Бесплатный фрагмент - Three piglets in business. The big game

Preface for parents

On the one hand, this is a book for pleasure. It’s full of apple pies, sweet cinnamon pears, mushroom soups and all that tasty stuff… maybe, there are even too many carbs in this book, you know!

On the other hand, this is a book for learning. It covers planning and controlling, explains how to resolve the conflicts and what types of people there are (excuse me, not “people”, of course – Piglets, Ferrets and Hedgehogs).

This is a book for children, but like any good children’s book, it is for the adults too.

For adults who are undertaking home renovation, for adults who are planning to start their own business, for adults who are raising a child. The book leaves us the important messages like “when you build a house for others, don’t forget to ask them about what they want.” Or gives us crafty ideas like making the “worry book” for managing the risks.

It reminds that people who at first glance seem to be useless, can happen to be very important one day, because different people bring different benefits to the great ideas.

It gives the example of how you can empower yourself when you have no strength to move on.

It teaches to act properly, being mistaken: realize, apologize and make better.

In short, this is a book for the children whose parents want them to become successful adults. Successful at work and in human relationship. Also, this book is good for adults who want to grow up a little themselves.

⠀

Anastasia Rubtsova,

psychotherapist
and mom.

---

Preface

Hey, sis! I’m writing you from a faraway land.

As you know I was destined for a cruel death because of this treacherous plan of the three villains. I fell into a cunningly set-up cauldron of boiling water.

However, I escaped! I left my home forest. But these three are sleeping peacefully in their little beds, baking pies, drinking cocoa, and I… My life is anxious and difficult.

Dear sis, they should pay for what they’ve done to me! I was so close to my goal.

You have always been the most trickish, smartest of us, and now it is you I ask to destroy the last, third house.

Best friendly regards,

Your unhappy brother.

Sender’s address: La Boca,

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Chapter 1.
The Adventure Begins

Tea with apricot jam. – New dream. — Who is to roll in yellow leaves? — The medal above the bed. — End of the piggy bank.

“It’s good we got rid of Wolf, though!” Major said and turned the firewood in the fireplace. The days in early September were still warm, but the evenings were getting colder.

“That’s right,” Middle said, stirring apricot jam into his tea.

The tea made of forest currant and sage leaves was good itself, but the jam made it especially fragrant.

Junior thought the same, and twirled his tail as a sign of agreeing with his brothers. But he had a thought, which he dared to say for the first time:

“What are we going to do now?”

“Drink tea,” Middle said. “And bake pies. Tomorrow we’ll make rolls…”

There were a lot of apricots this year, and Middle was concerned about their proper use. He thought it was right to use everything wisely. He was very organized and had some big plans: cakes, jams, pastille, apricot marshmallows…

“No,” Junior said. “What are we going to do in general? What is our plan? We’ve run away from Wolf. We’ve protected the small house. We have fun, we go for walks… We have collected herbarium. But… I want my own room!”

The big brothers’ snouts widened in surprise.

“Should we build another small house?” Junior asked. “Or even two. Or not a small house, but a big one? There are many animals in the forest. Wolf might come back. And anyway, it’s not about Wolf… It’s about adventure!”

The big brothers’ snouts stretched forward.

“I was thinking,” Junior continued. “Why do we live in such an… ordinary house? There is only one room and it’s not very pretty… Why don’t we build a new house? With a library, a music studio and a winter garden?”

The big brothers’ snouts stretched forward so much that they looked like the trunks of little pink elephants. Major was the first to cope with the surprise and, with a loud sneeze, pulled his snout back in.

“Actually, that kind of makes sense,” he said thoughtfully, addressing no one. Ever since the piglets started living without their parents, Major felt responsible for his brothers. “If we build a nice new house for the animals, we will do the right thing and earn lots of coins.”

“Why?” Middle asked cautiously. Sometimes he thought that the older and younger brother understood each other much better, despite the age difference.

“To do another right thing later!” Junior cheerfully replied. ‘We’ll build a house, earn some coins, use those coins to build more houses, then a pastry-shop. There will be a whole city! Come on,” Junior tugged at the middle piglet’s tail. “It’ll be so interesting!”

“Interesting?!” the piglet was outraged. “How exactly are we going to do that?… We have to draw a blueprint. Then dig a big hole, make a foundation. Build the walls… and the roof. Plaster, paint, flooring. And everything else you’ve just mentioned… a winter garden! It’s not a simple house like ours. And this one, I’m sorry to say, we only built it on the third attempt.”

Junior blushed and Major smiled.

“It is much more complicated to build a big new house!” Middle finished his thought.

“Wait a minute,” Major said. “No one is saying that it is not harder. But that’s why it’s so interesting! First, we do something wrong… How could we not? We do it once, we do it twice and we learn! But imagine: we will build such a great house, which was never built in the forest before!” the piglet got even more excited. “The best and the strongest one. And the most beautiful. So that all the animals would admire it and be proud of us! And then the piglets will go down in history as the best builders!”

Middle shrugged his shoulders and poured tea into large clay mugs.

“Don’t you want it?” Major continued. “And we’ll have lots of coins, not just one piggy bank, but ten! You can buy anything you want: all the paints, books, bicycles! A big stove and the best jam pots!”

“I’m not sure,” Middle thoughtfully said. “I have everything.”

Putting on his rubber boots, he left the house. He had to prune the rose bushes.

                           * * *

In fact, the heroic three piglets who rid the forest of Wolf were not the only piglets in the forest. Not everyone knows, but… there were three more piglets! They lived in the Railway Neighborhood, a spruce forest not far from the station. Unlike the already known to us pink piglets, the other three piglets were grey and with some small stripes on their backs. That’s why they were called the Striped.

The sky was gloomy and the air smelled thickly of mushrooms after the rain. As walking along the bridge over the river, Middle heard a loud whistle. The striped piglets came strolling towards him.

“Hi, bro!” the elder Striped said. They were all the same height, but the older one wore a jaunty cap.

“Hi,” Middle politely said. Despite the fact that in the forest they were afraid of the desperate striped piglets, the pink piglets considered them their cousins and got along well with them.

“How are you?” the Striped in a cap asked, spitting out an acorn crust. “What’s new?”

“We’re thinking of building a house.”

“Why?” the striped piglets were surprised. “You already have a house.”

“Yeah,” Middle said. “But we want a big house. With a winter garden. So that other animals can live there. The business. Wanna join?”

“Nah,” the elder Striped answered. “We have a lot to do. You know… Fishing, eating acorns. Then the leaves will be yellow, we’ll have to roll in them. Also… There’s a lot of responsibility. And winter’s coming soon.”

“Sure,” Middle agreed. The responsibility worried him a lot. So many things could go wrong: not enough timbers, the roof could cave in… The tools, the boards, the bricks! Middle thought that it would be better to make jam in peace, and, after all, to roll around in yellow leaves, but for some reason he didn’t want to agree with the striped piglets right now.

“There is a guy on the block,” another striped piglet without a cap spat. “He also decided to do this… Business thing! He set up a shop with all sorts of things! And guess what? He spent all the piggy bank money and went broke! Nah, business isn’t our thing. We’ll find an easy job somewhere… A part-time, for example.”

“Thus, bro,” the third Striped summed up. “You do your thing. And we’ll do ours. Ciao!”

The elder Striped lifted his cap, and these three disappeared into the bushes.

Thinking about everything, Middle walked for a long time. The leaves that were beginning to fall rustled cozily under his hooves. When he returned home, his brothers were already asleep under their blankets. Their common piggy bank was on the table among the plates and cups. It was clear from its pitiful look that it had been thoroughly shaken. A notebook laid next to the piggy bank – something was counted and drawn in it. Middle washed the dishes and kneaded the dough for baking rolls in the morning. Life seemed calm and simple. Well, maybe they would change their minds…

                           * * *

The excited look of Junior and the determined look of Major let Middle know that yesterday’s conversation had not been forgotten. Despite his protests, the brothers had barely finished their tea and set up the piggy bank back on the table.

“This house will be so beautiful!” Junior continued to dream. “Painted walls! We’ll drink hot cocoa on the terrace! We’ll plant raspberry bushes around it.”

Major nodded in approval.

“Do you remember you ate raspberries the year before and had a stomach ache afterward?” Middle balefully said to Junior.

Junior fell silent.

“Building a big house is extremely hard!” Middle continued. “We’ll have to hire builders! What if they don’t work hard enough? Or pouring rain will start? The walls could be destroyed! And you… you can’t do anything! Yes, you can draw little pictures, but you’ve never decorated an entire house! What if it turns out badly and everyone laughs at you? Do you want to be embarrassed?” he continued to pressure his brother.

“I don’t,” Junior said. He felt sad and removed the notebook from the table.

“Wait,” Major said to his brother. “Do you remember,” he turned to the middle piglet, “the first time you made an apple pie, and you spoilt it? Half of the pie was raw, the other half was burnt. And Granny Owl was yelling that you were going to poison her?” Junior giggled. “And you said that you would never ever touch pastry again.”

Middle got embarrassed.

“And what wonderful pies you bake now!” Major continued. “And you,” he turned to his little brother. “Do you remember how afraid you were to swim in the lake? How it seemed to you that it was deep and that you would definitely be bitten? How we got into the water with you and held you… And what now? Who has the medal for the best swimmer hanging over his bed?”

It was all true. Despite the panic, Junior had become an excellent swimmer after hard training. Remembering this, the little brother looked reproachfully at Middle and this one shrugged.

“We can do this,” Major summed up, “And it doesn’t matter that we don’t know how to do it yet. We’ll hold each other! We will learn how to build the walls of big houses, and how to make a winter garden… I guess it must be in the books. We will definitely learn! Look at us!” Major poked at a shiny copper kettle, which had just happened to be on the table. It reflected three perky little snouts. “We’ve managed to figure out our lives,” he continued. “We bake pies, we swim in the lake, and we got rid of Wolf! Even if we don’t succeed, trying is more interesting than doing nothing and just staring at the ceiling…”

“...And more interesting than spitting acorns!” Middle suddenly blurted out.

“Exactly!” Major agreed.

“So, are we breaking it?” Junior squealed with delight.

---

Well, this time the piggy bank’s pitiful look didn’t help. Three confident hooves fell on it at once.

A mountain of coins was laying on the table.

The adventure had begun.

Chapter 2.
The Struggle at the Walnut Glade

An announcement appears on a tree. — Someone tall in a black cloak. — Why does your tail itch? – A disappointing defeat. — An unexpected decision.

Birdsong woke up Junior. The sun was shining through the window. Having splashed cold water on his snout, the piglet looked round. If his brothers had seen him, they would have made him wash his snout properly!

Thinking a while, Junior decided to pick some wild blueberries for breakfast and left the house.

---

Junior knew how to find joy in every sunny day. He liked to swim, go boating on the lake or just walk around with his basket. The piglet always turned his little snout in all directions in search of interesting, tasty and beautiful things. And now, having weaved around the forest for about half an hour, Junior returned not only with ripe berries, but also with a big bouquet of wildflowers.

The piglet noticed something new on the tree near the little house. It was an announcement.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ANNOUCEMENT

We are happy to announce competition for the construction of a forest residential complex!

The one who builds the best house will be reimbursed for all expenses from the forest and will receive the title of Chief Forest Builder!

Everyone can participate!

The competition will take place at the Walnut Glade at 12:00 pm.

---

⠀

Junior rushed home so fast that he almost lost all the blueberries he picked.

Middle and Major the piglets were also busy. Major was counting in his head the amount of stones and timber needed, and Middle was muttering something to himself and drawing. There were already glasses of milk on the table and oatmeal porridge boiling on the cooker.

“Come on! There! At the Walnut! With me!” Junior screamed at the doorstep.

“What?!” the brothers asked together.

“The best! At twelve! The Glade!” Junior waved his hooves, running around the house.

Major sighed, caught Junior and washed him properly. Having calmed down under the influence of the water, Junior finally explained what was the matter.

“We shouldn’t take part in this competition,” Middle wailed, rearranging jars and pots. “We won’t win anyway. Okay, I agree, let’s build a house, but without any competitions! Or even better we just stick to picking mushrooms like the other animals…”

“But if we win, we’ll get our piggy bank back!” Junior shouted. “We’ll buy bicycles and open a pastry-shop! We’ll become the main builders in the forest, and everyone will respect us!”

Middle and Junior the piglets looked at their older brother with a question in their eyes.

“We can go and just have a look,” Major decided. “Okay! Porridge, blueberries, milk and let’s go!”

                           * * *

The big forest clock struck twelve. The Walnut Glade was crowded.

Aunt Elk and her two twin daughters were eating salty popcorn from a pack. Athletic hares sat with bags of carrot slices.

In Middle of the Glade there was a table covered with a white tablecloth, also a jar of water, and two self-important ferrets were sitting at the table.

“Applicants for the competition are requested to step forward, please!” the fatter Ferret said.

An otter walked past the piglets, followed by someone tall in a black cloak.

“Come on,” Junior whispered, poking Major in the side. “This is our chance to become Chief Builders!”

“Don’t,” Middle grabbed his elder brother by the jacket from the other side. “It’s too hard! We have no experience at all!”

Major thought about it… Middle was right. It’s hard to win the competition. But was it easy to raise brothers? To build a stone house? To protect it from Wolf? But he did it all and succeeded. Maybe all the best things in the world are difficult at first?

He closed eyes, pushed his brothers a little and stepped forward.

“Dear competitors!” Fat Ferret addressed animals. “Please introduce yourselves.”

“I am Otter,” Otter said politely. “I built ten houses on the shore of the lake.”

Someone in a black cloak chuckled.

“Thank you,” Thin Ferret said. “Your turn.”

“We’re piglets,” Junior said. Suddenly he got nervous and decided to check with his brothers. “We are piglets, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we are piglets,” Major confirmed. “We have built three excellent houses.”

Someone in a black cloak chuckled again.

“We’ve built three excellent houses,” Major continued. This black-cloaked creature began to annoy him. “And we’re ready to build more!”

“And what about you?” Fat Ferret turned to this very someone in a black cloak.

The black-cloaked turned. Something red sparkled.

“I am Fox,” the third competitor purred. “And I am very pleased to take part in such a wonderful competition, especially since it is held by such respectable organizers!”

Fat Ferret straightened up. Thin Ferret took a sip of water from the jar. The middle piglet felt an unpleasant chill.

“Beautiful and comfortable houses for all the animals are very important,” Fox continued. “The materials have to be the best, don’t you think so, colleague?” Fox turned to Otter.

Major felt a bit sick in his stomach.

“Only professional, talented, masterful builders should work for our dear, respected, beloved forest residents!” Fox finally finished.

The ferrets applauded. Junior shuddered because his tail started to itch.

“Tell us about your projects,” the ferrets said to all the competitors.

“I will build houses for forest residents on the river,” Otter began the presentation. “I will use the best logs and clay. Everyone will get separate apartments with a water entrance. It’s very convenient, and fresh fish will go straight to the kitchen!”

The ferrets looked at each other.

“And how will the animals that can’t swim enter their apartments?”

Otter thought for a moment.

“We’ll have to give them swimming rings,” she stated authoritatively. The ferrets wrote something down in their notebooks.

Next was the piglets’ turn.

“Well,” Major began. “We’ll build house. Good house…” and suddenly he was lost for a moment. It turned out it was not easy to tell a whole crowd about your idea.

“We will build house, and we promise,” Junior added excitedly, “we promise that… we will build house!”

The animals waited. Thin Ferret unwrapped the candy, and the paper rustled very loudly in the silence.

“We have been living in this forest all our lives,” Middle said. “We value your trust and we will build this house as if it was our own!”

The first autumn wind came. Suddenly the piglet remembered that the house he had built for himself had been blown away by Wolf, and it seemed to him that everyone else thought the same thing.

“All right,” the ferrets said. “Please, dear Fox, please, continue.”

“Thank you,” Fox regally said, and took a graceful step towards the big oak tree. Suddenly she pulled out from the depths of her cloak a piece of paper rolled up in a tube and, unfolding it, stuck it to the trunk with snaps.

The poster had the words all in capital letters, “IMAGE. PRESTIGE. DESIGN”, and in rather smaller letters, “The Newest Technology”, and in very small letters, “First Class! High Quality!”.

“Dear forest residents!” Fox said, elegantly clearing her throat. “The residential complex ‘Wise Fox’ is boldness and uniqueness. The latest technology.” Fox pointed to the poster. “Luxurious views. Legendary landmarks. Suitable colors.”

“What are they?” the hares asked.

“White, snowy, porcelain, marble and silver,” the Fox said frankly. Seeing that the hares didn’t understand, Fox added: “No yellow, green… or,” Fox glanced at the piglets, “like… how do they call it… oh, pink.”

“But we like pink,” the twin elks got sad.

Fox looked at them carefully and added:

“There also will be mirrors everywhere in the housing complex!”

“We like mirrors,” the twin elks got happy.

“There will be a lot of glass in the house,” Fox continued. “Glass and metal. It will be a sparkling house, like a big sparkling snowdrift! Or an iceberg. It will be a very modern transparent house, like a white lollipop. Clean lines, nothing extra, a total go for the new! Faster, higher, stronger!”

The hares started clapping.

“First class!” Fox said, finishing the presentation and pointing at the poster with an elegant gesture. “High quality!”

Silence covered the Glade. The sky was serene, white clouds floated over the Walnut Glade. Fox bowed, waving her luxurious tail. The animals shouted “Yay!”

“According to the terms of the competition,” Fat Ferret said, “today we have to decide which of the competitors go to the second round. And I think we all understand that the most likely candidate for the title of the Chief Forest Builder is Fox, and of course she goes to the second round!”

Fox glowed and looked at the hares so nicely, as if she imagined them stewed in sour cream.

“What we need to decide is,” Thin Ferret continued, “whether the piglets pass to the second round and does Otter pass?”

“Definitely!” said Marten, fond of fresh fish very much.

“Sorry, but swimming rings… that’s just too much!” Aunt Elk snorted.

“I agree,” Fat Ferret said. “Then the three piglets are in the second round together with Fox.”

“Wait a minute,” Fox intervened. “What piglets?” she looked around, and then for some reason under her feet. “These ones?! Well, let’s be honest, are they really builders? Just some misfits with snouts…”

Junior howled in offence. The clock struck at the Walnut Glade.

“It’s time for lunch,” Thin Ferret said, collecting the notebooks. “I suggest the following. All the competitors get into the second round! Though, of course, it will be too much of an advance for some.” He looked sternly at Junior. “Tomorrow in the second round we will be joined by another competent judge, Bear. And we will finally decide which of the competitors will stay in the competition!”

The animals hurried to lunch. The smell of a mushroom soup spread over the forest.

The three little piglets went home. They were not in the best mood possible.

                           * * *

Considering how upset they were, they drank some herbal tea. Then the piglets decided to discuss what had happened. Middle was the first to speak.

“I thought and still think,” he cleaned his throat, “this whole thing is rather dangerous.”

“Just this Fox,” Junior said. “She is very… bad actually. She plays up to everyone. She’s… stupid! And her poster is stupid! And… I’m not a misfit with a snout!”

“No,” Major said thoughtfully. “She’s smart. And her idea with a poster was good.”

Middle and Junior the piglets looked at their brother in surprise.

“You,” Junior asked suspiciously. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

“I’m on our side,” Major replied. “And for us to win, we have to be honest. We have to admit that someone can do something better than we do it. We need to learn from them. The jury liked Fox. She was really good. She had a great speech, and she knew exactly what she wanted to say… But we were not prepared and got confused.”

The piglets were silent.

“I didn’t like Fox either,” Major continued. “She’s arrogant and I don’t trust her. But if we want to build a house, win the competition and become real businessmen, we must not scold her, but work hard and become better.”

…Having made a lot of cherry compote, they spent the whole day till late at night preparing a new speech.

In the morning Bear appeared at the Walnut Glade, Otter spoke about the water houses, Fox repeated her sweet speech, and then the three piglets took the floor.

“Well,” Fat Ferret said skeptically, “what do you have to offer, after we have heard the brilliant presentation of the ‘Wise Fox’ residential complex?”

“We would like to present our house, which will be called ‘Friendly Animals’!”

Major stepped forward. Middle stood beside him, and Junior was holding in his hooves the little pictures. He had drawn it during all the night, and now was ready to give them to his brothers.

“So, our house will be called ‘Friendly Animals’, ” the major piglet repeated. His voice grew stronger. “The biggest room will be the common room, where we can talk, play board games, and have tea with some pastry in the evenings.”

“There will be very light in the house,” Junior said. “We will make beautiful wooden furniture for everyone. We can have breakfast on the terrace when the weather is good.”

“And in case the weather is bad, we will close the windows,” Middle added. “And it will be a very warm house. And very cozy.”

“We’ll paint the walls in different colors, and we’ll make a little attic under the roof and put pillows there so that you can drink hot chocolate and read. And we’ll have a real pizza oven in the kitchen!” Junior added.

“What about the backyard?” Fat Ferret asked in a bored voice.

---

⠀

“We offer to build the house at the Apple Glade, where there are big pine trees and raspberry bushes. We’ll plant a vegetable and herb garden next to the house,” the thrifty middle piglet said. “And also there will be a small pond with goldfish!”

Marten perked up.

---

“Just so it will look nice!” Major added sternly. “And around the pond we will plant tulips.”

“We’ll build a house,” Middle continued, “that will be fun to live in! And everyone will have plenty of space for their things. So that when you want to be alone, you can be alone, and when you are sad, you can easily find friends and have someone to talk to and play with.”

“Well,” Bear said. “Everything is clear to me. Despite the fact that Otter is a more experienced builder than the piglets… they are the ones who go to the finals of the competition!”

Fox’s eyes sparkled.

“Honorable jury, greatly respected Bear,” she said. “I have a suggestion. The piglets really have little experience… and, as we all saw yesterday, they don’t always take the task seriously. I suggest to make a deal. If the piglets finish their building on time and their house turns out to be better, they get both the piggy bank and the honorable title of Chief Builder. But if I win, they give the forest residents their own, wonderful, very cozy brick house!”

Bear thought for a moment. That made sense. He nodded.

“We agree!” the major piglet answered for all of them, having tasted the wine of victory.

Junior and Middle the piglets stood next to him shoulder to shoulder. Despite the tough new terms, they had won the competition today and they were very pleased!

And Fox was also very, very pleased…

Chapter 3.
Future House Design

A rubber duck as a gift. – Will the horns fit? — Soothing cinnamon curls. — Who’s a good boy? – The most important book is hidden in a safe place.

Now that the piglets’ participation in the competition was confirmed, they had to start with the main thing. And that was the plan of the future house.

That evening, after eating the middle piglet’s apple pie (really perfect: sweet, crumbly, not soggy or burnt!), the three piglets opened a blank notebook and began to make notes.

“I think it should be a two-story house,” Major said.

The brothers agreed.

“Let’s make the rooms small, like ours, so we can accommodate more residents. We have a cozy room and it even has three beds in it.”

The brothers agreed.

“And it is also necessary to have a bookcase in each room so that everyone can read and study,” Major said. “And everyone should have a desk!”

The brothers agreed.

“But I think,” Middle said, “that we need a large pantry. On each floor. Or even two. To store pots and jam jars. And acorn jelly. And a cupboard for dishes.”

The brothers agreed.

“And a special room to paint in! And shelves for paints and drawers for pencils!” Junior said.

The brothers agreed.