Vasyl Sukhomlynskiy

Vasyl Sukhomlynskiy

A school teacher and writer.

Vasyl Sukhomlynskiy was born on September 28, 1918. He's got a good education, but he was studying all his life. He lived and worked in the village of Pavlish Kirovograd region. Sukhomlynskiy loved foreign languages. He knew English, French, Polish and some other languages.

Vasyl Sukhomlynskiy did not only teach his pupils, but also helped them to become brave, happy and courageous people. He spent much time with his pupils. They often went to the river, to the forest, to the fields. The nature was beautiful there. Vasyl Sykhomlynskiy taught his pupils to love nature and take of it.

All the progressive people of Ukraine celebrated the 90th anniversary of Vasyl Sukhomlynskiy's birthday in 2008.

Now you are going to read a story written by Sukhomlynskiy for children and translated by T. Medvedeva.

How Happy You Are!

At the end of August the youngest pupils came to school with their mothers for the first time. An old Teacher was sitting under a high tree. Ivan Pylypovich was a good teacher.

He looked into the eyes of his new pupils. The eyes of the pupils were black, brown, grey and blue. The children were smiling.

"My dear children! Have you ever seen the day break?", asked Ivan Pylypovich.

"No, we haven't", answered the pupils.

"Did you see the nightingale drinking the early-dew?"

"No, we didn't".

"Did you see the bee washing its wings in the morning?"

"No, we didn't".

"Did you see the fine sun beetle waiting for spring?"

"No, we didn't", answered the pupils.

"How happy you are, children ..." said Ivan Pylypovich.

"Yes, you are happy because you have something to see. You are happy because you will see very many interesting things.

We shall go to the pond and you will see the daybreak. We shall sit in silence in the bushes and you will see how a nightingale is drinking the early-dew. We shall see a beautiful flower and a little bee washing its wings. We shall go to the tree and see a very fine sun beetle, which is waiting for spring. You are happy, children, because you will see it all...", said he.