Many years ago we had an old rooster; he took his chickens to the forests and fields. One day, when they were rummaging in the ground under the leaves, the rooster found a large linen wallet, tightly stuffed with gold and silver coins. The rooster grabbed the wallet and took it home; he sang at the top of his lungs and was overwhelmed with happiness.
In that village there lived a certain gentleman, his name was d'Arglan; he said:
- Rooster, show me your wallet! Having received the wallet, he did not even think about returning it, but took it to his home. Then the rooster crowed:
Monsieur d'Arglan, give me the goods! Give back my gold and silver!
Monsieur d'Arglan gave nothing away. The rooster began to crow even louder. Monsieur d'Arglan got angry and said: “Wait, I'll deal with you!” I'll lock you in a stable for the night with my mules, they'll teach you a lesson.
The rooster got scared and ran away. On the way he met a wolf.
“Hello, godfather,” he said.
“Hello, godfather,” answered the wolf. -Where are you going?
- I know where I’m going. If you want to come with me, I will feed you delicious food.
“I’m always happy to eat,” said the wolf.
“Since you agree to come with me,” said the rooster, “get into my bag.”
The rooster moved on. A fox came across him.
“Hello, godfather,” said the rooster.
“Hello, godfather,” answered the fox. -Where are you going?
“I already know where I’m going.” If you want to come with me, I will feed you delicious food. The fox immediately pricked up his ears.
“I’m always happy to eat something,” he said.
“If so, get into my bag,” said the rooster. He moved on. He met bees and hornets.
- If you want to sting to your heart's content, get into my bag.
The bees and hornets did not have to ask: the rooster put them in the bag.
The rooster walked and walked until he came across a stream.
-Where are you going, rooster? - the stream asked him.
“I already know where I’m going,” said the rooster. - Monsieur d'Arglan took my goods, all my gold and silver, come with me: you will help me.
Brook agreed. The rooster put it in his bag.
The rooster returned, knocked on M. d'Arglan's door and began to bawle:
Monsieur d'Arglan, give me the goods! Give back my gold and silver!
- Wait, you’ll calm down with me! - said Monsieur D'Arglan.
Towards evening he ordered his servants to catch the rooster and lock it in the stable with the mules for the night. “They’ll be done with him by tomorrow morning,” he thought. And so the rooster was locked up along with the mules. The mules were angry. kicked their feet. The poor rooster got pretty scared, but kept his ears open. Eventually they pounced on him.
Then the rooster said to the wolf.
- Get out of the bag, bite them all, eat as much as you want.
The wolf jumped out of the bag, bit all the mules, began to torment them, drink their blood and devour them. In the blink of an eye, the mules were finished.
The next day, early in the morning, Monsieur d'Argle jumped out of bed and ran to the stable where the mules were standing to see if the rooster had been killed. As soon as he opened the door, the rooster, as important as before, flew out into the yard and sang at the top of his lungs:
Monsieur d'Arglan, give me the goods! Give back my gold and silver!
“Here you go! - thought Monsieur d'Arglan. “The mules were unable to finish him off.”
He entered the stable and saw that all his mules were lying dead.
- Great, I got caught! - he cried. “I’m sick and tired of this evil rooster!” I'll have him put in the goose coop and let the geese give him a good beating.
In the evening he ordered the rooster to be sent to the goose house. The geese hissed at him at once.
- Hey, fox, get out of the bag! - said the rooster. - the souls of them all! Eat as much as you want!
The fox did not force himself to ask, he spent the whole night strangling geese and feasting on goose meat.
Monsieur d'Arglan could hardly wait for dawn, so he could not find out whether the rooster was alive. He opened the goose coop, the rooster flew into the yard and crowed:
Monsieur d'Arglan, give me the goods! Give back my gold and silver!
- Damn that rooster! - Monsieur d'Arglan was frightened. - Is it really the same with my geese and mules?
He entered the goose house and saw that every single geese had been strangled; everything around was covered in blood and strewn with feathers.
This rooster is a real devil! - thought Monsieur d'Arglan. - Well, we can deal with him after all. I have no doubt about it."
“Today,” he said to the rooster, “I will send you to my daughters for the night.” They'll strangle you, but they'll be able to handle you.
And the rooster responded:
Monsieur d'Arglan, give me the goods! Give back my gold and silver!
When it got dark, Monsieur d'Arglan said to his three daughters:
- Daughters, here is a rooster for you; he will sleep with you. Try to strangle him.
Sensing that the girls wanted to finish him off, the rooster said:
- Bees, hornets - sorry, but it hurts! The next morning, as soon as it began to get light, Monsieur d'Arglane came to see if the rooster had come to an end. And the rooster flew over his head and sang:
Monsieur d'Arglan, give me the goods! Give back my gold and silver!
Monsieur d'Arglan looked at his daughters - they were barely alive and swollen so that they were unrecognizable.
"What to do? - thought Monsieur d'Arglan - We must finally finish off this rooster! That's it! I'll have the stove lit and put him there - that way we'll surely be able to kill him. Apparently, you won’t find any other way.”
The stove was flooded, and when it became red hot, they chased the rooster, caught him, grabbed him by the wings and threw him into the firebox. Then the rooster said to the stream:
- Get out of the bag!
And the stream instantly spread throughout the oven; the stove turned black, like a chimney covered in soot. When Monsieur d'Arglan came to see how things were going and opened the oven, a rooster flew out of it, singing:
Monsieur d'Arglan, give me the goods! Give back my gold and silver!
Then Monsieur d'Arglan took the wallet, threw it onto the tiled roof and shouted:
- Here's your wallet! You have caused me too many losses!
Our rooster took the wallet and went home to his chickens, unable to feel his feet under him with joy. And the chickens, seeing him, all clucked at once!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru