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Ukrainian Folktales

The Mitten
Retold by Tanya K.

Once upon a time there was a boy named Nicki. And there was his Grama. Her name was Baba. And he said to Baba, "Can you make me white mittens?"

And she said, "Yes I can, but you can lose them."

"No Baba, I want white mittens."

So Baba said, "Yes I can."

Then Nicki lost his white mitten in the snow. Then a mole went in the mitten. The mole saw the rabbit's kickers and he let the rabbit in.

The rabbit saw hedgehog's prickles so the rabbit let him in.

Then hedgehog saw the owl's feet so the hedgehog let the owl in.

The owl saw the badger's diggers so the owl let the badger in.

And the badger let the fox in the mitten when he saw the fox's teeth.

Then a bear went in the mitten and fox let him in because of his paws.

A mouse sat on the bear's nose. And the bear sneezed, "Achoo!"

The mitten flew in the sky and all the animals fell down. And the boy found his mitten.

Then Baba looked to see if the boy had his mittens and Baba saw his mittens.

	by Sofia Zielyk (click to see her wonderful eggs)

Rechenka's Eggs
Retold by Danny K.

Babushka lived all by herself. She was painting the most beautiful eggs. And she saw some reindeer and she gave them food.

A goose was shot and was falling down. Babushka was taking care of her. And she was getting stronger and stronger. Then the nicest eggs were broken because Rechenka the goose flew into the basket and they fell and broke. Babushka felt bad.

Then she saw a nice beautiful egg with nice stripes. The goose had laid it. And she laid more eggs. Babushka gave some bread and some tea and some pashka (Easter pudding) to the goose.

She showed the eggs to her friends, and they were really nice and she won first prize, a quilt. And she saw some geese flying.

When she got home Rechenka was not there, so she took her favorite book and went to bed. But she heard scratching and there was an egg.

She never saw those geese again, but she was keeping the little goose forever and ever and ever.

Mr. Cat-and-a-half
Retold by Joey K.

A cat was walking on the road. Then the royal cook saw the cat and he took the cat because the cook had tons of mice in his kitchen in the palace.

In the beginning the cook liked him and called him Cat-and-a-half. After the cat ate all the mice, he started to eat the cook's food, and he took long naps. The cook did not like that, so he got a rope and tied it around the cat's neck and pulled him out of his kitchen and into the forest.

Then the cat met a fox, and the fox said, "Wow what a nice gentleman you are! Why don't we get married and I'll make you all the food you want!" So they did.

Once, the wolf was walking and met Mrs. Fox and he said, "You are a fine lady in this forest. Would you marry me?" Mrs. Fox said, "Oh no, I've got a gentleman and his name is Mr. Cat-and-a-half. If he sees you, he'll tear you to pieces. Make a big dinner for him so you can make friends with him."

Then a brown bear came and he said, "You are a fine lady in this forest. Would you marry me?" Mrs. Fox said, "Oh no, I've got a gentleman and his name is Mr. Cat-and-a-half. If he sees you, he'll tear you to pieces. Make a big dinner for him so you can make friends with him."

Then a boar came and he said, "You are a fine lady in this forest. Would you marry me?" Mrs. Fox said, "Oh no, I've got a gentleman and his name is Mr. Cat-and-a-half. If he sees you, he'll tear you to pieces. Make a big dinner for him so you can make friends with him."

Near Mrs. Fox's house, a hare came and he said, "You are a fine lady in this forest. Would you marry me?" Mrs. Fox said, "Oh no, I've got a gentleman and his name is Mr. Cat-and-a-half. If he sees you, he'll tear you to pieces. Make a big dinner for him so you can make friends with him."

Then the hare saw the cat. The cat arched his back and flashed his eyes like a snake's. The hare got very scared and ran away.

Then the hare met the wolf, the bear, and the boar. They decided to make a big dinner for Mrs. Fox and Mr. Cat-and-a-half.

The hare said to the fox, "The dinner is ready. You can come with your husband." So then the hare, the bear, the wolf, and the boar hid under the table or in the tree.

The cat ate all the food. When he was done eating all his food, he stretched on the table to rest. Under the table the boar was hiding, but his tail stuck out. The cat thought that it was a mouse, so he pounced on the boar's tail. When the cat saw the boar he got scared and ran up the tree where the bear was hiding. The bear thought the cat was going to eat him, so he fell out of the tree and on the bush where the wolf was. The wolf said, "I have to run before he eats me up!" So then the hare, the bear, the wolf and the boar ran into the forest. Then the cat and the fox went home.

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