Mum, what's my heart like? — asked Katie.
About the size of your little fist, — Mum replied.
What about Pulka's?
Pulka — a snow-white fluffy Maltese, hearing her name, scampered over to Katie and wagged her tail cheerfully in anticipation of playtime.
Pulka's? — Mum paused thoughtfully. — Pulka's heart is ever so tiny. Perhaps about the size of your thumb.
What's a heart for? — Katie persisted.
Mum smiled:
Oh, a heart holds so many wonderful things. For instance, courage. We call a brave person's heart a courageous heart. A kind heart belongs to someone who always helps others. If someone is willing to share their last piece of bread, it means a generous heart beats in their chest. You'll always hear the beat of a loyal heart if you have a true friend.
And love can live in a heart too. A loving heart can be brave, generous, kind, and faithful all at once. People say about such hearts: "They have a big heart".
How fascinating! — Katie exclaimed and patted the little dog, who had been listening intently to their conversation. — It's a shame our Pulka has such a tiny heart. Surely it can't hold all those wonderful things at once.
Who knows, — Mum replied mysteriously and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Katie played with Pulka for a bit, then decided to finish reading a very interesting book about loyal friends. She settled into the armchair by the window and got stuck in. The book told of devoted friendship, selflessness, and readiness to always lend a hand. Pulka sat by the armchair and watched her owner intently.
There she was frowning, sympathising with the characters in trouble, and then her face lit up with a joyful smile when the difficulties were overcome. Pulka was desperately curious about what Katie was reading so intently.
The doorbell rang in the hallway. Dad had come home from work. Katie put down her book and ran to open the door. Pulka was desperate to find out how a book could make someone sad or happy. She jumped onto the armchair hoping to uncover the mystery and knocked over a vase of flowers standing on the windowsill with her tail.
The vase teetered and crashed to the floor. Shiny shards scattered across the room. Pulka froze in horror. Katie, hearing the noise, rushed into the room, saw the broken vase, and lunged at the dog:
You naughty thing! Just you wait, I'll teach you a lesson!
Pulka bolted in search of safety. Whimpering pitifully, she looked for somewhere to hide and spotted the slightly open door that Dad had just come through and hadn't managed to lock. Pulka slipped through the gap, tumbled down the stairs, burst into the yard, and ran off helter-skelter.
Her heart raced with fear, and she imagined she could hear the sound of pursuit. She stopped, barely breathing, in a far corner of the yard near the rubbish bins. She looked back: there was no pursuit. Just then, from behind a bin emerged Ham — a huge stray dog who terrified all the neighbourhood pets. Behind his shaggy back lurked Butch and Korzhik.
Ham's mates weren't particularly large dogs, but next to them Pulka seemed tiny and defenceless. She backed away in fright, her heart trembling with fear. And where was courage supposed to come from? After all, there was no room for bravery in such a tiny little heart.
Well, well, — growled Ham, — thrown out?
No, I… I ran away, — Pulka stammered.
That's the way! — Butch barked approvingly. — Nothing but trouble with those owners.
But it was my fault, — Pulka tried to justify herself. — My owner was always so kind to me…
What do you know about kindness? — Ham cut her off sharply. — The main thing is for everyone to be afraid! That's fun!
And profitable, — added Korzhik, — because you can steal food from the weak.
Pulka said nothing and thought that kindness must be very big indeed if it doesn't fit in the hearts of even such large dogs as her new friends. What hope was there for a heart the size of a little girl's thumb!
Meanwhile, Ham was studying frightened Pulka carefully. Finally, after whispering something to his mates, he said:
All right then. We'll take you into our gang. You're small, you can get food where we can't squeeze through. But listen here: I'm the boss! And if anything goes wrong, I'll bite you in half! — Ham bared his terrible yellow fangs.
Pulka had no choice but to agree, as being alone was even scarier. The rest of the evening the scruffy bunch spent as usual. First they kept watch on the local cats by the basement, and when it got dark, they sneaked to the rubbish dump behind the grocery shop and found some food.
Korzhik was lucky enough to find some perfectly edible sausages. Running off to the side, he began to tuck in heartily. Pulka loved sausages. The delicious smell made her mouth water. She asked Korzhik for even the tiniest piece, but he just growled and turned away.
Isn't there even a drop of generosity in your heart? — asked Pulka.
Generosity? — Korzhik replied in surprise. — Not likely! If I let generosity into my heart, there won't be room for meanness and cunning, and then I won't be able to get food. Generosity is for fools!
«No, generosity is good for everyone», — thought Pulka, but said nothing.
For the night, the stray gang settled behind the rubbish bins in cardboard boxes. Pulka got a box from an old kettle. It was a bit cramped, but the cardboard protected well from the night draughts. Pulka gazed for a long time at the lit window of Katie's room and thought how sad it was to have a small heart.
If only she had a bigger heart, it could hold courage, and then Pulka could stand up to the yard gang and go home. "And if there was room for generosity too," she thought, "then I could share food with the homeless, and they wouldn't have to steal." But best of all would be to put love in her heart, then kindness, loyalty, generosity, and courage would naturally blossom.
Pulka only fell asleep towards dawn. She dreamed of the broken vase.
In the morning, as soon as the sun gilded the rooftops, Katie ran into the yard to look for Pulka. The night before she had searched for her little friend until dark, but Mum told her to come home. Katie couldn't sleep for a long time, and even cried a little under the blankets.
She was very worried about what had happened and blamed herself for frightening her little pet so much. After all, a broken vase is just cold glass, which could never replace the warmth of a friend's eyes. Katie began to search the yard methodically.
Pulka! Pulka! — she called, peering under every bench.
Finally Katie approached the very rubbish bins. Pulka, having only just fallen asleep at dawn, was sleeping soundly. But her new friends were on alert.
There's the owner, — hissed Butch. — She'll take the new one, mark my words.
We'll see about that, — growled Ham in reply.
We certainly will! — Korzhik eagerly agreed.
The dogs, baring their fangs, leapt onto the pavement. Ham took a fighting stance right in front of Katie, while Butch and Korzhik crept up from the sides, growling.
Get out of here! — barked Ham so loudly that Pulka woke up at once.
She jumped out of the box and saw Katie surrounded by furious dogs. Without a moment's hesitation, she rushed to her owner. Knocking Korzhik off his feet and pushing Butch aside, Pulka positioned herself between Katie and Ham. Her fur stood on end, her eyes shone brightly, and her tail trembled nervously.
Don't you dare touch my owner! — Pulka cried out desperately.
Ham looked into her eyes and saw some unknown force, unyielding and all-conquering. His fighting spirit suddenly evaporated, and his heart was gripped by the cold claws of fear. He suddenly wilted, clumsily turned around, and with his head down, trotted away unevenly to the far corner.
Bewildered Butch and Korzhik hurried after him. Pulka turned to Katie and wagged her tail uncertainly.
Katie grabbed the warm fluffy bundle and hugged it to her chest, tears sparkling in the morning sun falling onto the snow-white fur. There, inside the bundle, she heard a little firm hammer beating fast, fast, fast, and she understood that it was a BIG HEART that was beating.
