Once upon a time there lived a king, the ruler of all life on earth. People, animals, birds, and fish served at his court. And one of the courtiers was Cormorant. This bird was very proud of its beauty. The cormorant strutted around the royal palace, waving its long tail. And his tail was most wonderful, with a forked tip, all covered in black spots, like all his plumage.
One day the king ordered all his subjects to come to the court and appear before him. And then Minnow, heading to the throne room, saw Cormorant standing at the entrance; Minnow’s heart froze. After all, the Cormorant eats fish and; loves minnows more than anything in the world. But, remembering that in the capital city everyone was strictly ordered to maintain peace, Peskar calmed down. And Cormorant even began to salivate at the sight of such a delicacy. However, he knew that he would be accused of treason and executed if he even touched Minnow. And yet, timidity and uncertainty, which could not be ignored in the gaze and movements of the Minnow, pushed the Cormorant to intimidate him. The cormorant stared at the Minnow, and when he looked at him in fear, he suddenly winked with his left eye. The gudgeon screamed loudly and, running out of the royal palace, rushed at full speed to his home. But the poor fish was immediately captured and accused of treason.
“Why did you disturb the order and leave the palace without my permission?” – the king asked menacingly.
“Your Majesty,” answered Gudgeon, “my sworn enemy Cormorant, standing at the entrance to the throne room, looked in my direction as if he was going to eat me.”
Since a thorough investigation confirmed Minnow's word, he was pardoned. Cormorant, for scaring the poor fish, was ordered to throw a feast in honor of the Minnow that same evening.
Cormorant arranged a feast and treated Peskar to various wines so cordially that he fell off his feet and fell asleep. Then the insidious Cormorant tore off his tail and hid it in the branches of a tree. He wanted to feast on them when they stopped looking for him.
And Peskar, waking up in the morning, discovered the loss and cried bitterly. The cormorant assured him that the tail was stolen by thieves, of whom there are so many in the city. However, Peskar, well aware of Cormorant’s insidious habits, did not heed his arguments and went to court.
After hearing witnesses, the court decided that since the host is responsible for the life and property of the guest. The cormorant is obliged to compensate for the damage caused to the Minnow by giving him its tail, which was immediately cut off and placed on the stump of the Minnow's tail.
That is why the tip of the Minnow's tail is forked and covered with black spots, which it does not have anywhere else on its body.
But the Cormorant did not dare to remove the tail stolen from the Minnow from the tree and use it instead of his own. After all, then everyone would know that he is a thief. This is why the Cormorant to this day does not have a tail.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru