One day, some mischievous boy shot a ball of dirt from a slingshot at the Owl, which got stuck under its tail. Because the pain did not go away. The Owl went to his friend Crow for good advice.
“I’m not a doctor, my dear,” she said, “but I can take you to the Cuckoo.” She is a craftswoman. Let's fly to her now.
So the Crow led the Owl to the Cuckoo. But she refused to treat Owl, believing that this deceiver would not pay her for her work.
The Crow vouched for his friend, and then the Cuckoo began to examine her.
“You need to heal with water,” she finally said. - Find some puddle; put your tail in it and sit until the pain goes away.
And indeed, when this was done, the lump of dirt dissolved and the pain went away.
The Owl returned home very upset and spent the whole day berating himself for going to Cuckoo for treatment.
“What a fool I was,” she grumbled. “After all, if I had thought carefully, then, of course, I myself would have guessed that I needed to keep my tail in the water.”
In the evening, the Cuckoo came to visit the Owl.
- Well, how are you feeling, darling? – she asked.
The owl replied that she felt fine and thanked her.
– So I treated correctly, didn’t I? - said the Cuckoo, very pleased with herself, and extended her paw for a reward.
- Oh, what a beautiful hand you have! - exclaimed the Owl, pretending not to understand.
Cuckoo, like a real celebrity, considered it humiliating to talk about money. She hinted to the Owl this way and that, but it was all in vain. Finally the Cuckoo said to herself: “Humiliating or not, I must get what is mine.”
- Well, what about payment? - she asked the Owl.
- Unfortunately, I can’t pay. After all, it was water that cured me, not you! - answered the Owl and escorted the Cuckoo out of the house.
The Cuckoo, trembling with indignation, rushed to the Crow.
- Well, I didn’t tell you?! - she exclaimed. “Your dear friend now refuses to pay me.” She says that, you see, it was the water that healed her, not me!
- Oh, it doesn't look like her. She's such a joker! – Crow answered, smiling. “He apparently wants to tease you, that’s all.” Well, let's go to her.
The Crow led the Cuckoo to the Owl's house. It seemed extinct. The birds knocked. Nobody answered. They knocked again and again. Not a sound. Then they broke down the door. There was no one in the house.
- Where is my friend? - Crow became worried.
“I don’t care where she is,” Cuckoo answered angrily. “The only thing I want is to get my money.” And since you vouched for her, I have the right to receive them from you.
The Crow began to assure that she was not obliged to pay for the Owl, adding that she was poor and had no money at all.
Then Cuckoo went to court. The judge said that the Crow must compensate for the damage, and since she has no money, she must serve the Cuckoo - take care of her eggs.
After hearing the judge's verdict, Crow vowed to find and kill Owl. And she, having heard about this, hid in a hollow and began to leave it to hunt only at night, when the Crow fell asleep.
A lump of dirt, launched many years ago by a mischievous boy at Owl, makes itself felt in the bird world even now. The Crow is still looking for the Owl. The owl, out of fear of her, still hides in the hollow and flies out of it only at night. And poor Crow is still forced to take care of the cuckoo's eggs.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru