It was a cold winter. Деревья трещали от лютого мороза, а снег под ногами так хрустел, словно земля была усыпана битым стеклом. The cold chilled the poor animals to the bones.
В лесу за деревней трудолюбивые муравьи построили большой муравейник, чтоб зимой им было тепло. One morning a hedgehog approached the anthill. He was so cold that he couldn’t feel his feet under him. He looked with envy at the warm anthill and decided to ask to join the ants. I thought and thought and knocked quietly.
-Who's there? - the ant squeaked behind the door.
- I am a hedgehog, take me to you, good ants. I'll go completely numb if you send me away.
— Слишком ты велик для нашего жилища, — отвечает муравьиха, — да и к тому ж колюч. You'll hurt us all with your needles. We can't let you in.
- I beg you, let me in. I won't embarrass you. You'll see, I'll hide in a corner by the stove and won't even move.
“I can’t decide alone,” answered the gatekeeper ant. - I'll go ask the others. - And the anthill door closed.
The gatekeeper ant soon returned and told the hedgehog that he had been accepted. Wow, how happy the hedgehog was, he rolled into the anthill and hid under the stove. As soon as the door slammed behind him, there was a knock again.
-Who is it that is bothering us again? - says the ant.
- It’s me, fox, let me under your roof. My bones are still aching from the cold, and the dogs are chasing me on my heels.
“I feel sorry for you, but I can’t let you in.” We already have a hedgehog.
- Good ants, I beg you, let me warm up. I won't embarrass you at all. I'll lie down on the stove, you won't even hear me.
“I’ll ask others,” answered the gatekeeper and closed the door.
The ant soon returned and told the fox that she could come in. The fox, sensing that the dogs were already close, quickly slipped into the anthill and perched on the oven. As soon as she lay down, there was another knock on the door. The field cricket has arrived.
- What a hectic day it is today! - the gatekeeper ant got angry. - Who else was brought there?
- It's me, cricket. I beg you, sister ant, give me shelter. An evil mole destroyed my house, and now I have nowhere to go. And what a biting frost! - answered the cricket.
“It’s cramped here without you.” We have already allowed in both the hedgehog and the fox.
- Have mercy on me, sister, let me go! I'm so small that I won't embarrass you at all. And besides, I will amuse you with songs.
At first the ant did not agree, but after long negotiations the cricket got its way. He dashed into the anthill and jumped onto the bench near the stove. I warmed up a little and started my cheerful song. The ants could not marvel at the wonderful singer; even the fox was moved by his singing. She instantly jumped out of the oven and started dancing. And while she was dancing, her whole tail came out - she kept brushing it against the hedgehog. The fox got angry and let him honor and slander him in front of the ants, and the ants decided to immediately drive the hedgehog away. As the hedgehog asked, as he begged, but the ants did not even listen, the fox helped them push him out the door and even lower him down the hill where the anthill stood.
- Thank God we got rid of the nasty thorn! - the fox exclaimed cheerfully. - Now listen to me, ants! It's warm here, we have a musician. So why shouldn't we feast?
- What kind of feast is this in winter? “All our food is distributed by day,” answered the ants.
- Don’t worry, this is my concern! I invite you to a feast. Listen! Yesterday I wanted chicken, so I went to the castle, and as I began to approach, I heard the hostess say to the maid: “Mitka, take down everything that you have prepared for the day after tomorrow. Just don’t say a word to anyone!” I think to myself: “But I heard, but I know.” I waited until the lights went out in the castle and climbed into the pantry to see what kind of food they had there. Well, something wasn’t there! My mouth is still watering now. All sorts of sweets, roasts, poultry, and in the corner a barrel of excellent wine. I had a roast turkey dinner. Do you want me to bring you all these dishes? It’s not difficult for me at all - the window there is open, and the dog Sultan has been dead for a week. Prepare a bag, and in the evening I will go to the castle.
The ants quickly prepared the bag - they really wanted to feast. In the evening the fox took the bag and went to the castle. She climbed through the window into the pantry, filled a bag with all sorts of tasty foods, climbed out the same way - and quickly into the anthill. So the fox ran back and forth until he carried all the food from the pantry. And finally, she hastily gnawed the ham and threw the bone on the windowsill.
The ants look at the treats and are amazed, they don’t know where to start. Suddenly the plaintive voice of a cricket was heard: “But they forgot about me! I sing all day long, my throat feels like a dried mushroom. Where is the promised wine?”
- Do you have any bottles? - the fox asks the ants. “I’ll go get some wine, otherwise in my haste I really forgot about it.”
The ants immediately brought bottles, the fox put them in a bag and went back to the castle.
The fox returned with wine, and fun went into the anthill. The ants ate, got drunk and started dancing. They circle around the anthill with the fox. And since the fox was clumsy, and much larger than the ants, he crushed all their legs.
Since then, the ants have crooked legs.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru