The book tells the story of Horton the Elephant who, on the fifteenth of May in the Jungle of Nool, hears a small speck of dust talking to him. It turns out the speck of dust is actually a tiny planet, home to a city called "Who-ville", inhabited by microscopic-sized inhabitants known as Whos.
On the fifteenth of May, in the jungle of Nool,
In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool,
He was splashing…enjoying the jungle’s great joys…
When Horton the elephant heard a small noise.
So Horton stopped splashing. He looked towards the sound.
“That’s funny,” thought Horton. “There’s no one around.”
Then he heard it again! Just a very faint yelp
As if some tiny person were calling for help.
“I’ll help you,” said Horton. “But who are you? Where?”
He looked and he looked. He could see nothing there
But a small speck of dust blowing past though the air.
“I say!” murmured Horton. “I’ve never heard tell
Of a small speck of dust that is able to yell.
So you know what I think?…Why, I think that there must
Be someone on top of that small speck of dust!
Some sort of a creature of very small size,
too small to be seen by an elephant’s eyes…
Однажды весною, четвёртого мая,
прохладную ванну в пруду принимая,
слон Хортон вблизи услыхал голосок,
который был жалостен, слаб и высок.
Внимательно слон огляделся вокруг...
— Забавно... Откуда-то слышится звук...
Однако нигде никого не видать...
Но тут голосишко раздался опять.
Как будто бы кто-то из крошечных сил
о помощи тихо и робко просил.
— Я вам помогу! Только кто вы?
И где вы? —
выкрикивал Хортон и вправо и влево.
Никто не возник. И никто не ответил.
И тут он малютку пушинку заметил.
И слон прошептал: — Ну и ну! Чудеса!!
Простая пушинка — и вдруг... голоса?!
Ведь я не слыхал, да и вы не слыхали,
чтобы пушинки так горько вздыхали!..
А вдруг там и вправду случилась беда?
Какая-то личность попала туда.
И глазу слона не увидеть его —
несчастное крошечное существо.
Наверное, эта малютка боится
в холодном глубоком пруду очутиться.
И пусть она меньше, чем глаз муравья,
но личность есть личность!
Так думаю я.
Writer and illustrator of children's books, born in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. He studied at Dartmouth College, NH, did postgraduate work at Oxford and the Sorbonne, worked as an illustrator and humorist for US periodicals, then became a writer and animator in Hollywood, settling in La Jolla, CA. He wrote the screenplay for the award-winning animated cartoon Gerald McBoing Boing (1950). His famous series of ‘Beginner Books’ started with The Cat in the Hat (1957) and Yertle the Turtle (1958). By 1970, 30 million copies had been sold in the USA, and Seuss had become synonymous with learning to read. His books for adults include You're Only Old Once! (1986) and Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990).
Related Works
Childrens' Books
1937 And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
