Little Corgi Learns to Count

CHAPTER ONE

Little Corgi learns to count

A restless little puppy was running around the room, shaking its red ears merrily. The puppy tried to catch the white feather that had fallen out of the pillow and flew beneath the ceiling.

“I’ll catch you!” Corgi shouted, and pushed hard to the feather.

But the feather seemed to be waiting: as soon as the puppy ran up to it, it rose again into the air.

“I’ll wait till it gets tired and wants to have a rest on the sofa,” Corgi said.

The puppy hid and pressed his ears to the head. He kept an eye on the feather and didn’t move. His tail was rushing back and forth with impatience.

The feather circled a little under the ceiling and then began to go down on the sofa.

Corgi was waiting patiently. Suddenly…

“Achoo!”

The puppy sneezed unexpectedly, as something stuck in his nose.

The feather quickly rose into the air and hid behind the wardrobe.

“Corgi, it’s time to go to bed.” Mum said, patting a soft pillow on the bed. “The puppies have already been dreaming. Put your toys into the basket and go to bed”.

Corgi looked sadly at the wardrobe.

“But I can’t go to bed, Mom,” the puppy said. “I have learned to count to ten today! So I need to count something not to forget how to do that. I’ll show you now”.

He ran to the bed and made several circles round it.

“ONE bed!” Corgi’s ears trembled with pleasure.

Mom smiled. “That’s right. And next?”

Corgi ran to the table and jumped happily at the chairs.

“TWO chairs! One and two!”

Mom kissed the puppy’s nose.

“That’s right. And next?”

Corgi stood on his hind legs and reached for the table.

“There are THREE plates on the table! One plate, two plates, three plates!”

“Well done, dear. And next?”

The puppy looked around the room and quickly ran to the door.

“FOUR slippers! One, two, three and four! Mom, there are four of them”.

Mom was happy.

“That’s right. And what’s next?”

Corgi looked at the windowsill and yapped happily.

“FIVE flower pots! One, two, three, four and five!”

Mom looked at the windowsill and found that there were five pots.

“There are five of them”.

Corgi liked the new game. And what’s next? He looked around the room, but could not find what to count.

“And how many books are on the shelf?” Mom asked.

“SIX!” Corgi shouted. “One book. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Six books, Mom!”

The puppy started jumping.

“And I can jump high. Look, Mom! One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. SEVEN! I’ve jumped seven times!”

Mom smiled.

“Well done”.

Corgi ran to the door and opened it. And how many stairs do we have?

“One step. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six, Seven. EIGHT! We have eight steps!”

It was dark outside and the moon was shining in the sky. And there were a lot of stars. The sky was full of stars.

“Mom, can I count the stars? Now I can count to ten! Look! One star. Two Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Oh!”

Corgi got confused. There were so many stars in the sky, and he could only count to ten. And the stars were far away, so the puppy didn’t know which ones he had already counted and which ones he hadn’t.

“I’ll count something else, because there are too many stars,” the puppy said and went home.

But what to count?

“I know!” Corgi ran happily to count toys.

So as not to count any toys twice, he decided to put them in the basket. Then he will count everything correctly!

“One toy. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten!”

All the toys were in the basket. Mom kissed Corgi tenderly.

“Oh, and it’s not an easy thing to count up to ten,” said the puppy and fell asleep near the basket.

CHAPTER TWO

Corgi and the first snow

Corgi dreamed of winter. The red puppy was still very small and had never seen snow before. And until winter came, the puppy asked his mother to read him a story every night where it was snowing. The puppy lay in his warm crib and imagined the white snowflakes falling down from the sky.

One snowflake fell on Corgi’s ear. The second snowflake fell on Corgi’s nose. White and fluffy, they were like feathers circling in the sky.

“Mommy, is the snow white?” Corgi asked. “Like the spots on my paws?”

“Yes, dear, it’s white. Like the spots on your paws”.

“Mommy, is the snow sweet like ice cream?” the puppy asked.

“No, Corgi. The snow is cold, like ice cream, but it isn’t sweet. It has no taste”.

“Mommy, does the snow fall a lot? If it snows, will I see it?”

“Yes, dear, you will see it. When it snows, the earth seems to be covered with a white blanket”.

“And how will I run on the grass if everything is covered with snow?” asked Corgi.

“You can run in the snow. In winter, all the grass is hidden under a white blanket so as not to get frozen. In the spring, the snow will melt and you will be able to run on the grass again”.

Corgi looked out the window, again and again. He waited for the snowflakes to fall from the sky. Oh, what’s this?

“Mom! Mom! Look! There is snow on the street!” shouted Corgi and ran into the yard.

“No, dear, it’s just fluff down from the tree. Wait a bit more,” said Mom.

Corgi was upset, but decided it would be snowing the next time.

“Mom! Mom! Is it snow?” shouted the puppy, seeing something light and white out the window.

“No, dear, these are dandelions. Yellow flowers turn into white fluffy balls. And if you blow on them, the seeds scatter all the way. Wait a bit more”.

And Corgi sat again on the windowsill to wait for the snow.

The puppy watched the trees change colours. At first the leaves were green, but now they turned yellow and red. And then they fell. The trees looked sad without their clothes. Corgi was also sad because the snow never fell.

One day the puppy went out in the yard. Brrrr! It was cold outside.

“I’ll run to get warm,” said Corgi, and ran around the house.

One circle. The second circle. Corgi joyfully wagged his tail. Back and forth. He loved running around the house.

The puppy stopped at the stairs to rest.

Oh, how much the red puppy has run today! But what has fallen on his nose?

White. Easy. Cold.

Is it…?

Corgi raised his head and saw snowflakes falling down from the sky. There were so many of them that he couldn’t count them. Snowflakes were falling on the trees, fence, and stairs.

There were more and more snow- flakes.

The puppy jumped trying to catch the snowflake.

That’s it!

Jump! Jump!

Higher and higher!

One snowflake fell on Corgi’s ear.

The second snowflake fell on Corgi’s nose.

White and fluffy, they really looked like feathers circling in the sky and slowly falling to the ground.

CHAPTER THREE

Good night, Corgi

It was late hour, but the puppy couldn’t sleep. Corgi lay in his crib and tried his best to fall asleep. What to do? The puppy stretched. That’s what his grandfather always did when he was about to go to bed. And… It didn’t help. He didn’t want to sleep.

The puppy yawned loudly. Can it help? Dad always yawns when he really wants to sleep. Corgi yawned again and again… It did not help. What to do? He pulled the blanket over his ears and began to count. One. Two. Three. Four… It got too warm under the blanket, and the puppy stuck his nose out.

Maybe the pillow is lying wrong? Corgi moved it slightly and lay down. Then he moved it further and further on. And suddenly, oops! The pillow fell down. And the puppy still couldn’t sleep. He closed his eyes tightly. Finally! It seems like I’m falling asleep…

No, Corgi still couldn’t sleep. The puppy opened his eyes and snuffled.

“How do I get asleep?” said he, turning over in his crib. “I know!”

“Mummyyyyyyy!”

The puppy’s Mom came at once. She thought something had happened to her son, but he just couldn’t sleep.

“Mom, I can’t sleep. Will you tell a fairy tale?”

Mom sat by the bed and started her story.

“Once upon a time there were…”

Mom’s voice was quiet and melodious. Corgi loved when his mother told him fairy tales. So he listened and listened and… He couldn’t get asleep.

The tale was over, but Corgi still didn’t want to sleep.

“Mommy, will you sing me a song?”

Mom began to sing a song about a restless puppy.

When the song was over, she kissed her son on the nose and was about to go. All of a sudden…

“Mummyyyyyyy! Can I have some water, please? Maybe then I’ll fall asleep?”

Mom pushed the bowl of water closer to the bed so that Corgi could drink.

“Now go to bed. Everyone’s been asleep for a long time,” she said.

But if only Corgi could sleep! He tried so hard, but in vain.

“And if I cannot sleep now?” The scared puppy climbed out of bed. “I need to tell my Mom”.

The puppy quietly came to his Mom’s bed and lay down next to her. Mom was warm and calm. And he could lean against Mom’s cheek with his little nose. The puppy wanted to say something important, but forgot what it was. It was so nice with Mom.

“Good night, Corgi,” Mom said softly, but the puppy was already sleeping sweetly.