On a sunny summer day, get up early. Go out into the forest, carefully walk along the edge. On the top branch of an old alder tree you will see a chipmunk - a small forest animal. His fluffy tail is thrown over his back like a squirrel, and there is a bump in his paws. The chipmunk can handle the bump, runs up the branch, and whistles invitingly. His faithful friend, the nutcracker, a small forest bird, will fly to him, bring a pine cone in his long beak, and fly off for a new one.
While the chipmunk is busy with the pine cone, come closer. Just go quietly. And you will see five black stripes on the red back of the chipmunk.
Previously, the chipmunk was all red. And he lived alone. And he is small and weak. And everyone offended him. And the ermine and the fox even wanted to eat him.
The chipmunk endured and endured insults and one day decided: I’ll find a friend, a big, strong one. So that everyone would be afraid of him.
And the chipmunk went through the forest to look for a friend. The chipmunk jumps from tree to tree, from bush to bush. He will run through the dead wood and look into the crevices.
And then the chipmunk saw the bear. The bear was sleeping in the shade under a dwarf cedar bush.
The chipmunk grabbed the bear by the ear and started to bother him. Somehow woke me up. The bear barked displeasedly:
- What do you want, bur-r-locker?
Chipmunk says:
- Bear, bear! Let's be friends with you.
The bear yawned lazily:
- Why should we be friends?
Chipmunk says:
- It will be better together. You're big and clumsy. And I'm small and clever. I will be on guard when you sleep: suddenly there is some danger coming.
“I’m not afraid of anyone,” says the bear.
“Then we’ll collect nuts together.”
The bear raised his big head - his ears were larger than anything else than a chipmunk:
- Nuts, you say?
“Yes, nuts,” the chipmunk hastily answered and immediately added: “And we’ll pick berries together.”
- Berry, you say? - asked the bear.
“Yes, a berry,” the chipmunk hastily answered and immediately added: “And we’ll catch ants together.”
- And ants, you say? — the bear got up and sat down. - And nuts, and berries, and ants, you say?
- Yes, we’ll get nuts, berries, and ants together.
The bear is happy. Answers:
- I agree to be friends with you.
Chipmunk found himself a friend. Big, strong. Now no one is afraid of him.
The quick chipmunk finds rich berry meadows and dwarf cedar bushes, completely strewn with cones. The bear only knows what it eats: it gains strength.
Soon the bear became so fat that it became difficult for him to walk. He now rested more. And only occasionally he commanded:
- Hey, chipmunk, bring me some lingonberries.
Or:
- Hey, chipmunk, scratch my back.
Autumn has come. Winter is ahead, long and cold. Chipmunk got worried:
- Listen, bear, winter is coming - we need to stock up.
Bear says:
- Make supplies, chipmunk, - and he just lay there and lies there.
Chipmunk stocked up. The bear lay down in the den, put his paw under his head and fell asleep.
The bear slept for a month, slept for another, and woke up. Chipmunk says:
- Give me some nuts, friend.
The chipmunk fed the bear. He, full, fell asleep again. At the end of winter the bear wakes up. And again he says to the chipmunk:
- Give me some nuts and berries.
The bear ate all the supplies and did not leave a single nut or berry for the chipmunk. The chipmunk barely made it to spring.
When the snow melted, the bear woke up. He stretched out contentedly and said to the chipmunk:
- It’s good that you and I, brother, spent the winter!
Then he praised the chipmunk:
- Well done, baby! - And stroked his back with his paw. So five black stripes remained on the chipmunk’s red back - traces of the bear’s friendship.
The bear came out of the den and immediately forgot about his little friend. There are a lot of sweet roots around, and all the bear did was dig them with his strong paw and chomping all over the forest with pleasure. The chipmunk only had enough strength to fall out of the den. He lay for a long time on the dry grass, exposing his striped back to the sun.
This is where the nutcracker flew by. She also spent the winter in the forest. It was difficult for her: the snow covered the nuts, and the nutcracker did not know how to make supplies. A taiga bird carried a cone in its beak - it found it somewhere.
The nutcracker saw a chipmunk and felt sorry for it. Even though she was hungry, she gave away the cone.
The chipmunk ate a nut and his neck became stronger. I ate the second one and my back got stronger. I ate the third one and my legs became stronger. I ate the whole cone and felt that I could walk.
The chipmunk walked through the forest. Jumps from tree to tree, from bush to bush. Looks under snags and fallen trees, into crevices and holes. I found last year's nuts. He ate it himself and shared it with the nutcracker.
Since then, the small forest animal, the chipmunk, and the small nutcracker bird have been friends.
Every autumn, when the nuts ripen, the nutcracker flies throughout the forest and collects cones. And the chipmunk peels, makes supplies for itself and the nutcracker.
The ermine and the fox heard that the chipmunk was no longer friends with the bear, they were happy and decided to eat it. But that was not the case. No matter how quietly the ermine and the fox sneak, the sharp-eyed taiga bird will notice them. The nutcracker screams, the chipmunk jumps from the branch and into the hole. And when an enemy attacks the nutcracker, the nimble chipmunk will grab its neck with its teeth. And so together - the nutcracker with its sharp beak, the chipmunk with its teeth - the little friends will drive away their enemies.
And now the bear is not happy: he has no reserves. And in order not to die of hunger, all he knows is to suck his paw all winter.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru