Smart Goose by Mikhail Zoshchenko. Short summary

5 seconds

The goose is a clever bird. The author made sure of this by watching a goose figure out how to soak a too-hard rusk in a puddle.

1 minute

The narrator observed the goose’s behavior. The goose was walking in the yard and found a dried bread crust. The goose diligently chiseled the breadcrust to crush it and swallow it. The crust did not budge.

The man wanted to help the bird — to break up the breadcrust. The goose began to desperately defend his prey, did not let a possible competitor. The author of the story stepped aside, but did not stop watching the interesting situation. The goose took the crust in his beak and walked over to the puddle. Next — everything is simple and ingenious. The goose began to dip the crust in the water, and then ate the soft bread with pleasure.

The observer concluded that the goose is a smart bird, but not so smart as to take advantage of human help.