The leopard was returning from hunting and saw a ram near the kraal. The leopard had never seen such an animal before. He got scared and, approaching the ram, timidly asked:
- Hello, buddy! What's your name? The ram stamped its feet and bleated loudly:
- I'm a sheep. Who are you?
“I am a leopard,” answered the leopard. And he got even more scared and ran away as quickly as possible.
On the way, a leopard met a jackal and told him what a terrible animal he had just seen. The jackal laughed:
- Oh, how stupid you are, leopard! You missed out on a wonderful piece of meat! Tomorrow we'll go there together, catch him and eat him!
The next day they went for the ram. Now we've come to the king. And at that time the ram was just about to go to the meadow. He saw a leopard with a jackal on a hill and got scared. He quickly ran to his wife and said:
“There’s a leopard and a jackal on the hill, they’re coming towards us.” Oh, I'm afraid the end has come for us!
“Don’t be afraid,” the wife answered, “take the cub with you and go out to them.” As soon as a leopard and a jackal come up, pinch the cub and let it cry as if it were hungry.
This is what the ram did: he took the cub and went out to meet the leopard and jackal.
When the leopard saw the ram, he got scared again and wanted to turn back. But the jackal tied the leopard to himself with a leather rope:
- Come with me!
At this time, the ram pinched the cub, and it screamed loudly. And the ram says:
“Thank you, jackal, for bringing the leopard to me.” You see how hungry my cub is, how he begs to eat!
The leopard heard these words, screamed in fear and rushed away. Without stopping, he ran through the hills and mountains, dragging the jackal behind him. So he ran to his home and dragged the jackal behind him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru