Once upon a time there was a man who had a cat. When the cat was young, he caught mice and was useful. But when he got old, went blind in one eye, and became weak, the man decided to get rid of the old man. He put the cat in a bag and took it into a dense forest.
He dumped the cat on the edge of the clearing, and ran home himself. The cat is sitting in the forest, meowing quietly. It's cold, hungry, scary. Then a little fox sister runs out of the bushes, wagging her tail. She saw the cat and was surprised: she had never seen such an animal.
«Who are you?» the fox asks gently. And the cat pouted, pouted and said seriously: «I am Mr. Kotsky, I have come from a distant land, I want to settle in your forest.» The fox liked Mr. Kotsky - both in appearance, and in voice, and in magnificent mustache.
«Would you, Mr. Kotsky, marry me?» asks the fox. «I would, my dear,» replied the cat. So she took him to her hole, fed him, and gave him water. They lived together like husband and wife.
A fox is running through the forest one day, until he meets a hare. "Where are you in a hurry, fox?" "I'm taking it to my husband, Mr. Kotsky, for dinner." "And who is Mr. Kotsky?" "Oh, what a terrible beast, so fierce," says the fox seriously, "when he growls, when he hisses, the whole forest shakes. You, hare, be careful not to get tangled under his feet, or he'll eat you.".
The bunny met the bear and told him about the terrible Mr. Kotsky. The bear met the wolf and the boar and told them. The forest animals were frightened: they had never had such a master before! They gathered for a council and decided to arrange a dinner for Mr. Kotsky in honor to appease him.
They brought fresh meat, laid it out on the lawn. The bear hid in an oak tree, the wolf hid behind a bush, the boar burrowed into the leaves, the hare hid behind a stump. They sat, waiting, wondering what kind of beast it was—Mr. Kotsky.
Then a fox came, leading his master. The animals saw him - a small, gray, mustachioed beast with greenish eyes. Mr. Kotsky was delighted to see the meat. He jumped up to him and hissed and purred loudly: "Moo-oo-oo! Meow-oo-oo! Moo-oo-oo!" The little animals heard that "meow" in fear, like "little! little! little!" They doubted: was he really still little?
Here the hare could not stand it, moved his ear in the grass. And Mr. Kotsky - hungry! - saw the movement and rushed, thinking it was a mouse. He jumped on the hare. And as soon as the hare broke out from under him, as soon as he ran away - and all the animals followed him in fear. The bear crashed from the oak, the wolf fell over the bush, the boar broke a log. They all scattered, and even got confused on the road.
And Mr. Kotsky remained alone by the meat, ate his fill. The fox came and ate too. «You see, my dear, how terrible my husband is,» she said to herself cheerfully, “he has scattered the whole forest.” And from then on, all the forest animals began to bypass Mr. Kotsky on the tenth path. And the cat and the fox lived their lives normally, quietly and happily. So from the poor cat, whom no one wanted to take up the whip, Mr. Kotsky became a terrible man.
💛 Sometimes the name and appearance are scarier than the power itself.