One day, a man named Zowa took a bag and went to work. He walked, and suddenly it sounded as if a child was crying somewhere near him. Zova stopped, listened and went where the crying came from, and when he came to see that it was a crocodile crying under a black currant bush at the edge of the road.
When he saw Zowa near him, the crocodile said:
- Hayo, man, if you have a good heart, feel sorry for me! I am dying of fatigue and thirst, and I have no more strength to go. Put me in the bag behind you, take me to the river and throw me in the water. God rejoices when they feel sorry for the poor!
- But how can I put you in a bag? You will not fit in it, for it is too big.
- And I will lie down in it so that I will enter. Put the bag on the ground and open it - then you will see for yourself.
Zova was a kind man. He put the bag on the ground, opened it, and crocodile, curled up so that it looked like a winding rope on the deck of a ship, rolled into a bag and told the Zovah:
- Well, here I am in the bag, good man, take me and carry me!
Zowa put a bag on his back, went to the river and threw the crocodile in the water, and sat down to rest, because the bag was heavy and Zowa was very tired.
The crocodile had been drinking water, bathing, and he was hungry. He came ashore, crawled up to the Zowa, and said, smirking:
- Hey, good man, I'm hungry! We crocodiles are very fond of the man; let me bite off your leg.
Zova did not believe her ears:
- How, I just saved your life, and you want to eat me? You have no conscience!
- What kind of conscience is that? I'm hungry, I've found a tasty meal, and I'll still be ashamed of myself? Don't you think crocodiles are fools?
At that time, Mother Chicken was passing by. Zowa saw her and told the crocodile:
- Let's ask Mother Chicken if you or I are right.
- Okay, I agree - ask her, and there you will see.
Mother the chicken listened to them and turned to Zova and said:
- I lay eggs - people eat them, hatch chickens - people eat them, and when I become old and the rooster no longer comes to me, people cut me, hang me on a melon tree to make my meat tender, prepare me with spices and eat me. Do you really think I wouldn't tell a crocodile to eat you?
And Mother Chicken went away. Zowa was tanning and the crocodile was only laughing.
Here she came to the river on a water cow. Zova called her and told her about their argument. After listening, the cow said:
- Do not disturb me to drink water in peace! Why should I be sad that the crocodile wants to eat you? You people drink my milk and make butter and cheese out of it; when I have children, you kill and eat them; when I get old, you kill me and skin me, and even make spoons out of my horns. Let me drink water calmly, man!
The crocodile wanted to throw himself at the Call, but then they saw a dog coming by, and the man called him. After hearing everything, the dog told the crocodile and Zove:
- You must be laughing at me! So that I could believe that this huge crocodile could fit in a bag? You'll have to wait for me to turn into a donkey, then I'll believe your fairy tales! And now I can only believe it if I see it with my own eyes. Well, put the bag on the ground, good man! And you, the crocodile, are so big, with such a hard backbone, that you can get into the bag?
Zowa put the bag on the ground, and the crocodile curled up and climbed back into the bag. Then the dog told Zove:
- Quickly close the bag and tie it well! Zova tied the bag. The crocodile got furious, started
screaming and fighting, but Zowa and the dog left him in the bag and left, laughing.
He turned and fought for a long time in the bag and finally ripped it and came out, but the dog and Zova were far away. The crocodile began to think about how to avenge them, and then buried himself in the mud on the bank of the river and began to wait. Mother chicken came to drink water - the crocodile did not move, the cow came to drink water - the crocodile did not move. Different animals came one after another, drank water - the crocodile did not move. But here comes the dog - and the crocodile, sticking out of the mud, immediately grabbed her by the paw. But the dog was cunning: seeing that the crocodile's eyes were covered with dirt, and realizing that it was because of this he could not see well, she laughed and said:
- Hey, crocodile, how stupid you are! Do you think you grabbed my paw? It's a dry branch, that's what it is!
He was very surprised at the crocodile and opened his mouth to see what he'd grabbed with his teeth. The dog was blown away like a wind, and the crocodile was left with nothing.
So the dog managed to fool the crocodile twice.