ProSvanetiInformation checked: 2026-11-01
The Bear and the Fox: A Svaneti Folktale
This Svaneti folktale tells of a mother bear who asks her cubs to thresh grain while she gathers berries, and a clever fox who deceives the young bears with false stories. The tale teaches that not every word deserves belief, and ends with an unexpected and dramatic twist.
๐ SVANETI FOLKTALES | แกแแแแฃแ แ แแฆแแแ แแแ
We're continuing our Sunday story series! Today we have a tale about trusting bear cubs, a cunning fox, and why you shouldn't believe everything you hear.
๐ป THE BEAR AND THE FOX
Once upon a time, there lived a mother bear with her cubs.
One day the mother bear said to her children:
โ My dear ones, you must thresh the grain at the threshing ground, and I will go gather blackberries and kuloberries.
The mother bear set off into the forest, and the cubs brought out the oxen, fitted them with yokes, harnessed them to the threshing sled, and got to work.
Soon a fox came passing by. She greeted the cubs and asked:
โ Where is your mother?
โ She went to gather blackberries and kuloberries.
โ After what I did to her, I'm amazed you can still thresh grain here!
The cubs believed the fox and started to cry. They cried so long that the grain went unthreshed.
That evening the mother bear came home and asked:
โ Why haven't you threshed the grain?
โ How could we work? The fox came by and said terrible things about you!
The mother bear grew angry, but how could she catch the fox now?
The next day the mother bear went out again for blackberries and kuloberries, and told the cubs to thresh the grain.
Around midday the fox appeared again:
โ Where is your mother?
โ She went to gather blackberries and kuloberries.
โ I did such things to her! I'm amazed you can still work here!
The cubs believed the fox again and cried until evening. The grain went unthreshed once more.
When she returned, the mother bear asked:
โ Why didn't you work?
โ The fox came and said terrible things about you!
On the third day, the mother bear hid in the barn while the cubs began threshing the grain.
Scarcely had they started when the fox appeared:
โ Where is your mother?
โ She went to gather blackberries and kuloberries.
โ I did such things to her that I made a fool of her before all the world, yet you still stand here and thresh grain!
Hearing this, the mother bear burst out of the barn.
The fox took off running, and the mother bear chased after her.
The mother bear was almost upon the fox when the fox spotted a tree with a split trunk, leaped up, and jumped over the fork.
The mother bear rushed after her but got stuck between the branches. She couldn't go forward or back!
The fox returned, found a large club, and beat the mother bear. She beat her until the bear died and went limp.
After that, the fox calmly went on her way, and the mother bear remains to this day, stuck between the branches of that tree.
And so ends this tale. Not all folk stories finish with goodness and justice.
Whose side are you on โ the mother bear's or the fox's?
Not sure which route is right for you?
Tell us your dates and weโll suggest a realistic Svaneti plan โ roads, weather and timing included.