The Kitten, the Rooster, and the Fox
Once upon a time, there lived a cat and a rooster. They lived well and in harmony. The cat would go hunting, and the rooster would cook meals, sweep the hut, and sing songs.One day, the cat went hunting, and the rooster locked the door behind him and started cooking dinner.
A fox came running, saw the hut, and approached the window:
- Hey, who's the master here?
- Me, said the rooster.
- Let me into the hut.
- Why?
- I’ll sit for a while and rest from the journey. The rooster was kind and let the fox in. But the fox—snatch-snap—grabbed him and carried him off to her home. The rooster came to his senses and cried out to the whole forest:
Brother cat!
The fox is carrying me
Through dark forests,
Over high mountains,
Into deep holes,
Through woods and bushes—
Oh, how scary it is there!
The cat heard this, ran over, took the rooster from the fox, and brought him back to the hut.
- Well, he said, next time don’t let the fox in. Now I’ll go further, and I might not hear you.
- Alright, said the rooster, I won’t let her in. The cat went hunting again. And the fox was right there.
- Rooster, my dear, clever little head, open up!
- What do you want?
- Lend me some fire.
- Why?
- To heat the stove.
- I won’t open the door, or you’ll grab me.
- No, I won’t grab you anymore. The rooster believed the fox and unlocked the door. But she grabbed him and carried him off.
The rooster started calling for the cat again:
Brother cat!
The fox is carrying me
Through dark forests,
Over high mountains,
Into deep holes,
Through woods and bushes—
Oh, how scary it is there!
Luckily, the cat hadn’t gone far from home: he heard the rooster, ran over, and took him back from the fox.
- Well, he said to the rooster, if you open the door for the fox a third time, you’ll be in trouble: now I’ll go hunting even farther.
- No, said the rooster, I won’t open the door for that villainess again.
- Be careful!
And the cat went into the deepest forests.
The fox came running:
- Rooster, my dear, clever little head, give me some coal!
- No, I won’t open the door for you now! But you can pass it through the window.
- Through the window is fine, agreed the rooster.
He opened the window, and the fox grabbed him and carried him off.
The rooster cried and cried, but the cat didn’t hear him: he had gone too far.
The fox brought the rooster home and told her daughters to heat the stove and cook soup from the rooster. She herself went to invite guests.
The cat returned from hunting, looked—no rooster. "Maybe the fox grabbed him again?" thought the cat. "How can I save him from trouble now?"
He made a loud little fiddle and went to the fox’s house.
He arrived, sat by the gate, and started playing, singing:
Tili-tili, fiddle,
Here sat the little fox.
And the fox has
A new yard
And seven daughters
All so fine.
But the eighth is the rooster—
He’s mine!
The fox’s daughters heard the music and said, "How beautifully someone is playing! Let’s go listen, and we’ll still have time to cook the rooster."
They ran out into the yard and were so enchanted by the music. Meanwhile, the rooster wasn’t idle; he jumped out of the fox’s house and ran home with the cat. And so the fox was left with nothing.
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