One day a partridge and a jackal became friends. The partridge had a cheerful, funny, and friendly disposition. But the jackal, on the contrary, was gloomy and hot-tempered - he was still grumbling and angry. He once said to a partridge:
- You owe me your life! If it weren’t for me, some animal would have eaten you long ago. What about me? What benefit do I have from you, from your friendship? The one who is your friend, who not only laughs and jokes, but also mourns grief together, sheds tears and feeds and gives you water. And if trouble happens and a friend’s life is in danger, the friend must come to the rescue!
“Well, since you need to test friendship, I’m ready: whenever you want, then test me.”
The jackal thought, thought, and said angrily:
- First of all, you make me laugh!
“Be it your way,” answered the partridge. “I’ll make you laugh so much that you’ll tear your stomach.” Let's go!
They came to the river. Then the partridge saw two travelers walking one after another along a narrow path along the shore. The one in front carried a stick with a bundle on his shoulder, and the one in the back held his bundle and stick in his hand. They were both tired and angry.
The partridge looked at them and said: “Well, now you’ll laugh!” Hide in those bushes and see what I do.
With these words, she flew and sat on a stick near the front traveler, but in such a way that he did not notice anything. As soon as the second traveler saw the partridge, he took off his shoe and threw it at the bird with all his might. The partridge managed to fly away, and the shoe hit the traveler right in the head, so that the turban slid down his nose. The poor guy got angry and shouted at his friend:
- Are you blind? Where do you throw the shoe? His friend humbly replied:
“Brother, don’t be angry, I wasn’t aiming at you, I wanted to shoot down the partridge that sat on your stick, but I missed and hit you.”
The first one didn’t believe it and attacked his friend with a stick. A fight ensued; the friends beat each other up in vain, they rolled on the ground, tore each other’s clothes. The jackal sat in the bushes and burst out laughing.
Well, are you happy now? - asks the partridge.
But the jackal was unhappy.
Making people laugh is not difficult,” he said. “Then I will believe in your friendship when you make me cry.”
- Fine! “Be it your way,” answered the partridge.
They wandered and wandered and came across a hunter with dogs. Partridge says:
“Hide in a hole under this tree and see what I do.” I guarantee you will cry your eyes out!
There were bushes growing around the tree. The partridge climbed into them and began flapping its wings with all its might. The dogs rushed towards the noise with a loud bark: it seemed to them that a large animal was hiding in the bushes. The partridge fluttered - and straight to the hole where the jackal hid. The dogs are behind her. One dog smelled the jackal and raised its voice. Then the others came running, pulled the jackal out of the hole, and began to thrash him. The jackal howled in pain, but at least the dogs had nothing to do with it. Finally they left him half dead.
When the dogs ran away, the partridge asked:
- Well, brother, are you happy with me now? I made you laugh, I made you cry, what more do you need?
The jackal groaned and said:
“You’re free to mock me, but I almost died.”
For a long time he could not budge; he licked all his wounds. That time the sun began to set, and the jackal was overcome by hunger.
“Friend!” he called the partridge. “What has happened has passed.” Please, get me some food, otherwise my stomach is aching.
“Okay, I’ll try for you,” answered the partridge and flew away.
She saw a woman on the road - she was carrying a bundle of lunch to her husband in the field. A partridge sat on a tree, and when the woman came very close, she suddenly fell to the ground and pretended to be wounded - there was no way she could fly up. The woman wanted to grab her, but the partridge jumped to the side. The woman put her bundle on the ground and with outstretched hands began to run after the bird. The woman moved far away from her bundle. Then a jackal jumped out of the bushes and ate lunch.
The partridge flew up to the jackal and said:
- Well, are you happy now?
“You made me laugh, you fed me, you made me cry—it’s all true,” answered the jackal. “But you won’t be able to save me if misfortune happens to me.” One should be considered a friend who will come to the rescue in trouble.
“I probably won’t be able to do this, because I’m a weak, little bird,” said the partridge sadly, “but I’ll still try, if trouble happens, to help you.”
Meanwhile, evening came.
“It’s dark, it’s time to return home,” said the partridge. “To get to the road, we will have to cross the river.”
- What should I do? “I don’t know how to swim,” said the jackal, “and I might drown.”
- Don’t worry, I have a friend - a crocodile, he will put us on his back and transport us to the other side.
Jackal agreed. They approached the shore. The partridge called the crocodile and asked him:
- Brother! Please take us across the river!
The crocodile willingly gave them his back, and they swam. But on the way, the crocodile decided to eat both friends and sank a little into the water. The partridge immediately took off.
- It seems to me that the crocodile is up to no good! - she shouted to the jackal. “Don’t let him eat us!”
“Ah, we are dead!” the jackal cried in despair.
“I have nothing to be afraid of, I’ll fly away, but what will happen to you!”
The frightened jackal begged:
“My friend partridge, try to save me somehow, I’ll be your debtor for the rest of my life!”
The partridge thought about it. Meanwhile, the crocodile swam to the middle of the river and said:
“Tell you what: I haven’t eaten anything since this morning, and I want to eat you both!”
The jackal trembled, and the partridge - she had already thought of something - calmly said:
- Buddy, you won’t be able to catch me - I’ll fly away from you, and my friend the jackal is not such a fool as to always carry his life with him. He, you know, hides it in a hole.
The crocodile was surprised.
“Are you not lying?” he asks.
The jackal swore that the partridge was telling the truth. The crocodile was even more surprised, but still took his friends further. They went ashore and started to run - away from the stupid crocodile. When they reached the forest, the partridge asked:
- Well, are you now convinced that I am your true friend?
But the jackal only grumbled dissatisfiedly: “Yes, you can’t say anything, you cleverly deceived the crocodile!” You made me laugh, fed me, made me cry, even saved my life; but you cannot make friends with cunning people - no matter the hour, they will deceive you too. And therefore, from this day on, our friendship ends!
Since then, the jackal has not been friends with the partridge.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru