Far from the bright city lights, the honking of horns and screeching of brakes from passing cars, the ringing of trams and trains racing along the rails, far from the eternally hurrying, running, flying, walking, crawling inhabitants of this enormous forest expanse, there was something quite different — quite opposite to it.
Namely: a small, remote settlement with its kind, calm, trusting inhabitants. These forest dwellers rarely ventured beyond the boundaries of their place of residence; they were quite content with everything they had: a forest school, a market at the edge, a lake instead of a bathhouse, a small shop in the clearing, where they often met and discussed local and non-local news.
One warm, clear summer's day, many animals and birds made their way to the shop in the morning for provisions for their families and, according to old custom, after their purchases, sat on benches to rest and chat with one another.
The Hare was sharing a recipe for cabbage bake with her friend Goat, Beaver was telling Otter about new trends in building homes in aquatic conditions, Elephant was dozing whilst sitting on a bench, warmed by the rays of the warm and gentle sunshine…
When suddenly, this entire idyll was disrupted by the loud cry of Crow. She was the mouthpiece for all news occurring beyond the boundaries of this small wood.
Well, then? Sitting about, chatting, getting bored! You've seen nothing beyond your nose and this forest, you know nothing better than this shop and you've been nowhere else?! Well, I didn't sit idle, I flew to the neighbouring enormous forest and saw there a marvel of marvels: indescribable beauty, tremendous size, unprecedented capacity — a supermarket. There's an uncountable quantity of goods for any taste, size and smell. There are lots of visitors and shoppers there too, and there's entertainment… Not a place, but a fairy tale!
The animals and birds stared at Crow spellbound and hung on her every word. And each of them in their fantasies was mentally in this mysterious magical shop.
Having listened to Crow's speech to the end, the forest inhabitants, inspired by the dream, decided they absolutely must visit the wondrous shopping and entertainment centre. And, so as not to postpone the plan for long, it was decided to realise this dream the following weekend.
And so, that day arrived. All those wishing to go gathered at the edge of the forest to make the long journey together. Present were: Wolf, Fox, Hare, Bear, Hedgehog, Owl, Woodpecker and many other inhabitants of the small forest expanse.
The road ahead was long, but the goal was set — there were no obstacles, the animals set off on their way. Whether long or short, and there, in the distance, the desired object already appeared. The crowd quickened their pace and after some time all together crossed the threshold of the shop about which Crow had spoken so much and in such detail.
Oh, wonder! The shelves groaned with delicacies and treats, diverse aromas tickled the nose, and colourful labels beckoned, as if saying: "buy me, buy me".
For about half an hour all the forest inhabitants wandered between the aisles and marvelled at the abundance and variety of the product range.
Ye-e-es, this isn't our little shop in the forest.
Said Owl — bulging her already enormous eyes in delight.
Suddenly, someone's enticing voice made everyone listen and look round. In the second row of counters, on the left side, stood the beauty Echidna in smart attire with a microphone in hand, and in a smoothly flowing pleasant voice was inviting everyone to visit their department. The crowd rushed towards this call, and even formed a proper queue, though no one knew what would be sold there.
And Echidna continued to broadcast:
Only today, only now, only with us, you can purchase goods possessing magical qualities. Only with them will you feel upon yourself the power of magic occurring to you after their use.
The queue kept growing, there was even the hint of a small scuffle, pressure from those wanting to get in could be felt from all sides. They had to call the Mole security guards to calm the crowd and normalise the situation, to put everything in order.
And Echidna continued:
We have a product for beauty! The young become even more beautiful, and adults — younger.
Fox listened to this and left the queue, deciding that she was already sufficiently young and beautiful.
And here's a product for strengthening teeth! They become strong, firm, they don't deteriorate, but only strengthen.
Beaver and Otter wanted to buy this wonder, but then, after thinking it over, decided that in their forest there were sufficient healing and environmentally pure products to support health, particularly, strong teeth, and they too left the queue, not succumbing to persuasion.
Only Bear continued to stand and listen to the sweetly flowing voice of Echidna, advertising a new product:
Dear public! To all wishing to lose weight and improve the condition of their fur and skin, I recommend this magical miraculous product. After its use, you will feel lightness in your body, excess weight will disappear in a matter of days, your skin will become smooth and elastic, and your fur will acquire a beautiful shine.
Hearing these prophecies, Bear understood that this product was precisely for him. This was exactly what he had dreamt of, what he aspired to. But, being by nature lazy, he decided that in a short time he would achieve the desired result, without applying any effort on his part.
The product wasn't cheap, but the desire to realise the dream was enormous. Bear laid out the necessary sum (and this was all his savings) and acquired the coveted goods.
Arriving home, he began to use it diligently. But days passed, weeks, a month, and no changes were visible. Disappointed and upset by the absence of the result promised by Echidna, Bear shared his trouble with wise Bee, who at that time was gathering healing nectar from fragrant flowers on the meadow.
Settling on another flower, Bee looked at him attentively and, shaking her head, said:
Misha, Misha, so big, yet you believe in fairy tales.
And, flapping her wings, she flew off to continue her work. And Bear, so enormous, clumsy and trusting, remained standing in place, thoughtfully watching Bee with his gaze.
