Chapter 1. Meeting the Wizard
This story happened on an ordinary spring day. Vanya had just finished all his lessons and had absolutely no idea what to do with himself. He'd been planning to go for a walk with Vasky, but his mate was held up at school, and the other kids were nowhere to be seen.
"What rotten luck!" thought the boy, sitting on a bench and tossing pebbles at sparrows. Fortunately, the birds were quick enough, and the boy wasn't a very good shot.
Crikey, Vanya, aren't you ashamed of picking on the little ones!
But I… I'm not doing anything wrong.
The boy was taken aback. Next to him sat a grey-haired old man. Somehow Vanya hadn't noticed him—he hadn't just appeared out of thin air!
Do you know my mum?
Vanya asked in a fallen voice, worried the old bloke would now tell on him!
I'm afraid I know you far too well, and I'm not going to tell on you!
The old man answered calmly.
Well, how? How do you know what I'm thinking? Are you a psychic?
No, just a wizard.
You're having me on—wizards don't exist!
Vanya laughed.
They do, my boy, they do! I remember you as a little thing, what a good lad you were, but now it seems to me you've simply forgotten what it means to be human!
And who am I then, in your opinion—a potato or some beetle?
Vanya was starting to get cross. The old man was certainly strange, but he was clearly not a wizard—just a mad old codger. The boy decided it was time to leave.
Goodbye, I've got to go!
The boy stood up and was about to leave when he heard behind him:
But if I perform a miracle, will I stop being mad in your eyes?
What sort of miracle?
Well, for example, something small and simple!
The old man clicked his fingers, and an ice cream cup appeared in his hand.
Not bad for a madman, eh?
asked the old man, holding out the cup to the boy.
I'm sorry, said the boy sheepishly, I've never met a wizard before and I was rude!
The old man clicked his fingers, and the cup disappeared.
Oh, Vanya, Vanya! What a wonderful little boy you were, you loved nature, but now… oh dear!
Respected wizard, I do beg your pardon, but you're repeating yourself. I haven't done anything wrong!
Haven't you? And who was throwing stones at the sparrows?
The old man was surprised.
"He knows that too!" thought the boy to himself, but aloud he said:
But I didn't hit any! I was just playing!
That's a fine thing! And what if someone did that to you? Would you like it?
The old man was indignant.
Not on your life! "Man is the king of nature!"
observed the boy.
Wouldn't you like to feel what those you've hurt feel?
The old man suddenly suggested.
How do you mean?
Well, for instance, you and your mate lure a stray dog and then chase it with a stick, or you frighten the yard cats, or…
Yes, I understand, I understand. But I still can't work out, respected wizard, why you're going on about these creatures. They can't think or feel—it's all just instinct. They'll forget about us in two minutes. How would they even know we're people!
Well, you're about to find out!
The wizard suddenly cried out and clicked his fingers. Vanya began to shrink. He wanted to protest, but instead of words, only sounds like growling came out.
You'll be a boy again only when you understand what it means to be human!
He heard, as if from far away.
Chapter 2. In a Dog's Skin!
Everything around looked different. Vanya was in the yard, in the same spot, but the colours! He saw everything differently, and he'd become smaller. His arm itched terribly. And then he discovered with horror that he was standing on all fours, and he didn't have hands anymore—he had paws! In a puddle he saw his reflection: yes, he was now a stray dog!
"That's actually quite funny!" thought the boy. Fear gave way to curiosity, and then he saw Zoya, his best mate's little sister.
"I'll go and say hello and ask about Vasky. Zoya will be amazed by a talking dog!"
Vanya decided.
Coming up close to the girl, who was sitting in a sandpit making sandcastles with her back to him, Vanya spoke in a friendly manner:
G'day, little one, where's Vasky?
The boy even smiled, or at least that's what he thought.
The girl, hearing growling behind her, turned around in fright. A yard dog was staring at her, baring its teeth.
It looked enormous to her. The little girl was so frightened that she burst into tears. Vanya wanted to calm her down, to tell her it was him, but something hit him painfully on the leg—or rather, on the paw. It was his mate Vasky! The boy, hearing Zoya's cries, rushed to help and immediately threw a stone at the dog, which, as it seemed to him, was about to hurt his little sister. But the rescuer hit the animal's paw. Vanya hurried away. He was hurt and upset: some mate this was, throwing stones! And it didn't seem so funny now when someone was throwing stones at you!
Come here, good boy!
Suddenly he heard a kind voice. It was Uncle Borya, a well-known joker. The boy loved laughing at his jokes.
Come on, come here!
The neighbour called again. He was holding something in his hand. He beckoned to Vanya-the-dog and put it on the ground.
Vanya's stomach rumbled, and only now did the boy realise how hungry he was.
"Crikey, I should have listened to Gran and eaten something instead of rushing straight outside!" thought the boy. "Still, Uncle Borya's a good bloke, kind! Eating off the ground isn't ideal, but I'm a dog now, not eating from fine china!"
The boy even smiled to himself mentally, remembering Gran's favourite word—"dine". Oh, if only she were here now!
Uncle Borya moved a fair distance away from such a tasty morsel, so the dog could approach without fear of being hit, and Vanya-the-dog decided to go for it. But what was this strange taste to the sausage?
It was so salty and peppery and full of all sorts of spices that Vanya, spitting out the wretched piece, stuck out his tongue and breathed heavily. He looked like a fire-breathing dragon now, not a boy and certainly not a dog.
Apparently it looked funny from the side: he heard loud adult laughter and children's laughter. Uncle Borya stood to the side laughing, and next to him were the boys roaring with laughter—the same ones he'd been playing cops and robbers with, but now he was a yard dog, that was all. And then Vanya suddenly remembered with bitterness that he'd laughed like that not long ago. How could he have forgotten!
The neighbour was quite the joker, and for some reason he found it amusing to call an animal over, give it a heavily salted and peppered piece of sausage, and then laugh while watching its reaction. Vanya had found that funny too, but not now!
"I'm so thirsty!" And then Vanya spotted a small puddle. In other circumstances he wouldn't have considered it, but not now, when his mouth was burning like he was a fire-breathing dragon!
After quenching his thirst, the boy-dog caught the gaze of a cat. It was sitting on a bench looking so pleased with itself that Vanya understood: the mangy thing was laughing at him. But now I'll chase you, and yes, that'll be fun!" and with a cry: "You won't get away!" he rushed at the cat. The cat hissed and scratched his paw painfully. Vanya let out a yelp: "Right then, watch yourself, you mangy thing!"
Chasing the cat, he suddenly thought that things weren't so bad after all—at least he could chase a cat!
And then again…
Chapter 3. I'm a Cat!
"Something's happening to me again…" the boy had only just thought this when the cat he was chasing stopped and rushed at him. Vanya ran for his life, and who knows, maybe it was rabid? Would a normal cat chase a dog? But when Vanya flew up a birch tree in a whirlwind, he understood—he wasn't a dog anymore! His pursuer stayed below, and the boy, looking himself over carefully, realised: now he was a cat, a street cat!
Right, I'm getting tired of this, wizard, where are you?
The boy called out quietly.
But there was silence in reply. Only some old woman sighed: "Oh, how the poor kitty is crying, stuck up there!"
Then Vanya thought with horror: "Actually, how am I supposed to get down? I've really got myself into a pickle! So, what do I know about cats? That they land on all four paws, so everything should be fine. Wait! BUT I'M NOT A CAT, I'M A BEWITCHED BOY! WIZARD, WIZARD!"
But again there was silence, and from the side it looked like: a street cat was mewing pitifully in a tree.
Backing up, Vanya began to carefully climb down, but those couple of minutes felt like an eternity! His paws had just touched the ground when he was roughly grabbed.
Kitty!
He heard above his ear.
"Oh no!" flashed through Vanya's mind.
Now he could see it was Alyosha, the neighbour's little boy, who'd grabbed him. Vanya had always found it funny how the little one would squeeze cats, but not now! Sticky fingers gripped him unpleasantly, and Vanya was about to scratch the annoying little pest when Alyosha's gran came running up:
Ugh, ugh, Alyosha! Drop that cat, it's mangy!
"You're mangy!" Vanya wanted to answer, but didn't have time. He was thrown to the ground, and that's when all four paws came in handy!
Chapter 4. I'm a Sparrow!
Climbing onto a bench, the boy decided to think through a plan of action for what to do next.
"The wizard told me I need to be human. But I am human! Well, I was before I met this weirdo! What if he can hear me? GRANDPA, I DIDN'T MEAN TO OFFEND YOU!"
Then Vanya's attention was caught by a little sparrow, a tiny thing, hopping right next to him.
"I've always wanted to catch a bird! When better than now!" and Vanya was already next to the little sparrow, and the bird was so startled at the sight of a cat that it didn't even think about flying away.
"I'll just touch it, that's all!" Vanya didn't even think that he now had a paw with claws instead of a hand!
And then something pecked him painfully on the head. It was the mother sparrow! The attack was fierce. Vanya hurried away, when he suddenly realised: something's happening again. He felt himself shrinking, and he saw his old cat pursuer rushing towards him.
This time Vanya already guessed that he was now a sparrow himself, so hiding in a tree wasn't an option—he couldn't fly! So he tried to hide in a small crack in the wall. A cat wouldn't be able to squeeze in there.
He hopped as much as his little legs allowed, and managed to hide in the shelter just as an enormous paw reached after him. But fortunately for Vanya, no matter how hard the cat tried, it couldn't reach him.
Vanya had no watch and didn't know how long he sat in his shelter. It felt like an eternity! Carefully peering out and making sure no one was around, Vanya saw a beautiful butterfly.
"I wonder if butterflies are afraid of sparrows?"
He wanted so badly to pull at its wing. The boy-sparrow was already next to it when…
Chapter 5. And Who Am I?
"Again?" but then Vanya thought that being a butterfly might not be so bad, and he could try flying. But to his horror, he discovered he had no wings!
"So if I'm not a butterfly, who am I?" but his mental dialogue was interrupted by something incomprehensible, something enormous, right next to him.
"What are these pillars?" thought the boy in horror when this enormous thing was right next to him and nearly crushed him. He hid behind a pebble and then realised—those were legs, and they weren't enormous at all. He was just too small!
"Very funny, Grandpa wizard, and will my next transformation be into a microbe or something?"
Vanya wanted to add something else when suddenly an enormous hand grabbed him, and he heard a familiar voice:
"What a little bug! Vanya will love this!"
"Vasky, it's me—Vanya!" but his mate couldn't hear or understand him, and instead of words there was buzzing.
"Sit here for now" the boy pushed a matchbox.
"Oh no, Vasky wants to put me in there! Don't!" but his mate didn't understand.
The matchbox was dark and cramped, and Vanya suddenly felt sad that his best mate didn't understand him. The boy began to remember all the bugs he'd caught alone or with his mate, the sparrows he'd thrown stones at, the cats and dogs he and Vasky had loved to tease. And he wanted to cry.
He understood that all these living creatures, which were so much smaller, felt pain and fear. And what terrifying giants the yard boys must seem to them sometimes, including him and Vasky.
"Forgive me all, whispered Vanya. I probably really did deserve to sit in a matchbox!"
The boy felt himself falling asleep. He was falling into something and didn't know what would happen next.
Chapter 6. Being Human!
Vanya opened his eyes and found himself sitting in the yard on the same bench where he'd met the wizard.
His clothes were all dusty, and a fresh scratch reminded him that it hadn't all been a dream. The boy wanted to tell the old man that he understood everything, but the old man was nowhere to be seen. But Vasky was hurrying towards him.
G'day, where've you been? I've got something to show you!
A bug?
Yeah… But how did you… never mind, look! But where is it?
Vasky stared at the empty box with his mouth open, and Vanya suddenly found it so funny that he burst out laughing.
Of course, it was a funny situation—the bug had been him! Vasky looked at him and laughed too.
A couple of minutes later, Vanya was telling his mate about his unusual transformations, and Vasky at first smiled, but then became more and more serious. When his mate finished the story, he said:
Sorry about the stone and the matchbox. I didn't know it was you! And I saw that old man too, but he suddenly disappeared, like he vanished into thin air! I thought I was imagining things. But it turns out I wasn't—miracles do happen!
The boys never saw the wizard-grandfather again, and they didn't need to. They no longer hurt their smaller brothers and sisters. And the wizard is somewhere nearby, maybe even on your street, watching to make sure we don't forget: we should treat others the way we want to be treated. That's what it means to be human!
