One day the animals argued about who could run the fastest. Wolf says:
- I'm faster than everyone else! As soon as I run, only the bushes flash in my eyes and the wind whistles in my ears!
Bear says:
- No, however, I am the fastest! As I run, the trees crack, branches fly in different directions!
The fox listened to them and said:
“I probably run faster than all of you.” As soon as I run, only the paws flash. I can't even see my paws.
The hare looked at them.
- Why are you arguing? - speaks. - I'm the fastest! As soon as I run, I see nothing, hear nothing! That's how fast!
They argued for a long time. Finally they decided to run the race. They lined up in one row and ran to the far hill. The hare reached that hill, turned and ran back.
He returned quickly, sat down and waited for his comrades.
The wolf only returned in the evening. The fox came running at night. The bear only arrived in the morning.
So they got together and decided: “The hare is the fastest of us.” And we went home.
The hare began to tumble for joy. Tumbles and sings:
- Here I am the fastest! That's how fleet-footed he is!
From Dm. Nagishkin's collection "Amur Tales". Khabarovsk, 1975.
The mouse saw him and was jealous. She approached the hare and said hello. Says:
- But they incorrectly called you the fastest one!
- How wrong! - the hare was offended. “We raced, I returned before everyone else.” I defeated everyone!
“You shouldn’t have waited for me.”
“Well, let’s argue,” says the hare. - Let's run!
- How do you run? - asks the mouse.
“I run fast,” says the hare. - As soon as I run, I don’t see anything, I don’t hear anything! That's how fast!
So they started running. The mouse ran away a little, sat down under a hummock, and hid. She immediately disappeared from sight.
And the hare flies - he sees nothing, hears nothing. He's in a hurry. I reached the hill and turned back. He runs as fast as he can... The hare runs up to the place, and the mouse sits on a hillock, fanning itself with its paws.
“It’s very hot,” he says, “to run a race on a day like this.”
The hare was surprised: had the mouse really overtaken him?
“Let’s run again,” he says to the mouse. So they ran again. The mouse is under the hummock, the hare is up to the hill. . .
They ran three times. The hare goes to the hill and back, and the mouse goes to the first bump.
The hare comes running - he's tired. his mouth opened, his eyes widened. He can barely breathe from fatigue. And the mouse sits on the hill again. He laughs at the hare, laughs, and points at him with his paws.
- That's the winner! - shouts. - The mouse cannot overtake!
The mouse laughed at the hare for a long time. Then he says:
“I’ll go tell the animals how I overtook you.” Let's laugh together...
The hare felt ashamed. He laid back his ears and hid in the grass.
The mouse ran away.
And since then the hare always presses his ears to his back as soon as he hears a noise or rustle: he thinks the animals are coming to laugh at him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru