Once upon a time there lived a poor man. His name was Gazza. He had only seven goats; there was nothing else on his farm. The first goat had one belly, the second had two, the third had three, the fourth had four, the fifth had five, the sixth had six and the seventh had seven.
Only around noon did the poor man let all seven goats go to graze.
One day, when they were grazing, the one-bellied goat said to the two-bellied goat:
“I’m already full, my belly is full.” If you're full, let's go home.
And she answers:
“One of my bellies is still empty, wait for me.”
“No, I’m going home,” answers the one-bellied goat. She walks along the road, and a wolf meets her.
- Whose are you? he asks.
“I’m the Gazza goat,” she answers.
- What is that on your head and what do you need it for? - The wolf points to her horns.
“And these are the tips for Gazza’s pitchforks, if he needs them.”
“What’s that hanging between your legs?” - The wolf points to her udder.
And this is a soft udder full of milk for my kid.
The wolf grabbed the goat and ate it. Then he headed further along the road, stretched out there and kept watch, looking around.
Now the double-bellied goat has filled both of its bellies, is satisfied and turns to the three-bellied goat:
- Let's go home!
“Wait a little,” she answers, “one of my bellies is still empty.”
“I won’t wait for you,” answers the double-bellied goat. “I’ll go home.”
She walked along the road and came across a wolf who was guarding there.
- Whose goat are you? - asks the wolf.
“I’m the Gazza goat,” she answers.
-What is that on your head?
— Tips for Gazza forks.
-What is that hanging between your legs?
“And this is a soft udder full of milk for my kid.”
- I have to eat that too! - the wolf was happy. He jumped up to the goat, grabbed it and ate it.
Meanwhile, the three-bellied goat has had enough and says to the four-bellied goat:
- Let's go home!
“Wait a little,” she replies, “my belly is not quite full yet.”
“Well, then stay healthy,” answers the three-bellied goat, “and I’m leaving.”
She walked slowly along the road. The wolf, already well-fed, lay down there and listened to see if anyone else would show up. He raised his head and saw that a goat was walking along the road.
“There’s another goat,” the wolf says to himself. “Today, with God’s help, turned out to be a good day.”
The three-bellied goat came closer, and the wolf asked her:
- Whose goat are you?
“I’m Gazza the goat,” she replies.
-What is that on your head? - he asks her.
“And these are the tips for Gazza’s pitchforks,” she answers in the same way as the other goats.
-What is that hanging between your legs?
“And this is a soft udder full of milk for my kid.” The wolf grabbed this goat too, lifted it up and said to himself:
- I'm lucky today! And this goat tastes good.
Three goats made the wolf completely bloated. Then he began to roll on the ground, and he felt better.
Meanwhile, the four-bellied goat has eaten and turns to the five-bellied one:
- Let's go home, five-bellied, our friends are probably already resting at home.
The five-bellied goat answers:
“One of my bellies is not full yet, wait for me, and then we’ll go home together.”
“No, I’m leaving,” answers the four-bellied goat.
She walked along the road, and the well-fed wolf slept there. Hearing footsteps, he woke up and raised his head, saw a goat and was happy.
“God gave me a goat again,” he says to himself. “It came to me on its own!”
- Whose goat are you? - asks the wolf.
- I'm Gazza the goat.
-What is that on your head?
— And these are the tips for Gazza’s pitchforks.
“What’s that hanging between your legs?” - he asked her.
“And this is a soft udder full of milk for my kid.” The wolf attacked the goat, grabbed it and ate it. The five-bellied goat, meanwhile, has had enough and turns to the six-bellied one:
- Let's go home! It's time for us to return!
“Wait for me a little, one belly is not quite full yet,” asks the six-bellied one.
“No,” she answers, “I’m leaving, I won’t wait for you.”
She headed home along a familiar road. And the well-fed wolf is already waiting to see if anyone else is coming, and thinks: “If there is no one else, I’ll leave here.”
He sees a five-bellied goat coming.
“God gave me one more,” the wolf says to himself. “I’ll wait for her too.” I'm full, but how can I not gobble it up? I'd rather have a stomach ache than let her live!
- Whose goat are you? - asks the wolf when she caught up with him.
- I'm Gazza the goat.
- What kind of person is Gazza?
“Gazza is a modest person, hardworking,” the goat answers.
The wolf was seized with fear: suddenly Gazza would come out of the village and kill him. He looked around and asked the goat:
-What is that on your head?
— And these are the tips for Gazza’s pitchforks.
“What’s that hanging between your legs?”
“And these are round stones that are used to kill wolves.”
- I'll show you how to kill wolves! - says the wolf. He pounced on a five-bellied goat and devoured it.
Now the six-bellied goat felt that it was full, and turned to the seven-bellied one:
“It’s already getting dark, it’s time for us to return home.” If I leave, you'll be left here alone.
- Wait a little! - asks the seven-bellied goat. - Now I will fill my seventh belly and then we will go together.
The six-bellied goat answers her:
“I’ll walk slowly, you’ll catch up with me along the road.” She walks slowly along the road, but the seven-bellied goat gets carried away and lingers in the pasture.
The six-bellied goat also reached the wolf. The wolf saw her and thought:
“Of course, I’ll pull it up, but I’m already full.” Okay,” he says to himself, “let’s eat a little, and let the rest be done tomorrow.”
It was already getting light. The wolf killed the goat, ate as much as he could, and put the rest aside for tomorrow. Stretched out on the road and thinking like this:
- From such satiety it will be difficult for me to get home, I’ll rest here for now, and then I’ll go.
Meanwhile, a seven-bellied goat appeared on the road.
“Another goat,” says the wolf. “And what should I do with her?” Okay, I’ll grab her, otherwise she’ll run away, and tomorrow morning I’ll eat him along with the rest of the other goat.
The seven-bellied goat reached the wolf.
- Whose goat are you? he asks.
- I'm Gazza the goat.
- What kind of person is Gazza?
“And Gazza is a hunter who beats up wolves.”
-What is that on your head? - asks the wolf.
- And these are iron sticks that are used to destroy wolves.
“What’s that hanging between your legs?” - asks the wolf.
“And these are round stones that are used to kill wolves,” the goat answers.
“Ah,” the wolf says to himself. “My business is bad!”
He decided to run away, left the goat alive, forcibly moved to the side of the road and, heavy with satiety, stretched out there. The seven-bellied goat saw the scraps on the road and said:
- Ah, that’s what the wolf did! He ate all my friends! Only at dusk did the seven-bellied goat get home. Gazza asks her:
- Why did you come home so late? Where are your friends?
The goat answers him:
“My friends were torn to pieces and devoured by a wolf, I was the only one saved.”
- Tell me, where, on what road did all this happen? asks Gazza.
The goat told him where the wolf was.
Gazza grabbed the gun and hurried on the road.
And the wolf lies there, cannot get up, he just looks up and watches. Gazza doesn’t see him yet and can’t see him because the wolf is stretched out on the very side of the road.
Having reached the place the goat was talking about, Gazza began to look around. He was sure that the wolf was somewhere here.
Seeing that Gazza was approaching him, the wolf tried to run, but could not run quickly, becoming heavy from satiety. Gazza, meanwhile, noticed him and began to catch up. How hard is it to catch up with a satiated wolf? Gazza quickly overtook him, fired a gun and killed him on the spot.
Gazza returned home. He was left with one seven-bellied goat with seven kids. He began to live and live and lives to this day.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru