One day a sly fox snuck into the village. She scoured the chicken coops for a long time, twisted the heads of several roosters and, having eaten too much, went to bed.
It so happened that a ferret made his way into the same "chicken coop. In the darkness, he came across a fox. The frightened fox jumped from the cage and fell into a vat of paint. Having got out of the vat, she rushed into the forest.
A sunny day has arrived. The fur on the fox has dried. But strange thing! The fox's skin began to resemble the color of a turquoise stone. And as you know, this stone is valued more than others in Tibet. The fox was happy, raised its head, pouted, walked around important, and didn’t look at anyone.
The hare met the fox.
-Who are you and where are you from? I don’t know an animal with such a skin!
- I am the queen of all animals. My name is Tsatsa. I descended to earth at the behest of the heavenly emperor.
Word quickly spread through the forest: a new queen had appeared!
One after another, the animals began to come to bow to the fox. They surrounded her with honor, treated her to the best meat, and brought her spring water. And the proud fox climbed onto the elephant’s back and commanded from there:
- Bear, bring me honey! Fallow deer, run to the field for berries! Ferret, get me some fresh chicken...
All the animals obey the new queen. Even the lion, the terror of the forests, stands guard day and night - guarding the strict queen.
And then one day the fox wanted her own mother to look at her.
“Let her know what kind of daughter she has! Without her help, I became a queen!” - the fox thought and ordered:
- Tiger, run beyond nine mountains and nine rivers. There, near the spring, you will find a hole, my mother lives in the hole! Tell her to come here.
The brave tiger did not dare to disobey. He rushed in search of the queen's mother. Nine mountains and nine rivers are no barrier for a tiger. He instantly ran to the ringing key, found a hole, and in the hole...
The tiger looks and doesn’t believe his eyes. “So this is an ordinary fox! This means that our “queen” is also from the same breed!” flashed through the Tiger’s head. And, without saying a word, the tiger rushed
back. He reached the last mountain, from where the entire forest was visible, and then he shouted:
- Drive away the charlatan! Beat her! This is not a queen, but an ordinary fox! I just saw her mother!
But, as they say, not being caught is not a thief. The animals began to judge and show how to prove that the queen was a simple fox.
And then the cunning ferret, who more than others had to be at the queen’s beck and call, suggested:
— I heard that foxes swim well. Let's go to the river and have a race there. If the queen overtakes everyone, let her continue to remain on the throne.
And so they did. We approached the river. Ferret was appointed judge. At his command, the animal rushed into the water. And suddenly everyone saw that the clear water around the fox had become cloudy. They stopped the race, pulled the queen out of the river - everything immediately became clear!
And the fox stood among the animals, with his head down and his tail between his legs.
“Go away,” said the old elephant sternly. “Such “queens” have no place with us.”
He lifted the swindler with his trunk and threw her far to the other bank.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru