It was Masha’s nameday that day. She got a beautiful ring with a coloured stone from her mother. She liked it very much and immediately went to show it to the bear.
“Hello, bear, look,” Masha showed her new jewel, which sparkled beautifully in the sun.
The bear put his paws together in delight and smiled. He also liked it very much. It was only now that Masha noticed, for sheer joy, that the bear was wearing gloves on his paws and painting the fence around his cottage.
“Oh, you’re painting! Can I help you?”
The bear nodded his head and handed Masha a second brush and gloves.
“But I’m going to put the ring down so I don’t ruin it,” Masha said and put it on the outdoor table where the bear had placed his honey snack.
They set about painting. They were much faster when they worked together, and they were done in no time. But when Masha went to put the ring back on her hand, it was no longer there.
“My ring is gone!”
Bear looked under the table to see if it had just fallen off. And there he saw it. He grunted and pointed to the floor.
“A track,” Masha rejoiced. The ground was still wet from the night’s rain, so the thief’s feet were stuck in the mud.
“But wait, there are two sets of tracks,” Masha frowned. And she was right. “Bear, try putting your paw next to it.”
The bear did as Masha told him.
“It was an animal with a paw similar to yours. But a lot smaller. It had claws and it went somewhere in the woods.”
Bear gave a thumbs up.
“The other track stopped almost right away. Let’s go after those in the woods,” Masha decided.
They set off on the tracks that led them deep into the forest. Masha got scared.
“What if we go straight into the wolf’s mouth?”
The bear shook his head. He stamped his foot in the mud beside the path and pointed at the track. Then he howled like a wolf and stepped on his toes
“Sure, I understand. He’s not a wolf, wolves walk on their toes. That track belongs to some kind of animal that walks on its whole paw.”
The bear nodded.
By then they had reached the edge of the forest, where they found several large holes in the ground. Grass grew around them, so it was not clear which hole the thief had crawled into.
“Hello, is anyone home?” Masha stuck her head into the first hole. No one answered.
“Knock, knock, knock!” she shouted into the second hole and stuck her head as far into the ground as she could.
“Nothing again. Let’s get the third one,” Masha sighed in frustration, but before she could lean down to the hole, a badger peeked out of the previous one.
“What are you shouting in my house!”
“Sorry, Mr. Badger, I lost my ring. Have you seen it?”
“I don’t wear rings. Look,” and he showed his bare paws. “And be quiet! I’m dozing off after lunch.”
The bear just shrugged his shoulders. Well, they’ll try the other tracks.
Masha and the bear returned to the garden. The bear flapped his folded arms as if he had wings.
“Bird tracks?” Masha asked. Sure enough, a line and three more branching out of it, it could only be a bird. “But there are so many birds in the forest. How do we figure out which one it was?”
Bear pointed to the ground. Muir’s feet, imprinted in the mud beside him. The bear showed steps, shook his head, then hopped on his paws, gave a sniff and a nod.
“The bird did not walk, but hopped on its feet,” Masha thought for a while. Then she tapped her forehead. “I only know one bird that jumps and likes shiny things. That didn’t occur to me right away. I’m sure it was a magpie!”
The bear nodded, raised a finger in the air, and went straight into the woods. Masha was following him, because the bear knew where the magpie lived, and so they reached the foot of a tall tree. In the branches there was a nest in which the magpie sat.
“Magpie, you thief, give me back my ring,” Masha called to her.
“You wish,” the magpie made a fig at Masha. “Come and get it.”
The bear became angry, grabbed a tree trunk and shook it. The nest and the magpie swung and slid off the branches. The magpie flew away, startled. The nest fell to the ground, spilling out a handful of glittery Christmas candy wrappers. And among them was Masha’s ring.
“Thank you, bear, you’re a great friend. If it weren’t for you, I never would have found it.”
The bear just waved his paw and stroked Masha’s hair.
“I have one more wish. Will you teach me to recognize other animal tracks in the forest?”
Bear nodded happily, took Masha’s hand, and together they went searching and learning about tracks.
