Being a little one is no easy task. There's so much interesting stuff around, so much to discover, but you can't ask anyone about it. Why can't you ask? Well, you don't know how to talk yet! You probably remember the boy Mitya, who loved to play chase with the cat. Vasya taught him to walk back then. But how much can you really learn from a furry four-legged friend? He just goes meow, meow, meow. He won't tell you anything useful.
Mitya loved going for walks with his mum. First she'd spend ages getting him dressed—first his jumper and tights, then his warm snowsuit and boots, and finally his hat. Mitya didn't like the hat, but his mum would grumble whenever he took it off himself. But what Mitya liked most about walks was riding in the pram. He'd sit there importantly, dangling his legs, while his mum pushed him along the road past the cars and through the park where the tallest trees grew. But Mitya didn't know what anything was called back then. All he could manage was: "Ma-ma".
And from those two syllables his mum could magically understand what he wanted. Sometimes it was an angry "ma-ma", then his mum would pick him up, sometimes it was a sad "ma-ma" and his mum knew he was tired. There were countless ways to say those two sounds. But Mitya understood there were other words too. When he learned to point his finger at different things, his mum would name them. But he couldn't seem to repeat anything.
Car, — his mum would say in syllables when the little one pointed at the passing automobiles.
Ma! — was all the little one would answer.
Tree, — his mum would say when they walked in the park and Mitya gazed intently at the green oaks.
Ma...– the child would answer thoughtfully.
This went on day after day: mum spoke, Mitya listened, but he wasn't in any hurry to repeat.
One day, whilst walking in the park, Mitya spotted a big black bird. It strutted back and forth importantly across the leaves. His mum didn't immediately understand what the little one was so intently watching. The bird looked at the boy too, took a few steps towards him, and the little one clapped his hands.
The bird wasn't frightened, it came closer and looked the boy over. He clearly pleased it. Mitya stared back intently at this unusual black creature. He'd never seen such interesting birds before. He pointed at it and his mum said:
Crow.
Mitya said nothing in reply. His mum wasn't surprised, she knew for certain that Mitya couldn't repeat such a long word. The crow looked at the boy a bit longer, and then said loudly:
Caaaa-aw.
And flapping its big black wings, it flew away.
Mitya was amazed by this meeting. Throughout the walk he kept remembering how the crow had said: "Caw". And he really wanted to talk to this bird. He spent a long time trying different sounds. Sometimes he'd growl like a tiger, sometimes he'd hum a long "Aaaaa".
His mum smiled in response, not knowing what her little one was trying to repeat.
That evening when they got home, his mum started undressing Mitya. But he couldn't forget the amazing bird. And suddenly, he saw that a bird had landed on the windowsill, looking like the one he'd seen with his mum in the park. He clapped his hands, trying to get his mum's attention, and pointed his finger at the crow. His mum saw the bird and said again:
Crow.
Caa-aw! — the little one answered.
His mum was surprised and very pleased. Little Mitya had said something for the first time other than the two syllables: "ma-ma". That evening the whole family happily watched as Mitya, sitting by the window, chatted with the crow. Sometimes it seemed like she even answered him back.
His mum started taking the boy to the park more often, and it turned out he really loved birds. Soon he already knew words like: "Tweet" or "Hoot". And then he managed to please his mum and say all by himself:
Crow!
So love for animals and a desire for knowledge helped little Mitya say his first words. And the crow is still his favourite bird of all.
