Yumi, a puppy.
Greta, his mother.
Pirate, a stray dog.
Titmouse, a gossipy neighbor.
Lord, a boss of the cat gang.
Toy, a kitten burglar.
Melisa, his mother.
Malyshev, the mayor of the city.
Nyuta, his daughter, 10 years old
Suvorov, a major, a local police officer.
Yin, a little field mouse.
Yang, her brother.
Crow, a black bird.
Khorkov, the house manager and the leader of the animal tormentor gang.
Corkscrew, his henchman.
Karabasov, a director of a construction company.
Scene 1.
Christmas Eve. Early morning. Light frost.
A wasteland on the outskirts of the city. The house of Greta and Yumi is in the foreground, it is a small dugout blanketed in snow. A metal mesh fence is on the left, and an apartment block yard is behind it. On the right there are thickets of bushes followed by a deep gully.
Yumi and the field mice play tag.
Yin. Yumi!
Yumi. Grr…
Yang. Yumi!
Yumi. Woof!
Yin. Yumi, we are here!
Yumi. Won’t I just catch you!
Yang. Uh-huh.
Yumi. Tadpoles!
Yang. Ha-ha. What a clumsy puppy!
Yin. It’s not a puppy, but a snail!
Yumi. So that’s what you’re saying! Woof! (He comes for the little mouse, who stands on a small heap of snow and pulls it all down).
Yang. It’s not a snail, but a jumbo.
Yin. Fat clumsy jumbo Yumi.
Yumi. Woof! I will catch you and I will eat you!
The little mice laugh and scatter in all directions.
Yin. Yumi, eat me!
Yang. Yumi, you’d better eat me!
Yumi. Woof!
Yin. Yumi, I taste better.
Yumi. Grr…
A crow flies up to them, pounces at one of the mice and tries to carry it away. Yumi bites the crow’s tail. The crow sets the little mouse free, wriggles out of Yumi and flies away.
Crow (on the wing). Caw!!! Caw!!! Just hold on, you pup! We’ll be quits yet! You won’t forget me. Caw!!! Caw…
Yang. Yumi, thank you!
Yin. Thank you, Yumi. You are my hero.
The mice run away.
Yumi. A hero. Are there even such heroes? (He looks at his reflection in a lump of ice).
Pause.
Yumi. No. I don’t look like a hero. I’m just a little puppy. Now, when will my mom be back? I am hungry.
A window sash opens on the first floor, and Toy peeps out from the opening with a Сracow sausage between his teeth. Yumi catches a sight of Toy. He scrapes through a hole in the fence to the yard of the apartment block and runs up to the kitten.
Yumi. Hold on!
Toy. I’m holding on.
Yumi. Got you, petty burglar!
Toy. Who are you?
Yumi. I guard this yard! Woof!
Toy. Shoo, tadpole.
Yumi. You are another.
Toy. Let me go.
Yumi. Put back what you’ve stolen!
Toy. Yeah, right.
Yumi. I mean it!
Toy. Oh, I’m so scared.
Yumi. Put the sausage back!
Toy. What’s next! What are you going to do?
Yumi. Grrr…
Toy. Fffhhh!!!
Toy jumps down, still keeping hold of his trophy. Yumi takes after him. They both run across the yard. Toy makes his way to the wasteland through the hole in the fence. Yumi stays on his tail. Toy rushes to the thickets of bushes and falls into a trap: he finds himself enmeshed in an old trammel.
Yumi. I’ve got you there.
Toy. Fffhhh!!!
Yumi. Serves you right!
Toy. Oh.
The kitten tries to free himself but only gets more enmeshed.
Yumi. I’ll show you how to steal sausages.
Toy. Go teach a fish to swim.
