Once upon a time there lived a boy named Percy. And like all boys and girls, he never wanted to go to bed on time.
The hut where he lived with his mother was small, made of rough stone, of which there is a lot in those places, and stood right on the border between England and Scotland. And although they were poor people, in the evenings, when the peat burned brightly in the hearth and the candle flickered welcomingly, their house seemed unusually cozy.
Percy loved to warm himself by the fire and listen to old tales that his mother told him, or simply doze off, admiring the quaint shadows from the blazing hearth. Finally the mother said:
- Well, Percy, it's time to go to bed!
But it always seemed to Percy that it was too early, and he would argue and bicker with her before he left, and as soon as he lay down in his wooden crib and put his head on the pillow, he immediately fell asleep.
And then one evening Percy argued with his mother for so long that her patience ran out, and, taking a candle, she went to bed, leaving him alone near the blazing hearth.
- Sit, sit here alone by the fire! - She said to Percy as she left. “The old evil fairy will come and drag you away because you don’t listen to your mother!”
“Just think! I'm not afraid of evil old fairies! - thought Percy and stayed warm by the fire.
And in those distant times, every farmstead, every hut had its own little brownie, who every night came down the chimney and put the house in order, cleaned everything and washed it. Percy's mother would leave him a whole jug of goat cream at his door as a thank you for his work, and the jug would always be empty in the morning.
These little brownies were good-natured and friendly brownies, but they were very easily offended. And woe to the housewife who forgot to leave them a jug of cream! The next morning, everything in her house was turned upside down, and what’s more, offended, the brownies didn’t even show their nose to her anymore.
But Brownie, who came to help Percy's mother, always, always found a jug of cream and therefore never left their house without tidying everything up thoroughly while Percy and his mother were fast asleep. But he had a very angry and angry mother.
This old evil fairy couldn't stand people. That's what Percy's mom remembered when she went to bed.
At first, Percy was very pleased that he insisted on his own and stayed warm by the fire. But when the fire began to gradually die out, he felt somehow uneasy and wanted to quickly go to a warm bed. He was just about to get up and leave when he suddenly heard rustling and rustling in the chimney, and immediately a little brownie jumped into the room.
Percy flinched in surprise, and brownie was very surprised to find Percy not yet in bed. Staring at the long-legged brownie with the pointy ears, Percy asked:
- What's your name?
- Myself! - Brownie replied, making a funny face. - And you?
Percy decided that Brownie was joking and wanted to outsmart him.
- I-myself! - he answered.
- Catch me, I-sam! - Brownie shouted and jumped to the side.
Percy and the brownies began to play by the fire. Brownie was a very agile and nimble imp: he so deftly jumped from the wooden buffet to the table - like a cat, and jumped and tumbled around the room. Percy couldn't take his eyes off him.
But then the fire in the hearth went out almost completely, and Percy took the poker to stir the peat, but unfortunately one burning coal fell right on the little brownie’s foot. And poor brownie screamed so loudly that the old fairy heard him and shouted down the chimney:
- Who offended you? Now I’ll go downstairs, then he won’t be happy!
Frightened, Percy rushed out the door into the next room, where his wooden bed stood, and climbed under the covers with his head.
- It's Me-myself! - Brownie replied.
“Then why are you screaming and preventing me from sleeping?” - the old evil fairy got angry. - Scold yourself!
And after this, a long, bony hand with sharp claws stuck out of the pipe, grabbed the little brownie by the collar and lifted him up.
The next morning, Percy's mother found the jug of cream in the same place by the door where she had left it the day before. And little brownie never appeared in her house again. But although she was sad that she had lost her little helper, she was very pleased that from that evening on she no longer had to remind Percy twice that it was time to go to bed.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru