It was late in the evening. Once a hungry wolf was walking through the forest, and he met a donkey.
“Donkey,” says the wolf, “I’ll eat you!”
- Yes, brother, you must be stupid! – the donkey was surprised. – Donkey meat can only be eaten on an empty stomach. Eaten in the evening, it is a deadly poison! If you don't want to die after tasting my meat, wait here a little. I will bring you a bed, you will sleep until the morning, and early in the morning - may I be your medicine! - you will eat me.
- Well done! - exclaimed the wolf. -You are speaking intelligently. Go ahead and get the bed... quickly. I'll wait.
The donkey ran skipping towards his house and, of course, did not return. And the wolf waited for him until the dark night, until he finally realized that he had been deceived.
With great anger in his heart, hungry, extremely hungry, he trudged on.
“I swear,” the wolf growled, “whoever gets in my way, I will swallow him alive!”
At dawn he met a baby goat.
- Hey, hey, little goat! - the wolf shouted. – Now I’ll eat you!
“I am in your power,” the little goat answered obediently. - But what kind of taste does my meat have when it is without garlic, without sour seasoning?.. It’s just bland! Let me run home and get some garlic and sour gravy!
- And that’s true! – the wolf agreed. - I myself heard that goat meat is eaten with sour gravy and garlic... You did well to remind me of this! Go and come back quickly!
The wolf waited for the kid, waited - and all in vain! He was already gnashing his teeth! He was already cursing!.. And it wasn’t hunger that tormented him so much as the resentment that he had been deceived. And who! Kid.
“The donkey, of course, also deceived me,” the wolf thought. “What happened, happened! But a donkey is still a donkey! A serious animal... And here is some little goat! Next time you need to be smarter!” So, talking to himself, the wolf wandered through the forest until he came to the seashore.
Here he saw a buffalo basking in a large muddy puddle.
- Buffalo, buffalo! Say goodbye to life! I'll eat you! – the wolf growled, bared his teeth and prepared to jump.
- Mmm, I thought you were smart! – the buffalo lazily mumbled. - And it turns out there is no animal more stupid than you. So why are you screaming and jumping? I still can’t escape your teeth! He would have said better: “Go, buffalo, into the sea and take a swim. I hate eating you dirty." That would be a wise speech.
- Right! - exclaimed the wolf. - Go take a swim! Just don't sit in the water for long: I'm hungry...
- Don't worry! - said the buffalo and went to the sea. The wolf sat on the shore for a long time. And the buffalo swam further and further.
- Hey, buffalo! – the wolf finally got angry. - Stop rinsing. Forgot that I'm waiting for you?
- Wait, dear, until the end of your days! - the buffalo responded. - Where can you, such a fool, eat me?
The wolf went completely mad with rage: he saw that this time his prey had left him too.
- Come back! - he rushed along the shore and jumped when the wave came. – Have you really decided not to go out?
- No, I'm joking! - the buffalo mocked. - I'm just playing with you.
The wolf got tired of persuading the buffalo, and he walked away. And he can barely drag his feet... He reached his native forest and lay down on the grass. Suddenly he sees a horse grazing in a clearing.
- Well, my dear, you won’t leave me! – gathered his last strength and rushed to her.
- Wolf! - the horse begged. “You know: I’m nothing in front of you!” Eat me, so be it. But I have one request for you. Don't be ruthless, fulfill my late father's will.
- What a will! - the wolf howled. - I'm hungry, don't bother me with your chatter!
“My father bequeathed,” said the horse, “that I should not dare die without knowing how old I am.” The day and year of my birth are engraved on the shoes of my hind legs. Read and do with me what you please!
- OK! – the wolf agreed. - Show me the horseshoes! The horse raised its hind legs and hit the wolf on the stupid head. And then the wolf came to an end.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru