In the evenings, the Hedgehog went to visit the Bear cub. They sat down on a log and, sipping tea, looked at the starry sky. It hung over the roof, right behind the chimney. To the right of the pipe were the stars of the Little Bear, and to the left - the Hedgehog ... The Hedgehog first walked across the field, then entered the forest, and when he left there, the Eagle Owl was already sneaking after him. 

But the Hedgehog did not suspect this. He walked with his muzzle up to the sky, laying his paws with a bundle behind his back, and suddenly he stopped so that Owl almost ran into him. "Star!" thought the Hedgehog about the star in the sky. And he looked at the star as if he had seen it for the first time. "And in a puddle ..." - the Hedgehog continued to think.

And Owl followed him to the puddle, but saw nothing but himself, Owl, and, getting angry, slapped the water with his shaggy paw.

And the Hedgehog was already looking into the dark old well: is there a star there too?

- Uhuh! - said the Hedgehog.

“Uh-huh!” boomed the old well. The hedgehog listened, jumped to the ground and again, as if throwing a pebble, hummed:

- Uhuh! And Eagle Owl has already perched on a rickety well log house.

- Uhuh! he shouted. And then, listening to each other, Owl and the old well began to hoot.

 And the Hedgehog with his bundle was already walking on, talking to himself as if talking with the Bear.

And he will tell me ... and he will tell me: “So the samovar caught a cold. It would be necessary to throw up these ... well, like them ... juniper twigs! “And I’ll tell him… and I’ll tell him… and I’ll tell him…”

And suddenly he froze: right in front of him, a white Horse swam out of the fog.

“But it’s interesting,” thought the Hedgehog, “if the Horse goes to bed, will it choke in the fog?” And he began to slowly descend the hill to get into the fog and see how it was inside.

"Here. I can not see anything. And you can't even see the paws."

 - Horse! he called.

But the Horse said nothing.

And then silence fell upon the Hedgehog, rustling and crumbling. It was just a dry leaf, but the Hedgehog was so frightened that he closed his eyes with both paws.

And when he looked out, from under the leaf, mysteriously shaking his house, the Snail slowly swam away into the fog ... The hedgehog carefully lifted the dry leaf ...

"A-ha, a-ha!" - the Elephant breathed, raising its sides and puffing up to the sky. Or was it not the Elephant? Because in a second there was no one ...

The Hedgehog carefully put the leaf in place and backing away, on tiptoe, went into the fog ... And immediately a big kind head of the Horse looked out of the fog. The head snorted deliciously, like a horse, and crunched the grass.

 “Fr-r-r,” sighed the horse’s head, and the dry leaf, as if alive, shot up and crawled to the side.

Vz-z-z! rang out somewhere in the distance.

— Whhh! - the Hedgehog rang over his head.

It was the bat, having turned crookedly, darted and disappeared.

The hedgehog did not even have time to be frightened, as quiet bells rang, and above him, like poplar leaves under the wind, a light flock of night butterflies began to silver.

 “Heh heh heh heh heh!” - the Hedgehog was delighted and even introduced himself as a night butterfly and danced a little in the air, when suddenly Owl jumped out of the fog, like from a window.

 - Yes! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!” he shouted.

“Psycho,” thought the Hedgehog, picked up a dry stick and, taking it at the ready, moved through the fog. The stick, like a blind one, wandered in the fog until it hit something hard.

 - Knock-Knock! - Hedgehog knocked.

He put down the bundle and, turning over the stick with his paws, saw in front of him a tree with a huge hollow. - A-ha! - as if trying his voice, the Hedgehog carefully exhaled.

“Ah-ah-ah!” boomed the tree. The hedgehog backed away and suddenly remembered the bundle.

He darted back, came back, rushed forward, spun in place. There was no knot...

The hedgehog plucked a blade of grass on which the Firefly was sitting and, raising it high above his head, as if with a candle, bending down and peering at his feet, wandered in the fog.

The trees, like masts, sank into the mist. The firefly, a small green beacon, barely glowing, swayed in the fog, illuminating the road. But he also fell into the grass and went out.

And suddenly:

 - E-hedgehog-and-and-k! .. - as if from the edge of the earth came the native cry of the Bear cub, the Hedgehog ran to the voice, but then everything swirled in his head: Elephant, Snail, Bat, butterflies, Horse, leaf, Elephant.

The hedgehog fell into the grass and closed his eyes.