The Clever Goat

The Clever Goat

Once a farmer owned a goat named Vuhi and a ram named Dinas. The farmer had grown old, and one year it became difficult for him to keep a large household. So he opened the gate and said:

“My friends, go and find yourselves a new home. I would give you everything I have, but now I can barely care for myself.”

Vuhi and Dinas said goodbye and set off down the road.

Before long, they reached a great forest.

“I don’t like it here very much,” Dinas whispered. “They say wolves live in these woods.”

Vuhi looked around at the dark fir trees.

“Wolves like it when others are afraid of them. So we must make them afraid of us first.”

“How?”

“You’ll see.”

The goat found an old cloth sack and filled it with dry pinecones, bits of wood, and several round stones. When she shook it, the sack made a tremendous clatter.

Rattle-rattle! Bang-bang!

“What good will that do?” asked the ram.

“A little noise, a little imagination, and a very serious face,” Vuhi replied.

Just then a wolf named Pekka appeared between the trees.

He saw the goat and the ram and thought, “What luck! Two farm animals have wandered into the forest all by themselves.”

“Hey!” he called. “What have you got in that sack?”

Vuhi slowly turned and shook it.

Rattle-rattle!

“Oh, nothing important,” she said carelessly.

“What sort of nothing?”

The goat leaned toward Dinas and said loudly:

“How many wolf buckles, bells, and old collars do we still have in there? Ten? Twelve?”

Dinas opened his eyes wide, then quickly understood the game.

“Er... a whole sackful!”

“There,” said Vuhi. “And I was worried our collection was too small.”

Pekka’s ears rose.

“What collection?”

Vuhi rattled the sack again.

“We collect souvenirs from wolves who try to frighten us.”

Dinas lowered his head and pointed his horns as though on command.

Pekka stepped backward.

“You... you two are strange.”

“We hear that often,” Vuhi agreed. “By the way, Dinas, our collection really could use one more wolf bell.”

“I don’t have a bell!” Pekka blurted.

“What a pity,” sighed the goat.

The wolf decided the conversation was over and hurried away.

When he met his relatives, however, he was too proud to admit that one goat and one ram had frightened him.

“Two terribly dangerous strangers have appeared in the forest!” he announced. “They have a sack full of wolf trophies!”

“Nonsense!” laughed the other wolves. “Let’s go see.”

Twelve wolves headed toward the clearing.

Pekka stayed behind.

“I’ve already seen them,” he said. “Once was enough.”

Vuhi heard the approaching paws first.

“Dinas, I think our performance is getting a second act.”

“There are so many of them,” the ram said nervously.

“Then we need more noise.”

They climbed into a low spreading tree. Vuhi settled on a higher branch, while Dinas balanced awkwardly below.

The wolves surrounded the tree.

“Come down!” shouted the boldest.

Vuhi shook the sack as loudly as she could.

BANG! RATTLE! BANG!

“Dinas!” she cried so that every wolf could hear. “Wonderful! They came to us. Jump right into the middle before they run away!”

“What?” Dinas whispered.

“Jump,” Vuhi whispered back. “Trust me.”

Dinas tried to place his hoof more securely, but the branch swayed.

“Oh!”

The ram slipped and fell straight into a heap of dry leaves in front of the wolves.

THUMP!

Vuhi rattled the sack even harder.

“Well done, Dinas! Don’t let them get away!”

The wolves heard the thunderous sack, saw a ram apparently fall from the sky, remembered Pekka’s story, and decided they had seen enough.

“Run for your lives!”

A moment later, only tails could be seen flashing between the trees.

Dinas climbed out of the leaves and glared up at Vuhi.

“You could have warned me I was supposed to fall!”

“I didn’t plan that part either,” Vuhi admitted. “But it was very convincing.”

Dinas tried to stay cross, but soon he was laughing.

After that, the wolves avoided the clearing for a long time. Vuhi and Dinas found a cozy place near a stream where grass and wild clover grew in abundance.

The goat hung the sack of pinecones beside the entrance to their new home.

“Just in case,” she explained.

And whenever the wind swung it and a faint rattle-rattle sounded through the forest, Dinas smiled.

For he knew that sometimes strength is found not in teeth or horns, but in clever thinking, courage, and the ability to keep your head at exactly the right moment.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨