If You Don't Like It, Don't Listen

A man had sown a lot of peas in his field. Cranes started flying in and pecking at the peas.

"Wait a minute," the man thought, "I'll break your legs!"

He bought a bucket of wine, poured it into a trough, mixed in some honey, placed the trough on his cart, and headed to the field. When he arrived at his plot, he set the trough with the wine and honey on the ground, then stepped away and lay down to rest.

Soon, the cranes flew in, pecked at the peas, noticed the wine, and drank so much that they immediately fell over. The man, quick on his feet, ran over and began tying their legs with ropes. He bound them up, attached them to the cart, and headed home.

On the way, the jostling of the cart sobered the cranes up. They came to their senses, flapped their wings, rose into the air, and flew off, taking the man, the cart, and the horse with them. High up they went! The man took out a knife, cut the ropes, and fell straight into a swamp.

He sat in the muck for a whole day before finally managing to crawl out. When he returned home, his wife had given birth, and he needed to fetch the priest to baptize the child.

"No," he said, "I won't go fetch the priest!"

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid of the cranes! They might carry me through the skies again; I might fall off the cart and get killed!"

"Don't be afraid! We'll tie you to the cart with a rope."

So they laid him in the cart, tied him down with a rope, turned the horse onto the road, and gave it a couple of lashes. The horse started trotting along. Just outside the village, there was a well, and the horse, being thirsty, decided to take a drink. It turned off the road toward the well. The well had no curb, the harness had no breeching, the bridle had no reins, and the collar was large and loose. The horse bent down to drink, and the collar slipped right over its head. After drinking, the horse walked away, leaving the man and the cart by the well.

At that moment, hunters chased a bear out of the forest. The bear, running at full speed, came upon the cart, tried to jump over it, but instead landed right in the collar! Realizing the trouble it was in, the bear began dragging the cart with all its might.

"Help! Help!" the man cried.

The bear, frightened by the shouting, started dragging the cart over hummocks, ravines, and swamps. It ran to an apiary, climbed a tree, and dragged the cart up with it—apparently wanting to taste some honey. It climbed to the very top, but the cart was pulling it down. The poor bear was in a bind—it couldn't go up or down!

A short while later, the owner of the apiary arrived and saw the bear.

"Aha," he said, "caught you! Look at you, you lazy bear: you didn't just come for honey—you brought a cart with you!"

He grabbed an axe and started chopping the tree at its base. The tree fell to the ground, smashed the cart, and completely crushed the man. The bear jumped out of the collar and ran away as fast as its legs could carry it.

And that's the kind of trouble cranes can cause!

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If You Don't Like It, Don't Listen

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