Page 58 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

Once upon a time there lived a well-to-do peasant. He had a large plot of land and
many, many chickens. Chickens perched themselves in trees and stayed there at night.
And then the forest cat got into the habit. He kept watch in the garden in the evening,
and when the chickens fell asleep, he stole one of them and ate it. So every morning
it became one less chicken. And the surviving chickens could not understand where

their friends were going.
One evening an Owl flew into the garden. The chickens thought that it was she who
was to blame for their troubles, and began to cluck:
— The enemy is here, the enemy is here! Hide, who can, hide!
— I’m not your enemy at all, — said Owl intelligibly. — Your enemy is the Forest
Cat. I’m your friend and I want to help you. And what kind of trouble has happened

to you?
The chickens began vying with each other to tell the owl that for several days in a
row they had missed their friends in the morning. Perhaps this is really the tricks of
the Forest Cat, but how to protect yourself from him? And then the Owl said:
— The Forest Cat is cunning and dexterous, climbs trees well. I advise you to sit
not in the middle of the branch, but closer to the end. Then, if the Cat decides to
attack you, the branch will begin to sway, and you will wake up. This way you will be
able to avoid the predator.

The next night, the Cat, as always, came for the livestock. However, the chickens
followed Owl’s advice. And as soon as the Cat jumped on the branch, it began to move,
and the chickens woke up. They cackled and woke the peasant. He came running with
a bow, took aim, and his arrow hit the Cat right in the tail. So the Cat barely took off
his legs. The chickens moved to the peasant’s house, and since then all the chickens
have been hiding under a canopy for the night.

And the Cat guessed that it was not without the advice of Owl, and decided to take
revenge on her. But no matter how he tried to watch out for Owl and deal with her, he
failed. Then the Cat decided to pretend to be Owl’s friend and spoke in an unctuous
voice:
— Sister, when do you go to bed?
The owl immediately guessed about his cunning.
— I shout «cuckoo, cuckoo» every evening. And when I get tired of screaming, I

fall asleep (the fact is that owls scream «cuckoo» when they sleep).
The cat is alert, listening. When «cuckoo» loudly rushed through the forest, the Cat
immediately climbed the tree. And as soon as there was silence, he began to sneak up
to the Owl. Imagine his surprise when he saw that the Owl was not sleeping at all,
but was looking at him with all his eyes.
Since then, the owl, when sleeping, always cuckoos, and waking up, looks into the

darkness with wide eyes, fearing the appearance of a forest cat. That’s why an owl
has round eyes.

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