Chapter Two

KIKI WANTS TO BE VERY WICKED

Slowly Kiki rose into the air and flew away into a new world.

He flew for a long time. He flew from one country to another and from one city to another.

It was late now and Kiki was very tired. He decided to rest a little in a tree. From his tree he could see a big inn.

"What kind of food do hawks eat?" he thought. "And where can I get it? Do hawks sleep in trees? But I don't want to sleep in a tree. I want a bed, not a tree."

So he flew down to the ground and said: "I want to become Kiki Aru again: Pyrzqxgl!"

At once he became a boy. He went to the inn and asked the innkeeper to give him a good supper and a bed.

"Have you any money?" asked the innkeeper. "If you have no money you must go away at once."

Kiki had no money, so he could not stay at the hotel.

The boy did not know what to do. He stood for a long time in the yard of the inn. Suddenly through an open window Kiki saw a big room with a table in the middle of it. There was a lot of gold pieces on the table. An old man went up to the table and began to count the money.

 

"For one of those gold pieces I can get supper and a bed," thought Kiki. So he changed his form and became a hawk again. The hawk flew into the room through the open window, caught up one of the gold pieces in its beak 1 and flew out again. The old man could not catch it.

Kiki flew into a tree and dropped the gold piece to the ground. Then he became a boy again. He picked up the gold piece from the ground and put it in his pocket.

"You will be sorry for that!" 2 cried a small voice 3 over his head.

Kiki looked up and saw a little bird in the tree.

"Sorry for what?" he asked.

"Oh, I saw gold pieces too," said the little bird. "You took one gold piece from the table and flew away. Then you changed back into a boy. That's magic and magic is wicked. And to steal money is very, very wicked. You will be sorry one day."

"Well, all right, I am wicked," said Kiki. "I am glad of it. I always wanted to be wicked. But I didn't know how to do it."

"Haw, haw, haw!" Kiki heard a big voice behind him. "Very good, my boy! I'm glad I have met you!" The little bird was frightened and flew away. Do you want to know who laughed behind Kiki? Read the next chapter and you will find the answer.

 

 

1 caught up one of the gold pieces in its beak — подхватил клювом одну золотую монету

2 You will be sorry for that — Ты пожалеешь об этом

3 a small voice — тоненький голосок