Folktales about Animals

Folktales about ANIMALS

A fantastic treasury of classic fairy tales specially retold and exquisitely illustrated for young children. Each story is perfect for reading aloud to kids, or for more confident readers to tackle alone. A beautiful gift for any special occasion and a book that is sure to be treasured for years to come.

Kharkiv

2016

About Sun, Cold, and Wind........................................6 When Cat Went to Buy Boots.....................................8 Cat, Goat, and Ram ...................................................12 The Tale of Cat and Rooster......................................20 Sister Fox and Brother Wolf......................................26 Ash................................................................................40 Hare and Snow............................................................46 The Bean Seed.............................................................48

Once, long ago, Sun, Cold, and Wind were walking down a beaten path when they met a man.

“Good day!” they said.

“Good day and good health to you!” he replied.

They said their greetings and parted ways. Later, they started talking about which one of them the man wished good health. They returned asking, “Good man, who did you wish ‘good health’ to? Was it all of us, or just one?”

“Not all. Only one,” the man replied.

“And who would that be?”

“This one,” the man said, pointing to Wind.

The Sun then yells: “I’ll burn him!”

And Cold yells, “I’ll freeze him!”

Then Wind says: “You, Sun, won’t burn him, and you, Cold, won’t freeze him. Because when Sun’s beating down, I will gently cool you down. And when Cold will be freezing and Blizzard storming, I will stop blowing, so you won’t freeze.”

There once lived Cat. He lived and lived, loved his wife and had no troubles. But now - winter’s coming, and he has no boots. He got ready to go to town to get boots for himself and his wife. He’s walked a big part of the trip already, when he sees Fox walking towards him.

Fox walks closer and asks, “Where are you going Mr. Catski?”

Cat answers, “I’m going to town to get my wife and I some winter boots. The cold is coming, and we’ve got no boots.”

“Well I know a good shoe-master who lives nearby,” says Fox, “I can take you to Mr. Wolf, just follow me.”

Fox walked ahead, Cat walking after him. The clever Fox led him deeper into the woods, and Cat, being from the country, not knowing that dark forests can be dangerous, stupidly follows.

Fox stops, telling Cat, “Give me the money or you die here!”

“Have mercy, brother!” meows the Cat. “I’ll buy boots for you, your wife, and your kids, just let me go.”

So that’s what they agreed on.

They came to town, stood next to the gate, and suddenly Fox says, “I feel scared for some reason, I’m staying here.”

“Don’t be afraid, come,” calls Cat. Walking, they turned into an alley, and Cat left Fox standing outside as he went into the shop to see if there were any boots already made. When people saw Fox, they surrounded him, caught him, tore off his tail and then beat him up. Poor guy barely got out. Ran home, not even waiting for the boots.

Cat comes back, and sees that Fox is gone, only a group of angry people left where he stood. Bought the boots for his wife and him, and then asked his friend Ash, a dog, to walk him home.

Fox comes along Cat’s path, with his wife and two sons, ready to kill Cat, faulting him for the loss of his tail.

Cat sees Fox, telling Ash: “There’s Fox, waiting for me.”

“Don’t worry,” Ash replies, “I’ll take care of him. Last summer this idiot killed all of my owner’s ducks!”

Ash runs towards Fox, and Fox quickly realizes that he’s not on top in this situation. Thay brawl, and fur flies!

Ash stayed with Cat’s family for a while, and then returned to town.

And since then, Cats live freely and carelessly, because Foxes are afraid to even look their way.

Once Ram and Goat lived together on a farm. They lived in peace, sharing what little they had, even a bit of hay. And if they ever beat somebody up, it was only the cat, Furball - who’s such a thief and a liar.

Once, Ram and Goat were sitting down and talking, when Cat comes round the corner, moping, meowing and crying loudly.

Goat and Ram hear him and ask, “Why are you crying, Furball, stumbling around on three legs? ” He replies, “How can I not cry? Lady hits me, she beats me, she breaks my leg… ” “How come? For what?”

“That I went and ate her cream.”

He thought a bit and added, “Also I’m crying because while she was beating me, lady was saying son-in-law will be coming soon… ‘without the cream, what am I going to serve him? I’ll have to butcher Goat or Ram, I suppose.’”

Goat and Ram roared, “You stupid cat! We’re going to tear you to pieces with our horns! Beat you with our hooves! Because of you we’re going to die.”

But then the cat admitted his fault and apologized. Goat and Ram forgave him, and they sat down on the ground together, deciding what to do.

“Listen, brother Ram, how tough is your head?” Cat asks. “Try to ram into the gate with your head.”

Ram runs and hits the gate as hard as he can. The gate creaks and moves, but doesn’t fall down. Then Goat hits it, and the gate cracks open.

Dust flies up, grass bends down to the ground, Goat and Ram sprint out of the yard, Cat hobbling behind on his three legs. He’s tired, can’t go as fast as Ram and Goat, yelling, “Don’t leave me, brothers, to the wild beasts! Take me with you, and I’ll be useful one day!”

Goat sits Cat on his back, and they continue through the mountains-valleys. They came across a mowed-down field, with hay bales strewn around like houses.

“Where can we get some fire around here?” Ram and Goat wonder.

Cat suggests, “Hit your horns together!”

Goat and Ram ran at each other, their horns grappling together, and sparks fell on the hay, igniting it. The hay lit up, and the fire warmed them.

They’re warming up by the fire when they see brother Bear rumbling along.

“Let me in,” he says, “to warm up. I’m feeling cold for some reason.”

“Warm up, brother Bear,” they welcome him, “Where are you

coming from?”

“I went to the beekeeper’s, got all stung up by the bees, and now I’m not feeling well… I’m, heading to Fox so she can heal me.”

So they spent the night together: Bear under the hay, Furball on top, Goat and Ram near the fire.

As soon as they drifted off, seven gray wolves, and one white, run up.

“Ho-ho!” says the white one, “Who’s this?”

Goat and Ram freeze up out of fear, but Furball replies, “Oh, white wolf, king of all wolves, your gray brothers! Don’t anger our elder,” he points at Ram, “he’s already agitated. When he gets angry, no one can stop him! He beats animals with his beard and skins them with his horns! Better you nicely and peacefully come and ask us: we just want to play with your younger brother, the one laying under all the hay, just to keep company.”

The wolves bowed to Ram from afar, and then went and circled the bear, batting at him. Then he wakes up, and grabs those wolves two in each paw! The wolves bawled their salty tears, and then barely got out of there, running so fast that dust came up in their wake.

And that’s how the clever Cat saved Goat and Ram.

There once lived Cat and Rooster, and they became friends. Cat sometimes plays the fiddle, and Rooster sings along. Sometimes Cat goes to get them food, and Rooster stays and watches the house. Cat, leaving, says, “You make sure not to let anyone in, and don’t leave the house either, no matter what anyone says.”

“Alright, alright,” Rooster says, and sits nicely until Cat comes back.

One time Fox came to visit Rooster and decided to trick him. She came to the window when cat was gone, and says, “Rooster cock-a-doodle-dome Come show me your golden comb!

Open the curtains - I’m right, Look, the sun is shining bright!

I’ll give you some seeds In a cup, so you can feed!”

But Rooster replies “To-tuh, to-tuh, Cat didn’t tell me to.”

Fox sees, that her tricks aren’t working, so she comes during the night once, laying golden seeds under Rooster’s window, and then hiding in a nearby bush.

Right when Cat goes out to hunt, Rooster opens up the window and looks around. He doesn’t see anybody, just the golden kernels lying around.

“I’ll just go out and eat a bit. No one will see, so no one will tell Cat,” Rooster thinks.

Just as Rooster steps out on the doorstep, Fox grabs him and carries him to her foxhole. All the way, he’s screaming, “Foxy’s got a lot of moods She carried me through the woods!

Over the mountains and over the hills Through the fields and past the mills!”

By the time Cat heard, turned around and went after Fox, it was too late to catch Fox. Cat went home and cried. After that, he took his fiddle and a bag, and then went to Fox’s house.

Fox had four daughters and a son. She went to go hunting and told her kids to watch Rooster and boil some water.

“Watch yourselves,” she said, “don’t let anyone in.”

Cat went to Fox’s house and stood next to the window, playing his fiddle and singing: “Oh Fox has a lot of kids Daughters and son do their deeds!

Fox’s got a house and fence, Oh, won’t you come out to dance!”

Fox’s eldest daughter takes the bait and says to the younger ones, “You all stay here, I’ll go check out who it is playing this great tune.”

Right as she comes out, Cat hits her with a club - thump and in the

bag!

“Oh Fox has a lot of kids Daughters and son do their deeds!

Fox’s got a house and fence, Oh, won’t you come out to dance!”

The second daughter couldn’t resist and went out as well. So cat hits her - and into the bag.

“Oh Fox has a lot of kids Daughters and son do their deeds!

Fox’s got a house and fence, Oh, won’t you come out to dance!”

That way he got all four to come out. Fox’s son waited and waited for his sisters, but they didn’t return. ‘I better get them to come back in,’ he thinks, ‘or mother will come back and beat me.’

So he went outside. Cat grabs him into the bag too, then hangs the bag up on a willow branch, walks into the house, finds Rooster and unties him. They ate everything that Fox had cooked, turned over the pot with boiled water, broke all the plates, and then calmly walked home.

After this, Rooster listened to Cat on everything.

There once lived an old couple. One day, the woman made some pastries with poppy filling, and set them out on the window to cool down. Fox was running past the house, smelled the pastries and grabbed one, sprinting away quickly. She ran to the field, sat down in the straw, ate out the filling, and then stuffed in some trash instead.

She’s running along when she sees some boys herding cattle.

“Hello, boys!” says the Fox, “Switch me your little bull for a nice, warm pastry!”

“Sure,” they say, “Let’s switch!”

“Just don’t eat it right away,” Fox says, “wait until I get out of town.”

They switched, Fox quickly herding away the little bull. The boys bit into the pastry, and quickly found that it was full of trash.

Fox came to her house, chopped down a tree, fashioned herself a sled, roped in the bull, and set off. Suddenly, a wolf crosses her path.

“Good day, Sister Fox!” he says.

“Hey there!” replies the trickster.

“Give me a ride, neighbor!”

“How am I supposed to do that? You’ll break my sled!”

“No, no. I’ll just put one foot up.”

“Well, fine.”

They rode like that for a while, when Wolf says, “Sister Fox, I think I’ll put up a second foot.”

“Err, Brother Wolf, you’re going to break my sled!”

“Nah, I won’t.”

“Well, alright.”

So he did.

They were going, going, going, when suddenly crack!

“Hey, hey, Brother Wolf ! My sled’s breaking!”

“No, no, Sister Fox! That’s just me cracking a nut.”

“You watch it!”

They go on.

“Sister, Fox, I’ll put up my third foot too, okay?”

“Well, where are you going to put it on? If you break my sled, what am I supposed to use to haul logs?”

“Nah, your sled will be fine,” he replies.

“Alright, put it up.”

When suddenly crack!

“Oh, no!” wailed the fox, “Go away, Wolf. Now you really broke my sled.”

“Oh, sister, that’s just me cracking another nut.”

“Well give me some!”

“I don’t have any more - that was my last one.”

They’re going along, when Wolf asks, “I’m just going to sit on your sled, sister.”

“Nah-uh you’re going to sit! You’ll break my sled completely!”

“I’ll just sit down lightly.”

“Well, watch it!”

When Wolf sits down, the sled breaks apart completely.

Fox began to yell and scold Wolf.

She yelled and yelled, then tired and told him, “Go, you naughty-naughty, into the woods, and chop me some trees for my sled and lug them here.”

“Well, how am I gonna chop it if I don’t know which ones to chop?”

“When you were breaking my sled, you knew what you were doing, and now you don’t?” complains Fox, “When you get to the forest, say ‘Fall down, tree, not scraggly, but strong.’”

Wolf goes into the woods, and instead says, “Fall down, tree, scraggly, not strong.”

Wolf chopped down a lot of trees - all of them twisted and scraggly. You can’t even pick out enough for a stick, much less a sled. He brought the chopped-up lumber to Fox. “You stupid, you obviously didn’t say what I told you to!”

“Yes, I did. I said exactly what you told me to - fall down, tree, scraggly, not strong.”

“Oh, you good-for nothing brat, I’ll have to do it all myself.”

Wolf ’s left sitting all by himself - and hungry too. He’s looked all around Fox’s sled, and found nothing to eat. He then decides ‘Hey! I’ll eat the little bull instead’ So he eats a hole through the bull’s side, and then lets it some birds, stuffing it with hay.

Fox came back, fashioned herself the sled, relaxes, and starts to get the bull going.

“Hey, bull-mull, let’s go” But the bull just won’t budge, so Fox hits him with a stick, and then all the hay falls out, the birds fly out, frrrrrrr - chirping.

“Oh you stupid tricky wolf ! Don’t you forget me!” yells the fox, “because I’m coming for you!” And then she ran.

Fox lays in the middle of the road, playing dead. She hears some traders coming along, carrying fish.

The traders then see the fox lying there, not moving.

“Let’s take her, brothers, and sell the hide. Then we’ll at least be able to keep warm.” They throw the fox onto the last wagon and keep going. They go and go, and sister Fox notices that the traders aren’t looking back at her, so she starts throwing fish out the back. She throws off quite a bit, then hops off herself.

The traders keep going, while Fox gathers up the fish, sits, and eats it.

Right then, Wolf comes running by. To Fox, again, he goes, “Good day, Sister Fox!” “Same to you, Brother Wolf !”

“What are you doing?”

“Eating fish.”

“Well, give me some!”

“Well then go get some!”

“How am I supposed to get some, if I don’t know how?”

“Well if you don’t know how, I’m not giving you a single bone!”

“Can you at least teach me?”

“Ah, fine! Go to the ice-hole, put your tail in, and slowly move it around, saying ‘catch fishies, big and small! Catch fishies, big and small! And they’ll catch.’”

“Thanks for the advice!” yells wolf and runs off.

He comes to the ice-hole, lowers in his tails and starts, “Catch fishies, big and small! Catch fishies, big and small!”

From the bank, Fox whispers, “Freeze, freeze, wolf tail! Freeze, freeze, wolf tail!”

The cold outside is withering, but Wolf still swishes his tail around, saying, “Catch fishies, big and small!”

“Freeze, freeze, wolf tail!” Fox whispers from the bank.

Wolf stayed there until his tail froze into the ice.

Then Fox yells, “Hey, people! Come here to beat the wolf !”

Wolf heard, lunged out, and left half of his tail in the ice.

The people all came out with their pitchforks, sticks, and axes, and beat up the poor guy.

Fox quickly jumped into the nearest house; the owner’s gone - she’s went to beat the wolf, and left her batter unattended!

Fox slathered her head in the dough - and then back in the field!

When she sees Wolf walking by, bruised, barely crawling along - the people got him good. So Fox pretends to be hurt, stumbles along, moaning and groaning, until Wolf notices.

Wolf sees her and says, “Oh, you good-for-nothing! Did me a whole bunch of good, and now I don’t even have a tail!”

Fox replies, “Oh, brother, was that even me? Don’t you see how sick I am? Beat me so much, that my head caved in. Oh, brother, give me a ride!”

“Well, I’m not feeling so great myself...”

“Oh, come on! You’re only missing half of your tail, and look at my head! Oh-oh-oh, I won’t make it home!”

“Well, get on then, what can I do...”

Fox climbed on his back, and whines.

Wolf starts walking, and Fox keeps going, “Hurt’s carrying the unhurt! Hurt’s carrying the unhurt!”

“What’re you saying there, sister Fox?” “So I’m saying: hurt carrying the hurt!”

And then quietly continues, “Hurt’s carrying the unhurt!”

So he carries her to her house, and goes, “Come on, sister, get off now, we’re here.”

And Fox hops off, runs to her house and yells, “Hurt brought the unhurt! Hurt brought the unhurt!”

Wolf tried to grab her with his teeth, but she shuts herself in her house - Wolf can’t fit in.

Fox leans out the window, taunting him, “Hurt brought the unhurt!”

Wolf shuffles around, circling around the house - he just can’t make it inside.

“Oh that darned Fox! How she tricked me!” and then sulks on home.

Still, Fox lives in peace and catches chickens.

A farmer once had a dog named Ash. He lived happily, served is owner well, but over time he got old, and the farmer cast him out.

Ash is walking the fields, doesn’t know what to do with himself.

A wolf walks over and asks him, “What are you doing here?”

“I was thrown out,” Ash replies.

“Do you want him to take you back?” Wolf asks.

“Very much. Do it, my friend, and I’ll pay you back somehow.”

“See here,” says Wolf, “when your owner and his wife come out, she’ll put the baby down in the hay — you walk along the field, to show me where it is. I’ll come and grab it, and then you can take it from me. I’ll pretend to be afraid and drop it.”

So that’s what they did.

The owner and his wife came out to reap the fields. The woman laid her baby down in the hay, going to help her husband.

They look -- the wolf ’s running across the field. He grabs the child and carries it away.

There’s Ash -- running after the wolf. Chased him down, took back the child, and brought it back to the owner, setting it in his lap.

The owner got him some meat and bread from his bag and says, “Here you go Ash, eat it up. That’s for not letting the wolf eat my child.”

When they came back from the fields at night, the owner took Ash with him. They returned home, and the owner tells his wife, “Woman, make some dumplings, and make some good bacon to go with them!”

The owner invited Ash to the table, sits next to him, then says, “Can we get some dumplings over here?”

He adds more and more dumplings to Ash’s plate. So that he won’t burn up his mouth, but eat his fill.

Ash is gulping down the dumplings, thinking all the while, ‘I’ll have to return Wolf the favor.’

The owner decides to host his daughter a wedding.

Ash walked out into the field, found the wolf, and said to him, “Come to the house on Sunday, and I’ll let you in to repay you for what you did for me.”

Wolf waited until Sunday, and then came around to the house, hiding behind the shed. But that same day the owner decided to host his daughter’s wedding. Ash went to get Wolf, led him to the house and sat him under the table.

Ash grabs some sausage, meat, and steak from the table, and sneaks it to Wolf, under the table.

Wolf is sitting and eating, and Ash keeps sneaking him better pieces.

Finally, Wolf feels full and says, “I’m going to sing.”

Ash replies, “No, don’t. Don’t sing, or we’ll have huge problems. I’ll even give you more meat, but stay quiet.”

Wolf ate the meat and then says, again, “Well, now, I’m really going to sing!” And he starts howling under the table.

What started then!! Some guests ran away, some jumped to beat the wolf, and Ash falls on top of the wolf, as if he’s trying to choke him.

The owner says, “Don’t attack the wolf, or you’ll kill my Ash. He can deal with the wolf himself.”

Ash leads Wolf outside, and tells him, “See, you did me a favor, and now I repaid you.” And with that they said their goodbyes.

Once Snow told Hare, “My head just started hurting.”

“You’re probably melting, that’s why,” Rabbit replied. Then he sat down on a log and started to cry.

“I feel bad for you, I’m sad for you, Snow. I was running around you, drawing squiggles with my paws. Hiding from the fox, the wolf, and the hunter, I buried myself in you, hiding. How am I going to live now? I’ll go to the King of the Forest and ask him to save you, Snowie, for me.”

Hare started complaining to the King of the Forest and begging him to spare Snow. The Sun is high now, heating up. The Snow is melting, running down the mountains in little streams.

The King hears Hare’s pleas and says, “I’m not trying to compete with the Sun, so I won’t be able to save your friend Snow. But I can change your coat from white to gray, so that you can hide between dead grass and leaves in the summer.”

The Hare was glad, and said his thanks. Since then, Hare always sheds his winter coat.

Once a Rooster and a Hen lived together. The Hen laid eggs, and the Rooster found seeds and fed her.

One time, Rooster was digging in the ground, and he found a huge bean. He got excited, and called Hen over to him, “Cluck-cluck, Hen, cluck-cluck-cluck, come and eat this bean seed.”

“Cluck-cluck-cluck,” Hen replies, “eat it yourself.”

Rooster grabbed the seed and choked.

He calls out to Hen, “Go to the creek and ask for some water.”

Hen runs to the creek and pleads, “Creek, creek, please give me some water. Rooster was digging for seeds, found a bean and choked.”

The creek replies, “Okay, Hen, I will give you the water, but first go to the Linden and ask for a leaf. Then I’ll give you water for Rooster.”

Hen quickly ran to the Linden and asked, “Linden, linden, give me your leaf. I’ll take it to the creek, she’ll give me water for Rooster to drink. Rooster was diggings for seeds, found a bean and choked.”

The linden replies, “Alright, Hen, I’ll give you the leaf, but first go ask a girl for thread, to tie my branches up.”

Hen runs to the girl, and says, “Miss, please give me a thread. I’ll take it to the linden, then she’ll give me a leaf. I’ll take it to the creek, she’ll give me water for Rooster to drink. Rooster was diggings for seeds, found a bean and choked.”

The girl replies, “I feel bad for your Rooster, Hen, but I can’t finish my work without a comb. Could you run down to the combmakers, and get me a comb to brush my textile. I’ll make you the thread.”

Hen then ran to the combmakers. She asks them, “Combmakers, combmakers, please make me a new comb. I’ll take it to the girl, she’ll make me a thread. I’ll take it to the linden, then she’ll give me a leaf. I’ll take it to the creek, she’ll give me water for Rooster to drink. Rooster was diggings for seeds, found a bean and choked.”

The combmakers reply, “We’ll give it to you, Hen, but first go to the bakers and ask for some fresh rolls. We’ll eat the rolls and then give you the comb for the girl.”

The Hen runs to the bakers. “Bakers, bakers, please give me some hot, fresh rolls. I’ll take them to the combmakers, then they’ll eat the rolls, and give me a comb. I’ll take it to the girl, she’ll make me a thread. I’ll take it to the linden, then she’ll give me a leaf. I’ll take it to the creek, she’ll give me water for Rooster to drink. Rooster was diggings for seeds, found a bean and choked.”

The bakers listened to the Hen, and then said, “Go to the woodchoppers, and get them to chop up some wood to burn in the stove.

Then we’ll give you some nice hot rolls.”

Hen runs to the woodchoppers.

“Woodchoppers, woodchoppers, please give me some wood. I’ll take it to the bakers, they’ll bake some rolls. I’ll take them to the combmakers, then they’ll eat the rolls, and give me a comb. I’ll take it to the girl, she’ll make me a thread. I’ll take it to the linden, then she’ll give me a leaf. I’ll take it to the creek, she’ll give me water for Rooster

to drink. Rooster was diggings for seeds, found a bean and choked.�

The woodchoppers pitied the Hen, and gave her some wood.

She took the wood to the bakers, who then gave her some nice, fresh rolls. She tooks the rolls to the combmakers, who ate them, and then gave her a shiny, new comb. She took the comb to the girl, who made her a thread. She carried the thread to the linden, and the linden gave her a leaf. She took the leaf the river, and the river gave her some water. She took the water to her Rooster, who drank it and swallowed the bean.

Hen was glad that her Rooster had gotten better, and told him all about her adventures.

Rooster listened to Hen and then flew on top of the fencepost and sang as loudly as he could, “Hen is a hero! Hen is a hero!� He sang well, and people on the other side of town were able to hear him.

ISBN 978-617-690-415-1

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