Russian folklore/fairytale expertise needed

[Robert A. Rothstein]

Andrew Kaufman wrote:

> In his biography on Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky compares the relations 
> between Tolstoy and God to the  legend of "two bears in one den."
>
> Can somebody identify which fairy tale or other cultural legend that 
> reference comes from?
>
    The reference is to a proverb cited, for example, by Vladimir Dal' 
in his dictionary: Dva medvedia v odnoi berloge ne uzhivutsia (or: ne 
zhivut).  It also exists in German in at least three variants:
        Zwei Bären haben keinen Platz in einer Höhle.
        Zwei Bären in einer Höhle vertragen sich nicht.
        Zwei Bären in einer Höhle: das kann nicht gut ausgehen.

Bob Rothstein

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