Fables for Children, Stories for Children, Natural Science Stories, Popular Education, Decembrists, Moral Tales. Лев Николаевич Толстой
AND THE FISH
A Fisherman caught a Fish. Said the Fish:
"Fisherman, let me go into the water; you see I am small: you will have little profit of me. If you let me go, I shall grow up, and then you will catch me when it will be worth while."
But the Fisherman said:
"A fool would be he who should wait for greater profit, and let the lesser slip out of his hands."
THE FOX AND THE GOAT
A Goat wanted to drink. He went down the incline to the well, drank his fill, and gained in weight. He started to get out, but could not do so. He began to bleat. A Fox saw him and said:
"That's it, stupid one! If you had as much sense in your head as there are hairs in your beard, you would have thought of how to get out before you climbed down."
THE DOG AND HER SHADOW
A Dog was crossing the river over a plank, carrying a piece of meat in her teeth. She saw herself in the water and thought that another dog was carrying a piece of meat. She dropped her piece and dashed forward to take away what the other dog had: the other meat was gone, and her own was carried away by the stream.
And thus the Dog was left without anything.
THE CRANE AND THE STORK
A peasant put out his nets to catch the Cranes for tramping down his field. In the nets were caught the Cranes, and with them one Stork.
The Stork said to the peasant:
"Let me go! I am not a Crane, but a Stork; we are most honoured birds; I live on your father's house. You can see by my feathers that I am not a Crane."
The peasant said:
"With the Cranes I have caught you, and with them will I kill you."
THE GARDENER AND HIS SONS
A Gardener wanted his Sons to get used to gardening. As he was dying, he called them up and said to them:
"Children, when I am dead, look for what is hidden in the vineyard."
The Sons thought that it was a treasure, and when their father died, they began to dig there, and dug up the whole ground. They did not find the treasure, but they ploughed the vineyard up so well that it brought forth more fruit than ever.
THE WOLF AND THE CRANE
A Wolf had a bone stuck in his throat, and could not cough it up. He called the Crane, and said to him:
"Crane, you have a long neck. Thrust your head into my throat and draw out the bone! I will reward you."
The Crane stuck his head in, pulled out the bone, and said:
"Give me my reward!"
The Wolf gnashed his teeth and said:
"Is it not enough reward for you that I did not bite off your head when it was between my teeth?"
THE HARES AND THE FROGS
The Hares once got together, and began to complain about their life:
"We perish from men, and from dogs, and from eagles, and from all the other beasts. It would be better to die at once than to live in fright and suffer. Come, let us drown ourselves!"
And the Hares raced away to drown themselves in a lake. The Frogs heard the Hares and plumped into the water. So one of the Hares said:
"Wait, boys! Let us put off the drowning! Evidently the Frogs are having a harder life than we: they are afraid even of us."
THE FATHER AND HIS SONS
A Father told his Sons to live in peace: they paid no attention to him. So he told them to bring the bath broom, and said:
"Break it!"
No matter how much they tried, they could not break it. Then the Father unclosed the broom, and told them to break the rods singly. They broke it.
The Father said:
"So it is with you: if you live in peace, no one will overcome you; but if you quarrel, and are divided, any one will easily ruin you."
THE FOX
A Fox got caught in a trap. She tore off her tail, and got away. She began to contrive how to cover up her shame. She called together the Foxes, and begged them to cut off their tails.
"A tail," she said, "is a useless thing. In vain do we drag along a dead weight."
One of the Foxes said:
"You would not be speaking thus, if you were not tailless!"
The tailless Fox grew silent and went away.
THE WILD ASS AND THE TAME ASS
A Wild Ass saw a Tame Ass. The Wild Ass went up to him and began to praise his life, saying how smooth his body was, and what sweet feed he received. Later, when the Tame Ass was loaded down, and a driver began to goad him with a stick, the Wild Ass said:
"No, brother, I do not envy you: I see that your life is going hard with you."
THE STAG
A Stag went to the brook to quench his thirst. He saw himself in the water, and began to admire his horns, seeing how large and branching they were; and he looked at his feet, and said: "But my feet are unseemly and thin."
Suddenly a Lion sprang out and made for the Stag. The Stag started to run over the open plain. He was getting away, but there came a forest, and his horns caught in the branches, and the lion caught him. As the Stag was dying, he said:
"How foolish I am! That which I thought to be unseemly and thin was saving me, and what I gloried in has been my ruin."
THE DOG AND THE WOLF
A Dog fell asleep back of the yard. A Wolf ran up and wanted to eat him.
Said the Dog:
"Wolf, don't eat me yet: now I am lean and bony. Wait a little, – my master is going to celebrate a wedding; then I shall have plenty to eat; I shall grow fat. It will be better to eat me then."
The Wolf believed her, and went away. Then he came a second time, and saw the Dog lying on the roof. The Wolf said to her:
"Well, have they had the wedding?"
The Dog replied:
"Listen, Wolf! If you catch me again asleep in front of the yard, do not wait for the wedding."
THE GNAT AND THE LION
A Gnat came to a Lion, and said:
"Do you think that you have more strength than I? You are mistaken! What does your strength consist in? Is it that you scratch with your claws, and gnaw with your teeth? That is the way the women quarrel with their husbands. I am stronger than you: if you wish let us fight!"
And the Gnat sounded his horn, and began to bite the Lion on his bare cheeks and his nose. The Lion struck his face with his paws and scratched it with his claws. He tore his face until the blood came, and gave up.
The Gnat trumpeted for joy, and flew away. Then he became entangled in a spider's web, and the spider began to suck him up. The Gnat said:
"I have vanquished the strong beast, the Lion, and now I perish from this nasty spider."
THE HORSE AND HIS MASTERS
A gardener had a Horse. She had much to do, but little to eat; so she began to pray to God to get another master. And so it happened. The gardener sold the Horse to a potter. The Horse was glad, but the potter had even more work for her to do. And again the Horse complained of her lot, and began to pray that she might get a better master. And this prayer, too, was fulfilled. The potter sold the Horse to a tanner. When the Horse saw the skins of horses in the tanner's yard, she began to cry:
"Woe to me, wretched one! It would be better if I could stay with my old masters. It is