One day a mouse decided to marry the daughter of the most powerful creature in the world to her little mouse. But who is the strongest, the mouse did not know. She asked the people. They replied: Among people, Padchah is considered the strongest. It’s his daughter who needs to be approached.
The mouse went to the paddchakh and said:
“I decided to marry my little mouse to the daughter of the most powerful creature in this world. People say that you are the strongest. Padchah, give your daughter to my son.
“The fire is stronger than me,” answered the padchah, “I’m afraid of even its spark.”
The mouse went to the fire.
- Fire, fire, are you the strongest in the world?
Fire replied:
- The water is stronger than me. She extinguishes me. The mouse went to the water.
- Water, water, are you stronger than anyone in this world? Water answers her:
- If I am the strongest, then why does the earth dry out when the sun warms up?
The mouse asked the sun:
- Sun, sun, are you the strongest in this world?
And the sun answers:
- If there is nothing stronger than me, then why are clouds covering me?
The mouse shouted to the clouds:
- Clouds, clouds, are you stronger than anyone in this world? The clouds said in response:
- If we are the strongest, then why does the wind disperse us?
The mouse went to the wind.
- Wind, wind, are you the strongest in the world?
The wind answers:
- If I am the strongest, then why can’t I pull out a bush with its roots?
The mouse asked the bush:
- Bush, bush, is there anything stronger than you in this world?
And the bush answered her:
- If I am the strongest, then why do mice gnaw on my roots?
Hearing this, the mouse decided that there was no need to search anymore: it turns out that there is no one stronger than mice in the world. And she betrothed her little mouse to the daughter of a mouse from a neighboring hole.
“The mouse came to the mouse,” they say since then.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru