The scorching hot summer was coming to an end. In its place came beautiful Autumn with her easy, unhurried, measured pace. The last autumn flowers—asters, dahlias and chrysanthemums—delighted the eye with their beauty. The trees transformed with each day, changing the colour of their leaves from green to burgundy-red, fiery-orange and bright yellow.
Autumn is the season for harvesting. And the riot of colours that autumn possesses touched the apple orchard as well. Apple trees grew in neat, well-tended rows in this garden. Back in early spring, when they were in bloom, spreading their fragrance all around, they had formed fruit buds, from which fruits soon developed. Little showers watered the earth, moistened the foliage, and the apples filled with juice, grew and ripened.
The saplings, having gained new strength, began their battle for the harvest. They stretched their branches towards the sun, and the apples gleamed in its rays. And there they were, ripe and fragrant fruits, hanging on the trees and asking to be picked. After all, they had tried so hard to grow to delight us with their taste.
Day after day, Uncle Moose walked through his garden, observing the growth of the trees and the ripening of the apples, and realised that he alone could not manage to gather such a large harvest of apples. After thinking it over, he came to the conclusion that he needed to invite helpers for such an important task. The main helpers for Uncle Moose became young squirrels, young rabbits and young bears.
The next morning, the garden gates opened, and a group of little animals excitedly entered the territory of the apple kingdom. Uncle Moose stood before them.
Have you come to work in the garden?
Yes!
They answered in unison.
Excellent! Thank you for responding to my request for help.
Come along, I'll show you how to gather the harvest. For this we'll need a ladder, because many apples grow at great heights, even at the very top of the trees. We'll also need two baskets in which we can put the picked apples.
Here before you are three types of baskets: small, medium and large. What do you think—which would be most convenient for putting apples in straight away as soon as they're picked from the tree?
Which? Which? Which?
The little animals whispered amongst themselves, not daring to make a decision.
I'll explain! A small basket will hold very few apples, only two or three, a large basket will hold many, but it will be very heavy to carry. So the conclusion is: it will be most convenient to gather apples in a medium-sized basket. Now, choose your comfortable baskets!
And each helper took a comfortable basket for themselves.
And to interest you even more,
Uncle Moose continued.
I've decided to organise a fun competition. Look here: in my garden grow apples of different varieties, they differ both in taste and in colour. So I've decided to divide you into three teams.
The young rabbits made up the first team. They were given the task of gathering red apples.
The young squirrels formed the second team and received the task of gathering yellow apples. The young bears became members of the third team. Their goal was to gather green apples.
So it's like a traffic light!
Exclaimed the fluffy red squirrel.
Yes, yes, yes! A traffic light!
The other little animals chimed in.
Now get ready, face the garden and look at it carefully, admire its beauty.
Look, look.
Exclaimed the little rabbit, clapping his paws.
The apples, like decorations on a Christmas tree, delight the eye with their multicoloured hues.
I see.
Said Uncle Moose.
You've charged yourselves with positive emotions, and now, before we start work, I'd like to treat you to apples. I've washed them and am pleased to offer them for you to try. Eating apples helps reduce the risk of various illnesses. And besides, whoever eats an apple a day rarely, if ever, visits the doctor!
The little animals happily began to crunch on pieces of fragrant and delicious apples.
And having had a snack, they dispersed to their sections and enthusiastically set about their work.
The baskets quickly filled up, work was in full swing. The little animals became so absorbed in the apple-gathering competition that they didn't notice the danger threatening the harvest. Only the smallest bear cub noticed that some of the apples had holes in them, and from these holes little worms were peeping out.
Oh, what a fat one.
Said the bear cub.
Who? Who?
The little animals ran over at his call.
Look here—a worm. Let's pull it out of there.
And he began to grab the worm with his paw, but it hid inside the apple.
No, we can't manage this ourselves.
Said the squirrel.
There's not just one here, there are worms in other apples too. We need to call someone for help. But who?
I know who we can call to save the apples!
Exclaimed the rabbit.
The birds will help us. I've seen how they destroy pests with their beaks.
And everyone shouted loudly:
Birds, birds, help us! Free the apples from the worms!
The birds heard the call, flew over, quickly did their work and thus freed the apples from unwanted inhabitants. The animals thanked them, and Uncle Moose treated them to ripe apples.
The harvest gathering continued, the baskets filled and filled with multicoloured fruit. All three teams did an excellent job with their task.
And indeed, like a large traffic light, baskets with red, yellow and green apples stood proudly on the edge of the garden.
Now we need to carefully pack the gathered fruit into boxes for storage.
Said Uncle Moose.
For this we select apples with a diameter of 6.5–7 cm and weighing about 150–200 grams. I have some small garden scales for this purpose. We wrap each apple in paper and lay it in the box with the stem pointing upwards, in a single layer. This way they'll keep better and longer, right through to spring.
What shall we do with the remaining apples, for example, the red ones?
Asked the rabbit.
We'll make jam from them.
And from the yellow apples?
Asked the squirrel.
From the yellow apples we'll make compote and preserve.
What shall we make from the green apples?
Asked the bear cub.
And from the green apples we'll make delicious juice.
Replied Uncle Moose.
You see, each of your teams is responsible not only for gathering apples of a certain colour, but also for processing and preserving them.
The little animals worked splendidly. Tired but pleased with their work and its results, they sat down to rest and at the same time enjoy some sweet and delicious apples.
Time flew swiftly, and the first shadows of dusk began to fall on the garden. Uncle Moose thanked the little animals for their work, and as a token of his appreciation, gave each one a basket of apples. But he filled the basket not with fruit of just one colour, but with different colours, so that it would be not only tasty but also beautiful.
And besides, my little helpers, I suggest that tomorrow, when you've rested, you draw a basket of apples and call your picture 'Gathering the Harvest'.
In this way, you'll preserve your memories not only in your minds, but also on paper—memories of the time you spent in the garden and the impressions you received here.
Yes!
The rabbits, squirrels and bears answered in unison.
We'll do just that.
Thank you for inviting us and for the treats!
The little animals said goodbye and went home. Uncle Moose also went to rest.
And only a gentle breeze remained to wander through the garden amongst the trees and swirl the fallen leaves about, as if playing with them in a game only it understood.
Read original fairy tales and you'll not only feel uplifted, but also learn lots of useful things!
