One evening the hare went to the seashore. He began to sniff the algae and happily eat the tender green leaves. Suddenly he saw an elephant and a whale nearby, who were having some serious conversation. The hare hid behind a large stone and listened to their conversation. “My brother, elephant,” the whale said importantly, “you are the largest and strongest of all the animals on land, and I am the largest and strongest of all in the sea.” Why don't we unite and become rulers over all the inhabitants of land and sea? Then no one could attack us or resist our will.
The elephant really liked the whale's words. He imagined himself as a powerful ruler, whom everyone fears, whose wishes everyone fulfills. “This is a wonderful thought,” he said. “Let it be so?” The elephant and the whale left, and the hare was left alone and began to think: “These two want to seize power over all animals by force. So this won’t happen. I will prove that they are not at all as strong as they imagine, and that we hares will never submit to them.”
Deep in thought, the hare went back into the forest. He figured out how to break the union of two giants and preserve freedom for all animals. Gathering his friends, the hare told them what he had heard and asked them for help. Let them get him a strong, long rope, and then everyone will see what he will do.
The hares wove a rope, relying on their comrade for everything and leaving him to do as he wants.
He went to the whale and said modestly and politely: “O lord, the strongest and most powerful among the inhabitants of the sea!” Would you deign to help the weak?
Speak, small and weak,” the whale said with dignity. My cow is stuck in the clay, and I can’t pull her out - because I’m small and weak. Would you allow me to tie a rope to your strong tail?
Keith thought a little and replied: “Okay.” Tie. The hare tied the end of the rope to the tail of the whale and said: “Now, my lord, I will go and tie the other end to the cow’s neck.” When you hear my signal, pull as hard as you can.
Then the hare ran towards the elephant and stopped in front of him, bowing his head respectfully. He told the elephant the story about the cow and asked hopefully:
Maybe you will deign to help the weak one who is standing in front of you and save his cow? After all, besides her, I have nothing.
What must I do for this, O weak and small one? - asked the elephant. “Let me tie the end of the rope to your strong trunk,” asked the hare. “You only need to pull once to pull the cow out of the quagmire.”
The elephant agreed and prepared to pull the rope at the first sign. The hare ran, gathered his comrades, climbed a high hill, located at an equal distance between the elephant and the whale, and blew his horn.
And then he and his comrades saw an extraordinary picture: the elephant began to drag in one direction, and the whale in the other. The rope became taut and neither of them could move. Both strong men became worried. “How heavy is this cow,” the elephant grumbled. You'd think I was uprooting a tree. He leaned back against the trunk of a large palm tree and, uttering a loud roar, pulled even harder. And the whale, feeling this, thought: “It’s just like a damned cow wants to go underground. But she won’t leave me.”
He plunged deeper into the water and sharply pulled the rope. So each of them stubbornly pulled in his own direction, and the hares laughed merrily, watching the giants suffocate with anger and rage.
But the elephant wrapped the rope around its trunk several times, pulled it hard and pulled the whale out of the water. Then the whale strained itself and again plunged into the depths of the sea. This was repeated many times, and each time the efforts of both became more and more persistent. Finally they found themselves on the shore and collided with each other. Each one looked at the other in surprise, not believing their eyes.
- So it was you who pulled me? - the elephant roared.? And the whale shouted indignantly: “Do you think you are stronger than me?” Well, then I’ll prove that there are people stronger than you. And, angry, they again began to furiously pull the rope. But this did not last long. The hares suddenly heard a terrible crash - the rope broke into two parts. The whale flopped into the sea like a large stone fallen from a height, and the elephant rolled like a ball kicked away. So they parted, filled with anger and hatred towards each other, feeling shame and awkwardness. Since then they never met again.
And the hares received great pleasure from witnessing this extraordinary spectacle - the shameful defeat of two giants who were going to dominate all the animals.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru