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The Tall Tale of Paul Bunyan
Quiz by Romano, Ellen
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The following days are a jumble of gunfire, digging, gobbled food, soldiers running in and out of the forest in small groups, distant explosions, stray shells, bandaged heads and unexpected lulls. On the very first day, before dawn, I am ordered into one of the newly dug trenches. I huddle there, squeezing my magic buttons and singing songs to the dog. When the fighting stops, the dog disappears, but a new companion takes his place. A strange little soldier crawls along the trench toward me. âPrivate Sasha!â he cries. âIâve been looking for you all day long!â Heâs old, like a grandfather, a dedushka. He has a black patch over one eye, a tape measure around his neck and a row of pins threaded into his sleeve. Hanging from his belt is the most enormous pair of scissors I have ever seen and I wonder if he uses them as a weapon. He doesnât tell me his name, so in my head he becomes Dedushka. Dedushka squats, cups his hand to his ear, peers over the top of the trench and smiles. âItâs safe to be upright . . . for now.â He helps me to my feet, dusts me off and commands me to stand as tall and straight as I can. Then he measures me. Everything from head to toe â even my toes! He writes numbers in a little notebook, strings his tape measure back around his neck, salutes and hurries away. Itâs all very strange, and I wonder if Dedushka has been bumped on the head during the battle and is now a little bit muddled. I should have given him a hug before he left. I chase after him but stop when Iâm hit by a shovelful of flying dirt. Sleepy Bear is digging a cave! âAre you going to hibernate?â I ask. Sleepy Bear chuckles. âNo, although that would be wonderful! I could do with a lo-o-o-ong sleep.â He sighs and closes his eyes. He doesnât open them again and I realise that he has gone to sleep. Standing up! I shake his arm, and he opens his eyes and keeps talking. âNo, Iâm not hibernating. Iâm digging a little nook where I can sleep and eat. Iâll hang up my raincape as a door that can open and close so it feels just like a real home . . . except for the lice . . . and the bad smells . . . and the bombs that make the walls shake and crumble.â He points further along the trench to where other soldiers are digging. âWeâre all making little houses in the ground.â âLike rabbits and moles,â I say. Sleepy Bear chuckles. âYes! And soldiers who need to hide from German bullets and bombs.â He stops digging to roll a cigarette. âShould I be making a house?â I ask. âI want to hide from German bullets and bombs, too.â Sleepy Bear flops to the ground, lights his cigarette, closes his eyes and takes a deep puff. I wait for him to answer, but, instead, he begins to snore! I poke him in the side. He snorts and he murmurs, âI think someone has already built you a house, Sasha. Keep going along this beautiful village street and you are sure to find it.â He falls asleep once more. I kiss his dusty cheek and whisper, âThank you, Sleepy Bear.â A little way along, I see Cook in a cloud of smoke. He has lit a fire, right here in the middle of the trench, and is stirring a cauldron full of kasha. He squats as he stirs. âWhat are you doing?â I ask. âCooking supper, of course!â he cries. âBut why are you doing it here?â Cook points his spoon at the ground above the trenches. âBecause if I do it up there, my pot will be filled with holes from German bullets and all of the kasha will leak out onto the ground. Itâs bad enough that our supplies canât get through German lines and thereâs nothing to cook but buckwheat for kasha. But if we lost the kasha, too . . .â âHungry soldiers,â I say. Cook nods. âAnd grumpy!â âLike Boris!â I gasp. âEven worse,â warns Cook. I picture the kasha pot full of bullet holes. And then I realise that if the kasha pot were full of holes, then Cook would be, too. I wrap my arms around Cookâs neck and say, âI think this is a very good place for cooking our supper.â I kiss his smoky cheek and run along. At the end of the trench, I find the biggest hole of all. Itâs wide and deep and as busy as a beehive in a blossom tree. Above, a group of soldiers is rolling logs into place for a roof, while below, typewriters rattle and pencils scratch and papers flutter and voices crackle out of five different radios. Their words tangle together to tell a strange wartime fairy tale about German guns and a loving father called Stalin and a Red Army regiment that is lost in the deep, dark forest and a wicked beast called Hitler and a delivery of vegetables that was hit by a bomb and blown into a million tiny pieces too small even to make soup. In the middle of it all, wrestling with a rumpled map, his rifle still slung over his shoulder, is Major Scruff. âMajor Scruff!â I run and jump into his arms. âIs this our new home?â âYes, Sasha. I suppose it is.â âIs it safe from German bullets and bombs?â I ask. He stares at me. âWere you scared in the trenches today, Sasha?â âNo,â I reply. âI had magic buttons and a dog and some songs to sing. Were you scared in the forest, Major Scruff?â âYes,â he says. âPoor Major Scruff!â I press my hand against his cheek. The dark, rough stubble is grubby with grit and his eyelids are taking a long time to open after every blink. âYou need a shave and a nap!â I scold. He chuckles. âI am too tired to shave and too busy to nap.â I scrunch my nose while I consider his problem. âI know!â I cry. âYou nap and I will shave your whiskers. That will be two jobs tumbled into one!â And so thatâs what we do. Major Scruff slumps into a chair and snoozes while I lather his face with soapy water and shave his whiskers. The soap suds travel from his face, up into his hair and down the front of his uniform, and I have to shave his jaw and chin three times because I keep missing bits, but I finally get it all done. I am just wiping his cheeks dry when the dog appears. He licks my hand, then stretches up and licks soap suds from Major Scruffâs ear. Major Scruff wakes with a start. He feels his newly shaved face and cries, âWonderful, Sasha! I feel smooth, clean, rested and ready for action.â He ruffles my hair. âWe must do this again tomorrow. Although next time, you might wake me with a gentle shake of the shoulder instead of licking my ear.â
The Little Red Hen One day, a little red hen wanted some yummy bread. First, she had to plant lots of tiny wheat seeds. âWill you help me plant wheat seeds?â she asked her animal friends. âNo way,â said the sleepy cat, busy dog, and chewing cow. âThen Iâll do it myself,â said the little red hen. And she did. Next, she had to harvest all the tall wheat. âWill you help me harvest the wheat?â she asked her animal friends. âNo way,â said the sleepy cat, busy dog, and chewing cow. âThen Iâll do it myself,â said the little red hen. And she did. Then, she had to grind the wheat into flour. âWill you help me grind the wheat into flour?â she asked her animal friends. âNo way,â said the sleepy cat, busy dog, and chewing cow. âThen Iâll do it myself,â said the little red hen. And she did. Finally, she baked the yummy bread. The yummy smell went all over the farm. âIâd like a piece!â said the sleepy cat, busy dog, and chewing cow. âNo way. You didnât help. Iâll eat it myself,â said the little red hen. And she did.
The Monster One day, the Rabbit family went outside. âWhat a nice place!â said the three little Rabbits. They stopped for a picnic. âCould we play around the fence?â asked little Rabbits. âYou can go for a hop, but do not go far!â Mum said. Bunny, Sunny and Jack went for a hop. They hopped under a fence. âWho is there?â said Bunny. âA monster is coming!â said Sunny. âLet's run!â said Jack. Bunny hopped into a hole. She saw a pink monster. Sunny hopped behind a bush. She saw a brown monster. Jack hopped in the tall grass. He saw a long monster with lots of hair!
Flying Kites The Hoppers pressed their noses against the window. They watched the March wind blow outside. "Remember, do not leave the house while we are gone," said Mother Hopper. She and Papa Hopper were going shopping. Snubby Nose cried, "Can we sit on the doorstep?" "Do not set one paw outside," Mother Hopper said. She and Papa Hopper left for town. The Hoppers swept the floor, made their beds, and made lunch. All the while, Snubby Nose said, "I want to fly my kite. Let's fly our kites!" After lunch, the Hoppers took out their kites, just to look at them. They sat by the window. The March wind blew around the house. "Let's just fly our kites in the yard," said Snubby Nose. "Mother said we must not leave the house," said Fluffy Tail. The March wind blew some leaves against the window. Snubby Nose couldn't stand it anymore. HĐľ stepped outside with his kite, and the other Hoppers followed. Fluffy Tail was the last one out. They ran around the house with their kites. But soon they got tired of their yard. "We can go down the path," said Snubby Nose. The Hoppers flew their kites down the path into the woods. Floppy Ears cried, âOh, no! I let go of my string!" Her kite sailed away. Then Speedy Legs cried, "A branch tore my kite!" "We should have listened to Mother," said Fluffy Tail. Just then, Snubby Nose howled, "My kite is caught in a tree!" Just then, Grandpa Grizzly walked by. "What's all this crying?" he asked. "We are in trouble," said Snubby Nose. "My kite is caught in a tree!" Grandpa Grizzly winked. He climbed the tall tree and pulled the string from the branches. He brought it down and gave it to Snubby Nose. "Be careful, now," he said. "That kite might do strange things. You should always be good when you play by yourselves." Snubby Nose took hold of his kite string, and the kite sailed up and up. Then Snubby Nose went up and up with it. Soon he flew out of sight. Speedy Legs, Fluffy Tail, and Floppy Ears nearly burst into tears. But Grandpa Grizzly led them home. "I have a feeling you'll see Snubby Nose soon," he said. When they got home, Floppy Ears looked into the sky. "I see a speck!" she cried. "Is it Snubby Nose?" cried Speedy Legs. It was Snubby Nose, still holding the kite string. He came down and landed right on the doorstep. "Have you learned to listen to your mother?" Grandpa Grizzly asked. "Yes, we have," said the Hoppers. Just then, Mother and Papa Hopper came around the corner. Before Grandpa Grizzly went home, he gave each little Hopper a brand new kite!
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