Pavol Dobsinsky
The Goat and the Hedgehog
A famous story for children from Pavol Dobšinský’s collection. It is about a goat that scares away many, even strong and fearless animals, but in the end a small brave one finds a way to deal with her.
Once upon a time, there was a big mean bull named Anton. He was very strong, with big horns and heavy hooves. Anytime he met someone smaller or weaker than him, he would stomp at them and snort so that they would be scared of him.
One day, Anton was grazing in a meadow not far from a large farm. He was happily munching on the fresh clover and swinging his tail to scare away all the flies that wanted to sit on his back.
Suddenly a little grey mouse named Mickey poke her head out of the ground. As soon as she saw the grazing bull she jumped out of her hole and scurried through the tall grass straight toward Anton! When she got to him she climbed up his leg, onto his back, jumped on his head and rudely bit his nose. Anton roared in pain. He had a very sensitive nose and even though Mickey was tiny, the bite was really painful! As soon as she bit him, she jumped back down to the grass and ran away, giggling. Anton was furious. As soon as he spotted her, he started chasing her, and soon he was hot on her heels. He was just about to catch up to her and pierce her with his horn when the nimble mouse suddenly jumped aside and disappeared into a crack in the wall. The bull huffed and puffed with rage and stomped the ground with his hooves, but there was nothing he could do.
“Come out, you nasty little mouse!” he cried. “You dared to mess with me, now show yourself and face me!”
But Mickey wouldn’t come out. Instead, she just giggled and stuck her tongue out at Anton from the safety of her hole.
The bull…