One day the lion, the king of beasts, called all the animals. All the animals, both big and small, gathered at the appointed time, but the fox did not appear. She scoured the forest, looking for prey.
The animals were tired of the fox's tricks, they made a terrible noise and complained about her to the lion, the king of animals. The lion got angry with the fox and ordered it to be brought to trial.
First the hare followed the fox. He met her in a large forest and told her to go to the king. The fox laughed at the hare and went on its way. The humiliated hare returned to the king and conveyed everything that the fox had said.
The king became even more angry and sent the biggest cat after her. The cat found the fox in the bushes where she was sleeping and shouted at her:
- Why are you sleeping, aren’t you going to the king? The king and all the animals are waiting for you for judgment.
The fox and the cat went along the road and said to him:
“A rich peasant lives nearby here.” His cellar is chock full of sausages. We can enjoy some sausage there.
The cat heard this and licked his lips:
– It’s nice to have a sausage! Show me where this cellar is!
The fox led the cat to the cellar and showed a small hole into which the cat barely squeezed. The cat got to the sausage, eats it - only there is a crackling sound behind the ears. He filled his belly so full that he couldn’t get out of the cellar. And the fox ran to the owner and said that in his cellar an uninvited guest was eating sausage. The peasant grabbed a large rod and hurried to the cellar, and whipped the cat so hard that he barely made it to the king to tell about the fox’s tricks.
The king sent a wolf after the fox. A wolf met a fox on the road and growled at her:
-Are you crazy? Why don’t you go to the king? If you don't show up, they'll tear you to shreds.
“Yes, I’m already going to the king,” answered the fox and went with the wolf.
They walk like good friends, suddenly the fox says:
“If the cat had listened to me and didn’t eat the sausage in the cellar, but carried it out, then nothing would have happened to him, and I would have gotten my share of the sausage.” You're quicker than a cat, let's eat first, and then we'll show up to the king in honor.
The wolf was pretty hungry and didn’t argue.
-Where is the food? - asks.
“Not far,” the fox answers, “I’ll take you there.” If the owner appears, I will shout, and you jump to the side and lie on your side so that he does not see you. Otherwise he doesn’t know you and will beat you for nothing.
The fox led the wolf to the wolf hole and then shouted:
- The owner is coming! The owner is coming!
The wolf got scared, jumped to the side and fell into a hole. The fox ran to the owner and said that the wolf had fallen into a trap. The people pulled the wolf out of the pit, set dogs on him, and beat him with clubs so much that the wolf could not even reach the king to complain. Meanwhile, the fox stole the peasant’s duck and took it with him.
The king did not wait for the wolf, so he sent for the fox the strongest of animals - the bear.
The bear has gone. I decided to bring the fox at all costs. The fox, seeing the bear, immediately came out to meet him and greeted him respectfully, as if he were an important gentleman. The bear shouted at her:
-Where is the wolf?
Lisa humbly answers him:
“I went with the wolf to the king, and he got hungry, went to the neighbors to eat and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the ground.
- Come with me to court! – the bear barked at her. You should already be skinned for the fact that they called you so many times, but you didn’t show up.
The fox curls around the bear like a loach:
- It’s not my fault at all. The hare is very stupid, I didn’t want to go with him. The cat crawled to hell into the cellar, and the wolf disappeared to God knows where. I will boldly go with you to the king.
They walk and walk, and suddenly the fox gasps.
- What's wrong with you? - asks the bear.
“My stomach hurts,” the fox groans.
- Why would that be?
“I ate too much honey,” the fox complains, “that’s why it hurts so much.” The bear was surprised:
“Honey never hurts your stomach.” If you know where the honey is, show me, I’ll eat it too.
“Yes, here it is,” the fox shows, “on the oak tree.” Climb, you'll find it there.
The bear climbed the oak tree and began to destroy the hive, and the fox ran and told everything to the owner. The owner and his workers called the dogs and chased the bear. The bear, barely alive, ran into the forest, and meanwhile the fox stole the goose and was gone. The bear sat in the forest all night and only in the morning he dragged himself to the king and complained about the fox. This time the king was so angry with the fox that he decided to hang it.
The king sends first one animal, then another, after the fox, but no one dares to go, everyone is afraid that the fox will deceive them. The lynx finally volunteered to go after the fox.
The fox saw the lynx and was wondering how to deceive it, but the lynx shouted at it:
“Better shut up, everyone knows your tongue, you won’t fool me!” Go to court. This time they won’t let you off the hook - the gallows is crying for you. Soon your skin will be used as a fur coat.
Lisa mutters to herself:
- Apparently, we really need to go to trial. Or it may happen that before I die I will still wear a fur coat made from your skin.
The lion saw the fox and howled at her:
“You scoundrel, why don’t you go to court?” Lisa humbly answers:
- Oh your majesty! I didn’t come because I don’t know the way. The hare is painfully stupid, he told me who knows what; The goblin dragged the cat into the cellar; the wolf fell into a hole; the bear climbed into the oak tree for honey; The lynx is the smartest, it led me on the right path, so I came to the king.
Leo says:
- All the animals are complaining about you. You are of no use to anyone, so you will be hanged. The fox answers:
“If they’ve already decided to hang me, I won’t make excuses; I really have a lot of sins on my conscience.” I laughed at the hare, lured the cat into the cellar, the wolf into a trap, and the bear into the oak tree with the bees; I quietly stole a duck and a goose from a peasant; and that's all, on
that the animals complained is absolutely true. It’s just a pity that I couldn’t do the trot.
The animals tied the fox up and dragged him to the gallows. The fox climbs the stairs to the gallows and says loudly:
“I need to tell the king about one important matter.” The lion heard this and ordered the fox to come down from the gallows and tell him about his business. The fox bowed to the king and said:
“I’m going to die now, so what do I need my treasures that I accumulated with such difficulty? I bequeath all this to you, Your Majesty.”
Leo says:
- Well, show me your treasures.
“My treasures,” the fox answers, “are far from here.” I'm very cold and shaking all over. Now, if the lynx gave me his fur coat, I could go.
The lion ordered to tear off the skin from the lynx and gave it to the fox instead of a fur coat. The fox put on a fur coat and said to the lynx:
- This is because I failed to deceive you on the way here!
The fox led the king and all the animals to his treasures. They walked and walked, the fox became hot, she took off her fur coat and ordered the wolf to carry it. They walked like this until the evening. The fox led the king and all the animals into the thicket, and then ran away - she knew the forest paths better than anyone else.
What should the lion and all the animals do? They went their separate ways. But the fox was never hanged - to this day she prowls the world alive and well.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru