Our SilverВ Pond

Valeriy Zhiglov

This book shall become aВ funny and interesting present for your child. It tells how amazing our mother nature is, and it also tells about its multiple creatures possessing unique abilities. Reading it, one would inevitably wonder how little our knowledge is about the world ofВ animals.

Our SilverВ Pond

Valeriy Zhiglov

Dedicated toВ my children

Arcady and Marina,

grandchildrenDaria and Ekaterina

and also sisters Larisa, Natalia and Irina

© Valeriy Zhiglov, 2017

ISBNВ 978-5-4483-0058-5

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Chameleon

After IВ completed my third year inВ aВ school, my father allowed me toВ join him inВ aВ geological expedition for the whole summer.

ByВ the end ofВ August, someone brought many good melons toВ our tent camp. It was aВ hot noon, the Sun was merciless, no wind at all, no wish toВ eat at all, but for some reason everybody wanted toВ taste aВ good melon.

It did not take long for aВ small hill ofВ watermelon rind toВ appear not far from our tent camp. It took even less for multiple insects toВ learn there was some delicious food around. Lizards started hunting those insects, which lizards like even more, than the insects like watermelon rind.

The most interesting was the lizards, which are also known as chameleons, named so for their ability toВ change the color ofВ the skin depending on the background.

For example, a chameleon lizard climbed the watermelon rind and its skin became the strip of green, thus making the lizard absolutely unnoticeable. Then it moved a little, a half of the background became red, and so did the half of the lizard’s body: the lizard became half-red.

If we did not trace the lizard’s movements, we would hardly even notice it on the watermelon rind hill. In addition, should there be the minimum danger for a lizard, the lizard immediately ran away to disappear amidst the rare plants burnt by the Sun.

Somehow, aВ young and quick member ofВ the expedition did catch this amazing lizard. Because the time for lunch was almost over, and the entire team had toВ take yet another route, the young member, without thinking long, put the chameleon inside his sleeping bag, and zipped its top toВ leave no space for escape.

Tonight, he totally forgot about his daytime finding, because sunrays exhausted him. He had some dinner and went toВ sleep, because aВ new route, the same hard as the previous, was pending for tomorrow. As soon as he got undressed and put his legs into the sleeping bag, something really cold, and even as slippery as aВ snake, ran on the skin ofВ his leg towards his torso!

Surprised, he raised both legs and hit the foldable bed, on which his sleeping bag was, with full his force. He also cried very loud. Whatever ofВ these two actions broke the bed into pieces, was not so important, because the broken bed collapsed anyway, as we all were running toВ help. We saw the poor man lying on the floor next toВ the brokenВ bed.

This helped him toВ remember the daytime finding, and it also vitalized him for looking for the lizard inВ his sleeping bag. Apparently, the chameleon, however, was neither stupid, nor slow, it chose not toВ wait for what might happen next, and it simply ran away toВ the wild. Our hero got aВ job for the entire night. He had toВ repair the broken bed inВ the light ofВ aВ pocket lamp.

Belka

When IВ had my fourth year inВ aВ secondary school, Agnes, aВ girl ofВ my age living not far from me, took aВ white and furry puppy inВ theirhouse, yet she did not like toВ spend time caring about him and feeding him inВ time. Therefore, the puppy spent most ofВ his time inВ our yard, and finally we started feeding him. The neighbor had noticed that the dog preferred our yard toВ theirs, and used her chance toВ look kind and generous, byВ saying toВ us the dog was her present forВ us.

That was the time, when two Russian dogs already reached the s