There lived a grandfather and grandmother. They had a small garden, but a beautiful one. One day, the grandfather planted a turnip. He planted it, covered it with soil, watered it with a little water, and said: "Grow, turnip, big, big, sweet, sweet, to the joy of the grandfather and grandmother.".
And the turnip began to grow. It grew and grew, and it grew so big, so healthy, that the world had never seen it before. The green leaves reached all the way to the sky, and the turnip itself was like a cauldron, like a big barrel. Grandfather came to the garden to pick the turnip.
Grandfather grabbed the turnip, pulled and pulled, but he couldn't pull it out. Oh, grandfather shouted: "Grandmother, grandmother, hurry up, help me pull the turnip!" The old woman came running, grabbed grandfather: grandfather by the turnip, grandmother by grandfather, they pulled and pulled, but they couldn't pull it out.
The grandmother calls her granddaughter: «Granddaughter-dove, come and help us.» The granddaughter ran and grabbed the grandmother: the granddaughter grabbed the grandmother, the grandmother grabbed the grandfather, the grandfather grabbed the turnip, they pulled and pulled - they couldn’t get it out.
The granddaughter calls to the Bug: «Little Bug, run quickly and help us pull the turnip.» The Bug ran up and grabbed her granddaughter: Bug grabbed her granddaughter, the granddaughter grabbed her grandmother, the grandmother grabbed her grandfather, the grandfather grabbed the turnip, they pulled and pulled — but they still couldn’t pull it out.
Bug calls to the cat Murka: «Little sister Murka, little bug, run to help me too.» The cat Murka ran up and grabbed Bugka: Murka for Bugka, Bugka for her granddaughter, granddaughter for her grandmother, grandmother for her grandfather, grandfather for the turnip, they pull and pull until the sweat rolls down their foreheads, but they can’t get the turnips out.
They all stand panting, looking at each other. Then a little gray mouse peeks out from behind the woodpile, sniffing its nose. «Shouldn’t we call a mouse?» says the cat Murka. «She’s really small,» says the grandfather, “what can she do for us?”
«Who knows, grandfather,» says the old woman, «every little bit of strength will come in handy.» So they called to the mouse: “Little mouse, come and help us pull the turnip out of the ground, little dove.” The mouse jumped up and grabbed the pussy with its paws.
The mouse for the cat, the cat for the Beetle, the Beetle for the granddaughter, the granddaughter for the grandmother, the grandmother for the grandfather, the grandfather for the turnip - they pull, pull, pull, again, even harder. And then - crunch! - and the turnip burst out of the ground! Everyone fell on each other: the grandfather on the grandmother, the grandmother on the granddaughter, the granddaughter on the Beetle, the Beetle on the cat, and the mouse - shast! - and ran away into its hole.
And the turnip lies big, big on the bed, like a golden pumpkin. The grandfather and grandmother were delighted, rubbed their backs and carried the turnip home. They cooked such delicious porridge from it that the granddaughter, and the Bug, and the cat, and even the mouse ate their fill. Because when everyone is together, even hard work becomes easy.
💛 In harmony, even a small force can overcome great work.