Green Lomb School Part 1
Autumn has arrived and the new school year has begun at the Green Lomb Forest School.
There was a lot of excitement among the third graders as they knew that a new teacher was coming this year. They put their heads together and wondered what she would be like: kind, strict?
Is she like Aunt Cinca, who has been feared by students for thirty years? Small in stature and never even raising her voice, the piercing glance of her black button eyes and the frowning twitch of her moustache make even the most unruly of schoolboys cringe.
Soon a graceful young lady entered the room on long, slender legs.
- Good morning! I am Aunt Zike. "I'm going to teach you from now on," she looked around with a smile.
The children relaxed a little at the mention of their beloved teacher. He used to wait at the classroom door for the shy little first graders, and for two years they learned a lot from him. He gave them not only the curriculum, but also a love of school and learning.
He looked at them with such a twinkle in his eye, such a mischievous smile, and could talk so interestingly and enthusiastically about the dullest things, that their attention rarely wandered, they just soaked up the knowledge. They were very sad when they had to part with him. Even Uncle Rabbit's ears, reaching for the sky, drooped as he hugged them in turn.
- "I decided not to start learning today, but rather to get to know each other, play and make friends," continued Aunt Zike. - I'm only giving you one task: write an essay about yourselves and your family. What you like to do in your free time, how you spent your summer holidays. Think of it as writing a letter to a friend. You don't have to rush, you have two weeks.
Time flew by, Aunt Zike played all day, laughing, talking to them sweetly, her big brown eyes shining.
In the afternoon the children hurried home happily kicking the fallen leaves. Nüsi and Pocka even rolled around in the colourful carpet.
Everyone approached the task differently. Most of them thought they had plenty of time to do it later. Some were already planning what they would write.
Sűlyke was a clever boy, and he didn't need to fly to the next nest for self-confidence. He was not one to procrastinate, so after dinner he set to work, and in the meantime he was polishing off his essay. He didn't bother much, just wrote what came into his head. He finished quickly, so he could play for an hour before bedtime.
The next morning, as he flew towards the school, he spotted Muko, who was also hopping through the trees, heading to school, her yellow scarf and long red tail waving. Mukó was a kind, funny girl, but also smart, conscientious, the best student in her class.
Seeing him, Sűlyke wondered: maybe he had messed up the first task his new teacher had given him. She was not going to make a very good impression. She herself didn't want to bother - she wasn't very hard-working - so she thought she'd approach the helpful Muko.
He got down beside her and spoke to her:
- Hi, Muko! How are you? How was your vacation? Did you go on holiday? We didn't even talk yesterday, and we're such good friends!
Muko was just scratching his head, speechless, because Sűlyke didn't like that hooked pipe.
- You, so I was wondering if you could look over my essay. I finished it yesterday, but I'm afraid it's not good enough. You're so clever, Uncle Rabbit always reads yours. I'm sure you could improve it a lot. Well, what do you think?
Muko thought about it, because the request came at a very bad time. His mother was ill, so he had to do most of the housework and look after his little brothers and sisters. But he didn't like to say no to anyone, so he said no:
- Of course I'll help, Hawk!
He didn't worry for a moment longer, knowing that Muko would not rest until he had perfected the composition.
And so it was. Over the next few days, after school, Mukó did his chores, had a quick dinner and then got down to his studies. He tried hard to find time to write his Sűlyke's essay. He needed to, because his classmate was doing a sloppy job. Mukó had to rewrite almost the whole thing.
Every night he went to bed exhausted, and in the morning he found it harder and harder to breathe. At school, too, his eyes would glaze over, even though Aunt Zike gave very interesting lessons. She told stories rather than explained. She often involved the children, who didn't even notice that they were not playing but learning. Whenever they had the chance, they went outside, which was what they liked best.
Even Muko's best friend and fellow bench-mate, Hudo, noticed that the always lively, active girl was just sitting on the bench, sulking. He asked her about it:
- What's wrong with you, Muko? Are you sick? I don't recognize you. You look like a woodchuck got inside you.
Muko didn't want to complain, but it felt good to pour his heart out, so he told Hudo everything.
- "Oh, you silly little thing!" her friend chided her kindly. - It was his job, he should have done it properly! You've got enough on your plate, you'll end up sick!
- I know, you're right. But if I'm going to do it, I'm going to finish it. I don't have much left, and luckily my mum is getting better, so I won't have so much to do at home.
Hudo clenched his mouth as tightly as his long incisors would allow, and swallowed his outburst with great difficulty. He knew Muko well, he knew he would talk to him in vain anyway.
- Is there anything I can do to help? - he asked instead.
- "No, thanks," said Muko, "The biggest help is knowing that I can always count on you.
A few days later, Mukó finally finished Sűlyke's essay. That evening he ran over to their house. His classmate answered the door when he knocked.
- Hi, Hawk! I brought the essay.
- Thanks, I was just about to ask how it's going. You know, it's due in the day after tomorrow.
- Yes, I know, I hurried as fast as I could.
- It wasn't so bad, was it? For someone who wrote it in half an hour.
- "Of course, it was good enough," said the always tactful Mukó, "but I reworded it in many places and corrected spelling mistakes. Would you read it? I'd like to know how you like it.
- "Now?" asked the Hawk, reluctantly. He was in a big game, he should have gone back. But he quickly looked it over. Wait a minute!
He ran into his room and grabbed something from the box in the corner.
- Here, I give you this!
Muko happily clutched the gift to her.
- Thank you very much, but I didn't expect anything in return.
- I know, but you've worked so hard on it, I just want to say thank you.
With that, the boy went inside, and Muko happily headed home. He must have pleased Hawk, he thought, to give him a present.
At home, he took a closer look at the little carved swallow, and then he noticed that the paint was worn off, the beak was broken, and half of the forked tail was missing. He was very sad: that was how much the Hawk appreciated his help...
The days went by. Mukó was still sad, but he tried not to let others notice. Especially Hudo, for he would certainly have had his say about Hawk.
On Wednesday, at the beginning of the third lesson, Aunt Zike entered with a stack of papers in her hand.
- The essays! - the kids huddled together excitedly. Everyone was curious to see how the teacher liked theirs.
- Hello, children! "Yes, you see, I have indeed brought your essays," he smiled at them knowingly. I'm going to talk to each of you about them one by one, but I thought we'd start by having the best work read out by its author. And that is none other than Hawk.
There was a big murmur in the room. Everyone was surprised at the result. But as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Sűlyke walked out in front of the teacher's desk and started to read out his "essay".
Hudo could hardly contain himself. He was moving around, his flat tail slapping the bench.
- "That's not fair!" he said angrily to Muko. "You wrote almost the whole thing for him!
- Please, not so loud! Someone might hear you! - Muko looked around frightened.
- It wouldn't be a problem! At least we'd find out! - Hudo continued, now a little more quietly. - I'd like to tell Aunt Zike.
- Don't do it, please! I don't want any trouble for anyone! Please, for my sake.
Hudo found it hard to accept, hurt by the injustice, especially as it was happening to his best friend. But he couldn't resist Muko's pleading face.
The little squirrel girl was even happy at first, because it was her work that the teacher thought was the best. But as she listened to her own words from the beak of the hawk, she became more and more sad, and in the end she could hardly hold back her tears. As soon as the lesson was over, she jumped up and ran out into the yard. He hid behind a tree and grew pale.
There he found Hudo, who said nothing, but sat down and hugged him.
Mukó became sadder and sadder in the days that followed. He was always happy to help his companions, and he was happy when a smile, a twinkle in the eye, a hug was the reward. But now he felt he had been badly taken advantage of, and he couldn't understand how Hawk could have done this to him.
His mother also noticed that something was wrong, but she asked him in vain, but he wouldn't tell her what was wrong.
On Saturday, he didn't even go down to the lake, his friends called him and he just moped in his room.
Suddenly there was a whistle.
- Come on, Muko, it's for you! - cried his mother.
Muko, like a tired old woman, crawled up from her favourite hiding place, where she had been reading, and went out.
He looked down and saw Huto under the tree.
- Hey, Muko, can you come down? - his friend asked.
Although he didn't feel like playing, he didn't want to hurt Hudo's feelings, so he ran down to him.
Hudo handed him a box.
- "I made this for you because I love you and I don't want you to be sad," he said.
Muko took the box, which was full of beautiful carved figures. The most beautiful was a long-tailed squirrel girl with a yellow scarf around her neck and a huge red heart in the middle of her chest.
Mukó could not even speak. With tears in his eyes he fell into his friend's neck. As if all his sorrow and disappointment had been blown away, he felt only the warmth of the love with which Hudo had prepared the gift.
- "Come, let's go down to the lake," said Hudo quietly.
- Let's go! - Muko nodded.
Holding hands, they set off, happily kicking the fallen leaves.
On Monday morning, the old, lively Muko was jumping from branch to branch on his way to school.
As soon as he entered, he was surprised to see Nyéti, sitting on the bench behind him, grinning at him. Nyéti was a tough, gutsy girl, with her tongue slashed open. She was never afraid to speak her mind and always stood up for the truth.
- Hi! - Muko greeted him. - What's up?
- "Nothing special," said Nyéti with a mischievous smile.
Muko didn't push it, he thought, maybe he was just in a good mood.
Soon the doorbell rang. Minutes passed, but Aunt Zike did not show herself. Finally, after about a quarter of an hour, she came through the door, with Hawk trailing behind her with his head bowed. There was no smile on her face now, she had never looked so serious.
- Good morning, children! Today, instead of the planned environmental education, we will start with a class teacher lesson. I think you all know what happened, because you came to me to tell me about it.
Muko and Hudo looked at each other in amazement. They understood nothing.
- Muko, come here, please," said Aunt Zike.
Muko tried to stand up with shaking legs, not daring to look at the teacher. Aunt Zike stepped up to him, lifted his chin and said gently:
- Don't be afraid, Muko, you have done nothing wrong. You helped a partner when he asked you to. You worked diligently on his task as if you were doing your own. He took credit for your work, yet you did not betray him. All this shows you're a good girl. But you should know that what Hawk did was wrong, and you were an unwitting participant. Sit down, sweetie.
- "It's very commendable if you help each other," Aunt Zike now addressed the whole class, "but doing the task for your partner is not. And it is particularly wrong to pass off someone else's work as your own. But I think you all know that, because that's why you came to me. One of you happened to find out what happened and discussed it with the whole class. You decided together to tell me.
Muko then turned around. He saw the kindly grimace on Nyéti's face and knew who had organised the operation.
- 'You won't get a penalty this time, Hawk,' continued Aunt Zike. - "I hope you learn from this incident and that it won't happen again.
Now we come back to the evaluation of the essays. The second best was the one submitted by Mukó, so we have the interesting situation that the first and second place essays were written by the same student. Congratulations Mukó, well done! Come out and read your essay.
The class erupted in a huge ovation. Mukó stood facing the others, his eyes brimming with tears and wanting to give everyone a big hug. He was very proud and happy. He knew that he would never forget this day, maybe even tell his grandchildren about it.
