The Lambikin

The Lambikin

Once there was a little lamb who was so cheerful that even an ordinary path seemed like a road to adventure.

One morning, Lambikin woke up and said:

“Today I’m going to visit Grandmother!”

Grandmother lived far away, beyond the forest and the hills. Lambikin loved her treats, her warm house, and her long evening stories.

After saying goodbye to the family, Lambikin skipped down the road.

“Step-step, hop-hop! Off to Grandmother’s house I go!”

Before Lambikin had gone far, a jackal stepped out of the bushes.

“Where are you going, little one?” he asked, licking his lips.

Lambikin understood that this was not a pleasant meeting, but did not lose courage.

“To visit Grandmother! I’m thin and tired from my journey now. Wait until I come back rested and well fed, and then we can talk!”

Lambikin even made up a little song:

To Grandmother I go,

There I’ll rest and stronger grow.

When I travel back this way,

Then we’ll talk another day!

The jackal thought for a moment.

“Very well. Go on.”

Lambikin skipped farther.

Soon a great vulture was sitting on a rock.

“Lambikin, Lambikin, where are you hurrying?”

“To Grandmother’s!”

“Won’t you stay here with me?”

Lambikin sang the little song again. The vulture decided to wait and let the lamb pass.

Then came a tiger.

After the tiger, a wolf.

After the wolf, a large dog.

And an eagle circled above the road.

Each one asked where Lambikin was going, and each received the same answer:

To Grandmother I go,

There I’ll rest and stronger grow.

When I travel back this way,

Then we’ll talk another day!

At last Lambikin reached Grandmother’s cottage.

“Grandmother!” cried Lambikin from the doorway. “I’m so happy to see you!”

Grandmother hugged the little lamb.

“I’ve been waiting for you. Come and eat.”

Warm porridge, fresh milk, fragrant cakes, and sweet fruit were already on the table.

Lambikin ate, rested, played near Grandmother’s house, and after several days became lively and round.

But when it was time to go home, Lambikin remembered everyone waiting along the road.

“Grandmother,” Lambikin whispered, “on the way here I met a jackal, a vulture, a tiger, a wolf, a dog, and an eagle. They all said they would wait for me on the way back.”

Grandmother thought carefully.

“Then you won’t travel home in the ordinary way.”

Behind her cottage grew several large pumpkins. One was round, light, and already hollow and dry inside.

Grandmother carefully made a little door in it, lined the inside with soft wool, and fastened small wooden wheels at the sides.

When she gave it a gentle push, the pumpkin rolled along the road.

Tum-pa! Tum-too!

Tum-pa! Tum-too!

“This will be your little drum-cart,” Grandmother said. “Sit inside and roll home. But remember: you do not have to answer everyone who calls to you.”

Lambikin climbed into the pumpkin, shut the little door, and set off.

Tum-pa! Tum-too!

Tum-pa! Tum-too!

Soon the eagle saw the strange round drum.

“Little drum, little drum! Have you seen Lambikin?”

A tiny voice answered from inside:

I don’t know, I cannot say,

I am simply on my way!

Tum-pa, tum-too,

Rolling down the road I go!

The eagle was puzzled, but the pumpkin had already rolled on.

In the same way, Lambikin passed the dog, the wolf, the tiger, and the vulture.

Each one asked:

“Have you seen Lambikin?”

And the little drum answered:

I don’t know, I cannot say,

I am simply on my way!

Tum-pa, tum-too,

Rolling down the road I go!

Lambikin was almost at the safe village road when the jackal appeared.

He was cleverer than the others.

“Little drum, little drum!” he called. “Have you seen Lambikin?”

Lambikin answered with the song.

The jackal tilted his head.

“I’ve heard that voice somewhere before.”

He came closer.

“Lambikin, is that you in there?”

Inside the pumpkin, everything went quiet.

The jackal reached a paw toward the little door.

But Lambikin had a second plan. Grandmother had tied a little cord inside. Lambikin pulled it, and a handful of dry leaves spilled from the pumpkin straight onto the jackal’s nose.

“Achoo!” sneezed the jackal.

While he rubbed his nose, Lambikin pushed with all four little legs.

The pumpkin rolled down the hill.

TUM-PA! TUM-TOO!

TUM-PA! TUM-TOO!

The jackal ran after it, but the drum-cart rolled faster and faster.

At the bottom of the hill began the path to the village. People were working there, goats were grazing, and dogs were running about.

The jackal saw them all and decided it would be wiser to return to the forest.

Lambikin rolled straight into the family yard.

“I’m home!” cried the little lamb, climbing out of the pumpkin.

The family gathered around, and Lambikin told them all about Grandmother, the enormous meal, and the extraordinary journey inside the drum-cart.

“So you outsmarted everyone?” they asked.

Lambikin thought about it.

“Not exactly. Grandmother helped me, we had a good plan, and I remembered not to panic.”

The pumpkin drum stayed beside the house.

Whenever anyone asked what the strange object was, Lambikin laughed and tapped it with a little hoof.

“Tum-pa! Tum-too! It’s the most cheerful way to travel in the whole world!”

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨