is King,” he says.
Then he takes a figure of a woman. “This is Queen,” he says.
“And where is the cat?” Timoshka asks.
“I have got many cats here,” and Alyosha takes out several different cats. The cats are white, black, grey and red.
“One, two, three, four, five, six,” Timoshka counts. “Oh, we have got six cats!”
“And dogs, have you got many dogs too?” Bertha looks into the box.
Alyosha takes out several different dogs. They are big and small, black, white and brown.
“How many dogs have we got?” asks Bertha.
“Try to count,” Alyosha says.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,” Bertha counts. “We have got seven dogs.”
“I want to see mice,” Moc says, “have you got mice too? Many mice?”
“Not many,” Alyosha says, “try to count the mice,” and he takes several mice out of the box. The mice are small and grey.
“One, two, three, four, five,” Moc counts, “no, not many.”
Happy Hop doesn’t ask anything. He is sitting on the sand very, very sad.
“Happy Hop, why don’t you ask about hamsters?” Alyosha asks. “And why are you so sad?”
“Because I cannot count,” Happy Hop says. “You all can count and I cannot.”
CHAPTER 20. HAPPY HOP LEARNS TO COUNT
“Cannot you count at all?” Moc asks. “Alyosha, let’s teach him to count!”
“Yes, Alyosha, let’s teach him to count!” all the friends say.
“Ok,” Alyosha says, “Look,” and he puts one figure on the sand, “this is one.”
“One,” Happy Hop repeats.
Alyosha puts one more figure. “This is two.”
“Two,” Happy Hop repeats.
Then Alyosha puts more figures on the sand and counts, “three, four, five.”
“Three, four, five,” Happy Hop repeats.
Alyosha puts five more figures on the sand and says, “Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”
Happy Hop repeats.
“And now let’s count hamsters,” Alyosha says, “I have got several hamsters in the box, let’s count them.”
He puts all the hamsters on the sand and Happy Hop begins to count, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”
“You have got ten hamsters,” he says.
“Yes,” Alyosha says, “I have got ten hamsters. Now you can count.”
“Wow!” Happy Hop cries, “Now I can count!”
He begins to jump, high, high, very high. Because he is happy.
CHAPTER 21. TIMOSHKA DOESN’T WANT TO WORK
Alyosha and his friends continue to build the castle. Dad comes to them.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“We are building a castle,” Alyosha answers.
Father is surprised. “You all? And what is Bertha doing?” he asks.
“She is digging big holes for big rooms,” Alyosha says.
“And what is Moc doing?” Father asks.
“I am digging small holes for small rooms,” Moc answers.
“And what are you doing?” Father asks Happy Hop.
“I am digging corridors,” Happy Hop says.
“And what about Timoshka? What is he doing?” Dad asks.
“I am doing nothing,” Timoshka says.
“Why?” Father is surprised.
“Because I don’t want to work today,” Timoshka says and closes his eyes.
“Alyosha, is it work?” Dad asks, “Or is it a game?”
“Of course, it is a game,” Alyosha says.
Timoshka opens his eyes. “Really?” he asks, “If it is a game I want to play too. What can I do? How can I play?”
“You can bring us figures of King, Queen, dogs, cats, mice, and hamsters and put them into the rooms,” Alyosha says.
Timoshka brings figures to Alyosha and now he understands that it is really a game. And he likes it.
CHAPTER 22. NOISE IN THE CASTLE
In the morning Alyosha goes to the yard. His friends are already waiting for him.
The castle is ready. It is very beautiful, with many rooms. King and Queen are in their big rooms. Cats and dogs are in their small rooms. Mice and hamsters are in their very small rooms.
“Can we play already?” Timoshka asks.
“Yes, we can play already,” Alyosha answers.
But Bertha says, “Wait, I hear some noise in the castle. Somebody is there.”
“No, it is impossible,” Alyosha smiles, “only toys are there.”
“Tsss,” Bertha says, “listen.”
The friends are very quiet. They are listening.
“Yes,” Timoshka whispers, “I hear some noise too.”
“Me too,” Moc whispers very quietly.
“Me too,” Happy Hop whispers very, very quietly.
“Who is there?” Timoshka asks, “Is he dangerous?”
Timoshka, Moc and Happy Hop are trying to hide behind Bertha and Alyosha.
Suddenly the castle begins to fall down. Somebody is moving in the castle and trying to go out.
CHAPTER 23. RABBIT RICKY
“Oh!” Timoshka cries.
“Oh!” Moc and Happy Hop cry.
They run away from the sandbox and hide in Bertha’s house.
And what about Alyosha and Bertha? Do they run away too? No, they don’t.
Bertha does not run away because she stays to protect Alyosha. She is very brave.
And Alyosha knows that nothing dangerous can happen in his yard. And he is brave too.
They are sitting and waiting for somebody who is trying to get out of the sand.
“Let’s help him,” Alyosha says.
They begin to dig the sand.
At first, they see one long ear. Then they see one more long ear. Then they see a small pink nose. And at last, they see a little white rabbit.
“What are you doing in our castle?” Alyosha asks the rabbit.
“It was cold at night. And I wanted to sleep. The castle was so nice and big and warm. I wanted to sleep in it. And when I wanted to go out the castle ruined,” the rabbit says.
“And what is your name?” Bertha asks.
“My name