In ancient times, when there were two suns in the sky and a white day always shone on earth, the cuckoo was considered the first songbird.
A cuckoo sits on a branch, raises its head proudly, straightens its tail and sings, spreading throughout the whole taiga. Both birds and animals listen and praise the cuckoo.
The time has come for all birds to lay eggs and hatch chicks. The birds hurried: they began to drag moss, grass, branches, make new nests, and prepare a warm bed.
Only the cuckoo puts on even more airs, laughs at the birds, and sings throughout the taiga. The birds gathered and said:
- How will our songbird live? How will you preserve your family on earth?
The cuckoo heard those bird speeches and laughed even harder:
- Eko, stupid!.. Are you thinking of forcing me to nest? how about hatching chicks?..
The birds said:
“This bird has a thin head: it has less intelligence than a fly,” and they scattered to their nests.
But the cuckoo still laughs, singing songs throughout the taiga.
The time has come for her to lay eggs, but she doesn’t have a nest.
She flew to the lake and saw: between the hummocks, in the reeds, a duck was sitting on its eggs, trying. The cuckoo tells her:
“Eco, honey, you’re sitting here hungry, fly over and feed yourself, I’ll guard your testicles.”
The duck obeyed and flew. The cuckoo threw one egg out of the duck's nest and laid her own.
The duck returned and sat on the testicles. The cuckoo flew away, the next day it flew into the field and saw a partridge sitting on its testicles in the grass, trying. The cuckoo tells her:
“Eco, honey, you’re sitting here hungry, fly over and feed yourself, I’ll guard your testicles.”
The partridge obeyed and flew away. The cuckoo threw one egg out of the partridge's nest and laid one of its own. .
The partridge flew in and sat on the testicles. The cuckoo has flown away! On the third day she flew to a dry aspen tree, there was a large nest on it, in it a crow was sitting on its testicles, trying. Cuckoo says:
“Eco, honey, you’re sitting here hungry, fly over and feed yourself, I’ll guard your testicles.”
The crow obeyed and flew away. The cuckoo threw one egg out of the crow's nest and laid her own.
A crow flew in and sat on the testicles. The cuckoo flew away.
All the chicks were hatched and the chicks grew up. Every bird rejoices and boasts of its children.
The duck quacks:
- Quack-quack! Oh, my yellow-nosed ones... Let's go to the lake, we'll swim and dive!
The chicks run after her and quack. We came to the lake, the duck dived and swam, the chicks dived and swam. One chick is on the shore, flapping its wings, afraid of water.
The duck screams and gets angry:
- You are a stranger!
A duck swims to the shore and wants to drown its chick.
A cuckoo flew up and took the chick with it. A partridge leads children through the grass.
- Pee-pee! Oh, my fleet-footed ones... Let's go run on the grass!
The chicks run after her. One chick is sitting, flapping its wings, and wants to fly onto a branch. The partridge screams and gets angry:
- You are a stranger!
A partridge runs to peck its chick. A cuckoo flew up and took the chick with it. The crow boasts about its children and croaks:
- Kar-kar-kar! Oh, my little black ones... He looks, and one of the little chicks is mottled. The crow screams and gets angry:
- You are a stranger!
The crow opened its beak and wanted to peck the chick.
A cuckoo flew in and took the chick with it.
The cuckoo children gathered. The cuckoo boasts:
- Eco, my children, you were all born like me, the beautiful songbird. Let the birds be jealous.
The birds came to listen to the singing of the cuckoo children.
The cuckoo teaches its children:
- Sing, my children, as I sing.
The chick that the duck hatched flapped its wings and opened its beak.
- Quack!.. Quack!..
The birds laughed, the cuckoo became sad. The chick that the partridge hatched flapped its wings and opened its beak:
- Bang-bang-bang!
The birds laughed, the cuckoo became even more sad. He looks at his last chick and hopes for it.
The chick that the crow brought out flapped its wings and opened its beak:
- Kar! Kar!
The birds laugh, they make fun of the cuckoo, but she cries in grief and says to her chicks:
- Eko, my children, stupid. Listen to me sing merrily!
And she herself cries, tears dripping onto the grass.
She looked and the children flew away from her: one to the duck, the second to the partridge, the third to the crow. Such misfortune made the cuckoo’s throat close. took off
she stood on a bush, opened her beak, and stuttered from grief and tears:
- Ku-ku! Cuckoo!
And the cuckoo became an eternal stutterer, cuckooing sadly.
It is she who grieves about her children, moans about them, and crows pitifully.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru