THE GREEDY CROW
Once, a crow decided to hatch some chicks. She laid eggs, but it seemed to her that there weren't enough. When she saw that her neighbor—the hawk—had flown away, she sneaked into his nest and stole 2 hawk eggs. She brought them back, placed them with her own eggs, and began to incubate them.
The chicks hatched. The crow started to feed them. Soon, the young crows grew up, got their feathers, became strong, and began to leave the nest.
The hawk chicks grew up too. At first, they fed on the young crows, and then they even ate the crow herself!
THE CAT AND THE MICE
There once lived a cat. She grew old and could no longer catch mice. So, the cat decided to approach the mice peacefully.
— My dear ones, — she humbly addressed them, — I have grown old. If I have wronged you in any way, forgive me! Let us make peace and live without harming each other. From today on, I will no longer touch you! And you give me your word:
To pass by me three times a day, one after another, and inquire about my well-being.
The mice believed the cat.
And from that time on, the mice lined up three times a day and passed by the cat one after another, inquiring about her well-being.
The cat sat with her eyes closed and quietly let the mice pass by, from the smallest to the largest, but she would quietly swat the last one with her paw and eat it. Thus, she ate 3 mice a day and was very pleased.
One day, two of the cleverest mice—one named Shylk-murun (Sniffling Nose) and the other named Byulk-murun (Snotty Nose)—noticed that there were fewer mice. They realized that the cunning cat was deceiving them. They made a plan: Shylk-murun would walk in front of all the mice, and Byulk-murun would walk behind, and when they passed by the cat, they would call out to each other.
And so they did. When the mice passed by the cat, Shylk-murun shouted: “Where are you, Byulk-murun?” And she replied: “I’m here, I’m coming from behind, we’re all safe!”
Now the cat could not catch a single mouse.
Many days passed. One day, a hungry cat pounced on the mouse Shylk-murun. However, quick-witted Shylk-murun swiftly dodged and quickly hid in a burrow.
At this point, all the mice realized that the cat was a trickster. And they no longer passed by her.
Kyrgyz Tales
