Leo Tolstoy Nikolaevich Bulka to read. Bulka (Officer's Tales)

I had a muzzle. Her name was Bulka. She was all black, only the tips of her front paws were white.

In all muzzles, the lower jaw is longer than the upper and the upper teeth extend beyond the lower ones; but Bulka's lower jaw protruded so far forward that a finger could be placed between the lower and upper teeth. Bulka's face is wide; the eyes are large, black and shiny; and white teeth and fangs always stuck out. He looked like an arap. Bulka was quiet and did not bite, but he was very strong and tenacious. When he used to cling to something, he would grit his teeth and hang like a rag, and he, like a tick, could not be torn off in any way.

Once they let him attack a bear, and he grabbed the bear's ear and hung like a leech. The bear beat him with his paws, pressed him to himself, threw him from side to side, but could not tear him off and fell on his head to crush Bulka; but Bulka kept on him until they poured cold water on him.

I adopted him as a puppy and fed him myself. When I went to serve in the Caucasus, I did not want to take him and left him quietly, and ordered him to be locked up. At the first station, I was about to get into another sling, when I suddenly saw that something black and shiny was rolling along the road. It was Bulka in his copper collar. He flew at full speed to the station. He rushed towards me, licked my hand and stretched out in the shade under the cart. His tongue stuck out to the palm of his hand. He then pulled it back, swallowing saliva, then again stuck it out on a whole palm. He was in a hurry, did not keep up with breathing, his sides were jumping. He turned from side to side and tapped his tail on the ground.

I later found out that after me he broke through the frame and jumped out of the window and directly, in my wake, galloped along the road and galloped about twenty versts in the heat.

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I had a muzzle. Her name was Bulka. She was all black

the tips of the front paws were white.

In all muzzles, the lower jaw is longer than the upper, and the upper teeth come in

for the bottom; but Bulka's lower jaw protruded so far forward that his finger could

was laid between the lower and upper teeth. Bulka's face was wide,

eyes large, black and shining; and white teeth and fangs always stuck out

out. He looked like an arap. Bulka was quiet and did not bite, but he was

very strong and tenacious. When he used to cling to something, he would squeeze

teeth and hang like a rag, and like a tick, you can’t tear it off in any way.

Once they let him attack a bear, and he grabbed the bear's ear and hung,

like a leech. The bear beat him with his paws, pressed him to himself, threw him from side to side.

side, but could not tear it off and fell on his head to crush Bulka;

but Bulka held on to him until they poured cold water on him.

I adopted him as a puppy and fed him myself. When I went to serve in the Caucasus, I did not

wanted to take him and left him quietly, and ordered him to be locked up. On first

station, I already wanted to sit on another crossbar [Cross — crew,

drawn by horses that changed at post stations; "on the

perekladnykh" traveled in Russia before the railways], how

suddenly he saw that something black and shiny was rolling down the road. This was

Bulka in his copper collar. He flew at full speed to the station. He rushed

towards me, licked my hand and stretched out in the shade under the cart.

His tongue stuck out to the palm of his hand. He then pulled him back, swallowing

drool, then again protruded into the whole palm. He was in a hurry, did not keep up with breathing,

his sides jumped like that. He turned from side to side and tapped his tail

I found out later that after me he broke through the frame and jumped out of the window and

straight, in my wake, galloped along the road and galloped about twenty versts to

the hottest.

Page 2 of 5

BULKA AND BOAR

Once in the Caucasus we went hunting for wild boars, and Bulka came running with

me. As soon as the hounds drove off, Bulka rushed to their voice and disappeared into

forest. It was in the month of November: wild boars and pigs are then very fat.

In the Caucasus, in the forests where wild boars live, there are many delicious fruits:

wild grapes, cones, apples, pears, blackberries, acorns, thorns. And when

all these fruits will ripen and be touched by frost, the boars are eaten and fattening.

At that time, the boar is so fat that it cannot run under

dogs. When they drive him for two hours, he clogs himself into a thicket and

stops. Then the hunters run to the place where he stands, and

shoot. By the barking of dogs, you can know whether the boar has stopped or is running. If he runs

then the dogs bark with a squeal, as if they were being beaten; and if he stands, then they bark,

like a person, and howl.

In this hunt, I ran for a long time through the forest, but not once did I manage to run across

boar road. At last I heard the long-drawn-out barking and howling of the hounds, and I ran

to that place. I was already close to the boar. I've already heard more crackling noises.

It was a boar tossing and turning with dogs. But it was heard by barking that they did not take it,

but just circled around. Suddenly I heard something rustling behind me, and I saw

Bulka. He apparently lost the hounds in the forest and got confused, and now he heard both barking and

just as I, that was the spirit, rolled in that direction. He ran across the clearing

through the tall grass, and all I could see from him was his black head and

bitten tongue in white teeth. I called out to him, but he did not look back, overtook

me and hid in the thicket. I ran after him, but the further I went, the forest

became more and more often. Bitches knocked off my hat, hit me in the face, needles

thorns clung to her dress. I was already close to barking, but I couldn't do anything

Suddenly I heard the dogs barking louder; something crackled violently, and

the boar began to puff and wheezed. I thought that now Bulka got

before him and fiddling with him. With the last of my strength, I ran through the thicket to that place.

In the most remote thicket I saw a motley hound. She barked and howled at

in one place, and three paces away something was fussing and turning black.

When I moved closer, I examined the boar and heard that Bulka

squealed piercingly. The boar grunted and poked his head at the hound, the hound pulled

tail and bounced off. I could see the side of the boar and his head. I took aim at

side and fired. I saw that it hit. The boar grunted and crackled away from me.

more often. The dogs squealed and barked after him, and more often I rushed after them.

Suddenly, almost under my feet, I saw and heard something. It was Bulka.

He lay on his side and squealed. There was a pool of blood underneath. I thought it was gone

dog; but now I was not up to it, I was breaking further.

Soon I saw a boar. The dogs grabbed him from behind, and he turned around

to one side or the other. When the boar saw me, he leaned towards me. I

fired another time almost point-blank, so that the bristles caught fire on the boar, and

the boar wheezed, staggered, and with his whole carcass fell heavily to the ground.

When I approached, the boar was already dead, and only here and there it

puffed up and twitched. But the dogs, bristling, alone tore at his belly and

legs, while others lapped up the blood from the wound.

Then I remembered Bulka and went to look for him. He crawled towards me and

groaned. I went up to him, sat down and looked at his wound. He had a rip

stomach, and a whole lump of intestines from the stomach dragged along the dry leaves. When

Comrades came up to me, we set Bulka's intestines and sewed up his stomach. Bye

they sewed up my stomach and pierced the skin, he kept licking my hands.

The boar was tied to the tail of a horse to be taken out of the forest, and Bulka

put on a horse and so brought him home. Bulka was ill for six weeks and

recovered.

Page 3 of 5

MILTON AND BULKA

I got myself a setter for the pheasants. The dog's name was Milton; she is

was tall, thin, speckled in gray, with long frills [Bryla, bryl —

thick, pendulous lips of a dog] and ears, and very strong and intelligent. With Bulka

they didn't squabble. Not a single dog has ever snapped at Bulka. He used to

just show their teeth, and the dogs tuck their tails in and walk away. One

once I went with Milton for pheasants. Suddenly Bulka ran after me into the forest. I

I wanted to drive him away, but I couldn't. And going home to take him away was

long away. I thought that he would not interfere with me, and went on; but just now

Milton sensed a pheasant in the grass and began to search, Bulka rushed forward and began

poke in all directions. He tried before Milton to raise the pheasant. He

heard something in the grass, jumped, twirled; but his instinct is bad, and he

could not find a trace alone, but looked at Milton and ran where he went

Milton. As soon as Milton sets off on the trail, Bulka will run ahead. I

recalled Bulka, beat him, but could not do anything with him. As soon as Milton

began to search, he rushed forward and interfered with him. I wanted to go home

because I thought that my hunting was spoiled, but Milton thought better than me,

How to deceive Bulka. This is what he did: as soon as Bulka runs to him

forward, Milton will leave a trace, turn the other way and pretend that he

looking for. Bulka will rush to where Milton pointed, and Milton will look back at

me, wag his tail and follow the real trail again. Bulka again

runs to Milton, runs ahead, and again Milton deliberately takes steps

ten aside, deceive Bulka and again lead me straight. So all

He willingly deceived Bulka and did not let him ruin things.

Page 4 of 5

BULKA AND THE WOLF

When I left the Caucasus, there was still a war there, and it was dangerous at night

travel without an escort [Convoy - here: security].

I wanted to leave as early as possible in the morning and for this I did not go to bed.

My friend came to see me off, and we sat all evening and night on

village street in front of my hut.

It was a month long night with fog, and it was so light that you could read, although

month was not visible.

In the middle of the night we suddenly heard a squeaking in the yard across the street.

piglet. One of us shouted:

- It's the wolf strangling the pig!

I ran to my hut, grabbed a loaded gun and ran out into the street.

Everyone stood at the gate of the yard where the pig was squeaking, and shouted to me: “Here!”

Milton rushed after me - it’s true, he thought that I was going hunting with a gun, -

and Bulka raised his short ears and darted from side to side, as if

asked who he was told to grab onto. When I ran up to the wattle fence, I saw

that from the other side of the yard a beast is running straight towards me. It was a wolf. He ran up

to the fence and jumped on it. I pulled away from him and readied my gun. How

only the wolf jumped off the wattle fence to my side, I kissed almost point-blank and

pulled the trigger; but the gun made a "chick" and did not fire. The wolf didn't stop

and ran across the street. Milton and Bulka set off after him. Milton was close

from a wolf, but, apparently, was afraid to grab it; and Bulka, no matter how he hurried to

their short legs, couldn't keep up. We ran as hard as we could for the wolf, but

both the wolf and the dogs disappeared from our sight. Only at the ditch at the corner of the village we

heard barking, screeching, and saw through the monthly fog that rose

dust and that the dogs were playing with the wolf. When we ran to the ditch, the wolf was already

was not, and both dogs returned to us with their tails up and angry

persons. Bulka growled and pushed me with his head - he obviously wanted something.

tell, but he couldn't.

We examined the dogs and found that Bulka had a small wound on his head.

He apparently caught up with the wolf in front of the ditch, but did not manage to capture it, and the wolf

snapped and ran away. The wound was small, so there was nothing dangerous.

We went back to the hut, sat and talked about what had happened.

I was annoyed that my gun had stopped working, and kept thinking about how, right there,

in place, the wolf remained, if it had fired. My friend was surprised that

the wolf could get into the yard. The old Cossack said that there is nothing here

surprising that it was not a wolf, but that it was a witch and that she

enchanted my gun. So we sat and talked. Suddenly dogs

rushed, and we saw in the middle of the street in front of us again the same wolf; but

this time he ran so fast from our cry that the dogs did not catch up

After that, the old Cossack was already completely convinced that it was not a wolf, but

witch; and I thought that it was not a rabid wolf, because I never

I saw and did not hear that the wolf, after being driven away, returned

back to the people.

Just in case, I sprinkled Bulke on the wound with gunpowder and lit it. Powder

flared up and burned the sore spot.

I burned the wound with gunpowder in order to burn out the furious saliva, if it was not already

managed to enter the blood. If saliva got in and entered the blood, then I knew

that through the blood it will disperse throughout the body, and then it can no longer be cured.

Page 5 of 5

WHAT HAPPENED TO BULKA IN PYATIGORSK

From the village I did not go straight to Russia, but first to Pyatigorsk, and stayed there for two months. I gave Milton to a Cossack hunter, and I took Bulka with me to Pyatigorsk.

Pyatigorsk is so called because it stands on Mount Beshtau. And Besh in Tatar means five, tau - mountain. Hot sulfuric water flows from this mountain. This water is hot as boiling water, and over the place where the water comes from the mountain, there is always steam, like over a samovar. The whole place where the city stands is very cheerful. Hot springs flow from the mountains, the river Podkumok flows under the mountain. There are forests along the mountain, fields all around, and in the distance you can always see the great Caucasus Mountains. On these mountains the snow never melts and they are always white as sugar.

One big mountain Elbrus, like a sugar white head, is visible from everywhere when the weather is clear. People come to hot springs for treatment; and over the springs gazebos and sheds were made, gardens and paths were laid out all around. Music plays in the morning, and people drink water or swim and walk.

The city itself stands on a mountain, and under the mountain there is a settlement. I lived in this settlement in a small house. The house stood in the yard, and in front of the windows there was a garden, and in the garden stood the master's bees - not in logs, as in Russia, but in round wattles. The bees there are so peaceful that I always sat in the morning with Bulka in this garden between the beehives.

Bulka walked among the hives, was surprised at the bees, sniffed, listened to how they buzzed, but walked around them so carefully that he did not interfere with them, and they did not touch him.

One morning I came home from the water and sat down to drink coffee in the front garden. Bulka began scratching behind his ears and rattling his collar. The noise disturbed the bees, and I removed the collar from Bulka. A little later, I heard a strange and terrible noise from the city from the mountain. Dogs barked, howled, squealed, people screamed, and this noise descended from the mountain and came closer and closer to our settlement. Bulka stopped scratching, put his broad head with white teeth between his front white paws, put his tongue in the way it needed to, and lay quietly beside me. When he heard the noise, he seemed to understand what it was, pricked up his ears, bared his teeth, jumped up and began to growl. The noise was getting closer. Like dogs from all over the city howled, squealed and barked. I went out to the gate to look, and the mistress of my house came up too. I asked, "What is it?" She said: “These are the convicts from the jail, they beat the dogs. Many dogs were divorced, and the city authorities ordered to beat all the dogs in the city.

How, and Bulka will be killed if he gets caught?

No, in collars they are not ordered to beat.

At the same time, as I said, the convicts had already approached our yard.

Soldiers walked in front, four convicts in chains behind. Two of the convicts had long iron hooks in their hands and two had clubs. In front of our gates, one convict hooked a yard dog with a hook, pulled it to the middle of the street, and another convict began to beat it with a club. The little dog squealed terribly, and the convicts

shouted something and laughed. The hooker with the hook turned the little dog over, and when he saw that she was dead, he took out the hook and began to look around to see if there was another dog.

At this time, Bulka headlong, as he threw himself at the bear, rushed at this convict. I remembered that he was without a collar, and shouted: "Bulka, back!" - and shouted to the convicts so that they would not beat Bulka. But the prisoner saw Bulka, laughed, and deftly hit Bulka with his hook and caught him by the thigh. Bulka rushed away; but the prisoner pulled him towards him and shouted to another: “Beat!” Another swung a club, and Bulka would have been killed, but he rushed, the skin broke on his thigh, and, tail between his legs, with a red wound on his leg, he flew headlong into the gate, into the house and huddled under my bed.

He was saved by the fact that his skin broke through in the place where the hook was.

Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, stories, fairy tales and fables in prose for children. The collection includes not only the well-known stories of Leo Tolstoy "Bone", "Kitten", "Bulka", but also such rare works as "Be kind to everyone", "Do not torture animals", "Do not be lazy", "Boy and father" and many others.

Jackdaw and jug

Galka wanted to drink. There was a jug of water in the yard, and the jug only had water at the bottom.
Jackdaw could not be reached.
She began to throw pebbles into the jug and threw so many that the water became higher and it was possible to drink.

Rats and eggs

Two rats found an egg. They wanted to share it and eat it; but they see a crow flying and wants to take the egg.
The rats began to think how to steal an egg from a crow. Carry? - do not grab; roll? - can be broken.
And the rats decided this: one lay on its back, grabbed the egg with its paws, and the other drove it by the tail, and, like on a sleigh, dragged the egg under the floor.

bug

Bug was carrying a bone across the bridge. Look, her shadow is in the water.
It came to the mind of the Bug that there was not a shadow in the water, but a Bug and a bone.
She let her bone in to take that one. She didn’t take that one, but her own went to the bottom.

wolf and goat

The wolf sees - the goat is grazing on a stone mountain and he cannot get close to her; he said to her: “You should go down: here the place is more even, and the grass for food is much sweeter for you.”
And the Goat says: “That’s not why you, wolf, are calling me down: you are not about mine, but about your fodder.”

Mouse, cat and rooster

The mouse went for a walk. She walked around the yard and came back to her mother.
“Well, mother, I saw two animals. One is scary and the other is kind.
The mother said: "Tell me, what kind of animals are these?"
The mouse said: “One scary one, walks around the yard like this: his legs are black, his crest is red, his eyes are protruding, and his nose is hooked. When I walked by, he opened his mouth, lifted his leg and began to scream so loudly that I didn’t know where to go from fear!
"It's a rooster," said the old mouse. - He does no harm to anyone, do not be afraid of him. Well, what about the other animal?
- The other lay in the sun and warmed himself. His neck is white, his legs are gray, smooth, he licks his white breast and moves his tail a little, looks at me.
The old mouse said: “You are a fool, you are a fool. It's a cat after all."

Kitty

There were brother and sister - Vasya and Katya; and they had a cat. In the spring, the cat disappeared. The children looked for her everywhere, but could not find her.

Once they were playing near the barn and heard someone meowing in thin voices above their heads. Vasya climbed the stairs under the roof of the barn. And Katya stood and kept asking:

- Found? Found?

But Vasya did not answer her. Finally, Vasya shouted to her:

- Found! Our cat... and she has kittens; so wonderful; come here soon.

Katya ran home, got milk and brought it to the cat.

There were five kittens. When they grew up a little and began to crawl out from under the corner where they hatched, the children chose one kitten, gray with white paws, and brought it into the house. The mother gave away all the other kittens, and left this one to the children. The children fed him, played with him and put him to bed with them.

Once the children went to play on the road and took a kitten with them.

The wind stirred the straw along the road, and the kitten played with the straw, and the children rejoiced at him. Then they found sorrel near the road, went to collect it and forgot about the kitten.

Suddenly they heard someone shouting loudly:

“Back, back!” - and they saw that the hunter was galloping, and in front of him two dogs saw a kitten and wanted to grab him. And the kitten, stupid, instead of running, sat down on the ground, hunched his back and looks at the dogs.

Katya was frightened by the dogs, screamed and ran away from them. And Vasya, with all his heart, set off to the kitten and, at the same time as the dogs, ran up to him.

The dogs wanted to grab the kitten, but Vasya fell on the kitten with his stomach and covered it from the dogs.

The hunter jumped up and drove the dogs away, and Vasya brought the kitten home and no longer took him into the field with him.

old man and apple trees

The old man was planting apple trees. They told him: “Why do you need apple trees? It is a long time to wait for fruit from these apple trees, and you will not eat apples from them. The old man said: "I will not eat, others will eat, they will thank me."

Boy and father (Truth is the most expensive)

The boy was playing and accidentally broke an expensive cup.
Nobody took it out.
Father came and asked:
- Who broke?
The boy shook with fear and said:
- I.
Father said:
- Thank you for telling the truth.

Do not torture animals (Varya and siskin)

Varya had a siskin. Chizh lived in a cage and never sang.
Varya came to the chizh. - "It's time for you, siskin, to sing."
- "Let me go free, I will sing all day long."

Don't be lazy

There were two men - Peter and Ivan, they mowed the meadows together. Peter the next morning came with his family and began to clean up his meadow. The day was hot and the grass was dry; in the evening it became hay.
And Ivan did not go to clean, but sat at home. On the third day, Peter brought hay home, and Ivan was just about to row.
By evening it started to rain. Peter had hay, and Ivan had all the grass withered away.

Do not take by force

Petya and Misha had a horse. They began to argue: whose horse?
They began to tear each other's horse.
- "Give me, my horse!" - “No, you give me, the horse is not yours, but mine!”
Mother came, took the horse, and nobody's horse became.

Do not overeat

The mouse gnawed the floor, and there was a gap. The mouse went into the gap, found a lot of food. The mouse was greedy and ate so much that its belly was full. When it was daylight, the mouse went to her, but the belly was so full that she did not go through the gap.

Be good to everyone

The squirrel jumped from branch to branch and fell right on the sleepy wolf. The wolf jumped up and wanted to eat her. The squirrel began to ask: "Let me go." The wolf said: “Okay, I'll let you in, just tell me why you squirrels are so cheerful? I’m always bored, but you look at you, you are there, at the top, all playing and jumping. The squirrel said: “Let me go up the tree first, and from there I will tell you, otherwise I am afraid of you.” The wolf let go, and the squirrel went to the tree and said from there: “You are bored because you are angry. Anger burns your heart. And we are cheerful because we are kind and do no harm to anyone.

respect old people

The grandmother had a granddaughter; before, the granddaughter was sweet and slept all the time, and the grandmother herself baked bread, swept the hut, washed, sewed, spun and wove for her granddaughter; and after that the grandmother became old and lay down on the stove and slept all the time. And the granddaughter baked, washed, sewed, wove and spun for her grandmother.

How my aunt talked about how she learned to sew

When I was six years old, I asked my mother to let me sew. She said: “You are still small, you will only prick your fingers”; and I kept coming. Mother took a red piece of paper from the chest and gave it to me; then she threaded a red thread into the needle and showed me how to hold it. I began to sew, but could not make even stitches; one stitch came out large, and the other fell to the very edge and broke through. Then I pricked my finger and wanted not to cry, but my mother asked me: “What are you?” I couldn't help but cry. Then my mother told me to go play.

When I went to bed, stitches seemed to me all the time: I kept thinking about how I could learn to sew as soon as possible, and it seemed to me so difficult that I would never learn. And now I've grown big and I don't remember how I learned to sew; and when I teach my girl to sew, I wonder how she can't hold a needle.

Bulka (Officer's story)

I had a muzzle. Her name was Bulka. She was all black, only the tips of her front paws were white.

In all muzzles, the lower jaw is longer than the upper and the upper teeth extend beyond the lower ones; but Bulka's lower jaw protruded so far forward that a finger could be placed between the lower and upper teeth. Bulka's face was wide; eyes large, black and shining; and white teeth and fangs always stuck out. He looked like an arap. Bulka was gentle and did not bite, but he was very strong and tenacious. When he used to get hold of something, he would grit his teeth and hang like a rag, and like a tick, he could not be torn off in any way.

Once they let him attack a bear, and he grabbed the bear's ear and hung like a leech. The bear beat him with his paws, pressed him to himself, threw him from side to side, but could not tear him off and fell on his head to crush Bulka; but Bulka held on to him until they poured cold water on him.

I adopted him as a puppy and fed him myself. When I went to serve in the Caucasus, I did not want to take him and left him quietly, and ordered him to be locked up. At the first station, I was about to sit down on another sling, when I suddenly saw that something black and shiny was rolling along the road. It was Bulka in his copper collar. He flew at full speed to the station. He rushed towards me, licked my hand and stretched out in the shade under the cart. His tongue stuck out to the palm of his hand. He then pulled it back, swallowing saliva, then again stuck it out on a whole palm. He was in a hurry, did not keep up with breathing, his sides were jumping. He turned from side to side and tapped his tail on the ground.

I later found out that after me he broke through the frame and jumped out of the window and, right in my wake, galloped along the road and galloped about twenty miles in the heat.

Milton and Bulka (Story)

I got myself a setter for the pheasants. This dog was called Milton: it was tall, thin, speckled in grey, with long beaks and ears, and very strong and intelligent. They did not squabble with Bulka. Not a single dog has ever snapped at Bulka. He would only show his teeth, and the dogs would curl their tails and walk away. Once I went with Milton for pheasants. Suddenly Bulka ran after me into the forest. I wanted to drive him away, but I couldn't. And it was a long way to go home to take him away. I thought that he would not interfere with me, and went on; but as soon as Milton sensed a pheasant in the grass and began to search, Bulka rushed forward and began to poke his head in all directions. He tried before Milton to raise the pheasant. He heard something like that in the grass, jumped, twirled: but his instinct was bad, and he could not find a trace alone, but looked at Milton and ran where Milton was going. As soon as Milton sets off on the trail, Bulka will run ahead. I recalled Bulka, beat him, but could not do anything with him. As soon as Milton began to search, he rushed forward and interfered with him. I already wanted to go home, because I thought that my hunting was spoiled, and Milton figured out better than me how to deceive Bulka. This is what he did: as soon as Bulka runs ahead of him, Milton will leave a trace, turn in the other direction and pretend that he is looking. Bulka will rush to where Milton pointed, and Milton will look back at me, wag his tail and follow the real trail again. Bulka again ran to Milton, ran ahead, and again Milton deliberately took ten steps to the side, deceived Bulka, and again led me straight. So all the hunting he deceived Bulka and did not let him ruin the case.

Shark (Story)

Our ship was anchored off the coast of Africa. It was a fine day, with a fresh breeze blowing from the sea; but towards evening the weather changed: it became stuffy and, as if from a melted stove, hot air from the Sahara desert was blowing at us.

Before sunset, the captain went on deck, shouted: “Swim!” - and in one minute the sailors jumped into the water, lowered the sail into the water, tied it and made a bath in the sail.

There were two boys on the ship with us. The boys were the first to jump into the water, but they were cramped in the sail, they decided to swim in a race on the high seas.

Both, like lizards, stretched out in the water and with all their strength swam to the place where there was a barrel above the anchor.

One boy at first overtook his comrade, but then began to lag behind. The boy's father, an old artilleryman, stood on the deck and admired his son. When the son began to lag behind, the father shouted to him: “Do not betray! push!"

Suddenly, from the deck, someone shouted: "Shark!" - and we all saw the back of a sea monster in the water.

The shark swam straight at the boys.

Back! back! come back! shark! shouted the gunner. But the guys did not hear him, they swam on, laughing and shouting even more cheerfully and louder than before.

The artilleryman, pale as a sheet, looked at the children without moving.

The sailors lowered the boat, rushed into it and, bending the oars, rushed with all their might to the boys; but they were still far away from them when the shark was no more than 20 paces away.

The boys at first did not hear what was shouted to them, and did not see the shark; but then one of them looked back, and we all heard a piercing squeal, and the boys swam in different directions.

This squeal seemed to wake the gunner. He took off and ran to the cannons. He turned his trunk, lay down on the cannon, took aim and took the fuse.

We all, no matter how many of us were on the ship, froze with fear and waited for what would happen.

A shot rang out, and we saw that the artilleryman had fallen near the cannon and covered his face with his hands. What happened to the shark and the boys we did not see, because for a moment the smoke clouded our eyes.

But when the smoke dispersed over the water, at first a quiet murmur was heard from all sides, then this murmur became stronger, and, finally, a loud, joyful cry was heard from all sides.

The old artilleryman opened his face, got up and looked at the sea.

The yellow belly of a dead shark rippled over the waves. In a few minutes the boat sailed up to the boys and brought them to the ship.

The Lion and the Dog (True)

Illustration by Nastya Aksenova

In London, they showed wild animals and took money or dogs and cats for food for wild animals.

One man wanted to look at the animals: he grabbed a little dog in the street and brought it to the menagerie. They let him watch, but they took the little dog and threw it into a cage to be eaten by a lion.

The dog tucked its tail between its legs and snuggled into the corner of the cage. The lion walked up to her and sniffed her.

The dog lay on its back, raised its paws and began to wag its tail.

The lion touched her with his paw and turned her over.

The dog jumped up and stood in front of the lion on its hind legs.

The lion looked at the dog, turned its head from side to side and did not touch it.

When the owner threw meat to the lion, the lion tore off a piece and left it for the dog.

In the evening, when the lion went to bed, the dog lay down beside him and laid her head on his paw.

Since then, the dog lived in the same cage with the lion, the lion did not touch her, ate food, slept with her, and sometimes played with her.

Once the master came to the menagerie and recognized his little dog; he said that the dog was his own, and asked the owner of the menagerie to give it to him. The owner wanted to give it back, but as soon as they began to call the dog to take it out of the cage, the lion bristled and growled.

So lived the lion and the dog whole year in one cell.

A year later, the dog fell ill and died. The lion stopped eating, but kept sniffing, licking the dog and touching it with his paw.

When he realized that she was dead, he suddenly jumped up, bristled, began to whip his tail on the sides, threw himself on the wall of the cage and began to gnaw the bolts and the floor.

All day he fought, tossed about in the cage and roared, then lay down beside the dead dog and fell silent. The owner wanted to carry away the dead dog, but the lion would not let anyone near it.

The owner thought that the lion would forget his grief if he was given another dog, and let a live dog into his cage; but the lion immediately tore her to pieces. Then he hugged the dead dog with his paws and lay like that for five days.

On the sixth day the lion died.

Jump (True)

One ship went around the world and returned home. The weather was calm, all the people were on deck. A big monkey was spinning among the people and amused everyone. This monkey writhed, jumped, made funny faces, mimicked people, and it was clear that she knew that she was being amused, and therefore diverged even more.

She jumped up to the 12-year-old boy, the son of the captain of the ship, tore off his hat from his head, put it on and quickly climbed up the mast. Everyone laughed, but the boy was left without a hat and did not know himself whether to laugh or cry.

The monkey sat down on the first rung of the mast, took off his hat and began to tear it with his teeth and paws. She seemed to be teasing the boy, pointing at him and making faces at him. The boy threatened her and shouted at her, but she tore her hat even more angrily. The sailors began to laugh louder, and the boy blushed, threw off his jacket and rushed to the mast after the monkey. In one minute he climbed the rope to the first rung; but the monkey was even more agile and faster than he, at the very moment when he thought to grab his hat, climbed even higher.

So you won't leave me! - shouted the boy and climbed higher. The monkey again beckoned him, climbed even higher, but the boy was already disassembled by the enthusiasm, and he did not lag behind. So the monkey and the boy reached the very top in one minute. At the very top, the monkey stretched out to its full length and, catching the rope with its back hand1, hung its hat on the edge of the last crossbar, and itself climbed to the top of the mast and from there writhed, showed its teeth and rejoiced. From the mast to the end of the crossbar, where the hat hung, was two arshins, so that it was impossible to get it except to let go of the rope and the mast.

But the boy was very angry. He dropped the mast and stepped onto the crossbar. Everyone on deck looked and laughed at what the monkey and the captain's son were doing; but when they saw that he let go the rope and stepped on the crossbar, shaking his arms, everyone froze with fear.

He had only to stumble - and he would have been smashed to smithereens on the deck. Yes, even if he did not stumble, but reached the edge of the crossbar and took his hat, it would be difficult for him to turn around and walk back to the mast. Everyone silently looked at him and waited for what would happen.

Suddenly, some of the people gasped in fear. The boy came to his senses from this cry, looked down and staggered.

At this time, the captain of the ship, the boy's father, left the cabin. He carried a gun to shoot seagulls. He saw his son on the mast, and immediately took aim at his son and shouted: “Into the water! jump into the water now! I'll shoot!" The boy staggered, but did not understand. “Jump or shoot! .. One, two ...” and as soon as the father shouted: “three” - the boy swung his head down and jumped.

Like a cannonball, the boy's body slapped into the sea, and before the waves had time to close it, as already 20 young sailors jumped from the ship into the sea. After 40 seconds - they seemed like debts to everyone - the boy's body surfaced. They grabbed him and dragged him onto the ship. After a few minutes, water poured from his mouth and nose, and he began to breathe.

When the captain saw this, he suddenly screamed, as if something was choking him, and ran to his cabin so that no one would see him crying.

Fire dogs (Falle)

It often happens that in cities, on fires, children remain in houses and cannot be pulled out, because they will hide and remain silent from fright, and it is impossible to see them from the smoke. For this, dogs are trained in London. These dogs live with the firemen, and when the house catches fire, the firemen send the dogs to pull the children out. One such dog in London saved twelve children; her name was Bob.

The house caught fire once. And when the firemen arrived at the house, a woman ran out to them. She cried and said that a two-year-old girl remained in the house. The firemen sent Bob. Bob ran up the stairs and disappeared into the smoke. Five minutes later he ran out of the house and in his teeth carried the girl by the shirt. The mother rushed to her daughter and wept for joy that her daughter was alive. The firemen petted the dog and examined it to see if it was burned; but Bob was rushing back into the house. The firemen thought there was something else alive in the house and let him in. The dog ran into the house and soon ran out with something in his mouth. When the people saw what she was carrying, everyone burst out laughing: she was carrying a big doll.

Bone (True)

Mother bought plums and wanted to give them to the children after dinner. They were on a plate. Vanya never ate plums and kept sniffing them. And he really liked them. I really wanted to eat. He kept walking past the plums. When no one was in the room, he could not resist, grabbed one plum and ate it. Before dinner, the mother counted the plums and sees that one is missing. She told her father.

At dinner, the father says: “Well, children, has anyone eaten one plum?” Everyone said, "No." Vanya blushed like a cancer, and also said: “No, I didn’t eat.”

Then the father said: “What one of you has eaten is not good; but that's not the problem. The trouble is that plums have bones, and if someone does not know how to eat them and swallows a stone, he will die in a day. I'm afraid of it."

Vanya turned pale and said: "No, I threw the bone out the window."

And everyone laughed, and Vanya began to cry.

Monkey and Pea (Fable)

The monkey was carrying two full handfuls of peas. One pea jumped out; the monkey wanted to pick it up and spilled twenty peas.
She rushed to pick it up and spilled everything. Then she got angry, scattered all the peas and ran away.

The Lion and the Mouse (Fable)

The lion was sleeping. The mouse ran over his body. He woke up and caught her. The mouse began to ask him to let her in; she said: "If you let me go, and I will do you good." The lion laughed that the mouse promised to do good to him, and let it go.

Then the hunters caught the lion and tied it to a tree with a rope. The mouse heard the lion's roar, ran, gnawed through the rope and said: “Remember, you laughed, you didn’t think that I could do good to you, but now you see, sometimes good comes from a mouse.”

Old grandfather and granddaughter (Fable)

The grandfather became very old. His legs could not walk, his eyes could not see, his ears could not hear, he had no teeth. And when he ate, it flowed back from his mouth. The son and daughter-in-law stopped putting him at the table, and let him dine at the stove. They took him down once to dine in a cup. He wanted to move it, but he dropped it and broke it. The daughter-in-law began to scold the old man for spoiling everything in the house and breaking cups, and said that now she would give him dinner in the pelvis. The old man just sighed and said nothing. Once a husband and wife sit at home and look - their little son plays planks on the floor - something works out. The father asked: “What are you doing, Misha?” And Misha said: “It’s me, father, I’m doing the pelvis. When you and your mother are old, to feed you from this pelvis.

Husband and wife looked at each other and wept. They felt ashamed that they had offended the old man so much; and from then on they began to put him at the table and look after him.

Liar (Fable, another name - Do not lie)

The boy guarded the sheep and, as if seeing a wolf, began to call: “Help, wolf! wolf!" The men come running and see: it's not true. As he did so two and three times, it happened - and a wolf really came running. The boy began to shout: "Here, here, hurry, wolf!" The peasants thought that he was deceiving again, as always, - they did not listen to him. The wolf sees, there is nothing to be afraid of: in the open he cut the whole herd.

Father and Sons (Fable)

The father ordered his sons to live in harmony; they didn't listen. So he ordered to bring a broom and says:

"Break!"

No matter how much they fought, they could not break. Then the father untied the broom and ordered to break one rod at a time.

They easily broke the bars one by one.

Ant and dove (Fable)

The ant went down to the stream: he wanted to get drunk. A wave swept over him and nearly drowned him. Dove carried a branch; she saw - the ant was drowning, and threw a branch into the stream for him. An ant sat on a branch and escaped. Then the hunter set the net on the dove and wanted to slam it shut. The ant crawled up to the hunter and bit him on the leg; the hunter groaned and dropped the net. The dove fluttered and flew away.

Hen and Swallow (Fable)

The chicken found snake eggs and began to hatch them. The swallow saw and said:
"That's it, stupid! You will lead them out, and when they grow up, they will offend you first.

The Fox and the Grapes (Fable)

The fox saw - ripe bunches of grapes were hanging, and began to fit in, as if to eat them.
She fought for a long time, but could not get it. To drown out her annoyance, she says: "Still green."

Two Comrades (Fable)

Two comrades were walking through the forest, and a bear jumped out at them. One rushed to run, climbed a tree and hid, while the other remained on the road. He had nothing to do - he fell to the ground and pretended to be dead.

The bear came up to him and began to sniff: he stopped breathing.

The bear sniffed his face, thought it was dead, and moved away.

When the bear left, he climbed down from the tree and laughs: “Well,” he says, “did the bear speak in your ear?”

"And he told me that - bad people those who run away from their comrades in danger.

The Tsar and the Shirt (Fairy Tale)

One king was sick and said: "I will give half of the kingdom to the one who will cure me." Then all the wise men gathered and began to judge how to cure the king. Nobody knew. Only one wise man said that the king can be cured. He said: if you find a happy person, take off his shirt and put it on the king, the king will recover. The king sent to look for a happy person in his kingdom; but the ambassadors of the king traveled all over the kingdom for a long time and could not find a happy person. There was not a single one that was satisfied with everyone. Who is rich, let him be ill; who is healthy, but poor; who is healthy and rich, but his wife is not good, and who has children not good; everyone is complaining about something. Once, late in the evening, the tsar’s son walks past the hut, and he hears someone say: “Thank God, I’ve worked out, ate and go to bed; what else do I need?" The king's son was delighted, ordered to take off this man's shirt, and give him money for it, as much as he wants, and take the shirt to the king. The messengers came to happy man and wanted to take off his shirt; but the happy one was so poor that he didn't even have a shirt on.

Two brothers (Fairy tale)

The two brothers went on a journey together. At noon they lay down to rest in the forest. When they woke up, they saw that a stone was lying near them and something was written on the stone. They began to disassemble and read:

“Whoever finds this stone, let him go straight into the forest at sunrise. A river will come in the forest: let him swim across this river to the other side. house, and in that house you will find happiness.

The brothers read what was written, and the younger one said:

Let's go together. Maybe we will swim across this river, bring the cubs home and find happiness together.

Then the elder said:

I will not go into the forest for cubs and I do not advise you. First thing: no one knows whether the truth is written on this stone; maybe all this is written for laughter. Yes, maybe we didn't get it right. Second: if true written - let's go we are in the forest, the night will come, we will not get to the river and get lost. And if we find a river, how will we swim across it? Maybe it's fast and wide? Third: even if we swim across the river, is it really easy to take the cubs away from the she-bear? She will tear us up, and instead of happiness, we will disappear for nothing. The fourth thing: even if we manage to carry away the cubs, we will not reach the mountain without rest. But the main thing is not said: what kind of happiness will we find in this house? Perhaps we will find such happiness there, which we do not need at all.

And the younger one said:

I don't think so. In vain they would not write this on a stone. And everything is written clearly. First thing: we won't get in trouble if we try. Second thing: if we do not go, someone else will read the inscription on the stone and find happiness, and we will be left with nothing. The third thing: not to work hard and not to work, nothing in the world pleases. Fourth, I don't want to be thought that I was afraid of something.

Then the elder said:

And the proverb says: "To seek great happiness is to lose little"; and moreover: "Do not promise a crane in the sky, but give a titmouse in your hands."

And the smaller one said:

And I heard: "To be afraid of wolves, not to go into the forest"; moreover: "Water will not flow under a lying stone." For me, I have to go.

The younger brother went, and the older one stayed.

As soon as the younger brother entered the forest, he attacked the river, swam across it and immediately saw a bear on the shore. She slept. He grabbed the cubs and ran without looking back at the mountain. He had just reached the top, - people came out to meet him, they brought him a carriage, took him to the city and made him king.

He reigned for five years. In the sixth year another king came to fight against him, stronger than he; conquered the city and drove it out. Then the younger brother went on wandering again and came to the older brother.

The older brother lived in the village neither richly nor poorly. The brothers rejoiced at each other and began to talk about their lives.

Elder brother says:

So my truth came out: I always lived quietly and well, and you like it and was the king, but I saw a lot of grief.

And the smaller one said:

I do not grieve that then I went into the forest to the mountain; although I feel bad now, but there is something to remember my life, and you have nothing to remember.

Lipunyushka (Fairy tale)

An old man lived with an old woman. They didn't have children. The old man went to the field to plow, and the old woman stayed at home to bake pancakes. The old woman baked pancakes and says:

“If we had a son, he would take pancakes to his father; and now with whom shall I send?"

Suddenly, a little son crawled out of the cotton and said: “Hello, mother! ..”

And the old woman says: “Where did you come from, son, and what is your name?”

And the son says: “You, mother, unspun the cotton and put it in a column, and I hatched there. And call me Lipunyushka. Give, mother, I will take the pancakes to father.

The old woman says: “Will you tell, Lipunyushka?”

I will, mother...

The old woman tied the pancakes in a bundle and gave them to her son. Lipunyushka took the bundle and ran into the field.

In the field he came across a bump on the road; he shouts: “Father, father, transplant me over a hummock! I brought you pancakes."

The old man heard from the field, someone was calling him, went to meet his son, transplanted him over a tussock and said: “Where are you from, son?” And the boy says: “I, father, bred in cotton,” and served pancakes to his father. The old man sat down to have breakfast, and the boy said: “Give me, father, I will plow.”

And the old man says: “You don’t have the strength to plow.”

And Lipunyushka took up the plow and began to plow. He plows and sings songs himself.

The gentleman was driving past this field and saw that the old man was sitting at breakfast, and the horse was plowing alone. The master got out of the carriage and said to the old man: “How is it with you, old man, plows a horse alone?”

And the old man says: "I have a boy plowing there, he sings songs." The master came closer, heard the songs and saw Lipunyushka.

Barin and says: “Old man! sell me the boy." And the old man says: “No, I can’t sell it, I have only one.”

And Lipunyushka says to the old man: "Sell, father, I will run away from him."

The man sold the boy for a hundred rubles. The master handed over the money, took the boy, wrapped him in a handkerchief and put him in his pocket. The master came home and said to his wife: "I brought you joy." And the wife says: “Show me what it is?” The master took a handkerchief from his pocket, unfolded it, but there was nothing in the handkerchief. Lipunyushka ran away to his father a long time ago.

Three Bears (Fairy Tale)

One girl left home for the forest. She got lost in the forest and began to look for her way home, but she did not find it, but came to the house in the forest.

The door was open; she looked at the door, sees: there is no one in the house, and entered. Three bears lived in this house. One bear was a father, his name was Mikhailo Ivanovich. He was big and shaggy. The other was a bear. She was smaller, and her name was Nastasya Petrovna. The third was a little bear cub, and his name was Mishutka. The bears were not at home, they went for a walk in the forest.

There were two rooms in the house: one dining room, the other bedroom. The girl entered the dining room and saw three cups of stew on the table. The first cup, very large, was Mikhail Ivanychev's. The second cup, smaller, was Nastasya Petrovnina; the third, little blue cup, was Mishutkin. Beside each cup lay a spoon: large, medium and small.

The girl took the biggest spoon and drank from the biggest cup; then she took the middle spoon and drank from the middle cup; then she took a small spoon and drank from a little blue cup; and Mishutkin's stew seemed to her the best.

The girl wanted to sit down and sees three chairs at the table: one large one - Mikhail Ivanovich; the other is smaller - Nastasya Petrovnin, and the third, small, with a blue little pillow - Mishutkin. She climbed onto a large chair and fell; then she sat down on the middle chair, it was awkward on it; then she sat down on a small chair and laughed - it was so good. She took the little blue cup on her knees and began to eat. She ate all the stew and began to swing on a chair.

The chair broke and she fell to the floor. She got up, picked up a chair and went to another room. There were three beds: one large - Mikhail Ivanychev; the other middle one is Nastasya Petrovnina; the third is small - Mishenkina. The girl lay down in a large one, it was too spacious for her; lay down in the middle - it was too high; she lay down in a small one - the bed fit her just right, and she fell asleep.

And the bears came home hungry and wanted to have dinner.

The big bear took the cup, looked and roared in a terrible voice:

WHO DRINKED IN MY CUP?

Nastasya Petrovna looked at her cup and growled not so loudly:

WHO DRINKED IN MY CUP?

But Mishutka saw his empty cup and squeaked in a thin voice:

WHO DRINKED IN MY CUP AND DRINKED EVERYTHING?

Mikhail Ivanovich looked at his chair and growled in a terrible voice:

Nastasya Petrovna glanced at her chair and growled not so loudly:

WHO SAT ON MY CHAIR AND PUSHED IT FROM THE PLACE?

Mishutka looked at his broken chair and squeaked:

WHO SIT ON MY CHAIR AND BROKEN IT?

The bears came to another room.

WHO GOT IN MY BED AND KRUGGED IT? roared Mikhail Ivanovich in a terrible voice.

WHO GOT IN MY BED AND KRUGGED IT? Nastasya Petrovna growled, not so loudly.

And Mishenka set up a bench, climbed into his bed and squeaked in a thin voice:

WHO WAS IN MY BED?

And suddenly he saw the girl and squealed as if he was being cut:

There she is! Hold it, hold it! There she is! Ay-ya-yay! Hold on!

He wanted to bite her.

The girl opened her eyes, saw the bears and rushed to the window. It was open, she jumped out the window and ran away. And the bears did not catch up with her.

What is the dew on the grass (Description)

When you go to the forest on a sunny summer morning, you can see diamonds in the fields, in the grass. All these diamonds shine and shimmer in the sun in different colors - yellow, red, and blue. When you come closer and see what it is, you will see that these are drops of dew gathered in triangular leaves of grass and glisten in the sun.

The leaf of this grass inside is shaggy and fluffy, like velvet. And the drops roll on the leaf and do not wet it.

When you inadvertently pick off a leaf with a dewdrop, the drop will roll down like a ball of light, and you will not see how it slips past the stem. It used to be that you would tear off such a cup, slowly bring it to your mouth and drink a dewdrop, and this dewdrop seemed tastier than any drink.

Touch and Sight (Reasoning)

Braid the index finger with the middle and braided fingers, touch the small ball so that it rolls between both fingers, and close your eyes yourself. It will look like two balls to you. Open your eyes - you will see that one ball. The fingers deceived, and the eyes were corrected.

Look (best from the side) at a good clean mirror: it will seem to you that this is a window or a door and that there is something behind it. Feel with your finger - you will see that it is a mirror. Eyes deceived, and fingers corrected.

Where does the water from the sea go? (Reasoning)

From springs, springs and swamps, water flows into streams, from streams into rivers, from rivers into large rivers, and from big rivers flows from the sea. From other sides other rivers flow into the seas, and all rivers have flowed into the seas since the world was created. Where does the water from the sea go? Why doesn't it flow over the edge?

The water from the sea rises in mist; the mist rises higher, and clouds are made from the mist. The clouds are blown by the wind and spread over the earth. From the clouds, water falls to the ground. From the ground flows into swamps and streams. From streams flows into rivers; from rivers to sea. From the sea again the water rises into the clouds, and the clouds spread over the land...

I had a face ... Her name was Bulka. She was all black, only the tips of her front paws were white.
In all muzzles, the lower jaw is longer than the upper and the upper teeth extend beyond the lower ones; but Bulka's lower jaw protruded so far forward that a finger could be placed between the lower and upper teeth. Bulka's face was broad; the eyes are large, black and shiny; and white teeth and fangs always stuck out. He looked like an arap. Bulka was quiet and did not bite, but he was very strong and tenacious. When he used to cling to something, he would grit his teeth and hang like a rag, and he, like a tick, could not be torn off in any way.
Once they let him attack a bear, and he grabbed the bear's ear and hung like a leech. The bear beat him with his paws, pressed him to himself, threw him from side to side, but could not tear him off and fell on his head to crush Bulka; but Bulka kept on him until they poured cold water on him.
I adopted him as a puppy and fed him myself. When I went to serve in the Caucasus, I did not want to take him and left him quietly, and ordered him to be locked up. At the first station, I was about to sit down on another sling, when I suddenly saw that something black and shiny was rolling along the road. It was Bulka in his copper collar. He flew at full speed to the station. He rushed towards me, licked my hand and stretched out in the shade under the cart. His tongue stuck out to the palm of his hand. He then pulled it back, swallowing saliva, then again stuck it out on a whole palm. He was in a hurry, did not keep up with breathing, his sides were jumping. He turned from side to side and tapped his tail on the ground.
I later found out that after me he broke through the frame and jumped out of the window and directly, in my wake, galloped along the road and galloped about twenty versts in the heat.

Bulka and boar

Once in the Caucasus we went hunting for wild boars, and Bulka came running with me. As soon as the hounds drove off, Bulka rushed to their voice and disappeared into the forest. It was in the month of November: wild boars and pigs then are very fat.
In the Caucasus, in the forests where wild boars live, there are many delicious fruits: wild grapes, cones, apples, pears, blackberries, acorns, blackthorn. And when all these fruits ripen and are touched by frost, the boars eat off and grow fat.
At that time, the boar is so fat that it can not run under the dogs for long. When he is chased for two hours, he hides in a thicket and stops. Then the hunters run to the place where he is standing and shoot. By the barking of dogs, you can know whether the boar has stopped or is running. If he runs, then the dogs bark with a squeal, as if they were being beaten; and if he is standing, then they bark, as if at a person, and howl.
During this hunt, I ran for a long time through the forest, but not once did I manage to cross the path of a wild boar. Finally, I heard the long-drawn-out barking and howling of the hounds and ran to that place. I was already close to the boar. I've already heard more crackling noises. It was a boar tossing and turning with dogs. But it was heard by barking that they did not take him, but only circled around. Suddenly I heard something rustling behind me and saw Bulka. He apparently lost the hounds in the forest and got confused, and now he heard their barking and, just like me, that was the spirit rolled in that direction. He ran through the clearing, along the tall grass, and all I could see from him was his black head and bitten tongue in his white teeth. I called out to him, but he did not look back, overtook me and disappeared into the thicket. I ran after him, but the farther I went, the forest became more and more often. The knots knocked off my hat, hit me in the face, the needles of the blackthorn clung to my dress. I was already close to barking, but I couldn't see anything.
Suddenly I heard that the dogs barked louder, something crackled violently, and the boar began to puff and wheeze. I thought that now Bulka got to him and was messing with him. With the last of my strength, I ran through the thicket to that place. In the most remote thicket I saw a motley hound. She barked and howled in one place, and something blackened and fussed about three steps away from her.
When I moved closer, I examined the boar and heard that Bulka squealed piercingly. The boar grunted and poked at the hound - the hound tucked its tail and jumped away. I could see the side of the boar and his head. I aimed to the side and fired. I saw that it hit. The boar grunted and crackled away from me more often. The dogs squealed and barked after him, and more often I rushed after them. Suddenly, almost under my feet, I saw and heard something. It was Bulka. He lay on his side and squealed. There was a pool of blood underneath. I thought, "The dog is missing"; but now I was not up to it, I was breaking further. Soon I saw a boar. The dogs grabbed him from behind, and he turned first to one side, then to the other. When the boar saw me, he leaned towards me. I fired another time, almost at point-blank range, so that the bristles on the boar caught fire, and the boar wheezed, staggered, and slammed his whole carcass heavily to the ground.
When I approached, the boar was already dead, and only here and there it was swollen and twitching. But the dogs, bristling, some tore at his belly and legs, while others lapped up the blood from the wound.
Then I remembered Bulka and went to look for him. He crawled towards me and groaned. I went up to him, sat down and looked at his wound. His stomach was torn open, and a whole lump of intestines from his stomach dragged along the dry leaves. When the comrades approached me, we set Bulka's intestines and sewed up his stomach. While they sewed up the stomach and pierced the skin, he kept licking my hands.
The boar was tied to the horse's tail to be taken out of the forest, and Bulka was put on the horse and so they brought him home.
Bulka was ill for six weeks and recovered.

Pheasants

In the Caucasus, wild chickens are called pheasants. There are so many of them that they are cheaper there. domestic chicken. Pheasants are hunted with a filly, from a decoy and from under a dog.
This is how they hunt with a filly: they take canvas, stretch it over a frame, make a crossbar in the middle of the frame, and make a hole in the canvas. This canvas frame is called a filly. With this filly and with a gun at dawn they go out into the forest. They carry the filly in front of them and look out for pheasants in the gap. Pheasants feed at dawn in the clearings; sometimes a whole brood - a hen with chickens, sometimes a rooster with a hen, sometimes several roosters together.
Pheasants do not see a person and are not afraid of canvas and let them get close to them. Then the hunter puts down the filly, sticks the gun out of the hole and shoots at will.
This is how they hunt from a decoy: they let a yard dog into the forest and follow it. When the dog finds the pheasant, it will rush after it.
The pheasant will fly up the tree, and then the little dog will begin to bark at him. The hunter approaches the barking and shoots the pheasant in the tree. This hunt would be easy if the pheasant perched on a tree in a clean place and sat right on the tree - so that it could be seen. But pheasants always sit on thick trees, in the thicket, and when they see the hunter, they hide in the knots. And it can be difficult to climb into the thicket to the tree where the pheasant sits, and it is difficult to see it. When a dog alone barks at a pheasant, he is not afraid of her, sits on a branch and still cocks at her and flaps her wings. But as soon as he sees a person, he immediately stretches out along a branch, so that only an accustomed hunter will distinguish him, and an unusual one will stand nearby and see nothing.
When the Cossacks sneak up on the pheasants, they pull their hats over their faces and do not look up, because the pheasant is afraid of a man with a gun, and most of all he is afraid of his eyes.
This is how they hunt from under a dog: they take a pointing dog and follow it through the forest. The dog will sense by instinct where the pheasants walked and fed at dawn, and will begin to make out their tracks. And no matter how much the pheasants mess up, a good dog will always find the last trace, the exit from the place where they fed. The further the dog follows the trail, the stronger it will smell, and so it will reach the place where a pheasant sits in the grass during the day or walks. When she comes close, then it will seem to her that the pheasant is already there, right in front of her, and she will keep walking more carefully so as not to frighten him away, and will stop to immediately jump and catch him. When the dog comes very close, then the pheasant flies out, and the hunter shoots.

Milton and Bulka

I got myself a setter dog for the pheasants.
This dog was called Milton: it was tall, thin, speckled in grey, with long beaks and ears, and very strong and intelligent.
They did not squabble with Bulka. Not a single dog has ever snapped at Bulka. He would only show his teeth, and the dogs would curl their tails and walk away.
Once I went with Milton for pheasants. Suddenly Bulka ran after me into the forest. I wanted to drive him away, but I couldn't. And it was a long way to go home to take him away. I thought that he would not interfere with me, and went on; but as soon as Milton sensed a pheasant in the grass and began to search, Bulka rushed forward and began to poke his head in all directions. He tried before Milton to raise the pheasant. He heard something like that in the grass, jumped, twirled; but his instincts are bad, and he could not find a trace alone, but looked at Milton and ran where Milton was going. As soon as Milton sets off on the trail, Bulka will run ahead. I recalled Bulka, beat him, but could not do anything with him. As soon as Milton began to search, he rushed forward and interfered with him. I wanted to go home already, because I thought that my hunting was spoiled, but Milton figured out better than me how to deceive Bulka. This is what he did: as soon as Bulka runs ahead of him, Milton will leave a trace, turn in the other direction and pretend that he is looking. Bulka will rush to where Milton pointed, and Milton will look back at me, wag his tail and follow the real trail again. Bulka again runs to Milton, runs ahead, and again Milton deliberately takes ten steps to the side, deceives Bulka and again leads me straight. So all the hunting he deceived Bulka and did not let him ruin the case.

Turtle

Once I went hunting with Milton. Near the forest, he began to search, stretched out his tail, raised his ears and began to sniff. I prepared my gun and followed him. I thought he was looking for a partridge, a pheasant, or a hare. But Milton did not go into the forest, but into the field. I followed him and looked ahead. Suddenly I saw what he was looking for. In front of him ran a small turtle, the size of a hat. A naked dark gray head on a long neck was stretched out like a pestle; the turtle moved widely with its bare paws, and its back was all covered with bark.
When she saw the dog, she hid her legs and head and sank down on the grass so that only one shell was visible. Milton grabbed it and began to gnaw, but could not bite through it, because the turtle has the same shell on its belly as on its back. Only in front, behind and on the sides there are holes where she passes her head, legs and tail.
I took the tortoise from Milton and looked at how its back is painted, and what kind of shell, and how it hides there. When you hold it in your hands and look under the shell, then only inside, as in a basement, you can see something black and alive.
I threw the turtle on the grass and went on, but Milton did not want to leave it, but carried it in his teeth behind me. Suddenly Milton yelped and let her go. The turtle in his mouth released a paw and scratched his mouth. He was so angry with her for this that he began to bark and grabbed her again and carried her after me. I again ordered to quit, but Milton did not listen to me. Then I took the turtle from him and threw it away. But he didn't leave her. He began to hurry with his paws to dig a hole near her. And when he dug a hole, he filled the tortoise into the hole with his paws and covered it with earth.
Turtles live both on land and in water, like snakes and frogs. They hatch their children with eggs, and they lay the eggs on the ground, and do not incubate them, but the eggs themselves, like fish caviar, burst - and turtles hatch. Turtles are small, no more than a saucer, and large, three arshins in length and weighing twenty pounds. Large turtles live in the seas.
One turtle lays hundreds of eggs in the spring. The shell of a turtle is its ribs. Only in humans and other animals the ribs are each separately, and in the turtle the ribs are fused into a shell. The main thing is that all animals have ribs inside, under the meat, while a turtle has ribs on top, and meat under them.

Bulka and the wolf

When I left the Caucasus, there was still a war there, and at night it was dangerous to travel without an escort.
I wanted to leave as early as possible in the morning and for this I did not go to bed.
My friend came to see me off, and we sat all evening and night on the street of the village in front of my hut.
It was a month-long night with fog, and it was so light that one could read, although the moon could not be seen.
In the middle of the night we suddenly heard a pig squeaking in the yard across the street. One of us shouted:
- It's a wolf strangling a pig!
I ran to my hut, grabbed a loaded gun and ran out into the street. Everyone stood at the gate of the yard where the pig squeaked and shouted to me:
- Here!
Milton rushed after me - he probably thought that I was going hunting with a gun - and Bulka raised his short ears and darted from side to side, as if asking whom he was told to grab onto.

When I ran up to the wattle fence, I saw that from the other side of the yard, straight towards me, a beast was running. It was a wolf. He ran up to the wattle fence and jumped on it. I moved away from him and prepared my gun. As soon as the wolf jumped off the wattle fence to my side, I kissed almost point-blank and pulled the trigger; but the gun made a "chick" and did not fire. The wolf did not stop and ran across the street. Milton and Bulka set off after him. Milton was close to the wolf, but apparently he was afraid to seize it, and Bulka, no matter how hasty on his short legs, could not keep up. We ran as fast as we could, after the wolf, but both the wolf and the dogs disappeared from our sight. Only at the ditch, at the corner of the village, did we hear barking, squealing, and saw through the monthly fog that dust had risen and that the dogs were fussing with the wolf.
When we ran to the ditch, the wolf was gone, and both dogs returned to us with their tails up and angry faces. Bulka growled and pushed me with his head - he obviously wanted to tell something, but did not know how.
We examined the dogs and found that Bulka had a small wound on his head. He apparently caught up with the wolf in front of the ditch, but did not manage to capture it, and the wolf snapped and ran away. The wound was small, so there was nothing dangerous.
We went back to the hut, sat and talked about what had happened. I was annoyed that my gun had cut off, and kept thinking about how the wolf would have remained right there if it had fired. My friend wondered how the wolf could climb into the yard. The old Cossack said that there was nothing surprising here, that it was not a wolf, that it was a witch and that she had bewitched my gun. So we sat and talked. Suddenly the dogs rushed, and we saw in the middle of the street, in front of us, again the same wolf; but this time he ran so fast at our cry that the dogs no longer caught up with him.
After that, the old Cossack was already completely convinced that it was not a wolf, but a witch; and I thought that it might not have been a rabid wolf, because I had never seen or heard that a wolf, after being driven away, returned again to the people.
Just in case, I sprinkled Bulke on the wound with gunpowder and lit it. The gunpowder flared up and burned the sore spot.
I burned the wound with gunpowder in order to burn out the furious saliva, if it had not yet had time to enter the blood. If saliva got in and entered the bloodstream, then I knew that it would spread through the blood throughout the body, and then it would no longer be possible to cure it.

What happened to Bulka in Pyatigorsk

From the village I went straight to Russia, and first to Pyatigorsk, and stayed there for two months. I gave Milton to a Cossack hunter, and I took Bulka with me to Pyatigorsk.
Pyatigorsk is so called because it stands on Mount Beshtau. And "besh" in Tatar means five, "tau" - mountain. Hot sulfuric water flows from this mountain. This water is hot as boiling water, and above the place where the water comes from the mountain, there is always steam, like over a samovar. The whole place where the city stands is very cheerful. Hot springs flow from the mountains, the river Podkumok flows under the mountain. There are forests along the mountain, fields all around, and in the distance you can always see the great Caucasus Mountains. On these mountains the snow never melts and they are always white as sugar. One big mountain Elbrus, like a sugar white head, is visible from everywhere when the weather is clear. People come to hot springs for treatment; and over the springs gazebos and sheds were made, gardens and paths were laid out all around. Music plays in the morning, and people drink water or bathe and walk.
The city itself stands on a mountain, and under the mountain there is a settlement. I lived in this settlement in a small house. The house stood in the yard, and in front of the windows there was a garden, and in the garden stood the master's bees - not in logs, as in Russia, but in round wattles. The bees there are so peaceful that I always sat in the morning with Bulka in this garden between the beehives.
Bulka walked among the hives, was surprised at the bees, sniffed, listened to how they buzzed, but walked around them so carefully that he did not interfere with them, and they did not touch him.
One morning I came home from the water and sat down to drink coffee in the front garden. Bulka began scratching behind his ears and rattling his collar. The noise disturbed the bees, and I removed the collar from Bulka. A little later, I heard a strange and terrible noise from the city from the mountain. Dogs barked, howled, squealed, people screamed, and this noise descended from the mountain and came closer and closer to our settlement. Bulka stopped scratching, put his broad head with white teeth between his front white paws, put his tongue in the way it needed to, and lay quietly beside me.
When he heard the noise, he seemed to understand what it was, pricked up his ears, bared his teeth, jumped up and began to growl.
The noise was getting closer. Like dogs from all over the city howled, squealed and barked. I went out to the gate to look, and the mistress of my house came up too. I asked:
- What it is?
She said:
- These are the convicts from the prison go - they beat the dogs. Many dogs were divorced, and the city authorities ordered to beat all the dogs in the city.
- How, and Bulka will be killed if he gets caught?
- No, in collars they are not ordered to beat.
At the same time, as I said, the convicts had already approached our yard.
Soldiers walked in front, four convicts in chains behind. Two of the convicts had long iron hooks in their hands and two had clubs. In front of our gates, one convict hooked a yard dog with a hook, pulled it to the middle of the street, and another convict began to beat it with a club. The little dog squealed terribly, and the convicts shouted something and laughed. The hooker with the hook turned the little dog over, and when he saw that she was dead, he took out the hook and began to look around to see if there was another dog.
At this time, Bulka headlong, as he throws himself at a bear, rushed at this convict. I remembered that he was without a collar and shouted:
- Bulka, back! - and shouted to the convicts so that they would not beat Bulka.
But the convict saw Bulka, laughed and deftly hit Bulka with a hook, and caught him by the thigh. Bulka rushed away; but the convict pulled him towards him and shouted to another:
- Bay!
Another swung a club, and Bulka would have been killed, but he rushed, the skin broke on his thigh, and, tail between his legs, with a red wound on his leg, he flew headlong into the gate, into the house and huddled under my bed.
He was saved by the fact that his skin broke through in the place where the hook was.

The end of Bulka and Milton

Bulka and Milton ended at the same time.
The old Cossack did not know how to deal with Milton. Instead of taking him with him only on a bird, he began to lead him after wild boars. And in the same autumn, the boar billhook speared it. No one knew how to sew it up, and Milton died.
Bulka also did not live long after he escaped from the convicts. Soon after his rescue from the convicts, he became bored and began to lick everything he came across. He licked my hands, but not in the same way as before, when he caressed. He licked for a long time and leaned heavily with his tongue, and then began to grab with his teeth. Apparently, he needed to bite his hand, but he did not want to. I didn't give him a hand. Then he began to lick my boot, the table leg and then bite the boot or the table leg. This went on for two days, and on the third day he disappeared, and no one saw or heard about him.
It was impossible to steal him, and he could not leave me, and this happened to him six weeks after he was bitten by a wolf. So, the wolf, for sure, was rabid. Bulka got mad and left. What happened to him in a hunting way is a stack. It is said that rabies consists in convulsions in the throat of a rabid animal. Rabid animals want to drink and cannot, because the convulsions are made worse by water. Then they lose their temper from pain and thirst and begin to bite. It's true, Bulka started having these convulsions when he started to lick and then bite my hand and table leg.
I went everywhere in the district and asked about Bulka, but I could not find out where he had gone and how he had died. If he ran and bit, like rabid dogs do, then I would hear about him. Oh, right, he ran somewhere in the wilderness and one died there. Hunters say that when a smart dog has a runny nose, he runs away to the fields or forests and there he looks for the grass that he needs, falls out in the dew and heals himself.
Apparently, Bulka could not be cured. He did not return and disappeared.
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Leo Tolstoy. Tales, stories, fables,
story. Reading for free online

Lev Tolstoy

I had a muzzle. Her name was Bulka. She was all black, only the tips of her front paws were white.

In all muzzles, the lower jaw is longer than the upper and the upper teeth extend beyond the lower ones; but Bulka's lower jaw protruded so far forward that a finger could be placed between the lower and upper teeth. Bulka's face is wide; the eyes are large, black and shiny; and white teeth and fangs always stuck out. He looked like an arap. Bulka was quiet and did not bite, but he was very strong and tenacious. When he used to cling to something, he would grit his teeth and hang like a rag, and he, like a tick, could not be torn off in any way.

Once they let him attack a bear, and he grabbed the bear's ear and hung like a leech. The bear beat him with his paws, pressed him to himself, threw him from side to side, but could not tear him off and fell on his head to crush Bulka; but Bulka kept on him until they poured cold water on him.

I adopted him as a puppy and fed him myself. When I went to serve in the Caucasus, I did not want to take him and left him quietly, and ordered him to be locked up. At the first station, I was about to get into another sling, when I suddenly saw that something black and shiny was rolling along the road. It was Bulka in his copper collar. He flew at full speed to the station. He rushed towards me, licked my hand and stretched out in the shade under the cart. His tongue stuck out to the palm of his hand. He then pulled it back, swallowing saliva, then again stuck it out on a whole palm. He was in a hurry, did not keep up with breathing, his sides were jumping. He turned from side to side and tapped his tail on the ground.