How the Wolf Saved His Soul

Once, a wolf had his fill of carrion, stretched out, and thought: "Why do I keep sinning and sinning? I should think about saving my soul. I’ll go to Jerusalem and become a monk."

He thought it over and got to work. He said a prayer and set off on his journey, straight to Jerusalem.

As he walked, he came across a young cow.

"Hello, young cow!" the wolf called out.

"Hello, wolf!" replied the cow. "Where are you off to in such a hurry? What’s your business?"

"I want to become a monk. I’m going to Jerusalem to save my soul."

"Safe travels," said the cow. The wolf parted ways with the cow and continued on his journey. Soon, he saw two sheep grazing in a meadow.

"Hello, sheep!" the wolf shouted.

"Hello, wolf!" replied the sheep. "Where are you headed? Is it a long journey?"

"I’m going to Jerusalem, sheep. I’m going to become a monk and save my soul. I’ve accumulated many sins, and it’s become too heavy to bear."

"Safe travels!" the sheep wished him. The wolf passed the sheep and kept walking. As he went, he encountered a donkey. The donkey also blessed the wolf and wished him a good journey. The wolf continued on his way to Jerusalem. He walked and walked until he finally arrived. But by then, the wolf was hungry.

Jerusalem stood by the water. The wolf approached, looked from the shore, and saw many churches with monks bustling about, holding collection cups. The wolf thought to himself: "Why did I come here? They won’t even let a wolf like me into the church. I’ve become a fool—I didn’t touch the cow, the sheep, or even the donkey. I let them all go." The wolf turned around and went back to find the cow, the sheep, and the donkey.

Sure enough, he came across the donkey. The wolf didn’t even greet him this time—he just bared his teeth and lunged at the donkey. The donkey was surprised:

"Didn’t you go to Jerusalem to save your soul? And now you want to eat me?"

"When your stomach is empty, Jerusalem is the last thing on your mind," said the wolf. "Prepare yourself—I’m going to eat you now."

The donkey replied:

"Fine, eat me. But my poor owner spent a lot on me yesterday—he had me shod. At least take off the horseshoes so my owner isn’t doubly ruined."

The wolf clamped his teeth onto the horseshoes, trying to pull them off. But the donkey kicked him hard, knocked the "monk" off his feet, knocked out all his teeth, and galloped away. That was the last anyone saw of him.

The wolf barely caught his breath, got up, and grumbled:

"What kind of blacksmith am I, messing with horseshoes? Serves me right!"

The wolf limped off to find the sheep. As he walked, he indeed came across the sheep. He pounced on them:

"Now I’ll eat you both!" But the sheep stopped him and said:

"This meadow belongs to our owners. They recently divided us up—one of us went to one owner, the other to another. But the meadow hasn’t been divided yet. We wander around, not knowing where to graze. Do us a favor—help us divide the meadow, and then you can eat us."

"How am I supposed to divide it?" asked the wolf. "What kind of surveyor am I?"

"Just stand in the middle, and we’ll run toward you. Whoever reaches you first gets to graze on this meadow."

The wolf stood in the middle. The sheep ran at him with all their might and nearly trampled the poor wolf. The wolf fell, and the sheep ran off, disappearing into the distance.

The wolf barely managed to get up and dragged himself off to find the cow. As he walked, he cursed himself:

"Why did I meddle in something that’s not my business? What kind of surveyor am I? Why didn’t I just tear off their tails right away?"

Finally, the wolf-monk reached the cow. He walked straight up to her and said:

"I’m going to eat you now." The cow replied:

"Fine, eat me. What else can I do? But do me one favor—I love singing and music. They say you sing well! Sing something for me, and then you can eat me."

The cow led the wolf up a hill, ready to listen.

The wolf sat down and began to howl. The cow listened and listened, then crept up behind the wolf, gave him a good butt with her horns, and sent him tumbling down the cliff. Then she ran off.

Beaten and battered, the wolf barely made it back to his den. He sat down and whimpered:

"Why did I meddle? What made me think I could save my soul? What kind of blacksmith am I, trying to unshoe a donkey? What kind of surveyor am I, trying to divide a meadow for sheep? And what kind of singer am I, following a cow up a hill? If only someone were here to beat me good and proper—it’d serve me right!"

But in the wolf’s den, an elder had been hiding. Hearing the wolf, he came out of the den and started beating the wolf with a club as hard as he could.

The wolf ran off and thought to himself: "In this world, you can’t even speak your mind on your own doorstep."

This tale was learned from the wolf by the elder, the elder told it to me, and now I’ve retold it to you.

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How the Wolf Saved His Soul

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