The Cat and the Rooster

Once upon a time, in a little hut in the forest, there lived Cat and Rooster. Cat went out to fetch firewood, while Rooster stayed at home: he swept the floor, cooked the porridge and sang "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

One morning Cat took his little axe and said:

— I am going for firewood. And you, brother, sit quietly. If the fox comes, do not look out of the window!

— I will not look out, — Rooster promised.

No sooner had Cat gone than there came a rustle-rustle under the window, and there stood a red fox. And she began to sing so sweetly:

— Brother Rooster, with your comb so red, look out of the window, I will give you peas instead!

Rooster sat on the ledge of the stove and said nothing. But the fox sang again:

— Brother Rooster, with your comb so red, look out of the window, I will give you peas instead!

"I will only peek to see if the peas are real," thought Rooster, and he stuck out his head. And the fox — snap! — carried him away.

— Brother Cat! — cried Rooster. — The fox is carrying me over the dark forests, over the high mountains! Help!

Cat heard, came running — whoosh! — and snatched Rooster out of the fox’s paws.

— I told you not to look out, — Cat grumbled.

— I will not do it again, — sighed Rooster.

The next morning it all happened the same way. The fox sang, Rooster listened and listened, and could not resist. Snap — and away she went! But Cat heard again and again got his brother back.

On the third day Cat said:

— Today I am going far away, all the way past the river. If you call, I will not hear. So do not look out!

Off went Cat. And under the window the fox was already there:

— Brother Rooster, with your comb so red, look out of the window, I will give you peas instead!

Rooster looked out. Snap — and the fox carried him away.

— Brother Cat! The fox is carrying me over the dark forests, over the high mountains! Help!

But Cat was chopping wood far beyond the river and heard nothing. The fox brought Rooster to her hut, put him in a basket in the corner, and went off to fetch water.

Cat came back in the evening: the hut was empty, and on the doorstep lay two red feathers. Oh, how sad Cat was! Then he took his little psaltery, slung a bag over his shoulder and set off for the fox’s hut. He sat down under her window and began to play:

— Ting-a-ling, psaltery, strings of gold! Is the fox at home, my red-haired friend? Come out and listen to how the psaltery plays!

— Who is playing so beautifully? — said the fox, peeking out.

Out she came, and her feet burst into a dance all by themselves. Cat played and slowly moved away from the hut, and the fox followed him, twirling and sweeping with her tail. On the meadow she spun so much that she fell onto the grass and lay there, with her head still going round and round.

And Cat — whoosh — into the hut! He pulled Rooster out of the basket, put him in the bag and ran all the way home.

The fox came to her senses, looked into her hut — and the basket was empty. So she was left with nothing. She never came to their window again.

And from that day on, however sweetly anyone sang outside, Rooster only cried: "Cat said no!" And the two feathers took until spring to grow back in his tail.