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They say it happened long ago, when Foxes could speak.
Once the Fox came to the Old Man, who lived with his old, deaf wife. They had no children.
The Fox said:
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Once upon a time the Elk was walking along the bank of the river nibbling grass. The Crucian saw him, swam nearer and began teasing him.
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An Evenk and his family spent their life wandering about the taiga. He had a wife, a baby and many deer. One day they settled on the bank of a big river. He left his family and deer for some time and went fishing far away. Having caught enough fish, he returned home. He found his wife crying and asked:
"Why are you crying?"
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Long, long ago, when life on the Earth had just begun, the taiga abounded with animals, birds and other living things.
The Bear, the strongest among the animals, was their Headmaster. He was afraid of nobody but Man. Many times he fought with him but couldn't win a victory.
That angered the Bear. How was it that he, the Bear, so big and mighty, was unable to win over a little Man! Why? Most likely, because the Man had a thumb on his hand, while the Bear had no thumb on his paw.
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Long ago, when Heveki was making every living thing on the Earth, many birds and animals were created in these lands and among the last he created the White Swans.
When Khargi, The Enemy, saw them, he decided to make a White Bird of his own. It took him much time, but his Bird looked ugly and couldn't swim. Khargi pushed him stealthily into the flock of Swans.
When the Swans saw the White Bird they took him into their family.
Time passed and one Swan decided to get married. All the Swans of his family gathered at the wedding feast. The White Bird was invited too.
The tables were loaded with dishes made of grass.
The Swans were eating helping themselves, but the White Bird couldn't eat any grass. So he went out, found a piece of meat, and began eating it greedily.
A young Swan saw him, came running to the Swans dancing after dinner and told them about the White Bird eating rotten meat. The Swans left the wedding.
The Leader of the Swans went to Heveki and said:
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Once upon a time there lived a very cunning Fox. One day she came to an Old Man and an Old Woman and said: "You have no children. I want to be your daughter."
The old people took her into their family and they began to live together.
Soon the warm summer came. One day the Old Man told his wife: "We are going to cross the river. In summer the other bank is dry, and the taiga abounds in animals and birds. We'll have good hunting there."
They asked the Fox to take their things across the river.