Once upon a time, in a small village by the river, lived an old man and his wife. One frosty, sunny day, the grandfather decided:
– I fancy fish for supper!
He went fishing. He chopped a hole in the ice, sat with his rod—and soon had a whole cartload of fresh fish! As he headed home, rejoicing, he spotted a fox lying on the road, seemingly dead.
What luck! thought the grandfather. I’ll give the old woman a fox-fur collar!
He scooped up the creature and tossed it onto the cart, then walked ahead, unaware the fox was pretending. While he trudged along, the fox carefully tossed fish out of the cart—one by one, until none remained. Then it slipped away.
When the grandfather returned, he announced proudly:
– Wife, I’ve brought you a collar!
– Where? – the grandmother wondered.
– On the cart!
She went to look—no fish, no fox. She scolded him:
– You’ve been fooled again!
The grandfather realized:
– That sly fox tricked me!
He rushed outside, searching everywhere. But neither the fox nor the fish were found. He grieved and grieved, but it was too late to fix anything.
Meanwhile, the fox gathered the fish scattered along the road. It sat eating, licking its chops. Suddenly, a wolf appeared:
– Greetings, friend! Share some fish!
– Catch your own, – replied the fox.
– I don’t know how, – the wolf whined.
The fox narrowed its eyes cunningly:
– I’ll teach you. I caught these. Go to the river, dip your tail in the ice hole—that’s how you’ll catch them. Just sit there a good long while!
The wolf ran to the river, sat by the hole, and stayed all night. As the water froze, he thought: "The fish must be biting my tail."
"I’ll sit longer to catch more," he reasoned.
He might have stayed, but then he saw women approaching with buckets, shouting:
– A wolf! Beat him!
Terrified, the wolf tried to yank his tail free—but it was frozen solid. The women rushed over and thrashed him. He pulled and pulled, to no avail. Finally, he yanked with all his might, tore free—leaving his tail behind—and fled. As he ran, he fumed:
"That fox tricked me! I’ll teach her a lesson!"
Meanwhile, the fox craved more treats. It sneaked into a village hut where pancakes were baking, the window left open—and plunged snout-first into a dough tub. Panicked and smeared, it scrambled out and bolted to the woods.
