One day a fisherman was bringing his catch of fish back to his home on a sled when he came across a fox. The fox was limp, and appeared half-dead. The kind fisherman picked her up and put her on the sled with the fish. As they trudged homeward, the fox slowly dropped the fish off the sled one by one.

Upon reaching the house, the fisherman didn't notice that most of his fish were missing, and brought what fish were left into the house along with the fox. When the fisherman left the room, the fox got up and went into the kitchen. She found some sour cream and ate it. She then helped herself to a chicken and a napkin. While trying to gather up the fish that were left over, the fox found that she can't carry them all, so she tied the napkin to her head and smeared the rest of the sour cream on her face and stuffed the chicken into her pocket.

The fox then set out on the path that brought her to the house, and on her way, she ran across an injured wolf. The wolf explained that he was in a fight with a bear and that he broke his leg. The sly fox played lame as well, and convinced the wolf that she was worse off than he. "Look at what the villagers did to me!" she wailed, pointing to the napkin on her head and sour cream on her face. Believing the fox, the wolf carried her back to the lake.