Текст книги "Short stories for English stories. Something about Martha"

Short stories for English stories
Something about Martha
Ida Rodich

Корректор Liliya Kardenas

Иллюстратор Nadiya Doycheva-But

© Ida Rodich, 2017

© Nadiya Doycheva-But, иллюстрации, 2017

ISBN 978-5-4485-6098-9

Создано в интеллектуальной издательской системе Ridero

Clever names

In summer Martha lives with her grandparents in the country-side. Their cats live there too. It is a very nice cats family. The head of the family is the mother cat. She is ten years old, pretty and has a lovely character. Her daughters, two graceful kittens, are cute and friendly. The cats are Martha’s best friends, and she loves them a lot.

The cats have funny names. The mother cat’s name is Desde-mona. Her daughters are Wilhelmina and Manuela. Martha doesn’t like such long names and calls her pets short: Mona, Mina and Mania.

Sometimes Marta’s grandmother calls the cats gently by their pet names: Mosja, Misja and Masja. But she doesn’t always do that. The cats have to behave well to deserve that. And this isn’t often the case.

Sometimes Martha’s grandmother gets angry and says: «Desdemona, Wilhelmina and Manuela, behave yourselves!»

The strange names sound so stern that Martha understands: the cats can get into trouble with their owner. It is better to save them somewhere until her grandmother is in a good mood again.

What clever names the cats have. They help them to stay safe from Martha’s grandmother.

Meeting old friends

Marta and her grandparents have arrived at their summer house. Martha’s grandfather has driven his car into the backyard and is getting out of it now. Cats are running to meet him and cuddle on his legs.

«Look, Martha. The cats like your grandfather so much. In this way they tell him about their love», says grandmother to the girl. Martha is sorry: «So they don’t love us, Grandma. It’s a pity.» «Sure, it’s a pity,» agrees her grandmother. «But only your grandfather came and fed the cats in the winter. That’s why they know him better than us».

«But I love the cats too,» mutters Martha.

«Calm down, Martha. Don’t get angry with them,» says her grandmother gingerly.

Nevertheless Martha feels the cats are just being nasty to her. Last summer they had so much fun playing together. She looks disappointed with her four-footed friends: «The cats have a very bad memory. They have forgotten me, and that’s it!»

Grandfather walks into the house, and the cats are cuddling up on each other now.

«Look, Grandma. The cats are kissing each other!» Martha is excited. «They are just having fun,» her grandmother explains.

Martha is smiling. Her cats are so cute. Martha was missing them badly in winter and has brought their favourite food with her. The girl wants to give it to the cats and pet them. But the cats escape in different directions.

Martha is sad and feels lonely. Can they become friends again?

The love at first sight

Next morning Martha wakes up early. She gets dressed and hurries out of the house. First of all she’ll meet her neighbors: two dogs, a Persian cat and chickens. She peeps into their backyard through a crack in the fence and sees the old dog Nika lying next to her house.

Martha waves at Nika: «Hello, Nika!» The dog turns its head to face the girl but doesn’t bark.

Martha calls another dog, Typhoon. Typhoon recognises Martha at once and reacts happily to her coming. He starts jumping, whimpering and wagging his tail. Typhoon wants to say to the girl: «It’s nice, Martha, that you are back. We can play together again.»

The Persian cat Benjamin is nowhere to be seen. He is a sleepyhead and is lying in a soft bed somewhere in the house.

Suddenly Martha sees a wonder. At the fence where the chickens lived she discovers a golden cloud of fluffy living balls.

Baby chicks! Martha is excited. She looks at the chickens running around and asks her grandfather: «Grandpa, where is their mother, the big chicken?»

But grandfather doesn’t know that.

The girl gets worried about the chickens: How do the chicks live without their mum? She wouldn’t live without her mother even a day.

«If the chickens haven’t got their mother I must take care of them then.»

Martha asks her grandfather: «Grandpa, are these my chickens?»

«No, Martha. They are the chickens of our neighbor.»

But Martha loves the chickens so much. She wants to have them all to herself and asks her grandfather the same question again.

«You can’t have the chickens. They belong to our neighbor. But you can see them every day,» explains the girl’s grandfather.

«Grandpa, I want to look after them,» says Martha again in a serious voice.

«The chickens don’t need your care, I’m afraid. They’ve got a good shelter and they always have food and drink,» grandfather comforts the girl.

But Martha doesn’t want to calm down:

«Poor chickens, I’m sure they want me to pet them.»

After a while her grandfather gives up:

«Well, Martha. I’ll speak to our neighbor, and hopefully he’ll let you take care of them. Agreed?»

«Sure, Grandpa».

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?

Martha is standing in front of the mirror, brushing her hair and admiring a small pretty girl, she can see behind the shiny mirror surface. She likes her mirror image. The girl has a lovely face, wavy blonde hair, big blue eyes, rosy cheeks and a little red mouth. She has a new dress on. The girl is smiling and showing her pretty white teeth. This girl is so sweet! But Martha doubts her look a little.

«Grandma, is this girl in the mirror nice?»

«Sure, honey, she is… You are a very sweet girl, Martha», confirms her grandmother.

But Martha wants to be even prettier. First of all she puts her hair up and pins it up with a fine hairpin. Now her hair is beau-tifully embellished.

Martha looks back into the mirror again. What else can she do to look even prettier?

Oh well, recently Martha’s mother has given her a new jewellery set. Sure, it will go well with the dress. From her bag Martha takes out a colourful necklace, a bracelet and a couple of ear clips. She puts the bracelet on her wrist, fastens the necklace around her neck and the clips to her small ears.

«This jewellery is absolutely charming. Grandma, how do I look now?»

Martha glimpses coquettishly at her grandmother.

«You look very pretty, darling. This jewellery is really charming and suits you perfectly. But why have you dressed up? Are we having a party today?» wonders Martha’s old grandmother.

«In our house we don’t have any parties, but outside we do. Grandma, it’s such a lovely day today. Our flower garden is splendid. Some happy music is playing out there, as if there is a party.»

«In summer our neighbors have music parties every day,» points out the little girl’s grandmother.

«But this music is so beautiful. And if everything around is so beautiful I must be beautiful too, right?»

Looking for friends

Martha is walking in the garden. She is bored and looking for someone to play with. Finally she sees a kitten called Wilhelmina lying under a bush. Martha likes Mina. She is the prettiest among her pets. Mina has a grey body, a white neck and black paws. What’s more, Mina loves playing. Martha thinks she’d like to run a race with her. But Mina is sleeping. So, Martha has to wake her up.

The girl goes up to Mina and starts gingerly talking to her. «Mina, I’ve got a beautiful dress on today. Look at me please.» Martha is jumping around, flaunting her new dress in front of the cat. But Mina isn’t interested in Martha’s dress. She isn’t even looking at it.

Well, Martha knows how to wake Mina up. She’s got a necklace, a bracelet and ear clips. She can show them to Mina. Sure they will suit the cat.

Martha throws the necklace around Mina’s neck, puts the bracelet on her paw and fastens the clips to her ears. Mina looks really charming with the jewellery on.

Martha is excited: «Mina, this jewellery suits you so much! You can wear it if you like. Now can we play together?»

But Mina doesn’t care about her look. She still hasn’t opened her eyes. However, the cat has raised a paw warning Martha:

«Martha, you are troubling me.»

But Martha doesn’t notice the warning. She only thinks about how to wake the cat up. Suddenly an idea comes to her mind: «A tidbit! If I give her a tidbit, she will be up. So I have to find something tasty right now.»

Mina likes meat. But the cat has already had her breakfast today, and grandmother won’t feed her again. Martha is looking around. What can she give to the pet? Suddenly Martha sees a red strawberry among the flowers.

«Strawberries make tasty food,» thinks the girl. She picks the berry and continues stirring Mina.

«Mina, I’ve got a tasty berry for you. Do you like it?»

But cats don’t eat berries, and Mina doesn’t want to wake up. She is sleeping, and nobody is allowed to disturb her. Mina is angry with Martha and is now hitting her tail against the ground. Martha knows: it’s high time she left the cat alone. Mina can release her claws, scratch or even bite her.

But Martha is hardheaded and won’t capitulate.

«Just wait, Mina! I’ll put you on your paws. All in all, you can sleep at night.» Martha decides to tickle Mina with a flower. But first she gives the cat the last chance to wake up on her own and says in a soft voice:

«Mina, I’ve found a beautiful flower for you, please smell it.»

But the cat doesn’t like flowers. Martha’s patience wears off. She tickles Mina’s tummy. Mina wakes up, hisses angrily, climbs up on the table and goes back to sleep.

Who can Martha run a race with?

What about birds? This time Martha will tray to find some birds to play with, who don’t hiss and bite!

A hairstyle for a cat

It’s hot outside. Martha is sitting on a bench under a sunshade. The mother cat Mona is dozing nearby suffering from the heat. She has long hair and looks as if she has a fur coat on.

The cat tries to crawl even deeper into the shade but she is unlucky. Martha feels pity for Mona. The pet needs urgent help.

Martha knows that pet’s hair can be cut. She has already seen their neighbor grooming Benjamin’s hair.

Benjamin’s fur is thick and needs regular care. But the Persian is lazy and doesn’t like that. In summer Benjamin spends a lot of time outdoors. His snow white fur becomes grey from dirt. The dirty hair gets matted and cannot be brushed. Then, his owner grabs scissors and cuts the matted bits off.

«The Persian is being cleaned again,» laughs Martha’s grandmother. Indeed, the wind ventilates the cat’s fur and blows out the dust. The cat likes this procedure and can’t get enough of his new favourite haircut.

«If Benjamin’s hair can be cut Mona’s hair can be cut too. I know how to cut hair and can do that by myself. Mona will be happy with her new hairstyle,» decides Martha.

The girl grabs some scissors and very carefully sneaks up to the cat. Mona suspects nothing and is silent. Martha grasps the cat’s hair and wants to cut a bit of it off. Mona is shocked, meows loudly and bites Martha on the hand.

Martha is disappointed: «Mona, you are a stupid cat, an ungrateful beast! You’ve no clue about haircuts. You must suffer for your bad behavior.»

The rain

It’s raining heavily outside. Puddles are as big as a sea. Grandmother doesn’t let Martha go out, even if she puts her new red rainboots on. The girl is sitting in her grandfather’s rocking chair by the window and waiting for the rain to stop. Martha is rocking in the chair and looking out of the window. There isn’t a glimpse of the sun in the sky. Her eyes are closing slowly, and she falls asleep to the sound of rain.

Martha is sleeping and has a wonderful dream. Their backyard with all its flowers, bushes and trees is in water and looks like a large swimming pool. Her cats and dogs are swimming there.

Martha has already seen ducks and geese swimming in a lake. But she didn’t know that her pets can also swim well.

Martha joins the cat’s family. She is excited. It’s so much fun to be swimming together!

The feisty Mina is attacking her little sister Mania. But the mum cat restores the discipline in no time, and Mina gets a well-deserved slap.

«Well done, Mona. That was fair. Next time she’ll have to think twice before she hurts the others,» Martha encourages the mother cat.

Suddenly Martha sees Typhoon splashing around in the pool. The dog is happy to find Martha in the water. He wants to lick her face and puts his front paws on her shoulders. Martha gets warm…

At this moment the girl wakes up. She opens her eyes and sees the bright sun in the sky. It’s the sunshine which comes through the window and warms Martha up. Now she can go out.

Martha puts her red rainboots on and hurries out into the backyard. The girl wades through the puddles.

Cool! What else can be cooler than having this fun?

This is mine!

Grandmother and Martha are taking a walk in the village. Grandmother is driving Martha in her pretty pushchair. The pushchair is a bit too small for Martha, but she likes riding in it. It’s blue and very comfortable. And Martha doesn’t have to walk on foot.

Many children are playing in the street. But they are all too little, and Martha doesn’t want to play with them.

«I’d rather gather flowers,» decides the girl.

Flowers grow all over there. Martha gets off the pushchair, picks some flowers and makes a bunch.

Suddenly she sees a little child running to her pushchair. «This kid might steal my pushchair,» Martha is getting worried. «And why not? Granny can give it to him without thinking. She always wants me to walk on foot.»

But that’s going too far! Martha throws the flowers away and hurries back. She is older than the kid, runs faster and is first at the pushchair.

«This is my pushchair!» explains the girl to the toddler.

She gets into the pushchair and wants to leave. But the child is holding on to it tight.

«Let me go, kid! I’ll drive away,» Martha is asking the child. But he clings to the pushchair and doesn’t let Martha go.

Martha’s grandmother suggests: «Martha, why don’t you let the kid drive your pushchair a little?»

«Oh no, grandma. He’ll get into the pushchair and take it away from me,» protests Martha.

At the same time Martha is pushing the pushchair with her feet and the child aside. The little boy falls down onto the ground and starts crying. His mother comes up to him and takes him away…

Martha is going home in her beautiful pushchair and thinks about the child on her way. She starts having pangs of conscience:

«The kid was crying so bitterly. He might have got hurt.»

Next minute she calms herself down:

«That’s your fault, kid, because it’s my pushchair!»

And a while later: «Well, if I don’t need the pushchair anymore, I will give it to him. I’m not greedy at all.»

The favourite bike

Last year Martha got a shiny new bike from her parents. It flashes, buzzes, whistles and chirps like a motorcycle. Plus, Martha can ride it very easily. All she’s got to do is put her feet on the footrests and turn the steering wheel, showing the way to her grandmother. And grandmother pushes it forward by means of a long handle coming from the back of the seat.

However, last winter Martha grew up very quickly, and her grandfather screwed off the footrests and the handle, so now Martha can ride the bike on her own. But all Martha’s grandmother’s advice doesn’t matter. Martha knows how to navigate the bicycle. She doesn’t need her grandmother’s help anymore.

Martha is getting on the bike and wants to pedal off. She presses down hard the pedals and buttons. The lights are going on. The bicycle is buzzing. It makes some loud sounds: a knock, a crack, a clang… But it doesn’t move.

Martha is disappointed and gets off the bike. Her grandfather wants to help her and explains how she can pedal: she has to rotate the pedals in turn and press the pedal which is just at the top first.

«Well, now I can easily ride it.»

Martha is getting on the bike again. But she is wrong. Her feet are slipping off the pedals. Her toes are getting into the front wheel. The wheels are rotating in all directions… But the bicycle doesn’t stir even a bit.

Martha’s patience’s coming to an end. This time she gets off her bike once and for all. Grandfather asks:

«What’s up, Martha? You’re not riding the bicycle, are you?

«Grandpa, it isn’t me who doesn’t ride the bike, but the bike doesn’t ride me without my pads and a handle. Let‘s screw them back again.»

A trip on the dog

Benjamin the Cat is living a happy life. All day long the Persian lies lazily in the backyard and keeps an eye on what is going on.

This cat is lucky. He has wonderful blue eyes, a pretty bushy tail and he can purr very gently. Everybody likes him and always forgives him whatever he does.

So Benjamin wallows in this love and behaves haughtily towards other animals in the yard, who suffer from him a lot, especially Typhoon.

Typhoon spends every day on the chain. From time to time the Persian makes him angry: The cat walks proudly past the dog and demonstrates his happy life to him. Typhoon growls at the cat but can’t get him. That’s how the cat makes fun of the dog and then continues basking in the sun.

One day Martha sees Typhoon running free in the yard. The Persian is sleeping on the table and doesn’t notice anything. Now Typhoon can take revenge on the cat…

The cat is stretching slowly on the table and jumping down on the ground.

Typhoon is just there! In a moment the dog catches the cat… Martha gets worried: The Persian is clumsy. Can he slip away from the dog?

But Benjamin twists out and starts running away. Now Typhoon is chasing the cat across the yard. Benjamin is scared. He’s running fast when he suddenly crashes into a house wall. Martha is scared and wants to call her grandfather for help.

But suddenly the situation changes.

The cat turns around, jumps on the dog’s back and lands right on his head. Typhoon gives a loud howl of pain, races to his house and crashes up against it. The cat tumbles on the ground and saves himself on the table.

Typhoon creeps ashamed into his kennel and doesn’t show up until late in the evening.

Martha is happy: «Bravo, Benjamin! You’ve won. You’re the cleverest cat in the world.»

The baby goat

There is a beautiful green lawn next to Martha’s grandparents’ house. A baby goat is grazing there. He’s nibbling grass. From time to time the baby goat stands up on his back legs and picks leaves from a tree growing on the lawn.

He is little and doesn’t like grazing alone. So he often bleats sadly. He would like to frolick with somebody and is looking at Martha as if it is asking her: «Come and join me, Martha! We can have so much fun playing together.»

Martha is feeling sorry for the goat. She picks a few apples and rushes to the animal. But it seems like the baby goat has already changed his mind. He has bent his head and is running to meet the girl.

«Oh, no! The goat is going to attack me with its horns!» thinks Martha.

«It’s unfair, mate. So, why did you call me in the first place?» Martha tries to stop the animal and throws the apples at him.

But the goat is ignoring the food. He wants to attack Martha and continues chasing the girl.

Martha has to urgently escape somewhere. She hurries to the potato field and finds a shelter under the foliage. So, the baby goat loses sight of Martha, but he doesn’t go back. He is standing at the edge of the field and looking out for the girl.

«Go back, baby goat! You are just being silly,» whispers Martha.

The goat bleats softly and walks back to his lawn.

Well, at least now Martha is in safety. She can go home. But how does she look now? Her feet, legs, hands and dress are covered in mud. She’ll definitely have trouble with her grandmother. And there she is!

Cats don’t wear hats

Martha is playing in her sandpit. She is filling a little blue toy bucket with sand and throwing it back again. Mona, the mother cat, is lying next to Martha and watching her play. Suddenly Martha sees that the bucket and Mona’s head are just of the same size. So, the cat can wear the bucket as a hat!

«Hats are a great thing! They are beautiful and protect from the sun,» thinks Martha. She’s five of them. Mona hasn’t got any. «That’s not right!» realises the girl.

«Well, Mona, come here. I’ll put a hat on your head!»

Without thinking too much Martha puts the bucket on Mona’s head. The bucket fits Mona perfectly, and the cat looks quite pretty, as if it has a blue hat on.

«Mona, you look like an elegant lady now!» Martha is exited about the charming look of her fellow.

But the cat can’t see herself and share this joy with the girl. On the contrary, Mona is angry and determined to get rid of the «hat» at any price. She is trying to hit the bucket with her paws. The bucket falls on her face and covers her eyes. Now Mona can’t see at all. She is frightened and starts running around with the bucket on the head. The cat is racing right to the forest and disappears deep in the woods.

Martha has been looking for Mona all day long, but she’s only found her blue bucket in the field.

«Mona has got rid of the bucket! She isn’t running around with her eyes covered anymore,» calms Martha herself down. «Sure, the cat will find her way home!»

Martha hopes to see Mona back and goes to bed. In her dreams she sees wolves. The wolves are looking for Mona…

Indeed, next morning Martha meets Mona. The mother cat is sitting at the door as usual waiting for her breakfast. This time the cat doesn’t feel happy. She takes an angry look at Martha and runs away.

Martha is so sorry for her behavior. Will Mona ever forgive her?

«I’m so sorry, Mona. I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t know that cats don’t wear hats.»