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What’s with this “Wren” thing?
The oldest extant version of the fable
we
are presenting here appeared in 1913 in the first volume of a two-volume anthology
of Low
Saxon folktales (Plattdeutsche
Volksmärchen “Low German Folktales”)
collected by Wilhelm Wisser (1843–1935). Read
more ...
Russkij
yazyk
Russian
Listen to
this translation narrated with native Ukrainian Russian
pronunciation:
Davnym davno, nebol’shaya pevchaya ptica krapivnik svila gnezdo v garazhe. I
zazhil on tam so svoyey sem”ey. Odnazhy kogda roditeli ushli v poiskah yedy
dl’a detey, ptency ostalis’ odni v gnezde.
Spust’a kakoye-to vrem’a, papa vernuls’a.
Chto proizoshlo? – sprosil on. – Deti, vy ochen’ napugany.
Oh, papa, – skazali oni, – sosem nedavno prihodilo bol’shoye chudovische.
Odin vzgl’ad yego nas ochen’ sil’no napugal. On zagl’anul v gnezdo svoimi bol’shimi
strashnymi glazami. I teper’ my ochen’ boims’a.
– Aa, skazal papa krapivnik, – i kuda zhe on poshyol?
– On ushyol v tu storonu.
– Zhdite zdes’, deti, – skazal papa krapivnik, – ya prouchu eto chudovische.
Nechego bol’she boyat’s’a, deti! YA yego poymayu. – I on poshyol vsled za chulovischem.
No krapivnik ne ispugals’a. On syol l’vu na
spinu i zakrichal: «Zachem ty prihodil v moye gnezdo i napugal moih detey?»
Lev ne obratil vnnimaniya na krapivnika. On tol’ko prodolzhal idti.
Krapivnik yeschyo bol’she razozlils’a. On yeschyo gromche zakrichal na
l’va, – ne smey prihodit’ k moyemu gnezdu, ya tebe govor’u. Yesli ty yeschyo
raz pridesh’, – skazal on, – ty uvidesh’ chto proizoydet. Ya etogo ne zhelayu, – skazal on i zamahnuls’a nogoy, – no srazu zhe perelomayu tebe spinu.
Zatem on vernuls’a v gnezdo.
Sdelano, deti, – on skazal, – Ya yego prouchil. On bol’she ne vernets’a.