Ryaba the Hen

Once upon a time there lived a grandpa and a grandma. And they had a little speckled hen called Ryaba: grey, with white dots and a red comb.

One day the hen sat on the straw in her corner, and then she began to cluck:

“Cluck-cluck-cluck! Cluck-cluck-cluck! I laid an egg!”

Grandpa came running, Grandma came running. They looked, and the egg was no ordinary egg. It was golden. It shone so brightly that their eyes squinted.

“What a marvel!” said Grandpa. “What could be inside?”

Grandpa took a spoon and knocked: tap-tap! He knocked and knocked, but he did not break it.

“Let me try,” said Grandma. She took a rolling pin and knocked: tap-tap! She knocked and knocked, but she did not break it.

They put the egg on the table and sat down on the bench to rest. And just then, whisk! a little mouse came running. She ran across the table and flicked her tail. The egg rolled, fell, went clink! and broke.

Grandpa cries, Grandma cries, the hen goes cluck-cluck, and the gate, creak-creak, creaks.

A magpie flew in and sat down on the fence:

“Gate, gate, why are you creaking?”

“How can we not creak? Ryaba the hen laid a golden egg. Grandpa knocked and could not break it, Grandma knocked and could not break it. And a mouse came running, flicked her tail, and the egg fell and broke. Grandpa cries, Grandma cries, the hen goes cluck-cluck, the gate creaks.”

When the magpie heard that, she ruffled up her feathers until she was as round as a little ball: chrr-ke-ke!

And the old oak above the fence asked:

“Magpie, magpie, why are you all ruffled up?”

“How can I not ruffle up? Ryaba the hen laid a golden egg. Grandpa knocked and could not break it, Grandma knocked and could not break it. And a mouse came running, flicked her tail, and the egg fell and broke. Grandpa cries, Grandma cries, the hen goes cluck-cluck, the gate creaks, and the magpie ruffles up.”

The oak sighed, shoo-shoo-oo, and dropped all its leaves. There it stood, with only bare twigs sticking out.

Along came a ram, wondering:

“Oak, oak, where are your leaves?”

“How can I not drop them? Ryaba the hen laid a golden egg. Grandpa knocked and could not break it, Grandma knocked and could not break it. And a mouse came running, flicked her tail, and the egg fell and broke. Grandpa cries, Grandma cries, the hen goes cluck-cluck, the gate creaks, the magpie ruffles up, and the oak sheds its leaves.”

The ram hung his head and lowered his horns all the way down to the grass: baa-aa-aa…

He came to the well for a drink, and the well asked:

“Little ram, why are you hanging your head?”

“How can I not hang it? Ryaba the hen laid a golden egg. Grandpa knocked and could not break it, Grandma knocked and could not break it. And a mouse came running, flicked her tail, and the egg fell and broke. Grandpa cries, Grandma cries, the hen goes cluck-cluck, the gate creaks, the magpie ruffles up, the oak sheds its leaves, and the ram hangs his head.”

The well went quiet: no splash, no plop. The water stood still, so still.

A girl came with her buckets for water:

“Little well, why are you so silent?”

“How can I not be silent? Ryaba the hen laid a golden egg. Grandpa knocked and could not break it, Grandma knocked and could not break it. And a mouse came running, flicked her tail, and the egg fell and broke. Grandpa cries, Grandma cries, the hen goes cluck-cluck, the gate creaks, the magpie ruffles up, the oak sheds its leaves, the ram hangs his head, and the well goes quiet.”

When the girl heard that, she dropped her buckets on the grass, clang! and ran as fast as she could to the village.

She ran and shouted all along the street:

“Oh, people, listen! Ryaba the hen laid a golden egg!”

The neighbours came flocking, listened, gasped, and some were already wiping their noses. And the mouse poked her little nose out of her hole, wiggled her whiskers and thought: “Well, how strange. They tried and tried to break it themselves. So why is everyone crying now?”