One day, when it was already evening, two peasants were sitting in a reed hut and talking among themselves. One peasant asks another:
“Aren’t you afraid to live alone in such a remote place?”
And he answers:
“I’m not afraid of anyone, not a tiger, not the devil, I’m only afraid that drips will drip from the roof.”
About that time, a tiger was hiding nearby. He heard these words and quietly said to himself: “He’s not afraid of the tiger, not the devil, he’s only afraid of the drip-drip. It turns out that this drip-drip is scarier and more menacing than me? I’d better get out of here and say hello.” The tiger said this to himself and ran away from the hut. He ran and ran and did not notice how he came running to one village. There lived in that village about two dozen, well, maybe two and a half families.
And it so happened that just at that time a thief entered the village. A thief came to the gate of a tall house, and in his hands a large, large paper lantern was dangling. The tiger saw him, stopped in fear and thought: “This is the same drip-drip.” He thought so, shrank and decided to quietly walk around that house. He walked around, found a reed hut, and lay down to sleep in it.
Soon the thief ran there - the people scared him away. The thief lay down next to the tiger and fell asleep. And the tiger lies there, trembling with fear, thinking: this is the drip-drip sleeping next to him. He's afraid to raise his head. And the thief mistook the tiger for a cow and rejoices: “Now happiness has arrived! What luck! You ran all night in vain - people scared you away, and suddenly there was a cow on top of you. I’ll take her with me.” But the tiger doesn’t remember himself from fear, he’s shaking, thinking: “Let him take him out of the hut, let him take him with him - I still won’t raise my head.”
Meanwhile, it was already getting light. The thief decided to take a better look at the cow - is it big? He looked and felt that his heart and gall bladder were about to burst. The thief rushed out of the hut and climbed to the very top of the tree. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a monkey appeared. I saw that the tiger was in trouble, and let’s laugh:
“Why are you so scared, brother tiger?”
- Don’t you even know it, sister monkey? Last night I met a dude. He led me on his lead until the dew. Trouble, and that’s all!
- What is this drip-drip?
- Look for yourself, otherwise I’m afraid. There he is, sitting on a tree.
- Did you imagine it, or what? You will also say: drip-drip! After all, this is a man sitting on a tree. If you don’t believe me, I’ll tear out the vine now, tie it to your paw with one end, and to mine with the other. I’ll throw it down quickly, and you can enjoy it to your heart’s content. And when it drips, I shake my head. Then run and drag me with you away from trouble. Well, do you agree?
- I agree, I agree! You can't imagine anything better!
A monkey climbed a tree. I just got to the middle, and the thief dropped his pants in fear. It dripped onto the monkey: drip-drip. The monkey shook its head and began to shake itself off. The tiger saw it, started running as fast as he could, and dragged the monkey after him. The poor fellow was killed to death.
The tiger ran for more than thirty years in one breath, became out of breath, saw a high hill, and sat down to rest. It would be nice, he thinks, to dine on deer. He had heard that there were deer in the mountains, but he had never seen them in his life. Suddenly he looks - some animal has appeared in the distance. Runs straight at him. And this was just a deer. The deer saw the tiger, trembled with fear, and stopped, neither alive nor dead. And the tiger smiled and very politely said to the deer:
- Be kind, my friend! Tell me your precious surname and glorious name!
The deer heard this, immediately realized that he was a stupid tiger, became brave and answered:
“I don’t have a last name, I only have an insignificant nickname.” And I am called the Venerable Tiger.
The tiger marveled at this nickname and said:
- Brother Venerable Tiger! What useless chatter! Tell me better, have you ever met a deer?
- Why do you need it?
- I'm hungry. I want to eat venison.
- And I - tiger meat. So first tell me if you have seen a tiger.
- I didn’t see it, I didn’t see it!
-What's under your belly?
— A teapot for wine.
- Do you carry it with you?
- But of course! I'll eat some reindeer meat and then drink some wine!
-What is that on your head?
— Bamboo cart.
- Do you carry it with you?
- Well, yes! If you come across a tiger, you won’t eat it right away! So I put the leftovers on the cart - convenient and beautiful.
The tiger was dumbfounded here, he senses that his soul and body are about to part. And he wet himself out of fear. The deer saw this and screamed:
- Drip-drip has arrived!
The tiger heard and ran away, but the deer was just waiting for this, turned and ran away.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru