Page 78 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

— Now you get to work on me, — says the Seal. — I am black, and I can be seen
far in the ice. Make me gray so that I am invisible both in the ice and on the shore.
— I’ll do it in an instant, — said Flounder and began to smear the Seal with white
clay.

But Flounder did not have as much zeal as the Seal. And she hurried to her relatives
to show herself. She put on a few stains and turned off.
— Ugh, I’m tired, — she said.
— Get some rest, — Seal sympathized.
Flounder turned and swam away from him.
— Where are you going? — Seal caught himself.
The flounder struck hard with its fins, and only saw its flat back. The seal got
scared: he is now motley. He cannot hide either in the ice or on the shore.

— Ah well! — the Seal was indignant and chased after Flounder. Long chasing
lasted. But whenever the Seal will open its mouth in order to catch the deceiver, it will
deftly dodge to the side. Then the angry Seal grabbed a handful of coarse sea sand
and threw it into Flounder. So the flounder was covered with prickly growths, similar
to warts.
Much time has passed since then. But to this day, the seal is at enmity with the

Flounder. Flounder hides from a formidable seal in the grass in shallow water. It lays
down at the bottom of the lagoon, throws silt over herself, and she is not visible. And
the spotted seal swims in the depths, everything is looking for a flounder, does not
find it, dives to the very bottom, floats to the surface of the bay, turns its head to the
left, to the right.

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