In an old winter forest, full of tall mighty trees, winter arrived. Leaves fell from branches, grass dried up, and frost covered everything around with a snowy blanket. Only the little fir trees stood fluffy and green, dusted with snow.
The winter forest has its own rules. There are winter sleepers in the forest—for example, Misha the bear has been sleeping sweetly for a long time in a cozy and warm den, and the hedgehog is also sleeping soundly, curled up in a ball in some deep snowdrift. They will sleep like this for a very long time, until the first spring sun. There are winter fashionistas too.
As soon as the snow falls, the beautiful little squirrel puts on a grayish coat, which is fluffier and warmer than her usual reddish outfit. And the hare changes his gray coat for a white one not only to keep warm, but also to hide more easily from forest hunters in the white snowdrift.
Winter hunters—foxes and wolves—also prepare thoroughly for the arrival of cold weather. Wolves unite into packs and don't walk alone, while foxes' fur becomes thick and dense.
A hare named Shustrik loves his winter coat very much. He is always very happy when the first cold arrives, and as soon as the snow falls, he is the first to run out to play snowball and build snowmen. But for Shustrik, winter is not only joy from snowy drifts and crackling frosts, but also great danger.
It just so happens that foxes love to hunt hares. Every day brings a chase. Shustrik always keeps his ears alert and looks around—wondering if a cunning fox might be hiding behind a snowdrift. The hare has no permanent home; during the day he hops through the forest, and if he gets tired, he lies down to rest under a snowy bush.
The fox Lyusya doesn't like winter. She lives in a burrow that needs to be well insulated against the ground. Lyusya lives alone and has no friends. She is always very envious of wolves, who travel together in winter—it's easier for them to find food. But Lyusya can't even always catch a small hare.
When winter turns out to be cold and snowy, it becomes especially difficult for Lyusya to chase hares through the drifts; she constantly sinks into the snow and spends so much energy that she often goes hungry. And it's not easy to spot a little hare in his beautiful winter coat in the white snowy forest.
It's hard for Lyusya to stay warm in winter, especially at night when the frost is strong. She crawls into her burrow, curls up in a ball, just like a hedgehog, and covers herself with her big fluffy tail. And as soon as the night passes, she has to go back into the forest to search for food.
One particularly frosty winter day, Shustrik decided to make a place to sleep under a spreading green fir tree. He had been hopping through the forest for a long time, choosing a suitable tree. Along the drifts here and there, small hare tracks were visible.
Finding a beautiful tall fir tree at the forest's edge, the hare began to arrange his sleeping place. He arranged the fir branches so they looked like a real roof, brought plenty of snow, and sprinkled it on top to keep the warmth in. He got so absorbed in his work that he didn't notice that the fox Lyusya had been watching him from behind a nearby tree for quite some time.
Lyusya couldn't believe she had managed to track down the young hare so easily. She reluctantly came out of her burrow to search for food, since the frost outside was trying to bite her nose. But suddenly, she came across a hare's track.
It didn't wind through the drifts as usual; she followed it, sniffing carefully, and her instinct didn't deceive her—the tracks led straight to the hare, who seemed not to notice her at all. No, there couldn't be a better moment for the fox to grab the long-eared one and eat him! But Lyusya wasn't in a hurry. She watched with interest as the hare arranged his home and sang a little song:
You cold frost of mine,
Don't bite my nose so fine!
Don't bite my ears,
I'll build a little house here.
And the fox Lyusya decided to play with the hare. She could eat him anytime, but she hadn't had anyone to talk to in a long time. She waited until the hare turned away and finished his song, hid behind a tree, and said:
I'll eat you by your ear,
You shouldn't have come here.
I'll eat you by your nose,
Don't waste your tears, hare, those!
Shustrik was frightened, turned around, looked around, but saw no one. He tucked his ears back, not knowing which way to run to avoid being caught. He gathered courage and decided to ask:
What's this joke at such a late hour?
Show yourself to me now with your power!
I'm not afraid of anyone,
Except for one creature, one...
And the fox Lyusya stood behind the tree, delighted at how cleverly she had frightened the hare, but wasn't in a hurry to come out of hiding. If she showed herself to the hare, he would immediately run away, and then she'd have to chase him through the forest. Lyusya thought and said:
Tell me, little hare,
Why do you tremble with such care?
And while you hide here so,
Tell me who you fear so?
The hare was confused. Shustrik couldn't understand where the voice speaking to him was coming from, but something about this voice seemed familiar to him; it reminded him of someone. But he reasoned this way: if a predator is talking to him, then for some reason it's not attacking right away, which means he needs to talk his way out of this, and then, when it becomes clear where the predator is hiding, run away as fast as his legs can carry him. He answers not boldly:
I fear the reddish fox,
Clever, cunning, with paradox!
She creeps up and attacks,
Leads you around in tracks!
When Lyusya heard this, she wanted to laugh even more. She liked how the hare was describing her; she was vain about compliments. Lyusya wanted to hear more from the hare about the cunning fox. She said to him:
About the little fox, my dear sister,
Tell me more, you little mister!
Is she smart? Is she fair?
Playful and without a care?
Shustrik listened to the voice, and suddenly remembered! It was the huntress fox! Now he understood who was talking to him, and it seemed funny to Shustrik that the fox was praising herself. And the clever hare came up with a plan to escape from the fox. He said to her:
I know that the fox's tail,
Is fluffy like a queen's, without fail!
I know there's none more dear,
Among all forest creatures here.
Lyusya was delighted by such words; her cheeks turned red, and she began to wave her fluffy tail from side to side. The hare didn't waste time; as soon as he saw the tip of the red tail sticking out from behind the tree, he ran in the opposite direction from the fox—and his trail disappeared. And the fox Lyusya was so embarrassed that she decided to stop talking and eat the hare as quickly as possible. She said as a final word:
I cannot disagree!
But now it's time to eat, you see.
Prepare yourself for what's to come,
Says to you the fox, I am!
Saying this, Lyusya jumped out onto the clearing from her hiding place, ready to grab the hare, but saw only tracks going far, far away. She realized that the hare had long since escaped, and she definitely couldn't catch him in the winter drifts.
So it turned out that the long-eared hare was cleverer than her; he deceived her, flattered her, and disappeared. Lyusya was upset that the hare had tricked her, but there was nothing to be done; she trudged back to her burrow and went to sleep hungry.
