A mouse was running along the path and saw a pied bird in the bushes. A pestle is sitting, cleaning its nose on a branch. The mouse began to complain to her about his life:
- I have no life, dear motley! Cats are watching me everywhere! People are setting traps for me everywhere! The crow doesn't let me down either.
– And my life is not easy! - the pestle answered with a sigh. “The cats are hunting me too.” The boys try to hit me with a stone. And it’s not safe in the sky: not only midges fly there, but also hawks...
- Well, let's live together, let's work together and defend ourselves from enemies! - suggested the mouse.
- Okay, let's live together! “We will divide both grief and joy in half,” the pestle immediately agreed.
They chose a small clearing at the edge of the forest and began to clear it of weeds and stones.
Pestrushka was not used to such work; she felt uneasy. She quickly got tired and decided to cheat.
- My dear friend! - she said to the mouse. – I almost forgot to tell you... My brother is celebrating a wedding today, and, as usual, I definitely have to be there at least a little. For now, my friend, work for me. And when I return, I will certainly make up for it!
“So be it, fly to your brother,” agreed the mouse. – A wedding in a family doesn’t happen every day, but I’ll work alone.
The pied bird fluttered into the forest, sat down on a branchy tree at the edge of the forest and began to watch the mouse work.
And the mouse worked without rest. When she uprooted the last stump, already at the very edge of the clearing, the pestle flew out of the forest. She pretended to be very out of breath and exclaimed:
- What a hard worker you are! Who can compete with you? The mouse wiped the sweat from its face with both paws and asked reproachfully:
- Why did you stay so long? Because you know: field work doesn’t wait!
“Ah,” said the pestle, “my brother sat me down in a place of honor, in front of everyone, and I couldn’t leave earlier - the neighbors wouldn’t let me in!” She barely escaped, and only by cunning - she said that I would only go out for a minute to stretch my wings.
The mouse moved its whiskers, waved its tail tiredly and said:
- Okay, we still have a lot of work to do. And remember that now it’s your turn to work!
They sowed corn. The corn sprouted well, and now the mouse and moss began weeding. Here the pestle again resorted to cunning to get rid of work. At first she sighed and ruffled her feathers, and then suddenly began to sob.
- What's wrong with you? – the mouse asked her sympathetically.
- Oh, I’m in grief... I just didn’t want to tell you, to upset you. But, since you want to know, I’ll share it: my father died yesterday... And I don’t know what to do: work doesn’t wait, and I have to be at the funeral...
The kind mouse took pity on the pestle:
- Well, nothing can be done... Go and fulfill your sad duty. Just be careful not to worry too much - save your strength. A living person needs to live and work!
The cunning pestle shed a tear and flew away. She again sat down on the branch and began to watch from a distance how the mouse worked.
When the mouse was left to weed the last furrow, a pestle flew in.
“Couldn’t you have come back sooner?” – the mouse turned to her reproachfully. – After all, I’m the only one completely exhausted!
Pestrushka said:
“The trouble is that after my father’s funeral, my mother was so upset that she was almost dying.” It was impossible to leave her unattended...
The mouse remained silent and did not reproach the pestle anymore... Autumn has come. The harvest was ripe, the mouse and the pestle collected the corn and began to divide it. Here an argument broke out between them.
“Whoever worked more should get more,” said the mouse.
“No,” objected the pestle, “the harvest must be divided equally: half for me, half for you!”
They argued for a long time and could not agree. Then the mouse said:
“Let the mole resolve our dispute; he has been rummaging in the ground all his life.” Although the mole is blind, he will understand this matter better than a sighted person.
They went to the mole. The mole listened to them and said:
“The mouse worked tirelessly, worked tirelessly, and you, little pied, did nothing, flew more and jumped on one leg... Give it, mouse, a little corn so that it doesn’t die of hunger in the winter... And you, pied, remember that you are getting a loan, and work it off next summer!”
The mole sees that the mole is right. She did not dare to demand half the harvest anymore. I took as much as the kind mouse gave.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru