The wolf and the fox

The wolf and the fox (Kalmyk fairytales)

Once upon a time a wolf and a fox were animal friends.

Once they went together and found a rumen * with food in it on the path.

‘Let’s eat it’, the wolf said.

‘No, a lot of people pass by this place. We should reach the top of the high mountain and eat it there. You will carry it’, the fox said.

The wolf picked up the rumen, brought it and put it onto the top of the mountain.

After they had brought it onto the top of the mountain, the fox said:

‘Neither of us will be sated with it; let one of us eat it’.

‘Which of us will eat it?’ the wolf asked.

‘Let the older one eat it. How old are you?’ the fox asked.

The wolf wanted to deceive the fox and said:

‘This crooked mountain was the small size of a sheep’s head in my childhood; and as to the sea, it was a puddle’.

Hearing these words, the fox burst into tears.

‘Why are you crying?’ the wolf was surprised.

‘I have thought of my three cubs and cannot keep in my feelings … The youngest one was of the same age’ the fox said, sobbing.

Hearing these words, the wolf left the rumen to the fox and ran away.

A rumen * - a ruminant’s tripe, the first division of a ruminant’s stomach.

Translated from Kalmyk into English by Danara Balayeva-Kokayeva
Перевод с калмыцкого на английский Данары Балаевой-Кокаевой

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