The Tale of Kolobok: Adventures of the Runaway Bun

Once upon a time, there lived an old man and an old woman. One day, the old man asked the old woman:

— Bake me a little bun, a Kolobok.

— But what shall I bake it from? We have no flour, — the old woman replied.

— No worries, look around in the pantry, maybe we’ll find a little flour, — the old man said.

The old woman scraped the pantry, swept the corners, and gathered two handfuls of flour. She mixed the dough with sour cream, fried the Kolobok in butter, and set it on the window to cool.

After a while, Kolobok suddenly rolled off the windowsill onto the bench, from the bench to the floor, straight to the door. He hopped over the threshold and rolled down the path without stopping.

On his way, Kolobok met a hare.

— Kolobok, Kolobok! I’m going to eat you! — said the hare.

— Don’t eat me, dear hare! I’ll sing you a song instead, — Kolobok replied and began to sing:

I was scraped from the pantry,
Swept from the corners,
Mixed with sour cream,
Fried in butter,
Cooled on the window;
I escaped from Grandfather,
I escaped from Grandmother,
And I’ll run away from you too, hare!

And he rolled on, leaving the hare behind, stunned.

Soon, Kolobok came across a wolf.

— Kolobok, Kolobok! I’m going to eat you! — growled the wolf.

— Don’t eat me, dear wolf! I’ll sing you a song instead! — and Kolobok sang his song again:

I was scraped from the pantry,
Swept from the corners,
Mixed with sour cream,
Fried in butter,
Cooled on the window;
I escaped from Grandfather,
I escaped from Grandmother,
I escaped from the hare,
And I’ll run away from you too, wolf!

The wolf was amazed, and Kolobok rolled on down the path.

Further down the road, Kolobok met a bear.

— Kolobok, Kolobok! I’m going to eat you! — roared the bear.

— You clumsy bear, you won’t catch me! I’ll sing you a song instead! — Kolobok sang his song once more:

I was scraped from the pantry,
Swept from the corners,
Mixed with sour cream,
Fried in butter,
Cooled on the window;
I escaped from Grandfather,
I escaped from Grandmother,
I escaped from the hare,
I escaped from the wolf,
And I’ll run away from you too, bear!

The bear hesitated, and Kolobok rolled on down the path.

Finally, Kolobok met a fox.

— Ah, what a lovely Kolobok! So golden and round! Sing me your song, — the fox asked slyly.

Kolobok, pleased with himself, began to sing:

I was scraped from the pantry,
Swept from the corners,
Mixed with sour cream,
Fried in butter,
Cooled on the window;
I escaped from Grandfather,
I escaped from Grandmother,
I escaped from the hare,
I escaped from the wolf,
I escaped from the bear,
And I’ll run away from you too, fox!

— What a wonderful song! But you know, Kolobok, I’m a bit hard of hearing. Sit on my snout and sing it once more, — said the fox.

Kolobok sat on the fox's snout and sang again. Then the fox asked him to sit even closer and sing louder. Kolobok jumped onto her tongue, and the fox — snap! — gobbled him up.

And so ended the tale of Kolobok, who trusted the clever forest dweller too much.