Mummy, what size is my heart? — asked Katie.
About the size of your little fist, — Mummy replied.
And Pulka's?
Pulka — a snow-white fluffy Bolognese dog, had barely heard her name before she scampered over to Katie and wagged her tail cheerfully in anticipation of playtime.
Pulka's? — Mummy paused thoughtfully. — Pulka's heart is ever so tiny. Perhaps about the size of your thumb.
But what's a heart for? — Katie persisted.
Mummy smiled:
Oh, a heart holds many wonderful things. For instance, courage. We call a brave person's heart a courageous one. A kind heart belongs to someone who always helps others. If someone is willing to share their last crust of bread, it means a generous heart beats in their chest. You'll always be able to hear the beat of a loyal heart if you have a true friend.
And love can live in a heart too. A loving heart can be courageous, generous, kind and faithful all at once. We say about such people: "They have a big heart".
How fascinating! — Katie exclaimed and stroked the little dog, who had been listening intently to their conversation. — It's a shame that our Pulka has such a tiny heart. Surely it can't hold all those wonderful things at once.
Who knows, — Mummy answered mysteriously and went to the kitchen to prepare supper.
Katie played with Pulka for a while, then decided to finish reading a very interesting book about loyal friends. She settled into the armchair by the window and began reading. The book told of devoted friendship, selflessness and readiness to always come to someone's aid. Pulka sat by the armchair and watched her mistress intently.
There she was frowning, sympathising with the characters in trouble, and then her face lit up with a joyful smile when the difficulties were overcome. Pulka was terribly curious about what Katie was reading so intently.
The doorbell rang in the hallway. Father had come home from work. Katie put down her book and ran to open the door. Pulka desperately wanted to know how a book could make someone sad or happy. She jumped onto the armchair hoping to uncover the secret and knocked over a vase of flowers standing on the windowsill with her tail.
The vase swayed and crashed to the floor. Shiny fragments scattered across the entire room. Pulka froze in horror. Katie, hearing the noise, rushed into the room, saw the broken vase and lunged at the dog:
You wretched thing! Just you wait, I'll show you!
Pulka bolted in search of safety. Whimpering pitifully, she looked for somewhere to hide and spotted a half-open door that Father had just failed to lock. Pulka slipped through the gap, tumbled down the stairs, burst out into the yard and ran off without looking back.
Her heart raced with fear, she imagined the sound of pursuit. She stopped, barely breathing, in a far corner of the yard near the rubbish bins. She looked back: there was no pursuit. And then from behind the bin appeared Ham — an enormous stray dog who terrified all the neighbourhood pets. Behind his shaggy back lurked Butch and Korzhik.
Ham's companions were not very large dogs, but next to them Pulka seemed tiny and defenceless. She backed away in fright, her heart trembling with fear. And where was courage to come from? After all, in such a tiny heart there was no room for bravery.
Well, well, — growled Ham, — thrown out?
No, I… I ran away, — Pulka stammered.
That's right! — Butch barked approvingly. — Nothing but trouble with these owners.
But it's my fault, — Pulka tried to justify herself. — My mistress was always so kind to me…
What do you know about kindness? — Ham interrupted sharply. — The main thing is that everyone should be afraid! That's fun!
And profitable, — added Korzhik, — because you can steal food from the weak.
Pulka said nothing and thought that kindness must be very big indeed if it doesn't fit in the hearts of even such large dogs as her new companions. What could be said about a heart the size of just a little girl's finger!
Meanwhile, Ham was studying frightened Pulka carefully. Finally, after whispering something to his companions, he said:
All right then. We'll take you into our gang. You're small, you'll be able to get food from places we can't squeeze into. But listen here: I'm the boss! And if anything goes wrong, I'll bite you in half! — Ham bared his terrible yellow fangs.
Pulka had no choice but to agree, as staying alone was even more frightening. The rest of the evening the shaggy company spent as usual. First they kept watch on the local cats by the basement, and when it got dark, they crept onto the rubbish heap behind the grocery shop and found some food.
Korzhik was lucky enough to find some perfectly edible sausages. Running off to one side, he began to devour his dinner with relish. Pulka loved sausages very much. The delicious smell made her mouth water. She asked Korzhik for even the tiniest piece, but he only growled and turned away.
Is there not even a drop of generosity in your heart? — asked Pulka.
Generosity? — Korzhik replied in surprise. — Not a chance! If I let generosity into my heart, there won't be room for malice and cunning, and then I won't be able to find food. Generosity is for fools!
«No, generosity is good for everyone», — thought Pulka, but said nothing.
For the night the stray gang settled down behind the rubbish bins in cardboard boxes. Pulka got a box that had held a kettle. It was rather cramped, but the cardboard protected well against the night draughts. Pulka gazed for a long time at the lit window of Katie's room and thought how sad it was to have such a small heart.
If only she had a bigger heart, it could hold courage, and then Pulka could stand up to the yard gang and return home. "And if there were room for generosity too," she thought, "then I could share food with the homeless, and they wouldn't have to steal." But best of all would be to put love in the heart, then generosity, loyalty, kindness and courage would blossom of their own accord.
Pulka only fell asleep towards dawn. She dreamed of the broken vase.
In the morning, as soon as the sun gilded the rooftops, Katie ran out into the yard to look for Pulka. The evening before she had searched for her little friend until dark, but Mummy had told her to come home. Katie couldn't sleep for a long time, and even cried a little, hidden under her blanket.
She was very worried about what had happened and blamed herself for frightening her little pet so much. After all, a broken vase is just cold glass, which could never replace the warmth of a friend's eyes. Katie began to search the yard methodically.
Pulka! Pulka! — she called, peering under every bench.
Finally Katie approached those very rubbish bins. Pulka, having only just fallen asleep at dawn, was sleeping soundly. But her new friends were on guard.
There's the mistress, — hissed Butch. — She'll take the new one, no doubt about it.
We'll see about that, — growled Ham in reply.
We certainly will! — Korzhik eagerly agreed.
The dogs, baring their fangs, leapt onto the pavement. Ham took a fighting stance right in front of Katie, while Butch and Korzhik, growling, crept up from the sides.
Get out of here! — barked Ham, so loudly that Pulka woke up at once.
She jumped out of the box and saw Katie surrounded by furious dogs. Without a moment's hesitation, she rushed to her mistress. Knocking Korzhik off his feet and pushing Butch aside, Pulka positioned herself between Katie and Ham. Her fur stood on end, her eyes shone brightly, and her tail trembled nervously.
Don't you dare touch my mistress! — Pulka cried out desperately.
Ham looked into her eyes and saw some unknown force, unyielding and all-conquering. His fighting spirit suddenly evaporated, and his heart was gripped by the cold clawed paw of fear. He suddenly wilted, clumsily turned around and, with his head down, ran off in an uneven trot to the far corner.
Bewildered Butch and Korzhik hurried after him. Pulka turned to Katie and wagged her tail uncertainly.
Katie grabbed the warm fluffy bundle and pressed it to her chest, tears sparkling in the morning sun falling onto the snow-white fur. There, inside the bundle, she heard a small, firm little hammer beating fast, fast, fast, and she understood that it was a BIG HEART that was beating.
