Masha and the Bear — Version 2

Once upon a time there lived a grandfather and a grandmother. They had a granddaughter, Masha. One day some friends gathered to go to the forest for mushrooms and berries. They came to invite Masha to come with them. "Grandfather, grandmother," says Masha, "let me go to the forest with my friends!" Grandfather and grandmother reply: "Go, but be careful not to fall behind your friends, or you'll get lost." The girls came to the forest and began picking mushrooms and berries. But Masha went from tree to tree, bush to bush, and wandered far, far away from her friends. She began calling out, began calling to them, but her friends did not hear, did not answer. Masha walked and walked through the forest — she was completely lost. She came to the very depths of the forest, the very thicket. She sees — there stands a little hut. Masha knocked on the door — no answer. She pushed the door — and the door opened. Masha entered the hut and sat on the bench by the window. She sat and thought: "Who lives here? Why can't I see anyone?.." And in that hut lived a huge bear. But he wasn't home at the time: he was walking in the forest. In the evening the bear returned, saw Masha, and was glad. "Aha," he says, "now I won't let you go! You will live with me. You will stoke the stove, you will cook porridge, you will feed me porridge." Masha grieved, she sorrowed, but there was nothing to be done. She began to live with the bear in the hut. The bear would go into the forest for the whole day, and he ordered Masha not to go anywhere out of the hut without him. "And if you go," he says, "I'll catch you anyway and then I'll eat you!" Masha began to think how to escape from the bear. All around is forest, she doesn't know which way to go, no one to ask... She thought and thought and came up with an idea. Once the bear comes from the forest, and Masha says to him: "Bear, bear, let me go to the village for a day: I'll take gifts to grandmother and grandfather." "No," says the bear, "you'll get lost in the forest. Give me the gifts, I'll take them myself." And that's exactly what Masha wanted! She baked pies, took out a big, very big box and says to the bear: "Here, look: I'll put the pies in this box, and you take them to grandfather and grandmother. And remember: don't open the box on the way, don't take out the pies. I'll climb up an oak tree and watch you!" "All right," answers the bear, "give me the box!" Masha says: "Go out on the porch, see if it's raining!" As soon as the bear went out on the porch, Masha immediately climbed into the box and put a dish of pies on her head. The bear came back, sees — the box is ready. He hoisted it on his back and went to the village. The bear walks among the fir trees, trudges among the birch trees, descends into ravines, climbs up hills. He walked and walked, got tired and says: "I'll sit on a stump, I'll eat a pie!" And Masha from the box: "I see, I see! Don't sit on the stump, Don't eat the pie! Take it to grandmother, Take it to grandfather!" "Well, what an eagle-eyed one," says the bear, "she sees everything!" He picked up the box and went on further. He walked and walked, walked and walked, stopped, sat down and says: "I'll sit on a stump, I'll eat a pie!" And Masha from the box again: "I see, I see! Don't sit on the stump, Don't eat the pie! Take it to grandmother, Take it to grandfather!" The bear was surprised: "What a clever one! Sits high, sees far!" He got up and went faster. He came to the village, found the house where grandfather and grandmother lived, and began knocking on the gate with all his might: "Knock-knock-knock! Unlock, open up! I've brought you gifts from Masha." But the dogs smelled the bear and rushed at him. From all the yards they run, barking. The bear got scared, put the box by the gate and ran into the forest without looking back. Then grandfather and grandmother came out to the gate. They see — the box is standing there. "What is this in the box?" says grandmother. And grandfather lifted the lid, looks — and can't believe his eyes: in the box sits Masha, alive and well. Grandfather and grandmother were overjoyed. They began hugging Masha, kissing her, calling her a clever girl.