In the coldest part of the world - Antarctica, where eternal cold and frost reign, large flocks of various penguins live. It was there, among the icebergs, on a dark, frosty, windy night, that the Adélie penguin was born. He was very beautiful - a white fluffy chest with a yellow frill, black wings and back, sparkling eyes. Mom and dad couldn't be happier about his birth.
Having matured a little, Adelie turned into a very cheerful and active penguin. He enjoyed running, diving into icy water from tall icebergs and jumping on waves. He soon learned to catch fish - sardines or anchovies - and, satisfied with his catch, he always hurried to his dad to show off his catch.
He had many penguin friends. They played and frolicked together. Adele was brave, and therefore was always the first to enter the water. The only thing he was very afraid of was encountering sharks.
“Sharks are the enemies of penguins,” Dad constantly reminded him. “Stay away from them, or you’ll become a tasty lunch for them.”
Therefore, seeing a shark in the distance, Adeli quickly jumped ashore, ran to his dad or mom, hid under the wing and felt safe there. But most of all, he liked, after running for the day, to sit on the feet of his mother or father. They hugged him with their wings and told him interesting stories and tales. Parents recalled adventures from their own lives or from the lives of other penguins, how they escaped from sharks, fought for food with seagulls, defended themselves from predatory animals, or competed for the best jump in the water. Adeli heard a lot of interesting things, he had a lot to learn. Surrounded by warmth, love and affection, he fell asleep with complete confidence that he was in a safe place.
One day Adelie suggested to his friends:
- Let's compete to see who can swim to that iceberg the fastest. To the one who wins, everyone else will have to bring one fish each.
Everyone loved the idea because they felt like adults and thought they could overcome any obstacle. They also developed a spirit of competition; they were interested in who would be the first.
The penguins lined up on the shore in one line, and one of the friends stood to the side and raised his wing up.
- At the start, attention... march! – he shouted and waved his wing.
With all their screams, the penguin friends jumped into the water. The water began to bubble and rustle, and splashes flew in different directions. At first, everyone swam side by side, but soon Adelie pulled ahead and rushed towards a huge ice iceberg.
He so wanted to be first! And not at all in order to get a lot of fish. He imagined how he would later tell his dad about everything, and he would be proud of his son. Adeli picked up speed and was so carried away by the movement that he did not even notice how a huge shark with large sharp teeth appeared in front of him. The little penguin was so scared that he forgot which way he should swim. Out of fear, he froze in place and couldn’t even move. And then he remembered from his dad’s stories that sharks don’t touch dead penguins. He closed his eyes and was afraid to move even a feather, pretending he was dead. The shark swam closer, looked at him carefully, and then turned around and swam away into the depths of the ocean. For a long time Adeli did not even dare to blink an eye, but then he carefully opened one eye, then the other, looked around and realized that there was no one around anymore. Very quietly, almost imperceptibly, he began to move his wings and slowly move towards the shore.
When he came out of the water, his body was shaking. He was scared to death.
-Where have you been? - friends began to shout. - We've already been waiting for you. Did you swim to the other side of the ocean?
“You were the first to swim to the iceberg,” said the penguin judge, “and then disappeared somewhere.”
However, at this moment Adele had no time for them. He immediately rushed to look for his parents to sit on their legs, hide under their wings, calm down and forget about this terrible day.
When he ran to their “family place”, there was no one there. He started running around, visiting neighboring penguin families, but his parents were nowhere to be found. He called them loudly, but received no answer. As darkness fell he became even more frightened. He thrashed and screamed, but to no avail. Finally, he felt cold. Then he ran to his friends’ family, wanted to ask to sit on their legs and warm up at least a little, but his friend was already sitting there. He ran towards the other penguins, but their legs were occupied by their own children.
So, for the first time in his life, Adele was left alone for the night. The next morning he continued to look for his parents, asking around about them, but no one knew where they were.
The little penguin was left all alone. He was overcome with sadness. His friends invited him to play, but he lost interest in games. He wandered alone along the icy shore, and nothing attracted him anymore - neither the slides, nor the water, nor the fish. Who will be proud of him now? Who will he bring the cleverly caught fish to? Who will now protect him from danger, from fear and icy winds? For several days he walked with his head down. But one day a strange sound attracted his attention. He looked behind a small ice floe and saw a very small penguin. He sat and cried.
– Where are your mom and dad? – Adeli asked him.
The little penguin just shook his head, indicating that they were not there.
Then Adele came up with an idea:
– Do you want to live with me? I will warm you up and catch fish for you.
The little penguin smiled, ran up, sat on his legs and hugged him with his little wings.
After some time, Adelie found several more lost penguins and also took them in with him. Although he only had two legs, there was enough room on them for everyone to take turns. Gradually, Adele forgot about his sadness; now he had someone to take care of. He has grown up and become an adult, brave penguin. There were already eight penguin chicks in his care. They were all happy that a new friend and protector had appeared in their lives. In the evenings they gathered around Adele, and for each of them there was a place either next to him, or on his feet, or under his wings - no one was cramped. He told them his stories, and most of all they loved the story of his encounter with a shark. They asked me to tell it again and again.
Adele was happy. He didn’t know where his parents had gone and why these little penguins didn’t have parents, but he was glad that he could become a protection for each of them. And he was proud of it.
