Once upon a time there lived a modest peasant family. The husband worked his field day and night, now following the plow, now loosening the earth with a pickaxe, now reaping the harvest with a crooked sickle. The wife ran her poor house: she cleaned it, lit a life-giving fire and cooked modest food on it, raised chickens, and weaved the rest of the time, providing her husband, herself and son with warm winter clothes. The son was twelve years old, he was a playful and intelligent boy.
Once a fox got into the habit of stealing birds in their small estate. And so these peasants had few birds, and now they could soon lose even the last ones. So the boy decided to track down the thief. He hid in a willow grove on the edge of the estate and began to wait for the fox to come to the fence. After some time, he saw a red-haired thief. The boy immediately rushed at her and caught her. In anger, he decided to put the robber to a terrible execution. He wrapped it in straw and hay and set it on fire. However, the fox escaped from the boy's hands and began to run. The wind fanned the fire that engulfed her more and more, and the flames soon spread to the nearest grain field, and from there to other fields. With great efforts, the peasants managed to extinguish the monstrous fire.
Since then, stuffed foxes have been burned in the fields to prevent fires.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru