A short tale about a hedgehog and a hare. Fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm "The Hare and the Hedgehog"

The hare Paw offered friendship to the hedgehog Clever. Both doubted whether they would be able to become friends. Unexpectedly, Clever Hedgehog discovered some interesting details...

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A bedtime story about the hedgehog Smarty and the hare Paw

Once upon a time there lived a hedgehog, Smarty, and a hare, Paw. They met quite recently. The hare was the first to offer friendship.

“Let’s be friends, hedgehog,” said the hare. “I just don’t know if our friendship will last, because you are so smart, and I’m an ordinary hare.”

“Well, let’s try,” agreed the Smarty Hedgehog. – To begin with, I will ask you a few questions. And you will answer them.

- Who is a “loafer”? – asked the hedgehog Smarty.

The hare did not know the answer to this question, but he frowned and answered with a smart look:

— A quitter is the owner of a boat. Loafer and boat are similar words! - said the hare Paw.

-Who is the grasshopper? – the hedgehog asked a question.

— A grasshopper is the son of a blacksmith who lives in the village.

“Yes,” said the hedgehog, “you have your own opinion on everything, okay, I’ll be friends with you.” It's clear that you don't have the wind in your head.

“Of course, I don’t have the wind in my head, the wind is out there, walking through the bushes,” said the hare Paw.

The hedgehog did not pay attention to these words. Behind the distant pines he noticed a running wolf and told the hare to hide:

“It’s the legs that feed the wolf,” said Smarty the Hedgehog in a whisper.

“Ah-ah,” Paw the hare didn’t believe it. “Only I thought that legs don’t know how to feed anyone.” The legs, or rather the paws, are just running.

“Okay, okay,” Clever the hedgehog said in a whisper.

And I thought to myself:

- Yes, the hare Paw still doesn’t know much. I will teach him. Unless, of course, the wolf eats us.

The wolf flashed behind the pine trees, and then disappeared, as if he had fallen through the ground.

- Well, hare, have you hung your head? Let's go further.

“You know, Clever Man, my head seems to rest evenly on my shoulders, and not hang.”

“Exactly, exactly,” the hedgehog assented, and they moved on.

On the path, the friends met a chipmunk, who invited them into his house.

- Sit down and eat, everything is so delicious today! – the chipmunk rejoiced. – I’ve already eaten three plates!

“Sorry, dear neighbor Chipmunk,” said the Paw Hare, “but I don’t eat on plates.” Maybe my hedgehog friend knows how to eat porcelain plates, but I only eat the contents of the plates: soup, porridge, carrot cutlets.

“So I suggest you try some soup,” the chipmunk said embarrassedly.

And Smarty the Hedgehog understood everything. Of course, no one was going to eat on porcelain plates. The hedgehog said out loud:

- Chipmunk, the hare was just joking. Thank you for the soup. After the rich, aromatic soup, my soul felt better. The soul sings!

Hare Paw at first wanted to clarify whether the hedgehog’s soul was singing loudly or quietly, but, afraid of getting into trouble, he remained silent.

Soon the hedgehog and the hare got ready to go home. That same evening, Smarty the Hedgehog worked out with Paw the Hare. The hare realized that there are special expressions that you just need to know, otherwise you won’t understand what they wanted to say.

Before going to bed, when Lapka's dad told him that he had bought tickets for a concert for violin and orchestra, Lapka immediately realized that this concert was not for the violin, but for the audience. That's just what they say!

And the hare Paw became close friends with the hedgehog Smarty. The smart guy knew a lot, and the hare loved to study.

He also loved to sleep sweetly. Probably the same as you, my friend.

The Hare and the Hedgehog is a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm that is worth introducing to older children. It tells about a dispute between two forest neighbors, a hedgehog and a hare. The hedgehog was offended by the noble hare's remark that his legs were short. To this the hedgehog offered to compete in a race, the hare agreed. The hedgehog went home, took his wife with him and taught her what to do so that he could win. Find out with your children what trick the hedgehog came up with from the fairy tale. She teaches not to be arrogant, to be brave, smart and not to be offended.

This tale, guys, looks like a fable, but still it is true, my grandfather, from whom I heard it, used to say every time he told it with feeling and sense:

“There is truth in it, son; otherwise why would they start telling it?”

And this is how it happened.

It happened one Sunday morning, at harvest time, just when the buckwheat was blooming. The sun rose bright in the sky, the morning wind blew through the mown stubble, the larks sang over the fields, the bees hummed in the buckwheat; people went to church in festive clothes, and every creature on earth rejoiced, including the hedgehog.

And the hedgehog stood at his door with his arms folded, breathed the morning air and hummed to himself a cheerful song - neither good nor bad, the kind hedgehogs usually sing on a warm Sunday morning. And when he was quietly humming this song to himself, it occurred to him that he could, while his wife was bathing and dressing the children, take a short walk across the field and watch the rutabaga grow. And rutabaga grew very close to his house, and he always ate it with his family, and that’s why he looked at it as if it were his own. No sooner said than done. The hedgehog locked the door behind him and headed out into the field. Having gone not far from the house, he wanted to make his way through the thorns that grew near the field, almost at the place where rutabaga grew, and suddenly he noticed a hare who had gone out for the same thing - to look at his cabbage. The hedgehog saw the hare and wished him good morning. And the hare was a gentleman who seemed to be noble and very arrogant. He did not answer the hedgehog’s greeting and said to him, making a contemptuous grimace:

“Why are you running around the field here so early?”

“I’m walking,” says the hedgehog.

- Are you out for a walk? - the hare laughed. “I think you could use your legs for something more useful.”

This answer greatly annoyed the hedgehog: he could have endured anything, but he did not allow anything to be said about his legs - they were too crooked.

“Apparently you imagine,” said the hedgehog to the hare, “that you can control it better with your legs?”

“I think,” answered the hare.

“We still need to check this,” said the hedgehog. “I’m ready to bet that if you and I start running, I’ll come running first.”

- Yes, this is downright funny - you, with your crooked legs? - said the hare. - Well, if you have such a big desire, I probably agree. What are we going to argue about?

“For one gold louis d’or and a bottle of vodka,” says the hedgehog.

- It's coming! - answered the hare. - Well, then let's start now.

“No, why should we be in such a hurry, I don’t agree,” says the hedgehog, “after all, I haven’t eaten or drunk anything yet.” First I’ll go home and have some breakfast, and in half an hour I’ll return to the same place.

The hare agreed, and the hedgehog headed home. On the way, the hedgehog thought to himself: “The hare relies on his long legs, but I’ll outwit him. Although he is a noble gentleman, but stupid, he will surely lose.”

The hedgehog came home and said to his wife:

“Wife, quickly get dressed, you’ll have to go to the field with me.”

- What happened? she asks.

“Well, the hare and I bet on one gold louis d’or and a bottle of vodka: I want to run head to head with him, and you should be there.”

- Oh, my God! - his wife began to shout at him. - Are you really crazy? Are you out of your mind? How can you run headlong with a hare?

“Yes, wife, you’d better shut up,” the hedgehog tells her, “this is my business.” Don't interfere in men's affairs. Go get dressed and come with me.

What was she supposed to do here? Like it or not, she had to follow her husband.

The two of them walk along the road to the field, and the hedgehog says to his wife:

“Now listen carefully to what I tell you.” You see, across that big field over there we will run with the hare. The hare will run along one furrow, and I will run along the other, and we will start running from the mountain. And your job is only to stand here, below, on the furrow. When the hare runs along his furrow, you shout towards him: “And I’m already here!”

With that they got to the field. The hedgehog showed his wife the place where she should stand, and he himself went higher. When he arrived, the hare was already there.

- Let's start, shall we? - says the hare.

“Okay,” the hedgehog answers, “let’s start.”

And everyone stood in his own furrow. The hare began to count: “Well, one, two, three,” and rushed like a whirlwind down the field. And the hedgehog ran about three steps, then climbed into the furrow and sat down there calmly.

The hare ran to the end of the field, and the hedgehog shouted towards him:

- And I’m already here!

The hare stopped and was quite surprised: he thought that it was, of course, the hedgehog himself who was screaming - and it is known that the hedgehog looks exactly the same as the hedgehog. But the hare thought: “Something is wrong here” and shouted:

- Let's run back again!

And he rushed like a whirlwind, with his ears flattened, along the furrow, and the hedgehog remained calmly in her place. The hare ran to the end of the field, and the hedgehog shouted towards him:

- And I’m already here!

The hare got angry and shouted:

- Let's run back again!

“As you wish,” answered the hedgehog, “I don’t care, as much as you like.”

So the hare ran seventy-three more times, and the hedgehog still came first. Every time the hare ran to the edge of the field, the hedgehog or hedgehog woman said:

- And I’m already here!

But the seventy-fourth time the hare did not reach the end: he fell on his front legs, his throat began to bleed, and he could not move further.

The hedgehog took the gold louis d'or and a bottle of vodka he had won, called his wife out of the furrow, and they went home together, both quite satisfied with each other. If they have not died, then they are still alive.

This is how it happened that a simple field hedgehog overtook the hare, and from that time on, not a single hare dared to run head-to-head with the hedgehog anymore.

And the lesson from this fairy tale is this: firstly, no one, no matter how noble he considers himself to be, should allow himself to mock an ordinary person - even a hedgehog. Secondly, the following advice is given: if someone decides to get married, then let him take a wife from the same circle as himself, and let her be like himself. So, let’s say, if you are a hedgehog, then take a hedgehog as your wife, and so on.

You probably won't believe this tale. However, when telling it, my grandfather always said:
- Not everything in a fairy tale is fiction. There is truth in it. Why would people start telling it?
This fairy tale began like this...
One day, on a clear sunny day, a hedgehog stood at the door of his house, with his hands folded on his stomach, and hummed a song.
He sang his song and sang and suddenly decided:
“I’ll go to the field and look at the rutabaga. While,” he thinks, “my hedgehog wife washes and dresses the children, I’ll have time to visit the field and return home.”
The hedgehog went and met along the road a hare, who was also going into the field to look at his cabbage.
The hedgehog saw the hare, bowed to him and said friendly:
- Hello, dear hare. How are you?
And the hare was very important and proud. Instead of politely greeting the hedgehog, he just nodded his head and said rudely:
- Why are you, hedgehog, scouring the field so early?
“I went out for a walk,” says the hedgehog.
- Take a walk? - asked the hare mockingly. “But in my opinion, you can’t get far on such short legs.”
The hedgehog was offended by these words. He didn’t like it when people talked about his legs, which were indeed short and crooked.
“Don’t you think,” he asked the hare, “that your hare legs run faster and better?”
“Of course,” says the hare.
- Would you like to run a race with me? - asks the hedgehog.
- Racing with you? - says the hare. - Don’t make me laugh, please. Are you really going to overtake me on your crooked legs?
“But you’ll see,” the hedgehog answers. - You'll see that I'll overtake.
“Well, let’s run,” says the hare.
“Wait,” says the hedgehog. “First I’ll go home, have breakfast, and in half an hour I’ll return to this place, then we’ll run.” OK?
“Okay,” said the hare.
The hedgehog went home. He walks and thinks: “The hare, of course, runs faster than me. But he is stupid, and I am smart. I will outsmart him.”
The hedgehog came home and said to his wife:
- Wife, get dressed quickly, you’ll have to go to the field with me.
- And what happened? - asks the hedgehog.
- Yes, the hare and I argued who runs faster, me or him. I have to outrun the hare, and you will help me in this matter.
- What, are you crazy? - the hedgehog was surprised. - How can you compete with the hare! He will immediately overtake you.
“It’s none of your business, wife,” said the hedgehog. “Get dressed and let’s go.” I know what I do.
The wife got dressed and went with the hedgehog to the field.
On the way, the hedgehog says to his wife:
- We will run with the hare across this long field. The hare will run along one furrow, and I will run along the other. And you, wife, stand at the end of the field, by my furrow. As soon as the hare runs up to you, you shout: “I’m already here!” Understood?
“I understand,” the wife answers.
So they did. The hedgehog took the hedgehog to the end of his furrow, and he himself returned to the place where he left the hare.
“Well,” says the hare, “shall we run?”
“Let’s run,” says the hedgehog.
They each stood at the beginning of their own furrow.
- One two Three! - the hare shouted.
And they both ran as fast as they could.
The hedgehog ran three or four steps, and then quietly returned to his place and sat down. He sits and rests. And the hare keeps running and running. He reached the end of his furrow, and then the hedgehog shouted to him:
- I'm already here!
And I must say that the hedgehog and the hedgehog are very similar to each other. The hare was surprised that the hedgehog had overtaken him.
“Now let’s run back,” he says to the hedgehog. “One, two, three!”
And the hare ran back faster than before.
And the hedgehog remained sitting in her place.
The hare reached the beginning of the furrow, and the hedgehog shouted to him:
- I'm already here! The hare was even more surprised.
“Let’s run again,” he says to the hedgehog. “Okay,” the hedgehog answers. “If you want, we’ll run again.” We ran again and again. So the hare ran back and forth seventy-three times. And the hedgehog kept overtaking him.
The hare runs to the beginning of the furrow, and the hedgehog shouts to him:
- I'm already here!
The hare runs back to the end of the furrow, and the hedgehog shouts to him:
- I'm already here! On the seventy-fourth time the hare ran to the middle of the field and fell to the ground.
- Tired! - he says. “I can’t run anymore.”
“You see now,” the hedgehog tells him, “who has the faster legs?”
The hare did not answer anything and left the field - he barely carried off his legs. And the hedgehog and his wife called their children and went for a walk with them.

The hare met a hedgehog and said:
- You would be good for everyone, hedgehog, only your legs are crooked and braided.

The hedgehog got angry and said:
- Are you laughing? My crooked legs run faster than your straight ones. Just let me go home, and then let’s run to the race!

The hedgehog went home and said to his wife:
- I made a bet with the hare: we want to run a race!

Yezhov's wife says:
- You're obviously out of your mind! Where should you run with the hare? His legs are fast, but yours are crooked and dull.

And the hedgehog says:
“His legs are fast, but I have a quick mind.” Just do what I tell you. Let's go to the field.

Hedgehog's wife hid in the furrow, and the hedgehog and the hare ran from the other end.

So they came to the plowed field to the hare; The hedgehog says to his wife:
- Hide at this end of the furrow, and the hare and I will run from the other end; as soon as he runs away, I will come back; and when he comes to your end, you come out and say: “I’ve been waiting for a long time.” He won’t recognize you from me - he’ll think it’s me.

As the hare ran away, the hedgehog returned and hid in the furrow. The hare galloped to the other end of the furrow: look! - and Yezhov’s wife is already sitting there. She saw a hare and said to him:
- I’ve been waiting for a long time!

The hare did not recognize the hedgehog’s wife from the hedgehog and thinks: “What a miracle! How did he overtake me?
“Well,” he says, “let’s run again!”

Let's!

The hare ran back and came running to the other end: lo and behold! - and the hedgehog is already there, and says:
- Eh, brother, you’re only just now, but I’ve been here for a long time.

“What a miracle! - the hare thinks, “I was galloping so fast, but he still overtook me.”
- Well, let’s run again, now you can’t overtake.

Let's run!

The hare galloped as fast as he could: look! - the hedgehog sits in front and waits.

And so the hare galloped from end to end until he was exhausted.

The hare submitted and said that he would never argue forward.

One day, the Hedgehog got sick. It was early spring; the bright and warm spring sun warmed the earth, the snow quickly melted, cold streams ran all around, which, murmuring and meandering, flowed into small forest rivers. The birds chirped happily, feeling the approach of warmer days. The buds on the trees swelled, and in some places early spring flowers appeared from under the snow.

The Hedgehog walked along the usual path that he walked in winter, towards the Hare’s house. In the mornings, he and the Hare cleared the snow; first near the Hare's house, then near the Hedgehog's house. Now there is less snow, but Hedgehog still decided to visit his friend. He walked as usual, but suddenly it seemed to him that something was making noise under his paws. Before the Hedgehog had time to figure out what was happening, the snow fell under his paws, and the Hedgehog found himself up to his neck in cold water. It was a small stream that made a path for itself under the snow. The hedgehog immediately got all wet. Having climbed out of the stream and shook himself off the water, the Hedgehog began to think about where to go. He should have immediately run home and warmed up, but the Hedgehog decided to go to the Hare.
Having reached the Hare's hole, the Hedgehog saw that his friend was not at home. He waited for him for a while and then went home. On the way, he froze even more, and by the time Hedgehog got to his house, located under a tall spruce tree, he was completely ill. The hedgehog was sneezing and coughing, his nose was stuffy, and tears were flowing from his eyes.
“It’s okay, I’ll lie down, rest and recover,” thought the Hedgehog, lying down in his crib. By lunchtime, Hedgehog had a fever and a headache. He wanted to get up to light the stove, but he didn’t have the strength.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
-Who's there? - Hedgehog asked quietly and hoarsely.
“It’s me, Hare,” came a muffled answer from behind the thick door.
“Come in,” Hedgehog coughed.
The hare carefully opened the door and looked inside.
- Are you sick, Hedgehog?
“Yes,” the Hedgehog answered quietly, “How did you guess about it?”
“It’s very simple,” the Hare closed the door and went to the stove, “usually, you and I clear the snow around my and your house in the morning, but today you didn’t come.” I thought you were sick. Otherwise you would have come to me. Listen, it's cold here.
“That’s because the stove hasn’t been lit since yesterday,” Hedgehog noted.
- Why don’t you drown her? - asked the surprised and slow-witted Hare.
“I don’t have the strength to get up,” answered the Hedgehog, “I’m completely sick.”
“So let me flood,” the Hare hurried.
He put wood in the stove and lit the fire. Soon, the room became warmer.
“You helped me out a lot, Hare,” the Hedgehog rejoiced at his guest, “I myself would have been lying in the cold.”
- You shouldn’t worry so much. You would also help me in such a situation. We are friends!
“Friends,” Hedgehog confirmed.
When the firewood flared up and the room became very warm, the Hare closed the door to the stove.
“I’ll run,” he said, “and you, come on, get better!”
“Thank you,” answered the Hedgehog.
The Hare ran about his business, and the Hedgehog still lay there and thought about what a good friend he had, the Hare. He came to visit him and did not leave him alone in a difficult situation, even though no one asked him to do so. While he was still thinking, there was another knock on the door.
- Who's there? - asked the Hedgehog.
“It’s me, Belka,” a thin voice was heard from behind the door.
“Come in,” Hedgehog was happy to see the new visitor.
The door opened and a large basket covered with a scarf crawled into the room. Belka appeared behind the basket.
“Ugh,” said Belka, “I barely made it.” And how difficult it was to get down the branches, it’s terrible!
- What is this? - Hedgehog asked.
- These are different medications for you, you’re sick, aren’t you?
- Yes, but how did you know? - The hedgehog was surprised.
- Where from? Every day at this time you and I collect brushwood and firewood for the stove, but today you didn’t come. I thought something had happened to you.
The squirrel began to take out all sorts of medicines from the basket: dried strawberries, cranberries, dried raspberry and currant leaves.
“Here,” Squirrel finally put everything out of the basket, “brew some grass with berries, drink tea.” Do you have a samovar?
- Yes, it’s behind the stove. - Hedgehog answered
- Great! - Belka quickly took out the samovar, poured water into it and put coals from the stove into the firebox of the samovar.
Soon the samovar began to puff, made noise, and the water began to boil. Squirrel brewed healing tea and gave it to Hedgehog. He tried the tea and really liked it. The tea smelled of summer: fragrant herbs and berries. Squirrel also sat for a while and drank tea. When leaving, she added more firewood to the stove and samovar so that the hedgehog’s house would remain warm longer. The hedgehog was very pleased and glad that he had such good friends who did not leave him alone at home.
In the evening, when Hedgehog was about to go to bed, there was a knock on the door again. It was the old Badger who came, who brought a large barrel of linden honey.
“Hello, Hedgehog,” said Badger. - I heard that you were sick. And in the evening you did not come, as usual, to visit me. “Here, I brought you a gift,” and the Badger put the honey on the table.
“Come in, come in, sit down,” Hedgehog invited the guest.
“I see,” continued the Badger, “you have a samovar on the table.” Let's have some tea, shall we?
“Come on,” agreed the Hedgehog. - True, I already drink tea all day long.
- So what? - objected Badger, it’s good for you to drink a lot of tea now in order to get better quickly. Besides, you probably haven’t drunk tea with such good honey yet; I collected it myself in the summer.
The badger added water to the samovar, added wood to the stove, and poured linden honey into wooden bowls. Soon the whole house was filled with the pleasant smell of linden honey. It smelled of flowers, linden trees and forest. The Hedgehog drank tea and ate honey without getting out of bed, and the Badger sat at the table and poured himself cup after cup. He told Hedgehog interesting stories from his life. Badger loved to chat, and even more he loved to be listened to. The Hedgehog soon fell asleep, and the Badger kept telling and talking. Finally, he noticed that the Hedgehog was sleeping, and he also slowly went home to sleep.
The hedgehog had good dreams about summer, and the next day he completely recovered.