D. "Catch it,Malasha! Catch it!"
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
LITTLE GIRLS ARE WISER
CHAPTER 2 CLASS 6
Answers
Answer:
It was early Easter in Russia; snow still lay in the courtyards; water ran in small streams down the village street and the dirty water formed a large puddle in a lane between two farmhouses.
Two little girls from neighbouring houses. Akulya and Malasha, had just come from church when they met. Their mothers had dressed them both in new frocks. Akulya was taller than Malasha. The little one wore a blue frock and the other, one with a yellow print. Both had scarves tied around their heads. First, they showed each other their fine clothes and then, they began to play.
Soon fancy took them to splash about in the water, and the little one was going to step into the puddle. Akulya quickly stopped Malasha and asked her to take off her shoes and stockings before stepping into the puddle. She warned Malasha that her mother would scold her if she got her clothes dirty.
Picking up their frocks they began walking towards each other through the puddle. The dirty water came up to the little girl’s ankles. When they got near each other, Akulya said : “Mind, Malasha, don’t splash water on me. Walk carefully!”
She had hardly said this, when Malasha plumped down her foot so hard that the water splashed right on to Akulya’s frock. When Akulya saw the stains on her frock, she was angry and ran after Malasha to strike her. Little Malasha realized that she had got herself into trouble.
Unfortunately, right at that moment, Akulya’s mother was passing by. When she saw that her daughter’s skirt was splashed all over and her sleeves dirty, she was annoyed and said : “You naughty, dirty girl, what have you been doing?”
“I didn’t do it myself. Malasha did it on purpose,” replied Akulya. At this Akulya’s mother seized Malasha, who was frightened and was trying to scramble out of the puddle. The lady struck her on the back of her neck. Malasha began to howl so loudly that she could be heard all down the street.
Malasha’s mother came out to see what was wrong. “What are you beating my girl for?” She demanded and began scolding her neighbour. One word led to another and the two women began to quarrel. The men came out and soon a crowd collected in the street; everyone was shouting and no one was listening. They went on quarrelling among themselves till one gave another a push and soon everyone had very nearly come to blows.
Akulya’s old grandmother came out and, stepping in among them, cried, “What are you doing, friends? Is it right to behave so? On a day like this, too! Easter is the time for rejoicing and not for such folly as this.” But they would not listen to the old woman and nearly knocked her off her feet. Had it not been for Akulya and Malasha themselves, the grandmother would not have been able to pacify the villagers.
While the people were fighting with each other, Akulya quietly wiped the mud off her frock and went back to the puddle. She took a stone and began to dig away the Earth in front of the puddle to make a channel through which the water could run into the street.
Soon Malasha joined her and with a chip of wood helped her dig the channel. The water from the channel that the little girls were making ran streaming into the street, towards the place where the men were quarrelling. The little girls were enjoying themselves, watching the chip itself float along on their little stream. Akulya was shouting, “Catch it, Malasha, catch it!” Malasha could not speak as she was laughing.
The playful children ran,one on each side of the stream, straight into the group of the quarrelling men. Seeing the little girls, the old woman said to the men:
“Are you not ashamed of yourselves to go on fighting on account of these little girls? Look at them. They themselves have forgotton all about it. Dear little souls! They are wiser
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Explanation:
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Answer:
She had hardly said this, when Malasha plumped down her foot so hard that the water splashed right on to Akulya's frock. When Akulya saw the stains on her frock, she was angry and ran after Malasha to strike her. Little Malasha realized that she had got herself into trouble.