It happened in a certain forest. The morning sun rose from behind the mountain. And its first gentle rays illuminated the leaves of the trees, touched by droplets of dew.
From afar came the ringing of bellflowers. In his den, little Bear Cub woke up. He lived there with his dignified mother Bear and his stately father Bear. And on that day, Bear Cub had a celebration — his Birthday.
For many months he had eagerly awaited when This day would arrive, because the present had been ordered from his parents long ago and his patience was already at its limit. And now! The long-awaited Birthday had arrived!
A large box stood beside his bed. Bear Cub tremblingly untied the ribbon, opened the box and… Oh, wonder! Before his eyes appeared a big and colourful drum. The gift was decorated with intricate patterns, it came with wide straps to wear around the neck, and two drumsticks, which help produce cheerful sounds from the drum.
Bear Cub was delighted with such a gift, as he had long dreamed of it and secretly hoped that his parents wouldn't change their minds and buy him something else instead. He put it around his neck and rushed out into the forest.
And from that time on, all the forest animals and birds lost their peace. From early morning until late evening, all that could be heard was: "Boom-boom-boom! Bam-bam-bam!"
Bear Cub, rest at least a little bit, our ears are already ringing, our heads are aching.
The birds pleaded.
And Bear Cub replied:
I'll play just a little bit more, aren't you having fun?
He waved the drumsticks, and a very loud "boom-boom-boom!" echoed throughout the neighbourhood.
The animals couldn't bear it any longer and pleaded:
Bear Cub, stop playing! We have little ones, they want to sleep, and because of your playing they can't fall asleep! You're drumming too loudly!
Well, let them be patient a little while, then they'll fall asleep. Big deal…
Bear Cub the drummer wouldn't stop.
All the insects gathered together: beetles, ladybugs, mosquitoes, butterflies. In chorus they began asking Bear Cub to stop playing — it had become far too loud in the forest.
The hedgehogs curled up into prickly balls from the noise, the squirrels hid in a wide hollow, the rabbits burrowed into deep burrows, even the crows flew up to the highest trees, so they wouldn't hear the annoying sounds as much.
Bear Cub listened to no one, only thought about himself, and about how much fun he was having playing the drum. Therefore all the forest dwellers decided to teach him a lesson.
Towards evening the sun rolled toward sunset, its rays didn't shine as brightly and illuminate the forest expanses. Bear Cub, who had walked all day through the thickets and paths with his drum and banged on it, had grown a bit tired over the whole day, sat down on a colourful meadow with fragrant flowers on an enormous ancient stump, resembling a chair, to rest.
Suddenly the unexpected happened: all the birds that lived in this forest and its surroundings, suddenly all together very loudly began to sing, chirp, caw, cuckoo, and twitter. The animals began playing different musical instruments.
The squirrels — on flutes, the foxes — on pianos, the wolves — on guitars, the bears — on double basses, the hares — on balalaikas… And all the beetles and butterflies, led by the frogs, began dancing in circles right around the stump on which Bear Cub had sat down to rest.
He was bewildered:
What's happened, what's going on?
Little Bear Cub grabbed his head with his paws, couldn't stand it and shouted:
Stop! Don't sing, don't play, don't dance! I'm so tired, and you've made such a terrible racket. I always…
And Bear Cub fell silent, realizing that he was the one who had behaved incorrectly, when he didn't consider others.
He admitted his mistake, apologized for his bad behaviour and rudeness. And he promised that from now on he would play the loud drum only when his resounding "boom-boom-boom" wouldn't bother anyone.
