Муравей спустился къ ручью: захотѣлъ напиться. Волна захлеснула его и чуть не потопила. Голубка несла вѣтку; она увидала—муравей тонетъ, и бросила ему вѣтку въ ручей. Муравей сѣлъ на вѣтку и спасся. Потомъ охотникъ разставилъ сѣть на голубку и хотѣлъ захлопнуть. Муравей подползъ къ охотнику и укусилъ его за ногу; охотникъ охнулъ и уронилъ сѣть. Голубка вспорхнула и улетѣла. Одинъ человѣкъ заказалъ пряхѣ тонкія нитки. Пряха спряла тонкія нитки, но человѣкъ сказалъ, что нитки не хороши и что ему нужны нитки самыя тонкія. Пряха сказала: „если тебѣ эти не тонки, такъ вотъ тебѣ другія“; и она показала на пустое мѣсто. Онъ сказалъ, что не видитъ. Пряха сказала: „оттого и не видишь, что онѣ очень тонки; я и сама не вижу“. Дуракъ обрадовался и заказалъ себѣ ещё такихъ нитокъ, а за эти заплатилъ деньги. Галка увидала, что голубей хорошо кормятъ,—выбѣлилась и влетѣла въ голубятню. Голуби подумали сперва, что она такой-же голубь, и пустили её. Но галка забыла и закричала по галчьи. Тогда её голуби стали клевать и прогнали. Галка полетѣла назадъ къ своимъ, но галки испугались, что она бѣлая и тоже прогнали. Одна курица несла каждый день по яичку. Хозяйка подумала, что если больше давать корму, она вдвое будетъ нестись. Такъ и сдѣлала. Курица зажирѣла и перестала нестись. Конюхъ кралъ у лошади овёсъ и продавалъ, а лошадь каждый день чистилъ. Лошадь и говоритъ: „если вправду хочешь, чтобъ я была хороша,—овёсъ мой не продавай“. Обезьяна несла двѣ полныя горсти гороху. Выскочила одна горошинка; обезьяна хотѣла поднять и просыпала двадцать горошинокъ. Она бросилась поднимать и просыпала всѣ. Тогда она разсердилась, разметала весь горохъ и убѣжала. У одного человѣка была корова; она давала каждый день горшокъ молока. Человѣкъ позвалъ гостей. Чтобы набрать больше молока, онъ десять дней не доилъ коровы. Онъ думалъ, что на десятый день корова дастъ ему десять кувшиновъ молока. Но въ коровѣ перегорѣло молоко, и она дала меньше молока, чѣмъ прежде. Осенью у муравьёвъ подмокла пшеница; они её сушили. Голодная стрекоза попросила у нихъ корму. Муравьи сказали: „чтожъ-ты лѣтомъ не собрала корму?“ Она сказала: „недосугъ было: пѣсни пѣла“. Они засмѣялись и говорятъ: „если лѣтомъ играла, зимой пляши“. Море широко и глубоко; конца морю не видно. Въ морѣ солнце встаётъ и въ морѣ садится. Дна моря никто не досталъ и не знаетъ. Когда вѣтра нѣтъ, море сине и гладко; когда подуетъ вѣтеръ, море всколыхается и станетъ неровно. Подымутся по морю волны; одна волна догоняетъ другую; онѣ сходятся, сталкиваются и съ нихъ брызжетъ бѣлая пѣна. Тогда корабли волнами кидаетъ, какъ щепки. Кто на морѣ не бывалъ, тотъ Богу не маливался.

An ant went down to a stream: he wanted a drink. A wave washed over him and almost drowned him. A dove was carrying a twig; she saw the ant sinking and dropped the twig into the stream for him. The ant sat down on the twig and was saved. Later a hunter spread a net for the dove and wanted to snap it shut. The ant crept up to the hunter and bit him on the leg; the hunter groaned and dropped the net. The dove fluttered up and flew away. A man asked a spinner for thin thread. The spinner spun thin thread, but the man said the thread was no good and that he needed the very thinnest. The spinner said, “If these are not thin enough for you, then here are others for you”; and she pointed at an empty spot. He said he could not see it. The spinner said, “That is why you cannot see them, because they are very thin; even I cannot see them.” The fool was delighted, and ordered himself more of that kind of thread, and paid money for those. A jackdaw saw that the pigeons were fed well, so she whitened herself and flew into the pigeon house. The pigeons thought at first that she was a pigeon like them, and let her in. But the jackdaw forgot and cried out like a jackdaw. Then the pigeons began to peck at her and drove her away. The jackdaw flew back to her own kind, but the jackdaws were frightened because she was white, and they drove her away too. One hen laid one egg every day. The mistress of the house thought that if the hen were fed more, it would lay twice as much. So she did it. The hen grew fat and stopped laying. A stable hand stole the horse's oats and sold them, while he groomed the horse every day. The horse said, “If you truly want me to look good, do not sell my oats.” A monkey was carrying two full handfuls of peas. Out jumped one pea; the monkey wanted to pick it up and spilled twenty peas. She rushed to pick them up and spilled them all. Then she got angry, scattered all the peas, and ran away. A man had a cow; she gave a pot of milk every day. The man invited guests. To collect more milk, for ten days he did not milk the cow. He thought that on the tenth day the cow would give him ten jugs of milk. But the milk in the cow dried up, and she gave less milk than before. In the fall the ants' wheat got wet; they were drying it. A hungry dragonfly asked them for food. The ants said, “So why, in the summer, did you not gather food?” She said, “I had no time: I was singing songs.” They laughed and said, “If you played in the summer, dance in the winter.” The sea is wide and deep; the end of the sea cannot be seen. In the sea the sun rises, and in the sea it sets. No one has reached the bottom of the sea, and no one knows it. When there is no wind, the sea is blue and smooth; when the wind blows, the sea heaves and grows rough. Waves rise over the sea; one wave catches up with another; they meet, they crash together, and from them sprays white foam. Then the waves toss the ships like chips of wood. Whoever has not been to sea, he has never prayed to God.