In the garden of a house, Little One, a white cat, a grey rabbit, and a baby crow whose feathers were just starting to grow, were very good friends. These four close friends played together every day. When evening fell, each returned to their own home.
Little One lived in a box next to the stove inside the house; listening to the crackling of the fire, he would happily fall asleep. The cat lived in the woodshed. She would go into the straw in the corner of the woodshed and sleep peacefully there. The grey rabbit dug a burrow in the damp soil and spent the night there. He loved the smell of the earth, and slept until morning with the coolness of the soft soil. As for the baby crow, he had sweet dreams in his nest in the tree, listening to the rustling of the leaves.
These sweet animals played new games every day. Little One would find and bring little balls of yarn, toss them in front of the cat, and sometimes play chase with her. The baby crow would gather leaves and make balls. They would run and jump to their heart's content.
One day, Little One said:
– We need to think of a new game now.
– What kind of game? – asked the rabbit and the cat.
– Let's think a little, – said the baby crow.
– I've got it! – said Little One. – Let's switch places tonight.
– We don't understand! – the others asked in surprise.
– What's so hard about it? – Little One began to explain the game he had found.
The friends played as Little One had suggested. The cat climbed into the crow's nest for the night. Little One went into the rabbit's underground burrow, the rabbit settled into the box where Little One slept, and the crow went into the straw to sleep.
Night fell. The wind began to blow, and the rain began to fall.
The little rabbit couldn't sleep. He was afraid of the sound of the fire, and didn't even blink, fearing he might get burned.
Little One couldn't sleep either. The soil was very damp. The raindrops falling on the leaves made unpleasant sounds. Little One was trembling from both fear and cold.
The cat couldn't sleep either. As the wind blew, the swaying of the trees and the rustling of the leaves frightened her.
The baby crow couldn't breathe among the straw, so he couldn't sleep either.
Then, close to midnight, all four friends:
– I'm not playing! – they shouted, leaping out of their homes and running into the yard. Then each went to their own home.
They slept soundly in their own homes until morning.
