Once upon a time there lived a hedgehog and a chamois. They argued who would run through the valley faster. The hedgehog curled up and rolled down, and the chamois ran, jumped, and hit its head on a tree so hard that it died. Now the hedgehog had enough meat for a roast, but he himself could not cut the carcass and went to look for a butcher.
Meets a hare; he asked where the hedgehog was going. The hedgehog replied that he was going to the butcher.
The hare showed him his teeth and said that he was a good butcher. But the hedgehog didn’t believe the hare and moved on. He met a fox, but she was not fit to be a butcher either. Finally the hedgehog met the wolf. The wolf asked where he was going. The hedgehog replied that he was looking for a butcher. The wolf showed him his fangs and said that he would go with him. They arrived, the wolf divided the chamois into four parts and said:
- The first part is for my uncle, the second for my father, the third for my mother, and the fourth for myself.
The hedgehog asks him:
- What will I get?
“Yes, what remains,” answered the wolf.
The hedgehog didn’t like that he wouldn’t get anything, and he called the wolf to the judge:
- Let's go to court.
The wolf agreed. And the hedgehog knew the place where the trap for the wolf was set.
They approached the trap, the hedgehog tapped the iron with his paw and said:
- Mister Judge, get up.
He knocked like this several times, and the wolf said:
- Why can’t it take you so long to wake up the sleepy judge? Let me wake him up.
The hedgehog agreed. The wolf hit the trap with his paw and was caught. The hedgehog stepped aside and began to laugh. Soon a man came with an ax to kill the wolf. He hit the wolf on the head, and the hedgehog said:
- This is for your uncle.
Hit a second time:
- This is for your father.
Hit for the third time:
- This is your mother's.
And when the man hit him for the fourth time, the wolf gave up the ghost, and the hedgehog said:
- This is for you, and everything that remains is for me.
And the hedgehog ate the chamois himself.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru