Fairytale 7. Why Hedgehogs Have Spines

     Long ago, back when hedgehogs didn’t yet have spines, this story took place.

     In an old forest, there lived a young hedgehog. Every day, he needed to go to the forest edge to gather strawberries. And every day, a fox waited there, hoping to catch and eat him.

     Whenever the hedgehog approached the edge of the forest, the fox would appear and say, “Come here, let me wrap you in my tail, tickle your back, and let you go.”

     But the hedgehog didn’t trust her, because the fox had already eaten all his brothers. He thought, What should I do? How can I gather berries without starving and still avoid the fox’s teeth?

     One day, he wandered sadly through the forest and ended up on bear territory. The bear living there happened to have a cold and was wandering around the forest sneezing and roaring.      When he sneezed to the left, acorns rained down from an oak tree. When he sneezed to the right, squirrels sprang out of their nests.

     The hedgehog heard all this, got scared, and hid under a pine tree. The bear came closer and sneezed so hard that all the pine needles showered down, landing right on the hedgehog’s back.      They covered him from head to toe�"only his nose and ears stuck out. And the sticky pine resin glued the needles to him.

     After the bear left, the hedgehog crawled out from under the pine. He tried to brush off the needles, but only pricked his paws. Just then, the fox appeared from behind some bushes and said, “Come here, let me wrap you in my tail, tickle your back, and let you go.”

     The hedgehog thought, then smiled slyly and replied, “Go ahead, try it, dear fox.”

     He approached her and pricked her with his needles. The fox yelped and ran deep into the forest.

     The hedgehog liked this kind of defense and told other hedgehogs about it. From that time on, all hedgehogs began wearing needles, and since then, they haven’t feared foxes or bears.