Mitya is a little toddler who recently learned to walk and cannot yet speak, but he loves to sing very much. He often taps a small wooden stick on a colorful xylophone, playing amusing melodies. Little Mitya has many musical instruments. He likes loud maracas, which look so much like children's rattles, and also a small toy tambourine.
But the most important instrument in the baby's collection was always a large transparent drum. Mitya enjoyed not only tapping it with small sticks, but also looking inside. The lid and bottom of the drum were transparent, and looking from one side, you could see right through it.
One day Mitya's cousin Gosha came to visit. He was much older than the baby and already attended first grade. Every time Mitya saw Gosha, he would smile widely and start babbling happily. He liked that Gosha always came up with interesting games. This time was no exception.
As soon as Gosha saw the large transparent drum, a plan formed. He and Mitya were to become real scuba divers. They only needed to remove the top lid from the drum and put it on their heads.
Little Mitya quickly picked up on the fun game. He really enjoyed putting on the drum and being a scuba diver, and as soon as he took the drum off his head, he would babble happily: "Peekaboo" and hide again. When it was Gosha's turn, putting on the improvised "scuba gear," he would transform with meticulous precision: holding his breath, lying on the floor, and vigorously moving his legs, imagining fins on them.
The game turned out to be very fun and the boys got so absorbed that they didn't even notice when a large family dog named Korzhik came to them. Although Korzhik was several heads taller than Gosha, and certainly taller than Mitya, he was about the same age as the boys—he was a puppy. The cheerful, active dog happily supported any game the children played.
And this time he couldn't miss out on the fun. At first, he simply watched as the boys played with the drum, but as soon as they got distracted for a moment, he approached the instrument and licked it from all sides with his big wet tongue. The boys, seeing this, laughed even harder.
Korzhik wants to be a scuba diver too!—Gosha shouted and happily began putting the drum on the dog's head.
Korzhik was very surprised by this game, but he clearly enjoyed it. As soon as Gosha put the drum on him, he grabbed it with his teeth and wagged his tail. And then what happened, happened. The joyful Korzhik began to chew the drum while the boys watched in shock. Soon only the sticks remained of the instrument. Just at that moment, their mother entered the room. She saw Korzhik eating the drum and became very upset. She was about to scold the dog, but Gosha said:
Don't scare Korzhik, he just wanted to become a scuba diver!
So you fed him the drum?—Mother asked in surprise.
Gosha told her what happened. At first, Mother was very upset that the boys had broken the drum, since Mitya loved playing it so much. But hearing the story about the scuba divers, she couldn't help but laugh.
Oh, you little underwater explorers, where have you ever seen a dog with a scuba tank?—Mother asked.
That means Korzhik is the first dog scuba diver in the world!—Gosha said proudly.
From that day on, Korzhik got a new nickname in the house. Everyone started calling him the chief scuba diver. He loved this very much and always wagged his tail happily when he heard his new title.
And Mother bought Mitya a new large drum, only this time not transparent, so it couldn't be confused with a scuba tank again.
