Once upon a time there lived a goat and a ram in the same yard; They lived together amicably: a tuft of hay and one in half. And if a pitchfork hits the side, it’s for Vaska the cat alone! He’s such a thief and robber, he’s out fishing every hour, and wherever he lies badly, his stomach hurts.
Here is a goat and a ram lying down and talking. Out of nowhere - a purring little cat, a gray forehead, walks and cries so pitifully. The goat and the ram ask: -? Little cat, little gray forehead, what are you crying about, you jump on three legs? -? How can I not cry? The landlady beat me, tore out my ears, broke my legs, and even promised to strangle me. —? And why is this your death?
And again the purring cat began to cry.—?Cat-cat, gray pubis, what else are you crying about?—?How can I not cry? The woman beat me and kept saying: “My son-in-law is coming to see us, where can we get sour cream? Involuntarily you will have to beat a goat and a ram!
The goat and the ram roared: -? Oh, you gray cat, stupid forehead! Why did you ruin us? We'll gore you!
Here the purring cat brought his guilt and asked for forgiveness. The goat and the ram forgave him and the three of them began to think: what to do and what to do? - “Well, middle brother,” the cat asked the ram, “is your forehead strong?” Try it on the gate. The ram stood up and hit the gate with his forehead as he ran - the gate swayed, but did not open. “Well, big brother,” the cat asked the goat, “is your forehead strong?” Try it on the gate. The little goat got up, ran, hit himself - the gate opened.
The dust rises in a column, the grass bends to the ground, a goat and a ram are running, and behind them a cat is jumping on three legs - a gray forehead. The cat is tired, he prayed to his brothers: -? The goat and the ram, don’t leave your little brother... The goat took the cat, put him on himself, and they galloped again through the mountains, along the valleys, over the shifting sands. They ran for a long time, and the day and night, until I had enough strength in my legs.
Here comes a cool cool place, a great camp. Under that steep hill there is a mown field, on that field there are stacks of cities. A goat, a ram and a cat stopped to rest. And the night was autumn, cold. Where can I get fire? They think the goat and the ram, and the cat - the gray forehead has already obtained birch bark, wrapped the goat's horns and ordered him and the ram to bump their foreheads.
A goat and a ram hit each other so hard - sparks flew from their eyes - the birch bark began to burn. They lit a fire, sat down and warmed themselves.
We didn’t have time to warm ourselves up - lo and behold, an uninvited guest - a bear - is coming: -? Let me warm up, rest, somehow I don’t have any urine... -? Sit down with us, Mikhailo Ivanovich! Where are you coming from?—?I went to the apiary and got into a fight with the men.
The four of them began to share the dark night: a bear under a haystack, a cat with a gray forehead on a haystack, and a goat and a ram by the fire.
Suddenly, seven gray wolves are walking, the eighth is white, and - straight to the haystack. The goat and the ram bleated in fear, and the cat - the gray forehead - made such a speech: -? Ahti, white wolf, the prince of the wolves! Don’t make our older brother angry: he’s angry, as if he disagrees, he’ll hurt no one. Ali, you don’t see his beard: that’s where his strength lies, with his beard he kills animals, but with his horns he only removes the skin. It’s better to approach with honor and ask: we want, they say, to play, to test our strength with our little brother, that one that lies under the haystack.
The wolves on that cat bowed, surrounded the bear and began to bully him. So the bear strengthened himself and strengthened himself - but there was enough for each paw of a wolf! They got scared, fought somehow - yes, with their tails between their legs, let's run away.
Meanwhile, the goat and the ram picked up the cat, ran into the forest and again came across gray wolves. The cat quickly climbed onto the top of the spruce tree, and the goat and ram grabbed the spruce branch with their front legs and hung.
Wolves stand under a spruce tree, teeth clanking. The cat, with a gray forehead, saw that things were bad, and began throwing fir cones at the wolves and saying: -? Since it’s a wolf! Two wolves! Three wolves! Only a wolf per brother. I, a cat, just ate two wolves with bones, so I’m still not full, and you, big brother, went after the bears, but didn’t catch them, take my share for yourself!
As soon as he said these words, the goat fell off and fell directly on the wolf with its horns. And the cat screams: “Hold them, catch them!” Then such fear fell on the wolves - they began to run without looking back. And so they ran away. And the gray-browed cat, the goat and the ram went their own way.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru