Ad aspera

-- Uh, -- the peasant scratched his head. -- Well, you see... some monster ravaged three chicken coops. They say that in the evening, they hear it – it’s not clear whether it crawls or walks. Of course, they don’t dare go out. They only hear the chickens squawking. In the morning, only feathers are scattered around. It swallows them whole, the creature. The first time, they were herding sheep. They say they led them to the pond to drink, and then the creature jumped out, with a terrible head and a terrible mouth, and grabbed a sheep with its teeth! The sheep struggled for a while, but its strength quickly faded, and then it dragged it into the water. Or maybe it ate it on the shore. No one saw for sure. Everyone ran away as fast as they could. It ate two large sheep that way. But it ate even more lambs. But no one saw it during the day. Maybe it sleeps. Or maybe it just has enough food. But it’s clear that it comes out and wanders far from the pond. It took two girls. They were returning from a walk. People came back, and then they saw this creature crawling. Everyone ran, but the creature was faster. It bit one, knocked the other off her feet with its tail, and then bit her too. In the morning, they found some bones. Apparently, it ate too much and left the bones behind. And when it ate the boy, they didn’t find anything. Well, that’s it. It ate three chicken coops... and five lambs. And two sheep.