Valery Carrick’s hungry wolf waits below the ram on a hillside
The ram promises to jump into the hungry wolf’s mouth, but runs downhill and strikes him with its horns instead. This picture precedes that blow; it does not depict the later horse’s kick or the pig’s ride into the village.
Overview
The wolf seeks dinner and announces to a ram that he intends to eat it. The ram questions his claim to be a wolf, then offers to jump straight into his open mouth from a hill. Instead, it charges with its horns, knocking him senseless. A horse later tells him to begin eating at its tail while it continues grazing; approaching from behind earns him a kick. After both episodes he criticizes his own gullibility and continues hungry.
A pig offers a ride before being eaten and carries him into the village, where dogs attack and drive him back to the forest. Each encounter repeats a dispute in which the intended victim calls him a dog. The narrator nevertheless presents him as a wolf throughout; the insults do not supply an actual change of species or hidden werewolf identity. The final escape is not a death scene, and none of the threatened animals is eaten.
Origins & earliest records
More Russian Picture Tales: The Hungry Wolf, printed pp. 25–37, with following illustration page 38. Valery Carrick, translated by Nevill Forbes; selected undated title with copyright 1914 and 1920. No individual oral narrator or collecting site given.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected animal-tale dialogue supports speech, threats, deceptive appearances and the stated ending. The figures are literary anthropomorphic animals, with no added supernatural anatomy or biological species record.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
More Russian Picture Tales: The Hungry Wolf, pp. 25–37
Complete tale through final flight after three failed meals; species insults separated from narrator’s identification.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textCarrick/Forbes: More Russian Picture Tales, complete selected animal taleResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationValery Carrick’s hungry wolf waits below the ram on a hillside
The ram promises to jump into the hungry wolf’s mouth, but runs downhill and strikes him with its horns instead. This picture precedes that blow; it does not depict the later horse’s kick or the pig’s ride into the village.
