The Magic Cheese

“Cheese is cer-rtainly our best, and we gladly shar-re it with our guest. Fr-rom the sunr-rise we are awake, for there is always mor-re cheese to make. Do you know The Crow and the Fox fable?” asked Curdfritter.

“Of course, I do,” smiled Vovka. “Everybody does.”

“But not ever-ryone understands. Have you r-read it? R-remember how the Fox cheated the Crow and r-ran away with the cheese? But when you r-read it next time, the Cr-row has cheese again. How did it appear, if the Fox had stolen it?”

“But…this is a fairy-tale!” Vovka was confused. “You may read it a hundred of times and it will always be the same.”

“And so it can be said, but not in this land,” said Cheese-eater gently. “The Cheese Fairy, Curdfritter and I are making special magic cheese here. It’s for all fairy-tales – for the Crow and the Fox, for the Cheshire cat or the Greedy Little Bears, if they happen to drop in. We work for all the fairy-tales where there is cheese, milk, butter or sour-cream. You can’t make dough for the Round Loaf without sour-cream, or pan-cakes without milk, so what would the old man with his old wife do? You can think for yourself how many fairy-tales won’t do without our help.”

“We have special cows, sheep and goats. They gr-raze in a magic meadow, that’s why the milk is magic, too. The cows have gr-rass but the milk is for-r us. Oh, how well it was with our Gr-randma fr-rom the dair-ry, the Cheese Fair-ry! Making cheese for all, having no gr-rief at all… We used to have so much cheese that we didn’t know what to do with it. And now with the Cheese Fairy gone everything went wrong.” Curdfritter wiped his tears with a red paw.

“And out of the sheep’s wool the Cheese Fairy and I were spinning yarn to knit socks, mittens, hats, scarves and shawls. When your hands and feet are warm, don’t be afraid of cold,” said Cheese-eater. “Sheep grow wool not only for themselves. Do you know how cold it can be in our winter fairy-tales? If the Stepdaughter went looking for snowdrops without warm clothes, what would become of her? Or the girl that met Father Frost – remember she was left under the tree all alone. And also the old man that took the Fox in his sleigh… Whatever fairy-tale you read, the Cheese Fairy takes care that everyone can be warm in it.”

“Whatever she does, ever-rything is so nice. Only the one who has a special gift can make magic por-ridge and cheese. And now the old lady is gone as if she has never been befor-re. And our gift of making cheese is not the same without her-r. Besides, our sheep keep disappear-ring…”

“What gift? What sheep?” Vovka was puzzled.

“Talk business and not about our miseries,” reproached the cat Cheese-eater. “I will explain it all and you, Vova, eat some more. Many men, many minds, one head is not the same as many ones.”

And Vovka began to listen.

“We lived happily, worked not lazily. The cheese-maker was the Fairy and we helped her at the dairy. A fairy-tale is fast to flow; the story itself is rather slow. We had to work hard to provide all the fairy-tales with milk, cottage cheese, sour-cream, cheese and butter, warm clothes and felt boots made of our sheep’s wool. The sun rises early, and so did we in the morning. When you’ve got cows, goats and rams, there is no time for idle hands. Our herds are magic, of course. Still, we’ve got a lot to do. All the cows, goats and sheep need to be fed and watered. If you spare the food, you’ll have no milk. In summer you need to lead the animals to the pasture. Our sheep are so clever that they go all by themselves early in the morning and are in stalls by night. In winter it’s quite different, though. Summer gets, winter spends. Hay-makers prepare hay and then cart-drivers from all the fairy-tales bring it to this place. And then, when summer comes again, everything goes in its usual way. All the animals go to the pasture and graze there.

Something strange happened, though, not long ago. A cow hadn’t come back home, we thought it might have lost its way. But then there was another one, then the third one. At first we thought about a wolf or a bear. But no bear can a cow steal, if it’s not alone in the field. If you stole a cow, get a pail, for you must of it take care. So, we were the worst fearing, and the cows and sheep kept disappearing. Oh, how much we pitied them! They may be only animals for you, but for us they were like human beings, so sweet and kind. The Cheese Fairy was by these losses distressed, but where they’d come from couldn’t guess. There was some talk that a wolf was the one to blame. But all the wolves belong in their own fairy-tales; they would never do a thing like that. So, this can be only a stranger. The cows become less in number; soon our fairy-tales will suffer from hunger. Everything in the stories will go wrong, so little children will read them no more.

The Cheese Fairy went away to find out who could be responsible for these outrageous things, but then she was gone, too. Without her the food we make is not that tasty and the clothes are not so warm. She had a special magic talent, but Curdfritter and I this work cannot handle. We had been waiting for her, but you appeared – maybe, to send you was her idea?”

“Well, this fence is not our defense!” Curdfritter was indignant. How can a str-ranger, a little boy fr-rom the human wor-rld help us? Now, don’t look at me like that! You are a good boy, but you don’t know the r-rules in our fair-ry-tales. You may choose the wr-rong r-road and never-r retur-rn home! What a silly idea!”

“Well, you keep harping on the same thing! How do you know he can’t help us? It happens sometimes that a sheep the wolf overcomes. Who knows, maybe it’s even better that Vova is not from the fairy-tale world. He is not used to it. A strange thing may strike him faster than us, and our missing cows will be found at last.” Cheese-eater was on Vovka’s side.

“I don’t know why I’ve got here. If I can help you, I’ll try. But how can I return home?” asked Vovka, yawning. He was so full that suddenly wanted to sleep.

“Exactly!” Cheese-eater clapped her paws.

“That’s r-right!” yelled Curdfritter.

“Return home!” exclaimed both of them at the same time.

Greatly astonished by their behaviour and without saying a word, Vovka was watching how the cat and the mouse took each other’s paws and started to dance. When finally the cat sat down to catch his breath, the mouse explained, “Since old times people from your world haven’t appeared in our fairy-tales, if only for a purpose. Though we live close, we keep the borders. But if any fine fellow or a beautiful girl found themselves in this place, that would mean they should do something great. Our Cheese Fairy decided to give you the magic cheese so that you would be able to serve us. When you find out who the cows hides, you’ll return to your place at once! However, after a long way and a good dinner you should have some rest. You’ll need all your might in a battle to fight. The sun is setting, the night is near, but in the morning all will be clear.”

Really, one could already see the sunset out of the window; the most unusual day in Vovka’s life was coming to an end.

“I bet you’ve never slept over-r the stove, we’ve got a great sleeping place made ther-re,” purred Curdfritter.

“No. What’s it like?” asked Vovka.

“A city per-rson doesn’t know what he dr-rinks or eats; he lives too far-r away fr-rom fields,” grumbled Curdfritter. “Cheese-eater’s made your feather-bed and br-rought you a night-light.”

“Have you got electricity?” Vovka was surprised. He hadn’t seen any wires, sockets or electric devices.

“What tr-ree in the city?”

“E-lect-ri-ci-ty. Turn the switch on – you’ll get light, turn it off and it’s dark again. Also there are different electric devices – a TV, a cooker, a fridge and a cassette recorder.”

“All these slices-devices the humans use, here a piece of rotten wood will do.” The cat grinned and hung the piece of wood on the wall. Indeed, there was faint light in the room, as if a night-lamp was on.

“I wonder, what keeps it hanging on the wall? How is it fastened?” thought Vovka. “Poor Mama, she is so worried by now. If I could only make a call…” Thinking like that, he fell asleep.

At the same time the following things were happening in the kitchen where Vovka had been making tea not long ago. Mama came home from her work and saw the table carefully laid, biscuits in the biscuit-dish and a bar of chocolate. Cheese slices on the plate were not dry yet and the kettle was warm, so Mama guessed that Vovka had just left. It was strange though that there was no note. A long time ago they had agreed that if Vovka wanted to go somewhere, he would leave a note to tell where he went and when he would come back. For example – ”Went to Ljoshka to play, will be home at six.” Or “Went to the hairdresser’s at the corner.” But today there was no note. Maybe, he was taking out the garbage. No, he must be with Ljoshka. But Ljoshka and his mother had been gone! Maybe, he went to Pavlik. Well, of course he went there, because Pavlik couldn’t come to Vovka himself. Pavlik was a very good, kind and intelligent boy; he was Vovka’s best friend. But he couldn’t come to Vovka, because he wasn’t able to walk and used a wheel-chair. And it was difficult to drive a wheel-chair along the corridor and to the elevator. So, usually Vovka would come to Pavlusha and not the other way round. Having thought about that, Vovka’s Mama sighed with relief. Pavlik had got a wonderful mother and the boys were not to be worried about.