One day an elk was walking along the shore of a large lake, looked into the water and saw himself there. The elk thought: What a handsome man I am, my horns adorn me. Then he moved on. Suddenly I saw a goby in the water and stopped. And the bull stuck his head out of the water and began to tease the moose:
- Hey you, big-bellied, with a bush on your stupid head, legs like needles, tailless!
The elk thought: After all, I am beautiful, my horns are branchy, my legs are fast. That's how all the animals think of me. I'll teach this tadpole a lesson!
Then he said to the bull:
- Hey, fish, come closer, I can’t hear well, we’ll talk here!
The goby swam to the very shore. The elk managed to catch the bull with its horns and threw it ashore.
- Here you go, you nasty little fish! Try living on land! The bull gasps and asks:
- Throw me into the water, throw me into the water! My mouth is dry, my tail is dry! I won't laugh at you anymore!
The moose was kind and accommodating. He believed the goby, picked it up with his horns and threw it back into the water, and the goby leaned out of the water and spoke again:
“Hey, buddy, although you have long legs, you can’t run fast.” Moose replied:
“No, it’s you, big mouth, you can’t even get off the shore, and there’s no faster animal in the tundra than me.” Bull said:
“Your horns are like a branchy tree.” You will immediately get tired while running.
Elk answered again:
- Well, let's compete in running! And that’s all the bull needed.
- Hey, let's run around the lake to this place, I'm in the water, and you along the shore.
Moose agreed. The goby conveyed across the water to all the lake fish:
– If an elk asks while running: Where are you? - answer him: I am here, I am here. So we’ll teach the moose a lesson, and I’ll stay where I am and wait for him.
The bull's order quickly spread across the lake. An elk runs along the shore and asks:
-Where are you, where are you? The fishes answer:
- I'm here, I'm here!
The moose quickened its run and asked as it went:
-Where are you, where are you? The fishes answer:
“I’m here, I’m here, I’m running ahead of you!” The moose ran even faster. The heavy horns tilted my head down and my neck began to hurt. While running he asks:
-Where are you, where are you? The fish answer ahead:
“I’m here, I’m here, you’re completely behind!”
The elk strained his last strength, from fatigue and frustration he could barely drag his legs to the place, he was breathing heavily. He knelt down, put his head on the ground, and his horns suddenly became heavier.
The bull stuck his head out of the water and said:
- Well, horned one, who runs faster? Moose says:
- Although you have a big head, you run fast. I don’t understand: what happened to my legs?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru