The fox was walking on the road. Suddenly, he saw an old man driving a sleigh full of fish. The fox felt like eating fish. He run ahead and sprawled on the road like dead. The old man went to see him but the fox didn't even twitch. He poked him with his whip, but the fox didn't twitch. "It will be a beautiful collar for my wife's fur coat." - He thought.

He took the fox, put it on the sleigh and sat in front.

The fox was waiting exactly this. He looked around and quietly started throwing the fish out of the sleigh. Fish by fish, he threw all of it out and ran away. Then he collected it from the road, got home and started eating.

Then the wolf came, knocked on the door and got in.

- Give me a piece of fish, fox! - He begged.

The fox tore off one fish head and threw it to him.

- Oh, it's tasty, fox! Give me more.

- Look at him, such a sponger! Catch some fish by yourself and you will eat.

- But I can't!

- Look at him! How did I catch fish for myself? Go on the river, put your tail in the hole, stand still and repeat: "Take the bait big fish, take the bait small fish!" And the fish will cluster around your tail.

The wolf darted towards the river, put his tail in the hole and started repeating:

- Take the bait big fish, take the bait small fish!

The fox came there too, and started circling around him and saying:

- Freeze, freeze, tail! Freeze, freeze, tail!

- What are you saying, Fox?

- I'm helping you, wolf, I am draw the fish to your tail!

And it was growing colder and colder. The wolf's tail froze completely. Then the fox shouted:

- Pull it now, wolf!

The wolf pulled his tail, but he couldn't pull it out. "Gosh, how much fish I caught, I can't pull my tail out!" - He thought.

He spent the whole night on the river, he shivered with cold, froze, pulled, and hauled, but he couldn't pull out his tail.

At dawn women from the village came to fill up some water. They saw the wolf and started hitting him with yokes and buckets – they hit with whatever they took. The wolf pulled to and fro until he tore his tail off and ran away.

Meanwhile the fox ate all fish and wanted to eat something more. He got in a house where the owner was making bread. He ate a little bread and then he put his head in the kneading trough. The dough stuck to his eyes and ears. Before being seen by the owner, he got out of the house and ran straight to the forest. While running to the forest he met the wolf.

- Oh, dear wolf! – The fox started whining. – They only tore out your tail, but I am much more injured - they broke my head. Look, my brain leaked. I'm barely walking!

- Get on my back, fox! I will take you where you are going!

The fox got on the wolf's back. They set off and the fox started repeating quietly:

- The injured carries the healthy one! The injured carries the healthy one!

- What are you saying, fox? – The wolf asked.

- I'm talking to myself, wolf, so my headache could go away!

They arrived to the fox's hole; he jumped, got in, barred the door quickly and started making fun of the wolf:

- Ha-ha-ha! The injured carries the healthy one! Wolf, wolf, you are neither intelligent, nor sensible!

Once upon a time there was a sweet little girl. She always wore a red velvet cloak - a gift from her favourite grandmother. That's why everyone called her the Little Red Riding Hood. In a beautiful sunny morning her mother sent her to bring a basket full of food to her grandmother, who was ill, but lived alone on the other side of the forest. As had been told by her mother, the girl walked down and kept to the main path. Suddenly a wolf appeared from behind a tree. Little Red Riding Hood didn't know that he was fierce beast and she wasn't afraid. They walked together and the girl told sincerely where she was going. The bad wolf suggested that she should pick a bunch of flowers for her grandmother. While the little girl was stopping here and there to pick some beautiful flowers, she got deeper and deeper into the forest and the wolf took to his heels. As he took a shortcut, he got fast to the grandmother's house and knocked on the door.

- Who is it? - The old woman asked.

- It's me, grandma, Little Red Riding Hood - the wolf answered in a soft voice.

- Lift the latch and get in! - Called out the grandmother - I am too weak to get up.

The wolf lifted the latch, pounced on the ill old woman and devoured her. Then he put on her clothes as well as her cap, lay in her bed and waited for the Little Red Riding Hood. Shortly after that the little girl arrived. She was very surprised by the strange look of her grandmother and said:

- Grandma, what big ears you have!

- So I can hear you better, my child.

- Grandma, what big eyes you have!

- So I can see you better.

- Grandma, what a big mouth you have! - The little girl exclaimed even more surprised.

- So I can eat you - the wolf growled and pounced on the Little Red Riding Hood.

When he devoured her too, overate, the beast fell asleep and began to snore very loud. Hunters were just passing nearby the house, when they heard the snoring and peered into the house. They saw the wolf and when they were about to shoot him, they saw that his tummy was wiggling. They took scissors and cut open the belly of the wolf. The Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother came out alive out of his belly. Everyone celebrated their happy salvation.

Charles Perrault

The Fox was walking on the road and found a stick. He picked it up and went on. He reached a village and knocked on someone's door:

- Knock - knock-knock!

- Who is it? - someone asked.

- It's me - the Sly Fox. Let me spend the night at your house.

- There isn't enough space. There isn't enough space for us anyway!

- I won't cause you inconvenience. I will lie down on the plank-bed, my tail will be under the plank-bed, and my stick will be under the stove.

They pitied him and let him in.

The Fox lay down on the plank-bed, his tail - under the plank-bed, and his stick - under the stove. During the night, the Sly Fox got up and burnt his stick, and in the morning he started yelling.

- Where is my stick? I want my stick back! I won't leave without it. Only a hen can replace my stick.

The owner was startled. He thought and thought, and after all what to do - he gave him a hen. The Fox took the hen and while walking on the road sang:

The Fox was walking on the road,

and found a stick

and in exchange of it

the Sly Fox got a hen.

The Fox walked all day and in the evening he reached another village.

- Knock - knock - knock!

- Who is it?

- It's me - The Sly Fox. Let me spend the night at your house.

- There isn't enough space, Sly Fox. There isn't enough, even for us!

- I won't cause you inconvenience. I will lie down on the plank-bed, my tail will be under it, and the hen will be under the stove.

They let him in. During the night the Fox got up again, plucked the hen and ate it. And in the morning he started whining:

- Where is my hen? I want my hen back! If not - give me a duck in exchange.

The owner didn't have any other choice and gave him a duck. And the Sly Fox took the duck, left and started singing cheerfully:

The fox was walking on the road

and found a stick,

and for the stick, he took

a hen, and for the hen

he got a fat duck.

At dusk the Fox reached a third village.

- Knock - knock - knock!

- Who is it?

- It's me - the Sly Fox. Let me spend the night at your house.

- No! We don't have enough space anyway!

- I won't cause you inconvenience! I will lie down on the plank-bed, my tail - under the plank-bed, and the duck - under the stove.

They let him in. He lay down on the plank-bed, his tail - under it, the duck - under the stove. He hardly waited them to fall asleep, jumped and grabbed the duck and ate it.

In the morning, when everyone got up, the Fox started yelling:

- Where is my duck? Give me your daughter in exchange for it!

- We would give her up, Fox, but how are you going to carry her?

- Put her in the bag!

But how the owner is going to give his girl! Instead of putting the girl in the bag, he put the big dog and gave the bag to the Fox. The Sly Fox set off and ordered:

- Come on girl, sing me a song!

And the dog growled. The Fox frightened threw the bag and started running.

The big dog jumped out and darted after him. The dog chases the Fox, the Fox runs, the dog chases, and the Fox runs, and finally he hid in his hole under one stump. He took a deep breath and started whining:

- Oh, I was full of fear!

And then he started asking:

- My ears, my ears, what did you do while the dog was chasing me?

- We were listening, Fox!

- And what about you, my dear legs, what did you do?

- We were running to save you, Fox!

- And what about you, my eyes?

- We watched!

- And you, my tail?

- And I was hampering you.

- Indeed? Then I will give you to the dog to eat you!

And the Sly Fox showed her tail out of the hole and shouted:

- Here dog, eat it!

The dog waited exactly that. He grabbed the tail and started pulling it. The Fox pulled in, the dog pulled out, the Fox - in, the dog - out.

The dog pulled and pulled, and pulled the Sly Fox out and made him mincemeat!

Bulgarian Folk Tale