Once upon a time there lived two old women in the same village. One was good, and her name was the Good Old Woman, and the other was evil, and her name was the Evil Old Woman.
One day the Good Old Woman went to the river to collect edible snails. She came to the river and suddenly saw a crocodile swimming to the shore. The Good Old Woman was frightened and started to move back, but the crocodile shouted:
- Good grandmother, my son cannot sleep and cries all the time! Won't you put him to bed? I'll take you to him on my back.
The Good Old Woman felt sorry for the baby, she sat on the crocodile’s back, and he swam away. It was still a long way to his house, but the old woman had already heard the little crocodile crying.
- Poor thing! - said the Good Old Woman. “Now I’ll lull him to sleep.”
The Good Old Woman sat down next to the baby and sang:
- Bye-bye, bye-bye, little crocodile, go to sleep! Sleep, my beautiful one, sleep, fragrant one!
The crocodile liked the song so much that he stopped crying and fell asleep. The Good Old Woman began to get ready to go home, and then the crocodile gave her a large basket of fish.
- What are you doing, uncle crocodile, why? — the Good Old Woman began to refuse. “I don’t need any gifts - I really liked your son, it was a pleasure to cradle him.”
“No, no, take the fish,” said the crocodile, “and sit on my back - before you know it, you’ll be on the shore.”
The old woman sat on his back, and the crocodile quickly swam to the shore.
Already approaching my house. The Good Old Woman saw that the Evil Old Woman was coming towards her. Without saying hello. The Evil Old Woman asked:
-What are you talking about?
“Fish,” answered the Good Old Woman.
- Where did you get so much of it?
- In the river - a crocodile gave it to me. The Evil Old Woman couldn’t believe her ears:
- Who?!
“A big crocodile,” said the Good Old Woman. “I went to the shore to pick up snails, and the crocodile swam to the shore and shouted to me: “My son is crying! Can’t you lull him to sleep?” I sat on his back, and he took me to his little crocodile. The baby stopped crying when I sang him a song and quickly fell asleep. That's why the crocodile gave me so many fish.
The Evil Old Woman became jealous, and she decided to go to the river too. She immediately went there and also began collecting snails. The Evil Old Woman was already tired of collecting them when she saw a crocodile swimming to the shore.
“Good afternoon, grandma,” said the crocodile.
- He has finally arrived! I've lost hope of seeing you. Well, let's go quickly - so be it, I'll put your crybaby to bed.
The Evil Old Woman sat on the crocodile's back, and he took her to his home. Seeing a crocodile. The Evil Old Woman turned her nose and said:
- How stinky he is! Okay, go get some fish for me, and I'll put your roar to bed.
And the Evil Old Woman sang:
- Bye-bye, bye-bye, go to sleep quickly! Sleep, you freak, sleep, you stinking one!
The daddy crocodile didn’t like this lullaby, and the little crocodile didn’t like it either.
- Why do you keep hanging around here, why don’t you go catch fish for me? - The Evil Old Woman attacked the crocodile. - Go and see if you can catch something bigger!
The crocodile took the basket and left. When he returned, the crocodile cried even more bitterly - he did not like the new nanny at all.
- Well, did you catch any fish? - she screamed.
“Here, take it,” answered the crocodile and handed the old woman a closed basket.
Returning home, the Evil Old Woman put the basket on the floor, opened it, and a large boa constrictor crawled out of the basket. The Evil Old Woman rushed to the door, jumped out and shouted “Save!” ran around the village.
This is how the crocodile punished the Evil Old Woman for her anger and greed.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru