Ten kittens lived at Grandma's place:
Mousy, Anfisa, and Pirate with grace,
Georgie, Arkady, Birch, and Pilot so fine,
Bunny, Picture, and ginger Mole—what a line.
Ten such amusing and playful little rogues,
Ten beloved and sweet cats, our heroes.
One morning Grandma set out all alone
To the market for fish, leaving kittens at home.
With her shopping bag and her headscarf tied tight,
The old woman hurried out into the light.
The kittens sat peacefully, each in their place,
Only purring sounds filled up the space.
And in the corner a spider slept sound,
Not mean at all, their friend, safe and sound.
A butterfly only disturbed their calm day,
Like breaking news, it came into play.
A silly thing flew right through the window pane,
And what a commotion, what quite a scene!
Ten growing kittens began to leap high,
Each little hunter watched with a sigh.
The butterfly landed upon the chandelier,
And Arkady crept up the curtain so near.
And Mousy followed, not far behind,
The butterfly close, what a prize to find.
All the others found different ways,
Sisters and brothers without any delays.
Some climbed the cupboard, some climbed the shelf.
The grandmother's curtain tore by itself,
And what of the kittens? Crying in the corner they stay,
All from frustration, having started their play?
Not at all! They're out hunting instead,
Games and excitement fill them with dread.
But they cannot catch their prey, it seems:
A flutter of wings, and away it gleams.
And so the kittens stayed in their place.
The butterfly, finishing up the chase,
Hurried back home without any delay.
And decided to stay far away
From the yellow house where so many cats play,
Where they cause mischief and noise all day.
Ten kittens lived at Grandma's place:
Mousy, Anfisa, and Pirate with grace,
Georgie, Arkady, Birch, and Pilot so fine,
Bunny, Picture, and ginger Mole—what a line.
The old woman returned home at last:
"What happened here? Oh my, what a blast!
The shelf is down, the curtain's on the floor,
Did a robber play leapfrog here before?
I think I know what caused all this mess,
It must have been an elephant, I confess!
He frightened my little ones so,
And Koschei the Deathless came with the show!"
The spider in the corner laughed with glee:
"What an imagination! But quiet, let it be."
"My dear little kitties," whispers the old dame,
"You rest now, here's a pillow—no shame,
You need some fish to recover from stress.
Alas, we cannot escape progress.
How could it be, in the middle of the day,
An elephant and Koschei came to stay!"
Yes, for a long time the old women sighed,
In their headscarves and slippers, side by side:
"It's dangerous to live these days, they say,
How can we keep our dear kittens safe, pray?
How did they manage to escape from harm?"
No one will tell that they caused the alarm!
