The Cowardly Hare, the Foolish Wolf, and the Cunning Fox

Once upon a time, there was a timid little hare. One day, he decided to rest under an oak tree. A crow landed on the oak and dropped an acorn down. The acorn hit the hare right on the forehead. The scaredy-hare got frightened, jumped up, and started running as fast as he could, thinking that the sky was falling and a piece of it had landed on his head.

As he was running, he met a wolf:

"Where are you going, hare?"

"Run, brother! The sky is falling!"

The foolish wolf believed him and started running alongside the hare.

Then they met a fox. She joined them without even asking where they were going or why.

The three of them ran together. They reached a secluded spot and hid there. It was a safe place, but there was nothing to eat.

The wolf got hungry and ate the hare. That satisfied his hunger for a little while, but soon he got hungry again and started eyeing the fox.

The fox realized what the wolf was thinking and decided to outsmart him. She looked around and saw a magpie sitting in a tree. She pointed at it and asked the wolf:

"Listen, gray one, do you want to become as colorful as the magpie? Then people won't recognize you!"

"I do," said the wolf.

"Let's go to the river. There are always buffaloes lying in the water there. We'll kill one, crawl through its carcass, and become colorful."

They went along the river, found a buffalo, and killed it.

"Now let's crawl through the carcass," said the fox, "and we'll become as colorful as the magpie."

"Alright, but you go first," agreed the wolf. The fox poked a hole in the carcass with a stick, just big enough for herself to crawl through. The sly fox ran and slipped through the hole. The wolf ran, stuck his head in, and got stuck—he couldn't go forward or backward! The fox grabbed the stick and started beating the wolf. The wolf howled, but who would help him?

And so, the foolish wolf perished. The cunning fox ate her fill of buffalo meat and ran off into the forest.

And that's the end of the tale.

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The Cowardly Hare, the Foolish Wolf, and the Cunning Fox

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