was a lot of food this summer: juicy grass, roots, berries. But it was especially delicious to feast on bitter dandelions and sweet clover. Sometimes, together with their parents, the little hares went to the river, which flowed not far from their house. Big Ears, Big Eyes and Fluffy loved the river very much. They splashed and learned to swim first in the shallow water near their shore, but by the end of summer the hares were calmly swimming across the river, arranging competitions. Fluffy won more often than others. He was generally the most agile and fastest of the brothers.

It was fun and carefree in the summer. But autumn has imperceptibly approached. All the butterflies have gone somewhere. And there was no one to play with in the meadow. And the meadow itself has noticeably thinned: clover and dandelions have disappeared, all the flowers have faded, there are no tasty berries, the grass has dried up. Now the little hares were feeding on the roots and bark of trees. It was getting colder every day. Big Ears and Big Eyes gradually began to change the color of their fur coats: They were getting whiter and whiter, and when the first snow fell, the hares became completely snow-white. White fluffy lumps that are not visible at all between the snowdrifts. And what about Fluffy? Its coat has become even warmer and fluffy, but the color remains the same – peach. And only the breast became snow-white. It became difficult for the little hare to hide in the field from enemies.