There lived an old tiger in the mountains of Gangwon Province. He once met a hare and said:
- I’m hungry and now I’ll eat you! And the hare - he was very cunning - answers:
- Dear uncle! Won't you come with me? I brought all kinds of delicious food!
The tiger followed the hare. They went down into the valley. The hare pulled out eleven round stones, smiled and said:
-Have you ever eaten such a delicious thing? The tiger looked, was curious and asked:
- How to eat them? The hare answers:
- It couldn’t be simpler! Throw them into the fire, and when they turn red, take them out and eat them. They taste better fried!
The hare lit a fire and threw stones at it. The tiger watches the stones fry and swallows his saliva. And the hare says to him:
- Dear uncle! I'll run and bring you some of my own sauce! To make it taste better. Just be careful not to eat alone, wait for me! There are only ten pieces, that's for both of us!
The hare ran away, and the tiger began to count the pebbles. He looks - there are not ten of them, but eleven. The stones turned red in the fire and became heated. The tiger was overcome by greed. He grabbed a pebble and swallowed it. So that the hare gets less. I burned my insides. He almost went crazy from the pain and rushed into the mountains. For a whole month I couldn’t swallow anything, and I walked around hungry.
He wandered and wandered and again met a hare. A hare sits near a thick bush in the middle of a field. How the tiger roars:
- Well, oblique, you won’t deceive me a second time! Because of you, I burned my insides and went hungry for a whole month! Now I'll eat you!
The hare is shaking with fear, but doesn’t show it and says as if nothing had happened:
- Do you know, uncle, how many sparrows there are here! Raise your head and you will see for yourself! I hunt them! Just open your mouth, I will throw thousands of sparrows into it! It's better than eating me alone.
The tiger looked and saw that sparrows were indeed flying over the bushes. The tiger says to the hare:
- Aren’t you going to deceive me? The hare answers:
- Well, what are you talking about! I wish you only the best! Enter the bush and open your mouth!
The tiger entered the very middle of the bush, raised its head, and opened its mouth. Take the hare and set the bush on fire. The fire crackles, so loudly, as if thousands of sparrows were actually roasting on it.
“Do you hear, uncle,” the hare shouts, “how many sparrows have flown in?”
The hare ran away, leaving the tiger alone. It's hot for the tiger. Suddenly he looks - the fire is approaching him from all sides, closer and closer. Barely escaped from the fire. All the fur on it was burned. And you can’t go out into the cold without wool. The tiger is sitting in the den. He sits for a week, then another. Waiting for the fur to grow back. And he sharpens his teeth on the hare. He's so angry with him! So angry! The tiger's fur finally grew back, and he went to the village to look for food. And it was winter. He walks and looks - a hare is sitting near the river. How the tiger roars:
“You tricked me twice.” And you can’t cheat the third time! Well, what can you say in your defense? And the hare humbly answers:
- You don’t understand, uncle! All this happened because you did not follow my advice. Look, I'm catching a fish! In winter, the river is teeming with fish. But nothing tastes better than fresh fish! I would like to taste it!
The tiger asks:
- How do you catch it, fish? Maybe you want to take me through again? Look, this is the last time, I won’t spare you anymore.
“I won’t deceive you, uncle,” the hare answers. – You know the saying: once you’re unlucky, you’re unlucky twice, but on the third you’ll be lucky! Look at the bottom! You'll see fish right away. So, put your tail in the water and close your eyes. You open it and the fish is already caught. Just sit quietly and don’t move your tail until I tell you. You won't find a better fishing rod than a tail!
The tiger looked at the bottom, and there were indeed fish swimming there. The tiger lowered its tail into the water, closed its eyes, and waited. And the hare runs, looks into the water and shouts:
- As soon as the tail becomes heavy, the fish is caught. It's coming soon now. Be patient.
And it was late in the evening. The frost hit. The water began to freeze. She's frozen - she can't pull out the tiger's tail. And the hare shouts:
- Uncle, uncle, pull out your tail! Look how many fish you caught.
The tiger wanted to pull out his tail, but that was not the case. He pulled once, twice - but the tail didn’t move. “There are so many fish,” the tiger thinks, “now I can’t raise my tail.”
And the hare says:
“You wanted to eat me, uncle, but you got caught.” Your tail is frozen, so you'll stay here!
He said and ran away.
Then the tiger realized that he would never see mountains again. You can't escape without a tail! People came in the morning and saw a tiger sitting on its hind legs. That's how they caught him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru