So Zayka and Bear Bear decided to talk about partnership.
Bear Bear asked, “Oh, yeah, so we’re in business together?”
In whole actuality, being in business together is sometimes known as a marriage.
So I asked her if she bought a circus.
She said, “Yeah, I bought a circus!”
So I asked her if she brought the monkeys.
She said, “Yeah, I brought the monkeys!”
So I asked her if she brought the tigers and the lions.
And she said, “Yeah, I brought the tigers and the lions!”
So I asked her if she brought the bear.
And she said, “Yeah, I brought the bear!”
And so I asked her if the bear had his harmonica.
She said, “Yeah, he’s got his harmonica!”
So now I asked her if she brought the white geese.
So Curu asked Zayka, “Hey, I’m not sure where to find the white geese. Do you know where to find them?”
“No!” came the reply.
“Go ask Konstantin! I’m sure he knows where to find them.”
So Konstantin heard those beautiful and majestic women, and he called:
“Гуси, гуси!”
And thus began the rest of the fable.
Гуси, гуси!
Русская детская игра — Russian Children’s Game
— Гуси, гуси! — Га-га-га. — Есть хотите? — Да-да-да. — Хлеба с маслом? — Нет-нет-нет. — А чего вам? — Нам конфет! — Гуси, гуси! — Га-га-га. — Есть хотите? — Да-да-да. — Ну летите! — Нам нельзя! Серый волк под горой Не пускает нас домой! — Ну летите, как хотите, Только крылья берегите!
Goosey, Goosey!
English Translation — Children’s Game
— Goosey, goosey! — Honk, honk, honk! — Do you want to eat? — Yes, yes, yes! — Bread and butter? — No, no, no! — What do you want? — We want sweets! — Goosey, goosey! — Honk, honk, honk! — Do you want to eat? — Yes! Yes! Yes! — Then fly here! — We cannot! The gray wolf under the hill Won’t let us go home! — Well, fly as you like, Just take care of your wings!
And the Story of the Geese Who Chose to Stay
The Field of White Geese
Now, Konstantin knew a curious little secret about white geese.
Far away, in the beautiful countryside of Extremadura, Spain, lived a farmer named Eduardo Sousa.
Eduardo had discovered something rather extraordinary.
You see, most farmers kept their geese behind fences.
But Eduardo had another idea.
What if the geese didn’t need to be kept at all?
What if, instead of building higher fences, he simply made their home so wonderful that they never wanted to leave?
And so he planted and tended a lovely place filled with olive trees, figs, acorns, grasses, and all the delicious things that geese adore.
He let them wander.
He let them eat.
He let them grow wonderfully, magnificently chonky.
And every year, when the wild geese flew overhead on their great migrations, something peculiar happened.
They looked down.
They saw the other geese happily eating.
They saw the lovely fields.
They saw a place where nobody was chasing them away.
And they thought, quite reasonably:
“Honk, honk! What’s going on down there?”
So down they came.
And they ate.
And they rested.
And some of them decided that perhaps migrating was rather overrated after all.
They stayed.
Not because their wings had been clipped.
Not because the farmer had locked the gate.
But because they were happy.
And this gave Konstantin a rather wonderful idea.
He turned to Zayka and Curu.
“I think,” he said, “I’ve figured out where to find our white geese.”
“Where?” they asked.
“Well, you see, my dearies, we don’t actually have to go looking for them.”
“We don’t?”
“No! We simply have to make a place so lovely that the geese come to us!”
“With sweets?” asked Curu.
“Naturally.”
“And bread?”
“Of course.”
“And butter?”
“Mountains of it!”
“And what about the bear bear?” asked Zayka.
“The bear can have his harmonica.”
“And the circus?”
“The circus is already here!”
And so they set about making their own little paradise.
There would be wonderful meals, plenty of laughter, warm embraces, soft beds, and enough sweets to satisfy even the most demanding goose.
There would be room for the monkeys, the tigers, the lions, and especially the bear.
And there would always be room for one more white goose.
But most importantly, nobody would ever have to surrender their wings.
Because Konstantin had learned something from that little Spanish farm.
The loveliest home is not one that prevents you from leaving. It is one that makes you happy to return.
And as for Zayka, Bear Bear, and Chickadee?
Well, he intended to love them, feed them, spoil them, listen to them, and take care of them for as long as they wanted him around.
And if they stayed, he would be there for them, too.
Forever, if life were kind enough to allow it.
And somewhere in the distance, the white geese began to sing.
“Гуси, гуси!”
“Га-га-га!”
And Curu?
Curu asked for another helping.
The End.