Chapter No. 1. Meeting the Wizard
This story happened on an ordinary spring day. Ivan had just finished all his lessons and had absolutely no idea what to do with himself. He had been counting on going for a walk with Vasya, but he was held up at school, and the other children were nowhere to be seen.
"What rotten luck!" thought the boy, sitting on a bench and throwing pebbles at sparrows—fortunately for them, they were quick enough, and the boy wasn't a very good shot.
Goodness, Ivan, aren't you ashamed of bullying little creatures!
But I… I'm not doing anything wrong.
The boy was startled. An elderly man with grey hair was sitting beside him. He had no idea how he hadn't noticed him—he hadn't appeared out of thin air!
Do you know my mum?
Ivan asked in a faltering voice, worried that the old man would tell on him now!
I'm afraid I know you far too well, and I have no intention of telling on you!
The grandfather replied calmly.
Well, how? How do you know what I'm thinking? Are you a psychic?
No, just a wizard.
You're joking—wizards don't exist!
Ivan laughed.
They do, my boy, they do! I remember you as a tiny tot, and what a good child you were. But now it seems to me you've simply forgotten what it means to be human!
And who am I, in your opinion—a potato or some beetle?
Ivan was starting to get angry. The old man was certainly strange, but he clearly wasn't a wizard—just a madman. The boy decided it was time to leave this peculiar old fellow.
Goodbye, I must go!
The boy stood up and was about to leave when he heard behind him:
And if I perform a miracle, will you stop thinking I'm mad?
What sort of miracle?
Well, for example, a little trifle like this!
The grandfather clicked his fingers, and an ice cream cup appeared in his hand.
Not bad for a madman, eh?
The grandfather asked, holding out the cup to the boy.
I'm sorry, said the boy sheepishly, I've never met a wizard before and I've insulted you!
The grandfather clicked his fingers and the cup disappeared.
Oh, Ivan, Ivan! What a wonderful little boy you were, you loved nature, but now… oh!
Respected wizard, I do beg your pardon, but you're repeating yourself. I haven't done anything wrong!
Haven't you? And who was throwing stones at the sparrows?
The old man was surprised.
"He knows that too!" thought the boy to himself, but aloud he said:
But I didn't hit any! I was just playing!
A fine thing! And what if someone did that to you? Would you like it?
The grandfather protested.
Certainly not! "Man is the king of nature!"
The boy remarked.
Wouldn't you like to feel what those you've hurt feel?
The grandfather suddenly suggested.
How?
Well, for example, you and your friend lure a stray dog, and then you chase it with a stick, or you frighten the yard cats, or…
Yes, I understand, I understand. But I still can't fathom, respected wizard, why you're so concerned about these creatures. They can't think or feel—they just act on instinct. They'll forget about us in two minutes, whether we're people or not!
Well, you're about to find out!
The wizard suddenly cried out and clicked his fingers. Ivan began to shrink. He wanted to protest, but instead of words, only sounds like growling came out.
You'll become a boy again only when you understand what it means to be human!
He heard, as if from far away.
Chapter 2. In a Dog's Skin!
Everything around him looked different. Ivan was in the yard, in the same spot, but the colours! He saw everything differently, and he'd become smaller. His hand itched terribly. And then, to his horror, he discovered he was standing on all fours, and he didn't have hands anymore—he had paws! In a puddle he saw his reflection: yes, he was now a stray dog!
"This is actually quite amusing!" thought the boy. Fear gave way to curiosity, and then he saw Zoya, his best friend's little sister.
"I'll go and say hello and ask about Vasya. Zoya will be so surprised to see a talking dog!"
Ivan decided.
Approaching the girl, who was sitting in a sandpit building sandcastles with her back to him, Ivan spoke in a quite friendly manner:
Hello, little one, where's Vasya?
The boy even smiled, or at least that's what he thought he was doing.
The girl, hearing a growl behind her, turned in fright. A yard dog was staring at her, baring its teeth.
He looked enormous to her. The little girl was so frightened that she burst into tears. Ivan wanted to calm her down and tell her it was him, but something hit him painfully on the leg—or rather, on the paw. It was his friend Vasya! The boy, hearing Zoya's cries, rushed to help and immediately threw a stone at the dog, which, as it seemed to him, was about to hurt his sister. But the rescuer hit the animal on the paw. And Ivan hurried away. He was hurt and upset: some friend this was, throwing stones! And it didn't seem so amusing now when someone was throwing stones at you!
Come here, my good boy!
Suddenly he heard a kind voice. It was Uncle Boris, a well-known joker. The boy loved laughing at his jokes.
Come on, come here!
The neighbour called again. He was holding something in his hand. He beckoned to Ivan-the-dog and put it on the ground.
Ivan's stomach rumbled, and only now did the boy realise how hungry he was.
"Oh, I should have listened to Granny and eaten something instead of rushing straight outside!" thought the boy. "Uncle Boris is actually a decent neighbour, a kind one! Eating from the ground isn't ideal, but I'm a dog now, not dining from fine china!"
The boy even smiled to himself at the thought, remembering his grandmother's favourite word—"dining." Oh, if only she were here now!
Uncle Boris stepped back a reasonable distance from such a tasty morsel, so Ivan-the-dog could approach without fear of being hit, and he decided to go for it. But what an odd taste this piece of sausage had!
It was so salty and peppery, with so many spices, that Ivan, spitting out the wretched piece, stuck out his tongue and breathed heavily. He looked like a fire-breathing dragon now, not a boy and certainly not a dog.
It must have looked funny from the side: he heard loud adult laughter and children's laughter. Uncle Boris stood to the side laughing, and beside him were the boys who usually played Cossacks and Robbers with Ivan, but now he was a yard dog, that was all. And then Ivan suddenly remembered with bitterness that he had laughed like that not long ago. How could he have forgotten!
The neighbour was quite the joker, and for some reason he found it amusing to call an animal over, give it a piece of oversalted, over-peppered sausage, and watch its reaction with laughter. Ivan had found it amusing too, but not now!
"I'm so thirsty!" And then Ivan spotted a small puddle. In other circumstances he wouldn't have considered it an option, but not now, when his mouth was burning as if he were a fire-breathing dragon!
After quenching his thirst, the boy-dog caught the gaze of a cat. It was sitting on a bench looking so pleased with itself that Ivan understood: the mangy thing was laughing at him. But now I'll chase you, and yes, it will be fun!" and with a shout: "You won't get away!" he rushed at the cat. The cat hissed and scratched his paw painfully. Ivan let out a yelp: "Now you're in for it, you mangy thing!"
Chasing the cat, he suddenly thought that things weren't so bad after all—at least he could chase a cat!
And then again…
Chapter 3. I'm a Cat!
"Something's happening to me again…" the boy had only just thought when the cat he was chasing stopped and rushed at him. Ivan ran for his life—what if it was rabid? Would a normal cat chase a dog? But when Ivan flew up a birch tree in a whirlwind, he realised he was no longer a dog! The pursuer remained below, and the boy, examining himself carefully, understood: now he was a cat, a street cat!
Right, I'm getting tired of this, wizard, where are you?
The boy called out quietly.
But there was only silence in reply. An old woman sighed: "Oh, how the poor kitty is mewing, stuck up there!"
Then Ivan thought in horror: "But how am I going to get down? I've really got myself into a mess! So, what do I know about cats? That they land on all four paws, so everything should be fine. Wait! BUT I'M NOT A CAT, I'M AN ENCHANTED BOY! WIZARD, WIZARD!"
But again there was silence, and from the outside it looked like: a street cat was mewing pitifully in a tree.
Backing up, Ivan began to carefully descend, but those couple of minutes seemed like an eternity! His paws had just touched the ground when he was roughly grabbed.
Kitty!
He heard above his ear.
"Oh no!" flashed through Ivan's mind.
Now he could see that it was Alyosha, the neighbour's little boy, who had grabbed him. Ivan had always found it amusing how the little one would squeeze cats, but not now! Sticky fingers gripped him unpleasantly, and Ivan was ready to scratch the annoying little boy when Alyosha's grandmother came running up:
Ugh, ugh, Alyosha! Drop that cat, it's mangy!
"You're the mangy one!" Ivan wanted to reply, but he didn't have time. He was thrown to the ground, and that's when all four paws came in handy!
Chapter 4. I'm a Sparrow!
Climbing onto a bench, the boy decided to think about what to do next.
"The wizard told me I need to be human. But I am human! Well, I was before I met this oddball! What if he can hear me? GRANDFATHER, I DIDN'T MEAN TO OFFEND YOU!"
Then Ivan's attention was drawn to a sparrow, a tiny little thing, rather silly, hopping right beside him.
"I've always wanted to catch a bird! When better to do it than now!" and Ivan was already next to the little sparrow, and it was so startled by the sight of a cat that it didn't even think of flying away.
"I'll just touch it, that's all!" Ivan didn't even think that he now had a paw with claws instead of a hand!
And then something pecked his head painfully. It was the mother sparrow! The attack was fierce. Ivan hurried away, when he suddenly realised: something was happening again. He felt himself shrinking, and he saw the old cat pursuer coming towards him.
This time Ivan already guessed that he was now a sparrow himself, so flying to a tree wasn't an option—he couldn't fly! So he tried to hide in a small crack in the wall where the cat couldn't possibly squeeze through.
He hopped as much as his little paws would allow, and managed to hide in his shelter just as an enormous paw reached after him. But, fortunately for Ivan, no matter how hard the cat tried, it couldn't reach him.
Ivan had no watch and didn't know how long he sat in his shelter. It seemed like an eternity! Carefully peering out and making sure no one was there, Ivan saw a beautiful butterfly.
"I wonder if butterflies are afraid of sparrows?"
He wanted so much to pull at its wing. The boy-sparrow was already nearby when…
Chapter 5. And Who Am I?
"What, again?" but then Ivan thought that being a butterfly might not be so bad, and he could try flying. But to his horror, he discovered he had no wings!
"So if I'm not a butterfly, who am I?" but his mental dialogue was interrupted by something incomprehensible and enormous, right beside him.
"What are these pillars?" thought the boy in horror when this enormous thing was right beside him and nearly crushed him. He hid behind a pebble and then realised: these were legs, and they weren't enormous at all—he was just too small!
"Very funny, Grandfather Wizard, and will my next transformation be into a microbe or something?"
Ivan wanted to add something else when suddenly an enormous hand grabbed him, and he heard a familiar voice:
"What a little beetle! Ivan will like this!"
"Vasya, it's me—Ivan!" but his friend couldn't hear or understand him, and instead of words there was buzzing.
"Sit here for now" the boy pushed a matchbox towards him.
"Oh no, Vasya wants to put me in there! No!" but his friend didn't understand.
The matchbox was dark and cramped, and Ivan suddenly felt sad that his best friend didn't understand him. The boy began to remember all the beetles he had caught alone or with his friend, the sparrows he had thrown stones at, the cats and dogs that he and Vasya had loved to bully. And he wanted to cry.
He understood that all these living creatures, which were so much smaller in size, could feel pain and fear. And how like terrible giants the yard boys must seem to them, including him and Vasya.
"Forgive me, all of you, whispered Ivan. I probably deserve to sit in this matchbox!"
The boy felt himself falling asleep. He seemed to be falling into something and didn't know what would happen next.
Chapter 6. Being Human!
Ivan opened his eyes and found himself sitting in the yard on the same bench where he had met the wizard.
His clothes were covered in dust, and a fresh scratch reminded him that it hadn't all been a dream. The boy wanted to tell the grandfather that he understood everything, but the old man was nowhere to be seen. However, Vasya was already hurrying towards him.
Hi, where have you been? I've got something to show you!
A beetle?
Well, yes… But how did you… never mind, look! Where is it?
Vasya stared at the empty box with his mouth open, and Ivan suddenly felt so amused that he burst out laughing.
Indeed, it was a funny situation—the beetle had been him! Vasya looked at him and laughed too.
A couple of minutes later, Ivan was telling his friend about his unusual transformations, and Vasya at first smiled, but then became more and more serious. When his friend finished his story, he said:
I'm sorry about the stone and the matchbox. I didn't know it was you! And I saw that grandfather too, but he suddenly disappeared, as if he'd vanished into thin air! I thought my imagination was playing tricks on me. But it turns out it wasn't—miracles do happen!
The boys never saw the wizard grandfather again, and they didn't need to. They no longer bullied their smaller brothers and sisters in the animal kingdom. And the wizard is somewhere nearby, perhaps on your very street, watching to make sure we don't forget: we must treat others the way we want to be treated. That's what it means to be human!
