This is an interesting Russian Folk Tale. The biggest country in the world. The variety of Russian people and their cultures are very familiar all over the world.
One day the hunter and the two dogs walked all day through the deep forest, and never got a sight of a bird, they never even saw a rabbit. All day long they walked on and saw nothing. The hunter had not fired a single cartridge. He did not want to go home and have to answer his wife's questions about why he had come home with an empty bag. So he went deeper and deeper into the deep forest. At the evening, he started to walk towards his home and suddenly he got a sharp smell of burning wood floated through the trees. The hunter was looking to that, saw the sparkling of a fire. He made his way towards it, and found a clearing in the forest; a wood pile in the middle of it and it was burning so fiercely that he could just come near it.
And there was a miracle, he found in the middle of the burning timbers there was sitting a great snake, curled round and round upon itself and waving its head above the flames.
"My good man," said the snake, "pull me out of the fire, and you shall understand the talk of the beasts and the songs of the birds."
"I will be happy to help you, but how?" said the hunter, “The flames are so hot and I cannot reach you."
"Put the barrel of your gun into the fire, and I will crawl out along it.", said the snake.
The hunter put the barrel of his long gun into the flames, and immediately the snake wound itself about it, and so escaped out of the fire.
"Thank you, my good man." says the snake to the hunter. "In future, you shall know the language of all living things. But one thing you must remember. You must not tell any one about this and if you tell, you will die the death. Man only dies once, and that will be an end of your life and your knowledge."
Then the snake slipped off along the ground and almost before the hunter knew it was going, it was gone, and he never saw it again.
After that the hunter went on with the two dogs, looking for something to shoot at; and when the dark night fell he was still so far from his home, away in the deep forest.
"I am tired," the hunter thought, "and perhaps there will be birds moving in the early morning. I will sleep the night here and I will try my luck at sunrise."
He made a fire of leaves and broken branches, and lay down beside it, together with his dogs. He had just lain down to sleep when he heard the dogs talking together and calling each other "Brother." He understood every word they said.
"Well, brother," said the first dog, "you sleep here and look after our master, while I run home to look after the house and yard. It will soon be the mid-night, and when the master is away that is the time for thieves."
"Off with you, brother and God will be with you," said the second dog.
Then the hunter heard the first dog go bounding away through the bushes, while the second lay still, with its head between its paws, watching its master flicking at the fire.
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| The Hunter |
The Hunter and his wife - part 1
Once upon a time there was a hunter who went out into the forest to hunt the birds and small animals. He had a wife and two dogs. His wife was for ever asking questions, so that he was glad to get away from her into the forest. And she did not like dogs, and said they were always bringing dirt into the house with their muddy feet. So that the dogs were glad and got chance to get away into the forest with the hunter.
One day the hunter and the two dogs walked all day through the deep forest, and never got a sight of a bird, they never even saw a rabbit. All day long they walked on and saw nothing. The hunter had not fired a single cartridge. He did not want to go home and have to answer his wife's questions about why he had come home with an empty bag. So he went deeper and deeper into the deep forest. At the evening, he started to walk towards his home and suddenly he got a sharp smell of burning wood floated through the trees. The hunter was looking to that, saw the sparkling of a fire. He made his way towards it, and found a clearing in the forest; a wood pile in the middle of it and it was burning so fiercely that he could just come near it.
And there was a miracle, he found in the middle of the burning timbers there was sitting a great snake, curled round and round upon itself and waving its head above the flames.
As soon as it saw the hunter it called out, in a loud hissing voice, to come near. He went as near as he could, shading his face from the heat.
"My good man," said the snake, "pull me out of the fire, and you shall understand the talk of the beasts and the songs of the birds."
"I will be happy to help you, but how?" said the hunter, “The flames are so hot and I cannot reach you."
"Put the barrel of your gun into the fire, and I will crawl out along it.", said the snake.
"Thank you, my good man." says the snake to the hunter. "In future, you shall know the language of all living things. But one thing you must remember. You must not tell any one about this and if you tell, you will die the death. Man only dies once, and that will be an end of your life and your knowledge."
Then the snake slipped off along the ground and almost before the hunter knew it was going, it was gone, and he never saw it again.
"I am tired," the hunter thought, "and perhaps there will be birds moving in the early morning. I will sleep the night here and I will try my luck at sunrise."
He made a fire of leaves and broken branches, and lay down beside it, together with his dogs. He had just lain down to sleep when he heard the dogs talking together and calling each other "Brother." He understood every word they said.
"Well, brother," said the first dog, "you sleep here and look after our master, while I run home to look after the house and yard. It will soon be the mid-night, and when the master is away that is the time for thieves."
"Off with you, brother and God will be with you," said the second dog.
Then the hunter heard the first dog go bounding away through the bushes, while the second lay still, with its head between its paws, watching its master flicking at the fire.
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