Once upon a time there lived a furniture family: a little one — a stool, mom — a dining chair, dad — an office chair, grandma — a soft armchair with a blanket and cushion, and grandpa — a rocking chair. And they had a little dog — an ottoman.
Little stool was often asked to walk the ottoman, because everyone else was busy.
Mom — the dining chair — prepared dinner for the family. Dad — the office chair — worked all day at the office. Grandma — the soft armchair with a blanket and cushion — knitted soft blankets for the other chairs. Grandpa — the rocking chair — read wise books, rocked thoughtfully and creaked. Sometimes he went for walks, but he was already old and couldn't keep up with the stool and the ottoman.
Every time after a walk, mom — the dining chair — told everyone to wash their legs thoroughly, so as not to dirty the floor in the house, and so as not to get sick. Usually the little one obeyed and washed carefully, with soap and sometimes even with a washcloth.
But one day he came home, looked at his legs and decided they were clean enough. It was dry and clean outside, so he decided he hadn't gotten dirty. Which meant washing wasn't necessary at all.
He sits down at the table, and mom — the dining chair — asks:
Did you wash your little legs?
Yes, mommy!
Answered the little stool.
Good boy. Then let's have lunch.
They sat down to eat. After eating, grandma — the soft armchair with a blanket and cushion — says to the stool:
Now you need to wash up, and then you can go play.
Okay, granny!
The little one answered, but decided he hadn't gotten dirty, so he ran straight to his toys. And didn't wash up.
He sits there playing with his toys and feels his legs itching. He scratched them, but they didn't stop. And the longer it went on, the more they itched! He decided to ask grandpa — the rocking chair — because he reads a lot and knows everything. He ran up and says:
Grandpa, why are my little legs itching so much?
Did you wash them?
Asked grandpa — the rocking chair.
No. But why wash them if I didn't get them dirty?
The stool answered sadly. And grandpa replies:
You need to wash even when you can't see the dirt! Because germs are so small that you can't see them without a microscope. You must wash your hands and legs after walks, before meals and after using the bathroom, even if they look clean. And you didn't wash, so you got sick. We need to go to the furniture doctor right away!
Dad — the office chair — had just returned from work. He took the little stool and immediately drove him to the very best carpenter — that's what they call a furniture doctor.
The carpenter looked at the sick legs, tapped with his hammer and says:
Because of the dirt, bugs have settled in here. We need to saw off these legs and make new ones. But I've run out of suitable wood. So I'll take the stool's back and make new supports from it.
The chair family was upset that their child would now go without a back. But they had to save him urgently, before the bugs damaged everything else.
The carpenter spent a long time unscrewing, sawing, cutting, sanding, and screwing things. And he made excellent little legs for the stool! Healthy and strong. And from then on, the little one always-always washed them before meals, after the bathroom and after walks.
And now you know why all stools stand on strong legs, but have no backs at all.
