Fairy tale, come to us! - And a fairy tale comes. She comes from afar and leads a spider, an elephant and a hippopotamus. Now she is very close. She's here. She's nearby. Listen to the fairy tale!
It was a time of famine. The spider and its cubs became completely emaciated without food. It got to the point that one fine day the spider went to the elephant and said:
- Master! May your days be long! The lord of water, the hippopotamus, sent me to you. He has plenty of fish to cook his dinner, but not a single grain to bake a flatbread. Would you give him some grain? And when he reaps a new harvest, he will send you his best horse as a gift. And he also ordered me to tell you: the words of the great are intended only for the ears of the great. No one else should know about them.
Elephant said:
- Okay. I will do what my great friend the hippopotamus asks. But I don’t understand why he is so afraid of anyone finding out about his request. There's nothing wrong with her.
The elephant ordered one hundred baskets of grain to be poured, and the porters carried them to the river. And the spider walked ahead and showed the way.
When the last porter placed the last basket on the ground, the spider said:
- Now go home. You have worked hard and deserve a rest. I'll take care of the rest myself.
The elephants are gone. And the spider ran home and began to call the spider and the spiders:
- Kokki! Children! Quickly go to the shore. During the night we must carry away and hide all the grain.
The next day the spider again went to the river bank and went down into the water. He boldly entered the palace of the hippopotamus, he did not even dignify his advisors with a bow, he went straight to the throne on which the hippopotamus sat and said:
- May your days be long, O lord! Hippopotamus said:
-Where did you come from, spider? What business brought you to me?
The spider replied:
“Until today, I lived like everyone else, and every day was like the other. But today the great elephant called me to him. It was he who sent me to you. He has enough grain to bake cakes, but not a single fish to make soup. Will you give him a hundred baskets of fish? When the time comes for fishing, he will send you his best horse as a gift.
Hippopotamus said:
“Okay, I’ll do as my great brother the elephant asks.” I will now arrange for...
But the spider interrupted him:
- O lord! The elephant asked me to tell you: let only the great hear the words of the great. They must not touch anyone else's ears. I am one of the mere mortals who knows the secret of the elephant.
The hippopotamus replied:
- So be it. But there is nothing wrong with what he asks.
Then he ordered the hippopotamuses to bring a hundred baskets of fish, and a hundred porters carried them ashore.
When the last porter placed his basket on the ground, the spider said:
- Now go. You've done your job. I take care of the rest. I will bring my porters, and they will take this fish to the right place.
The hippopotamus' servants said:
— While you are walking, someone might steal this fish. We will stay to guard her.
Spider said:
- You must leave here now. No one will touch the fish. But if the servants of the great elephant see you, who knows whether a fight will happen between you? And when servants quarrel, discord begins between masters. Isn't what I say true?
“Yes, that’s true,” said the hippopotamus’ servants. And they left. And the spider ran home.
- Kokki! Children! - he shouted. - Go quickly! Before morning we need to carry a hundred baskets of fish home from the shore.
Now the spider had supplies for a long time. He no longer went hunting and spent the whole day together with his wife Kokki and his spiderlings sitting at home and weaving rope. The rope turned out to be so long that a thousand thousand shells could be strung on it.
When the time came to harvest the new crop, the elephant said:
- Find the spider and bring it! The spider has arrived.
Elephant said:
-Have you forgotten about the promise you made to the hippopotamus?
Spider said:
- You have no reason to worry. Everything is fine. Just today I was getting ready to go to him for your horse. I'll be back in three days.
And so the spider took his rope and went into the forest. He walked until he unwound half the skein. Then he left his skein in the thicket and returned to the elephant. The spider gave the elephant the free end of the rope and said:
- Tomorrow at dawn the hippopotamus will lead his horse out of the water. The horse is very restive. This is the end of the rope to which this horse will be tied. Wrap the rope around the tree and when you see that the tree is swaying, you know that the hippopotamus's horse is breaking on its leash. Then call the strongest elephants, let them grab the rope and not let go until they drag the horse.
The elephant asked:
- So did you tell the hippopotamuses?
The spider replied:
- Yes, that’s what the hippopotamuses told me to do.
Elephant said:
- Okay, I will do everything as he ordered. May tomorrow come soon. The elephant ordered the rope to be wrapped around the thickest and strongest tree, and meanwhile the spider went to the river. He decided not to wait for the hippopotamus to call him, and went down under the water to him.
He said:
“The elephant instructed me to bring the horse he promised you, but I alone cannot cope with him.” So I came up with this. I will tie a rope to a tree that grows on the shore. I will tie the horse with the other end of this rope. Tomorrow at dawn, call all the strongest hippopotamuses and order them to get out of the water and pull the rope until they drag the horse to the shore.
Hippopotamus said:
- Fine. I will do so.
At dawn, the hippos came out of the water and saw that a rope was tied to a tree growing near the shore. The rope was taut, the tree swayed and trembled, as if it wanted to be uprooted. The hippos grabbed the rope and began to pull in their direction. And from the other end the rope was pulled by elephants. The tree to which their end was tied cracked and the trunk bent to the ground. And the more they pulled the rope on the side of the hippopotamus, the more they pulled the rope on the side of the elephant.
The whole day went by like this.
At night, the elephants and hippos went to bed. And at dawn they again grabbed the rope at both ends. The trees creaked and swayed again. But no one could win over anyone. When the sun rose high above the earth, the hippopotamus said to his subjects:
- Go and see what kind of horse this is, which cannot be overpowered. Never before has a hippopotamus retreated before a horse.
And the elephant also said to his subjects:
- Go and look at this horse that the hippopotamus is sending me. For the first time I see that elephants cannot cope with a knight.
Hippos and elephants went towards each other and met in the thicket.
The elephants asked the hippos:
-Where are you going?
The hippopotamuses replied:
“We want to see what kind of horse this is, which your lord promised to give to our lord.” We pulled the rope to which this horse was tied all day and could not pull the horse over.
Then they asked:
-Where are you going?
Elephants said:
“We are also going to look at the horse that your lord promised to our lord.”
Hippopotamuses asked:
- Where is your horse, which your master sends? How far is it still to the place where he is tied?
Elephants said:
- We don't know anything about this. We didn't see any horse. But we wanted to ask you, where is your horse tied?
Hippopotamuses said:
“We have never heard of the horse that our lord sends to the elephant.” We walked the whole way, holding on to the rope, and did not see a horse anywhere. Go back and tell the elephant everything. And we will also tell the hippopotamus everything. Something's wrong here.
The hippopotamus listened to the story and roared with rage:
-What are you talking about? What other horse should I have sent to the bishop? I gave him a hundred baskets of fish, and for this he promised to give me a horse. Apparently the spider deceived us.
The elephant listened to his subjects and said:
- I don’t understand, what are you talking about? I gave the hippopotamus a hundred baskets of grain, and for this he promised me his horse. And I wasn’t even going to send him any horse. This spider deceived both me and my hippopotamus friend.
He went to the hippopotamus and said:
- Don't be angry. You are strong and I am strong. If we waste our energy on anger, it will be worse for us. We must find the spider and punish it.
And the spider hid in his house and lived without worries. But when all the supplies ran out, the spider had to crawl out of its shelter. To tell the truth, he didn't really want to catch the eye of an elephant or a hippopotamus. That's why he looked around every now and then. And suddenly the spider saw the skin of a dead antelope on the road.
The spider immediately guessed what to do. He climbed into this skin and boldly set off. The antelope's hooves dragged along the ground, its head hung on one side or the other, its tail dangled. like a whip.
At this time an elephant was walking through the forest. He was looking for a spider. Seeing an old, decrepit antelope, he said:
- Listen, antelope, can you help me find the spider? I want to teach him a lesson for deceiving me and my hippopotamus friend.
The spider stopped and said in the voice of an antelope:
-Are you looking for a spider? Don't say it loud. Do you see what I've come to, what I've become like? This is because I had an argument with the spider and he pointed his paw at me. Since then I began to dry out and waste away.
Elephant said:
“Is it really because of the spider that you have become so skinny and weak?”
Spider said:
- Yes. And so it will be with everyone. As soon as the spider points its paw at someone, the unfortunate person dries to the bone.
The elephant got scared and said:
“Please, if you see a spider, don’t say anything to it.” I don't want to see him.
“Okay,” said the spider.
He crawled to the side, threw off the antelope skin and, quickly running around the elephant, came out to meet him.
“I heard that you are looking for me,” he said and extended his paw to the elephant. - What do you need? The elephant trembled with fear.
- No, no, I don’t need anything. I didn't want to worry you.
“Make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said the spider. - Otherwise I'll get angry.
He lowered his paw and walked to the place where he had left the antelope skin. He climbed into it again and crawled towards the river.
At this time, the hippopotamus climbed out of the water and walked back and forth along the shore. He was lying in wait for the spider.
“Listen, antelope,” said the hippopotamus, “have you seen the spider?” I'm looking for him.
Spider said:
“You’re looking for someone I’m afraid to even name.” It's his fault that I can barely drag my feet.
- Really? - said the hippopotamus. - What did he do?
“He pointed at me with his paw, and after that I began to lose weight and dry out. Be careful that the same thing doesn’t happen to you.
The hippopotamus trembled with fear and said:
- Don't say I was looking for him. No need. And he hurried to the water.
And the spider climbed into the thickets, left the antelope skin there and went ashore again.
-Where is this hippopotamus? - he said in a loud voice. “I heard that he was looking for me.” I'm here!
The hippopotamus saw the spider and, without thinking for a long time, dived into the water. Only when he was at the very bottom did he catch his breath. Now he has escaped the spider! But in fact, it was the spider that escaped - both from the hippopotamus and from the elephant. That's how it was.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru