VEROTCHKA'S
TALES

by

MAMIN
SIBERIAK

TRANSLATED BY
RAY DAVIDSON

ILLUSTRATED BY
BORIS M.
ARTZYBASHEFF

E. P. DUTTON & CO., INC.
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

Copyright, 1922,
By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY

All rights reserved

Reprinted March, 1932
Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

VEROTCHKA'S TALES

HOW THEY HAPPENED

LULLA-LULLABY. Verotchka's one little eye is sleeping, the other little eye is still open. Verotchka's one little ear is sleeping, the other little ear is still listening. Sleep, Verotchka, sleep, my pretty one, and father will tell you these stories. I think they are all here. The Siberian cat, Vasca; the shaggy village dog, Postoika; the gray mousie-gnawers; the cricket behind the stove; the iridescent starling in the cage; and the cock, the bully.

Sleep, Verotchka, the story begins. The full moon in the heaven looks into the window. The cock-eyed rabbit hops on his haunches and the wolf's eyes flash yellow fire lights. The bear, Mishka, is sucking his paw, and the old sparrow flies up to the window, pecks the pane with his bill, and asks, "How soon, now?"

I think they're all here now, waiting for Verotchka's Tale.

Verotchka's one little eye is asleep, the other little eye is still open. Verotchka's one little ear is asleep, the other little ear is still listening. Lulla-Lullaby.

THE STORY OF A BOLD RABBIT WITH COCK EYES AND A SHORT TAIL

THIS rabbit was born in the woods and was scared of everything. If a branch cracked anywhere or a bird flew past or a lump of snow fell from a tree, his rabbit heart went down, down, down into his furry boots. Now this little rabbit was afraid for a day, for two days, for a week, for a whole year. But when he was grown up, he just got tired of being a scared rabbit.

"I am not afraid of anybody!" he shouted through the woods. "I am not afraid at all! I am not afraid of anything or of anybody, and that's all there is to it!"

One day, the rabbits gathered to listen to him. The little ones ran, the old rabbits hobbled along to hear Long-Ear, Cock-Eye, Short-Tail's boastings.

They listened and couldn't believe their own ears, for there never had been anything like a rabbit, unafraid of anything or anybody before.

"Oh, you Cock-Eye," called one, "do you mean to say you aren't even afraid of a wolf?"

"Not even a wolf, nor a fox, nor a bear. I am afraid of no one," said Cock-Eye.

Now this was altogether too amusing. The little rabbits giggled, covering their faces with their front paws. The kind old mother rabbits laughed and even the wise old rabbits, who had had a taste of the paws of the fox, and had felt the fangs of the wolf, smiled. So very funny was this rabbit that suddenly everyone was seized with merriment. They started jumping, tumbling, turning somersaults, and playing tag as if they had all suddenly gone mad.

"What is the use of talking so much," finally shouted Cock-Eye, drunk with his own boldness. "I tell you if I were to meet a wolf, I'd eat him up myself."

"My, what a funny rabbit!" said the crowd. "And what a foolish rabbit, too." They all knew he was funny and foolish; still they laughed at him and jested with him about the wolf. And as they were speaking of the wolf, the wolf stood right there listening, though they did not see him.

The wolf was walking through the forest on his own wolfish business. Then he grew hungry and began to think how fine it would be to have a bit of fresh rabbit. Suddenly quite near by, he heard