Being a little one is no easy task. There's so much interesting around, so much unknown, and 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 tag with the cat. Vasya taught him to walk back then. But how much can you learn from a fluffy four-legged friend? He just says meow, meow. And he won't say anything useful.
Mitya loved to go for walks with his mother. First she would dress him for a long, long time, first a little sweater and tights, then a warm snowsuit and boots, and then definitely a hat. Mitya didn't like the hat, but for some reason his mother would grumble when he took it off himself. But most of all, Mitya liked riding in the stroller during walks. He sat importantly, dangling his legs, while his mother pushed him along the road next to cars and through the park where very tall trees grew. But Mitya didn't know yet what things were called or how. He could only say: "Ma-ma".
And from those two syllables, his mother understood magically what he wanted. Sometimes it was a stern "ma-ma", then his mother would pick him up, sometimes a sad "ma-ma" and his mother understood that he was tired. There were countless ways to pronounce these two syllables. But Mitya understood that there were other words. When he learned to point his little finger at different objects, his mother would name them. But he couldn't repeat anything.
Ma-chine, — his mother would say in syllables when the little one pointed at passing cars.
Ma! — the little one would only answer her.
Tree, — his mother would say when they walked in the park and Mitya eagerly looked at the green oaks.
Ma... — the child would answer thoughtfully.
This repeated day after day: mother spoke, Mitya listened, but he was in no hurry to repeat.
One day, while walking in the park, Mitya spotted a large black bird. It walked back and forth importantly on the leaves. His mother didn't immediately understand what the little one was so eagerly looking at. The bird also looked at the boy, took a few steps towards him, and the little one clapped his hands.
The bird wasn't frightened, it came closer and looked at the boy. He clearly pleased her. Mitya in turn stared even more intently at the unusual black creature. He had never seen such interesting birds before. He pointed at it with his finger and his mother said:
Crow.
Mitya said nothing in response. His mother wasn't surprised, she knew for sure that Mitya wouldn't be able to repeat such a long word. The crow looked at the boy a bit more, and then loudly, very loudly said:
Caaaa-aw.
And flapping its large black wings, it flew away.
Mitya was amazed by this meeting. Throughout the walk, he remembered how the crow said: "Caw". And he very much wanted to talk to this bird. For a long time he tried to make different sounds. Sometimes he growled like a tiger, sometimes he hummed a long "Aaaaaaa".
His mother smiled in response, not knowing what her little one was trying to repeat.
Coming home that evening, his mother began to undress Mitya. He, however, couldn't forget the amazing bird. And suddenly, he saw that a large bird, similar to the one he had seen with his mother in the park, had landed on the windowsill. He clapped his hands, drawing his mother's attention, and pointed his little finger at the crow. His mother saw the bird and said again:
Crow.
Caaaa-aw! — the little one answered.
His mother was surprised and very happy. Little Mitya had said something for the first time besides the two syllables: "ma-ma". That evening, the whole family joyfully watched as Mitya, sitting by the window, talked to the crow. Sometimes it seemed like it even answered him.
His mother began to take the boy to the park more often, and it turned out that he loved birds very much. Soon he already knew words like: "Tweet" or "Hoot". And then he was able to please his mother and say on his own:
Crow!
So love for animals and a thirst for knowledge helped little Mitya say his first words. And the crow is still his favourite bird of all.
