Serko

Once upon a time, a peasant had a dog named Serko, but the dog grew very old. The owner saw that Serko was no longer of any use and drove him out of the yard. Serko wandered through the fields.

A wolf approached him and asked:

- What are you doing here?

Serko replied:

- Well, brother, my owner drove me away, so now I’m wandering here.

- Do you want, - said the wolf, - me to make your owner take you back?

Serko said:

- Please do, my dear, and I’ll find a way to repay you.

The wolf said:

- Alright, listen: when your owner and his wife go out to work in the field, the wife will put her child under a haystack. You should walk around the field so I’ll know where it is. I’ll grab the child, and you’ll take it from me. I’ll pretend to be scared and drop it.

The owner and his wife went out to work in the field. The wife placed her child under a haystack and started working nearby with her husband. Suddenly, the wolf ran through the rye, grabbed the child, and carried it across the field.

Serko chased after the wolf.

He managed to catch up, took the child from the wolf, and brought it back to the owner. The owner then took some bread and a piece of bacon from his bag and said:

- Here, Serko, eat this for saving the child from the wolf!

That evening, as they returned from the field, they took Serko with them. When they got home, the owner said:

- Wife, cook a big pot of buckwheat dumplings and season them well with bacon!

As soon as the dumplings were ready, the owner sat Serko at the table, sat down beside him, and said:

- Alright, wife, serve the dumplings, we’ll have dinner.

The wife served the food. The owner put some in Serko’s bowl, being so careful not to let him burn himself with the hot food!

Serko thought to himself: “I must repay the wolf for this favor.”

Later, when the owner waited for the meat-eating season and married off his daughter, Serko went out to the field, found the wolf, and said:

- Come to our garden on Sunday evening, I’ll let you into the house and repay you for the favor you did me.

The wolf waited until Sunday and came to the place Serko had pointed out. That very day, the owner was celebrating a wedding. Serko went out to meet the wolf, led him into the house, and sat him under the table. Serko then took a bottle of vodka and a big piece of meat from the table and brought it to the wolf under the table. The people wanted to beat the dog for this, but the owner said:

- Don’t beat Serko, he did me a service, and I’ll repay him with kindness for the rest of his life.

Serko took the best food from the table and gave it to the wolf, feeding and drinking with him until the wolf couldn’t hold back and said:

- I’ll sing!

But Serko said:

- Don’t sing, or you’ll be in trouble! I’ll give you another bottle of vodka, but stay quiet. The wolf drank the bottle and said:

- Now I’ll sing! And he howled under the table!

Some people ran out of the house, others rushed to beat the wolf. Serko pounced on the wolf, pretending to strangle him. The owner said:

- Don’t beat the wolf, or you’ll kill Serko too! He’ll handle it himself.

Then Serko led the wolf out to the field and said:

- You did me a favor, and I repaid you with kindness. Let’s part ways now.

And so they said goodbye.

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Serko

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