Funny Children's Stories. Bilingual Edition

Короче, получается, что быстрее было бы самим сбегать. Но мы всё-таки ждали, когда малышня с этим делом справится. Потому что, во-первых, нам ужасно смешно было на них смотреть. А во-вторых, пусть малышня т

оже к мячу привыкает. Нам не жалко.

Вечером я стал рассказывать родителям, как смешно один малыш пытался ударить ногой по мячу. И мама сказала мне, что, может быть, он первый раз в жизни по мячу бил. А папа на э

то заметил, что главное, чтобы он не в последний раз по мячу бил.

И я видел, что маме не понравилось это папино замечание. Она посмотрела на него выразительно и сказала мне, что папа надеется, что отец малыша когда-ниб

удь купит ему мяч. И папа согласился, что он действительно очень и очень надеется, что отец малыша сможет купить ему мяч. И мне показалось, что мама всё ещё была недовольна папой.

И она

сказала: «Тебя за твой длинный эзопов язык…» И замолчала. А я продолжил за неё: «…когда-нибудь всё-таки посадят».

И мама с папой засмеялись. Потому что это было очень смешно.

The Old Shoes

Our summers are short. Real summer lasts only two or three months. And in the summer we often play soccer. In the spring and in the fall, when there is a lot of mud in our yard, we cannot play soccer. That is why in the summer when it is not raining, we try to play soccer as often as we can.

We play soccer in the same spot where we play hockey in winter. And we try to score goals with the same tin can, under the same bench. But still we do not say that we play hockey. In the summer we say that we play soccer.

In the summer it would be better to play with a ball. But none of us has ever had a soccer ball. Therefore we always play with a tin can. And either because of the tin can or because of something else, our shoes suffer greatly. And all of us get into big trouble with our parents.

My mom scolds me for the shoes too. She tells me that shoes simply burn on my feet.

My friend Gleb Paramonov, when his parents bought him a new pair of shoes at the end of last year, did not throw his old ones out. He told me that if he played soccer in his new shoes, his mother would kill him.

At the time when the new shoes were bought for him, his shoe size was thirty-six. So his mom bought him shoes with some room to grow. I mean, size thirty-eight. His old shoes were also bought with some room to grow. At that time his foot size was thirty-four. And the shoes purchased for him were the size thirty-five.

So now, when his feet had grown probably half a size during the winter, he wears shoes that are a size and a half bigger to school and plays soccer in shoes that are a size and a half smaller.

Today, as expected, Gleb came to our yard, wearing his old shoes. He told me that since his shoes were so worn out, they did not hurt him much anymore. But on his heels, he could still feel small lumps under the skin. And he said he was worried that he would have those lumps for the rest of his life.

In our yard, if anyone has a wound, we always discuss whether or not it will leave him with a scar for life. I told Gleb that I had the exact same thing. And that I knew, from my personal experience, that it was not so terrible. These lumps should disappear by themselves in about a year if he never wears tight shoes again. Someone else from our yard also confirmed that the lumps should disappear by themselves. If not in a year then definitely in two or three years – they should disappear.

But Gleb and I did not have a chance to discuss his heels in more detail because suddenly someone showed up in the yard with a real volleyball.

How he came to have a real volleyball, he did not tell us. He just sat on a bench with his volleyball and did not let it leave his hands. He felt bad for his ball. He was worried that his ball might get damaged. We kept asking him to let us play with his ball. And finally he agreed. And the whole day we played soccer not with a tin can but with a real volleyball.

Though when we started to play with this ball, it kept flying away. And we had to wait for someone to bring it back. We spent more time waiting than running around. And since we were not running around but just standing and waiting, it looked more like we were resting than playing a game.

And we all recalled how, once, we played with a small rubber ball. There was probably a little hole in it. Because it was only half inflated. That was why we were able to get it from one of the girls. And that was also why this ball would not fly when we kicked it. It would just plop to the ground like something dead.

That was the most suitable ball for our soccer. But then the girl took her ball back. And we continued to play with a tin can.