Being a little one is no easy task. There's so much interesting around, so much unexplored, 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 chase 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 going for walks with his mum. First she would spend ages dressing him, first a little jumper and tights, then a warm snowsuit and boots, and after that definitely a hat. Mitya didn't like the hat, but his mum would grumble for some reason when he took it off himself. But what Mitya liked most about walks was riding in the pram. He sat importantly, dangling his legs, whilst his mum pushed him along the road next to cars and through the park where very tall trees grew. But Mitya didn't know what things were called back then. He could only say: "Ma-ma".
And from those two syllables his mum understood magically what he wanted. Sometimes it was a stern "ma-ma", then his mum would pick him up, sometimes a sad "ma-ma" and his mum understood that he was tired. There were countless ways to say these two syllables. But Mitya understood that there were other words too. When he learned to point his little finger at different objects, his mum would name them. But he couldn't manage to repeat anything.
Ma-shi-na, — his mum would say in syllables when the little one pointed at passing cars.
Ma! — the little one would only answer her.
De-re-vo, — his mum 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: mum spoke, Mitya listened, but he was in no hurry to repeat.
One day, whilst walking in the park, Mitya spotted a large black bird. It walked importantly back and forth through the leaves. His mum 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 it. 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 mum said:
Vo-ro-na.
In response Mitya said nothing. His mum wasn't surprised, she knew for certain that Mitya wouldn't be able to repeat such a long word. The crow looked at the boy a bit longer, and then said loudly:
Kkkka-a-ar.
And flapping its large black wings, it flew away.
Mitya was amazed by this meeting. Throughout the walk he remembered how the crow said: "Kar". 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 mum smiled in response, not knowing what her little one was trying to repeat.
Coming home that evening, his mum 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 mum in the park, had landed on the windowsill. He clapped his hands, drawing his mum's attention, and pointed his little finger at the crow. His mum saw the bird and said again:
Vo-ro-na.
Ka-a-ar! — the little one answered.
His mum was surprised and very pleased. Little Mitya had said something for the first time other than 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 mum began to take the boy to the park more often, it turned out that he loved birds very much. Soon he already knew words like: "Chirp" or "Hoot". And then he managed to please his mum and say on his own:
Vo-ro-na!
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.
