Somehow a tiger fell into a deep hole. He jumped and jumped, but he couldn’t get out. Then the tiger sat down on his hind legs and cried hot tears. Cries and says:
- Help the poor tiger, help the unfortunate one!
A trusting fawn ran past. He heard that someone was crying and calling for help, looked into the hole, saw: a tiger sitting, shedding bitter tears.
“Hello, tiger,” says the fawn. - Why are you sitting in a hole and crying?
The tiger stopped crying and asked:
- Who's up there? Are you a little deer? Help me get out of here!
He wanted to pull the tiger fawn out of the hole, but suddenly he remembered: his mother strictly punished him not to come close to the tiger, and he gave her his word of honor. So he said to the tiger:
“I feel very, very sorry for you, tiger, but mom didn’t tell me to come near you.”
How the tiger will cry here:
“I am an unhappy tiger, the most unfortunate in the whole wide world!” Aren't you ashamed, little deer? Are you really going to leave me? I'm going to die of hunger here! Get me out, you're kind! I will never forget this to you! And I will tell my children how you saved me from death.
The fawn came closer and said:
- What if you eat me? Mom said that you, tiger, are very angry.
- Am I the evil one? Yes, if you pull me out of the hole, all your relatives will be able to run around the forest calmly: I won’t touch them myself and I’ll order them for my children.
The little deer thought: maybe he should pull out the tiger? I still feel sorry for him.
And the tiger still laments:
- My poor children, they are so waiting for their dad! What will happen to them now?
The fawn is silent. Then the tiger sighed deeply, shook his head and said:
- Oh, you stupid one, what if your dad fell into a hole and no one, no one would help him get out, what would you say then?
The fawn couldn't stand it; he felt very sorry for the tiger. He dragged a thick branch and lowered one end into the hole. The tiger crawled out of the hole, sat down, licked his lips and stared at the fawn.
“Well, run quickly to your children,” the fawn tells him.
And the tiger answers:
- How can I run away hungry? I need lunch. - And he looks at the fawn and licks his lips.
The fawn was frightened, he wanted to quickly run away into the thicket, but the tiger would jump and grab the fawn!
- Now I will eat you! - growls.
The fawn trembled:
- How can that be, you promised not to eat me!
The tiger grinned:
- It’s your own fault, why didn’t you run away right away? Why did you tease me? Do you know how delicious you smell? While I was sitting in the hole, I didn’t want to eat, but now I’m dying of hunger. And all because of you, you scoundrel!
“Don’t eat me, tiger,” the fawn begged. - After all, I saved you from death!
- Well, when was that! - answers the tiger. - Why remember the old?
The fawn cried bitterly:
“Mom said that little ones should not be offended and that good should not be repaid with evil.” So let's ask someone whether the tiger laughed right or wrong:
- Look, what did you come up with! Well, let's ask. He sat down more comfortably and placed the fawn next to him. They both sit and wait. Suddenly they see a gray wolf running past.
“Come on, come here,” the tiger tells him. The wolf obeyed: the tiger is the master of these places, it’s a disaster if you don’t please him. He ran up to the tiger and saw a fawn sitting nearby.
The fawn bowed to the wolf and said plaintively:
- Tell me, wolf, which of us is right: I pulled the tiger out of the hole, and now he wants to eat me. Is it possible to eat those who saved you from death? |
The wolf licked his lips:
- Why not! When you want to eat, you have to grab everyone.
He said so and ran on.
- Well, you see! - the tiger growled. - Now I will eat you.
“Wait a little, tiger,” the fawn begged. - Let's ask someone else.
“Well, come on,” the tiger agreed, and they began to wait again.
Soon the tiger saw the fox - the red one was running, covering its tracks with its tail. The tiger called her closer and asked:
- Listen, fox, they say you are the smartest in our entire forest. Tell me whether I’m right or wrong: a deer pulled me out of a hole, and I want to eat it.
The fox looked at the fawn and said:
“Of course, you’re right, tiger, and you, little deer, are to blame: why do you smell so good?”
Then the fox grinned slyly and asked:
- Tiger, and tiger, will you need deer bones?
“No, we don’t need it,” the tiger answers.
“Give them to me, please,” the fox asked, “let my little foxes play with them.”
The little deer heard these words, began to tremble with small tremors and said in a thin voice:
“Listen, tiger, let’s ask the third animal, I beg you.” If he says that you are right, eat me then I won’t say a word to you.
- Oh, I’m tired of you, little deer! - the tiger growled. - Well, okay, so be it, ask, and then I’ll eat you.
As soon as he said so, a bunny suddenly jumped out of the forest.
“Bunny, little bunny,” cried the fawn, “come here quickly!”
The bunny turned around, saw the tiger and jumped back: scary!
And the tiger says:
- Come here, scythe, don’t be afraid. We want to ask you this: the fawn pulled me out of the hole, but I want to eat it. Tell me am I right or wrong?
The bunny thought, scratched his paw behind his ear and said:
- Do you know what people say? If you listen to your mother-in-law, the mother-in-law is right; if you listen to your daughter-in-law, the daughter-in-law is right. I can't decide who is right.
The tiger got angry:
- How stupid you are, hare! The wolf and the fox immediately said that I was right!
The bunny sighed:
- Well, I’m quite small, and my mind is very small. I can't decide which of you is right.
“Listen, bunny,” says the fawn, “let me tell you everything in order.” So the tiger was sitting in a hole...
- How was it? - the bunny interrupted the fawn. - I don’t understand anything! You know what, tiger, show me how you sat in the hole.
“You’re all stupid, it’s impossible, it’s not for nothing that smart animals eat you,” said the tiger and jumped into the hole.
And the bunny grabbed his stomach and started laughing: he laughs and laughs, he just can’t stop. The little deer looked at him and began to laugh too. And the tiger blinks his eyes and cannot understand anything. Finally, he got tired of sitting in the pit, and he shouted:
- Hey, oblique, stop laughing! Do you understand now how I sat in the hole? Drop the bitches, I'll show you how I got out. The bunny stopped laughing and said:
- Well, no, I don’t need to show this! You wanted to pay for good with evil - now get what you deserve: sit in the hole until the hunter comes.
The bunny said this, and he and the fawn ran into the forest. But the treacherous tiger remained in the hole. So he sat there until the hunter came.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru