It was a long time ago. One day a hungry bear was walking along a forest path, and a fox met him.
“Hello, neighbor,” she says. - Why so sad? Or did your stomach fail?
- There’s nothing... I’m completely hungry! - answered the bear.
-Where are you going? - asked the fox.
- Oh, don’t tell me... I don’t know where to go and what to do! At this time a wolf appeared on the forest path. He lowered his head and looked at the ground.
“Apparently, he’s also hungry, he’s out for some prey,” the fox thought.
All three met on the path and began to hold advice on what to do next. Lisa says:
- You, brothers, rely on me! It’s not for nothing that I’m considered the smartest and most dexterous in the forest. I will do whatever you want: I can twist a rope out of sand, squeeze water out of a stone! And to get food - don’t doubt that!
The wolf and the bear listened to the fox’s speech, listened, and decided to go on a journey with her in search of food.
So they are walking and suddenly they see: there is a wineskin of oil lying on the road. The bear and the wolf rushed to the butter, wanting to eat it right away. But the fox persuaded them to wait until evening.
“Let’s enjoy the butter in the evening,” she said, “and now let’s hang the wineskin on a tall tree and go look for something else.” Look, a flock of sheep is grazing! And not far from here!
The bear and the wolf agreed and wanted to immediately attack the herd, but the shepherd was on guard, and they had to wait for the right moment. They climbed into the cave and waited. The night was ending, but there was still no right moment.
“Oh, I wish I could grab the ram by the horns, but the skin has its own price,” said the wolf, clicking his teeth.
“But don’t talk about what you didn’t eat, but about where you put the stock,” the bear sighed.
They talked and decided to quietly get out of the cave and go eat the butter. But the fox was against it and persuaded them to wait until the morning.
Early in the morning she said to her companions:
– I hear some noise, voices! I'll go see what's going on there. - And she jumped out of the cave. But she soon returned and announced: “It turns out that a boy was born to the khan in one of the nearest villages.” And so my parents sent for me so that I could give the boy a name. I'll have to go there.
And the fox left. She ran to the place where a wineskin of oil hung on a tree. She took it off and ate her fill. Then she hung the wineskin in its original place and returned to the cave to the bear and the wolf.
- Tell me, fox, what did you name the khan’s son? - they asked.
“I named him Bashlamysh,” the fox answered without embarrassment.
[Bashlamysh – beginning]
The next night, the friends again remained in the cave, and nothing fell to them from the herd. They had not eaten for two days and were suffering greatly from hunger. Again the fox resorted to cunning.
“Listen,” she said, “someone is calling me.”
She looked out of the cave and disappeared. She returned with the news:
“They’re calling me again, a boy was born to the khan’s daughter.” They want me to name the child.
And she again went to the tree, took off the skin of oil and ate her fill. Half the oil in the wineskin was gone.
After this, the fox appeared in the cave, where a hungry bear and a wolf were waiting for her.
– What name did you give the boy now? - they asked the fox.
“I named him Ortamysh,” the fox answered cheerfully.
[Ortamysh – middle.]
In the evening, the bear and the wolf, barely alive from hunger, again decided to go to the tree to eat the oil left there. But the fox decided to get ahead of them this time too. She jumped out of the cave and returned with the news:
- They're calling me again! I'm pretty tired of all this, but there's nothing I can do, I'll go again.
– You’re being cunning, sister! Are you deceiving us? – the bear and the wolf doubted.
- What are you saying, brothers, what are you doing! Don't you know that you can outwit one, but you can't outwit two? Wait for me and don’t hesitate! - said the fox and ran to the tree again.
She licked off the remaining oil, inflated the waterskin with air and hung it in its original place, and then, as if nothing had happened, returned to the cave to her friends.
“Well, what did you name the boy now?” they asked the fox.
“This time I named him Jalamysh,” she answered with a grin.
[Jalamysh – licker.]
Late in the evening, all three went to a tree where a wineskin of oil hung. Approaching the place, they began to argue: who should climb the tree and get the wineskin.
“I can’t climb, you’re both stronger than me, so get it yourself,” said the fox.
The wolf climbed the tree and lowered the waterskin. When they untied the ropes that held the waterskin together, they saw that it was empty. There was no oil in it.
-Who ate the butter? - the bear roared. - You ate! - he shouted to the wolf.
- No, not me, but probably you! – he shouted back. And the fox said quietly:
“Don’t you think that I, the weakest of you, ate the butter?” I can't even climb a tree! Yes, I would never allow myself to do this! No, as they say, first check and then believe! Then the wolf said:
- I know how to check which of us ate the butter!
- How? Speak quickly! - exclaimed the bear and fox.
- And like this: let’s light a big fire at night and warm our backs properly, then put wooden boards under us and go to bed. By morning, the back of the one who eats the oil will become greasy, and the board under him will become oily. We will see which of us is to blame. Then we'll eat the culprit.
They did it as they decided. The wolf and the bear fell asleep, and the fox thought and wondered what to do! And finally I came up with an idea. She carefully pulled out the board from under the wolf and placed her own oiled one on him. And she lay down on the wolf’s board.
In the morning it turned out that the bear and the fox had clean boards, but the wolf had oil on them.
- Look, it turns out who ate the butter! - exclaimed the fox. And the bear, not believing his eyes, looked angrily at the wolf. The wolf sensed something bad and started running.
In the morning, the fox approached the den and saw that there was a piece of lard lying on a stone at the entrance - the bear was getting ready to have breakfast.
“How can I take this fat away from him,” the fox thought and spoke tenderly to the bear:
- Hello, neighbor! Listen to what I came up with: let's move away, and then run to the den, and whoever runs first and grabs the lard with his teeth will be the winner. Then let another one prepare food for him for the whole winter.
“Well,” answered the bear, “I agree!”
He thought: “After all, I am much stronger than the fox, which means I will outrun it. Let her prepare food for me for the winter.”
The fox hesitated a little before running. Seeing that the bear had moved away, the fox grabbed the lard that was lying on a stone at the entrance to his den, and placed it near her hole, and placed a white stone on him. Then she quickly caught up with the bear. They rushed away from the agreed upon place together. The fox, having reached his hole, picked up the lard, which he stole from the bear, swallowed it and immediately slipped away into his hole.
The bear rashly grabbed a white stone and squeezed it with his teeth. Teeth started falling out of his mouth. The bear got angry and rushed after the fox, wanting to repay her for deceiving her. But the entrance to the fox's hole was so small that he could not enter there. But the cunning fox didn’t even stick his nose out of the hole.
Quite a long time has passed. One day a bear was returning to his den after an unsuccessful hunt. The fox saw him and stuck his head out of the hole. Purposely slurping, she pretended that she was eating something tasty. Then she called out to the bear:
- Hello, bear, how are you doing and where are you coming from?
- How am I doing?! I’m dying of hunger!.. – answered the bear. - And you, fox, what tasty things do you eat there?
“I’m also very hungry.” Yes, I pulled out the honey from the cheten and eat it. Ooh... delicious!..
[Cheten is a deep beehive basket woven from young twigs.]
- How were you able to get the honey out? And where is this even? - asked the bear.
- Yes, very simple. I'll show you a place where there are a lot of couples with honey. Just rip the lid off the cheten and stick your head in there, then eat as much honey as you want!..
And the fox led the bear to the apiary.
“You see,” she said, “how many chetens with honey?” Choose any one.
She said and disappeared.
And the bear tried to do as the fox taught him. But as soon as he lowered his head into the hive, he howled from unbearable pain. His entire head, eyes, ears, mouth were covered with bees, which stung mercilessly.
The unfortunate man hit himself on the head, in the eyes with his paws, rolled on the ground - nothing helped. It seemed to the bear that the bees were stinging more and more painfully.
He ran to his den, fell to the ground and rolled and moaned for a long time. His muzzle was all swollen. My eyes were swollen and very painful. He saw almost nothing and was terribly hungry. He was angry with the fox for deceiving him.
The next day the bear came out of his den and wandered off, not making out the road. And towards him is a fox.
- Hello, bear! - she said.
-Who are you? - asked the bear.
“I am a hare, looking for my friends,” answered the fox. - Why are you so sad? – she remarked insinuatingly.
- Oh, little bunny, it’s better not to ask!.. I’m so unhappy. The fox played a bad joke on me. Because of her, I lost my teeth and eyes. I don’t know how to live now.
- Ay-yay! Poor fellow! “I heard that in the whole world there is no one more cunning than her,” said the fox. “If you want, I’ll show you a place where there’s a lot of food.” Follow me and I will ring the bell.
And the fox went ahead with the bell, and the bear, barely moving from hunger, followed her. So they reached a deep abyss.
Here the fox says to the bear:
- Bear, bear, I see that a herd of sheep is grazing very close. If you jump well, you'll land right on top of one of them. And I will jump in front of you with a bell. Listen, as soon as the bell rings, take three steps and jump forward.
The fox had already raised the bell, when suddenly a noise was heard above her head and a large white bird appeared. She grabbed the bell from the fox and beat it with her strong wings...
And - lo and behold! - a whirlwind arose, so strong that it picked up the fox, spun it, spun it, and it flew into the abyss.
And behind the bear a bell rang loudly. The bear turned and followed this sound.
That's how it happens. It’s not for nothing that people say: “Don’t dig a hole for someone else, you’ll fall into it yourself!”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru