The Kind Little Bat
Äîáðûé ìûøîíîê
Àâòîð Äàðèÿ Äæóìàãåëüäèíîâà
Ïåðåâîä ñ ðóññêîãî âûïîëíåí ïî ñîãëàñîâàíèþ ñ àâòîðîì.
Èëëþñòðàöèÿ Àëåêñàíäðà Àëüáîâà
Once upon a time in a family of bats the unusual little bat was born. He looked like ordinary bats with their wings, but also he had legs as field mice did, and, what was so odd, he could perfectly see both in the daytime and in the nighttime, unlike common bats, that have bad eyesight so they see by echolocation. He was called Reddy because of a reddish shade of his fur. Bats from all over the neighbourhood were flying to look at the unusual kid. The bat colony considered that the little bat would cause them disasters, and wise old bats asserted that with a birth of this little bat their way of life would change.
All bats were waiting what the leader would solve. Would the kid remain in the colony? Or not? The leader brought in a verdict: the little bat, being a mutant, would not be allowed to live in the colony and be brought up in the conditions that are acceptable to the bat cubs. From this day on he had to leave the nursery and fend for himself. The little bat’s Mummy began crying because she understood there was a sentence.
Bats live in cold and unfriendly caves for centuries. The females occupied habitats in strict hierarchical sequence. The privileged persons’ cubs lived in a nursery: they were situated closer to the dome that was proceeding heat and creating a microclimate for kids, apart from the colony of many thousand.
After that verdict the kid’s life turned into the hell. Reddy was banished from everywhere, and he had to sit at the entry where the wind and the frost penetrated, he constantly felt cold and was ill. But he had an advantage over other cubs: he could see in the daytime and in the nighttime. The little bat came to hate the cave for it was always cold and damp. Once, when as usual he was tired and hungry and got settled at the entry he felt that someone embraced him. It was made Reddy happy: «Maybe, my Mummy has come to me!» But these embraces were different. They were a little hotter than Mummy's ones and gentle. The little bat decided to ask:
- Who are you?
- It’s me, I’m Sunbeam, - a child's voice said. – I’ve lost and I can’t find my Mummy! Help me, please!
Reddy wanted to help the kid very much. He knew how it was bad when you were not with your Mummy. He ran up to the kid and led him to the exit. The little bat knew that there was a way out of here, but he was even afraid to come closer to it. Reddy had no idea at all what it was like.
As soon as they left the cave a big effluence of light dazzled him. That was Mummy the Sun who has been searching for her child. Reddy fainted away. He has never seen the Sun. He has known nothing about the Sun. When the little bat came to himself he saw his friend and the friend’s Mummy smiling. There was the blue-blue sky above him. He found out some green grass and bright flowers. Some butterflies of marvelous beauty were floating around him. Everyone smiled at him.
- Reddy, get up! –Sunbeam shaked him. – Let’s go to play!
- What is that? – asked the little bat in a shock. - Is that the paradise?
- No! It’s our world!
- Why is your world so beautiful, and my world is so different? - the little bat asked and began to cry.
Reddy pitied himself and the other bats. They would never see this world!
The Sun saw a running field mouse.
– Here is your relative. Let’s ask her why you’ve got a different world.
The mouse cried:
- Oh, a little bat-mutant!
- What is the mutant? –asked Sunbeam.
- It’s when you’ve got extra legs! – the mouse squeaked and ran away.
The little bat remembered now that his mother had different structure of a body.
- That is why everyone hates me! - the little bat exclaimed. – They all see that I’m just not look like them! My poor Mummy concealed it from me: she did not want me to upset. Therefore they banished me from everywhere.
The little bat had asked his Mummy many times:
- Why does everyone hate me? But I have not done any harm to anyone!
Mummy had calmed him:
- When you grow up, you will be on your best behaviour and they will like you.
- Nobody ever will like me! – the little bat began to cry. - I did want to grow up and become a good bat! I did want them to love me. Now I understand: nobody ever will love me! Because I’m not look like them!
- We love you! - the grass, flowers and butterflies cried.
The little bat smiled. He has never had so many friends. He is so happy. That is the happiness! When you are being loved!
He decided to come back to his Mummy as fast as he could and told her:
- Mummy! I understand, how it was difficult for you to tell me that I’m not look like the others.
Relatives of his mother, bats, were noble persons. They scoffed at his mother. They thought that the little bat’s father was a field mouse. They hated everyone who couldn’t fly.
Bats imagined themselves royal persons. They underlined that even the man moved on the ground as amphibious did.
- Everyone who can fly must be the Lords of the World! - they exclaimed.
Everyone thinks that bats sleep in the daytime. On contrary, their females like to gossip, but nobody knows about it.
When the little bat returned to the cave, he was terrified to its wretchedness. There was a hardly visible beam of light from the dome. Inside there was semidarkness, thousands of bat bodies hung with clusters on the walls and in the corners. The cold of tombs was everywhere. There was a smelt of mould and their bodies. Somewhere the water was flowing down, and shrill and sobbing sounds were heard from all the sides of the cave. All this gloominess caused horror.
- What a beautiful world! I want to change life of our colony and to give the chance to it to see the other world! - Reddy said to his mother.
- I have given birth to such a noble cub! My son wants to change the world! How kind is he! – his mother admired.
But she knew that their arrogant colony would never agree to live in a different way! She was convinced that her son has grown up. When Reddy finished his speech, she said:
- My boy, you have grown up! You can choose yourself where you want to live. God has given you the chance to see in the daytime and in the nighttime. You can run with your legs or fly. Go then, live in the new world! Only do not forget me! – and she began to cry.
Reddy liked frank talks with his mother. They seldom had chance to be one-on-one. He always received truthful answers to all his questions. Mummy said that there is God. He has created bats and mice.
- Why has God divided bats into noble and ignoble persons? - the little bat asked.
- Because in previous life not all the bats were honest, and those who was guilty, has the low status, - Mummy explained.
- But who will I be, when I grow up? - the little bat asked.
- You will be an important person, - his mother calmed him.
«I will never be somebody! - the little bat thought. - I will always be despised! I have to prove that even if I am not such a bat as they are, I am not guilty!»
He slept badly at night. He dreamt that bats wanted to pull him apart. Suddenly Sun appeared and carried him away high in the sky.
He kept thinking how to convince bats to walk out in the other world in the daytime. There was a lot of place there, they would like the new world. Every day, walking with his friend Sunbeam, he opened the new world. Kind friends lived there, they shared their knowledge with him, nobody offended him and nobody despised him. He wanted to take Mummy in this world and get to know her with the new friends. He wanted her to feel the heat of the beams, hear the soft song of the bluebells, see the beautiful flowers and emerald leaves on the trees. He wanted his Mummy to know how they loved him. He was proud that he was lucky. Reddy has fallen in love with the other world.
He dreamt to become a wizard: he wanted to take all the bats out from the cave and convince them to change a way of their life. The little bat shared his dream with Sun.
His dream made him possessed and Sun decided to help Reddy to achieve his dream. Having chosen a hot day, Sun came into the cave, threw out an effluence of light, lighted up the cave and touched every bat with her beams. They were frightened, began to bunched up and crush each other. They were used to eternal darkness, so they were terrified of the sun and light.
When bats got known that it was the little bat who has invited the sun, they expelled his family from the cave, having accused him of bats death. Mummy went off with him, but she has not lived for a long time. It was difficult for her to live in new conditions. The little bat remained alone. He had lots of friends, but it was difficult for him to live without Mummy. When Reddy remained alone, he mentally addressed to God and asked:
- Why have you left me alone as my Mummy and I began to live well? Don’t you know how it is bad for me to live without her? What have you punished Mummy for, having made me a mutant?
God answered his questions:
- If I had made you alike them, you would never have known the other world! You like it and you live in it. You are happier than the other bats. You’ve got the chance, they have not!
He fell asleep, tired and in tears. Next morning as he woke up, it seemed to him that God has helped him because the belief relieves suffering.
Äàðèÿ Äæóìàãåëüäèíîâà «Äîáðûé ìûøîíîê»: http://www.proza.ru/2011/08/06/1068
Ìíå ìîæíî íàïèñàòü ïî àäðåñó: elena_albova@rambler.ru