The forest brings many benefits. It purifies the air, provides food and firewood. In the forests live bears and deer, foxes and rabbits, raccoons and badgers, beavers and weasels…
If you stop for a moment in a pine grove and listen carefully, you will hear:
Tap-tap-tap…
It's a woodpecker breaking open a pinecone with its powerful beak to enjoy the seeds inside. Magpies chatter, chickadees chirp, and sometimes you can hear the heavy, frightening cry of an owl.
Forests can be deciduous or coniferous. In deciduous forests grow oaks and birches, alders and aspens, bushes of raspberries, blackberries and wolfberries. Their clearings are covered with blueberries, wild strawberries and woodland strawberries.
In coniferous forests grow pines, cedars and spruces. Under the reliable cover of fallen needles you can find various types of mushrooms: porcini, chanterelles, boletes and saffron milk caps.
And how many different flowers you can see in the forest! Snowdrops appear first, followed by pasque flowers pushing through the earth, then lilies of the valley and buttercups. In each season, the forest captivates us with its beauty.
Once upon a time, a wonderful story happened in the forest.
One day, an ant decided to build a little house and live in it. He tried to lift a blade of grass — but couldn't manage it, the ant was too small and the grass blade too heavy for him. Then he found a wood chip. The chip also proved too heavy — he couldn't even budge it.
Where will I live? How can I build a home?
The ant began to cry.
Come live with us! Three of us can lift one blade of grass together, and five of us can manage a wood chip. Working and living together is more fun!
Other ants called out to him.
The ant happily agreed. From that day on, he has lived in the anthill.
Here's another story that happened in the forest.
A young sparrow grew tired of living in the sparrow flock. One autumn day, he left his brothers and sisters and flew to another forest. He decided to see the wide world. At first, he enjoyed the new place. He saw many new things he had never encountered before. Only one thing saddened him — the local sparrows didn't welcome him.
One day he saw a flock of unfamiliar sparrows on a wide clearing, pecking at plant seeds. Feeling hungry, he joined them and began to peck. Suddenly, all the sparrows attacked him, pecking him with their beaks so hard that feathers flew!
Plucked and hurt, our sparrow barely made it back to his brothers and sisters in his home forest.
But they also drove him away, saying:
You abandoned us — now we don't want to know you!
Sad and lonely, the sparrow perched on a tree far away from them.
That's what always happens when someone is ashamed of and betrays their family and loved ones.
There's one more forest story. Here, read this.
The nightingale sings best of all in the forest. Everyone loves his singing, which is why they affectionately call him "dear nightingale."
Dear nightingale, sing us your song.
The animals often asked.
Tweet-tweet, trill-trill-trill…
One thought gave him no peace.
He pondered:
"I've learned to sing well, but I can't play any musical instruments."
And this upset him greatly.
In the same forest lived a bear. The animals loved this bear for his kindness and strength, and also because no one could play the balalaika like he could. When he struck the strings, everyone would dance — such cheerful and lively melodies the bear played.
But he couldn't sing at all, no matter how hard he tried. All that came out was a deep:
Boo-boo-boo…
One day the bear and the nightingale met. They shared their troubles with each other.
Play something for me, my friend, and I'll listen.
The nightingale asked the bear.
He really enjoyed the bear's balalaika playing. The nightingale couldn't help himself — he began to sing along to the cheerful music.
The bear was amazed:
I've never heard a nightingale before. What beautiful singing!
From that day on, the bear and the nightingale became friends and began performing together as an ensemble at forest concerts.
These are the incredible stories that happen in the forest with its inhabitants. Read fairy tales and your mood will always be good and uplifted.
