Bunny’s Summer Camping

Translator Vladimir Kulakov

Cover designer Lucy Shar

Illustrator Lucy Shar

© Lucy Shar, 2020

© Vladimir Kulakov, translation, 2020

© Lucy Shar, cover design, 2020

© Lucy Shar, illustrations, 2020

ISBN 978-5-4498-7935-6

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Chapter 1

How it all started

This sensational story has happened this summer, yes, just recently! There was a big family Council gathered on the occasion of «Bunny wants to go camping».

Mom, Dad, and grandma came to the Council.

There were:

Lily’s mom in an apron preparing dinner,

Granny Rosie, knitting the 105th sock, sisters Ksyu and Mimi, drawing something with a spoon in mashed cabbage, and Dad, sitting at the head of the dining table.

Bunny and the sisters are looking at the cabbage puree.

The fact was that Bunny had long dreamed of seeing a waterfall. He heard about him from Dad, from Mom, and even from Granny!

He had long been interested in geographical maps and learned how to read them, and Grandpa showed him the wind rose, and they used to the garden, and Bunny trained to find out where the North was. He and Grandpa went to the edge of the forest in cloudy weather. And Grandpa taught him to orient by looking at trees, grasses, and streambeds.

Grandfather is looking for the North.

Sometimes my Grandfather told me that the branches of the trees were reaching for warmth, and on the South side the foliage of the deciduous trees was more bushy and the branches were thicker. If you look at the trunk of an old spruce, you see the moss growing from the roots up and occupies the north side. Grandpa gave an old compass and Bunny wore it on his hand like a watch. And in the evening he used to put it under the pillow.

And then Grandfather went on an expedition to a distant forest. Bunny walked for a long time on the path where grandfather had gone. He sat on an old stump by the road, and dreamed that he himself would go up the river and scout new places, draw new paths on the map, mark a swamp, draw old trees. And then Bunny packed up his backpack. He put there a card, and a pot, and a penknife for mushrooms, and a pack of crackers with salt.

Bunny stood with his head down, a huge rucksack with a blanket and thermos strapped on his back, a compass on his belt, and a notebook in his pocket. And the visor of the cap covered a thoughtful look.

Dad and Granny looked at this picture, and immediately called a family council.

Granny asked sternly, looking over her knitting:

– Do you know what berries mustn’t be eaten in the woods, Bunny?

Bunny nodded quickly.

Dad asked:

– And how to make a canopy from the rain quickly?

Bunny just smiled, and the sisters, Ksyu and Mimi, started squeaking:

– Yes, Yes, he built a hut for us in the garden and made a nest in an old apple tree!

And then Dad allowed Bunny to go on a trip alone for the first time. Bunny immediately imagined what a lot of adventures he would meet on the road, how he would photograph unknown plants for his sister Mimi, and how he would take a selfie over a waterfall, and maybe even jump into it, without a parachute!

With delight, Bunny even jumped on one leg and threw his cap up In the air. I must say, this cap accompanied him everywhere, Bunny even sometimes went to bed in it. His elder sister Ksyu sometimes thought that the cap prompted Bunny some of his pranks.

Mum fully approved of this decision:

– Our son has grown up! – that’s what she said at the family council, and grandma had to let him go.

Mam Lily is a notable pancake maker.

The whole family, of course, was sprinkled on the porch, sister Ksyu put his cap back on so that the rain drops did not fall down his neck, but when grandma tried to wind a wool scarf,

Grandma tries to put on a scarf.

Bunny deftly dived to fix the Velcro on his sneakers and safely passed the porch, stepping on the path. Without turning around, he raised his right paw, showed horns, and dived into the thicket.

Bunny leaves and makes a sign with his hand.

It was late at night when he decided to make a stop. He scooped up last year’s needles under an old spruce, threw a rug on it, a blanket on the top, and took out a thermos. Granny’s tea was still hot, with the taste of dried raspberries and mint. Bunny was not afraid of the woods; he had grown up here and loved the smell of moss and pine needles. He covered himself with a blanket and listened to the rustle of fir paws, and quietly fell asleep.

Chapter 2

Bunny joins the conversation.

And the early summer morning came. It wasn’t Monday or Wednesday morning. Isn’t there a Monday in the woods? Ha-ha.

On this beautiful morning, the birds were already chirping their songs as they flew from branch to branch. Bunny had just woken up, and he parted the branches and went out into the clearing.

Bunny breathes fresh air in the clearing.

He paused, studying the view. Butterflies were fluttering over the clearing, and a waterfall was singing in the distance.

Bunny closed his eyes and sniffed the moist air, and with a loud-Phew! he gasped, opening his eyes.

At this moment, something rustled violently below, and rained down from above. Bunny’s ears popped out, his nose wrinkled, and his eyes bulged.

«Dad said that in case of danger, you need to turn up your nose, sniff and determine where is the danger!» – Bunny thought, and closed his eyes and sniffed the air.

A boar and a squirrel lie in wait.

The squirrel and the boar, who were looking out of the grass at the other end of the clearing, looked at each other and began a quiet conversation:

– Shall we get closer? – the boar whispered.

– Hush, you’ll scare him off, – said the squirrel.

– I think they’re hunting me -thought Bunny, and abruptly retreated into the bushes. He was an excellent marksman at covering his tracks.

– Sta-a-and! -the squirrel screamed.

– Here, boys, hurry up! -the boar screeched.

Everything happened so quickly that the Bunny didn’t have time to understand anything.

A cub, a fox, and a mouse suddenly appear from behind the trees.

Chapter 3

New game.

Bunny was very surprised and landed.

Bunny immediately plops down on his ass and furrows his brow, trying to remember what to do first in the event of an attack. But nothing comes to mind, and Bunny looks from one animal to the other in confusion.

The squirrel lands in the middle of the clearing, doing a somersault, and says:

– Come with us!

– We’re going swimming. – the boar grunted, scratching its sides against a tree trunk.

– This is N-N-N-near…, – the Fox purrs and also sits down wrapping his tail around himself.

– Do you wash your face in the morning? – Bunny is surprised, – and we wash before going to bed, washing off all the dust for the day!

– Hm-m-m, – says the bear, who is chewing leaves and has almost climbed up the tree, we don’t wash, we just dip our heads in! And waves a paw in the direction of the waterfall.

– Yes, Yes, – chirps the squirrel, – we just dive with our heads, or with our tails, whichever is convenient!

Bunny stares at the waterfall, then rips off a leaf and crushes it for a long time. Everyone looks at him expectantly. After a while, Bunny says:

– And my grandmother… doesn’t advise me to go anywhere… with strangers.

Bunny thinks out loud.

– Oh, we know you, – mutters the boar, spitting out the roots.

– Yes, exactly, – supports the bear.

– Yeah, yeah, – confirms the mouse, creeping up behind.

– You’re a hare! – bear cub says, grinning broadly.

– And I’m Roma the bear! -and we just need a water Polo goalie. We are constantly scored goals – the bear cub squints at the squirrel and surreptitiously shows her a fist.

– I, I… don’t want to play polo, – Bunny whispers, backing away.

– Oh, it’s very simple-we dive into a waterfall, – the cub says, at this moment he opens his mouth wide and throws a large berry there, the mouth closes. And we surface in teams.

– Ulya the squirrel, Chick the boar, Asya the mouse-this is the team of «Bumps», – continues the bear,

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