# The Animals in the Pit explained — Russian Folktales

> Chapter companion for Russian Folktales by A. N. Afanasyev.

## What happens

A pig, wolf, fox, hare, and squirrel journey together to St. Petersburg but fall into a deep pit. To survive hunger, the fox tricks them into singing and then eating those with the thinnest and fattest voices, leading to the deaths of the squirrel, hare, and wolf. The fox then deceives the pig into fatally injuring itself, leaving the fox alone in the pit.

## Themes in this chapter

### Trickery and Cunning

The fox uses deceit and manipulation to eliminate the other animals one by one, ultimately surviving alone.

### Good vs. Evil

The fox's selfish and murderous actions contrast with the naive trust of the other animals, illustrating a stark moral conflict.

## Character check-ins

### The Pig

Initiates the journey to St. Petersburg and is the first to fall into the pit; ultimately tricked by the fox into tearing its own belly.

### The Wolf

Joins the pig on the journey, falls into the pit, and is eaten after being judged to have the fattest voice.

### The Fox

The cunning orchestrator of the singing contests and subsequent killings; survives by deceiving the others and eating them.

### The Ram

Not present in this chapter.

## Key lines

> Let’s all begin singing, said the Vixen, and we will eat the animal who has the thinnest voice.

The fox proposed a singing contest to determine which animal would be eaten first.

_This sets up the fox's scheme to eliminate the weakest animals._

> The Vixen then was left as the last person in the pit. Did she climb up, or is she there still? I don’t know, really!

The fox remained alone in the pit, and the story ends with uncertainty about her fate.

_The open-ended conclusion leaves the fox's ultimate survival ambiguous._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/russian_folktales_se/chapters/the-animals-in-the-pit
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/russian_folktales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/russian_folktales_se/chapters