One day a wolf was walking through the forest and stepped on a snail.
In those days, animals still knew how to speak like people. So the snail told him:
- How evil you are, wolf! Why do you trample the weak underfoot? And what are you proud of? If I want, I can run faster than you. Let's bet that you and your wolf buddies will be out of breath trying to catch up with me.
- Is it impossible to catch up with you, poor thing? - Yes, me, wolf. Come here with your brothers tomorrow at sunrise, and let's see which of us will be the first to reach the shore of the Garonne. - Okay, we'll come.
The wolf continued on its way. He had not walked twenty steps when he stepped on a wasp's nest.
- How evil you are, wolf, why do you trample the weak underfoot? We wasps are small, but we are not afraid of you. Do you want to bet that we will drown you and your wolf friends?
- Is it you, some small fry? - Yes, we, wolf. Come here with your brothers tomorrow when the sun rises, and we will see how long it will take us to drown you in the Garonne. - Okay, small fry, we'll come.
The wolf immediately went to warn his people. And the snail said to the wasps:
- Girlfriends, notify all your wasp people. My snails will also all certainly gather when called. Hide in the branches of the willows that grow on the banks of the Garonne. We will bring wolves to you, and at a convenient moment you will attack them and pity them until they rush into the water.
- Okay, snail, let's do it.
And the wasps flew away to fulfill what they promised. And the snail placed its girlfriends all the way to the shore of the Garonne, every five steps along the snail.
The next morning, at sunrise, the wolves and the snail were already at the place where they had decided to start running.
-Are you here, snail? - Here, wolves. Let's begin.
The wolves ran at a gallop. As they ran they shouted:
-Where are you, snail? “Here, wolves,” answered the snails, placed along the road every five steps.
When the wolves reached the shore of the Garonne, the wasps flew out of the willow foliage in clouds and, attacking the animals, began to sting them painfully, buzzing loudly:
- Stronger! Stronger!
The poor wolves rushed into the river and did not dare stick anything out of the water except the tip of their muzzle.
- On the nose, on the nose! - the wasps buzzed, swooping down on the wolves' noses and working diligently with their stingers.
The wolves all drowned, and the snails and wasps, very happy, returned to the forest.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru