Chypa the chick is a yellow fluffy little ball. He lives with his mum Hen and his dad Rooster on the farm. Chypa has lots of little brothers and sisters. Living on the farm is great fun! Wherever you go, something interesting is waiting for you. In the neighbouring shed live curly sheep, and Chypa loves sneaking over there and pulling their wool. The sheep grumble and bleat:
Baaaa-baa, who's pulling my wool?
Baaaa-baa, and mine too!
Can't see anyone, baaaa-ba.
One day, Chypa finally got caught because he was laughing too loudly and didn't manage to hide. The sheep chased him away and complained to his mum Hen. And then Hen said:
Cluck-cluck, I'm very upset, Chypa, that you're being mean to the sheep, cluck-cluck, why are you so disobedient!
I was just having fun, cheep-cheep-cheep. But I won't go to them again, I promise-promise! — answered little chick Chypa to his mum.
In the stable on the farm live big beautiful horses. Chypa always dreamed of riding on one of them just once, but his mum Hen, as usual, wouldn't allow it. It seemed to Chypa that his mum was deliberately forbidding him from doing all the interesting things, so he often didn't listen to her rules and did things against what she said.
Sneaking into the stable one day, Chypa watched with delight as the strong and majestic horses ran beautifully at a gallop in circles. Chypa liked the white horse with massive legs the most. The little chick became frightened because he seemed so tiny compared to the enormous and fast horses. If he ended up in the arena, disaster would surely follow.
He trembled at the thoughts that came into his head. But at the same time, he imagined himself riding on the white stallion and dreamed of feeling what it would be like. And he wanted so badly to ride that he overcame his fear, and the moment the white horse passed by him, the chick jumped high and caught hold of the horse's tail with his wings.
And what a commotion started! The horse, startled, broke into a gallop, and Chypa, doing his best, tried not to fall as the tail swayed up and down at great speed. He tried to scramble up the tail to ride the horse, but it only went faster and the poor little chick kept sliding lower and lower.
Soon the other horses got spooked too, surprised that a sudden race had begun. The white horse bucked, trying to throw off his unexpected passenger. And Chypa shouted to him, hoping he'd hear his tiny chick voice:
Stop, slow down, cheep-cheep-cheep! I'm going to fall, cheep-cheep-cheep!
But the horse didn't stop, and then everything happened so fast that Chypa didn't even have time to understand what had happened. The horse reared up and bucked with incredible force. The little chick flew straight into the path where the horses were galloping at great speed. Heavy hooves flashed before his eyes, and he tried to dodge them.
Everything was a blur, Chypa became so frightened and sad that he hadn't listened to his mum and found himself in such a situation, that tears streamed from his eyes. And suddenly, he heard from somewhere above:
There he is! Neigh! He grabbed onto me! — it was that same strong white stallion talking to a chocolate-coloured horse rushing past.
It's a chick! Neigh! I wonder how he got here! — answered the chocolate horse as she ran another lap.
I'm Chypa! — came a tiny voice, the words were hard to make out because Chypa couldn't stop crying.
Everyone stop! — commanded the stallion, and the horses began to slow down. They gradually surrounded Chypa, looking at him carefully, — Why did you frighten me, little chick?
I just wanted to ride, cheep-cheep-cheep... — said Chypa with shame.
Loud horse neighing was heard. They were all laughing at him. And the yellow chick turned a bit red from embarrassment.
How was your little ride? Neigh? — said the horse with grey spots on her back.
Neighing was heard again. Chypa noticed the white horse coming closer to him. His beautiful long face bent down so low that Chypa could see the big horse eyes. And then he heard a quiet voice:
Don't mind them, neigh. They're always laughing at everything.
I was so silly to disobey my mum, I could have died! Cheep-cheep-cheep! I'm so sorry! Cheep-cheep-cheep! — tears ran down his cheeks again.
Neigh... Silly chick Chypa. You could have just asked me to give you a ride, without causing such a commotion at the racecourse, — said the horse in a lecturing tone.
I thought you wouldn't want to, — answered Chypa regretfully.
So you decided to ride on my tail. That was a very silly thing to do. But you've been frightened enough. Climb on me, I'll take you home.
Please forgive me, I'll never do it again, — said the little chick sincerely.
Of course, the white horse, who turned out to be called George, forgave the young chick. He took him home, thus fulfilling the yellow ball's cherished dream. Mum Hen complained and scolded her son for a long time, but George convinced her that everything was fine and that Chypa had already understood his mistake.
Chypa promised to listen better to his mum. After all, she never says anything just to be mean, mum always cares about what's best for her children. And although it took a while, Chypa understood this.
