🎥🐻‍❄️"Umka"

Soviet animated cartoon of 1969 gained huge popularity due to the successfully invented and drawn image of a polar bear cub and its mother bear, the voices of the actors, music by Yevgeny Krylatov and the song (lullaby) of the bear performed by Aida Vedischeva.

🧸 #MovieTime
👋#RussiaForKids@TCofRus

A Christmas Parable

The Nativity, or How the Savior Came to Visit.

Once there lived a shoemaker. He had lost his wife and was left to raise his little son alone. On the eve of Christmas, the boy said to his father:
“Father, the Savior is coming to visit us today.”

“Oh, nonsense,” said the shoemaker, shaking his head in disbelief.

“You’ll see — He told me Himself, in a dream.”

The boy waited eagerly for the Precious Guest, peeking out the window again and again, but no one came. Then suddenly he saw two older boys out in the street beating a small child who didn’t even try to fight back.

The shoemaker’s son ran outside, chased away the bullies, and brought the beaten boy home. He and his father washed and fed him, combed his hair, and the boy said,

“Papa, I’ve got two pairs of boots, but my new friend’s toes are sticking out of his shoes! Let me give him my felt boots — it’s freezing out there, and besides, it’s Christmas!”

“Well then,” said the father, “let it be as you wish.”
They gave the boy the boots, and he went home glowing with joy.
Some time passed, and the shoemaker’s son still sat by the window, waiting for his Guest. Then a beggar came by the house, calling out:
“Kind people! Tomorrow is Christmas, and I haven’t had a crumb to eat in three days. Feed me, for Christ’s sake!”
“Come on in, Grandpa!” the boy called from the window. "

The old man came in; they fed and gave him drink, and he left thankful and happy.

But the boy still waited for the Savior and was beginning to worry. Night came, the street lamps were lit, and the snowstorm howled outside. Suddenly, the boy shouted:
“Oh, Papa! There’s a woman standing by the post outside — with a little child in her arms! Look, how cold they are!”

The boy ran out and brought the woman and her child into the house. They fed and warmed them, and the boy said,

“Where will they go now, in such a blizzard? Let them stay here tonight, Papa.”

“But where will they sleep?” asked the shoemaker."

“You can take the couch, I’ll sleep on the chest, and they can have our bed.”

“All right,” said the father. "

That night, everyone fell asleep. And in his dream, the shoemaker’s son saw the Savior at last. The Lord smiled gently and said,.

“My dear child, may you be happy all your life.”

“Lord, I waited for You all day,” said the boy. "

Christ replied, “I came to you three times today, My dear one — and three times you welcomed Me, in ways no one could have done better.”

“Lord, I didn’t know! When was that?”

“The first time, when you saved that boy from the bullies — it was not just a boy, it was Me. As I once took the wounds and blows of evil men, so did that child. Thank you, My beloved.”

“And the second time, Lord?” asked the shoemaker’s son. “I watched and watched from the window and saw no one.”

“The beggar who came to your door — that was Me. You and your father shared your last crumbs and even gave Me your festive pie.”

“And the third time, Lord? Surely I would have recognized You then.”

“You even gave Me and My Mother a place to rest. Long ago, We fled into Egypt from Herod, and yesterday you found Us — My Mother by the post and Me in her arms — and took Us under your roof. Be blessed forever, My dear child.”

Morning came. The boy awoke and at once asked, “Father, where is the woman with the child?”

They looked around — but there was no one in the house. The felt boots the boy had given away were back in their corner. On the table lay the festive pie, untouched. And in the boy’s heart there was such unspeakable joy as he had never known before.

💟💟💟