мой перевод--
Many years ago a Swan, a Crayfish, and a Pike
piled up a wagon high
and themselves to it did harness.
... И. Крылов

Great phrase! Do a google search and you will see it is still getting good mileage even 150 years later!

http://www.proz.com/kudoz/1142521

look up the translation of взяться. It means something like "up and DO SMTH", START, SET ABOUT smth.