Once upon a time there lived a man who understood the language of birds and animals. One day he went to visit his shepherd friends for a kosh... And when he was already very close to the kosh, he heard a wolf howl in the gorge.
“Oooh!” the wolves howled. “There will be a strong blizzard at night. At night we will attack the herd and eat plenty of lamb... Oooh!” And the shepherd dog raised its fur and answered the wolves:
“I’m not afraid of a blizzard! I’ll eat a piece of fat tail, gain strength, and then let’s see how I deal with you!” The guest listened to their conversation, grinned and went into the kosh.
His friends were happy about him.
“We will slaughter the fattest bull in honor of our guest,” said the senior shepherd.
- No need. - the guest asked. “It’s better to slaughter a fat sheep.”
The guest's request is the law. The shepherds slaughtered the fattest sheep, cooked it, and served the fat tail on the table. And the guest is on you! – he called to the shepherd and threw the fat tail to it.
The shepherds were deeply offended that the guest neglected their treat, but they did not show it. They brought me another piece, which was tastier. And then they put the guest to bed and went to bed themselves.
In the morning they get up, and the ground is covered with deep snow. A blizzard raged at night - and there was neither a herd nor a shepherd dog in the field.
“Oh, our guest did not bring us happiness!” - the shepherds thought with annoyance. But there’s nothing to do, let’s go to the steppe and look for the herd...
They see, not far from the kosh, a herd of them huddled together, and a shepherd dog is running happily around, guarding the sheep, and dead wolves are lying in the snow all around.
The shepherds marveled at the courage and strength of their dog, rejoiced, and felt ashamed that they had thought poorly of their guest. “He must have known something when he gave the dog a whole fat tail,” they decided.
They drove the herd to the kosh and said:
- Thank you, friend! We want to give you half of our herd. Well, yesterday you decided to feed our shepherd, give her strength...
“I can’t accept such a gift; my labor wasn’t here,” the guest denied.
“Then take what you want,” the shepherds suggested.
And I must tell you, when the shepherds were driving the flock to the kosh, the guest noticed that a small white lamb was mincing behind everyone.
- Why are you still falling behind, my little one? – asked his mother.
“The happiness of the entire herd lies on my back.” It’s very hard for me...” the lamb complained in response.
“This is a good thing,” the guest agreed. “Give me that white lamb that trails behind everyone.”
And the shepherds, pleased with the guest’s modesty, gave him the white lamb, without knowing that they were giving away the happiness of their flock.
From the moment this man brought a white lamb into his yard, he began to become rich and lived in complete contentment.
One evening he was resting with his wife on the threshold of his saklya and heard a conversation between a rooster and a hen.
The rooster found a grain of millet and persuaded the hen:
“Eat, chicken, eat!” But the chicken refused:
“Where should I go? Where?! I’m already full... Eat it yourself!” This conversation amused him, and he laughed heartily.
- Why are you laughing? - asked the wife.
- I laugh at the rooster as he treats the chicken.
- Tell me! - asked the wife. “Maybe I’ll be amused, what kind of conversation are they having?”
But the husband did not want to talk. He kept his skill to himself and knew that if he revealed it to anyone, he would lose it forever and would no longer understand the language of animals and birds,
But the wife got angry, burst into tears and pestered him until he fulfilled her request. Revealed his secret.
And he lost his skill forever.
Have you heard the fairy tale with your own ears? Live for a long, long time so that you can see with your own eyes everything you hear!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru