Characteristics of the main characters of the fairy tale talking bundle.

Here is the promised book, I hope you enjoy it.

The next time we meet, it is useless to ask me if everything in the book is true - I have sworn to secrecy. But here are some hints for you.

For example, I can assure you that the Indian cousin of the Parrot is a completely real being and not only drove around in Rolls-Royces, but actually had an international passport. If you ever happen to visit Greece, you will find Madame Hortense on her platform, exactly as I have described, and you will be able to ride through the valley to the very entrance to Mythlandia. And finally, if you look into the book of Eduard Topsell called "The History of the Quadrupeds", you will read there that stoats were indeed a remedy against basilisks.

And if so, how can you doubt the rest?

Your loving godfather Jerry

1. Talking package

When the plane that Simon and Peter were on to visit Cousin Penelope for their summer vacation landed in Athens and the plane door opened, they were blasted with heat like a stove, and the blinding sun closed their eyes. After the grey, damp weather they were used to back in England, it was great. The boys stretched and screwed up their eyes like cats in front of the hearth, and, as if spellbound, listened to the crackling and explosive Greek speech that sounded around them.

At first, Uncle Henry, who met them at the airport, frightened them a little: big, heavy, with a predatory nose and a gray hat of hair, he looked like a huge eagle, besides, he constantly waved his huge arms like wings. It is not clear where such a father could have such a pretty daughter - thin, with big green eyes and reddish curls.

“Yeah,” Uncle Henry greeted them fiercely, “have you arrived?” Nice, nice. Glad to see you. You are already much less disgusting than the last time I saw you right after you were born. You looked like white mice, pink nasty little mice.

“Daddy,” said Penelope, “don’t be rude.

- Who is rude? I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just telling what they were.

- Is this your luggage? Penelope nodded.

“Yes,” said Peter, “two suitcases and a sloop.”

- A sloop? said Uncle Henry. - What other sloop?

“An inflatable boat,” Simon explained. - Dad gave us.

- Well, what good fellows you are, that you guessed to take her with you! said Uncle Henry. - Oh, smart ones!

The boys beamed with pleasure and decided that Uncle Henry might not be so bad after all.

Loading their belongings into the trunk of their uncle's big open car, they drove under the scorching sun down the road past silvery olive trees and deep green cypresses that jutted out like spears against the blue sky.

Uncle Henry's villa turned out to be a large, ungainly house built into the side of a mountain just above the blue sea. The wide verandahs were shaded from the sun by vines that leaned under the weight of grapes. The boys had never seen such large grapes. The walls of the house were whitewashed, the owners kept the huge green shutters half-closed, and this kept the rooms cool, and the lighting was dim and greenish, like in an aquarium. The boys were given a huge room with a tiled floor and a door opening onto a vine-covered veranda.

“That’s great,” said Peter approvingly, “that means you can pick a whole brush every morning before breakfast.”

“There are also oranges, tangerines, figs in the garden,” Penelope listed,

- melons, apricots, peaches ...

She sat on one of the beds and watched the boys unpack.

“I can't believe we're already here,” Simon said.

"Me too," Peter confirmed. - True, the heat is such that, probably, we are still in Greece.

Penelope laughed.

- Is it hot!

“We need to bathe, that’s what,” Peter decided.

"That's what I wanted to offer you - after lunch," said Penelope. - Directly below us is a huge beach, it's wonderful to swim there.

“Great,” said Peter. - Let's go on an adventure.

After breakfast, the three of them put on their bathing suits, took a folded boat and a pump, and went down the rocky slope, which smelled intoxicatingly of thyme and myrtle, down to a wide, dazzling white beach that stretched in both directions, as far as the eye could see. The blue expanse was motionless, as in a lake, and transparent as glass.

It was so hot to inflate the boat that the children now and then interrupted this activity and ran to take a dip. At last the boat rocked in the shallow water like a puffy cloud. The boys climbed in, taking with them the travel essentials that Penelope insisted on: a large beach umbrella and a bag containing several bottles of lemonade. Simon and Peter got on the oars, Penelope on the helm, and they set off along the shore.

The sun beat down mercilessly, and from the shore, from the olive groves, came the faint chirping of cicadas, similar to the sounds of a zither. After a quarter of a mile, the boys dropped their oars and wiped the sweat from their faces.

- Well, it's hot! Peter exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Simon agreed, “I just baked myself.

Simon glanced over his shoulder: two hundred meters away, a long, flat sandbank jutted out into the sea, forming a small inlet.

- Let's go here? he suggested. "We'll drop anchor here."

They swam into the bay, anchored the boat in the still water, climbed ashore, fixed an umbrella that cast a shadow the size of a mushroom cap, and Penelope uncorked three bottles of lemonade. So they lay sipping lemonade; and then, tormented by the heat and exhausted from rowing, the boys fell asleep with their heads on their hands.

Penelope, after finishing her lemonade and taking a nap, decided to climb to the top of the sand dune. It hurt to walk barefoot on the hot sand, but she finally made it to the ridge. The beach seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon, but in the distance the air was so tremulous with the hot haze that it was impossible to see anything. Penelope was about to return under the desired shade of the umbrella, when she suddenly noticed an object in the water. He was approaching the shore, driven by light ripples from an unknown breeze. At first she mistook this object for a piece of wood. But gradually it was pushed out onto the sand, and she saw that it was a large package of brown paper, tied with purple cord. Just as she wanted to run away from the dune and examine the find ... when the bundle suddenly spoke.

Penelope stared at the bundle in disbelief. An ordinary large package that looked like a cone, about a meter long and seventy centimeters across, it looked like an old beehive in shape.

“Seasickness is the scourge of our family,” the bundle continued. “My great-grandmother was so prone to seasickness that she often got sick when she took a bath.

"Who is he talking to? thought Penelope. “Not with me?”

And just at that moment, another voice was heard from the package - a quiet, gentle, ringing voice, like the echo of a sheep's bell:

- Oh, leave me alone with your great-grandmother and her seasickness. I'm just as sick as you are. I want to know one thing: what to do now?

“Thanks to my brilliant navigational skills, we landed safely on land,” the first, raspy voice answered. Now we have to wait until we are released from prison.

Gerald Durrell

Talking bundle

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY GODDAD DAIRDRA ALEXANDRA PLATT

Dear Deirdre!

Here is the promised book– I hope you enjoy it.

The next time we meet, it's useless to ask me if everything in the book is true,– I swore secrecy. But here are some hints for you.

For example, I can assure you that Parrot's Indian cousin– the creature is absolutely real and not only drove around in Rolls-Royces, but actually had an international passport. If you ever happen to visit Greece, you will find Madame Hortense on her platform, exactly as I have described, and you will be able to ride through the valley to the very entrance to Mythlandia. And finally, if you look into the book of Eduard Topsell called "The History of the Quadrupeds", you will read there that stoats were indeed a remedy against basilisks.

And if so, how can you doubt the rest?

godfather who loves you

Jerry.

Chapter one

TALKING ROLL

When the plane that Simon and Peter were on to visit Cousin Penelope for their summer vacation landed in Athens and the plane door opened, they were blasted with heat like a stove, and the blinding sun closed their eyes. After the grey, damp weather they were used to back in England, it was great. The boys stretched and screwed up their eyes like cats in front of the hearth, and, as if spellbound, listened to the crackling and explosive Greek speech that sounded around them.

At first, Uncle Henry, who met them at the airport, frightened them a little: big, heavy, with a predatory nose and a gray hat of hair, he looked like a huge eagle, besides, he constantly waved his huge arms like wings. It is not clear where such a father could have such a pretty daughter - thin, with big green eyes and reddish curls.

“Yeah,” Uncle Henry greeted them fiercely, “have you arrived?” Nice, nice. Glad to see you. You are already much less disgusting than the last time I saw you right after you were born. You looked like white mice, pink nasty little mice.

“Daddy,” said Penelope, “don’t be rude.

- Who is rude? I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just telling what they were.

- Is this your luggage? Penelope nodded.

“Yes,” said Peter, “two suitcases and a sloop.”

- A sloop? said Uncle Henry. - What other sloop?

“An inflatable boat,” Simon explained. - Dad gave us.

- Well, what good fellows you are, that you guessed to take her with you! said Uncle Henry. - Oh, smart ones!

The boys beamed with pleasure and decided that Uncle Henry might not be so bad after all.

Loading their belongings into the trunk of their uncle's big open car, they drove under the scorching sun down the road past silvery olive trees and deep green cypresses that jutted out like spears against the blue sky.

Uncle Henry's villa turned out to be a large, ungainly house built into the side of a mountain just above the blue sea. The wide verandahs were shaded from the sun by vines that leaned under the weight of grapes. The boys had never seen such large grapes. The walls of the house were whitewashed, the owners kept the huge green shutters half-closed, and this kept the rooms cool, and the lighting was dim and greenish, like in an aquarium. The boys were given a huge room with a tiled floor and a door opening onto a vine-covered veranda.

“That’s great,” said Peter approvingly, “that means you can pick a whole brush every morning before breakfast.”

“There are also oranges, tangerines, figs in the garden,” Penelope listed, “melons, apricots, peaches ...

She sat on one of the beds and watched the boys unpack.

“I can't believe we're already here,” Simon said.

"Me too," Peter confirmed. - True, the heat is such that, probably, we are still in Greece.

Penelope laughed.

- Is it hot!

“We need to bathe, that’s what,” Peter decided.

"That's what I wanted to offer you - after lunch," said Penelope. - Directly below us is a huge beach, it's wonderful to swim there.

“Great,” said Peter. - Let's go on an adventure.

After breakfast, the three of them put on their bathing suits, took a folded boat and a pump, and went down the rocky slope, which smelled intoxicatingly of thyme and myrtle, down to a wide, dazzling white beach that stretched in both directions, as far as the eye could see. The blue expanse was motionless, as in a lake, and transparent as glass.

It was so hot to inflate the boat that the children now and then interrupted this activity and ran to take a dip. At last the boat rocked in the shallow water like a puffy cloud. The boys climbed in, taking with them the travel essentials that Penelope insisted on: a large beach umbrella and a bag containing several bottles of lemonade. Simon and Peter got on the oars, Penelope on the helm, and they set off along the shore.

The sun beat down mercilessly, and from the shore, from the olive groves, came the faint chirping of cicadas, similar to the sounds of a zither. After a quarter of a mile, the boys dropped their oars and wiped the sweat from their faces.

- Well, it's hot! Peter exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Simon agreed, “I just baked myself.

Simon glanced over his shoulder: two hundred meters away, a long, flat sandbank jutted out into the sea, forming a small inlet.

- Let's go here? he suggested. "We'll drop anchor here."

They swam into the bay, anchored the boat in the still water, got ashore, fixed an umbrella that cast a shadow the size of a mushroom cap, and Penelope uncorked three bottles of lemonade. So they lay, sipping lemonade, and then, tormented by the heat and tired of rowing, the boys fell asleep with their heads on their hands.

Penelope, after finishing her lemonade and taking a nap, decided to climb to the top of the sand dune. It hurt to walk barefoot on the hot sand, but she finally made it to the ridge. The beach seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon, but in the distance the air was so tremulous with the hot haze that it was impossible to see anything. Penelope was about to return under the desired shade of the umbrella, when she suddenly noticed an object in the water. He was approaching the shore, driven by light ripples from an unknown breeze. At first she mistook this object for a piece of wood. But gradually it was pushed out onto the sand, and she saw that it was a large package of brown paper, tied with purple cord. Just as she wanted to run away from the dune and examine the find ... when the bundle suddenly spoke.

Gerald Durrell

Talking bundle

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY GODDAD DAIRDRA ALEXANDRA PLATT

Dear Deirdre!

Here is the promised book– I hope you enjoy it.

The next time we meet, it's useless to ask me if everything in the book is true,– I swore secrecy. But here are some hints for you.

For example, I can assure you that Parrot's Indian cousin– the creature is absolutely real and not only drove around in Rolls-Royces, but actually had an international passport. If you ever happen to visit Greece, you will find Madame Hortense on her platform, exactly as I have described, and you will be able to ride through the valley to the very entrance to Mythlandia. And finally, if you look into the book of Eduard Topsell called "The History of the Quadrupeds", you will read there that stoats were indeed a remedy against basilisks.

And if so, how can you doubt the rest?

godfather who loves you

Jerry.

Chapter one

TALKING ROLL

When the plane that Simon and Peter were on to visit Cousin Penelope for their summer vacation landed in Athens and the plane door opened, they were blasted with heat like a stove, and the blinding sun closed their eyes. After the grey, damp weather they were used to back in England, it was great. The boys stretched and screwed up their eyes like cats in front of the hearth, and, as if spellbound, listened to the crackling and explosive Greek speech that sounded around them.

At first, Uncle Henry, who met them at the airport, frightened them a little: big, heavy, with a predatory nose and a gray hat of hair, he looked like a huge eagle, besides, he constantly waved his huge arms like wings. It is not clear where such a father could have such a pretty daughter - thin, with big green eyes and reddish curls.

“Yeah,” Uncle Henry greeted them fiercely, “have you arrived?” Nice, nice. Glad to see you. You are already much less disgusting than the last time I saw you right after you were born. You looked like white mice, pink nasty little mice.

“Daddy,” said Penelope, “don’t be rude.

- Who is rude? I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just telling what they were.

- Is this your luggage? Penelope nodded.

“Yes,” said Peter, “two suitcases and a sloop.”

- A sloop? said Uncle Henry. - What other sloop?

“An inflatable boat,” Simon explained. - Dad gave us.

- Well, what good fellows you are, that you guessed to take her with you! said Uncle Henry. - Oh, smart ones!

The boys beamed with pleasure and decided that Uncle Henry might not be so bad after all.

Loading their belongings into the trunk of their uncle's big open car, they drove under the scorching sun down the road past silvery olive trees and deep green cypresses that jutted out like spears against the blue sky.

Uncle Henry's villa turned out to be a large, ungainly house built into the side of a mountain just above the blue sea. The wide verandahs were shaded from the sun by vines that leaned under the weight of grapes. The boys had never seen such large grapes. The walls of the house were whitewashed, the owners kept the huge green shutters half-closed, and this kept the rooms cool, and the lighting was dim and greenish, like in an aquarium. The boys were given a huge room with a tiled floor and a door opening onto a vine-covered veranda.

“That’s great,” said Peter approvingly, “that means you can pick a whole brush every morning before breakfast.”

“There are also oranges, tangerines, figs in the garden,” Penelope listed, “melons, apricots, peaches ...

She sat on one of the beds and watched the boys unpack.

“I can't believe we're already here,” Simon said.

"Me too," Peter confirmed. - True, the heat is such that, probably, we are still in Greece.

Penelope laughed.

- Is it hot!

“We need to bathe, that’s what,” Peter decided.

"That's what I wanted to offer you - after lunch," said Penelope. - Directly below us is a huge beach, it's wonderful to swim there.

“Great,” said Peter. - Let's go on an adventure.

After breakfast, the three of them put on their bathing suits, took a folded boat and a pump, and went down the rocky slope, which smelled intoxicatingly of thyme and myrtle, down to a wide, dazzling white beach that stretched in both directions, as far as the eye could see. The blue expanse was motionless, as in a lake, and transparent as glass.

It was so hot to inflate the boat that the children now and then interrupted this activity and ran to take a dip. At last the boat rocked in the shallow water like a puffy cloud. The boys climbed in, taking with them the travel essentials that Penelope insisted on: a large beach umbrella and a bag containing several bottles of lemonade. Simon and Peter got on the oars, Penelope on the helm, and they set off along the shore.

The sun beat down mercilessly, and from the shore, from the olive groves, came the faint chirping of cicadas, similar to the sounds of a zither. After a quarter of a mile, the boys dropped their oars and wiped the sweat from their faces.

- Well, it's hot! Peter exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Simon agreed, “I just baked myself.

Simon glanced over his shoulder: two hundred meters away, a long, flat sandbank jutted out into the sea, forming a small inlet.

- Let's go here? he suggested. "We'll drop anchor here."

They swam into the bay, anchored the boat in the still water, got ashore, fixed an umbrella that cast a shadow the size of a mushroom cap, and Penelope uncorked three bottles of lemonade. So they lay, sipping lemonade, and then, tormented by the heat and tired of rowing, the boys fell asleep with their heads on their hands.

Penelope, after finishing her lemonade and taking a nap, decided to climb to the top of the sand dune. It hurt to walk barefoot on the hot sand, but she finally made it to the ridge. The beach seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon, but in the distance the air was so tremulous with the hot haze that it was impossible to see anything. Penelope was about to return under the desired shade of the umbrella, when she suddenly noticed an object in the water. He was approaching the shore, driven by light ripples from an unknown breeze. At first she mistook this object for a piece of wood. But gradually it was pushed out onto the sand, and she saw that it was a large package of brown paper, tied with purple cord. Just as she wanted to run away from the dune and examine the find ... when the bundle suddenly spoke.

Penelope stared at the bundle in disbelief. An ordinary large package that looked like a cone, about a meter long and seventy centimeters across, it looked like an old beehive in shape.

“Seasickness is the scourge of our family,” the bundle continued. “My great-grandmother was so prone to seasickness that she often got sick when she took a bath.

"Who is he talking to? thought Penelope. “Not with me?”

And just at that moment, another voice was heard from the package - a quiet, gentle, ringing voice, like the echo of a sheep's bell:

- Oh, leave me alone with your great-grandmother and her seasickness. I'm just as sick as you are. I want to know one thing: what to do now?

“Thanks to my brilliant navigational skills, we landed safely on land,” answered the first, creaky naked. Now we have to wait until we are released from prison.

The bundle was too small to hold a person, much less two, and yet two voices were undoubtedly heard from it. Penelope felt creepy, she felt that she somehow missed Peter and Simon - it would be much more pleasant to solve this riddle with them. So Penelope turned and quickly ran down the dune, where the boys were sleeping under an umbrella.

“Peter, Simon, wake up, wake up,” she whispered, shaking their shoulders. Wake up, this is very important.

Who among us does not like fairy tales? Even an adult will be interested in reading Gerald Durrell's amazing story "The Talking Bundle", a summary of which we will consider today. The description contains all the characters and main events.

Travel to Greece

Peter and Simon fly in from England to sunny, warm Greece. The boys go to visit their cousin Penelope, and are met at the airport by their rude but good-natured Uncle Henry.

Interesting fact! J. Darrell's fairy tale "The Talking Bundle", a summary of which is given in this article, was dedicated to the writer's goddaughter - Deirdre.

The story begins...

Having rested at the cousin's villa, the guys decide to go to the beach together. But suddenly their peaceful rest is interrupted by an out of the ordinary event - Penelope finds a talking bundle, which was washed ashore by the waves! The bundle speaks with two voices and, moreover, even sings about the "moon carrot". Later, the writer explains that the inventions of the magician Ha are called moon carrots - any dish can be prepared from it.

Opening the package, the guys see a stunningly beautiful cage, and in it - a beautiful parrot. He introduces them to his housekeeper Dulcibella, a spider with a second voice. Alas, the summary of the "Talking Package" does not allow us to convey the charm of this spider.

Magic land Mythlandia

As it turned out, the Parrot is a high official of the country of Mythlandia, which was once created by the magician Ha-Ha. He collected from the earth all the mythical animals in which people ceased to believe and which disappeared because of their unbelief, and settled in Mythlandia. At the same time, he strictly ensures that the number of fairy-tale creatures does not increase. Three Magic Books and, of course, the Parrot help him rule the country.

But the basilisks, the cock-tailed snakes, did not like that Ha did not allow their numbers to increase. The Golden Cockerels laid one egg every century. Then the basilisks decided to seize power in the country while the Parrot was away - as the Keeper of Words, he had to report every 100 years on the state of affairs at the top.

To do this, they stole the Great Books and a couple of Cockerels, and the Parrot, the only one who could help the already middle-aged Ha, was thrown into the sea along with the spider. Basilisks now receive one egg every day, and soon it will be impossible to suppress the rebellion!

Now the Parrot wants to return and win back his castle, as well as the whole country from the evil basilisks. And the guys are sure that they can help him. They decide to wait for the evening and go to the Cave, which serves as the entrance to Mythlandia. And the engine Hortense should show them the way.

Adventure and danger

Once in a magical land, the children and their new friends were poisoned down the river in their inflatable boat. Soon they reached the valley - amazing creatures that, dying, burn in flames, turning into ashes. And one of the sparks hit the guys' boat right. As a result, Penelope was almost carried away by the current, but the cousins ​​managed to save the girl.

But where to get a new boat? The parrot and the guys go to the lunar bodies, which give lunar milk. From this magical jelly, you can "invent" anything - the main thing is to concentrate. And the Parrot "invents" a new boat.

Friends almost reach their destination when they decide to make a halt. Penelope goes for a walk... and accidentally runs into a basilisk chasing a small unicorn. The girl saves the baby, and he admits that he is the crown prince. In gratitude for saving Septimus, the unicorns agree to help in the battle against the basilisks. And friends, taking four unicorns as fellow travelers, go further - their path lies to Ha-Ha through the Crystal Caves.

The wizard, forced to be in the castle in the company of the hysterical dragon Tabitha, is incredibly happy with his friends. D. Darrell and the "Talking Package", a summary of which we are discussing today, are distinguished by soft, sparkling humor.

Toad counter-espionage

When Penelope discovers a spy wizard in the castle, the guys decide to lure Mr. Ethelred to their side, playing on his stupidity and vanity, and work out a plan with him. Here, the knowledge of the newly-minted spy that you can enter the castle to the basilisks through the sewer came in handy. They will make a stuffed Ha-Ha and distract the basilisks with it, while they themselves will look into the Great Books, where it is probably written how to deal with the basilisks.

The plan succeeds. But it turns out that only the bite of an ermine can kill a basilisk, which must first taste a decoction of rue. And rue grows only at the edge of the Mandrake Forest, on Werewolf Island, in the Singing Sea. It should be noted that Darrell's story "The Talking Package", the summary of which we are considering, is an example of the richest fantasy.

Duchy of Ermines

Children and Parrot go to the weasels. Their duke, Roquefort, complains of sciatica and assures that only he prevents him from destroying the basilisks. But nevertheless, it is possible to agree with Roquefort, only the guys must get the rue. And on the way, they visit a colony of griffins and successfully enlist their support.

On the way to the guys run into basilisks, but Ethelred deceives them, and the company successfully returns to Ha-Ha. And Penelope at this moment understands - the basilisks cannot stand the smell of her lavender water.

The Singing Sea and the Isle of Werewolves

So, the guys with the Parrot go to the island through the Singing Sea. Along the way, their ship gets stuck in seaweed, but the mermaid Desdemona comes to the rescue. Then - another delay in the journey, the sea serpent Oswald set out to eat the boat, mistaking it for a cake. And now, when the guys swim up to the island, it's already getting dark... and after all, landing on the island of Werewolves in the dark is deadly!

Captured by werewolves

But the boys with the Parrot decide to take a chance. Penelope is left on the shore by the boat, along with Æthelred the toad. And while Ethelred goes to explore, Penelope manages to get acquainted with the chick of the moth. Fenella says that the girl's brothers are in danger - the lights warned the wolves about the appearance of the guys and now they want to bite them to turn them into werewolves.

Penelope boldly goes to save the brothers, but does not have time to do anything - the "toad wolf" Ethelred appears on the scene, who, having lulled the vigilance of the wolves, frees the children.

The friends return to shore with the rue and lavender that grow on the island, but are chased by wolves. Only with the help of Oswald, who comes to their defense, they manage to leave the land.

last fight

Arriving at the stoats, the guys develop an excellent plan - to land right in the castle courtyard on ... balloons that can be "invented" from moon jelly and filled with hot air with the help of fireballs.

After drinking a decoction of the rue of the gardener Roquefort, friends understand that he acts, as he becomes not only bold, but also arrogant. Now the battle with the basilisks will take place!

So, vile basilisks are attacked by all the mythical creatures that inhabit Miflandia - ermines, unicorns, mermaids, phoenixes. They all promised to help and kept their word.

And the brave Ethelred even saves Penelope from one of the fire-breathing monsters with a well-aimed blow of the lance. In gratitude, Penelope kisses him, saying that no handsome prince, into whom the toad, of course, did not turn after the kiss, is not worthy of her beloved friend.

The most important thing is loyal and devoted friends, as Darrell shows with this scene. "Talking bundle", reading the summary, you still understand. What the author wanted to convey to the reader is contained in the details.

The battle has been won. In honor of the children, a feast is arranged and gifts are given to each: Penelope - a necklace, and boys - tie clips. They promise to return to Mythlandia and go home.

Conclusion

So, today we examined the fairy tale by J. Darrell "The Talking Bundle" - a summary for the reader's diary. This is an amazing, fabulous story about eternal values ​​- friendship, devotion, kindness. Both children and adults read it with pleasure.

Current page: 1 (total book has 10 pages)

Font:

100% +

Gerald Durrell. Talking bundle

This book is dedicated to my goddaughter Deirdre Alexandra Platt.

Dear Deirdre!

Here is the promised book, I hope you enjoy it.

The next time we meet, it is useless to ask me if everything in the book is true - I have sworn to secrecy. But here are some hints for you.

For example, I can assure you that the Indian cousin of the Parrot is a completely real being and not only drove around in Rolls-Royces, but actually had an international passport. If you ever happen to visit Greece, you will find Madame Hortense on her platform, exactly as I have described, and you will be able to ride through the valley to the very entrance to Mythlandia. And finally, if you look into the book of Eduard Topsell called "The History of the Quadrupeds", you will read there that stoats were indeed a remedy against basilisks.

And if so, how can you doubt the rest?

Your loving godfather Jerry

1. Talking package

When the plane that Simon and Peter were on to visit Cousin Penelope for their summer vacation landed in Athens and the plane door opened, they were blasted with heat like a stove, and the blinding sun closed their eyes. After the grey, damp weather they were used to back in England, it was great. The boys stretched and screwed up their eyes like cats in front of the hearth, and, as if spellbound, listened to the crackling and explosive Greek speech that sounded around them.

At first, Uncle Henry, who met them at the airport, frightened them a little: big, heavy, with a predatory nose and a gray hat of hair, he looked like a huge eagle, besides, he constantly waved his huge arms like wings. It is not clear where such a father could have such a pretty daughter - thin, with big green eyes and reddish curls.

“Yeah,” Uncle Henry greeted them fiercely, “have you arrived?” Nice, nice. Glad to see you. You are already much less disgusting than the last time I saw you right after you were born. You looked like white mice, pink nasty little mice.

“Daddy,” said Penelope, “don’t be rude.

- Who is rude? I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just telling what they were.

- Is this your luggage? Penelope nodded.

“Yes,” said Peter, “two suitcases and a sloop.”

- A sloop? said Uncle Henry. - What other sloop?

“An inflatable boat,” Simon explained. - Dad gave us.

- Well, what good fellows you are, that you guessed to take her with you! said Uncle Henry. - Oh, smart ones!

The boys beamed with pleasure and decided that Uncle Henry might not be so bad after all.

Loading their belongings into the trunk of their uncle's big open car, they drove under the scorching sun down the road past silvery olive trees and deep green cypresses that jutted out like spears against the blue sky.

Uncle Henry's villa turned out to be a large, ungainly house built into the side of a mountain just above the blue sea. The wide verandahs were shaded from the sun by vines that leaned under the weight of grapes. The boys had never seen such large grapes. The walls of the house were whitewashed, the owners kept the huge green shutters half-closed, and this kept the rooms cool, and the lighting was dim and greenish, like in an aquarium. The boys were given a huge room with a tiled floor and a door opening onto a vine-covered veranda.

“That’s great,” said Peter approvingly, “that means you can pick a whole brush every morning before breakfast.”

“There are also oranges, tangerines, figs in the garden,” Penelope listed,

- melons, apricots, peaches ...

She sat on one of the beds and watched the boys unpack.

“I can't believe we're already here,” Simon said.

"Me too," Peter confirmed. - True, the heat is such that, probably, we are still in Greece.

Penelope laughed.

- Is it hot!

“We need to bathe, that’s what,” Peter decided.

"That's what I wanted to offer you - after lunch," said Penelope. - Directly below us is a huge beach, it's wonderful to swim there.

“Great,” said Peter. - Let's go on an adventure.

After breakfast, the three of them put on their bathing suits, took a folded boat and a pump, and went down the rocky slope, which smelled intoxicatingly of thyme and myrtle, down to a wide, dazzling white beach that stretched in both directions, as far as the eye could see. The blue expanse was motionless, as in a lake, and transparent as glass.

It was so hot to inflate the boat that the children now and then interrupted this activity and ran to take a dip. At last the boat rocked in the shallow water like a puffy cloud. The boys climbed in, taking with them the travel essentials that Penelope insisted on: a large beach umbrella and a bag containing several bottles of lemonade. Simon and Peter got on the oars, Penelope on the helm, and they set off along the shore.

The sun beat down mercilessly, and from the shore, from the olive groves, came the faint chirping of cicadas, similar to the sounds of a zither. After a quarter of a mile, the boys dropped their oars and wiped the sweat from their faces.

- Well, it's hot! Peter exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Simon agreed, “I just baked myself.

Simon glanced over his shoulder: two hundred meters away, a long, flat sandbank jutted out into the sea, forming a small inlet.

- Let's go here? he suggested. "We'll drop anchor here."

They swam into the bay, anchored the boat in the still water, climbed ashore, fixed an umbrella that cast a shadow the size of a mushroom cap, and Penelope uncorked three bottles of lemonade. So they lay sipping lemonade; and then, tormented by the heat and exhausted from rowing, the boys fell asleep with their heads on their hands.

Penelope, after finishing her lemonade and taking a nap, decided to climb to the top of the sand dune. It hurt to walk barefoot on the hot sand, but she finally made it to the ridge. The beach seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon, but in the distance the air was so tremulous with the hot haze that it was impossible to see anything. Penelope was about to return under the desired shade of the umbrella, when she suddenly noticed an object in the water. He was approaching the shore, driven by light ripples from an unknown breeze. At first she mistook this object for a piece of wood. But gradually it was pushed out onto the sand, and she saw that it was a large package of brown paper, tied with purple cord. Just as she wanted to run away from the dune and examine the find ... when the bundle suddenly spoke.

Penelope stared at the bundle in disbelief. An ordinary large package that looked like a cone, about a meter long and seventy centimeters across, it looked like an old beehive in shape.

“Seasickness is the scourge of our family,” the bundle continued. “My great-grandmother was so prone to seasickness that she often got sick when she took a bath.

"Who is he talking to? thought Penelope. “Not with me?”

And just at that moment, another voice was heard from the package - a quiet, gentle, ringing voice, like the echo of a sheep's bell:

- Oh, leave me alone with your great-grandmother and her seasickness. I'm just as sick as you are. I want to know one thing: what to do now?

“Thanks to my brilliant navigational skills, we landed safely on land,” the first, raspy voice answered. Now we have to wait until we are released from prison.

The bundle was too small to hold a person, much less two, and yet two voices were undoubtedly heard from it. Penelope felt creepy, she felt that she somehow missed Peter and Simon - it would be much more pleasant to solve this riddle with them. So Penelope turned and quickly ran down the dune, where the boys were sleeping under an umbrella.

“Peter, Simon, wake up, wake up,” she whispered, shaking their shoulders. Wake up, this is very important.

- What's the matter? Simon sat up, yawning.

“Tell her to leave,” Peter muttered. - Sleep hunting, not play games.

“I don't play at all,” whispered Penelope indignantly. - Wake up! I found something incomprehensible on the other side of the dune.

– What did you find? Simon stretched.

“Package,” said Penelope. - Big bundle.

"Oh my god," Peter moaned. "And that's why you woke us up?"

– What is special about this bundle? Simon inquired.

Have you ever come across a package that talks? Penelope retorted. - It doesn't happen to me often.

- Is he talking? – Peter immediately and finally woke up. - Yah? And you didn't get it? Maybe you have sunstroke?

- Talking bundle? Simon doubted. - You must be joking.

“I’m not kidding, and I don’t have a sunstroke,” Penelope got angry. Not only that, he speaks with two voices.

The boys looked at her with wide eyes.

“Listen, Penny,” Simon said shyly, “are you sure you're not fantasizing?

Penelope stamped her foot in annoyance.

“Of course not,” she protested in a furious whisper. - Both of you are stupid. I found a package with two voices, he talks to himself. If you don't believe me, go and have a look.

Reluctantly, still afraid that Penelope was fooling them, the boys followed her up the dune. Going upstairs, she put her finger to her lips, hissed "shhhh", then lay down on her stomach, the boys followed her and crawled the rest of the way on her stomach. Then all three looked down ... And at the foot of the dune they saw a bundle. There was a small ripple around him. And then the boys froze in amazement - the bundle suddenly sang in two voices:

A pie made of moon carrots, a pie made of moon carrots, He will pour strength into the muscles, and he will drive pallor from his cheeks.

A cow, a pig, and a ram, that a tidbit love a piece, Cherish in happy dreams a pie made of moonlit carrots.

Biscuit from moon carrots, biscuit from moon carrots, He will make our spirit burn and strengthen our soul in the struggle.

And a horse, and even a sad looking donkey, Is not averse to chewing a biscuit from moon carrots.

From moon carrot stew, from moon carrot stew, Tastier - well, whatever one may say! - I can't find anything.

And a beautiful swan in the pond, and a proud peacock in the meadow

They'll wither when they're stripped of their mooncarrot stew.

[Poems translated by Y. Gordin]

- Have you heard? Penelope whispered triumphantly. - What did I tell you?

"Unbelievable," Peter muttered. - What is it? Two dwarfs?

“Then they are some kind of especially small dwarfs, if they fit in this bundle,” said Penelope.

“We won't know what it is until we open the package,” Simon reasoned.

“But how do you know if he will be pleased if he is untied?” Peter thought thoughtfully.

“He mentioned something about being released,” Penelope recalled.

"All right, let's ask him," Simon decided. At least he speaks English.

The boy began to descend resolutely and was the first to approach the bundle, which selflessly sang, unaware of anyone's presence:

Moon carrot omelette, moon carrot omelet, He made me a fine fellow, who has no equal.

A baby in wet swaddling clothes and an old man dressed in moss Rejoice when they see an omelet from a moon carrot

Simon cleared his throat.

“Sorry,” he began, “sorry to interrupt you, but…

From moon carrot broth, from moon carrot broth, It is better than a balm for those who are stricken with a serious illness.

Take a good sip and a million microbes die.

Deadly for ailments any of the moon carrot broth.

“Sorry,” Simon tried again, much louder now.

The singing stopped, there was silence.

- What is it? Finally, a small voice rang out in fear.

- SORRY! – this time that there is urine shouted Simon. - Do you want to be untied?

“There you are,” said a raspy voice. I told you it was a voice. Offers us to untie. How cute. Shall we say yes?

The guys closely surrounded the bundle. Simon took out a penknife, carefully cut the thick purple cord, and they began to peel off the paper. Beneath it was what appeared to be a large quilted teapot case, thickly covered with a pattern of leaves and flowers embroidered with gold thread.

“May I take off your…uh…your teapot case?” Simon asked.

– A cover for a teapot? the creaky voice asked indignantly. - No, you heard what ignorance! Is that a teapot cover? This is a protective cape against the night wind and inclement weather, and it is made of natural silk obtained from the rainbow silkworm.

“Oh, sorry,” Simon said. "So you're allowed to take it off?"

There was a kind of metal loop at the top of the case, and Simon grabbed it and yanked off the entire tire. Beneath it was a large, domed, golden cage, furnished with extraordinary elegance with miniature furniture. In addition to two cedar wood perches and a ring, there was a beautiful bed on four posts under a red canopy, covered with a beautiful patchwork bedspread of the smallest motley silk and damask shreds; a small Louis XV style dining table and chair; an elegant glass-fronted cabinet lined with hand-painted porcelain. There hung a large, floor-length mirror in a golden frame, and next to it, a brush and an ivory comb. There was also a very comfortable chaise longue upholstered in bright blue velvet and a mahogany harpsichord.

In the sun lounger, the most amazing parrot, which the guys had never seen, settled down at ease. All purple, gold, green, blue and pink, it sparkled, shone and shimmered like mother-of-pearl. Its large, smooth, hooked beak was black as if carved from coal, and its eyes were violet. But the most amazing thing was the plumage: instead of lying flat, each feather stood up and curled like a poodle's fur. Because of this, he had the appearance of some marvelous flowered tree in the spring, whose buds were poured and were about to burst. On his head was a green silk cap with a long black silk tassel. Next to his deck chair was another small table, and on it was another cage, quite miniature, the size of a thimble. In it sat a golden spider with a jade-green cross on its back. It was clear that the ringing voice belonged to the spider, and the raspy voice belonged to the parrot.

- So that's it! Peter exclaimed.

- "What"? - The parrot even got up in indignation. - "What"?

- Parrot! Penelope rejoiced.

“Just a parrot, just a talking parrot,” Simon added. How did we not guess?

- Well, you know! - the parrot yelled with such bitterness that the children immediately fell silent. - Well, you know! the parrot went on in a quieter voice, pleased to have their attention. - Couldn't there be less of these "simple, ordinary parrots", huh?

“Sorry,” said Penelope. We didn't mean to offend you.

“But offended,” cut off the parrot.

“But you really are an ordinary parrot,” Peter protested.

- Again, again! - angry parrot. - What a stupid, ugly chatter about an "ordinary" parrot. I am an extraordinary parrot!

“We beg your pardon… I’m afraid we don’t understand you,” Penelope said in bewilderment.

“An ordinary parrot can be any, or rather, any parrot,” the parrot explained. But I'm not just anyone, I'm one of a kind. My initials speak quite eloquently about this.

- Initials? Which? Simon asked puzzled.

“Mine,” snapped the parrot. - Well, you ask ridiculous questions!

But what exactly are the initials? Penelope didn't hesitate.

- Decode it yourself. My name is Percival Oscar Peregrine Urban Harold Archibald Ikebod.

- Oh, it turns out "parrot"! Penelope was delighted. - Pretty initials.

“Thank you,” said the parrot modestly. “That's why I'm not just a parrot. I allow you to call me Parrot with a capital letter.

“Thank you,” Penelope replied.

“And this,” he continued, pointing with his wing at the small cage, “is Dulcibella, my housekeeper, the singing spider.”

“Hello,” said Dulcibella.

“Hello,” the children said.

"Hello," repeated the Parrot.

“You know what I’ll say,” Penelope said thoughtfully, “now I understand why you are an extraordinary parrot. Please don't be offended, I just want to say that you speak much better than most other parrots. That is, more meaningful than others, you know? In general, you seem to understand what you are talking about, but other parrots do not.

“Of course I understand,” said the Parrot. “Do you know why other parrots don’t understand what they are saying?”

- Why?

Because they are taught to speak by people. A method to be blamed.

- Well, who taught you? Peter asked.

“The Dictionary taught me,” Parrot answered proudly.

- Vocabulary? Penelope asked incredulously. How can you learn vocabulary?

- How else? - objected the Parrot. - The whole trouble, I repeat, is that most, if not all, parrots are trained by people. And people never explain to them what they teach.

"I didn't think of that," said Peter.

- What normal, reasonable, sane, self-respecting parrot would go on saying “ass fool” all day if he understood what it means? - Parrot's voice trembled with indignation. - What decent, honest, modest, shy, timid bird would pester complete strangers all day long demanding “scratch your ass head” if she knew what that meant?

“Yes, indeed, now I see that it is simply cruel,” Penelope said thoughtfully.

“Yes,” Simon agreed, “it’s like those nasty words that they teach babies: “daddy”, “mommy”, “av-av” and all that.

“Quite right,” said the Parrot triumphantly. - Judge for yourself: what kind of normal baby would turn to every counter representative of artiodactyls “moo-moo”, if he knew who it really was?

Who's representative? Peter didn't understand.

“He means cows,” explained Simon, who knew more buzzwords than Peter.

“No and no,” Parrot continued, “the only way to learn to speak is to learn from the Dictionary. I have been extremely fortunate to have been educated at the hands of a large, friendly, exhaustive Dictionary, essentially one of a kind.

How can one get an education from the hands of a dictionary? Penelope asked incredulously.

“Where I come from,” answered the Parrot, “you can.” This Dictionary is the most humanized book in our area along with the Great Book of Spells and the Trojan Herbal.

“I'm afraid I don't understand again,” said Penelope.

“You are an exceptionally slow-witted, stupid, unintelligent girl,” Parrot got angry, “besides, you are also stubborn, aggressive, inconsistent and illogical.

"I don't think it's necessary to be rude," Peter interjected. He did not understand the meaning of all the words, but he did not like them by ear, and he felt that it was time to speak in defense of his cousin.

- Rudeness? repeated the Parrot. - Rudeness? I don't mean to be rude, I'm just airing some words, they need it so much, poor things. This is my responsibility.

- Are you airing the words? Simon exclaimed. - Like this?

“He is the keeper of words,” Dulcibella suddenly chimed. “This is a very important position.

“When it is required that you intervene, we will warn you. The parrot fixed a withering glance on Dulcibella.

- Sorry. Dulcibella burst into tears. “I only wanted to be useful, I only wanted to praise someone who deserves praise, I wanted to…”

- Will you finally shut up? boomed the Parrot.

- Ah well! Well, please. Dulcibella stepped back into the cage and began powdering her nose. - I'll pout.

“Pout on your health,” snapped the Parrot. “Typical spider behavior.

“So what does it mean to ventilate the words?” Simon repeated.

What does "keeper of words" mean? Peter asked.

“Well, all right,” said the Parrot, “I really am the keeper of words, but let this remain between us. You see, in our region, three books rule everyone's life. Speaking, of course, not like your dull, old-fashioned, everyday books. One is called the Great Book of Spells, the second is the Trojan Herbalist, and the third is the Giant Dictionary. I was brought up by the Dictionary, and, accordingly, I became the keeper of words.

– What should you do? asked Penelope.

“Oh, this is a very important job, believe me. Do you know how many words there are in English?

“Hundreds,” Peter suggested.

“More like thousands,” Simon corrected him.

“Quite right,” said the Parrot. “Actually, two hundred thousand words. Now, the average person uses the same words day after day and day after day.

Then his eyes filled with tears, he pulled a large handkerchief from under his wing and blew his beak.

“Yes,” he continued, sobbing. “What do you think happens to all the unused words?”

- What's happening? Penelope asked, her eyes wide.

“If you don’t look after them,” said Parrot, “if you don’t give them exercise, they wither and disappear, poor things. This is my job: once a year I have to sit down and reread the entire Dictionary aloud so that all the words get their proper exercise. But even during the year I try to use as many words as possible, otherwise one workout a year is not enough for babies. They sit up so much that they simply die of boredom.

- You seem to be going to sulk? The parrot's eyes flashed menacingly.

- I finished. Pouting was delicious, but time is running out.

- What are you trying to say? asked the Parrot irritably.

- And the fact that we can’t sit here all day while you lecture on words. It's time for us to go back. Don't forget we have a lot to do.

- “We have”, “we have a lot of things to do” - I like it! - the Parrot flared up. “You sit in your cage all day long, singing and pouting, and it falls to my lot to manage everything, make important decisions, show miracles of courage and quick wits ...

- You showed great ingenuity, having achieved that we were expelled,

Dulcibella snorted. “I wouldn't call it smart anyway.

“Come on, come on, put all the blame on me!” shouted Parrot. “How was I to guess that the toads would attack at night, eh? How could I know that the toads would pack us in vulgar brown paper and throw us in the river, huh? To listen to you, it was I who incited the basilisks to seize power, oh you ... oh you ... brainless, awkward, stupid spider, oh you ...

"Now I'm going to pout!" squealed Dulcibella, starting to sob again. - I'll pout for an hour. Under the contract, you do not have the right to insult me ​​more than once a week, and today you insulted me twice already.

“All right, all right,” Parrot said in an alarmed tone. - Sorry. Come on, stop pouting. and I'll treat you to blowfly pie when we get back.

- Truth? Do you promise? – Dulcibella cheered up.

“Yes, yes, I promise,” said the Parrot irritably.

“Couldn’t we also have a grasshopper soufflé?” Dulcibella inquired insinuatingly.

“No, you can’t,” said the Parrot.

“Well, well,” Dulcibella sighed, and again began to powder her nose, singing.

- What kind of frogs? Peter asked curiously.

“And basilisks,” said Penelope. - Who are they? And why are you in exile?

- Quiet! shouted Parrot. - Quiet, quiet!

The children were silent.

“So,” Parrot said calmly, “first of all, will you open the door?”

Simon hurriedly took out a penknife, cut the purple string that held the door, and opened it.

"Thank you," said Parrot, going out and climbing up the dome of the cage.

“Look, don’t catch a cold upstairs!” shouted Dulcibella. - You didn't wear a cloak.

Paying no attention to her, Parrot carefully straightened his cap, which had slipped over one eye while he climbed onto the cage, and looked at the children for a long time, looking from one to the other.

“So,” he said at last, “so you want to hear the answers to all these questions, right?

“Yes, please,” Penelope pleaded.

- Can I trust you?

“Of course you can,” Simon said indignantly.

- Okay, so be it. What I'm about to tell you is a closely guarded secret, okay? Not a word to anyone.