Once the hares gathered under a tall pine tree and began to complain about their bitter fate.
And the eldest listened and listened, then came forward and said:
- My dear brothers! Poor hares have a bad life in the world. An animal rustles in the bushes - the bunny is scared; a leaf flies from a tree - the hare's soul goes to his heels. When someone sees our brother, he shouts: “I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him!” We are afraid of everyone, but not even a mosquito is afraid of us. Let's go to the sea and drown ourselves in grief. You still have to die sooner or later.
The hares listened to their elder. They ran to the sea to drown themselves. And by the sea, a large flock of sheep was grazing in a meadow. One sheep saw so many hares, got scared, bleated and ran. And the whole herd follows her. The sheep are running, they don’t know where, they don’t know from whom. Their tails tremble, their hooves clatter.
And after the sheep the dogs rush, bark, and strain themselves. The shepherds shout and wave their sticks. Noise, scream!
It became funny for the hares. They sat down on their hind legs and started laughing. They laughed so hard that their lips burst.
- No, it’s not so bad for us hares in the world! And we are strong when we are together!
And they didn’t drown themselves. Only since that time, all hares have had their upper lips cut in two.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru