Once upon a time there lived a mouse and a sparrow. They lived and lived together in harmony, with no quarrels or insults. Before doing anything, they consulted with each other and did any work together.
One day, a mouse and a sparrow found three rye grains on the road. They thought and thought about what to do with them, and decided to sow the field. The mouse plowed the ground, the little sparrow harrowed.
The glorious rye is born! The mouse quickly squeezed it with its sharp teeth, and the sparrow deftly threshed it with its wings. Grain by grain, they collected the entire harvest and began to divide it in half: one grain for the mouse, one for the sparrow, one for the mouse, one for the sparrow... They divided and divided, and the last grain was left over.
The mouse is the first to say:
- This is my grain: when I plowed my nose and paws I worked until they bled.
Sparrow did not agree:
- No, this grain is mine. When I was harrowing, I beat the wings until they bled.
Whether they argued for a long time or for a short time - those who heard knew, but we don’t know. Only the sparrow suddenly pecked at the extra grain and flew away. “Let him try to catch up with me and take away my grain,” he thought.
The mouse did not chase the sparrow. I was upset that I was the first to start an argument. She dragged her share into the hole. She waited and waited for the sparrow to make peace, but she didn’t wait. And she dumped some of it into her pantry. She lived well all winter.
And the greedy sparrow was left with nothing; the hungry sparrow jumped until spring.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru