Once upon a time there lived a miller, and he kept a horse at the mill. The miller traveled so much on it, transported so much luggage, that all that was left of the poor cattle was skin and bones. The miller saw that the horse was no longer suitable for work, tied the reins to his neck and let him go - he said, go wherever your eyes look. The horse wandered along the road and reached the forest. Here he found juicy grass, the coolness of the forest, clear, spring water, and so he grazed, rested and gained strength: his fur became shiny, his sides were rounded, his ribs were no longer visible through his skin; The horse lived well and at ease, so that in the mornings and evenings he even began to frolic, jumping, rearing up, and rolling on the green grass. But then one day hard days came for him, a bear followed him and tried to catch and eat everything. Did the horse neigh?
- Get this nonsense out of your head, bear, otherwise you won’t have to curse the moment when we met you.
“Well, do you think my teeth are worn down, and I can’t rip off your skin and eat your meat?”
-Are you really that strong?
- But of course.
- Then let's compete. “Show me what you’re worth,” said the horse. The bear looked around, saw a fallen rock, came up to it and squeezed it in his arms - crushed it into the sand and let it go in the wind.
- Is that all? - asked the horse. - And when I hit my hoof on a stone, I’ll create fire instead of dust.”
“I see you’re a big brag,” the bear got angry.
- Let’s go out onto the road, you’ll see for yourself.
Fuck them. The bear stood on its hind legs, looking, and the horse walked away, and then, as soon as it accelerated, it rushed like a whirlwind, striking sparks from the stones.
The bear even sat down in surprise and fear.
- Well, what do you say?
“Indeed, you have much more strength than me,” answered the bear.
“How can I punish you for daring to bare your teeth at me?” Killing you is not enough!
- Don't kill me, good horse. I will serve you whatever service you want, just don’t decide my life.
“So, as punishment, you will lead me on a leash, looking for tastier grass, until I fall asleep.”
The bear did not make a sound in response, he was afraid that the horse would raise his leg and stamp his hoof on Hallelujah. The bear began to graze the horse, graze, graze, and he himself waited - when the damned one would fall asleep. No such luck! Mishka is exhausted, gnashing his teeth, swearing at the top of his lungs, all to himself, so that the horse doesn’t hear. One day he plucked up his courage and timidly said to the horse:
- Your Equine Grace, it would be nice for you to rest. “And I already rest too much.”
- When you are resting, I have never seen you lie down, close your eyes and take a nap even a little. - Don’t you know that a horse sleeps with one ear and hears with the other?
- But when do you sleep?
“Yes, that’s when I sleep when I’m not grazing, but just standing, shifting from foot to foot.”
The bear wound these words into his head, and he began to notice when the horse grazed, how it drank water, when it froze in place. One day Mishka saw that the horse was standing motionless, his eyes fixed on one point and shifting from foot to foot, and he tried to let go of the reins from his paws. The horse stands as if nothing had happened. The bear took a step back, then another, trembling all over, then sweating. The horse doesn't move. Then Mishka put his feet on his shoulders and run away. He runs at full speed, not making out the road, and a wolf meets him.
“Why are you running like that, kumanek, as if you’re saving yourself from death?”
“I’m running away from her.”
- Really?
- Hey, hey! There is a horse sleeping nearby.
- Horse?!
- Yes.
- Well then. Tea, it wasn’t him who was scared.
- That's it. You look, he wakes up, and as soon as he kicks, that’s death for you.
- What a coward and stupid you are, Mishka! Where is the horse?
- Look at where I came from. - Not visible.
- Go higher.
- Can't see anything.
The bear turns, looks back, rises on tiptoes, but sees nothing. The horse remained behind the hill.
- Where is he? - the wolf could not stand it.
- Let me lift you up, then you will see.
As he grabbed the wolf with his mighty paws to lift him higher, the wolf just opened his mouth and gave up the ghost without even having time to utter a word. But the bear did not even feel how he squeezed him in his paws and prepared death for him. And seeing that the wolf was dead, the clubfoot sighed and said:
- Eh, poor thing, you just saw the horse and then died, what does it feel like for me when I spent so much time tending it?
And, gripped by horror, the bear took off running again, even more than before, and maybe he’s still running without looking back.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru