Summer has come. It was swelteringly hot. The Jackal rubbed the Cow's skin with salt, then soaked it in oil, and hung it in the shade so that it would dry evenly. And when the leather was ready, he cut it into strips, chose two better pieces from them, and armed himself with a needle and thread. He fitted the shoes directly to the Lion’s paws, and to make them stay on his feet more firmly, he sewed the skin directly to the paws of the king of beasts. The Lion shouted, and the Jackal said:
- The more painful it is, the better the shoes.
This activity took the whole morning: one was sewing, the other was screaming in pain, one was growling, the other was saying: “The more painful it is now, the more fun it will be later.”
The Jackal then helped the Lion to a small hill and invited him to lie on his back.
“Expose,” he said to Lev, “all four paws under the sun, the shoes should dry properly.”
The lion did as the Jackal ordered - he lay under the hot rays of the sun until the evening. His feet were swollen, and his shoes were so tight that poor Lev could not find any relief from the pain. Meanwhile, the Jackal was chilling in the shade, and with the onset of coolness he shouted to the Lion:
- Now jump up! You will see that you will fly like a bird in the sky.
The lion jumped... and rolled down the hillside, to the very bottom of the ravine. There was no place alive on him, but he did not crash to death, as the Jackal had hoped. Seeing that his plan had failed, the Jackal quickly ran away. And Lev remained exhausted and wounded at the bottom of the ravine.
In the evening a flock of partridges flew by. They saw Leo and took pity on him.
“Swear that you will not touch us,” they turned to the lord of beasts, “and we will help you!”
The lion swore, and the partridges, bringing water in their beaks, wetted the shoes until they softened. Then they pulled out the threads and took off the Lion's shoes. In the heat of the moment, Leo could not resist and grabbed one partridge. Fortunately, he was too weak, and she fluttered out of his mouth alive.
The wounded Lion dragged himself to his cave. It is unknown whether he suffered more from rage or from wounds.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru