When the world was still very young, there lived a giant. His name was Wolf Wind. Wherever he rushed, he sowed trouble everywhere. In the summer he flew to his Land of Eternal Night, but as soon as the clouds covered the sun in the fall, the Wolf Wind rushed to freedom. Even the mighty trees creaked pitifully then, and the young trees trembled from roots to crown. Occasionally, the Wolf Wind would blow in the middle of summer - it would bend the stalks of maize to the ground, and that was all - they would not rise again. The sea waves ran from the Wolf Wind to the shore, as if they wanted to hide in the thicket of the forest, and he howled like a pack of hungry wolves, and everything around was numb with horror.
At that time, one tribe lived on the seashore. One morning all the adults went out to sea to fish, but the children remained in the village.
The sun had barely set to the west when an evil giant appeared from the north. He flew low over the waves and howled loudly:
- I am Wolf Wind! I am the Wolf Ve-eter! Whoever comes forward will die! Po-died-no!
The Wolf Wind rushes about, tearing shreds of foam from the waves.
The Indians fought for a long time with the angry sea, but they could not overcome it - they found their death in the waves.
The Wolf Wind sank the boats, rushed to the shore, and there the orphaned children stood, peering into the distance, looking out for their father’s boat among the waves.
The fierce giant decided to kill every single one of the kids, but the children hid in a deep cave, and the entrance to it was blocked with stones. No matter how much the Wolf Wind howled, he could not move the heavy pile. And so he flew away.
- I'll be back... I'll be back! - he threatened.
For a long time you could hear the trees cracking and groaning, and the kids huddled together and sat in the dark.
When everything calmed down, they got out of the cave and wandered south, to that distant warm country that the old people had once told them about.
They walked for many days and suddenly found themselves in a clearing where the grass was waist-deep, the flowers were palm-sized, and the streams were brighter than the morning sky. They guessed that they had finally reached the Willow Country. Dense forests now protected them from the Wolf Wind. It seemed to the little fugitives that nothing threatened them anymore.
“I’ll make my way to Willow Country,” Wolf Wind threatened.
But the green thickets did not let him in. Like mighty warriors, the trees repelled all his blows.
- Well, you will regret it! - the Wolf Wind wheezed to the trees and rushed away.
In the fall, he returned to Willow Country with his brother, the North Wind.
The second giant could turn water into stone, frosty steam poured out of his mouth, and the earth froze from his breath. Everywhere he flew there was a dead icy desert.
Together the evil winds attacked the unruly forests. But the forest giants only mocked them:
- We are cedars, pines, fir and spruce! We ourselves come from the Land of Eternal Night and we are not afraid of you!
But the birches, aspens and maples could not resist. The winds tore off their green outfit and scattered them across the ground.
“Now I’ll get to you, I’ll get to you!” - the Wolf Wind hummed.
But the old spruce trees covered the little fugitives with their branches, and the cold winds flew past.
When winter retreated to the north, the wise Gluskep appeared in the Willow Country. Every year he came there on a sledge pulled by dogs.
The children told Gluskep how the winds killed all the foliage.
“We don’t ask for anything for ourselves,” they said, “just give the trees their clothes back.”
Gluskep smoked his pipe and silently looked into the distance. He thought about what he had managed to do on earth and what he still had to do.
Good Gluskep sat like that for a long time, and the smoke of his pipe floated into the sky, merging with the clouds. And he finally said:
“I cannot return to the trees those leaves that the Wolf Wind tore from them, but all these leaves, at my command, will turn into birds!” From now on, every autumn the birds will fly to the Land of Flowers and Summer, and in the spring you will see them again.
These birds will never forget where they came from. Like leaves, they will begin to swirl in the air. The voices of the winds and the murmur of waters will echo in their songs. These songs will make people happy. And let the children take care of the birds, remember how the green forest did not give them offense. And all those trees from which the Wolf Wind tore off their green attire will from now on be dressed in green again every spring.
Gluskep raised his magic wand, waved it four times - and the yellow, orange, red leaves that were lying on the ground fluttered and flew up like a flock of birds.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru