Once upon a time there lived a hare, and he had a cherished desire - to swim across the sea, to visit a distant sea island. But the bunny didn’t know how to swim, and he didn’t have a boat.
The hare thought and thought and came up with an idea. One day he was walking along the seashore, saw a shark and asked:
- What do you think, shark, who has more friends - you or me?
“There’s nothing to think about here, I have, of course,” said the shark. - All sharks in the seas and oceans are my friends.
- And how many friends do you have?
“I don’t know,” the shark thought, “a lot, a lot, but how much exactly—how should I know!” I didn't count them.
“Let’s count,” suggested the hare.
- How can we count them? - the shark was surprised.
“And you call the sharks to our shore,” suggested the hare. - Since they are your friends, they should definitely come. The sharks will lie on the waves side by side to each other, just before the islands stretch out. So I'll count them.
“Oh yes, hare!” - the shark was surprised.
The next morning she called all her friends, the sharks lay down side by side in one line from the shore to the island itself.
- Well, start! Try to count my friends! - the shark shouted to the hare.
The hare climbed onto the shark’s back, stood there, thought, and then began jumping from one shark’s back to another and counting loudly:
- One, two, three, four...
I thought so until I reached the treasured island. And then he jumped to the ground and screamed:
- Well, I fooled you, stupid sharks! I really need to know how many friends the shark has! I wanted to go to the island! And you believed it!
The sharks got angry and rushed to the island, but the hare has been standing on the ground for a long time, try to get it. True, one shark still managed to grab the hare by the tail and tear out a tuft of fur.
The sharks swam away. A hare sits on a stone, stroking its torn tail with its paw. “That’s how it is! - thinks. - How will I get home now? How will I get across the sea?
And as it gets dark, the hare is scared on an unfamiliar island.
The spirit, the owner of the island, heard how the hare was crying bitterly, and approached him:
- Why are you shedding tears, hare? Have you decided to deceive the sharks? What happened? Is this possible? If you asked a shark, it would give you a ride across the sea! Go to bed, we'll figure something out tomorrow morning.
The next morning the spirit says:
- Do you promise me not to deceive anyone again? Will you apologize to the shark?
“Yes,” said the hare.
“Take my boat,” said the spirit, the owner of the island, “and return home.”
The hare returned home, apologized to the shark, and since then has not deceived anyone else.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru