He once met a man, and he said to him:
- Half, and Half! Would you mind carrying this wallet? I will tell who and where.
Chicken Half answers:
- If I don’t take it, I’ll take it.
And he went. He walks and walks, he has gone far, no one has gotten in his way. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there is a staircase on the road.
-Where are you going, Half? - asks.
- I’m taking my wallet to one place.
-Will you take me with you?
- If I don’t take it, I’ll take it. How long or how little have we gone, the staircase stops:
- Oh, Half, I’m so tired, I can’t go any further!
The chicken took pity on the stairs:
“Climb onto my wing, I’ll carry you.” A chicken passed nearby, and lo and behold, there was a river.
-Where are you going, Half? - asks.
- I’m taking my wallet to one place.
- Do you want me to go with you?
- I don’t want to, let’s go.
The chicken, the stairs and the river are far gone.
- Oh! “I’m so tired, I have no urine, my legs are giving way,” says the river.
And the chicken Half is alive and cheerful, as if there was no way:
- Climb on my wing too. I'll carry you.
He goes on and on, never gets tired. Soon the chicken meets a fox.
Lisa also asks where he is going and whether he will take her with him. But they moved away, and then the fox was tired and could barely drag his feet. Chicken Half says:
“Climb onto my wing, I’ll carry you with the river and the ladder.”
They walked and walked and saw the house standing. And in that house there lived a man to whom the wallet was intended. The chicken gave him the wallet, but the man was completely worthless, unkind: he grabbed the chicken and threw it into the well. Chicken Half will scream:
- Ladder, ladder, get down and save me!
The ladder leaned against the wall of the well. The chicken climbed up and did not drown.
The owner caught the Half again, opened the oven where the corn was drying, and put it in the firebox. And it's hot there! The chicken is about to burn!
“River, river,” calls Half, “get down and save me!”
The river came down and flooded the fire. Only one spur on the chicken’s foot was burnt: after all, it didn’t have another foot. And the owner again grabbed Half and locked him in a pen. And when evening came and the sun set, he took him to the chicken coop. The chicken coop is full of chickens and roosters, all big and strong.
They pounced on Half and, well, pecked and pinched him.
- Fox, fox, get down and help! - the chicken calls.
The fox jumped down and scattered all the chickens.
And Polovinka grabbed the owner’s wallet and ran away! He distributed the money to his friends - the ladder, the river, the fox, and they all lived together happily and happily.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru