Lived with Grandma ten little kittens:
Moosya, Anfisa, and of course, Pirate,
Zhorik, Arkady, Birch, and Pilot,
Zayka, Picture and little red Mole.
Ten such amusing little rascals,
Ten beloved and sweet cats.
So one day off to the market she went
In the morning, the old woman alone.
With a shopping bag in hand, wrapping her shawl,
Grandma hurried out through the door.
The kittens sat peacefully in the corners,
Only purring could be heard there.
And sleeping in the corner so quiet, a spider,
He wasn't mean at all, their true friend.
A butterfly alone disturbed the peace,
Like breaking news, it flew in on air.
Just a silly thing that flew through the window,
What a show unfolded then!
Ten grown kittens jump about,
Each little hunter so pleased with their prey.
Our butterfly landed on the chandelier,
Towards it crept Arkasha along the curtain.
And Moosya chasing, not falling behind,
For the butterfly was close, right there.
All the others found different ways,
Brothers and sisters without any fear.
Some climbed the wardrobe, others the shelf.
The grandmother's curtain got torn in the fuss,
But what of the kittens? Crying in the corner,
All from frustration, having started their game?
Not at all! They're on the hunt,
Games and excitement, no sense of guilt.
Only they can't seem to catch their prey:
A flutter of wings, and it's time to fly away.
So the kittens were left in the corner.
The butterfly simply, finishing its game,
Hurried home away from them.
And decided to stay far away
From the yellow house with so many kittens,
Where they misbehave and make loud noise.
Lived with Grandma ten little kittens:
Moosya, Anfisa, and of course, Pirate,
Zhorik, Arkady, Birch, and Pilot,
Zayka, Picture and little red Mole.
And so the old woman returned home:
"What happened here? Oh my goodness me!
The shelf is lying down, the curtain's on the floor,
Could a robber have been playing leapfrog?
I think I know where this mess came from,
It must have been, of course, an elephant!
He frightened my little ones so,
And Koschei the Deathless came with him!"
The spider in the corner chuckled quietly:
"What an imaginative one! But hush now, not a word".
"Dear little kitties," whispers the old woman,
"You rest now, here's a pillow for you,
You need to eat some fish to recover from the stress.
Yes, there's no escaping progress, I'm afraid.
How is it that in broad daylight,
An elephant and Koschei came to visit me!"
Yes, for a long time afterwards they sighed on the benches,
Old women in headscarves and slippers:
"It's so dangerous to live now," they say,
How can we protect our beloved kittens?
How did they manage to avoid trouble?"
No one will say that they were little rascals!
