Текст книги "Snoutie and His Friends"

“You must learn to think globuslly, that is, I mean, ga-ga-ga-globally,” Goose once honked importantly.

“Uncle Goose, what does glo-o-o-bally mean?” asked a confused Young Ostrich, stretching out the word.

“It means the way in which you should think; it means the breadth of your views and the span of your creative plans. You must look at the world from the great height of your thoughts in flight,” explained Goose. Then he thrust out his chest, pleased with himself and his explanations.

Goose’s young charge fell to thinking. Or, rather, to coming up with an idea. The only thing Young Ostrich remembered out of all the explanations his Globally Thinking Tutor had just given was something about the height of flight and wingspan. Of course, Goose had not actually said anything of the sort and had meant something else entirely, but Young Ostrich judged it in his own way. He decided that he absolutely must learn how to fly. And not just how to fly, but how to fly higher than anyone else.

“That is exactly how I will be able to look at the world from the great heights of my flight,” he dreamed.

And so Young Ostrich set about trying to reach the goal of his existence: he started to learn how to fly. Every day he ran around the meadow near Goose’s house with his neck stuck w-a-a-a-y out, trying to take flight. He even scampered up a tall hill nearby and then ran down it as fast as he could, neck out and tiny wings spread. But none of these efforts led to any results: Young Ostrich could not take off. On the other hand, though, his long legs did get stronger and stronger.

And here Young Ostrich, who was about to get very upset, had an idea that he believed to be an excellent one. He decided to blow up lots of balloons, tie them all together tightly, and fly off with them as soon as the wind picked up and it looked like good flying weather. This is how he came up with his Flight Plan, the details of which he did not share with Goose, since Goose was very busy during the day and loved to talk more than listen in the evening.

One morning Goose told Young Ostrich that that day was a Very Busy Mail Day, that he had to deliver lots of newspapers and letters, and that he would return home only very late that evening. Young Ostrich decided that this would be a very good day to put his plan into action. All he needed was a strong wind, and he got one!

It was a perfect day, just the right kind of weather for flying and making dreams come true! Young Ostrich blew up lots of balloons, tied them tightly together, climbed up with them onto the roof of Goose’s house, and, when the next gust of wind came, he pushed himself off with his feet as hard as he could and… flew!

The wind carried Young Ostrich over the Forest. He was so happy he almost forgot to breathe.

“Finally! Now I can fly like all the other birds!” he peeped in pleasure. “What a wonderful day it is today! This is what you call looking at the world from the height of flight,” thought Goose’s Student as the wind carried him over the treetops.

But Goose’s Charge did not get to look down on the world for long. The wind died down fairly quickly, and Young Ostrich slowly began to lose altitude. Soon he landed at the other end of the Big Forest.

But the bunch of multicolored balloons flying over the Forest had attracted the attention of its residents and of Snoutie, who at that moment was drinking mint tea in the garden, looking through a book, and gazing up at the clouds from time to time.

When he noticed the balloons appear in the sky from out of nowhere and float high above his head, Snoutie immediately wrote this somewhat philosophical song:

How nice it is to be able to fly,

Shooting high up into the sky!

Circling over forest and stream

With nothing in your head but a dream.

To be able to soar high in your mind,

And make your life one-of-a-kind.

It’s breadth of views that matter

And certainly not idle chatter.

The strange, multicolored balloons flew by and disappeared, and Snoutie turned back to his book.

Meanwhile, the satisfied traveler and balloonist was still trying to recover from the joy of his flight.

“So that’s what it means to fly!” he thought. “Now I think I can definitely take off on my own, without any help from balloons or the wind!”

He tried running faster around the edge of the Forest, flapping his wings with all his might, but the result was the same: Young Ostrich never took off.

“But, still, it has been an amazing day!” he decided, pronouncing these words out loud.

“H-o-o-o-t! It really has been quite a day!” rang out a voice from above the thick leaves of the old tree. “I think you will learn a lot from this day, Young Ostrich,” continued Wise Old Owl. “You will discover a lot of new and interesting things.”

“Hello, Wise Old Owl! I was trying to learn how to fly… I am a bird, after all….”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” noted Owl gaily. “I know all about your adventures in the air. And about everything else that goes on in the Big Forest,” he added meaningfully.

“Excuse me, Wise Old Owl, but I really need to get home. The day is already ending. Goose will be back soon, and he’ll be very worried if he doesn’t find me there. And I don’t think I’m able to fly home yet.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get home quickly enough,” laughed Owl. “And soon you’ll learn what exactly it is that you can do much better than others. But for now, do you see that path? Run along it and follow the trail left by Burly Boary. This path will take you to a road that leads to Chez Royal Chef Rabbit. From there it’s not far to Goose’s house.”

Young Ostrich thanked Wise Old Owl for the advice and ran off quickly down the forest path. The wind picked up again and started blowing leaves off the trees. Threatening dark-grey clouds gathered over the Forest, and suddenly there was lots of activity. Young Ostrich noticed that all the forest creatures, large and small, were hurrying along the path with him back to their homes. He also noticed that he was running faster than all of them, even the fastest runners. He even jumped across the wide stream without the slightest effort.

“I have to get home as quickly as possible so Goose doesn’t get upset!” thought Young Ostrich, forcing himself to run even faster. Now the trees and bushes along the path were flashing by so quickly that Young Ostrich could hardly make them out. “I have to slow down or else I’ll run right by my house!” he exclaimed, and then he stopped. The door to his house stood right in front of him.

“Well, congratulations, Champion!” heard Young Ostrich. “No, no, you didn’t hear me wrong,” continued Wise Old Owl, who had settled down on the roof of the house. “You run faster than any bird or animal in the Forest.”

“I never would have thought it,” said a surprised and happy Young Ostrich.

“Now you know what it is that you do better than anyone else,” smiled Wise Old Owl. “Being able to fly is not at all necessary, especially for those who run faster than anyone else. As my neighbor Madame Partridge would say, you must develop your competitive edge.” Owl gaily winked goodbye to Young Ostrich.

Young Ostrich looked thoughtfully after Owl as he flew away and saw that the clouds had broken up and the thunderstorm had passed the forest by.

Meanwhile, Goose was just finishing his mail deliveries. He walked up to Snoutie’s house and rang the doorbell. He found Snoutie in the garden wearing a chef’s hat and apron.

“Welcome! You’re just in time, Goose,” announced Snoutie. “It’s Corn Thursday, and I have made corn fritters with cheese. Please join us!”

A tired Goose happily followed Snoutie into the garden, where the table was already set for dinner.

CHAPTER FOUR,

IN WHICH BURLY BOARY GETS STRANDED ON AN ISLAND, SNOUTIE ORGANIZES A RESCUE PARTY, AND BEAVER CUB GNAWS THROUGH A SAILBOAT

“Don’t forget to take your ga-ga-ga-galoshes,” announced Goose, who was usually the first to know the latest news because of his job as a postman. “The newspapers are predicting heavier rain than we’ve seen in years.”

And, just as the well-informed Goose had warned, the rain started the very next Friday. It began pouring down in the morning, continued through lunch, and was so bad by evening that none of the creatures in the Big Forest wanted to leave their homes, even for the most important reasons (stocking up on food) or for entertainment (visiting friends). The rain had still not let up by the next morning, and it continued all weekend long.

Usually Burly Boary slept quite well in this kind of weather. He would crack the window open and breathe in the fresh, forest air and the smell of wet pine trees and juniper with his sleepy snout. He was not at all bothered by the flashing of lightning, the noise of the downpour, the howling of the wind, or the groaning of broken branches. It was only sometimes, when the thunder pealed loudly, that Burly Boary would grunt with annoyance in his sleep, turn over onto the other side, and continue his dreaming.

The rain finally stopped on Monday morning. Long-awaited rays of sunlight poked through the thick, wet undergrowth and were reflected in the puddles of water that lay everywhere. The forest paths and green meadows, the small shrubs and little knolls—all these were soaked with water. Little brooks had turned into streams, and streams had become rivers.

The forest creatures were finally able to come out of their houses. Some hurried off to find new ones because their old ones were flooded, others rushed to dry out their wet supplies of food, and still others just wanted to fluff out their feathers, stretch their legs, air out their ears, and warm up in the sun.

One of the happy little rays of sun decided to have a little fun with Boary. It snuck into the house through an open window and settled right on his sleepy snout. The snout warmed up and started to turn pink. Boary growled in his sleep and turned onto his other side. But the ray of sunlight followed right after him and again settled on his snout. Then Boary sneezed and woke up.

Now Burly Boary felt he was a Very Organized Boary. On a wall of his house hung his Daily Schedule, which he had put together on New Year’s Eve, when he made a resolution to stay strong and athletic. Since then, he had followed this Schedule without fail (except of course for the days he spent sleeping, which were rather great in number). Now Very Organized Boary looked at his Schedule, took a thick, blue mat and jump rope out of his closet, and dragged black dumbbells out from under his bed. He wiped some drops of water left over from his bath off his rough, grey bristles and dug around in a drawer in his desk for his Exercise Notebook, which was a special Sports Notebook that he keep in addition to his Daily Schedule. He recorded a list of all the exercises he considered Especially Useful in this notebook. He also made note of his Special Sports Achievements, which for some reason never changed. After conducting a detailed count of the number of knee bends and pushups he had done, Boary started his exercises.

At the same time, Housey Mousey, whose den was quite close to Boary’s house, decided to take a good look at her food supplies and make sure they were not spoiled. She dragged soaking bags of grain out of her den, ran them over to the nearest hummock to dry in the sun, and then dragged them back into her den. Housey Mousey was an Economical Mouse and a Farsighted Mouse.

“Into the den! Everything into the den!” squeaked Very Worried Housey Mousey. “I need to dry everything out quickly and take it back to the den! If it rains again, everything will go bad and I’ll lose all my supplies! Then what will we have to eat this winter? Into the den! Everything into the den right away!”

As she ran by Burly Boary’s house, Housey Mousey remembered that he loved to sleep during rainy weather. She was a Polite Mouse and a Well-Mannered Mouse, and she had absolutely no wish to disturb her neighbor’s sleep, but her concern about her own supplies and the supplies of her neighbors was, in her mind, much more important than politeness, so she decided to knock on Boary’s door. But no one answered. She knocked harder.

“Neighbor Boary, are you at home? Wake up! You need to dry out your supplies!” she squeaked loudly, and then she stopped to listen for any noise from inside.

But the house was quiet. You see, Burly Boary really did not like it when someone interrupted his Schedule. At that moment he was just completing his exercises with his dumbbells. He decided to ignore the knocking at the door and picked up his jump rope. Huffing and puffing, Boary jumped with so much strength that his oak table jumped right along with him and the chairs started moving around it. Then Housey Mousey decided not to waste any more time and to return to her bags of grain.

“Aunty Mousey, Burly Boary probably didn’t hear you!” she heard someone say behind her. She turned to see Beaver the Builder’s Littlest Beaver Cub sitting next to her. “You’ll need a different approach, or even a Special Approach, as Royal Chef Rabbit likes to say,” he continued, gaily scrambling up onto the windowsill. “Well, it’s exactly as I thought,” he confirmed happily when he saw Boary jumping rope with all his might.

“Good morning, Uncle Boary! You have a visitor,” he announced and skittered back down off the windowsill and onto the wet grass.

“Interrupting the Schedule! This is a disgrace!” huffed Burly Boary crossly, and he went to open the door.

After hearing what Economical Housey Mousey had to say, Boary went right down to his cellar to make sure that his supply of acorns hadn’t gotten wet. They hadn’t, and in fact they couldn’t have, because they simply weren’t there at all. The thing was that Burly Boary had always believed that one should eat one’s fill before going off to sleep, especially if that sleep is going to be a long one due to rainy weather. What’s more, Boary believed that the acorns would go bad if they were stored for too long. So, in short, Boary’s supplies never lasted for long: he would eat them as soon as they appeared in his cellar, which is why his cellar was now completely empty.

After looking around the cellar disapprovingly and grunting crossly, Burly Boary glanced at his Weekly Schedule, which was hanging on the wall right next to his Daily Schedule. According to this Schedule, Supply Day was due to take place the next day, but Boary wanted to eat right then and there.

“Well, this is totally unacceptable! It’s against the Schedule!” Burly Boary crossly kicked an empty apple box with his hind legs.

He decided to start filling out his supplies right away. Grabbing his largest basket from the cellar, Boary put on his favorite green raincoat, adjusted his hood, and grabbed his black umbrella with the wooden handle that always stood in the same place under the coat rack in the mud room.

He wanted to finish this job quickly and get back to his Daily Schedule, so he decided to go to the largest oak tree in the forest that had the most acorns. He galloped over to the foot of this thick oak tree, which grew on a little hill near the river, and got down to work. He became so involved in collecting acorns that it took him awhile to notice that the sun had disappeared behind thickening clouds and that the rain had started to pour down again.

“The most important thing is to finish what I started!” With these words, Burly Boary neatly opened his umbrella over his basket, put on his galoshes, and started collecting acorns faster.

Meanwhile, this fresh downpour was causing the water in the river to rise quickly. It slowly began to surround the little hill where the thick oak grew. When he had filled his basket all the way up to the top, Boary realized that he was now standing on an island. He had no fear at all of the water, because he was a good swimmer and was easily able to steer a raft with a pole. He had even won prizes in punting when he was a student at Cambridge. But in this case it was impossible to swim because the strong current would have turned the basket over and sent all the acorns down to the bottom. And this was something Boary just could not allow to happen. So he moved closer to the oak, held tightly onto his basket, and looked off into the distance.

The rain stopped and the sky turned pink. But the water in the river continued to rise higher and higher and was already coming right up to the hooves of our Lover of Acorns. Boary became seriously worried about his supplies.

“Cro-o-o-a-a-a-k-k-k!” heard Boary from somewhere very close by. “What a current! I can barely stay on my lily pad! Cro-o-o-a-a-a-k-k-k!” announced Croaky the Feel Good Froggy as he floated by. Then he fell off his lily pad.

“Look! Look! Burly Boary is stuck in the water!” shouted the little beaver cubs, who had climbed up out of the river and onto a neighboring island hill. Beaver the Builder followed after them.

“Good to see you, Burly Boary! I thought you would be warming your hooves by the fire in weather like this. I was even planning to drop by to sit by the fire with you,” said Beaver. “But I see the river has decided to spoil our plans.”

“The river’s no big deal,” snorted Boary in response. “I would have swum across it long ago without any trouble at all if it weren’t for my supplies! What am I going to do with all these acorns?” he asked, lifting the basket even higher.

“First we need an Assessment of the Situation,” said Beaver the Builder wisely. “This will help us put together a Plan of Action. My Assessment of the Situation is such: Burly Boary can be saved, but his supplies probably cannot. The Plan of Action is still not clear.”

“I don’t like your Assessment of the Situation,” grunted Boary crossly in reply. “And your Plan of Action doesn’t suit me either.”

“But the water is getting closer and closer to your supplies,” laughed Beaver.

“I’d rather eat all the acorns right here, right now then lose them!” With that, Boary sank his snout into the basket. All that could be heard was the sound of loud chewing and the crunch of acorns.

“Good evening, young creatures,” said Robin the Elder from somewhere up in the branches of the Oak. “Lose the supplies or eat too much – neither is a great choice. But allow me to offer you an Alternative Option, as our friend Royal Chef Rabbit loves to say. I know who can help us! Hang on!” Flapping his wings, Robin the Elder flew off in the direction of the edge of the Big Forest.

While all this was going on, Snoutie was trying to organize his pantry, since the weather did not allow him to play happily in the garden. As he was cleaning up, he came across the very same pumpkin that had recently served as a house for the future Young Ostrich. Snoutie realized that such a wonderful vegetable might come in handy around the house, and he started to think about how he could use it.

“Perhaps I should give it to someone?” But before Snoutie could finish his thought, he heard a knock on the window and ran upstairs. Robin the Elder was sitting on the window sill.

“Your friend needs your help! I know you’ll come up with something!” Robin chirped, and he went on to tell Snoutie all about Beaver the Builder’s Disappointing Assessment of the Situation and his Unsuitable Plan of Action.

Snoutie grew worried and confused, and he started stroking his big ears and shifting his snunk from side to side, which is what he usually did when he felt this way. But then he had an excellent idea.

Inspired, he hurried back down to the cellar, leaving Robin the Elder at a loss. As he ran down the stairs, he wrote a new song:

My friend Burly Boary

Is sinking in water far from the shorey!

But I know what will do the trick

To help me reach him nice and quick!

A minute later, Snoutie rolled his famous pumpkin out onto the porch. He picked up the longest pole he could find in the garden and dragged the pumpkin over to the water that was lapping up against the garden. He jumped into the pumpkin, pushed off as hard as he could with the pole, and set sail. Robin the Elder perched on the edge of the pumpkin and starting giving Snoutie directions to the island where Burly Boary was waiting for an Alternative Option for saving his acorns.

“What is our Rescue Ship called, Snoutie?” asked Robin the Elder.

“I don’t know,” puffed Snoutie in reply, pushing hard with the pole and shifting from hoof to hoof in order to keep his balance. “For some reason, I didn’t have the chance to think of one. Do we really need one anyway?”

“We most certainly do, Snoutie,” Robin objected. “And it has to be a Correct Name, a Suitable Name, and an Appropriate Name. I would even say that it should be a Momentous Name. It’s not uncommon for the fate of a boat to depend on its name.”

“I see, I see,” said Snoutie, shaking his snunk. “I agree.” He had great respect for Robin the Elder, but he did get slightly tired from Robin’s Instructive Speeches. Then he exclaimed, “Luck! Yes, that’s it! Luck!”

“What do you mean to say by that, little Snoutie?” asked Robin importantly, raising his right eyebrow and sweeping his beak around to be sure that the boat was moving in the right direction.

“From now on our boat will be known as Luck. After all, that is exactly what we need today,” said Snoutie, easily pushing aside a log that was floating by with his pole.

Success sailed confidently forth towards the island, where the Economical Lover of Acorns was waiting for his friends’ arrival. Burly Boary also believed in luck.

All the big and small creatures of the Forest had gathered by the shores of the overflowing river and were watching with undisguised interest as the unusually round, orange boat floated past them.

“Snoutie and Robin the Elder are probably taking a trip along the river,” said Loppy the Believing Bunny. “Good for them! That’s an excellent sport!”

“Yes, good for them, of course, but today isn’t the best day for punting,” croaked Croaky the Feel Good Froggy, scratching behind his ear.

“Who is punting, and do I need to be afraid of him? Does he swim quickly?” chattered the Littlest Beaver Cub, who had scampered up onto a large, white mushroom and was listening in on the discussion between Loppy and Croaky.

“Punting, my little one, is sailing in boats with the help of a long pole,” explained Croaky the Feel Good Froggy with some authority.

“How can you talk about sailing in boats and punting? How can you even talk about water sports at all when all our supplies are soaking wet!” said Housey Mousey crossly. “Punting! Pudding! Punting is not pudding, and pudding is exactly what we need in this weather.”

“Yes, p-u-u-u-dding,” said Littlest Beaver Cub dreamily, stretching out the word. “Chocolate mixed with vanilla!” This topic got him so excited that he even took a bite out of the white mushroom he was sitting on.

“I don’t think that Snoutie has set out on a trip along the river,” said Wise Old Owl, shaking his head. “If that were really the case, then I would assume that I would have known something about it. I think that Snoutie has some other Idea in Mind. This isn’t about punting. Or pudding, for that matter,” said Owl gaily, nodding at the Littlest Beaver Cub.

The creatures on the shore had absolutely no idea that the event taking place in front of their eyes was nothing less than an Operation to Save the Lover of Acorns.

“Snoutie is sailing! Snoutie is sailing!” cried the beaver cubs, jumping happily along the shore as they watched the orange Luck sail straight for the island.

Luck made it there right on time: the water had risen right up to the supplies of acorns. Burly Boary, who was standing in the water grunting in alarm, was trying to raise the basket even higher.

“Hop on board, my friend Boary!” cried out Snoutie, pushing the boat right up to the island. “Hurry!” he shouted, fighting against the current to keep the pumpkin in place.

“Take the acorns first!” A worried Burly Boary handed Snoutie the basket, which Snoutie placed on the bottom of the pumpkin. “Now we can get going,” said Boary, satisfied, as he jumped lightly aboard Luck.

Luck swayed dangerously and tilted to the side, but the experienced sportsman Boary scrambled to the middle of the boat, and it straightened.

“Give me the pole, Snoutie,” said Boary, taking the initiative into his hoof. “Ah, this takes me back to my good old days as a student!” Grunting sportily, Boary pushed powerfully off from the shore with the pole.

But Luck didn’t move an inch. Burly Boary wrinkled up his snout crossly, stamped his hoof, and then pushed off again with even more strength. But the boat refused to budge.

“As Wise Old Owl says, my friends, there is Reason to Believe that we have run aground,” announced Robin the Elder.

“Run aground?” answered Boary crossly. “I wonder why? It must be because the boat is too small.”

“That could be,” said Robin the Elder, “but it might also be the case that a member of its crew is a little too heavy.”

Snoutie looked happily at his round tummy and shrugged, while Burly Boary bent over the side and started studying the water around the boat carefully.

“I don’t really understand what you’re talking about, Robin,” he finally said, “but the boat needs a push or else it won’t move and we’ll be stuck on this island forever!”

“We’ll help you,” said Beaver the Builder. “Sometimes even Luck needs help. Hey, cubs, get to work!”

So Beaver and his cubs placed their paws against the boat and pushed Luck as one. The boat jumped and started to sail away from the island.

“We’ll guide you,” continued Beaver the Builder. “It’s better to accompany Luck. Let’s swim, cubs!”

“Chart your course for Snoutie’s house,” commanded Robin the Elder.

The friends happily set off down the river. They got so involved in their conversation that they didn’t notice that Littlest Beaver Cub had disappeared from sight. But they did soon notice that somehow the boat was slowly beginning to fill with water. They couldn’t find the cause of this and started to get worried.

“Snoutie, Boary, Beaver! Sound the alarm! There’s a leak in the boat,” chirped Robin the Elder, flapping his wings.

Beaver the Builder quickly counted his cubs. When he found that one was missing, he disappeared under the water. He soon resurfaced, pulling Littlest Beaver Cub with him and looking very stern. The cub seemed quite satisfied and was earnestly chewing on something.

“Mmmm! I’ve never tried anything like that before,” Beaver Cub announced happily, smacking his lips and narrowing his eyes with pleasure, even though Beaver the Builder was holding him by the ear.

“This little fellow chewed through the bottom of the boat,” explained Beaver the Builder.

“Right now we don’t have Time for Instructive Discussions with the Foolish Younger Generation, nor, my friends, do we even have much time to think,” frowned Robin the Elder. “We need to come up with a way to reach Snoutie’s house as quickly as possible.”

“We need to sail faster before water floods the whole boat,” said the representative of the Foolish Younger Generation, who was at that time finishing up a piece of pumpkin and looking rather guilty.

“Raise up your snouts, my friends,” said Burly Boary, trying to encourage the crew. Then he let out such a loud and lengthy grunt that Robin the Elder flapped his wings nervously and Snoutie jumped as if he had just heard a ship’s horn.

“‘The louder your grunt, the faster you’ll get there!’ That was our punting team’s motto. We always finished first at Cambridge!” explained Boary. For some reason he then started to mount the pole in the middle of the boat. “I think you’ve all already guessed who the captain of that team was!” he added.

“Uncle Boary, what if someone grunted quietly, or didn’t even grunt at all? Then what would happen?” asked curious and uncontrollable Littlest Beaver Cub.

“Anyone who didn’t grunt missed the boat!” Boary raised his hooves as if he was giving a lecture. “Remember that, little one!”

When the pole was in place, Burly Boary quickly slipped off his raincoat and threw the hood over the top of the pole. He handed one half of the coat to Snoutie and held the other half himself.

“Let’s set sail!” pronounced a satisfied Captain Boary.

The wind blew at Boary’s raincoat and the sailboat Luck quickly sailed right up to Snoutie’s house, even though water continued to fill the boat. Almost as soon as the brave crew stepped onto dry land (with the rescued supplies, the umbrella, and the raincoat, of course), the boat started to sink into the water with a loud gurgle and disappeared entirely from view a few minutes later. Snoutie and his friends looked gratefully after it.

Dusk settled in quickly and the fog started to thicken over the Big Forest. Papa Snoutie invited everyone to spend the night. The friends happily discussed their adventures as they sat by the fire enjoying mint tea and honey cakes.