Agniya Barto
Mummy’s little helper

Little Tanya’s very busy:
She is helping all the day.
When her brother’s eating sweetmeats,
Tanya helps him straightaway.

Eating, drinking tea, and resting,
AH are things that she must do.
First she’ll sit a while near Mummy,
Then shell sit near Granny, too.

And before she went to bed,
To her Mummy Tanya said:
“I’m too tired to undress,
But I’ll help tomorrow, yes.”

Translated by Eugene Felgenhauer