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EDUCATIONAL STORIES FOR CHILDREN IN THE BOOK
"SECRETS OF THE HEART"



FRAGMENTS FROM THE BOOK
"SECRETS OF THE HEART"

 

CHILDREN's STORIES
ABOUT
THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE

 

Everything you do is the best thing in the world

A. Lopatina

Redback woke up to find his brother shaking him by the shoulder.

"Time to get up, lazybones, lunch is ready. Homey's got three whole buckwheat kernels on the table for each of us."

Redback rubbed his eyes with his paws, washed his furry face, and the three mouse brothers sat down for lunch. In between hungry mouthfuls Swiftpaw shared the woodland news he'd heard during his morning walk.

"The squirrels are saying there's a wolf lying in the bushes near the west edge of the forest. She got caught in a trap last night, and now she can't run."

He swallowed a delicious mouthful and smacked his lips.

"Which is just fine, mind you, now she won't be going around scaring people to death."

He took another big bite.

"Mmf…. Her cubs are whining away in the den - they're hungry, I guess. Some men came into the woods this morning, but they didn't find the wolf. People are hopeless at tracking, you know, and they didn't have any dogs with them. So they just lit a big bonfire in the meadow, and all the animals were afraid there'd be a forest fire, but then the people put it out and went away. Left a big black patch behind them. That curious badger went poking around and found a piece of charred bark, and burned his nose in the embers for his trouble. Now he's sitting down at the river nursing it. Mother Bear's cub is also crying about something…"

Redback interrupted his brother's story.

"Swiftpaw, do you remember when I cut my paw on a thorn and you brought me some leaves? Can you show me where they grow?"

"What? Did you hurt yourself?" his two brothers asked together with sudden concern.

"Oh, no, but I was…"

Redback's voice trailed off. He just couldn't admit that he wanted to help the wolf somehow. "I thought I'd collect some, um, just in case."

"You what?" Swiftpaw looked puzzled. "Oh, you can't store up that kind of leaf. They lose their healing powers when they dry out. If you want to keep some medicine around here there's a different kind of leaf you need. We can go and collect some tomorrow, if you like."

"No, thanks," Redback answered. "I want you to show me the same leaves. You… well, you never know when you might need some."

"If you cut yourself just pick some ordinary plantain leaves - they grow along all the paths - and press them to the wound. But what are you all worried about that for?" Swiftpaw asked again, peering at Redback intently.

The little mouse didn't answer, and instead he turned to his other brother.

"Homey, would you like me to help you water the garden?"

Now it was Homey's turn to be surprised, and he almost fell off his stool, for never once had Redback offered to help without being asked.

"What's with you?" he asked suspiciously. "It rained this morning, there's no need to water. If you want, you can help me dig out a new storeroom. The peas will be ripe soon and there's nowhere to put them."

Redback was about to say, "I'm busy," just like he always did, but somehow he couldn't get the words out. So as soon as the table was cleared away, off they went to work, and they toiled away right into the evening, getting the new storeroom ready. Homey did the digging, and Redback carried the dirt out of the burrow. Redback wasn't used to such hard work and before long his paws and back started to hurt. Still he kept working without saying a word, but the whole time all he could think about was getting it over with and lying down for a rest. Homey chatted away without stopping.

"This is fantastic! Why, I could never have done this in a day all by myself. Tomorrow we can get ready a new storehouse for the carrots, and widen the granary, too."

Homey talked cheerfully about his may chores, happy that Redback was listening for a change. Usually the other brothers would say, "OK, Homey, whatever," and rush off to do their own thing without even letting him finish.

Redback went to bed right after dinner, though something was bugging him, and the raindrops' words were going through his head over and over again:

"You still don't understand the Most Important Thing."

"What do you mean, I don't understand?" Redback asked himself, feeling guilty and hurt all at the same time. "I just wanted to help my brother, and I helped him for the whole day, didn't I?"

"If you want to do the Most Important Thing," a voice answered from somewhere inside him, "you must bring water to whoever may be thirsty."

"I don't have to give anything to the wolf! She'd eat me if I brought her any water! And besides, she's a bad, nasty, ugly creature."

Suddenly he remembered the words the little droplet had spoken to him that morning.

"The sunlight and water are for everyone. How can we break them into pieces and say that one part is good, and another is bad?"

"It's not my fault, that's just the way it is," Redback protested. "I'm not the one who made some things good and some bad. And what difference can a little mouse like me make in the world, anyway?"

The voice inside spoke again.

"The very best thing you can do is find someone who needs you and give them to drink, even if you're as tiny as a raindrop."

"Why do you keep telling me the same thing over and over again? And where did you come from, anyway?" Redback asked angrily.

"I came when you wanted to find out about the Most Important Thing, little mouse. Every time you make a gift of warmth and love to someone else I'll grow bigger and bigger. And when I'm grown up, you'll understand the Most Important Thing."

"Will you grow up very fast?" Redback asked, curious now.

"That depends on you," the voice inside him answered.

 

page 5 of 7

 

In order that the sun of kindness
may always give light to our children
we would like to offer
this unique collection of children's stories about kindness

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