Hare and hedgehog
This tale, guys, looks like a fable, but still it is true, my grandfather, from whom I heard it, used to say every time he told it with feeling and sense:
“There is truth in it, son; otherwise why would they start telling it?”
And this is how it happened.
It happened one Sunday morning, at harvest time, just when the buckwheat was blooming. The sun rose bright in the sky, the morning wind blew through the mown stubble, the larks sang over the fields, the bees hummed in the buckwheat; people went to church in festive clothes, and every creature on earth rejoiced, including the hedgehog.
And the hedgehog stood at his door with his arms folded, breathed the morning air and hummed to himself a cheerful song - neither good nor bad, the kind hedgehogs usually sing on a warm Sunday morning. And when he was quietly humming this song to himself, it occurred to him that he could, while his wife was bathing and dressing the children, take a short walk across the field and watch the rutabaga grow. And rutabaga grew very close to his house, and he always ate it with his family, and that’s why he looked at it as if it were his own. No sooner said than done. The hedgehog locked the door behind him and headed out into the field. Having gone not far from the house, he wanted to make his way through the thorns that grew near the field, almost at the place where rutabaga grew, and suddenly he noticed a hare who had gone out for the same thing - to look at his cabbage. The hedgehog saw the hare and wished him good morning. And the hare was a gentleman who seemed to be noble and very arrogant. He did not answer the hedgehog’s greeting and said to him, making a contemptuous grimace:
“Why are you running around the field here so early?”
“I’m walking,” says the hedgehog.
- Are you out for a walk? - the hare laughed. “I think you could use your legs for something more useful.”
This answer greatly annoyed the hedgehog: he could have endured anything, but he did not allow anything to be said about his legs - they were too crooked.
“Apparently you imagine,” said the hedgehog to the hare, “that you can control it better with your legs?”
“I think,” answered the hare.
“We still need to check this,” said the hedgehog. “I’m ready to bet that if you and I start running, I’ll come running first.”
- Yes, this is downright funny - you, with your crooked legs? - said the hare. - Well, if you have such a big desire, I probably agree. What are we going to argue about?
“For one gold louis d’or and a bottle of vodka,” says the hedgehog.
- It's coming! - answered the hare. - Well, then let's start now.
“No, why should we be in such a hurry, I don’t agree,” says the hedgehog, “after all, I haven’t eaten or drunk anything yet.” First I’ll go home and have some breakfast, and in half an hour I’ll return to the same place.
The hare agreed, and the hedgehog headed home. On the way, the hedgehog thought to himself: “The hare relies on his long legs, but I’ll outwit him. Although he is a noble gentleman, but stupid, he will surely lose.”
The hedgehog came home and said to his wife:
“Wife, quickly get dressed, you’ll have to go to the field with me.”
- What happened? she asks.
“Well, the hare and I bet on one gold louis d’or and a bottle of vodka: I want to run head to head with him, and you should be there.”
- Oh, my God! - his wife began to shout at him. - Are you really crazy? Are you out of your mind? How can you run headlong with a hare?
“Yes, wife, you’d better shut up,” the hedgehog tells her, “this is my business.” Don't interfere in men's affairs. Go get dressed and come with me.
What was she supposed to do here? Like it or not, she had to follow her husband.
The two of them walk along the road to the field, and the hedgehog says to his wife:
“Now listen carefully to what I tell you.” You see, across that big field over there we will run with the hare. The hare will run along one furrow, and I will run along the other, and we will start running from the mountain. And your job is only to stand here, below, on the furrow. When the hare runs along his furrow, you shout towards him: “And I’m already here!”
With that they got to the field. The hedgehog showed his wife the place where she should stand, and he himself went higher. When he arrived, the hare was already there.
- Let's start, shall we? - says the hare.
“Okay,” the hedgehog answers, “let’s start.”
And everyone stood in his own furrow. The hare began to count: “Well, one, two, three,” and rushed like a whirlwind down the field. And the hedgehog ran about three steps, then climbed into the furrow and sat down there calmly.
The hare ran to the end of the field, and the hedgehog shouted towards him:
- And I’m already here!
The hare stopped and was quite surprised: he thought that it was, of course, the hedgehog himself who was screaming - and it is known that the hedgehog looks exactly the same as the hedgehog. But the hare thought: “Something is wrong here” and shouted:
- Let's run back again!
And he rushed like a whirlwind, with his ears flattened, along the furrow, and the hedgehog remained calmly in her place. The hare ran to the end of the field, and the hedgehog shouted towards him:
- And I’m already here!
The hare got angry and shouted:
- Let's run back again!
“As you wish,” answered the hedgehog, “I don’t care, as much as you like.”
So the hare ran seventy-three more times, and the hedgehog still came first. Every time the hare ran to the edge of the field, the hedgehog or hedgehog woman said:
- And I’m already here!
But the seventy-fourth time the hare did not reach the end: he fell on his front legs, his throat began to bleed, and he could not move further.
The hedgehog took the gold louis d'or and a bottle of vodka he had won, called his wife out of the furrow, and they went home together, both quite satisfied with each other. If they have not died, then they are still alive.
That's how it happened, that a simple field hedgehog overtook the hare, and from that time on, not a single hare dared to run head-to-head with the hedgehog anymore.
And the lesson from this fairy tale is this: firstly, no one, no matter how noble he considers himself to be, should allow himself to mock an ordinary person - even a hedgehog. Secondly, the following advice is given: if anyone decides to get married, then let him take a wife from the same circle as himself, and let her be like himself. So, let’s say, if you are a hedgehog, then take a hedgehog as your wife, and so on.
Russian fairy tale
Leo Tolstoy's fairy tale "The Hedgehog and the Hare"
Children, to whom the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy dedicated many instructive stories, fables and short fairy tales, are always interested in reading about the world around them, about familiar animals. Every child knows from famous Russian folk tales and cartoons about the hare and the prickly hedgehog. Namely, it is about them that the story is told in the work “The Hedgehog and the Hare”.
What is the fairy tale about?
A hedgehog and a hare met. The oblique bully decided to hurt the harmless hedgehog with his remark. For some reason, it seemed to him that the prickly interlocutor had crooked legs, which is why they were constantly getting tangled. Of course, this angered the hedgehog, but he was cunning and decided to teach the hare a lesson. The hedgehog challenged the enemy to a competition to see who could catch up with whom. The hedgehog just asked him to wait while he went home.
And the hedgehog asked his wife for help, telling her about his argument with the hare. I decided that I could win with my flexible mind. We decided to run to a field that had just been plowed. The hedgehog planted his wife in the furrow at one end, and began to wait for the hare at the other end. When the hare has to reach the end of the furrow, the hedgehog's wife will have to come out and say that she has been waiting for the hare here for a long time. After the start, the hedgehog pretended to run and came back. Only the hare reached the finish line, and the hedgehog’s wife came forward and spoke as the hedgehog had taught her. The hare didn’t believe it, asked to run again, and when he ran to the beginning of the furrow, he saw a hedgehog there. Again the hare ran along the furrow. So I ran while I had the strength. After that, the hare swore that he would never argue with anyone again.
Author's instructions to children
What is the main thing in any dispute and competition? It is important to use your ingenuity and intelligence. All readers understood perfectly well from the very beginning of the tale that the hedgehog will never outrun the nimble runner and jumper of the hare. But what interesting content Tolstoy came up with! The text of the fairy tale is dynamic, it is so alive, as if you were imagining how a competing hedgehog and a hare were running. Let us remember what the hedgehog said about the hopeless outcome of the dispute, but the hedgehog did not despair, he came up with a reliable way to outwit the hare. And the cunning, side-eyed, eared hare forever abandoned the desire to argue with anyone. And the most important thing is that the hare will now not offend anyone with insults. So what if a hedgehog has crooked legs - why laugh at it? Well-mannered animals and people do not behave this way. The author talks about such moments in his book of fairy tales.
Folk wisdom
As always, Lev Nikolaevich wrote based on proverbs, which he did not mention, since there are too many of them. Children will find them themselves. Just a few of them can be cited as examples. Here they are: “Resourcefulness and intelligence are friends” and “Where you can’t take it by force, you need to grab it.”
Read the story “ The Hedgehog and the Hare ” by the Russian writer Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy online for free and without registration in large print.
A fairy tale about a wolf, a hare and a hedgehog
Once the Wolf was driving through the forest in his truck. As usual, he was very hungry and angry. For several days now he had not come across a single hare, or even a mouse of any kind. Suddenly he looks - a Bunny is walking along the forest road. The Wolf was happy. “Well, finally,” he thought, “now I’ll eat.” The Wolf drove up closer and shouted to the Hare: “Hello, Bunny.” Where are you going? - Hello, Wolf. I’m going to the neighboring forest to see my uncle. Today is his name day. - So sit down, I'll give you a ride. — The Wolf suggested joyfully. The bunny was still very young and very trusting. He decided that it would indeed be faster by car and sat down with the Wolf. They go, they go. The Wolf tells all sorts of fables to the Hare. The Bunny looks - they have already passed through their native forest, and a clearing beyond the forest, and now they have entered an old oak forest. “Listen, Wolf,” says the Bunny. “I think we’re going to the wrong place.” No matter how many times I go to visit my uncle, I have never walked through this old forest. “Don’t worry,” the Wolf reassured him. - It's just a shortcut. We'll be there now. The Bunny believed the Wolf again and calmed down. But time passed, and the old forest did not end. It was getting darker. At this point the Bunny got completely scared. - Wolf, we are definitely lost. Let's turn the car around. We probably took a wrong turn. - Back and forth. — The Wolf groaned contentedly. - Here we are. After these words the car stopped. -Where have you arrived? - Poor Bunny was already seriously scared. - This is not the place for me. “But this is where I want to go,” the Wolf answered menacingly and pulled his clawed paws towards the Hare. “Oh-oh-oh,” Bunny shouted and jumped out of the car. He ran wherever he could, climbed into some dense thickets and hid. Meanwhile, the Wolf also got out of the car and rushed after the Hare. But he turned out to be faster and the Wolf lost sight of him. - Hare! Hare! - The Wolf started calling. - Come out, Hare. Don't be afraid, I won't do anything to you! - and quietly added: I’ll just eat and that’s it. And the unfortunate Hare huddled to the ground in his shelter and was afraid to even breathe. Suddenly, right next to his ear, he heard snoring. - What are you doing here? “Our fugitive heard an unfamiliar quiet voice. The Hedgehog sat right in front of his nose and carefully examined the Hare. - I'm hiding. - From whom? - The Hedgehog asked again. - From a wolf. - From a wolf - that's right. The wolf is not your brother's friend. How did you get here? We never had hares here when we were born. “It’s just...” Bunny began to answer. And suddenly he stopped. He realized that it was his own fault for believing the Wolf, and now he was ashamed to admit it. - Well, I was just going to my uncle’s for his name day. And here is the Wolf in the car. Well... and he said: Let me give you a ride. -Yeah, and got into his car? “Well, yes,” the Hare admitted very quietly. - Yeah, yeah. Well, anything can happen. Okay, don’t shake, now we’ll figure out how to help you. Sit here quietly. Meanwhile, the Wolf was coming closer and closer to the bush in which the Hare was hiding. - Hello, Wolf. - Suddenly he heard. - Who is here? - The Wolf jumped in surprise. - It's me, Hedgehog. What are you looking for here, Wolf? Are you shouting to the whole forest? So look and wake up our Bear? And when he doesn’t get enough sleep - oh, how angry! “Yes, I’m looking for the Hare here,” the Wolf answered in a whisper. I no longer wanted to meet Bear. - What Hare? - Asked the Hedgehog. “We don’t have hares here.” - Yes, I’m looking for my Hare. On the way I picked him up, poor thing. He got lost. I was taking him home, but he got scared, thought that I wanted to eat him and ran away. Look, the poor fellow got lost in your forest. The wolf lied so touchingly that a tear ran down his shaggy face. “Oh, trouble, trouble,” Hedgehog shook his head. - We need to find the poor thing. I think I saw something gray flash in that bush. Let's go show you. The Wolf was glad that the Hedgehog believed him and hurried after him. And the Hedgehog took the Wolf further and further into the impassable jungle, until he was completely confused. - Hey, Hedgehog! - The Wolf shouted, “Where have you taken me?” Yozh, where are you? Nobody answered him. The wolf screamed for a long time and wandered between the thorny bushes until he was completely tired. He sat down on the cold moss and howled. And the Hedgehog helped the Hare get out of his shelter. They got into Wolf's truck and drove back. The Bunny invited the Hedgehog to his uncle's name day, and they had a fun walk. And from then on, the Bunny no longer trusted the Wolves.
