Once Raven saw such a fat Crocodile that his mouth began to water.
“Friend Crocodile,” he croaked, thinking unkindly, “what a homebody you really are.” And why are you sitting in this puddle? After all, there is a big river very close. Much deeper and wider than this one!.. “But I haven’t heard anything about it,” objected the Crocodile.
“I never lie,” Raven answered. “I just have a good heart, so I try to help my neighbor to the best of my ability.”
“Will you take me to this big river,” asked the stupid Crocodile. - I would live there!
“Of course, I’ll see you off,” agreed Raven. - It's only half a mile from here. And you, so big and strong, of course, will easily get there.
The vain Crocodile replied that, of course, it would cost him nothing to go this route.
And so the Raven galloped ahead, flapping its wings, and the Crocodile slowly crawled behind him. At least a good mile had been walked when the Crocodile complained:
“Friend Raven, we’ve walked at least a mile.” Where is your river?..
“Let’s go, let’s go,” answered the Raven, “we only walked a few yards.” And, of course, you, such a strong man, are not tired!..
The crocodile was ashamed to admit that he was already exhausted and could barely crawl. Eventually fatigue took over and he lay helplessly on the road. By this point the Crocodile had moved at least three miles from his river. And then the Raven laughed loudly and said, flying away:
- Well, my fat and stupid friend, now you will soon die of hunger and thirst. Don't worry, I'll come back and eat you when you give up the ghost.
But it so happened that a good driver was passing by on the same road. And the Crocodile, with tears in his eyes, began to beg this man to save his life, to take him back to his native river.
The driver felt sorry for the poor man and decided to help him. But, knowing the insidious nature of the Crocodile, he still tied him tightly with a rope, put him on a cart and set off the buffaloes.
“O master,” the Crocodile prayed in a trembling voice when the cart drove up to the river, “I am completely weak, and my body is numb from your rope.” If you throw me onto the shore, I won't be able to get to the water. Cruel people will come and kill me. Please, take me to the river.
The good driver did just that. He drove straight into the water, then untied the rope and pushed his load off the cart. At the same instant, the Crocodile grabbed the buffalo's leg with his teeth.
- Let go! Let go, ungrateful one! - the driver shouted.
But the Crocodile just grinned.
The rabbit, who came to the river at that time to drink water, saw what was happening and shouted to the driver:
- Beat him with the whip! Whip!..
The driver obeyed and whipped the crocodile so hard that he immediately opened his mouth, and the buffaloes carried the cart to the shore.
Thanking the Rabbit for his good advice, the driver left. And the Crocodile, in anger, vowed to catch the Rabbit when he again came to the river to drink.
The next day, early in the morning, the Crocodile was already waiting for the Rabbit. But, since it was very shallow near the shore, he could not hide completely under the water, and his back stuck out. Seeing the approaching Rabbit, the Crocodile froze, hoping that he would mistake him for a log. However, the Wise Rabbit was not so easily deceived. He sang loudly:
– Real crocodiles always swim upstream, and real logs always swim downstream.
To assure Rabbit that he was a real log, the Crocodile swam a few yards downstream. Taking advantage of this. The rabbit quickly got drunk and ran away.
The next day the Crocodile again pretended to be a log, but the Rabbit sang again:
– Real crocodiles always swim upstream, and real logs always swim downstream.
Now the Crocodile did not move. Thinking that this time there was a real log in front of him. The rabbit bent down to the water and immediately found himself in a terrible mouth. But the Crocodile did not swallow it. He wanted everyone to see that he had finally caught the cunning Rabbit. And he rushed up and down the river, whistling, cutting the water with his tail and shouting:
- Hee! Hee! Hee!
The Rabbit, who was sitting astride the Crocodile's tongue, clinging tightly to it with his paws, suddenly exclaimed:
- What a fool you are, Crocodile! All you can do is shout: Hee! Hee! But haha you will never succeed!..
- Ha! Ha! – the Crocodile laughed in response, opening its mouth wide.
The Rabbit, without thinking twice, jumped out of its mouth, carrying the Crocodile's tongue in its claws. Why do crocodiles no longer have a tongue?
The rabbit got out of the river without much difficulty, because, having jumped as hard as he could, he ended up at the very bank, where, as you remember, it was shallow. But he still had to swim a few yards with a heavy crocodile tongue. Getting ashore. The rabbit felt tired. Therefore, he did not carry his tongue further, but hid it under a bush.
On the way home, the Rabbit met the Cat.
- Hello, buddy Cat! – he exclaimed cheerfully. “If you’re hungry, I can offer you my tongue.”
And he began to tell the Cat about his adventure, and then directed his friend to where the tongue was hidden.
The delighted Cat rushed to that place. However, the language has disappeared somewhere. The cat searched for him for a long time, but it was all in vain. Finally he saw a strange plant, strewn with oblong, flat fruits. After thinking carefully, he guessed that the Crocodile’s tongue had turned into this unprecedented plant. People now call it Chaun sha, which means the Language of the Cat. You, of course, ask: Why is this so? But the smart Rabbit gave the Crocodile’s tongue to the Cat, and therefore there is nothing strange in the fact that the plant received such a name.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru