Previously, dogs and couscous lived together, but there was not enough food for everyone, and the dogs began to think about how they could make the couscous go to live in another place. Finally the dogs came up with an idea, and then they said to the couscous:
- Look, what's that there, on that tree over there?
The couscous turned where the dogs showed them and began to look, while the dogs bent their ears back. After this they said to the couscous:
- Now look at us.
The couscous turned and looked at the dogs and were very surprised. They asked:
- What's wrong with your ears?
“We cut them off,” said the dogs, “cut yours too.”
They cut the couscous, and as soon as they did so, the dogs began to laugh at them.
- Ha ha ha, look how we fooled you!
And they straightened their ears. The couscous, seeing that the dogs had deceived them, became very angry and said:
- We will go to live in the trees, we will eat various fruits there, and you stay on the ground, and let the midge bite and sting you because you laughed at us so much.
The dogs replied:
“You told us bad things, now we’ll tell you bad things.” We will live with people, and people will take us hunting with them so that we can catch you. We used to be friends, but now we are enemies.
But the couscous said to this:
“Now we won’t live near you, we will live far from you, on tall trees.” You will rarely see us on the ground, and it will be difficult for you to catch any of us.
Since then, people with dogs have been hunting couscous, but it is very difficult to hunt them. Leaving the dogs, the couscous said:
“Sometimes people will feed you, sometimes they won’t.” You will hunt in vain; everything you catch, the person will take for himself. People will throw bones and garbage to you, and you will eat them, you will eat everything you find on the earth, and we will eat delicious fruits on the trees. Sometimes people will not feed you at all, and then you will steal food - for deceivers like you, this is the most suitable occupation.
Since then, dogs have eaten everything that people give them and picked up all the garbage that was lying on the ground. They tried to make peace with the couscous, but they did not want to make peace with them, and then the dogs began to call the forest rats to them:
- Come to us, let's live together.
“No, don’t go to them, it’s better to come and live with us,” said the couscous.
Forest rats came to live with them, and wild pigs began to live with them. Then the dogs, seeing that they were left alone, said:
- Well, since you are now at the same time, since none of you wants to be friends with us, we will hunt you all.
“We won’t pay you the same,” said the couscous, “but wild pigs will kill you, snakes and crocodiles too.”
The dogs got bored alone, and so that there would be more of them, they got a lot of puppies, and they said to the people:
- Keep us close to you, we will help you hunt.
This is why dogs rush after any animal they see, and this is why animals are not friends with them.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru