Once upon a time, a long time ago, an ant, having spent the winter underground, tried to leave its nest in the spring, but a stem of grass prevented its exit from the nest. The ant told him:
- Get away from my nest, let me open it, I have a lot of work to do. The stalk of grass did not move. Then the ant went to the goat.
- Hey, goat, spring has come, I tried to open the nest, but there was a stalk of grass on it. Please come with me and eat it.
- Eh, rather than go there, I’d rather eat green grass and drink the cold spring water here.
“Then I will send a wolf to eat you.”
“Hey, wolf,” the ant called, “there is a stalk of grass on my nest.” I told him to leave, but he doesn't get up. The goat doesn't come to eat it. Please, let's go eat the goat.
“Rather than go there, I’d rather eat fat sheep from the flock here.”
“Then I’ll set the shepherds on you so they can fight you.”
“Hey, sheepdogs,” the ant called, “the stem that lies on my nest does not rise, the goat does not come to eat this stem, the wolf does not come to eat this goat.” Let's go fight the wolf.
The shepherds answered him:
“Rather than go there, we’d rather gnaw on the bones that the shepherd throws at us and carry out his orders here.” We won't go fight a wolf.
“Then I will send a shepherd to beat you with a stick.”
- Hey, shepherd, the stalk of grass that lies on my nest does not rise, the goat does not come to eat this stalk, the wolf does not come to eat this goat, the dogs do not come to fight with the wolf. Go and beat them with a stick.
“Rather than go there, I’d rather take a balalaika, play it and sing a quiet song.”
“Then I’ll send a mouse to chew the string on your balalaika.”
- Hey, mouse, the stalk of grass that lies on my nest does not rise, the goat does not come to eat this stalk, the wolf does not come to eat this goat, the dogs do not come to fight with the wolf, the shepherd does not come to beat the dogs with a stick. Please, go and chew the string on the shepherd’s balalaika,” the ant asked the mouse, but she did not agree. The mouse said:
- Eh, rather than go there, I’d rather run from hole to hole here. The ant got angry and said:
“Then I’ll send a cat to eat you,” and he called the cat.
- Hey, cat, the stalk of grass that lies on my nest does not rise, the goat does not come to eat this stalk, the wolf does not come to eat this goat, the dogs do not come to fight with the wolf, the shepherd does not come to beat the dogs with a stick, the mouse does not come to gnaw the string on his balalaika. Please, let's go eat the mouse.
“Rather than go there, I’d rather lie down on a downy bed made from my mother’s fur.”
“Then I’ll send the wind to scatter your downy bedding.”
- Hey, wind, please come to my aid. There is a stalk of grass on my nest, it does not rise, I asked the goat to eat it, it does not go, I asked the wolf to eat the goat, the wolf does not go, I asked the dogs to fight the wolf, the dogs do not go, when I asked the shepherd to beat the dogs, the shepherd did not go. Then the mouse didn’t come to chew the string on the shepherd’s balalaika. The cat doesn't go out to eat the mouse. Let's go scatter the cat's bedding from her mother's fur.
Then the wind answered:
“Wait, I’ll see the guest off, I’ll pray and come.”
The wind blew with a whistle, the cat saw the blowing wind and ran to eat the mouse, the mouse saw the running cat and ran to gnaw the string on the shepherd's balalaika, the shepherd went to beat the dogs with a stick. When the dogs saw him, they ran to fight the wolf, the wolf ran to eat the goat, the goat ran to eat the grass stalk, the grass stalk swayed, resisting, but the goat quickly swallowed it.
The nest became free, everyone returned, and the ant began to spin around the nest.
He still says thanks to the wind.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru