Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse lived together in a little house.
Titty the mouse went along the ears, and Tatty the mouse went along the ears.
So they both went down to the ears of corn.
Titty the mouse picked the spikelet, and Tatty the mouse picked the spikelet.
So they both picked an ear of wheat.
Titty Mouse began to prepare the pudding, and Titty Mouse began to prepare the pudding.
So they both began to prepare puddings.
Tatty put her pudding in a cast iron pot with boiling water to cook it, and Titty put her pudding in the cast iron pot, but the cast iron pot overturned and scalded Titty to death.
Tatty sat down and cried bitterly. Here the tripod stool asks her:
-What are you crying about, Tatty?
- Ah! - Tatty answers. “Titty died, so I’m crying.”
“And I’ll start jumping up and down,” said the stool and started jumping up and down.
Here the broom asks her from his corner:
- Tripod, tripod, why are you jumping?
“Tittn is dead, Tatty is crying, so I’m jumping up and down.”
“And I will take revenge,” said the brush and began sweeping the floor.
- Wait, brush! – the door called to her. - Why are you sweeping?
- Ah! - answered the brush. “Titty died, Tatty is crying, the tripod is bouncing, so I’m sweeping.”
“And I will creak,” said the door and creaked.
- Listen, door, why are you creaking? - asked the window.
“Ah,” answered the door. “Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the tripod is bouncing, the brush is sweeping, so I’m creaking.”
“And I will rattle,” said the window and rattled.
Outside the window in the courtyard there was an old bench. She heard the window rattle and asked:
- Window, window, why are you rattling?
- Ah! - answered the window. “Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the tripod is bouncing, the brush is sweeping, the door is creaking. So I'm rattling.
“And I’ll gallop around the house,” said the bench and galloped off.
I must tell you that a tall hazelnut tree grew near the house. So Hazel asks the bench:
- Bench, and bench, why are you still jumping around the house?
- Ah! - answered the bench. “Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the tripod is jumping, the brush is sweeping, the door is creaking, the window is rattling, so I’m jumping around the house.”
“And I’ll shed my leaves,” said the hazel tree and shed its beautiful green leaves.
A small bird was sitting on its branch. She saw that all the leaves had fallen and asked:
“Tell me, hazelnut, why did you shed your leaves?”
- Ah! - answered the hazelnut. “Titty died, Tatty is crying, the tripod is jumping, the brush is sweeping, the door is creaking, the window is rattling, the bench is jumping, so I threw off my leaves.”
“And I’ll pluck all my feathers,” said the bird and plucked all her pretty feathers.
At this time, a little girl was walking through the yard. She was carrying a jug of milk for dinner to her brothers and sisters. She saw the poor bird all plucked, without a single feather, and asked:
- Dear bird, why are you so shabby?
- Ah! - answered the bird. “Titty died, Tatty is crying, the tripod is bouncing, the brush is sweeping, the door is creaking, the window is rattling, the bench is jumping, the hazel tree has dropped its leaves, so I plucked out all my feathers.”
“And I’ll spill the milk,” said the girl and threw the jug of milk on the ground.
Nearby, at the very top of the ladder, stood an old man: he covered a haystack with reeds. The old man saw that the girl had spilled the milk and asked:
- Girl, why did you spill the milk? Now your brothers and sisters will go to bed without dinner. And the girl answered:
“Titty is dead, Tatty is crying, the tripod is bouncing, the brush is sweeping, the door is creaking, the window is rattling, the bench is jumping, the hazel tree has dropped its leaves, and the bird has plucked all its feathers, so I spilled the milk.”
- Oh, what passions! - said the old man. “And I’ll knock over the stairs and break my neck.”
And he knocked over the ladder and broke his neck. Then a tall hazel tree fell to the ground with a crash and crushed the old bench and the house; and the house collapsed and the window flew out; and the door jumped out and knocked down the brush; and the brush overturned the stool, and poor little mouse Tatty died under the ruins.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru