A crane and a fox met.
The fox lowered her head:
- Poor crane, it turns out you only have two legs!
The crane looked down, and the fox had one, two, three, four legs! In surprise, the crane opened its beak wide
- Oh! - the fox shouted. - Oh, poor crane, you don’t have a single tooth! And I have thirty-six teeth, a hundred minds, four legs, two ears and a wonderful tail!
The crane was offended. Out of grief, he stretched his long neck even longer and saw a man in the distance.
- Ay, venerable fox, the hunter is coming! The fox tucked its tail and dashed into the badger's hole. The crane is behind her.
The hunter noticed this, went up to the hole and began to dig through.
“Oh, fox, great fox,” the crane cried, “the hunter is coming here!” You have four legs, thirty-six teeth, a hundred minds, figure out how we can be saved!
- Guess for yourself. I only have fifty minds left.
The hunter is getting closer, closer...
- Oooh, fox, my faithful fox, you have four legs, fifty minds, how can we escape?
- Come up with it yourself. My mind is racing in all directions. The hunter dug a hole, grabbed the crane by the long leg and pulled it out of the hole.
The crane’s wings spread out and drooped, its eyes were like glass, even its heart wasn’t beating.
“I must have died in the hole,” the hunter thought and threw the crane to the side.
He dug a little more and saw: the fluffy tail was standing straight up, the fluffy tail was shaking trembling.
The hunter grabbed the tail, pulled out the fox, killed it, took off the skin and put it in his leather archemak.
“When I come home, I’ll sew a hat from the paws. I’ll tie the tail to the handle of a whip, and a noble collar will come out of the back. Perhaps I’ll take a crane too. It’ll give the dogs something to eat.”
The hunter turned around, but there was no crane. He flies high in the sky, you can’t even reach him with an arrow.
Thus died the fox, which had two ears, four legs, thirty-six teeth, and a hundred minds.
And the crane only thought about it, and even then figured out how to escape.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru