One day, three naxitralls met by chance at an ice cream stand: Mossbeard, Halfboot, and Muff. They were all so small that the ice-cream lady mistook them for gnomes at first.
Each of them had other interesting features. Moss Beard has a beard of soft moss, in which, although last year's, but still beautiful lingonberries grew. The half-boot was shod in boots with cut off toes: it was more convenient to move the toes this way. And Mufta, instead of ordinary clothes, wore a thick muff, from which only the crown and heels protruded.
They ate ice cream and looked at each other with great curiosity.
“Excuse me,” Muft said at last. – Perhaps, of course, I am mistaken, but it seems to me that we have something in common.
“That’s what it seemed to me,” nodded Polbootka.
Mossbeard plucked a few berries from his beard and handed them to his new acquaintances.
- Sour ice cream is good.
“I'm afraid to seem intrusive, but it would be nice to get together some other time,” Mufta said. - We would have cooked cocoa, talked about this and that.
“That would be wonderful,” Polbootka rejoiced. “I would gladly invite you to my place, but I have no home. Since childhood, I have traveled the world.
“Just like me,” said Mossbeard.
- Wow, what a coincidence! Muft exclaimed. - It's the exact same story with me. So we are all travelers.
He tossed the ice cream slip into the dustbin and zipped up the muff. His clutch had such a property: to fasten and unfasten with the help of a “zipper”. Meanwhile, the others finished their ice cream.
"Don't you think we could team up?" - said Polbotinka.
Traveling together is much more fun.
“Of course,” Mossbeard agreed happily.
“Brilliant thought,” Mufta beamed. – Simply magnificent!
"So it's decided," said Halfboot. “Why don’t we have another ice cream each before we get together?”
Everyone agreed, and everyone bought more ice cream. Then Muft said:
By the way, I have a car. If you don't mind, it will become, figuratively speaking, our motor home.
- Oh! drawled Mossbeard. - Who will be against it?
“No one will mind,” Polbootka confirmed. - It's so nice to drive a car.
- Can we fit the three of us? Mossbeard asked.
"It's a van," Mufta replied. - Enough room for everyone.
Halfboot whistled merrily.
“All right,” he said.
“Very well,” Mossbeard sighed in relief. - In the end, as they say, in cramped quarters, but not offended.
- And where is this motor home? asked Polbotinka.
“Near the post office,” Mufta said. I've sent a dozen or two letters here.
- Two dozen! Moss Beard was amazed. - Wow! Well, you have friends!
“No, quite the contrary,” Mufta smiled embarrassedly. I am writing to no friends. I write to myself.
Do you send letters to yourself? Polbootka was surprised in his turn.
“You see, I really like getting letters,” Mufta said. “But I don’t have any friends, I’m endlessly, endlessly lonely. So I write to myself all the time. Actually, I write on demand. I send letters in one city, then I go to another and receive them there.
“You can’t say anything, it’s a very peculiar way to correspond,” Mossbeard concluded.
“Very witty,” Polbootka confirmed. - Shall we have some more ice cream?
“Of course,” agreed Mossbeard.
“I don’t mind either,” Mufta said. “I even think that we could try chocolate once. True, it is a little more expensive than ordinary creamy ice cream, but for the sake of such an unexpected and wonderful meeting, you should not spare a penny.
Each bought chocolate ice cream and they ate in silence.
“Sweet,” said Mossbeard at last. Even sweeter than regular ice cream.
"Uh-huh," Halfboot confirmed.
- Very, very tasty. Well, just an amazing jelly, - said Mufta.
- What? Mossbeard looked at Clutch in surprise. - What jelly are you talking about? We're eating chocolate ice cream, or am I wrong?
“Oh, excuse me, please,” Mufta said, embarrassed. “It goes without saying that we eat chocolate ice cream, not jelly. But as soon as I get excited, I immediately begin to confuse the names of sweets.
- Why do you worry when you eat chocolate ice cream? Moss Beard was surprised. – What is there to worry about?
“It's not the ice cream that I'm worried about,” Mufta explained. “I was thrilled to meet you. It's a pleasant excitement, as they say. I have spent my whole life in terrible loneliness. And suddenly I find such wonderful companions as you. Anyone will get excited about this.
“Perhaps,” said Halfboot. “At any rate, I’m also excited about chocolate ice cream. Just look: I'm shaking all over with excitement.
And in fact, he was trembling violently, and his face just turned blue.
“You caught a cold,” Mossbeard realized. “Oh, ice cream didn’t do you any good.
"Probably so," agreed Halfboot.
“You shouldn’t eat ice cream anymore,” Mufta was frightened. - Unless you take a few glasses in reserve. I have a refrigerator in the van.
- Well, yes! exclaimed Mossbeard.
- That's great! Polbotinka rejoiced. “We'll take a good supply of eight weeks with us.
“One thing is bad,” Mufta continued, “the refrigerator works when the car is stopped. And on the go, electricity heats up the refrigerator to impossibility.
“Mmm…” Polbootka chuckled. “So the ice cream will melt instantly?”
“Of course,” Mufta said.
“In that case, it’s wiser to drop the idea,” said Mossbeard thoughtfully.
“And it seems to me that this is the most correct thing,” Mufta said. But I don't want to impose my opinion on you.
“My feet are about to turn to ice,” said Halfboot. “Maybe we can warm them up in Mufta’s fridge?”
“Well, let’s move,” said Mossbeard. “Honestly, I've been wanting to see Mufta's car for a long time now.
“Thank you,” Mufta said for some reason.
And they started walking.
2. Clutch Machine.
The little red van, as Mufta had said, was actually parked at the very post office.
A crowd of boys gathered around him, as well as several adults. They vied with each other trying to guess the make of the car; however, no one succeeded.
Ignoring the curious, Mufta went to the car and opened the door.
“Be kind, I beg you,” he invited his companions.
They did not force themselves to beg, and all three quickly climbed into the car.
- Oh! Mossbeard exclaimed, looking around. - Wow!
He couldn't find any other words. Half-boot said admiringly:
- Great!
“Make yourself at home,” Mufta smiled.
“Home, home…” Polbootka whispered absentmindedly. This word is even sweeter than chocolate ice cream. Finally, endless wanderings have brought me home!
Every little thing in Mufta's car radiated warmth. As if it was not a car, but a small cozy room.
The carefully made bed was covered with a beautiful colorful blanket. On a table near the window stood a china vase with beautiful flowers and a portrait of Mufta himself in a neat frame under glass.
“My best self,” Mufta remarked.
Other photographs hung here, mainly from the life of birds and animals. Mossbeard looked at these pictures with great interest, and Polbotka decided that he should take a picture too.
1. Meeting at the kiosk.
One day, three naxitralls met by chance at an ice cream stand: Mossbeard, Halfboot, and Muff. They were all so small that the ice-cream lady mistook them for gnomes at first.
Each of them had other interesting features. Moss Beard has a beard of soft moss, in which, although last year's, but still beautiful lingonberries grew. The half-boot was shod in boots with cut off toes: it was more convenient to move the toes this way. And Mufta, instead of ordinary clothes, wore a thick muff, from which only the crown and heels protruded.
They ate ice cream and looked at each other with great curiosity.
Excuse me, - said Mufta at last. - Perhaps, of course, I'm wrong, but it seems to me that we have something in common.
That's how it seemed to me, - nodded Polbootka.
Mossbeard plucked a few berries from his beard and handed them to his new acquaintances.
Sour ice cream is good.
I'm afraid to seem intrusive, but it would be nice to get together some other time, - said Mufta. - We would cook cocoa, talk about this and that.
That would be wonderful, - Polbotinka was delighted. - I would gladly invite you to my place, but I have no home. Since childhood, I have traveled the world.
Well, just like me, - said Mossbeard.
Wow, what a coincidence! Muft exclaimed. - Exactly the same story with me. So we are all travelers.
He tossed the ice cream slip into the dustbin and zipped up the muff. His clutch had such a property: to fasten and unfasten with the help of a “zipper”. Meanwhile, the others finished their ice cream.
Don't you think we could team up? - said Polbotinka.
Traveling together is much more fun.
Well, of course, - Moss Beard agreed happily.
Brilliant thought, - Coupling beamed. - Simply magnificent!
So, it's decided, - said Polbotinka. - Why don't we have another ice cream each before uniting?
Everyone agreed, and everyone bought more ice cream. Then Muft said:
By the way, I have a car. If you don't mind, it will become, figuratively speaking, our motor home.
Oh-oh! drawled Mossbeard. - Who will be against it?
No one will mind, - Polbootka confirmed. - It's so nice to drive a car.
How about three of us? asked Mossbeard.
It's a van," Mufta replied. - Enough room for everyone.
Halfboot whistled merrily.
All right, he said.
Well, nice, - Moss Beard sighed with relief. - In the end, as they say, in tight quarters, but not offended.
And where is this motor home? asked Polbotinka.
Near the post office, - said Mufta. - I've sent a dozen or two letters.
Two dozen! Moss Beard was amazed. - Wow! Well, you have friends!
No, quite the contrary, - Mufta smiled embarrassedly. I am writing to no friends. I write to myself.
Do you send letters to yourself? Polbootka was surprised in his turn.
You see, I really like to receive letters, - said Mufta. - And I have no friends, I'm endlessly, endlessly lonely. So I write to myself all the time. Actually, I write on demand. I send letters in one city, then I go to another and receive them there.
You can’t say anything, it’s a very peculiar way to correspond, ”Moss Beard concluded.
Very witty,” Polbootka confirmed. - Shall we have some more ice cream?
Of course, agreed Mossbeard.
I don't mind either," Mufta said. - I even think that we could try chocolate once. True, it is a little more expensive than ordinary creamy ice cream, but for the sake of such an unexpected and wonderful meeting, you should not spare a penny.
Each bought chocolate ice cream and they ate in silence.
Sweet, said Mossbeard at last. - Even sweeter than regular ice cream.
Uh-huh, - Polbootka confirmed.
Very, very tasty. Well, just an amazing jelly, - said Mufta.
What? Mossbeard looked at Clutch in surprise. - What jelly are you talking about? We're eating chocolate ice cream, or am I wrong?
Oh, I'm sorry, please, - Mufta said embarrassedly. - Needless to say, we eat chocolate ice cream, but no jelly. But as soon as I get excited, I immediately begin to confuse the names of sweets.
Why do you worry when you eat chocolate ice cream? Moss Beard was surprised. - What is there to worry about?
Yes, I'm not worried about ice cream at all, - Mufta explained. - I was thrilled to meet you. It's a pleasant excitement, as they say. I have spent my whole life in terrible loneliness. And suddenly I find such wonderful companions as you. Anyone will get excited about this.
Maybe, said Polbotinka. - I, in any case, chocolate ice cream also excites. Just look: I'm shaking all over with excitement.
And in fact, he was trembling violently, and his face just turned blue.
You caught a cold, Mossbeard realized. - Oh, ice cream didn't do you any good.
Probably, yes, - agreed Polbootka.
You should not eat ice cream anymore, - Mufta was frightened. - Unless you take a few glasses in reserve. I have a refrigerator in the van.
Well, yes! exclaimed Mossbeard.
That's great! Polbotinka rejoiced. "We'll take a good supply of eight weeks with us."
One thing is bad, - Mufta continued, - the refrigerator works when the car is stopped. And on the go, electricity heats up the refrigerator to impossibility.
Mhm ... - Polbootka chuckled. So the ice cream will melt instantly?
Of course, Muft said.
In that case, it’s wiser to abandon this idea, ”Moss Beard said thoughtfully.
And it seems to me that this is the most correct thing, - Mufta said. But I don't want to impose my opinion on you.
My feet are going to turn to ice now,” said Polbootka. “Maybe we can warm them up in Mufta’s fridge?”
Each of us has some things, objects, just vivid memories that instantly take us back to childhood. For me, one of the most vivid childhood memories is Raud's illustrated book, read to holes. A book that has been read an unthinkable number of times, a book that has been memorized almost by heart.
The heroes of the book - bright, interesting, kind and charming, instantly found the key to to a child's heart and settled in it forever.
Now, of course, the book is a little lost in memory - after all, it was read 30 years ago, I remember individual episodes, but the most important thing is that the impression of the book remains in my memory - kind, bright ...
Write something else? And what else can you write about childhood, about the years when the world was brighter, more interesting and more fun? This book is part of that childhood...
Score: 10
A very enjoyable children's tale, which stood out noticeably against the general background of similar books. Perhaps, Raud's books are even closer to science fiction proper than to a fairy tale. Most of all, of course, her colorful heroes are remembered - the imperturbable Moss Beard, the unfortunate Half-Shoe, the romantic Muff. The last time I picked up a book was about twenty years ago, and I still remember many episodes very well - and the healing decoction of deer moss with which Mossbeard treated Halfboot, and the race with cats and Mufta's van and letters that Mufta wrote to himself. Kind, smart and very lightly written - what more do you need for a good children's book. I also remember the peculiar ecological orientation of this fairy tale. Hope, modern children read it with the same pleasure as I did in my time.
Score: 9
I cannot express how much I loved this book as a child. The feeling of some kind of impermissible, wandering freedom seemed to be and beckoned, so that I had to ask Mom over and over again to read about Moss Beard, Half Shoes and Muff again.
Now, as an adult, having re-read this book, I find it just as magical. A good work full of love for life. It breathes loneliness. At the same time so charming, wise. Three heroes came together in life, three wonderful naxitralls and began to perform feats. The real ones!.. Some of the adults may not consider it a feat to save a wounded viper or the miraculous return of a family medallion to its owner. And there is no need to talk about the return of the cat to its owner. What a feat is this?.. But how much joy these “little things” brought to the heroes themselves and to those for whom they were made!.. And what delight they caused us children when we read about it.
The wonderful adventures of the naksitralls teach them to be truly kind and courageous. Even if you are not like the others - small and wonderful. But that's not the point, the main thing is that you have a big, sympathetic heart.
Score: 10
Recently I found a filmstrip: old, torn, but, as it turned out, not forgotten. And I remembered how I first learned about naxitralls from my Estonian friends: I didn’t read, but listened to the retelling of their grandmother with an indescribable Estonian accent. And I just fell in love with this story. I didn’t read Tolkien then, but the childhood impression of the Estonian fairy tale was no less vivid, and the feelings were the same: a whole world arose in the mind, like Middle-earth, only not as epic and cruel as that of the fantasy master. The ideal world for a child's mind is kind, affectionate.
Then, with difficulty, I found a filmstrip (more precisely, my parents found it) and looked to the holes. And in the fifth grade I remember my joy when I found the third and fourth books in the library. True, my heart ached with resentment for the cats, which I had always loved very much. But the charm of the fairy tale was so great that I convinced myself like a child: these harmful cats are Estonian. And ours - the Russians - are kind, and the Naxitralls are simply unfamiliar with them. And if they met, they would become friends.
Then, in everyday difficulties and worldly joys, somehow children's fairy tales faded into the background. Somewhere in a not very distant corner of memory, they remained together with a sense of magic. And simple fragments of the filmstrip, reminding, caused such a mass of joyful childhood memories, cheered up ... and made me a little younger. A must-read!
Score: 10
Great books! I read them for the first time with my children, taking them from the library, and I was very impressed by the kind wisdom of my dear Naxitral friends. And how many different themes are hidden here! The themes of friendship, glory, kindness, forgiveness and love for all living things ... And they are presented so unobtrusively, easily, that they become understandable even to five-six-year-olds. As for the increased viciousness of cats, which some readers complain about, then after all, this is not at all about the special aggressiveness of all muroks, but about how very cute animals can be spoiled by indulgence and pampering, turning them first into lazy and impudent creatures, but then - in cruel hungry predators (in their place could be both street dogs and pigeons). But how much poetry of living nature is in these stories, how much humor and purity! My four-year-old daughter, after I read books to her, believed that there really are naxitralli, and she dreamed of meeting them. I had to dissuade her that the lake can be boiled with a boiler, no matter how powerful it is, but hunting sausages “a la naxitralli” fried on a fire are still our favorite dish.
And now I know very well what kind of birthday book to give to a friend of an older child. preschool age(you can also have an average one - he will understand perfectly!): Of course, "The Adventures of Muft, Half Shoes and Moss Beard"!
Score: 10
WITH positive side- enough original design of the main characters. In theory, "naxitralli" are people, but each of the three with some kind of oddity in clothing or appearance. This is what they remember, at least outwardly. It would seem, what a trifle - to cut off a person's toes, and already an unusual image is ready.
What spoiled the whole impression completely:
The author's incomprehensible hatred of cats. Cats are enemies, cats are a plague, cats are stupid and vicious, everyone hates cats. The trinity of main heroes is able to outshine Sharikov. The cat fell, the hero’s remark: “Barely breathing - that’s how he needs it!” Constantly repeating: “How I hate cats!” "Destroy all cats!" Cats are "nasty" because they prey on cute birds. I wonder if Raud does not want to sympathize with the worms that the father bird carries to the chicks? In the final, cats are locked up for desert island, dooming to starvation. For this, the heroes receive a medal. An Estonian view of virtue in action.
The rest is a completely standard fairy tale. In general, it doesn’t teach anything, but it can deliver entertainment - the heroes spend almost half the time running away from persecution, so there’s more than enough “drive” here. But would not recommend for children. And without such "good" tales, animals are tortured.
Score: 6
