A tale about a desert island. Inhabited Island - a story by Grigory Oster A short tale about an uninhabited island for children

This happened many, many years ago. One ship was returning from Miyago Island to the capital of Naha. There was a lot of goods on that ship - the inhabitants of the island sent rich gifts to their sovereign.

The sailors are sitting on the deck, admiring the sea.

What glorious weather it has been today! - they are happy. - The sea is calm, the sun is shining welcomingly!

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, a flute began to ring over the sea, at first quietly, and then louder and louder.

Who plays the flute in the sea? - the sailors were surprised. There was one sailor among them, just a boy, his name was Kana.

He was very smart.

“I don’t like these flute sounds,” he said. “No way, the God of the wind is frolicking.” There would be no trouble.

What are you talking about? - the sailors were surprised. - Let the God of the wind do what he wants, we are already very close to the shore. You can see our island in the distance.

Kana didn’t answer, he just began to watch the sky carefully. And suddenly clouds appeared in the sky, and then clouds, one darker than the other. The wind blew, so strong that it rocked the ship from side to side.

“No way, the storm is starting,” the sailors worried.

And the wind was getting stronger, the waves were getting higher, and the rain was pouring down like buckets. The sailors were scared. “If only I could make it to the shore,” they think. “If only I could make it!”

A high wave rose here and washed away all the goods from the deck.

“Hold the bags!” some shout.

Hold on yourself, there will be another wave soon! - others shout.

The rain lashes, the waves rise, they carry the ship across the sea like a feather. “Well, that’s it, our end has come,” the sailors decided. “There is no salvation for us now.”

The sailors fought the storm all night. And by morning the wind died down. They look - they can’t see their native island, only an unfamiliar land can be seen in the distance.

The gods took pity on us,” said Kana. “They did not let us die in the depths of the sea.”

The sailors headed to an unknown island. We went ashore and looked around. What a miracle this island is: there are flowers all around, birds are singing, dragonflies are flying. What a blessing!

“It can’t be that people don’t live on such a beautiful island,” the sailors decided. “We should go look for human habitation.”

They rested on the shore and went deeper into the island.

Hey, hey! - they shout. - Are there people on the island? Respond! Show yourself!

Suddenly they hear drums thundering in the distance: “Bon-bon, pon-pon!” The sailors rejoiced and ran to the sound of the drums. They ran out into the clearing and stopped dead in their tracks: monsters were sitting in the clearing, beating drums. They saw people, jumped up from their seats and shouted joyfully:

These are the little people the gods sent us! We'll have a nice dinner!

Oh! But we ended up on the island of cannibals, the sailors realized.

They wanted to run back into the forest, but to no avail! The cannibals grabbed them and dragged them to the village.

And I must say that the monsters from that island were so scary: they had horns on their heads, bird wings sticking out of their necks, their mouths were black, as if they were smeared with mascara, and sea shells were inserted into their ears! Once you see it, you won’t forget it for the rest of your life!

The cannibals dragged the sailors to the village and ordered the women to bring a cauldron and light a fire.

Now we will cook people, they say. The cannibals danced around the sailors and began to shout:

Eh, let's eat!

Eh, let's try!

These are delicious!

The sailors are standing - neither alive nor dead. The elder came out of the house, looked at the sailors for a long time and pointed at Kan:

I like this one! - he says. “I want to eat it!”

The monsters ran up to Kana, grabbed him by the hands, and dragged him to the cauldron. Just as they were about to throw him into boiling water, a loud female voice rang out in the crowd:

Stop! Stop! Don't throw it into the cauldron!

The sailors are watching - a girl of unprecedented beauty has left the elder’s house. The cannibals parted and gave her way. That girl was the daughter of an elder, her name was Mamuya.

Stop! - repeated Mamuya. - It’s no good to kill a person today - the stars don’t dictate! Tomorrow please!

Well, since the stars don’t dictate, we won’t eat it today, we’ll leave it until tomorrow,” the cannibals agreed.

They did not dare to contradict Mamuya. The monsters knew that the girl had been given great power to know the future. Mamuya ordered the sailors to follow her. She took them out of the village and led them across the field. “It will be a pity at the hands beautiful girl die, the sailors think. “If they ate the monsters, it wouldn’t be so offensive!” Mamuya led them to the bank of a mountain river and pointed to a hut that stood some distance away.

“Go to bed, no one will touch you here,” said the girl. “Tomorrow I will come to you.”

The next morning, just before dawn, two monsters appeared to the sailors and brought meat.

Try our treat,” they say and smile slyly.

The sailors were very hungry. When they saw the meat, their mouths began to water. They were about to taste it when Mamuya ran into the hut.

Do not eat! - shouts. - This meat is poisoned! They cooked it in an infusion of poisonous herbs. If you eat a piece, you will immediately turn into oxen and then the cannibals will plow your field for the rest of your life.

The sailors got scared and threw the meat into the far corner of the hut. They began to thank Mamuya.

They never thought, they say, that we would find human participation on this terrible island.

The girl turned to Kana:

I liked you very much, that’s why I decided to save you and your comrades.

Mamuya and Kan fell in love with each other.

“You can’t stay on our island,” said Mamuya. “If you are saved, then come for me, I don’t want to live among cannibals all my life.”

“Don’t be afraid,” answered Kana. “If we are saved, I will definitely figure out how to take you away from here.”

In the evening Mamuya came to the sailors again and said:

Everyone in the village thinks that you have turned into oxen. Tomorrow many of you will be slaughtered and eaten, so tonight you need to escape from the island. As soon as the moon rises, I will send my maid, she will lead you out of the village. And I’ll leave the boat by the sea, so run! May the gods help you!

Thank you,” said Kana. “I will never forget you and will definitely come for you.”

Late at night, as Mamuya said, her maid came to the sailors and led them to the sea. And there, indeed, the boat was waiting and there was a reliable helmsman. As soon as they got into the boat, they saw Mamuya running along the path.

Take food and water, he says. And then she turned to Kana: “Here’s a stalk of magic bamboo for you, it will protect you from everything.” This bamboo grows only on our island. Kohl will overtake you at sea a big wave, break one knee, and the wave will not destroy you.

The sailors set off. But the sea is rough, the waves are rising, and the boat might be covered. The sailors were afraid: the sea wanted to destroy us again, but Kana calmed them down.

“I have a wonderful remedy for waves and storms,” he says. He broke one piece of bamboo, threw it into the sea, and at that same moment the waves calmed down and the wind died down.

The sailors sailed all night, and as it began to get light, they saw that the island of cannibals remained far behind.

“We were saved thanks to the fact that Kana was among us,” the sailors began to say. “If we return home alive, be our captain.”

The sun rose over the sea. The good mood returned to the sailors - all the terrible things were behind them. Suddenly he sees Kan, a black cloud appeared on the horizon, it began to grow, grow and get closer and closer.

“It’s not a cloud,” Kana exclaimed. “The cannibals set off in pursuit of us in a high-speed boat.”

“What should we do now?” the sailors began to ask.

“Trust me, we’ll figure something out,” Kana reassured them. He looked around and saw that there was a small island lying in the middle of the sea, covered with forest.

Row to that island,” he ordered his friends. The sailors made their way through the coral reefs that surrounded the island, jumped out onto the sandy shore and ran faster towards the forest.

Stop! - Kana stopped them. “You and I acted thoughtlessly; we left our footprints on the coastal sand.” When the cannibals reach the island, they will immediately understand where to look for us. We should return to the shore and cover up our tracks.

Kahn sent two sailors ashore to confuse the tracks. As soon as they ran back into the forest, the cannibals swam to the island.

“You won’t leave!” they shout. “The island is small, uninhabited, there’s nowhere to hide!”

The cannibals rushed to scour the island. And Kana and her friends found a large hole in the forest, they were sitting there, not breathing. Kan waited for the cannibals to go further into the forest and said to his friends:

Now is the time for us to run away from this island. The sailors rushed ashore and boarded the boat on which the monsters had arrived.

What a surprise! - they say. - This boat is magical, or something, - you can’t see the rudder.

They tied their boat to it and ordered:

Take us, miracle boat, from here to our native shores. The magic boat flew with unprecedented speed, barely touching the water. The sailors are surprised:

There are such miracles in the world! No one can catch up with us now!

What happened to the cannibals? They searched the entire island and returned to the shore again. They see the boats have disappeared, as if they never existed. They realized then that Kana had outwitted them. The cannibals screamed, howled, stamped their feet, but what can you do? So they remained on a desert island to await their death.

And the sailors returned to the capital safe and sound. They told the sovereign about the island of cannibals. The ruler ordered to gather brave souls and go to that island. Kana also swam with them. Mamuya greeted him joyfully. Together they returned to the capital and lived happily ever after. And the magic bamboo saved them many times from storms and typhoons.

TALE OF A DESERT ISLAND

One day, spring did not come for a particularly long time. Everything was already there: long blue shadows on the high snow that had settled in rings around the trees; and the clear sun, already high in the sky, and the peals of woodpeckers. Spring melancholy has already arrived, when you wander from corner to corner and cannot find a suitable activity for yourself, because you only want to fly, but you don’t know how. Now it’s time to wash the windows and dry thick pillows on the windowsills; It's time for primroses to crawl out of last year's brown leaves and to spread the wings of sleepy hive butterflies. But the sun only laughed at the animals and did not warm them, the animals burned down the last reserves of firewood in the stoves and together felled dead wood in the forest, freezing their paws and noses, because despite all the magical clarity, blueness, transparency and promise of warmth, there was always frost outside - minus twenty , and transparent ice flowers bloomed on the glass. The animals were freezing, brutalizing, languishing and, having nothing to do, caulked the boats in their cold sheds. Usually the animals don’t do this, believing that it will do just fine, but since spring was delayed somewhere, they decided to get down to business.

And then, finally, it suddenly became warmer. First, a nondescript bird flew in with a frightened squeak: spring, spring! Animals and little animals tore off their hats, lifted their tails and began to dance in their squares, and only the most desperate of animals risked crossing the ice river between the towns. The ice on it became dark and soft, and ice drift was expected any day now.

A wind arrived, so strong and warm, as if a whole herd of elephants were blowing it out of their outstretched trunks, and it smelled of a stable, an elephant barn, earth, dirt, warmth, grass - in a word, spring. In place of the cold blue clarity, the wind brought warm dampness, the sky was covered with a thick gray blanket, and heavy rain began, washing away all the snow during the day. A thunderstorm was raging overhead, the animals were sitting in front of the TV, shuddering at especially strong thunderclaps, small animals sat in silent rapture on the windows, while their families were seriously preparing for the flood, packing suitcases, carrying valuables into the attics and wrapping up large armchairs, sofas and pianos impermeable polyethylene.

The animals had not yet had time to build their dam - and they would not have needed it. The rain, which came from behind the hills, poured incessantly; The ice melted on the river above, and the water flowed down to the town of the animals, where the ice, although already damp, still held on.

In the middle of the night, shots were heard from the river: the ice cracked deafeningly, breaking and creeping in layers; There was a jam on the river and the flood began. The rain didn't stop.

One animal couldn’t sleep at night, so he stood on the bridge and watched with sacred horror as the ice broke, until he himself almost broke along with the bridge. At six o'clock in the morning, soaked through and scared to death, he burst into the sleeping animal town with a terrible cry: “The animals are drowning! Save the animals!

To the credit of the animals, it must be said that at such a terrible moment they instantly woke up, pulled out their caulked boats into the water and, despite the dangerous ice floes, swam to save the animals who were sitting on the roofs and did not cry out, as expected: “Animal-ok!” - and they trembled, sleep-deprived, frightened and soaked through, and hugged to themselves - some little animals, some a pot of flowers, some a stuffed hare. This was no longer the usual cheerful spring ritual, but a real disaster. It was pouring from above and approaching from below.

The animals swam up without the usual songs and jokes, busily dragged all the animals into their boats and took them to the animal town, where they took them home. Usually they took home only young animals who were ready to get married, then they dismantled the dam, the water subsided, and all the other animals returned home from the roofs. This time, the animal town was filled with a variety of animals - from tiny crawlers to gray-haired mothers of the family, and the Grand General Cleaning began there.

All day the animals saved the animals, and by evening they ended up without their hind legs. The animals laid the little animals down, kissed their noses, although they themselves fell off their feet from fatigue. And only one young animal, tormented by a vague feeling that he had not done everything, got into the boat in which he transported as many as four families today, and sailed to where the animal city used to be, and now the second and upper floors stuck out from under the rising water. halves of garden trees.

Animal! - he suddenly heard a traditional call. - Animal, save the animal!

The call was not at all crafty, as it should be, but tired and plaintive. The animal was sitting on a wet large bag on the ridge of a roof that went into the water, and the cold water licked its paws. The animal tucked its tail, got wet, and curled up into a ball. The once fragrant fur on it has gathered into sharp, wet thorns.

Why are you sitting here? - asked the animal.

I hid it downstairs... there are my grandmother’s photographs... and I also have a brother... he brings out hyacinths... I hid it so that the bulbs would not spoil... And then I came out, and they had all been taken away...

How did they leave you? - the animal frowned.

They didn’t give up, they know that I’m an adult, I can handle it myself. And my mother and grandmother have five little animals in their arms; we have a family orphanage.

And what would you have done if I hadn't come?

Don't know. Maybe she would have sat until the morning, maybe she would have swam. The Lord would have advised him. And so, you see, I asked - He sent you to me,” the animal hunched over on the bench and fell silent.

The animal felt so sorry for her that he took off his raincoat and gave it to her, which made him immediately feel cold, wet and uncomfortable.

What's your name? - the animal asked, but the animal did not answer: she was sleeping, wrapped in a raincoat and hugging a bag.

Is there anyone alive? - the animal shouted for order, but there was no one around anymore. He unhooked the bag that was tangled in it from a nearby tree, threw it into the boat and took up the oars. The clouds were hanging low, slanting rain was lashing, it was getting dark - that is, it was getting dark quickly and thoroughly, because in cloudy weather darkness sets in instantly.

Before the animal had time to think that he urgently needed to return home, his boat was lifted on a wave, thrown forward and bruised against an attic sticking out of the water. The animal released the oar from its paw, which jumped out of the rowlock from the blow, and it immediately sank under the water. The boat took off rapidly.

The animal could not know that just by this time the water had broken through the ice floe lying at the base of the jam; others hurried to the exit, like an audience fleeing in panic from a burning theater. Wet, undermined, they broke against each other, and the angry river, unwilling to wait, was already pressing on them and gushing through them.

The boat was being carried to an unknown destination, and the animal barely had time to hold it so that it would not capsize. The little animal was sleeping on the bench. The boat was rocking for half the night, the animal almost lost the second oar and was so tired that as soon as the water calmed down, became wide and slow, the animal slipped into a deep sleep.

In the morning he was woken up by the animal, not yet completely dry, but already combing its mustache with its paw, warm and almost fluffy. For some reason the cloak-tent covered the animal. The sun not only shone, but was also hot. All around, as far as the eye could see, there was blue, calm, endless water.

For two days the animal and the animal were carried along the water. They had almost finished the food supply from the beast's bag (it turned out to be so well packed that almost nothing inside it got wet), almost finished the water from her bottle and were deep in thought. The water overboard was salty, which meant the sea. The animal folded its paws, fixed its eyes on the sky, and the animal realized that it was being a beast. This made him very angry.

So do good deeds,” he muttered irritably, turning to someone unknown. - You’ll die in the middle of the ocean.

“Earth,” the little animal unexpectedly said, whose name, by the way, was Ilka, as it turned out on the second day.

Ilka was very happy about the land: she felt so guilty before the animal that she behaved quieter than water and below the grass, tried in every possible way to please her savior until the food and water ran out, and now she felt guilty again.

Not on the horizon - no, much closer to the horizon, among the sparkling blue, something brown, smoky, chocolate could be seen. The animal worked with an oar, the animal with its paw, then they tore the board off the bench in the middle of the boat, and the animal rowed with an oar, and the animal with the board, and in the evening they finally rowed to the island, for it was an island, and an uninhabited one at that.

For the next two days, the animal slept and brutalized, periodically sadly responding to the animal’s requests: break this branch for me! bring that stone over there! sharpen this wire!

The worst thing was that, due to the early spring, there were no fruits, berries, or mushrooms on the island, but only barely hatched green dots on the branches. There were no inhabitants on the island, only birds, fish, bushes, and trees. Well, there’s also a huge pile of boulders, almost a mountain, and a large stream with fresh water and fish. The animal found a comfortable place, protected from the wind, and placed large stakes, which she herself cut and sharpened with a knife she had stored in the bag. In the bushes she cut flexible twigs from which she wove large mats. From them came the walls, floor and ceiling for the house; For warmth and dryness, an animal raincoat-tent was thrown over the roof. We had dinner with barely sprouted grass, which the animal picked near the tent, drank water, lit a fire and fell asleep next to it.

Overnight, the mad spring drove out all the leaves, the grass doubled in size, and when the animals woke up in the morning, everything around was green. The mats and stakes took root in the ground, so that the green dots on the walls of the hut grew larger, turning into tiny leaves.

“I have seeds here,” said the little animal, burrowing into her bag and taking out a rope, a mug, a spoon, a fork, a bag of salt, a bottle of oil, a set of needles and spools, knitting needles, a first aid kit with medicine, five pairs of dry socks, a frying pan , a saucepan, a pack of tea leaves, a jar of coffee, sugar, noodles and much more. Going to who knows where from the flooded house, the little animal took with it everything it needed, just in case.

Are there any seeds? - the animal asked gloomily. - Something to chew on.

“There are seeds,” Ilka answered with concern. - But I won’t give it. I will plant so that there will be sunflowers.

Have you decided to settle here for the rest of your life? - the animal screamed, especially annoyed by the word “sunflowers”.

Fedya,” the little animal blinked, “what choice do we have?”

“Die,” the animal answered angrily, turning to the wall on which leaves began to bloom, and tucking Ilka’s checkered blanket under himself.

Ilka found a box with the inscription “seeds”, took a knife to cut out a digging stick for herself and went to sow. The animal Fedya lay awake, suffered from his conscience, and went to the stream to try to catch fish. For lunch, Ilka again ate grass - this time powerful, juicy, with thick stems, and the animal drank water from the stream. They saved vermicelli for a rainy day. For dinner, he brought three fish, fried them over the fire and ate them, because Ilka first thanked her, then said that she was not hungry, then, terribly embarrassed, muttered that she could not eat the animal.

What a fool,” the animal was offended and secretly licked its lips.

We drank tea with some aromatic leaves. They sat by the fire and watched the sunset until Fedya realized:

Ilka, haven’t you seen my watch? Did you really lose it while fishing?

They never found the watch; they decided that the morning was wiser than the evening. In the morning, Ilka shook the animal: go, I’ll show you what. In the hut there was a green light shining through the walls, and there was a smell of honey.

Outside, the walls were densely curled with bright foliage and bloomed with white and pink tassels. All around was a small animal garden: small but clearly visible carrot and beet tops were sticking out of the lush black soil, pea tendrils were curling, onions were sticking out, and a small, knee-deep wall of young sunflowers stood proudly.

This is the land! - the animal screamed in delight. - Everything grows in it!

Meanwhile, the animal was rummaging in his pocket, looking for something, but found only an old piece of paper. He crumpled it up, threw it away and went fishing.

The next day they already had young carrots, beets, garlic and onions, skinny green spikelets appeared on a special plot, and the animal was busy arranging a utility shed and toilet for itself (on the most infertile land, so that God knows what wouldn’t grow). Ilka wove mats, singing songs, and tried to attract the animal to weaving, but he said something offensive about a stupid island and stupid complacency that cannot lead to salvation, and again went to the stream.

Ilka snorted indignantly for a long time, she was so offended that Fedya did not appreciate her efforts, but then, finally, she calmed down, looked at her plantings (the spectacle of plants grown with her own hands always inspires optimism in the animals) and began to sing again.

Then a red, sweaty, out of breath animal with bulging eyes came running.

There! there! - he shouted. - Let's go to! there! there!

When he stopped pacing, and the little animal realized what was going on and threw away her mats, they both walked, then trotted, then trotted, then ran, and finally rushed to the stream. Fedya stopped at the stream and pointed his finger: “Here.”

Near the stream itself, a large tree rustled in the wind, rang, buzzed and ticked. Its leaves were narrow, leathery, brown, its flowers were jagged, like wheels, and instead of fruits, clocks hung from the branches - exactly the same as the lost Fedinas.

“Ahti,” said the animal.

Fedya tore off the watch, put it on a strap and tied it to his paw.

Listen,” he said worriedly. - I’m thinking, I cleaned the fish, threw out all sorts of bones...

Let’s go have a look,” said the little beast.

And indeed, near their hut they found a tree similar to a Christmas tree, only instead of needles there were fish bones, and the cones all consisted of multi-colored scales. A little further away, a paper bush stuck out right from the animal’s flower plantings (as we remember, the animal threw a piece of paper there). There was a button tree right next to the hut. The animal grabbed his pants and discovered that the most important button was missing.

That’s it, Fedya,” the little animal said seriously, handing him a thread and a needle. - Under no circumstances should you litter here. All garbage must be burned, and only where nothing will definitely grow.

The animal looked down and slowly faded away. Ilka pretended not to notice anything, but we know that he slowly weeded out several bushes in different places islands. In the meantime, Ilka planted vermicelli, salt, sugar and tea, so that the next day they had more of all this than they needed. The animal rummaged in his pockets and made his contribution: a cracker, a penny and an apple seed. Or rather, he only planted a biscuit and a seed, and the penny fell out on its own, but then the penny tree rang so cheerfully in the wind that the little animal did not weed it out, although she was saddened.

“Why are you upset,” the animal said in the evening when they sat tiredly by the fire, sipping tea.

“I just think,” the little animal explained in a barely audible voice, “that we will leave here someday, if it is the Lord’s will, but you never know who will find this island. Some beast will come and fill him with money, precious stones...

Oil,” said the animal.

“Gasoline,” said the little animal.

“Weapons,” said the animal, and they both suddenly felt cold.

Okay,” said the little animal, “the morning is wiser than the evening.”

All morning the animal walked sadly, and the little animal fussed and ran.

“It’s always like this,” said the beasts at dinner. When the animals wanted to play wild, they usually began their speech with the words “this is how it always is.”

“Take a cucumber,” the little animal meekly remarked.

“It’s always like this,” the animal grumbled, as if not paying attention, but nevertheless grabbed the pimply cucumber. - Everything that starts well ends badly. I didn't sleep all night. I was afraid. Because how am I going to protect all this? No, of course, I have teeth and claws, and I can even punch some uninvited animal in the eye... But the point is that I am not designed to protect. And why should I be responsible for this island at all? And why can’t it be so that there are only advantages? Otherwise, for every plus there are ten minuses, you can die!

The little animal sighed and went to the stream to wash the dishes.

In the evening, when the little animal unexpectedly fell asleep by the fire, the animal carefully dragged her into the hut and covered her with a blanket. While he was dragging a blanket folded in the corner, a piece of paper jumped out of it. The animal went outside with him and sat down by the fire. In front of him was a map of the island carefully drawn by the animal. The plan carefully outlined the boundaries of magical fertile lands, suggested places for burning and burying garbage, indicated plantings, wonderful trees (“Fedino Clock Tree”) and bushes. The little animal made notes everywhere: “Large yellow flowers grow here.” "Voracious little crabs." "The Cormorant's Nest." "Striped Stones" “Here the wind sings in a hole in the rock.” "White bushes with black butterflies." "Waterfall". "Biting nettle." “Sandy, windless beach.”

Fedya carefully folded the map, returned it to its place, under the animal's bag in the corner, then raked out the coals with a stick, took out the fish, which he had covered with clay and baked an hour ago, and buried it in the ground near the button tree.

The next morning, Fedya fed Ilka baked fish from the bush. At this point she could not refuse, because from the very beginning the fish was not alive, but baked.

Spring was so fast that it very soon fizzled out, exhausting its ideas, and gave way to an even and calm summer. The summer lasted and was not about to end; Flowers were blooming everywhere, the animal’s garden was regularly bearing fruit, the apple tree was growing huge, the apples quickly ripened and at times clapped dully to the ground. The animals still lived in their flowering hut, only they made a roof over it from huge hard leaves and around it a moat to drain rainwater: they did not like to get wet and without any pleasure they recalled the circumstances that brought them to this island. These memories usually made the animal very angry. He ran around the hut, shouting all sorts of offensive words (usually he sarcastically asked the animal why her God, with whom she talks so thoroughly every morning and every evening, was in no hurry to save them). The little animal actually guessed why, but was in no hurry to share her guesses with the animal, otherwise it would become so wild that it would have to be stopped with the help of a large tropical downpour.

“I don’t know,” answered the little animal, looking at the animal with big, big eyes. - I don’t know everything in the world. All the will of God.

These are excuses! - the animal was angry. “You say “God’s will” to cover up your own intellectual cowardice.

It must be said that the animals are not particularly brave in general. They, on the contrary, are quite timid and shy, and besides, they sincerely consider themselves not particularly smart and slightly cowardly. So the remark about intellectual cowardice hit the mark. The little animal looked down and began to darn the animal's sock with renewed energy, for some reason wiping its mustache especially carefully.

The animal looked at the animal to add malice, but immediately realized that it would be very stupid, and suddenly felt disgusting, and he felt terribly sorry for the animal, and annoyed with himself because of this pity, and even more annoyed because because of some trifles, he completely lost his mental balance when it is so difficult to find...

The devil knows what is being done! - the animal cursed and jumped out of the hut. A white dot was visible on the horizon.

Ilka! - Fedya screamed. - Run here! Ship!

Ilka immediately jumped out, already with completely dry eyes, and immediately got down to business. The white dot increased a little, and the animals already had a fire ready.

Smoke rose to the sky, animals ran along the shore, waving their paws, branches and clothes, screaming like crazy. Seeing that the ship had turned and was getting bigger, they hugged tightly, kissed, jumped, danced, and, exhausted, fell onto the sand.

“Ffuh,” the little animal exhaled, combing her mustache with her paw. - Let's get ready.

The animal looked at her disheveled face with a carefully combed mustache and fell onto the sand laughing. Ilka looked at him and laughed too.

When a boat with cheerful animal sailors in white uniforms moored to the island, Fedya and Ilka were already sitting on a tied sack, washed and calm.

Strange things,” the main animal from the boat said instead of greeting. - Where does the island come from? Not on any map.

And he looked suspiciously at the islanders.

“We don’t know,” Fedya and Ilka said in unison. They have recently begun to speak in chorus often.

Animal? - The main animal looked angrily at Ilka. - An animal on a ship is a bad omen.

Ilka wanted to say that omens are stupidity, but instead she simply named herself.

“And I’m a boatswain, my name is Mikhalych,” muttered the main animal.

“And I’m Fedya,” Fedya said and became embarrassed.

The sailors pulled the boat ashore and began to walk around, looking at the wonders of the island.

“Come on, I’ll show you everything,” the little beast realized.

She showed them her garden, and a paper tree, and a button tree, and a fish tree, and a clock tree, and they all tore their clocks from the tree.

The animal and the little beast were taken to the ship, where the captain talked with them for a long time, who could not understand where a wonderful island had come from here, in a familiar sea in a familiar empty place. Fedya and Ilka were given a separate cabin, but the next morning they all went to the island together again: the captain ordered to replenish supplies fresh water and food, and Ilka offered to harvest from the garden and magic trees.

While the sailors were collecting fruits, the animal Fedya helped them tie up the bags. He really missed the company of animals and now he was happily animalizing, swearing hoarsely with an important air and contemptuously spitting through his teeth. Although some things in their conversations already seemed wrong, unnecessary and bad to him. “Ugh, stupid little beast,” he thought with a grin, “has completely messed with my brain.” Ilka, meanwhile, walked around the island, saying goodbye to her temporary possessions. Among her favorite sandy beach, she sadly noticed green glass growing out of the sand: one of the sailors broke a bottle here yesterday. Ilka weeded out the fragments, which had already taken strong, hard roots deep into the sand. She put them in a bag to take them to the garbage pit on the rocky area. In a green clearing among strawberries and soft grass, three stinking cigarette butt trees sprouted. Ilka was very tired while she was pulling them out of the ground and tying them up to also take them to the trash.

Near the garbage area, two sailors were fighting over a coin tree. The third turned his back to everyone and was burying something right in the radish bed.

Ilka frowned, threw the bag into the garbage pit and shook off her paws menacingly.

“Okay,” she announced busily, grabbing the fighters by the scruff of their necks and shaking them with incredible force. - Come on, both of you, get out of here!

What are you doing, little beast? - The sailors widened their eyes. - What are you doing, are you completely?

“Absolutely,” the animal confirmed, pushing them towards the boat. - No one here dares to fight! I will not let it! You're also knocking each other's teeth out! And then weed it out for me! Teeth trees and bloody grass!

Her speech consisted of such short exclamations because Ilka was dragging two weighty, jerking animals to the boat and was puffing with effort.

Fedya! - she called. - Fedya, come here quickly.

Fedya, already completely relaxed among the animals, realized from his voice that something serious had happened, hid the cigarette butt in his pocket and ran to Ilka.

“Keep these robbers,” Ilka panted, handing over the sailors to him. - I’ll bring another one now.

A minute later, she dragged the one who was digging in her radishes and handed Fedya a hefty bunch of biting nettles.

If they decide to run away, whip them,” she said and walked towards the coin tree.

The tree had already grown large and was ringing desperately when Ilka broke it out, pulled it out, uprooted it, wet from sweat and tears, and continued to ring when she, sobbing, dragged it to the trash pit and covered it with dry grass, pieces of paper, and brushwood.

Ilka lit a fire in the pit, and when the flame got stronger, she headed to the radish bed. In the torn up ground, among the scattered radishes, glass gleamed. Ilka pulled, and in her hand was a bottle of rum. The angry animal threw the bottle into the hole, the glass broke, and the fire soared higher, sparkling with a transparent blue. The animal stood over the pit, flames sparkled in her wet eyes, fiery highlights ran along her mustache, and she tried to persuade herself not to cry.

Half an hour later, all the sailors were sitting in the boat, except one, and the animal was guarding them with nettles. The animal picked another nettle stalk and went in search. Fedya waited until she walked away and threw the cigarette butt further into the sea.

The remaining sailor wandered sadly among the carrot and beet beds, on which nothing was growing anymore, because the vegetables had long been dug up and transported to the ship.

“Animal,” the little animal called out, clearly waving a nettle. - Well, get into the boat.

Animal, are you... wait... - the animal muttered in confusion. - You understand, this is the case...

Ilka wanted to scream that she didn’t want to hear about any business and would stop ruining the island, but she became ashamed and lowered the nettle.

We were overseas, and I bought earrings for my girl there. I laid out all the money, saved it like I don’t know what, didn’t even show it to anyone. I wanted to make her happy. And now I was digging a carrot and apparently dropped it. There's only one left, but I can't take her alone.

The animal took a dirty handkerchief from his pocket, unfolded it and showed the animal a crystal droplet on a silver bow.

“She would like it,” the little animal said thoughtfully. - But you are unlikely to find her. If you drop it on a stone or sand, it will not grow. Then I’ll convert the rest into a pendant for you.

“What am I going to hang it on,” the animal said sadly.

“I’ll give you a chain,” the little beast promised. - Silver. And I’ll hang the cross on a thread. I just think that if you lost it here, it will sprout by tomorrow. And we'll still be here until tomorrow.

Ilka and the sad sailor returned to the boat and were surprised to see that the rest of the animals, under the leadership of Fedya, were busy cleaning the island. Fedya was tired of guarding his recent friends with nettles, so he had an educational conversation with them, which made the animals all ashamed and decided to leave the hospitable island in perfect order.

“Thank you, little animals,” said the touched Ilka. - Let's eat the baked fish from the tree, drink some tea, and go to the ship, otherwise it will soon get dark.

The next morning, Ilka, Fedya and the captain returned to the island for the last time to check if anything unnecessary had been left there, if anything necessary had been forgotten, and in general. They didn’t find anything they needed, so they decided to cut spare buttons from what they needed, take an extra bag of noodles, and fill the smoldering garbage pit with water.

While Ilka and Fedya were filling the hole, the captain walked around and was surprised.

“Ahti,” he said suddenly, stopping in the garden.

The animals turned to him and saw a tree growing in a carrot bed. Thousands of crystal drops on silver arms swayed in the wind and tinkled softly.

The captain called the crew from the boat. The sailors dug up the tree and carefully transplanted it into a barrel. The animal and the little creature walked around their island for the last time and sat down on the path. The animal mentally said a heartfelt prayer. Everyone took their places in the boat, where the wonderful tree shone, shimmered and rang crystal, and sailed to the ship.

The sailors and the captain went to their places of work, the captain gave the command, and Ilka and Fedya stood on the deck at the side, looking at the island.

The ship's guns fired a farewell salute. On the island, a flock of large and small birds took off into the air and, dividing into several flocks, scattered in different directions with loud screams, songs and squeaks. The ship slowly moved out to sea. A new flock rose from the island, and soon the colorful butterflies caught up with the ship and covered the entire deck. Fedya leaned over the side and saw schools of fish in the water moving away from the island.

Fedya! - the little animal squealed. - Island, island!

The island slowly sank into the sea, waving its branches farewell.

Goodbye! - the little animal and the little animal shouted, again in unison.

The sailor, who came to scrub the deck, but instead used a mop to chase away the butterflies that sat on it like a colorful carpet, ran to report to his superiors that the island was sinking.

As a farewell, the island shot up with a shower of watches and copper coins, which fell into the water with an inaudible splash. The tops of the trees disappeared under the water, and a huge wave rushed from the place where the island was towards the ship. Fedya hugged Ilka, and they looked for a long time to where their home had been a minute ago, but the wave caught up with the ship and abandoned it, and both of them fell, and then they were in such a hurry to catch with a net and dry the butterflies that had washed into the water, that they did not have time to cry, not to say solemn words of farewell. And then the captain called them.

In the wardroom there was a crystal tree on the table, the last greeting from the island that had gone under the water.

In fairness,” wheezed the captain, who caught a cold during yesterday’s walk, “this tree should be given to Sanka, because he lost the earring.

Sanya lost one earring, let him take one,” objected the boatswain Mikhalych.

To be fair,” Sanya said suddenly, “you really need to ask Ilka and Fedya.”

Fedya came forward, very proud that someone was interested in his opinion, and Ilka was afraid that he would say something stupid. But she was afraid in vain.

“Let everyone take exactly as much as they need,” Fedya decreed. - Earrings for mom, sisters, whoever has how many, for the girls there... Whoever has an animal, take a pair, who has an animal, take two. It’s unfair, of course, but what can you do: they are animals like that. Take it for your daughters too, whoever has it, and for your granddaughters, of course.

Mikhalych, who was looking at the floor in frustration, perked up and raised his eyes.

And what about these... daughters-in-law...? - he asked, counting on his fingers and putting aside, apparently, three pairs.

It’s possible for daughters-in-law too,” Fedya waved his hand. - Just let everyone count how much they need, with all their nieces and cousins, and don’t take too much. And if anyone forgets, Sanek will give it to him later. They will grow new ones. And let Sanya take the whole tree. But can I take it for my mom too? Oh, and for my sister... And for Ilka... By the way, where is Ilka?

Meanwhile, Ilka stood at the stern, looking at the white water curls going into the darkness, and sang a lullaby to thirteen blue moths falling asleep in the crook of her left paw.

Once upon a time desert island. It was spread out in the middle of a deep ocean and there was nothing and no one around except water. And it was so good for the island that it didn’t want anything more from life.

True, this island could not be called completely uninhabited. Various animals lived here and birds sang. Thanks to the animals, as well as the philosophical attitude towards life, the island was not at all boring and lonely. He woke up with the sunrise, listened to the birds singing and observed the lives of his inhabitants. In the evening he indulged in thoughts about life and, having seen the sun below the horizon, fell asleep. This is how year after year passed.

One day there was a shipwreck at sea. Sank a cruise ship and none of the people managed to escape, except one woman. The ship of her life sank, and she still floundered on the waves in a life jacket.

But what is the use of a vest if there is no one and nothing around except water? The water is cold, the fish will not bring you food or fresh water. What is the use of it if you are alone in a stormy sea, and the waves mercilessly lash your face? What is the use of a life jacket when everyone on the ship is already in heaven, and you are still suffering, knowing that your hours are numbered anyway? What is the use if the heart is shackled by freezing cold and fear, all prayers are forgotten, and faith in God has suddenly become negligible? What's the use... Maybe it's better to untie the ropes holding the life jacket and just drown like everyone else?

The hand, numb from the cold, felt the end of the rope and was about to pull it, when suddenly a strong wind blew in, a wave covered the woman’s head and she no longer remembered anything else...

A woman woke up on the sand. “So, this is what this world is like,” a thought flashed, “And it’s not scary at all here.” Her whole body hurt, her neck was stiff and it was difficult to even turn her head to look around. The only thing she could do was look at the sky. It was clear, without a single cloud, endless and blue-blue. “It’s so good here,” she thought again, closing her tired eyes.

“It’s so good here,” the island thought, inhaling the sea air with all its chest. Suddenly he felt something lying on her. The island was surprised and moved its chest again. Then he lowered his eyes and saw something. The island had never seen people in its life, so it did not know what lay on it. At first he was scared, but then he began to examine with interest what was lying.

It was beautiful, neither small nor large, without hair, except for the long hair on its head. The body of this creature was covered with something, but the island did not know what. He had a beautiful face, even very beautiful. The eyes were closed.

Kh, kh,” the island coughed and lightly shook his chest.
From the push and sound, the woman opened her eyes. "What is this?" - she thought, “Is it really an earthquake?” Out of fright, she found the strength to rise and look around. In front of her was the sea, all around there was sand, and behind her in the distance was dense green vegetation.
“It looks like an earthly island,” the woman thought.

As soon as she opened her eyes, the island shook - they were so beautiful. Large, deep, blue-blue. Her eyes showed a lot of pain she had experienced. The woman's body still hurt and she moaned softly. This groan penetrated deep into the island and his heart sank with compassion. The island had never experienced anything like this before - it felt someone else's pain - physical and mental. The island felt sorry for this creature. “How will she survive here?” he thought. And unexpectedly for himself, he decided to take care of the stranger.

The island gave command to the bushes and trees and they wove a nest-house from their branches, in which the woman fit perfectly, and there was also room left. He also gave the command to the fruit trees to drop their fruits, and to the local animals to bring these fruits to the woman. The birds brought her spring water.

The woman felt care and attention, she was very pleased. She quickly came back to life. “This is what heaven is like,” she thought, rocking in her nest and eating exotic fruits. “But there are no people here, I have no one to talk to,” she sighed. The island felt these sighs on its chest. Love for this creature had already arisen in his soul. Every day the island wanted to take care of the woman more and more, to give her warmth and tenderness. He didn't recognize himself. But he couldn't talk to her.

Time passed. The woman lived as if in paradise. She thought she was in heaven. The animals and plants made friends with her and fell in love with her, everything was wonderful. The island rejoiced looking at its inhabitants and did everything to make them feel good.

One day big ship sailed past the island. The captain was looking through binoculars and suddenly saw beautiful woman who was walking along the shore. Her long curly hair flowed in the wind, her tanned dark skin glistened in the sun. She was almost naked and only a light tunic made of leaves covered her body.

The captain ordered the boat to be lowered and went ashore himself. He was drawn there more and more. While he was swimming to the shore, the stranger disappeared. “She probably went deeper into the island,” the captain thought and decided to go in search of her.

The soul on the island was uneasy. His heart began to beat very hard, sensing the approaching danger. Someone stranger was walking along it. The trees became restless, began to rustle, and began to weave their branches around the uninvited guest so tightly that he stumbled and fell. The captain tried to get up, but could not - a severe bruise in his leg did not allow him to go further.

He didn't know what to do, when suddenly that woman appeared. She looked at him with her eyes wide open in surprise. “Apparently, this man also went to heaven,” she thought, but when she saw his sore leg, she doubted it a little.

Who are you? - she asked, and from the long silence her own voice seemed alien to her.
- I am the captain of the ship "Victoria", it is now sailing near the coast of this island. Who are you, beautiful Amazon? - asked the man.
- I'm Victoria, I came here to heaven after the crash of a cruise ship.
“Yes, this is truly paradise,” the captain answered, not understanding the meaning of her words. “If you don’t pay attention to the jungle, because of which I hurt my leg.”
“Let me look at your leg,” the woman leaned towards the captain and his head began to spin – she was so beautiful and so close.

And at that moment the island trembled with jealousy. He loved his stranger and did not want to lose her.
- Wow, tremors. Are there earthquakes here? - the captain became wary.
- This is paradise, what earthquakes? - the woman was surprised.
The captain remained silent, thinking for the first time that she was a little strange. “We need to take her away from here,” he decided, and the island, reading his thoughts, trembled even more.
- How is your leg?
“Thank you, it’s much better now, thanks to you,” the captain stood up and, limping, walked back to the shore. The woman walked nearby.
“I suggest you sail on our ship from this island,” said the captain. “We will take you wherever you want.”
“But isn’t that...” the woman faltered. For the first time, she thought that perhaps this was not the same light as she had thought.
- What did you say?
- There is nothing. Of course I will sail with you. “I need to go home,” she said and offered her hand to the captain as he stepped into his boat.

The island groaned and cried, he realized that he was losing his beloved. A shiver ran through his entire body. The trees rustled, all the birds flew in, all the animals came and looked sadly at the woman leaving.

Suddenly she pulled her hand out of the captain’s hand and started running back. She ran and realized that she loved this island with all its inhabitants, that she had become one with them. Then the woman fell first to her knees, then to her stomach, spread her arms and, pressing her cheek to the sand, whispered: “I can’t live without you...”

The happy island embraced her with a gentle breeze and gently pressed her to his chest.
“Still, she’s very strange,” the captain thought, looking after her. “I’ll probably have to leave her here.”
And he sailed to his ship.

Fairy tale "On a Desert Island"

Zvyagina Ksenia (9 years old)

Borisenko Dasha (9 years old)

Vika Sevostyanova (9 years old)

Kaliningrad MAOU NOSH No. 53

One day a pirate ship was caught in a storm. Their ship crashed. All surviving team members woke up on the island and soon went to explore the area. Only then did they realize that the island was uninhabited. Suddenly the pirates heard a melodic chime coming from behind the trees. When they reached where the sound came from, they saw a waterfall, near which five beautiful mermaids were sitting on a large stone. Each mermaid's hair and tail color was different from the other mermaids. And then the pirates heard piercing screams. When they turned around at the scream, they saw another mermaid in the water. She got caught in the net. Most of the pirates were afraid to jump into the water because they were afraid of getting entangled themselves, and only the bravest of them dared to jump. When he found himself in the water, he realized that in this way the mermaids lure travelers into their traps. He realized that it was not a mermaid, but only her shadow. In the water near him, he discovered sharp snags and a rapid circulation. However, this pirate still managed to get out of the water. And then he noticed a small cave in the rock behind the waterfall. The pirates came closer to it, noticing some kind of shine inside. As they got closer, they realized it was just an axe. Then they, using an ax, began to build a ship from trees growing on the island. In the hollows of many trees, pirates found jewelry - gold, silver and diamonds. Then the pirates began to deliberately cut down trees with hollows. Most of these trees contained jewelry. When the ship was built, the pirates left it on the seashore. However, in the morning they discovered that their ship had disappeared without a trace. The pirates went in search. They walked around everything, but did not find the ship. When the pirates returned to where their new ship was, they saw a mermaid chained in the sea. They walked along the chain and saw their ship, from which a strip of gold coins and jewelry stretched into the distance. The pirates went for the treasure and soon came to the entrance to a small sea cave, in which a little imp was sitting, carefully looking at their treasures. The pirates wanted their jewelry back, but the little devil didn’t want to give it up so easily. He placed traps along the dark and confusing corridors of the cave, into which several pirates immediately fell. But soon, helping each other, they got out of them. In the end, the pirates returned their treasure, freed the mermaid and returned home. But the little devil, raging with anger, did not notice his trap and fell into it himself. There was no one to help him get out...

And then one day, returning from school, they tripped and fell, and when they woke up, they saw that they were on that very island! Having walked around the island, the boys found Robinson Crusoe's hut. There were a lot of books in it, but the guys didn’t find any food or a refrigerator!..

“We can’t sit hungry forever, let’s go look for something edible!” - said Zhenya.

They found a mushroom in the forest under a spruce tree.

– Do you know what kind of mushroom this is? – Andrey asked.

“No,” Zhenya answered.

“And I don’t know,” said Andrey.

– What should we do now? I want to eat! – Zhenya exclaimed.

- I remembered! In biology class we were told about edible and poisonous berries,” said Andrey.

- Well, what kind of berries are these? – Zhenya asked.

- I don't remember. “I slept through the whole lesson then,” Andrey answered.

“Let one of us try them,” Zhenya suggested.

- If you feel bad, then they are poisonous, and if not, they are edible!

- Why should I try this! Let's draw lots! – Andrei objected.

Zhenya was very cunning, so he took two identical sticks and said: “Whoever pulls out the long stick will eat these berries.” Andrey, not suspecting anything, pulled out a long stick and ate the berry with a displeased face. A second later his stomach started to hurt.

- Oh oh oh! What to do now? - the boy sobbed.

- Nothing, but there is a plus in this. We now know that these berries cannot be eaten!

And, after thinking a little, he said: “I remembered what herb helps with stomach pain. This is wormwood!

- How do you know? – Andrei asked in surprise.

– Yes, we studied medicinal herbs at school. A girl was sitting alone next to me; her name was Polina. I called her wormwood. She told me that wormwood helps with the stomach. That's what I remembered! – Zhenya said joyfully.

- Well, run after your wormwood! – Andrei perked up.

“Yes, there’s a little catch,” Zhenya said in an alarming voice. – I don’t know what this wormwood looks like. You'll have to taste all the herbs.

– I’ve had enough of your tastings! – Andrei almost cried.

And then he remembered that there were many books in Robinson Crusoe's hut. “Maybe one of them has a picture or description of wormwood?” - thought Andrey.

They went through all the books and finally came across an encyclopedia of medicinal herbs. In the same book there was a recipe for a healing decoction of wormwood.

Zhenya grabbed the book and ran into the forest to look for grass. He ran through the forest for a long time, but still found it.
He made a pot from a coconut shell and collected water from a spring behind the hut. But the boys had no matches. How to make fire?

And then Zhenya remembered that in the life safety lesson they were told about how to properly build a fire. He collected dry grass, took two identical sticks and began to rub one against the other. When his strength ran out and he was about to quit this activity, the long-awaited light suddenly flashed. Soon Zhenya gave Andrey a medicinal decoction to drink, and they went to bed.

– How nice it would be to be in your favorite school now! – Andrei sighed.

- Yes! “I wouldn’t have missed a single lesson then,” Zhenya agreed with him.

“And I would listen to the teacher all the time,” said Andrei.

They woke up at home. Overjoyed, we ran to school. They became exemplary students. All the teachers were surprised: “What happened to them?”

But only we will know this secret!

Alena Polyakova, student of Alekseevskaya school, Korochansky district