Forests provide many benefits. They purify the air, provide food and firewood. Bears and deer, foxes and rabbits, raccoons and badgers, beavers and weasels live in the forests…
If you stop for a moment in a pine forest and listen carefully, you'll hear:
Tap-tap-tap…
That's a woodpecker using its powerful beak to crack open a pine cone to enjoy its seeds. Magpies chatter, chickadees chirp, and sometimes you can hear the heavy, frightening cry of an owl.
Forests can be deciduous or coniferous. In deciduous forests, oaks and birches, alders and aspens grow, along with bushes of raspberries, blackberries and wolf berries. Their clearings are covered with blueberries, wild strawberries and woodland strawberries.
In coniferous forests, pines, cedars and spruces grow. Under the reliable cover of fallen needles, you can find various types of mushrooms: porcini, chanterelles, slippery jacks and saffron milk caps.
And how many different flowers you can see in the forest! Snowdrops appear first, followed by pasque flowers pushing through the ground, then lily of the valley and buttercups. In each season, the forest captivates us with its beauty.
Once upon a time, such a marvellous story happened in the forest.
One day, an ant decided to build a little house and live in it. He tried to lift a blade of grass — it didn't work out, the ant was too small and the blade of grass was too heavy for him. Then he found a wood chip. The chip also turned out to be too heavy — he couldn't even budge it.
Where will I live? How can I build a house?
The ant began to cry.
Come live with us! The three of us can lift one blade of grass together, and five of us can manage a wood chip. It's more fun to work and live together!
Other ants called out to him.
The ant happily agreed. From then on, he lived in the anthill.
Here's another story that happened in the forest.
A young sparrow grew tired of living in the sparrow flock. One autumn, he left his brothers and sisters and flew to another forest. He decided to see the wide world. At first, he liked the new place. He saw many new things he'd never encountered before. Only one thing saddened him — the local sparrows didn't welcome him.
One day, he saw a flock of unfamiliar sparrows in a wide clearing, pecking at plant seeds. Feeling hungry, he joined them and started pecking too. Suddenly, all the sparrows attacked him, pecking him with their beaks so hard that feathers flew!
Plucked and hurt, our sparrow barely made it back to his brothers and sisters in his home forest.
But they also drove him away, saying:
You abandoned us — now we don't want to know you!
Sad and lonely, the sparrow perched on a tree far from them.
That's what always happens when someone is ashamed of and betrays their family and loved ones.
There's one more forest story. Here, have a read.
The nightingale sings best of all in the forest. Everyone loves his singing, which is why they affectionately call him "dear nightingale."
Dear nightingale, sing us your song.
The animals often asked.
Phew-eet, phew-eet, tr-r-r…
One thought gave him no peace.
He pondered:
"I've learned to sing well, but I can't play any musical instruments."
And this upset him greatly.
In the same forest lived a bear. The animals loved this bear for his kindness and strength, and also because no one could play the balalaika like he could. When he'd strike the strings, everyone would start dancing — such cheerful and lively melodies the bear played.
Only he couldn't sing at all, no matter how hard he tried. What came out was a deep:
Boo-boo-boo…
One day, the bear and the nightingale met. They shared their troubles.
Play something for me, friend, and I'll listen.
The nightingale asked the bear.
He really enjoyed the bear's balalaika playing. The nightingale couldn't help himself — he began singing along to the cheerful music.
The bear was amazed:
I'd never heard a nightingale before. What beautiful singing!
From then on, the bear and nightingale became friends and began performing together as an ensemble at forest concerts.
These are the incredible stories that happen in the forest with its inhabitants. Read fairy tales and your mood will always be good and uplifted.
