There lived an old big bear in Altai. His favorite food is pine nuts. He took nuts from only one cedar. Thick cedar, six girths. Branches are frequent. Silk needles. Rain never drips through it. If you look from a distance, it looks like ten cedars have grown from one root. The big old bear carefully guarded this tree from animals and people. The bear lived well near the wide cedar tree.
But then one day a bear came, and the thick cedar tree had no nuts. The bear walked around and couldn’t believe his eyes. He clung to the branches as if he had lead tied to his lower back. -
“If you haven’t eaten for a long time, will you become so heavy? Apparently, I’ve grown old.”
The cedar branches bent from the weight of the bear and almost cracked. An old man climbed to the top of the cedar and examined every branch. No nuts.
The next year the bear came - still no nuts. In the third year, it’s empty again.
The big bear looked at his brown shaggy fur: as if scorched by fire, it turned yellow.
“Uh-uh, ma-a-ash, how I’ve lost weight!”
The bear moved through the thicket to look for food. I crossed a stormy river, walked in scattered stones, walked on green silk grass. He didn’t even bat an eyelid at how many animals he encountered.
- Kick-kick, syk-syk! - the chipmunk suddenly shouted, frightened by the big bear.
The bear stopped. He raised his front paw, wanted to take a step, and without lowering it, without breathing, he stopped...
“Uh-uh... ma-a-ash, how did I forget?.. Chipmunk is a very diligent owner. He stocks up three years in advance. Wait, wait, wait! We need to dig up his hole: his bins are never empty.”
And he went to smell it. And I found it. It's not easy for an old man to dig into solid ground. Here's the root. Gnawing with teeth - they don’t take teeth. There is no strength to drag with your paws. The bear swung:
raz! — the pine tree fell. The bear swung: two! - the birch tree fell. The chipmunk heard this fuss and lost his mind. My heart wants to jump out of my mouth. He covered his mouth with his front paws and tears were flowing from his eyes. “Seeing such a big bear, why did I shout? My mouth, burst!”
Somehow, at the bottom of the hole, to the side, the chipmunk scratched out a hole and hid there. The bear finally gnawed through the root, stuck his paw in and found one nut. “Uh-uh... ma-a-ash, I said: the chipmunk is a thrifty owner.”
The bear's muzzle brightened. A tear sparkled with joy. Then I reached with my paw and found even more nuts. The bear was happy: “Uh-uh... ma-a-ash, I’ll live a while longer, apparently! How can I thank this cute chipmunk? What will I give you?"
The bear's emaciated stomach was filled. The tired body became lighter. The wool glows like gold. The big bear looked around and felt himself: there was nothing to give the chipmunk. “It will be a shame for me if I eat someone else’s food and don’t say thank you. Where is this cute chipmunk?"
He looked around - he didn’t see the chipmunk.
The bear looked into the hole, saw a hole, and the chipmunk's tail was sticking out over it. “Uh-uh... ma-a-ash... The owner, it turns out, is here!”
- Thank you! Let your bins not stand empty. You are so kind, always be happy. Let me shake your honest paw from the bottom of my heart!
The bear extended his right paw to the chipmunk, but the chipmunk did not understand the bear's language. Seeing a black paw above him, he shouted:
- Kick-kick, syk-syk! - and jump out of the hole. And the bear picked him up with his paw.
“Thank you, little one,” he says, “you fed me when I was hungry, and you gave me rest when I was tired.” Be ageless and strong. I wish you to be rich and not poor.
The chipmunk cannot understand the bear's words; he has never learned to speak like a bear. He wants to free himself, wants to run, scratches the bear’s hard palm with thin claws, but the bear’s palm doesn’t even itch.
- Uh-uh, ma-a-ash, where did you grow up - don’t you understand my words? I tell you, thank you! How many times I repeat, but you don’t answer. Smile at least a little. I thank you. I say thank you!
The bear fell silent. And the chipmunk thinks: “The bear has finished talking to me, now he’ll start eating.”
He rushed with all his strength.
- Uh-uh, ma-a-ash, don’t you want to understand the words? He raised his right paw and stroked the chipmunk from head to tail. Five black beautiful stripes streamed down the chipmunk’s back from five black bear claws. Since then, the chipmunk’s offspring have been wearing an elegant fur coat - a bear gift.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru