Prevod

One summer’s day, the bear and the wolf were walking in the forest when the bear heard a bird singing so sweetly that he said, ‘Brother Wolf, what bird is that, singing so beautifully?’ ‘That is the king of the birds,’ said the wolf, ‘and we must bow before him.’ It was the wren. ‘If that is so,’ said the bear, ‘I should very much like to see his royal palace. Come and show me the way.’ ‘It is not as simple as you think,’ said the wolf. ‘You must wait until the queen arrives.’ Soon the queen came with food in her beak, and the king came too, for they were going to feed their young. The bear would gladly have followed them straight in, but the wolf held him by the sleeve and said, ‘No, you must wait until the king and queen have gone away again.’ So they marked the hollow where the nest lay and trotted off. But the bear could not rest, so eager was he to see the royal palace, and after a little while he went back. Sure enough, the king and queen had flown away. He peered inside and saw five or six young birds lying there. ‘Is this the royal palace?’ cried the bear. ‘What a wretched palace! And you are no royal children either—you are baseborn brats.’ When the young wrens heard this, they grew terribly angry and cried, ‘No, we are not! Our parents are honest folk. Bear, you shall answer for this!’ The bear and the wolf took fright, turned back, and hid in their dens. But the young wrens went on crying and making a great commotion, and when their parents returned with food, they said, ‘We will not touch so much as a fly’s leg, even if we starve, until you have settled whether we are respectable children or not. The bear has been here and insulted us.’ ‘Now, now, be quiet,’ said the old king. ‘This shall be settled.’ Then he flew with the queen to the bear’s den and called inside, ‘You old growler, why have you insulted my children? You shall pay dearly for it. We shall settle this in a bloody war!’ And so war was declared on the bear, and all the four-footed creatures were summoned: oxen, donkeys, cattle, stags, roe deer, and every other beast that walks the earth. The wren, meanwhile, called together everything that flies through the air—not only birds great and small, but gnats, hornets, bees, and flies as well.

When the time came for the war to begin, the wren sent out scouts to discover who was commanding the enemy’s army. The gnat, the craftiest of them all, flew about in the forest where the enemy was gathering, and at last settled beneath a leaf on the tree where the orders were being given. There stood the bear, who called the fox before him and said, ‘Fox, you are the cleverest of all the beasts. You shall be our general and lead us.’ ‘Very well,’ said the fox, ‘but what signal shall we agree upon?’ No one could think of one. Then the fox said, ‘I have a fine, long, bushy tail that looks almost like a red plume. When I hold my tail high, all is going well, and you must march forward. But if I let it hang down, run as fast as you can.’ When the gnat had heard this, she flew home and told the wren every last detail.

When the day of battle dawned, oh, how the four-footed beasts came charging up with such a roar that the earth trembled! The wren and his army came through the air, humming, shrieking, and swarming so fiercely that it was enough to fill anyone with dread, and the two sides fell upon each other. But the wren sent the hornet down to settle beneath the fox’s tail and sting him with all her might. At the first sting, the fox flinched and lifted one leg, but he bore the pain and kept his tail high. At the second sting, he had to lower it for a moment. But at the third he could stand no more: he cried out and tucked his tail between his legs. When the beasts saw this, they thought all was lost and took to their heels, each running back to his own den. And so the birds won the battle.

Then the king and queen flew home to their children and cried, ‘Children, rejoice! Eat and drink to your hearts’ content, for we have won the war!’ But the young wrens said, ‘We will not eat yet. First the bear must come to our nest and beg our pardon, and say that we are respectable children.’ So the wren flew to the entrance of the bear’s den and called, ‘Growler, you must go to my children’s nest and beg their pardon, and say that they are respectable children, or every rib in your body shall be trampled to pieces!’ Trembling with fear, the bear crept over and begged their pardon. Only then were the young wrens satisfied. They settled down together, ate and drank, and made merry far into the night.