Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They sowed turnips. So the bear got into the habit of stealing turnips from them. The old man went to look and saw: a lot of turnips had been picked and scattered around.
He returned home and told the old woman. And she says to him: “Who picked the turnips?” If people had, they would have taken it away. It's probably a bear doing some mischief! Come on, old man, watch for the thief!
The old man took an ax and went on guard for the night. He lay down under the fence and lies there. Suddenly a bear comes and let’s carry the turnips - he grabbed a whole load and climbed through the fence.
The old man jumped up, threw an ax at him and cut off his paw. He ran away and hid. The bear roared and went into the forest on three legs. The old man took the severed paw and brought it home: “Here, old woman, cook.”
The old woman peeled off the bear's paw, set it to cook, plucked the fur from the skin, sat on the skin and began to spin the wool. The old woman is spinning. And the bear made himself a fake leg and went to the old man and the old woman. Here the bear walks, the leg creaks, he himself says:
-? Skyrly, skyrly, skyrly, On a linden leg, On a birch stick. Everyone sleeps in the villages, Sleeps in the villages, One woman does not sleep - Sits on my skin, Spins my wool, Cooks my meat.
The old woman heard this and said: “Come on, old man, lock the door, the bear is coming... And the bear has already entered the hallway, opens the door, and says:
-? Skyrly, skyrly, skyrly, On a linden leg, On a birch stick. Everyone sleeps in the villages, Sleeps in the villages, One woman does not sleep - Sits on my skin, Spins my wool, Cooks my meat.
At that time, the old man and the old woman were afraid. The old man hid on the floor under a trough, and the old woman hid on the stove, under black shirts. The bear got into the hut, began to look for the old man and the old woman, and ended up underground. People gathered here and they killed the bear.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru