- •A cunning fox – 8
- •A timid hare (кролик).-1
- •A white winter dress - 2
- •In summer he hides in the grass.9 But he does not know what to do when winter comes. “I must ask my friends. They are always ready to help,” he thinks.
- •In the morning he gets up and looks round. But what does he see? The forest is white!
- •Fabre, the naturalist, and the hungry ducks. – 12
- •Mike and the colt – 14
- •Roses on the mountain top – 13
- •It was raining and the friends could not go to the forest. So they came to Karl’s home to spend the afternoon together.
- •Squirrel’s lesson.30 – 10
- •In the centre of the grass-plot was standing a beautiful rose-tree, and when she saw it she flew over to it, and lit upon a spray.
- •The sun shows the way – 15
- •The twelve months – 11
- •Ivan returns, with Elena, the horse and the Fire Bird, however when the wolf leaves him he is ambushed and killed by his brothers.
A cunning fox – 8
A fox is standing on the bank of a river. He is hungry and he wants to catch some fish.
He tries to jump on a drifting log,1 but he falls into the water and the river carries him out to sea.2
A seal sees the fox there and says: “Why are you here? Do you know that the bank is very far? You can’t get there.”
The fox is afraid, but he does not show it. He says: “I am here because I want to see if there are animals in the sea.3 They say4 that there are not many animals in the sea.”
“Who says that there are not many animals in the sea?” asks the seal. And then he says: “There are a lot of animals here. Watch.”
The seal shouts and all the sea animals come to see what the matter is. There are so many animals in the sea that they stretch from end to end.5
The cunning fox runs on their backs to the bank. Soon he is again in the forest. He is happy, he smiles.
A timid hare (кролик).-1
The timid Hare runs to the Crane (журавль) and asks him to make the teeth of a lion6 for him.
“Why do you want the teeth of a lion?” asks the Crane.
“I want to be like a lion. Then the Fox (лис) will be afraid7 of me. Now I run from him and then the Fox will run from me,” says the Hare. The Crane smiles, but he makes the lion’s teeth for the Hare. The teeth are very, very big.
“Very good,” says the Hare. He likes the teeth. “Now the Fox is afraid of me. Thank you,” he says to the Crane and runs to look for the Fox. He jumps here and there, but he can’t see the Fox. Then he stops to rest. Suddenly he sees the Fox. The Fox is near him. The Hare runs away. He is afraid of the Fox. He runs to the Crane and says, “I don’t like these teeth. They are not good. Can you make me bigger teeth?”
“Yes, I can,” says the Crane. “But you don’t need the teeth of a lion. You need a lion’s heart.”8
A white winter dress - 2
The Little Hare (Кролик) is not happy: he afraid of the Fox (Лиса) and the Bear (Медведь).
In summer he hides in the grass.9 But he does not know what to do when winter comes. “I must ask my friends. They are always ready to help,” he thinks.
So he goes to the Partridge (Куропатка) and says:
“Can you tell me, good bird, how you hide from the Fox in winter?”
And the Partridge answers:
“When Autumn goes, she always leaves me10 a white costume. I take off my grey summer costume and put on my winter white costume and the Fox can’t see me in the snow.”
“You are a brave bird,” says the Little Hare. “But I am afraid to speak to Autumn.”
And the Little Hare again walks in the forest. He meets his friend Badger (Барсук).
“What do you do when winter comes?” asks the Little Hare. “How do you prepare for the winter?”
“I dig a hole in the earth,”11 says the Badger, “and hide in it. It is warm there in winter and I can sleep in the hole till spring.”
“It is good for you. You can dig, but I can’t. Oh! What must I do when winter comes?”
The Little Hare goes to other animals, but they can’t help him. The night comes. The Little Hare is very tired and goes to sleep under a tree in the grass. He sleeps all night.