The poor old man lived with his wife, and the rich old man lived with his wife.
One day, a poor old man, going hunting, took an ice pick, a flint, an ax, and a net and went to the place where the berries were picked. There were a lot of bird cherry trees there. The poor old man ate plenty. Then he put the berries in his ears, nose, eyes, mouth and lay down. A hare came running from the taiga.
“Why,” the hare thinks, “did the poor old man die? If we say that he died of thirst and hunger, or what? - No, there’s a lot of bird cherry in his nose, ears, eyes, mouth. If we say that he froze or something? - No, there’s an ax and flint.”
- Taiga animals! - called the hare. “Come, let’s drag the poor old man away.”
Then hares, ferrets, squirrels, foxes and various animals came running from all sides.
They grabbed the old man by the legs and arms and dragged him away. They threw him into the water and wanted to leave. His wife came running and said:
- How will I drag him? You are dragging him to my home.
Then they dragged him home.
The old woman let the hares and all the animals in, locked the doors behind them, closed the chimney from the stove, took a stick and a board. Then the old man jumped to his feet, and he and the old woman began to beat the animals. They killed everyone, only one bunny remained, he opened the closed pipe and ran away. When the hare ran through the pipe, his ears became dirty with black soot.
And the old man and the old woman took the skins from all the animals and hung them on racks.
The wife of a rich old man came and asked:
- How did you kill so many animals?
- So they killed me.
When the rich old man's wife was leaving, they gave her a squirrel. She threw the squirrel onto the bunk and said:
- And we will kill.
The rich old man's wife went to her husband and told him everything.
The rich old man took a flint, an ax, an ax, and a net and set off. He came to the same place where the poor old man was. When I arrived, I ate plenty of bird cherry. Then he put the berries in his ears, nose, eyes, mouth and lay down.
A hare came running from the taiga.
“Why,” the hare thinks, “did the rich old man die? - If you say that he died of thirst and hunger, or what? - No, there’s a lot of bird cherry in his nose, ears, eyes, mouth. If you say that he froze or something? - No, he has an ax, a flint.”
- Taiga animals! - called the hare. - Come, let’s drag the rich old man away!
Then hares, ferrets, squirrels, foxes and various animals came running from all sides. They took the old man by the legs and arms and dragged him home.
Suddenly one hare came running. Everything is white up to the ears, and the ears are black as soot.
And the black-eared hare said
- Stop, bunnies! People are deceiving us, they want to lure us and kill everyone. Let's throw the old man into the water instead.
So they abandoned him and ran away.
A rich old man jumped out of the water, grabbed an ax and threw it, hitting one hare in the leg. I grabbed this hare and only got one.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru