Once upon a time a kind old woman lived in a small house. On her stove sat a samovar that was always bubbling. She would pour her tea and look out of the window at the mountain, the stars and the silence.
Her daughter lived on the other side of the mountain, and it was a long time since they had met. "I miss her. I'll go and visit," she said. She put on her flowered chador, wrapped a piece of bread in her bundle, and set off.
On the way a wolf appeared. "Old woman, I'm going to eat you." She laughed. "But I'm so thin, there's nothing on these bones. Let me go to my daughter's and get fat, and eat me on the way back." The wolf thought about it and stepped aside.
Further on a lion blocked her way. "Old woman, I will eat you," he roared. She laughed out loud, and the lion flicked his tail in surprise. "You aren't afraid." "I'm skin and bone. I'm off to drink tea at my daughter's and get fat. Come back for me on the way home." The lion nodded and let her go.
At last she reached her daughter's house, and her daughter ran and hugged her. For a week they sat together drinking tea and talking; the daughter baked bread and the old woman told stories. Every day she got a tiny bit plumper.
When it was time to go home, she remembered. "Oh no. The wolf and the lion are waiting on the road, and now I'm fat they'll eat me." Her daughter looked at the garden for a moment. "Don't worry. I have an idea."
The daughter searched the garden for something her mother could hide inside. First she picked up something long and thin, but her mother would not fit. Then she saw something round and orange and big that rolled: the biggest pumpkin in the garden. She hollowed it out and cut a little door.
The old woman climbed in and sat down. The daughter shut the door and gave the pumpkin a push, and off it rolled, while from inside the old woman sang: "Haven't seen her, haven't seen her, I'm the rolling pumpkin."
The wolf was standing in the road. "Hey, pumpkin, have you seen the old woman?" A voice came from inside: "Haven't seen her, haven't seen her, I'm the rolling pumpkin." The wolf was puzzled, and the pumpkin rolled right past.
Further on sat the lion. "Hey, pumpkin, have you seen the old woman?" The same voice: "Haven't seen her, haven't seen her, I'm the rolling pumpkin." The lion shrugged, and the pumpkin rolled on.
It rolled all the way to the old woman's front door. The little door opened and out she climbed. She straightened her chador and looked up at the mountain. Neither the wolf nor the lion had seen her. She patted the pumpkin and laughed.
She went in and lit the samovar, and its bubbling filled the house as it always had. "I bubbled along and came home too," she said. Then she poured her tea and sat by the window, and her heart was warm.