The Hardworking Hen
One day, while pecking here and there in search of food, a hen found a grain of wheat.
“What luck! I’ll sow it!”
She cheerfully called her neighbors to help her dig a deep hole in the ground.
“Ouch, ouch! My feet hurt,” said Zapata, the duck.
“Ouch, ouch! My back hurts,” complained Juan, the piglet.
“I’d love to help you, but I’m really tired,” said Luis, the cat.
So the hen did it all by herself: she prepared the soil with her beak and claws, then sowed the grain of wheat and finally covered it well. She watered it every day until a seedling appeared, at first thin and green, then gradually becoming stronger and stronger. The hen worked hard, while her friends had fun and ran up and down the fields.
Finally, one fine day the hen picked the ripe ear. She ground it and prepared a delicious cake with the flour she had made.
“What a wonderful smell! Our mouths are watering!” said the duck, the piglet and the cat in chorus.
But the hen gathered her chicks around her and celebrated with them instead.
“Only those who worked can have a piece, not idlers like you,” she said, cutting the delicious cake.
The Mice and the Cat
Once upon a time, there was a cat called Rodilardus, and he was a great hunter of mice. The few who remained did not have the courage to leave their hiding places, and were reduced to eating not even a quarter of what they needed to satiate their hunger.
One day, however, the cat set off to deal with some personal matters and the surviving mice, taking advantage of him being away, held a meeting to find and discuss a solution to the great danger that loomed over them. Having declared the session open, the big chief — an old mouse known for his prudence — said that in his opinion, they should find a way to attach a bell around Rodilardus’ neck as soon as possible.
That way, when the cat set off on his rodent hunting trips, the mice would be alerted by the sound and have time to seek refuge in their holes. There seemed to be no better solution, and all the mice shared the wise old mouse’s opinion.
The only problem was how they would put the bell around the cat’s neck.
One mouse said: “I’m not going; I’m not crazy!”
Another murmured: “I couldn’t possibly do it.”
The meeting ended without resolving anything, because the mice could not agree.
And so the mice are still there, hiding in their holes, waiting for the best time to escape from the clutches of the big cat.
The Clever Sparrow
Once upon a time, there was a hungry cat wandering around a park looking for food. Up ahead he saw a sparrow, and in one bound he pounced and captured it. Proud of his hunting skills, the cat’s mouth started watering at the thought of his tasty banquet. Our friend spent a little time playing with his prey as cats do but as he was finally getting ready to eat it, the sparrow spoke to him:
“Cat, you amaze me. Don’t you know that the King’s cat and all his family never start a meal without washing first?”
“Really?” the big cat replied in surprise. “Well, I’m certainly not ill-mannered, so I’ll do as the King’s cat does.”
And so he did. But in order to wash himself he had to let go of his prey, and in a flash the clever sparrow was free again. The cat realized that he had been had, and crestfallen he said:
“Well, the joke’s on me! I was a real fool to listen to the sparrow.” And that’s why since then all cats only wash themselves after eating!
DENMARK
Prince White Bear
Once upon a time, there was a king who had three daughters. One day, when he was with his eldest daughter, he saw a giant bear enter the courtyard of their castle. The girl tried to make the bear leave, but instead he invited her to go with him. The indignant princess angrily drove him away.
A few days later, the bear came back, but the second sister did exactly the same as the eldest.
A week later, the bear returned to the castle again. However, this time the third sister decided to follow him. The bear took her to a cave in the forest and told her: “By day I am a bear, but at night I turn into a prince. Promise me that at night you will resist the temptation to look at me: if you can do this for seven years, I will be free and then I can marry you!”
The princess and the bear lived happily in the cave for two years. Then one day, the princess heard that her sister was getting married and decided to go to the wedding. Her relatives tried to convince her to look at her prince, but she refused. Two years later, the princess returned to her relatives for the second sister’s wedding, and again they were unable to persuade her to look at the bear’s true face.
Another two years passed, and it was time for her father to celebrate the anniversary of his reign. The princess went to the party and this time she allowed her relatives to persuade her to return to the cave with a match, in the light of which she would be able to admire the true face of her beloved.
Back at the cave, she lit the match and saw the most handsome prince she’d ever seen! But she only saw it for a second because the prince woke up, and after telling her that she would find him far away from there, he instantly disappeared. The princess traveled through treacherous lands, until she reached the enchanted castle where her prince lay in a deep sleep.
The princess tried to wake him, but her attempts were in vain. Heartbroken, she began to cry. A tear fell onto the prince’s cheek, and he awoke: the princess’s love had broken the spell. The two lovers could finally get married, and they lived happily ever after, near the forest where they had met.
The Eagle and the Wren
The eagle and wren were competing to see which of the two could fly higher. The winner would become the king of the birds. The wren left first, straight up into the sky.
But the eagle caught up with him, leaving the wren behind by gracefully flying large circles in the air. The wren was tired, so when the eagle passed him he silently rested on the eagle’s broad back. “Hey, Wren, where are you?” he shouted. “I’m here,” replied the wren, “just above you.” And that is how the cunning wren won the competition.
A Dragon in the City
A long time ago, in Poland, the city of Krakow was governed by Prince Krak. He was loved so much by his subjects that the city bore his name. Life there was peaceful and its inhabitants lived in harmony with each other.
Then, out of the blue, animals and people started to mysteriously disappear, seemingly vanishing without a trace. The citizens were convinced that a kidnapper was hiding amongst them, but they had absolutely no idea who it was. That was until one day, when some of the inhabitants discovered a huge cave underneath the beautiful castle of Wawel, inside of which a terrifying monster was hiding: Smok the dragon! They had found who was responsible for the mysterious abductions!
Prince Krak tried every way possible to kill the monster, but without success. He decided to make an announcement: “The man who kills the monster Smok and frees our beloved city, will win my daughter’s hand in marriage and inherit half my kingdom.”
The offer was so tempting that many knights tried to complete the difficult task, but none of them succeeded in killing the dragon. Meanwhile, the weeks passed and by this time all the inhabitants were afraid of sooner or later ending up in the jaws of the monster.
Finally, a young cobbler named Dratewka showed up at the palace one day, claiming to have devised a way to defeat Smok. Although the Prince didn’t have much faith in a simple cobbler, he invited him to try. Dratewka did not allow to himself be discouraged by Krak’s doubts, and he put his plan into practice: he sewed together some pieces of leather and made a fake sheep, then he filled it with poison and placed it at the entrance of the dragon’s cave. He was certain that Smok would not ignore the tasty morsel!
And the cobbler was right: as soon as Smok saw the sheep, he grabbed it with his claw and devoured it in one bite. But the dragon shouldn’t have been so greedy: he immediately got a terrible stomach ache. Smok left the cave under the castle, looking for water to appease the pain, and he never returned. He had been defeated by the cunning of a simple cobbler and the city celebrated its freedom from fear!
As the Prince had promised, Dratewka married the princess and he ruled justly and wisely over the half of the kingdom he had rightfully earned.
The Farmer and the Bear
It was dawn, and like every other day the farmer was plowing his field. Suddenly, a huge bear emerged from the forest and pounced on the man, frightening him to death.
“What do you want from me?” cried the terrified man. “If it’s food you’re looking for, let the vegetables grow and you can have as much as you want.”
The bear thought about it for a moment, and then said:
“Okay. Let’s make a deal: I will take everything that grows above ground.”
So the smart farmer planted potatoes and, when the harvest was ready, the bear had to settle for the leaves.
“Next time,” said the bear angrily, “I will take everything that grows underground!”
This time, the farmer sowed wheat, taking the ripe ears for himself and leaving the withered roots for the bear. The bear went on a rampage and started shouting: “You won’t trick me again. This time I want everything that grows both above and below the ground.”
So the farmer planted sugar cane. As soon as it was harvested, the bear ate the roots and the leaves, after which he was sick for a very long time, leaving the poor farmer in peace.
The Fox and the Flamingo
A bird, having carefully built its nest of twigs on a rather tall tree, laid its eggs and patiently waited for them to hatch, happily singing to herself. The little chicks finally pecked their way out of their shells, and they quickly grew up to be beautiful and plump. But one day, a hungry fox came to the foot of the tree and threatened the bird and its chicks. Out of sadness and fear, the bird stopped singing.
One morning, a flamingo came by and asked the bird why she was so sad. The bird told him that she was afraid of the fox. The flamingo reassured her, convincing her that the fox couldn’t climb the tree, and that even if he did, the little bird could fly away with her chicks.
And indeed, when the fox returned the bird defended herself just as the flamingo had suggested. The fox knew immediately who had taught her that trick, and went looking for the flamingo to take revenge. He found him on the riverbank, concentrating on cleaning his feathers, and decided to set a trap for him.
“How do you protect yourself when the wind blows from the right?” the fox asked the flamingo.
“I turn the other way,” replied the large bird, turning its neck elegantly.
“And if the wind blows from the left?”
“Then I turn the other way,” replied the flamingo.
“And if the wind blows from all directions?”
“In that case, I’d put my head under my wing and wait for the wind to go away, just like I’m doing with you now. Go away, old fox, I’m well aware of all your tricks and malice, and I will certainly not let you toy with me.”
And yet again, the fox was left with an empty stomach.
The Girl in the Melon
Once upon a time, there was an elderly couple with no children. One day, the wife went to do the laundry in a stream, and she saw a beautiful melon floating in the water. She decided to take it home and share it with her husband. When they opened it, they saw that there was a baby inside. They were happy because they had always wanted to have children running around the house. Time passed and the child grew up to be a beautiful young woman. Everyone respected her because she was kind and generous. The girl then got engaged to the son of the lord of the area.
In the forest there lived an ogress who was jealous of how happy the melon’s daughter was. One day, when the parents had gone out and the girl was at home alone, the ogress went and knocked on the door. When she opened it, the ogress imprisoned her in a deep cavern and then transformed herself into the girl. But the parents realized that something was wrong with their daughter: she was bad-tempered; she hadn’t fed Neko — her cat — and she treated him badly; and she didn’t talk about her prince.
The cat, the most astute of them all, understood what had happened. He left the house and went into the forest. The girl was good friends with the Tanuki, the forest badgers, so Neko asked if they knew where she was and the Tanuki pointed to the cave. The cat freed her and the ogress fled, pursued by the animals, which chased her away from the forest forever.
The house was warm and filled with light. The girl took off her fur cape and the crow, still a speck of dust, flew towards the ear of a child who was playing on the floor and nipped it. He began to cry.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” asked the chief, who was sitting by the fire.
“Tell him you want to play with a ball of daylight,” the speck of dust whispered in his ear.
Like any grandfather, the chief wanted his nephew to be happy, and so he told his daughter to go and get the box with the balls of daylight. He took out a small one, wrapped some string around it and gave it to his nephew.
The speck of dust scratched the child’s ear again, and once more he started cry:
“Tell him that you want to play outside,” whispered the crow.
The child did as he had been told and the chief took him out into the snow in front of the house, and then went back inside. The speck of dust turned back into the crow, which then cut the string with its claws and flew off towards the west.
Finally, he reached the land of the Inuits, and he let go of the ball. It broke into thousands of tiny pieces and daylight entered all the houses. And darkness left the sky.
Everyone ran out of their houses, exclaiming:
“We can see for miles! Look at the mountains in the distance, and at how blue the sky is! We have never been able to see all these things before!”
They thanked the Crow, but he apologized to them:
“I’m afraid there is only enough daylight for half of the year because I could only carry one small ball, and it will take me a long time to regain my strength.”
But the people replied:
“We’re perfectly happy with that. Half a year with daylight is better than none at all.”
And this is why in the far northern lands of the Inuits, there are six months of daylight and six months of darkness.