There once lived an old talking woman, and she had a goat with kids. In the morning, people got up and went to work, and the old woman would still lie on the furnace. Only by dinnertime would she rise, eat, drink, and begin talk. She spoke, she spoke, she spoke - with neighbors, and with passers-by, and with herself!
In the meanwhile, the goat and the kids stay locked in the barn - they could not to eat grass for themselves, nor to drink water, nor to run around.
One day the goat spoke to her kids:
"Kids, we cannot live with this old talking woman! Let us go to the forest, build ourselves a hut, and live in it."
As the old talking woman released the goat with the kids from the barn, they ran. That was the last that the old woman saw them!
They ran into the forest and began to look for a place where they could build a hut.
The goat came up to a wild apple tree and said:
"Apple tree, apple tree! Can I build a hut under your branches?"
"Don't build a hut under me," the apple tree replies. "Apples will fall from me - your kids will be hurt. Find yourself a better place!"
The goat went on with the kids. She saw a tall oak and said to him:
"Oak, oak! Can I build a hut under you?"
"Don't build a hut under me," answered the oak. "In the fall, acorns will fall from me - your kids will be hurt. You will blame yourself."
The goat went to an aspen:
"Aspen, aspen! Can I build a hut under you?"
The aspen shook with its branches, with all of its' leaves:
"My leaves make noise day and night - your kids will not be allowed to sleep. Find a better place!"
Nothing to do, the goat went on with the kids. They came to a rosehip bush:
"Rosehip, rosehip! Can I build a hut under you?"
The rosehip replied:
"Oh no, oh no, goat! Don't you see for yourself? Look how sharp the thorns are on me. Your kids will jump and jump - they will lose all pf their fur. Go, goat, go ahead, look for a better place!"
The goat went to the birch:
"Birch, birch! Can I build a hut under you?"
The birch shook its branches, said:
"I will save your kids from the heat, hide them from the rain, and shelter them from the wind. Build a hut under me."
The goat was happy. She built a hut under a birch and began to live in it with her kids.