Russia Literature Folk Tale The Moujik, The Bear and the Fox

The Moujik, The Bear and the Fox

A Russian peasant (moujik) was tilling his field when a bear came along to eat him. The moujik said that if the bear spared him, he would give him half his harvest of turnips – the top half. When the turnips were ready, the moujik gave the bear a cartload of leaves and sold the actual turnips at the market. The bear grew very angry when he learnt that he had been tricked, and banned the moujik from going into the forest for firewood. The moujik was afraid of entering the forest, but the fox said that it would help him. While the moujik was cutting down trees, the fox shouted out loud. The bear heard the fox shouting and thought that it was the hunters. The bear asked the moujik to hide him, and the moujik killed the bear. The fox asked the moujik to take him home for tea as a reward. The moujik agreed and when they got home, he set his dogs on the fox, and the fox was torn to pieces.

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