Yashka

Not far from the center of London, there were some old streets with small houses made of wood. In the yards of those houses, there were trees with birds’ nests in them. One of those nests was Yashka's home. Yashka lived there with his parents, who were old birds.

But people did not like the small streets with old wooden houses. They wanted new modern buildings with hot and cold water, gas, and a lift. They wanted large new shops, cinemas and theaters, post offices, and beautiful cafes in their streets. One day, large cars and bulldozers came along the street, and soon there were no small houses and no trees left.

People from the old houses got new flats in large high-rise buildings in other streets of London. They were glad to have warm, bright rooms with high ceilings and large windows. But nobody gave Yashka and his parents a new nest, and as there were no hotels for birds, the poor little bird had no home to live in.

Tolya and Kolya saw him on their way home from the museum, where they were preparing reports on history. The boys stopped at a street crossing until the traffic lights changed from red to green. At that moment, they saw the little bird. He was too young to fly away. They took him home and gave him the name Yashka.

At first, Yashka jumped or flew away when somebody came near. When Tolya and Kolya's mother swept the rooms, Yashka hid in a dark corner under the bed or flew up onto the wardrobe. But in a very short time, Yashka learned to know everybody and did not fly away.

Yashka was a very pleasant young bird, and the children liked to play with him. When he began to fly well, the children took him out into the yard.

“I think he is going to fly away,” said their mother.

“We don’t think so,” answered the boys. And they were right. Yashka did not fly away. He flew high in the sky but quickly came back. He knew very well where his home was. The children often took him with them when they went to the cinema, theater, post office, or some other place. On the way, Yashka sat on Tolya's or Kolya’s head or hand, and flew back home when they went inside. Many times, the children rode on a bus or a tram with Yashka in their hands. They always asked the conductor, “Must we pay his fare?”

But the conductor only shook his head, laughed, and answered, “Of course not. We haven’t got any tickets for birds.”

One day, when the children’s mother was out, Yashka opened a pot with pieces of meat on the kitchen table and took the pieces out, one by one. And when Mum came home from work and looked at the pot, there was nothing in it.

Yashka always woke up early in the morning. Then he flew to the sleeping boys, sat down on the bed near them, and began to wake them up. He touched their noses and feet until they got up.

One day, when Mum wanted to put on her watch, she did not see it on the dressing table.

“Did you take my watch?” she asked Tolya.

“No, I didn’t, really,” answered Tolya.

“Did you take it?” she asked Kolya.

“Certainly not,” answered Kolya.

“Strange!” said Mum. “Then it’s Yashka. Yes, it’s his work. We must let him out. He cannot live in the house.”

The boys began to cry; they did not want to let Yashka out. They did not want to let Yashka out.

In the evening, when Kolya began to make his bed, he saw something on the floor near the wall. He looked under the bed and there was Mum’s watch! It was between the bed and the wall, where Yashka usually put the things he liked. Mum was very glad to have her watch back.

“All is well that ends well,” she said, and let Yashka stay in the house. And let Yashka stay in the house.

Soon, Yashka learned not to touch Mum’s watch or the pots in the kitchen. Yashka understood some words. He knew when the boys wanted him to fly to them or to sit down on the table opposite them. When summer came, Yashka began to fly about the city with his new friends — young birds.