You can trust a cunning man! A cunning man has one thing on his tongue, but another in his head. If you fall for a trickster, look after him with both eyes!
There lived a fox in the taiga. She was very clever and cunning. And she lived happily ever after. I caught pheasants, quails, and sandpipers. She hunted birds, and did not disdain chicks. And she loved eggs!.. How many nests she destroyed, how many chicks she destroyed - I can’t even count them! One day the cuckoo started counting: Ku-ku! One. Cuckoo! Two, and he still thinks so... So the fox was robbing that there was a shortage of game in that place.
But time passes and waits for no one. She came to attack the fox. The fox grew old, her vision became poor, and her strength diminished. She went hunting one day and saw a cockerel pheasant walking along the road. A fox crept up to him, jumped out from behind a bush - to grab a pheasant! And the pheasant began to thrash, flutter, flap its wings, tear the fox’s nose bloody with its spurs, and run away. The fox couldn't handle him. The pheasant flew up into the bush and let's laugh at the fox.
- Hey, you! - speaks. - You don’t have to hunt, but be the skin! You are no longer fit for anything else.
The fox began to cry from hunger and anger. She wandered into her hole...
Her hunt was completely unsuccessful.
He wanders around the taiga all day, but cannot catch anything. The fox even tried to grab the lingonberries. She chewed and chewed and became completely bored: there was a lot of food, but no satiety.
This autumn, migratory birds have gathered early for warmer regions. Schools of ducks, geese, and cranes arrived. They fly, shout, and say goodbye to the hills, the taiga, and the taiga lakes until spring.
The fox heard these cries and was about to die: the snow falls early, and the fox has no reserves for the winter.
The fox walks aimlessly, hanging its head.
“I’ll look,” he says, “more stupid than myself.” Maybe I'll live.
Met a bear and asks:
-Where are you going, neighbor? The bear answers:
- Yes, I’m looking, neighbor, if someone can tell me what the cranes cry at night.
The fox thought for a moment, then said:
- We need to fool around a little. Then we'll find out. The fox put on a bast belt and tied some wood chips and a pebble around it. She started dancing: she was sweeping her tail and hitting the dog’s skull instead of a tambourine. The bear spreads its ears, looks at the fox, claps it with its palms, and helps the fox do shamanism.
The fox spun and spun, then said:
“Well, neighbor, I found out what the cranes cry about at night.”
- About what?
“And they shout that the winter will be early, cold and long.” They shout that all animals should help each other. From such a winter, they scream, even a den will not save you!
The bear got scared.
- What should we do now? - speaks. The sly fox answers him.
- We need to live together. It's warmer together. And now,” he says, “we need to collect supplies for the winter and carry them to the den!”
The bear thought: why does he need supplies if his paw is enough for the whole winter? That's what he told the fox. The fox got angry, screamed at the bear, and stamped his feet:
– Who wanted to know what the cranes are screaming about? You. And I found out - do as they say. If you don’t want it, I’ll find another comrade for the winter! And you alone disappear...
The bear begged the liar not to be angry.
They agreed to live together. They began to stock up on food and went hunting. Only their hunting is bad. The fox has no strength, but the bear is drawn to hibernation: he looks at the game, but thinks about the den. What a hunt this is!
The fox is angry, but doesn’t show it. She walks and walks and keeps thinking about how she can deceive the bear.
No matter how much you wander around the taiga, there is no luck...
Suddenly the bear pulled his nose, the fur on the back of his neck stood on end; The bear flared his nostrils, widened his eyes, sniffed:
– It doesn’t smell like ours, neighbor!
He began to fumble around and grabbed something with his paw. The fox sees that the bear has a hunting knife in its paws. Apparently someone was hunting and dropped the knife. The fox sang in a thin voice and danced as if for joy. The bear asked what she was happy about.
The fox answers:
- How can I not be happy, neighbor! After all, now we can spend the winter comfortably. This thing you found is enchanted. She alone can bring as much meat as you couldn’t get in your entire hunt!
The bear was also glad that now he no longer had to wander around the taiga, that he could lie down in his den.
“Let’s go,” says the neighbor, “let’s go home quickly!”
- Let's go, let's go!
The fox ran forward. I reached the slope along which there was a path. was walking. She stuck a knife in the middle of the path, point up, and came back. Shouts to the bear:
- Why are you walking quietly and painfully? We need to run. They ran. We reached the slope. Fox says:
- Let's slide down the mountain! Who's faster? The bear agreed. They went head over heels. The fox rolls and sings:
- Roll, roll, piece of meat!
-What are you eating? - the bear asks the fox.
- Yes, I sing that now there is meat for a quarter of the winter.
They roll on. Lisa is trying her best. The bear asks her what she is singing now. The fox answers:
“I sing, neighbor, that now there is enough meat for half the winter.” The bear came across a knife that the fox had stuck on the path and ripped open its belly. And the fox sings at the top of his voice:
- Lie down, lie down, you're a piece of meat! The bear groans and asks the fox:
- Now what are you eating?
- Yes, I sing, neighbor, that there is enough meat for the whole winter. The bear died. The fox carried the bear meat into the den.
She spent the winter there too. This is how disa deceived the bear. It’s true what they say: don’t expect good from a cunning man or a rogue!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru