The Magic Cheese | страница 25

   “No-o-o!” howled the Wolf. “I’ll tell everything, and only the truth!”

   “Then we’ll listen to you with great interest,” agreed Cheese-eater.

   “That’s great!” Vovka was glad. “You will tell us everything, and we will free you afterwards.”

   “No, you’ve got to free me first.” The Wolf started to bargain.

   “Are we again in the beginning of the story?” frowned the mouse. “Then tell it to yourself, and we’ve got other things to do.”

   “Okay, as you wish,” obeyed the Wolf and began his story.

   Vovka was listening with surprise to what the Wolf was telling them. He didn’t know whether to believe him or not.

   THE WOLF’S STRANGE STORY

   “Well, let me tell you the truth – no lying, I swear! I’ve been working as a wolf for a long time and know the rules: to chase the Three Piglets and scare them well, to eat six Kids and leave one in a stove, to let the Round Loaf go away, to fish in an ice-hole with my tale, then carry the Fox on my back. When I worked for my friend once, I had to swallow the Red Cap and her Grandma. Whatever fairy-tale I have to work in, I always reread it carefully not to miss anything, and then do everything as it has to be done. But lately amazing things have been happening. I’ve never harmed any cows or sheep, but now it looks like I have. Maybe it’s really me, and yet I say that all this is very strange.”

   “What do you mean by this ‘maybe’?” frowned Cheese-eater. “Don’t you know what you do?”

   “It seems like that. You see, I’m getting old. Sometimes I forget whether I’ve had my breakfast today or not, whether I’ve been at my work already, or am going to it. I often stop and scratch my head, trying to remember where I am going to. My memory is getting weak. But there are things that are worse than forgetting everything. I started to see visions, and such mysterious ones! You won’t believe it, but yesterday, hiding in the bushes for a hunt, I suddenly saw a wolf that was walking on the path.”

   “Now, what kind of a mystery is this?” snorted Cheese-eater. “A wolf got bewildered, when another one appeared. You know, of course, that it’s a good sign, when a wolf runs across your path.”

   “That wolf wasn’t running! It was walking on its hind legs, carrying a sack over the shoulder. Also, it had smoke coming out of his mouth, like the Three-headed Serpent would have. I know all the wolves in our area, but I’ve never seen that one. Maybe a werewolf from foreign lands came here, you wouldn’t find him in our fairy-tales.” The Wolf was talking in a tone of excuse.