Once upon a time there were a decrepit old man and an old woman. In their entire long life they had no children. They only had one dog, named Sarbai. Sarbai was a beautiful dog, and the old people loved him very much. But then the old man and the old woman had a child.
After this, Sarbai’s life became different: his owners did not pay attention to him, rarely fed him, and he began to lose weight.
One day Sarbai ran into the forest and met there his old friend, a wolf.
- Friend Sarbai! What's wrong with you? - the wolf was surprised. - Why are you so sad?
“Before, I was the only joy of the owners,” Sarbai answered and became sad. “And now they have a child, and I’m no longer held in high esteem.” It became difficult for me to live.
“Don’t worry, Sarbai,” said the wolf. “As soon as summer comes and your owners go to reap bread, I will snatch the child away from them.” Then they will love you again as before.
Sarbai thought about it, but began to wait for the onset of summer.
Here it comes. It got hot. When the grain was ripe, the harvest began, the old man and the old woman took the child with them into the field and began to reap the grain. The child was sleeping in the cart, and Sarbai was lying nearby.
Suddenly a wolf crept up to the cart and carried away the child. The child began to cry pitifully, and Sarbai felt sorry for him, and with a frantic bark he rushed in pursuit of the wolf.
The old man and the old woman were working far away, but they heard Sarbai barking, ran up to the cart and saw that the child was gone.
Out of grief they began to cry loudly. Meanwhile, Sarbai caught up with the wolf and took the child from him.
Sarbai brought the child to the old people. They were very happy. As a reward for saving the child, they began to feed Sarbai better than before, and he healed happily.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru