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 awoke a little Bear Cub, who lived there with his important mum, Mother Bear, and his stately dad, Father Bear. And on that day, the Bear Cub had a celebration — his Birthday.
For many months he had waited impatiently for This day to arrive, because the present from his parents had been ordered long ago and his patience was already at breaking point. And now! The long-awaited Birthday had arrived!
A large box stood beside his bed. The Bear Cub excitedly untied the ribbon, opened the box and… Oh, what a wonder! Before his eyes appeared a large and colourful drum. The present was decorated with ornate patterns, it came with wide straps to wear round one's neck, and two drumsticks, which help to produce cheerful sounds from the drum.
The Bear Cub was delighted with such a present, as he had dreamt about it for ages and secretly hoped that his parents wouldn't change their minds and buy him something else instead. He put it round his neck and dashed out into the forest.
And from that moment 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 for at least a little while, our ears are ringing already, our heads are aching.
The birds pleaded.
And the Bear Cub replied:
I'll just play a bit longer, aren't you having fun?
He waved the drumsticks, and a very loud "boom-boom-boom!" rang out across the entire area.
The animals could bear it no longer and pleaded:
Bear Cub, stop playing! We have little ones, they want to sleep, but because of your playing they can't fall asleep! You're banging far too loudly!
Well, let them be patient for a bit, they'll fall asleep later. Really...
The Bear Cub drummer wouldn't stop.
All the insects gathered together: beetles, ladybirds, gnats, butterflies. In chorus they began to beg the Bear Cub to stop playing — it had become far too noisy 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 the annoying sounds wouldn't be heard so clearly.
The Bear Cub listened to no one, thinking only of himself and how much fun he was having playing the drum. Therefore, all the forest inhabitants decided to teach him a lesson.
Towards evening, the sun rolled towards sunset, its rays no longer shone so brightly and illuminated the forest expanses. The Bear Cub, who had spent the whole day walking through thickets and paths with his drum, banging on it, had grown rather tired over the whole day, and sat down on a colourful meadow with fragrant flowers on an enormous ancient stump, resembling an armchair, to rest.
Suddenly something 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 to play various 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 to dance in circles right around the stump on which the Bear Cub had sat down to rest.
He was bewildered:
What's happened, what's going on?
The little Bear Cub clutched his head with his paws, couldn't bear it and cried out:
Stop! Don't sing, don't play, don't dance! I'm so tired, and you've made such a terrible racket. But I always...
And the Bear Cub fell silent, realising that it was he who had behaved incorrectly when he hadn't considered others.
He admitted his mistake, apologised 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 disturb anyone.
