The Greatest Russian Fairy Tales & Fables (With Original Illustrations). Arthur Ransome

said he, “I'm a wolf.” “Oh, if you are sure you're a wolf, it's all right. Only I'm not very fat yet, so you'd better begin on my tail, and meanwhile I'll be munching some more grass and get a little fuller.”

      So the wolf went up to him from behind, and was just going to get to work on his tail, when the horse let out at him as hard as he could! And the wolf rolled over, while the horse ran off.

      And there sat the wolf, and he thought: “Well, wasn't I a fool! wasn't I a noodle! Who ever heard of anyone starting to eat a horse by the tail?”

      And so he wandered on further, when after a bit he saw a pig coming towards him, so when he got to him he said: “Mr. Pig, Mr. Pig, I'm going to eat you!” But the pig answered: “Who are you, I should like to know, that you mean to eat me?” “I'm a wolf.” “You're a queer sort of wolf,” answered the pig, “you're only a dog!” “No, I'm not a dog,” said he, “I'm a wolf!” “Oh, that's all right then,” answered the pig, “you just sit down on my back. I'll give you a ride, and then you can eat me.”

      So the wolf sat down on the pig's back, when lo and behold! the pig carried him straight into the village.

      And all the dogs ran out, made a dash for the wolf, and began to tease him.

      And they teased him so much, it was all he could do to tear himself away and run off back into the forest.

       Guess how old I am!

      THE PEASANT AND THE BEAR

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      Once upon a time a certain peasant lost his wife, then he lost his other relations, and then he was left alone with no one to help him in his home or his fields. So he went to Bruin and said: “Look here, Bruin, let's keep house and plant our garden and sow our corn together.” And Bruin asked: “But how shall we divide it afterwards?” “How shall we divide it?” said the peasant, “Well, you take all the tops and let me have all the roots.” “All right,” answered Bruin. So they sowed some turnips, and they grew beautifully. And Bruin worked hard, and gathered in all the turnips, and then they began to divide them. And the peasant said: “The tops are yours, aren't they, Bruin?” “Yes,” he answered. So the peasant cut off all the turnip tops and gave them to Bruin, and then sat down to count the roots. And Bruin saw that the peasant had done him down.

      And he got huffy, lay down in his den, and started sucking his paws.

      The next spring the peasant again came to see him, and said: “Look here, Bruin, let's work together again, shall we?” And Bruin answered: “Right-ho! only this time mind! you can have the tops, but I'm going to have the roots!” “Very well,” said the peasant. And they sowed some wheat, and when the ears grew up and ripened, you never saw such a sight. Then they began to divide it, and the peasant took all the tops with the grain, and gave Bruin the straw and the roots. So he didn't get anything that time either.

      And Bruin said to the peasant: “Well, good-bye! I'm not going to work with you any more, you're too crafty!” And with that he went off into the forest.

      THE DOG AND THE COCK

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      One summer a certain peasant's crops failed him, and so he had no food to give to his animals, which were a cock and a dog. And the dog said to the cock: “Well, brother Peeter, I think we should get more to eat if we went and lived in the forest than here at our master's, don't you?” “That's a fact,” answered the cock, “let's be off, there's no help for it.”

      So they said good-bye to their master and mistress and went off to see what they could find. And they went on and on, and couldn't find a nice place to stop. Then it began to grow dark, and the cock said: “Let's spend the night on a tree. I'll fly up on to a branch, and you take shelter in the hollow. We'll get through the night somehow.”

      So the cock made his way on to a branch, tucked in his toes, and went to sleep, while the dog made himself a bed in the hollow of the tree. And they slept soundly the whole night through, and towards morning, when it began to get light, the cock woke up and, as was his custom, crew as loud as he could: “Cock-a-doodle-doo! cock-a-doodle-do! all wake up! all get up! the sun will soon be rising, and the day will soon begin!”

      And he crew so loud, that a fox in a hole near by was up in an instant thinking: “What a funny thing for a cock to be crowing in the forest! I expect he's lost his way and can't get out again!”

      And he began to look for the cock, and after a bit he saw him sitting upon the branch of the tree. “Oho!” thought the fox, “he'd make a fine meal! How can I get him to come down from there?”

      So he went up to the tree and said to the cock: “What a splendid cock you are! I've never seen such a fine one all my days! What lovely feathers, just as if they were covered with gold! And your tail! nobody could describe it in words or on paper, it's so beautiful! And what a sweet voice you've got! I could listen to it all day and all night.