God distributed among the animals who should eat what. First he called the snake and asked: “What should I give you for food?” The snake could not answer immediately, but asked for a few days to think about it. God agreed.
Meanwhile, the snake tried different foods and found that the most delicious was human meat. She sent the beetle to report her choice to God. A beetle flies, and a swallow meets it.
-Where are you flying? she asked.
“I’m flying on behalf of a snake to God to inform him that it has chosen human meat for food,” answered the beetle.
The swallow was horrified by the snake’s choice and decided to save the people.
“Well, show your tongue,” asked the swallow.
As soon as the beetle stuck out its tongue, the swallow just pinched it off. Then she herself flew to God and said:
— The snake chose frogs as food.
God commanded so. The snake found out about this and was indignant at the swallow. One day the snake decided to catch a swallow and deal with it, but it escaped, only the villain managed to rip out the middle feathers from its tail. That is why since then the beetle cannot speak, but only buzzes, the snake feeds on frogs, and the swallow is missing middle feathers in its tail. But man respects the swallow and does not destroy its nest.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru