It was a long time ago. One autumn, when the leaves had fallen from the trees and the grass had withered due to frost, all the birds of the taiga flocked to a meeting to discuss and set a deadline for everyone when they had to fly to warmer climes, to foreign lands. All the birds came to the meeting, spoke to each other in all the bird voices and languages, and came to an agreement. Only there was no wood grouse. He sang his songs in the dense taiga, but heard nothing.
On the appointed day, just as it was beginning to get light, all the birds rose, again to the same place where the meeting had taken place, flocked, took a roll call among the flocks, and all together, covering half the sky with their wings, they set off for warm countries.
And the capercaillie again did not hear or see anything, he kept singing his songs.
Winter has come to the taiga and covered the ground with snow. Then the capercaillie looked around, flew around the entire taiga, and realized that he was left alone in the frosty taiga. He was greatly saddened and cried bitterly. Tears flowed from the eyes in streams, their splashes froze as they flew. That’s when the capercaillie’s eyes turned red, and since then he has been alone and wintering in the taiga...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru