Once upon a time there lived a man. Every day he went to the forest, collected dead wood, put it on a donkey and took it to the market to sell. The man was very angry and greedy. He loaded the donkey so much that its entire back was rubbed until it bled. The poor beast dreamed of getting rid of its owner. One day a man, as usual, was collecting dead wood in the forest, and let the donkey graze. Carried away by his work, he moved far away from the donkey. Meanwhile, the hungry fox was thinking about how he could get a couple of chickens. The fox saw a lonely donkey and approached him.
- What shape are you in? - said the fox to the donkey. “Your whole back is worn to the point of bleeding.”
- Uncle Fox, what should I do? - answered the donkey, - if it were up to me, I wouldn’t work, but the owner forces him.
- What will you give me if I deliver you from your evil master, take you to the forest and we live happily? - asks the fox. - No luggage for you, no worn out back.
“Whatever you want,” the donkey promised.
“My condition is this: get me some chickens,” said the fox.
- How can I catch chickens, foxes? - the donkey was surprised.
“It’s very simple,” answered the fox. “The fact is that the chickens run away as soon as they see me, but they are not afraid of you, they hang around, they know that you are not a chicken eater.” So you deceive them, say that you know a place where there is a lot of grain. So, charming them with teeth, take them out of the outskirts of the village. And I will hide nearby, and when they approach, I will grab and strangle them. Then I will teach you such a trick that the owner himself will set you free. Then you will come to me and we will live together in the forest. The donkey really liked the fox's offer. The next morning the donkey brought ten chickens to the fox. The fox strangled them, jumping out of the ambush. He ate two immediately and kept the rest in reserve.
“You kept your promise,” the fox said to the donkey. “Now it’s my turn to do my part.” Pretend to be sick, no matter how much your owner beats you, don’t leave the stall, start moaning and screaming that you’re dying. Pretend like this for three or four days. Eventually the owner will believe that you are sick and will let you go free. Then come to me.
That same day, the donkey began to carry out the fox’s advice. The owner thought that if the donkey died, he would not be able to throw it into a landfill, then everything around would stink from the decomposing corpse, and he forcibly pushed the donkey out of the gate. He locked the gate behind the donkey and returned to the house.
The donkey looked around, saw no one and ran into the forest towards the fox. He thanked the fox for his wise advice, and then, talking amicably, both went deeper into the thicket. Suddenly they see an angry lion coming towards them. The lion's roar echoed throughout the forest. The donkey's veins began to shake with fear. “Well, our hour of death has come,” the donkey said to the fox. “Now the lion will tear us both to pieces.”
“Don’t be afraid,” answered the fox. - As long as you are with me, nothing will happen to you. Do what I say: roar as loud as you can. Your voice is more powerful than a lion's. Hearing your roar, the lion will decide that the owner of such a voice is probably stronger than him. And he will be scared. And then it’s none of your business. I take care of everything else.
The donkey screamed at the top of his lungs and drowned out all other sounds. The lion, hearing the braying of the donkey, thought: “I thought that there was no louder voice in the forest than mine. What kind of strong animal is this if its roar is so powerful?”
The lion thought so and wanted to turn back. And suddenly I saw a donkey.
The lion had never seen a donkey before, so he looked in surprise at the unprecedented animal. Leo became scared. And the donkey, in turn, trembled with small tremors. The lion saw that the donkey was trembling and said:
“Oh, great beast, are you trembling with fear?”
The donkey couldn’t find what to answer. And the fox pressed against his side. The fox realized that if the lion figured out what was going on, he would tear them both to pieces, and said:
- Brother Lion, you are the king of the land animals, and he is the king of the underground. Not knowing this world, he took me as a guide. And what trembles is not from fear, but from anger. He is angry that you blocked his path. He wants to tear you apart, but he feels sorry for you.
The fox said all this and winked at the donkey, saying, calm down. And the lion, having listened to the fox, stepped forward, respectfully bowed to the donkey and asked for an apology for not admitting it.
The donkey was convinced that the lion, considering him a strong beast, was scared, and, emboldened, asked:
- Tell me: do you want to serve me?
“That’s why I came to you,” the lion answers.
“Okay,” says the donkey, “from this day on I will take you as my servant.” But don’t even think about interfering in my affairs; if you disobey me, I’ll stuff you with straw like a scarecrow.
The lion once again bowed before the donkey and promised to serve him until his death. From that day on, the lion, donkey and fox began to live together. The lion went hunting, gave the best prey to the fox, and the donkey picked some grass here, a twig there, and was fed.
One day they were walking through the forest. The road led them to a mountain river. The donkey wanted to drink water, he approached the shore, bent his head towards the water, but suddenly slipped and fell into the stream, which carried him. The donkey saw that he was choking and began to scream. The lion rushed into the water and instantly pulled out the donkey. The donkey trembled from the fear he experienced, because he miraculously escaped death.
- Why are you trembling? - asked the lion.
- Do you think I was drowning? - the donkey asked displeasedly. “I wanted to swim, but you prevented me, so I’m trembling with anger.”
The lion believed this and thought that next time the donkey would not forgive him and would tear him to pieces. He began to slowly lag behind, and then began to run from the donkey. And that’s all the donkey needed, since he understood that the deception would be revealed someday, and trouble would not be avoided. The donkey waited until the lion had run a sufficient distance and shouted:
- Hey, lion, where are you running? Run, run, all the same, my faithful servants will find you and, having deceived you, will bring you to me, then I will show you how to run from me. I don’t want to bother myself, because catching you is a piece of cake.
After these words, the lion started to run. The lion met a hare, who was surprised that a lion could run in fear.
“Oh, great lion, I have never seen you running from someone before.” What's happened?
The lion took a breath and told the hare everything that had happened to him. The hare thought.
“Brother Lion,” he says, “we don’t know a beast stronger than you.” Describe this roaring animal to me in more detail.
Leo described an animal unknown to him. The hare roared with laughter and said:
- Yes, it’s a donkey. You can kill him with one blow. These are all the tricks of the fox. Let's go, you'll tear them apart in no time.
The lion became bolder by believing the hare. They went to the donkey. The donkey noticed a lion and a hare next to him from a distance.
“Well, fox, I swear on your head, the lion seems to have found out about our cunning and came to eat us.” What should we do, where should we go?
“Don’t be afraid,” the fox answers. “And this time I’ll come up with something.”
The lion approached the donkey and said:
“You turn out to be a weak bastard.” You deceived me. Now come closer, I will eat you. Then the fox entered the conversation:
“Brother Lion, remember, when you were running, the donkey shouted after you that his faithful servants would find you and, having deceived you, would lead you to him.” Know that this hare is one of such faithful servants. He deceived you and brought you to the donkey. That's it, your life is over.
The lion believed the fox and took off running. No matter how much the hare called, no matter how much he assured that this was just another trick, the lion did not hear him. Somehow the hare himself got away from trouble.
After this the fox thought that the hare might now bring the wolf, and then there would be no way to escape, and he said:
“Listen, donkey, cunning has helped us so far, but I know that this cannot continue for long.” The day will come when no trick will help us, they will skin us for nothing. Come on, you and I will go in different directions, and each of us will make our way on our own. The donkey agreed with the fox's proposal. He returned to the village, and the fox remained in the forest.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru