A sparrow flew up onto a blade of grass and said:
- Rock the sparrow, good fellow! Answers:
- I don’t want to!
- Go get the goat, let the goat come to gnaw on the blade of grass, the blade of grass doesn’t want to shake the sparrow, good fellow.
And the goat says:
- I don’t want to!
- Go get the beast. Go, wolf, there’s a goat, the goat doesn’t want to gnaw a blade of grass, and the blade of grass doesn’t want to shake the sparrow, good fellow,
Wolf says:
- I don’t want to!
- Go, people, beat the wolf, the wolf doesn’t want to kill the goat, and the goat doesn’t want to gnaw a blade of grass, and a blade of grass doesn’t want to shake the sparrow, good fellow.
People say:
- We don’t want to!
“Go,” he says, “then for the Tatars.” Tatars, Tatars! Go kill people, people don’t want to beat a wolf, and a wolf doesn’t want to cut a goat, a goat doesn’t want to gnaw a blade of grass, and a blade of grass shakes a sparrow, good fellow.
Yes, and the Tatars say:
“We don’t want to cut people down!”
And people say - we don’t want to beat the wolf; and the wolf says - I don’t want to kill the goat; and the goat says - I don’t want to gnaw on a blade of grass; and the blade of grass says - I don’t want to rock the sparrow, good fellow.
“Go,” says the sparrow, “for fire!” After all, the Tatars don’t want to chop people down, people don’t want to beat a wolf, and a wolf doesn’t want to kill a goat, and a goat doesn’t want to gnaw a blade of grass, and a blade of grass doesn’t want to shake a sparrow, good fellow.
And the fire says:
- I don’t want to!
And the sparrow says (look, he orders everything to his servants):
- Walk on the water! Go, water, put out the fire, because the fire does not want to burn the Tatars, and the Tatars do not want to chop people, and people do not want to beat the wolf, and the wolf does not want to kill the goat, and the goat does not want to gnaw a blade of grass, and a blade of grass does not want to shake the sparrow, good fellow! And the water says:
- I don’t want to!
- Go get the oxen! Oxen, oxen! Go, oxen, drink water, the water doesn’t want to put out the fire, the Tatars don’t want to burn the fire, the Tatars don’t want to chop people down, the people don’t want to beat the wolf, and the wolf doesn’t want to kill the goat, and the goat doesn’t want to gnaw on a blade of grass, and the blade of grass doesn’t want to shake a sparrow, good fellow.
The oxen don’t want it either!
So the sparrow says:
- Go get the hammer! Let him go beat the oxen, because the oxen don’t want to drink water, the water doesn’t want to put out the fire, and the fire doesn’t want to burn the Tatars, the Tatars don’t want to chop people, the people don’t want to beat the wolf, the wolf doesn’t want to kill the goat, and the goat doesn’t want to gnaw a blade of grass, and the blade of grass doesn’t want to rock a sparrow, good fellow. Dolbnya says:
- I don’t want to!
- Go, worms, sharpen the gouge, because the gouge doesn’t want to beat the oxen, the oxen don’t want to drink the water, and the water doesn’t want to put out the fire, the Tatars don’t want to burn the fire, and the Tatars don’t want to chop people, and people don’t want to beat the wolf, and the wolf doesn’t want to slaughter the goat, and the goat doesn’t want to gnaw a blade of grass, and the blade of grass doesn’t want to shake the sparrow, good fellow.
The worms don't want to.
“Go,” he says, “for chickens!” Go, chickens, they don’t want to peck worms, the worms don’t want to sharpen the gouge, the gouge doesn’t want to beat the oxen, the oxen don’t want to drink the water, the water doesn’t want to put out the fire, but the fire doesn’t want to burn the Tatars, the Tatars don’t want to chop people down, and the people don’t want to beat the wolf, the wolf doesn’t want to slaughter a goat, and the goat doesn’t want to gnaw a blade of grass, and the blade of grass doesn’t want to shake a sparrow, good fellow.
And the chickens say:
- We don’t want to.
“Go,” he says, “to the kite!” Go, kite, grab the chickens, because the chickens don’t want to peck the worms, and the worms don’t want to sharpen the gouge, and the gouge doesn’t want to beat the oxen, and the oxen don’t want to drink water, and the water doesn’t want to put out the fire, the Tatars don’t want to burn the fire, the Tatars don’t want to chop people down, and people don’t want to beat a wolf, and the wolves don’t want to slaughter a goat, and the goat doesn’t want to gnaw a blade of grass, but a blade of grass doesn’t want to shake the sparrow, good fellow!
A kite for chickens, chickens for worms, worms for a hollow, a hollow for oxen, and oxen for water, and water for fire, fire for Tatars, and Tatars for people, people for a wolf, and a wolf for a goat, a goat for a blade of grass, and then a blade of grass:
How many, how many, how old is his father!
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Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru