The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen / Приключения барона Мюнхгаузена. Уровень 1

One day I was hunting all day long, and in the evening I came across a large lake in the middle of the forest. It was full of wild ducks.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any bullets left.

I was expecting many friends that evening, and I wanted to treat them well. I am a hospitable and generous person, you know. My dinners and suppers were famous all over Petersburg. How could I get home without ducks?

I remembered that there was a piece of fat[10 - a piece of fat – кусок сала] left in my bag. This fat will be a good bait.

I took it out of my bag, tied it to a long string, and threw it into the water.

The ducks saw the food, and immediately swam up to the fat. One of them swallowed it. But the fat was slippery, and it passed quickly through the duck, and jumped out behind it! So the duck was on my string.

Then a second duck swam up to the fat, and the same thing happened.

All the ducks swallowed the fat and they became like a string of beads. In ten minutes, all the ducks are on it.

All I had to do was just to pull out the ducks and take them to the kitchen.

But it was not so easy to carry so many ducks. I took a few steps and was very tired. Suddenly the ducks flew up and lifted me up to the clouds. You can imagine my surprise! I am a brave and resourceful person, you know. I made a rudder out of my coat, and flew rapidly home. But how to get down?

It’s so easy! My resourcefulness helped me again. I killed some ducks, and we began to descend slowly – just into the chimney of my kitchen! My cook was very surprised.

Wild Pigs are Dangerous

Chance and good luck often correct our mistakes. Soon after that, in the depth of a forest, I saw a little wild pig and a sow. They were running close behind each other. I shot. The little wild pig ran away, and the sow stood motionless, as fixed to the ground. It was an old sow, blind with age, which took hold of the little pig’s tail. My ball passed between these two pigs. It cut the tail, which the old sow continued to hold in its mouth.

The sow’s former guide did not draw it on any longer, it had stopped of course. I therefore took the remaining end of the little pig’s tail, and led the old beast home without any trouble. The old animal was absolutely helpless.

But these wild sows are very terrible. The boars are fierce and dangerous. One of them I had once the misfortune to meet in a forest. I was unprepared for attack or defense.