Thief
Cheerfully jumping over puddles, Vasya hurried home. Today, as always, he will go to the post office, where his dad works. Vasya was always interested there. In one of the offices the telegraph machine was clattering monotonously. Here and there many telephones were ringing, people came and went, receiving and sending transfers, parcels, telegrams. And every day they brought many, many letters, newspapers and magazines in a large car.
Vasya was loved at the post office. There was always work he could do. They trusted him with all sorts of small assignments, and he felt like the right person. Vasya especially liked sorting postage stamps. He did this together with his boss, laying them out on the desk. Pavel Ivanovich counted the stamps and put them in the safe - a large iron box. At the same time, he usually said: “So my replacement is growing. There will be a real boss!”
And Vasya’s energy increased from such words. I wish I could grow up!
In the meantime... Vasya was only in first grade.
Returning from school, he usually changed clothes, had lunch and did his homework. Having finished his homework, he hurried to the post office.
Out of breath, Vasya ran into the communications department and loudly greeted everyone. Today, for some reason, few people were pleased with his arrival. The workers somehow abruptly and angrily responded to the services offered to them, making it clear that he was not needed here and they could cope without him. Even the postmaster, Pavel Ivanovich, who loved Vasya for his diligence, looked at him over his glasses so sternly that he wanted to run away to his mother and never appear here again.
What happened? Why is everyone looking at him suspiciously? Vasya could not understand this. Not knowing what to do, he took several sheets of paper and sat down in a secluded corner to draw.
Soon his presence was forgotten. Pavel Ivanovich made a report for the week. Without raising his head, he said in a low voice to Ekaterina Petrovna:
- I don’t understand anything. Today, several stamps have disappeared again, and ten-kopeck stamps at that. At first, stamps of two and four kopecks disappeared, now even ten. The thief is becoming more impudent. We need to take some measures!
“I think that we still need to tell the father so that he knows what his son is doing,” suggested Ekaterina Petrovna. - At first the boy seemed so honest to me, but now... He doesn’t look like his father at all!
“No one else could do this,” continued Pavel Ivanovich. “I started watching him. Yesterday, when we went to the dining room for lunch, he was left alone in the office. And by evening several stamps were missing. This is a real theft. We need to put an end to this disgrace!
Hearing this, Vasya realized that he was suspected of theft. So that's why everyone avoids him!
Vasya was brought up in a Christian family and knew well that lying and taking other people’s things is a sin, and he never did it. Dad often said: “Son, act in such a way as not to dishonor the name of Jesus Christ. Live worthy of God!”
And Vasya remembered these words, so what Pavel Ivanovich said greatly hurt him. Yes, he actually often stayed alone in the boss’s office, but he never took a single stamp. Where did they go? How to find them?
Lost in thought, Vasya sat quietly in his hiding place. Suddenly there was a rustling sound in the opposite corner. Holding his breath, he began to watch carefully and saw a gray mouse jump out from behind the safe. Vasya covered his mouth with his palm so as not to scream and scare her away.
Grabbing a small piece of paper, the mouse darted through the crack.
“What if she stole and ate the stamps?” – Vasya thought and decided to ask his mother about it. He slipped out into the street unnoticed and rushed home as fast as he could.
- Mom, tell me, do mice eat paper? – he shouted, out of breath from running fast.
- What happened, son? Why do you need this? - Mom was surprised, noticing that Vasya was very excited. - And why did you come from the post office so early?
Vasya hastily told about the disappearance of the stamps and that he was suspected of theft. Then he asked again if mice eat paper.
Mom wasn’t sure about this, but she knew well that mice build their nests out of paper. She suggested telling Jesus about everything that happened, because He is almighty God. Together they prayed, and my mother read two verses from the Bible:
“Commit your way to the Lord, and trust in Him, and He will make it happen and bring out your righteousness like the light, and your justice like the noonday,” then she added: “Believe this, son, and God will help you!”
After talking with his mother, Vasya calmed down and returned to the post office, firmly believing that God would help him find the thief. He decided to look for the mouse's nest.
It was a difficult task, because Vasya had never seen a mouse nest before in his life. He carefully peered into all the dark corners of the storeroom, where parcels and parcels lay on the shelves, then slipped into the basement.
It was twilight there, and Vasya felt a little scared. Gradually his eyes got used to the darkness, and he diligently began to look for the nest. There was a lot of dust, garbage, and paper in the basement, so Vasya could not find any traces of mice. But suddenly in the corner, under the stairs, he noticed a pile of small scraps of paper.
“This must be a mouse’s nest!” – Vasya thought and, grabbing a handful of pieces of paper, immediately jumped out of the basement. On the stairs he stopped and saw that they were stamps, torn into small pieces.
Vasya flew like an arrow into Pavel Ivanovich’s office.
– I heard that your stamps are missing!
- Yes. What is it? – the boss looked in surprise at the boy, flushed with excitement.
- I found them. Under the stairs in the basement! Here, look! – Vasya unclenched his fist and, without thinking twice, poured small multi-colored pieces directly onto the table.
“Mom said that mice build nests out of paper,” he added quietly.
- Well done, Vasya! You found the thief. Thank you very much! – the boss was delighted, clapping him on the shoulder as usual. “Today we will bring the cat into the office, and everything will be fine.” But I thought about you, forgive me. You are an honest boy. Always be like this! You will become a real person!
Vasya did not go home, but, one might say, flew as if on wings. I need to tell my mom everything soon! His heart rejoiced with joy - God helped him! And now no one at the post office will say or think that he is a thief.
And in the evening, Vasya and his dad and mom heartily thanked Jesus for hearing the prayer and so miraculously removing the reproach from their family, not allowing those who trusted in the Lord to remain in shame.
How do parents feel when they find out for the first time that their child has taken someone else’s? Panic, indignation, confusion, shame. If a child steals, it is often perceived by loved ones as a tragedy.
How dare he? There have never been thieves in our family!
- How can we look people in the eyes now?! It's a shame!
There is a desire to solve the problem with radical measures once and for all:
Well, now I'll ask him! So much money that it will be disgraceful to take someone else’s property!
In fact, every child at least once tried to take something that did not belong to him, even if it happened in kindergarten or a sandbox in the yard. Until the age of 4, all children are selfish and, without thinking about the consequences, take what they like, be it their own or someone else’s. At 4-5 years old, the concepts of “one’s own” and “someone else’s” take on more concrete outlines, and if a child reaches out to someone else’s thing, this is done consciously, although without “calculating” the consequences.
If a child steals, there is always a reason.
Reasons for child theft
- “Dislike” on the part of parents. The child desperately tries to attract the attention of his parents to himself in various ways, including shocking them with theft. He acts on the principle “all means are fair” and can steal more than just change from his mother’s wallet
- The desire to appear “cool” in front of peers. This is especially true during adolescence. The child needs authority, but he does not know how to earn it. Having watched enough films about charming thieves, he tries in his own way to show “daringness.” It’s okay that there will be a thrashing from parents, the main thing is that your classmates will admire it!
- The desire to have something that parents “can’t afford.” Recently, this type of theft is very common among girls. There are quite a lot of stories in the press and on television about girls taking away expensive phones, watches, and jewelry from their peers. They come up with any excuse for their actions, but the motive is the same - the desire to have something that they and their parents cannot afford
- Impunity. Some moms and dads don't have the habit of keeping track of their finances and shove bills into different drawers and shelves. Children can take a little without their parents' knowledge and, making sure that they did not notice the loss, will do it again and again.
How to prevent child theft?
- Starting from the age of 4-5 years, it is worth talking with your child about what theft is, why it is bad, especially if you notice his interest in other people’s things and an attempt to appropriate them
- Stop your child from touching things without your permission.
- Make it clear to your child that he will not be able to use the stolen item because he will have to return it or pay for it. But at the same time, he risks losing your trust and friends.
- The child must understand that by stealing, he is doing wrong and will be punished for it.
- Show enough love to your child and be attentive to him. Psychologists say that the source of the family drama called “child theft” is most often a lack of affection and respect from parents.
If, despite the measures taken, you still encounter theft, do not try to solve the problem “one time” by using physical punishment and rudeness. This may have the opposite effect: the child will look for ways to hide such facts from you.
When solving ethical problems, great tact is required, and the more trusting your relationship with your child is, the higher the level of mutual understanding with him, the greater the likelihood of coping with the problem of child theft. Psychologists insist that the main reason for this and other problems in a child’s behavior is failures in his upbringing.
There was and there was nothing - there lived only one king. The king had a servant. He was a very clever servant, and he knew his business well. So one day the servant decided: “Let me learn another craft.” I thought, thought, searched, chose - and chose theft. He will leave the hat in the royal chambers, then sneak up and take it away. The king saw him stealing his hat, called him and said:
Hey guy, what are you doing there?
“Sir,” answered the servant, “I have learned to serve you well, but I also want to learn how to steal.”
“Okay,” said the king, “I have a white horse; If you steal it, you’ll get two thousand; if you don’t, I’ll take your head off.
“Very good,” said the thief.
The king ordered the horse to be brought into the stable, put one man on the horse, gave the reins to another, and placed a third at the door.
The thief got up at night, took all kinds of food and a jug of vodka, brought it all to the guards and said:
- The king sent you, have dinner and drink so as not to fall asleep.
The one standing in the door fell asleep standing there; the one who was holding the reins fell down with the reins, and the one who was sitting on the horse fell asleep on the horse.
The thief took the reins from the horse, pulled off the rider along with the saddle, sat on the horse and rode off. The next morning the king enters the stable - there is no horse. He called the thief and gave him two thousand. The thief brought a horse.
The king told him:
- I have black bulls; If you steal them, you’ll get three thousand, if not, I’ll take your head off.
“Okay,” says the thief.
Shepherds guard the bulls in the mountains. A thief went, took a pair of boots, smeared one boot with mud, and left the other clean. He threw the dirty boot on the road along which the shepherds led the bulls to water, and placed the clean one near the water. He hid himself. The shepherds took the bulls to a watering place and saw a boot lying there; They picked it up, they wanted to take it, but they thought: one boot, and even that one is covered in mud, it’s not worth washing. We reached the water, looked at another boot, were delighted, and ran after the first one. And the thief went out and stole the bulls.
The shepherds returned, but there was no trace of the bulls. They rushed here and there - no bulls. They went to the king to report: so and so, misfortune - the bulls disappeared. The king realized whose business it was and called the thief.
- Lead the bulls, take your three thousand.
The thief drove the bulls and took three thousand. They argued for the third time.
“If you manage to steal my wife, I’ll give you half the kingdom,” said the king, “but if you don’t, I’ll take off your head.”
The thief asked for two weeks. They gave it to him.
And the king decided to kill the thief. He surrounded his palace with troops and ordered to shoot whoever showed up.
The thief found the dead man, dressed him in his dress, dragged him and placed him at the gate. The guards thought that this was the thief, let’s shoot at him, they riddled him all over. They reported to the king that they had killed the thief. The king was delighted, ordered to bury the imaginary thief and disbanded the entire army. And the thief crept into the palace, grabbed the queen and ran away with her.
The thief is leading the beautiful queen, and the devil is meeting her. The devil liked the queen:
- Sell!
- I’ll sell it, but what will you give me? - I'll give you whatever you want.
- Give me a hat full of gold.
The devil was delighted, ran for the gold, and the thief dug a huge hole, made a hole in his hat and covered the hole with it. The devil pours gold, he pours it, he can’t fill his hat, he dragged all his gold, barely filled the hole. The devil took the queen away.
The king returned from the funeral - the queen was gone. I called the thief.
- Take your wife, take half the kingdom. Go to hell, the thief says:
- I don’t need your gold! It was the queen, return it - the king demands it.
“No,” says the devil, “let’s compete.” Whoever wins gets gold and a woman.
- Come on, how?
“Let’s run,” says the devil, “whoever comes running first wins.”
“Okay,” said the thief, “I just need to run around myself, I’ll go and get my cousin.”
“It’s good,” says the devil, “if you have a brother to overtake me.” A thief went, caught two birds with one stone, put one in his bosom, took the other in his hands,
strokes it, says: “Come on, little bunny brother, run, don’t be an ass.”
“I’m ready,” says the devil, “give me your brother.”
- You run, he will catch up.
The thief let the hare go, it darted into the bushes and ran away. The devil rushed after him. The thief took another hare out of his bosom, held it in his hands, stroked it and said:
- Well done, brother bunny, he didn’t disgrace me. The devil runs back and shouts:
- Here I am, where is your brother?
“He came running a long time ago, waiting for you,” says the thief. The devil argued:
- I don’t agree, let’s argue differently.
“Come on,” says the thief, “but how?”
- Come on - whoever shouts louder.
- You're crazy, why should we shout?
The devil is not far behind, the thief agreed. As the devil screamed, our thief almost went deaf and barely survived. You have to shout to the thief, and he says:
“You don’t have to scream like that, but like I’ll show you.” Just plug your ears with cotton wool and blindfold your eyes - otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll deafen you or blind you.
The devil plugged his ears and blindfolded him.
“Well, hold on,” says the thief, “I’ll scream now!” - He took a huge club and hit the devil on the head.
- Oh, that's enough, don't shout anymore! - the devil prays. And the thief beats him even more. The devil roared.
- Well, did I win? - asked the thief.
“Not yet,” says the devil.
- What else do you want?
- Let's fight - whichever of us is stronger, let him take both the gold and the queen.
“Okay,” says the thief, “I’m just afraid to kill you, but I have an old uncle, let’s go, he’ll fight you.”
The devil was happy:
- Very good!
The thief took him to the bear’s den and said:
“He’s lying there, go to him, grab him by the hand, drag him, he’ll come out, and you’ll fight.” The devil climbed up to the bear, grabbed him, grabbed him, dragged him, the uncle monk got angry, picked him up
paw and smeared the devil on the head, knocked him down and began to thrash him. He finished it off beautifully.
Both the queen and the gold went to the thief. A thief came to the king, removed him from his reign and became the king himself.
A tale about a thief. Georgian fairy tale
There was and there was nothing - there lived only one king. The king had a servant. He was a very clever servant, and he knew his business well. So one day the servant decided: “Let me learn another craft.” I thought, thought, searched, chose - and chose theft. He will leave the hat in the royal chambers, then sneak up and take it away. The king saw him stealing his hat, called him and said:
- Hey guy, what are you doing there?
“Sir,” answered the servant, “I have learned to serve you well, but I also want to learn how to steal.”
“Okay,” said the king, “I have a white horse; If you steal it, you’ll get two thousand; if you don’t, I’ll take your head off.
“Very good,” said the thief.
The king ordered the horse to be brought into the stable, put one man on the horse, gave the reins to another, and placed a third at the door.
The thief got up at night, took all kinds of food and a jug of vodka, brought it all to the guards and said:
- The king sent you, have dinner and drink so as not to fall asleep.
The one standing in the door fell asleep standing there; the one who was holding the reins fell down with the reins, and the one who was sitting on the horse fell asleep on the horse.
The thief took the reins from the horse, pulled off the rider along with the saddle, sat on the horse and rode off. The next morning the king enters the stable - there is no horse. He called the thief and gave him two thousand. The thief brought a horse.
The king told him:
- I have black bulls; If you steal them, you’ll get three thousand, if not, I’ll take your head off.
“Okay,” says the thief.
Shepherds guard the bulls in the mountains. A thief went, took a pair of boots, smeared one boot with mud, and left the other clean. He threw the dirty boot on the road along which the shepherds led the bulls to water, and placed the clean one near the water. He hid himself. The shepherds took the bulls to a watering place and saw a boot lying there; They picked it up, they wanted to take it, but they thought: it’s just one boot, and even that one is covered in mud, it’s not worth washing. We reached the water, saw another boot, were delighted and ran after the first one. And the thief went out and stole the bulls.
The shepherds returned, but there was no trace of the bulls. They rushed here and there - no bulls. They went to the king to report: so and so, misfortune - the bulls disappeared. The king realized whose business it was and called the thief.
- Lead the bulls, take your three thousand.
The thief drove the bulls and took three thousand. They argued for the third time.
“If you manage to steal my wife, I’ll give you half the kingdom,” said the king, “but if you don’t, I’ll take off your head.”
The thief asked for two weeks. They gave it to him.
And the king decided to kill the thief. He surrounded his palace with troops and ordered to shoot whoever showed up.
The thief found the dead man, dressed him in his dress, dragged him and placed him at the gate. The guards thought that this was the thief, let’s shoot at him, they riddled him all over. They reported to the king that they had killed the thief. The king was delighted, ordered to bury the imaginary thief and disbanded the entire army. And the thief crept into the palace, grabbed the queen and ran away with her.
The thief is leading the beautiful queen, and the devil is meeting her. The devil liked the queen:
- Sell!
- I’ll sell it, but what will you give me? - I'll give you whatever you want.
- Give me a hat full of gold.
The devil was delighted, ran for the gold, and the thief dug a huge hole, made a hole in his hat and covered the hole with it. The devil pours gold, he pours it, he can’t fill his hat, he dragged all his gold, barely filled the hole. The devil took the queen away.
The king returned from the funeral - the queen was gone. I called the thief.
- Take your wife, take half the kingdom. Go to hell, the thief says:
“I don’t need your gold!” It was the queen, return it - the king demands it.
“No,” says the devil, “let’s compete.” Whoever wins gets gold and a woman.
- Come on, how?
“Let’s run,” says the devil, “whoever runs first wins.”
“Okay,” said the thief, “I just need to run around myself, I’ll go and get my cousin.”
“It’s good,” says the devil, “if you have a brother to overtake me.” A thief went, caught two birds with one stone, put one in his bosom, took the other in his hands,
strokes it, says: “Come on, little bunny brother, run, don’t be an ass.”
“I’m ready,” says the devil, “give me your brother.”
- You run, he will catch up.
The thief let the hare go, it darted into the bushes and ran away. The devil rushed after him. The thief took another hare out of his bosom, held it in his hands, stroked it and said:
- Well done, brother bunny, you didn’t disgrace me. The devil runs back and shouts:
- Here I am, where is your brother?
“He came running a long time ago, waiting for you,” says the thief. The devil argued:
- I don’t agree, let’s argue differently.
“Come on,” says the thief, “but how?”
- Come on - whoever shouts louder.
“You’re crazy, why should we shout?”
The devil is not far behind, the thief agreed. As the devil screamed, our thief almost went deaf and barely survived. You have to shout to the thief, and he says:
“You don’t have to scream like that, but like I’ll show you.” Just plug your ears with cotton wool and blindfold your eyes - otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll deafen you or blind you.
The devil plugged his ears and blindfolded him.
“Well, hold on,” says the thief, “I’ll scream now!” - He took a huge club and hit the devil on the head.
- Oh, that's enough, don't shout anymore! - the devil prays. And the thief beats him even more. The devil roared.
- Well, did I win? - asked the thief.
“Not yet,” says the devil.
- What else do you want?
- Let's fight - whichever of us is stronger, let him take both the gold and the queen.
“Okay,” says the thief, “I’m just afraid to kill you, but I have an old uncle, let’s go, he’ll fight you.”
The devil was happy:
- Very good!
The thief took him to the bear’s den and said:
“He’s lying there, go to him, grab him by the hand, drag him, he’ll come out, and you’ll fight.” The devil climbed up to the bear, grabbed him, grabbed him, dragged him, the uncle monk got angry, picked him up
.paw and smeared the devil on the head, knocked him down and began to thrash him. He finished it off beautifully.
Both the queen and the gold went to the thief. A thief came to the king, removed him from his reign and became the king himself.
Recently I had to have a conversation with my daughter about why you can’t take things without asking. She asked me to come up with a fairy tale on this topic. Maybe it will be useful to you too:
Once upon a time, the hedgehog Vasya and his friends, the little bunny Styopa, the little squirrel Miko and the bear cub Potapka, were having fun in the clearing. And they played everything: hide and seek, catch, and ball. How many wonderful games you can come up with! The main thing is to have your friends nearby.
Suddenly the animals saw that someone’s curious eyes were looking at them from behind the trees. And then the owner of these eyes himself appeared. It was a small fluffy squirrel. He carefully walked out into the clearing and, looking around, asked his friends:
-Can I play with you?
“Of course you can,” Vasya smiled. - Don't be shy.
“Thank you,” answered the little squirrel. - Otherwise I have no one to play with.
- What, don’t you have friends? – Miko was surprised.
- No, no one wants to play with me.
- Why? – asked Potapka.
“I don’t know,” answered the little squirrel.
- What is your name?
- Well, Fedot, now you have friends. “You can come to our clearing and play with everyone,” said Vasya and gave the little squirrel his paw as a sign of greeting.
Friends happily accepted Fedot into their company and told him to come tomorrow. After playing a little, Fedot galloped home, and everyone else got ready.
“Oh,” Vasya the hedgehog suddenly realized, “here was my basket of mushrooms.” Has anyone seen her?
Everyone began to look for the basket of mushrooms that the hedgehog had collected for his grandmother, but it seemed to disappear into the ground. Vasya, upset, went home.
The next day, the little squirrel Fedot came to play in the clearing again. First, the animals played with a new ball, which the mother gave to the little squirrel Miko. Then they put the ball aside and began to play blind man's buff.
- Oh, my mother is waiting for me! “I completely forgot,” Fedot remembered and, waving his paw, disappeared from the clearing.
While getting ready to go home, Miko did not find his ball.
- He probably rolled somewhere. Let's look! - suggested the little bunny Styopa.
But no matter how much the friends looked, the ball was nowhere to be found: neither under the fir trees, nor under the aspen trees, nor in the rosehip bushes, nor under an old rotten stump. Miko went home with tears in his eyes, hanging his fluffy red tail.
A similar story repeated itself the next day. When Fedot galloped away, the little bunny Styopa discovered that the carrots with which he wanted to treat everyone after the game were missing.
“I think it’s Fedot who’s taking our things,” Potapka the bear cub said sadly.
- Is it really possible to take someone else’s property?! – Miko was indignant.
“This is a very bad act,” said Vasya.
- It's called theft! – Styopa said angrily.
It turned out that Miko knew approximately where Fedot lived, and the friends decided to go to him and talk. The road among tall pines, filled with the smells of pine needles, flowers and strawberries, did not please our friends at all. They felt sad and somehow very unpleasant, even disgusted.
The friends immediately recognized the tree where Fedot the squirrel’s hollow was located, because Miko’s ball lay under it.
- Fedot, come out! We want to talk to you! – the animals shouted in unison.
The little squirrel stuck out his muzzle, and then reluctantly descended from the tree.
“What you did was very bad,” Vasya began. – You took our things without asking. In other words, he stole it. That's why other squirrels don't want to be friends with you.
- But I don’t have that... I wanted so much...,” Fedot lowered his head.
“But that doesn’t mean you have to take someone else’s!” – the little bunny Styopa was indignant.
“Now we won’t be friends with you either,” said Miko.
“We don’t want to play with someone who steals things from others.” This way you will never have real friends,” Potapka added.
Then they turned and left. On the way, the friends hardly spoke. Everyone headed to their home.
Three days have passed. The animals have already begun to forget about what happened. They played happily again in their favorite clearing and did not at all expect to see Fedot there. Therefore, they were very surprised at his appearance. In his hands he held Vasya’s basket full of nuts, mushrooms and berries.
- Here. “I collected this for you,” said the little squirrel, holding out the basket. - Forgive me. I thought for a long time and understood everything. I did a very, very bad thing. Besides, nothing can be more important than friendship.
- Well, shall we forgive him? – Vasya asked, looking around at the animals, who were looking at Fedot incredulously.
“Are you sure you won’t take other people’s things anymore?” – Miko asked.
- No, never. “I will try very hard to improve,” Fedot replied.
He really tried very hard and never again in his life took other people’s things. Since then, the little squirrel Fedot often came to the clearing to take part in the games.
