One year, a powerful typhoon destroyed the bridge, leaving the villagers heartbroken. “Without the bridge, how can we honor the spirits?” they cried.
A young girl named Hana stepped forward. “We can still honor them,” she said. “Let’s each make a small raft and place our lanterns on the water.”
At first, the villagers doubted her idea. But one by one, they followed Hana’s example, placing their lanterns on tiny wooden rafts.
That night, the river shone with a thousand lights, drifting peacefully downstream. The villagers watched in awe as the lanterns seemed to dance, creating a path of light that stretched farther than the bridge ever had.
From that year on, the river became the new home for the Lantern Festival.
Moral:
When one path is lost, another can be created.
Notes:
– Lantern – a portable light often made of paper (фонарь).
– Typhoon – a tropical storm (тайфун).
– Raft – a flat structure for floating on water (плот).
– Drifting – moving slowly with the current (плывущий по течению).
The Iceberg That Dreamed of the Tropics (Айсберг, который мечтал о тропиках)
Far in the Arctic, an iceberg named Kira floated among her icy siblings. She dreamed of warmth and color, imagining lush green forests and golden beaches.
One day, a strong current pulled Kira southward. The other icebergs warned her, “You’ll melt and disappear if you leave!”
But Kira replied, “I want to see the world, even if it means I won’t stay the same.”
As she drifted into warmer waters, Kira began to shrink. She felt lighter, freer, as pieces of her fell away and joined the ocean.
Eventually, she became so small that she could no longer float as an iceberg. Instead, she became part of the sea, traveling with the waves to places she had only dreamed of.
Even as she disappeared, her spirit lived on in the rain, rivers, and streams, bringing life to the tropics she had once imagined.
Moral:
Sometimes, fulfilling your dreams means embracing change.
Notes:
– Iceberg – a large piece of floating ice (айсберг).
– Current – the movement of water in the ocean (течение).
– Shrink – to become smaller (уменьшаться).
– Tropics – warm regions near the equator (тропики).
The Tree That Held the Mountain (Дерево, которое удержало гору)
In the rugged Carpathian Mountains, a great oak tree grew on a steep hillside. Its roots clung tightly to the soil, holding the mountain steady.
One spring, heavy rains soaked the ground, and the hillside began to crumble. Rocks tumbled, streams turned into rushing rivers, and the villagers below feared a landslide.
The oak, feeling the earth shift, whispered to its roots, “Hold tighter. The mountain needs us.”
The smaller trees around it panicked. “We’re too small! We’ll be swept away!”
The oak replied, “Together, we are stronger. Dig deeper. We can save the mountain.”
The trees followed the oak’s advice, their roots intertwining with its. Together, they stopped the earth from sliding, saving the village below.
The villagers, seeing the oak’s strength, called it “The Guardian Tree” and protected the forest for generations.
Moral:
Even the strongest need others to stand firm.
Notes:
– Rugged – rough and uneven (скалистый, неровный).
– Crumble – to break apart into small pieces (разрушаться).
– Landslide – when a large amount of earth or rocks falls down a slope (оползень).
– Intertwining – twisting together (переплетающиеся).
The Cloud That Became a Mountain (Облако, которое стало горой)
Above the wide plains of Mongolia, a lonely cloud drifted in the endless sky. She longed to be like the mountains below, solid and majestic, watching the world from the same place every day.