The old raven told me that this happened when giants lived in the mountains, and all the animals, both big and small, spoke humanly. Maybe so, maybe not. No wonder there is a rumor about the raven that he also deceived the fox.
I wanted to tell this tale like a crow - in long words. But I remembered what smart people say: a long rope is good, but a short speech.
Listen and don't interrupt...
Once upon a time there lived a shepherd. One day he went to the mountains to look after pasture for his flock. He walked and walked and saw sheep on a steep slope. There were no people with the herd. The shepherd was surprised. “Who left these sheep unattended in such a place? They’ll scatter across the mountains—you won’t be able to reassemble them later,” he thought. And then I noticed that a large white goat was looking after the sheep: if the sheep moved to the side or strayed from the herd, the goat caught up with it and pushed it in the side with its horns so that it would go back. The shepherd looked and was surprised. The sun was already setting behind the mountains. The white goat gathered the sheep and drove them somewhere: apparently, he was heading home. The shepherd followed.
The herd approached a high rock and stopped at a large cave. The owner came out of the cave: the one-eyed giant Zarbash. He drove the herd into a cave, muttered something to the white goat and wanted to hide in the cave, but saw an astonished shepherd. He walked up to it, bent down, looked at it, even touched it with his finger and said:
— I haven’t met people for a long time. Come in, you will be a guest.
The giant received the shepherd warmly, treated him to lamb, and then ordered him to cook dinner for two, while he covered the exit from the cave with a stone and fell asleep. The white goat also dozed off. The shepherd began to bustle around the fire. Suddenly he hears a cat meowing nearby. He threw her a piece of meat, and she said to him in a human voice:
- Listen, shepherd, the giant Zarbash is only pretending to be kind. In fact, he is a cannibal. It will wake up and eat you. Do you want me to help you save yourself?
- How will you help me?
“I will help you not with my strength, but with advice.” Heat the iron skewer red hot and hit Zarbash in his only eye. The giant will jump up and rush to look for you, but you take cover in a stone crack and don’t fall into his hands. Zarbash will start calling you and offer you his golden ring. But you know, keep quiet. And don’t take that ring: as soon as you take it in your hands, it will turn into a strong chain, bind your hands, and then you are lost.
The shepherd listened to the cat. He heated up the iron skewer, crept up to the giant and hit his only eye. And then he hid in a stone crack and sat in silence. Zarbash roars in pain, rushes around the cave, but cannot find the shepherd. I tossed and tossed, and then lay down, pretending that I was completely exhausted and was about to die. And he says in a weak voice:
- Shepherd, take my gold ring as a souvenir. I won't need it anymore.
But the shepherd is silent, does not take the ring, as the cat taught him.
The giant screamed and shouted, then calmed down and fell asleep. The shepherd also went to bed. Early in the morning, he felt that someone was tugging at his sleeve. He opened his eyes - yesterday's cat. She saw that the shepherd woke up and said:
“Now the giant will get up and move the stone to let his herd out of the cave.” Wrap yourself in sheep's clothing and go free with the flock. Just take me with you too.
The shepherd found a lamb skin in the corner, wrapped himself in it, put the cat in his bosom and sat waiting.
The giant woke up, tossed and turned heavily and shouted:
- Hey, white goat, is it already dawn or not yet? The white goat that he had instead of a shepherd.
looked through the crack and answered:
— It’s dawn, the sun has already risen. It's high time to drive out the herd.
Zarbash groped his way to the exit, rolled away the block of stone, released the white goat, then began to drive out the sheep. He touches the wool with his hand, makes sure that it is a sheep, and pushes it out of the cave. The shepherd climbed into the middle of the herd, and when it was his turn to go out, he crawled on all fours. The giant touched it with his hand and felt the fur. He let the shepherd through, and also shoved him so that he would leave quickly.
The shepherd got out of the cave and was glad that he could see the sun. He took with him the cat that saved him and hurried home...
The old raven told me about what happened next: how the shepherd returned to the village, how he surprised people with his story, how life was with him for the cat that saved him. The raven told everything and missed nothing. And his speech was long.
But a long rope is good, and the shorter the speech, the better.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru