Василий Мантуленко
Gorbunok: The Rusty Bike With Attitude

GORBUNOK

THE RUSTY BIKE WITH ATTITUDE

A funny modern fairy tale about Ivan, his brothers, and the bicycle nobody believed in

Based on the classic tale of "Ivan the Fool and the Little Humpbacked Horse"

An English reader for young learners

Level: A1–A2 · Elementary school

A Note for Teachers and Parents

This story is written in simple, funny English for young learners at level A1–A2. It uses short sentences, everyday words, and plenty of dialogue and jokes, so children can read it aloud and enjoy it in the classroom or at home.

The story is a modern, humorous retelling of the classic tale "Ivan the Fool and the Little Humpbacked Horse" — with a rusty, talking bicycle instead of a magical horse, an online scammer instead of a wicked tsar, and a family fair for tech inventions instead of a royal court.

Each of the 13 chapters ends with a short "New Words" box: key vocabulary from the chapter, with simple English definitions, to help build reading confidence and vocabulary step by step.

The story carries a warm message about not judging others (or things!) by their appearance, and about believing in yourself even when your family or friends don't yet see your worth — a good conversation starter for the classroom or family reading time.

Contents

Chapter 1. The Three Ivanov Brothers

Chapter 2. Grandpa's Strange Inheritance

Chapter 3. Meet Gorbunok

Chapter 4. A Little Bit Embarrassing

Chapter 5. Anton's Very Bad Week

Chapter 6. The Ride Nobody Expected

Chapter 7. A New Kind of Respect

Chapter 8. Slava's Shiny New Friend

Chapter 9. The Chase Across Town

Chapter 10. Caught on Camera

Chapter 11. A Delivery That Really Mattered

Chapter 12. The City Innovation Fair

Chapter 13. Best in Show

Meet the Characters

Ivan — the youngest Ivanov brother, a cheerful dreamer who loses his keys often, but never loses hope.

Gorbunok — a rusty old bicycle with a humped basket, secretly enchanted, secretly fast, and permanently sarcastic.

Anton — the oldest brother, a serious banker who is always ten minutes away from a very important meeting.

Slava — the middle brother, an online influencer who films everything and trusts people in expensive jackets a little too easily.

Grandpa Yegor — the grandfather who leaves the strange inheritance, and knows more than he ever explained.

Zhenya — a smart, no-nonsense engineer at a city tech startup, and someone Ivan has liked for a long time.

Konstantin Zolotov — a smooth-talking "investor" who is not nearly as honest as his jacket suggests.

Chapter 1

The Three Ivanov Brothers

In a regular apartment, on a regular street, in a regular city, lived three brothers, all with the last name Ivanov, and absolutely nothing else in common.

Anton, the oldest, worked at a big bank downtown. He wore sharp suits, checked his watch constantly, and often reminded people that he had "a very important meeting in ten minutes," even on weekends.

Slava, the middle brother, was an "influencer." He filmed himself doing things — eating breakfast, walking down the street, breathing, really — and somehow, three hundred thousand people watched every single video.

And then there was Ivan, the youngest. Ivan lost his keys at least twice a week. Ivan once tried to microwave a metal spoon. Ivan believed, with his whole heart, that things would work out fine, even when there was absolutely no evidence for this at all.

"Ivan's a dreamer," Anton would say, shaking his head.

"Ivan's kind of a mess, not gonna lie," Slava would say, filming the conversation for his followers.

"I prefer 'optimistic,'" Ivan would say cheerfully, usually while wearing his shirt inside out.

Their grandfather, Grandpa Yegor, lived with them in the same building, one floor up, surrounded by tools, old radios, and a bicycle so rusty that nobody had touched it in about fifteen years.

"That old thing?" Anton said once, wrinkling his nose at the bike in the corner of Grandpa's balcony. "Why do you even keep it?"

"Some things," Grandpa Yegor said mysteriously, "are worth more than they look."

Nobody paid much attention to that at the time. They really, really should have.

New Words

influencer — someone who is famous online and affects what people buy or think

optimistic — believing good things will happen

mysteriously — in a way that is hard to explain or understand

rusty — covered in orange-brown marks from old metal

Chapter 2

Grandpa's Strange Inheritance

One quiet autumn evening, Grandpa Yegor passed away peacefully in his favorite armchair, with a half-finished cup of tea beside him and a small, knowing smile on his face.

The family gathered a week later to hear the will, read aloud by a very serious, very bored lawyer named Ms. Petrova.

"To my grandson Anton," she read, "I leave my car — the good one, not the one that makes the funny noise."

Anton looked pleased. "Excellent," he whispered.

"To my grandson Slava," Ms. Petrova continued, "I leave my camera equipment and my old drone, which should help with... whatever it is you do online."

Slava grinned and immediately started filming himself receiving the news. "This is CONTENT, guys."

"And to my grandson Ivan," Ms. Petrova read, adjusting her glasses, "I leave the bicycle from the balcony."

There was a pause.

"That's it?" Ivan asked. "Just... the rusty bike?"

"That's what it says here," Ms. Petrova said, closing the folder. "Congratulations, I suppose."

Anton tried not to laugh. Slava was already laughing, on camera, which was somehow worse.

"Classic Ivan luck," Slava said between giggles. "A car, a drone, and... a bike from the Stone Age."

Ivan walked out to the balcony that evening, a little sad, and looked at the old bicycle properly for the first time — rusty frame, a strange humped basket welded crookedly onto the back, one pedal held on with tape.

"Well," Ivan said to it quietly, "I guess it's just you and me now."

The bicycle's front light flickered once, like a slow, sleepy blink.

"Obviously," said a dry, slightly grumpy voice. "Who else would put up with you?"

Ivan screamed and fell backward into a pile of Grandpa's old newspapers.

New Words

inheritance — money or things given to you after someone dies

will — a document saying who gets a person's things after they die

welded — joined together using heat, usually with metal

flicker — to shine unsteadily, on and off

Chapter 3

Meet Gorbunok

"You TALKED!" Ivan said, scrambling back up, staring at the bicycle with wide eyes. "Bikes don't talk!"