Once upon a time a wolverine, a bear and a wolf lived together. They lived amicably and never quarreled. But one day they quarreled for life. It happened like this.
Wolverine had a sister, a girl. She grew up quickly and became a beautiful adult woman. Then the wolf decided to take this girl as his wife. He came to Wolverine and said:
- Wolverine, give me your sister as a wife.
“What are you, wolf, are you a match for her?” says the wolverine. “You, gray, were born from the snow, and we, black wolverines, were born from the earth.” No, I do not agree to give you my sister as a wife.
They argued for a long time, but never agreed on anything. Then the wolf says to Wolverine:
- Well, if you don’t agree to give me your sister, let’s go to our older brother the bear, he will judge us, tell us which of us is right.
They came to the bear and the wolf and said:
“Elder brother, we came to you so that you could judge us.” Tell me which one of us is right? I ask the wolverine for her sister as a wife, but she does not agree to give it up. So we quarreled.
Then the bear said:
- It’s too bad that you don’t want to become related. For this you will be punished. From now on, you, wolf, will live alone all the time and will have no more than three cubs per year. You, wolverine, because you regretted giving your sister as a wife to a wolf, will have no more than one cub a year.
Your children will always fall into wooden traps, and you yourself will die from it.
The wolf became very sad and wandered home. And the wolverine got angry and began to scold the bear:
“You, bear, cursed me,” she said, “so I curse you too!” Now you will sleep all winter in a hole that you will dig for yourself in the ground. In winter, people will come to you and kill you.
And indeed, everything happened as the bear and wolverine predicted. The wolf began to have no more than three wolf cubs every year. Wolverines only give birth to one cub a year, and they always get caught and die. The bear sleeps all winter, never leaving its den.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru