Shorties from Flower City. All the adventures of Dunno in one book Shorty from the Flower City
– see all fairy tales https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjwosVN7ibXC_2LCuQChcK_sq5deRDVys– see all fairy tales in verse for children https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjwosVN7ibXBqxqH9RReaI0BcOQqLmwno– watch all foreign fairy tales https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjwosVN7ibXCbzc4JDHzSvSx3CdKObf2u– see all Russian fairy tales CHAPTER ONE SHORTIES FROM THE FLOWER CITY In one fairy-tale city there lived shorties. They were called shorties because they were very small. Each short one was the size of a small cucumber. It was very beautiful in their city. Flowers grew around every house: daisies, daisies, dandelions. There, even the streets were named after flowers: Kolokolchikov Street, Daisies Alley, Vasilkov Boulevard. And the city itself was called the Flower City. He stood on the bank of a stream. The short people called this stream the Cucumber River because many cucumbers grew along the banks of the stream. There was a forest across the river. The short ones made boats from birch bark, swam across the river and went into the forest to pick berries, mushrooms, and nuts. It was difficult to collect the berries, because the short ones were tiny, and to get the nuts you had to climb a tall bush and even carry a saw with you. Not a single short man could pick a nut with his hands - they had to be cut with a saw. Mushrooms were also cut with a saw. They cut the mushroom down to the very roots, then saw it into pieces and drag it home piece by piece. The shorties were not all the same: some of them were called babies, and others were called babies. The kids always wore either long trousers untucked or short pants with waistbands, and the little ones loved to wear dresses made of colorful, bright material. The kids didn’t like to mess with their hair, and that’s why their hair was short, and the little ones had long hair, almost to their waists. The kids loved making different things beautiful hairstyles, hair was braided in long braids and ribbons were woven into the braids, and bows were worn on the head. Many kids were very proud of being kids, and were almost not friends with the kids at all. And the little ones were proud of the fact that they were little ones, and they also didn’t want to be friends with the little ones. If some little girl met a baby on the street, then, seeing him from afar, she immediately crossed to the other side of the street. And she did well, because among the kids there were often those who could not calmly walk past the little one, but would definitely say something offensive to her, even push her, or, even worse, pull her braid. Of course, not all kids were like that, but it wasn’t written on their foreheads, so the little ones thought it was better to cross to the other side of the street in advance and not get caught. For this, many kids called the little ones imaginaries - they’ll come up with such a word! - and many little girls called the kids bullies and other offensive nicknames. Some readers will immediately say that all this is probably fiction, that such babies do not exist in real life. But no one says that they happen in life. In life this is one thing, but in a fairy-tale city it is completely different. Anything can happen in a fairytale city. Sixteen short children lived in one house on Kolokolchikov Street. The most important of them was a short little boy named Znayka. He was nicknamed Znayka because he knew a lot. And he knew a lot because he read different books. These books lay on his table, and under the table, and on the bed, and under the bed. There wasn't a place in his room where there weren't books. Reading books made Znayka very smart. Therefore, everyone obeyed him and loved him very much. He always dressed in a black suit, and when he sat down at the table, put his glasses on his nose and started reading some book, he completely looked like a professor. In the same house lived the famous doctor Pilyulkin, who treated short people for all diseases. He always wore a white robe and wore a white cap with a tassel on his head. The famous mechanic Vintik also lived here with his assistant Shpuntik; lived Sakharin Sakharinich Siropchik, who became famous for being very fond of carbonated...
Chapter 1. Shorties from Flower City
In one fairy-tale city there lived short people. They were called shorties because they were very small. Each short one was the size of a small cucumber. It was very beautiful in their city. Flowers grew around every house: daisies, daisies, dandelions. There, even the streets were named after flowers: Kolokolchikov Street, Daisies Alley, Vasilkov Boulevard. And the city itself was called the Flower City. He stood on the bank of a stream. The short people called this stream the Cucumber River because many cucumbers grew along the banks of the stream.
There was a forest across the river. The short ones made boats from birch bark, swam across the river and went into the forest to buy berries, mushrooms, and nuts. It was difficult to collect the berries, because the short ones were tiny, and to get the nuts you had to climb a tall bush and even carry a saw with you. Not a single short man could pick a nut with his hands - they had to be cut with a saw. Mushrooms were also cut with a saw. They cut the mushroom down to the very roots, then saw it into pieces and drag it home piece by piece.
The shorties were not all the same: some of them were called babies, and others were called babies. The kids always wore either long trousers untucked or short pants with waistbands, and the little ones loved to wear dresses made of colorful, bright material. The kids did not like to fuss with their hairstyles, and therefore their hair was short, and the little ones had long hair, almost to their waists. The little ones loved to do different beautiful hairstyles; they braided their hair in long braids, wove ribbons into the braids, and wore bows on their heads. Many kids were very proud of being kids, and were almost not friends with the kids at all. And the little ones were proud of the fact that they were little ones, and they also didn’t want to be friends with the little ones. If some little girl met a baby on the street, then, seeing him from afar, she immediately crossed to the other side of the street. And she did well, because among the kids there were often those who could not calmly walk past the little one, but would definitely say something offensive to her, even push her, or, even worse, pull her braid. Of course, not all kids were like that, but it wasn’t written on their foreheads, so the little ones thought it was better to cross to the other side of the street in advance and not get caught. For this, many kids called the little ones imaginaries - they’ll come up with such a word! - and many little girls called the kids bullies and other offensive nicknames.
Some readers will immediately say that all this is probably fiction, that such babies do not exist in real life. But no one says that they happen in life. In life this is one thing, but in a fairy-tale city it is completely different. Anything can happen in a fairytale city.
Sixteen short children lived in one house on Kolokolchikov Street. The most important of them was a short little boy named Znayka. He was nicknamed Znayka because he knew a lot. And he knew a lot because he read different books. These books lay on his table, and under the table, and on the bed, and under the bed. There wasn't a place in his room where there weren't books. Reading books made Znayka very smart. Therefore, everyone obeyed him and loved him very much. He always dressed in a black suit, and when he sat down at the table, put his glasses on his nose and started reading some book, he completely looked like a professor.
In the same house lived the famous doctor Pilyulkin, who treated short people for all diseases. He always wore a white robe and wore a white cap with a tassel on his head. The famous mechanic Vintik also lived here with his assistant Shpuntik; lived Sakharin Sakharinich Syrupchik, who became famous for his love of sparkling water with syrup. He was very polite. He liked it when people called him by his first name and patronymic, and did not like it when someone simply called him Syrup. The hunter Pulka also lived in this house. He had a small dog, Bulka, and also had a gun that shot corks. There lived the artist Tube, the musician Guslya and other kids: Toropyzhka, Grumpy, Silent, Donut, Rasteryayka, two brothers - Avoska and Neboska. But the most famous among them was a baby named Dunno. He was nicknamed Dunno because he knew nothing.
This Dunno wore a bright blue hat, canary yellow trousers and an orange shirt with a green tie. He generally loved bright colors. Dressed up as such a parrot, Dunno wandered around the city all day long, composing various fables and telling everyone. In addition, he constantly offended the little ones. Therefore, the little ones, seeing his orange shirt from a distance, immediately turned in the opposite direction and hid in their homes. Dunno had a friend named Gunka, who lived on Daisy Street. Dunno could chat with Gunka for hours. They quarreled among themselves twenty times a day and made peace twenty times a day.
In particular, Dunno became famous after one story.
One day he was walking around the city and wandered into a field. There wasn't a soul around. At this time the cockchafer was flying. He blindly ran into Dunno and hit him on the back of the head. Dunno rolled head over heels to the ground. The beetle immediately flew away and disappeared into the distance. Dunno jumped up, began to look around and see who hit him. But there was no one around.
“Who hit me?” thought Dunno. “Maybe something fell from above?”
He raised his head and looked up, but there was nothing above either. Only the sun shone brightly above Dunno’s head.
“So something fell on me from the sun,” Dunno decided. “A piece probably came off from the sun and hit me on the head.”
He went home and met an acquaintance whose name was Steklyashkin.
This Steklyashkin was a famous astronomer. He knew how to make magnifying glasses from broken bottle shards. When he looked through magnifying glasses at various items, then objects seemed larger. From several such magnifying glasses, Steklyashkin made a large telescope through which one could look at the Moon and the stars. Thus he became an astronomer.
Listen, Steklyashkin,” Dunno told him. “You understand the story: a piece came off from the sun and hit me on the head.”
What you. Dunno! - Steklyashkin laughed. - If a piece came off from the sun, it would crush you into a cake. The sun is very big. It is larger than our entire Earth.
“It can’t be,” answered Dunno. - In my opinion, the sun is no bigger than a plate.
It only seems so to us because the sun is very far from us. The sun is a huge hot ball. I saw this through my pipe. If even a small piece came off from the sun, it would destroy our entire city.
Look! - Dunno answered. - I didn’t even know that the sun was so big. I’ll go tell our people - maybe they haven’t heard about it yet. But you still look at the sun through your pipe: what if it’s actually chipped!
Dunno went home and told everyone he met along the way:
Brothers, do you know what the sun is like? It is larger than our entire Earth. That's what it is! And now, brothers, a piece has broken off from the sun and is flying straight towards us. Soon it will fall and crush us all. It's terrible what will happen! Go ask Steklyashkin.
Everyone laughed because they knew that Dunno was a talker. And Dunno ran home as fast as he could and let’s shout:
Brothers, save yourself! The piece is flying!
What piece? - they ask him.
Piece, brothers! A piece came off from the sun. Soon it will flop - and everyone will be done for. Do you know what the sun is like? It is larger than our entire Earth!
What are you making up?
I'm not making anything up. Steklyashkin said this. He saw through his pipe.
Everyone ran out into the yard and began to look at the sun. They looked and looked until tears flowed from their eyes. It began to seem to everyone, blindly, that the sun was actually pockmarked. And Dunno shouted:
Save yourself who can! Trouble!
Everyone began to grab their things. Tube grabbed his paints and brush, Guslya grabbed his musical instruments. Doctor Pilyulkin rushed around the house and looked for a first aid kit, which was lost somewhere. Donut grabbed galoshes and an umbrella and was already running out the gate, but then Znayka’s voice was heard:
Calm down, brothers! There's nothing wrong. Don't you know that Dunno is a talker? He made it all up.
Made it up? - Dunno shouted. - Go ask Steklyashkin.
Everyone ran to Steklyashkin, and then it turned out that Dunno had actually made up everything. Well, there was a lot of laughter here! Everyone laughed at Dunno and said:
We are surprised how we believed you!
And I don’t seem to be surprised! - Dunno answered. - I believed it myself.
That's how wonderful this Dunno was.
In one fairy-tale city there lived short people. They were called shorties because they were very small. Each short one was the size of a small cucumber. It was very beautiful in their city. Flowers grew around every house: daisies, daisies, dandelions. There, even the streets were named after flowers: Kolokolchikov Street, Daisies Alley, Vasilkov Boulevard. And the city itself was called the Flower City. He stood on the bank of a stream. The short people called this stream the Cucumber River because many cucumbers grew along the banks of the stream.
There was a forest across the river. The short ones made boats from birch bark, swam across the river and went into the forest to buy berries, mushrooms, and nuts. 
It was difficult to collect the berries, because the short ones were tiny, and to get the nuts you had to climb a tall bush and even carry a saw with you. Not a single short man could pick a nut with his hands - they had to be cut with a saw. Mushrooms were also cut with a saw. They cut the mushroom down to the very roots, then saw it into pieces and drag it home piece by piece.
The shorties were not all the same: some of them were called babies, and others were called babies. The kids always wore either long trousers untucked or short pants with waistbands, and the little ones loved to wear dresses made of colorful, bright material. The kids did not like to fuss with their hairstyles, and therefore their hair was short, and the little ones had long hair, almost to their waists. The little ones loved to do different beautiful hairstyles; they braided their hair in long braids, wove ribbons into the braids, and wore bows on their heads. Many kids were very proud of being kids, and were almost not friends with the kids at all. And the little ones were proud of the fact that they were little ones, and they also didn’t want to be friends with the little ones. If some little girl met a baby on the street, then, seeing him from afar, she immediately crossed to the other side of the street. And she did well, because among the kids there were often those who could not calmly walk past the little one, but would definitely say something offensive to her, even push her, or, even worse, pull her braid. Of course, not all kids were like that, but it wasn’t written on their foreheads, so the little ones thought it was better to cross to the other side of the street in advance and not get caught. For this, many kids called the little ones imaginaries - they’ll come up with such a word! - and many little girls called the kids bullies and other offensive nicknames.
Some readers will immediately say that all this is probably fiction, that such babies do not exist in real life. But no one says that they happen in life. In life this is one thing, but in a fairy-tale city it is completely different. Anything can happen in a fairytale city.
Sixteen short children lived in one house on Kolokolchikov Street. The most important of them was a short little boy named Znayka. He was nicknamed Znayka because he knew a lot. And he knew a lot because he read different books. These books lay on his table, and under the table, and on the bed, and under the bed. There wasn't a place in his room where there weren't books. Reading books made Znayka very smart. Therefore, everyone obeyed him and loved him very much. He always dressed in a black suit, and when he sat down at the table, put his glasses on his nose and started reading some book, he completely looked like a professor.
In the same house lived the famous doctor Pilyulkin, who treated short people for all diseases. He always wore a white robe and wore a white cap with a tassel on his head. The famous mechanic Vintik also lived here with his assistant Shpuntik; lived Sakharin Sakharinich Syrupchik, who became famous for his love of sparkling water with syrup. He was very polite. He liked it when people called him by his first name and patronymic, and did not like it when someone simply called him Syrup. The hunter Pulka also lived in this house.
He had a small dog, Bulka, and also had a gun that shot corks. There lived the artist Tube, the musician Guslya and other kids: Toropyzhka, Grumpy, Silent, Donut, Rasteryayka, two brothers - Avoska and Neboska. But the most famous among them was a baby named Dunno. He was nicknamed Dunno because he knew nothing.
This Dunno wore a bright blue hat, canary yellow trousers and an orange shirt with a green tie. He generally loved bright colors. Dressed up as such a parrot, Dunno wandered around the city all day long, composing various fables and telling everyone. In addition, he constantly offended the little ones. Therefore, the little ones, seeing his orange shirt from a distance, immediately turned in the opposite direction and hid in their homes. Dunno had a friend named Gunka, who lived on Daisy Street. Dunno could chat with Gunka for hours. They quarreled among themselves twenty times a day and made peace twenty times a day.
In particular, Dunno became famous after one story.
One day he was walking around the city and wandered into a field. There wasn't a soul around. At this time the cockchafer was flying. He blindly ran into Dunno and hit him on the back of the head. Dunno rolled head over heels to the ground. The beetle immediately flew away and disappeared into the distance. Dunno jumped up, began to look around and see who hit him. But there was no one around.
“Who hit me?” thought Dunno. “Maybe something fell from above?”
He raised his head and looked up, but there was nothing above either. Only the sun shone brightly above Dunno’s head.
“So something fell on me from the sun,” Dunno decided. “Probably a piece came off from the sun and hit me on the head.”
He went home and met an acquaintance whose name was Steklyashkin.
This Steklyashkin was a famous astronomer. He knew how to make magnifying glasses from broken bottle shards. When he looked at different objects through magnifying glasses, the objects seemed larger. From several such magnifying glasses, Steklyashkin made a large telescope through which one could look at the Moon and the stars. Thus he became an astronomer.
“Listen, Steklyashkin,” Dunno told him. “You understand the story: a piece came off from the sun and hit me on the head.”
- What you. Dunno! - Steklyashkin laughed. - If a piece came off from the sun, it would crush you into a cake. The sun is very big. It is larger than our entire Earth. 
“It can’t be,” answered Dunno. - In my opinion, the sun is no bigger than a plate.
- It only seems so to us, because the sun is very far from us. The sun is a huge hot ball. I saw this through my pipe. If even a small piece came off from the sun, it would destroy our entire city.
- Look! - Dunno answered. - I didn’t even know that the sun was so big. I’ll go tell our people - maybe they haven’t heard about it yet. But you still look at the sun through your pipe: what if it’s actually chipped!
Dunno went home and told everyone he met along the way:
- Brothers, do you know what the sun is like? It is larger than our entire Earth. That's what it is! And now, brothers, a piece has broken off from the sun and is flying straight towards us. Soon it will fall and crush us all. It's terrible what will happen! Go ask Steklyashkin.
Everyone laughed because they knew that Dunno was a talker. And Dunno ran home as fast as he could and let’s shout:
- Brothers, save yourself! The piece is flying!
- What piece? - they ask him.
- A piece, brothers! A piece came off from the sun. Soon it will flop - and everyone will be done for. Do you know what the sun is like? It is larger than our entire Earth!
- What are you making up!
- I'm not making anything up. Steklyashkin said this. He saw through his pipe.
Everyone ran out into the yard and began to look at the sun. They looked and looked until tears flowed from their eyes. It began to seem to everyone, blindly, that the sun was actually pockmarked. And Dunno shouted:
- Save yourself who can! Trouble!
Everyone began to grab their things. Tube grabbed his paints and brush, Guslya grabbed his musical instruments. Doctor Pilyulkin rushed around the house and looked for a first aid kit, which was lost somewhere. Donut grabbed galoshes and an umbrella and was already running out the gate, but then Znayka’s voice was heard:
- Calm down, brothers! There's nothing wrong. Don't you know that Dunno is a talker? He made it all up.
- Made it up? - Dunno shouted. - Go ask Steklyashkin.
Everyone ran to Steklyashkin, and then it turned out that Dunno had actually made up everything. Well, there was a lot of laughter here! Everyone laughed at Dunno and said:
- We are surprised how we believed you! - It’s as if I’m not surprised! - Dunno answered. - I believed it myself.
That's how wonderful this Dunno was.
(to be continued)
In one fairy-tale city there lived short people. They were called shorties because they were very small. Each short one was the size of a small cucumber. It was very beautiful in their city. Flowers grew around every house: daisies, daisies, dandelions. There, even the streets were named after flowers: Kolokolchikov Street, Daisies Alley, Vasilkov Boulevard. And the city itself was called the Flower City. He stood on the bank of a stream. The short people called this stream the Cucumber River because many cucumbers grew along the banks of the stream.
There was a forest across the river. The short ones made boats from birch bark, swam across the river and went into the forest to buy berries, mushrooms, and nuts. It was difficult to collect the berries, because the short ones were tiny, and to get the nuts you had to climb a tall bush and even carry a saw with you. Not a single short man could pick a nut with his hands - they had to be cut with a saw. Mushrooms were also cut with a saw. They cut the mushroom down to the very roots, then saw it into pieces and drag it home piece by piece.
The shorties were not all the same: some of them were called babies, and others were called babies. The kids always wore either long trousers untucked or short pants with waistbands, and the little ones loved to wear dresses made of colorful, bright material. The kids did not like to fuss with their hairstyles, and therefore their hair was short, and the little ones had long hair, almost to their waists. The little ones loved to do different beautiful hairstyles; they braided their hair in long braids, wove ribbons into the braids, and wore bows on their heads. Many kids were very proud of being kids, and were almost not friends with the kids at all. And the little ones were proud of the fact that they were little ones, and they also didn’t want to be friends with the little ones. If some little girl met a baby on the street, then, seeing him from afar, she immediately crossed to the other side of the street. And she did well, because among the kids there were often those who could not calmly walk past the little one, but would definitely say something offensive to her, even push her, or, even worse, pull her braid. Of course, not all kids were like that, but it wasn’t written on their foreheads, so the little ones thought it was better to cross to the other side of the street in advance and not get caught. For this, many kids called the little ones imaginaries - they’ll come up with such a word! - and many little girls called the kids bullies and other offensive nicknames.
Some readers will immediately say that all this is probably fiction, that such babies do not exist in real life. But no one says that they happen in life. In life this is one thing, but in a fairy-tale city it is completely different. Anything can happen in a fairytale city.
Sixteen short children lived in one house on Kolokolchikov Street. The most important of them was a short little boy named Znayka. He was nicknamed Znayka because he knew a lot. And he knew a lot because he read different books. These books lay on his table, and under the table, and on the bed, and under the bed. There wasn't a place in his room where there weren't books. Reading books made Znayka very smart. Therefore, everyone obeyed him and loved him very much. He always dressed in a black suit, and when he sat down at the table, put his glasses on his nose and started reading some book, he completely looked like a professor.
In the same house lived the famous doctor Pilyulkin, who treated short people for all diseases. He always wore a white robe and wore a white cap with a tassel on his head. The famous mechanic Vintik also lived here with his assistant Shpuntik; lived Sakharin Sakharinich Syrupchik, who became famous for his love of sparkling water with syrup. He was very polite. He liked it when people called him by his first name and patronymic, and did not like it when someone simply called him Syrup. The hunter Pulka also lived in this house. He had a small dog, Bulka, and also had a gun that shot corks. There lived the artist Tube, the musician Guslya and other kids: Toropyzhka, Grumpy, Silent, Donut, Rasteryayka, two brothers - Avoska and Neboska. But the most famous among them was a baby named Dunno. He was nicknamed Dunno because he knew nothing.
This Dunno wore a bright blue hat, canary yellow trousers and an orange shirt with a green tie. He generally loved bright colors. Dressed up as such a parrot, Dunno wandered around the city all day long, composing various fables and telling everyone. In addition, he constantly offended the little ones. Therefore, the little ones, seeing his orange shirt from a distance, immediately turned in the opposite direction and hid in their homes. Dunno had a friend named Gunka, who lived on Daisy Street. Dunno could chat with Gunka for hours. They quarreled among themselves twenty times a day and made peace twenty times a day.
In particular, Dunno became famous after one story.
One day he was walking around the city and wandered into a field. There wasn't a soul around. At this time the cockchafer was flying. He blindly ran into Dunno and hit him on the back of the head. Dunno rolled head over heels to the ground. The beetle immediately flew away and disappeared into the distance. Dunno jumped up, began to look around and see who hit him. But there was no one around.
“Who hit me?” thought Dunno. “Maybe something fell from above?”
He raised his head and looked up, but there was nothing above either. Only the sun shone brightly above Dunno’s head.
“So something fell on me from the sun,” Dunno decided. “A piece probably came off from the sun and hit me on the head.”
He went home and met an acquaintance whose name was Steklyashkin.
This Steklyashkin was a famous astronomer. He knew how to make magnifying glasses from broken bottle shards. When he looked at different objects through magnifying glasses, the objects seemed larger. From several such magnifying glasses, Steklyashkin made a large telescope through which one could look at the Moon and the stars. Thus he became an astronomer.
Listen, Steklyashkin,” Dunno told him. “You understand the story: a piece came off from the sun and hit me on the head.”
What you. Dunno! - Steklyashkin laughed. - If a piece came off from the sun, it would crush you into a cake. The sun is very big. It is larger than our entire Earth.
“It can’t be,” answered Dunno. - In my opinion, the sun is no bigger than a plate.
It only seems so to us because the sun is very far from us. The sun is a huge hot ball. I saw this through my pipe. If even a small piece came off from the sun, it would destroy our entire city.
Look! - Dunno answered. - I didn’t even know that the sun was so big. I’ll go tell our people - maybe they haven’t heard about it yet. But you still look at the sun through your pipe: what if it’s actually chipped!
Dunno went home and told everyone he met along the way:
Brothers, do you know what the sun is like? It is larger than our entire Earth. That's what it is! And now, brothers, a piece has broken off from the sun and is flying straight towards us. Soon it will fall and crush us all. It's terrible what will happen! Go ask Steklyashkin.
Everyone laughed because they knew that Dunno was a talker. And Dunno ran home as fast as he could and let’s shout:
Brothers, save yourself! The piece is flying!
What piece? - they ask him.
Piece, brothers! A piece came off from the sun. Soon it will flop - and everyone will be done for. Do you know what the sun is like? It is larger than our entire Earth!
What are you making up?
I'm not making anything up. Steklyashkin said this. He saw through his pipe.
Everyone ran out into the yard and began to look at the sun. They looked and looked until tears flowed from their eyes. It began to seem to everyone, blindly, that the sun was actually pockmarked. And Dunno shouted:
Save yourself who can! Trouble!
Everyone began to grab their things. Tube grabbed his paints and brush, Guslya grabbed his musical instruments. Doctor Pilyulkin rushed around the house and looked for a first aid kit, which was lost somewhere. Donut grabbed galoshes and an umbrella and was already running out the gate, but then Znayka’s voice was heard:
Calm down, brothers! There's nothing wrong. Don't you know that Dunno is a talker? He made it all up.
Made it up? - Dunno shouted. - Go ask Steklyashkin.
Everyone ran to Steklyashkin, and then it turned out that Dunno had actually made up everything. Well, there was a lot of laughter here! Everyone laughed at Dunno and said:
We are surprised how we believed you!
And I don’t seem to be surprised! - Dunno answered. - I believed it myself.
That's how wonderful this Dunno was.
In one fairy-tale city there lived short people. They were called shorties because they were very small. Each short one was the size of a small cucumber. It was very beautiful in their city. Flowers grew around every house: daisies, daisies, dandelions. There, even the streets were named after flowers: Kolokolchikov Street, Daisies Alley, Vasilkov Boulevard. And the city itself was called the Flower City. He stood on the bank of a stream. The short people called this stream the Cucumber River because many cucumbers grew along the banks of the stream.
There was a forest across the river. The short ones made boats from birch bark, swam across the river and went into the forest to pick berries, mushrooms, and nuts. It was difficult to collect the berries, because the short ones were tiny, and to get the nuts you had to climb a tall bush and even carry a saw with you. Not a single short man could pick a nut with his hands - they had to be cut with a saw. Mushrooms were also cut with a saw. They cut the mushroom down to the very roots, then saw it into pieces and drag it home piece by piece.
The little ones were not all the same: some of them were called babies, while others were called babies. The kids always wore either long trousers untucked or short pants with waistbands, and the little ones loved to wear dresses made of colorful, bright material. The kids didn’t like to mess with their hair, and that’s why their hair was short, and the little ones had long hair, almost to their waists. The little ones loved to do different beautiful hairstyles; they braided their hair in long braids, wove ribbons into the braids, and wore bows on their heads. Many kids were very proud of being kids, and were almost not friends with the kids at all. And the little ones were proud of the fact that they were little ones, and they also didn’t want to be friends with the little ones. If some little girl met a baby on the street, then, seeing him from afar, she immediately crossed to the other side of the street. And she did well, because among the kids there were often those who could not calmly walk past the little one, but would definitely say something offensive to her, even push her, or, even worse, pull her braid. Of course, not all kids were like that, but it wasn’t written on their foreheads, so the little ones thought it was better to cross to the other side of the street in advance and not get caught. For this, many kids called the little ones imaginaries - they’ll come up with such a word! - and many little girls called the kids bullies and other offensive nicknames.
Some readers will immediately say that all this is probably fiction, that such babies do not exist in real life. But no one says that they happen in life. In life this is one thing, but in a fairy-tale city it is completely different. Anything can happen in a fairytale city.
Sixteen short children lived in one house on Kolokolchikov Street. The most important of them was a short little boy named Znayka. He was nicknamed Znayka because he knew a lot. And he knew a lot because he read different books. These books lay on his table, and under the table, and on the bed, and under the bed. There wasn't a place in his room where there weren't books. Reading books made Znayka very smart. Therefore, everyone obeyed him and loved him very much. He always dressed in a black suit, and when he sat down at the table, put his glasses on his nose and started reading some book, he completely looked like a professor.
In the same house lived the famous doctor Pilyulkin, who treated short people for all diseases. He always wore a white robe and wore a white cap with a tassel on his head. The famous mechanic Vintik also lived here with his assistant Shpuntik; lived Sakharin Sakharinich Syrupchik, who became famous for his love of sparkling water with syrup. He was very polite. He liked it when people called him by his first name and patronymic, and did not like it when someone simply called him Syrup. The hunter Pulka also lived in this house. He had a small dog, Bulka, and also had a gun that shot corks. There lived the artist Tube, the musician Guslya and other kids: Toropyzhka, Grumpy, Silent, Donut, Rasteryayka, two brothers - Avoska and Neboska. But the most famous among them was a baby named Dunno. He was nicknamed Dunno because he knew nothing.
This Dunno wore a bright blue hat, canary yellow trousers and an orange shirt with a green tie. He generally loved bright colors. Dressed up as such a parrot, Dunno wandered around the city all day long, composing various fables and telling everyone. In addition, he constantly offended the little ones. Therefore, the little ones, seeing his orange shirt from a distance, immediately turned in the opposite direction and hid in their homes. Dunno had a friend named Gunka, who lived on Daisy Street. Dunno could chat with Gunka for hours. They quarreled among themselves twenty times a day and made peace twenty times a day.
In particular, Dunno became famous after one story.
One day he was walking around the city and wandered into a field. There wasn't a soul around. At this time the cockchafer was flying. He blindly ran into Dunno and hit him on the back of the head. Dunno rolled head over heels to the ground. The beetle immediately flew away and disappeared into the distance. Dunno jumped up, began to look around and see who hit him. But there was no one around.
“Who hit me? - thought Dunno. “Maybe something fell from above?”
He raised his head and looked up, but there was nothing above either. Only the sun shone brightly above Dunno’s head.
“So something fell on me from the sun,” Dunno decided. “A piece of the sun probably came off and hit me on the head.”
He went home and met an acquaintance whose name was Steklyashkin.
This Steklyashkin was a famous astronomer. He knew how to make magnifying glasses from fragments of broken bottles. When he looked at different objects through magnifying glasses, the objects seemed larger. From several such magnifying glasses, Steklyashkin made a large telescope through which one could look at the Moon and the stars. Thus he became an astronomer.
“Listen, Steklyashkin,” Dunno told him. “You understand what happened: a piece of the sun came off and hit me on the head.”
- What you. Dunno! – Steklyashkin laughed. “If a piece came off from the sun, it would crush you into a cake.” The sun is very big. It is larger than our entire Earth.
“It can’t be,” answered Dunno. - In my opinion, the sun is no bigger than a plate.
– It only seems so to us, because the sun is very far from us. The sun is a huge hot ball. I saw this through my pipe. If even a small piece came off from the sun, it would destroy our entire city.
- Look! - Dunno answered. “I didn’t even know the sun was so big.” I’ll go tell our people - maybe they haven’t heard about it yet. But you still look at the sun through your pipe: what if it’s actually chipped!
Dunno went home and told everyone he met along the way:
- Brothers, do you know what the sun is like? It is larger than our entire Earth. That's what it is! And now, brothers, a piece has broken off from the sun and is flying straight towards us. Soon it will fall and crush us all. It's terrible what will happen! Go ask Steklyashkin.
Everyone laughed because they knew that Dunno was a talker. And Dunno ran home as fast as he could and let’s shout:
- Brothers, save yourself! The piece is flying!
- What piece? - they ask him.
- A piece, brothers! A piece came off from the sun. Soon it will flop - and everyone will be done for. Do you know what the sun is like? It is larger than our entire Earth!
-What are you making up?
– I’m not making anything up. Steklyashkin said this. He saw through his pipe.
Everyone ran out into the yard and began to look at the sun. We looked and looked until tears flowed from our eyes. It began to seem to everyone, blindly, that the sun was actually pockmarked. And Dunno shouted:
- Save yourself who can! Trouble!