The Woodpecker, the Fox, and the Crow

The woodpecker hollowed out a hole in an aspen tree, made a nest, and raised his young—three little woodpeckers.

The little ones were growing, and the woodpecker was overjoyed. "I'll raise my chicks," he thought, "and they'll be a help to me in my old age."

But as the saying goes, "If the woodpecker didn't have a long beak, no one would ever find him!" He couldn't keep his joy to himself and instead boasted about his children to the whole forest. Whoever he met, he bragged to them: "Oh, what wonderful children I have! So clever and so handsome. No one else in the world has such children!"

The fox heard about this. She wanted to taste the young woodpecker chicks. But how could she get them out of the nest? The fox didn't know how to climb trees.

The woodpecker raised his chicks—feeding them, giving them water—while the fox prowled around the aspen tree, baring her teeth and thinking of how to get rid of the woodpecker's chicks.

Finally, she came up with a plan.

One day, she approached the aspen tree and started thumping it with her tail.

The woodpecker stuck his head out of the hole:

"What are you doing, little fox? Why are you scaring my children?"

"Oh, is that so?" said the fox. "You have children?"

"Yes," said the woodpecker. "And they're such wonderful children!"

"Well, then, chase them out and get out yourself, or I'll chop down this tree right now..."

"Why do you need this tree?"

"Why? I'll cut it into firewood to heat my stove."

"Oh, little fox, oh, dear," the woodpecker began to plead. "Let me feed my chicks first, and then you can chop the tree. Where will I go with my little ones now?"

But the fox thumped the tree even harder with her tail:

"I can't wait for you to finish raising your children! It's your own fault for building your nest on this aspen tree. Aren't there enough trees in the forest?"

"That's true," said the woodpecker. "There are plenty of trees in the forest, but who could have known that this old, rotten aspen would be needed for your firewood!"

"You should have asked me before building your nest," the fox snapped. "It's your own fault!"

The woodpecker scratched his speckled head:

"What should I do, little fox? Advise me."

The cunning fox licked her lips, twirled her tail, and said:

"Toss me one of your chicks, and I won't chop down the tree."

The woodpecker thought it over—it was a pity to lose a chick, but what could he do? At least he'd still have two left. So he tossed one chick down. The fox caught it, ran behind a bush, and ate it.

The next day, the fox returned:

"Toss me another chick, or I'll chop down the tree," and she started thumping the aspen with her tail again.

No matter how much the woodpecker pleaded, he had to toss down another chick.

The fox liked the woodpecker chicks. A day later, she came back again. The woodpecker couldn't bear to part with his last chick. He said:

"Wait, little fox, at least until tomorrow. Let me comfort my little one a bit longer."

"Fine," the fox agreed. "I'll come back tomorrow."

The woodpecker sat in his hole, grieving and trying to think of a way to save himself from the fox. But he couldn't come up with anything.

Meanwhile, his friend, a gray crow, came to visit.

"So, this is how it is," the woodpecker said, hanging his head. "I'm in no mood for visitors, my friend: the fox is taking my last chick..."

The crow was an old and wise bird, not like the others.

"Fool," she said, "don't give it to her!"

"But then the fox will chop down the tree and kill us all anyway."

"She's just bluffing. When she comes tomorrow, tell her: 'Go ahead and chop, I'm not afraid of you!'"

The woodpecker was delighted. He thanked his clever friend the crow and even treated her to some bark beetles.

The next day, the fox came running.

"Well, woodpecker," she said, "give me what you promised, or I'll chop down the tree right now."

The woodpecker stuck his long beak out of the hole and said:

"Go ahead and chop, I'm not afraid of you!"

The fox was surprised: where had the woodpecker gotten such wisdom?

"Who taught you to talk like that?" she asked.

"My sister-in-law, the crow!" the woodpecker boldly replied.

The fox was furious at the woodpecker's friend, the gray crow.

"Just you wait," she thought, "I won't forgive you for this!" And she left, swallowing her anger.

She thought and thought about how to get revenge on the crow, and finally came up with a plan. She ran out to a clearing, lay down, and pretended to be dead.

The crow saw this from her tree. "Ah," she thought, "a nice meal is lying there."

She flapped her wings and in an instant was next to the fox. First, she pecked at the fox's tail to check if it was really dead.

The fox didn't move a muscle. She lay there as if lifeless.

The crow grew bolder, hopped up to the fox's head, and was about to peck at her eyes when the fox suddenly grabbed the crow by the leg!

"Aha!" the fox laughed, baring her teeth. "You've fallen into my trap instead of the woodpecker's chick! Now you'll know not to teach the woodpecker."

"Well," said the crow, "you've outsmarted me. Now I'm only afraid of one thing: that you'll torment me the way your mother tormented mine."

"How did she torment her? I don't remember."

"You were just a little one back then..."

"Tell me."

"Alright, I'll tell you," the crow agreed. "It happened like this. Your mother caught my mother. Just like you caught me now..."

"Ah, I see," the fox interrupted. "My mother wasn't as foolish as yours."

"Yes, yes," the crow replied. "She was indeed clever. She didn't want to eat my mother with the feathers—feathers aren't tasty!"

"Of course they're not!" the fox confirmed.

"So here's what your mother did: she took two sieves, placed my mother inside them, then put the sieves together and sent them rolling down a steep hill. Not a single feather was left on my mother—they all fell off. Brr!" the crow shuddered. "For us crows, that's the worst torment..."

"Good," thought the fox. "I won't be any dumber than my mother."

She fetched two sieves, placed the woodpecker's friend inside, and sent them rolling down a steep hill. The sieves split apart, and the crow flew up and perched on a tree.

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The Woodpecker, the Fox, and the Crow

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