Once upon a time, there was an old man and an old woman who lived in the foothills. The old man went to work in the morning and earned a little money, just enough for their food. The old woman stayed at home and spent the day spinning flax. They could barely live on the money they earned.
As they grew older both started thinking of each other. When one goes to heaven, the other one should survive was their thought. They started planning for this eventuality.
A straw bull
One day, the old woman said to her husband, “You should make a bull out of straw. Let’s melt some tar and finish the shape of it.”
The old man had no choice but to make a straw bull for his wife in the next few days. They used tar and finished its shape. The straw bull was a little larger than a dog.
Next morning, the old woman went to pasture the bull. She took her spinning wheel in one hand and pulled the straw bull with the other hand to the higher hills along the footpath across the jungle. She placed the straw bull on the grassland and sat down under a tree and started spinning. By the afternoon, she had fallen asleep.
A bear
A bear came out from the jungle and saw the straw bull. He tried attacking the straw bull and realised that the bull’s skin was sticky. “You are a different creature. Why you are so sticky?” the bear asked.
“I am a straw bull. And I am a symbol of fortune.” As the straw bull said this, the bear tried getting aside but his claws were stuck in tar.
The bear was frightened and started walking three- legged with one hand stuck in the straw bull’s sticky tar-skin.
The old woman woke up and was surprised to see that the straw bull was missing. She started looking for the straw bull and saw the bear and the bull behind a bush. The old woman ran home and called the old man. “See if you are brave enough catch the bear”, she challenged her husband.
The old man caught the bear and put him into a cell.
A wolf
The next day too the old woman went to the higher hills with the spinning wheel and the straw bull. It was a wolf on that day. Finally, the old man caught the wolf and put it into a cell like the bear.
The same thing happened to a fox and a rabbit on the days which followed.
One week later, the old man started sharpening his knife by rubbing it on a stone near the cells. The bear was wondering about it. “I am going to take your skin and make coats for me and my wife,” said the old man.
Freedom
“Please set me free. I will bring a huge beehive for you” the bear begged. The old man set him free.
On the next day, he started sharpening the knife again. It was the wolf’s turn.
“I will make a hat out of your skin” the old man said. “I will bring you a whole herd of sheep” said the wolf and begged for freedom.
The next day the old man wanted to make a collar for the coat from the fox’s skin. The fox promised the old couple chicken and geese and begged for freedom.Only the rabbit was left in the cell. “Let me make some mittens out of your skin” the old man said. But the rabbit promised beads and ribbons if it was given freedom.
When the old woman saw the empty cells, she was furious. She yelled at the old man.
Gifts from the animals
“Rap-tap-rap” someone was knocking at their door at midnight. It was scary but the brave old man opened the door. The bear was there with a huge beehive. The bear thanked the old man and returned to the jungle.
The next tap on the door was from the wolf with the herd of sheep. The old couple got chicken and geese from the fox and beads and ribbons from the rabbit.
The old man and the old woman realised that the wealth they had was enough for the rest of their life. They also realised that freedom is the most important for animals.
