A man went into the forest to chop wood. He chopped some wood and sat down on a stump to rest.
The bear comes:
- Hey man, let's fight!
The man looked at the bear: such a colossus - no way to compete with him! Squeeze it with its paws - and the spirit is gone.
“Uh,” says the man, “why should I fight you!” Let's see if you have the strength first. Then you and I will fight.
- How are we going to watch it? - asks the bear.
The man took an ax, split the stump from above, drove a wedge into the crevice and said:
“If you tear this stump apart with your paw, it means you have strength.” Then you and I will fight.
Well, the bear, without hesitation, poked his paw into the crevice. Meanwhile, the man hit the wedge with his butt, and he jumped out.
Here the stump squeezed the bear’s paw, as if with pincers.
The bear roars, dances on three legs, but cannot split the stump and cannot escape.
“Well,” says the man, “will you fight me?”
“No,” howls the bear, “I won’t!”
- That's the same! - said the man. “You can fight not only with strength, but also with your mind.”
He again drove the wedge into the crevice, pulled out the bear's paw - and ran into the forest without looking back.
Since then, he has been afraid to meet a person.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru