In a low mound of sand in the middle of a swamp there lived a young badger called Urask. This swamp was long and wide—a good many kilometres long and a good many kilometres wide. The mound of sand in this swamp was almost like a small island. Some attractive trees and bushes such as birches, aspens, willows and alders were growing on this island. In the swamp itself there grew only stunted pines, as the swamp was always watery and wet, full of boggy and muddy places babbling and gurgling bog-pools, covered with moss, but releasing yellow cold water or even outright stinking rusty filth when stepped upon by man or an animal.

Badger is a lightweight animal, he could easily cross the swamp and on the swamp island it was always dry and peaceful for him. As it was difficult and unpleasant for people to walk in the swamp and even bigger dogs didn't want to venture there willingly, no-one disturbed Urask on his island, or if it happened, then very rarely.

Some hunters may have tried to catch the badger in his sett, but without results, as the sett had been built very cunningly: it had eight exits and when somebody started to trouble the badger through one entrance, he secretly slipped out through another exit and disappeared into the swamp. To follow the badger in a spongy swamp was impossible for a man and even for a dog.

In the winter the badger mainly slept, like a bear. His sett was deep and at the bottom of it the badger had made a soft nest of moss and dry leaves. There he slept curled up like a dog. And when there was severe frost outside and a blizzard raged, the badger didn't bother taking any notice of it, he just muttered through the sleep and joyfully smacked his lips. Or if he woke up at times, then he listened with pleasure to a hungry crow croaking high up in a tree or an angry owl whooping, yawned once—and fell asleep again.

Badger is a glutton. All through the summer he puts on weight. He eats snails, insects, berries, mushrooms, mice, lizards, frogs; neither does he refuse various roots of plants and sometimes he tries even birds' eggs when he happens to pass a nest. Snails, insects, mice, lizards and snakes are generally harmful and unpleasant creatures, thus the badger is a useful animal because of what he eats and nobody has anything against his fattening himself in summer through destroying insects and creepy-crawlies. There are also enough berries, mushrooms and roots for everybody in the forest, so nobody needs to begrudge the badger his good appetite.

When he has fattened himself all summer, the badger becomes big and plump like a stout piglet. He is in many ways like a piglet, as he too is of low stature, with short legs, a pig-like head and little piggy-eyes, and his coat is multicoloured that of a piglet. And, even his voice is grunting, reminding us of a pig, and when he is frightened or gets into trouble, he squeals like a pig, too.

Only his coat is a lot softer than the bristles of a pig, and one can make nice things from his fur.

Having fattened himself all summer, the badger curls up in his sett when it becomes cold and sleeps almost all winter. This is what Urask usually did as well. People say about such animals that they live in the winter from the fat they've put on during the summer. And this is almost true. Whilst asleep the badger uses little food and gets it from the reserves of fat gathered in the body during the summer.

Urask was quite satisfied with his life on the island. There were few intruders and plenty of food. In the swamp there were always snakes, lizards and frogs; on the island itself lived woodmice. Likewise there grew juicy cloudberries which the badger found particularly tasty, and there were plenty of snails, as they too love berries. On the other hand, Urask could obtain as much food as he wished from nearby forests. One could find mushrooms, berries, juicy roots, slugs and all kinds of grain in abundance.

Thus Urask couldn't grumble about anything. Before the autumn arrived he had always eaten himself nicely fat and could sleep through the winter without worries until the sun made frogs and lizards move again in the spring and also injected new life into the badger.

But, surprise-surprise, for all that Urask hadn't been quite satisfied with his home lately and he intended to move somewhere else. It was quite strange, but it was true. Urask started to discover that his flat had become quite damp in the course of time. Had the water level risen in the swamp lately? Or what else could have caused it? But the mound in which the sett was burrowed had become more and more damp and had started to let water through. In the days when Urask had scraped his sett into this mound, the mound had been dry, its sand soft and only slightly-slightly damp like fresh soil in every, dry patch of land. But lately Urask noticed that the tunnels of the sett, particularly the lower ones, had become slimy and mouldy, even some water trickled in at times. There was so much water in the lowest chamber where Urask had his winter nest that he couldn't use this room any more—indeed, he had to build his winter flat higher up.

This all was unpleasant, particularly the state of affairs with his winter flat. Higher up, nearer the surface it wasn't as warm any more in the winter as it had been lower down. Besides, one could hear from outside even the slightest rustle: the pecking of a small bird, jumping of a hare, breaking of a branch. This disturbed his sleep. Secondly, it was more dangerous higher up. In the winter some hunters came to look for Urask's sett, although they couldn't get at him in it. But sometimes they had a dog with them who climbed into the sett. And when Urask slept too near to the entrance, he didn't have enough time to prepare for the reception of uninvited guests. He couldn't then use the entire complicated network of tunnels in his sett to confuse the intruder. Instead he had to flee as quickly as he could using the shortest route—the enemy, the dog, on his heels. Last Winter it happened a couple of times that his life was in danger, when, wading sleepily with his short legs in deep snow, he was almost caught by the dog who followed him. Only because the dog was also small and couldn't run in deep snow all that quickly was Urask's life saved and the badger managed to escape into bushes before the hunter arrived with the gun. The dog couldn't have killed the badger, but the trouble was that the dog hindered his escape and thus allowed the hunter to catch up. In the bushes Urask could run round in such a clever way that the hunter could never see him clearly enough to shoot him, until it got darker and the night arrived.

But those were horrible experiences and Urask's sleep was disturbed for several days and his wellbeing and happiness were destroyed in those situations. And he decided definitely to look for a new abode in the spring.

That spring came suddenly with a big thaw and the en tire swamp got flooded within a few days. The swamp was like a big lake, a wide and vast plain of water from which dwarf pines looked out as if they were drowning. The roaring and bubbling of water woke Urask and it seemed to him that the noise came also from his sett, not just from the swamp. Brrr! That was disgusting! Urask descended to the lowest floor of his sett and noticed with a shock that the entire lower floor and even the lower exits were completely under water—water was running through them like a river. For a moment he even had a funny thought that through some trick he had found himself in a pond instead of his sett! Joking apart, this affair had its dangers: the water in the sett rose constantly as it rose in the entire swamp, and as the lower exits were now under the water level, the upper tunnels, too, filled up more and more with water. The reason for, the trouble was probably that the mound, where Urask's den lay, was low and didn't rise all that high above the swamp; the swamp had started to clog as the ditches, which had once been dug to drain the swamp, had filled up, the water couldn't run away from the swamp as easily as in earlier times and this is why Urask's dwelling suffered as well.

Soon Urask was sitting on top of his sett like a castaway on a sinking ship and looking round in despair: everywhere only water, water and water—and water even in the highest tunnels of his sett. He was hungry and anxious.

Urask whined quietly on his own like a little piglet on the mound and promised himself once more, should he by any chance get out of this cursed place alive, to build a new abode. In a nice dry place, not in this swamp any more!

It started to drizzle, the water kept rising and the 'hunger grew stronger. How long does one have to squat and wait here on top of the sett? Until the water rises high enough to drown you? Urask squealed sorrowfully. His fine coat was already soaking wet and a cold dampness was making his limbs shiver. Generally he was quite an easy-going and lazy boy, was our Urask. Until now his life had been very easy and cosy—just eating and sleeping, and those dangers he had with dogs hadn't been that frequent.

But now that a bigger danger had cropped up, Urask didn't know what to do apart from wailing and squealing.

Finally, when the water rose already up to Urask's feet, danger made him brave and resourceful.

He saw in the distance the edge of the ditch sticking out of the water, where sods and soil had been laid once during the time of digging the ditches. This edge wasn't out of the water altogether, only here and there perhaps, but it nevertheless seemed possible to reach the forest somehow, partly swimming, partly wading in the water. Even this way it was a good kilometre if not more to the forest. A dubious way! Risky and cold! Brrr, poor Urask was already cold in the rain, what was to come if he went right into the water! And he wasn't a particularly good swimmer either.

But he had to risk it. His life was in danger. There was no choice. From the mound to the ditch there were also a couple of hundred metres covered by really deep rippling water. One had to get through it swimming all the way.

Urask still had doubts and was fearful. Finally, when the water rose higher and higher and threatened Urask even on top of his mound, he took heart, looked once or twice despairingly right and left—and jumped into the waves.

As if cold ice was receiving him. Spluttering and panting, Urask waved his short legs around to make headway in the water. It went slowly and the cold threatened to suffocate him, but finally he reached the edge of the ditch. Here there were also deep places and there was plenty of water and it was as cold as elsewhere, but every now and then there were higher places too—and they encouraged him. The journey went from one sod to another, from one deep place to another. Urask's coat was full of water like a sponge. And this made the journey even harder. Finally he almost started to feel slightly warm through this commotion—and the forest got nearer, too.

At last Urask reached the safe dry land underneath the trees. It wasn't all that dry here either with the rain, particularly in the spring time when the forest was still full of wet snow. Nevertheless here one didn't have to fear drowning any more. Shivering all over, Urask started to look for a place where he could find a little bit of shelter. He was terribly cold and the hunger was even stronger after swimming. He feared that death was near—he felt so unwell.

In the end he found shelter from rain underneath the roots of a fallen tree. Here it was cold and damp too, but at least the rain pouring down from the clouds couldn't reach him here. Urask hunched up in this wretched cavern and shivered and shook all night. He wasn't indeed far from death, as spending such a night in early spring, hungry and exhausted after a cold swim, was no laughing matter.

But in the morning the rain stopped and the warm spring sun started to shine. Nature was as if newly born. The first spring birds were singing in the forest, further away on the fields one could hear larks singing and the snow melted in the mild air like foam.

Soon Urask's coat dried in the bright sunshine and he started to feel warm and snug. Only his stomach was empty as before and the hunger still troubled him. Sniffing round the forest he found a big snake who had been lured out of its lair by the warm spring sun. The snake was curled up like a sausage on a tussock and Urask lost no time after seeing this sausage. After a short fight Urask killed the snake and ate up every last morsel. It was a sizable snack for the badger and it tasted as good as real sausages do to people.

After this meal Urask felt that his strength had returned and his health was back to normal as well. Thus the young badger was convinced that one must never despair, instead one has to try to do something to overcome the difficulties and distress. Had the badger not fought bravely for his life in the cold water, he would have drowned helplessly.

Now his stomach was full, his strength recovered, the weather was nice too and the surroundings quite different from the mound that was sinking in the water. He had reached this new state because of his courage to fight for his life through danger.

And Urask set out eagerly to look for a new abode, as living underneath some tree roots was rather poor for so big an animal. He was nearly 75 cm long and his tail added another 20 cm, thus it was not quite possible to accommodate it all comfortably underneath the tree roots.

After a long search he found on a higher meadow a haystack that had stood there since last summer as people hadn't taken it away for some reason. Probably they had been prevented by the sudden thaw in the spring.

Urask didn't particularly like to be in the haystack. After all he was used to the comforts of a big sett, where you could turn this way and that way, you could even walk and wander from one tunnel to another. But the ground was still frozen and damp, and one couldn't start excavating a new sett just yet. Thus he had to first make do with the haystack where it was at least dry and warm.

Urask wormed his way into the haystack, hollowed out a big enough hole to fit in, a bit above the ground in order not to feel the cold and dampness underneath him and dozed off snugly after severe hardship and a sleepless night.

After all he was a master of sleeping!

But here either things didn't go quite as well as Urask had hoped for. Having slept for some time, Urask started to feel troubled by a horrible stink. It stank so badly that it made Urask feel sick and his head started to ache.

What on earth was that?!

Urask tossed and turned on his bed and tried not to pay any attention to the smell so as to be able to fall asleep again, but it was impossible. As if some poisonous dope was permeating into his nose and it took the last vestige of sleep away.

One had to do something!

Urask got out of his hole and started to sniff round the haystack to find out where this terrible stink came from. In the end he stopped in a place where the smell was particularly pungent and penetrating. Urask pushed his snout into the haystack, but suddenly a small black moustached nose shot out of there and a row of sharp teeth snapped in front of Urask's snout before disappearing again. Those teeth missed Urask's nose only by about a centimetre.

Urask was stilt young and inexperienced in the world, therefore he didn't know that the black moustached nose, as well as this horrible smell belonged to the fitchew, who is also called polecat. The polecat is only about half as big as the badger, perhaps like a good-sized cat, but he has big sharp teeth and is full of spite and bloodthirstiness, besides he stinks so horribly that everybody who stumbles upon him, be it an animal or a human, tries to get away in a hurry.

Urask did not know all this. He was quite frightened. The attack had been sudden and bold and at the same time this horrible smell... Who knows what was to come! Urask feared the beast sitting in the haystack could be big enough to gobble him up. Perhaps he should try to retreat quietly. After all the badger is rather timid by nature.

But then Urask remembered the events of last day and night and also those of today. Yesterday he almost drowned, in the night he almost froze to death. But today everything had gone well, Urask had killed a snake, eaten it up and found a good warm place in the haystack. Did he now have to give up his residence again and spend the night in some cold god-forsaken place once more? Everything had been so nice today—and now there was such annoyance and trouble! No, come what may, Urask decided to protect his flat and fight for it with the unknown beast, however much it stank.

Urask bristled up his fur and snarled threateningly. This had been as if expected in the haystack, as once again a row of teeth snapped towards Urask from there and an angry spluttering expressed extreme spite and intolerance.

Urask decided to wait and he crouched down in front of the haystack. He sensed that the one in the hay was very nervous and stubborn. In all likelihood he would do something to satisfy his anger and obstinacy. And indeed, only a few minutes later the enemy jumped out of the haystack and attacked Urask. By nature he couldn't stand waiting peacefully. He arrogantly considered himself stronger, than Urask, despite being only half his size. Urask saw him well now. He had a short head, a round snout and his fur was dark, chestnut brown on the back and even darker, almost black underneath his belly. Along the belly there was an indistinct reddish brown stripe. Underneath the chin he was yellowish white and the ends of his ears and the snout were the same colour, but his nose was black. From this black nose there flashed white teeth like sharp drills and the eyes sparkled with arrogant impudent boldness.

"Clear off from the doorway to my residence!" he hissed jumping in front of Urask. "You lazy, stupid good-for-nothing! I know the kind! No real teeth, no real wits!"

The badger, having seen that the enemy was only half his size, became more courageous. His fur bristled, he jumped up and snarled:

"Phew! Such a dwarf dares to abuse me! I am the owner of this flat and you get out of here with all your stench, you terrible stinker!"

Instead of an answer the polecat made a rapid movement trying to seize the badger's neck. This was a dangerous plan. Had the polecat succeeded in jumping onto the neck of the badger, the latter would have been done for, as the polecat can even kill a young deer, if he manages to sink his teeth into its neck. He doesn't let go before the large artery is bitten through—and that's the end of the victim's life.

But the badger turned away and the polecat's attack failed. Hissing he stayed crouching, preparing for a new jump. Now it was the badger's turn to attack as anger started to boil in him, too.

The polecat didn't believe that Urask, in his opinion a lazy, silly good-for-nothing, was capable of such a quick move, but suddenly he found himself in between the badger's teeth. The badger's teeth are big, but they aren't particularly sharp. However, the badger has quite long jaws—and with those he caught hold of the polecat's back and squeezed hard. The polecat squeaked from pain and anger. He kicked a couple of times violently with his sharp-clawed hindlegs and with them he caught the badger's stomach so painfully that the badger in his turn screamed and let go. Besides—this terrible-terrible smell that now started to spread from the polecat. The stink before had been somehow bearable, but now it got several times stronger and really dreadful. The polecat has glands, from which he sprays out stinking liquid when agitated or in danger. When the badger caught hold of him, another dose of stink was released. Urask receded snorting and spluttering—mainly from the new wave of stench. The polecat jumped quickly into the haystack and started to squeal abuse and curse from there.

"Served you right, old fool," he shrieked. "My teeth and claws are not for joking. And if you don't clear off quickly, you'll be in real trouble! He even attacks me! Me, the polecat! Oho! Even dogs don't manage to get me, let alone you! Once I even killed a fox and ate it, my word for it! Watch your skin that something even more horrible wouldn't happen to you!"

Urask, still fuming, answered: "Don't boast! You may well have sharp teeth and claws, but those are more suited for catching mice than fighting with me or a fox. However, you can boast of your outrageous stink. Fie! No decent animal will have anything much to do with such a stink-pot. To sleep in the same flat with somebody like you is outright impossible. It makes one feel suffocated!"

And Urask moved away from the haystack fuming and snorting—mainly because of the stink. He was in a bad mood, but nevertheless pleased with himself that he had not retreated when first frightened, but had got to know this stinker and had even somewhat punished him for his impudence. After a long search the badger found another haystack where the air was fresh and where he could sleep away his tiredness.

The spring advanced and soon the days got quite warm and mild. Even at night it was not cold any more. The forest reverberated with birdsong and smelled of sprouting flowers and budding trees. The bees hummed in the trees, bushes and flowers, the streams bubbled gently and the fish plopped in the lakes.

Badger Urask also felt very well. He did not have a home yet, but he looked painstakingly for a place where he could start to build one. The spot had to be beautiful and dry, not some swamp any more. Urask still stayed overnight in the haystack, whilst during daytime he wandered in the forest and through the meadows looking for food, resting from time to time underneath a bush in the warm sunshine or talking to other animals and birds.

The hedgehog was a great friend of his. He was quite a lot smaller than the badger, but nevertheless they had a lot in common. They both loved snakes, lizards, mice, frogs and snails. They discussed, for example, which snakes were particularly tasty and which snails were nicely fat. Although small, the hedgehog was a very wise animal. His face was hidden underneath the spines as if it did not exist, his sharp black eyes were like berries and with them he managed to see everything that went on in the forest, despite the fact that his face was always pointed down. Probably, if necessary, he could also turn his face and eyes upwards and look around in all directions.

The hedgehog knew everything that happened in the forest. When Urask told him about his fight with the polecat, the hedgehog snorted angrily.

"Oh, that polecat! He is a big scoundrel! My deadliest enemy. Again and again he has tried to eat me. But he cannot get me. A couple of times he has sprayed me with his stinking liquid to daze me. But I can take a lot, a lot! Some of my kinsmen have lost their lives that way. They get dazed, loosen their spines—and immediately the monster is at their necks. A terrible beast, this polecat, a terrible beast."

"But I did not fear him!" boasted the badger, with justification.

"Good lad! Good lad!" praised the hedgehog. "That was a brave act!"

"But he is small... " mentioned the badger.

"Small, but vicious and atrocious!" snorted the hedgehog. "Even the fox is afraid of him."

"Really?!" the badger was astonished. "The polecat boasted to me that he had even killed a fox, but I did not believe him.

"And yet it is possible," the hedgehog replied thoughtfully. "He is capable of all sorts of tricks. For example, what do you think: could you catch a squirrel!"

"No. And I do not want to either."

"Well, yes! You do not want, but he, this rascal-polecat, catches a squirrel and eats it up."

"How does he do it?"

"How? He climbs up the tree and then jumps from one branch to another exactly like a squirrel."

"This one is a really atrocious crank!"

"Yes! And do you know what he does with birds? You don't? Oh! How the birds fear him! Not the little ones. He does not care for those. But the big ones. Black grouse, hazelhens, wood-grouse. He creeps up to them along the branches at night and kills them. He even does not leave the crows in peace when they sleep in a tree at night. He is such a gourmet that he does not eat crow's meat. Nevertheless it amuses him to kill them. For the entertainment. Out of wickedness. Sometimes in the winter, when dead crows lie underneath the trees, it is thought that they have frozen to death at night. But they haven't. The polecat has strangled them and thrown them down. Such a horrible beast is he."

In this manner the hedgehog told several stories, because he knew many. About animals, about birds. For example, he told about the cuckoo. The cuckoo had just returned from the warm lands in the south and aroused everybody's attention with her nice songs. The hedgehog lifted his little black nose and said listening and gazing at the cuckoo:

"There she sings so nicely, this cuckoo. Everybody thinks she has a good life, just flying from one branch to another and singing. Not doing anything else. And not having any worries."

"What worries does she have?" murmured the badger. "I have heard that she is too lazy even to build herself a nest, just lays eggs into other birds' nests and those poor birds have to feed and bring up her offspring, whilst the cuckoo herself only sings and even mocks besides."

"It isn't quite like that, my dear," replied the hedgehog earnestly. "The cuckoo too knows hardship. How much trouble she has, even with looking out the nests of other birds and laying eggs there secretly!"

"You are joking, man," said the badger, amazed. "Why does she trouble herself with looking for other birds' nests? She should instead build one herself."

"You see, the laws of nature are strange," sighed the hedgehog. "Once an old woodpecker, a bird himself and knowledgeable about bird matters, told me the cuckoo must not build a nest herself as that wouldn't be any use."

"How is that?"

"You see, the cuckoo lays one egg every six days. Altogether she lays seven eggs. How much is seven times six? Forty-two. You see. In this way there is over a month between the time she lays her first and last egg. If she started to brood her offspring herself, the older chicks would already grow up by the time the younger ones would only hatch out. What can she do? She has to lay her eggs into other birds' nests to hatch. And everybody mocks, laughs and even hates her for that. But she is not guilty. You see, when she flies, smaller birds chase her in flocks, yelling, scolding and cursing her. But she is not guilty."

The old hedgehog told such stories to the young badger. The hedgehog is a wise animal in our forests despite looking so peculiar.

Having heard that the badger was looking for a new abode, the hedgehog said: "You, badgers, are funny animals. You look for great comforts. You live underground, in a sett. And it has to be warm and cosy there. But this is not always good."

"Why not?" asked the badger.

"You see, in danger you'll regret living in a comfortable sett."

"What kind of danger do you mean?" inquired the badger.

"There are all kinds of dangers. But the fox is the real danger for badgers. Perhaps you know it yourself."

"I have heard from my kinsmen that foxes intrude into badgers' setts, drive them out and make themselves at home. But I am not afraid of this. I managed the polecat, so I'll probably cope with the fox, too. When I lived on the island in the swamp I did not even see a fox."

"He does not go there, as it is too wet for him," said the hedgehog. "This is why you should not leave the swamp. It is more secure for you there."

"But I nearly drowned there!"

"And yet you should look for a wetter place," recommended the hedgehog. "Listen to my advice as I am older. Otherwise you'll be in trouble."

"No, I shall not go back to the swamp any more!"

The badger was looking for a nice dry and high place in the forest. Disregarding the hedgehog's warning he chose one of them in the end. It was a fairly high mound of clean white sand at the edge of the wood. Pines and aspens rustled around the mound and columbine flowered on it. A clear stream bubbled down on the meadow and the entire forest edge was full of strawberries.

"This is a lovely place to live in!" Urask was very pleased with his choice. "When I have my stomach full it will be lovely to look down from the mound. And when I get thirsty, the stream is so close! And when I want berries, I just have to reach out and gather as much as I want to! Hurray! This will be a pleasant life! And when everything nice is sampled, then I go to sleep in the sett! It will be a warm sett. The sand is soft like moss."

And Urask started to build his new sett with great eagerness and enthusiasm. Generally he was lazy and liked to sleep a lot but he certainly was not lazy when digging a sett. He looked round to obtain food, ate, drunk and rested a little—and then worked again. It went on like this day and night.

Other animals and birds often came to look at his work. They praised his skill and diligence, but very few expressed real enthusiasm for his sett.

The hare, for example, found that it is horrible to live underground, whilst outside the sun is shining, the wind blowing, the clouds sailing across the sky and the trees rustling. The birds are singing and the flowers blooming and beautiful green grass and crops are growing profusely everywhere.

"Yes," replied the badger, "but what about when it is raining?"

"One needs that as well," answered the hare. "The rain is nice too. It does no harm to get wet sometimes. It is nice to dry up again and to wait for good weather."

"But the frosts in the winter?" inquired Urask. "I'll be warm in the sett, just feeling good and snoozing. But you are cowering in a snow-drift like a poor tree stump and feeling cold."

"Not so bad," replied the hare. "I crawl underneath a bush, dig myself a hole there and feel quite comfortable. It is lovely to see how the sun is rising and glows through the trees, how a blizzard is raging and how the sun is setting again behind the forest in the evening, while the sky is full of big glowing flowers."

The badger growled: "A silly story. I don't care for that. Why on earth should you look at the sun and flowers and the blizzards, when the fox will find you from underneath your bush and jump to your neck or a dog or hunter will threaten your life?"

"Then," replied the hare, "I'll take to my heels. It is lovely to race over the snowcovered fields, making the snow fly. Nobody can catch me up then. I have very good legs."

To be continued in Part 2...