In ancient times, there lived an old man and an old woman. They had neither son nor daughter, but only a fluffy cat.
An old man and an old woman took the cat in when she was still a blind kitten.
The cat has grown, her fur has become fluffy and beautiful. But one thing is bad, with her theft she caused a lot of harm to both the neighbors and the old man and the old woman.
One night the cat sneaked into the kitchen unnoticed and ate all the meat. The next day the cat went rummaging around in the kitchen again. She wanted to jump onto a high shelf, but she fell, and pulled bowls, bowls, plates, and dishes with her. Everything flew to the floor and broke into pieces.
An old man and an old woman ran into the kitchen and saw all the dishes were broken.
- Wow, my death! - the old woman screamed, hitting her knees.
- Wow! Who did this? - said the old man. And then they saw a cat in the corner.
- Oh, so that you disappear! - the old man shouted.
“If we don’t get rid of her, she won’t cause us such trouble,” said the old woman.
The old man put the cat in a sack, took it far into the steppe and left it there.
“It’s good that we got rid of her,” said the old woman when the old man returned.
Before she even had time to close her mouth, the cat was under the door - “Meow, Meow!”
“Oh, may your days be shortened!” the old woman got angry.
And let the cat lick the hands of the old man and the old woman, rub his head against his legs, and caress.
The cat remained to live in the house. But not even two days had passed before she began her old thieving business. The old man and the old woman felt sick.
The old man blindfolded the cat, tied its paws, carried it far into the thickets and threw it into a deep ravine.
Until the morning, the cat meowed and squeaked pitifully in the ravine, and in the morning the fox came.
The fox untied the cat and said:
- Hello, kitty!
“Hello, little fox!” the cat answers. “Thank you.”
They became friends. And we went together. They met a hare on the road. The fox says quietly to the cat:
- Let's deceive the hare. Then we’ll slaughter him and make a shashlik out of the meat.
- Very good! “I’ve been wanting barbecue for a long time,” the cat also said quietly.
But the hare, with his long ears, heard what the fox and the cat were talking about and trembled with fear.
- Bunny, please come visit us! - said the fox.
- Thank you! “Thank you!” said the hare. “But I don’t have time, the children have cooked stew at home and are waiting for me for lunch.” Excuse me, I can’t go!
The fox began to beg the hare:
- Come to us, sit for a while with my guest cat and go home.
“Yes, yes, sit with me and come,” and the cat licked its lips at the mere thought of what kind of hare would make a delicious kebab. You will swallow your tongue.
“Thank you very much!” said the hare. “It’s better to come to us!”
But his soul is not in the right place.
The fox and the cat happily agreed and went to visit the hare.
On the way, the fox and the cat quietly agreed:
“We’ll come to the hare’s house, eat his stew, slaughter the hare with thyme and fry the meat into a kebab.”
The hare heard everything, but didn’t show it.
They came to the hare's house. Out of fright, the bunnies froze in place. The guests sat comfortably on blankets, even stretching their legs.
- Well, where is your stew? Come here.
The hare brought a full bowl of stew and placed it in front of the fox and cat.
- Well, please, help yourself! They got hooked on the food.
The greedy fox quickly took the cup and instantly ate half of the stew, passed it to the cat, saying:
- Oh, what a delicious soup! The cat quickly ate the rest.
Not even a minute passed before the fox and cat died. The hare, having arrived home, managed to put rat poison in the stew.
And let the hare and bunnies jump and dance for joy that they have escaped certain death.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru