Many years ago, on the eve of Maslenitsa, people gathered in the evening to sit and talk. They talked about what they had in store for tomorrow's holiday.
“We have,” some boasted, “a fattened ram; we'll kill him. Others said:
- We will eat our gander. Someone said:
- We have a rooster; we will feast on them. And some poor people said:
- What should we do? We have nothing; we will eat our cat, he is very fat.
And the cat lay right there and pretended to be asleep. He heard the entire conversation.
“No way! - he thought. “I’ll run away!” He slipped into the loophole and went to the gander.
- What are you doing? - he asked the gander. - Are you sleeping, or what?
“I myself can’t figure out what I’m doing,” answered the gander, “either I’m sleeping or I’m not sleeping.” I'm here with my geese.
“If you knew what I know,” said the cat, “you wouldn’t be sleeping: they decided to eat you for Maslenitsa.”
- That's it! - said the gander - If this is the case, I will run away. Wait a minute, I'll put on my clogs1 and we'll be on our way.
They immediately went to the rooster.
- What are you doing? - they asked the rooster. - Are you sleeping, or what?
“I myself can’t figure out what I’m doing,” answered the rooster, “either I’m sleeping or I’m not sleeping.” I'm here with my chickens.
“Leave here if you want to stay alive,” they said, “they decided to eat you for Maslenitsa.”
- Wow! Since this is the case, I'm leaving. Wait, I’ll put on my shoes now and go with you.
They went for a ram.
- What are you doing, sheep? - they asked him. - Are you sleeping, or what?
“Oh, I myself won’t understand what I’m doing,” answered the ram. — Lying in the dung with my sheep.
“Come with us if you want to stay alive,” they told him. “If you stay here, they’ll eat you at Maslenitsa.”
“If this is the case,” said the ram, “let’s go!” I'll put on my boots and go with you.
And so all four of them set off. They go, rest, then go again.
On the way, their stomachs gave out from hunger: they did not come across anything edible. In the roadside ditches the ram found some grass, he nibbled it; the rooster and gander also supplemented themselves with grass - everything is better than nothing; and the poor cat got nothing at all.
“Listen,” the other animals said to the cat, “you’re good at jumping through the trees; climb up the oak tree and see if you can see a light somewhere.
The cat climbed up the tree and said:
“I see a light, but it’s a long, long way to get to it!”
They walked on and reached the house where the light was coming from. The house was brightly lit, and singing, laughter and frantic hubbub could be heard from there. One could immediately guess that they were celebrating Maslenitsa there.
The cat stuck his muzzle under the door and looked into the room; he saw a lion, a wolf, a fox and a bear who was frying meat in a frying pan.
“Ah,” said the cat, “we were unlucky.” I see a lion, a wolf, a fox and a bear, they are celebrating Maslenitsa.
All four big animals were tipsy: they amused each other with stories and boasted vying with each other. Bear said:
- Four of the most powerful animals in the world have gathered here!
Leo picked up:
“Come here the devil himself, we’ll eat him too!” The cat said to his companions:
“If we go in there, they will eat us all; Let's try to scare them. Hide, and I will climb the house and go down the chimney. I’ll hiss there as hard as I can. Maybe they will get scared and run away; Then we will be able to eat, otherwise we are completely emaciated.
He climbed onto the roof - stomp, stomp, stomp - and went down the chimney, cursing and covering the fireplace with soot.
- Quiet! - said the bear. - Who's coming? The four strongest animals in the world were seriously scared.
“It’s probably people, it’s going to be bad for us!” - said
lion
- You, fool, said that if the devil himself came here, we would eat him!
“Here he comes,” said the wolf. - Let's run! They opened the door and ran away
Meanwhile, the cat managed to eat a piece of meat and shouted to the other animals:
- They're gone! Come here quickly!
The animals ran into the house. The lion, the wolf, the fox and the bear had stored everything for their feast. They were just starting to eat their salad when they were disturbed.
Here everyone took what they liked. The gander, perched on the fireplace, began to devour the salad, the cat settled down to the meat, the ram found hay, and the rooster pecked at the bread.
When they were finally satisfied, the cat said to them:
“That’s not all: we need to hide.” Those animals won't let us feast for long. They will return to find out who scared them; We can’t let them catch us here.
No sooner said than done. The cat buried itself in a pile of ashes, the gander hid by the fireplace, the ram climbed into the firewood box, and the rooster climbed onto the pole
Suddenly the four small animals heard the big ones approach the house and, pushing each other, say to each other:
- You go in first! Enter first!
But none of them dared to enter. Eventually they managed to push the wolf forward.
“You’re not a coward, go to the hearth and light the fire.” We'll see who messed us up.
The wolf entered with small steps. He was scared. Seeing that he was approaching, the cat opened its mouth wide and released its claws. When the wolf came close to the hearth, the cat grabbed his face and wounded it all over with its sharp claws. The wolf ran headlong out of the house.
- Oh, you robbers! - he cried. - Well, by your grace, I was decorated! Do you know who scared us? Wool carder. I found him there. He hit me twice in the face with a scratcher, first on the right, then on the left.
Then the animals said to the bear:
“You are a master of playing with a baton, you have nothing to be afraid of.” Go! Go to the firewood box. Take a log there: you will search all the nooks and crannies of the house and teach a lesson to those you find there.
The bear has gone. Seeing that he was approaching, the ram prepared himself, and when the bear came close to him, the ram rushed at him, doused him in the middle of the room and broke two of his ribs.
Having come to his senses, the bear somehow got out of the house.
- Villains! - he said to the other animals. - I was treated well by your mercy. There was a woodcutter hiding in the wood, and he hit me so hard with a stick that he broke four of my ribs, if not all five.
After this, the animals said to the fox:
“You’re very nimble, go in slowly and take away the jug of wine that’s standing by the fireplace; At least we'll have a drink, it'll cheer us up.
The fox carefully crept into the house.
As soon as she approached the hearth, the gander started hissing - tss-tss-tss... The fox ran headlong back out the door.
- Ah, my friends! - she said. - So I’m back! I'm lucky that I'm so agile! A hunter was holed up in the house and he would have set a dozen dogs on me.
Then all three animals attacked the lion:
- Hey you lazybones, you haven’t done anything yet! At least go close the door!
Leo reluctantly approached the door. A rooster, sitting on a pole and having laid a whole heap of droppings, threw it on the lion's head. He instantly backed away.
“Oh, devils,” he said, “it was well done with me by your mercy!” They've ruined everything! Apparently a doctor got into the house, he threw a plaster on my head, which, by the way, smells great!
Having met such resistance, the four large beasts left. So the four small animals put the four large ones to flight.
That's it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru