One day a little mouse was born, which differed from all other mice in that it had a white spot on its neck.
“Who should we marry him to?” - the mice thought.
“He has no equal among us.” Only the sun is his equal. “We’ll marry him to the sun,” some said.
“No,” said others, “the sun is not suitable: the one who is covered by a cloud is no match for our son.”
“Well, then we’ll marry him to a cloud,” the relatives said.
“He who can be scattered by the wind is no match for our son,” others disagreed.
- We'll marry him in the wind...
“He who is held back by the mountain cannot be his equal.”
- We'll marry him on the mountain.
“He is no match for anyone whose footing can be undermined by mice,” others objected.
“Well, then we’ll marry him to a mouse: she’s the only one equal to him,” all the mice decided.
And the mouse married a mouse, and all the mice lived in peace until the cat appeared.
“I am the strongest,” he announced and began to grab and carry away the mice one after another.
Then the mice gathered for a council and decided: “Let’s give a mouse in marriage to the cat: she will warn us about his raids.”
So, having given their sister in marriage to a cat, the mice decided to intermarry with the cats.
Soon young cats came to the mice for their mouse bride. Waiting for the cats and fearing their machinations, the mice - the bride's friends - out of caution dug many holes around.
The mouse girls entered under the canopy and began to dance, chanting: “Closer, closer, to the edge of the hole!”
With this song they settled down at the entrances to the holes. The cats knew nothing about these minks. They all gathered together on one side and, dancing, sang:
– Our son doesn’t like meat.
The mouse girls, picking up the song, answered:
– We will see, we will see!
“Our son doesn’t like butter,” the cats sang.
- We'll see, we'll see! - answered the mice.
“Our son doesn’t like cream,” the cats sang.
- We'll see, we'll see! - the mice sang in response.
- Surround, surround! – one of the cats hissed to the others, and all the cats picked up:
- Surround! Surround!
Chanting like this, they surrounded the mice and enclosed them in a circle.
And then one of the mice squeaked:
- Attention, attention!
“We understand, we understand,” the mice sang.
Suddenly the singing cat hissed:
- Grab one by one, grab it!
- Jump, jump, each one into your own hole, jump! – the mouse girls squealed.
The cats, not having caught the mice, ran up to the entrances to the holes and meowed. The mice, sitting in their holes, teased them:
Oh you fools!
They say that all this actually happened.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru