A long time ago there lived a poor boy, and he had no one in the whole world. He climbed into the mountains and became a sheep shepherd.
He owned only one treasure - a magic bell. As soon as you rang it, the herd obediently went where the boy ordered. In the evenings, he hid the bell in a hollow tree so that the wolves, attracted by the wonderful
ringing, did not attack the sheep.
One day a thunderstorm broke out. The shepherd led the flock into the pen, hung the bell on a branch and went to bed. When he woke up, he saw that the tree had grown to the very heavens and there was no way to remove the bell.
- Tree, bend down! I'll take off the bell. It's time to take the sheep to pasture.
“No,” the tree answers, “I don’t want to.”
The boy came to the axe; “Go, axe, cut down the tree, it doesn’t want to give me the bell.”
“I won’t go,” says the ax. The boy went to the rust:
- Go, rust, dull the axe, he doesn’t want to cut down the tree, and the tree won’t give me my bell.
“Reluctant,” says rust. The shepherd boy got angry and went to the fire:
- Go; fire, the rust has burned away, it doesn’t want to dull the ax, and the ax doesn’t want to chop down the tree, and the tree doesn’t give up the bell, “I’m too lazy to go, brother.”
The boy went to the water:
“Run, water, put out the fire, it doesn’t want to scorch the rust, the rust doesn’t want to dull the axe, the ax doesn’t want to chop down the tree, and the tree doesn’t want to give me my bell.”
“I won’t,” says the water. The boy went to the ox:
“Go, ox, drink the water, it doesn’t want to put out the fire, the fire doesn’t want to scorch the rust, the rust doesn’t want to dull the axe, the ax doesn’t want to chop down the tree, and the tree doesn’t want to give up the bell.”
“I won’t go,” says the ox, “I’m already drunk.” The boy was offended and went to the wolf:
- Come on, wolf, kill the ox, he doesn’t want to drink water, he doesn’t want water
put out the fire, the fire does not want to burn the rust, the rust does not want to dull the axe, the ax does not want to cut down the tree, and the tree does not give me my bell.
“No,” says the wolf, “I don’t want to get involved with the ox.” The shepherd went to the hunter.
- Go, hunter, shoot the wolf, he does not want to kill the ox, the ox does not want to drink the water, the water does not want to extinguish the fire, the fire does not want to burn the rust, the rust does not want to dull the axe, the ax does not want to cut down the tree, and the tree does not give up the bell.
“No,” says the hunter, “I won’t go hunting today.” The boy went to the mouse:
- Mouse, mouse, go bite off the belt from the hunting rifle, the hunter does not want to shoot the wolf, the wolf does not want to kill the ox, the ox does not want to drink the water, the water does not want to put out the fire, the fire does not want to scorch the rust, the rust does not want to dull the axe, the ax does not want to cut down the tree, and the tree does not give me my bell.
Mouse says:
- I won’t go, I’m not hungry.
The boy went and bowed to the cat:
- Go, little kitty, eat the mouse, it doesn’t want to bite off the belt from the hunting rifle, the hunter doesn’t want to shoot the wolf, the wolf doesn’t want to kill the ox, the ox doesn’t want to drink water, the water doesn’t want to put out the fire, the fire doesn’t want to burn the rust, the rust doesn’t want to dull the axe, the ax doesn’t want to cut down
tree, but the tree does not give up the bell. Cat says:
- No, I won’t go, I’m fed up with mice. What's a shepherdess to do? I went to the dog.
- Go, Grivko, bite the cat, she doesn’t want to eat the mouse, the mouse doesn’t want to bite off the belt from the hunting rifle, the hunter doesn’t want to shoot the wolf, the wolf doesn’t want to kill the ox, the ox doesn’t want to drink the water, the water doesn’t want to put out the fire, the fire doesn’t want to burn the rust, the rust doesn’t want to dull the axe, the ax doesn’t want to cut down the tree, and the tree doesn’t give me my magic bell. The sun is already high, and my sheep are thirsty and hungry. The dog takes pity, sees that the boy is tired and no one wants him
help, she shook herself, jumped up and rushed after the cat! The cat got scared, rushed at the mouse, the mouse just squeaked and began to gnaw the belt of the hunting rifle, the hunter picked up the gun and took aim at the wolf, the wolf involuntarily rushed after the ox, the ox mooed and began to drink water from the river, the banks were already shaking. The water overflowed its banks, splashed out onto the fire, the fire attacked the rust, the rust spread across the axe, the ax jumped up and began to chop down the tree, the tree bent over, the boy grabbed his bell and ran to graze the sheep.
Since then, the dogs have become accustomed to living in the pastures and have become loyal friends of the shepherds.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru