Once upon a time in a thick tropical forest there lived a funny little creature. His name was Cheburashka. Or rather, he didn't start off with a name when he was just living in his tropical forest. He got the name Cheburashka later, when he left his forest and met people. This is because it is people who give names to animals. It was people who told the elephant that he was an elephant, and told the giraffe he was a giraffe, and told the hare that he was a hare. But a hare, had he given the matter thought, might have guessed he was a hare. This is because he has a very simple name. But suppose you were an animal with a complicated name, like hippopotamus. Could you guess that your name is hippopotamus and not hit-a potty-mouse, or poppy-otter-mess?

So that is how it was with our little animal. He never gave a moment's thought to what his name was, but just lived his life in the far-off tropical forest. One day he woke up early, joined his paws behind his back and went off for a stroll, to enjoy the fresh air. He walked and walked until he suddenly came upon some crates of oranges next to an orchard. Without thinking twice he climbed into one of the crates and tucked into a nice breakfast. He ate two whole oranges and ended up so full that he could hardly move. So he lay down among the fruit and fell asleep.

Cheburashka slept so soundly that he didn't even hear the banging of the workers nailing the lids on all the crates. The oranges were loaded onto a ship with Cheburashka still inside, and they began a long sea journey.

The crates sailed over seas and oceans and finally ended up in a fruit shop in a very large city. When they opened the crates they found one of them had hardly any oranges left, just a big fat bloated Cheburashka!

Once upon a time, in a thick jungle, there lived a very curious animal. His name was Cheburashka. Well, actually, at first he didn’t have a name, when he lived there in his jungle. He was called Cheburashka later on, when he left the jungle and met some people. After all, it’s people that give names to animals. They’re the ones who told the bear that he was a bear, and the giraffe that he was a giraffe, and the hare that he was a hare. But, if he’d thought about it, the bear could have guessed that he was a bear. After all, his name’s easy. But what about an animal with a complicated name, like the hippopotamus? You just try working out that you’re not a hi-potamus, and not a po-potamus either, but a hi-po-po-ta-mus.

Well, that's how it was for this animal, too: he never thought about what his name might be, he just lived and minded his own business far away in the jungle. One day he woke up early in the morning, put his paws behind his back and set off for a nice little walk, to get some fresh air. He was walking, walking along, when suddenly he saw some boxes of oranges near to a big orchard. It didn’t take Cheburashka long to decide what to do: he climbed into one of the boxes and sat down to breakfast. He ate two whole oranges, and was so full up that he could hardly move. So he just lay down right there on the fruit, and went to sleep.

Cheburashka slept deeply, and so of course he didn’t hear it when the workmen came and nailed shut all the boxes. Then, the oranges, and Cheburashka too, were loaded onto a ship and sent away on a long journey.

The boxes sailed for a long time, over the seas and the oceans, and finally ended up in a fruit shop, in a big city. When they opened them up, one of them had hardly any oranges in it at all, only a big, rolly-polly Cheburashka.

Once upon a time, a very funny little animal lived in a dense tropical forest. He was called Cheburashka. Or rather, at first he wasn’t called anything – not while he was living in his tropical forest. Because it’s people who give animals names. They are the ones who told the elephant he was an elephant, the giraffe that he was a giraffe, and the hare that he was a hare. But the hare, if he had thought about it, might have guessed that he was a hare. After all, that’s a very simple name. But what about an animal with such a complicated name as hippopotamus? It must be hard to guess that you’re not a hipotamus, nor a popotamus, but actually a hippopotamus!

That’s how it was with our animal: he never worried about what he was called, he just got on with his life in the remote tropical forest. Then one day, he got up early, and with his paws behind his back, set off to walk for a bit and breathe the fresh air. He walked and walked, and suddenly, near a big orchard, he saw several crates of oranges. Without much hesitation, Cheburashka climbed into one of them and began his breakfast. He ate two whole oranges, and was so full that he could hardly move. So he just lay down to sleep, right on top of the fruit.

Cheburashka slept soundly, so of course he didn’t hear the workmen come to nail up all the crates. After that, the crates, and Cheburashka along with them, were loaded onto a ship and set off on a long voyage.

The crates sailed the seas and oceans for a long time, and eventually ended up in a greengrocer’s shop in a very big city. When they were opened, there were hardly any oranges left, but only a great big fat Cheburashka.

In a dense tropical forest there lived a very curious little animal. He was called Cheburashka. Actually, nobody called him that when he was living in his tropical forest. He only got the name Cheburashka after he had left the forest and met people. You see, these people always give animals names. They told the elephant that he was an elephant, the giraffe that he was a giraffe and the hare that he was a hare. The hare, if he had thought about it, might have guessed he was a hare: after all, it’s a very simple name. But what about animals with complicated names, like the hippopotamus? He would have to guess that he was not a hip-po, not a po-ta-mus, but a hip-po-po-tam-us.

That’s how it was with our little animal: he would never have thought about his name while he lived alone in that far-off tropical forest. One day, he woke up early, put his paws behind his back and set off for a short stroll, to breathe the fresh air. He was strolling along, just strolling, and suddenly, near a fruit orchard, he spied several crates of oranges. Not stopping to think, Cheburashka climbed into one of them and started to have breakfast. He ate two entire oranges, he ate so much that it was hard for him to move. That’s why he lay down right there on the fruit and went to sleep.

Cheburashka slept soundly, and of course he didn’t hear the workers coming and nailing up all the crates. After this, the oranges, together with Cheburashka, were loaded onto a ship and set off on a long voyage.

Once upon a time in a dense tropical forest there lived a funny creature. His name was Cheburashka. Actually, while he was still living in his rainforest he had no name at all. He got the name of Cheburashka later, after he had left the forest and was discovered by human beings. After all, it is humans who give names to animals. It was humans who told the elephant that it is an elephant, who informed the giraffe that it should be called a giraffe, and announced to the rabbit that it is a rabbit. Still, if the elephant had thought hard enough, he would realize that he is an elephant. It is a very simple name, come to think of it. But what about animals with elaborate names, like the hippopotamus? How in the world can one figure out that it is not a hip-potamus and not a po-potamus, but a hip-po-potamus.

Same thing with our little creature—he never wondered what his name might be and simply lived his life in the far-away tropical forest. One morning he rose early and, with his paws behind his back, went for a short walk to catch some fresh air. And so he walked until he saw several crates full of oranges right by a large orchard. Cheburashka jumped into one of the crates at once and began his breakfast. He devoured two whole orange fruits and was so stuffed that he could barely move. And so he lay down to sleep right on top of the fruits.

Cheburashka was fast asleep, and that is why he did not hear the workers, who nailed the crates shut. Then the oranges, together with Cheburashka, were loaded on a ship and sent on a long journey.

The crates traveled across the seas and eventually reached a fruit shop in a very big city. When they were unpacked, one crate turned out to have very few oranges but one very fat Cheburashka.

Once upon a time a funny little creature lived in a dense tropical forest. He was called Cheburashka. Well, he wasn’t called anything while he lived in the tropical forest. He was called Cheburashka once he came out of the forest and met people. Humans like to give names to animals after all. They told the ox that he was an ox, the giraffe that he was a giraffe, and the hare that he was a hare. But the ox, if he thought about it, could have guessed that he was an ox. He has a very simple name after all. And then there are animals with complicated names, such as the hippopotamus. Just try and guess you’re not a hi-potamus, not a po-tamus, but precisely a hip-po-po-ta-mus.

And there you have our little creature: he never thought about what he was called, and just lived in the distant tropical forest. He woke up early one morning, stretched his paws behind his back and walked around for a bit and breathed the fresh air. He just kept walking and walking and then saw some boxes of apples beside a big fruit garden. Not thinking, Cheburashka crawled into one of them and began to have breakfast. He ate two whole apples and got so full, that it was hard for him to move. So he just spread out over the fruit and went to sleep.

Cheburashka slept soundly, and he, of course, didn’t hear the workers coming and nailing up all the boxes. After this, the apples along with Cheburashka were loaded up on a boat and sent on a long journey.

The boxes sailed through the seas and oceans for a long time and finally ended up in a fruit shop in a very big town. When they opened the boxes, there were hardly any apples left in one and instead there was only little chubby-cheeked Cheburashka.

In a dense tropical forest, there lived a funny little animal. His name was Cheburashka. Actually, he had no name at first when he lived in his tropical forest. And he was named Cheburashka later, when he left the forest and met people, because it is people who give animals their names. It is they who told Ant that he is an ant, who told Giraffe that he is a giraffe, and who told Rabbit that he is a rabbit. Though Ant, if he gave it a thought, could have guessed that he is an ant, because his name is so very simple. But what could an animal with such a difficult name as Hippopotamus do? Just try to guess that you are not Hippotamus, and not Popotamus, but Hippopotamus!

And such was this little animal: he never thought about what his name was; he simply lived in his faraway tropical forest. One day he woke up early in the morning, put his paws behind his back and left for a walk and a breath of fresh air. He was walking and walking, and all of a sudden he saw several crates of oranges near a large fruit garden. Without more ado, he got into one of the crates and started having breakfast. He ate as many as two oranges and got so stuffed that he could hardly walk. Therefore, he settled down to go to sleep right on the oranges.

Cheburashka was fast asleep and, of course, could not hear workers come and nail the crates shut. Then the crates of oranges with Cheburashka were loaded onto a ship and sent on a long journey.

The crates were out in the sea for a long time and eventually ended up in a fruit shop in a very big city. When the crates were opened, one of them was almost empty of oranges; inside was only very thick Cheburashka.