Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They had only one pig, and even that one they had nothing to feed. Every day the pig wandered through the forest and collected acorns. She only ate acorns.
One day the pig, as always, went into the forest. A wolf met her at the edge of the forest and asked:
- Pig, where are you going?
“To the forest for acorns,” answered the pig.
- By the way, would you take me with you? “I also want to get something in the forest,” the wolf said insinuatingly.
The pig didn't really believe his words. But what could she do? She decided to use cunning to get rid of her uninvited companion and said:
- Okay, let's go! It will be more fun together. I’m just warning you: there will be a hole on the way. Can you jump over it?
The wolf laughed and replied:
- This is an easy matter. I’ll run away - and so I was! They approached the pit. The wolf looked at her and became afraid.
- Jump first! - he says to the pig.
“If I jump first, it will be worse for you,” said the pig: “I will hug the edge of the hole with my hooves, it will become even wider, and then you will never be able to jump over.”
The wolf agreed to jump first. He ran with all his might, jumped and fell to the bottom of the hole... And the pig walked around the hole, calmly came into the forest and ate plenty of acorns. In the evening she returned home full and satisfied.
And the next day the pig went into the forest. Then the bear met her and asked:
- Pig, where are you going? Is it far?
— I’m going to the forest for acorns.
“Take me with you,” the bear asked. “I haven’t eaten acorns for a long time and I want to enjoy them!”
“Okay,” answered the pig, “it’s more fun to go together.” Only for rent: there will be a big hole on the way. Will you be able to jump over it?
- Don't worry about me! I will jump over any hole!
They approached the pit. The bear spread its furry paws, ran, jumped, and fell straight into the hole. And the pig walked around her and headed into the forest. Having eaten her fill of acorns, she returned home in the evening.
So the pig grazed in the forest until it became fat. Then the owners decided to stab her.
In the morning, the old man sharpened his knife, caught the pig and began to throw it to the ground. But the pig realized that she was in trouble, escaped from his hands and ran into the forest. The owner rushed to catch up with her, and the pig ran to the pit where the wolf and the bear had fallen, and began to run around it. The old man looked into the hole, saw the unexpected catch and was very happy. He carved an alder club with a knife, finished off a wolf and a bear, skinned them and sold them for a high price.
“Our pig brought us this wealth,” he said to his wife, and they both decided not to stab the pig: maybe she will again show them some good prey!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru