Fables for Children, Stories for Children, Natural Science Stories, Popular Education, Decembrists, Moral Tales. Лев Николаевич Толстой
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once."
The Elephant said:
"Can I be pulled out by a tail?"
But the Jackal said to him:
"Why, then, do you command us to do what is impossible? Did we not drive away our first king for telling us to do what could not be done?"
When the Elephant died in the swamp the Jackals came and ate him up.
THE HERON, THE FISHES, AND THE CRAB
A Heron was living near a pond. She grew old, and had no strength left with which to catch the fish. She began to contrive how to live by cunning. So she said to the Fishes:
"You Fishes do not know that a calamity is in store for you: I have heard the people say that they are going to let off the pond, and catch every one of you. I know of a nice little pond back of the mountain. I should like to help you, but I am old, and it is hard for me to fly."
The Fishes begged the Heron to help them. So the Heron said:
"All right, I will do what I can for you, and will carry you over: only I cannot do it at once, – I will take you there one after another."
And the Fishes were happy; they kept begging her: "Carry me over! Carry me over!"
And the Heron started carrying them. She would take one up, would carry her into the field, and would eat her up. And thus she ate a large number of Fishes.
In the pond there lived an old Crab. When the Heron began to take out the Fishes, he saw what was up, and said:
"Now, Heron, take me to the new abode!"
The Heron took the Crab and carried him off. When she flew out on the field, she wanted to throw the Crab down. But the Crab saw the fish-bones on the ground, and so squeezed the Heron's neck with his claws, and choked her to death. Then he crawled back to the pond, and told the Fishes.
THE WATER-SPRITE AND THE PEARL
A Man was rowing in a boat, and dropped a costly pearl into the sea. The Man returned to the shore, took a pail, and began to draw up the water and to pour it out on the land. He drew the water and poured it out for three days without stopping.
On the fourth day the Water-sprite came out of the sea, and asked:
"Why are you drawing the water?"
The Man said:
"I am drawing it because I have dropped a pearl into it."
The Water-sprite asked him:
"Will you stop soon?"
The Man said:
"I will stop when I dry up the sea."
Then the Water-sprite returned to the sea, brought back that pearl, and gave it to the Man.
THE BLIND MAN AND THE MILK
A Man born blind asked a Seeing Man:
"Of what colour is milk?"
The Seeing Man said: "The colour of milk is the same as that of white paper."
The Blind Man asked: "Well, does that colour rustle in your hands like paper?"
The Seeing Man said: "No, it is as white as white flour."
The Blind Man asked: "Well, is it as soft and as powdery as flour?"
The Seeing Man said: "No, it is simply as white as a white hare."
The Blind Man asked: "Well, is it as fluffy and soft as a hare?"
The Seeing Man said: "No, it is as white as snow."
The Blind Man asked: "Well, is it as cold as snow?"
And no matter how many examples the Seeing Man gave, the Blind Man was unable to understand what the white colour of milk was like.
THE WOLF AND THE BOW
A hunter went out to hunt with bow and arrows. He killed a goat. He threw her on his shoulders and carried her along. On his way he saw a boar. He threw down the goat, and shot at the boar and wounded him. The boar rushed against the hunter and butted him to death, and himself died on the spot. A Wolf scented the blood, and came to the place where lay the goat, the boar, the man, and his bow. The Wolf was glad, and said:
"Now I shall have enough to eat for a long time; only I will not eat everything at once, but little by little, so that nothing may be lost: first I will eat the tougher things, and then I will lunch on what is soft and sweet."
The Wolf sniffed at the goat, the boar, and the man, and said:
"This is all soft food, so I will eat it later; let me first start on these sinews of the bow."
And he began to gnaw the sinews of the bow. When he bit through the string, the bow sprang back and hit him on his belly. He died on the spot, and other wolves ate up the man, the goat, the boar, and the Wolf.
THE BIRDS IN THE NET
A Hunter set out a net near a lake and caught a number of birds. The birds were large, and they raised the net and flew away with it. The Hunter ran after them. A Peasant saw the Hunter running, and said:
"Where are you running? How can you catch up with the birds, while you are on foot?"
The Hunter said:
"If it were one bird, I should not catch it, but now I shall."
And so it happened. When evening came, the birds began to pull for the night each in a different direction: one to the woods, another to the swamp, a third to the field; and all fell with the net to the ground, and the Hunter caught them.
THE KING AND THE FALCON
A certain King let his favourite Falcon loose on a hare, and galloped after him.
The Falcon caught the hare. The King took him away, and began to look for some water to drink. The King found it on a knoll, but it came only drop by drop. The King fetched his cup from the saddle, and placed it under the water. The Water flowed in drops, and when the cup was filled, the King raised it to his mouth and wanted to drink it. Suddenly the Falcon fluttered on the King's arm and spilled the water. The King placed the cup once more under the drops. He waited for a long time for the cup to be filled even with the brim, and again, as he carried it to his mouth, the Falcon flapped his wings and spilled the water.
When the King filled his cup for the third time and began to carry it to his mouth, the Falcon again spilled it. The King flew into a rage and killed him by flinging him against a stone with all his force. Just then the King's servants rode up, and one of them ran up-hill to the spring, to find as much water as possible, and to fill the cup. But the servant did not bring the water; he returned with the empty cup, and said:
"You cannot drink that water; there is a snake in the spring, and she has let her venom into the water. It is fortunate that the Falcon has spilled the water. If you had drunk it, you would have died."
The King said:
"How badly I have repaid the Falcon! He has saved my life, and I killed him."
THE KING AND THE ELEPHANTS
An Indian King ordered all the Blind People to be assembled, and when they came, he ordered that all the Elephants be shown to them. The Blind Men went to the stable and began to feel the Elephants. One felt a leg, another a tail, a third the stump of a tail, a fourth a belly, a fifth a back, a sixth the ears, a seventh the tusks, and an eighth a trunk.
Then the King called the Blind Men, and asked them: "What are my Elephants like?"
One Blind Man said: "Your Elephants are like posts." He had felt the legs.
Another Blind Man said: "They are like bath brooms." He had felt the end of the tail.
A third said: "They are like branches." He had felt the tail stump.
The one who had touched a belly said: "The Elephants are like a clod of earth."
The one who had touched the sides said: "They are like a wall."
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