Whether it happened or not, they say that in one garden a crow built a nest for itself on an orange tree. She decided to lay eggs, hatch chicks, raise them and teach them to fly.
The crow laid five or six eggs, warmed them with the warmth of her body for twenty-one days - and then the chicks hatched from the eggs. Now the crow had more worries: every day she flew here and there, looked for food and brought it to the chicks.
Not far from that tree lived a rogue fox. From the squeaking of the crows, she realized that there was food for her in the nest, and she began to plot out how to take possession of the chicks. But no matter how much she jumped, she could not get to the nest. The fox ran and fussed... Finally, near the village, in the dust, she found an old, torn felt hat. She raised her hat and then stole the gardener's dull saw.
One early morning, when the crow had not yet flown out of the nest, the fox approached the tree and began to cut it down.
The crow noticed the fox from afar, and when the sound of a saw was heard, she stuck her head out of the nest and asked:
- What are you doing?
- Nothing, I’m a gardener and I want to cut down this tree.
- My nest is on this tree, and there are chicks in it!
“You did the wrong thing by making a nest and raising chicks on my tree.” Now I’m cutting it down so you know who’s the boss in this garden!
The crow began to cry and began to beg the fox to wait a day or two until the chicks grew a little older and could leave the nest.
- I won’t wait for anything! - said the fox. “This is my tree, and I will cut it down right now.”
After much debate, they decided that the crow would give the fox one of the crows, and in return the fox would leave the tree alone for a while.
With eyes full of tears, the crow reluctantly threw one of her chicks to the fox. And the vile fox ate the crow and became happier. She was delighted and decided that the cunning would help her get all the birds that had built nests in this garden.
The next day, a neighbor, a jackdaw, came to visit the crow. The crow was very sad and worried.
- What's happened? - asked the jackdaw. The crow told her everything.
“You’re too trusting,” said the jackdaw. “The gardener will never cut down a green shady tree.” If he comes again, show him to me, and I will tell you whether he really is the gardener.
The next day, the hungry fox took a saw, put on a felt hat and went to the tree. As soon as she approached him, the crow flew after the jackdaw. Through the branches of the tree, the jackdaw carefully examined the “gardener.”
- Oh, you simpleton! What kind of gardener is this?! You were misled by the felt hat and the saw. After all, this is a vile deceiving fox! If she tells you again:
“I want to cut down a tree,” answer her: “Please drink quickly!” How can this beast cut down such an old tree with a dull saw? This requires a double-sided sharp saw and the strong hands of a woodcutter.
The crow returned to its nest and saw that the fox had already applied the saw to the base of the tree.
- Who are you and what are you doing here? - asked the crow, sticking her head out of the nest.
“I’m a gardener and I want to cut down this tree, but you get away from here and hurry up!” - answered the fox.
“I’m not going anywhere from here, this is my nest; You are not a gardener and you can’t do anything for me. If you want to cut a tree, cut it!
The fox felt that the crow had changed. Yesterday she piteously begged, cried and moaned, but today she spoke completely differently. The fox guessed that someone had talked some sense into the crow.
“Okay,” she said, “I’ll let you leave your nest here if you tell me who told you that I’m not a gardener and I can’t cut down this tree.”
“The jackdaw told me that,” the crow answered carelessly.
“Well,” the fox thought to herself, “I will repay the jackdaw so much that they will tell about it in legends!”
Several days passed. And then one day the fox went to the swamp and got dirty in the mud. Then she went to the tree on which there was a jackdaw's nest, stretched out on the ground and pretended to be dead. The jackdaw flew past the fox twice and, seeing that she was not moving, thought: “There is no doubt that the fox is dead! We must peck out its eyes.”
She sank down to the fox and first pecked him in the side - the fox did not move. Then a jackdaw sat on her head and wanted to peck out her eye. And then the fox suddenly grabbed her. Galka realized that her situation was bad.
“You, of course, can eat me,” she said to the fox, “because it is I who teach the local birds wisdom.” But if you and I were friends, I would teach you everything, so that in a day you could kill not one, but two birds. If you and I make an agreement, I will teach you how to make easy money.
“This jackdaw is very wise,” the fox thought. “And indeed, it would be nice to make friends with her.”
“Think carefully,” continued the jackdaw, “and if you want to be friends with me, then swear this by the radiance of the sun, the light of the moon and the deity of the forest.”
The fox opened her mouth to swear, and the jackdaw instantly flew out of her mouth and sat down on the tree.
The next day, the jackdaw called all the birds together to drive the fox out of their garden. And when the fox fell asleep on the shore of the lake, hundreds of birds flocked and began to circle above her. They pecked at her sides, head and back so much that the fox was frightened and threw herself into the water and drowned.
And now, as we tell this, she is still at the bottom of the lake.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru