Once upon a time, an old man was wandering through the forest with his little dog jumping after him. As he walked, he lost a mitten. A little mouse came running and crawled into the mitten.
"I want to live here!" he said.
Then a little frog hopped over and asked, "Well, who lives in the mitten?"
"I am Nibbels, the little mouse, and who are you?"
"I am Leapy, the little frog. Let me in!"
"Come on in!"
There were two of them. A little rabbit jumped up and asked, "Who lives in the mitten?"
"Nibbels, the little mouse and Leapy, the little frog. And who are you?"
"I am Speedy, the little bunny. Let me in!"
"Come right in!"
There were three of them. A little fox sneaked in and asked: "Who lives in the mitten?"
"Nibbels, the little mouse and Leapy, the little frog and also Speedy, the little bunny. And who are you?"
"I am Hunter, the little fox. Let me in!"
Then the four of them squatted in the mitten. A little wolf trotted up, stopped in front of the mitten and asked, "Who lives in the mitten?"
"Nibbels, the little mouse,  Leapy, the little frog, Speedy, the little bunny and Hunter, the little fox. And who are you?"
"I'm the little wolf Rufflehead. Let me in!"
"Come on in!"
Crawled also inside, there were five. Trappte a boar approached.
"Who lives there in the mitten?"
"Nibbels, the little mouse, Leapy, the little frog, Speedy, the little bunny, Hunter, the little fox and the little wolf Rufflehead. And who are you?"
"I am Sniffy, the boar. Let me in!"
It wasn’t good, everyone wanted to live in the mitten!
"But you don't fit in anymore!"
"It'll be fine, just move together!"
"If you must, crawl in!"
The boar also crawled in. Now there were six of them. Lord! It was a tight squeeze, they could neither turn nor twist! Then all at once the brushwood cracked, and a bear groped its way in. He also came towards the mitten.
"Who lives there in the mitten?" he growled.
"Nibbels, the little mouse, Leapy, the little frog, Speedy, the little bunny, Hunter, the little fox, the little wolf Ruffleheadand Sniffy, the boar. And who are you?"
"Hum, hum, hum, there are certainly many of you. I am father bear. Let me in!"
"How could we let you in? We have it more than tight as it is."
"Well, I guess it'll do."
"Then come in, but only with one hind leg."
The bear crawled in, too, and there were seven of them, but they were now sitting so close together that the mitten was cracking at the seams.
Meanwhile the old man realized that he had lost a mitten. He turned back and went to look for it. But the little dog jumped ahead. He ran and ran and saw the mitten lying there, moving. Then the little dog barked, "Woof, woof, woof!"
The animals were frightened, tumbled out, took to their heels and ran into the forest.
And then the old man came and found the mitten and was satisfied.

Fairy Tale from Ukraine,  translated by S.Fuss/Lysander Jaenike, based on Djamila Jaenike, Wintermärchen aus aller Welt © Mutabor Verlag