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Smart dog Sonya,

or Rules of good manners for small dogs

Andrey Alekseevich Usachev

Everything has been read, checked, corrected and approved by the dog Sonya.

I put my paw to this.

ROYAL MOG

In one city, on one street, in one house, in apartment No. 66, there lived a small but very smart dog, Sonya.

Sonya had black shiny eyes and long, princess-like eyelashes and a neat ponytail, which she fanned herself with.

And she also had an owner, whose name was Ivan Ivanovich Korolev.

Therefore, living in next apartment poet Tim Sobakin nicknamed her the royal mongrel.

And the rest thought that this was such a breed.

And the dog Sonya thought so too.

And the other dogs thought so too.

And even Ivan Ivanovich Korolev thought so too. Although he knew his last name better than others.

Every day Ivan Ivanovich went to work, and the dog Sonya sat alone in her sixty-sixth royal apartment and was terribly bored.

That's probably why all sorts of interesting things happened to her.

After all, when it becomes very boring, you always want to do something interesting.

And when you want to do something interesting, something will definitely work out.

And when something works out, you always start to think: how did it happen?

And when you start to think, for some reason you become smarter.

And why - no one knows.

That's why the dog Sonya was a very smart dog

WHO MADE THE PUDDLE?

When the little dog Sonya was not yet a smart dog Sonya, but was a small smart puppy, she often peed in the hallway.

The owner Ivan Ivanovich was very angry, poked Sonya’s nose into the puddle and said:

- Who made the puddle? Who made the puddle? Well-mannered dogs,” he added, “should be patient and not make puddles in the apartment!”

The dog Sonya, of course, didn’t like this terribly. And instead of being patient, she tried to quietly do this thing on the carpet, because there are no puddles left on the carpet.

But one day they went out for a walk, and little Sonya saw a huge puddle in front of the entrance.

“Who made such a huge puddle?” - Sonya was surprised.

And behind it she saw a second puddle, even larger than the first. And behind her the third...

“It must be an elephant!” - the smart dog Sonya guessed. “How long did he endure!” - she thought with respect...

And since then I stopped writing in the apartment.

“HELLO, THANK YOU AND GOODBYE!”

Once on the stairs, a small dog Sonya was stopped by an elderly unfamiliar dachshund.

“All well-mannered dogs,” the dachshund said sternly, “must say hello when they meet.” Saying hello means saying “hello”, “hello” or “good afternoon” - and wagging your tail!

- Hello! - said Sonya, who, of course, really wanted to be a well-mannered dog, and, wagging her tail, ran on.

But before she had time to reach the middle of the dachshund, which turned out to be incredibly long, she was called out again.

“All well-mannered dogs,” said the dachshund, “should be polite and, if they are given a bone, candy or helpful advice, say “thank you”!

- Thank you! - said Sonya, who, of course, really wanted to be a polite and well-mannered dog, and ran on.

But as soon as she reached the taxi’s tail, she heard from behind:

— All well-mannered dogs should know the rules of good manners and say “goodbye” when parting!

- Goodbye! - Sonya shouted and, pleased that she now knows the rules of good manners, rushed to catch up with the owner.

From that day on, the dog Sonya became terribly polite and, running past unfamiliar dogs, she always said:

- Hello, thank you and goodbye!

It’s a pity that the dogs she came across were the most ordinary ones. And many ended before she had time to say everything.

WHAT'S BETTER?

The dog Sonya sat near the playground and thought, what is better - to be big or small?...

“On the one hand,” thought the dog Sonya, “it’s much better to be big: cats are afraid of you, and dogs are afraid of you, and even passers-by are afraid of you... But on the other hand,” thought Sonya, “it’s also better to be small, because no one he is not afraid or afraid of you and everyone is playing with you. And if you are big, they must lead you on a leash and put a muzzle on you...”

Just at this time, a huge and angry bulldog Max was passing by the site.

“Tell me,” Sonya asked him politely, “is it very unpleasant when they put a muzzle on you?”

For some reason this question made Max terribly angry. He growled, rushed off the leash and, knocking over his owner, chased after Sonya.

"Oh oh oh! - thought the dog Sonya, hearing a menacing sniffle behind her. Still, it’s better to be big!..."

Fortunately, on the way they met kindergarten. Sonya saw a hole in the fence and quickly ducked into it.

The bulldog just couldn’t get through the hole - and only puffed loudly from the other side like a steam locomotive...

“It’s still good to be little,” thought the dog Sonya. - If I were big, I would never have slipped through such a small gap...

But if I were big,” she thought, “why would I even climb here?”

But since Sonya was a small dog, she still decided that it was better to be small.

Let the big dogs decide for themselves!

On May 26, on the stage of the House of Culture, a performance was presented at the Kholmsk children's art school based on the stories of Andrei Usachev, “The Stories of the Little Dog Sonya” (directed by O.N. Pozdnyakova). Andrey Usachev is one of the most amazing and inventive modern poets, rare in their talent. Good story about the life of a smart little dog who lives with its owner Ivan Ivanovich. Sonya is an extraordinary dog: she can think and speak. And funny and amusing stories often happen to her. But thanks to her intelligence and resourcefulness, she finds a way out of any situation. Every day Ivan Ivanovich goes to work, and Sonya sits alone and is bored. She thinks a lot and considers herself a very smart dog. Often Sonya begins to come up with some kind of interesting activity. One day, she was sitting on the windowsill and looking at the street through binoculars. Another time, she decided to go fishing at home. With her thoughts and actions, the dog Sonya reminds small child who begins to know the world. The performance is very interesting, funny and even educational. The children enjoyed watching the mischievous performance, full of good humor, and fell in love with the dog Sonya.

HOW SONYA LOST EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD

One day Ivan Ivanovich went to the store, and Sonya ordered to sit and wait for him at the entrance. Sonya sat, sat, waited, waited, and suddenly thought:
“Why am I waiting for him here? Since he entered through the entrance, he must leave through the exit!” - and ran to the exit.
She sat, sat, waited, waited - but the owner did not come out.
“Of course,” thought smart Sonya. “Why would he go through the exit if he left me at the entrance?” - and ran back to the entrance.
But Ivan Ivanovich was not at the entrance.
“Strange,” thought smart Sonya. “He probably didn’t find me and went back to the store!” - and ran to the store. She sniffed all the counters and barked at all the lines, but did not find Ivan Ivanovich.
“I see,” said smart Sonya. - Probably, while I’m looking for him here, he’s looking for me at the exit!
But again there was no one at the exit.
"Oh oh oh! - thought Sonya. “It seems that Ivan Ivanovich is lost.”
She looked around in confusion and suddenly saw the sign “Lost and Found”.
“Sorry,” she turned to the old woman sitting behind the partition. - My owner has disappeared.
“They don’t bring owners to us,” said the old woman. - A suitcase or a watch is a different matter. Have you ever lost your watch?
“No,” said Sonya. - I do not have them.
“It’s a pity,” said the old woman. - If you had a watch and you lost it, we would definitely find it. As for the owner, contact the police.
Sonya left the bureau terribly upset and immediately saw a policeman: he stood at the intersection and whistled shrilly on his whistle.
“Af-af, comrade sergeant,” Sonya turned to him, “my master has disappeared.”
The policeman was so surprised that he even stopped whistling.
- What is the name, patronymic, surname of the missing person? - he asked, taking out a notepad.
“Ivan Ivanovich...” Sonya was confused. - I didn’t ask for his last name.
“It’s bad,” said the policeman. - Do you know where he lives?
- I know! - Sonya was delighted. - We are living...
And then Sonya realized that together with her owner she had lost everything: the apartment, the house, the street... and everything, everything in the world!
“I don’t know...” she said, almost crying. What should I do?
“Advertise in the evening newspaper,” the policeman advised her and showed her the house in which the editorial office was located.
- What have you lost? - they asked Sonya in the window with the inscription: I will find (there were three more windows nearby: I will buy, sell and lose).
“That’s it,” said Sonya. - Write: The little dog Sonya lost her owner Ivan Ivanovich, along with a beautiful one-room apartment, a twelve-story brick house, a cozy courtyard with a flower bed, a playground, a trash can and a fence under which she is buried... Under which she is buried, do not write. You never know what will pop into someone’s head! - said Sonya. - And also a large street with a “Products” store, an ice cream stall, the janitor Sedov with...
- Enough! - they said at the window. - There isn't enough space for everyone.
There was very little space in the newspaper, and the ad turned out to be very short:
“The little dog Sonya got lost. A reward has been promised."
In the evening, Ivan Ivanovich ran to the editorial office.
- Who gets the reward? - he asked looking around.
- To me! - said the dog Sonya modestly. And I got a whole jar of cherry jam at home.
Sonya was very pleased and even wanted to get lost one more time... But she learned the owner's name and address by heart. Because without this, you can really lose everything in the world.

HOW SONYA TURNS INTO A TREE

Autumn has come. The flowers on the lawn withered, the cats hid in the basements, and large wet puddles appeared in the yard.
Along with the weather, Ivan Ivanovich also deteriorated. He told everyone passing by that Sonya had dirty paws (which is why no one wanted to play with her). Moreover, after every walk he drove Sonya into the bath and washed her there with shampoo. (This is such a disgusting thing, after which it stings the eyes terribly, and foam comes out of the mouth.)
And one day the dog Sonya discovered that the cabinet in which the jam was stored was locked. This outraged her so much that Sonya decided to run away from home forever...
In the evening, when she and Ivan Ivanovich were walking in the park, she ran away to the farthest end of the park. But I didn’t know what to do next.
It was cold and dreary all around.
Sonya sat down under a tree and began to think.
“It’s good to be a tree,” she thought. - The trees are large and are not afraid of the cold. If I were a tree, I would also live on the street and never return home.”
Then a wet and cold beetle fell on her nose.
- Brr! - Sonya shuddered and suddenly thought: “Or maybe I’m becoming a tree, since beetles are crawling on me?”
Then the wind blew... And a big one fell on her head. Maple Leaf. Behind him is another. Third...
“So it is,” Sonya thought. “I’m starting to turn into a tree!”
Soon the dog Sonya was covered with leaves like a small bush.
Having warmed up, she began to dream about how she would grow big, big: like a birch tree, or an oak tree, or something else...
“I wonder what kind of tree I will grow up to be? - she thought. - It would be nice, something edible: for example, an apple tree or, better yet, a cherry... I’ll pick the cherries off myself and eat them. If I want, I’ll make myself a whole bucket of jam and I’ll also eat as much as I want!”
Then Sonya imagined that she was a big beautiful cherry tree, and below, under her, little Ivan Ivanovich was standing and speaking.
“Sonya,” he says, “give me some cherries.” “I won’t,” she will tell him. “Why did you hide the jam from me in the closet?!”
- So-nya!.. So-nya! - was heard nearby.
“Yeah! - thought Sonya. “I wanted cherries... It would be nice if I had a couple more branches with sausages growing!”
Soon Ivan Ivanovich appeared between the trees. So sad that Sonya even felt sorry for him.
“I wonder if he recognizes me or not?” - she thought and suddenly - two steps away - she saw a nasty crow, looking suspiciously in her direction.
Sonya hated crows - and with horror imagined how this crow would sit on her head or even build a nest on her, and then begin to peck at her sausages.
- Shoo! - Sonya waved her branches. And from a large cherry-sausage tree it turned into a small trembling dog.
The first large flakes of snow were falling outside the window.
Sonya lay pressed against the warm radiator and thought: about the frosts announced on the radio, about cats that love to climb trunks, and about the fact that trees have to sleep standing up... But for some reason she was very sorry that she was never able to become a real tree.
The water in the battery gurgled quietly, like spring.
“Probably it’s just the weather... it’s not the season,” thought the dog Sonya as she fell asleep. - Well, nothing... let's wait until spring!

AND WHAT HAPPENED THEN?

Sonya really liked reading books. But she really didn’t like that all books ended the same way: The End.
- What happened then? - asked Sonya. - When the wolf’s belly was cut open and Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother got out of there alive and unharmed?
“Then?..” the owner wondered. “My grandmother probably sewed her a wolf fur coat.”
- And then?
“And then...” Ivan Ivanovich wrinkled his forehead, “then the prince married Little Red Riding Hood, and they lived happily ever after.”
- And then?
- Don't know. Leave me alone! - Ivan Ivanovich was angry. - Nothing happened afterwards!
Sonya went offended to her corner and thought.
“How can this be,” she thought. - It can’t be that nothing happened afterwards! Did anything happen afterwards?!”
One day, while rummaging through Ivan Ivanovich’s desk (this is the most interesting place in the world except for the refrigerator), Sonya found a large red folder on which was written:

"Stupid dog Sonya,
or Rules of good manners
for small dogs"

Is this really about me? - she was surprised.
- But why - stupid? - Sonya was offended. She crossed out the word stupid, wrote - smart - and sat down to read the stories.
For some reason the last story turned out to be unfinished.
- What happened then? - Sonya asked when Ivan Ivanovich returned home.
“Then?” he thought. - Then the dog Sonya took first place in the Miss Mongrel competition and received a gold chocolate medal.
- This is good! - Sonya was delighted. - And then?
- And then she had puppies: two black, two white and one red.
- Oh, how interesting! So what then?
- And then the owner got so angry that she was climbing into his table without permission and pestering him with stupid questions, that he took a large one...
- No! - screamed the smart dog Sonya. - It didn’t happen like that later. All. End.
- Well, that's great! - said a satisfied Ivan Ivanovich. And moving closer to the desk, he finished the last story like this:

AND WHAT HAPPENED THEN?

The smart dog Sonya asked from under the sofa.

Chapters

ROYAL MOG

In one city, on one street, in one house, in apartment number sixty-six, there lived a small but very smart dog, Sonya. Sonya had black shiny eyes and long, princess-like eyelashes and a neat ponytail, which she fanned herself with like a fan.

And she also had an owner, whose name was Ivan Ivanovich Korolev.

That’s why the poet Tim Sobakin, who lived in the next apartment, nicknamed her the royal mongrel.

And the rest thought that this was such a breed.

And the dog Sonya thought so too.

And the other dogs thought so too.

And even Ivan Ivanovich Korolev thought so too. Although he knew his last name better than others.

Every day Ivan Ivanovich went to work, and the dog Sonya sat alone in her sixty-sixth royal apartment and was terribly bored.

This is probably why all sorts of interesting stories happened to her.

After all, when it becomes very boring, you always want to do something interesting.

And when you want to do something interesting, something will definitely work out.

And when something works out, you always start to think, how did it happen?

And when you start to think, for some reason you become smarter.

And why - no one knows! That's why the dog Sonya was a very smart dog.

“HELLO, THANK YOU AND GOODBYE!”

Once on the stairs, a small dog Sonya was stopped by an elderly unfamiliar dachshund.

“All well-mannered dogs,” the dachshund said sternly, “must say hello when they meet.” Saying hello means saying: “Hello!”, “Hello” or “Good afternoon” - and wagging your tail.

- Hello! - said Sonya, who, of course, really wanted to be a well-mannered dog, and, wagging her tail, ran on.

But before she had time to reach the middle of the dachshund, which turned out to be incredibly long, she was called out again.

“All well-mannered dogs,” said the dachshund, “should be polite and, if they are given a bone, candy or useful advice, say: “Thank you!”

- Thank you! - said Sonya, who, of course, really wanted to be a polite and well-mannered dog, and ran on.

But as soon as she reached the taxi’s tail, she heard from behind:

- All well-mannered dogs should know the rules of good manners and when parting, say: “Goodbye!”

- Goodbye! - Sonya shouted and, pleased that she now knows the rules of good manners, rushed to catch up with the owner.

From that day on, the dog Sonya became terribly polite and, running past unfamiliar dogs, she always said:

- Hello, thank you and goodbye!

It’s a pity that the dogs she came across were the most ordinary ones. And many ended before she had time to say everything.

WHAT'S BETTER?

The dog Sonya sat near the playground and thought: what is better - to be big or small?..

“On the one hand,” thought the dog Sonya, “being big is much better: cats are afraid of you, and dogs are afraid of you, and even passers-by are afraid of you...

But on the other hand, Sonya thought, it’s also better to be small. Because no one is afraid or afraid of you, and everyone is playing with you. And if you are big, they must lead you on a leash and put a muzzle on you...”

Just at this time, a huge and angry bulldog Max was passing by the site.

“Tell me,” Sonya asked him politely, “is it very unpleasant when they put a muzzle on you?”

For some reason this question made Max terribly angry. He growled menacingly, rushed off the leash... and, knocking over his owner, chased after Sonya.

"Oh oh oh! - thought the dog Sonya, hearing a menacing sniffle behind her. “Still, it’s better to be big!”

Fortunately, on the way they met a kindergarten. Sonya saw a hole in the fence and quickly ducked into it.

The bulldog couldn’t get through the hole - and only puffed loudly from the other side, like a steam locomotive...

“It’s still good to be little,” thought the dog Sonya. - If I were big, I would never have slipped through such a small gap...

But if I were big,” she thought, “why would I even climb here?”

But since Sonya was a small dog, she still decided that it was better to BE SMALL.

Let the big dogs decide for themselves!

BONE

One evening Sonya was sitting on the balcony and eating cherries.

“In two years,” thought the dog Sonya, spitting the seeds down, “a cherry grove will grow here, and I will pick cherries right from the balcony...”

But then one bone accidentally flew into the collar of a passerby.

- What is it?! — the passerby got angry and looked up.

- Oh! - Sonya got scared and hid behind a box of seedlings.

Sonya sat behind the box and waited. But the passer-by did not leave and was also waiting for something.

“He probably wants a cherry,” the smart Sonya guessed. “I would also be offended if someone ate cherries and threw me the pits...”

And quietly threw down a whole handful of cherries.

A passer-by picked up the berries, but for some reason did not eat them, but began to swear.

“Probably it’s not enough for him,” Sonya thought. And she threw the whole bowl down.

The passerby grabbed the bowl and ran away.

“Ugh, what a rude person,” thought the dog Sonya. “I didn’t even say thank you!”

But a minute later the passerby returned.

And a policeman also came for him. And then another passer-by stopped near them and, having learned that cherries were being thrown here, he also raised his head and also began to wait...

One day I looked out the window and saw two dogs fighting in the street. They bit and tore each other. One was fierce, the second was older, but seemingly harmless.
Suddenly the fierce one bit the old one until it bled. I was scared, but the old one didn’t show that she was in pain. She attacked the fierce one and bit her just as hard.
To be honest, I was more rooting for the old one. The ferocious one was younger and more dangerous.
The dogs tormented each other until they bled.
But suddenly someone called me and I walked away. Soon, when I returned to the window, this is what I saw there: the old one was lying on the asphalt in a pool of blood. I concluded that the fierce one had won.
When I approached the window in the evening, the old one was no longer there, there was only a pool of blood and a chain of bloody paws on the asphalt. So the old one is alive

Once upon a time there was a dog Sonya. She had an owner. He rarely gave leftovers of his food to eat. She often went hungry and was sad all the time because she was very bored. One day, Sonya returned from a walk with a bone that she found in the yard. The dog was afraid that the owner would take her treasure away from her. But he saw the pet running around the apartment and leaving dirty dirt. Then the owner took the bone from her and kicked her out into the street. Sonya was all dirty and hungry. She walked around the yard for a long time, hoping that one of the owner’s friends would remember her and take her into a warm home. The dog hung around the yard until nightfall, but no one noticed it. She decided to spend the night under the hill and go to the city center in the morning. In the morning she was already walking along the main street of the city. A gray-haired man walked nearby. He was the only one who noticed her and picked her up. “You are so beautiful! You have such long fur! I will wash you, feed you and shelter you,” said the man. He brought me to his apartment. It was so beautiful there! Sonya ate as many as three sausages! I washed myself under warm water and fell asleep on a soft pillow in a small dog house. I have never met a better owner!