Near the chum, on the blue snow, three dogs were sitting: the shepherd Oronka, the hunting Laika, and the sled dog Nartka. The dogs were arguing. Oronka boasted:
“I’m a man’s first assistant, he’ll throw me a fat piece.” I will guard his most precious thing - the deer!
“You’re stupid, Oronka, I’m the best dog,” Nartka answers, “a man will throw me a fatty piece.” I lead him kindly, without me he could not roam. Laika is angry:
- Eko, braggarts, without me everyone would go hungry. After all, I’m looking for prey in the taiga!
The dogs argued, argued, rushed at each other and began to fight. The wool flies in the wind, the snow around has turned red.
Each one screams:
- I'm the best dog!
A man came out of the tent, the dogs ran up to him, every dog was proud:
- I'm the best dog! I'm looking for prey in the taiga! - Laika boasts.
- No, I'm the best dog! “I drive the sledges, I help them wander,” Nartka answers angrily.
- No, no, I'm the best dog! I guard the deer!
- Oronka boasts most of all. The man laughs:
- Look, they got proud. I don’t have a better dog: I feed everyone the same, everyone is equally dear to me,
- and went into the chum.
The dogs were offended. Everyone wants to be the best, to get a fat piece.
Laika says:
“Our life is bad, we should leave the person, let him die without us.”
And so they did. A man came out of the tent, but there were no dogs, they ran away.
The dogs came to the taiga. Laika saw a squirrel, barked, jumped in the snow, drove the squirrel onto a pine tree, and boasted:
- I did my job.
And the squirrel sits on a tree, swinging. Then Nartka runs up to Laika:
- You're tired. Hop on me, I'll give you a ride. Laika, happy, went on the Nartka. Not far
left.
Nartka says:
- So I did my job.
And the squirrel sits on a branch, swinging.
Oronka is running around, wagging her tail, she saw a herd of deer and ran around. She came running, out of breath, sat down in the snow, and also boasted:
- So I did my job.
And the squirrel sits on a branch, swinging. The dogs raised their noses, looked at the squirrel, and licked their hungry mouths. They sat like that for a long time. Then plaintively
howled. The night passed, the morning turned white. Laika jumped up:
- I smell a hare! - and ran along the fresh trail. She found the hare, barked, and chased it to Nartka and Oronka.
Nartka says to Oronka:
- Sit down, I’ll take you to the hare.
The hare sees the unprecedented: a dog rides a dog!
He jumped over them and disappeared into the thicket.
The dogs are standing, licking their lips. Many days and nights passed. The wind blew the hair off the dogs, and the hungry ribs were exposed.
Laika howls pitifully:
“Death is coming to us dogs, what are we going to do?”
We decided to go back to the human plague. We've arrived. The man heard a rustling sound and came out of the tent.
- Eh!.. the fugitives have returned... Eco pulled you up... You're starving!
The man gave each dog a big fat fish. They were delighted, greedily gnawing on the fish and looking around.
Since then, dogs have become man's friends and serve him faithfully.
Oronka grazes deer.
Laika is looking for prey in the taiga. . Nartka carries luggage.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru