The Cat, the Rooster and the Fox

Once there lived a cat and a ram, and they had a little rooster. One day they went to strip bast from trees. A fox came beneath the rooster’s window and said:

Once there lived a cat and a ram, and they had a little rooster.

One day they went to strip bast from trees. A fox came beneath the rooster’s window and said:

Little rooster, little rooster, Golden comb, Buttery little head! Here’s a flatbread with a seed for you. Beside Karp’s yard A hill is packed smooth. There stand self-running sleds; They glide along by themselves, They want to go by themselves!

The rooster looked out, and she carried him off. Along the way he cried:

— Cat and Ram! The fox is carrying me beyond the high mountains, beyond the dark forests!

They heard him, turned back and took the rooster away from her.

The next day they told him:

— Mind you, if the fox comes, don’t look out!

The fox came and sang the same song. The rooster looked out, and she carried him off. The cat and the ram took him back again. On the third day they told him:

— Mind you, don’t look out of the window. We’re going far away this time and won’t hear you calling.

The fox came and sang so sweetly that the rooster could not resist: he looked out. She grabbed him and carried him home. He called and called along the way, but no—the cat and the ram did not hear him. They came home, and the rooster was gone! They made little gusli with ram’s strings and set off to the fox’s house to rescue him.

The fox had seven daughters. The cat and the ram came beneath her window and began to play:

— Tuk-tuk, little gusli, ram’s strings! Once there was a fair fox in her golden nest. She had seven daughters: the first was Chuchelka, the second Podchuchelka, the third Pass-the-Shuttle, the fourth Sweep-the-Hearth-Ledge, the fifth Close-the-Chimney, the sixth Blow-the-Fire, and the seventh Bake-the-Pies!

The fox said:

— Go, Chuchelka, and see who is singing such a lovely song!

Chuchelka came out; they gave her a knock on the forehead and put her in a box.

That was how they caught all the fox’s daughters, one by one.

Then the fox herself came out. They gave her a knock on the forehead and put her in the box too. They went into the little house, took the rooster, who was still alive, returned home and went on living there.