A fox and a jackal lived in the forest. Their holes were nearby, and they became such great friends that they shared both grief and joy with each other.
One day the fox says to the jackal:
– I’m tired of eating meat every day. It would be nice to plant a garden and eat vegetables, but what can you do alone! Now, if I could work the field together with someone, then things would go smoothly.
The jackal listened to the fox with attention and said:
- Yes, that's true. I, too, am disgusted with eating meat every day; for a change, I could also enjoy vegetables.
Lisa was delighted.
“Brother,” she said, “let’s find a free field.” You will plow it, and I will sow it, then you will carry water, and I will guard the harvest, and when it is ripe, you will collect it, and I will divide it.
The jackal, without hesitation, agreed.
“Good,” he said, “otherwise I spend all day loitering around with nothing to do.” So I will have a job!
“But when two people work, there are disputes,” continued the sly fox, “to avoid them, let’s divide the harvest in advance.” What is in the earth will be one half, and what is on the earth will be the other.
And again the jackal did not think properly.
- OK. “You take everything that grows in the ground, and I take what’s on the ground,” he said.
Lisa liked these words. The fox and jackal began to look not far from their holes for a suitable field with a pond nearby so that the harvest would not be threatened by drought. The jackal cleared the ground of stones and debris, and then carefully plowed it. The fox stole potatoes from a peasant house in a neighboring village and planted them.
For several months the jackal carried water, watered the field, and finally the potatoes ripened. The fox dragged a hoe from somewhere, and the jackal collected the crop.
When the potatoes were collected in a heap, the fox, according to the agreement, took the tubers grown in the ground for himself, and gave the tops to the jackal.
The jackal, who had worked hard all summer, became angry, but controlled himself and calmly said:
“You are not treating me fairly.”
“And you yourself said then: “I’ll take for myself the half that grows on the ground.” What are you dissatisfied with now? - exclaimed the fox, pretending that he did not understand anything. “Next time you will take what grows in the ground, and I will take what is on the ground.”
The jackal remained silent. Meanwhile, time passed. Preparations for a new sowing have begun. The jackal was again diligently plowing the field. One day the fox came and said:
– What’s the point of sowing the same thing every time? Let's plant something different this time.
“I don’t really understand these matters,” said the jackal, holding onto the plow. “I only know how to work.” As you say, so it will be.
The fox sat for a long time, pretending to be deep in thought.
– We need to plant cabbage this time. “They are much tastier than potatoes,” she finally suggested.
The jackal did not guess the fox's trick and nodded his head in agreement. The next day, the fox stole cabbage seedlings from the peasant’s field and gave them to the jackal.
And again, for several months, the jackal carried water, and the fox, like a village elder, just came to the field, gave orders and left.
Finally, heads of cabbage began to form in the green leaves of the cabbage. When the time came to divide the harvest, the fox sat aside in the furrow, and the jackal collected cabbage from the beds and put it in a pile. The fox began to divide. She took the heads of cabbage for herself and gave the stalks to the jackal.
“What is this!” the jackal was indignant. “You’re only giving me the stalks, but I worked so hard!” You take the heads of cabbage for yourself. It's not fair.
“Every time you start an argument!” the fox shouted with anger. “You yourself agreed that this time you will take what is in the ground.” Why do you now say that you worked for nothing?
The jackal looked greedily at the pile of cabbage and in his heart he wanted to rush at the fox and beat it, but since he was a coward, he did not do this. Angry, he walked away, casting sidelong glances at the redhead. And she also scolded him after him.
“Next time,” the jackal decided, “I will sow and harvest myself.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru