CHAPTERONE
LittleCorgilearnstocount
Arestlesslittlepuppywasrunningaroundtheroom, shakingitsredearsmerrily. Thepuppytriedtocatchthewhitefeatherthathadfallenoutofthepillowandflewbeneaththeceiling.
“I’llcatchyou!”Corgishouted, andpushedhardtothefeather.
Butthefeatherseemedtobewaiting:assoonasthepuppyranuptoit, itroseagainintotheair.
“I’llwaittillitgetstiredandwantstohavearestonthesofa, “Corgisaid.
Thepuppyhidandpressedhisearstothehead. Hekeptaneyeonthefeatheranddidn’tmove. Histailwasrushingbackandforthwithimpatience.
Thefeathercircledalittleundertheceilingandthenbegantogodownonthesofa.
Corgiwaswaitingpatiently. Suddenly…
“Achoo!”
Thepuppysneezedunexpectedly, assomethingstuckinhisnose.
Thefeatherquicklyroseintotheairandhidbehindthewardrobe.
“Corgi, it’stimetogotobed. “Mumsaid, pattingasoftpillowonthebed. “Thepuppieshavealreadybeendreaming. Putyourtoysintothebasketandgotobed”.
Corgilookedsadlyatthewardrobe.
“ButIcan’tgotobed, Mom, “thepuppysaid. “Ihavelearnedtocounttotentoday!SoIneedtocountsomethingnottoforgethowtodothat. I’llshowyounow”.
Herantothebedandmadeseveralcirclesroundit.
“ONEbed!”Corgi’searstrembledwithpleasure.
Momsmiled. “That’sright. Andnext?”
Corgirantothetableandjumpedhappilyatthechairs.
“TWOchairs!Oneandtwo!”
Momkissedthepuppy’snose.
“That’sright. Andnext?”
Corgistoodonhishindlegsandreachedforthetable.
“ThereareTHREEplatesonthetable!Oneplate, twoplates, threeplates!”
“Welldone, dear. Andnext?”
Thepuppylookedaroundtheroomandquicklyrantothedoor.
“FOURslippers!One, two, threeandfour!Mom, therearefourofthem”.
Momwashappy.
“That’sright. Andwhat’snext?”
Corgilookedatthewindowsillandyappedhappily.
“FIVEflowerpots!One, two, three, fourandfive!”
Momlookedatthewindowsillandfoundthattherewerefivepots.
“Therearefiveofthem”.
Corgilikedthenewgame. Andwhat’snext?Helookedaroundtheroom, butcouldnotfindwhattocount.
“Andhowmanybooksareontheshelf?”Momasked.
“SIX!”Corgishouted. “Onebook. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Sixbooks, Mom!”
Thepuppystartedjumping.
“AndIcanjumphigh. Look, Mom!One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. SEVEN!I’vejumpedseventimes!”
Momsmiled.
“Welldone”.
Corgirantothedoorandopenedit. Andhowmanystairsdowehave?
“Onestep. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six, Seven. EIGHT!Wehaveeightsteps!”
Itwasdarkoutsideandthemoonwasshininginthesky. Andtherewerealotofstars. Theskywasfullofstars.
“Mom, canIcountthestars?NowIcancounttoten!Look!Onestar. TwoThree. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Oh!”
Corgigotconfused. Thereweresomanystarsinthesky, andhecouldonlycounttoten. Andthestarswerefaraway, sothepuppydidn’tknowwhichoneshehadalreadycountedandwhichoneshehadn’t.
“I’llcountsomethingelse, becausetherearetoomanystars, “thepuppysaidandwenthome.
Butwhattocount?
“Iknow!”Corgiranhappilytocounttoys.
Soasnottocountanytoystwice, hedecidedtoputtheminthebasket. Thenhewillcounteverythingcorrectly!
“Onetoy. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten!”
Allthetoyswereinthebasket. MomkissedCorgitenderly.
“Oh, andit’snotaneasythingtocountuptoten, “saidthepuppyandfellasleepnearthebasket.
CHAPTERTWO
Corgiandthefirstsnow
Corgidreamedofwinter. Theredpuppywasstillverysmallandhadneverseensnowbefore. Anduntilwintercame, thepuppyaskedhismothertoreadhimastoryeverynightwhereitwassnowing. Thepuppylayinhiswarmcribandimaginedthewhitesnowflakesfallingdownfromthesky.
OnesnowflakefellonCorgi’sear. ThesecondsnowflakefellonCorgi’snose. Whiteandfluffy, theywerelikefeatherscirclinginthesky.
“Mommy, isthesnowwhite?”Corgiasked. “Likethespotsonmypaws?”
“Yes, dear, it’swhite. Likethespotsonyourpaws”.
“Mommy, isthesnowsweetlikeicecream?”thepuppyasked.
“No, Corgi. Thesnowiscold, likeicecream, butitisn’tsweet. Ithasnotaste”.
“Mommy, doesthesnowfallalot?Ifitsnows, willIseeit?”
“Yes, dear, youwillseeit. Whenitsnows, theearthseemstobecoveredwithawhiteblanket”.
“AndhowwillIrunonthegrassifeverythingiscoveredwithsnow?”askedCorgi.
“Youcanruninthesnow. Inwinter, allthegrassishiddenunderawhiteblanketsoasnottogetfrozen. Inthespring, thesnowwillmeltandyouwillbeabletorunonthegrassagain”.
Corgilookedoutthewindow, againandagain. Hewaitedforthesnowflakestofallfromthesky. Oh, what’sthis?
“Mom!Mom!Look!Thereissnowonthestreet!”shoutedCorgiandranintotheyard.
“No, dear, it’sjustfluffdownfromthetree. Waitabitmore, “saidMom.
Corgiwasupset, butdecideditwouldbesnowingthenexttime.
“Mom!Mom!Isitsnow?”shoutedthepuppy, seeingsomethinglightandwhiteoutthewindow.
“No, dear, thesearedandelions. Yellowflowersturnintowhitefluffyballs. Andifyoublowonthem, theseedsscatteralltheway. Waitabitmore”.
AndCorgisatagainonthewindowsilltowaitforthesnow.
Thepuppywatchedthetreeschangecolours. Atfirsttheleavesweregreen, butnowtheyturnedyellowandred. Andthentheyfell. Thetreeslookedsadwithouttheirclothes. Corgiwasalsosadbecausethesnowneverfell.
Onedaythepuppywentoutintheyard. Brrrr!Itwascoldoutside.
“I’llruntogetwarm, “saidCorgi, andranaroundthehouse.
Onecircle. Thesecondcircle. Corgijoyfullywaggedhistail. Backandforth. Helovedrunningaroundthehouse.
Thepuppystoppedatthestairstorest.
Oh, howmuchtheredpuppyhasruntoday!Butwhathasfallenonhisnose?
White. Easy. Cold.
Isit…?
Corgiraisedhisheadandsawsnowflakesfallingdownfromthesky. Thereweresomanyofthemthathecouldn’tcountthem. Snowflakeswerefallingonthetrees, fence, andstairs.
Thereweremoreandmoresnow-flakes.
Thepuppyjumpedtryingtocatchthesnowflake.
That’sit!
Jump!Jump!
Higherandhigher!
OnesnowflakefellonCorgi’sear.
ThesecondsnowflakefellonCorgi’snose.
Whiteandfluffy, theyreallylookedlikefeatherscirclingintheskyandslowlyfallingtotheground.
CHAPTERTHREE
Goodnight, Corgi
Itwaslatehour, butthepuppycouldn’tsleep. Corgilayinhiscribandtriedhisbesttofallasleep. Whattodo?Thepuppystretched. That’swhathisgrandfatheralwaysdidwhenhewasabouttogotobed. And…Itdidn’thelp. Hedidn’twanttosleep.
Thepuppyyawnedloudly. Canithelp?Dadalwaysyawnswhenhereallywantstosleep. Corgiyawnedagainandagain…Itdidnothelp. Whattodo?Hepulledtheblanketoverhisearsandbegantocount. One. Two. Three. Four…Itgottoowarmundertheblanket, andthepuppystuckhisnoseout.
Maybethepillowislyingwrong?Corgimoveditslightlyandlaydown. Thenhemoveditfurtherandfurtheron. Andsuddenly, oops!Thepillowfelldown. Andthepuppystillcouldn’tsleep. Heclosedhiseyestightly. Finally!ItseemslikeI’mfallingasleep…
No, Corgistillcouldn’tsleep. Thepuppyopenedhiseyesandsnuffled.
“HowdoIgetasleep?”saidhe, turningoverinhiscrib. “Iknow!”
“Mummyyyyyyy!”
Thepuppy’sMomcameatonce. Shethoughtsomethinghadhappenedtoherson, buthejustcouldn’tsleep.
“Mom, Ican’tsleep. Willyoutellafairytale?”
Momsatbythebedandstartedherstory.
“Onceuponatimetherewere…”
Mom’svoicewasquietandmelodious. Corgilovedwhenhismothertoldhimfairytales. Sohelistenedandlistenedand…Hecouldn’tgetasleep.
Thetalewasover, butCorgistilldidn’twanttosleep.
“Mommy, willyousingmeasong?”
Mombegantosingasongaboutarestlesspuppy.
Whenthesongwasover, shekissedhersononthenoseandwasabouttogo. Allofasudden…
“Mummyyyyyyy!CanIhavesomewater, please?MaybethenI’llfallasleep?”
MompushedthebowlofwaterclosertothebedsothatCorgicoulddrink.
“Nowgotobed. Everyone’sbeenasleepforalongtime, “shesaid.
ButifonlyCorgicouldsleep!Hetriedsohard, butinvain.
“AndifIcannotsleepnow?”Thescaredpuppyclimbedoutofbed. “IneedtotellmyMom”.
ThepuppyquietlycametohisMom’sbedandlaydownnexttoher. Momwaswarmandcalm. AndhecouldleanagainstMom’scheekwithhislittlenose. Thepuppywantedtosaysomethingimportant, butforgotwhatitwas. ItwassonicewithMom.
“Goodnight, Corgi, “Momsaidsoftly, butthepuppywasalreadysleepingsweetly.
